Met Their Country's Call

The foUowfcng sermón was preaehed by Rev. A. s. Oarnuw on Memorial Sunday, to Weten Posi Q. A. il., the S. of V. and Woroan's 1 1 1 1 : ■ f Oorps, and is pubUshed at the unaninious request ol Welch l'ixt . Hebrewe 1 1:18, "Tbeee ajl dted in faith, ooi having reeelved the promi, ïmt hoving seen tin-m andgreeted tbem from afar." We are tookJog back, from a i-tanoe oí bMrly-two yeara, nearly a thtrd of a century, a fnH generatlon of hunian extetence, npon tliat spring time wben war first roueed the nationton terrible activity. AVe meet tlii.s moratag ín aceordance with m honored c-uatom lor the obeervanee of Memorial Sanday. It is a daywhich bearB Ma constant wltness in the pass? iaiir years fco the memory ol thoee WOO went, Ot the cali oí tlicir state and natlon in that time of danger and drcad. md wlio never caine back, or who U they rejoined the ranks of their commdes in the honorable dtaonarge and returned to tbedr homes again. did M Wit lx'dies learing the marks of the terrific ordeal through which they had passcd. and have since fallen by the way and been gathered to rest in the quiet of their homes. Memorial Sunday, in tho eelebration of a time like this. comes to have a doublé reach. For onc thlag t is to US in Michigan a memorial of the part which Michigan and our own comnmiuty toob in this struggle, and for another thtag it is a memorial of the whoie nation's struggle, for I find in the Roater of yonr Posi that thi're are nnmbered in it, tlirough the coming to Ann Arbor of people from all parta oí tbe land, represoiit-jitives ol the troops nol only o! Michigan but of thcrse of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, lowa, New York, Massaehnsetts, Vermont, New Jersey, and the Regalar Army oí the United States. I car.not speak partlcnlarly of the part taken by the other Btatee named in the grcat strnggle, but what I may say of the part which Michigan and our immediate vidnity bore in the conflict may be taken as reprcsentative of it all, I am Mire. In making tome itudy of the official records of the part which Michigan bore in the war. I have found an increaahng prlde rlsing in me, at the noble htetory which is. theirs. I ivonder if manr of yon were not suorant, a8 was I, of the dist nirnished place which Michigan held. Did yon know ihat the first western regiment to report in the city of Washington, in thoee critk-al dayi f May 1861, was our own First Michigan Infantry? Tliie regiment was recrnited from our región and contained our own Ann Arbor company E, formerly known as the "Stenben Quard," with the foilowiaig Ann Arbor men au officers : Captain. WUIlam F. Koath ; First Lieut., Gteo. '. Mogk : íTecond Lieut., John T. Shulair. This regiment wal ready for inarch before the cali was made for thein to proceed to Washington and wlten the cali carne, they were, as has beeu said, the first troops from the west to arrive on the ecene at Washington, and as the forerunner ol the vast body of millions who followed at the cali of the country, they were receired by the cities through whkh they passed, and at the capítol and by President Lincoln himself, with distinguinhed tokens of welcome. liuring the ninety days term of thelr enlirtmeat in aceordance with the r optimistic c-all of the Government, they saW severc service. They were in the thick of the disastrous Fio-t lïattle of r.ull Kun. and out of 11k disaster their actiO'n Bhlnea with a dit-tinguished radiance, for a eurvey of the Uattle field after all was over. revealed the fact that the dcad Who tit neari'st the eneniy's works were membera of f&e lst Michigan. It i a record to be proud of : First to respondió rtho cali oí the country for Bid, their dead boili-'s nearest o! all to the eneniy's works in the hour of deieat ! This regiment returned to Michigan at tae eipiration of it s three month'e ienn of service, but the reorganisatlon of the regiment for a three yeor's term began before the expiration of 1 he íirst term. the rende.voiis ui tli' regimeni being at Aun Arbor, as donbtbesa many of you well remember. I Bod in yonr Boster the names ,,f ïmt seven Hving members of the First Tnfantry, aod 1 cannoi teil wbo of these may have been membera of the original organiíatlon. Tliis regiment in it s aiter-htotory, 1 throagh íiíty batUee, many of tliem the moffl notable and hardfoujiiht bal t les in the war. stich as the first and second battles nf Buil Hun, Frederickaborg, CÜMUiceUoravUle, Gettymborg, The Wilderness. Spottfylvania, Petersburg, Apponiatox C. II., and the Slege of Petersburg. The noble record of tuit fir-t regiment seems to have been a pattern followed faithfully by the ninety thousnnd Michigan troops which responded to the repeated calis. As they were first in the response to the cali for troops to come to the relief of tbe government, mi ithey were among the last to leave the aeene of danger. It was remarkable of the Michigan Btmenta that they were nearly all tor a perwxl oí al teacrt three yeara, better atdll, "lor ttoe war," ii matter how long it niight last. Tl is a good type of enthucnasna which iroused at the Brei eall "f dut y. and presenta Itseli ready for actlon, while ntiu-rs are onlj preparing or eoneideftag t matter, bnt when to the same promptaese of earty response is added tfie quality of falthfulnesa in tiw liour of battleV deadly perll as proved by the mnte but eloquent wltnen oi Uw dead bodiei ol Miehigan'a sous lying in the place ol greatest peril and greateel honor, that adda a aonble value Ki tliL-ir service. And Mk-higan's men were atoo able bogive the final prooi oí steai'.fastness liy the penoatence of tbeli patriotism to the very end. lt glvei OM who did not live through !!"■ Boenea themaelrea, n. new vk'w of whaA qualJty of patri.it isin and confidence was demanded by the war, to rcad the record of how (.minous rails tor troops were uu-t. The eavy coaOdeoee of those who preaunted tliat three months wouid end the troubte and seventyfive thonsand men be auttlclent force to put down tho rebellion. enanged as Uit; country came to realize that it was nu struirit'.e of Americana with foreigners but a desperate Btrnggte of Anicrirans with Americana, each fcciini; bnpeUed by wiiat tJiey eonsidered to b a patriot ie duty. eafih cómposed of the braveat of brave troops. W are iar eaough away at any ratc from the war to eee thlfl liow, and I lx'licvc t!iat the Midiera thenwlvcs wlio were in the thick of tbe conflict have been reedier to concede it from tlic li.-ninniii.tr t lian fome of those who were intenscly patriotic, but wlio unfortunately were never able to get witliin a thousand miles of the cncniy tlicy hated 80 hearUly. Wnen it came to !■ realiaed what the nature of the struir.srle was. and when the i-alls came iar Iialí a niillioii of men at a time, and for years instead of months of service ; wheu the disastrous defeats of the earlier yeara of the war made timid patriota despaJr oí tho possiliility oí savinií the t'nion : vi lien the policy of the government was weakened by the cownrdly attaeks of thosc at home upon it : wlien it was found what enormous expense was beJng entailcd by the great conflict : when the tldlnga came of single battles which wlped OUt of ex.istfiice thousands of lives ; is it a wonder that in soinc reglons there may have been but a falterlng response to those later calis [or eliormooi anmbera oí men to go to the desperate scènes of ttrjfe? Bul MichgaA stood by the govcrnnient in this long struggle with the most anlalteriiiK courage. She was, in all the calis for a long tante, ahead of her quota : she was among the last of the stat es to feel the necessity of a draft, and when it was neceasltated at last. she complied cheerfnlly with its cali. And thus holdiing on to the very end of the struggle until thoe spring days of 'G5 saw the crumbLiJig of the rebellioe, it was the flag of the "lst Michigan Shar(shooters" which, after rearly 10 montlie iege, was the first l'nion banner to float out over the city of Petersburg, it being tastened to the court house sta ff at 4:28 of the early moraitig of April 3, 1805. And the final act of the troop of our state was fit to go with itíi first response to cali of the government, for it was tbe Fourth Michigan ('avalry which captured and brought to Fortresa Monroi'. the head of the ('onieder.iey, Jefferson Davrs. We of Ann Arbor, naw special and ineiancholy interest in the namea of the gallant office who went from our town. The brave Norval E. Weten, not L'T years old at the time of liis death. entered the 16th Infantry as major and soon rose to the cojnmand of the regiment, leading it with greatest gallantey untii in the action near Poplar Grove Chnrch, 8ept 80, 1864, he led a courageoua aasault upon a redoubt of the eneiny exclainiiii'-r tO his men, "A coiiuiiissiun to the oiie wlio iirst mounts the parapet of that redoubt." He himsell was the first tn nioniit and his conunission was one Uigher than earth can glve, for a rifle ballet pierced his brain and he íell dead, uhile hs troopa swept tip and over t be redouW , carryiny; everytliini; before tfaem. The memory oí Welch te flttiogly perpetuated in Uie name oí thie Poat. Our hearts are stirred with eniotion as we read oí the deatli oí other Aun Arbor soldiers : oí I.ieut. H. C. Arnolil killed at Buil Bun ; oí Captain Richard Dupuy killed at Gaines' Mili: oí l.ieuten.-mts RosweU i. Carpenter and David F.. Ainsworth. both killed at Spottsylvania, and Captain W. D. WilteJe, killed at tCnoivine, and there are many other nanies aniong thoee in the r&nke, oí which you in Ann Arbor may know, but to which I have not had acceSS, wlio deserve in equal honor with those I have inentioiied, tor valor wliich brought them a hei-o's deatli on the field, or sent to their homes witli shattered lodie to meet a Ongering death, ncarcely less tertible than stulden death on the field of battle could have been. One of these I have known well, and have been a witness to the sufferings whicli constituted tor htm a living death drawn out tor years, and which dinally brought lus wasteel torm to the grave two or three yeara mee. I rafee to ome of your number whoe name on your Roater i marked with the death-atar, John . Johnaon. I Eball never torget he told me (Hice Ote story of tin' terrible smn r ii.-iy when he lay in 1 teenches befare Vtokabarg, I thijik it was. with oiily the cholee between the (loadiy tire oí the eaemy's guns and the ecarceiy leaa terrible bla3 ot the smuiuTii ron. lie wcaped wlth hi.s lii'o, luit it was with a Bhattered sysi.'ia wbieh in the last few yeaw ol bis íifr made exlstence a terrible bnrden to him. Yet there was jio cant in the eanteal bonea wlth which he told me lictwccn paroxysms of hdB pain. "I woulil be willing to go tiurongh wlth it all agaia iíl belleved ihai it would do niy country auy good !'' That was the beroic aplrit which animated men in the ranka as wi'U as those who bore cpaulets .nul ,-i commiealon. That was the spirit which g-ave us our fighting torce tn those days ol ferribte stress. I wish I could give adequate honor hy name to others who must hare equally deaerred it. Hut I have no ineans of knowing these names niyself. The official records of Michigan'.- part in the war givi by name, as a rule, only those who vere aniong the COminNttO&ed oifieers. siiicc the ntunbee ol thoee in the ranke who honorable mentlon is too greal t permit of it. I have glven ttaeae namea as examplee ol all, and I have given them not merely ior the sake of the honor which is justly tlieir due, but for the sake of thOBC among us. who like myself knew little or not hing by actual experience of t.hc terrible times which pïder onea knew so well, and whicli they feit with a depth ol leeUng which makea it nlmost impossible for them calmly . to ppeak of those Úmee even aow. Tliere are other jiames oí thoae stül among the living and holding honorable place in the activities of to-day who are or were conneeted with Aun Arbor. The honorable .Tustice C. 1'.. Girant, of our state Snpreme Cmrt, went out from Aun Arbor as captain of Oo. i. 2()tii Iniantry, and rose to the coininanil oí the regiment as the gallant young Wel-li liad done in tile 16th, and as our honored fellow citizen Henry B. Dean (lid in tlie UL'd. In the foirth regiment Iniantry, Co. I) was ui Ann Arbor organIzatlon eonunanded by ('apt. .T. "NI. Iíandolph. with Richard D.' Dupuy (who has already been mentloned among thoae killed in battle) as First LJeuteoant, and Jairua W. Huil. Second lyieiiteuant. In the terrible battli's tiirough w-hieh this regiment passeil. the captain was disabled from service in May. 1868, l.ieut. Ilupuy was killed, as. were many oí the superior officers of the regiment, and from the position of second licutenant, Mr. Hall was advanced through the grades of first lieutenant, captain. major, lwuteuant-colonel and colonel. thus iM'Coming the ranking officer of the regiment, and in March 1805, was breveted brigadier-general of volunteere, "tor gallant and meritorious Bervicea during the war," not being nm.-tered out till more than a year Later. I see the najnes of three urvivors from the old Fourth Infantry on the Koster of your Post, inoludUig one of the commise-ioned officers, lst Lieut. Ttobert Campbell, of Co E. Amojig thoee who are at present honored among us, but who weie ironi other parta of Michigan in the time of the war, are liis honor the mayor of Ann Arbor, 15. M. Tliompson, who was a captain of the 6th Nrichigaji CavaLry, and afterward Lieut. Col. of U. S. Volunteers by brevet, "ior faithiul, gallant and meritorious services during the war." and your own l'ost C'ommander .1. Q. A. Seaakwa lst Weut. Co. D, Seventh .Micl]j;a.n ('avalry. The clergy of Ann Arbor were represent-d well in the office of chaplain and in the Important work of the ('hristian Oommlaalon, and the Dnlns:ty gave grandly of ils laculty, ts undergraduatea, and its alumni to the greal sacrifice for tlie country, l'reident Haven, oí the l'niversity, in a eomnuniication publisbed ín the oííiciai reeorde concernlng a gpirtted i ui by Captain Campbell, oi the Cnivcrsity alumni dellvered at the ci;iss d.-iy exeretees ia 1865, speakg o! the iact iiiat the Univerelty had ii Kuil of donor, although tlip attendance upon the Univeraity had up to thai time been very small compared to tliat wiiich it has nu-, and that tlus Kiil oí Honor bore 768 ñames, 283 oí them írom tlie I.Uerary Department, 254 írom the Department oí Medicine and Surgery, and 124 írom the Departmeni of Law. h t.hese about 100 hal lost thi'ir lives ui tlie conflict, whilc many more had received honorable WOUndS. Among our most, noted physiii.ms to-day are smne wlio had their first terrible apprenticeshiji iu the war, and Ann Arbor itselt' in addition to ite gift of such men as Dr. A. It. Palmer, Dr. Breakey, Dr. Roae and Dr. Bmltb, eiuipped and sent out a band of "dressers" from among the students, many of whom soon became sui-genii-. it s a jileasure to see amongt bhe veteran comradea oí thig ])ii-i tlie h-amed professor, alde by slde with the humblest toiler who gave the equal offerlog "f hl Ule and services to hte country. There eau 1k no invidinu (listhictions where the honor of all is so high. It is irratifytog t" M to fcnow also nh.-it the present icp;ii-i mi-iit comnmnder for the state of Michigan of the (rand Arniy of the BepubMc, General James H. Kidd. of Ionia. is au alumnus of the l'niversity oí Michigan. The ranks of tliis noble veteran army are beJog depleted more and more rapidly DOW, eaeh year. The loases by deatli duri.ii!? the year of Oolonel Dean's admtatotratlon ol the Btat dopartinent, just eiided. were 335 as agalnat -W) the year beiore : and hifi report fnrther shows that on !.-i-i Memorial Day. 17,G80 comrafes were in line and strewed llowers upon the gravee ol 15,840 eomrades. Veterane, the poster of the dead is approachlng the numbers of the roster of the living. On your own roster the deatli stars are clustering ever more thickly. Ere long the nnines with the star will outnumber the others, and then rapidly the roll of tilt' dead will increase nntil t will come to be a strange sight ío see a Uring veteren of tbs greal struggle. Never forget that the country loves ymi for what yovi have done. Keep unstained the record whieh is in itseli so noble a recommendation. But I Witeh before closiaig, to draw rei-taiu teeeone brom the lires of those who have pertehed in the great conflict. I. Theirs was a triumpb oí faith. I have taken for a approptiate tcxt this motnlag, tiiat verse trom the glowijig record in the Epistle to t he llelirews, which sjieaks of the deeils and the ileath of the herOM of iM-aei's Metory. It declares oí them that -these all dled in faith, not haviüig received the ironiises. but havIng greeted them from afar." It was truc. Tbeire were the hard-fougtt batties of Iérael'a early history. ïhfir nation had attained nothing as vet, of the grandeur which had been promleed to it. They fought in faith and (lied in faitli. faith in the future of their nation, faith in the jiromises of God. And the centuries went by, and the triumpli.s of Israel eanu' into actual fAistenei', but these Klept the unwaking sleep of héroes who had seen the final attainment of their nation only by faith. How like that la to the history of our héroes who gave t.heir Uves for a vietory they were not to see, for a triuinphant after-history which they were not to Bhare. They feit that this beloved land and nation of ours must not be allowed to be torn asunder, they saw visi(jns more or less etoar of a mlgttty and lieautiful natiou in the days to come if tlK'.v eould but avert the impendhig disaster of disunion, and hold the nation tgether. And so they died in that faith. Their eyes liever saw that which they died to secure. What a visión of grandeur it would have been to them to have seen in place of that comparatively poor and weak nation of thirty niillions of people, this powerful nation of some sevemty millions, the richest on the globe, with a stupendous development of its resources in directions undreamed of in tliose days, the nation which holds the i)lace most enviable ainoog the natiions of the earth. And öur iliclliig'a.n, then so islender in resources as in population, now so kargely developed in resources, in pojuliUion. and in culture. All this they may have seen in faitli, but for a generatiion now their eyes have been closed in dreamless sleep and onljtheiir memory is ours and has place mili the botindless aetivitie.s of today. But their faith has vindicated irtself. To-day we honor them with hushed voice and solemn tJiought. In the case of very many of them we are denii'd evi'ii the privilege of Btrewtng their graves with the blossonis of eommemorat ion, for your coxnmander telLs me that of tbose who died n baltle, fully threeíouil.lis lie n nameless graves, lint how easy t is for us to see that their faith was'fuily vindicated. The years have proved the investnient of human life. eostly as it was. a worthy one. We leave them with the sentiment of the .insrription on the gatee of the National Oemetery at Andersonvüle : "The hopcs. the feari. flic blood, the tears That m&rked t h bitter itrlfe, Ar-1 huw ali crowned by vietory That saved the aatlon'a life." l'.ul tint is ji,,t all of it . for we must see in tiKit name spirit of faith in the future. II. The spirit of the patriot 1 o-day. ihe cune of our American Life is the tendeney which in so eominon amoagst us. to ive only for tlie presein iiii.uieut . to g1 all that we can l.-iy out hands upon in the present and to ignore the future, of our own Unes, of those who come after us, of our nation, of the world. It was that in-omentary spirit of wild vengeance which, a few days agO, foi'got law and everything beyond the niomcnt's fierce rage, and through a murderous mob gave to MlchJgaa's fair fame ome of the darkest staiji.s of it.s history. The present advantage seems so karge, so glitteringiy attractlve. We reaeh out the eager hand to Clutcb it. and we lose, perhaps trample nader our careless (eet, that which is of v.im'.v greater lmportaitc but which ]csa little further off. The dollar whtota we may be able i i match at tiae present moment may be won at the oost of BomethAng far more vnioable a linie later. The chiid who docs not seem so véry important to U-. le negiected whlle ivc pay attention to the cmk'avor to m&ke gfrown man do what we tlii.nk they ou.irht to do. But i we would glve more attcntdon to the obttd we should have far less diííi-ulty wlth the man a few years bcmce. And su it s o.' the ! ons questíotm whtoh rise np before ua in social and politie.nl lile. There iB constan! temptnt ion to put them asid1 if they are tniublesonir, to digom oí' tlu'in i v a compromtee, or to Ignore them white we can. Yon know tliat tlial was the policy fot iiiany lontr ycai's. regarding thc greal ques(iin of stovwy, which flaally conld mi louurer 1m.' IgnOTíd, nor put off. nor onmpromised. lint whicli grew Wlth delay until it almost sunk thc natlon ltseU onder Ite awíui load. In a sea of lilood. Th ere are other social and moral quostions lx'fore us which I sc'areoly need name, but which we need to take houl of wjtta a look to the future, to our ebtldren, and to tifeir influence on the destiny of our country, and Uravely grapple wlth ere the struggle becomes too desperate for us to endure. AVhat sort of national herltage shall tlie Amertoa of a arenera t ion henee liave us to thank for ? Shall it lie a natlon domtnated in its Imsiness and ]ioüti;-s liy strong drtak or hall it be a sober nation '? shall it lie a nation -where American and ('hvistian ldeaa prevaU, or shall it lie a nation where all sorts of okl-world abuses shnll have crept ie. where the worahipper and the laborinir man will have lost their qalet day of rest, and where. as in the old world. Beven daye of work are the rule, and all Sabbath sanctity .ind rest are gone ? It may be unplea.sant to face these questions now. It may feem easy to ignore them, but if these héroes wliom -e commemorate to-day had acted thus. they would have thrown down their muskets in the face of the enemy and left the future to take care oi itself, s-ekinu: only their present safety. Iet as Imítate the faith in the future wliiidi led them 1o risk and freely to saerifice their present safi'ty for the saiety of the nxlghty nat ion of the gemeratilons to come. And finally - III. Faith in the Future is the Constant Spirit of the Ohristian. What au audacloua faith in the future was tliat of the lone (ialilean who eiirlitreii liundrcd ycars airo, without an inHuential [ollowlng, Wlth his own nation tui-ned agalntt him and seekinjr his liie, wlth the power of the Roman Empire at last put forth to crush him, wlth his neaivst disciples fleeing from him in desjiair, yet went oalmly to his death, witli the stupendous aasurance tliat he had coniuered the world, and thnt the centuries to come would see it bowing at liis feet. But we have eeen the fulfilment of thftt daring faith of Hfe whioh lel Him to lay down His Mfe for the world. It is the spirit of Clirilst, it is the spirit of every true Christian, that whioh yields itself to God for pardon of its sin, and then goes forth int o the world to do the work, to fight the battles of God and the Right. Th is then seems to me the supreme leeson of thie Memorial occasioai. It is the lesson of faith in what 'm future and urn-een, in what Beems to be the unpopuLnr though righteous cause, the faith that will lead one to go forth to duty for God, for his country, for the world that is to be ; to go alone U need be, to die Wlth no other visión of the victory to come, than that of their sublime faith. "Count me oer earth's ehosen héroes: they W6N men who stood alone, Whlle the ones they agonized for hurled the conturaelious stone; Stood serene and down the future, saiv the golden beam incline To the side of perfect justlce, mastered by their faith sublime; Byone man's plain truth to iuanhood toGod'a eupreme design."