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DEDICATION OF NEW YORK STATE MONUMENT.
July 2, 1893.
ADDRESS BY MAJ. GEN. DANIEL E. SICKLES, U. S. A.
President of the Day.
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen:
My colleagues have requested me to preside on this occasion. It is my agreeable duty, to extend to the guests of the
State of New York, who are present, a cordial welcome. Conspicuous among them, for their numbers and their
claims upon the public gratitude, are 7,000 veteran soldiers of New York, survivors of the battle of Gettysburg, who
have availed themselves of the invitation extended to them by our Legislature. They are here to-day to take part in
the dedication of this imposing column, and other regimental and battery monuments erected by a grateful
Commonwealth to commemorate the heroic services of the sons of New York on this battlefield.
To you, Governor Flower, and to your associates in the legislative and executive departments of our State
government, the Board of Commissioners tender their congratulations upon the completion of our work upon this
field; to which you, sir, and your predecessor, Governor Hill, have contributed so much earnest co-operation.
(Applause.)
His Excellency, the Governor of Pennsylvania, telegraphed us in reply to our invitation, on Tuesday last, these
graceful words: "Pennsylvania welcomes you to the State which has been so conspicuously honored by the gallant
New York troops."
Governor Pattison is with us to-day; we thank him for his presence on this occasion; and to him and to his
colleagues in the State government of Pennsylvania we offer our heartiest greetings. (Applause.)
I am sure that all in this great audience will unite with me in expressing our satisfaction that we are honored by the
presence of the Right Reverend
Bishop of New York, who will deliver the principal dedicatory address on this occasion.
The Legislature of New York, at its recent session, designated this, the thirtieth anniversary of the battle, as "New
York Day." The State monument near which we are assembled, stands alongside of the plot in which 1,200 New
York soldiers, killed in this battle, are buried ; and, as you will see by the inscription on one of the bronze tablets,
the column is placed on this spot as a testimonial of the State to these heroes. The statue, which surmounts the
column, is the impersonation of the Commonwealth of New York. You see in her hands wreaths of flowers, which
she would place on these graves in token of her sorrow for her lost sons, a sentiment the artist has touchingly
expressed in her tearful eyes and quivering lips. These men, who are buried here, are entitled to the noblest epitaph a
soldier can desire, "killed in battle."
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The Board of Commissioners are directed by an act of our Legislature to present, in the name of the State of New
York, a bronze medal to each of her surviving participants in the battle of Gettysburg, whose name shall be likewise
inscribed on "Muster Rolls of Honor," and filed in the office of the Secretary of State. On the face of the medal the
arms of the State are shown in relief; on the obverse, the State monument is represented. We may be sure that every
soldier, decorated with one of these medals, will appreciate it as the gift of his fellow-citizens of this generation,
bestowed for services given by him to his country in the hour of her greatest peril. (Applause.)
New York may always remember with satisfaction the distinguished part borne by her soldiers on this memorable
field. In Reynolds' battle of July 1st, our six divisions of infantry were all led by New York commanders,
Doubleday, Robinson and Wadsworth of the First Corps, — Schurz, Von Steinwehr and Barlow (wounded) of the
Eleventh Corps. Brigades of infantry were commanded by Von Gilsa, Coster, Von Amsberg and Krzyzanowski, all
of New York. Wainwright and Osborn, of New York, were chiefs of artillery; and Devin, of New York, commanded
one of the cavalry brigades of Buford's Division. Doubleday took command of the First Corps when Reynolds fell.
In the battle of July 2d, the right and left flanks of our army were held by the Twelfth and Third Army Corps,
commanded respectively by Slocum and Sickles, of New York. The brigades of Ward, De Trobriand, Graham, Carr,
and Brewster of the Third Corps, — the brigades of Zook, Willard, and Kelly of the Second Corps, Ayres' Division
and the brigades of Weed and of Rice (who succeeded Vincent) of the Fifth Corps. — all New York commanders,
— sustained the many fierce combats that ended in the final repulse of the enemy on our left flank. Of these leaders,
Zook, Weed, and Willard were killed, and Sickles and Graham were wounded.
The heroic Greene, with a brigade of five New York regiments, supported by two others sent to him by Howard and
Wadsworth, firmly held our principal entrenchments on Gulp's Hill against the persistent assaults of a division of the
enemy, under Johnson.
Among the commands prominent in the events of the third day, when Lee made his desperate attempt to retrieve the
fortunes of the battle, were the brigades of Webb, of the Second Corps; and of Shaler, of the Sixth Corps, both of
New York; the latter included three New York regiments and helped Slocum recover our lines on Gulp's Hill. And
when Webb's Brigade met the shock of Armistead's Virginians on Cemetery Hill, the enemy had fired his last shot.
Besides the chief of staff of the Army of the Potomac, General Butterfield (wounded), and the chief of engineers,
General Warren, we have seen that three army corps, seven divisions and twenty brigades led by New York
commanders, — not including the brigades of Russell, Bartlett and Nevin of the Sixth Corps, in reserve, — were all
conspicuously engaged in the battle of Gettysburg.
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More than 40.000 men fell on this field. On our side we had 85,000 in the battle. Of these New York contributed
27,000. The loss in the Union army was about 33,000, of which 6,707 was borne by New York troops. Shot and
shell mowed down the unripened grain and tore the limbs from unnumbered trees. The green meadows and the gray
rocks were crimsoned. The graves in this cemetery arc filled with thousands of the fallen, shrouded in their
bloodstained uniforms.
The State of New York raised 400,000 men for the Union army. Of this vast number 53,000 died in service. Of the
300 renowned battalions, whose losses in killed and wounded were the largest, as shown by Fox, the historian, fiftynine regiments were New York troops. From '61 to '65, the State of New York expended $125,000,000 in raising
and equipping its forces. The New York regiments and batteries fought in more than a thousand battles,
engagements and skirmishes. Apart from this battlefield, hundreds of military and naval monuments are already
placed in as many towns and cities in our State. There is no better way, my comrades as you know, to prepare for the
next war, than for the people to show their appreciation of their defenders in the last war. (Applause.) No nation can
long survive the decline of its martial character. When it ceases to honor its soldiers, it will have none. (Applause.)
When it ceases to honor its soldiers, it will deserve none. (Applause.)
It cannot be said of our republic that it has been ungrateful to its defenders. We give more than $100,000,000 a year
to the soldiers of our wars; and let no man be chosen to rule over us who will take a dollar from the pension of a
worthy veteran, (Applause.)
In all ages of the world's history, and in all countries, the admiration of the people for their military and naval heroes
has sought expression in costly monuments, built in honor of great commanders. In this country, the disposition is to
exalt the virtues and service of our citizen soldiers, upon whom the brunt and burden of our Civil War mainly fell.
Eighty-three regimental and battery monuments, erected on this field by New York, will have a touching interest for
all time to our citizens, and above all, to the descendants of the men who served in our New York commands. It has
been the aim and purpose of the Commissioners, so far as their authority permitted, to supervise the designs and the
execution of them, in order that these tributes of a grateful and patriotic people, offered to the memory of their
defenders, shall not be deemed unworthy of the culture and art of the epoch in which we live.
Gettysburg was a decisive victory, won at a moment when defeat might have been ruinous to our cause. It marked
the beginning of the decline and fall of the Southern Confederacy. Our success was gained over the most formidable
army ever encountered by the Union forces. The advance of General Lee to the Susquehanna marked the extreme
limit ever reached by the invading forces of the South; and it is, surely, most fitting that, upon a battlefield so
conspicuous in American annals, and in which our volunteer soldiers bore so distinguished a part. New York should
be represented by monuments not inferior in impressiveness and beauty to those erected by any other State.
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By common consent, this famous battlefield has been chosen to signalize the patriotism, fortitude and valor of the
defenders of the Union, in the great Civil War. Eighteen States have erected monuments on this field in honor of the
services of their citizens. Three hundred and forty memorials have already been placed here, and the list is not yet
completed. The time has come when this battlefield should belong to the government of the United States.
(Applause.) It should be made a national park, and placed in charge of the War Department. Its topographical
features not yet destroyed by the vandals, who are even now defacing them, must hereafter remain unimpaired. The
monuments erected here must be always guarded and preserved, and an act of Congress for this purpose, which I
shall make it my personal duty to frame and advocate (applause), will contain a clause establishing a military post at
Gettysburg, including the battlefield among its dependencies, to be garrisoned by artillery, to the end that the
morning and evening gun may forever salute the flag and the Union which were so heroically defended on this
historic ground. (Great applause.)1
The battles of Waterloo and Gettysburg are sometimes compared. Both are included among the decisive conflicts
recorded in history. The tactics in both battles have been much discussed and freely criticised. The contending hosts
were not unlike in numbers, until the arrival of Blucher made the allied forces almost twice as large as the French.
The military genius of Napoleon failed him at Waterloo, where his army was destroyed, as the good fortune of Lee
deserted him at Gettysburg, although his retreat was not interrupted. Waterloo had its Mount St. Jean and Gettysburg
its Round Top. Both have been called "Soldiers' Battles." The contrasts between Waterloo and Gettysburg are more
obvious than the resemblances. The defeat of Napoleon was soon followed by his downfall. The escape of Lee
prolonged the Rebellion for nearly two years. Sometime after the close of our war, I asked General Alexander, who
commanded Lee's artillery at Gettysburg, what would have been the result if our reserves of infantry and cavalry had
been thrown on the right flank and rear of the Confederates, after their defeat. He answered: "The war would have
ended in an hour." Waterloo terminated the military supremacy of France in Europe. Gettysburg assured the
perpetuity of the American republic. Waterloo was the triumph of the reigning monarchs over the French
Revolution. Gettysburg prevented European intervention in our Civil War. Waterloo restored France to the
Bourbons. Gettysburg broke the chains that fettered millions of slaves, giving force and effect to Lincoln's
Proclamation of Emancipation, which before was only an edict.
Two great armies fought on this field. They were nearly equal in numbers and were better equipped, more
thoroughly trained and more accustomed to war than any which had confronted each other since hostilities began. In
the stillness of a summer morning, broken by the solemn tread of many battalions, the opposing hosts were gathered
for the momentous conflict. Gettysburg had not been chosen by either commander as a battleground. General Meade
was moving his widely extended columns towards Pipe Creek, where he hoped to force General Lee to fight him.
General Lee was manoeuvring to cover his lines of communication, menaced by the Army of the Potomac on
1
The battlefield of Gettysburg was made a National Military Park by an act of Congress, approved February 11,
1895. This act was drafted and introduced by General Sickles, then a member of the House of Representatives from
the city of New York.
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his flank and rear. An unforeseen conflict between Reynolds and Hill on July 1st from which, although
outnumbered, Howard seized good positions for the coming battle, changed the plans of Lee and Meade. Both
determined to bring all their forces to Gettysburg. Both armies bivouacked here the next day.
The army of General Lee, says General Hood, one of his distinguished commanders, "was never so buoyant, so
confident of success." The temper of the Union forces was grave, earnest, resolute. Our men knew that defeat on the
line of the Susquehanna meant ruin to their cause. Our lines of battle stretched for miles, — from Gulp's Hill to
Round Top. It was a picturesque arena for contending armies. The movements of our troops were plainly visible
from the heights that mark the ground. The enemy was masked by forests. We had few entrenchments. There was no
time to construct them. When Longstreet advanced to assault our left, the battle lines met each other face to face,
man to man. The solemnity of the hour was felt when the Irish Brigade, approaching my headquarters, knelt and
received absolution from their chaplain, Father Corby, and then deployed for the deadly encounter.
There is a day and an hour in the life of every nation when its fate hangs on the issue of a battle; such a day and hour
— thirty years ago — was the crisis of the battle of Gettysburg on the afternoon of the 2d day of July, 1863.
From the Emmitsburg Road, through the Peach Orchard and the Wheatfield and Devil's Den to Little Round Top,
the same ground was won and lost and won again, both sides fighting like heroes, until evening closed the struggle
with the final repulse of the attack on the left flank of the Union army. The losses in killed and wounded on July 2d
were larger than on the 1st and 3d combined.
Lee's assault on Cemetery Ridge, our center, on July 3d was a forlorn effort to save a lost battle. It was a useless
sacrifice of brave men. His 200 guns, answered by as many on our side, under Hunt, made little impression on our
lines. Longstreet's columns, advancing towards Cemetery Ridge, torn by our artillery and crushed by the fire of
Hancock's infantry, disappeared like ocean waves dashing against a rock-ribbed shore. Stewart's cavalry — sent by
Lee to assail our rear, while the Confederate infantry attacked in front, — was driven back by Gregg. Twelve
thousand sabres flashing in the July sun, — the tread of 12,000 horses charging over the turf, revealed the greatest
cavalry combat ever seen on this continent.
There is no thought suggested by this occasion, that should give pain to any of our countrymen to-day. We rejoice,
yes, as all of our countrymen may rejoice, in a Union successfully defended; in a government whose authority was
Here maintained; in a Constitution firmly established; in Republican institutions made imperishable. In these results,
to which the victory of the Union arms at Gettysburg contributed so much, every American, and every well-wisher
of America, may find satisfaction.
If the sacrifices made on this field were greater than in any other combat of the war, the results were compensatory.
We have seen our reunited republic augmented in resources and strength, take a foremost place among the great
powers of the world. The men who fell here, gathered to-day in the spiritland, alongside of their comrades who fell
on many other battlefields, say to us, "We have fought the good fight." They unite with Lincoln, the martyr, now, at
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this hour, in rejoicing over a Union saved and a Constitution perpetuated; "that the dead shall not have died in vain;
that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, and
for the people shall not perish from the earth." (Long continued applause.)