Republican News Item.
VOL. XVI. NO. 4
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Photo by American Press Association.
OUR SOLDIER OEAO
IN 04 CEMETERIES.;
I
More Than 350,000 Heroes of Our Wars
Are BuriecV In Graveyards Own
ed by the Government.
li\ tne paiuiy uuy» or uemocraue
Athens the bones of every citizen |
who perished in the service of his
country were brought home to lie
burled in the Ceramlcus. A day was
appointed in the winter, when military
operations were suspended, for the
funeral. One of the noblest orations 1
of antiquity—that attributed by Thu
cy(Titles to Pericles—was delivered on
such an occasion.
Modern nations build stately mauso
leums for their great generals, but are
usually content to allot only the hasty
trench or ditch to the common soldier.
The bones of British soldiers are scat- ,
tered the world around.
To this rule of Indifference as to the
final resting place of obscure heroes
the United States forms n shining and
honorable exception. There are today
eighty-four national cemeteries, which
contained on June 30, 1000, the graves
of 3r>0,285 American soldiers and sail
ors.
The national cemeteries are mainly
a result of the civil war. In Septem
ber, 1801, the secretary of war by gen
eral order directed accurate and per
manent records to bo kept of deceased
soldiers nnd their places of burial.
The work was assigned to the quarter
master general's department. That de
partment already had charge of the
burial of officers and soldiers, but Its
care had ordinarily ended with the
drifting smoke of the guns that were
discharged over their graves.
By act of July 17, 1802, congress em
powered the president to purchase
cemetery grounds to be used for the
burial of "soldiers who shall die in the
service of their country." Such was
the Intensity <>f the great war that for
some time no action was taken under
(lie law.
Following the battle of Gettysburg
Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania in
augurated a movement whereby sev
eral states purchased seventeen acres
of ground embracing the center of the
Union line nnd caused to be disinterred
and reburled there the bodies of"the
soldiers who had been buried outside
this area. The cemetery was dedicat
ed by Lincoln, Nov. 10, 1803, in that
perfect tribute to the "honored dead"
who there "gave the last full measure
of devotion." The cemetery was sub
sequently taken over by the nation.
In the summer of 1805 a force of
men under Captain James Moore was
sent to Andersonvllle to Inclose the
grounds and provide headboards for
each grave. They were able to identi
fy 12,101 of the graves, leaving only
451 "unknown."
The eiglily-four national cemeteries
are divided according to Importance
into twenty-six first class, twenty sec
ond class, sixteen third class and
twenty-two fourth class cemeteries.
Those In the first class include Arling
ton, Andersonvllle. Antietam, Chal
mette, Chattanooga, Nashville, Cor
inth, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Jef
ferson Barracks, Shiloli and Vicksburg.
in the number of interments that at
Arlington stands first, with 21,100.
That at Vicksburg is a rather close
second, with 10,802. The Nashville
cemetery Is third, with 10,001.
Arlington, as Is generally known, for
merly belonged to the wife of General
Robert E. Lee. Mrs. Lee was a daugh
ter of George Washington Parke Cus
tls, who was a grandson of Martha
Washington. The stately mansion,
whose classic columns have been seen
by every visitor to Washington city,
was Inherited by her, and at the out
break of the civil war it was the Lee
home. I.ee, then a colonel in the Unit
ed States army, wrote his resignation
there April 20. 1801. Two days later
he quitted Ms beautiful home forever
to accept command of the military
fjrees of his state.
Overlooking as it does the Potomac |
and tlie capital, a more beautiful spot r
could scarcely be imagined. Magnlfl- !
cent old oaks shade its glades and i
knolls, and art has perfected what na
ture left undone. The cemetery con
tains the tombs of Logan, Sheridan,
Law ton and other noted generals.
One of the most interesting national ,
cemeteries is that on Custer's battle
field in Montana. The story of how ,
the dashing yellow haired young ma
jor general and every man of live com
panies of tlie Seventh cavalry lost their i
lives in battle with the Sioux, June 25, ' 1
IST*!, is known to every one. The
smallest, national cemetery is that at 1
Ball's Bluff, Va. It Is on the site of
the battlefield of that name, fought in 1
ISGI. It is only fifty feet square and
is situated on a large b'uff overlook- 1
lug the upper Potomac. It contains the
graves of one known and twenty-four . :
unknown soldiers.
STORY OF ORIGIN
OF MEMORIAL Dtf.j
German Soldier Whose Name Is For- j
gotten First Suggested Decorat- i
ing Graves of Comrades.
TO nn unknown German, a one |
t(me resident of Cincinnati
and a veteran of the civil war,
belongs the primary credit of J
suggesting a national Memorial day; to !
General John A. Logan, soldier-states
man and third commander in chief of
the Grand Army of the Republic, and |
to Norton P. Chipman, adjutant gener-1
al of the national organization, belongs I
the honor of promulgating the first |
order. \
In the original orders issued from <
the Grand Army headquarters by Gen- j
eral Logan, May 30 was designated as j
what has since been termed Memorial |
day. The order was issued early in •
May, 1808, and since that time May 30 j
lias become a holiday and is observed '
by every Grand Army post in the I
Union. !
General Logan's order, setting May
30 as Memorial day, was eagerly (tar
ried out, and the first observance of
the day was widespread.
General Logan was elected command- i
erin chief at an encampment held in
Philadelphia in January, 1808. lie es
tablished headquarters in Washing
ton.
Early in May of that year Adjutant
General Chipman received a letter
from a member of a Cincinnati post in :
which the first suggestion for Memo- j
rial day was made. General Chipman,
who is living In California, does not
remember the name of the writer who |
described himself as a German who
had served as a private in the Union
army. This soldier wroto that in his
nntive country it was a custom of the
people to assemble in the spring and j
scatter flowers on the graves of the !
dead.
"Would it not be a good idea to have
the Grand Army of the Republic in
augurate such an Idea and set aside a
day In spring in memory of the Union
dead?" lie wrote.
General Chipman regarded the sug
gestion most favorably, and according
ly he drew up n rough draft of a gen
eral order carrying the suggestion into
effect. This he laid before General
Logon, who heartily approved of the
idea.
General Logan suggested that May
30 be made the date for the observ
ance of Memorial day, his Idea being
that at that date spring flowers could
be procured In profusion, even in the
most northern states and in New Eng
land. There were several conferences
on the subject between General Logan
nnd General Chipman.
It is related that General Logan was
so enthused with the idea of a general
Memorial dav that be added »»»»"'
LAPORTE, SULLIVAN COUNTY PA. FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1911.
paragraphs' id i lie draft of the order
drawn by General ('lil|>rann, which in
the history of the Grand Army of the
Republic Is known as general order
No. 11.
At first the wisdom of General Tro
pin's order was doubted by many per
sons, who urged as an argument that
the sotting aside of a Memorial day
would unnecessarily keep alive mem
ories of the war and foster enmities.
However, the objections were not
strong enough, and the first Memorial
day was generally observed, even by
posts that had been instituted in the
south.
In Washington the first Memorial
day was observed by appropriate serv
ices in Arlington cemetery. Feeling
still ran high at the capital then, but
n great crowd went to Arlington. Gen
eral James A. Garfield, who later be
came president, was the orator of the
day. President Johnson was present,
and others -who attended the ceremo
nies included General Grant. General
W. S. Hancock, General O. O. Howard
and Genernl l'.lkin.
THE LlTTiilNir
BUSHWHACKER'S NERVE.
By CAPTAIN F. A. MITCHEL.
MRS. STARKWEATHER, liv
ing in middle Tennessee dur
ing the civil war, was a
Union woman to the core.
Her husband was killed liv seeesslon
MONUMENT TO THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER DEAD.
1 -
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IS "V"
IN the beautiful National cemetery at Arlington, Va., across the Potomac
from Washington, the monument to the unknown dead is one of the most
striking reminders of the pathos of war. This memorial, erected by the
government in 1800, bears the following inscription, which tells its own
pathetic story ; :
"Beneath this stone repose the remains of 2,111 unknown soldiers gathered
after the war from the fields of Bull Run and the route to the Rappahannock.
Their remains could not be identified, but their names and deaths are recorded
in the archives of their country, and its grateful citizens honor them as of
their noble army of martyrs. May thej" rest in peace! September, A. D. 1800."
rsts before hostilities began, leaving
her very bitter against them. Her son.
Tom Starkweather, was fourteen years
old when Ills father was killed, and he
made a boyish vow that lie would
never miss a chance to kill a secession
ist. He found no opportunity to do so
until after the war opened. Then at
fifteen he began the work of revenge.
lie would waylay his enemies and
shoot them from behind trees, the
regular bushwhacking method during
wartime. One by one ho picked off
all of those who had been instrumental
in his father's death.
In those days there were bands of
partisan rangers in Kentucky and
Tennessee, unenllsted, ununlformed
men who fought for the Confederacy
on their own hook, which meant that
some of them were murderers and
pillagers. These men were a special
object of Tom's antipathy. A band
led by one Bennett, made up In the
region where ho lived, lost so many
men, whose deaths were traced to
Tom, that they were anxious to get
their hands on the boy.
Tom and another Union boy, Sam
rarks, were a good deal together. Tom
would do the shooting,und Sam would
do the watching. But Sam was un
known by their enemies as having
anything to do with the matter, Tom
always taking the blame.
One day Bennett's band came into
the district where the boys lived, and
they went out hunting the rangers for
their scalps. By this time Tom was
known as the little Fnioii bushwhack
er. and Bennett, had. determined, that
If him' Fit- would put I
an end to his shooting ills men fr &
behind trees. While the men wuc
riding nlong a road one of them dropped
behind. Tom, who was concealed in
the woods, shot him. Then the two
boys ran for Tom's home as fast as
their legs could carry them.
Bennett, hearing the shot, galloped
back and found his man badly wound
ed. He told his chief that he had prob
ably been shot by the little Union
bushwhacker. Bennett, surmising that
Tom would go home, after calling to
his men to take care of the one dis
abled, rode straight for Mrs. Stark
weather's cabin. Fearing that the boys
would be followed, she hid them.
TOM, WHO WAS TONCKAIiED IN THE WOOI>S,
SHOT HIM.
When Bennett rode up and asked for
Tom she told him that her son was
not at home. But this did not satisfy
the partisan leader, and he made a
thorough search of the premises, with
the result that both boys were dragged
from behind a wood pile in a shed.
"Which of you boys Is the little
Union bushwhacker?" asked the cap
tain.
Neither boy replied. Bennett asked
the woman, threatening to shoot li;r
If she did not reply.
*Tou don't suppose I'd tell you una
on my own son, would you, to get him
killed as his father was?"
The captain thought a moment, then
said to her:
"You stand up thar with your face
agin the woodshed."
The woman did as directed, which
brought her back to the boys. Bennett
banded each of them a revolver and
said to them:
"When I give the order you two Are.
The one that doesn't or misses I'm
goin' to shoot right down."
This was rather a crude method of
detecting which was the woman's sou,
but it was tlie best the captain could
call up at the moment. He expected to
judge by the flinching of the one who
was required to fire at his own moth
er.
Now, Bennett had left his band to at
tend to this matter himself. He was
so incensed at tills new shooting by
the little Union bushwhacker that he
had dashed away after the culprit,
waiting only to call for some one to
take care of the man who had been
wounded. It never occurred to him
that he would need support in hunting
a boy. So wrought upon was ho by
anger that he did not think of the dan
l ger of putting arms in the bands of the
boy. Th;- two youngsters stood facing
! Mrs. Starkweather. When the captain
gave the order to fire Sam put a bullet
as near as possible without hitting her.
Tom, quick as a flash, brought hla
weapon to bear on Bennett and shot
him through the forehead.
Mrs. Starkweather turned and, sea-
75C PER YEAR
SHOT HIM THRonon THB FonrnF.AD.
ing the captain gasping bis last breath,
i snid quickly:
"Come, nu; boy; we must get out of
this in a hurry. Snm, you go home,
i Nobody knows of your being mixed up
in this fracas."
Without stopping even to return to
the house she and Tom dashed off in
one direction, while Sam went in an
other. The mother and son disappear
ed inn wood. At tlie same moment
half a dozen horsemen belonging to
the band, who, having heard the shoot
ing, galloped after their captain, ap
peared up the road. When they reach
ed the Starkweather cabin they found
it deserted and Bennett lying dead.
I They at once scattered to hunt for
his slayer, but Tom knew of a hole
in the ground overhung with bu dies
into which he and his mother descend
ed, and the searchers missed them.
When the hunt was given up they left
their hiding place and made their way
into the Union lines.
Oldest Veteran Deac!.
William Macabee. believed to have
i been the oldest veteran of the civil
; war and one of the oldest persons in
this country, lias died since last Me
! morial day. lie passed away at the
United States Naval home in Phila
delphia. where he had been an iumate
I for thirty years. He celebrated his one
hundred and seventh birthday on Sept.
' . 22, when he was able to sit up and re
reive the congratulations of his friends
' find tell of many of his experiences in
the navy.
' ftlacabee entered the service of the
. United States when a lad. serving on
the frigate Constitution until it was
■ retired from service. He remained in
the naval service until he went tJ the
1 home where he (iled.
Gutters to Run With Whisky.
| The gutters in the city of Asheville,
, N. C., are to run red with whisky
, when a mandate of tf!c police cou.t
pronounced in the trlrsl of lour "blind
tiger" cases is carried out. I' ilty-t'iree
barrels of the contraband comraoul y
i seized by the authorises wllle |o
r ed upon the curb. It is said the lornl
, prohibitionists will make the occasion
one of celebration.
>
! Carnegie Fund For Belgium.
i M. Davignon, the Belgian foreign
: minister, made the announcement in
r the chamber of deputies in Brussels
that Andrew Carnegie had established
. a hero fund for Belgium, the annual
» income of which is $11,500.
» i ~~
t 1 Lightning Kills Man.
. ■ During the heavy storm that passed
i over Somerset county. Pa., Samuel
t Jones, fifty-two years old, who resided
near Hollsopple, was struck by lisut
. Ding and Instantly killed.