CF
UNION VICTORIES.
MASS M:EETING
AT
UNION SQUARE, NEW-YORK,
MARCH  6th, 1865.
NEW-YORK:
GEORGE F NESBITT & CO., PRINTERS AND STATIONERS,
COR. PEARL AND PINE STREFETS.
1865.








NATIONAL CELEBRATION.
THE surrender of Savannah, the fall of Charleston, the re-possession of Sumter, and other brilliant successes of the Union arms,
induced a number of the prominent citizens of New-York to issue
the following call:
COLLECTOR'S OFFICE, NEW-YORK, February 21. 1865.
A meeting of citizens will be held at this office, at one o'clock, on Wtednesday,
22d inst., to adopt measures for expressing the congratulations of the people of
New-York, on the brilliant successes which have attended the National arms, on
land and sea, in the recent Southern campaigns.
You are requested to attend.
Respectfully,
MOSES H. GRINNELL,          JOHN J. ASTOR, JI.,
MOSES TAYLOR,               JOHN C. GREEN,
SAMUEL SLOAN,               MARSHALL O. ROBERTS,
CHAS. A. HECKSCHER,         HtENRY CLEWVS,
SHEPHERD KNAPP,             R. H. McCURDY.
This patriotic movemrent was entered into with zeal and heartiness by citizens, representing the various liberal professions and
all classes of mercantile, manufacturing and industrial pursuits.
The vast assemblage which united in this loyal ovation to the
army and navy gave undeniable assurance that it was a spontaneous impulse of the popular heart.
At the meeting of citizens, held in pursuance of the preceding
call, on motion of PAUL SPOFFORD, Esq., Mr. MOSES TAYLOR was
called to the Chair, and Messrs. S. B. CHITTENDEN and SAMUEL
SLOAN were appointed Secretaries.
The Chairman announced the purpose of the meeting, and Mr.
SLOAN offered the following resolutions, which were seconded by
Mr. CHARLES H. RUSSELL:
PROPOSED CELEBRATION OF UNION VICTORIES.
1. Resolved, That the war to quell rebellion which now rapidly approaches its
inevitable conclusion, involves essentially the principles of self-government,
human freedom and Christian civilization; that the people of the United States




have abundant cause for congratulation in the knowledge that while successfully
maintaining, by force of arms, the government of their choice and the life of the
nation, they are at the same time effectually asserting the inviolable doctrine that
this Continent is forever devoted to the cause of liberal institutions and republican government.
2. Resolved, That the recent signal victories achieved by the military and naval
power of the United States over the insurgent forces in revolt against the government, call for the expression of cordial congratulations to officers, soldiers and
seamen, who share in the renown of these glorious successes.
3. Resolved, That the armies led by Generals GRANT, SHERMAN, TriHOAS,
MEADE, SHERIDAN and TFERRY, and the naval forces serving under the orders of
Admirals FARRAGUT and PORTER, have, by their valor and devotion to duty,
maintained the integrity of the nation and upheld the honor of its flag, and richly
deserve the applause of a grateful people.
4. Resolved, That in brilliancy of design, intrepid energy of action, inexorable
determination to compel success, the campaign of Georgia and the Carolinas has
no example in military history, and covers the names of GRANT and SHERIAN
with imperishable glory.
5. Resolved, That the treacherous assault upon Sumter has been fitly expiated
in the ignominious flight of the assailants from the soil they had desecrated,
without a shot fired in defence of a city dedicated to treason.
6. Resolved, That it is becoming in a free and enlightened people to recognize
and applaud distinguished public services rendered in the cause of the country;
and that the citizens of New-York regard it as a duty to give public expression
of their gratitude to the heroic men who, under Divine Providence, have defended
the flag and preserved the honor of the nation.
7. Resolved1, T'hat a committee of citizens be appointed to consider and report,
at a subsequent meeting to be called by the Chairman and Secretary, in regard
to the time and manner of celebrating the recent triumph of the Union arms, and
with the purpose of uniting a whole community, irrespective of all other considerations, in a grand ovation to the principles of loyal duty to the country and its
government.
8. Resolved, That copies of these resolutions be transmitted to the President of
the United States, to the Governor of this State, and to the several officers
named therein, and that the same be published.
Brief remarks were made by Mr.W m. M. EVARTS, Mr. P. M.WETMORE and others, and the resolutions were unanimously adopted.
Judge  DAVIES  offered  the  following  resolution, which  was
seconded by Mr. R. L. STUART, and unanimously adopted:
Resolved, T'hat the President be requested to send a national ship to Charleston
harbor to convey thither General ROBERT ANDERSON, that he may replace, upon
the flagstaff of Fort Sumter, that national banner, the emblem of our liberties
and of our Union, which, on the 13th of April, 1861, he was compelled to lower
at the dictation of the traitors of South Carolina.




5
The following General Committee was announced by the Chairman:
GENERAL COMMITTEE.
Moses Taylor,              Leonard W. Jerome,           Prosper M. Wetmore,
William B. Astor,          Benjamin W. Bonney,          Francis B. CuttiIlg,
A. A. Low,                 Robert, H. McCurdy,          C. WV. Sandford,
Hamilton Fish,             Edward Minturn,              John J. Cisco,
John C. Green,             William H. Lee,              Peter Lorillard,
R. M. Blatchford,          John Austin Stevens,         Richard Schell,
Jonathan Sturges,          James F. D. Lanier,          Henry A. Smythe,
Moses H. Grinnell,         Edwin Hoyt,                  George W. Hatch,
J. J. Astor, Jr.,          Charles H. Ludington,        Morris Ketchurn,
Charles H. Russell,        Alexander Stuart,            George Cabot Ward,
Simeon Draper,             Wm. M. Tweed,                D. B. Fearing,
Charles H. Marshall,       A. B. Baylis,                M. H. Levin,
A. T. Stewart,             Joseph Hoxie,                John Alstyne,
Marshall 0. Roberts,       W. H. Neilson,               E. F. Shepard,
R. D. Lathrop,             William B. Dinsmore,         Marvelle W. Cooper,
Samuel Sloan,              E. S. Sanford,               Timothy G. Churchill,
Isaac Bell,                B. C. Morris,                C. J. Anthony,
Henry Clews,               Daniel Devlin,               Seth B. lHunt,
Samuel Wetmore,            John A. Dix,                 Charles Gould,
James Low,                 John A. King,                John Steward,
William T. Blodgett,       William E. Dodge,            James W. Beekman,
Henry M. Taber,            Ezra Nye,                    Robert S. Hone,
Waldo Hutchins,            E. P. Cowles,                Thomas C. Actl.n,
John J. Phelps,            W. R. Vermilye,              Hiram mWallil-e.
S. B. Chittenden,          Frank E. Howe,'William Hall,
Denning Duer,              Robert L. Stuart,            Henry Hilton,
F. W. Worth,               George Opdyke,               M. T. Brennan,
James Lenox,               Paul Spofford,               W. H. Webb,
Edwards Pierrepont,        Hon. Chas. P. Daly,          John A. Stewart,
William M. Evarts,         Henry K. Bogert,             William Kelly,
Sheppard Gandy,            Elliot C. Cowdin,            Parker Handy,
John E. Williams,          William Seligman,            James MacLean,
Henry E. Davies,           W. M. Vermilye,              Henry G. Stebbins.
The following were elected Officers of the Committee:
MZOSES TAYLOR, Chairman.
S. BS. CHITTENDEN, } Secretaries.
SAM. SLOAN,    I
HENRY CLEWS, Treasurer.
The meeting  thereupon  adjourned, subject to  the call of the
Chairman.
At a meeting of the General Committee, held on the 25th  of
February following, Mr. Wetmore submitted a programme of
arrangements, which was approved.




The following draft of a letter to the President of the United
States was reported and ordered to be transmitted:
CITY OF NEW-YORK, February 22, 1865.
To ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the JUnited States:
SIR,-The citizens of New-York engaged in the pursuits of commerce, at a
public meeting held this day, adopted by a unanimous voice the resolutions we
herewith transmit.
In the performance of this agreeable duty, and in the spirit which actuates
those we represent, we offer you our cordial congratulations on the brilliant
successes which have signalized the movements and conflicts of the national forces
by land and sea, and which have shed such enduring lustre on the military
character of our country.
We are charged, also, to assure you that, in the judgment of this commercial
community, the grateful thanks of the American people are due to the President
of the United States and the officers of the Government, for the patriotic, resolute
and persistent deterlinlation shown by them to maintain the honor and to preserve inviolate the territory of the nation.
With sentiments of respectful regard, we remain your obedient servants,
SA3MUEL SLOAN,   Secretaries.
S. B. CHITTENDEN,    ta                            MOSES TAYLOR, Chairman.
The following resolutions, submitted by Mr. Wetmore, were
unanimously adopted:
Resolved, That the solemn pledges given to the Government by the people of
the City of New-York, assembled in Union Square, on the 20th of April, 1861,
have been redeemed with fidelity and honor, and that after four years of bloody
conflict, when the majesty of the laws has been vindicated, and the National
Banner restored to the soil of every State in revolt, it is fitting and just that upon
the same spot the tidings of victory should be mingled with the acclamations
of a grateful people.
Resolved, That since the Cities of New Orleans, Memphis, Vicksburgh, Nashville, Savannah, Columbia, Charleston and Wilmington, freed from the terrors of
insurgent arms, have again been received under the protecting care of the Government, it is our duty to teach them, by example and acts of kindness, that it is
safer and wiser to obey the law than to spurn its control.
Resolved, That the people of the City of New-York do hereby invite the
co-operation of every loyal municipality in the Union, to unite in a general celebration of the successes of the Union arms, on Saturday, the 4th day of March
ensuing, that, by the sound of cannon, the ringing of bells and the uprising of the people, the national heart may be made glad, and gratitude and honor
be rendered to the gallant men who have preserved the life of the nation.
Copies of the following despatch were forwarded to the Mayors of all the principal cities, and several favorable responses were read:
To the lMayor of:
The people of New-York propose a national celebration of Union victories, on
the 4th of March next, at mid-day. Will your city unite?
MOSES TAYLOR,
a. B. CHITTENDEN,
SAM. SLOAN.




7
The following letter was received from the PRESIDENT:
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, 25th Feb., 1865.
To MOSES TAYLOR, Esq., Chairman, and S. B. CHITTENDEN and SAML. SLOAN,
Esqs., Secretaries of a meeting of citizens of New-York, engaged in pursuits of commerce:
GENTLEMEN,-I am directed by the President of the United States to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 22d instant, and of resolutions concerning
the condition of national affairs, by which that letter was accompanied.
The President and his associates in the Executive Deplirtnment highly appreciate these expressions of approval and support. Coming. as they do, at the
close of a constitutional term of public service, which has been filled with trials
unknown to any previous administration, these expressions are received, as evincing a firm and resolute popular purpose to preserve the Union unbroken, and to
bring back every erring member thereof to the resumption of its lawful obligations and the performance of its proper duties, with the consequent enjoyment of
the inestimable blessings of liberty and peace. Fully believing that the loyal
citizens of the whole country are in entire harmony with the citizens of NewYork, who are represented on the present occasion, the President cordially
sympathizes with your committee in the proceedings they have initiated.
I have the honor to be, gentlemen,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed,)                        WILLIAM  H. SEWARD.
The following Committees were appointed:
SPECIAL COMMITTEES.
] ST. -FINANC E.
Robert L. Stuart,         Samuel Wetmore,           Seth B. Hunt,
James Brown,              A. B. Baylis,             Isaac Bell,
John J. Astor, Jr.,       Henry G. Stebbins,         William M. Vermilye,
Charles H. Marshall,      J. F. D. Lanier,          Francis Skiddy,
Morris Ketchum,           Robert L. Cutting,         Sheppard Gandy,
Richard D. Lathrop,       Wm. H. Neilson,            Shepherd Knapp,
Marshall O. Roberts,      Leonard W. Jerome,         Horace B. Claflin.
2D.-RESOLUTIONS AND SPEAKERS.
Charles P. Daly,          Hamilton Fish,             Elliot F. Shepard,
Henry Hilton,             William M1. Evarts,         William F. Allen,
George Opdyke,            Edwards Pierrepont,        Benj. W. Bonney.
3D. INVITATIONS AND RECEPTION.
Hamilton Fish,             James Low,                John Steward,
John A. Dix,              Richard Schell,            Edward Minturn,
A. A. Low,                 John A. Stevens, Jr.      Robert H. McCurdy,
John C. Green,            James McLean,             J.ohn A. Stewart,
Simeon Draper,            John J. Phelps,            Ezra Nye,
John E. Williams,         William E. Dodge,          Parker Handy,
Waldo Hutchins,           R. M. Blatchfori,          Robert S. Hone,
Charles H. Russell,       William H. Webb,           George Cabot Ward,
M. H. Levin,              John J. Cisco,             Matthew T. Brennan.
4TH.-ARRANGEMENTS.
William T. Blodgett,      Marvelle W. Cooper,       Peter B. Sweeny,
Frank E. Howe,            E. S. Sanford,            Wm. M. Tweed,
Prosper M. Wetmore,       Frank W. Worth,           Charles G. Cornell,
T. C. Acton,              Elliot C. Cowdin,         Douglas Taylor,
Henry M. Taber,           Charles F. Blake,         L. \x. Winchester,
Jackson S. Schultz,       Wm. Seligman,             Josiah Hedden.
Wm. H. Lee,
The officers, ex oficio, were added to the Commllittees.




8
The following notice was made public:
The Committee of Arrangements for the proposed celebration will be in constant session at the Astor House, Rooms Nos. 18 and 19, during the week. All
communications relating to the military parade, civic procession, telegraphic
despatches from other cities, and other matters relating to the active details of
the celebration, may be addressed to Col. FRANK E. HOWE, Secretary of the
Committee of Arrangements. Civic societies, public bodies, private manufacturing and industrial establishments, with their emblems of trade and commerce,
are respectfully invited to unite in this patriotic demonstration. The workingmen of New-York always form a marked feature on such occasions, and it is
hoped that they will participate in celebrating the triumphs of the army and navy
of the Union. Private citizens mounted are invited to form a part of the procession under such directions as may be designated.
By order of the General Committee.
MOSES TAYLOR, Chairman.
S. B. CHITTENDEN,.
SAMUEL SLOA.NSecretaries.
On the 28th of February, the General Committee again met to
receive the reports of the Special Committees.
Col. Frank E. Howe, from  the Committee on Arrangements,
reported progress.
The Committee on Resolutions was continued with power to
prepare resolutions for the Mass Meeting in Union Square. After
some remarks by General Sandford, in reference to the propriety
of postponing the celebration ten days from March 4th, a resolu ation to this effect was offered by him, and seconded by the Hon.
C. P. Daly. Replies in favor of adhering to the original programme
were made by Messrs. Wetmore, Chittenden, Shepard, Sloan
and Stewart, and the resolution was negatived.
By the action of the municipal authorities and other public
bodies, resolutions were passed expressive of their sympathy with
the movement, and recommending the suspension of all business
after 12 M. on the day of the celebration.
By invitation of the Committee of Arrangements to the Fire
Department, through its Chief Engineer, the hearty co-operation of
the department was proffered to lend its attractions to the general
festivities of the day.
From this time the Committee of Arrangements was in constant
session at the Astor House, from 9 A. M. to 6 P. M., and at the




Fifth Avenue Hotel or Maison Dorde, in the evening, in preparing
the necessary details for the Procession and Mass Meeting, until
Friday evening, March 3d, when the arrangements were perfected
for the celebration on the following day.
At a meeting of the committee, held on Thursday evening,
March 2, at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, Brig. Gen. HALL was duly
appointed Grand Marshal of the day.
The appointment was accepted, and from this time the General
was in constant intercourse with the committee in perfecting the
arrangements for the grand procession.
The Committee had given notice that should the weather prove
unfavorable, the flags would be struck on the principal hotels at
9 o'clock, A. M., and the celebration be postponed to Monday,
March 6th, if the weather should be favorable; if not, to the first
fair day.
On Friday night, the 3d, a heavy rain storm commenced, which
continued through the morning and until afternoon on Saturday.
Timely notice having been afforded by the bare flag-staffs at 9 A.
M., no serious disappointment was felt, and the Committee of
Arrangements and tile citizens generally resumed their preparations, determined to make the celebration on Monday all the more
imposing for the further time given them.'Trhe following letter was received from  the Governor of NewYork:
LETTER FROM GOVERNOR FENTON,
STATE OF NEW-YORK, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
ALBANY, IIlarch 2, 1865.
MOSEs TAYLORt, Esq., Chairman, &c.
I acknowledge with gratification the receipt of your letter, and a copy of tilhe
resolutions adopted by a public meeting of the citizens expressing the conrralulations of the commercial community of our great metropolis on the brilliant
successes of the cause of the Union. We have, truly, great reason for rejoicing.
A war which placed at the arbitrament of armies the very existence of the
republic, and with it the success of free government everywhere, is about to
result in the triumphant maintenance of our institutions. The people, realizing
that the issue was not to determine whether this or that political organization
should succeed, but whether the life of the nation should be preserved, resolved
2




10
to defend and perpetuate its power and glory in full force and vigor. This resolution they have sustained with great unanimity. With pious gratitude they
acknowledge that the glorious achievements of our soldiers are due, not to the arm
of flesh merely, but to "'Him who doeth according to Hlis will in the armies of
heaven and among the inhabitants of earth."
Your proposed celebration is worthy of your imperial city and of the patriotic
citizens to whom the cause of the Union owes so much.'The treason of 186(0-1
is about to be crushed; the head of the serpent is already bruised under the heel
of our invincible leaders and their patriotic co-workers in arms; the infamous
treachery of South Carolina has been expiated; her soil is now held by the
defenders of national integrity and republican liberty; the conspirators have
been baffled at the very seat of their empire. It is due to the gallant band that
defended Sumter when she "ias bombarded by traitor forces that they should
receive marked honor on her reclamation. I concur more heartily, therefore, in
the suggestion that the President should send a man-of-war to the harbor of
Charleston, bearing the heroic General Anderson and the same flag which he
defended till hope had become futile-that flag which he saluted and lowered,
but did not surrender. Let him replace it upon the parapet which it has already
made glorious. I would join you if my duties at the capital did not prevent, and
add my voice to your loudest acclaim to our country and its heroes.
May the news of our victories and progress soon be succeeded by the glad
intelligence that Grant and Sherman, always sagacious and victorious, have
achieved that triumph which will enable us to shout " The rebellion was!"
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
RI. E. FENTON.
(Fromn the Daily Press.)
THE CELEBRATION.
MILITARY AND CIVIC PROCESSION.
As if to make up in full for Saturday's inhospitable weather,
Monday, March 6th, was an absolutely perfect daty for a great
rejoicing.  The rain had done much to clear the streets, and the
civic carts and brooms had labored efficiently, too. The sunshine
and breezes that followed brought the ground beneath and heavens
above to a capital condition for travel.
The delay had, moreover, given time for revisions and adjustments, which brought all the preliminaries of the procession to an
excellent state of organization. And last, but not least, the news
of SHERIDAN'S victory over EARLY put sunshine into every bosom,
in complete harmony with the bright sky and bracing air.




11
Under such auspices the splendid and gigantic ceremonial passed
off with an unbroken unity, in character and effect hardly to be
paralleled in scenic history.
THE WHOLE
Of the vast pageant extended nearly seven miles, and was in
motion during about six hours. Yet a view, such as a balloon
would afford, would have enabled a spectator to see the whole in
motion at once for a brief moment; for while the two great
elephants and the two camels which brought up the rear were still
on Sixth Avenue, where they were drawn up, the head of the
column had absolutely passed around the whole of its great circuit,
and the infantry and cavalry of the leading regiments were being
dismissed to their armories.
THE DIVISIONS
Of the procession were made six in number, for tactical convenience, but the divisions which it assumed beneath the spectator's
eye were three, viz.:
1. Military.
2. Civic and Industrial.
3. Fire Department.
And these had each its predominant distinguishing costumecolor-the soldiers blue, the civilians black, the firemen red.
As soon as the immense mass had assembled, the following telegram was transmitted to the PRESIDENT of the United States, Hon.
WVM. H. SEWARD, Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON and Hon. GIDEON
WELLES.
UNION SQUARE, March 6, 1865.
To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
ASSEMBLED NEW-YORK SENDS GREETING, —Thanks to Divine Providence, and
all honor to the Government, the Army and the Navy, for saving the life of the
pation.
(Signed,)    MOSES TAYLOR,        SAM. SLOAN,
S. B. CHITTENDEN,      WILLIAM T. BLODGETT,
HAMILTON FISH,         CHARLES P. DALY,
PROSPER M. WETMORE,    HENRY CLEWS,
FRANK E. HOWE,         JOHN A. DIX.




12
THE START.
Precisely at one o'clock —the hour set down in the programmeColonel HOwE gave the signal agreed upon for the starting of the
procession. A salute was fired in Union Square, and the instant
the sound of the first explosion was heard the head of the column
commenced the march in splendid order. It stands in this respect
as a remarkable exception to the past usage, and at the same time
as an example to be imitated in the future. For several hours
before, all the city was astir with troops and other constituent
parts of the procession, on the way to their respective rendezvous.
As early as  A. M. the streets of the designated route began to
fill perceptibly with the great multitude which constitutes the
holiday street audience of New-York, and the windows and
roofs were crowded with those sufficiently ambitious or wealthy,
or well befriended to command those coigns of vantage.  Nor
was the audience wholly made up of New-Yorkers.  Strong
delegations were present from the suburbs, that from Brooklyn
alone forming a kind of subsidiary procession, or side show, which
thickly lined Fulton street for a long time with a mass of many
thousand citizens pushing towards Broadway.
At one o'clock, the head of the First Division moved from its
line on Fourteenth street into Broadway, and the Great Ceremony
was fairly begun.
LINE OF MARCH.
FROM CORNER OF 14TH STREET AND BROADWAY; DOWN BROADWAY TO ASTOR
HOUSE; UP PARK ROW AND CENTRE STREET TO CANAL; UP CANAL TO
BOWERY; UP BOWERY AND 4TH AVENUE TO 33D STREET; THROUGH 33D
STREET TO MADISON AVENUE; DOWN MADISON AVENUE AND AROUND
MADISON SQUARE; DOWN 5TIH AVENUE; THENCE TO UNIDN
SQUARE, BY 14TH STREET.
ORDER OF PROCESSION.
DETACHMENT OF POLICE, Mlozunted and on Foot.
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS, on Horseback.
TROOP OF CAVALRY, as Escort to Grand Marshal.




13
Brig. Gen'l WILLIAM HALL, Grand Mcarshal.
AIDS.
Col. O. H. HART,            Captain WMa. EAGAN,
Col. W. P. HALL,            Captain BLACK,
Col. G. E. WARING,          Captain W.M. MCCOEMACK,
Maj. J. GROSHONT HERRIOT,   J. NELSON TAPPAN.
Major HAND,
FIRST DIVISION.
On1 Fourteenth Street, Right on Broadway.
FIRST DIVISION N. Y. STATE NATIONAL GUARD, commanded
by Major-General CHARLES W. SANDFORD.
DETACHMENTS OF THE SECOND DIVISION N. Y. STATE NATIONAL
GUARD.
Lieutenant-General -N INFIELD SCOTT, Nlaj0r-%Vluutl JX5 W.
WOOL, Major-General JOHN A. DIX, Major-General ROBERT
ANDERSON, Ad(miral HIRAM PAULDING.
The GOVERNOR of the State of New-York.
The LEGISLATURE.
The MAYOR of the City of New-York.
The BOARD OF ALDERMEN and the BOARD OF COUNCILMEN, in
carriages, two abreast.
JUDGES of the Courts.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS and COUNTY OFFICERS.
CLERGY and PROFESSORS OF COLLEGES.
SECO ND DIVISION.
On Ninth Avenue, Right on Fourteenth Street.
Colonel M. T. MCMAHON, Marshal.
AIDS.
Major CHAS. TEMPLE DIX,    Capt. THOMAS LOXD,
Col. CHAS. G. HALPINE,      Capt. A. W. SMITH,
Col. C. W. DARLING,         Lieut. S. J. DOCKSTADER,
Surgeon McMILLAN,           Lieut. CHAS. A. DUNCAN.




14
Major-General PECK and Staff.
Brig.-Genl. HUNT and Staff.
IIINCKs and Staff.
("   P. ST. GEORGE COOKE and Staff.
"'    WESSELS and Staff.
Generlal Officers of the Army on duty and leave, with their Staffs.
Officers of the Army, Mounted and in Uniform.
Ex-Officers of the Army, who have served during the present
WVar, in Uniform.
Wounded Soldiers, in suitable conveyances.
Furloughed Soldiers, on foot.
Mounted Citizens.
Veterans of 1812.
New England Soldiers' Relief Association.
New-York State Volunteer Institute Cadets, under Colonel
Young.
New-York Caledonians, in hIighland Costume.
THIRD DIVISION.
On Eighth Avenue, Right on Fourteenth Street.
Hon. ABRAM WAKEMAN, icarshal.
AIDS.
Col. GEO. B. VAN BRUNT,   I  Capt. C. HIEUBERER,
Capt. C. RICE,                Mr. R. E. BENTON.
Officers of the Navy, on leave or on duty.
Officers of the Marine Corps, on leave or on duty.
Sailors and Marines.
JEREMIAH SIMONSON'S full-rigged Ship, manned by Veteran
Tars.
Model representation of the original MONITOR, twenty feet long,
by THOMAS F. ROWLAND, builder of the original one, with appropriate motto.
Detachment from the Sailors' Home.
Seamen of the Merchant Service.




15
Officers of the Custom House, and other public officials, headed
by Revenue Barges, fully mannecl, upon six-horse Trucks.
WM. VAN ETTER, 84 West street, Miniature full-rigged Man-ofWar, nine and a half feet long, pierced for 44 guns, on a wagon.
One Ornamental Car, marked SHERMAN, GEARY, FOSTER & CO.,
Savannah, Ga.; GRANT, SHERMAN & CO., Charleston, S. C.; PoRTER, TERRY & CO., Wilmington, N_ C.; THOMAAs I& Co., Nashville,
Tenn.
FOURTH  DI VISION.
On Seventh Avenue, Right on Fourteenth Street.
WILLIAM  SELIGMAN, Hifarshacl.
AIDS.
JIULIUS DENGELSTADT,     I  IEINRICH APFEL,
L. REISS,                    JOSEPH HILLENBRAND.
New-York Sharp-Shooters.
Independent Rifle Company, Captain GEISSLER, CommanCding.
New-York Turners' Association, HENRY METZNER, President,
300 strong, with badges.
Veterans of the Turner Regiment will also join, and those frion
neighboring towns.
No. 1. Arion Societv, C. Tricca, President.
No. 2. Allgemeine Saengerbund, 500 Singers of the followingr
Singing Clubs:
Allemania,                 Mozart Mannerichor,
Collonia,                  Schillerbund,
Germania,                  Saengerbund,
Harmonia,                     of Williamsburg,
Lorely,                    Liedertafel,
Saengerbund,                Social Reform.
The above ten Societies are composed of about fifty members
each, who have arranged their programme so as to keep up one
continuous song throughout the whole line of nlalch.
German Central Committee, STEINBRENNER, President.




16
ROBERT BLUM Mutual Aid Union of Germans, 40 strong.
Mechanics' and Artisans' Association of Social Reformers, 1,000
strong, 100 singers.
Council No. 4 Union League, Mr. A. N. DUNHAM, Chief.
Nineteenth Ward Republican Club, ACHILLA CAIN, President.
A six-horse Truck, containing members of the Sixth Avenue M.
A. Total Abstinence Association, Major MICHAEL MISSING, President.
The Italian Benevolent Society, FRANCISCO NASH, President,
200 strong, with National banners.
FIFTH DIVISION.
0n Sixth Avenue, Rig/ht on Fourteenth Street.
CIHARLES G. CORNELL, Marshal.
AIDS.
C. T. MCCLENACHAN,           WM. M. TWEED, JR.,
J. W. DOWNING,               SAML. C. DOWNING,
W. R. VERMILYE,              CHAS. F. SMITH.
JOHN M. FREEMKAN,
THE TRADES.
The EXPRESS COMPANIES.
The TYPOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, with Printing Press.
SINGER'S Sewing Machines in operation with employees.
HERRING'S String Team, with safe and employees.
JOHN STEPHENSON'S Car, drawn by six horses.
WILLIAM H. LOCKE, 205 to 217 West Thirty-sixth street, one
ten-horse Truck, representing printing Satinets.
The Great American Tea Company, ten-horse Truck, eighteen
feet long, each side representing thirty-six States, as many clerks
as there are States riding inside, with outriders.
C. MONKS, four-horse Truck, representing the making of Metallic
Signs.
Mrs. A. 11. SUPLE, 537 Broadway, Sloat Sewing Machine;
Truck, one M-achine in operation by ERICSSON'S Engine, and one
Machine worked by steam.




17
A. J. HENNIrO, 181 Lewis street, Ship Joiner, Wagon decora
ted and filled with workmen.
ISAAC SMITH'S SONS, 405 Broadway, two large Trucks with
Umbrellas.
ARCHER & PANCOAST, 9 Mercer street, ornamented Wagon, four
horses, Lamp Makers, Furnishers, &c.
STEPHEN & LITTELL, Truck, six horses, gang of men manufacturing Boilers.
Central Petroleum Exchange, 10 Pine street, WED. W. CLARKE
& Co., six-horse Truck, with Engine and Derrick in operation,
pumping Oil.
M. VASSAtt & CO., Truck drawn by four horses, representing the
Poughkeep)sie Ale and Porter Works.
Two FOUR-HORSE TEAMS, representing the Forwarding Business, by the Newport, Boston and New-York Steamboat Company.
E. V. HAUGHWOUT & Co., six Wagons representing Branches
of Trade.
WM. BOYD, Wheelwright, one six-horse Wagon, men at work,
with Forge in operation representing the Manufacturing of Wheels;and Blacksmithing.
Iho.OWE & BOUVIER, two Teams with worlkmen manufacturing
Gold. and Silver, and Platform Scales.
STEINWAY & SONS, 450 Workmen representing the manufacture
of a Piano on the Route.
L. SCHEPP, 282 Greenwich Street, four-horse Truck distributing
Coffee in packages to the Public, and loaded with Teas, Coffees
and Spices, decorated with Flags, &c. Worknmen on Truck.
THOSMAS RAFTER, HTair-Dressing, French's Hotel. Four-horse
Omnibus.
J. W. FABTN'S Arabian Camels; also, one young Camel eleven
months old, led by a Native Arab.
PERKINS, STEARN & Co., 180 Broadway, Team, representing
the Interests and Productions of California, surmounted by the
Arms of California, and Mottoes: " California, her loyalty unirnpeachable, her mines inexhaustible, her wines irreproachable;"
3




18
and there will be distributed to the ladies 1,000 bottles of A ngelica
Wine on the route.
GEORGE W. LAIRD six-horse Truck loaded with goods.
EDwTARD D. BAsSFORD, corner A stor Place and Thlird iand Fourth
Avenues, three Wagons, four horses each, decorated.
M. COHN, 147 Chambers Street, Hoop Skirts. Two-horse Truck,
with Sewing Machines and girls operating on them; large hoop
skirt in the centre.
VALENTINE & BUTLER, four-horse Truck, Safes and Locks.
PHILIP KELTERER, 90 Thompson Street, six-horse Truck, representing trade, with forge and work bench.
Six Horses, covered with Blankets, having the name of a captured city on each.
D. E. CLARKE & CO., Wagons and Trucks, representing the
manufacture of Bags.
EUREKA SEGAR MACHINE of W. M. Harding, on a two-horse
Truck, where will be manufactured 10,000 Segars, and distributed
to the people on the route.
STEPHEN  WILLIAM  SMITH, Mechanical Cantering Horses,
mounted and propelled by Girls and Boys.
THE METROPOLITAN STEAM BOILER INSPECTORS, with SteamBoiler in the Procession, in charge of Engineers.
J.'W. MASON & CO., 379 Pearl Street, Chair Manufacturer,
twelve Horses and 1000 Chairs.
MARINE SIGNAL W7HISTLE, Merritt & Walcott, Agents, 64
Cortlandt Street.
QUEEN CITY TOBACCO WORKS, 31 John1 Street.  A Tobacco
Wagon drawn by three horses tandem, decorated, and will distribute $500 worth of Tobacco on the route.
CRAGIN & CO., Inspectors of Provisions, 400 West Twelfth
Street. Six Horses and Truck.
SINGER MANUFACTURING CO., three Teams, and from 700 to
1,000 men.
STON'INGTON LINE for Boston, offers to the Committee two fourhorse Teams for carryilg Sick Soldiers.




19
D. BARNUM, 508 Broadway, Self-Sewer on one-horse Team —
Machine in operation.
J. WARD) & Co., one-horse Team —Washing Machines and
Wringers in operation.
LESLIE & ELLIOTT, one-lborse Tearn-Refrigerators.
BORI-LAND, BIGELOW & CO., one four-horse Truck, one two-horse
Truck-Bag Manufacturing.
Col. WM. R. NEVINS, 89 Third Avenue, Baking Machine and
Oven, with four horses.
WELLS, BONTECOU & CO., and HOUSTON & WEST, Lumber
Dealers, will furnish Truck and six horses.
HERMETICAL BARREL CO., Robbins Patent, 153 Broadway, four
horse Trruck, with Barrels.
LESLIE. ELLIOT & Co., 494 Broadway, two WVagons, four horses
each, representing Polar Refrigerators, Gas Stoves and Eddy's
Patent Kerosene Stoves.
VAN AMBURGII & CO., No. 539 & 541 Broadway, Mammoth
War Elephant, HANNIBAL, and perlforming Elephant, TIPPoo
SAHIB, with Police Detail.
MERCHANTS' POLICE NIGHT WATCH, two-horse Tiuck.
CHAS. H. ABBE, 124 East 29th Street, Hoisting Machine —Onehorse Wagon.
SIXTH DIVISION.
JOHN DECKER, Chief Engineer, Jfarshal,
AND ASSISTANT ENGINEERS, AS AIDS.
The FIRE DEPARTMENT, under Chief Engineer DECKER, in
uniform, with Steam Engines, Hose. Ihook and Ladder Companies
turned out about 2,000 strong and were a marked feature of the
Procession.
THE FLAG OF THE STAR OF THE WEST.
One of the most interesting incidents connected with the celebration yesterday was the displaying of the Flag of the "Star of the




20
West," by MARSHALL O. ROBERTS, Esq., from his residence, Fifth
Avenue, corner of Eighteenth Street.  At an early hour a large
number of persons in front of Mr. ROBERTS' house patiently awaited
the displaying of the Flag, and when it fell in graceful folds from
the balcony, greeted it with rounds of enthusiastic applause.
During  the entire day the flag upon which war opened, appeared
in its splendor to celebrate first signal triumphs over its assailants.
On this flag the rebels (Washington Artillery, of Charleston), first
fired while it floated over the Star of the West, conveying provisions to relieve the besieged garrison of Fort Sumter.
Ily-EJ    I-:




21
THE MASS MEETING AT UNION SQUARE.
STAND NO. 1.
The procession having passed, (half an hour after the time appointed for holding the Meeting,) the committee and invited
speakers assembled at the Maison Dor6e, and proceeded to tlhe
three stands erected  on both sides of Union Square.   These
were beautifully decorated with flags and emblems, and enlivened
by the stirring music of the bands of the Seventh Regiment and
other musical corps.  The speaking commenced at Stand No. 1,
from which addresses were delivered to a vast assembly surging
continually by the force of the multitude, and responding to the
sentiments of the orators.  This was a large platform  erected in
front of the Maison Dorke.  It could scarcely be noted fat what
hour the meeting assembled: it was the wheeling  round of the
vast gathering who had witnessed the grand pageant, and now
turned their attention with eager interest to the distinguished
speakers.
In the temporary absence O(f MOSES TAYLOR, Esq., Chairman of
the Committee of Arrangements, the Hon. JOHN A. KING called
the meeting to order and made some appropriate and effective
opening remarks.
Rev. DR. THOMAS E. VERMILYEA thereupon offered an eloquent and fervent prayer.
Maj.-Gen. JOHN A. DIx was nominated for Presiding Officer,
and chosen by acclamation. He said:
FELLOW-CITIZENS,-Nearly four years ago you were assembled where you
stand to-day. The insurrection of the Southern States against the authority
of the Government had just broken out into acts of treachery and violence, and
culminated in the capture of. Fort Sumter. We came together to give to the
country, and to each other, a solemn pledge that this insurrection, founded in no
just cause of provocation, should be put down, at whatever cost of treasure and
blood. [Cheers.] The pledge has thus far been redeemed; and we are here now
to congratulate the country on the recent extraordinary success of' the national




arms-the wonderful march of Sherman from Atlanta to the ocean, [cheers,] the
bombardment of Fort Fisher, unparalleled in naval warfare, the irresistible assault
on that fort, one of the most memorable in modern times, and the evacuation of
Savannah, Columbia, Wilminglton and Charleston, and now at the very hour
when we are rejoicin( over these victories, comes the glorious intelligence of the
defeat and capture of Early and his forces by Sheridan.  [Enthusiastic cheers.]
When you were standing here four years ago, the flag of Fort Sumter, tattered by
the wind and storm, and rent by rebel missiles, was unfurled before you. It had
been hauled down by its gallant defenders when they were worn1 out by fatigue
and famine. The banner of the Union floats again over the battlements of that
fortress, an emblem  of the restored authority, and the vindicated honor of the
Government and the people.  [Cheers.]  The boastful violators of the national
order and tranquillity, chief actors, as they were, in the conspiracy to overthrow
the Government of their country, are flying before the victorious armies of the
Republic, far away from the guilty city in which their treason was hatched and
matured.  [Applause.]  We could not pass by this triumphant vindication of
the cause of the Union in silence, without a heartless indifference to the gallant
men through whose dangers, toils and sufferings it has been achieved, not without
criminal ingratitude to the superintending Providence. under whose protection and
guidance our armies have been led on to victory. Much, no doubt, is yet to be
done to bring the war to a close; but I feel assured that history will record the
successes we are commemorating among the closing acts of the rebellion.  [Loud
cheers.]  I do not intend, fellow-citizens, to enter into any detail of the events,
achievements, dancers or difficulties which have marked this great domestic conflict-a conflict without a parallel in modern times-almost without a parallel in
any times, even the most remote. Let us thank God that the spirit of determination with which it has been carried on by us has never faltered for a moment,
and that it has never been sullied by any feelings of bitterness towards our misguided brethren, even though they were clutching with bloody hands at the
nation's life.  [Cheers.]  There is nothing in our cause which should degenerate
into vindictiveness or cruelty.  We are struggling to preserve unbroken the national compact, and to prevent a social disruption between States which, once dissevered, would never come together again but for purposes of bloodshed and strife.
I will not enlarge on these topics. There are eloquent gentlemen to come after
me who can do far better justice to them than myself  [Cries of' Go on."]  But
there are one or two considerations arising out of the European view of this domestic contest, to which I wish briefly to call your attention. It is very strange
that many of those who have been looking on across the Atlantic should all
at once have forgotten that the national wrongs for which the United States have
been so much reproached by Europeans in past years, are all of Southern growth
slavery, filibustering, and repudiation.  [Cheers.]  From  this three-fold exfoliation of political evil-the noxious growth of the Southern hot-bed-the darker
crime of rebellion has sprung up. We, of the North, though participating in the
odium of the three first, by virtue of our common brotherhood with the South,
have, in truth, no responsibility for either.  We hold no slaves; we have never
set on foot a piratical expedition against a friendly power; Mississippi, the home
of Jefferson Davis. is the only one of the United States which has persisted for a
quarter of a century in repudiating her debts. Those abroad who have taken part
against us have ranged themselves on the side of all this political wrong,virtually
sustaining now what in the past they have been most vociferous to condemn. No
motive could be strong enough to account for such a choice but a desire to see us
broken up for the purpose of weakening our power. Lord Brougham, in a sketch
of the life of Jefferson, written twenty-five years ago, alluded to the existence of
such a feeling in Europe. It has not, perhaps, manifested itself so much among
the most enlightened statesmen of France and England as among those narrow



23
minded politicians, who look for national greatness in the weakness of other
States, rather than in a miagnanimous policy, which regards the great family of
nations as one, and the prosperity of each as an element of prosperity for all the
others. It is a source of sincere gratification to us that, in bearing up against our
heavy burdens, some of the most intelligent men of England-John Bright,
[cheers,] Richard Cobden, Goldwin Smith and others-have encouraged us by
their approving voices.  [Applause.]'Ihey felt, with us, that we were battling
for the interests of stable government throughout the world, and that if we had
ignobly failed, for want of courage and constancy. we should have been abased
forever in the judgment of niarikind.  [Cheers.]  But sympathy with the cause
of domestic treason is not the only legacy Europe has left to us and our posterity.  I believe it can be demonstrated that this war would have been over,
two years ago, if it had not been kept alive by means of military supplies-arms.
ammunition, the munitions of war, everything. in short, essential to the support of
armies-manuliictured in the workshops, and smuggled into rebel ports by the
blockade-runners of,neutral Great Britain.  [Applause.]  Our commerce has
been swept from the ocean by armed vessels built in her ship-yards and fitted out
in her ports  And I do not hesitate to express the opinion that these aids to the
rebel cause have, by prolonging the war, added at least fifteen hundred million
to our immense national debt. It is against these embarrassments. which ought
never to have been superadded to such as were inherent in this great contest,
that it has been carried on, and is now, as all the indications manifest, approaching its conclusion. It is to express our thankfulness for this triumphant issue of
the contest that we are here to-day.  We come together in no personal or party
spirit. The feeling which animates us is as broad as the country itself.  We rejoice in the achievements of the past and the hopes of the future. We rejoice
that the calamities of war are soon to be over; that the Union is to be re-established with its ancient boundaries, and in all its ancient honor and strength;
[cheers;] that involuntary servitude, the cause of all our dissensions, is to be eradicated by constitutional means; [loud applause;] that the great body of the Southera people, when their guilty leaders shall have been expelled, will return to their
allegiance to the Government of their fathers; and that the country will move on
again, unimpeded by domestic discord, in its majestic march to prosperity and
power. For these blessings and these hopes, how can we be sufficiently thankful
to the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, who is bringing us out of the darkness
and uncertainty of the past into the full lustre of a bright and triumphant day!
[Cheers.]  Indulge me, fellow-citizens, in one word more.  Only two days have
elapsed since a new administration entered on the grave and responsible business
of government. When we look back to the political canvass which closed four
months ago, and remember the universal order and quiet which prevailed, we cannot but regard them as a most remarkable proof of the excellence of our political
system, and of the moral and intellectual elevation of the American people.
Europeans had predicted that we should fall to pieces through the party excitement by which the country seemed to be convulsed. And yet, under the influence of the most intense feeling, and amid the conflict of the most powerful interests with which the people ever exercised the right of suffrage, they went to the
polls with a calmness eminently signiticant of their deep sense of the solemn duty
they had to perform. And they are now acquiescing in the voice of the majority
with a cheerfulness which shows how far superior to all prejudice, passion, or personal motive, are their respect for'the law and their faith in our political organization. There is a moral of deep significance in this peaceful submission to the
popular will. It carries with it the assurance that whenever a successful party is
called on by the behest of the people to lay down the ensigns of authority, they
will be iesigned with the same cheerfulness, and the movement of the Government
will go on in other' hands without disturbance or shock. It is in trying cmer



24
gencies like tllese that the character of a great people is brought out in bold and
manly relief; and it is with this sacred deference for the established order of guyverminent and society that we preselnt ourselves to the other nations of the world,
challencrging their respect by risingi above all partizalnship, and knowing each other
only as Americans in all that concernls the honor and prosperity of the country
and the stability of our popular institutions.  [Loud applause.]
Ion. Samuel Sloan  proposed  the following  list of Vice-Presidents and Secretaries, which were unanimously chosen:
VICE-PRESIDENTS.
WVilliam B. Astor,           John A. King,              Mloses tH. Grinnell,
Hamilton Fish,               James Lenox,                William G. Lambert,
A. A. Low,                   Peter Lorillard,            E. P. Cowvles,
Moses Taylor,                William E. Dodge,           Levi P. Morton,
Alexander T. Stewart,        Jonathan Sturges,           James Brown,
Simeon Draper,               George C. Ward,             John C. Hamilton,
Georoe Bancroft,             Winm. H. Lee,:Marvelle W. Cooper,
Charles H. Marshall,         Ezra Nye,                   Charles Butler,
1Robt. L. Stuart,            S. T. Skidmore,             HEenry K. Bogert,
Clharles P. Daly,            Charles Gould,              Denning Duer,
Charles H. Russell,          Wm. Hoge,                   A. V. Stout,
Peter Cooper,                H. J. Raymond,              John H. Gourlie,
Francis B. Cutting,          E. S. Sanford,              John Bryan,
Horace B. Claflin,           Henry M. Taber,             Francis Lieber,
Henry Clews,                 Wim. Seligman,              M. H. Levin,
George Opdyke,               Chas. G. Cornell,           Alex. Van Rensselaer,
Samuel Wetmore,             John J. Astor, Jr.,          George WV. Curtis,
BJenj. AV. Bonney,           J. F. D. Lanier,            C. E. Detmold,
R.:M. Blatchford            Robt. L. Cutting,           A. C. Kingsland,
Wiln. Kelly,                 Wm. H. ~Neilson,            Douglas Taylor,
Eli Whlite,                  George T. Adee,             William E. Curtis,
RLobt. H. McCurdy,           Isaac Bell,                 Frederick A. Conkling,
John C. Green,               WVilliam 1H. Fogg,          Joseph Lawrence,
Witi. H. WA;ebb,             Sheppard Gaudy,             John A. Stewart,
John Steward,                S. B. Chittenden,           WVilliam A. Darling,
Benjamin R. Winthrop,        Hiram Walbridge,            Jackson S. Schultz,
Alexander W. Bradford,       Waldo Hutchins,             Abram Wakeman,
Prosper -M. WVetmore,        James Low,                  L. W. Winchester,
WVilliam T. Blod(gett,      -Nathaniel Hayden,           B. C. Morris,
Thomas C. Acton,             David Hoadley,              William Johnson,
Frank E. Howe,               Isaac Green Pierson,        Cyrus W. Field,
MSatthew T. Brennan,         Joseph Hoxie,              FIrank W. W~orth,
Elliot C. Cowdin,           Edwin Croswell,              Josiah M. Fiske,
Seth IB. 1ttlunt,            Horace Greeley,             Josiah Hedden,
D. Randolph Martin,          Geo. P. Putnam,             JaLmes A. Pullen,
ITcnry Hilton,;              Wr. J. Ioppin,              Saln'l Waldron,
Wrlni. M. EN-varts,          I. P. Swift,                Charles F. Blake,
Maarslhll 0. IRoberts,       Geo. Folsom,                Francis M. Babcock,
Townsend Harris,             William W. Stone,           Joseph Ripley,
Wim. F. Allen,               Alexander Stuart,           S. De Wit Bloodgood,
Charles L. Tiffany,          Washington R. Verlilyc,     WVm. P. Esterbrook,
James W. Beekman,            Le Grand B. Cannon,         Curtis Judson,
John A. Stevens,             Wm. Laimbeer, Jr.,          Edwin Hoyt,
John J. Cisco,               F. S. Winston,              James WV. Ball,
R. D. Lathrop,               Theodore Tilton,            Robt. Geo. Remsen,
John David Wolfe,            Peter B. Sweeny,            A. C. Richards,
Rufus F. Andrews,            Chas. A. Stetson,           RObert B. Minturn, Jr.,




25
Shepherd Knapp,             Robert S. Hone,            Parker Handy,
Edwards Pierrepont,         James B. Nicholson,        John H. Sherwood,
Courtlandt Palmer,          Henry E. Pierrepont,       Joseph A. Sprague,
John J. Phelps,             Minthorne Tompkins, Jr.,    John C. Martin,
Leonard W. Jerome,          Henry G. Stebbins,         Geo. F. Talman,
James Gordon Bennett,       Geo. W. Blunt,             Joseph J. Comstock,
Wm. F. Cary,                Nathan Chandler,           Nehemiah Knight,
William Kemble,             Philip Tillinghast,        Harry H. Woods,
Rich'd Schell,              A. B. Baylis,              Geo. A. Hearn,
Edward Minturn,             Corn's. K. Garrison,       Geo. A. Fellows,
James T. Brady,             Isaac Sherman,             Jacob A. Westervelt,
John H. Almy,               WVm. H. Hays,              Josiah Oakes,
Winm. M. Tweed,             James McKaye,              George W. Hatch,
W. C. Wetmore,              Elisha Riggs,              John Ordronaux,
Myndert Van Schaick.        Charles Mackin,            John Stephenson,
D. B. Fearing,              James Bowen,               P. Townsend,
James Geddes Day,           Orison Blunt,              James Udall,
George Griswold,            Charles W. Elliott,        J. E. Buckley,
George Denison,             John Falconer,             Mark Hoyt,
William K. Strong,          Henry F. Vail,              T. T. Bulkley,
Chas. Aug. Davis,           Erastus Brooks,            Theo. Polhamus, Jr.,
Henry A. Smythe,            A. Jacobi,                 H. D. Aldrich,
Elliott F. Shepard,         Joseph Lee,                 D. Willis James,
William B. Dinsmore,        Erskine Phillips,           Charles H. Dabney,
Morgan Jones,               Alex. Taylor,              Dexter A. Hawkins,
H. S. Fearing,              Manton Marble,             B. D. Silliman,
David Lane,                 David Dows,                James S. Bearns,
Erastus C. Benedict,        Charles G. Judson,         D. D. T. Marshall,
John A. C. Gray,            Ernest Krackowitzer,        Thomas Polhamus,
James Wadsworth,            Thos. B. Asten,             Robert H. Berdell,
Gustav Schwab,              Henry G. Marquand,         Anthony J. Bleecker,
John S. Williams,           N. Pendleton Hosack,       John B. Moreau,
John H. White,              Thomas Smull,              Solon Humphrey,
E. Caylus,                  Wm. Joyce,                 John D. McKenzie,
C. B. Hoffman,              Samuel S. Wyckoff,         Charles H. Ludington,
Wed. W. Clark,              Guy R. Pelton,             John Alstyne,
H. L. Parmele,              Marcellus Hartley,         A. J. Williamson,
John D. Jones,              J. K. Place,               J. C. Bancroft Davis,
Harvey Fisk,                Gilbert Dean,              Stephen Hyatt,
Edw'd H. Arthur,            John Austin Stevens, Jr.,    W. A. White,
Richard A. Reading,         Win. H. Harbeck,           G. Albinola,
George Ball,                Cumming H. Tucker,         Charles B. Norton,
George F. Nesbitt,          Geo. W. Lane,              George Briggs,
William Harding,            A. L. Roseman,             George P. Taylor,
George S. Coe,              Amos R. Eno,               T. B. Coddington,
Hiram Barney,               William P. Miller,         David Dudley Field,
Timothy G. Churchill,       Bartholomew Brown,         W. F. Havemeyer,
Dudley B. Fuller,           Frederick Rauchfuss,       Benj. H. Hutton,
Isaac C. Kendall,           Edward Walker,             Marshall Lefferts,
Charles S. Spencer,        Edward Learned,             Henry Nicoll,
Wm. McMurray,               Vincenzo Botta,            J. Taylor Johnston,
Thos. H. Faile,             D. Groesbeck,              Robert Winthrop,
Paul Spofford,              Chester P. Dewey,           Charles W. Sandford,
J. H. Horbeck,              Henry L. Pierson,           Wm. W. De Forest,
Daniel J. Miller,           Wm. A. Booth,               J. Woodward Havens,
Arthur Leary,               H. A. Whitfield,           Fisher Howe,
Thomas Lord,                Teunis W. Quick,           B. F. Manierre,
Wm. M. Vermilye,            Chas. P. Kirkland.          J. A. Haywood,
Daniel Devlin,              John E. Williams,           James Kelly,
Francis Skiddy,             Samuel B. Ruggles,          Winm. E. Dodge, Jr.,
4




26
John T. Fisher,             William Tilden,             James M. Constable,
Josiah Sutherland,          Paran Stevens,               Nath'lD. Carlile,
Henry Waldron,              Elijah F. Purdy,            Henry E. Clark,
George B. Butler,,          Charles Abernethy,          Frederick Knhne,
WVilliam H. Osbor3n,         John T. Hoffman,            Elisha Brooks,
David Crawford,              Henry E. Davies,            G. H. [Kissel,
P. C. Calhoun,              John R. Brady,               M. Silvis,
James M. Brown,              Geo. T. Hope,               Thos. B. Van Buren,
James Hayes,                 Henry Ward,                 Abm. R. Lawrence,
G. H. Bissell,              Willis Gaylord,              William Orton,
Chas. Astor Bristed,        William Hall,                Simeon Baldwin,
Jas. W. Hale,                John E. Develin,            C. J. Anthony,
J. S. Bosworth,              S. D. Babcock,              James H. Benedict,
Ed. J. Warren,               O. De Forest Grant,         William C. Prime,
Theron R. Bntler,           Christopher R. Robert,       A. W. Spies,
John D. Lawson,              J. G. Bergen,               J. F. Penniman,
Albon P. Man,               Richard Busteed,             James M. Thomson,
Frederick  elpper,           Thomas Boese,               George H. Draper,
F. Prentice,                 Dan'l W. Teller,           John Kelly,
S. M. Seely,                Winm. R. Stewart,           M. Stephens,
Charles Carter,              Moses S. Beach,             B. F. Beekman,
John W. Q1lincy,             James G. King,              Alfred G. Benson,
N. Jarvis, J-.,              T. M. Tyng,                 Oliver Carpenter,
M. P. White,                 E. P. McDermott,            Richard Warren,
Frank W. Ballard,            William Munn,               Oswald Ottendorfer,
B. ID. Sherman,              Orlando W. Joslyn,          William Boyd.
SECRETARIES.
Joseph H. Choate,            John H. Draper,             John Hardy,
Percy Pyne,                  Thomas H. Morrell,          Jesse Payne,
Edward C. Bogert,            Cephas Brainerd,            Theodore Braine,
Spencer Kirby,               Oliver K. King,             John Sedgwick,
Samuel C. Reed,             Winm. Walter Phelps,         H. Huntington Lee,
Grosvenor P. Lowrey,        Chas. E. Whitehead,         Jas. Lorimer Graham, Jr.,
Edward A. Wetmore,           Edward W. Lambert,          D. B. Eaton,
Charles T. Dix,             Wm. Allen Butler,            Francis A. Stout,
D. Van zNostrand,            H. R. Latimer,              George Bliss, Jr.,
Wm. G. Annan,               Lewis D. Bulkley,            George W. Benson,
John A. Weeks,              Richard M. Hunt,             R. L. Suydam,
Win. C. Church,             Warner Sherwood,             George H. Giltzow,
Richard A. McCurdy,          John E. Green,              George De Forest Lord,
Oscar Tibbals,              James C. Carter,             Thomas E. Hanson,
J. F. Bailey,                Charles G. Landon,          Thos. E. Stewart,
Morris A. Tyng,             W. H. Kimball,              Irving Grinnell,
David Adee,                  Thos. L. Thornell,          N. S. Husted.
William Drummond,
The Hon. C. P. Daly, Chairman  of the  Committee  on  Resolutions, read the following, which were received with loud applause
and adopted unanimously:
Resolved, That the duty of taking up arms to preserve the nation, unexpectedly
cast upon this generation, in a time of profound peace and great national prosperity, was an obligation imposed by the memories of the past and the hopes of
the future, and shall be resolutely fulfilled, and steadily maintained, at everp cost
and by every sacrifice.




27
Resolved, That the war which has been forced upon us is prosecuted on our
part in no vindictive spirit and with no aggressive desire for subjugation or conquest; that we stand before the world in the attitude of a people mailtainingl
their government against those, who, without complaint of oppression or wrong,
but misled by their pride and ambition, are in arms to overthrow it through the
unwise counsels of unprincipled leaders.
Resolved, That submission to the attempt to establish an independent confederation by seizing the larger part of the national domain, two-thirds of our sea coast
and the mouths of our principal rivers, would be to give up the main source of
our strength and a vital condition of' our existence as a nation.
Resolved, That the National Flag. waving in triumph over the city where the
seeds of rebellion germinated, and where that sacred emblem was first insulted,
kindles all loyal hearts with gratitude, and awakens throughout the land universal gladness.
Resolved, That the plans of General Grant for the overthrow  of armed rebellion, revealed by the brilliant victories we are this day assembled to cornmemorate, have won the admiration of mankind; while the comprehensive grasp of
their conception and the heroic valor with which they have been executed, confirm
our faith in the final triumph of our arms, and call forth our warmest gratitude
that we have such a soldier to organize victory and( such armies to achieve it.
Resolved, That the boldness, celerity and certainty which have marked the recent campaigns of General Sherman afford a lesson in the military art, and will
place the officer who accomplished it in the foremost rank of distinguished generals. We greet with warmest thanks the heroes who have borne our banner
from Chattanooga to Atlanta, to Savannah. to Charleston, and to Columbia; and
with thanksgiving for the past we offer fervent prayer toAlmighty God, that in
the coming hour of battle their valor may be crowned with complete and decisive triumph.
Resolved, That the fleets of the United States, by the untiring vigilance with
which they have guarded three thousand miles of coast, by their achievements
upon our rivers, by their heroic deeds at Port Royal and New Orleans, at 1Iobile
and Fort Fisher. by the dauntless courage they have displayed upon the seas, in
assailing every enemy that has dared to meet them, have merited the thanks of
their country, and raised still higher the historic fame of the American Navy
and that the victories of Farragut, of Dupont and of Porter, have given our fla-(
that pre-eminence upon the ocean which secures us against invasion, and establishes our fame and our power throughout the world.
Resolved, That the fact that we have successfully taken and held the cities of
Alexandria, Norfolk, Nashville, New  Orleans, Memphis, Natchez, Vicksburgl
Savannah, Charleston, Columbia and Wilmington, and have, through the united
efforts of our armies and fleets, and the vigor, devotion and persistency of the
Government, closed up every port accessible to the insurgents along the extensive line of our sea-coast, embraces a series of events fulfilling the predictions of
the past and foreshadowing the results of the future.
Hon. EDWARDS PIERREPONT was then introduced and received
with loud applause.  He spoke as follows:
FELLOW-CITIZENS,Four years ago the war begun. There was a great uprising of the North, and
we met here, under the open slay, and resolved, to defend our Government and
to preserve our country entire. Then our strength had not been tried, and to us




28
the arts of war were new. To-day we meet under the same sky, after the roll of
Jour eventful years! We meet for sober rejoicing at the many brilliant successes
over the enemies of Liberty, and to offer thanks to Almighty God, who has given
us the victory.
During these years, events in such vast grandeur have moved onward from the
sun, as no prophetic vision of man could possibly have foreseen.
Then we debated whether the North could raise seventy-five thousand troops
for the war. In four years we have grown used to the contemplation of a million
of armed men.
Then one hundred million of new debt was regarded as something grievous
to be borne-now, two thousand million is regarded as a lighter burden.
Four years ago Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United
States. Each year of his administration has been a year of civil war; and have
you noted this? Each succeeding year has been bloodier than the one it followed!
Now, Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated again. If some watcher in the sky
could descend, and from this stage read the scroll of our destiny for the next four
years, would it not startle and appal? But thanks to a kind Providence which
hides most of the Book of Fate, and turns over the leaves only just so fast as we
can bear the reading. The four years gone by have left their history; and WHAT
A HISTORY!
By the lingering light of these years, which now move on in the eternal procession which has passed, we may catch some glimpses of the future which will
help to solve these two questions which arise before every sober mind:
First-Is the rebellion nearly over, and will the South lay down their arms and
soon return to the Union? And,
Second-Will the North remain firm in her purpose, and continue the war at
any sacrifice and at all hazards, until peace is conquered and the integrity of the
Union secured.
Those who do not estimate moral forces, and the power of the human will in
the affairs of men, and who suppose that all rests upon mere physical strength
and material interests, will be likely to misread our future.
I see no indication of any willing allegiance on the part of the South. The
day of willing allegiance has passed, and hence it is clear that the rebellion is
not over, and that there will be no early return to the Union. Slow must be the
peace which comes of unwilling submission; but come it surely will, and that is
the only peace which can now be attained.
It is quite time that we awake from the deceiving dream that re-union can ever
come of concession. It must come of conquest. It is all idle to talk of peace
with the South until, by military power, they are forced to submit; and it is
equally idle to talk of this forced submission as the work of a day.
We are at war with a brave and high-spirited people. The intellectual and
moral forces which control that people are not for the Union. To them the
Union is a name of hatred, and the old flag a thingl of loathing. Let us not be
deceived about this; we have deceived ourselves full long.
Sherman understands this —Grant understands it-and we might all understand it, if we would cease to smother our reason with our hopes.
Have we yet seen a single State return to the Union?
Fellow-citizens, we have been the willing dupes of our fond wishes; we have
been catchingr at a bright phantom, which has continually receded from our grasp,
and four full years have fled and not a State has returned to its allegiance.
The next question is, whether the North will remain firm and unwearied until
peace is conquered and the entire Union is restored?
THE ANSWER IS ONE UNITED AFFIRMATIVE!
The Union is a necessity-the waters of all the great rivers of the nation
empty into Southern seas —the people are of one language, of one blood, and of
the same religion!




29
The military conquest and final pacification of the South is but a question of
time; this can be demonstrated.
The North were unprepared for war; the South had been preparing for many
years.
T'o day the population of the North is quite as great as when the war began.
That of the South is greatly reduced. The whites and the blacks of the South
have both rapidly dimiinished. The material wealth of the North was never
greater than to-day-that of the Souih is not one-tenth of what it was at the
commencement of the war. The North are open to the trade and to the emigration of the world-the South are sealed up.
But some boding mind replies tkat our prosperity is imaginary-not real.
Your houses, your barns, your workshops, your fertile fields, your abundant
food, your busy machinery, your crowded railroads, your luxurious homes and
costly clothes, they surely are real. There is no fancy about them-you have
themn, and in the whole vast North there are more well-fed, well-clad, well-sheltered
men than when the war began, and fewer in the extremes of want. Thesefacts
cannot be shoved aside.
But, we are told that this cannot last; that early ruin will surely follow continued war.  There is no ground for this gloomy view —none whatever. It is a
question of arithmetic, not of rhetoric.
There is no immigration to the South. Southern soldiers have died on the
battle-field; thousands have perished by disease and the privations of the campmany have deserted-the slaves in great numbers have fled to our lines, and their
whole population is rapidly diminishing. General Lee proclaims that he cannot
continue the war without the aid of colored troops. Half sleeping in the dull
brain of the negro has lain some sense of his rights, and some shadowy tradition
that his deliverance was to come from the North. Sherman's cannon wake up
the negro, and they find him in no corner of Georgia ionorant of his friends or of
hlis wrongs. General Lee's negro trcops will not dismay the North. We may
continue the war through interminable years without diminishing our population
or our present wealth. The war may prevent increase of numbers or accumulating wealth, but it will not diminish our present wealth in the least.'Ihere is great misapprehension upon this subject.'There will be no need of
annually expendiing more than we annually make. We shall not use more corn,
or flour, or lood of any kind than we can produce. We shall not need more of
powder, or of ordnance, or of ships, or of anything else, than we can make or
purchase with what we have to exchange.
The war nay go on for twenty years, and it will no more impoverish the North
to support the necessary armies, than it will impoverish the City of New-York to
support the necessary police. Our great mistake has been in supposing that, by
vast, undisciplined numbers and by lavish expenditures, we could end the rebellion
in a few months.
The farmer, whose farm, cultivated by his sons, yields all that the family
expend, is in no danger from the sheriff.
The nation, whose sons produce from its soil, its mines and its wells, all that
the nation spends, is secure from bankruptcy. We forget the new, the vast, the
ever-increasing sources of wealth which each year develops.
During the war of 1812, not a railroad existed, and the use of steam was
hardly known-the reaper had not been invented, and machinery was but little
used. The fertile soil could grow the wheat, but the labor of culture, and of
harvest, and of transportation made it of little value. Now, a single man, in a
single year, by the aid of machinerv, can produce more actual wealth than forty
men could have done in twice the time, during the last war.
In this, the advantage of the North over the South is immense. In this lies a
capacity for continued war, not sufficiently considered.  New discoveries in
machinery, by which the productive power is so rapidly multiplied; new discov



30
eries of gold, of silver, of copper, of lead, of coal, of iron and of petroleum, adds
enormous amounts to the actual wealth of the nation each coming year.
The debt grows fast, but the capacity to meet it grows faster, and the North,
with its amazing activity and increasing power, can carry on this war till not a
hamlet smokes in the whole of Rebeldom, and spend not a dollar above the
annual accumulations of her people.
It is time that we gave up the delusion that the South are for the Union, or
that we are to have a willing allegiance accorded at commercial dates. It is time
that we look upon this war as a business, permanent for some years-a war which
is not to end by a speedy return of recent rebels with hearts new heaving with
exultant loyalty. Nothing like it is coming. The military conquest and final
pacification of the South, must be a work of time, and war or pacification by
military power, of an unwilling and sullen population, will be the great business
of the Government for several years to come.
We have learned the warrior's art ~
We need in future the statesman's wisdom.
If this rebellion is not crushed; if this Union is not restored; if the integrity
of the country is not preserved, the fault will not lie with the people, nor in the
intrinsic difficulties of the affair, but in the want of capacity, on the part of those
in power, to deal with the great question. I believe that those in charge of the
Government will prove equal to their trust.
Our military ability is no longer doubted. The financial question is now the
great terror-wise men wag their heads, and look wiser and more gloomy as they
talk of finance, and he is regarded as a bold man or a fool, who shall now take
the portfolio of the treasury without a shudder. The richest country upon which
the sun ever shone-the most enterprising, brave and determined people that
lives, offer to the secretary, as collateral security for his note, the wealth of the
nation,; and the secretary trembles lest these same people will give him no credit;
-lend him no money!-one of the alleged reasons being that there is such a vast
quantity of it afloat. It is simply absurd. A secretary with strong common
sense, some capacity for generalization, ability to extract from the business men
of the country the results of their wisdom and experience, and having the judgment
to select from his gathered materials, and then to adopt a plan of finance to which
he shall firmly adhere, will find the future management of' the treasury as easy as
the direction of a Wall street bank.
T'helre was a time during the administration of Mr. Chase when many feared
foreigrn intervention; when the stability of our Government was doubted; when
our military success was less certain. All these things combined weakened the
public credit, and the timidity of wealth sought security outside of the bonds of
the nation.
No one longer doubts the stability of our Government; our military power is
assured, and of foreign intervention there is no more danger.
cThe Secretary who cannot manage the Treasury now, either lacks comprehension of' the subject, or capacity to impress his views. Thousands who cannot
devise a plan of finance will readily appreciate a wise one when properly presented, and confidence, which is all that is needed, will be given to the Secretary
so soon as he shall show that he deserves it.
There is no mystery about this business; confidence is all that is needed.
The stability of the Government being conceded, the wealth of the nation is collateral to the Secretary's bonds, and nothing but bad management will prevent
the people from exchanging the paper currency of the Government, which pays
no interest, for bonds of the same Government which (do pay interest. It is not
difficult to ascertain the proper amount of currency for the business of the couintry; when that is issued, stop-firmly stop. We do not owe abroad; with
reasonable economy, we need consume no more than we annually produce. The




31
money loaned to the Government soon returns to the people. If the Secretary
is firm and fearless, the war may go on, and the financial condition of the country
grow better each year.
The sole object of this war is to subdue the revolt, and to restore peace and
the Union.
We shall prosecute the war until these objects are attained.
When this rebellion shall have ceased, and the Union shall have been restored;
when slaves are no longer sold, and all the land is free; when the tide of emigration rolls over the Southern soil, and brings into blooming life her desolated fields;
when peace shall reign once more, and cruel war shall cease; then will this
majestic nation again move on towards the fulfilment of her great destiny; and," Then may we all rejoice with them
Who see by faith the cloudy hem
Of Judgment, fringed with Mercy's light."
(Prolonged cheers.)
The President said: I now introduce to you Maj.-Gen. AVERILL,
from Sheridan's army. Gen. AVERILL was greeted with warm
applause.
MAJ.-GEN. AVERILL'S SPEECH.
FELLOW-CITIzENS,-If God makes known His will through events, He seems
to have disposed that there shall be a nation on earth called the United States of
America. [Cheers.] You have assembled here in thousands to-day. at Union
Square in the metropolis of America, to recognize as His will, and to congratulate each other upon the occurrence of those events which have revealed it  [Applause.] What are the events and what are the victories we celebrate to-day?
Plunged into the vortex of this war four years ago, in our efforts to solve the
most difficult problem ever presented to humanity, we endeavored to cut the Gordian knot which had been tied and tying( from the birth of the Republic. Unorganized, ignorant and inexperienced, we met the insurgents without success.
We are now rapidly and surely approaching the solution of that problem. The
events and the victories on land and water, the achievements of science and art,
the advancement in agriculture and commerce, all the events great and small, that
have drawn the nation away from its grave-the abyss of secession and disunion
-that have enabled it to crush in the borders of a powerful and organized rebellion, that have brought it almost to its knees-that during all the struggle have
challenged the admiration and commanded the respect of the nations of the earth
and won the approval of Heaven-these, all these, are the events we celebrate today. These events have educated the nation. There is not an American citizen,
from the President to the boy who sweeps yonder crossing who is not better informed upon the subject of history. geography, politics, and the art of war to-day
than he was four years ago. We have gained strength from defeat and wisdom
from disaster. [Cheers.] The citizens of the United States have become acquainted with each other, the mass has been rendered homogenous, all sorts and
conditions of men have met and have been subjected to the same discipline and
endured the same hardships and trials in camp and on the battle field. Men
from the forests of the North, the prairies of the West, from town and country,
have gone forth, shoulder to shoulder, in support of the national cause. [Cheers.]
Never despairing, four years has the nation struggled with its enemies at honme
and abroad. Could the bones of our fallen patriots be assembled, a monument
would rear itself to the clouds, and did these clouds contain the tears of the
widows and the orphans that have been made, it would be washed to earth again.
[Applause.]  To what end was this sublime sacrifice? Union and peace. IAp



32
plause.]  We cannot have one without the other.  [Loud cheers.]  We can
have neither unless the armies arrayed against the National Government are destroyed, and they cannot be destroyed unless the united strength of the nation be
promptly put forth and properly used.  [Applause.]  The crisis of the most stupendous war that ever imperiled a human government is approaching. It will
soon be known to us whether a decided and final success will crown the efforts we
are making. or whether the agony of postponement is to be endured.  The glorious army of the Potomac, and that of Sherman, are gradually nearing the
heart and the brain of the rebellion.  [Cheers.] rThe struggle will be more terrible than any of the past four years. We must be prepared for a decided victory
or for delay. On one hand, if our expectations are realized, let mercy go with
justice; let us strive to heal the terrible wounds of the nation with clemency and
charitv. On the other, if our hopes are deferred, let not our hearts be made sick,
but let our inflexible resolution be exhibited by a prompt and overwhelming display of men and means.  Let us put forth a strength adequate for the suppression
of this rebellion within the shortest possible space of time. It will be merciful,
it will be economical. Arms is the fulcrum of peace, and money is the lever;
we must have both. We must not be cast down by delay nor even defeat. Our
gallant soldiers in the field demand a support from the great reserve of the nation.
Will you disregard their call? [Cries of " No," and cheers.] Across the Valley of the Shadow of Death come the voices of Wadsworth, Sedgwick, McPherson, Reynolds, Weed, and numberless other departed heroes, saying " Restore and
preserve the Union forever."  The voiceless eloquence which appeals to you from
the uncoffined dust of countless thousands, conjures you to restore the Union and
preserve it forever. The voice of God, heard through the events you celebrate to.
day, commands you to restore and preserve the Union forever. The greater the
effort at war the shorter the road to peace; and when peace shall have arrivedwhen, perhaps, the nation'has expanded its empire from the Russian Possessions to
the Isthmus of Darien, your children may come to this Union Square to behold
the forms of our fallen patriots lifted up in everlasting bronze arid marble. Then
and there may " the Father of his Country" marshal the monuments of immortal
heroes and future generations may come, year by year, to crown them with garlands.  [Enthusiastic applause, and three cheers for Gen. Averill and Gen.
Sheridan's army.]
The President next introduced HIon. JOHN VAN BUREN.
ADDRESS OF HON. JOHN VAN BUREN.
Mr. Van Buren, on presenting himself, was received with applause.  He said:
MR. PRESIDENT AND FFLLOW-CITIZENS,-JI congratulate you most cordially on
the magnificent demonstration that we have witrnessed this day, and the intelligence. the power and the patriotism of the people of this great commercial
metropolis.  [Cheers.] I congratulate you on this display-the military parade,
the crowds of women and children, the beautiful music, the brilliant day. Everything shows that this occasion has been one of uninterrupted success. And I
think it fortunate, (if I may be allowed to say so,) that the day itself should have
been the sixth, instead of the fourth of March.  [Laughter and applause.l  One
who was wiser than the committee has so ordered it, that we should wait until
to-day to celebrate those great victories that have been accomplished by our
able generals and gallant soldiers. Fellow-citizens, the sixth of March is to me
an interesting anniversary. On the sixth of March, two years ago, the citizens of
New-York, irrespective of party divisions, forgetting their personal and individ



33
ual differences, in view of the great dancers that threatened the country, met at
the Cooper Institute and resolved that they would sustain the Government, at
every hazard, in all constitutional efforts to put downv this rebellion, and to uphold the National Flag, and the national honor of our common country.  [Loud
cheers.]  Yes, the pledge that was then made on the part of the people of NewYork to the American people has been nobly redeemed. [Cheers.] Men and
money have been lavishly furnished to uphold our national life and national
honor, and we are now celebrating here some of the great fruits that have resulted from these combined patriotic exertions. Fellow-citizens, I only propose to
offer you, on this joyful occasion, but a few remarks. I am admonished that there
are a number of gentlemen now present more efficient and competent than I am
to address you, and from the time allotted to me, I must necessarily be brief.
But, fellow-citizens, this is an occasion when every patriot should rejoice.
[Cheers.]  The splendid victories which have been gained, to which allusion has
been made. must fill the national heart with gladness, and moisten every honest
eye with the sentiments of joy. And the splendid procession we have seen today is a fit commemoration of those great events. The resolutions that you have
adopted express with great force and clearness the reasons for the rejoicing, and
the gentlemen who have already addressed you have adverted with more particularity and propriety to the circumstances in detail, which should be referred to
upon an occasion like this, than I should do. [ do not propose myself to dwell
upon the feast of gallantry and heroism performed by distinguished men with but
one single exception. I do not propose to speak in detail of the splendid exploits, upon the waters, of Farragut, of Porter, of Dupont,, of Winslow, and
others, who might be mentioned; nor shall I stop to narrate the heroic acts, upon
land, of Grant and McClellan, and Sheridan, and Terry. and a vast number
of distinguished mr:n, including Gen. Averill, who has just addressed you, who
have reflected h)nor on the American name; but I do propose, very briefly, to
advert, in the limited time I shall occupy, to one or two of the features in the
character of an individual, who, perhaps more than any other, has been the occasion of this magnificent demonstration to-day. I allude to Gen. Sherman.
[Loud cheers.]  Gen. Sherman is obviously the architect of his own fortune,
and governs his own movements. It is entirely obvious that in his campaign he
must be influenced by what he sees at the moment, and takes direction from the
circumstances that exist around him. In determining when his army is to advance, and where he delays he must be governed by the country, the state of the
roads, the obstacles he is to encounter, and, above all, the great *necessity, the
supply of food. Napoleon has said that an army's march is like a snake upon
its belly, (laughter,) and it is unquestionably true that the great consideration is
food. Now, in my judgment, he has shown great enterprise in sustaining his
troops on the country through which he passed. And further, I regard the manner in which he dispersed Hood's army in front of him by simple manmeuvres,
as a masterpiece of military science.'['he march from Atlanta to Savannah, I
apprehend, that all military men will say was one of the most distinlguished in the
military annals of the world. You will also bear in mind the humanity of his
movements-the extreme saving, not only of ammunition, but of human life-by
which those two great and important points were conquered and occupied almost
without the loss of a single life. In my humble judgment, victories like these are
what call forth the loud-toned gratitude of the American people. [Cheers.]
They appeal not only to our love of conquest, and Union, and determination to
uphold our Government, but to our humanity, when we rejoice over victories
wherein human life has not been sacrificed either on our side or that of the enenly.
These are the great features in the career of Gen. Sherman which have induced
the American people, in my judgment, to depart from their uniform habit, and
celebrate the victory of the national arms.  We have our Tlhanksgiving feasts,
5




34
and our national holidays, but this is a general jubilee, a glorious holiday on
which so much has been done to celebrate the achievements of the arms of the
United States. Let me say to you to-day that I never for a moment have
wavered, and I do not suppose you have, in the entire faith of the victory of the
armies of the Union, and the absolute suppression of this unjustifiable and
wicked rebellion.  [Cheers.]  I never apprehended foreign interference. There
may have been a time when foreign interference was possible, but the manifestations that have been lately shown by the United States show that it is now impossible. France or Great Britain might send 20,000 or 30,000 men, and a dozen
of frigates or so, but what care we, with our million of veteran soldiers, and our
fleet, with Porter and Farragut at the head? Why, they would not be a mouthful for us. [Laughter and cheers.] All v;e have to do is to unite firmly together
to make a bold stand, to stand together, shoulder to shoulder, to supply men and
means to the Government, and, take my word for it, you will tell your children
truly when you say that this is the last rebellion that any man will ever see in
these United States. There will come a time when motives of humanity will
operate, when magnanimity towards our deluded fellow-citizens can be practised,
and when we can show them that we are better friends to them than those men
who have led them into this rebellion. When this is accomplished, those who
have peculiar views in regard to commerce, currency, finance, local self-government, State rights, or city matters, or in regard to the freedom of man, can
co-operate together, and by their united effort establish a government which will
be the admiration and envy of the civilized world. [Enthusiastic cheers.]
SPEECH  OF DAVID  DUDLEY FIELD, Esq.
Mr. D. D. FIELD was the next speaker.  He said:
Although we cannot yet say that the rebellion is entirely subdued, although a
large and fobrmidable rebel army still confronts us in the defences of Richmond,
and another on the plains of the Carolinas, we have nevertheless arrived at that
stage of the war, when we may indulge in mutual congratulations upon the successes we have achieved, receive the lesson which the history teaches, and pledge
ourselves anew for the work which remains before us.
The reasons for congratulation are abundant.  Four years ago, the Nation
seemed to the world to be dying. Seven States were in open revolt, others stood
ready to follow, and all were agitated by dissensions; the people were filled with
distrust and apprehension; nothing had been done to vindicate the national authority, and the country appeared to be drifting into hopeless anarchy. Men exclaimed to each other, with dismay, "Is this great nation to fall without a blow
struck in its defence?" Then ensued weeks of indecision and painful suspense,
till the flash of a hostile gun in the harbor of Charleston awoke the Nation as
from a long and troubled dream.
In what rapid succession events followed, how armies were mustered on both
sides and dashed against each other; how, for a time, the tide of battle ebbed
and flowed; how, nevertheless, the loyal army regained, one by one, the fortresses,
the cities, the States, that had been engulphed in the rebellion; how the national
standard, the symbol of Union and of glory, was gradually advanced, sometimes
hidden in the clouds of war, then emerging into the unclouded light, till it was
replanted in every State from which it had been excluded; how the whole maritime frontier this side of the Mississippi has been restored, till not a single rebel
flag is flaunted from the land to the sea,-all these things are written in the history of the four intervening years.
Well may we rejoice over these achievements, though we regret the waste of
war and mourn for the precious lives sacrificed to their country.




35
We rejoice to-day, not in the spirit of party, not because this or that leader has
been chosen, but because the Nation stands erect again, having retaken the fortresses of which it was treacherously despoiled, from the last to the first. [Cheers.]
I hope, nevertheless, to see another and more memorable solemnity of the fall
of Sumter. You remember the simple and touching despatch of Gen. Anderson
to the Secretary of War, closinpg with these words: "I marched out of the fort
on Monday afternoon, the 14th inst., with colors flying and drums beating, bringing away comnpany and private property, and saluting our flag with fifty guns."
[Loud applause, and calls for Gen. Anderson, who came forward, and was greeted
with vociferous chcers.]  This was on the 14th of April, 1861. Let him be sent
back on the 14th of April. 1865, with as many of his gallant comrades as survive
to share in his glory; let him go in one of those mailed ships of war, which the
rebellion has brought forth; let him replace the same flag on the same spot with
all the pomp of war, and all the solemnity of an act of religion; and as the
Southern wind kisses that standard, never more to be removed, let an hundred
guns salute it from fort and ship, and island and city, as with the voices of a, great
people. proclaiming their majesty on the site of the first treason against it.  [Loud
cheers.]
In our rejoicing let us lay to heart the great lesson which this history teaches,
that avernging justice, sooner or later, overtakes the crimes of communities and
of nations. as of individuals.
This rebellion was a crime; it had no plausible excuse, no decent pretext.'The Government against which it rose, was a Government of the people,mild and
beneficent. If it erred, its errors were easy to discover and not impossible or
even difficult to remedy. If it was not always wise, it was not more unwise than
the best of other governments.  In its gentle sway it had displayed so little of
force that it seemed fallen into weakness; and they who rebelled against it, thought
it had not strength enough to repel aggression.  They were mistaken; the power
which seemed to be dead, was alive; it only slept, and when it awoke it smote
the rebels with the strength of a giant. From the Potomac to the Rio G-rande,
on the bayous of Louisiana. across the plains of Alabama, the mlountains of
Georgia, in the defiles of'lennessee, and along the magnificent rivers of Virginia,
the conflict has raged with incessant fury, till the rebel armies are driven back
into the two States which were the last to enter into the revolt.
The crime of the rebellion wais the offspring of another and a greater crime,
which had flourished for many years and grown strong and arrogant in its strength
-the crime of humnan slavery. What mortal eye foresaw the doom that was impending over it?  Who, but the Onmliscient, could have seen that the strength
of slavery was its weakness; its pride, the source of its dishonor; its arrogance,
the cause of its overthrow.  The stain which had fallen upon the American name
has been washed with blood and burned with fire, till it scarce remains, except
as a memento of man's wrong and God's justice.  [Applause.]
While thus reflecting upon what we have passed through, let us pledge ourselves
to our country, to each other, and to posterity, that we will not rest nor falter till
the wrong is entirely righted, till the rebellion is utterly overthrown, and till there
shall be one flag, one heart and one hope, for all who dwell between the eastern
and the western oceans.
The work which remains before us, is hardly less difficult than that which we
have already performed.  We have not only the war to finish, but we have the
still greater task of pacification.  This great nation of thirty-six States is to be
made united, peaceful and prosperous, with the rights of the States and the rights
of individuals as clearly defined and as firmly secured as the rights of the Nation.
IHere is al field for the statesman's art-his most consummate art. Justice, not
vengeance, should be his motto; he should look more to the future than to the
past.  Some things may have been done-I think some things have been done
in this war, even on our side. which must be remembered only to be avoided;




36
there have been acts of power, which must not be drawn into precedent. We
must remember that this complex system which renders the largest liberty of the
citizen compatible with the greatest strength of the Nation, is only maintainable
in connection with the indestructible authority of the States; and that there only
is real freedom, where the rights of every person, however humble, are beyond
the caprice or the arbitrary will of any other person whomsoever.
Let us struggle with all our might, first to scatter the last rebel battalion, and
then to bring in again the reign of peace, and order, and law; to establish on immovable foundations, the one Nation and the many States; to make each supreme
in its proper sphere; to build up defences, which no man may break, around the
person of every human being of whatever party or complexion, and to transmit
to our descendants this double government of ours, with all its rights and all its
guarantees, as we hope it will remain, through innumerable ages. [Prolonged
applause.]
HON. S. B. CHITTENDEN'S SPEECH.
MR. CHAIRMAN AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS, —The Committee of Arrangements
positively assured me that they intended to invite me to speak here to-day. Unfortunately for my preparation, I received no such invitation; but in consideration of their purpose I have consented to offer a resolution which I am sure will
find a quick and hearty response in the heart of every one present.
Resolved, That in ratification of the pledge that was made on this spot on the 20th of April, 1861,
we renew our obligations to provide for the orphans of tee brave men who fell in this struggle lor
their country, and adopt them as the children of' the Republic.
Before putting the question on the resolution, let me say a simple word in
favor of it. Events of mighty import follow each other swiftly in our times.
Each new day, and almost every hour, brings some achievement or occurrence
of more startling significance than any that preceded it. Trhe minds of all
men are stretched to the utmost tension to grasp and measure the unreached
future.  Races of men and all the great interests of this great continent are
rushing to their destiny, as the cramped and angry floods swell and plunge over
the wild and craggy cliffs at Niagara.  [Cheers.]  " Victory, Union, Onward,
Forward," are the watchwords that, fire and inspire all our hearts-these watchwords have too exclusively given direction to all that has been said here to-day.
I venture to go back for a topic with which to occupy a brief space. Four
years ago countless thousands of stalwart men resolved here that the widows and
children of those who gave their lives for their country should be cherished and
cared for.  [Cheers.]  Tlhe resolution is intended to apply to the rank and file,
the common soldiers in our brave armies. I love and honor the great Captains
-no man can esteem  better-who have led and who are leading our invinlcible
hosts to final triumph.  But they have their reward. Their brave deeds are
wafted on every breeze, and shall be emblazoned on every page of history till
time shall end. Not so with the common soldier.  Not so with ten thousand
real heroes whose bearing no eye but God's eye has witnessed; not so with ten
thousand whose unmarkled graves, are made in the putrid swamps of the Carolinas; not so with the thousands of men whose bones are bleaching unburied
on all the hilltops and in all the valleys where the battle has raged. These are
the men to whom we owe obligations that can never be paid. Theirs are the
widows and children to whom we owe a debt of gratitude that it is impossible to
exaggerate.  [Cheers.]  Give liberty and wing to the most brilliant imagination
-tax to the uttermost the loftiest God-given intellect-exhaust the language in
which we speak, anrd who shall frame a sentence which shall fitly and fully express oru,' obligations to these mIeln.  [Loud applause.]




37
The Hon. A. OAKEY HALL was next introduced and received
with three cheers. He said:
FELLow-CITIzENS,- Commercial and manufacturing New-York comes here to
take an account of stock of war and victory. And, on recommendation of the
county and city authorities, I have closed my office and am here to help you with
the accounting. [Applause.] Commercial and manufacturing New-York has
reason to exult at the events, more or less recent, which have again opened to
her every seaport on the borders of rebellion, except Mobile. Nevertheless, that
place may very soon say to Judge Busteed, " Pack up your trunk, like Van Amburgh's elephant, and come hither and show your tusks and hang out your rebels
on the outward walls."  [Laughter.]  Before the rebellion these ports were
among the fifty heads and hundred hands which this gigantic Briareus city had.
Through four years they were paralyzed. Your classical chairman will recognize
an appropriate comparison.  For he will remember that when Juno, Neptune
and Minerva combined to dethrone Jupiter, that mythological giant Briareus
ascended to the heavens, and so terrified the conspirators by his fierce and threatening looks that they desisted.  Whilst rebel conspirators sought to dethrone
Uncle Sam, New-York's attitude has been so maintained, that the hearts of the
conspirators were chilled.  [Cheers.]  The people assembled to honor the brave
soldiers and sailors who have destroyed the paralysis of these seaport heads
and hands of commercial New-York. Our public men assemble to renew our
vows, taken, whether at Chicago or Baltimore, that these and all other hands
and hearts shall be restored to full health, as McClellan said, "The Union
must be preserved at all hazards."  A  New-Yorker from infancy, I feel proud
that this city has done so much towards this happy result, and prouder to think
that she can do yet more.  What has she done-this New-York with her thirteen thousand acres; with her four hundred churches; with her two hundred
journals and serials; with her seventy-five thousand houses and million of inhabitants by night, and many hundreds of thousands more by day, of population of
all creeds and all nationalities.  New-York-who, throughout the wide world
has opened her door to the exiled, the down-trodden and poor-what has she
done for the maintenance of the Union, Constitution and laws?  She has recruited hundreds of thousands of soldiers and sailors, not only for herself but her
neighbors.  She has, by her people's representatives in municipal councils, applied millions for offence and defence, and not one cent nor one vote of tribute to
rebellion.  [Cheers.]  Her merchants of all parties and her mechanics of all
creeds have poured forth their wealth or sacrificed their haid earnings to maintain inviolate the Republic of Washington.  [Cheers.]  Her angel women have
ministered to the wounded and dying soldiers; or smiled the living heroes into
fresher enthusiasm for victory.  She has endowed hospitals and orphan asylums
for the victims of war.  [Cheers.]  And differing even passionately ottten
about the best mode of conducting the war, her citizens have ever emulated ill
their determination to prosecute it uitil peace and re-anion come honorably together.  [Cheers.]  The chorus of her battle-song has ever been:
Hail thou, Republic of Washington hail!
Never one star of' thy Union shell pale 
Thou hope of the world I every omen ot ill
Must fade in the light of thy destiny still,
And time bring bilt honor with increase to thee,
Thoullln d of' the bert utiful, ltome of the free!
Ilmnlenlse cheers.l]  All that New-York City has done in the past to maintain
the integrity of the Union, sllhe is prepared to do in the future with ten-fild
vigor, I believe. There is reason fo)r so saying. It is history that very many of her
citizens wished a talk about peace concurrent with the action about war.  Such
a talk has been had. There have been read several leaves out of Blair's Rhetoric




38
and the Odes of Horace and Stephen's Commentaries.  [Laughter.]  But the
Fortress Monroe doctrine was not liked.  [Renewed laughter.]  The talk was
all on one side. It was like the white man and the Indian's talk about the turkey.
New-York City scouted the Fortress Monroe doctrine of separation and recognition. If a popular vote could have been had since that talk occurred, I am
sure, as a politician who has done some figuring in his day, there would not be
any more nor any less votes for the proposition than there are electors in the
lunatic asylum on Blackwell's Island. [Loud laughter and applause.] Perhaps
when the Richmond oligarchy finds that New-York City celebrates these victories
not only in a selfish and commercial point of view, but from a sturdy, patriotic,
and no political, view of the integrity of the Union; that oligarchy may ask for
another edition of Blair's Rhetoric and the Odes of Horace. But the new
editions are bound up in triple steel.  They can only get at the pictures of the
olive branch by asking that the iron clasps be taken off. They will be taken off
for the asking. But the book must be read as we have written it. And when
the olive branch is accepted, then, as the gallant Sherman said he would do,
New-York City will share her last cracker with Richmond, Wilmington, and
even Charleston.  [" That's so." Applause.]  I have been, as you know-as I
am now, and always expected to be-a very decided and bitter personal politician
-especially so towards many of the acts of the last administration.  [Great Applause.]  But I am here in my capacity of a national citizen. And in that
capacity, measuring the electors of this city. however, with a politician's knowledge, I believe that greater results of benefit will follow to the nation from this
meeting than ensued from the first one, of April, 1861, if those in power, whilst
directing the machinery of war, will be as magnanimous as brave, as generous as
decided; and will prove diplomatic whilst energetic.
Anmong the twelve essentials given by the Baron Jomini towards making a
perfect army is this one: " Excite and keep alive the military spirit of the people." As the first means of encouraging this spirit, he advises that a nation invest the army with all possible social and public consideration.  This meeting
observes these truths. It is the province of other speakers here to-day to enlarge
upon these special topics. But I should feel that our time was thrown away if
we do not now date a method of honoring the military and investing the army
with the highest social consilelration, more practical than by flag-flying, cannonfiring' and speeches. It is just such an honor as Sherman, with his veteran army,
would ask from  our hands.  [Cheers.]  Such an one as McClellan [renewed
clheers.] and Fremont asked in their moments of victory, when they were in the
fieldl with very raw armies in the east and west. That honor is the honor of the
presence of more New-Yorkers yet in the army.  [Applause.]
What says the Chamber of Commerce? What the Corn and Petroleum Exchanges?  What the brokers, the lawyers, the Union, the Athenaeum, and the
Leaguers' clubs? What the trade associations?  What the Citizens' Association? What that political society who lately, by resolution, envied the sailor and
soldier? What say they, one and all, to the appointment by each of committees
on recruiting?  [Applause.]  What say our merchants and tradesmen to devoting a whole week to recruiting?  How many banks and insurance companies
will say,' WVe will pay any clerk a bounty of one thousand dollars to go, and
let his salary continue while he is absent, and for the benefit of his family?"
IApplause.]  I observe to-day a thousand flags displayed from as many drawingro(otls.  Cannot their lair owners hang out other flags, inscribed, " Recruiting
done here!"  [Laughter and applause.]  Mars and Venus have always pleasurably associated. Ail these things would partially carry out the Jomini maxims.
I A voice, " Three cheers for Jomini."] Let us not be beguiled with notions
that the war is ending.  Perhaps it is; then so much the better for us and our
recruits. But it it does not soon end, then New-York will be doubly prepared.




39
You have not only to kill a snake, but keep it killed after sun-down. The allies
thought their job over when Napoleon was caged in Elba. We may drive
Davis to Nassau. But Waterloo came after Elba, and bigger battles may yet be
fought inl Tennessee than have been fought by McClellan and Grant in their
brave campaigns around Richmond.  [Cheers.]  Let us be prepared. The rich
man who says, " Oh the draft can't touch me, for I will buy a laborer for a substitute," may find himself mistaken.  How, Sir Croesus, if the laborers all volunteer before you are drawn?  Or if they avoid the draft by emigrating quietly to
places whose quotas are filled? Then suppose you find the substitute, sir; how
much may you have to pay him? You can't leave this gigantic task all to the
county and city authorities. Five hundred dollars subscribed this week to the
Goddess of War-and to her you may say, " Nymph, in all thy Orisons, Blunt's
be remembered," [uproarious laughter and applause,] may save you as many
thousands next month." Pray, are you aware that the wards from which are
called the largest quotas are the wards of wealth?   All these modes of celebrating victory anrid honoring the brave are those, I repeat, which Wellinoton Sherman-our L)uke of Victory-would ask at your hands. Is henot a practical
man? He will like practical celebrations and ovations. He has unscrewed the
South Carolina rockers of the cradle of secession, and now he is engaged in tearing down the mosquito bars, canopies and rings above the cradle in the States of
tar and tobacco. "But he is going to be defeated," cries some croaker; well,
suppose he is. He ought to have one defeat for variety. It would make him, if
possible, more determined. It would make his veterans more the veterans. But
if defeat is anticipated, so much the more need of such a practical ovation as I
have described.  For each of us must ever remember these gallant words': " I
could not look in the face of my gallant comrades of the army and navy, who have
survived so many bloody battles, and tell them that their labors and the sacrifice
of so many of our slain and wounded brethren had been in vain; that we had
abandoned that Union for which we have so often periled our lives." Or: "Firm
in our faith that God will save our country, we dedicate ourselves to the memory
of brave men, and to loyalty, patriotism and honor."  The speaker retired while
enthusiastic cheers were given.
Gen. BRUCE was next introduced to the audience, and said:
MR. PRESIDENT AND CITIZENS OF TtHE UNITED STATES,Why are you yet citizens of the United States? Only because, under God, you
have a brave and gallant Army and Navy who, acting in concert with your
Government, has won for us some of the most glorious and brilliant victories the
world has ever witnessed.  [Here Gen'l Bruce called for three cheers for our
"boys in blue," which were given with a will by the immense multitude, which
made the " welkin ring".]  Over whom were those victories now?  WTere they
over a foreign power, who had invaded our country? No, it was an intestine foe
-it was over those who with us have " grown with the growth and strengthened
with the strength" of this great and mighty nation, but who have rebelled against
the authority of the Government, and sworn before high heaven, that our republic
should be destroyed, blotted out, and, on its ruins, a slaveocracy should arise.
At the moment when that Christian soldier and patriot, Gen'l Anderson, who
stands at my side. was compelled to strike our National Flag from its staff on Fort
Sumter, he struck the hearts of all loyal men in the country whose united cry with
the army has been "march on, march on, all hearts resolved, on victory or
death." From that time to the present, whoever has put himself in opposition
to the Government in its efforts to crush out this infamous rebellion has been
ground as beneath the upper and nether millstones. As it has been, so it will
be. The loyal heart will sustain the Government in all its efforts to put down




40
this rebellion. I know not what others may do; but as for myself, sir, I say, before God, I will stand by my Government in this hour of its peril, and support it
cordially and earnestly-right or wrong.  [This sentiment was received with
great applause.]  I am no stickler for constitutional warfare in such a conflict as
this. Put down the rebellion at all hazards, party or no party, constitution or
no constitution. I would rather have our glorious Government without a Constitution than to have our " glorious Constitution " without the Government. We
must and shall succeed. Let us rejoice with exceeding joy that the day of our
national redemption is drawing nigh. I am glad to witness this magnificent demonstration. I agree with Mr. John Van Buren that it is well it did not take
place on Saturday, but comes off to-day. We now know what we did not know
on Saturday, which is. that " Phil " Sheridan has not only got on his spurs and
in his saddle, but has won another victory. The cry of our noble armycomes up
to us in thunder tones, saying:
Swell the grand war cry, ne'er let it be hushed
Till rebellion and treason lie broken and crushed,
Till the sun as it dips in the far Western wave,
Sets full on a land both loyal and brave.
Strike, strike for the Union our Fathers achieved,
Strike for the flag that from them we received,
Strike andl spare not, till through the wide land,
Old Liberty's altars triumphantly stand.
One word to our young men.  You  have an interest in the result of this conflict which those of us past the meridian of life cannot have. Long may you
live to enjoy the victory for our Government which it is certain to win. Do
then your whole duty now, whether it be at home or in the army of the Republic, where thousands of our young men are making a record upon the page of
history which will be as enduring as the country itself.
Finally, my fellow-citizens, let us all do our duty, and we can soon demonstrate
to the world the great American doctrine that we are capable of self government,
and when we have closed up this rebellion we will, if need be, build anew the'I'emple of our Freedom upon some political Pisgahi, with its high battlements
reaching to the heavens, and from the apex of its lofty dome we will fling our
banner again to the breeze, having upon its starry folds the inscription, national
in its character and meaning, " Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and
inseparable."
WM. E. DODGE, Esq., was next introduced and spoke as follows:
FETLOW-CTTIZFN S,At this late hour I will not detain you with a speech. I had intended, had
time permitted. to review some of the predictions so ostentatiously paraded by
the South at the commencement of the war, but I will now only ask you to remember what they said about the City of Charleston.  This was to be the great
commercial centre of the Confederacy, and was to increase in wealth and traffic,
while New-York, deprived of the trade of the Southern States, and the shipment of their cotton, would decline until the grass should grow in her deserted
streets.
Look now, fellow-citizens, and compare the arrogant boast with its fulfilment:
Charleston desolated and ruined, a standing monument of rebellion and its fruits,
while New-York stands to-day in all her glory, controlling and governing the
comrnmerce of this great continent.
I wish this day that Jefferson Davis and General Lee could have been compelled, here, on yonder corner, to witness with us the mighty march that held us
enchained for hours as it flowed onward with its thousands of earnest, hopeful
hearts, that they could have seen this grand uprising of the freemen of the
North.  Not even they could have doubted of our success!




41
But my friends, in this hour of triumph, in this day of assured success, let
me detain you but one moment to urge you once more to renewed effort; let us
go on, and finish up the business we have undertaken, till the flag of our Union
floats undisputed over every foot of our country's territory. And may we ever
remember the brave men who have gone forth to fight our battles, while we have
remained at home, who stand a wall of fire between us and our enemies. Let
us show our gratitude to those who have done so much for us, by caring for
them in sickness and in health, in wounds and in death, and above all for their
wives and children, whose care is our most sacred and imperative duty.
Mr. W. W. BROOM was introduced to the vast assembly as one
of our firmest friends in Great Britain, who has, from the breaking out of the rebellion, lectured and spoken in the manufacturing districts of Lancashire and Manchester with great success, in
favor of an undivided Union of the United States.
W. W. BROOM'S REMARKS.
AMERICAN CITIZNS, —On behalf of the working classes of England, but more
especially on behalf of the operatives in the cotton districts of England, I address you this evening. They are your friends, they desire your complete success.
In spite of Southern agents, Southern gold, Southern falsehoods-in spite of
closed Mills, denuded homes, and forced idleness-they have admired your Constitution, hoped for the progress of American Republicanism, and have prayed
for the triumph of your Government over all its secret and avowed enemies.
As the first Union advocate who addressed, taught and inspired the operatives
of Manchester on behalf of the North, I speak to you emphatically in a represen tati ve character.
I hail, then, with hearty enthusiasm your VICTORIES.  I accept with profound admiration the mighty omen of your speedy triumph! Your cause no
longer fluctuates, your policy no longer vacillates-it is a continuous stream of
glorious purification, rushing with undeviating power through the wilderness of
treason against man's progress and God's laws.
Only four years have passed since treason against national prosperity and
liberty started on its hell-path of desolation! Look back for a moment. Then
you were without a standing army, (worth naming,) without a navy fit to cope
with great enemies or able to blockade your magnificent coast. With prospering energy you studied the industrial arts, engaged in manufacturing enterprises,
and made commerce subservient to political, moral and religious progress.
Avoiding "entangling alliances" with thrones and aristocracies, you set an example (alas! there was one drawback) to the Old World. But the spoiler came
in the night. Hushed in repose, you heard him not till his hissing breath
startled your ear, and his cruel hand was upon your throat. Napoleonism grinned a ghastly smile, and aristocratic numskulls twittered with delight. " Alabainas " were projected, to plunder and ruin; political scoundrels united with
the Judas of freedom to " fire " the unemployed of Lancashire, a Southern Loan
was raised to assist in destroying nationality, and steam-rams were planned on
the shores of negro emancipation!
Now! all is changed. Vast armies of citizen soldiers have marched over a
thousand battle-spots-soldiers who are not machines, but citizens-were paid,
were fed, strong in arm, of resolute heart, and inspired with patriotism. A great
navy floats on the seas, on your rivers and lakes, springing as from an enchanter's island. So the much-sneered-at "' paper blockade " has become a veritable
6




42
belt of latent fire! The Federal Government sits securely supreme in a coronet
of a million bayonets. Stronghold after stronghold falls. State after State is
marched throuogh.  Horde after horde of traitors are taken prisoners or fly before brave soldiers.'T'he holy Nemesis has come at last. Napoleonism gapes
with astonished disappointment upon the scene. The color fades from the
cheeks of monarchs. Aristocracies are dumb in the presence of the refreshened
republican giant emerging from a bath of heroic blood. Tory journalists have
to' bolt " their' articles," and the holders of Southern " scrip " have to dine off
of-delusion!
Four years have passed! and time is cheered as he passes through the
growth of the New World. The Stars ond Stripes are washed in the blood of
patriots; its stavrs are now the crystalized tears of joy of unbound captives.
The stars dart their rays of everlasting beauty into the regions of oppression,
darkness and despair. Thile American banner is an emblemn of hope, encouragement and safety. It is the sign of peace, prosperity and progress. It tells of
pauperism transformed, the drooping inspired and oppressed rescued.
The heart of the Lancashire operative will leap with joy when he reads the
long list of your victories, and learns that your nation is saved. His devotion to
your cause, his rough handling of sophistries, his patient endurance will be richly
rewarded in the triumph of your Government, the victories of your army and
navy, and the salvation of your country.
A glorious destiny is now revealed for this continent. An immense temple
devoted to freedom-freedom  unclouded, unimpeded-for slavery is killed on
battle-fields and buried in an amended Constitution. In less than a century, a
mighty republic has been organized, purified, and made stable!'Ihe age of
miracles has not ceased-only the worker is changed-the people are the seers.
Heaven be praised! before long you will have to meet again to proclaim the
final victory, to rejoice over the sheathing of the sword and the spiking of the
cannon. You can see the sun rising of your cloudless day of Liberty and a perfected Nationality. The traitors against the advance of civilimation are receding into the outer darkness of eternal oblivion.  You are saved, through you
mankind is saved and the whole future is blessed!
The address of M[r. Broom was received with enthusiastic cheers
and long continued applause.
As the meeting was about to adjourn, Gen. WALBRIDGE submitted the following resolution, which was adopted:
Resolved, That the citizens of New-York, here assembled to commemorate the
success of the National arms and the continued triumph of the Constitutional
cause, hereby respectfully recommend the Board of Supervisors to give whatever
additional bounties are requisite to fill the present quota demanded of the City
and County of New-York: as the most practical and efficient means of strengthening the general Government in its efforts lo suppress the existing rebellion.
At the hour appointed for the display of fireworks, the meeting
adjourned.




43
STAND NO. 2.
Situated on the west side of' Union Square and immediately in
front of the Athenaeum  Club, was tastefully decorated with the
national colors and portraits of the heroes of the war. General
P. M. WETMORE, in a few spirited remarks, called the meeting to
order and nominated  Gen. IIRAM  WnALBRIDGE, for President.
CAIARLES F. BLAKE, Esq., read the resolutions which were unanimously adopted.
Gen. IH. WAL3RIDGE then said:
FRIENDS AND FELLow-CITIzENs,-Four years ago from this very spot, when it
was still uncertain what was to be the action of the American people, in the
terrible internecine war, then first inaugurated, by the bold, bad, wicked conspirators of treason in the South, in their mad attempt to overthrow constitutional
government, this great commercial metropolis, representing a million of men, and
the commercial enterprise of the Western Hemisphere, solemnily pledged to the
support of the Government in behalf of Constitutional Freedom, its unlimited
resources in men and means.  Hlow tfaithfully it has redeemed the pledge then
made, let the unparalelled success of our victorious arms bear its triumphant
testimony. Every conflict from the origin of the strife to the last announcement
of victory, has been strengthened and sustained by some gallant son of out own
Einp ire State, while the resources so indispensable to the successful prosecution
oJ 0he str-u,ygle, Iave beoon poured'torlAhy tieh  bhck&  p3h a&n  {oamerciaf nmetropolfs, as freely as'  aetz from tucs g(sie ii g t0z7uZ2t. ZOW Me'-i's
however great, no demands however excessive, have not been mnet with cheerful)e.SS and alacrity.'I'llhe enterprising, indomitable, intelligent men, that around
this beautiful bay have reared these habitations, and constructed this mart of
commerce, realize that the success of all martial cnterpi'ises is contingent not only
upon the moral support given the army by the people at home, but also upon the
strength of their exchequer. This has been true to a great extent since war was
first introduced among men, but it is more emphatically true, as modern warfare
is now conducted. And it will be found to be the experience of modern times
that the nations whose fiscal resources are strongest will be most likely to prevail
in any military enterprise in which they may be engaged. " What is the condition of the funds?" was the inquiry of England's most astute and gifted Prime
Minister, William  Pitt, when advised of one of the great successes of that transcendant genius, the elder Napoleon, whose pathway was marked by the overthrow
of empires and the dethronement of kings.  When answered that the public
credit was unshaken, lie obscrved: " We can submit to these casualties of war,
for the strenght of our exchequer will enable uqs to weary out this Corsican yet.'
Great as have been our contributions in men, and enormous as have been the
advances in money, to sustain the Government in its prosecution of the war, the
magnitude of our charities has invested the contest with a sublime enthusiasm
which partakes of the nature of our divine religion, and sanctifies the cause it
represents.  With more than a million of men in arms, vindicating. the national
authority and upholding the constitutional cause, all the ordinary functions of the
General Government have continued to be performed with almost that regularity
that marks the movements of the celestial spheres. All the great departments




41
of human life and industry, in the constitutional North, have continued to discharge their wonted offices with the same order, regularity and decorum that
attended society previous to the inauguration of this, the most gigantic Rebellion
of either ancient or modern times. While these great military enterprises have
have been conducted on a scale unparalelled in history, the civil administration
of the Government has offered protection to the citizen and security to his
property. It was the boast of the admirers of Frederick the Great, that while
he prosecuted those vast military enterprises, which have invested his name and
reign with immortal renown, he continued at the same time to conduct those civil
enterprises, which developed the resources of his empire, and gave dignity and
power to his administration.'I'he policy that Frederick inaugurated-himself
an absolute monarch-has been prosecuted by the Government of the United
States, acting in obedience to the instincts and wishes of the people whom they
represent.  Thus. it will be seen in whatever aspect the case may be regarded, a
government resting for its security, on the action of an intelligent people, will
always be found sufficiently vigorous to protect their interest, and to advance
their renown.'The elder Adams asserted that the celebration of the Declaration
of Independence on the 4th day of July, 1776, would thereafter be marked by
bonfires and illuminations, and would be hailed with thanksgivings and praise
by the descendants of the men of the Revolution; for on that day they declared
their complete emancipation from the tyrannies of Great Britain. Hereafter our
descendants shall commemorate the 4th of March, 18ti5,as marking an epoch in the
history of the American people, for on that day, at the national Capitol with imposing ceremonies, and in conformity with the forms of the Constitution, the consummation of that great act took place which was inaugurated by the people at the
polls in November last. It records for all time that an enlightened people are
adequate to administer their own Government, and that the liberties of the people
may be safely confided to their own administration. Not only the friends of'absolutism, but even those of Constitutional monarchy, have hitherto asserted that
there were so many inherent defects, in society it was absolutely impossible to
institute a free government where all men were politically equal, without being
subjected to those violent convulsions, which, sooner or later, terminate in anarchy
and in the overthrow of the civil Administration of the State. In confirmation
of these views, they point to the melancholy history of the early Republics, forgetting that since that era in human affairs the public understanding has been
illuminated by the blaze of' letters and the genius of freedom. They who reason
that the people are inadequate to the control of their own affairs, forget that since
those early failures, the press has been introduced-that third estate, more pow.
erful than kings or ministers, and more potent for good or for evil than any other
organization recognized in society. Said the gifted Sheridan, " you may have a
corrupt House of Lords, and a venal House of Comnllons, but, with the untraminelled freedom of the press. I will preserve inviolate the liberties of the British
people."  This sentiment of the great Commoner is confirmed by our experience,
and may be recognized as an axiom in the political administration of every modern government.  It is impossible to conceive that ever a people will be called
upon to determine grater questions affecting their interests, than those which
were submitted to the American people in the great struggle in which we have
been and are still engaged-four years of bloody, desolating, civil war, involving
the lives of hundreds of thousands of brave and athletic men-the flower and
hope of the ltepublic-a gigantic debt, mortgaging indefinitely the future. The
continued prosperity and renown of the Republic, or a shameful surrender with
humiliating conditions and the disruption of the Union, are the alternatives that
have been presented for the action of the American people.  Fortunately, not
only for us, but for the record o' the past, and the still more illustrious record
that awaits us in the future, this great American people have not shrunk
from the responsibilities which have impended over them; fully conlscious of




45
the new sacrifices that would be required, and thoroughly impressed with the
momentous consequences involved, they determined,like Milton's Abdiel, to remain
unawed, unterrified, and unseduced, from the grand purpose upon which they
entered in April, 1861, of holding together these independent State Sovereignties, under one grand Federal Union, as it came to them from the hands of its
illustrious founders. I would not willingly draw the vail that obscures the past,
yet, in this august presence of the people, I cannot but linger to inquire how different would have been the anniversary of this day, if the people, yielding to
gloomy forebodings and timid apprehensions, had given a different verdict from
that which was so triumphantly recorded by the re-election of the existing Administration? It is true we might then have met, as we here meet to-day, to
commemorate, not only the success of our victorious armies, but the reinauguration of another Administration; but who does not realize it would have been to
chronicle the disgraceful recognition, that the war for the success of Constitutional Goverment had been a failure; and the people having acquiesced in this
decision, there would have remained for foreign Governments but one course to
pursue-the recognition of the so-called Confederate Government, in its wicked
and mad attempt to overthrow the Constitutional Government of the United
States. But the popular verdict, as expressed through the ballot box, gives an
earnest to the Great Powers of Europe, that the American people, however they
may be divided upon subordinate or immaterial questions, on the great question
of the unity of the }epublic, are one, united, entire, and indivisible, and that from
whatever quarter any recognition that looks to a separation of these States is to
come, that action will be met by the united, vigorous, determined resistance of
the entire American people. Understand me. I realize full well what such an
effort may cost. It mnay impose additional burdens; it may call for new levies;
it may still further mortgage the future, but the American people realize that our
lakes, our rivers, our mountains, our plains, all confirm the great truth, that God
in his providence assigned the territory confided to the American people for one
nation, and that it should be the home of a homogeneous people-a people who,
in the future as in the past, under the genius of free institutions, are to exemplify the noblest attributes of the human race. The recent action of Congress,
in the amendment of the organic law, forever exterminating the refractory element
in our political system, has invested the contest with additional claims, not only
to our renewed exertions, hut demands the earnest, cordial and sincere respect of
the lovers of freedom in every quarter of the habitable globe. This, then, is no
longer a war simply for the suppression, of the Rebellion; it is a great moral
conflict for the rights of human nature, applicable not only to our condition, but
equally applicable to the permanent prosperity of all tile tribes and races of men,
wherever society is organized, wherever language is spoken, wherever religion is
revered, or humanity awakens a responsive chord in the human breast. I am
perfectly aware that the end is not yet; and so long as the insurgent States are
permitted to marshal two great armies in defence of their wicked and unjustifiable
cause, the sacrifices that we are called upon to make cannot be diminished. But
since successful war is a contest of forces, recognizing our strength and their
weakness. the period is not far distant when the American people are to become
interested, not more in sustaining their armies than in the reorganization of
society over the revolted States, then restored by the power of our arms to the
control of the Federal Government.  This arduous duty is to involve statesmanship, as broad and benefi(ient as the valor of' )our troops has been sublime
and unsurpassed. It is perhaps, too early to indicate what line of policy in the
fnture is best, when we come to lay again broad and deep the foundations of the
republic over those Stat s that have been in rebellion. But there is one great truth
which the experience of the past has left upon all thinking and reflecting minds:
the fatal heresy of placing State rights paramount to the Federal Constitution
is the rock on which the liberties of this great people were nearly stranded.  Let




46
those then, to whom is to be confided the adjustment of the future, not ignore
this experience, nor fail to give to the Federal Government those plenary powers
by which, under the guidance of an enlightened Administration, they may preserve
the puolic liberties, not only from ihe horror of civil strife, but defend it equally
against any assault by any foreign foe. The tenth article in the amendment to
the Federal Constitution, declares " that the powers not delegated to the United
States by that instrument, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the
States respectively, or to the people." It is pertinent to inquire, in view of the
recent complications, through which we have passed, and through which we are
now passing, when the public tranquillity is again re-established and our victorious
armies have secured the blessings of peace, whether that article of the Constitution should not be so amended as to declare that the power hitherto reserved to
the States respectively ought not to be reserved and given to the Federal Consttution itself. The men who framed that organic law were equal to the exigencies of their day and generation; they founded a government without an equal.
It has thus far discharged all its obligations with fidelity.  But to their descendants has been confided the equally sublime mission of correcting whatever defects
have been found to exist in their labors, so that the Government may be transmitted with equal vigor to those that come after us, and that we may contribute
our just proportion to that vast fund of social, political and moral power, on
which alone the foundations of a well regulated constitutional government must
forever rest.
Gen. VWalbridge wa:s frequently interrupted with applause, and
in conclusion, offered the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted:
Resolved, That the citizens of New-York, here assembled to commemorate the
success of the National arms, and the continued triumph of the constitutional
cause, hereby respectfully recommend the Board of Supervisors to give whatever
additional bounties are requisite to fill the present quota, demanded of the City
and County of New-York, as the most practical and efficient means of strengthening the General Government, in its efforts to suppress the existing rebellion.
CHtAUNCEY SHAFFER, Esq., was next introduced and spoke at
considerable length, and with marked effect. He was followed
by CHARLES F. BLAKE, Esq., who spoke as follows:
MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW-CITIZENTS,-On the 4th day of March, 1861, the
American people was engrossed by the arts of peace. The Executive talent of
the country was engaged in the prosecution of private enterprises, and able
men were building railroads, carrying on manufactures, developing the agricultural
wealth of the great West, or sending their ships to bear our commerce and our
flag to distant seas. On every side the private affairs of men absorbed their
thoughts, and alone attracted their interest and their effo)rts. Amid the scenes of
their industry and upon a people which for nearly half a century had hardly
heard the clash of armns, a great conspiracy had just been developed. It was
sought, by every means of fraud and force, to break up our Government and
destroy our national existence. We scarcely new whether we had an army, for
officers who had sworn allegiance to the fia(r, were daily deserting it in great
numbers, and striking hands with those who sought to tear it down. Our navy
had been dispersed to every sea. No system of taxation marshalled the resources
of' the country for its defence. At the North none knew whether his neighbor
was fiend or foe, and the advocates of the conspiracy among us maintained its




47
cause with unblushing boldness. Unarmed, unprepared with men or money to
uphold our Government, our arsenals stripped of their best munitions, we seemed
about sinking into national disintegration and political death.
Compare this picture with that presented here to-day, and how impressive the
contrast. We are assembled in thousands, and by acres, to celebrate the victories
of heroic armies. Our navies have taught the world a new art of war olpon the
seas. Millions of dollars are daily lent to the Government by practical and
prudent men. The President speaks, and tens of thousands of men spring to
arms. In New-York, when the people voted against Mr. Lincoln by a majority
of more than thirty thousand, the voluntary effort of the people furnishes
more men daily to the Government than any enforced system of recruitment
could possibly obtain. Public opinion imperatively demands loyalty to the
Union, and the few dissenting voices which were raised against this celebration,
have been silenced by the enthusiastic patriotism of the masses. And the Republic now stands before the world ready, exhaustless mistress of her resources,
unalterably certain that under no possible circumstance, she need fear the dismemberment of her empire or the dishonor of her flag.
Mr. President, we are reminded by this contrast, that in all evil there is good.
Certainly, no one shall outdo me in condemning the men at the South, and at the
North too, for there were such in both political parties who have brought this
great calamity upon us. But in this, as in all troubles, there are infinite consolations. We find them in the splendid valor which has won the triumph we are
assembled to commemorate. We find them in the honor shed upon our country
by Grant and Sherman, and Farragut, and by Sheridan in the Valley. We find
them in the spirit of the people elevated, ennobled and purified by the sacrifices
they have made and the suffering they have endured. It is not alone the glory
which gilds the record of our victories,-it is not alone pride of achievement at
home and the admiration wrung from unwilling lips abroad, which should fill us
with gladness to-day. It is rather, that in this struggle we have strengthened
and developed our power, that we have deepened the patriotism of our people,
and made our country nobler in her aims and higher in her purposes.
There is one thing we have gained by this war to which I desire particularly
to advert. It found us rich, prosperous, fortunate in our enterprises, making
vast progress in all material respects. But it also found us nationally immature.
WNe did not lack confidence in ourselves, but our habit of boasting, which used
to trouble our friends across the water, indicated more ambitious inexperience
than the well poised certainty of tried and tested strength. We were very
sensitive to European criticism. The strictures of the English press upon our
Government found an attentive though an irritable audience here.'IThe war has
changed all that. The day has passed, when gentlemen writing in London attacks, could dictate opinions to New-York and San Francisco.  We are very
happy that the press of Europe is beginning to understand the American question;
but it is for them that we rejoice, and not for ourselves. If England cannot understand our power and resources, so much the worse for her. We f&el at length
our own manhood. The events of this great struggle have cut the leading
strings which bound us to the public opinion of Europe. What power can now
talk to us of war? What European statesman can teach us how to develop the
strength of a government or to marshal the resources of a people? We have at
length a history and precedent of one, enough to guide us in any emergency. In
the war of the Revolution and of 1812 we achieved material and political independence. In this struggle, conducted among ourselves, we have crowned two
great works and won moral and intellectual freedom of America.
Mr. President, it was time that this deliverance should come. With the end
of the war, now plainly seen, new questions will arise demanding all our vigor
and resolution. The resources of this country have grown so great, that they
require for their administration a natural intellect and will, untrammeled by the




48
fear of foreign criticism. We must resume our natural place at the head of the
American political system. The events of this war have vindicated our form of
government, and it will be our high duty to guard it against aggression from
abroad. No dynastic interests should bind American soil to the vicissitudes of
European politics. Americans, of whatever nationality, must enjoy the right
to govern themselves in their own way. Prepared to maintain these principles,
by the trials through which we have passed, we shall find our great task easy of
achievement, and the victories which will give us back our government invigorated and reformed by the dangers it has overcome, will thus lend stability and
life to the free institutions of a whole continent. [Cheers.]
Col. ELLIOTT F. SHEPARD was next introduced and spoke as
follows:
SPEECH OF COL. E. F. SHEPARD.
MR. PRESIDENT AND FFLLOW-CITIZENS,-Like a mountain in the historical
landscape, President's Day affords a good stand-point for views, both of the
past and the future. Four years ago the public mind was disturbed with gloomy
forebodings about the conspiracy against the country, which all knew to be
ripening, but which none knew where to limit. There were those resident in
our own city who were aiders and abettors of the plot; "our own familiar
friend" seemed about to "lift up his heel against us."  The offices created
under the Constitution were filled with the Catalines and (Guy Fawkeses of the
band, and( much of the public war material had been adroitly played into their
hands. A sense of impending danger, distrust and despondency prevailed, and
we hardly knew whether we were long to have a country or not.
To-day, how changed is all this! To-day, you rejoice over the longest list of
the most magnificent victories, on land and water, that ever illustrated military
annals. [Applause.] Those victories have been provoked by that slaveholder s
rebellion which caused the gloom of the last olympiad, and they confirm the Republic as the patrimony of Americans. Say not that we may not rejoice over
these victories; for, though achieved in a civil war, by preserving the Union
which blesses all who live under its benign government, those victories are a'
matter of rejoicing as well for those rebels who shall survive to times of peace,
and for their descendants and for the descendants of those who have fallen, as
for us who have never wandered from our allegiance.  Say not that we have
no right to rejoice over these victories; for we have in them whipped those
nations, who have covertly supplied the rebels with means of war, and would,
but for them, be openly fighting us now.  Thus are they also victories over
foreign foes. [Applause.]
When thd first blow was struck in April, 1861, this same square saw you assemble in your patriotism, and pledge your fortunes, your lives and your sacred
honor to your country. I remember upon that occasion calling your attention
to a beautiful phenomenon which lent additional grandeur to the scene. As if
to give Heaven's approval to freemen's resolves, the light that rules the day, and
the lesser light that rules the night, each in its place in the sky, and both simultaneously plainly visible, stood sponsors to your vows: heaven and earth met together, and war and righteousness kissed each other. [Applauqe.] To-day you
meet again, and, behold, they again attend your meeting!'Ihere in the West is
the sun, and there in the zenith is the moon. For four years you have been true
to your vows, you have stood by your country. " In the mouth of two or three
witnesses shall every word be established;" and there are the two heavenly
witnesses come to bear evidence that you have manfully and faithfully kept your




49
word.  [Applause.  Here  a band playing " The Star Spangled Banner"
mounted the platform, and Col. Shepard, having waited until the mubic was concluded, resumed.]
~'he Star SpanTled Banner!" Aye, the war is not " a failure."  [Applause.]
Before that banner, by the blessing of God, see how the rebels have " ceased
from hostilities."
Foote, Porter and Farragut waved it along the Mississippi, and the rebels
shrank from its banks as from an earthquake.  [Cheers,]  Hooker, Meade and
Sheridan waved it along the Poromac, and there the rebels water their horses
no more.  [Cheers.] Mitchell, Sherman.'rerry and Gilmore waved it along the
Atlantic, and Savannah, Wilmington and Charleston, like sepulchres of patriotism, gave up their living corpses of rebels which contained no patriotism. [Cheers.]
Sherman, Thomas and Burnside waved it in Ten'nessee and Georgia, and the
prophetic tate of the Ottomaxn Empire, that it should "be dried up," fell upon
the rebel field of supplies. [Cheers.]  Winslow waved it at the'Alabama," and
that Anglo-rebel pirate sank in a returnless plunge to the bottom of lhe ocean.
[Cheers.]  And now, from the four cardinal points, see converging columns advancing-Thomas from the West, Canby and Sherman from the South, Schofield from the East, Sheridan from the North, advancing and converging in obedience to the plans of that impassive man, U. S. Grant, [cheers,] United States
Grant, [cheers,] Union Saving Grant, [cheers,] under him finally to strike the
last blow at the rebellion, as the rebels struck the first at the Union; to strike
the last blow, in which shall meet destruction and peace, destruction for the
traitors, and peace for the country. [Applause.] And tell me what ensign is
that at the head of those columns?  What flag waves there? It is the same
with all of them, and it is the Star Spangled Banner! [Cheers.]  No ignominy
can ever overtake it; temporary defeat will but deepen its lustre, and victory
hath scarcely a beam of splendor to add to it. [Applause.]
Thus, fellow-citizens, you recount many things for which you are grateful to
heaven, and of which you are justly proud. But let us turn to the future. I
know that a deeper sentiment than even appreciation of Union victories, is one
of the causes of your rejoicing.  The men who have done their duty hitherto,
will know how to do it hereafter; and it is the consciousness that your devotion
to your country is even stronger than it was in i861, which most kindles your
hearts. Then you sent forth armies  Now, fill up those armies! Repeat the
struggles and the sacrifices which you have achieved already! l'he closing
victory will then be yours before hatrvest, and you shall enter into the rewards
of all your struggles and sacrifices, and prove how deep was that patriotism
which you have already proved to be sincere, and how rational was your rejoicing on the present occasion. [Applause.]
The improvement in your feelings in four years, has been equalled by the improvement in the country at large. What have been the changes and the progress of this period, it is not for me now to rehearse. But our Country, like
the statue of herself which then lay in the public grounds at Washington, was
prostrate; now, like that same statue, which has mounted to its place upon the
majestic dome of the Capitol, where it gives back glory to the rising sun, armed
for self-defence, and blessing her people, America has risen to her own place
among the nations, prepared for war though loving peace, her foot planted on
earth, whilst her faith towers away into the skies.  [Cheers.]
After which General JOHN COCHRANE was next presented to
the audience, and spoke as follows:
It was utterly impossible for any orator to do justice to the importance of the
movypent which agitated the people's mind at this time. The glittering scenes
7




.50
just passed by were to be impressed upon them by the orator's words, but it was
impossible to do so. We stood here the representatives of a great people, who
come hither to endorse and crown the deeds of our brothers in the field. Victory
though celebrated now, was not complete to the soldier unless the people at home
nerved and sustained the arms of the leaders. Lessons were taught by this
occasio which shoultd be profited by.  One was that when a great people had
established itself it could never be affected by rebellion, and any attempt at
rebellion must inevitably go down; and though reverses may be met with, they
will only be momentary. Sheridan, Thomas, Sherman and Grant, would reintegrate the Union, and their names would descend to posterity, crowned with the
laurels they so brilliantly won and richly deserve. The fact, too, was fully established that slavery was the beginning, the vital force, and would be the end of
the rebellion; for already the rebel Congress was agitating the question of freeingr the negro, and the rebels appealing to the slaves to save their masters from
destruction; but it was useless, for nothing could save them  now from their
doom. We were a great country, even in the midst of our adversity, for we had
the material for it among us. The country had never been without an army;
our volunteer army was always like old veterans-fully adequate to the emergency. At first, generals were wanted, but now they were also found, and the
result was not far distant, for the rebellion was in its last agony. Sherman had
dissevered the South; Sheridan vanquished the proudest troops of Virginia;
Grant kept Lee in his den; Thomas has routed the proud Hood, and Porter on
the seas, with'Ferry and Schofield on land, held the rebellion on the coast in their
iron grasp. The news kept up favorable every day, and the end would be in a
few days, when peace and prosperity would return, and the people rejoice over
our common country.




STAND NO. 3.
Corner of Urniversity P/ace and Seventeenlh Street.
Speeches by Dr. LIEBER, General COCHRANE, Judge DEAN, Rev.
Mr. BOOLE and GEORGE T. NOYES, Esq.  Dr. LIEBER was unanimously chosen to preside over the meeting at this stand.  Rev.
Dr. HITCHICOC   opened the proceedings with prayer, after which
the Chairman spoke as follows.
FELLOw-CITIZENS, —When American citizens meet as you do this day-loyal
and liberty loving men-to celebrate the victories and achievements of our forces
on land and sea, there is one achievement, one fact, which deserves the praise and
gratitude of freedom and of all the partakers of our great institutions even more
than the victories on the battle-field do. Do not fear, my fellow-citizens, that I
am lacking in sympathy for our brave brothers and sons. I am myself an old
soldier, who knew in his time what it is to shed one's blood for his country; nor
am I now unrepresented in the field. My own boys are fighting there. 1 felt as
thrilling a delight as any one of you did when Gen. Sherman cropped out again
at Savannah, and shall be rejoiced as much as any one of you will be when he,
whose fearless yet skilful marches resemble the course of the river Rhone,
plunging out of the sight of man, yet always sweeping onward and emerging
nobler, shall turn up again in North Carolina. I glory in our soldiers' glory, and
yet [ say there is an achievement, a deed, or an abstaining from action, more to
be rejoiced at than the victories won on the battle-field. And what is this
achievement? I will tell you. All men who have earnestly studied the course
of political societies, and who have candidly spoken out what their study had
ascertained, have told us that one of the M orst foibles of republics —even of
monarchies with the institutions of freedom —is this, that they cannot weather
large and long wars, which develop great armies and high military genius. And
those who said so were right, according to the course of history heretofore.
Military brilliancy is very apt to singe the pinionse of wide-winged liberty. Need
I refer to the annals of any tree nation or state, that this has been the case? Did
not the brilliant glory of Gen. Bonaparte and his army, in the same degree that
it rose in Italy, depress the hope of freedom in France; and did not he and his
soldiers bury her at last altogether, only a few years later?  Did not Cromwell
and his men, in:he camp, rely on their arms, and arrogantly dictate to'Parliament; and (lid he not uIltiimately tell the Speaker of the Commons to go about
his business? God be fervently thanked that it is not so with us.  We haave now
had, for four years, an army in the field which, I suppose I speak within bounds
when I say, has amounted,one month with another, to near halt' a million combatants, and men and officers too who were little accustomed to the enticing profession of the military force, from whom, therefore, what I will call the arroganlce
of the soldiery was perhaps the more to be apprehended. Yet has any one of you
ever heard a single ominous growl from our armies? Can you point to a single
Cromwellan symptom or Bonapartean frown at Congress? Have our "boys," as
you love to call your soldiers, called upon Grant to march on Washington when he
has taken Richmond, and to turn out the President, Congress and all'? Does any
one expect Sherman, with his army which worships him, to setup for themselves,
law and institutions to the contrary notwithstandinr? Do you believe that the
idea of a nice little Western Empire-and it would not be so very little either --
has crossed the mind of Ilalleck or''homras? Have our officers shown anywhere




52
that intolerable arrogance which Napoleon's officers showed, even in France,
towards high persons of the civil service? God be thanked, I say again, we apprehend no such turn of affairs. WNe feel ourselves in perfect civic security.
And why is it so? Every great fact-and this is one of the greatest facts-is the
combined result of various causes. But it seems to me that the chief cause of
this grateful fact is, that our institutions train the people thoroughly in the
school, and imbue them  with a civic spirit, more than the institutions of any
other country have ever done, and that these institutions spread over a wide,
noble, extensive country, excluding paltry provincialism, or possessing the power
of neutralizing and correcting local jealousies and distempers. Our armies are,
and have remained and will remain portions and integral parts of the people.
Gen. Grant is as good a citizen to-day as he was when he had but one star on his
shoulder-strap, or none at all. So Gen. Scott in Mexico resisted the seductive
offers made by the Mexicans, because he had been bred and trained in the love
of Constitutional liberty. It is not the same with our unruly enemy. Their
theory of the paltry " ultimate and absolute State Sovereignty," (to use Mr.
" Vice-Prosident" Stephens' words,) has led some, as you all know, to call loudly
on Lee, and others on Davis to seize the reins of the government, play the
dictator and bid adieu to rational constitutional rule —to the representative
polity.  This meeting would have been held on the 4th of March had it
not been for the inclemency of the weather, when Abraham  Lincoln was reinstalled in the Presidential Chair.  Is not this fact, also, an illustration of
my remarks? In the midst of a grave and even fierce contest, after four years'
warring, the people did not turn towards a captain for their candidate, but re-elected
the Western lawyer, who has declared again and again that he knows nothing of
war and has no military spirit within him.'T'he election was by an overwhelming
majority against a candidate who was a captain, who has commanded our armies
in chief. So palpable a fact ought to prove the loyal, law-abiding. civic spirit of
our people, even to the foreigners who have shown themselves duringr this whole
period so prone to misunderstand us, so wilful to misrepresent us, so bent on
fraternizing with the lawless slaveholder because, forsooth, he calls himself tonservative.  Conservative indeed! I have not mentioned in all these remarks our
navy, but you will not think that I under-value the deeds of our floating forces.
I have chieflv spoken of the danger accruing to liberty from large military forces,
but the navy has never interfered with the institutions of a free country. No
free people has ever been jealous of its navy on this score, and no Admiral has
ever upset his country's liberty, so far as I can recollect now, while names of
Dutch Admirals occur in my mind who nobly stood by the country's glory of
freedom. Yet having given due meed of praise to our armies, and said nothing
of the most noble navy, I now propose to you to conclude my words with three, or
three times three, hearty cheers for all our brave seamen, from Admiral Farragut
down to the powder-monkey of the smallest craft in the navy.'T'he resolations were read by Hoan. Judge Borsney, and were adopted cmnaimously.
The President next introduced Gen. JOHN  COCHRANE, who,
upon coming forward, was loudly cheered.  He said:
GEN. COCHRANE'S SPEECH.
FELLOW-CITIZENS, —They who have been summoned to compose the speaking
pageant in the day's ceremonial. have also been properly admonished. that their
efforts, respectively, must be limited to a brief period of time.'the commemoration
of victories is, perhaps, best accomplished by the military column and the civic
procession, which have led through your streets a glittering and triumphal pomp.




53
Where events of general notoriety are the theme of general rejoicing, the occasion for the orator is but meager and restricted. Still, it has been thought
expedient that his voice should be heard, shaping into emphatic phrase, the emotions which have assembled us, and declared this to be a holiday in the year's
calendar.
Four years of war are about to establish, for indefinite years, this republic of
ours. It may not be questioned that at periods of this interval, our laws, institutions and Government have reeled beneath the assaults of a stupendous rebellion. But, rectitude and an indomitable resolution to preserve, at every cost,. the
heritage of our fathers, combined with efforts worthy of the emergency, to avert
the menaced danger and advance the country upon its way to final restoration.
[Cheers.]  And now, fellow-citizens, I am not about to regale your appetites
with a review. in the bombast-phrase of a war correspondent, of the achievements of the Union arms.'Ihe marrowed mouth of the pursy patriot, bursting with the emoluments of war, is far better supplied with such material than
either you or I.  Sufl'er me, in soberly considered terms, to contrast the magnificent proportions of the rebellion of eighteen hundred and sixty-one with its
shrunken outline in eighteen hundred and sixty-five. At its inception, then, it
tore from the map of the Union quite ten degrees of latitude, and extended its
horrid  (-ngth through twenty-five degrees ot' longitude.  Nearly the whole of
thirteen States shot from their national orbits into the eccentric action of revolt.
Over twelve million of the population of the United States were blackened by
the sombre shadow of rebellion, and professed martial fealty to its flag. Now,
how changed the scene.  [Cheering.]   Of these twelve million of misled and
erring rebels, hardly a community or a neighborhood relinquish to revolt, that is
to be found throughout the entire area of the rebellion.  Of the thirteen States,
in whole or in part, infected with the national pestilence, not one that is not now
convalescent while some of them  have emerged from the ravages of the disease
to the enjoyment of more athletic constitutional vigor.  [Laughter and applause.]
And, were I a geographer, I should say that the national map is restored to the
full integrity of its former projection.  [Cheering.]  An exterior red line of
loyalty, ordered by Uncle Sam and maintained by his authority, embraces and
restrains every rebellious part to its duty.  Not, fellow-citizens, that there are
not, even now, extensive tracts of wilderness, far reaches of forest and field, and
inaccessible mountain fastnesses wlhich still acknowledge the sway of Jeff.
Davis. Doubtless. such there are. But they are isolated and removed from the
possibility of intercommunication.  The hurricane of a loyal and avenging wrath
has left devious and desolating tracks all through the Southern country.  Sherman.  [Loud applause.]  Sherman, and Sheridan. and'Ihumas have strangely
carved and dissected these politic bodies of' State Sovereignty.  [Cheeringr]  In
truth, fellow-citizens, you would suppose, to look upon the Carolinas, Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, and, in fact, all the rebel States, that they had
been tortured from the internal propriety, as once was Connecticut-that they
had been Gerrymandered.  [Laughter.]  Here runs Sherman's trail through
Georgia, and behold a dissevered State, presenting in this parcel the figure of a
lion couchant, and in that the likeness of a baffled bull. In South Carolina the
operation has been, if more torturing, so also the more decisive. It certainly
could not have been without a mortal shock, that her famous Quattlebums and
her stalwart commanders felt the anguish of the separating steel, but none the
less, the great Union march proceeded directly through the bowels of the land,
and lo! there you behold, parcelled through all the State of South C'arolina. as
many territorial resemblances of the wriggling remains of the dismembered
serpent as there are dissevered parts.  [Laughter.]'IThese are the results of our
victories; these the effects of our arms. It is proper, therefore, that we shout
and cheer with one applause the brave hearts who have worked them. and we
should garner for immortal honors, the namos of those redoubted leaders who




54
have executed them. But, while we applaud these results, let us not be unmindful of their benefit to the Union.'Ihe ravage of war is but the infliction of cruelty.  The smouldering ruin. the
desolated field, the sacked city, and the embowelled land, from the stern and repulsive lineaments of that terrible scourge-these the ends of war to be found
at this, ever accursed must they be who precipitate or engage in its savage conflict.
But, the happiness is ours to perceive other effects-effects which recompense all
the suffering endured, and elevate to patriotism the soldier's career.  Among
these is the one comprehensive and paramount effect-the restoration of the
Union. I will not detain you, fellow-citizens, with an enumeration of the evidences of this consummation which press upon our senses. The distinguishing
one which, in its prominence above all others, claims our attention, is the frequency and the number of desertions which daily are effected from Vhe rebel army.
Without doubt, the sole remaining obstacle to the return of the South to its
Federal allegiance are the armies of Lee.  When desertion shall have dissolved
these, or disaffection shall have squandered them, the period will have arrived
which will end the war and re-establish the integrity of the Government in
Washington.  Another consideration should not, however, be overlooked. I
refer to slavery. From the first it was apparent that the fate of slavery was
involved in that of the rebellion which it had inflamed. Equally clear was it that
the disposition of success would be towards that party to the war who should be
enabled to appropriate, as a military power, the material force of the slaves.
Of the three million five hundred thousand slaves in the disloyal States, at the
commencement of the rebellion, two million, at the least, were laborers.  It
being fairly estimated that three hundred thousand of these were house servants,
and you have as the probable result, that, in 1861, there were, within the limits
of the rebellious States, one million seven hundred thousand slaves fit for military
duty.  Now, at that period, there were. of white male population in the South,
between the ages of 18 and 45 (the military age), but one million three hundred
thousand.  Thus, the excess of four hundred thousand of black warriors in the
South over its military white population, furnished the key to the problem, of
the war against the Union. But, the political partisan furiously inveighed against
this obvious truth, and the venom of party was enlabled to infect men's judgment
so injuriously, that, I remember, when, ill the autumn of 1861, I ventured to propose the arming of the slaves, I was encountered with such a wave of obloquy
as usually overwhelms capital offenders. Even those charged with the administration of national affairs shrunk from  the responsibility of their position, and
thus hazarded by retardinlg our ultimate success. But events educated men with
an impassive necessity.'I'he doubting at length assented, while those even who
had opposed became, most clamorously, the advocates for arming the slave. I
remember quite well that, the now Vice-President of the United States, Andrew
Johnson. then in 1861, visited President Lincoln to remonstrate against the insanity of introducing the negro into the conflict of arms.  He lived to see and
to correct his error; and I was subsequently cheered as well as amused to hear
him, in yonder Academy of Music, not only advocate the negro soldier policy,
but insist, as unquestionably he believ ed, that he had always favored it. The
slave was armed.  The war proceeded.  They who, in however small degree, had
enlisted the slave began gradually to assert their martial supremacy.'The conflict became more critical.'The rebellion founded upon slavery nrdded to its
base, and now, the South embedded in slavery-the South absorbed by slaveryis itself' obliged, by the sovereign necessities of war, to summon to her rescue
the slave whom she had enthralled, to relax those very bonds which, once unloosed, abandon her to national disaster and ruin.  But why need I continue?
The edict of Jeff Davis which arms the slave is the knell of his doom. It is the
capitulation of the armies of the rebellion, for it is the ultimate, though tardy
remllisioil, of thl: problem  of the war of the rebellion, to the black, man with




55
whom, as a military question, it was at the beginning and with whom it has
since remained. It is equally needless that I should dwell upon the effect of these
events upon slavery itself. Though the war has not ceased, slavery has; and
that slavery has ceased is the harbinger of that hastening day, which will close
the rebellion and simultaneously re-affirm the Union and the Constitution.
Another, and perhaps a more difficult question will inevitably claim an answer
at our hands, and that at a time not far removed-the destiny of the negro? It
is quite probable that party issues will hereafter become impressed with this consideration.'IThough, inexpedient to project ourselves into the future for subjects
of mere debate, yet it may not be amiss to refer to the probable effect which black
battalions, arrayed in the panoply of arms, will continue to exert upon the future
of their race. History records that of all fragmentary races, that portion of them
in whatever section of the world which has been possessed with power, uniformly
has attracted to itself its kindred parts. Nor shall we, in my opinion, hereafter
fail to recognize the repetition of this historical lesson, in the attraction of all
the various fragments of the African race, to these same black battalions of ours,
when, this war concluded, they shall have established for themselves a government and have located a home beneath the tropics. In my judgment, herein is
to be found the true solution of the question, what shall be done with the black
man? Nothing should be done with him. He should be let alone. In a national
sense, as incorporated with the governments of the white man, nothing can be
done for him. But, in a national sense, as the founder and architect of governments of the black man, everything can be done for him, for everything can be
done by him. But, gentlemen, I weary you, a pedestrian audience, with what I
am afraid, is a pedestrian speech, and besides my time being up, I retire. [Applause.]
SPEECH OF GILBERT DEAN.
Hon. GILBERT  DEAN  was introduced  by the President, and
said:
FELLow-CITIzENS,-It is fitting that this city-the scene of the Inauguration
of Washington seventy-six years ago, the place of the organization of the Federal Government, the port where the commerce of a continent centres-should
make this magnificent demonstration.
How different the aspirations of to-day from the apprehensions of 1861.
Then, all was fear and doubt, the strength of our Republican form of government had not been tested; then theories bewildered and doubts chilled us.
Then capital, always timid and always conservative, saw grass growing in our
streets, and property valueless.
Now, we behold what? Notwithstanding the uncounted numbers who have
gone to the war, and who have there lost their lives or are yet in the service,
our population increased in a ratio beyond any other four years in history, property doubled in value, every branch of industry prosperous, and our people
fixed on one purpose, the Nationality of the United States.
T''his is and must be kept the central idea, the United'States one Nation, one
People, a Power, and that power to be respected in Canada, Mexico and
Europe.
Am I too sanguine? Can we not, ought we not, must we not, avow this
determination and establish this power?
Go back three quarters of a century to the Inauguration of Washington. The
population of the State of New-York is to-day greater than that of the Union
then.
The public debt at the close of the Revolution was $54,000. The representative man who struck oil to-day in the production of petroleum can alone




pay it in a year, while our resources in mineral and agricultural wealth are inexhaustible.  Think also of our mechanical and inventive progress.'The cotton
gin, steam in its application to propulsion whether on the wings of commerce,
the iron wheels of locomotion or the spindles and lathes of the manutlctory.
I need not speak of the reaper, whereby the golden harvests are garnered
almost without the aid of man, or the sewing machine, which has led woman to
forget even the " Song, of the Shirt."  And then the magnetic telegraph developed by the genius of 5Morse, whereby to-day we converse with every portion
of the country, the Atlantic and the Pacific are at this moment whispering
tVgethe 
WIhy do I, on this occasion and in this presence. speak of these? Their significance is this: When the youthful shepherd of Judea slew the giant of Gath
with a sling and a smooth stone, mind asserted its superiority over matter and
celebrated its first victory.  When the inventive genius of educated Europe
discovered gun-powder and its uses, barbarism was stayed, and skill defied the
power of the Hun, the Scythian, the Vandal or the Goth.  So now, our great
material, productions, minleral, agricultural, mannufarcturing, make us independent
of the world, and the ingenuity of our people places us at the head of all nations
in offensive ard defensive waeJa re.
I admit and admire the valor, the endurance and devotion of the Southern
troops. But no Monitor has been there constructed.''hey have relied upon Europe to supply them with guns, and Fort Fisher,
armed with the celebrated Armstrong cannon pounded to a jelly by the ironclads of Porter. has advised England of the necessity of keeping on good terms
with Brother Jonathan.
Farragut, lashed to the mainmast, passed uninjured the batteries of well-prepared fortifications, our ordnance being so superior to all found in the forts protecting Mobile.  Tltlese facts have not only produced their results here, but in
Europe. British statesmen propose a Committee of Inquiry. Louis Napoleon
stopped for a while his Life of Cesar, and Maximilian is expecting to receive from
us speedy notice to quit.
On account, therefore, of our superiority in the respects I have named, our
people being united and determined upon the unity of the Nation, there can be
no question of the result.
Am I not right in saying that there is a united determination that there shall
be no peace except with the Union restored?
The Election of November —Both Parties-Everything tends to this issue
No administration dare or could conclude any other peace.
No administration dare or could continue the war after it is apparent a
peace could be concluded on the basis of a restored Union.
As to-day we rejoice over the achievements of our soldiers and our sailors, as
we speak of Fort Henry, Donaldson, Shiloh, New-Orleans, Port Hudson, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Savannah, Columbia, Charleston, Fort Fisher,
Wilmington and Charlotteville, let us not forget that there are hearthstones
made desolate, wives made widows, and children who are orphans in our cause 
that there are hospitals filled with the sick and the wounded, who are to be
adopted and cared for by us. That we are to maintain our own power by an
adequate and prompt supply of all needed material, and the moment the rebel
army is broken, hold out the hand of fellowship to the people who have so
severely suff red for faults not wholly their own.
As to foreign powers and the insurgent States-although we are not absolutely
conquerors-we can say:'' He-e's a hand to those who love us,  Though the desert mav surround us,
And a smile for those who hat3,      It hath springs that may be won,
Whatever sky's above us,             Though the ocean roar around us,
Here's a heart for any fate.         It still shall bear us on."




57
And bear on the good ship Constitution with every mast, and spar, and plank, and
anchor safe and flag flying into the port of the Union. By this demonstration
we give in our adhesion not to the " Administration," but to the " Government."
Is the Abolition Ghost raised to frighten us from our propriety?
It needs no Gallileo to teach me that the world moves. No war of this magnitude, no war based upon ideas, can be conducted on any programme made by
man.
The Crittenden resolutions" There's a DIVINITY that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew themr as we will."
That Divinity has led us through alternate defeat and victory, until now they
who forced the conflict, they who have dared to throw into the decision by
wager of battle this Constitution. defended the institution of slavery, must abide
the result. If not as the object, but the consequence of the war; if by the
advance of the Union army in restoring law and constitutional authority, bondmen are liberated and the tutelage of the superior over all the inferior race is
terminated, let it be. If the choice is to be made between secession, disunion
and slavery preserved on the one hand, and Union, an undivided country with
freedom to all of every race on the other, I here make my choice —" Liberty
with Union."
I have heard the Abolition Ghost summoned to scare us. We not only fear
but hate it. I sincerely believed that as our institutions were, at the time of the
rebellion, that immediate emancipation instead of being a boon to be sought,
would have been a curse to the slaves. Nothing since has changed my opinion;
while, therefore, I entertain these sentiments, I am not to allow them to interfere with my duty or allegiance to the Government. This is a Government of
white men, and should not and shall not be destroyed for the sake of the
African.
If any here are with me opposed to the Abolitionists, let us direct our
whole energies against, not the theorists, who for thirty years have talked and
never acted, but against those practical abolitionists residing south of Mason
and Dixon, who by their madness and folly, their crimes have rendered the
existence of slavery impossible; for I say here, meaning what I say, that since
Moses, four thousand years ago, stood upon the cliffs of the Red Sea, with his
2,500,000 Hebrews rescued from bondage, there has been no abolitionist in
history, equal to Jefferson Davis.
By the result of the Hampton Roads Conference, we are called upon to choose
between the Independence of the Southern States, or the restoration of the
Union by an armed force.
What are the alternatives? War for our nationality and peace, with half of
our territory yielded. Peace, with the Potomac which flows by the Capital of
tbe Nat'ion in hne possession o~ th'e enemy.
Peace! with the Tennessee, the Savannah and the Mississippi given up.
Peace, with New-Orleans, Mobile, Norfolk, Wilmington, Charleston, Fort
Fisher and Sumter surrendered.
Peace! with a hostile flag over Ashland, Monticello, Mount Vernon and the
Hermitage, a passport required for an American to kneel at the grave of Washington. Peace, with the country divided, and a legacy of war bequeathed to our
children!! End it now!
Let the death rattle be heard in the throat of rebellion before the hug of our
Ursa-Major is relaxed.
Peace! except on the basis of integrity of the Territory and the Constitution!
We tell you, Carolina, never, we tell you Virginia, never! We tell you Confederates and the world, never; and whoever among us shall -ever dream of it,
let him be'1 Anathema-Maranatha'.  Palid be the cheek; of the craven who
Q




58
would propose it; confusionto the head that conceives it; palsied be the tongue
that shall utter it. Perdition to the heart that approves it!
Peace. with the Union restored will be hlailed as the white winged dove bearin( the olive leat to the ark. No other terms are debateable; when these are
offered; it wili be found that New-York, which with such unanimity at the
polls opposed to the administration of Mr. Lincoln, yet has so vigorously supported the Government, will see that the sword is sheathed, and that every citizen and every State is secured in their respective rights.  Until such submission to the legitimate government there can be no peace.
Let the press, with its million voices say that this is the fixed determination
of a united people and the sentiment of those who have, at all times, sustained
them in the assertion of their righlits under the Constitution, but that under no
circumstances will the metropolis of the Nation march to any tune which does
not keep step to the music of the Union.
SPEECH  OF REV. WM. HT. BOOLE.
The Chairman introduced Rev. Wm. IH. BOOLE, who was received with applause. He said:
FELLOW-CITIZEN,-T'T is said that history repeats itself. Before it reached
America this was true; but now this Republic stands forth as the one only grand
exception to the rule, having in the four years last past, turned the corner of
history and changed the front of the universe. We meet to celebrate victories,
moral and material, more extensive, stupendous and brilliant, more astounding to
the military powers of the'earth, and more profound and lasting in their results
upon the common interests of humanity, than ever yet have been marked by the
pen of the historian. A travelling American took a guide to visit Mount Vesuvius.'Ihe volcano was belching forth its. fires while red-hot.lava rolled in
streams down its sides. The guide with excusable pride said,' You have nothing
like this in America sir?  " No" replied the Yankee " but we have a Niagara that
can put it outt in little time."  Four years ago the flames of hell belched forth from
the crater of rebellion in the south, and treason, like red-hot lava, poured its
scorching, desolating streams over our fair land.'L'he spirit of liberty waved
her wand over the face of the loyal north, and forthwith there sprung up an uncounted host by sea and land, which poured its strength, like the waters of the
great flood, into the flaming crater.''he fury of the flames is quenched and there
remaineth but the smoke of a dissipated and dying rebellion. The achievements
of our Army and Navy, during four years last past, have turned the world upside
down. During many years no improvements had been made by the nations in
naval architecture and warfare.  The Monitor and Merrimac met-and in
eighteen months from the opening of this war, the science and mode of naval
warfare, were revolutionized and the vast navies of Europe were at a discount of
75 per cent. Again, Gen. Gilmore proposed to reduce one of the strong torts
of the rebellion with siege guns at range far greater than was considered practicable by the skilled artillerists ot the European schools, while military men on this
side the water who followed in the wake of the stand-stills on the other side,
knowingly smiled in derision at the attempt.  Gen. Gilmore accomplished his
wonderful task, captured F'ort Pulaski, and immediately the astounded epaulets
of Europe, rubbed their eyes, put on their spectacles, looked into their dusty
books and closed them' with a groan. Again, the invincible Sherman, the second
military colossus of the war, audaciously marches across the breath of the
rebellion, making his solid columns his sufficient base, and again, the London
Thunderer owns "'beat" and acknowledges the march of the conqueror the most
wonderful achieveiiient ii the history of war.. Thle feature inthe glorious victories




59
of Sherman, Sheridan, Farragut, Porter,jTerry, Warren, Thomas, and the others of
the same constellation. achieved since the day when, by the joint commission of
Almighty God and the United States authorities, ouR GRANT was made Lieut.
General of the Armies of the Union, is worthy, in note and marks a radical
difference between the first and the last phases of the war. They show a uniiy of
purpose, an original, comprehensive knowledge and grasp of the enormous proportions of the field of conflict, and an adequate power to make all operations by
sea and land bear directly upon a central purpose, to take by a last blow the
capital of the Confederacy and the life of the nister rebellion. Grant keeps
increasing guard over the living prey, until at a given signal his war-dogs come
in on the scent like the avenging angels from the four quarters, and in one irresistible spring, clutch the monster in their death-grasp, and Richmond an(l the
rebellion fall together.'I'he moral victories of the war are not the least of our
gains? In cl ushiog the rebellion we kill its cause-slavery. Whatever differences
of opinion once distracted the people concerning the final disposition of this
abomnnation, all loyal hearts are now  at last agreed that the constitutional
amendmient which seals its doom is just and righteouns. So let it die. Slavery
falls by the hand of the suicide. W'hen the noble Kilpatrick was on one of his
Virginian raids near the town of Fredricksburgh. a voice was heard like that of
an auctioneer. Pausing in their ride and looking out from their concealment
they saw an auction-block, surmounted by a negro slave, while the salesman kept
on his cry " who bids, who bids?" The gallant chief stepped out and answered,
" I BID." The astonishment of the Assembly may be imagined as the blue uniform of the officer indicated the price bid for the fieedom  of the slave. When the
the rebellious south tore the flag of our country and struck her treasonable blows at
the foundations of the temple of liberty, she put slavery on the auction-block.
The war power of the Government accepted the challenge, put in his strong bid and
swept the board for freedom. By this war we teach tLe jealous monarchies of the
earth the tenacity of life, the wonderful resources and unprecedented strength of
the American republic. From the beginning the statesmen and aristocrats of
Europe prophesied the inherent weakness and inevitable destruction of the entire
fabric. We laugh to scorn their prognostication. This, the most gigantic
rebellion that ever shocked the astonished sight of heaven and earth, since the
remote time when the arch-fiend Lucifer led the fallen hosts of heaven in their
mad assault against the omnipotence of God, has been permitted to rear its
dreadful crest in this land against the authority of lawful government, that the
nations may behold the sublime spectacle of the genius of liberty, in the spirit
of omnipotence and divine prerogative-speak into existence an army of uncounted thousands; cover the waters with a fleet, whose extent and weight, and
hitherto unconceived powers of destruction are the astonishment of thle world 
create, as with magic wand, resources to sup;ply bounteously every arising want;
shaking off reverses, as Paul shook the viper from his hand, and feeling from them
no harm; inspiring the hearts of the children with the courage of iron-nerved
veterans, until her drurrmer-boys shout in the van of battle; and in her giant
tread, crushing, as under the foot of Behemoth. Armed treason arrayed against
her heaven-ordained progress; and planting her banner upon every dismantled
baltlement of rebellion until LIBERTY shall have become the shibboleth of UNION
and FRATERNITY and every tongue shallframe to pronounce it rightly.
GEORGE F. NOYES, Esq., was next introduced by the President.
SPEECH OF GEORGE F. NOYES, ESQ.
MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW-CITIZENS,-JI consider it a great privilege to stand
here upon this Thanksgiving-day of the people. It does me good to look down
into your earnest faces glowing ing inthe sunlight of our recent victories, to feel the




60
heart throbs of this great metropolis in an hour like this of patriotic joy, to utter
my brief word of sympathetic congratulation to men who have come together,
not as Democrats or Republicans to celebrate a party triumph, not as NewYorkers to commemorate some State or city festival, but as American citizens,
heirs by the grace of' God of a continent, met to rejoice that the dark day has
passed away from the Republic. We have been like mariners, storm-tossed and
tempest-diiven over a rough and wintry sea. Why should we not be glad now,
cr6ai bci    e ccr eager  fisirr &Japea ac cre wed -ktlawar?eacofi ffgAts and fieadfaulds
of our former haven of peace'? We have been wandering in the desert-places of
doubt and anxiety; we have sat in shadow beneath the rock of humiliation; and
now that we have climbed to the summit of this great day of hope, and see
already before us the promised land, why should we nbt here erect our tabernacle
and offer up thanksgiving to Almighty (Sod? Never so humble before Him,
and yet never so sure that He who aided our fathers to found this Nation has
been with us also in our efforts to preserve it. Be has schooled our impatience
by the rough lessons of disappointment. He has educated us step by step up to
the height of this great moral issue, until, to all, it is apparent that what appeared
defeat was really victory, that what seemed misfortune was really his best blessing. Not unto us, not unto us, but unto Thy great name be all the glory.
I will not detain you by any reference to our many glorious victories, for it
seems to me that 1 find in other aspects of our national affairs food  for
still deeper congratulation. It cannot be denied that when the rebellion broke
out, great anxiely was felt by many earnest students of the past, whether our Constitution, which hiad worked so admirably in times of peace, was comprehensive
enough to guide us through the untried experiences of a civil war; whether our
fundamental principle —the Democratic idea-was vital enough, cohesive enough
to stand the new and unaccustomed strain; whether a government of the people
was strong enough, could concentrate executive force enough for such an em-:
ergency. When a ship is foundering at sea, not a set of written rules, nor the
votes of the crew and passengers, but the despotic rule of a despotic captain,
compelling instant and unqualified obedience, is tier best salvation. And certainly
we could discover little to comfort us in the records of history. We looked to
the civil wars of Rome, and found as their result the dictatorship of Caesar and
the death of popular liberty. We consulted the records of the French Revolution and saw Napoleon, at last, stalking over the ashes of democratic hope to
seat himself upon the Imperial Throne. England, our mother, taught us an
equally sad lesson, for her civil wars terminated in the military protectorship of
Cromwell and the return of the despotic House of Stuart.
And during those dark days of ours, who did not hear timid, half-made
Americans predicting the failure of the Republican experiment, the need of a
dictatorship, the death of the democracy?  Who were we, that our experience
should prove an exception to the universal teachings of history? Was there not
corruption enough, and ignorance enough, and blind partizanship enough, and
military jealousies and ambitions enough to condemn us to the common fate?
Would not our Constitution cramp and fetter the action of the Executive until
necessity would compel its abrogation; would not the people faint and fail under
the burdens of war and refuse to be taxed and conscripted; would not the army,
once aware of its strength, bear upon its shields some favorite leader to the
dictatorial chair?
Let us thank God that these questions have been fully and satisfactorily answered. Our Constittiton has proven itself a chart sufficient for the most stormy sea 
our Executive has been able to wield the whole power of the people with only
checks enough to protect popular rights and emphasize popular patriotism. We
have organizctd war as no other ination, save Ancient Rome and Modern France,
has ever belrl able to organize war before. And, on the other hand, our people
have- hown that they can fight for themselves and govern themselves also, that




either with the ballot-box or cartridge-box they can take care that the Republic
receives no detriment. There never has been a time since this war began that
our Executive has not been led by the popular will, driven forward by the popular
impulse; there never was a time when the people have so thoroughly governed
America as during the past four years. And not only has the country obeyed
the reqcis;tions of the Executive for men and for money, but it has usualy
anticipated fand urged increasing demands in that direction, that thus the Union
might be preserved.
Yes, my countrymen, it is now  fully decided that neither kingcraft nor
oligarchic rule is needed in free America. The old analogies of history do not
apply-the tree church, the free school-ho,use, and the free press have educated a:Nation able to sustain the responsibilities of s.lf-government.  With joy unspPakable I emphasize this pregnant proposition. i'he governing c!asses of lurope
who laughed with mocking scorn over the expected death of American Liberty,
have already begun to sing in quite a different key.  Study, if you will, the last
debate in the House of Lords upon the proposition to fortify C(anada; or the
articles which, in the leading European papers and reviews are already becoming
civil, if not complineietary, and you will see that in the eilightened judgment of
the world, this republic, through maimed by civil war, still challenges respect as
one of the strongest nationalities on earth.
Far be it from me to say this in any spirit of boasting, or to ignore our many
and great deficiencies as a people. But there is a time to laugh as well as a time
to weep, and 1 honestly believe that this Natio,n, educated as it has been in this
rebellion, is to advance at its close in a career of umexampled prosperity.  And
another thought occurs in this connectioti. Is it not true that this war, with all
its evil influences, has developed some of the higher elements of a true national
character? Hlave we not been drawn nearer to each other, and felt as never
before our dependence upon each other. upon our country, upon our God?  Do
not the words, patriotism, self-sacrifice, llbetrly, mean more to us than ever before?
How have our womnen illustrated. by every form of selneegation, in every possible
channel of labor and of sympathy. the noblest attributes of their sex; how have our
men upon a hundred battle-fields lifted every one of us to higher ideas of heroic
patriotism? Send me no more for definitions of valor to the records of the past;
bid me no more seek examples of kiightly chivalry in the emblazoned scrolls of
the middle-ages; when I wish to teach my sonis thile meaning of the word patriotism 1 will take them  to the tomb of our own Wadswolth-the Bayard of this
war; I will bid them stand reverently beneath the monument which crowns the
hill at Gettysburg; I will visit with them the holy places all over the land forever sacred as the restinig-places of American heroes, knights of our American
chivalry.
Otlher considerations crowd upon our thoughts, but my limited time has well
nigh expired  And before I close, I must be permitted ont- word to the misguided
meii who brought on this sad war. As we stand here, crowned with the laurels
of victory, is it not our right, our duty to be magnanimnous, nay, even generous
to those who have done us this foul wrong?  It seenms to me that il' mr feeble
words could reach their ears I would say to them::We want not an acre of
your ground, we will not confiscate a dollar of your property, only give us freedom Jor all and a Union which is not a rope of sand. and (once more we are your
friends and brothers.  Come now. let us together dig a grave and bury away forever from our sight slavery and the pretended right o!f secession, the parents of
the rebellioni. LIet us hoist over that grave the tanner of our common country,
and then anid there strike hands together for all honorable and lasting peace.
I c;i'ifess that I see in the future otnly the mno.t auspicious oniietis  In order
that our peace should be lasliiig, out Uiiion a bindi,,g one, it was nece'ssary that
this should be a moral as well as a p'ysicl victory y; it  was nlecessary that slavery
*hould die and go to its own place, and that the old flag should once more wave




62
over Sumpter where it was first insulted, over Charleston, where, for thirty years
treason had been plotting against our peace, and over Richmond where the rebel
chiets have htld their dishonored councils.  Most of these great ends have been
alrtady reached; the last is only a question of days, nay, rather of hours.  Put
your ears to the grounld and eveni now you may hear the hoof-beats of Sheridan's
cavalry, and the battle-songs of Sherm;an's men as they sweep towards the
beleaguered rebel capital. And when Richmond falls, talls the rebellion, and
when the rebellion falls, then will we meet to rejoice together as never before
over a regenerated and saved Republic.




63
CORRESPOND-ENCE,
LETTER FROM  LIEUT.-GEN. W. SCOTT.
NEW-YORK, March 3.
Hon. C. P. DALY, Chairman,'c.
DEAR SIR,-I regret, on account of debility, I cannot take part in the grand
celebration of to-morrow, as I sincerely rejoice in our victories over rebels, which,
with others impending, cannot tail soon to bring back into the Union. on terms
of perfect equality in rights and duties, the outstanding States. Reciprocal respect and admiration have already, by the dint of hard fighting, been established
between the gallant veterans of the opposing armies; and this noble sentiment
gives the hope, that it may conquer the miserable hatred so general between noncombatants-Secessionists and Unionists.  This, indeed, would be the great
conquest of the day.
I remain, with high respect,
Yours truly,
WINFIELD  SCOTT.
LETTER FROM MAJ.-GEN. JOHN A. DIX.
HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE EAST,
NEW-YORK, Mlarch 1, 1865.
MosEs TAYLOR, Esq., Chairman, ~'c.
DEAR SIR,-I accept your invitation in behalf of a meeting of citizens, held on
the 22d ultimo, to preside at a national celebration in honor of the recent
victories of our national arms.
I will, with pleasure, direct a military salute to be fired, and a parade of such
portions of the forces under my command as can be spared from duty.
It is earnestly to be hoped. that the demonstration may be signiticant of the
importance of the results it is intended to commemorate. and of the satisfaction
with which our recent triumphs by sea and land have filled all loyal hearts.
I am, very truly yours,
JOHN A. DIX.
LETTER FROM VICE-ADMIRAL FARRAGUT.
WASHINGTON, WILLARD'S HOTEL, March 2, 1865.
CHAS. P. DALY, Esq.
DEAR SIR, —Nothing would give me more pleasure than to comply with your
request, so far as being present on the glorious occasion of your meeting; but
my public duties are such as positively to prevent it.
I hope, therefore, you will excuse me to the Committee, and express to them
my thanks for your kind consideration and courtesy.
With my best wishes for a perfect success in your patriotic efforts,
I remain, very sincerely,
Your obedient servant,
D. G. FARRAGUT, Viee.Admirai.




64
MR. BRYANT'S LETTER.
NEW-YORK, March 31, ] 865.
MY DEAR SIR,-Allow me, through you, to thank the Committee, of which you
are a member. for the invitation t, take part in the public rejoicings on account
of our late victories by sea and land.
I shall most gladly avail myself of the opportunity to join in the general expression of gratitude and admiration to our heroic countrymen, for exploits so
gallantly performed. so worthy of their glorious cause, and so full of promise,
that the foulest conspiracy known to modern times shall be speedily suppressed.
I am, sir,
Very truly yours,
W. C. BRYANT.
MOSES TAYLOR, Esq., Chairman of Committee, 9fc.
REV. DOCTOR HITCHCOCK'S LETTER.
497 FIFTH AVENUE, March 2d, 1865.
Hon. CHARLES P. DALY.
DEAR SIR, —I would far rather be a hearer than a speaker at Union Square
on Saturday; but do not feel myself at liberty to decline a service such as you
ask of me.
Yours truly,
ROSWELL D. HITCHCOCK.
CAPTAIN DRAYTON'S LETTER.
18 WASHINGTON SQUARE, March 5, 1865.
SIR —The invitation very politely extended me, to address the meeting to be
held to-morrow afternoon, at Union Square, for the celebration of Uljion victories only reached me last evening.
Although feeling as deeply and as much rejoiced at our late wonderful successes ac any other whom you may have honored with a call, still, the entire want
of practice in public speaking obliges me to decline, that my place may be
taken by a person more competent to illustrate the subject, and interest the
audience.
Very resp'y,
Your obd't serv't,
P. DRAYTON, Captain U. S. Navy.
Hon. CHAS. P. DALY, Chairman.
LETTER FROM RICHARD H. DANA, JR.
BOSTON, March 2, 1865.
DEAR SIR,- Pray convey to the Committee my acknowledgments of the honor
of an invitation to speak at the great meeting in Union Square, on the 4th
instant.




65
I regret extremely that my professional engagements here will not permit me
to be absent at the time of the meeting.
Accept my best wishes for a great success in your patriotic purpose, and,
believe me, with many thanks,      Gratefully yours,
RICH'D H. DANA, JR.
The Hon. CHARLES P. DALY, Chairman, fc., cc.
HON. ROSCOE CONKLING'S LETTER.
UTICA, March 2, 1865.
DEAR SIR,-I have the pleasure to acknowledge your letter, inviting me to address the great meeting of llarch 4th, in Union Square, to celebrate the national
victories.
No one, present or absent, will respond more profoundly than I to the events
you design to commemorate.
Valuable in illustrating the genius and valor of our countrymen -valuable in
gratifying a just national pride-valuable in subtracting so much from the unfought future, and adding it to the achieved past-valuable in invigorating and
upholding the will and the right arm of the Nation; all our successes are valuable
in nothing so much as the assurance they bring of approaching peace; they
herald a near-coming day, when there shall be no more waste of life and waste of
energy, and when the vitalities of a wonderful people shall once more act and
re-act upon creative and advancing purposes.
Your celebration, like the war itself, has, I know, this sentiment as its foundation, and so I shall enter entirely into the spirit of the occasion.
I am compelled. however, to deny myself the pleasure of being present. and to
forego the privilege of speaking to those whose munificent patriotism has
rendered them conspicuous, even in an epoch of such universal generosity and
devotion.              I have the honor to be,
Your ob't serv't,
ROSCOE CONKLING.
The Honorable CHARLES P. DALY, Chairman, 4c., New-York.
GENERAL PECK'S LETTER.
DEPARTMENT OF THE EAST, HEAD-QUARTERS 
MAJ.-GEN. PECK, NO. 37 BLEECKER ST.,
NEW-YORK, /lMarch 3, 1865.
HON. SIR,-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to
join in the celebration of our Union victories, on Saturday next. It affords me
great pleasure to accept, and to place myself at the disposal of your Committee.
In consequence of injuries received during the siege of Suffolk, I am prevented
from being with the "Heroic Grant," and shall not be able to appear mounted.
For the same reason I must decline your request to address the meeting.
The demonstration will be productive of great good in many ways. It will
cheer the hearts and nerve the arms of our noble comrades under Grant, Sherman, Farragut, Porter, Meade, Thomas, Sheridan, &c., &c., &c., in the final struggle between patriotism and treason, between liberty and slavery, which is to
decide favorably and forever the fate of our free republican institutions.
The report of the New-York celebration will sweep with the rapidity of electricity across the ocean, impressing cabinets and people with the unity and power
of the Union.
9




66
Especially will it strengthen the hands of the President and those charged
with the administration of affairs, and stimulate them to renewed exertions for
the safety and perpetuity of the repllblic.
Most respectfully, your ob't serv't,
JOHN  PECK, Major-General.
To Hon. CHAS. P. DALY, Chairman of Coin.
GENERAL COOKE'S LETTER.
NEW-YORK, March 2, 1865.
CHIAS. P. DALY, Fsq., Chairman Corn. on Resolutions, g'c., Astor House, N. Y.
DEAR SIR,-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt, this morning, of your
invitation to address the great meeting at Union Square, to celebrate the recent
national victories, with the request of an answer.
1 shall heartily share the rejoicings of my fellow-citizens, that the magnificent
campaign in progress promises speedily to end the agony of our national redemption. It is plain now that the Almighty will grant us peace, so soon as we shall
accomplish His decree against slavery.
I regret that I shall not be able to address the meeting.
With respect, your obedient servant,
P. ST. GEO. COOKE, Brig.-Gen. U. S. A.
GEN. CULLUM'S LETTER.
U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY,
WEST POINT, N. Y., March 4, 1865.
CHARLES P. DALY, Esq., Chairman of Invitation Committee to the National
Celebration of Union Victories.
SIR,-Your invitation of the 28th ult. has just been received, but at too late
an hour for me to arrange my duties at the Military Academy to join in the
National Jubilee, for victories gained over the enemies of the Union.
Though absent, my whole heart is with you in this magnificent manifestation
of our loyal countrymen for the stupendous success of our arms, and the ultimate
triumph of the sacred cause of our country, for which our noble and steadfast
soldiers and sailors have freely poured out their best blood, and, after a desperate
struggle of four years, have nearly reestablished the unity of the mighty Empire
of States.             Very respectfully,
Your most obedient,
GEO. W. CULLUM.
Brigadier-General and Superintendent Military Academy.
LYMAN TREMAIN'S LETTER.
ALBANY, March 2, 1865.
DEAR SIR,-I thank you for the invitation to address the great Union Meeting,
to be held at Union Square, but I must decline it.




67
My great bereavement, in the loss of a gallant boy who was recently killed at
Hatcllher's Run, is too recent, and my wounds too fresh. But let others less
afflicted, unite in the celebration, rejoicing over the prospect that the end of the
rebellion is drawing near, and praying that it may come, and that speedily.
Yours truly,
LYMAN TREMAIN.
Hon. C. P. DALY, Chairman Committee on InvitatioWls.
HON. RANSOM  BALCOM'S LETTrTER.
NEW-Y ORK, March 3, 1865.
Hon. CHARLES P. I)ALY.
DEAR SIR;-Your invitation, as Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions,
to address the great meeting to be held at Union Square, in this city, on the
4th instant, to celebrate the recent national victories, has this moment reached
me. It would give me great pleasure to accept it; for I rejoice b 3yond me asure
or description over these highly important and most cheering victories. They
augur the speedy overthrow of the rebellion and the perpetuity of our free institutions; and I should be highly gratified to add a mite to the praise our noble
and glorious army and navy will justly receive from the loyal masses who will
gather at your lneeting; but official duties in a Western county compel me to
leave the city, and I must forego the pleasure of addressing the meeting.
Please to accept my thanks yourself, and for the Committee, for your kind
notice of me.
Very respectfully, yours,
R:ANSOM BALCOM.
SENATOR MURPHY'S LETTER.
ALBANY, March 2, 1865.
H-Ion. CHAs. P. DALY, Chair'mai, ~c.
DEAR SIR —I am highly honored by the Committee of which you are Chairman,
by its invitation to be present and address the meeting to be held in NewYork, on the 4th inst., for the purpose of celebrating the recent successes of the
arms of the Union.
While I am compelled to inform you that other engagements deny me the
pleasure of attending on that interesting occasion, I beg to express to you and
the other gentlemen of the Committee my sincere gratification at the re-occupa.
tion of the forts and property of the United States ill the ports of Savannah,
Charleston and Wilmington, by the valor of our gallant soldiers, and at the
glorious march of General Sherman and his army of veterans through the Southern Confederacy, carrying with them both the Flag of the Union, and the principles which that accomplished officer has expressed.  Such victories promise
peace to our distracted country, by breaking up the military power of the
rebellion and leading to a speedy restoration of the authority of the Constitution,and laws.
They deserve and should receive the plaudits of every good citizen.
I have the honor to be, truly yours,
HENN. C. MURPHY.




68
Among the numerous responses by telegraph, the following
spirited greeting came from Tennessee:
MEMPHIS, March 4 1865.
Col. FRANK E. HOWE, Secretary,'c.
The City of Memphis sends greeting to the metropolis of the Nation on this
day of National Jubilee. In the future glory of our re-united Nation, may the
people of the South, who have been deluded by wicked and designing men,
recognize the defenders of the Union as their own benefactors and deliverers.
CHANNING RICHARDS, Provisional Mayor.
FROM THE MAYOR OF BROOKLYN.
MAYOR's OFFICE, CITY HALL,
BROOKLYN, March 1', 1865.!
In pursuance of a resolution adopted by the Board of Aldermen, I hereby
invite the " patriotic citizens of Brooklyn " to unite with those of New-York
City in the "National Celebration of the Union Victories," to take place on
Saturday, the 4th of March.
The Board of Aldermen having declined to participate in the celebration, or
to make provision for any public demonstration in this city, I respectfully
recommend to the " patriotic citizens of Brooklyn " (in which category 1 hope is
i cluded our entire population), a general suspension of bu:iness, the display of
flags, of illuminations, etc., on that day and evening, so as to make the occasion,
so far as it is in their power, a national holiday.  A. M. WOOD, Mayor.
NATIONAL CELEBRATION-4TH OF MARCH.
MAYOR'S OFFICE, BROOKLYN, March 2. 1865.
It is requested that the bells of the various churches be rung for half an hour
at noon, on Saturday, March 4th, 1865, in honor of the recent Union victories,
and as part of the National Celebration to be had in honor thereof, on that day.
A M. WOOD. Mayor.
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR NATIONAL CELEBRATION OF UNION VICTORIES, MARCH 6TH, 1865.
NEW-YORK, March 16, 1865.
Messrs. STETSON & Co., Astor House.
GENTLEMEN,-Recognizing, in common with our citizens, the loyalty and liberality you have exhibited on all occasions in seconding or aiding all measures which
might tend, directly or indirectly, for the suppression of the rebellion, and the
best interests of the cause of our country, we cannot fail to express our appreciation of your hearty co-operation in perfecting the arrangements for oulr late
"C' elebration of Union Victories," and our ackrnowledgments for the apartments
you so generously assigned to the Committee during their preparation of the
details of the celebration.
By order of the Committee of Arrangements,
WILLIAM T. BLODGETT, Chairman.
FRINK E. HOWE, Secretary.




69
THE FIRE-WORKS.
The rejoicings of the day were appropriately and admirably
terminated, according to the programme, with a most successful
and triumphant display of fire-works. The able pyrotechnists to
whom this portion of the arrangements were entrusted left nothing to be desired, even where so much was expected. Prompt to
the minute, the preparatory fire-rockets announced that the victories which to-day had been set apart to celebrate, the night was
now about to take up and continue by a pyrotechnic display unrivalled for brilliancy and effect. The names of the pyrotechnists
were enough to insure an immense gathering on any ordinary
occasion; but with the hearts of the people elate and joyous for
the victories achieved by the National Arms, and hopeful for
a speedy and triumphant issue to the contest, and ready to take
part in any ovation that would assure our brave soldiers in the
field that the loyal men and women at home hailed their victories
with grateful acclaim; it was no wonder that last evening there
was the largest assemblage of people collected in and about Union
Square ever witnessed in that historic vicinity. The only drawback was that space alone was wanting. But this was irremediable,
and on such an occasion ever must be. Space is a desideratum
that cannot be supplied within the precincts of a city like NewYork, whose whole population glows with love for the Union, and
whose great heart desires to make that love known. The long
hours spent in witnessing the military and civic processionalmost interminable as it seemed at the time-still left hundreds
of thousands unwearied and anxious to witness the fire-works, one
of the first pieces of which, designed by Mr. Hadfield, was a constellation of stars, surrounding the motto, " Gratitude for our Victories"-victories which so many of New-York's brave sons
have died to achieve. How could they absent themselves from
witnessing glorious old Sumter, so long in rebel hands, restored
to the Union, with the Stars and Stripes again waving over its warworn battlements, illuminated by pyramids of silver fire, and amid
the bursting of bombs and discharges of rockets. Gould they forego




70
the delight of beholding the " little Yankee cheese box" Monitor,
commanded by the gallant Worden, running alongside of the
formidable Merrimac, and engagingit muzzle to muzzle, and, after
one of the most desperate naval engagements on record, compelling
it to beat a hasty and inglorious retreat, represented in one of the
finest pyrotechnic exhibitions ever conceived and carried out by
that prince of fire, Mr. Edge.  There was no lack of enthusiasm,
even after a long day's fatigue in the streets. Long before the
hour fixed for the display, Union Square and all the avenues
leading to it within the range of a chance view of the fire-works,
were a perfect jam of people. How they massed together; how
they breathed in that dreadful pressure, and how they quietly and
almost suddenly disentangled and poured homewards, leaving the
square deserted, was almost miraculous. Men, women and children-the strong and the feeble-fornmed that immense throng; and
yet, beyond an occasional crush, when some who could stand the
pressure no longer made violent efforts to get into free breathing
space, there was but little jostling. Indeed, the crowd was too
compact for even the usual " rushing in the stream" to have any
chance; and even the "boys," so fond of having a "lark" in that
way, were fain to give it over. The night was beautifully fine,
and, accordingly, favorable for the fire-works. The commencement
was announced by a rapid discharge of rockets of every hue, and
color, and shade; and those, as they rapidly glanced athwart the
sky, were followed by an illumination of colored fires, interspersed
with fire balloons, triple bombs and rockets. Among these
were seen a gallopade of serpents flying in every direction,
and surrounding two larger serpents, one in pursuit of another.
The principal representations of Mr. Hadfield were: A motto
piece, with the words, "The President-1860, 1864," closing with
brilliant radii, with reports; a motto, "Gratitude for sour Victories;" motto, " Thanks to our Army and Navy;" an illuminated
design, with the word "Sumter," and the rebel flag floating over
it, in the midst of an explosion which tore the rebel flag to pieces,
its place being taken by the glorious old Stars and Stripes-this




71
was loudly applauded all around. Mr. ladfield's tenth piece
represented a device, an American flag with mottoes, conspicuous
among which was the motto, "One Country, One People, One
Destiny;" also with the names "GCrant, Thomas, Sherman, Porter,
Sheridan," "Atlanta, Nashville, Savannah, Charleston and Wilmington."  On the opposite side of the square, Mr. Edge's arrangements were made. These were a perfect success also, and elicited
in their order general applause. The representation of the American Coat of Arms was a very brilliant affair, commencing with a
wheel of Chinese, Egyptian and radiant fires, closing with the
figures of Justice and Liberty, and underneath the motto, " Union
Forever." Following this was a representation of the great naval
engagement between the Monitor and Merrimac in Hampton
Roads, one of the scenes accompanying which was a " Beautiful
Sunset," also a scene representing Fortress Monroe lighthouse,
shipping lying at anchor around the fort, with the rebel iron-clad
Merrimac steaming for the shipping. This closed with the engagement between the Monitor and Merrimac. As each change
was presented, the cheers of the spectators evinced how truth-like
and clever the whole representation was. Mr. Edge deserves
great credit for the completeness of the display in every respect.
There was not the slightest hitch. Everything went off and up,
and off again, to the admiration of all beholders.
THE ILLUMINATION.
In several parts of the city the festive appearance of the houses
was not obscured by the approach of darkness. During the day
where flags, festoons and draping of various kinds were called on
to add to the general appearance of festivity, at night were rendered quite as attractive by the aid of gas and tapers.
In the vicinity of Union Square the illumination was most
complete. The Union Place Hotel, Union Square Hotel, Spingler
House, Maison Doree, Atheneum Club House, Union League Club




72
House and the private residences on the corner of Fourteenth
street, and Broadway and Fifteenth street, were almost all ablaze
with tapers and Chinese lanterns.   Gibson's  building,  on the
corner of Broadway and Thirteenth street, the residence of exJudge Roosevelt, St. Denis Hotel, and several other establishments
on Broadway, were handsomely decorated and illuminated. The
star and circlet of Dodworth Hall were ablaze, and Barnum almost
outdid himself in the number of lights displayed from the windows
of the Museum.   The large building  at the junction  of New
Bowery and Oliver street and the Bowery Savings Bank, besides
several other places on the east side, were not behind their more
aristocratic neighbors in the quantity and quality of their display.
Several poetical compositions were furnished to the Committee,
and extensively distributed among the multitude; of these productions the following has been preserved:
FREEDOM'S VOICE.
Strike up an Anthem for our Nation,
On instruments of harmony;
And celebrate our land's salvation
From Treason's reign of tyrannyWhich like a fiery ocean surged,
Lashing with fury on the shore,
Till, all the patriot-forces urged,
Crushed out Rebellion's wicked War!
When burst the storm on Sumter's breast,
Out from fierce rebel cannon-throats,
Our garrison gave back with zest,
The hostile shot with thund'rous notes!
So lovers of Columbia, all,
Their natal land should truly serve;
And, at their country's trumpet-call,
Their hearts for battle stoutly nerve!
And Patriots ly at aace t a rmsOnward! is still the patriot's word,
And every earnest heart it warms,
To do brave deeds for history's page,
(To illustrate our lovely land;)
And when war's storm has ceased to rage,
Our Fame on glory's height shall stand!
JESSE PAYNE.