Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 1.
Frank Moore, Ed.

[345] flag is the gift of the Sons of Maine, residing in New York. Before the ceremony of presentation took place, Col. Howard requested that, if any clergyman was present, the ceremonial should open with a prayer, when the Rev. I. K. Kalloch, formerly of Boston, and now of the Laight street Baptist Church, made an appropriate prayer. The presentation was then made by Stewart L. Woodford, Esq., Assistant United States District Attorney, who spoke as follows:

men of Maine, citizens of the Union :--I had expected to present this standard to you in the Park. I am somewhat surprised that soldiers of Maine should not have faced the storm, for as soldiers you should have learned to keep your powder dry, and as citizens of a State that has given the temperance law, you ought not to be afraid of God's cold water. After your tiresome journey I shall be very brief. Indeed, words, except those of Godspeed and loving and prayerful eulogy in behalf of the dead, are idle now. The time for discussion is past. Open rebellion has trampled upon our Constitution. We have the issue, and in this State men's minds are one. We have laid aside our partisan wranglings and we have sworn as the Lord liveth that treason shall be crushed, (great cheering,) if the Carolinas be a forest of gibbets. My friends, the men of Maine resident in this city have desired to bid you welcome, and almost in the same breath, farewell. They wish to give you as they part a token that shall speak of their brotherhood. Each mother has given to her boy in your ranks that fittest pledge of a mother's love, her Bible. Each dear one has given some pledge that speaks of softer and sweeter hours. Your brethern in this hour of battle would give you a strong man's gift — your country's flag. That flag shall be your guardian. Its starry eyes shall look upon you in watchful love — its blended stripes shall stream above you with protection. It is the flag of history. Those thirteen stripes tell the story of our colonial struggle, of the days of ‘76. They speak of the wilderness savage, of old Independence Hall, of Valley Forge, and Yorktown. Those stars tell the story of our nation's growth, how it has come from weakness to strength, from thirteen States to thirty-four, until the gleam that shines in the sunrise over the forests of Maine crimsons the sunset's dying beams on the golden sands of California. Let not the story of the flag be folded now, and lost forever. Wherever your axe has rung, the school-house has been reared alongside the hut of the fisherman and the pioneer. Maine is the child of Massachusetts, and in your hearts flows the blood of the Old Bay State. Soldiers! I know that every heart gives an eager response to those which the Massachusetts man uttered as he fell stricken by a Maryland mob, “All hail to the Stars and Stripes.” (Tremendous cheering.) We give this flag to you, and with it we give you our prayers, and not ours alone, but as the loved home circle gathers far in the Pine Tree State, gray-haired fathers and loving mothers will speak in prayer the name of their boy. Sir, in behalf of the Sons of Maine in this city, I give you this flag. Guard it as a woman guards her honor, as children keep the ashes of their father. That flag shall float in triumph, on your avenging march, as those steel fingers point the way through Baltimore to Sumter. That flag shall hover with more than mother's love over your dead. We hear to-day, above the sound of conflict, the voice of the Archangel crying, “Victory is on the side of Liberty, Victory is on the side of Law.” With unbroken ranks may your command march beneath its folds. God bless you. Farewell.

Col. Howard responded as follows:--Brethren, sons of Maine, brethren of New York, brethren of the Union, and all present before me, especially those who have been engaged in the presentation of this beautiful emblem of Liberty and Law, through me receive the warmest thanks of the body of brave men that I have the honor to command. I was born in the East, but I was educated by my country. I know no section; I know no party, and I never did. I know only my country to love it, and my God that is over my country. We go forth to battle, and we go in defence of righteousness and liberty, civil and religious. We go strong in muscle, strong in heart, strong in soul, because we are right. (Cheers.) I have endeavored to live in all good conscience before God, and I go forth to battle without flinching, because the same God that has given his spirit to direct me, has shown me that our cause is righteous, and I could not be better placed than I am now, because he has given me the warm hearts of as noble a regiment as the United States have produced. (Cheers.)

Col. Howard then asked for three for New York, the Union, the Constitution, and for the President of the United States, which were given with tremendous effect, every man springing to his feet the instant the call was made by the Colonel.

A few remarks were then made by the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, when Mr. Hawkins, in the name of the Committee, invited Col. Howard and the officers of the regiment to dine at the Astor House.

Col. Howard then placed the regiment in charge of Sergeant Fish of Co. F, directing the men to their knapsacks for their dinner.

The Regimental Band of 23 performers, under the leadership of Mr. ZZZFen. G. Barker of Augusta, accompanies the regiment. A full drum corps is also attached.

Col. Howard is a graduate of West Point, and until recently was Professor of Mathematics in the West Point Academy. He says he was fifteen or twenty minutes behind time at Augusta and at Boston, but that he should endeavor to be more punctual in his departure from New York. Such prompt action will astonish the laggards in New York, who are usually three or four hours behind. Major Sewell of Portland accompanies the regiment,