Description
Octavo, [8pp]. Housed in custom made cloth presentation folder, title printed on label affixed to front panel. Pamphlet has been previously folded, with tissue repairs on last leaf. In protective mylar jacket. Inscribed by former President Rutherford B. Hayes on title page:”With best wishes, Rutherford B. Hayes.”
Comments: This pamphlet is the printed address of General Eliskim P. Scammon, the commander of the 23rd Regiment and President Rutherford B. Hayes’s commanding officer during the Civil War. Another notable officer from this core was William McKinley, the future President of the United States. It was only Scammon?s second reunion since the war with the Ohio 23rd. His speech acknowledged the two dignitaries from the 23rd Ohio and noted that McKinley was likely to be nominated for President in the near future. The speech admitted differences between the young ?free spirits? of the regiment and its military bred leader, an allusion to the disagreements he had with Hayes during the war. But it also celebrated the soldiers? successes together, saying in part, ?Today, I see gray hairs and lines of age, where then was freshness of youthful and manly vigor, animated by brave hearts, determined to do or die!?
