Memorial Address Delivered By Col Ephraim F Anderson At Antietam National Cemetery PDF Download

Excerpt from Memorial Address Delivered by Col. Ephraim F. Anderson at Antietam National Cemetery: May 30, 1870 The concourse of people having reached the Cemetery grounds, with quantities of flowers to scatter about the soldiers' graves, they assembled in front of a stand which had been erected, when the exercises were commenced with music and singing, followed with solemn prayer by the Rev. Wm. M. Osborn, after which Col. Ephraim F. Anderson was introduced as the Orator of the day, who spoke as follows: Ladies and Gentlemen: We have come here to-day with evergreens and flowers to decorate the graves of our fallen heroes. The 30th of May, which has been designated as our "Memorial Day," is indeed becoming a national anniversary - the saddest yet the sweetest of all the days we celebrate. These tender observances help to humanize our feelings and purify our patriotism. - Our annual pilgrimages to these sacred little mounds make our hearts better and inspire us with a purer love of country. While people everywhere, both civilized and barbarous, have fondly cherished the memory of their brave ones slain in battle, yet their tributes of sorrow and gratitude have been commemorative rather of their great national triumphs, or lavished upon their victorious chieftains alone. Monuments have been reared to the very heavens to point where battles were fought and won, or to mark where famous leaders fell, and pyramids have been erected for the sepulture of kings; but the rank and file of armies have passed unnoticed as individuals, and have been allowed to commingle their dust in shallow, evenly covered ditches, in forgotten or unfrequented places. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.