Part 27 (1/2)

Addresses were made on that occasion by Judge D. C. Richardson, Mayor Richard M. Taylor, Gov. Chas. T. O'Ferrall and Attorney-General A. J.

Montague, of Richmond, and Gen. Horatio C. King, of New York, and Gen.

Geo. D. Ruggles, of Was.h.i.+ngton.

On the return of the excursionists from Richmond a reception and lunch were tendered them at the Opera House, where they were met by a large number of the ladies and gentlemen of the town, and a most enjoyable evening was spent. Gen. King, secretary of the society, in a brief address, acknowledged the cordial welcome and unbounded hospitality they had met with in our town and the homes of our citizens, extended the hearty thanks of the society to the officials and citizens and stated that the reception was even warmer and more cordial than they had ever before met with.

RESOLUTIONS OF THANKS ADOPTED.

At the business meeting of the society on the first evening the following preamble and resolution, after very complimentary remarks of the town and people, by many of the visitors, were enthusiastically adopted:

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. The work done here is an imperishable record of the unsurpa.s.sed 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.

As a fitting sequel of this distinguished gathering and the grand reception on the part of the town and citizens, a letter, written by Gen.

Horatio C. King, twenty-five years secretary of the society, en route to his home, in Brooklyn, N. Y., is inserted:

_Captain S. J. Quinn, Secretary Army of the Potomac Committee_:

MY DEAR CAPTAIN--The generous efforts of your citizens to kill us with kindness were well nigh successful, but happily we survive to tell the tale of the most unique and unsurpa.s.sed reunion in the history of the Society of the Army of the Potomac.

Our first meeting on the soil of the South cannot fail to have a most happy effect upon the comparatively few--mainly born since the great conflict--who do not realize that the war ended in 1865.

The sentiments expressed by your orators, Mr. Fitzhugh, your honored Governor Tyler and Judge Goolrick, and by Mayor Taylor, ex-Governor O'Ferrall and Attorney-General Montague, in Richmond, should be printed in letters of gold and circulated all over the nation. Purer or more exalted patriotism has never been expressed.

To the thanks already extended I desire to add my personal obligations for the untiring energy, zeal and efficiency of your local committee, which have made my duties comparatively light and most enjoyable; and I desire to make my acknowledgments especially to you and Brother Corbin for the promptness of your correspondence and unremitting attention.

I am afraid I but feebly conveyed to the audience last evening the warm appreciation of the superabundant and delightful lunch so gracefully provided by your people and so charmingly distributed by your ladies.

Indeed, I cannot find words to express our grat.i.tude for a reception so complete as not to have elicited a single complaint or criticism.

We can never forget it or the good people who carried the reunion to unqualified success.

a.s.sa.s.sINATION OF PRESIDENT M'KINLEY.

Visiting Fredericksburg in May, to attend the meeting of the Society of the Army of the Potomac, and take part in laying the corner-stone of the b.u.t.terfield monument, where he received the most marked demonstrations of the love and loyalty of his people, without regard to party politics, President McKinley returned to our beautiful capital with a grateful heart and a determination to show himself President of the entire country, dispensing justice to all alike. He was proud of his country and rejoiced in its unparalleled prosperity. In September, 1901, he visited the exposition at Buffalo, N. Y., where, while holding a reception on the 6th of September, he was a.s.sa.s.sinated in the midst of the thousands who surrounded him. The sad news was flashed by wire throughout our land and the civilized world, and was received everywhere with unaffected sorrow.

Our City Council was a.s.sembled upon the sorrowful intelligence, and the following preamble and resolutions were adopted, and telegraphed Mrs.

McKinley, which were the first adopted and received by her from any quarter:

”Whereas, we have heard, with great sorrow and indignation, of an attempt to a.s.sa.s.sinate his excellency, Wm. McKinley, President of the United States, at Buffalo, N. Y., this afternoon; and, whereas, we rejoice to learn by the latest telegram that his physicians express the firm belief he will survive the wounds inflicted, therefore--

Resolved, by the Mayor and Common Council of the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia, that we condemn, in the strongest language we can command, this dastardly and wicked act, and call upon the authorities to punish the would-be a.s.sa.s.sin to the full extent of the law.

2nd, That we tender our profoundest sympathy to Mrs. McKinley in her great affliction and earnestly pray that a kind and all-wise Heavenly Father may restore her devoted husband and our much loved Chief Magistrate to perfect health, to her and this united and happy country.