Comrades, in all countries and in all ages the people have reared monuments to the memory of their dead heroes; their deeds of valor have been told in song and story, and the people have delighted to do them honor. The great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, recognizing the services of her brave soldiers, during the sitting of the last Legislature passed an act appropriating fifteen hundred dollars to build a monument to each regiment that participated in the battle of Gettysburg. In accordance with the provisions of that act, Capt. D. W. Gore, Capt. H. H. Nelson, Lieut. George Miller, Comrade Theodore Catlin and myself, were elected as a committee by the surviving members of the regiment to select the location, submit designs, and erect a monument.
We organized at Gettysburg by electing your speaker chairman, and Captain Gore secretary. Not knowing the magnitude of the work before us, July 2d was agreed upon as the day upon which our monument should be dedicated. Scattered as the members of the committee were, over two States and the District of Columbia, thus rendering it difficult to convene them, it was thought best that the chairman and secretary be authorized to act for the committee. The labor and expense thus devolved upon us have been considerable. We have been met with many and unlooked for obstacles; but one by one they have been overcome, and the result of our work is before you.
As chairman of your committee, in the name of the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I present you with this beautiful monument, which will stand while generations pass away, as a monument to the valor and patriotism of the 57th regiment, and to the generosity of the citizens of this grand old State. Pennsylvania honors herself in thus honoring the memory of those who fell in her defence. We dedicate this memorial shaft, not to those who fell at Gettysburg alone, but to the eight hundred who were swallowed up by the tide of death on other fields; in prison pens, in hospitals, and on the lonely picket line. We dedicate it to every member of that grand old regiment, either living or dead. We dedicate it to our children and our children's children forever.
And when the few of us who yet survive shall have passed on to "join the innumerable caravan," may coming generations, as they gather 'round this granite shaft and read the record chisled here, learn lessons of patriotism and heroic devotion and here may they gain inspiration and strength, which shall make them brave defenders of their country's institutions and her flag, which we so much love.
Comrades, I cannot refrain from saying a few parting words to you. As I look over this audience, I am reminded that the boys of 1861 are now men on the down-hill side of life. The hand of time has silvered the hair and plowed deep furrows in the cheeks of the comrades I see gathered about me, and this will probably be the last roll-call to which a considerable number of the old regiment will respond. Soon these pleasant meetings, these delightful and hallowed associations, with each and all of us must come to an end. Let us live all the more closely together, then, in the brief road that remains to us. Let us be truer to our common name and common fame, so that we shall leave nothing behind us which will tarnish the polished and war-worn escutcheons of the grand old 57th regiment. Let us continue to be good citizens. Let us lead such lives that when we hear the last tattoo and the lights are ordered out on earth, we shall be awakened by the reveille at the tent of the Great Commander and bidden to seats at Headquarters.
The following is a letter from General Longstreet to General Sickles:
Gen. D. E. Sickles, Gettysburg, Pa.:
My Dear General Sickles: My plan and desire was to meet you at Gettysburg on the interesting ceremony attending the unveiling of the Slocum monument; but today I find myself in no condition to keep the promise made to you when last we were together. I am quite disabled from a severe hurt in one of my feet, so that I am unable to stand more than a minute or two at a time. Please express my sincere regrets to the noble Army of the Potomac, and to accept them, especially, for yourself.
On that field you made your mark that will place you prominently before the world as one of the leading figures of the most important battle of the Civil War. As a Northern veteran once remarked to me: "General Sickles can well afford to leave a leg on that field."