"This Union that we must save will be a beacon light on the shores of
time for mankind. It will be worth all the blood and all the tears we
shall give for it. The grandeur of our sacrifice will be the birthright
of our children's children. It will be the end of sectionalism. We can
never again curse and revile one another, as we have in the past. We've
written our character in blood for all time. We've met in battle. The
Northern man knows the Southerner is not a braggart. The Southerner
knows the Yankee is not a coward.
"There can be but one tragedy, my boy, that can have no ray of
light--and that is that all this blood should have flowed in vain, all
these brave men died for nought, that the old curse shall remain, the
Union be dismembered into broken sections and on future bloody fields
their battles be fought over again----"
He paused and drew a deep breath:
"This is the fear that's strangling me! For as surely as George B.
McClellan is elected President, surrounded by the men who at present
control his party, just so surely will the war end in compromise,
failure and hopeless tragedy----"
"Why do you say that?" John asked sharply.
"Because standing here on this very spot, before the battle of
Gettysburg I offered him the Presidency if he would preside at a great
mass meeting of his party and guarantee to save the Union.
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