The Fourth of July, 1874, can be set down as a model of its kind. It is equalled by few and surpassed by none. Heat, dust, smoke and cinders combined, made the atmosphere irritating and oppressive.

Friday night and Saturday morning brought the most of the veterans together, and the firing of the cannon at sunrise, the fusilade of fire crackers, the stirring strains of patriotic music, made us forget the unpleasant weather and its consequences, and look only to the reunion exercises for enjoyment and recreation. The country people came in by the score, in carriages, buggies and wagons, and by 11 o'clock the streets were blocked, the stores crowded, and the ice cream saloon and soda fountains beseiged by a hungry, thirsty and dusty multitude.

The members of the Regiment assembled at France's Hall for a business meeting, and at roll call the following named members were found to be present, to the number of one hundred and forty-seven:

On motion of E. W. Botsford, the following application was unanimously endorsed:

We the officers and members of the 16th Regiment O. V. I. present at this reunion, respectfully represent that John C. Lake, a member of Company C., of said Regiment, lost the fingers of his left hand by the accidental discharge of his gun while in the line of duty at Lexington, Ky., in December, 1861.

We further represent that we were present at the time of the accident, and are satisfied from the circumstances that it was an unavoidable accident, incident to active military duty, and we therefore respectfully request that inasmuch as he is an applicant for pension 3,817, that he be inscribed on the pension rolls.

Excerpt From Reception Address by Capt. A. S. McClure:

...The 16th Ohio won honorable distinction in war, and its record in peace is above criticism. There is an explanation, however. When the regiment was organized it was emphatically a bachelor regiment. Now, I do not intend to respond to Dr. Chase's toast, but I must unpack my breast of some domestic reflections, of some matrimonial suggestions, the appropriateness of which you will doubtless appreciate. Chase was the first victim on the altar. He couldn't wait until the war was over. Botsford held out with the incorrigible obstinancy of ripe experience. Clark yielded after a tremendous struggle. Cunningham threw up the sponge when he became inextricably ensnared. Kershner, Liggett, Ross, Van Dorn, Mills, Taneyhill, Heckert, Smith, and the boys, by whole platoons and companies, succumbed to the sweet attractions of Ohio's charming daughters, with chivalric gracefulness. I am impelled to state, from statistical computations made on the grounds today, that these civic capitulations have not been wholly fruitless or unprofitable. With what inconceivable joy, with what paternal satisfaction, we take down the old sword from the mantel-piece, unsheath its rusty and battered blade to the astonished gaze of a numerous progeny, dilating with heroic emotions on the rebels it has decapitated, and the battles in which it has flashed. How youthful patriot's breast heaves with emulous desires to excel the exploits of ancestral valor, and how greedily we recognize the dim evidences of hereditary patriotism sparkling in the juvenile's eyes? These occupations solace existence and reconcile us to the other hard lot of uninteresting citizenship. ...

Excerpt From the Officers of the Line Response by Capt. W. M. Ross:

To those who fell in battle no eulogist can do justice, but we can say in truth they gave their lives for liberty and their country. Peace be to their ashes. To those who have since passed into eternity, we trust that they too receive the reward in store for the good and the brave. To those who still survive, may they as faithfulfully perform the duty of citizens as they discharged the duties of the soldier when in the field, during the last rebellion.

Excerpt From the Letter of Regret from Capt. A. S. McClure: (however, Capt. McClure did attend the event)

...I would like to be there to gaze upon the quiet, but tenacious and determined countenance of Mills, whose courage would walk him straight into the jaws of death, rather than swerve a hair's breadth from the line of his duty. ...

Letter of Regret from General G. W. Morgan:

Dear Sir: -- It is a source of disappointment that I cannot accept the kind invitation to be present at the reunion of the soldiers of the 16th Ohio Infantry on the 4th day of July next. One year ago, I gave my promise to meet on that day with the survivors of my old comrades of the Mexican War, and my friends of the noble 16th, would not have me forget my engagement.

It is unnecessary for me to say to the officers and men of the 16th that they will always occupy a warm place in my heart. I can never forget their admirable drill, their soldierly discipline, and fine bearing in the field. We have all cause to rejoice that we now greet as friends and countrymen, those whom we so lately met as enemies, but foes only in the sense of public war. There was no personal hatred in the hearts of the opposing armies; each was battling for a cause, and each felt proud of the great deeds performed by the other.

Peace now smiles upon the Republic, and it remains for us, as citizens to contribute to the preservation of the institutions inaugurated by our sires on the day you are about to commemorate. It is a happy omen that the soldiers of 1842, of the war with Mexico, instinctively chose the anniversary of the birthday of American Independence, to meet and renew their pledges of devotion to our country and its institutions.

Say to the men of the 16th, that I greet them as brothers, and am proud of the fact that they were my comrades.

Respectfully yours,

G. W. Morgan.