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known in Cambridge for his literary acquirements and Christian labors. . . . . No one came into the army with purer motives of patriotism; no one more devoted to the cause of his country; and no one more prepared for entrance into “that undiscovered bourn.”
A friendship of many years was made yet closer by the intimacy of camp life; and our connection as messmates and chosen friends, sleeping under the same blanket, reading the same books, taking the same walks, acquainted with each other's friends at home, and having many tastes in common, justify me in asserting that I never knew a truer friend, a nobler or more self-sacrificing patriot, a more modest possessor of true merit, a more honest fulfiller of all supposed obligations, a better example of true manly character, or a more upright Christian and faithful exponent of true Christianity.
In the following spring, the
Irving Literary Association, of which he had been an active and a loved and honored member,—twice holding its highest office,—made arrangements for bringing home the bodies of the brothers Tucker, and were aided cheerfully and liberally by the Class of 1862, and by the church which had lost two faithful members.
By the assistance of the friend and messmate before mentioned, now an officer in the Eighty-eighth United States Colored Troops, the arrangements were successfully carried out, after once failing by reason of an unexpected attack from a large force of the enemy, which drove in the pickets, and scattered those who were searching for the grave, where a summer's growth had utterly transformed the spot.
The remains of the two brothers arrived in
Cambridge, Friday, May 6; and two days after, impressive services were held in the Old Cambridge Baptist Church, by
Rev. Mr. Annable, who took for his text the dying charge of King David to Solomon, ‘Show thyself a man.’
The past and present members of the
Irving Literary Association attended in a body, accompanied by college and regimental associates of the deceased.
The military organizations of
Cambridge performed escort duty, and many citizens assembled to do honor to the memory of the brave.
Side by side before the altar lay the two coffins; and side by side, in the cemetery, lie the two graves, with the inscriptions,
home at last.
rest in peace.
