This gray-haired general here (General McGinnis) was with them. He is a member of the commission that erected these granite tributes, and has in charge these ceremonies. He has come to lend the benediction of his presence to this occasion, and to look again upon the ground where so many dramatic and tragic scenes were enacted—scenes in which he had honorable share—scenes that were burned into the very fiber of his young manhood’s memory, and which he would not forget if he could. His days have been long lengthened. We are glad and grateful that he is here. His associates on the commission were here; and so were these battle-scarred veterans standing here round about you. They give character and purpose to this occasion and a benediction to this service. Through them and their comrades, and the great Army in Gray with whom they contended, both we and you are beginning to understand the message and the meaning of the war. They have taught us charity and forgiveness. We are coming “to know one another better, to love one another more.” Here upon these hills and heights was lighted the torch of a national life, that to-day is blessing, enlightening, and enriching the peoples of the earth. Our prayer—a prayer in which we are sure your hearts are joined with ours—is, that this mighty Nation, grown great and powerful, may know war no more, forever; that it may walk uprightly, deal justly with its own people and with all nations; that its purpose may be hallowed, its deeds ennobled, its glory sanctified, by the memories of the crucible through which it came, and that in the future if war must come, its sword may be drawn only in Freedom’s cause, and that its soldiery in such case may acquit themselves as nobly as did those who struggled here. Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Commission, in the name of the State of Indiana and on her behalf, I accept these splendid monuments and these markers you have erected and which you have so eloquently tendered me, and in the name of the State and on behalf of her people, Captain Rigby, I now present them to you, as the representative of the National Government, and give them through you into its keeping, to be held and kept forever as a sacred trust—a reminder to the countless thousands that in the gathering years may look upon them, of the share Indiana had in the great campaign that ended here July 4, 1863. Transcriber’s Notes —Silently corrected a few typos. —Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication. —In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.