WHY DO WE CREATE BATTLEFIELD PARKS 

 AND ERECT MONUMENTS THEREON? 1 



The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of any event 

 by survivors is something which must always be tinged 

 with more or less sadness and disappointment. It is a 

 short time in the history of a nation, but a long time in 

 the life of a man. 



The average of a generation is thirty-three years. No 

 wonder that so few survivors appear here today. But 

 there are still many left of the great host who battled 

 here in 1862, and they are with one accord turning their 

 thoughts in this direction today. Their hearts are with 

 us. 



The first day at Shiloh ended in gloom, and night 

 closed in on the silent dead and amid the groans of the 

 wounded. 



The Iowa monument now stands renewed for its second 

 day at Shiloh. It has not yielded to defeat. It has risen 

 again from its overthrow. May it stand as a mute elo- 

 quent memorial of the heroism of the sons of Iowa for 

 thousands of years to come. 



Battles are turning points in the world's history, and 

 to the scene of one of these sanguinary struggles the hu- 

 man imagination always turns with profound interest. 



In all days and generations a pyramid or a mound has 

 been the most common memorial of a battlefield, and 

 under such mounds are usually interred the remains of 

 the dead. 



The great mound at Waterloo, surmounted by the col- 



i Address of Major John F. Lacey, April 7, 1912, at Shiloh Battle 

 Ground, Tennessee, on the fiftieth anniversary of the battle. 



