The exercises were opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. Sayres, Department Chaplain of the G. A. R., after which Col. L. D. Bumpus, President of the Monument Committee, introduced Capt. H. H. Hinds, who made a few remarks on the movements of the 3d corps and the work done by the 57th regiment. When Captain Hinds had concluded, the audience sang the hymn "America," after which Capt. D. W. Gore, Secretary of the Monument Association, introduced Col. L. D. Bumpus in the following speech:
It would not be necessary to introduce the orator for this occasion to an audience composed of the members of the old 57th regiment, but as there are many strangers present it would perhaps be proper for me to say that he is a man who was identified, with the 57th regiment during the entire history of its eventful existence. He was with us in our various marches, in our numerous encampments, and in our many hard-fought battles. He entered the army as a mere boy and rose from the ranks to the command of the regiment before reaching his majority. He was known throughout the army as the boy captain. It is largely due to his tireless efforts that we are enabled to dedicate this beautiful monument today. He was true to his country, true to himself, and true to the men of his command. No braver officer ever drew a sword in defence of the old flag and no man enjoyed to a greater degree the respect and regard of his old comrades in arms than does Col. L. D. Bumpus, whom I now introduce to you as the orator for this occasion.
COLONEL BUMPUS' ADDRESS.
Comrades of the 57th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers:
In obedience to your command, I have appeared before you in many different characters. I have, with you, trudged along on the weary march and carried my gun, knapsack and forty rounds. And in obedience to your call, I rose rank by rank, until I had the honor to command the grand old regiment. Today, in obedience to your call, I stand before you in a new role; that of orator for this occasion. However well I may have been able to fill the positions to which you have called me heretofore, I do not hope to meet your expectations today. I am what President Lincoln was pleased to call one of the plain people; and you will not be treated today to any flights of oratory or grand play of words. But I shall try to speak words of truth with soberness; and whatever else of merit my remarks may lack, I trust you will do me the justice to believe that they emanate from an honest heart.
Our good historian, Captain Strouss, has relieved me of the necessity of going into history, and I shall confine my remarks to the trials and triumphs of the grand regiment to which we had the honor to belong. I need not speak of the causes that led to the war, for they were so well understood by every man who marched in the ranks that they are as familiar as household words. We are met here today as Pennsylvanians on Pennsylvania soil, on one of the greatest battlefields of the war; and I propose to speak of the part Pennsylvania and more particularly the part the 57th regiment, took in suppressing the rebellion.
When war came, it found us ill prepared. We had a little army scattered throughout the territories; a weak navy, lying at anchor in distant waters; a bankrupt treasury, and a government without credit. What added to the uncertainty of the result, the people of the North were divided on party issues, and many honest men believed that there was no power in the Constitution to coerce a State. All these difficulties confronted President Lincoln, and he was appalled at their magnitude. He called upon the Governors of several of the loyal States to counsel with him in his dread emergency. They met at the White House. The President informed them of the terrible cloud that hung like a pall over our fair land, and asked their advice about issuing a proclamation, calling upon the people for troops to put down the rebellion, and with his hands folded behind him awaited their answer. The six or seven Governors who formed his auditors had each expressed his opinion, but they were punctuated by too many "ifs" or "ands." While this was going on, Governor Andrew G. Curtin, fresh from his mountain home, stood looking through the window. He had not yet been approached by the President, personally. There was profound but awful silence in that small but thoughtful party of distinguished men.
President Lincoln finally broke the silent spell, and, turning to Governor Curtin, said: "Governor, what will Pennsylvania do, if I issue my proclamation?" Silence more profound prevailed. It was a momentous question. It seemed as if the fate of a nation depended upon the reply about to be made. Manifest destiny seemed trembling in the balance. Governor Curtin faced the President and said: "What will Pennsylvania do? Why, sir, if you issue your proclamation, Pennsylvania will give you a hundred thousand men in one week." Thank God for that noble answer! Truly Andrew G. Curtin was the right man in the right place. He was the Richelieu who thwarted the conspirators of the American rebellion.
But how did the boys of 1861 fulfill the promises of Governor Curtin? The call to arms came, and before that tornado of patriotism which followed, "men came as the winds come when forests are rended; came as the waves come when navies are stranded." You all know the story: how the flag went down amidst the smoke of battle; how the fight was long and bloody; how, finally, the great waves of Secession, Slavery and Rebellion rolled across our bordering line and rebaptised the soil of Pennsylvania with the blood of patriots. And then,
"Through every vale and glen,