dainty meal for
all. After dinner, it was escorted back to the train, by the same band,
amid the waving of handkerchiefs from the crowds that thronged the
streets and balconies, and the "God bless you" from a thousand lips. So
long as our minds can retrace the past, and so long as our hearts are
capable of a generous emotion, will we continue to hold in sacred
remembrance, the noble and generous-hearted people of Pittsburgh.

Every one anticipated a hearty welcome at Chicago, inasmuch as it had
been extended elsewhere on the route; but we were cruelly and sadly
disappointed. No one met the regiment at the depot even to tell it
where to go. Every window presented its tableaux of fair spectators,
but no signal was made in token of welcome, no hearty "God bless you"
emanated in audible words from a single heart, but they gazed as if
upon a menagerie of southern wild beasts. The men were chagrined, and
would exclaim, "This is Richmond, not Chicago!"

The regiment finally found its way to Camp Fry and pitched its tents.
Here it remained until the 21st, waiting impatiently for its pay and
discharge.

The good folks of Chicago, however, determined not to allow the boys to
leave their city until they had assuaged their anger. Accordingly, the
Eighty-sixth and 125th Illinois received an invitation to appear at the
Sanitary Fair rooms, and partake of the fatted calf, where they
received not only a substantial dinner, but also several stirring
speeches, among which was one made by General Sherman.

The General spoke as follows:

FELLOW SOLDIERS: I regret that it has fallen to my task to speak to
you, because, I would rather that others should do what is most
common to them, and less so to me. But, my fellow soldiers, it
gives me pleasure to assure you that what the President of this
Fair has told you just now is true--that a hearty welcome awaits
you wherever you go, not only in Chicago but everywhere. Many
people think you want bread and meat, but your faces and my
knowledge tell me that you prefer the waving of handkerchiefs and
the applause of the people to all the bread and meat that fill the
warehouses of Chicago. (Cheers.) Those soldiers who are now before
me know where bread and meat can and will be found. (Laughter.) All
we ask and all we have ever asked, is a silent and generous
acknowledgment of our services when rendered in the cause of our
country.

A