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ing genius there. He distinguished himself repeatedly by his rapid action and by his leadership in the taking of new positions. The driving of the Confederates across Lookout Creek, and the decisive battle on Mission Ridge, when Bragg was driven from one of the strongest positions ever held by an army, turned the course of the war toward other fields.
Through 1864 General Schurz led his division on in
fight after fight. In May of 1865 he resigned his commission,
and was soon as actively engaged in the work
of reconstruction as he had been for the upholding of
the Union in arms. Thus closed the military career of
a man who, at the outbreak of the war, mastered the
problems of strategy and tactics, who was rapid in
combinations under fire, who, as his men often boasted, was
always himself seen “on the firing line,” who was wise
in counsel, magnanimous in victory, the friend of the
fallen foe, and among the first to hold forth the hand of
re-union and fellowship—then the gallant soldier of the
great Republic—now its eminent citizen—“General
Carl Schurz. [Applause.]
