The congregated emblems of National and State prowess, and of regimental bravery and fraternal associations there presented, revived in the mind of every soldier recollections of great and gallant deeds, of days and nights fraught with anxiety, doubt, danger, and death, of sacrifices to patriotism, of hair-breadth escapes, of attacks, of repulses, of sad defeats, of glorious victories, of long and weary marches, of hunger, thirst, and cold, and of sorrow and sadness for fallen comrades; but all looked upon them with reverential pride, and recognized them as having been their guiding star in many brilliant but sanguinary conflicts, having followed them in the victorious charge of the assaulting column, and from them received silent directions when all orders were lost in the din and confusion of contending armies, and under their tattered but glorious stars and stripes, battled long and bravely for the right.

A cordial invitation having been extended by the Governor to all who had served in the war, and for the purpose of honoring the day, and especially the occasion, as well as giving the people of the State an opportunity to witness the emblems of State prowess, and of patriotism, bravery, and gallant services, a procession was arranged and carried into effect.

The procession was under the direction of General James E. Pittman, who at the time was Inspector General of the State, and who was selected and appointed by the Governor as Chief Marshal of the day.

For the presentation of the colors in behalf of the regiments, Major General O. B. Willcox was in like manner chosen, being the first Colonel who left the State for the field with a Michigan regiment.

The returned troops were commanded by Brevet Brigadier General William L. Stoughton, the ranking Colonel then in the State, amongst those who belonged to their regiments at the time of the muster out of their respective organizations.

The divisions were organized as follows, and the regiments took position in them in the following order:

FIRST DIVISION-BREVET MAJ. GEN. R. H. G. MINTY, COMMANDING.

1st Regiment Engineers and Mechanics.

1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th Regiments Cavalry. Companies H, I, and L, Merrill Horse.

1st Regiment Light Artillery-Batteries A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, and 13th and 14th Batteries Light Artillery.

1st Regiment Sharp-Shooters.

Companies C, I, and K, 1st U. S. Sharp-Shooters.

Company B, 2d U. S. Sharp-Shooters.

Michigan Companies that served as such in regiments of other States.

Soldiers belonging to this State who served in regiments of other States, not in Michigan companies.

Michigan soldiers and sailors who served in the regular army and navy.

SECOND DIVISION-BREVET MAJ. GEN. II. A. MORROW, COMMANDING.

1st (3 months), 1st (3 years), 2d, 3d, 3d (reorganized), 4th, 4th (reorganized), 5th, 6th (Heavy Artillery), 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Regiments Infantry.

THIRD DIVISION-BREVET BRIG. GEN. O. L. SPAULDING, COMMANDING.

11th, 11th (reorganized), 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th Regiments Infantry.

FOURTH DIVISION-BREVET BRIG. GEN. HEBER LE FAVOUR, COMMANDING.

21st, 22d, 23d, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th Regiments Infantry; 1st Regiment (102d U. S.) Michigan Colored Troops.

"I saw the soldiers come to-day
From battle-fields afar;

No conqueror rode before their way
On his triumphal car;

But Captains, like themselves, on foot,
And banners sadly torn,

All grandly eloquent, though mute,
In pride and glory borne."

These divisions, composed of the veterans of the respective regiments, carrying their old colors, presented the finest appearance possible. It was remarkable with what pride each color-bearer held aloft the banner under which he had served, and with what elasticity of step and erect bearing the whole marched to the strains of the martial music, to which they had been so long accustomed.

The State authorities were cheerfully aided and liberally sustained by the citizens of Detroit, and the affair was honored by a magnificent celebration, and participated in by the most numerous assembly of people from all parts of the State ever congregated within its borders.

The invitation extended by the Governor to the soldiers was well responded to, and they rallied in great numbers under their old banners as in times past, presenting them to the State, as follows:

First Infantry (3 months), one; 1st Infantry (3 years), seven; 2d Infantry, two; 3d Infantry (reorganized), two; 4th Infantry (reorganized), one; 5th Infantry, five; 6th Heavy Artillery, two; 7th Infantry, one; 8th Infantry, four; 9th Infantry, three; 10th Infantry, two; 11th Infantry, one; 11th Infantry (reorganized), two; 12th Infantry, four; 13th Infantry, four; 14th Infantry, four; 15th Infantry, four; 16th Infantry, four; 17th Infantry, four; 18th Infantry, two; 19th Infantry, one; 20th Infantry, two; 21st Infantry, four; 22d Infantry, two; 23d Infantry, two; 24th Infantry, seven; 25th Infantry, two; 26th Infantry, five; 27th Infantry, five; 28th Infantry, two; 29th Infantry, two; 30th Infantry, two; 1st Engineers and Mechanics, four; 1st Sharp-Shooters, one; 1st Cavalry, two; 3d Cavalry, one; 4th Cav

alry, one; 5th Cavalry, one; 6th Cavalry, one; 7th Cavalry, three; 8th Cavalry, one; 9th Cavalry, one; 10th Cavalry, one; 11th Cavalry, one; Battery B, one; Battery E, one; Battery F, one; Battery H, two; Battery I, one; Battery K, two; 14th Battery, one; 1st Colored Infantry (102d U. S.), three.

These flags bear the National and State emblems, and are the cherished and venerated mementoes of great public services rendered by the soldiers of the State to the Republic, and of regimental bravery.

Around them will cluster hallowed memories of State pride, of National grandeur and prowess, of individual heroism and patriotism, of fallen comrades, and family bereavements.

"Those banners soiled with dust and smoke,

And rent by shot and shell,

That through the serried phalanx broke,

What terrors could they tell!

What tales of sudden pain and death

In every cannon's boom

When e'en the bravest held his breath,

And waited for his doom."

At the close of the procession, which was one of the finest and most interesting displays ever witnessed in Michigan, the veterans were massed in front of the speaker's stand on the Campus Martius, and delivered their flags to the Governor, when, after a prayer by Bishop S. A. McCoskry, appropriate addresses were made, from which the following extracts are taken:

"You have permitted no rebel hand to tear them from your grasp, and bear them trophies to the foes of our Union. But, with Spartan fidelity, true to the trust confided, you have returned them home again, now to be placed in the archives of the State, there to remain mournful relics and mementoes of our cruel and bloody strife, a warning to all; and we have yet to learn that our State, or a single Michigan flag, has ever been dishonored upon a battle field. You have now forsaken the tented field for the peaceful pursuits of citizen life. You now rest from your dangers and your toils. You have the proud consciousness of knowing that you are among the defenders and preservers of our Union. You have the satisfaction of again seeing the old flag, the flag of our fathers, wave defiantly and triumphantly over every foot of our National domain. Your prowess and your victories have rejoiced every patriot heart in the land. A Nation's gratitude is yours. The orphans of your brave comrades are entitled to your paternal care. They must be ranked as children of the State. Amid our happiness and our rejoicings upon this glorious anniversary of our country we cannot forget that our countrymen-our erring and misguided countrymen of the South-are still smarting under the blows that justice and patriotism compelled you to inflict. Shall we not show to the penitent that we are as magnanimous in peace as we have been irresistible in war? Shall we not imitate the examples of your most illustrious generals, Grant and

Sherman, that brave men do not trample upon a fallen foe? Shall we ignore the meek and lowly, teachings of Him who died upon the cross! God forbid!"

"Of all these flags there is scarcely one which has not waved in the thickest of the fight; scarcely a color which has not seen its heroic bearers one after another struck down in battle. Ah, yes! many a hand that vigorously grasped these flagstaffs and led the van now lies crumbling in the grave; and not colorbearers alone, but nearly 15,000 others who fought beside them-the flower of Michigan-return not to receive your thanks and the plaudits of their grateful countrymen. They walk the earth no more in the flesh, but their fame survives, and their glorified forms bend above us now and, with hands unseen, deck these colors with invisible garlands. While we have souls to remember, let their memories be cherished. Let a monument be erected to them-at once worthy of their deeds and worthy of the State; let their widows and orphans be cared for; and never let us forget the cause for which they fell; a war not for ambition, not for a dynasty or a party-no, let party spirit be hushed in their majestic presence-not to establish or defend a throne, neither for spoils, oppression, nor any other unworthy object, but simply for the Union, and as soon as may be, let the ancient foundations of the Constitution be restored with only the crumbling stone of slavery left out, and with liberty guaranteed to all. "I have seen the finger of Providence through the thick smoke of battle, and now that the dark curtain is lifted, and the sun of victory breaks through in meridian splendor, I have more confidence than ever in our destiny. We thank God that we have returned to our homes victorious. If you, the Governor and the people of Michigan, are satisfied with the manner in which we have performed our part, we are grateful for your applause. We have tried to do our duty, and we have done no more than that duty which every citizen owes to a free and fraternal government, and in the peaceful walks of civil life we shall endeavor to set an example of peace, moderation, and submission to the laws. It only now remains for me, in the name of the Michigan soldiers, to surrender to the State these flags, tattered but not stained, emblems of a war that is past. We shall ever retain our pride in their glorious associations, as well as our love for the old Peninsular State."

"I receive, in behalf of the people of Michigan, these honorable memorials of your valor and the Nation's glory; and on their part, I once more thank you for the noble services you have rendered in defending and preserving the life of the Nation, at the hazard of your own, and at the sacrifice of so many of your comrades. I may venture to give you the assurance that you have the unbounded gratitude and love of your fellow-citizens; and that between you and them the glory of these defaced old flags will ever be a subject of inspiration-a common bond of affection. To you they represent a nationality which you have periled your lives to maintain; and are emblematic of a liberty which your strong arms and stout hearts have helped to win. To us they are our

fathers' flags-the ensigns of all the worthy dead-your comrades, our relatives and friends-who for their preservation have given their blood to enrich the battle-fields, and their agonies to hallow the prison pens of a demoniac enemy. They are your flags and ours. How rich the treasure! They will not be forgotten and their historics be left unwritten.

"Their stories will be as household words; and the minds of those who come after us will dwell upon the thoughts of manly endeavor, of staunch endurance, of illustrious achievements, which their silent eloquence will ever suggest. They will ever typify the grand results accomplished by the loyal men of the Nation in this great rebellion; and should the flame of patriotism ever wane upon our altar-stone, the halo from these mementoes will kindle again the ancient fire that electrified the world.

"Let us, then, tenderly deposit them, as sacred relics, in the archives of our State, there to stand forever, her proudest possession-a revered incentive to liberty and patriotism, and a constant rebuke and terror to oppression and treason."

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The ceremony concluded with a benediction by the Rev. Dr. George Duffield, when the veterans marched to the depot of the Michigan Central Railroad, where they partook of a substantial repast, prepared for them by the citizens, and where they were waited upon at tables by ladies and gentlemen of the city. Those old flags, fluttering proudly in the breeze, bearing the mark of many bullets, and the record of many battles, under which friends had fought and loved ones fallen, strengthened the people in their love of country, and made them firmer in their faith of the lasting union of the Republic. They were gladdened in heart at the presence of the veterans of the army of Michigan. Yet, alas their joy was mixed with sorrow. Fourteen thousand and over of that army had joined the "legion of the dead;" they had fallen under the flag on many battle fields. Most of them, in a spirit of humanity and veneration, have been gathered by kindly hands into the beautiful cemeteries, provided by a beneficent Government, and now sleep in their windowless palaces of rest, where they will lie in peace until the last reveille; but some of them yet lie where their comrades left them, by the way-sides, on the sunny brows of many hills, in the dense forests, in the valleys, and under the orange and palm trees, on the banks of rivers, under the deep, dark waters, and on the sea beach, where the restless waves forever chant their requiem. But they lie under the flag they defended and made stainless, and in the land they saved and made free.

"Thank God! there beams o'er land and sea,

Our blazing star of victory;

And everywhere, from main to main,