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Kautz's Division of the Twenty-fifth, and Devens' Division of the Twenty-fourth, were left to hold the lines on the north side of the James, and, should the attack of the army on the south side prove successful, to seize Richmond. The results of that glorious conflict you know, and it was the good fortune of the troops on the north side, to be the first to occupy Richmond, reaping, indeed, what others had sown; but it was much to lift upon those rebel towers the flag of our Union, and to be the first to bring again that symbol of liberty and law to the stronghold of rebellion. Even here there were hearts that throbbed, and eyes that were wet as they gazed upon its starry folds. I remember well the day after our occupation. I called upon a lady, known to more than one officer of our army, for the unshrinking loyalty which she manifested throughout the rebellion (an absolute prisoner in her own house during a part of the time), and as we stood upon the piazza, which formed the river front of her beautiful mansion, she pointed out the Newmarket road, and told me how she watched on the morning of our coming. "All night," said she, 66 we heard the sound of the retreating rebels, and we knew that our trials were nearly over. With the first light we came out here to wait. Soon we saw the skirmishers advancing over the hill; in a minute more, just as the sun was rising, came the solid column, and above waved the American flag. It was the first time I had seen it for four years, and, General, I sank down here on my knees and thanked my God that He had permitted me to see it come again in triumph." Meantime, remorseless as fate, with no delay for Richmond, the pursuit follows the flying foe, and in this pursuit, which tested to the last degree the nerve of every man engaged in it, the troops of the Army of the James won immortal honor. On the morning of the 9th of April, by a march almost unprecedented in the annals of warfare, they had placed themselves across the Lynchburg road and had closed the last avenue of escape. On that morning Lieut.-Gen. Gordon of Georgia, who commanded the advance, said to Lee that his way was barred. "It can be nothing but cavalry," said Lee, "brush them away. No cavalry can stand against infantry." It was done as Gen. Lee ordered, but as the cavalry fell back they revealed the long and gleaming line of steel which marked the

infantry of the Army of the James. There were Ord and Gibbon, whom I regret that duty in distant fields prevents from being with us. There were Turner and R. S. Foster at the heads of their divisions, whom it is the privilege of all of us to welcome here this evening. To throw his exhausted troops upon that wall of steel, was a madness of which the rebel chieftain was not capable, and the sword of Lee was laid that day in the conquering hand of Grant.

The war of rebellion was over. A few weeks we remained at Richmond, and greeted with our cordial salutations our brethren of the Army of the Potomac as they passed on to Washington, and hailed too the bronzed veterans of Sherman, and their great leader on their way from the sea. A few days longer and the Twenty-fifth Corps, for temporary duty, was despatched to Texas, and the troops of the Twenty-fourth distributed to the departments or mustered out, and the Army of the James was a part of the history of the past.

Rudely and imperfectly, without having at hand a single paper which would aid me with a date, I have, in obedience to your sudden and unexpected summons to this chair, sketched the story of the Army of the James. I have omitted mention, even by name, of battles over which the historian might love to linger, and the pen of the poet could render immortal. I trust soon, that story will be fully and accurately told, by some one who has the time and the ability to do it justice; yet surely here is enough to enable one to say, that if scenes and reminiscences like these do not unite us, we are insensible to the ordinary ties that bind the hearts of men, each to the other.

Nor in this hour of joy and welcome do we forget the vast price of our triumph, and, that we are united by the holy tie which connects the living with the dead. While our lot has been happy, that of others has been less happy, yet more glorious. We have returned to receive the congratulations of our friends, to embrace again the dear ones from whom we once parted with throbbing breasts and anxious hearts, yet how vast the number of the "unreturning brave." They have passed beyond the veil, yet so nobly have they done the work of this life, surely we are entitled to believe

"That somewhere out of human view,
Whate'er those hands are set to do,
Is wrought with tumult of acclaim."

"The whole earth," says the Greek historian, "is the sepulchre of illustrious men." And now, so it is, that our land seems fairer and nobler than before, for these heroes that it bears in its bosom; that our mountains seem to raise their heads to heaven more grandly; that the James and the Potomac move to the sea with a more majestic sweep, as they bear wide as the waters, the glory of those whose life-blood has mingled with their streams :—

"They fell devoted but undying,

The very gale their deeds seems sighing,
The waters murmur of their name,
The woods are peopled with their fame,
Their spirits wrap the dusky mountain,
Their memory sparkles o'er the fountain;
The meanest rill, the mightiest river,

Rolls mingling with their fame forever."

Comrades, whatever be the anxieties of the present hour, the soldiers of the Republic have done their work so thoroughly, that they have left behind no problem which in good time will not be solved satisfactorily. Purified by the fires of the rebellion, our country will stand among the nations of the earth, grander and more august than before; there is no sorrow, no distress, which shall not receive its compensation in her added glory. As at the opening of the rebellion, so now, as we greet each other with cordial welcome when the battle is fought and the victory won, we renew again to our common country our pledge of constant affection to all her people, however high or however humble, and our undying devotion to her true honor and glory, at home or abroad, on land or on sea.

General Devens's remarks were frequently interrupted with loud applause, and at the close, three cheers were given.

For the interest of those not acquainted with the circumstance, it may not be improper to state, that the lady to whom he referred in his speech, was Miss Van Lew, a name familiar to Union men in that part of Virginia during the war.

After Gen. Devens's address, the band played the reveille in fine style, and in a manner which recalled old times effectually. "O carry me back to Old Virginny" succeeded, as did also "Auld Lang Syne," and "When Johnny comes Marching Home," the whole forming one of those finely chosen pot-pourris for which Gilmore is famous.

Loud calls were then made for Gen. Terry, and the company were assured by the President, that they would hear from that General in due time, and the calls finally terminated for the time in three hearty cheers.

The President then proposed as a token of their love for their country the

FIRST SENTIMENT.—" The health of the constitutional head of the Union, the President of the United States."

The sentiment was heartily received, and, after the "StarSpangled Banner" by the band, Hon. Thomas Russell, Collector of the port, was introduced and responded as follows:

RESPONSE OF JUDGE THOMAS RUSSELL.

You ask me to respond for a great name-for the representative of the American people-the people of the United States, united still; thanks to the loyalty and courage of you and such as you. Had it not been for the devotion of our soldiers, we had been as South America-and the hope of the world would have failed.

What can I say, except that America, from all her happy homes, with all her brilliant hopes, thanks you with her whole heart for the great deliverance which you have wrought out for her-and not America alone. Freedom throughout the world acknowledges her debt. It was not only a few loyal women of Richmond that watched the coming of our troops. Liberty herself looked for that gleaming line of steel; and Humanity was glad when the Army of the James bore the Union flag into the conquered capital of rebellion.

But there is good reason that I should make no speech, or a

short one. First, there is that maxim of Confucius-we all quote Confucius here. The tempest, which of late disturbed our old Boston tea-pot has somewhat "over-blown;" but the scent of the tea-leaves will hang round it still, and when our nerves are disturbed by Hyson or Congo, we turn for relief to the Chinese sage, and this is his rule: "Let thy speech be short, that the remembrance thereof may be long."

You receive that "junk" of wisdom so kindly that I will digress and give you another authentic maxim of the great man. "Confucius," says his biographer, "had a fixed limit for eating; but in drinking his only rule was to drink till he was happy, for that is the object of drinking." Oh, how many men have been philosophers all their days without knowing it.

There is a serious reason why I should not speak at all. For those of us whose fault, or whose misfortune it is, that we never served our country in the field; for those who, however good our excuse is, must go to our graves mourning that what should have been the crowning grace of life, is forever wanting for us in presence of men who have so often led the charge; who, shattered with wounds, could not leave the field, but still guided their battalions; in presence of those before whom fortresses almost impregnable fell at once; of those who conquered the grimmest monsters of the sea-in this presence, I say, our fitting part is modest and respectful and admiring silence.

You come to renew the recollections of perils braved, and hardships shared, and of good deeds done for America. We come to thank you, and to see you,—to look in some faces that we have seen before, and upon other faces that have passed into the history of the nation; to greet men whose names our children's children will repeat as long as America is a nation; and that, thanks to your devotion, will be as long as the world stands.

Your victories were won not for this country and this time alone. All nations recognize the life and strength of armed democracy as illustrated by the volunteers for the Union. America has only begun to receive the tribute of respect which you won for her. When you conquered the body of rebellion, you conquered at the same time the heart of the world.

And now in the assurance of your ready loyalty; now that

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