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Flags of the Civil War
Presentation of Colors
RECEPTION SPEECH of GOVERNOR HENRY H. CRAPO.
"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 histories be left unwritten.
Michigan colors
Page 19
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