Sylvanius Jackson Quinn

“ No grander, no more beautiful, no more splendid expression of the very highest type of manhood could be found than was found in the life of the private soldier of both or either army; and when the war ended, with them verily it ended, and they all joined hands in a fraternity of comradeship which was well exhibited by that private soldier of your army who ministered to my necessities and cheered me in my sadness as I sat under the very shadow of defeat and amidst the gloom of surrender at Appomattox. ”

“ I was an humble private soldier in the Confederate army, and I am proud here to proclaim that I was a follower of the peerless and illustrious Lee, but I stand here to pay my loving tribute to the private soldier of both armies. His splendid achievements, grand heroism, unfaltering loyalty and unflinching bravery, have no parallel in all time. ”

“ The reunion of the Society of the Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg is of peculiar significance, and the generous Sentiment which prompted the invitation, meets with a hearty response from every patriotic soldier of that great army. Every animosity engendered by the conflict is here buried with the more than one hundred and twenty thousand gallant men who shed their blood and sacrificed their lives in their heroic devotion to conviction and to duty. ”

“ If the South was, by a wise providence, denied in that grand struggle the honor of final triumph, her people to-day share equally with the victors of that day the glorious fruits of their victory in a more perfect and indissoluble union of indestructible States, under that superlative symbol of a world-power—the glorious Stars and Stripes. ”

“ More men fell in the battles of this one small county during the Civil war than Great Britain has lost in all her wars of a century; and more men were killed and wounded in four hours at the battle of Fredericksburg than Great Britain had lost in killed, wounded and prisoners in her eight months' war in South Africa.
When the fog lifted its curtain from the bleak plains about Fredericksburg on the morning of December 13, 1862, the sun flashed down on a spectacle of terrible moral sublimity ! ”

“ And now, to-night, at this reunion, in this presence, let me urge, as the shibboleth, the motto of both armies, to be our inspiration in peace, our rallying cry, if needs be, in war, this: "Whom God hath joined together let no party, no people and no power put asunder." ”

“ It was the brilliant prowess of the Confederate army on the battlefields of Spotsylvania that shed such dazzling lustre on the Union arms at Gettysburg. If we should blot out the battlefields of Spotsylvania, we should rob Gettysburg of all its glory ”

“ We not only welcome you with open arms and glowing hearts, but we feel that this action on your part rises to the dignity of an impressive epoch in our national life; and we are not surprised that our illustrious President, and all these distinguished men, should desire to grace this inspiring occasion with their presence.
It is the first time that your society has held one of its annual reunions on southern soil, and, in making this new departure, it was preeminently fit that you should honor Fredericksburg with your choice. ”

“ For our great race, when vanquished by itself, proudly rears its crest unconquered and sublime !
One of those memorable struggles closed at Yorktown, where colonial dependence perished, national independence was secured and our great republic born. The other closed at Appomattox, where the doctrine of secession and the institution of slavery perished and a more perfect union than our fathers made was established.
Secession and slavery perished on Virginia soil, and her people. though impoverished by the loss of the latter, have shed no tears over the grave of these dead issues ”

“ As American citizens you are proud of the grand traditions and heroic memories that crowd your country's history; and no-where else on this continent could your feet tread on ground more hallowed by historic memories than here. ”

“ The work done here is an imperishable record of the unsurpassed courage and bravery of the American soldier: therefore be it —
Resolved,That we tender to the civic authorities and citizens of Fredericksburg, and especially to the efficient local executive committee and Mr. St. Geo. R. Fitzhugh, our most hearty thanks for a welcome that sustains, in the highest, the fame of Virginia hospitality. The generous and unstinted courtesies of all will render this reunion forever memorable, and the most pleasurable emotion will always arise whenever the name of Fredericksburg is mentioned. ”

“ General Burnside did not overrate the magnificent courage and sublime self-sacrifice of his army, whose contempt of death that day on the open plains about Fredericksburg seemed to strike the electric chain wherewith we all are bound, and a thrill of admiration swept down the line of Lee's army for four miles whilst yet the battle raged ”

“ Pause a moment and picture those serried ranks as they marched undismayed with grim precision and intrepid step to certain death, and, very many, to unknown graves, and tell me whether heroism did not have its holocaust, and patriotism and courage their grand coronation on these plains about Fredericksburg ”

“ A French philosopher has written, "Happy the people whose annals are tiresome," but the far nobler and more inspiring thought of the Anglo-Saxon race is that "character constitutes the true strength of nations and historic glory their best inheritance." ”

“ It is with feelings of profound pride and unfeigned pleasure that our entire community extends a cordial and hearty welcome to the illustrious Chief Magistrate of our country, who honors us with his presence to-day. ”

“ Here, and within fifteen miles of this city, in Spotsylvania county, more great armies manoeuvred, more great battles were fought, more men were engaged in mortal combat and more officers and privates were killed and wounded than in any similar territory in the world. ”