"The fond father and mother, who have invoked the blessings of Heaven upon their heroic son, as he was about to leave them to encounter the hardships, privations, and sufferings of the warrior, will never know the sufferings which that loved one has endured; nor will the loved one know the intense anxiety and the agony of the broken hearts of those aged parents, until they meet in the blissful bowers of a patriot and hero.
"No pen can ever portray the sighs and anguish of the devoted wife and tender children, whose husband and father, their solace and support, has been smitten down by the hand of the foe.
"It has been my lot and pleasure to be a comrade and a sharer with those that have thus freely suffered and bled to perpetuate the blessings of liberty; and I can testify that there has been no hardship so great, no suffering so intense, no death so horrible as to efface the calm smiles of satisfaction and love from the face of the war-wrinkled hero, as he closed his eyes in death, with his last lingering look upon the flag of his country.
"Notwithstanding the many narrow escapes and perilous adventures and sufferings that I have experienced, from long marches and from sickness, and from exposure to the weather by sleeping upon the ground, unsheltered by blanket or cover, during my travels as scout; and, notwithstanding the dangers I have experienced upon the field of battle, amid the roar of musketry and the crash of artillery, and the groans of my mangled comrades, wounded and dying, as they lay weltering in pools of blood, I prize my country no less than I did two years and a half ago, and my heart beats with the same patriotism that first prompted me to raise my arm in defense of the Union.
"So long as an armed traitor shall be found in rebellion against the Government, I shall continue my career as a soldier. I can not leave the field until this rebellion is crushed.
"The spirits of my fallen comrades are hovering about me, and beckoning me on to avenge their sufferings and our insulted flag; and their moldering bodies would turn over in disgust in the graves that inclose them, were I to leave the laurels that we have so gallantly won to the uncertainty of strange hands. Come, then, to the rescue!
"Your fathers and mothers, your wives and sweethearts, and all your loved ones at home, will cheer you on in the noble cause. Their thanksgivings and prayers are already encircling the throne of God in your behalf; and when you return to your homes, their kind hands will place garlands of flowers upon your heads as crowns of glory that you have won. Cast your eyes upon the sacred emblem of our country—to the flag which you have followed to the field of blood, and around which you have rallied in the din of battle, and beneath which your brave comrades have fallen, and remember the glorious victories that you have won, and that a nation's gratitude is yours.
"March bravely on, as you have already done, winning victory after victory, and but a few months more will elapse till you have planted the stars and stripes in every nook and corner of the rebellious states.
"Then will peace, happiness and prosperity shed their effulgent rays over all the land, and you will return to your homes, enshrouded with glory, to meet the warm embrace of friends, knowing that you have a country, and that a free country."