Judged by percentage in killed and wounded, Chickamauga nearly doubled the sanguinary records of Marengo and Austerlitz; was two and a half times heavier than that sustained by the Duke of Marlborough at Malplaquet; more than double that suffered by the army under Henry of Navarre in the terrific slaughter at Coutras; nearly three times as heavy as the percentage of loss at Solferino and Magenta; five times greater than that of Napoleon at Wagram, and about ten times as heavy as that of Marshall Saxe at Bloody Raucoux.... Or, if we take the average percentage of loss in a number of the world's great battles--Waterloo, Wagram, Valmy, Magenta, Solferino, Zurich, and Lodi--we shall find by comparison that Chickamauga's record of blood surpassed them nearly three for one. GENERAL JOHN B. GORDON _Second day at Chickamauga, 1863_ September Twenty-First THE OLD TIME NEGRO God bless the forlorn and ragged remnants of a race now passing away. God bless the old black hand that rocked our infant cradles, smoothed the pillow of our infant sleep, and fanned the fever from our cheeks. God bless the old tongue that immortalized the nursery rhyme, the old eyes that guided our truant feet, and the old heart that laughed at our childish freaks. PETER FRANCISCO SMITH September Twenty-Second If I could preserve the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it; if I could preserve the Union by freeing all the slaves, I would do it. What I do about the colored race, I do because I think it helps to save the Union. ABRAHAM LINCOLN _President Lincoln issues an emancipation proclamation to take effect January 1, 1863, unless the Confederate States should return to the Union by that date_ September Twenty-Third THE MOCKING-BIRD The name thou wearest does thee grievous wrong. No mimic thou! That voice is thine alone! The poets sing but strains of Shakespeare's song; The birds, but notes of thine imperial own! HENRY JEROME STOCKARD September Twenty-Fourth No other man did half so much either to develop the Constitution by expounding it, or to secure for the judiciary its rightful place in the Government as the living voice of the Constitution.... The admiration and respect which he and his colleagues won for the court remain its bulwark: the traditions which were formed under him and them have continued in general to guide the action and elevate the sentiments of their successors. JAMES BRYCE (England) _John Marshall born, 1755_ _Zachary Taylor born, 1784_ September Twenty-Fifth We are gathered here a feeble few Of those who wore the gray-- The larger and the better part Have mingled with the clay: Yet not so lost, but now and then Through dimming mist we see The deadly calm of Stonewall's face, The lion-front of Lee. HENRY LYNDEN FLASH _Memoirs of the Blue and Gray read at Los Angeles, 1897_ September Twenty-Sixth