Bazel Lemley, Antietam Veteran Who Met FDR on the 75th Anniversary

From Find A Grave.

I have been writing about him and Robert E. Miles, a Confederate, who both fought at Antietam and then  met FDR at the 75th anniversary of that battle in 1937.

Corporal, Co. H, 191st Pennsylvania Infantry.

BAZEL LEMLEY

Birth:  10 February 1842 in Marietta, Ohio

Death:  18 February 1943  (Age 101)

Buried:  Cedar Grove Cemetery in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania

--Old Secesh

Obituary of Robert E. Miles, CSA, Died December 5, 1942

He was one of the two old Battle of Antietam survivors who met President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 17, 1837, the 75th anniversary of the battle.  The other soldier was Bazel Lemley, who fought for the Union,  Picture of them to the right of this.

"Captain Bob Miles, Almost 103, Dies Near Shawsville.
Confederate Veteran Was Wounded  at Antietam.

Shawsville, Dec 5 (Special)  Robert Edward (Captain Bob) Miles, grand old Confederate warrior of Montgomery county, died quietly at his farm home near Crockett Springs early this evening -- just three days before he would have observed his 103rd birthday.

REPRESENTED SOUTH

It was Captain Miles who, as the oldest Confederate veteran attending the 75th anniversary of the battle of Antietam in 1937, represented the  south in a triple handclasp of friendship with President Roosevelt and a veteran of the Union forces.

He was so severely wounded  in the legs and hands in that bloody engagement that he was discharged,  but reenlisted as soon as he recovered in the 21st, Virginia Cavalry, Company B, and served throughout the war, attaining the rank of captain.

Captain Miles recalled until his death, personal contacts with General Robert E. Lee and President Jefferson Davis.

--Old Secesh

Two Old Soldiers Greet FDR at Antietam's 75th Anniversary in 1937-- Part 4: Bazel Lemley

Bazel Lemley, 95, was the Union veteran who was at the Battle of Antietam who met President Roosevelt at the 75th anniversary of the battle.  He was 19 when he enlisted in the 37th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment as a private on May 15, 1861.  He survived Antietam, but was slightly wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5, 1864.

According to a descendant, Mr. Lemley was "quite a celebrity around his home" and was quite active up until his death.

Like Robert E. Miles, Lemley lived to reach his 100th birthday and even at that age often walked two miles a day.  "He was consistently Greene County's best-dressed senior," another Pennsylvania newspaper noted.

On February 18, 1943, eight days after he celebrated his 101st birthday, Mr. Lemley died in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania.  World War I veterans served as his pallbearers at his funeral.

"Mr. Lemley was a staunch Republican and among his fondest memories was shaking hands with President Lincoln at a military review and with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the dedication of the 'Eternal Light' memorial at Gettysburg, according to his obituary in the Waynesburg  (Pa.) Democrat Messenger.

--Old Secesh

Two Old Soldiers Greet FDR at Antietam on 75th Anniversary-- Part 3: Robert E. Miles, CSA

One of the two old soldiers was Confederate, the other Union.

The Confederate one was Robert E. Miles, 101, who was a sergeant in the 57th Virginia Infantry Regiment.  He was struck in the hand and foot by shell fragments at Antietam and lay wounded  on the field for hours until he was able to crawl to the safety of his own lines.  He claimed that later in the war, he carried dispatches for Robert E. Lee, whom he said greeted soldiers each morning with, "Good morning, boys."

By the end of the Rebellion, Miles had been promoted to captain.

After the war, he returned to his Virginia farm in Franklin County, where he and his wife raised ten children.  The old soldier's advice for a good life was simple, "When you start through the world," he told a local newspaper, "commence laughing.  Then never quit."

When he turned 100, Miles received a letter marking the occasion from FDR who noted his milestone was "a privilege  not vouchsafed to many."  That note was one of his most treasured possessions.

Born in Pig River, Virginia, on December 8, 1839, Miles died at Shawsville, Virginia, in 1942, two days shy of his 103rd birthday.  He was buried in his Confederate uniform.

--Old Secesh

Two Old Soldiers Greet FDR at Antietam's 75th Anniversary-- Part 2

Judging by today's climate, the Hagerstown (Md.) Morning-Herald was a bit off  when it reported:  "The bitterness of 75 years ago has disappeared and frequently men who fought for the South were seen arm in arm with soldiers of the North.

"Eagerly the old soldiers, all past four score and ten. watched the re-enactment of the Bloody Lane phase of the Battle of Antietam over the ground which many of them had traveled as young warriors three-quarters of a century ago.  It was a day of pleasure for these aged men and after the program was concluded many of them expressed themselves as  delighted with their visit here."

It was something to see men who had at one time fought against each other, now on a friendly basis.  That is one thing that always struck me after the war, was how the former enemies mostly made up and continued on their paths through their life.

Too bad this isn't happening today.  That bitterness is apparent everywhere these days with certain people doing their best to bury the old Confederacy.

By the way, four score and ten would be 90 years old.

Of course, this is also of interest as we are going through the 75th anniversary of World War II.

--Old Secesh

Road Tripping Through History: Two Old Soldiers Who Fought at Antietam Greet FDR on the 75th Anniversary-- Part 1

I was ready to go on to another subject in this blog until I came across this, and I felt obliged to include it here since it is very appropriate to what I have been writing about.  This Road Trip Through History all started back in May when I wrote about President McKinley's speech he gave at Antietam at the dedication of the Maryland Monument there in my Civil War II blog.  It went from there to U.S. presidents who have visited Antietam in this blog as well as specifically FDR's visit.

From the January 21, 2016, John Banks' Civil War Blog  "Antietam:  Two old soldiers meet FDR at 75th commemoration."

John Banks sure finds interesting stuff to write about.  Check out his blog.

He wrote about President Franklin D. Roosevelt speaking at the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1937.  (This even more interesting in the fact that we now are observing the 75th anniversary of World War II with our own batch of 90+-year old warriors from that war.)

The next day, the Hagerstown (Md) Morning reported that there were approximately fifty Civil War veterans in attendance and even more impressive to me, anyway, at least two who had actually fought at the battle.

They were Bazel Lemley, 94, and Robert Miles, 95.  Mr. Banks' article has a photograph of these two men with FDR.  Lemley, a Union veteran, is shaking hands with the president and Miles seems to be  laughing.

--Old Secesh

FDR Visits Antietam on 75th Anniversary-- Part 3: His Speech of Unity

President Roosevelt closed his speech that day with words that that placed focus on the importance of a united country.  His words bear wisdom today as they did in 1937.  (And, we know that today, the country is far from united and with the move to eradicate any and all things Confederate the situation is getting worse.)

FDR stated:  "In the presence of the spirits of those who fell on this field -- Union soldiers and Confederate soldiers -- we can believe that they  rejoice with us  in the unity of understanding which is so increasingly ours today.

"They urge us on in all  we do to foster unity in the spirit of tolerance, of willingness to help our neighbor, and of faith in the destiny of the United States,"

Too Bad, Certain People Have Forgotten These Words.  --Old Secesh

F.D.R. Visits Antietam on 75th Anniversary of the Battle-- Part 1

From the Antietam Journal blog.  "FDR visits the Battlefield:  A Presidential visit" by Ranger Mike Gamble.

The seventy-fifth anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1937.

Some folks in attendance still had actual memories of the battle 75 years later.  Approximately fifty Civil War veterans and a crowd of thirty-five thousand gathered to hear the President of the United States m Franklin D. Roosevelt, give a stirring speech and to view a re-enactment of the battle.

From  the grandstand overlooking the famous Bloody Lane, visitors were able to view 1,000 National Guardsmen simulate battle.  Units of Guardsmen came from Maryland, Pennsylvania, District of Columbia as well as active duty soldiers from Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Following the battle,  the crowd stood for a playing of the National Anthem as Boy Scouts marched in front of the viewing stand with the flags of thirty states representing the homes of soldiers who fought at the battle.

The president received a memento of the fighting:  a brightly polished piece of wood with a bullet embedded in it  chopped from a tree near the Burnside Bridge.

--Old Secesh

Presidential Visits to Antietam Battlefield-- Part 6: FDR and JFK's Visit

After Theodore Roosevelt's visit to Antietam, several years passed before the next presidential visit.  It wasn't until September 17, 1937, the 75th anniversary of the battle, that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered an eloquent speech in front of an estimated crowd of 50,000, including some Civil War veterans with whom he shook hands.

Since 1944, only two U.S. presidents have visited Antietam Battlefield:  John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter.

Kennedy toured the battlefield with his wife, Jackie and brother Ted, on April 3, 1963, just six months before his fateful ride in Dallas.  They made the trip from Camp David to the battlefield in a helicopter.  Of particular interest to the Kennedys were stories of the Irish Brigade and the role of Massachusetts soldiers.

--Old Secesh