The Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, Nebraska), Saturday, May 31, 1890
May 30, 1890. Memorial Day Observance at Wyuka Cemetery, Lincoln, Nebraska. The memorial address was delivered by Hon. Samuel M. Chapman of Plattsmouth and is as follows:
My Comrades, Ladies and Gentleman
I am aware of the fact that in attempting to address this out door gathering I can neither do myself nor the occasion justice; but in obedience to the request of my old comrades here I obey and humbly contribute by my presence and my voice that homage due from every citizen to the memory of those who made sacrifices for human liberty during the war of the rebellion. It is unnecessary for us to recount the sacrifices made by the union soldier for our country during that war which was waged for the overthrow of republican institutions upon this continent. History has already recorded their achievements together with the heroism of the struggle. The representatives of the people have by solemn enactment set apart this 30th day of May to be universally observed, in a national sense, in paying tribute to the memory of the gallant dead of the union armies. Fulsome praise and florid rhetoric would be out of place upon this occasion, for we stand in the very presence of the sea, “on fame’s eternal camping ground.” The green sod that “wraps their clay, the tender blossoms that are strewn for them, voice to us in softer tones of eloquence the need of their praise than is given to mortal tongue to speak.
“By fairy hands their knell is rung;
By forms unseen their dirge is sung;
Here honor comes, a pilgrim gray,
To bless the sod that wraps their clay.”
How fascinating to every patriotic citizen is the contemplation of the deeds of the gallant men who have always stood foremost and done battle for the independence of our nation, for its honor, and for its preservation. To find an American citizen who is not proud of the achievements of the volunteer soldiers of all our armies in all of our wars, from the first shot at Lexington which “was heard round the world,” to the last desultory follies at Appomattox and Bentonsville, is to find an individual insensible to the impulses of patriotism and blind to the manifold blessings of our free institutions. The history of man is his relation to organized society teaches us that through revolution he ever merges a conqueror. Says a great French savant, “Revolutions have a terrible arm and a fortunate hand; they strike hard and choose well;” so of our great civil war from its waste of treasure and blood there dawned upon the world the revolution of our social fabric, the elimination of human slavery, forever, from our autonomy; the dawn of the new era of our national existence, the second epoch of American independence, to my mind the most eventful period in the history of this or any other people, because the event established the great truth that our republican theory of self-government was a practical as well as an ideal one. It demonstrated the fact that however deadly the disease which had fastened upon the nation’s vitals the remedy for its eradication lay in the very strength of our free institutions, in the patriotism of the people, in the strong arm and undaunted courage of the volunteer soldier.
How fit is it then to stand here among the sephulchres of our dead comrades and speak of our national aggrandizement through their sacrifices and sufferings; to acknowledge their splendid services to mankind; to renew our fealty to the cause they dared and suffered for; to realize that the nation uncovers to-day in the presence of their silent abode, and remembers that to the great dead and their living comrades it owes all that it is among the powers of the earth.
We may strew these graves with flowers, we may carve these names on the enduring granite and marble, yet this is not all of our errand here today, it is rather to take up their fallen mantle and pledge ourselves anew to preserve that which they gave us to guard, our free institutions, with renewed zeal, remembering the unmeasured cost, the priceless treasure and sacrifice made to preserve our national unity and integrity.
It is claimed that the two great forces that carry men away from the peaceful pursuits of life to endure the horrors of ware, are ambition and patriotism; accepting their as true we know that the cause which hurried the rank and file of the union army into the vortex of the late war of the rebellion was patriotism alone; from all the peaceful pursuits of life they came; the full grown man in the prime of life leaving wife and children behind, the youth from the plow and the furrow, from the counter, from the workshop, from the academy and college, all met on a common level for one purpose only, and that was the maintenance of the old flag and the perpetuity of our free institutions.
The internecine struggle which had been insidiously and uncompromisingly carried forward for a quarter of a century and over, between free and slave territory had educated the masses to that point where zeal for either cause had already marshaled the forces ready for the dread contest; the overt act in attempting to force slavery upon the free soil in Kansas, supplemented by the Dred Scott decision, from the highest tribunal in the land, fanned the smoldering faggots into flame and it needed but the overthrow of the slave power in charge of the national administration to precipitate the impending and inevitable struggle. The world affords no grander illustration of devotion to principle than that which was evidence by the masses on either side of the late struggle, and no brave man will belittle the personal deeds of bravery of those who wore the gray while he pays tribute to those who wore the blue and whose case was just.
And now comrades and fellow citizens, going one step further from dwelling upon the dead defenders of the republic; from contemplating the results of their sacrifices and sufferings; a restored and unified nation; its magical, aye, tropical growth in the few fleeting years that have intervened between the close of the war and the present day, is it too much to ask for the survivors of these sleeping heroes that they be honestly and generously cared for by the nation? While we cover the dead soldier’s bed with the gentle flowers of love, should not the constant care of the paternal government be to see that his surviving comrades should not come to want in these boastful days of the republic and spend his declining years an inmate of the alms house? I speak of the common soldier, the man who went to war from promptings of patriotism only; who asked not for rank and pay; who carried a musket, and drew a mere pittance in a depreciated currency for the maintenance of his family at home; who lived on scanty fare and slept with the blue canopy of heaven or the lowering clouds as his covering; who endured the untold suffering sea derivations of the prison pen; who “bared his brows the consuming tires of battle” that the flag of the nation might be upheld and the union of the states maintained. Aye, more, who dared to die unnoticed and unknown, knowing full well that distinguished mention of his name would not be made; who left the armies and navies of his country at the close of the war and with the same study patriotism, in the same spirit of self abnegation, entered the pursuits of civil life and there as amid the fires of battle continued to maintain the integrity of the nation; helped rebuild her shattered fortunes; helped replenish her depleted treasury; helped to meet and satisfy the enormous war debt and uphold the credit and good name of the government; is it asking too much I say? Is it not the duty of the nation to care for these while living, and not insult their name or the memory of their dead comrades with dilatory pleas and proffers of scanty allowance?
I know full well, my comrades, that you will perform your duties as citizens to the end. No prouder monument could be reared to your memory than that which you have builded for yourselves as citizens since you put off the blue and took on the garment of our plain citizenship.
The polished marble with its chiseled column pales before the living monument you have builded for yourselves and those in whose veins flow the blood of the patriot soldier; in living thus you have honored these dead beyond any tribute of the brief hour, their names and memory are secure in your keeping; you are always nearer them that those who were not of their number; you the survivors understand that fellowship with cannot be known to those who were not permitted to share the hardships and privations of the tented field and the prison pen, a sentiment I cannot better illustrate than to quote the words of our comrade poet-soldier:
“Wounds and sickness may divide us,
Marching orders may divide us,
But whatever may betide us,
Brothers of the heart are we.
By communion of the banner,
Battle scarred and victory banner,
By the baptism of the banner,
Brothers of one church are we.
Creed nor faction can divide us,
Race nor nation can divide us,
But whatever fate betide us,
Brothers of the flag are we.
Comrades known by faith the dearest,
Tried when death was near and nearest,
Bound by ties we are the dearest,
Brothers evermore to be.
And if spared and growing older,
Shoulder still in line with shoulder,
And with hearts no throb the colder,
Brothers we will ever be.”
My friends passing from the duty we owe to the memory of our illustrious dead, and our allegiance to their surviving comrades we must not forget our duties of the hour as practical citizens. We must courageously address ourselves to the great present. A nation can no more maintain its identity and integrity amount the powers of the earth by resting upon the tradition of its founders and the fame of its defenders than an individual can succeed in this day and age by relying upon the respectability of his ancestors. We must not mistake sentiment for patriotism; but yesterday a the late capital of the southern confederacy a monument in memory of Robert E. Lee was unveiled amid the plaudits of those who risked their all for the dismemberment of this nation. This, I believe, was a mere sentiment and however much you and I fail to understand the wisdom of that performance or appreciate the spirit manifested by those who uncovered in the presence of the statue of the great military genius who led the confederate hosts to victory and defeat, we may hope at least that those who participated in that demonstration would not have the world believe that Lee and his followers, in their attempt to dismember this nation and perpetuate a slave oligarchy upon this continent, set an example worthy the emulation of future generations; let us rather believe that the demonstration was but an expression of admiration and affection by the comrades in arms of a distinguished American who shared with them the perils, the hardships and defeat of the “lost cause.”
Let us hope that those who glorify the leaders of the rebellion on account of their personal grandeur and the common sacrifices they made in that sectional war honestly regret the mistaken course they pursued, and with us today patriotically hope for the future aggrandizement of this nation under one flag with sectional hate forever banished from our midst. That they with us exclaim in the eloquent words of one of our own distinguished citizens.
“Of all the many flags unfurled,
Throughout this hurrying restless world,
The beautiful one we love to view,
That banner of stars upon a field of blue,
Is far to the front
On the sea of boundless and deep prosperity.”
Loyalty to one’s country is always essential to its growth and prosperity. A healthy confidence in our institutions and theory of government is an obligation the citizen can never cast aside. I have no patience, my fellow citizens, with the individual who is forever descrying the management of our public affairs, who can anticipate nothing but calamity and disaster for the future of our country; who clings to the dead issues of the past; who permits party bias and prejudice to so blind his eyes and deaden his patriotism that he can see naught but shoals and quicksands in the pathway of the ship of state; who finds nothing but mistaken policies of government at home and discovers nothing but prosperity and wisdom in the management of the affairs of our rivals abroad.
Who set apart the Fourth day of July annually as the one day and occasion upon which to confess his shortcomings, profess loyalty to the old flag, and claim supremacy for American institutions? The whole history of our country is a magnificent refutation of the dyspeptic predictions of the political pessimist whose party bias and lack of patriotism overwhelms his individuality and compels him to discredit the fair reputation of his country. I do not mean by this to condemn healthy and reasonable criticism of public affairs; that is always the privilege and duty of the citizen, and one of the first rights guaranteed him in this free country, but I do draw the line in this day and age between healthy criticism and defamation of national affairs. The first can be and is exercised in a spirit of patriotism, the second passing that boundary partakes of the argument of the common enemy.
Finally closing these few words, my comrades and fellow citizens, I congratulate you all upon being permitted to enter this last decade of the nineteenth century, citizens of the greatest nation upon the face of the globe, in territory, in population, in wealth of the individual, in enterprises of great pith and moment, in inventions, in learning, in intelligence of the masses and opportunities for the betterment of their condition, in wisdom and statesmanship of your leaders; in educational and religious privileges, and finally in that broad patriotism and loyalty of the citizen which makes the name of an American citizen a protection to his person and property thought the uttermost bounds of the civilized globe.
Chapman, Samuel M., from Kossuth, Iowa enlisted on April 20, 1861 into 1st Iowa Infantry. He mustered in on May 14, 1861 Keokuk,IA and mustered out Aug. 21, 1861. The 1st Iowa Infantry during its 3 month enlistment
was engaged in operations in Missouri including
the Battle of Wilson’s Creek.
On Oct. 18,1861, he enlisted as Sergeant into 14th Iowa Infantry.
Mustered in Nov. 6, 1861 Davenport,IA. and mustered out Nov. 16, 1864 at Davenport, Iowa.
Service of the 14th Iowa Infantry included Battles of Ft Henry, Ft Donelson and Shiloh, TN Apr 6-7 1862. This unit held the center of “the Hornet’s Nest”, the most active area of the battlefield. After enduring 10 hours of battle, holding off charge after charge, they finally capitulated when surrounded and out of ammunition. Some were killed after they had surrendered with their hands in the air. Most of regiment was captured. They were paroled Oct 12 1862 and exchanged Nov 19 1862. The remnants of the unit not captured were assigned to the Union Brigade and participated in the advance and siege of Corinth, MS Apr 29 –May 30. The 14th was reunited at Davenport,IA. Duty at Cairo,IL until Jan 1864. Participated in the Red River Campaign Mar 10 – May 22 1864. This included Ft DeRussey, Battle of Pleasant Hill, Cane River Crossing, Occupation of Alexandria, Mansura. March through Arkansas and Missouri in pursuit of Price Sep 17 –Oct 25. Unit mustered out Nov 16 1864.
Samuel Chapman was born in Blainsville, PA on October 28, 1839 and came to Plattsmouth in 1864. He read law with Hon. T. M. Marquett, and was admitted to the bar in 1876, after which time a partnership was formed with Hon. Samuel Maxwell, which lasted the latter was selected a judge of the supreme court in 1873. In 1886 Mr. Chapman was elected judge of the district court, and was re-elected in 1887. He was married to Miss S. E. Putnam of Ludlow, Vt., in 1869, and to them were born four children, Harriet, Emeline, who died in infancy; Thomas and Sarah. His wife died February 11, 1880. In June, 1883, he was united in marriage to Miss Agnes D. Sampson, and to them have been born, Samuel Maxwell, deceased; Helen, John, Ruth, Joseph and Clement. Judge Chapman has always taken considerable interest in public affairs, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln for president. He was elected to the state senate in 1875 and re-elected in 1877, and was chairman of the judiciary committee through both terms. He was a member of the Independent Order Odd Fellows lodge, and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Nebraska chapter No. 3, Royal Arch Masons, and Mt. Zion Commandery No. 5, Knights Templar.
Samuel Chapman is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Plattsmouth, Nebraska.
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