The Vermont Transcript

The Soldiers' Re-Union Society

Held its business meeting at the Court House, the only marked feature of which was the retiring of Gen. Stannard as President, and the election of Col. Ripley to succeed him.

The officers elected were as follows:

Lieut. Col. W. Y. W. Ripley, President.

Col. Samuel E. Pingree, Gen. Geo. P. Foster. Vice-Presidents.

Maj. C. S. Spaulding, Maj. Josiah Grout, Jr., Maj. John L. Barstow, Executive Committee

Maj. J. S. Peck. Recording Secretary.

Lieut. G. G. Benedict. Corresponding Secretary.

The meeting adjourned to the Hall of the House of Representatives, where an elaborate oration was pronounced by Chaplain Barstow, and at 9 P. M. came the

RE-UNION SUPPER.

This was prepared in Washington Hall, where Col. Ripley presided in a very unembarrassed and efficient way. His new honor no more embarrassed him than would a rebel line of battle.

The Hall bore the elegant decorations recently prepared by the ladies of the Congregational church and society. and the tables were supplied by Mr. Clark, of the American House. It was a superb collation, abounding in substantials and delicacies and profusely and yet tastefully ornamented.

Then followed the toasts, accompanied with such cheers as only veterans can give, and interspersed with excellent music from Gilmore's Boston Band.

1. The first toast was in honor of the most distinguished guest of the evening, to which Gen. Sheridan briefly responded as follows:

GEN. SHERIDAN'S RESPONSE.

Gentlemen:—You are all very kind to me indeed, and I wish to say to you that there has been no greater pleasure than that which I am enjoying this evening. Most especially am I gratified to meet you here as an organization to preserve and perpetuate the memory of your own record, and also of mine. I feel that I am identified with you and that your record is mine, and I feel happy to meet you here to-night, and to see you so united. I thank you for your kind expressions of esteem, and I regret only that the very little time that I can spend with you prevents my saying more to you. I have seen a great deal of you in the past, and I would like to see a great deal more of you in the future.

2. Vermont—responded to by Governor Page, who paid a handsome tribute to Vermont officers and soldiers, the living and the dead. Speaker Stewart was also called out in response. Evidently he was reluctant, but his thoughts did not long go wool gathering without finding a golden fleece in the best pun of the evening. Said he, when the boys greeted the one horse reinforcement from Winchester, they thought him "better late than never," but in fact it turned out that Sheridan was better late than Early.

3. The Organization of the Vermont Regiments—honor to the Governors who were engaged in it. Responded to by Ex-Governor Smith, who modestly gave the highest gubernatorial honor to his predecessors Fairbanks and Holbrook, and highest of all to the officers and soldiers of the regiments who have covered themselves and their State with glory.

4. The Regular Army of the United States—response by Major Gen. Butterfield of the army, who said his mother was born in Vermont, also his grand-mother on his mother's side and that his grand-father on the mother's side resided in Vermont and fought in the Revolutionary War with the Green Mountain Boys; and he was sure he was soundly threshed in his younger days because he, too, was not born in Vermont. He concluded with a sentiment declaring that the citizen soldiery in time of war constitute the real regular army of the nation. Gen. Butterfield was heartily cheered and by a unanimous vote admitted to all the privileges and honors of a native citizen of Vermont.

5. Soldier Lawyers—responded to humorously by Cols. Benton and Veazey.

6. To the memory of the Commander of the 6th Corps, Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick. In response the whole assembly rose and sung a touching memorial verse to the tune of Mount Vernon, in which we heard the voices of many ladies also.

At this point, a few minutes before 11, Gen. Sheridan gave the parting hand to all the members of the Society, and took the night train with his staff for Springfield, the assembly giving him cheers and the boys a shower of rockets as he left.

7. The surgeons and Chaplains of the Vermont Regiments—responses by Surgeons Edson and Bullard and Chaplain Stone.

8. New Hampshire—response by Gen. Michael D. Donahue, of New Hampshire.

9. The retiring President of the Society, Maj. Gen. Stannard—responses by Col. Hooker and Lieut. G. G. Benedict, Gen. Stannard having retired with Gen. Sheridan.

10. The Committee of Reception, who had done what the rebels never could do, captured Gen. Sheridan—responses by Hons. Trenor W. Park and Burnham Martin.

11. The Orator of the Evening—response by the orator, Chaplain Barstow.

12. The Fathers and Mothers of our fallen comrades.—Ex-Gov. Dillingham responded in an excellent speech, the main portion of which was quite affecting to those who remembered his own great sacrifice, but at the conclusion he glided into the humorous, enjoining marriage upon the young men and women of Vermont as a practical and pressing duty.

13. Our fallen heroes—impressively responded to by Gen. Thomas.

Letters from Generals Butler, W. F. Smith, McMahon, Chamberlain, and from a son of Montpelier, Delormer Brooks, in behalf of his absent son, Gen. W. H. T. Brooks, to whom was recorded the honor of being the organizer and efficient disciplinarian of the Vermont Brigade.

Then commenced a series of calls upon gentlemen noted for humorous songs and reminiscences of camp and field, and we left (Gen. Donahue singing a song and the crowd evidently meaning "we won't go home till morning."

Thus ended a most memorable day in Montpelier. Nothing but the weather could have been better, and that nobody could complain of. One of the police assures us that never was a public day in Montpelier so free from intemperance and disorder; not a fight occurring, not a single arrest necessary, and no disturbance except a slight one in the evening at an auction by a Montpelier man. Another fact is note-worthy, and that is, that the ladies of Montpelier served the tables on this occasion, retiring while the gentlemen were at their toasts.