"To the officers and men of the Army and Navy, who have so faithfully, skillfully, and gloriously upheld their country's authority, by suffering, labor, and sublime courage, we offer here a tribute beyond the compass of words. [Great applause.]
"Upon these true and faithful citizens, men and women, who have borne up with unflinching hope in the darkest hour, and covered the land with the labors of love and charity, we invoke the divinest blessing of Him whom they have so truly imitated. [Applause.]
"But, chiefly, to Thee, God of our fathers, we render thanksgiving and praise for that wondrous Providence that has brought forth from such a harvest of war, the seed of so much liberty and peace. We invoke peace upon the North. Peace be to the West. Peace be upon the South.
"In the name of God we lift up our banner, and dedicate it to Peace, Union and Liberty, now and forever." [Great applause.]
At the conclusion of the address, the audience arose and sang the doxology. An impressive prayer followed, with the benediction, by the Rev. Dr. Storrs, Jr. Six deafening cheers were then given for the old flag replaced on Sumter; and three times three for President Lincoln, General Robert Anderson, and our soldiers and sailors. Many of us remained to avail ourselves of the opportunity to shake hands with the old veteran, and I well remember the exultation with which I walked off with the General's autograph.
We spent an hour in exploring the walls and casements of the fort and rummaging about for relics. It was amusing to see a man who, after selecting a twenty-five pound shot for a memento, would carry it a short distance, change hands to make it easier, and then come to the conclusion that it was foolish to lug such a heavy thing around; or to see another person, who had been sweating under the burden of a heavy shell,—when suddenly told that it was still loaded and liable to go off, and take him off with it,—quickly turn and lay it down carefully, and quietly depart. I satisfied my curiosity with a few small grape and canister shot, some fragments of exploded shells, and a section of the rebel iron wire fence on the outer wall.
It must have been fully six o'clock when we all arrived safely back to the city. At sunset there was another grand salute from the fleet, and in the evening we were summoned on deck to witness the closing demonstration of the day. Nothing could be seen in the darkness, till quick, as if by magic, at the signal from the flag-ship of the Admiral, the entire harbor for miles around was brilliantly illuminated. Every vessel and transport and monitor was ablaze with many-colored fires. Each mast and sail and rope was aglow with light. From every deck came the roar and glare of rockets, darting in quick procession to the sky, then turning and descending in showers of golden rain. Hundreds of lanterns, red, green and white, suspended from the rigging, flashed out their starry signals over the bay, and were reflected in the waters beneath, while heavy clouds of smoke, tinged with golden radiance, rolled heavenward like ascending incense, presenting a scene of rare enchantment.
But hark! another signal gun is heard. Every light instantly disappears! Every sound is hushed! and grim darkness again mantles the waters of the bay; and, I was about to add, we were all soon in sleep's serene oblivion, but my diary records that at nine o'clock p.m. five of us took an impressed carriage and started for the Charleston Hotel, to attend a reception given by General Gilmore. On our arrival, we made a bargain with our negro driver to wait for us, say half an hour, more or less, and then take us over to the Battery, to General Hatch's grand military ball. But once inside, we became so much absorbed, like little Tommy Tucker, in the supper and the toasts, that we forgot all about our colored driver outside,—just as people do at parties still. The following are brief extracts from the remarks of two or three of the principal speakers.
Judge-Advocate Holt, in responding to the toast, "General Robert Anderson," said:
"It is not uncommon for organizations in treason or in crime, on a vast scale, to commit mistakes in the selection of agents to accomplish their work; and no man in all history committed a greater mistake than Floyd, in the selection of General Anderson, on the sole ground of his being a southern man, to command Fort Sumter. He thought to find in him a tool of treason, but he found instead a loyal, fearless, and true man. Those who have led great treasonable enterprises, or great crimes, have suffered most from mingled rage and angry fear when they discovered such mistakes in the selection of their agents, and none suffered more in this respect than Secretary Floyd, on hearing of the transfer of the small but devoted garrison from Fort Moultrie to the solid walls of Fort Sumter. There was one man, still in the service of the government, who was with Floyd, in the Cabinet, at the time, and could bear evidence to the rage of the defeated traitor, and that man, with giant brain and steadfast heart, has for three years presided at the head of the war Department—Edwin M. Stanton."