"No time is left me to name in detail the glorious battles in which you have triumphed. Your country and the friends of liberty have not forgotten them. You could not well forget the successful battles in which the illustrious 'Old fighting Sixth ' participated. You will never forget those bloody carnivals of death and ghastly wounds at Cold Harbor, where you lost eighteen of your number; at Winchester, where you lost twenty-six out of seventy-eight; at Fisher Hill, where you lost twenty-nine out of about fifty men, in killed and wounded, who went into battle. You cannot well forget how you stood like a wall of fire around threatened Washington for many weary months. You will never forget your marches under the illustrious Grant, your forced marches in the Shenandoah Valley, under the glorious Phil. Sheridan, nor how you snuffed out Jeff. Davis' last attempt to erect his throne in the capital city of the Union. You never will forget the most splendid march in all history performed by you, of over 100 miles in twenty-two maching hours, ending in Lee's surrender, the close of the war, the establishment of peace. Such is but part of the history of your company in the famous 2d Conn. Artillery. "And you, our old and first beloved of Company E, in the war-worn 5th, who rushed early to the war, you will never forget, nor shall we, your many bloody and victorious battle-fields, nor that splendid, unparalleled march under the intrepid, persevering, victorious Sherman, from Washington to Nashville, from Nashville through all the Atlantic States, to the sea, helping in Lee's surrender and forcing that of Johnston. A soldier who has fought under Sherman may count himself truly blessed. In the fame of Sherman and his troops, our ancient town has a right to take, as she does, a modest and becoming pride. His ancestor in the Sherman line was born in this very street, in a house now standing just above the hall in which we are assembled. "Soldiers all! you will never forget the fifty dead heroes of your number, nor the forty-seven other comrades, who this day bear honorable scars received in the service of your country. You will never forget the forty-three decisive battles, whose names are inscribed on the dear old flag hanging yonder, for which you and your dead comrades have so bravely fought. Give three times three, for yourselves, for posterity, for history. "Brave men! ye have wrought well, gladly we greet you here. But you are not all here in bodily presence. We sadly miss the familiar faces of the heroic dead. Those dear forms, dear to us, and dear to their families beloved, have fallen out,' one by one, on the hurried march, on the southern hills and plains, in loathsome prisons, in the deadly camp, by the more merciful missile of death in all your glorious campaigns. If, as orderly sergeant, I should call the names of this proud roll of honor, (here exhibiting the names of the deceased soldiers,) not one would respond in voices audible to human ears. Roll of honor! Let their names be spoken with heads uncovered by all the living present. These fifty martyrs have stood between us and desolation and horrors indescribable. These names are indellibly engraved on the tablets of our hearts. Did I say this glorious list was not here? I re call the words. It is a pleasure to me to believe that in the disembodied form they are present, and look down kindly on these our efforts to do fitting honors to their manly deeds, and those of the servivors present, and that if permitted by an All wise Creator, they would whisper to us, in spirit voices, their approbation of our reverence and veneration. It is a beautiful thought, that those war-worn spirits are guardian angels still to us in time of peace, as before they were our bulwarks in battle. Happy is the lot of the children of the soldier here to-day. Long shall they and the succeeding generations point with pride to the heroic deeds of their fathers, and trace, with becoming affection their lineage to the heroes of this hour. "There is another class here to-night whom we greet kindly, tenderly, affectionately. It is the widows and orphans of those who have fallen in this great contest for human liberty. We would cherish you all in your future lot in life. We would cherish you for the good acts of those you held most dear, and whom, amid tears, you gave to your country. "And now, soldiers, returned to us thus happily, thus honorably, we will only add the devout aspiration, that in resuming the avocations of civil life, you may be blessed in all your lawful undertakings, and may still continue to show the same high and ennobling qualities in the arts of peace as you did in the arts of war; and may still be, as in the proud past, heroes in the defence of liberty and law." "At the conclusion of Mr. Cothren's address, the soldiers and their guests partook of the banquet of good things prepared by the fair hands of the ladies, which were worthy of the joyful occasion." Patriotic and appropriate speeches were then made by Capt. Eli Sperry, first Captain of Company I, and by James Huntington, Esq. Other gentlemen were invited to speak, but courteously waived the privilege, that the boys, so long without the sight of pleasant faces, or the sound of gentle voices, might have the more time to look at the one and to listen to the other, and revel in attractions very opposite to "hard tack." "The exercises were kept up till a few short hours ayant the twal,' when all separated to their homes, well pleased with the evening's entertainment." Thus have we recounted, at some length, the brave and selfsacrificing conduct of our brave men in the field. But there were indispensable duties to be performed, and sacrifices to be borne by those who remained at home, in order to provide for and sustain the vast armies of the union. The absolute cost of this war will never be known, or correctly estimated. It is only by observing the contributions of each little town and hamlet, where they are known, that we can draw an inference of the grand total. Woodbury was not behind any other town, in proportion to its number of inhabitants, of which the writer has heard. The ladies. of the town, more if possible than the men, seemed to be imbued with the patriotic desire of foreseeing and providing for the wants of our brave volunteers. From the first hour of the formation of the "Woodbury Reds," till the close of the war, their labors were assiduous and unremitting. It has been already stated, that under their auspices, in good part; the preparation of that company to take the field cost at least $1,000. Ever after, during the continuance of the war, they were making up boxes of good articles and sending to our soldiers in the field every desirable thing of which they could think, and often packages of great value. They raised money by fairs, sociables, and private contributions. They added everywhere the labor of their own hands. They became connected with every association formed for the benefit of the soldier, and rendered efficient aid to all. In the autumn of 1862, they became connected with the New Haven Soldiers' Aid Society, formed under the auspices of Alfred Walker, who greatly distinguished himself by his zealous efforts for the welfare of the soldiers. That society furnished the materials for garments necessary for the comfort of soldiers, and our ladies "made them up," and returned them to the Society, to be forwarded to their several destinations. During that fall, they sent this society, $246.20, in cash, besides all the garments they manufactured. As a specimen of their benefactions, while doing this, in the month of December, 1862, they sent to Woodbury soldiers sixty-four pairs of mittens, cash value estimated at $32.00, which were distributed as follows:-forty-one pairs to the 19th Conn., eight pairs to the 5th, and fifteen pairs to the 8th and 11th. Jan. 6, 1863, they sent $20 worth sf supplies to the 5th Conn.-$30 worth to the 8th and 11th-$25 worth to the 19th, and $40 in cash-besides $20 worth, in addition, to the New Haven Society. They also sent money and supplies to the United States Sanitary Commission, and numerous private boxes to individual soldiers. As a specimen of what they were doing during the year 1863, it may be mentioned, that they manufactured for the New Haven Society 12 surgical shirts, 126 pairs of drawers, 12 sheets, 63 shirts, 65 skeins of yarn and 12 flannel shirts. To the Sanitary Commission they sent 78 cushions, 10 fans, 23 ring-pads 113 handkerchiefs, 1 feather pillow, 20 linen towels, 1,374 yards of bandages, 23 rolls of bandages, 16 lbs. dried currants, 30 gals. blackberry cordial, 22 needle-books, 3 bottles of wine, 2 hospital quilts, a large quantity of sage, hops, dried peaches, jam, jars of fruit, 14 lbs. mixed rags, bundles of old clothes, 1 linen coat, together with $163.84 in money. And so they went on, those noble-hearted women, during the whole war. "On Thanksgiving day, 1864, with final victory close at hand, the United States Sanitary Commission sent to the soldiers in the field a dinner, consisting, among other things, of six hundred tons of turkeys, in number about 200,000. Connecticut furnished her full share of these. For one day, at least, in camp and field and hospital, the quiet bird which plain Ben. Franklin wished to see inscribed upon our armorial field, stood forth supreme, and effectually superseded the proud "bird of freedom." It is estimated that the ladies were enabled to send, in money and articles of use to the soldieus, in the value at least of $5,000. The town, as a corporation, paid to volunteers, substitutes, and for recruiting expenses, $47,231 39. In addition to this, military subjects of the town paid for their own substitutes $10,300.00 In a thousand other ways than has been recounted in this history, 1 Crofut & Morris, p. 472. the people were called on to pay expenses that became necessary on account of the war. So that, there is not the slightest doubt, the people of Woodbury paid not less than $100,000, as their quota towards the suppression of the rebellion, or about one twelfth of its grand list at the commencement of the War. In this estimate, no account is taken of the increased taxation necessary to pay our part of the State and national taxes for the support of the military expenses of the nation. It is by such reviews as this that we begin to appreciate the money cost of the abolition of slavery, and the overthrow of the slaveholders' rebellion. During the existence of the war, the following persons furnished, or helped to furnish substitutes for themselves : Henry C. Judson, George E. Pierce, Truman E. Wheeler, Frederick Ward.--49. William S. Isbell, Since the close of the war, an organization of the soldiers who |