“RESOLVED, That the death of Colonel Sion S. Bass, distinguished alike for his social qualities, his noble and unselfish impulses, his stainless morality in private life, and his ability, humanity, and gallantry as a soldier, is a severe affliction to the community in which he lived. It is a calamity to the officers and privates under his command, for their confidence in him as a leader was equaled only by their love for him as a man. And it is a heavy loss to the country which he served and to the cause which he had so heartily espoused. “RESOLVED, That our grief for the death of Colonel Bass is aggravated by the reflection that perhaps he and thousands of other Federal soldiers who were slain or wounded in the Battle of Pittsburg Landing might today be standing with arms in their hands. They might still be ready to do battle in their country’s cause had it not been for the apparently inexcusable and unparalleled neglect of the commanding generals in not using those precautions against a ‘surprise’ which are always used by trustworthy commanders at the head of armies in the presence of active and powerful foes. Courage is only one qualification for a commander; to personal bravery there should be united military science and skill, vigilance, prudence, and self-control. Whenever it shall be discovered that any general in command of Federal forces is deficient in those indispensable qualifications, it is the imperative duty of the Administration to relieve him of his command. “RESOLVED, That, as Indiana has given without stint her noble and cherished sons to the nation to aid in crushing a monstrous and causeless rebellion, and as their blood has been freely shed on nearly every battlefield where success has attended the Federal arms, she has a right to demand and will demand that those who are still at their posts shall not be unnecessarily sacrificed through the incompetency or carelessness of commanding generals. “RESOLVED, That the citizens of this county, while they mourn over the untimely death of Colonel Bass, have the proud satisfaction of knowing that, although he was born and raised in a state of doubtful loyalty and although many of his early friends had joined in the great rebellion against the Constitution and the Union, his loyalty never faltered. He received his death wound while in the act of leading his men into the thickest of the fight and while cheering them on to danger and to victory. “RESOLVED, That, while the death of Colonel Bass is a deep affliction to all those who knew him, a calamity to the regiment he so ably commanded, and a heavy loss to the nation in whose service and in whose defense he so gloriously died, it is a terrible bereavement to his grief-stricken family. We tender to his widow, to his father and mother, the hearty sympathy of the entire community, which will ever cherish a fond interest in their welfare and in the welfare of his orphaned children.