CHAPTER XX
The story of Colour-Sergeant Bates’s march through England to prove Anglo-American goodwill—Start from Gretna—The dove of peace.
An ephemeral celebrity of a bygone day, who fittingly comes into the picture at the present time—for we are still dealing with events that happened in the seventies—was Colour-Sergeant Gilbert H. Bates, of the 24th Massachusetts (U. S. Artillery) Regiment.
COLOR-SERGEANT GILBERT H. BATES OF THE 24TH MASSACHUSETTS (U. S. ARTILLERY) REGIMENT
His famous pilgrimage, in November, 1872, from Gretna Green to London, bearing aloft a large American flag, brought forth striking testimony to the undercurrent of cordiality in England for all things American. Photographed from the wax model at Madame Tussaud’s.
This gallant soldier of the Federal Army, after carrying the Star-spangled Banner through the Southern States of America to prove that the war had not killed the respect felt for the national flag, crossed the Atlantic, in fulfilment of a wager, and bore the Stars and Stripes from Gretna Green to London, amid most enthusiastic scenes, demonstrating that Bates was right when he insisted that John Bull and Uncle Sam were the best of friends at heart.
Mr. Joseph Tussaud modelled a portrait of the sergeant, who had an honoured place in the Exhibition for several years.
Bates was a patriotic American who had a firm belief in the friendship of the English people for their American brethren.