October 13, 1898

ARMY AND NAVY DAY

After the departure of the president and his party, the exposition officials repaired to the hotels and with carriages escorted General Miles and staff with other generals, ministers and officials, who were to participate in the celebration of Army and Navy Day, to the Exposition Grounds. The exercises were held in the Auditorium at 11 o'clock A.M. The program was as follows:

Music - Song - By Modoc Glee Club, Topeka, Kansas, Hail, Flag of the Free! Welcome . . . Gov. Silas A. Holcomb. Address . . . General Nelson A. Miles. Music . . Modoc Glee Club. Address . . . General A.W. Greeley. Address . . . Senator Wm. V. Allen.

After luncheon at the Cafe the guests repaired to the Indian grounds, where a special program had been arranged in honor of General Miles. He had been one of the great Indian fighters in the history of the country, and for more than a quarter of a century had been stationed at outlying posts. It was General Miles who captured Geronimo the famous Apache chief, and negotiated the terms of surrender. The meeting on the Indian grounds between the General and this famous Indian was affecting. Geronimo clasped his arms about the General and embraced him affectionately. After this episode General Miles pinned a Peace Jubilee badge on the breast of the Indian warrior, and he expressed his thanks in broken English.

After the sham battle then in progress was concluded, General Miles and the Apache Chief held a long conference through an interpreter, no doubt reminding each other of stirring events in their lives, when Geronimo lead his tribe against the whites in many sanguinary contests.

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General Miles spoke as follows:

It is gratifying to know that the people of the mighty west gathered in this great exposition have set apart one day in which to honor the army and navy of the United States. Speaking for the army I may say it has been most closely identified with the welfare, progress and prosperity of the west than with any other portion of this great country. It was up this river that was led in the early years of the century a little band of explorers past the site of your beautiful city, and destined to discover the wealth, the resources and the beauties of our newly acquired and vast territory extending from the "Father of Waters" to the broad Pacific, and render immortal the names of Lewis and Clark. It was near this spot that many of the most important expeditions have been organized and equipped for the exploration and conquest of the wilderness occupied by numerous and powerful tribes of savages, and it was here that the army found ever cordial welcome upon returning from these perilous and hazardous enterprises. Here was initiated that great expedition which wound its way slowly among the hills into the plain, and then with steadily increasing speed until the stroke of a hammer upon a golden nail telegraphed to the world on the 9th of May, 1869, the completion of the first trans-continental line and a prophecy of the matchless material progress whose fruition we see now demonstrated here.

Individually, there is no place where I feel more at home than in the great west. Twenty-six of the best years of my life have been spent in service west of the Missouri river. As I have been identified with its trials and privations, and in full sympathy with its sacrifices and its heroic struggle, so I have had the pleasure of witnessing its marvelous growth and development and its grand splendid prosperity.

Here we find the true spirit of American enterprise. It was the prospect of these fields which tempted from their homes the most heroic, the most resolute and the boldest spirits, whose children having caught the inspiration of their fathers are now, in independence of character, true, progressive spirit, intelligence and integrity, in the front rank of citizenship.

The hardships endured and sacrifices made by the army, deprived of many of the advantages of civilization, in its service on the frontier have been little known and little heeded or appreciated by the average citizen in the eastern portion of the United States, yet there has not been a camp of pioneers, of miners, of herdsmen, or of colonists in the vast and trackless wilderness of fifty years ago who have not found the protecting presence of the resolute and faithful soldier standing ward between the defenseless and the savage. During that period there has come such a transformation as was never before witnessed in the whole history of the human race. A trackless wilderness and barren waste has been transformed into communities and states which exert themselves in friendly rivalry to excel each other in modern industries, sciences, art and institutions of learning. The army rejoices in your magnificent prosperity.

Let us remember that the army of the United States received its inspiration of integrity, honor and fortitude from the precept and example of that most eminent and perfect soldier, citizen and statesman, its first commander, George Washington. The army does not forget, and the country should not, his injunction to his countrymen that "timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it;" and we may well emphasize the doctrine that to insure peace, we should be prepared for war. There are other maxims of General Washington to which we should recur at the present time. For instance, "the great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible."

Another of incalculable importance now and always, is "promote then as an object of prime importance the situations for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of the government gives forth to public opinion, it is essential that the public opinion should be enlightened."

The great element of strength for a republic and especially for an army, is the universal intelligence of its citizens and soldiers. A democratic government cannot safely exist where this is wanted. In order to be a well-equipped soldier, with us, a man must be first well informed, having due regard for the advantages, blessings and requirements of our institutions, and appreciating the obligation of the citizen to his government, realizing that without patriotism, independence of character and integrity of purpose, a man cannot fulfill the requirements of American citizenship. Intelligent patriotism in addition, when the citizen undertakes service in the army or the navy, so demonstrates the fact that he possesses still another of the noblest traits of manhood and fortitude to meet the entries of his country, and if need be die to uphold the honor of his flag and the existence of his government. This has been the record of the American soldier for more than a hundred years. He is not forced to maintain a dynasty or support the power of a monarch, but he volunteer's to serve for his country's good and for the protection, welfare and benefits of all who dwell within the borders of the commonwealth. For more than a century the history of our army is one of glorious achievement and fortitude. Scarcely a year has passed but that the army has had to contend against a savage, crafty and warlike race, from the time of Washington to the present day. The history of heroic service in those years gilds with an immortal fame the names and records of those men participating in the wars whose sacrifices have amounted to a larger percentage of casualties than in those of the great wars between civilized nations. It was in that school that Washington himself had his first important lessons in the art of war, and the same can be said of Putnam, Greene, Schuyler, Marion, Wayne, Morgan, Jackson, Worth, Taylor, and indeed, Abraham Lincoln.

Our army is made up of quite different material from that of the great armies of Europe. The officers belong to no one family or class of aristocracy. They come from the public schools, the farms, the counting- houses, and the colleges of the land. Many of them enlisted in the ranks, and through merit, industry and gallantry have fought their way to the highest position of honor and responsibility. The people of every state and the best families and elements of society are represented by soldiers in the ranks of the American army. I have hoped for many years that the American army might become a grand school of patriotism in which boys and young men enter, and while serving their country benefit themselves by gaining a thorough knowledge of the principles of our government, of our history, and the advantages of our institutions, and add to their knowledge how best they may serve their country in the hours of national peril and public danger. Possibly we have been too unmindful of this during the last five and thirty years. For four years preceding that period our nation was engulfed in gloom, in the smoke and turmoil of terrible civil war, and only after four years of sacrifice and suffering did it emerge to a glorious epoch of peace and prosperity.

During the period of development of the great west and marvelous prosperity of the following thirty years, people became indifferent to the condition of our army and navy, and as a result of that indifference we have found it necessary to mobilize an army for a foreign war without previous preparation and without the elements of equipment essential to its efficiency. Whether we shall profit by the experience of the last few months remains to be seen. The enormous expenditure of public money and the numberless complaints of suffering and hardship should, in my opinion, prompt the people to due attention to the necessity of having in the future a well-equipped military force commensurate with our interests as a nation, and with the requirements of our people here and those living beneath our flag in any quarter of the globe.

I have for many years advocated the principle of having one soldier to every 1,000 of our population thoroughly instructed in the duties and requirements of military life, and I think that standard could be maintained in the future. As a nation grows in strength and responsibility, those two pillows of support--its army and navy--should grow in proportion. I believe that our ships should be known in every sea, and with extended commerce there should be built up of American material, armed with American guns, manned by American seamen, a navy sufficient to protect our flag, and our interests in every quarter of the globe.

During the past few months our country has passed through an ordeal which ought not to be repeated. The experience should teach us that tens and hundreds of thousands of even the flower of our citizens cannot suddenly be molded into well equipped, well officered, well supplied, well disciplined troops in a few months.

Whatever there has been of failure, of short-comings, of distress or of suffering--above all whatever there has been of hardships or horrors of war, the American army has written upon the pages of history a page that will illumine its name forever; and it has met every privation, it has encountered every hardship, and it has faced every peril on land and sea incident to the war, and while it has captured guns, battle-fields, prisoners, fortifications and territory, it has not a single instance given an inch of ground to the enemy, nor has it lowered a flag of the republic, nor surrendered a color or a rifle to the enemy. It has carried the banner of freedom to the oppressed and suffering, and has been greeted and received, not as ruthless conquerors, but as liberators and defenders of the liberties and rights of mankind. Our flag has been hailed as the morning light.