EIGHTY-FOURTH REGIMENT,
Pennsylvania Volunteers.
(INFANTRY.)
ADDRESS
BY
Captain Thomas E. Merchant,
AT THE
Dedication of Monument,
ON
Battlefield of Gettysburg,
1889.
PRESS OF
Sherman & Co., Philadelphia.
On the 15th June, 1887, the State of Pennsylvaniaprovided for the erection of a MemorialTablet, or Monument, for each of the PennsylvaniaCommands that participated in the Battle ofGettysburg, July 1st, 2d and 3d, 1863.
At a Re-Union of the 84th Regiment held at Huntingdon,Pa., 21st September, 1887, Captain Thos. E.Merchant, Gen. Geo. Zinn, Adjutant Edmund Mather,Sergeant A. J. Hertzler, and Henry L. Bunker, wereappointed a Committee on Monument, with full powerto act as to design, inscription and dedication.
The dates, September 11th and 12th, 1889, werenamed by the Governor of the Commonwealth to be"Pennsylvania Days"—Wednesday, the 11th, for thededication of the Monuments by the Associations ofthe respective Commands; and Thursday, the 12th, forthe transfer of the Monuments to the State.
On the 10th August, 1889, full information of theDay was sent to every Soldier of the 84th, whose addresswas known, and the response had in the attendanceof one hundred and forty-six Comrades, coming fromall parts of the State and some from beyond, spoke forciblyto the memory, and testified clearly to the reality[4]of the old Command. The presence of so large a numberso many years after the War, tended to, and did,awaken the most earnest feeling, and every one knewhow great was the loss to the Comrades not there.
The introductory words at the Monument by theVice-President of the Regimental Association, CaptainRobert Johnson, were highly appropriate to the occasion,and marked the earnestness of the ceremony inwhich the Soldiers of the 84th were now engaged.
The Chaplain of the Association, Rev. John P. Norman,Surgeon of the Regiment, offered Prayer.
Letters from absent Comrades were read by AdjutantMather.
Gen. Joseph B. Carr, whose Brigade (the 1st, 2dDivision, 3d Corps) in the Gettysburg Campaign includedthe 84th, had expressed his earnest wish to bepresent at the dedication, a feeling on his part highlygratifying to Soldiers who had served under so able aCommander.
While desiring it to be understood that he was thereas a hearer, to witness the services, he felt that he couldnot properly refuse to respond to the request for a talk,which he did most cheerfully.
His words, written in granite, would stand as a Monumentof Honor to the Regiment so long as the stonewould endure.
A group picture, taken at the time of the dedication,will be of lasting interest. At no time since their muster-outhad there been so many Soldiers of the Regimenttouching elbow, and never, this side, will there beagain so many.
The Address by Captain Merchant, Chairman of theCommittee on Monument, is published in compliancewith the expressed desire of the surviving members ofthe Regiment.