20 Presidential Addresses 



level to which we in our turn must rise whenever 

 the hour of the Nation's need may come. 



When four years ago this Nation was compelled 

 to face a foreign foe, the completeness of the re 

 union became instantly and strikingly evident. The 

 war was not one which called for the exercise of 

 more than an insignificant fraction of our strength, 

 and the strain put upon us was slight indeed com 

 pared with the results. But it was a satisfactory 

 thing to see the way in which the sons of the soldier 

 of the Union and the soldier of the Confederacy 

 leaped eagerly forward, emulous to show in brother 

 ly rivalry the qualities which had won renown for 

 their fathers, the men of the great war. It was 

 my good fortune to serve under an ex-Confederate 

 general, gallant old Joe Wheeler, who commanded 

 the cavalry division at Santiago. 



In my regiment there were certainly as many 

 men whose fathers had served in the Southern, as 

 there were men whose fathers had served in the 

 Northern, army. Among the captains there was 

 opportunity to promote but one to field rank. The 

 man who was singled out for this promotion be 

 cause of conspicuous gallantry in the field was the 

 son of a Confederate general and was himself a 

 citizen of this, the Palmetto State ; and no American 

 officer could wish to march to battle beside a more 

 loyal, gallant, and absolutely fearless comrade than 

 my former captain and major, your fellow-citizen, 

 Micah Jenkins. 



A few months ago, owing to the enforced absence 



