COMRADES IN ARMS
MOURN GEN. SICKLES
Men Who Fought with Him Hold
Simple Memorial Service
Over His Coffin.
PLACE FLAG AND FLOWERS
To-day They Serve as Pallbearers
At Service in Cathedral--
Burial in Arlington.
White-haired comrades in arms of
Major Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, comman-
der of the Third Army Corps at the
battle of Gettysburg held a memorial
service last night over his bier in the
Sickles home at 23 Fifth Avenue. Fif-
teen of the forty surviving members of
the Phil Kearney Grand Army Post, to
which he belonged, which was 500 strong
at the close of the civil war, brought a
last tribute to their late comrade, and
the same fifteen old men will be the
pallbearers in a more ceremonious me-
morial procession from the Sickles home
to St. Patrick's Cathedral this morning.
At the far end of the back parlor on
the ground floor of the home, which
was filled with friends and admirers of
the late General, lay the mahogany cof-
fin in which his body was reposed. Candles
burned at the head and feet, and a flag
was draped across his chest. A silver
name-plate bore the words:
-----------------------------------------
| DANIEL E. SICKLES |
| Major General of the United States |
| Army. |
| Born Oct. 10, 1820; Died May 3, 1914. |
-----------------------------------------
The walls of the room were banked
with floral tributes from hundreds of
friends and admirers of the dead sol-
dier. Mrs. Sickles and Stanton, her
son, sat near the head of the bier.
The fifteen old comrades of Phil Kear-
ney Post sat around it with the post
flag, the golden eagle of which was
draped in black. The General's old war
cap, his sword, his golden epaulettes,
lay at the foot of the bier.
Gen. Edward Hetherton, Commander
of Phil Kearney Post, stood beside the
coffin with the Memorial Committee of
the Grand Army, consisting of Capt.
William F. Kirchner, Grand Marshal;
Adj. Gen. Isador Isaacs od McQuade
Post 556, and Gen. John W. England
of Hancock Post 259.
The memorial service was begun by
Col. John R. Silliman of Aspinwall
Post 600. The Chaplain of H.P. Clafin
Post 558, Past Commander Thomas
Robertson, delivered the prayer, and
the memorial address was spoken by
Gen. George B. Loud of W.S. Hancock
Post 250.
Col. Silliman read the simple but im-
pressive ritual of the Grand Army, call-
ing back to the assembled veterans the
time when they stood shoulder to shoul-
der with their departed comrade in de-
fense of their native land, reminding
them that his and their devotion to duty
would serve as an incentive to the youth
of the land in ages to come, and warn-
ing them that soon they, too, would be
called to join their late comrade at the
Grand Encampment.
Then he called upon one of the com-
rades, and Col. Thomas M. Valleau,
First Comrade, stepped to the coffin and
laid a red rose, emblematic of friend-
ship, upon the glass covering Gen.
Sickles's face. As he did so, he said
simply:
"In behalf of Phil Kearney Post, I
lay this tribute on my comrade's bier."
Second Comrade, Col. John Rudmen,
laid a laurel wreathe, symbol of fra-
ternity, on the bier, repeating the for-
mula of the First Comrade. Col. Henry
G. Kopper, as Third Comrade, laid a
white rose on the bier, as a token of
purity, and repeated the formula. Then
Col. Silliman laid a small silk flag upon
the coffin, saying as he did so:
"In behalf of the grand republic, in
whose defense our beloved comrade,
Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, devoted his life,
I lay this flag upon his bier."
All present then joined in the Lord's
Prayer.
In delivering the memorial address
Gen. Loud explained that he was fol-
lowing the wish expressed by Gen.
Sickles himself.
"We stand by this coffin to-night,"
he said, "and think of the heroic
achievement of this man in the great-
est battle of the world's greatest war, of
his heroic courage and sublime patriot-
ism. He was a man of charming cheeri-
ness, the memory of which will long
survive in his comrades and friends. He
had always a window open in his soul
for humor and tenderness. Sunshine
and shadow blended in his life. Melan-
choly and morbidness grasped at his
soul, and in the twilight of his life he
became in truth a man of sorrows. But
the keynote of his career was ever an
indomitable courage. He was a faith-
ful friend and a generous foe. Anger,
hatred, and revenge had no lodgement
in his soul, but friendship, tenderness,
and love blossomed there."
At the conclusion of the memorial
services the assembled veterans filed
past the coffin, took a last look at the
face of their old comrade, and passed
out of the house. As they reached the
street 100 boys of Alexander Battalion
of United States Boy Scouts, led by
Maj. James C. Smith, filed past and
saluted solemnly.
Mrs. Sarah F. Loomis, President of
Lafayette Circle 3 of the Ladies of the
Grand Army of the Republic, of which
Gen. Sickles was an honorary member,
tendered to his widow the sympathy of
her organization, as did also Mrs.
Laura D. Prisk, District Instructor of
the city for the G.A.R. Among those
present in the house were Daniel P.
Hays, who has charge of the funeral for
the family, and former Gov. William
Sulzer, who lives on the top floor of
the Sickles home.
At 10:15 o'clock this morningthe cof-
fin bearing the body of Gen. Sickles
will be placed upon a gun caisson by the
pallbearers, and the funeral procession
will move up Fifth Avenue to St. Pat-
rick's Cathedral, escorted by the
Twelfth Regiment, N.G.N.Y.; the Old
Guard, Grand Army Posts, and a bat-
talion of regular troops from Governor's
Island. A solemn requiem mass will be
celebrated at the cathedral at 11:00 o'clock,
Mgr. M.J. Lavelle officiating. After
the services the troops will escort the
body down Fifth Avenue to Thirty-
sixth Street, west on Thirty-sixth Street
to Seventh Avenue, and down Seventh
Avenue to the Pennsylvania Station,
where, at 3:34 o'clock in the afternoon,
it will be taken with the funeral party
on a special train to Washington.
At Washington the body will be re-
ceived by a special guard of the regu-
lar army, dispatched by Secretary of
War Lindley M. Garrison, and will be
guarded over night. In the morning a
military guard, consisting of a firing
squad and a chaplain, will escort the
body to the National Cemetery at Ar-
lington, Va., where it will be buried
among many of Gen. Sickles's old com-
rades of the Third Army Corps.
Maintained by Sue Greenhagen.
E-mail:
greenhsh@morrisville.edu