Independence Day barbecue on 3 July 1886
For four years I carried the musket and haversack and wore the blue. I met on many a field the boys who wore the gray, and stand here a living witness to your bravery, heroism, and patriotism. During the war I respected your devotion to the cause for which you fought, and while I then and now differ with you in reference to that cause I yet honor you, and say that braver boys than those who wore the grey never went to battle.
