Dedication Address by General Ducat

Dedication Address by General Ducat

Excerpt from Chicago Tribune with information on the dedication of Bridges' Battery Monument.

"Decoration Day," Chicago Tribune, May 31, 1870.

May 31, 1870

Newspaper

A dirge was then rendered by the band, after which Captain White, President of the Bridges Battery Association, introduced General Arthur C. Ducat, who had been selected to deliver he address dedicatory of the Bridges Battery monument. General Ducat said he had been asked by the survivors of the battery to say a few words at the dedication of the monument, and it was with sentiments of the deepest emotion that he attempted to perform the duty to which he had been unexpectedly detailed. It was the first time he had ever addressed a public assembly, but he did not shrink from the task, conscious that his allusions to the noble dead would command attention from every true America. He should refrain from glowing eulogy, for he knew it would be distasteful to the departed heroes could the hear it to-day. It was to keep their memories dear, and their fame and glory ever green among us and our children, that this beautiful monument had been erected. The assembly had gathered here to dedicate this tribute erected by surviving comrades and grateful and appreciative citizens, and to strew flowers over the graves of men our respect for whose memories this act so touchingly and beautifully illustrated. The speaker than gave an account of the history of the battery.