THE CHICAGO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, to whom was entrusted the local preparation for the Army Reunion in this city in December of last year, have the pleasure of presenting this memorial volume to the members of the various societies represented in that Reunion. It was intended that it should be issued much earlier in the year, but the labor of collecting the material from the various secretaries, and from the many speakers at the Opera House Meeting and the Banquet, and the necessity of submitting the proof, for correction, to various persons interested, have rendered delay unavoidable. While it is hoped that this delay has been favorable to its completeness and correctness, it would be presumption to hope that a volume of this kind, hastily prepared, and by so many hands, could entirely escape errors. The sub-committee, to whom its publication was intrusted, are indebted to the Rev. Edward C. Towne, for valuable assistance; and to his taste and judgment must be credited whatever of merit there may be in the introductions and general editorial arrangement of the material. It is proper to add, that a small portion of the expense of the publication is borne by the treasuries of the different societies. INTRODUCTION. THE proposal of a Grand Reunion of all the Western Armies originated with General W. T. Sherman, whose position as the common commander of all suggested an equal interest in all, and excited a desire to gather, on one grand occasion, representatives of the whole host, undivided and indivisible in spirit and labors, which had been employed in the West in prosecuting the struggle of the Nation against rebellion. Four separate organizations, composed of these Armies respectively, the Army of the Tennessee, the Army of the Cumberland, the Army of the Ohio, and the Army of Georgia, had been formed, or were contemplated, with a common view to perpetuate the memories and help to preserve the record of camp, and march, and battle; and two of these were about being called to meet for the annual celebration of 1868. The Society of the Army of the Tennessee was expected to convene in Chicago in September, and that of the Army of the Cumberland was anticipating a reunion, also in Chicago, on the 15th of December. So: early as March (1868), General Sherman had given a good deal of thought to a scheme of reunion of all the soldiers of the Western Armies, and had written to distinguished officers in regard to it. From Generals Thomas, Schofield, and Slocum, representing the Cumberland, Ohio, and Georgia Armies, he had received highly satisfactory assurances of cordial concurrence with his proposal for a Grand Reunion; and on the 24th of March he wrote from the headquarters of |