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Personal Recollections 
 
 OF THE 
 
 War of the Rebellion 
 
 ADDRESSES DELIVERED BEFORE THE COMMANDERY 
 
 OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, MILITARY ORDER 
 
 OF THE LOYAL LEGION OF THeTiNITED STATES 
 
 THIRD SERIES 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 A. NOEL BLAKEIVIAN 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 NEW YORK LONDON 
 
 27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND 
 
 1907 
 
 r 
 
A. 3d "^5 13 
 
 Copyright, 1907 
 
 BY 
 
 THE NEW YORK COMMANDERY 
 
 Zbc itnicbevbocRer ptcsa, «Uw Hoch 
 
PREFACE 
 
 WHILE this volume contains a good deal of valuable 
 historic material relating to the War of the 
 Rebellion, the reading of the several papers at 
 our regular meetings has likewise contributed in no small 
 measture to the pleasure and enjoyment of the evenings we 
 have spent around the banquet table. As they are for the 
 most part "Personal Recollections" they have naturally 
 commanded interest and attention, especially from the 
 participants in the great struggle whose recollection of 
 events grows brighter and more vivid as they themselves 
 grow older. The lapse of more than forty years since the 
 close of the War has in a measure softened if not wholly 
 obliterated the feelings of hostility as well as the jealousies 
 that were very naturally engendered on both sides during 
 so long and so heated a contest, and hence the veteran 
 writer of the present day is apt to look back with kindlier 
 sympathy and calmer judgment upon the scenes through 
 which he passed as well as upon the conduct of the men 
 under whom he served. Not that fair criticism ever will be 
 or shoiold be eliminated, but the events and results of the 
 War can now be viewed from a broader and more elevated 
 platform and measured with more fairness since the inves- 
 tigator is better equipped by the far more abimdant and 
 reliable information that has become available during these 
 forty-odd years. 
 
 For this very reason it is well to keep alive and perpetuate 
 the recollection of the struggle that, while it cost the cotmtry 
 so dear in lives and treas-ure, resulted in welding together 
 a nation that in the present day has become a world power. 
 Sectionalism that preceded the War has not only lost its 
 
IV 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 significance but is rapidly fading from view, to be replaced 
 in the hearts of the people by the love and honor that is 
 now so generally and patriotically displayed for the star- 
 spangled banner that in truth doth in these days wave 
 " o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. " 
 The following verses written by Companion John E. 
 Norcross of this Commandery appear to sum up the views 
 expressed above : 
 
 These are the stories of the days of strife, 
 Told by the men who did a soldier's part. 
 Who came from workshop, farm, or busy mart. 
 With patriotic zeal and fervor rife : 
 The bugles blared, before them thrilled the fife, 
 While from the foe's gray line the death shots dart; 
 They bore the brunt of battle, stout of heart, 
 To give the land they loved endimng life. 
 
 Some swept with Sherman to the sea, and some 
 Marched through the Wilderness with blood red-wet. 
 Till Grant at Appomattox hushed the drum. 
 And in eclipse Rebellion's sun had set. 
 Now strife and war at end, the Comrades come, 
 They do forgive, but they do not forget. 
 
 In view of the fact that the literature of the War of the 
 Rebellion has become voluminous, comprising as it does 
 to-day over twelve thousand volumes and that the end is 
 not yet, it might be claimed that the story has been ex- 
 hausted and that any further contributions are in the 
 nature of a work of supererogation, but while it is quite 
 true that the official data are with but few exceptions all 
 in print and the more serious history whether of corps, 
 division, brigade, regiment, or company has foimd its way 
 to the book-shelf, it is also quite true that it has remained 
 for these later days to add to the general fund of information 
 just such personal incidents, together with the calmer 
 and more mature review of events that are recited in these 
 carefully prepared papers. They are calculated to awaken 
 a new interest in the stirring events of 1861-1865, as has 
 
PREFACE V 
 
 been accomplished also within the past few years by the 
 appearance of the historic novel, and many who could 
 scarcely be induced to wade through the dry, technical, 
 and somewhat difficult details of the campaign or battle, 
 now read with interest and avidity the more popular romance 
 based upon, and into which are woven the true incidents 
 and historic facts of the War. In this way the people of 
 our land to-day, who to a very great extent are removed 
 at least a generation from the historic period that in reality 
 gave new birth to this nation, are being brought back to 
 a knowledge of what the soldiers and sailors of the Army 
 and Navy did and dared during the great crisis of the 
 Republic. These papers serve a still further purpose 
 because they are calcxilated to inform and inspire the 
 Inheritance and Second-Class members of the Commandery 
 who in time will carry down and perpetuate the traditions 
 of the Order. For all these Companions it is a privilege 
 as well as a benediction to have heard these words from 
 the mouths of such men as Howard, Dodge, Chamberlain, 
 Brooke, and Porter. 
 
 Since these papers were read before the Commandery, 
 Generals Martin T. McMahon, and Geo. W. Baird, and 
 Captain Wm. L. Heermance have died, but with these 
 exceptions the writers of the other papers are not only 
 still in the flesh but continue to enjoy the assembling of the 
 surviving "Saints of the War." 
 
 The portrait of General Schofield that introduces this 
 volume is a reproduction in steel of the photograph pre. 
 served in the album of the Commandery, and taken during 
 the later years of his life. It is a faithful and excellent 
 likeness as well as a fine specimen of the engraver's art 
 and was executed by a veteran who served all through the 
 War of the Rebellion in a New York regiment. It finds an 
 appropriate place here not only because he was for four 
 terms the Commander of the New York Commandery but 
 was likewise for two terms the Commander-in-Chief of the 
 Order. The Commandery honored his memory by devoting 
 the evening of October lo, 1906, when the Commandery- 
 
VI PREFACE 
 
 in-Chief was present as oiir guests, to the memorial ad- 
 dresses that appear in this ~ volume and that form a 
 fitting tribute to his distinguished services as a soldier, 
 statesman, and diplomat. 
 
 A. N. B. 
 
 This third volume published by the Commandery 
 of the State of New York, Military Order of the Loyal 
 Legion of the United States (Edited by the Recorder of 
 the Commandery) makes a most valued addition to the 
 Commandery's series of War Papers. The portrait of 
 General Schofield, Commander-in-Chief of the Order, 
 1 899- 1 903, and Commander of the New York Commandery, 
 1887- 1 889, has been chosen as the most characteristic of 
 that officer. The Library Committee is greatly indebted 
 to Acting Assistant Paymaster Blakeman for his valued 
 services in editing this volume. 
 
 Aaron Vanderbilt, Acting Ensign, TJ. S. N. 
 William R. Mattison, Major, U. S. V. 
 Edward Trenchard, In Succession. 
 
 Library Committee. 
 New York, March, 1907. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Capture of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, January 
 IS, 1865, by Brevet Major-General Adelbert Ames, 
 late U. S. A i 
 
 The Capture of Fort Fisher, by Brevet Major-General N. 
 
 Martin Curtis.U. S. V 25 
 
 A Boy at Shiloh, by Captain Charles Morton, U.S.A. . 52 
 
 At the Battle of Antietam with the Eighth Ohio Infantry, 
 by First Lieutenant Thomas F. De Burgh Galwey, 
 U. S. V 70 
 
 A Boy's Experience at Vicksburg, by Lieutenant-Colonel 
 
 Frederick D. Grant, late U. S. A 86 
 
 Supplemental Paper, by Captain Charles C.Wehrum, U. S. V. lor 
 
 From Sire to Son — ^A Veteran's Talk to Members by In- 
 heritance, by Colonel Charles A. Woodruff, U. S. A. . 104 
 
 An Unlucky Ship, by Brevet Major-General Martin T. Mc- 
 
 Mahon, U. S. V. . 118 
 
 Battle of Newbem as I Saw it, by Brevet Major George G. 
 
 Hopkins, U. S. V 138 
 
 Little Things about Big Generals, by Brevet Lieutenant- 
 Colonel William Hemstreet, U. S. V. , . .148 
 
 The Shenandoah Valley in the Great War, by Brevet 
 
 Colonel Horatio C. King, U. S. V 167 
 
 Fremont in the Civil War, by Captain John R. Howard, 
 
 U. S. V 177 
 
Vlll CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Cavalry at Gettysburg by Captain William L. Heer- 
 
 mance, U. S. V 196 
 
 Personal Recollections of Some of our Great Commanders 
 in the Civil War, by Major-General Grenville M. Dodge, 
 U.S.V 207 
 
 With Sheridan's Cavalry, by Surgeon Alphonso D. Rock- 
 well, U. S. V 228 
 
 Major Zagonyi's Horse Guard, by Brevet Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Charles Treichel, U. S. V. (Read by the Re- 
 corder) ...... . . 240 
 
 Patriotism — A War Reminiscence, by Major-General John 
 
 R. Brooke, U. S. A 247 
 
 The Army in the Philippines, by Major-General Grenville 
 
 M. Dodge, U. S. V 252 
 
 Appomattox, by Brevet Major-General Joshua L. Chamber- 
 lain, U. S. A. . . . . . . . 260 
 
 The General Staff Corps, by Major-General Henry C. Cor- 
 
 bin, U. S. A. 281 
 
 The Last Fight for Missouri, by Adjutant Wm. Forse Scott, 
 
 U.S.V 292 
 
 General Thomas, ,by Major-General Oliver O. Howard, 
 
 U. S. A. . . . . . . . _ 229 
 
 Personal Recollections of General Grant, and his Cam- 
 paigns in the West, by Major-General Grenville M. 
 Dodge, U S. V 347 
 
 Japan's Preparation for War, by Major L. L. Seaman 
 
 ^■S-^ . ' 373 
 
 The Navy, by Rear-Admiral Joseph B. Coghlan, U. S. N. 384 
 DiscipKne at the United States Military Academy, by 
 
 Colonel Edgar S. Dudley, U. S. A. ". . . .393 
 
 West Point, by Colonel Charles W. Lamed, U. S. A. . 404 
 
CONTENTS IX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sermon Preached Sunday, April 8, 1906, by William 
 
 Mercer Grosvenor, D. D. . . . . . 414 
 
 A Winter Campaign in Montana and its Results, by Brig- 
 adier-General George W. Baird, U. S. A. . .421 
 
 In ;", Memoriam — Lieutenant-General John M. Schofield, 
 U. S. A., by Generals O. O. Howard and Grenville 
 M. Dodge and Brigadier-General Wm. M. Wherry, 
 U. S. A 438 
 
 Lieutenant-General John M. Schofield, U. S. A., by Briga- 
 dier-General Wm. M. Wherry, U. S. A. . . 448 
 
 The Occupation of Richmond, by Brevet Brigadier-General 
 
 Edward H. Ripley, U. S. V 472 
 
 Index .... ..... 503 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Elwell, on page 278, should be EWELL, RICHARD S. 
 Grierson, Benj. F., on page 152, should be BENJ. H. 
 Hardee, W. G., on pages 295, 337, should be W. J. 
 Pegram, John H., on page 172, should be PEGRAM, JOHN. 
 
 Quantrell, on pages 255, 452, 453, 
 
 Quimby, on pages 210, 358, 
 
 Ranson, on page 97, 
 
 Raum, Green C., on page 157, 
 
 Rawl, Wm. Brooke, on page 204, 
 
 Rawlings, on page 156, 
 
 Rhodes, on pages 172, 173, 
 
 Rogers, on page 155, 
 
 Schaeff, on page 340, 
 
 Stuart, on page 64, 
 
 Thorburn, on page 174, 
 
 Tibbetts, on page 172, 
 
 Van Horn, on pages 333, 342, 
 
 Walk, on page 155, 
 
 QUANTRILL. 
 
 QUINBY. 
 
 RANSOM. 
 
 RAUM, GREEN B. 
 
 WM. BROOKE-RAWLE. 
 
 RAWLINS. 
 ' RODES. 
 
 RODGERS. 
 ' SCHOEPF 
 ' STEWART. 
 
 THOBURN. 
 ' TIBBITS. 
 ' VAN HORNE. 
 
 WALKE. 
 
Personal Recollections of the 
 Rebellion 
 
 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER, NORTH 
 CAROLINA, JANUARY 15, 1865. 
 
 Read by Brevet Major-General Adelbert Ames, late 
 U. S. Army, February 3, 1897. 
 
 ABOUT the first of December, 1864, when in com- 
 mand of the 2d. Division, Twenty-fourth Corps, of 
 the Army of the James, then before Richmond, 
 Va., I was notified I had been selected to lead my division 
 in a movement by sea, against some point of the Con- 
 federacy on the Atlantic coast. 
 
 At that time Wilmington, N. C, was the port through 
 which the Confederacy received a large part of its munitions 
 of war, and whence was shipped to England, in payment 
 therefor, much of its cotton and tobacco. Wilmington was 
 situated on the east bank of the Cape Fear River, thirty 
 miles from its mouth, which was guarded by Fort Fisher. 
 
 Our Navy was imtiring in its efforts to blockade that 
 port, but was not successful. 
 
 The order from General Butler to General Weitzel rela- 
 tive to the expedition December 6th, 1864, was: 
 
 " The Major-General commanding has entrusted you with the 
 command of the expedition about to embark for the North 
 Carolina coast. It will consist of 6500 infantry, two batteries, 
 
2 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 and fifty cavalry. The effective men of General Ames's division 
 of the Twenty- fourth Corps will furnish the infantry force. Gen- 
 eral Paine is under your orders, and General Ames will be ordered 
 to report to you in person immediately." 
 
 My division, of three brigades, was composed of New 
 Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Indiana troops, 
 about 3300 in number. General Paine had a division of 
 colored troops. 
 
 We embarked at Bermuda Hundreds, Va., December 
 8th, and our transports reached the place of rendezvous 
 off New Inlet, N. C, Thursday the isth. Friday, Saturday, 
 and Sunday, we awaited the coming of the Navy. 
 
 Admiral Porter, commanding our fleet, arrived Sunday 
 evening the i8th. The next day the water was too rough 
 to make a landing on the ocean beach. Towards evening, 
 a northeast gale coming up, the transports were sent to 
 Beaufort for coal and water, as the ten days' supply had 
 run short, where they were delayed by the weather and the 
 difficulty of getting coal, until Saturday the 24th. 
 
 I did not go to Beaufort, as my ship, on which I had 
 one of my brigades, was well prepared for such an emergency. 
 
 General Butler, followed by his fleet of transports, re- 
 turned to New Inlet on Saturday the 24th of December, 
 between four and five o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 The powder boat, which played such a notorious part 
 in this expedition, had been exploded at about two o'clock 
 on the morning of the same day. 
 
 The idea of the powder boat was General Butler's, but 
 it was approved of and adopted by the Navy, which fur- 
 nished the vessel and its share of the 215 tons of gunpowder 
 used. The Navy held control of this experiment from 
 first to last. 
 
 The explosion was untimely, and a failure. Commodore 
 Jeffers of the Navy reports: "A part of the programme 
 required that the vessel should be grounded, which appears 
 not to have been the case." 
 
 Commander Rhind writes: "That, owing to the want 
 of confinement and insufficient fusing of the mass, much 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 3 
 
 of the powder was blown away before ignition and its 
 effect lost." 
 
 Admiral Porter reports: "That the powder was finally 
 exploded from the effects of a fire kindled in the forecastle. 
 No results of value were to be expected from this mode. It 
 was proposed only as a final resort, in order to prevent the 
 vessel, in any contingency, from falling into the hands of 
 the enemy." 
 
 Commander James Parker, U. S. Navy, stated to the 
 New York Loyal Legion, October 5, 1892 : " We all believed 
 in it [the powder boat] from the Admiral down, but when 
 it proved so laughable a failure we, of the Navy, laid its 
 paternity upon General Butler." 
 
 Colonel Lamb, in command, describes Fort Fisher as 
 follows ; 
 
 ' ' At the land-face of Fort Fisher the peninsula was about half 
 a mile wide. Cape Fear River being on one side and the Atlantic 
 Ocean on the other. This face commenced about a hundred 
 feet from the river with a half bastion, and extended with a 
 heavy curtain to a full bastion on the ocean side, where it joined 
 the sea-face. The work was built to withstand the heaviest 
 artillery fire. The outer slope was twenty feet high from the 
 berm to the top of the parapet, at an angle of forty-five degrees, 
 and was sodded with marsh grass, which grew luxuriantly. 
 The parapet was not less than twenty-five feet thick, with an 
 inclination of only one foot. The revetment was five feet nine 
 inches high, from the floor of the gun chambers, and these were 
 some twelve feet or more from the interior plane. The guns 
 were all mounted in barbette, Columbiad carriages; there was 
 not a single casemated gun in the fort. Between the gun 
 chambers, containing one or two guns each (there were twenty 
 beavy guns on the land-face) , there were (some eighteen) heavy 
 traverses, exceeding in size any known to engineers, to protect from 
 an enfilading fire. They extended out some twelve feet on the 
 parapet, running back thirty feet or more. The gun chambers 
 were reached from the rear by steps. In each traverse was an 
 alternate magazine or bomb-proof, the latter ventilated by an 
 air-chamber. Passageways penetrated the traverses in the 
 interior of the work, forming additional bomb-proofs for the 
 reliefs of the guns. 
 
4 THii CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 " The sea-face was a mile long, and for a hundred yards from 
 the northeast bastion was of the same massive character as the 
 land-face. 
 
 " As a defence against infantry there was a system of subterre 
 torpedoes extending across the peninsula, five to six hundred 
 feet from the land-face and so disconnected that an explosion of 
 one would not affect the others; inside the torpedoes, about fifty 
 feet from the berm of the work, extending from the river bank 
 to the seashore, was a heavy palisade of sharpened logs nine 
 feet high, pierced for musketry, and so laid out as to have an 
 enfilading fire on the centre, where there was a redoubt guarding 
 a sally-port from which two Napoleons were run out as occasion 
 required. At the river end of the palisade was a deep and 
 muddy slough, across which was a bridge, the entrance on the 
 river road into the fort ; commanding this bridge was a Napoleon 
 gun. There were three mortars in rear of the land-face." 
 
 This strong work had, at the time of our first expedition, 
 a garrison of 1400 men, 900 of whom were veterans. 
 
 Colonel Lamb had been incited to the utmost by General 
 Lee, who had sent him word that he "must hold the fort 
 or he could not subsist his army." 
 
 On the morning of the 24th the fleet of Admiral Porter 
 moved in towards New Inlet and opened fire on the fort. 
 The character of this bombardment and the demands made 
 by the Admiral on his ships and sailors I will let him tell. 
 
 In his letter to the Secretary of the Navy of the 24th 
 of December, 1864, he says: 
 
 " I have the honor to inform you that I attacked the forts at 
 the mouth of the Cape Fear River to-day at 12.30. . . . After 
 getting the ships in position we silenced it in about an hour and 
 a half, there being no troops here to take possession. I am 
 merely firing now to keep up practice. The forts are nearly 
 demolished, and as soon as troops come we can take possession. 
 We have set them on fire, blown some of them up, and all that is 
 wanted now is troops to land and go into them." 
 
 The Admiral failed to mention, in his letter, the fact 
 that I had offered 1000 men and co-operation, although, 
 in his testimony before the Committee on the Conduct of 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 5 
 
 the War, he said: "General Ames had a thousand men 
 there, and he sent on board and told me he was ready to 
 land." 
 
 In his letter of the 26th he says, referring to the bom- 
 bardment of the 24th: 
 
 " In an hour and fifteen minutes after the first shot was fired 
 not a shot came from the fort. Finding that the batteries were 
 silenced completely I directed the ships to keep up a moderate 
 fire in hopes of attracting the attention of the transports and 
 bringing them in." 
 
 In this same letter of December 26th Admiral Porter 
 says, speaking of the bombardment of the forts on 
 December 25th: 
 
 "The firing this day was slow, only sufficient to amuse the 
 enemy while the army landed. In the bombardment of the 
 25th the men were engaged firing slowly for seven hours. . . . 
 Everything was coolly done throughout the day, and I witnessed 
 some beautiful practice." 
 
 In a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, December 29th, 
 after the fleet had left and the transports had gone back to 
 Hampton Roads, he writes : 
 
 " At no time did I permit the vessels to open on them with all 
 their batteries, limiting some of them to about two shots a 
 minute, and permitting the large vessels to fight only one division 
 of guns at a time; and the bombardment cost only a certain 
 amount of shells, which I would expend in a month's target 
 practice anyhow." 
 
 Such are the salient features of the reports of Admiral 
 Porter. 
 
 General Whiting, who was in the fort, and who com- 
 manded that military district, says the slight damage done 
 by this cannonading was repaired at night, and that "the 
 garrison was in no instance driven from its guns, the palisade 
 was in perfect order, and the mines the same, the wires not 
 having been cut." 
 
 General Weitzel testified before the Committee on the 
 
6 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 Conduct of the War: " I made a reconnoissance of the fort 
 and saw that the work, as a defensive work, was not injured 
 at all, except that one gun about midway of the land-face 
 was dismounted. I did not see a single opening in the row of 
 paHsades that was in front of the ditch; it seemed to be per- 
 fectly intact." All in the fort agree that Admiral Porter 
 was mistaken as to the effects of the cannonading. 
 
 So much as to the condition of the fort. 
 
 On the morning of the 25th all our transports anchored 
 near the shore some two or three miles north of the fort, and 
 the troops immediately began to land. 
 
 I had been selected to storm the fort with my division. 
 
 My report on December 28th is as follows; 
 
 " Brevet Brig. Gen. Curtis and 500 of his brigade were the 
 first to land, and were taken towards the fort by Gen Weitzel 
 for a reconnoissance. ... It was dusk when I reached the 
 front. I then heard that the First Brigade was to remain where 
 it was until further orders, and that if any attack was made the 
 responsibility would rest with the officer in immediate command. 
 At this time I did not know that it had been decided not to 
 attack the fort. Upon the report of Curtis that he could take 
 the fort I sent his brigade forward to make the attempt." 
 
 In his report Curtis says : 
 
 " On my arrival at this point I received orders from Gen. Ames 
 to return and re-establish my lines as they were, and, if possible, 
 to occupy the fort, and I at once ordered my skirmishers forward, 
 etc. . . . The enemy, having cover of the darkness, opened 
 on the skirmishers as they advanced with musketry and canister, 
 but did not prevent their establishing the line in its former 
 position, with the reserves in close proximity." 
 
 Curtis made no further effort to take the fort, as I had 
 ordered him to do, but sent word to me that he was " occupy- 
 ing his former position." Why he failed to assault the 
 fort after I assumed the responsibihty and gave the order 
 I have never known. At this time an order reached me 
 to return to our ships, which we did, and the first expedition 
 ended. 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 7 
 
 An incident occurred which had much to do in giving an 
 erroneous idea of the condition of the fort and garrison. 
 
 One of our lieutenants approached the fort and captured 
 its flag, which had been shot away by the Nayy, and which 
 had fallen with the flagstaff on the outer slope of the parapet 
 to the ditch. 
 
 On this point General Weitzel testifies: 
 
 " I sent for Lieut. Walling and questioned him about it, and 
 he told me that a shell had knocked the flagstaff outside and on 
 top of the parapet, and the flag hung over into or outside of 
 the ditch. Thinking that probably the rebels had not observed 
 it, he crept up on his hands and knees to the palisading, found 
 a hole in it that one of the shells had made, crept through the 
 hole and up to the flag, and got it and got away with it without 
 being observed." 
 
 Let us see why our expedition terminated thus abruptly. 
 
 Weitzel had been ordered by Butler to land and make a 
 reconnoissance. In his testimony before the Committee 
 on the Conduct of the War he gave his experience during 
 the war in charging and defending field works, and con- 
 tinuing, said: 
 
 " After that experience, with the information I had obtained 
 from reading and study — for before this war I was an instructor 
 at the Military Academy for three years under Professor Mahan, 
 on those very subjects — remembering well the remarks of the 
 Lieutenant- General commanding, that it was his intention I 
 should command that expedition, because another of&cer se- 
 lected by the War Department had once shown timidity, and in 
 face of the fact that I had been appointed a Major-General only 
 twenty days before, and needed confirmation; notwithstanding 
 all this, I went back to Gen. Butler, and told him I considered it 
 would be murder to order an attack on that work with that force." 
 
 Colonel Lamb says, in reference to the loss of his flag : 
 
 " I had no fear of an assault, and because, during a bombard- 
 ment which rendered an assault impossible, I covered my men, 
 and a few straggling skirmishers, too few to attract attention, 
 got near the fort, and some gallant officers thought they could 
 
8 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 have carried the work, it does not follow that they would not 
 have paid dearly for their temerity if they had made the attempt." 
 
 General Whiting speaks to the same effect. 
 
 Now, who is to say that Weitzel, Whiting, and Lamb 
 were mistaken as to the situation that day ? Is it the brave 
 soldier, who crept unseen through a hole in the palisade to 
 the parapet and took a flag from a staff which had been 
 shot away? 
 
 Is it Admiral Porter, who wrote to the Secretary o" the 
 Navy January 17, 1865 : 
 
 "I have since visited Fort Fisher and the adjoining works, 
 and find their strength greatly beyond what I had conceived. 
 An engineer might be excusable in saying they could not be 
 captured except by regular siege. I wonder, even now, how it 
 was done. The work, as I said before, is really stronger than the 
 Malakoff tower, which defied so long the combined power of 
 France and England." 
 
 In a letter of the i6th of January to the Secretary of 
 the Navy, he says: "I was in Fort Malakoff a few days 
 after it surrendered to the French and English; the com- 
 bined armies of the two nations were many months capturing 
 that stronghold, and it won't compare, either in size or 
 strength, to Fort Fisher." 
 
 I have no hesitancy in saying that they were not mis- 
 taken, though it is true that without personal knowledge 
 of the character of the fort, and, for the time, believing 
 Curtis, I ordered him to take it on his assertion that he could 
 do so. 
 
 What was not possible December 25th, was made 
 possible January 15th, through an efficient bombardment 
 on the part of the Navy and the co-operation of 2000 sailors 
 and marines and an additional force of 1400 infantry. 
 
 January i, 1865, Grant wrote to Secretary Stanton: 
 " The fact is, there are but two ways of taking Fort Fisher, 
 operating from the water: one to surprise them whilst there 
 is but a small garrison defending the place; the other is 
 for the NiLwy to send a portion of their fleet into Cape Fear 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 9 
 
 River. . . ." He continues: "In the three days of 
 good weather which elapsed after the Army had reached 
 the scene of action, before the Navy appeared, our troops had 
 the chance of capturing Fort Fisher whilst it had an insuffi- 
 cient garrison to hold it. The delay gave the enemy time to 
 accumtdate a force, . . . The failure before was the 
 resvilt of delays by the Navy." 
 
 So, of Grant's two ways of taking the fort, one, by sur- 
 prise, failed, as he said, because of the delay of the Navy, 
 and as to the other, Colonel Comstock reports to Grant, 
 January 9th: "There is no hope, at least at present, of the 
 Admiral's trying to run by Fort Fisher." 
 
 Grant ordered and intended that Weitzel should have 
 command of the expedition. North Carolina was in Butler's 
 military department. His order retained Weitzel as his 
 subordinate. 
 
 Though Grant may have intended and ordered certain 
 action on the part of our expedition in December, 1864, 
 on the first of January, 1865, he wrote the Secretary of War, 
 as just quoted, that there were but two ways to take 
 the fort — by surprise or by the occupancy of the river by 
 the Navy. There was no surprise, the Navy was not in the 
 river, the bombardment of the fort was ineffectual, Weitzel 
 decided against an assault, Butler acquiesced and ordered 
 the expedition back to Virginia, saying to Weitzel at the 
 same time that he, Butler, would assume all responsibility, 
 as he could stand the blame better than coiold Weitzel, the 
 professional soldier. 
 
 The Committee on the Conduct of the War was composed 
 of the leading men in Congress at that time. Much experi- 
 ence in the investigation of military affairs had made them, 
 to say the least, fairly capable judges. They could command 
 any witness, they were critical and severe in their examina- 
 tions, and their conclusions were reached without fear or 
 favor. Honest Ben Wade was their Chairman. This is 
 their decision : 
 
 "In conclusion, your Committee would say, from all 
 the testimony before them, that the determination of 
 
lO THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 General Butler not to assault the fort seems to have been 
 fiilly justified by all facts and circumstances then known or 
 afterwards ascertained." 
 
 Few can comprehend the penalty General Butler had to 
 pay for his action on this occasion. The war was within a 
 few months of its end, and he had hoped for a share of 
 the honors conferred on those who served faithfully and 
 well, but he was sent home, and the whole nation condemned 
 him for the failure. General Weitzel, one of the best of 
 men, and one of our ablest generals, was humbled in spirit 
 before the storm of censure and ridicule. But all that 
 came after the capture of the fort on our second expedition. 
 
 The second expedition was started without delay. 
 January 2, 1865, Gen. A. H. Terry was put in command. 
 On the 3d we left camp, began re-embarkation on the 4th, 
 and completed it on the 5th. 
 
 I had 3300 picked men in my division. General Paine 
 had the same number in his. There were added a brigade 
 of 1400 men under Col. J. G. Abbott and two batteries of 
 light artillery of three and six guns each. Colonel Corn- 
 stock, who represented Grant on our first expedition, 
 retiuned with us on the second. 
 
 The transports put to sea on the morning of the 6th. 
 A severe storm drove them into Beaufort. 
 
 The troops were landed on the 13th, some two miles north 
 of the fort. 
 
 Upon landing, the first work on hand was to establish 
 a line of breastworks from the ocean beach to the river to 
 keep the enemy in the direction of Wilmington from inter- 
 fering with our operations. 
 
 A reconnoissance was made. Terry reports : 
 
 " As a result of this reconnoissance, and in view of the extreme 
 difficulty which might be expected in landing supplies and the 
 matenals for a siege on the often tempestuous beach, it was 
 decided to attempt an assault the next day, provided that, in 
 the mean time, the fire of the Navy should so far destroy the 
 pahsades as to make one practicable. This decision was com- 
 mumcated to Admiral Porter, who at once placed a division of 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER II 
 
 his vessels in a position to accomplish this last-named object, 
 It was arranged, in consultation with him, that a heavy bom- 
 bardment from all the vessels should commence early in the 
 morning and continue up to the moment of the assault, and that 
 even then it should not cease, but should be diverted from the 
 points of attack to the other parts of the work. It was decided 
 that the assault should be made at 3 p.m., that the army should 
 attack on the western half of the land-face, and that a column 
 of sailors and marines should assault the northeast bastion. 
 The fire of the Navy continued during the night. At 8 a.m. of 
 the 13th all of the vessels, except a division left to aid in the 
 defence of our northern line, moved into position, and a fire, 
 magnificent alike for its power and accuracy, was opened," 
 
 and continued all day Saturday, Saturday night, and Sunday, 
 till 3.30 p. M. "Ames's division had been selected for the 
 assault. ... At 3.25 p. m. all the preparations were 
 completed, the order to move forward was given to Ames, 
 and a concerted signal was made to Admiral Porter to change 
 the direction of his fire." 
 
 The situation at this time was as follows: Some two 
 miles north of the fort General Paine had established a 
 line of breastworks, from ocean to river, facing north, 
 with his own division on the left and Colonel Abbott's 
 brigade on the right. On the sea beach, about half a mile 
 from the fort, were 2000 sailors and marines under command 
 of Fleet Capt. K. R. Breese. On the east were sixty-four 
 ships of war, under Admiral Porter, cannonading the fort. 
 My three brigades were in line, one behind the other, ranging 
 from three to five hundred yards from the fort; the left 
 of each line nearly opposite the middle of the land-face 
 of the fort, the right near the river. A body of sharp- 
 shooters were pushed forward, and the whole division was 
 covered from the fire of the enemy, as far as possible, by 
 the inequalities of the ground and slight pits formed by 
 throwing up the sand. 
 
 Terry, Comstock, and I were in a small advanced outwork 
 about half a mile from the fort. My able and gallant 
 Adjutant-General, Gen. Chas. A. Carleton, has made the 
 following record: "General Terry turned to General Ames 
 
12 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 and said: 'General Ames, the signal agreed upon for the 
 assault has been given.' General Ames asked : 'Have you 
 any special orders to give?' General Terry replied: 'No, 
 you tmderstand the situation and what is desired to be 
 accomplished. I leave everything to your discretion.'" 
 Thus was given me the unrestricted command of the fighting 
 forces. 
 
 At once I directed Captain Lawrence of my staff to 
 order Curtis, commanding the First Brigade, to charge, 
 striking the parapet at the end nearest the river. The 
 palisade had been sufficiently broken and shot away by 
 the fire of the Navy to permit the passage of the troops. 
 As I approached the fort I watched with anxious eyes the 
 charge of the First Brigade. 
 
 Captain Lawrence heroically led the charge of that part 
 of the brigade which advanced at this time. He was 
 the first through the palisade, and while reaching for a 
 guidon to plant on the first traverse, his hand was shot 
 away and he was dangerously wounded in the neck, but 
 with this lodgment on the first traverse, the force of the 
 charge was spent. I quickly ordered Colonel Pennypacker's 
 brigade, which was close at hand, to charge and sweep down 
 the parapet to the ocean. 
 
 I will not attempt a description of the battle. It was a 
 charge of my brigades, one after the other, followed by 
 desperate fighting at close quarters over the parapet and 
 traverses and in and through the covered ways. All the 
 time we were exposed to the musketry and artillery of the 
 enemy, while our own Navy was thundering away, occa- 
 sionally making us the victims of its fire. 
 
 The official reports of my officers give no adequate idea 
 of their gallant deeds, but they must supply the form and 
 coloring of the warlike scenes of that eventful Sunday. 
 
 Colonel Daggett, in command of the First Brigade, 
 January 17th, reports: 
 
 "At about 3 P.M., General Curtis having received orders to 
 that effect from Gen. Ames, through Capt. Lawrence, the brigade 
 advanced to the charge, so as to strike the sally-port, that having 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER I3 
 
 been deemed the only vulnerable point of the work, and, after 
 a desperate struggle, the advance of the brigade reached the 
 parapet of the fort and scaled it to the first traverse, where the 
 guidon of the 117th New York was planted — the first colors 
 on the fort." 
 
 Major 0. P. Harding, who came out of the fight in 
 command of the Second Brigade, reports : 
 
 " The brigade was ordered to assault the fort, which was done in 
 a gallant manner and under a heavy fire of grape and musketry, 
 and entered the fort through a sally-port near the river. The 
 203d Pennsylvania, commanded by Col. J. W. Moore, was the 
 first to enter the fort, closely followed by the 97th Pennsylvania, 
 commanded by First Lieutenant John Wainwright. The colors 
 of each of those regiments reached the parapet about the same 
 time, those of the 97th borne by Col. Pennypacker, and of the 
 203d by Col. Moore. Col. Pennypacker was seriously wounded 
 while planting his colors on the third traverse, and Col. Moore 
 fell dead while passing the second traverse, waving his colors and 
 commanding his men to follow. After entering the fort the 
 brigade became somewhat broken up; nevertheless, both officers 
 and men behaved gallantly until its capture. 
 
 " After the fall of Lieut. Col. Lyman, 203d Pennsylvania, who 
 fell on the sixth traverse, I commanded the regiment until about 
 5 P.M., when ordered by General Ames to take command of the 
 brigade, which I immediately organized." 
 
 Capt. H. B. Essington, commanding 203d Pennsylvania, 
 reports : 
 
 " The regiment charged on the right of the Second Brigade, 
 and was the first regiment of the brigade to enter the fort, going 
 in with the First (Curtis 's) Brigade. After having assisted in 
 capturing the first two mounds, a portion of the regiment went 
 to the right and stationed themselves behind a bank in the open 
 field south of the fort. The latter portion then charged across 
 the plain, by order of the commanding general (Gen. Ames), 
 until opposite the seventh or eighth traverse, where they threw 
 up an embankment with their tin plates and shovels, which they 
 held until the fort surrendered, keeping up a steady fire on the 
 enemy." 
 
14 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 Let me say, in passing, that Colonel Pennypacker's 
 conduct in leading his brigade with the colors of his own 
 regiment placed him second to none for gallantry that 
 day. It would be difficult to overestimate the value of 
 his example to his brigade. 
 
 Entering the fort and passing to the rear of the parapet 
 at the west end, I made an examination of it from that 
 position, and decided to use my third brigade, Colonel Bell's, 
 with its left by the parapet, right extended south and 
 west inside the fort, and charge into the angle formed by 
 the land- and sea-faces. I ordered Bell forward with his 
 brigade to report to me. Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson, 
 commanding the Third Brigade, January 19th, reports: 
 "Colonel Bell was ordered by General Ames to remain near 
 him for the ptirpose of receiving orders." Unfortunately 
 Colonel Bell was killed in the advance, gallantly leading his 
 brigade. The part of his brigade which reached me was 
 in a somewhat disorganized condition. I formed it as 
 best I coxold for the charge. Owing to the obstructions 
 of the demolished quarters of the garrison and the fire of 
 the enemy from the front (the angle had been partially 
 filled in and was protected by a curtain) and from the 
 right, as well as the fire of our Navy, the advance was 
 checked. The men were in a very exposed position, and 
 as no advantage could be gained there I ordered them to 
 join the other troops in pushing seaward on the land-face 
 of the fort. Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson further reports: 
 "The brigade entered the fort conjointly with a portion of 
 the First (Curtis's) Brigade, at the left bastion, a portion 
 moving along the terre-plain and a portion on the ramparts, 
 parapets, and slopes, some of the officers and men in the 
 advance with officers and men of other brigades, all vying 
 with each other." 
 
 Owing to the contracted space in which the fighting was 
 done, brigade and regimental formations were impossible. 
 What was accompHshed was through the heroic efforts of 
 small bodies of officers and men. 
 
 From time to time I sent to Terry, who was in the earth- 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER I5 
 
 work half a mile away, reports of the progress I was 
 making. 
 
 I had previously learned that the sailors and marines 
 who had made an attack on the sea angle had been quickly 
 repulsed. 
 
 As the sun sank to the horizon, the ardor of the assault 
 abated. Our advance was but slow. Ten of my officers 
 had been killed, forty-seven wounded, and about 500 men 
 were killed and wounded. Among the lolled was one 
 brigade commander, the other two were wounded and 
 disabled. I now requested Terry to join me in the fort. 
 It was dark before he and Comstock arrived. I explained 
 the situation. 
 
 Colonel Abbott's brigade, which had been relieved from 
 its position in the line facing Wilmington, by the defeated 
 sailors and marines, had been ordered to report to me. 
 
 I decided to make my chief effort with the re-enforce- 
 ments by moving the troops by the flank between the 
 palisade and the foot of the fort until the head of the 
 column shotild reach the northeast angle by the ocean, 
 then face to the right and rush the men up and over the 
 parapet; and at the same time continue the struggle for 
 the traverses. Col. J. C. Abbott, commanding Second 
 Brigade, ist Division, in his report of January 15th, says: 
 
 " Reaching the fort about dark I reported to Gen. Ames. By 
 order of Gen. Ames I first threw the 3d New Hampshire Volun- 
 teers, Capt. Trickey commanding, along the portion of the north 
 face of the work already occupied by his troops and relieved 
 them; also by Gen. Ames's order, I threw out the 7th Connecticut 
 Volunteers, Capt. Marble commanding, as a picket in rear of 
 the work, the right of the line resting on Cape Fear River. Dur- 
 ing this time the enemy occupied all the eastern and about one- 
 third the northern face of the work. At about 9 o'clock, by order 
 of Gen. Ames, I then proceeded to dislodge the enemy from the 
 remainder of the fort. I then advanced the 7 th New Hamp- 
 shire, Lieut. Col. Rollins commanding. They at once and 
 gallantly charged up the slope enveloping the sea angle of the 
 work, meeting a sharp fire from the enemy, who were stationed 
 behind the parapets, and in rear of the main work." 
 
l6 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 Captain William H. Trickey, commanding 3d New 
 Hampshire Regiment, reports January i8th: 
 
 " I was directed by Col. Abbott, commanding Brigade, to 
 move my regiment to the extreme advance held by the second 
 division and open fire upon the enemy; was thus engaged for 
 nearly an hour, having, to a great extent, silenced the enemy's fire, 
 was then directed by Col. Abbott to take and hold, with twenty 
 men, the next traverse in front, the remainder of my command 
 being left in several traverses to keep up the fire upon the enemy. 
 We took the traverse, as directed, driving the enemy out. 
 Thinking we could go farther, we charged and took the next two, 
 with a like result. After taking the third traverse, having met 
 with considerable resistance, I did not deem it prudent to go 
 farther with so few men, and opened a vigorous fire upon the 
 enemy, who was rallying for the recapture of the traverses; 
 we held the enemy in check until the arrival of the 7th New 
 ' Hampshire and 6th Connecticut, who charged and took the 
 remainder of the work." 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Rollins reports : 
 
 "At 10 P.M. moved my regiment inside the fort, and was ordered 
 by Gen. Ames to take two traverses, and three, if possible, the 
 number not then taken. I moved over the third traverse of the 
 fort, and advanced rapidly inside the stockade until I reached 
 the battery on the northeast angle of the fort, where I formed 
 the right wing of the regiment, leaving the left in support. I 
 then ordered a charge and captured the three remaining traverses 
 and batteries, then pushed on by the right flank, and by so 
 doing cut off the angle of the fort, moved to the right, and, by a 
 rapid and determined advance, captured the remaining traverses 
 and batteries of the fort proper." 
 
 Thus, after some seven hours' fighting, more than five 
 of which were after dark, the land-face of the fort was 
 occupied and all resistance ceased. The enemy fled to 
 the shelter of Battery Buchanan, at the end of the point, 
 two miles away. Terry took Abbott and a part of his 
 brigade and marched to Battery Buchanan. Abbott 
 reports: " I was met by the Adjutant-General of the Gen- 
 eral commanding the enemy's forces, who tendered the 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 17 
 
 surrender of the battery, upon which I referred to General 
 Terry, who woiald soon arrive. . . . General Terry 
 having arrived, received the surrender of the work and the 
 force." 
 
 Colonel Abbott was mistaken. Terry was too late. 
 Captain Lockwood of my staff had already received the 
 surrender. 
 
 It was after ten o'clock. The task set for us at half- 
 past three was finished. Our work was done. 
 
 The statement of their achievement is the highest eulogy 
 that can be passed upon our soldiers. 
 
 A grievous accident occurred early the next morning, 
 which killed and wounded one hundred and thirty of otu" 
 gallant heroes. It was the explosion of the magazine of 
 the fort. A board of enquiry was organized and found 
 
 " that the following are the main facts, viz. : i, immediately after 
 the capture of the fort, Gen. Ames gave orders to Lieut. Col. 
 Samuel M. Zent to place guards on all the magazines and bomb- 
 proofs. 2, Lieut. Col. Zent commenced on the northwest comer 
 of the fort, next the river, following the traverses round, and 
 placed guards on thirty-one entrances under the traverses. The 
 main magazine, which afterwards exploded, being in the rear 
 of the traverses, escaped his notice, and, consequently, had no 
 guards from his regiment or any other." 
 
 General Bragg reports that the defenders of the fort 
 nttmbered, all told, about no commissioned officers and 
 2500 men — their casualties being over 400. A few escaped 
 across the river, in boats, under cover of the darkness; the 
 rest became ova: prisoners. 
 
 Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War, had been visiting 
 Sherman at Savannah after his march through Georgia, 
 and on his way north called at Fort Fisher, where he had 
 an interview with Terry. 
 
 Upon Stanton's arrival at Fortress Monroe, Va., he 
 sent a dispatch to President Lincoln marked "official," 
 dated Tuesday, 10 a. m., January 17, 1865. In this dispatch 
 Stanton mentions Terry, my brigade commanders, and some 
 
1 8 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 regimental commanders, but omits my name altogether. 
 Among other things he says: "The assault on the other 
 and most difficult side of the fort was made by a column 
 of 3000 troops of the old Tenth Corps, led by Colonel Curtis, 
 tinder the immediate supervision of General Terry." 
 
 This is not true, as the official reports show, in any other 
 sense than that Curtis 's brigade first reached the fort under 
 my immediate orders, with Terry half a mile away. An 
 earlier attempt to make public these facts has been imprac- 
 ticable, as the volume of the War Records covering this 
 event was not published till 1894. 
 
 With this as a preface I wiU add to the extracts of the 
 reports of some of my subordinate officers already given, 
 the report of General Terry, who was my only superior 
 officer. He says: "Of General Ames I have already 
 spoken in a letter recommending his promotion. He 
 commanded all the troops engaged and was constantly 
 under fire. His great coolness, good judgment, and skill 
 were never more conspicuous than in this assattlt." 
 
 These official reports show, as Terry says, that I " com- 
 manded all the troops engaged" from the first act, when 
 my aide, Capt. A. G. Lawrence, led the first brigade into 
 the fort, to the last act, when the garrison surrendered to 
 my aide, Capt. H. C. Lockwood. 
 
 The sailors and marines who assaulted in column the 
 northeast angle of the fort along the sea beach were a body 
 of 2000 men, made up of detachments from different ships. 
 Naturally enough, Captain Breese found it, as has been 
 stated, an unwieldy mass. The 1600 sailors were armed 
 only with pistols and cutlasses. They were quickly repulsed. 
 Few reached the parapet. Once checked, they turned and 
 fled, losing 300 in killed and wounded. Admiral Porter 
 testified: "I suppose the whole thing was over in fifteen 
 minutes, as far as the sailors were concerned, for they were 
 cut down like sheep." 
 
 Later, this force was sent to the line of entrenchments 
 facing Wilmington, relieving Colonel Abbott's brigade, 
 which reported to me. Of course Admiral Porter expected 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER I9 
 
 his sailors to carry the fort, but, alas ! he had been deceived 
 as to its defensive capabilities, which deception resulted 
 in the apparently needless sacrifice of his gallant sailors. 
 
 Our Navy, in its ships and armament, was the most 
 powerf-ul that ever existed up to that time. In officers and 
 men it never had its equal, and never will till an equally 
 enlightened, powerful, and liberty-loving people again rise, 
 in their might, in a struggle for self-preservation. 
 
 As to the effect on the fort of the second bombardment. 
 Colonel Lamb writes : 
 
 " The land armament, with palisades and torpedoes, had been 
 destroyed. For the first time in the history of sieges the land 
 defences of the works were destroyed, not by the act of the 
 besieging army, but by the concentrated fire, direct and enfilad- 
 ing, of an immense fleet, poured upon them without intermission, 
 until torpedo wires were cut, palisades breached so that they 
 actually afforded cover for assailants, and the slopes of the work 
 were rendered practicable for assault." 
 
 Why the first expedition was a failure and the second 
 a success has never been rightly understood. The military 
 situations have been obscured by the contention between 
 General Butler and Admiral Porter, though the most 
 amicable relations existed between the Army and Navy. 
 
 It has been believed that the fort was in the same condi- 
 tion on both occasions, and that it was but poorly garrisoned 
 on the first. Those who so held were in error in both 
 particulars. 
 
 According to Badeau, Grant's historian: "Curtis 
 declared that the fort could have been carried on the first 
 expedition, and that at the moment when they were recalled 
 they virtually had possession." This declaration has been 
 accepted as the truth. 
 
 We can examine the facts, now that the official reports 
 have been published, and form our own opinions on this 
 point, which has been the pivot of the whole controversy. 
 
 It appears from Curtis's report that he had " pushed the 
 right of his skirmishers to within 75 paces of the fort and 
 had sent back to his reserves for 200 men with which to 
 
20 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 possess the fort, but his messenger was there informed 
 that orders from the department commander bade him 
 retire," which he did. 
 
 Let us see what these 200 men would have had to do to 
 make what Curtis calls a "virtual," an actual possession 
 of the fort. 
 
 Colonel Lamb had a force of 1400 men, 900 of whom 
 were veterans. Whiting, Lamb, and other officers commend 
 the discipline, skill, and gallantry of the garrison. I will 
 not take time to quote from their reports. They all show 
 that the officers of the fort were keenly alive to our move- 
 ments. Colonel Lamb states that he intentionally kept 
 his men hidden from view. He was perfectly familiar 
 with the surroundings, both within and without the fort. 
 
 Now, the one question to decide is, could those 200 
 men, sent for by Curtis, have taken possession of that pali- 
 saded Malakoff fortress, with its garrison of 1400 men? 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Barney, who commanded our forces 
 behind the picket line, nowhere intimates that we had any 
 kind of possession of the fort. 
 
 Even Curtis reports, officially, that his skirmishers were 
 met with musketry and canister, and that he retired under 
 a heavy fire. 
 
 In making a decision. Lamb's report must not be over- 
 looked. He reports: 
 
 " That it was dark at 5.30, when the fleet ceased firing. No- 
 assault could be made while the fleet was firing. When the 
 firing ceased, the parapets (which were 20 feet high) were at 
 once manned and half of the garrison (700 men) were stationed 
 outside the work behind the palisade, which was 9 feet high and 
 pierced for musketry." 
 
 What soldier will say we had "virtual" possession of 
 the fort imder such circumstances ? 
 
 The second expedition took this question from the realm 
 of speculation. 
 
 Three weeks after the first attempt we were back again 
 before the fort, which, because of the efficient bombardment 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 21 
 
 of the Navy, was far less capable of resistance. A column 
 of 2O0O sailors and marines were to make a gallant assault 
 on the sea angle simultaneously with ours, thereby to create 
 a diversion greatly to our advantage. 
 
 Curtis had in his brigade, now forming the first line, more 
 than twice as many men as he had before the fort on the 
 first expedition. Again I gave him the order to take the 
 fort. Did he take it? No. His brigade, led by Captain 
 Lawrence, made a lodgment on one comer of it — a lodgment 
 so uncertain that I immediately ordered up Colonel Penny- 
 packer's brigade, which, inspired and led by him and 
 Colonel Moore, reached the third traverse and made our 
 foothold seciore. Such are the official records of the battle. 
 
 I wish to touch one other point. Badeau writes in this 
 same history : 
 
 " The fighting was continued from traverse to traverse, until 
 at 9 o'clock the troops had nearly reached the bastion. Bell had 
 been killed and Pennypacker wounded, and Curtis now sent back 
 for re-enforcements. The advance party was in imminent peril, 
 for the guns from both bastions and the mound batteries were 
 turned upon them. At this crisis a staff officer brought orders 
 from Terry to stop fighting and begin intrenching. Curtis was 
 inflamed with the magnificent rage of battle, and fairly roared 
 at this command: "Then we shall lose whatever we have gained. 
 The enemy will drive us from here in the morning. ' ' While he 
 spoke he was struck by a shell, and fell senseless to the earth. 
 The hero of Fort Fisher had fallen, and the fort was not yet 
 carried. Ames, who was near him, sent an officer to Terry to 
 report that Curtis was killed, and that his dying request was 
 that the fighting might go on. It was also Ames's opinion that 
 the battle should proceed. Terry caught the contagion, and 
 determined to continue the assault, even if it became necessary 
 to abandon the line of defence towards Wilmington. Abbott's 
 re-enforcements were at once ordered forward, and as they en- 
 tered the fort the rebels on the bastion gave way and Fort Fisher 
 was carried." 
 
 It is due to Badeau to state that he says in a note that 
 he "obtained the account of this assault from a paper 
 written by an aide-de-camp to General Curtis." 
 
22 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 This remarkable statement deserves a moment's con- 
 sideration. If it be true, then aU the chief honors must 
 fall on one head. But it is not true. If Terry gave orders 
 to stop fighting and begin intrenching, who can believe 
 that it was through the "contagion caught" by him from 
 Curtis that the fight continued, or that he would "abandon 
 the line towards Wilmington" to try uncertainties at the 
 fort? 
 
 Terry reports : 
 
 " When Bell's brigade was ordered into action I foresaw that 
 more troops would probably be needed, and sent an order for 
 Abbott's brigade to move down from the north line, at the same 
 time requesting Captain Breese to replace them with his sailors 
 and marines. I also directed General Paine to send me one of 
 the strongest regiments of his own division ; these troops arrived 
 at dusk and reported to General Ames." 
 
 This treatment of Terry and the ignoring of division, 
 brigade, and regimental commanders find no justification 
 in the facts. Terry is entitled to every honor due his 
 position. Pennypacker and Bell can not be swept aside 
 so lightly, nor the regimental commanders, whose names 
 I need not give here. 
 
 I would say specifically to that reference to myself, 
 that I did not send any request, "dying" or other, from 
 Curtis to Terry that the fighting might go on. 
 
 If Terry intended my division to stop fighting and begin 
 intrenching he did not send the order to Curtis, one of my 
 brigade conmianders, nor would Terry send re-enforcements 
 to Curtis over my head. 
 
 According to this aide, Curtis was wounded at 9 o'clock 
 while criticising Terry's order to stop fighting and begin 
 intrenching. I say in my report that Curtis was wounded 
 " a short time before dark" on that brief winter's day. 
 
 I saw him in, and emerge from, a covered way at the 
 west end of the parapet. He approached me and began 
 to speak; almost at the same time a shot struck him down. 
 Colonel Daggett, who succeeded to the command of Curtis's 
 brigade, reports two days after: " Curtis was seriously 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 23 
 
 wounded about 4.30." General Carleton, who was with 
 me at the time, and picked up his sword as he fell, says 
 Curtis was shot at about 4.30. 
 
 And yet Badeau would have us believe that Curtis was 
 woimded while criticising Terry's order to stop fighting 
 and begin intrenching, at 9 o'clock, some four hours after 
 Curtis fell senseless at my feet. 
 
 In fact, he was woimded before dark, about an hoiu- and 
 a half after the battle began, and some fottr hours before 
 the fort was taken. The exact minute is of no importance. 
 Participants in a battle are poor judges of passing time. 
 
 In this instance it is fixed accurately enough in the 
 official reports of Daggett, Abbott, and myself, as well as 
 Carleton's statement of his recollections. 
 
 General Terry says in his official report of the battle: 
 
 " Brigadier General Curtis and Colonels Pennypacker, Bell, 
 and Abbott, the brigade commanders, led them with the utmost 
 gallantry. Curtis was wounded after fighting in the front rank, 
 rifle in hand; Pennypacker, while carrying the standard of one 
 of his regiments, the first man in a charge over a traverse; Bell 
 was mortally wounded near the palisade." 
 
 This is all, literally all, Terry says of exceptional services 
 by Ciutis. "Fighting in the front rank, rifie in hand," 
 is most commendable under the circumstances, but it does 
 not in itself justify claims for exceptional honors. 
 
 My report says : 
 
 "The conduct of the officers and men of this division was 
 most gallant. . . . Where the name of every officer and man 
 engaged in this desperate conflict should be submitted, I shall 
 at present only be able to give a few of those most conspicuous. 
 It is hoped all may be properly rewarded. 
 
 " Brevet Brig.-Gen. N. M. Curtis, commanding First Brigade, 
 was prominent throughout the day for his bravery, coolness, and 
 judgment. His services can not be overestimated. He fell 
 a short time before dark, seriously wounded in the head by a 
 canister shot. 
 
 " Colonel Pennypacker, commanding the Second Brigade, was 
 seriously wounded while planting his colors on the third traverse 
 
24 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 of the work. This ofScer was surpassed by none, and his ab- 
 sence during the day was most deeply felt and seriously regretted. 
 
 " Col. L. Bell, commanding Third Brigade, was mortally 
 wounded while crossing the bridge in advance of the palisading. 
 He was an able and efficient officer; one not easily replaced. 
 
 " Col. J. W. Moore, 203d Pennsylvania Volunteers, behaved 
 with the most distinguished gallantry. He was killed while 
 passing the second traverse of the fort, in advance of his regiment, 
 waving his colors. Few equalled, none surpassed, this brave 
 officer." 
 
 My report on Curtis is not less generous than Terry's ; but 
 it was not intended to, and I doubt if it does, sustain his 
 pretensions of this day. 
 
 The official records, vs^ritten thirty-tvi'o years ago, must 
 be the foundation for all claims of honor and distinction. 
 Nothing can now be added to them or taken from them. 
 By them we all must be judged. 
 
 Misrepresentations greatly injured General Butler, and 
 deeply humiliated General Weitzel. Truth has been out- 
 raged — truth overslow in the pursuit of falsehood, not 
 always the most agreeable company. 
 
 In this paper I have attempted to right a wrong. I have 
 given few opinions of my own. I have called up the actors 
 themselves, and have let them speak in their own words — 
 sometimes under oath — always under a sense of grave 
 responsibility. 
 
 Authorities. 
 
 Report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. ii., Fort 
 Fisher Expedition. War of the Rebellion Records, vol. xlii., part i. 
 War Records, vol. xlvi., part i. War Records, vol. xlvi., part 2. The 
 Century Company's War Books, vol. iv. Letter of Col. Wm. Lamb, dated 
 Norfolk, Va. 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER. 
 
 Read before the Commandery by 
 
 Brevet Major-General Newton Martin Curtis, U. S. V., 
 
 May 5, 1897. 
 
 description of the fort. 
 
 COLONEL LAMB took command of the fort, Jiily 4, 
 1862; he found it a quadrilateral work with six 
 guns, flanked north and south by five detached 
 batteries carrying eleven guns, four of which were casemated. 
 Only one of the seventeen giuis was of modem ordnance. 
 He stated that the frigate Minnesota could have destroyed 
 the works and driven them out in a few hours. During 
 his occupation of the fort he made it the largest and best 
 equipped fortification constructed by the Confederates, 
 as shown in his description of it as it stood before the 
 attack. 
 
 " At the land-face of Fort Fisher, five miles from the 
 intrenched camp at Sugar Loaf, the peninsula was about 
 half a mile wide. This face commenced about a himdred 
 feet from the river with a half bastion, and extended with 
 a heavy curtain to a full bastion on the ocean side, where it 
 joined the sea-face without moat, scarp, or counterscarp. 
 The outer slope was twenty feet high from the berm to 
 the top of the parapet, at an angle of 45°, and was sodded 
 with marsh grass which grew luxuriantly. The parapet 
 was twenty-five feet thick, with an inclination of only one 
 foot. The revetment was five feet nine inches from the 
 floor of the gun-chambers, and these were some twelve feet 
 or more from the interior plane. The guns were all mounted 
 en barbette on Columbiad carriages; there was not a single 
 casemated gun in the fort. Between the gun-chambers, 
 
 25 
 
26 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 containing one or two gtrns each (there were twenty heavy- 
 guns on the land-face), were heavy traverses, exceeding in 
 size any known to engineers, to protect from an enfilading 
 fire. They extended twelve feet on the parapet and were 
 twelve feet in height above the parapet, running back thirty 
 feet. The gun-chambers were reached from the rear by 
 steps. In each traverse was an alternate magazine or 
 bomb-proof, the latter ventilated by an air-chamber. 
 Passageways penetrated the traverses in the interior of 
 the work, forming additional bomb-proofs for the reliefs 
 for the guns. 
 
 "The sea-face for a hundred yards from the northeast 
 bastion was of the same massive character as the land-face. 
 A crescent battery intended for four guns adjoined this. 
 A series of batteries extended for three-quarters of a mile 
 along the sea, connected by an infantry curtain. These 
 batteries had heavy traverses ten or twelve feet high above 
 the top of the parapets. On this line was a bomb-proof 
 electric battery connected with a system of submarine tor- 
 pedoes. Farther along a motind battery sixty feet high 
 was erected, with two heavy guns which had a plimging 
 fire on the channel; this was connected with the battery 
 north of it by a light ciutain. Following the line of the 
 works it was one mile from the angle of the sea- and land- 
 faces to the mound, and upon this line twenty-four heavy 
 guns were mounted. From the moimd for nearly a mile 
 to the end of the point was a level sand plain scarcely three 
 feet above high tide, and much of it was submerged during 
 gales. At the point Battery Buchanan, four guns, in the 
 the shape of an ellipse, commanded the inlet, its two ii-inch 
 guns covering the approach by land. An advanced redoubt 
 with a 24-pounder was added after the first expedition. A 
 wharf for large steamers was in close proximity to these 
 works. As a defence against infantry there was a system 
 of subterra torpedoes extending across the peninsula, five to 
 six hundred feet from the land-face, and so disconnected 
 that the explosion of one would not affect the others ; inside 
 the torpedoes, about fifty feet from the berm of the work, 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 27 
 
 extending from river bank to sea-shore, was a heavy paH- 
 sade of sharpened logs nine feet high, pierced for musketry. 
 There was a redoubt guarding the sally-port, from which 
 two Napoleons were run out, as occasion required. At the 
 river end of the palisade was a deep and muddy slough, 
 across which was a bridge over which the river road entered 
 the fort. Commanding this bridge was a Napoleon gun. 
 There were three mortars in rear of the land-face." 
 
 ITS IMPORTANCE TO THE CONFEDERACY. 
 
 Thomas E. Taylor, an English merchant, one of the 
 most active and successfiil blockade-runners during the 
 war, says in his book. Running the Blockade, page 139 : 
 
 "That morning (in Richmond, Va., December, 1864) I had 
 an appointment with the Commissary General, who divulged to 
 me under promise of secrecy that Lee's army was in terrible 
 straits, and had in fact rations for only thirty days. He asked 
 me if I could help him. I said I would do my best, and after 
 some negotiations he undertook to pay me a profit of 350 per 
 cent, upon any provisions and meat I could bring in within the 
 next three weeks. . . . Although it was a hard trip it paid 
 well, as we had on board coming out a most magnificent cargo, 
 a great deal of sea-island cotton, the profits upon which and the 
 provisions I had taken in amounted to over eighty-five thousand 
 pounds — ^not bad work for about twenty days." 
 
 January 15, 1865, the day of the capture of Fort Fisher, 
 Mr. Taylor wrote from Nassau to his partners in Liverpool, 
 England : 
 
 " General Lee told me the other day that if they did not keep 
 Wilmington they could not save Richmond. They nearly 
 had Fort Fisher — they were within sixty yards of it, and had 
 they pushed on as they ought to have done could have taken it. 
 It was a terrific bombardment; they estimated that about 
 40,000 shells were sent into it. Colonel Lamb behaved like a 
 brick — splendidly. I got the last of the Whitworths in, and 
 they are now at the fort. They are very hard up for food in the 
 field, but the Banshee has this time 600 barrels of pork and 
 1500 boxes of meat — enough to feed Lee's army for a month." 
 
28 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 Alexander H. Stephens said of the capture of Fort 
 Fisher in his book, The War between the States, vol. ii., 
 page 619: 
 
 " The fall of this fort was one of the greatest disasters which 
 had befallen our cause from the beginning of the war— not 
 excepting the loss of Vicksburg or Atlanta. Forts Fisher and 
 Caswell guarded the entrance to the Cape Fear River, and 
 prevented the complete blockade of the port of Wilmington, 
 through which a limited foreign commerce had been carried on 
 during the whole time. It was by means of what cotton could 
 thus be carried out, that we had been enabled to get along 
 financially as well as we had ; and at this point also a considerable 
 number of arms and various munitions of war, as well as large 
 supplies of subsistence, had been introduced. All other ports, 
 except Wilmington, had long since been closed by naval siege." 
 
 General Grant, in the 6ist chapter of the 2d volume 
 of his Personal Memoirs, refers to Fort Fisher in the follow- 
 ing words : 
 
 "Up to January, 1865, the enemy occupied Fort Fisher, at 
 the mouth of Cape Fear River and below the city of Wilmington. 
 This port was of immense importance to the Confederates, 
 because it formed their principal inlet for blockade-runners, by 
 means of which they brought in from abroad such supplies and 
 munitions of war as they could not procure at home. It was 
 equally important to us to get possession of it, not only because 
 it was desirable to cut off their supplies so as to insure a speedy 
 termination of the war, but also because foreign governments 
 particularly the British Government, were constantly threaten- 
 ing that unless ours could maintain the blockade off that coast 
 they should cease to recognize any blockade. For these reasons 
 I determined, with the concurrence of the Navy Department, in 
 December, to send an expedition against Fort Fisher for the 
 purpose of capturing it." 
 
 THE FIRST JOINT EXPEDITION. 
 
 On the 6th of December, 1864, General Grant issued 
 written instructions to General Butler specifying that 
 
 "the object of the expedition under General Weitzel is to 
 close to the enemy the port of Wilmington. . . . This will 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 29 
 
 be gained by eflEecting a landing on the mainland between the 
 Cape Fear River and the Atlantic north of the north entrance 
 to the river. Should this landing be effected whilst the 
 enemy still hold Fort Fisher and the batteries guarding the 
 entrance to the river, then the troops should entrench them- 
 selves, and by co-operating with the Navy effect the reduction 
 and capture of those places." 
 
 The 2d Division of the Twenty-fourth Corps, under the 
 command of Brigadier-General Adelbert Ames, and the ist 
 Division of the Twenty-fifth Corps, under the command of 
 Brigadier-General C. J. Paine, came to Hampton Roads on 
 the 8th of December, 1864, and were transferred to ocean 
 transports; on the 13th the transports sailed, and on the 
 15th rendezvoused off Masonborough Inlet, North Carolina. 
 The steamer Lowmawa, loaded with 215 tons of powder, had 
 been sent forward imder convoy of the Navy. On the 24th 
 of December the Louisiana was sent inshore to a point 850 
 yards north of the fort and exploded by Commander Rhind 
 250 yards from the shore at 1.30 a. m. The only effect of 
 the explosion was the awakening of a part of the garrison. 
 Admiral Porter kept the fort under a continuous fire from 
 his fleet from the morning of December 24th imtil the even- 
 ing of December 25th, only slackening the fire from dark to 
 daylight. At i o'clock p. m. on the 25th the troops began 
 landing under the protection of the naval division com- 
 manded by Captain O. S. Glisson. Five hundred of my 
 brigade were put into row-boats, furnished by the trans- 
 ports and the Navy, and in a single line moved to the shore. 
 I preceded the line in Captain Glisson's gig, in charge of 
 Lieutenant Farquhar, and on landing carried the Captain's 
 flag and raised it on a sand dune to indicate where the 
 troops should land. Before the men reached the shore 
 General Weitzel landed and directed me to at once form 
 my troops in line as they came from the boats and marched 
 down the beach, throwing out flankers as we proceeded. 
 A company of Confederates in a small earthwork, half a mile 
 south, raised a white flag ; the Navy sent boats ashore and 
 took off as prisoners two officers and sixty-five men. Con- 
 
30 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 tinuing the march south we halted at a small earthwork, 
 which General Weitzel thought was 800 yards north of Fort 
 Fisher, but later measurements showed it to have been 
 2200 yards. Here an examination of the fort was made 
 by a field-glass and it appeared to have sustained no injury 
 from the naval fire beyond the displacing of a single gun 
 and the breaking of a few piles of the stockade. General 
 Weitzel left me at this point to return to General Butler, 
 directing me to take command of the troops as they arrived 
 but not to bring on an engagement, and to report to General 
 Butler any matters of importance, stating that he would 
 leave a signal sergeant to transmit any reports I might 
 wish to make. The sergeant did not appear. About 
 half of the men first landed had been sent out as flankers. 
 I sent forward forty men toward the left salient of 
 the fort, leaving the remainder with orders to retain at 
 that point all troops that might come forward. I followed 
 the skirmish line, and when we were within fifty yards of 
 the parapet the staff carrying the garrison flag was shot 
 away by the Navy, and Capt. W. H. Walling, i42d N. Y., 
 went through the ditch and stockade and up the parapet 
 and brought it away at 4.20 p. m. About the same time 
 Lieutenant George Simpson, i42d N. Y., of my staff climbed 
 a telegraph pole and cut the wire, breaking telegraphic 
 connection between the fort and Wilmington. Having no 
 means of promptly commtmicating with headquarters, I 
 went to the beach with two men carrying the captured 
 flag and exhibited it at a point about 150 yards north of 
 the east salient of the fort. Before starting to carry the 
 flag to the beach, I had sent an order to Lieutenant Colonel 
 Barney, i42d N. Y., to bring forward to Battery Holland, 
 an earthwork half a mile north of the west salient of the 
 fort, all the troops which had arrived at the reserve. No 
 movement of the troops had been made when I reached 
 the beach, and I walked up the beach to ascertain why my 
 order to advance had not been obeyed, and on arriving 
 at the reserve learned that a short time before the receipt 
 of my order to go forward, General Butler had ordered the 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 3 1 
 
 troops to retire from the front of the fort. FeeUng confident 
 that General Butler had issued his order without knowing 
 the condition of the fort, I sent an officer with this message : 
 
 " Your order to retire is held in abeyance that you may know 
 of the true condition of the fort: the garrison has offered no 
 resistance ; the flagstaff of the fort was cut by a naval shot and 
 one of my officers brought from the parapet the garrison flag; 
 another officer cut the telegraph wire connecting the fort with 
 Wilmington; my skirmishers are now at the parapet." 
 
 I marched all the troops which had come forward to 
 Battery Holland, and sent the 117th N. Y. to advance 
 along the river and establish pickets north of Craig's 
 Landing and extend them from the river to the beach. 
 In this movement a Confederate major surrendered a 
 battalion of Jtinior Reserves of North Carolina to an officer 
 and two men. About thirty escaped, but 227 were brought 
 in and carried north on the rettim of the expedition. A 
 second order was brought me to retire, which I answered 
 as before, adding my later operations. I did this tmder 
 the impression that my former report had not been received, 
 which I learned later was the case. 
 
 Soon after sending my second report. Colonels Com- 
 stock and Jackson came to Battery Holland, closely followed 
 by General Ames. To these ofiBcers I fully explained 
 the condition of the garrison and my captures, and informed 
 them that the Navy was able to keep the garrison in the 
 bomb-proofs, and that after an hour's cannonading the 
 fort could be successfully assaulted, and urged them to 
 communicate this information to General Butler. But 
 they did not regard the proposed attack as feasible, and 
 moreover did not wish to assume any responsibility for 
 my disobedience of orders. They left, and soon after I 
 received the third order to retire, with the information that 
 all the troops had re-embarked except those at the front. 
 I then drew in my pickets and marched up the beach to 
 the point of landing with my prisoners and sent the cap- 
 tured officers to General Butler's ship, after which the 
 
32 
 
 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 surf prevented the further re-embarkation of troops. With 
 between 6co and 700 men of my brigade and 220 prisoners 
 we remained on the beach without fresh water, provisions, 
 or blankets in a sleet storm until Tuesday afternoon, the 
 27th. We were finally taken off through a heavy surf by 
 a life-boat, which passed between a transport and the 
 beach by means of a rope extending from the transport 
 to a stake on shore. When the last load had entered the 
 boat I cut the line near the stake and taking hold of the 
 end was dragged through the breakers and aboard the 
 transport; then all vessels carrying troops turned their 
 prows to the north and steamed for Hampton Roads. 
 While at breakfast in the restaurant at Fort Monroe, 
 on the morning of the 29th, Colonel Babcock brought me 
 word that General Grant desired to see me on his boat then 
 at the wharf. 
 
 In reply to the General's questions I related all that 
 had been done on the expedition and what I had seen. 
 Our interview was interrupted by the arrival of an officer 
 from General Sherman, and I was informed that I would 
 be questioned later. The same day I received a telegram 
 from General Weitzel ordering me to City Point, and there 
 I related to him all I had learned about Fort Fisher, and 
 repeated my opinion that it might have been captured 
 had an attempt been made. My statement and those of 
 three officers and three men of my brigade who had been 
 on or at the base of the parapet of the fort were taken down 
 by a staff -officer and sent to Colonel Comstock of General 
 Grant's staff, and were forwarded by him to the Secretary 
 of War to be filed with General Butler's report. 
 
 When General Butler gave the order for the troops to 
 re-embark he had received no report from the troops at 
 the front, and fully three-fourths of his command were 
 then on the beach. It required more time to re-embark 
 the troops on the beach than it would have required to 
 have landed those still on the transports with a full supply 
 of provisions and ammunition. 
 
 The Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 33 
 
 War made an exhaustive investigation of subjects not 
 covered by General Butler's orders and approved his con- 
 duct in regard to specidative naatters not mentioned in 
 his orders. The findings of the committee did not show- 
 that the failure of the expedition was wholly due to the 
 fact that General Grant's specific instructions had been 
 disregarded. 
 
 THE SECOND EXPEDITION TO FORT FISHER AND ITS CAPTURE. 
 
 The second expedition was composed of the troops 
 which had returned from the first expedition not dis- 
 abled, and Colonel J. C. Abbott's brigade of the ist Division 
 of the Twenty-fourth Corps. Before the landing of troops 
 General Henry L. Abbot joined the force with Companies 
 A, B, G, and L of the ist Connecticut Artillery, Myrick's 
 Battery E, 3d U. S. Artillery, Capt. R. H. Lee's i6th 
 New York Light Battery, Major F. W. Prince's battalion, 
 1 6th New York Heavy Artillery, and Companies A 
 and I of the isth New York Engineers. General Ames 
 joined the expedition at the same time from a hos- 
 pital boat which left Hampton Roads one day after the 
 expedition sailed. On coming on board the Atlantic 
 he addressed me with bitter and insulting words, alleging 
 that I had been guilty of a " shabby trick " in sailing from 
 Hampton Roads without him. He apparently failed 
 to consider that he had not been on the ship during the 
 ten hours when my troops and all his staff had been on 
 board, that his staff were informed of the sailing orders 
 as soon as they came into my hands, ivlly seven hours 
 before the ship moved out of the Roads, and that his entire 
 staff believed, at the hotir of going to breakfast as the 
 ship was passing the Capes, that he was on board. His 
 words were resented and their withdrawal demanded, 
 which was done within the next hour, but his subsequent 
 conduct compelled me from that time to refuse all inter- 
 course with him not required by the strictest official duties. 
 
 On Friday morning, January 13th, the transports moved 
 up to the place where our previous landing had been effected, 
 
34 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 and tiiider cover of the naval vessels the troops began to dis- 
 embark; although in a heavy surf all were landed, together 
 with extra rations, ammunition, and intrenching tools, 
 at 3 o'clock. The troops were at once put to work con- 
 structing a line of breastworks from the beach to the Cape 
 Fear River, which was completed before daylight on the 
 morning of the 14th. General Ames's division was then 
 withdrawn from the works and General Paine was directed 
 to hold the line with his division and Abbott's brigade. 
 
 Then for the third time since General Ames had rejoined 
 his command after his unexplained absence he requested 
 General Terry to promise him that he would not detail any 
 officer or organization of his division by name to perform 
 any special duty. When this request was denied he set 
 forth his grievances, stating that " General Curtis had ig- 
 nored him in consulting Generals Grant and Weitzel, had 
 not communicated to him the orders for sailing, and so 
 thoroughly did he distrust General Curtis and his brigade 
 that he would not be held responsible for anything they 
 might be directed to do." General Terry replied "that 
 he wo-ald direct General Curtis to report to him and there- 
 after he would receive from him all instructions until 
 the work in hand was disposed of." These facts were 
 given to me by General Terry in Richmond, Virginia, when 
 I was serving as his chief of staff in the Department of 
 Virginia. 
 
 In notifying me that I should report to him until further 
 orders. General Terry directed me to accompany him and 
 Colonel Comstock with my brigade down the peninsula 
 that he might examine the enemy's fortifications. While 
 we were marching down, the Confederate gunboat Chicka- 
 mauga, lying in the Cape Fear River, fired on us and one 
 shell seriously wounded Capt. James H. Reeves and three 
 men of his regiment, the 3d New York. 
 
 After General Terry had completed his examination 
 of the fort and its approaches he asked: "Do you still 
 believe the fort can be carried by an assault with such force 
 as I can spare from the line established last night, the 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 35 
 
 holding of which is of the first importance?" I replied 
 that I believed the three brigades already withdrawn from 
 the line could capture the fort by an assault if the dispo- 
 sitions were properly made, and if the Navy should support 
 the troops from start to finish. He said ; " It has already 
 been decided that in case an assault is ordered you will 
 make it. I will see Admiral Porter this evening and we 
 will determine what course to pursue." 
 
 General Terry and Colonel Comstock then left for the 
 reserve, having directed me to report any incidents I 
 might think it important for him to know. 
 
 The ground in front of the west third of the parapet 
 was swampy, in parts of it water was two or more feet 
 deep, and opposite the gate, at the west end, was a bridge 
 from which the enemy had removed the floor, leaving only 
 the stringers. At the eastern third the ground was much 
 higher and served as a natiiral glacis so that an assaulting 
 force would be kept tinder fire from its start imtil it reached 
 the parapet, but an attacking force approaching the left 
 end of the parapet would pass under the plane of fire at 
 some distance from the parapet. As soon as it was dark 
 I deployed two lines of skirmishers, one with guns and the 
 other with shovels, at a distance of five paces. The line 
 with muskets advanced twenty paces before the line with 
 shovels and stood on guard, while the men with shovels 
 threw up breastworks high enough to protect a man lying 
 on his face; then the rear line advanced, exchanging shovels 
 for muskets as it passed the front line, which threw up 
 breastworks in turn while the former shovellers stood guard 
 in their front. In this manner the troops advanced close 
 -to the wet ground, having constructed four parallel lines 
 of breastworks, which were later strengthened by fatigue 
 parties. In advance of the last line of the newly constructed 
 breastworks and to the left, where the ground was higher 
 and dry, a much higher and heavier breastwork was built, 
 in which forty men selected on account of their skill as 
 marksmen were stationed. They were to remain in this 
 position until the next night or until an assault should 
 
2 6 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 be made. In the event of an assault they were to join in 
 it, and before the advance shotild be made they were to 
 prevent the loading of the eight- and ten-inch Columbiads 
 which pointed toward our line of approach. This work 
 was completed before dawn and my men, except a small 
 guard, slept upon their arms. 
 
 Before noon of the isth. General Terry with Colonel 
 Comstock came to Battery Holland and informed me that 
 it had been agreed between Admiral Porter and himself 
 that an assault upon the fort should be made at 3 o'clock; 
 that 1600 sailors and 400 marines shotild attack the east 
 end of the parapet and that my brigade should attack 
 the left and be followed by the brigades of Pennypacker 
 and Bell. He approved the work I had performed during 
 the night, and sent sixty men of the 13th Indiana to join the 
 forty from my brigade left in advance, placing them under 
 the command of Lieut. S. M. Zent. Up to the advance 
 of the attacking party these men performed important 
 service and they joined in with the first line going to the 
 parapet. 
 
 General Terry said to me: "You stated yesterday that 
 you thought an assatilt would be successfiil 'if the dispo- 
 sitions were properly made.' Your brigade is to lead, 
 and I would like to know your views as to the formation." 
 I replied that I wished to advance in line, brigade front, 
 to make advances from one rifle-pit to the next, all lying 
 down at each, every movement to be governed by the 
 action of the enemy in coming to the parapet, and the final 
 rush to be made when the enemy showed an intention to 
 remain on the parapet. As I advanced, the enemy's 
 infantry would doubtless mount the parapet. We would 
 then lie down while the Navy drove them back; then we 
 would advance to the next rifle-pit and so repeat until the 
 enemy's infantry refused to leave the parapet, when we 
 ■wovld make the final rush and get under the plane of fire 
 before a second volley could be fired upon us. General 
 Terry said: "Do you not wish to strike them in column 
 with a hammer-head ? " I replied :" A single line can advance 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 37 
 
 with little loss, but a column would be severely punished 
 from the start; my right regiment will go straight to the 
 left salient, and the three other regiments will oblique to 
 the right and at the parapet will be in column for about 
 one-third of the advancing line." The subject was dis- 
 cussed with Colonel Comstock, who approved my plan, 
 which General Terry then accepted and ordered its exe- 
 cution. I then said to General Terry: "The final rush 
 will be made when you see me rise in the middle of my line 
 and hear me call aloud ; soon after the brigade will pass , 
 through the stockade up the parapet, and when I raise 
 my hat send Pennypacker's brigade." He replied: "With 
 your brigade on the parapet I shall feel certain of success; 
 a lodgment there assures victory." About noon Penny- 
 packer's and Bell's brigades, under command of General 
 Ames, came to the front and halted in rear of my command. 
 A short time before advancing to the place from which 
 the real movement was to be made, a naval officer, Lieu- 
 tenant Porter I believe, came to me and said: "General 
 Terry informs me that you lead in the assaiilt, and I desire 
 to learn your plans that the sailors and marines on the 
 beach may move at the same time you do." I explained 
 the plan already stated, and concluded with expressing 
 my regret that the Navy forces were not differently formed ; 
 they were then closely massed. He replied: "I am sorry 
 Army officers find fault with the Navy. We are trying 
 to help them on their own ground, and they ought to be 
 satisfied." I stated: 
 
 " We want your help very much, both your guns on the ships 
 and your men on shore; but your formation is bad, your front 
 is too narrow for the depth of yotu column, and going into 
 action as your men are now formed you will get fearfully pun- 
 ished and no good will be rendered except that much of the 
 fire directed to your forces will be saved from my line. I con- 
 demn your formation as a landsman; I would not criticise 
 nautical matters." 
 
 Two thousand men from the Navy, from sixty ships, 
 unacquainted with one another or with the service they 
 
38 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 were to undertake, were brought together on the beach 
 to perform a most hazardous work. The number of officers 
 was small — entirely too few for the number of men engaged. 
 As before stated, the force was too compact. Their first 
 line should have been longer and thinner, and their main 
 body kept out of the fire tmtil the first line had reached 
 the fort. Such a plan reqtiires good men — veterans; it is, 
 however, the way to assault fortifications with the least 
 loss of life, almost the only plan by which to achieve success. 
 
 Before advancing to the first line every officer and man 
 had been instructed as to his movements and the order 
 in which they would take place, and that the point of 
 attack would be between the first and the second traverses. 
 
 Just before the preliminary movements were begun 
 Capt. A. G. Lawrence, of General Ames's staff, came to me 
 and asked if he covdd go with my brigade. I replied that 
 he could if he would not interfere with its movements, 
 and sent him to Lieut.-Col. F. X. Meyer, commanding 
 the IT 7th New York, at the right of the line. Captain 
 Lawrence imderstood that I was not under the command of 
 his chief, and that he could not accompany my brigade 
 without my permission. He did not go as the represen- 
 tative of another, nor did he make the slightest attempt 
 to direct the movements of the men. He fell at the 
 stockade, seriously wounded, the victim of a valor which 
 he conspicuously exhibited in every battle in which he 
 participated. 
 
 The preliminary advances were made in a succession 
 of thin lines, number one of the first Hne going forward 
 to a rifle-pit, followed by number two; the rear rank 
 advancing in the same manner. By this method only 
 one-fourth of the line was exposed to the enemy's fire. 
 
 Three short advances were made. During each the 
 garrison came to the parapet; when the line halted the 
 garrison returned to the bomb-proofs, each time remaining 
 longer on the parapet and suffering greater damage from 
 the naval fire. When the enemy seemed determined to 
 remain on the parapet the final rush was made. I arose 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 39 
 
 from the middle of the hne and called out "Forward," 
 advancing as I arose from the ground. Each officer and 
 man had been instructed to nm as he got up, and to go 
 forward in silence. Cheering was positively forbidden, 
 the object being to keep the men from expending their 
 breath needlessly, and it was all-important to save it for 
 the final rush up the parapet. We were fifteen paces to 
 the front before we reached the usual height of a running 
 man, which is about one-third less than his height when 
 standing. The result of this movement was to cause the 
 first volley to pass over our heads with but little damage. 
 Had the order been given, "Attention; first battalion, 
 gmde right; second, third, and fourth battalions, oblique 
 to the right," many in the line would have been shot down 
 before a start was made. 
 
 The naval fiLre had made many openings in the stockade, 
 but not enough to allow speedy passage through it. One 
 hundred axes which had been distributed in the brigade 
 were vigorously used, under a galling fire, in making open- 
 ings for the men. The first forty or fifty through the 
 stockade climbed up the parapet and met the enemy 
 between the first and the second traverses. In this space 
 were two Columbiads, one disabled, the enemy loading 
 the other. The charge had been sent home, but the ramrod 
 not withdrawn, when we overpowered the gunners. The 
 man at the breech put out his hand with a primer to dis- 
 charge the piece, after his surrender had been demanded. 
 A sharp blow from my sabre on his outstretched hand 
 quickly dissuaded him, and the charge remained until 
 the captors had leisure to withdraw it. 
 
 The first battle-flag to come up was a marker of the 
 ir7th New York, which was promptly placed on the second 
 traverse. Its right to remain there was tested in a hand- 
 to-hand contest with swords and bayonets, in which the 
 Yankees won. 
 
 We then went down to the floor of the fort and secured 
 the men serving a Napoleon gun at the gate and a number 
 of infantry posted at the stockade west of the gate. These 
 
40 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 men were sent to the rear without escort. Their capture 
 removed the chief obstacle to an approach by the road. 
 At this time the Second Brigade began to enter the fort, 
 some through the gate and others over the parapet. Upon 
 returning to the parapet I found that a large number of 
 my brigade had succeeded in getting through the stockade, 
 and were advancing to the place first captured, where they 
 were being rapidly joined by men of the Second Brigade. 
 
 At the time we made the grand rush for the left of the 
 parapet, the naval column moved in mass upon the sea 
 bastion. The enemy believing this to be the main attack 
 turned upon them all the guns which could sweep the 
 beach, and massed more than half of his infantry behind 
 the right of the parapet to repel the attack. Colonel 
 Lamb conducted this defence of the sea bastion in person. 
 The enemy's fire upon the naval column was terribly 
 effective, spreading death and disorder. Except a few 
 who reached the stockade those not disabled soon retired. 
 
 General Whiting occupied a position on the parapet 
 midway between the sea bastion and the sally-port. The 
 repulse of the naval column caused the troops under Colonel 
 Lamb and General Whiting to cheer vigorously, the cheers 
 being heard above the roar of the cannon ; but their exulta- 
 tion was short, for upon looking to the west they saw 
 two United States flags on the left of the parapet — ^their 
 comrades tmable to remove them. General Whiting hurried 
 with the troops near him to the left of the line, and joined 
 in the contest which we were making for the third traverse. 
 In this hand-to-hand conflict he received a mortal wound 
 and was carried to a bomb-proof. Colonel Pennypacker, 
 commanding the Second Brigade, was severely wounded 
 while placing the colors of his regiment on this traverse, 
 and Colonel Moore, 203d Pennsylvania, was killed while 
 advancing with the colors of his regiment to the same 
 position. Lieutenant-Colonel Barney and Major Jones, 
 i42d New York, were wounded here, but soon after re-entered 
 the contest. Here Captain Thomas, 117th New York, 
 was killed. Lieutenant-Colonel Meyer and Major Bagg, 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 41 
 
 117th New York, both wounded, and many officers of the 
 Second Brigade, whose names I cannot give, came to 
 the front and joined in the contest tmtil our possession of 
 the traverse was undisputed. Our killed and wounded on 
 the parapet impeded our advance to the fourth traverse so 
 that we were scarcely able to go forward without treading 
 upon them. Colonel Lamb then came up with troops 
 to meet us at the foiirth traverse, bringing into action 
 a larger number than we had met at the third. Our numbers 
 were also increased by those who joined us as they came 
 upon the parapet. The struggle for the fourth traverse 
 was the hottest and most prolonged single contest of the 
 day. The loss of life was great on both sides. The killed 
 and wounded were set aside to make room for their com- 
 rades who came impetuously forward to support the respec- 
 tive sides. In this contest Colonel Lamb was seriously 
 wounded and was taken to the same bomb-proof occupied 
 by General Whiting. Our success in this fearftil struggle 
 turned the tide, the enemy's defence became less spirited 
 and effective, and each succeeding traverse was taken with 
 less difficulty. 
 
 The naval fire throughout the day had been delivered 
 with singular accuracy, at the rate of two or three shells 
 per second, in front of the assaiolting forces ; but at the fifth 
 traverse a shot went wide of its mark and killed or disabled 
 all but four men in our front line. Fearing that a slackening 
 of otir fire would invite a countercharge, I myself discharged 
 the gtms of the killed and disabled men imtil reinforcements 
 were brought forward. A sudden emergency compelled 
 this action. It was not done to encourage the soldiers — ^no 
 such efforts were needed to quicken their zeal. Men unable 
 to stand and fire their pieces handed up the guns of their 
 dead and helpless comrades, and when given back reloaded 
 them again and again, exhibiting a frenzied zeal and 
 unselfish devotion that seemingly nothing but death 
 could chill. Within twenty minutes I found wounded men 
 dead who had thus handed me their guns. 
 
 While we were capttuing these traverses, others on the 
 
42 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 floor of the fort fought the enemy in bomb-proofs and 
 behind obstructions near the parapet, keeping pace with 
 us. Lieutenant-Colonel Lyman, 203d Pennsylvania, was 
 killed while actively urging this line forward. Several 
 company officers were in this detachment, and vigorously 
 conducted these operations after his death, among them 
 Captain William H. Walling, i42d New York Volunteers, 
 who on the first expedition had capttired the garrison 
 flag of the fort. Captain R. D. Morehouse, i42d New 
 York Volunteers, in charge of a party capttured a large 
 number of Confederates in the sally-port, from which they 
 had energetically opposed the advance of otu- forces on 
 the floor of the fort ; but our progress on the parapet rendered 
 their position untenable, and by a skilful movement he 
 captiu-ed them before they could retire to other defences. 
 His skill and bravery were as conspicuous then as his 
 modest dignity is noticeable among his companions of 
 the Loyal Legion. This captiu-e was considered by the 
 Confederates a dishonorable surrender. They did not know 
 then that their men had been compelled to surrender only 
 when retreat was impossible. 
 
 Progress was more easily and steadily made imtil we 
 gained possession of the seventh traverse at 4.45 p. m., 
 where it was fotmd that our best marksmen could drive 
 the gunners from the Columbiad on the sea bastion, with 
 which the enemy had enfiladed the ditch and given the 
 assailants more trouble than with any other piece in the 
 fort. When it was discovered that this gim could be 
 silenced, the project of marching up the ditch and capturing 
 the sea bastion was decided upon, and men at the west 
 end of the fort were stunmoned to undertake it. I sent 
 Corporal Jones, of the color-guard of the tiyth New York, 
 to the west end of the fort to bring these men forward. 
 He came back, and stated that General Ames had directed 
 him to rettu-n and say that men could not be sent, but 
 spades to fortify would be furnished. My orderly A. D. 
 Knight was next sent to obtain men, and directed to state 
 the object of the movement to be made. He soon rettimed 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 43 
 
 and stated that General Ames had ordered him to say- 
 that the men were exhausted and no ftirther advance would 
 be attempted -until reinforcements arrived in the morning ; 
 that we should hold the ground occupied, if possible, and 
 that intrenching tools would be sent to us. I directed 
 Orderly Knight to go back and request officers under my 
 rank to collect men and bring them forward, so that the 
 attack could be made before dark ; to say that the resistance 
 of the enemy was less than at the beginning of the battle, 
 and that the captture of the bastion wotild compel an early 
 stirrender. Knight soon returned with an armful of spades 
 which General Ames had ordered him to carry to me that 
 I might fortify and hold otir position until fresh troops came 
 into the fort. I threw the spades over the traverse to the 
 Confederates. Being convinced that General Ames intended 
 to suspend operations until reinforcements came in, I 
 directed Silas W. Kempton, Mate U. S. Na-yy, who had 
 reported to me early in the engagement and volunteered 
 to serve in whatever capacity he might be useful, to go 
 for the second time to General Terry, now to xu-ge him to 
 have the troops then engaged in throwing up fortifications 
 in rear of the left end of the parapet to join in a general 
 advance, and take possession of the fort before reinforce- 
 ments could be sent in by the enemy. I instructed Kemp- 
 ton to state that the enemy were offering slight resistance, 
 and that a bold push would secure a victory already substan- 
 tially won. This young sailor had pre-viously been sent to 
 General Terry, after we had won possession of the fotuth 
 traverse, to ask him to have the naval fire in front of our 
 advancing lines increased, if possible, and to have the 
 fuses cut shorter, so as to cause the explosion of the shells 
 nearer the parapet. Many had passed beyond the fort 
 and were lost by exploding in the marsh and river. The 
 zeal and intelligence of Mr. Kempton commanded my 
 warmest admiration. 
 
 I then directed Capt, David B. Magill, 117th New 
 York, to take the next traverse with the first men who 
 should come up, and went to the west end of the parapet 
 
44 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 and to the floor of the fort in rear of it, to obtain men to 
 march up the ditch to the sea bastion. While collecting 
 them on the floor of the fort in rear of the first and second 
 traverses, General Ames addressed me, for the first time 
 since the movement on the fort had begtm, and said: "'I 
 have two or three times sent you word to fortify your 
 position and hold it tmtil reinforcements can be sent to 
 aid us ; the men are exhausted, and I will not order them 
 to go forward." I directed his attention to two steamboats 
 in the Cape Fear River loaded with Confederate troops 
 waiting for darkness to enable them to land, which they 
 cotild not do while it was light because of the naval fire, 
 and said: "Should they succeed in landing they may be 
 able to drive us out; therefore, the fort should be captured 
 before fresh troops come to the enemy." I informed him 
 that the garrison was resisting with less spirit than earlier 
 in the day, and asserted that complete victory was within 
 otir grasp if we aroused ourselves and pushed the advantage 
 we surely had, and that I intended to conduct the move- 
 ment up the ditch to the sea bastion if I could get but fifty 
 men. Several said, "We will go." At this time the sun 
 was just disappearing, at 5.15 p.m., — as stated by the Navy 
 Department, two hours and five minutes after the opening 
 of the battle. 
 
 While the volunteers were assembling I went farther 
 into the fort, and had ascended a magazine or sand dune 
 for the purpose of looking into the angle of the bastion I 
 intended to attack, when I was struck and disabled by two 
 fragments of a shell, one destroying the left eye and the 
 other carrying away a portion of the frontal bone. I was 
 unconscious for several hoiurs. 
 
 From official and other trustworthy sources it is learned 
 that after stmdown no efforts were made to advance our 
 lines, except the capture of an additional traverse by the 
 troops left under command of Captain Magill when I 
 started out to collect men to go up the ditch. About 8 
 o'clock a regiment of colored troops from General Paine's 
 line was sent to General Ames to assist in taking possession 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 45 
 
 of the fort. He directed them to stack arms outside the 
 fort and join the men in the rear of the left end of the 
 parapet in throwing up breastworks to protect the assail- 
 ants from a countercharge by the garrison. Late in the 
 afternoon the sailors and marines had been withdrawn from 
 the beach and sent to relieve Abbott's brigade which was 
 brought down to the fort. The 3d New Hampshire was 
 placed on the right of Abbott's brigade, and when Major 
 Trickey in command of it was directed by General Abbott 
 to take the traverse on that part of the parapet where the 
 greatest resistance was expected to be made, the Major 
 called his attention to the fact that he had less than eighty 
 men in his command, and that a greater number might be 
 needed to carry the traverses. General Abbott informed 
 him he would be supported and that his regiment was 
 specially named by General Terry for that duty. The fact 
 that the regiment was armed with repeating rifles may 
 have influenced General Terry in making the selection. 
 The order for the placing of the 3d New Hampshire as 
 stated by General Abbott shows that General Terry kept 
 in close touch with the several brigades, and gave personal 
 attention to their movements throughout the battle. When 
 Abbott's brigade reached the unoccupied portion of the 
 parapet the enemy received it with a volley, but not heavy 
 enough to check its progress. It marched over the parapet, 
 across the floor of the fort, parallel to the sea-face, and 
 southward to Battery Buchanan, where the garrison of 
 Fort Fisher was found tmarmed and demoralized. These 
 operations of Abbott's brigade were successfully carried 
 out with the loss of four men killed and twenty-three 
 wounded. At dark General Whiting and Colonel Lamb 
 were carried to Battery Buchanan, the former mortally 
 and the latter seriously wounded. It was proposed to send 
 them across the river in small boats, as many had been, 
 but they determined to remain and share the fate of the 
 garrison. 
 
 The troops entered the fort without hesitation and vied 
 one with another, officers and men ahke, for possession of 
 
46 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 the work. The loss in the early part of the engagement of 
 Colonel Bell, commanding Third Brigade, and Colonel 
 Smith, 1 1 2th New York, both mortally wounded before 
 reaching the work, and of Colonel Moore, killed soon after 
 mounting the parapet, was sorely felt throughout the day. 
 They were soldiers of marked ability, veterans who had 
 won distinction in every campaign in which the army 
 to which they belonged had been engaged. Colonel Penny- 
 packer, commanding Second Brigade, was seriously wounded 
 early in the engagement. This distingioished officer had put 
 his brigade into position and given it an impulse which con- 
 tinued throughout the day. The loss of no officer could 
 have been greater. At the end of the first hour several 
 officers and men were disabled or bearing wounds that 
 woiild have justified their retirement from an ordinary 
 engagement, and a suspension of hostilities would have 
 followed had not the troops been of the highest grade. 
 Nine-tenths of them were veterans who had served in the 
 campaigns in Virginia and the Carolinas, and had fought in 
 every battle from Drury's Farm and Cold Harbor to the 
 last battle in the campaign before Petersbiurg and Rich- 
 mond. There was not an officer or man in the four brigades 
 who did not merit the highest commendation for unyielding 
 persistency, courage, and devotion. While the First and 
 the Second Brigades were the first to enter the fort and 
 contended together without distinction for possession of the 
 parapet, it is not my intention to claim that either brigade 
 was superior. Circumstances to a large degree, no doubt, 
 influenced the selection as to the order in which the troops 
 attacked the fort. My brigade had been near it on the fi.rst 
 expedition, had taken its flag and a battalion of prisoners, 
 and all its members believed that it could have been 
 captured then. The knowledge of this fact undoubtedly 
 had much weight in influencing the commanding general to 
 select that brigade to lead the assaulting forces. Each 
 brigade took the position assigned to it, and performed its 
 duties in a most courageous and efficient manner. 
 
 The crisis was passed soon after four o'clock, and 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 47 
 
 success was assured when the First and Second Brigades 
 had mounted the parapet and demonstrated their abihty 
 not only to hold their groimd but to make steady progress 
 from traverse to traverse. It was a soldiers' fight, and 
 had Ames and Curtis both been killed or disabled at the 
 time Pennypacker was wounded, the battle would have 
 proceeded successfully under the command of field and 
 company officers. When the battle was well begtin, skill 
 and generalship consisted in physical blows, and to every 
 one who struck them honor is due. 
 
 Admiral Porter wanted success no less than General 
 Terry, and was ready to take any steps in the line of his 
 profession to win it. He knew, as all did, that a naval 
 column would divert the garrison, and asked the Navy to 
 furnish men to form it. In pursuit of victory desperate 
 chances were often taken. Never did men undertake a 
 more difficult or hazardous task, and never did men offer 
 themselves in their country's service with more zeal, courage, 
 or unselfish devotion than did the officers and men of the 
 Navy and the Marines on the beach at Fort Fisher. Their 
 action contributed to the progress of the Army — whether 
 the gain justified the losses we shall never know. The 
 naval column was important as a diversion, but its value 
 was slight in comparison with the fire of the six hundred 
 guns of the ships trained on the fort. The fleet maintained 
 an uninterrupted fire for two days, exceeding in effective- 
 ness any bombardment recorded in the annals of war. To 
 Admiral Porter's fleet the army was indebted for its un- 
 contested landing, its iminterrupted approach to within 
 charging distance of the fort, and the well directed fire in 
 front of the assaulting forces without which success would 
 have been impossible. 
 
 It will not be out of place to refer to the enemy and 
 their defence of the fort. The constant fire of the Navy 
 for two days deprived the garrison of opporttmity to rest or 
 prepare food. They suffered but little from this bombard- 
 ment until brought out of their bomb-proofs to contest 
 the advance of the assaulting forces ; then they came under 
 
48 THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 the hottest fire men ever encountered. Colonel Lamb 
 skillftilly conducted the defence, aided by General Whiting, 
 who had volunteered his services on entering the fort. 
 They protected their men until the decisive moment and then 
 led them with conspicuous gallantry. 
 
 The left of the parapet was in charge of a iunior officer 
 whose mistake, that of a moment only, was in failing to 
 mount the parapet and contest our advance from the ditch. 
 The men serving the piece of artillery covering the road 
 west of the parapet were so intent in performing their 
 duty that they were unconscious of our approach until 
 ordered to surrender by men of the 117th New York, who 
 went down from the paarpet after capturing the second 
 traverse. 
 
 General Bragg, in his report, of the capture of the fort, 
 says of oxar assaulting line: "His army column, preceded by 
 a single regiment, approached along the river and entered 
 the work on that flank almost unopposed." This does a 
 great injustice to the men guarding the left, who made it 
 fatal to approach by the road ; and not until their capture, 
 in active defence of the work, was the road made a safer 
 line of approach than over the parapet. The Confederate 
 garrison of Fort Fisher might well resent this aspersion of 
 their most stubborn defence and justly complain of the 
 indifference of General Bragg, who had six thousand men 
 within striking distance of our defensive line — more than 
 twice the niimber of men holding that line, — in not vigor- 
 ously attacking it. General Bragg reported to General 
 Lee that "at 4 p.m , when the enemy's infantry advanced 
 to the assault, our troops were making a heavy demonstra- 
 tion against the enemy's rear." Although General Bragg 
 expended a large amount of ammunition in making this 
 so-called "heavy demonstration," General Paine's line was 
 maintained without the loss or injury of a single Union 
 soldier. 
 
 I have said that the enemy plainly showed signs of 
 weakening before 5 p.m., and that full possession of the 
 fort only awaited the advance of the Federal troops. This 
 
THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 49 
 
 statement is supported by the report of General Whiting, 
 who says: 
 
 "The fall both of the general and the colonel command- 
 ing the fort, one about 4 and the other about 4.30 p.m., 
 had a perceptible effect upon the men, and no doubt hastened 
 greatly the result, but we were overpowered, and no skill 
 or gallantry could have saved the place, after he effected a 
 lodgment, except attack in the rear." 
 
 "The Abstract from Return of the Expeditionary 
 Forces, Bvet. Maj.-Gen. Alfred H. Terry, U. 3. Army, 
 Commanding, for January 10, 1865," states the aggregate 
 of the four brigades engaged in reducing the fort, five days 
 before the assault, to have been two himdred and fifty- 
 seven officers and five thousand one hundred and seventy- 
 two men. Of this number probably thirty-seven hundred 
 took part in the assault, and at 9 o'clock p.m. thirteen 
 htmdred men under Abbott and three himdred colored 
 troops entered the fort substantially unopposed, to secure 
 a victory actually won four hoiu-s before. There are no 
 records ia the War Department giving the number of 
 officers and men in the brigades commanded respectively 
 by Curtis, Pennypacker, and Bell, or the number of men 
 taken into action. It is estimated that the First (Curtis's) 
 Brigade numbered nine hundred officers and men; the 
 Second (Pennypacker 's), seventeen hundred officers and 
 men; the Third (Bell's), eleven hundred officers and men; 
 Abbott's brigade, thirteen hundred officers and men. 
 
 The return of the casualties indicates the actual resistance 
 met by the several brigades, which I give in the order they 
 respectively entered the fort. Curtis's brigade, two officers 
 and thirty -seven men killed; eighteen officers and one 
 hundred and sixty-six men wounded; five missing: 25.33 
 per cent. Pennypacker's brigade, six officers and forty- 
 five men killed; six officers and two hundred and eleven 
 men wounded; tvro missing: 16.47 per cent. Bell's brigade, 
 two officers and fotuteen men killed ; six officers and ninety- 
 one men wounded; two missing: 10.04 per cent, Abbott's 
 brigade, four men killed; two officers and twenty-one men 
 
JO THE CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER 
 
 woimded; four missing; 2.33 per cent. The missing in- 
 cludes those injttred beyond recognition and those buried 
 in the sand by the explosion of a magazine after the capture. 
 
 In bestowing honors for the victory at Fort Fisher we 
 should prominently mention the Secretary of the Navy, and 
 the officers and men of the North Atlantic blockading 
 squadron, who for three years had continually urged the 
 sending of an amiy force to join the na^vy in an expedition 
 to reduce the defences at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. 
 Nor should we neglect prominently to associate General 
 Grant with its capture. He organized the military force, 
 and in spite of the first failure adhered to his purpose with 
 unyielding persistency tmtil the end was accomplished. 
 The skill and labors of Admiral Porter and General Terry 
 were fully acknowledged by the Administration and Con- 
 gress, which all serving under them heartily approve. 
 
 Whatever may be the opinion of military men as to the 
 wisdom of employing troops in throwing up breastworks 
 inside the fort, using a greater number of men than were 
 engaged with the enemy in close action on the parapet and 
 the floor of the fort near the parapet — instead of sending 
 them across the floor of the fort to the sea-face, which move- 
 ment would have ended the contest in half an hour, certain 
 it is aU will acknowledge that General Ames, under whose 
 directions these engineering operations w'ere carried on, bore 
 himself with coolness and courage. 
 
 The services of the gentleman who went on both ex- 
 peditions in an advisory capacity, although on the first 
 the most important action — the withdrawal of the troops 
 from the beach — was determined upon without his opinion 
 being asked, were briefly stated by General Terry: 
 
 "To Bvt. Brig.-Gen. C. B. Comstock, Aide-de-Camp 
 on the staff of the Lieutenant General, I am under the 
 deepest obligations. At every step of our progress I 
 received from him the most valuable assistance. For the 
 final success of our part of the operations the country is 
 more indebted to him than to me." 
 
 It would be unjust, as it would be imgenerous, to with- 
 
THE CAPTURE OP FORT FISHER 5 1 
 
 hold from the field and company officers the warmest 
 praise for their watchiiilness in detecting every advantage 
 afforded by the enemy and for their irresistible impetuosity 
 and valor, which overcame obstacles as great as human 
 skill and stubborn devotion could create, or to fail grate- 
 fully to acknowledge the services of the men in the ranks. 
 Their steadiness, fortitude, and bravery were surpassed by 
 no one exercising command over them. Certainly our 
 great commander did not neglect to commend every member 
 of the military force composing the expedition, irrespective 
 of rank or grade, in one of the most extraordinary docu- 
 ments ever filed with the archives of the War Department, 
 wherein he recommended their commander for a high po- 
 sition in the regular army, based solely on their services, 
 and independent of the promotions given to Terry, Ames, 
 Pennypacker, and Curtis in acknowledgment of their personal 
 services. 
 
 City Point, Va., January 17, 1865. 
 Hon. E. M. Stanton, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 As a substantial recognition, of the bravery of both officers 
 and men in the capture of Fort Fisher, and the important service 
 thereby rendered' to their country, I do most respectfully 
 recommend Bvt. Maj. Alfred H. Terry, U. S. Volunteers, their 
 commanding officer, for appointment as Brigadier General in 
 the Regular Army. 
 
 U. S. Grant, 
 
 Lieutenant- General . 
 
A BOY AT SHILOH. 
 
 Read by Captain Charles Morton, U. S. Army, 
 October 6, 1897. 
 
 THE battle of Shiloh was not only the first great battle 
 in the late great war but one of the greatest in otir 
 history, and it stands second to none in modern, 
 history for its fierceness and persistent determination. Tt 
 was fought without generals and, it may be said, almost 
 without soldiers. It was armed Americans against Amer- 
 icans, terribly in earnest and full of fight, enfuriated by a 
 hatred that had grown out of fifty years of bitter political 
 strife that was to be settled by a physical contest with arms. 
 Both sides believed that upon the turn of this battle, in 
 great measure, hung the general final result. And who, 
 to-day, can doubt that there would have been a more 
 speedy termination of the war, on much different terms, had 
 oiu: army met on this occasion total defeat, or had its victory 
 been promptly and vigorously followed up? Though the 
 passion and hatred that then obtained, gradually, and 
 before the end of the war almost entirely disappeared, the 
 battle has been fought over and over again since, in not 
 always entirely dispassionate and harmless ink. Indeed, 
 it has been written up from so many different standpoints, 
 that it seems there is nothing left untold; and in such 
 masterly ways, that any accotmt by me woijld prove weak 
 and insipid. Yet there are a few facts relating to the battle, 
 that came tmder my personal observation or to my know- 
 ledge at the time, that have been barely touched upon, or 
 not at all, in any of the numerous descriptions I have read. 
 They seem to me all-important facts for truthful history and 
 a better understanding of the battle. 
 
 The proper limits of a paper to be read here preclude the 
 
 52 
 
A BOY AT SHILOH S3 
 
 possibility, were I inclined to give a full account of the 
 battle. So, taking for granted that all of you are familiar 
 with the general features of the engagement, I confine my- 
 self to the points on which history is silent. I have pre- 
 ferred to do this in a simple narrative of some of my own 
 experience immediately preceding and during the engage- 
 ment, and I desire it to be imderstood that I am not fully 
 persuaded that I fought that great battle all alone on our 
 side, nor that I can convince you now that it is to be greatly 
 regretted that I was not in supreme comnaand at the time. 
 And I further trust that I will be exempt from any accusation 
 of an egotistical desire to parade my personal prowess in the 
 battle, when I tell you frankly in advance that the most 
 prominent feature of my conduct was the tall running I did ; 
 and if the pronouns I and we seem conspicuous, let it be 
 understood that it is merely for convenience of brief ex- 
 pression. I further take for granted that your familiarity 
 with the battle, with what I have to say, renders lonneces- 
 sary any maps or diagrams, or tiresome statistics that you 
 will not remember. 
 
 It is necessary to commence with some preliminary 
 details. I was a private in Company I, 25th Missouri 
 Volunteer Infantry. It was organized immediately after 
 the fall of Fort Sumter, as a Home Guard company, to 
 protect Union men from oppression by secessionists, and 
 guarded for several months the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
 Railroad. It was composed of Union men and boys of the 
 southern part of Daviess and northern part of Caldwell 
 cotmties of the State mentioned, and became a part of the 
 13th Missouri Infantry on the 2Sth of Jtdy 1861, — the 
 number of the regiment being subsequently changed. 
 
 My captain was Geo. K. Donnelly, a practising physician 
 of Kidder, Mo. He was a man of marked intelligence, 
 great determination and energy, and a thorough, practical 
 soldier, having served many years in the 4th U. S. Ar- 
 tillery, which service included the campaign from Vera 
 Cruz to the fall of the city of Mexico, than which there is 
 none more daring, brilliant, and successful recorded in history. 
 
54 A BOY AT SHILOH 
 
 He carried the scars of five or six gunshot wounds and of a 
 bayonet, received on the then greatest field-day of our Army, 
 the four sweeping victories at Contreras, Chtirubusco, San 
 Antonio, and the Bridge-head. These wounds took him 
 from the service, by resignation, soon after the battle of 
 Shiloh. He had filled every non-commissioned grade in 
 the regular regiment, besides being a drummer and hospital 
 steward, and he was the life and spirit in the organization 
 and discipline of otir own. 
 
 The colonel was Everett Peabody, a strikingly handsome 
 man of massive build and commanding presence, a native 
 of Massachusetts, a graduate from Harvard, and a civil 
 engineer by profession, in which he had risen to considerable 
 prominence. 
 
 Our major was James E. Powell, a captain of the ist 
 U. S. Infantr>', a modest, cool-headed, capable, brave 
 officer, who endeared himself to the hearts of all during 
 the few days he was with us. 
 
 I entered the service with the company by being rated 
 a musician, and although I was not then, and have never 
 been since, able to torture from any instrtmient a musical 
 note, I had to perform for several months the orderly duty 
 of a musician, and thus became familiar with officers and 
 what was transpiring at regimental headquarters. Then 
 for some time I was in charge of collecting and distributing 
 the man of the regiment, and came in contact, and became 
 pretty well acquainted, with nearly every officer and man 
 in it. The life was new to me, and intensely interesting; 
 the events were thrilling; I was young, and my mind was 
 susceptible of deep and lasting impressions. Nearly every 
 man of the original company who did not fall in battle, die 
 of wounds or disease, or was not discharged for disability 
 received a commission. Thus it was decimated or scattered. 
 Soon after my discharge I was practically imprisoned for 
 four years at West Point, and then at once ordered to New 
 Mexico, and until recent years I have served almost con- 
 tinuously beyond the western frontier and have had but 
 little or no opportunity to talk over with comrades the 
 
A BOY AT SHILOH 55 
 
 incidents of this battle. Soon after I commenced to read 
 the post-bellum accounts of it, I wrote out my own experi- 
 ence, and the incidents I recotint to-night are taken from 
 that narrative. Since then I have met my three brothers 
 who were in the regiment and battle, and I asked each in 
 tiim to give me his version on certain points ; and they 
 differed materially in nothing that is in this paper. Now I 
 have no axe to grind here, and I would detract not one 
 iota from the name, fame, or laurels of any man. My 
 experience has been that about all do their very best in 
 battle; and I have no sympathy with fireside military 
 critics, after the fact. I took the humble and insignificant 
 part of a private soldier in the great battle, and am content 
 with that honor, but I would like to see a full and correct 
 account of it recorded in history. 
 
 You know that it is generally understood that our Army 
 was completely surprised, and that the advance, or 6th 
 Division, commanded by Gen'l Benj. M. Prentiss, fled from 
 their beds before the enemy and most of them were captured. 
 This id entirely incorrect. A few years since I met Col. R. 
 T. Van Horn, Member of the House of the last Congress, 
 and since the war editor-in-chief of the Kansas City Journal 
 of Commerce. I asked him why as a literary man he did 
 not write a detailed accoimt of the attack and battle. He 
 said he made his report as commander of the regiment 
 immediately after the battle, and that it was on file in 
 Washington. In that city, later, I asked Colonel Scott, 
 in charge of the publication of the Rebellion Records, to let 
 me read the report. In a large hand it covered less than a 
 sheet of paper, written in a sacked camp, when all were 
 tired and exhausted and the numbers of killed, wounded, and 
 missing were not accurately known, — and it gave very few 
 details. 
 
 The regiment was reorganized after being paroled at the 
 siege of Lexington, and was at Benton Barracks, near St. 
 Louis, drilling vigorously, when the news of the fall of 
 Forts Henry and Donelson and the battle of Pea Ridge 
 in rapid succession reached us, creating intense enthusiasm 
 
56 A BOY AT SHILOH 
 
 and a burning desire on the part of all to have a hand in 
 the work of war, so favorably begun after the long weary 
 months of waiting — ^in fact, discouraging inactivity. Indeed, 
 they were about the first substantial successes of the Union 
 arms. None who lived at the North at the commencement 
 of the war, surrounded by patriotic influences, can under- 
 stand what the loyal people of the border slave States had 
 to tmdergo and endure for their loyalty at the hands of 
 secessionists. Our siirrender at Lexington after the long 
 and trying siege, though honorable and creditable in the 
 eyes of the goveriiment and the people, was humiliating 
 to the regiment itself, and it longed, not only from hatred 
 caused by persecution, but also from a feeling of revenge, to 
 meet the enemy in a more equal contest. 
 
 So great joy and hilarity ran through the regiment when 
 orders came for it to move, though the men knew not 
 whither. March 26th it was escorted by several regiments 
 and a band through the streets of St. Louis, and boarded the 
 steamer Continental. At Cairo we turned up the Ohio, 
 and all began to smell oitr course and probable destination. 
 A short stop was made at Paducah and General Prentiss and 
 staff came on board. When we ttuned up the Tennessee, 
 all knew we were bound for the heart of Dixie's land, and 
 that song, modified to more appropriate words, was a 
 constant refrain. When the recent captured works of Fort 
 Henry, built to bar any such invasion, hove in sight, a 
 prolonged and general shout rent the air. We viewed with 
 much satisfaction the Union soldiers manning the gims as 
 we sped by, and we gave them cheer after cheer. On we 
 ploughed up the beautiful river, halting briefly at Savannah, 
 the headquarters of the assembling Army, for General 
 Prentiss and our colonel to report to Gen. C. F. Smith, for, 
 be it remembered, that the Council of War that placed 
 General Grant in command was not held until April 2d, 
 practically but three days before the battle. Eight miles 
 above we stopped at Pittsburg Landing, just at dark, 
 March 28th. The 29th we disembarked, and Sunday, the 
 30th, just one week before the battle, the regiment marched 
 
A BOY AT SHILOH 57 
 
 past the camps of the other troops, towards Corinth, some f our 
 miles from the Landing, and went into camp perpendicularly 
 to the road. Within three or four days other regiments 
 arrived, extending the line to the left, forming two brigades 
 of the 6th Division, leaving my regiment on the right, and 
 therefore, the first of the First Brigade. Otir colonel, 
 Peabody, commanded this brigade, and my captain, 
 Donnelly, was detail acting assistant adjutant-general. As 
 our first lieutenant was acting regimental quartermaster 
 temporarily and the second lieutenant was an inexperienced 
 boy, the Captain exercised also supervision of the company, 
 and kept it busy in camp instruction, even giving it target 
 practice. And, it was said, he urged that rifle-pits be 
 made and the camp prepared for defence. 
 
 On Wednesday the 2d, a part of the regiment was 
 sent out one-and-a-half or two miles in the direction of 
 Corinth, on picket duty. Keeping vigilance that night I 
 saw the heavens illuminated by the Confederate camp-fires. 
 We were astoimded at the proximity and apparently great 
 ntunbers of the enemy. Our men, visiting the farm-houses 
 near by, were warned that they ran great risk of capture, 
 that the Confederate cavalry was scotiring the neighborhood. 
 It was thought at first that this was simply said to keep 
 them away; but they were warned at every house. 
 
 That afternoon, Thursday, we were relieved by another 
 detail ; but the men who returned to camp on Friday after- 
 noon, reported that no detail had relieved them, and that 
 there was no picket whatever on that road between us 
 and the enemy. If we were not aware of the dense ignor- 
 ance of all, at that time, on military matters, particularly 
 of practical soldiering, we could attribute this neglect only 
 to traitorous design. There was considerable cavalry in the 
 command, why was it not screening our camp, and even 
 feeling the enemy in his own? Simply ignorance. We had 
 no generals but in rank and authority. I say this not in 
 disparagement of any who were there, but as a fact. When 
 they learned their business, in the only school for generals, 
 the great practical school of war, many of them won a place 
 
58 A BOY AT SHILOH 
 
 among the very greatest generals the world has ever pro- 
 duced. The Grant and Sherman of 1 864 would have reHeved 
 for utter inefficiency generals of no more skill than the 
 Grant and Sherman at Shiloh. 
 
 On Saturday afternoon the whole 6th Division, but 
 the camp guard, was reviewed in a field near General 
 Prentiss's headquarters; and the rumor, afterwards con- 
 firmed, went through the camp that night that a detach- 
 ment of Confederate cavalry rode up to the edge of the 
 field and witnessed the review. At retreat. Captain Don- 
 nelly, though adjutant of the brigade, came to the com- 
 pany and said that the enemy was marching on the camp 
 in force, and was within fourteen miles; there would be a 
 battle, and he wanted to see I Company ready. He 
 inspected the arms, equipments, and ammunition carefully^ 
 and gave instruction and advice. We were required to lie, 
 I will not say sleep, on otu: arms. Whence came this 
 information I do not know. There w^s no secrecy, the 
 whole regiment anticipated a battle. Some of the officers 
 sat up late, and others remained up all night. Among the 
 latter was Colonel Peabody, who communicated with General 
 Prentiss that evening, and expressed his belief that prepara- 
 tions should be made for an energetic defence. So accurate 
 was his information, or correct his conviction, that during 
 the night he ordered the two reliefs of the brigade guard 
 not on post to patrol the front under Major Powell, field 
 officer of the day. This developed a force believed to be 
 the enemy's picket. As a vigilant commander, the Colonel 
 upon getting the information sent out three companies of 
 the regiment under Powell: B, Captain Joseph Schmitz, 
 and E, Captain Simon S. Evans, the two companies that 
 stormed the hospital building at Lexington; and H, 
 Captain Hamilton Dill, a soldier of the Mexican War. They 
 drove in the enemy's picket, and developed his main force 
 about one and a half miles from otir camp. The Colonel 
 then sent out a part of the 21st Missouri Infantry to re- 
 inforce Major Powell's command, and in the engagement 
 that followed Colonel Moore lost a leg. 
 
A BOY AT SHILOH 59 
 
 At daybreak wounded were being brought into camp, 
 and the companies were formed in their streets prepared 
 for battle. No orders coming from division headquarters, 
 Colonel Peabody ordered the "long roll" beaten, and the 
 regiment formed in line. The alarm was taken up by 
 regiment after regiment and spread throughout the Army. 
 Shortly General Prentiss came riding rapidly down the line 
 to our Colonel, jerked up his horse, and with great earnestness, 
 if not great anger, exclaimed: "Colonel Peabody, I will 
 hold you personally responsible for bringing on this engage- 
 ment." The Colonel, with severe dignity and illy concealed 
 contempt, answered in his clear, strong voice: "General 
 Prentiss, I am personally responsible for aU my official 
 acts." This stormy interview was seen, if the words were 
 not heard, by hundreds of men; and my brother Marcus, 
 later a lieutenant of the regiment and captain in the 43d 
 Missouri Infantry, was orderly for the Colonel at the time, 
 and both heard and saw what occurred. 
 
 Each regiment of the brigade moved at once directly to 
 the front to support Colonel Moore and meet the enemy in 
 advance of our camp. The line was an echelon led by my 
 regiment, which halted between half and three quarters of 
 a mile out, a little in rear but considerably to the right of 
 Colonel Moore's skirmish line. 
 
 I will digress to say that the guns of the only battery in 
 the division had not arrived. The personnel and horses 
 were camped on the right of the brigade. Some three 
 fourths of a mile to the right of this gunless battery was the 
 left of Sherman's division, its right somewhat advanced. 
 Opposite this interval, to the front but nearer Sherman's 
 left, was Shiloh church, a mere log cotmtry meeting-house. 
 
 To resume: The regiment was standing at rest. The 
 skirmishing and the fact that the next regiment came up 
 overlapping our left, causing some confusion, diverted 
 attention in that direction. Looking to the front again, 
 I saw, coming down a gentle slope within easy range the 
 Confederates massed many lines deep. Reflect for one 
 moment upon the profotmd ignorance of war, — two hostile 
 
6o A BOY AT SHILOH 
 
 armies hunting each other without a skirmish line or advance 
 of any kind. Lieut. Col. R. T. Van Horn, our regimental 
 commander, gave the commands: "Attention, battalion — 
 ready — aim^fire! " The moving mass was decimated and 
 staggered. Its heavy loss, its very density, prevented a 
 vigorous reply. A heavy fire was poured upon them in 
 their deployment. But soon our men commenced to fall 
 thick and fast. Then we sought the shelter of the trees 
 for we were in heavy oak timber, pretty free from under- 
 brush. This position was held until our unsupported right 
 and left were being turned when we fell back ^'rom tree to 
 tree, to avert being enveloped. Every step was stubbornly 
 disputed. Our men were mostly hunters who would have 
 scorned shooting a squirrel or wild turkey but through the 
 head, and were cool. The "Johnnies" yelled vociferously 
 " Bull Run, Bull Run ! " and oiir men shouted back defiance — 
 "Why don't you come on?" Indeed the withering fire 
 they received at first, made them chary of pressing us, and 
 we could hear and see the efforts of their officers urging them 
 on. These were among the first casualties on the field, and 
 doubtlessly the woimded and many of the killed were carried 
 off, but the number of dead lornid here after the battle was 
 appalling. 
 
 Thus we resisted the advance of the enemy imtil our 
 color-hne was reached. With all that was at stake before, 
 now we had our camp to defend. Here we had had our 
 daily dress-parades and pomp of war; now had come the 
 circumstance. Colonel Peabody, always electrifying, was 
 doubly so now. We were not whipped, but simply out- 
 numbered. With a look of mortified pride but great de- 
 termination on his handsome face he conjured the men to 
 hold their ground. Pointing to the words in golden letters 
 on our flag, he cried out: "Lexington, men; Lexington; 
 remember Lexington!" 
 
 How long we held the enemy at bay at this line I cannot 
 say; it is beyond the range of human skill to estimate 
 accurately the flight of time in battle. Behind trees in the 
 company streets, and simply tents that screened us from 
 
A BOY AT SHILOH 6l 
 
 sight, we kept up a constant fire. The enemy could not 
 dislodge us. He dared not charge over the comparatively- 
 open ground between us, and for the same reason, as 
 well as because of our disorganized condition and his 
 vastly superior numbers, we could not charge him; but we 
 held him at musket range, and expected momentarily sup- 
 port. We thought we had him permanently checked and 
 would soon drive him back. Since the battle was on, the 
 entire Army could have assembled on our line had it fol- 
 lowed the simple maxim of war: "In the absence of orders, 
 march to the sound of battle." And we longed for field 
 guns to start him back and lamented they did not come. 
 There was a perceptible lull in the roar of musketry at the 
 left, and my attention was diverted from the front by a 
 rifle-ball striking a tree and filling the right side of my neck 
 with small pieces of oak bark. Sttmg by the sharp pain 
 and enthused by seeing a dun-horse battery coming from 
 the left at full nui, I exclaimed; "We will give them hell 
 now, a battery is coming!" My brother William had hardly 
 finished chiding me for using such language, when it 
 whirled into battery about two hundred yards away and 
 opened upon us with grape and canister. Horror of hor- 
 rors! Even ahead of the deafening reports of the gun came 
 a storm of missiles screaming and shrieking through the 
 air, ripping through tents, smashing tentpoles, knocking 
 from the trees limbs that rained upon us, tearing up the 
 ground, and raising a blinding dust. Crash — crash — came 
 in rapid succession the showers of iron hail. A solid shot 
 plunged through a tree and a shell burst in a mud bake- 
 oven and covered us with a cloud of dust and beat us with 
 clods and splinters. We could n't help it, we had to let go. 
 
 Could these be the gtms whose reports carried the first 
 tidings of the battle to Grant, at the breakfast-table at 
 Savannah, twelve miles away? 
 
 Just in the rear of the line of field officers' tents, a knot 
 of us made another stand. Here Colonel Peabody's horse 
 passed us, riderless and stirrups flapping in the air. We 
 knew our brave and noble Colonel had fallen. His body 
 
62 A BOY AT SHILOH 
 
 was found near by after the battle, and subsequently it 
 was sent to Springfield, Massachusetts. In the cemetery 
 there, a monument, draped with his country's flag, bearing 
 the words— "Lexington, Shiloh, 25th Mo. Vol. Inf'y"— all 
 cut in marble, marks his grave — the grave of the hero of 
 Shiloh, — the man whose devotion cost him his life, whose 
 vigilance, energy, and bravery saved the Army from utter 
 surprise and defeat and the Union cause from aU the far- 
 reaching consequences. Probably no man of our Armies, 
 in our entire history, rendered his country at one time 
 more valuable service, and yet, outside the few siurvivors 
 of his regiment, his name is hardly known, and is imhonored 
 and unsung. 
 
 Here this paper shotald properly end, for its main object 
 is to give some of the circumstances attending the attack 
 and shoving back of the 6th Division. But as I desire to 
 make a few comments on, I will not say criticise, the battle, 
 and as my story proper is not long, I will continue to presume 
 upon your patience. 
 
 Our little party was soon approached by Captain 
 Donnelly, the brigade adjutant, who demanded with some 
 asperity to know why we had not obeyed the order to retire, 
 directed us to do so, and pointed to the rear, towards 
 Hurlbut's division, as where our division was forming. We 
 had simply heard no orders. We soon came to an open 
 field, and as both flanks had been turned, to turn to the right 
 or left meant certain death or capture. We must cross the 
 open ground. A few rods out, and whiz — whiz — whiz! — 
 the bullets cut the air. Zip — zip — zip! — they ricocheted 
 by our sides to the front. None hit me, but they excited 
 wonderftilly my power of propulsion, and I believe my 
 fortime wotild be assxired as a sprinter now, if I could only 
 find some equally effective promoter of locomotion. 
 
 Behind a high rail fence, on low grotmd in dense under- 
 brush, we foimd the remnants of the regiment and brigade 
 assembled in line. Soon a terrific artillery duel commenced, 
 from the enemy trying to shell us from the position, and we 
 were supporting a 2o-poxmder battery always referred to by 
 
A BOY AT SHILOH 63 
 
 the men as the "black-gun" battery (probably Welker's 
 of the ist Missouri). Its maniptilation and manoeuvring 
 were truly marvelous, and brought forth time and again 
 cheers that sounded above the roar of battle. As a battery 
 or deployed by platoons, section, or pieces, it would deliver 
 fire; and the limbers, drawn by eight strong horses, would 
 seem to boimd to the rear, cannoneers spring to their places, 
 and fly away at breakneck speed, regardless of trees, logs, 
 or other obstacles, to a new position. Hardly would they 
 leave the firing point, when a grist of shot or shell would 
 come screaming through the air to find them gone. These 
 projectiles usually went high, playing havoc with limbs and 
 tree-tops that showered upon us, once completely en- 
 veloping a number of men, who crawled from under amidst 
 the laughter of all near. I saw one of the enemy's guns 
 end-up and keel-over and other confusion caused by our 
 guns. Meanwhile we had changed position several times, 
 and the enemy unseen, had massed an enormous force close 
 by. We occupied for a time a sunken road that traversed 
 a ridge, but finally moved straight to the front in line, the 
 centre in a dim road. Major Powell commanding, in advance 
 of the colors but walking backwards. We were soon upon 
 the enemy, formed in such close order as to appear simply 
 a vast multitude. Note again no skirmishers in advance. 
 The Major, turning to the front, saw the enemy, and realiz- 
 ing the critical situation, waved his sword and commanded 
 "To the rear — march!" falling, as did also the color-bearer, 
 from the volley we received. Sergeant Simmons rushed out 
 and grabbed up the flag, and four or five of us dragged 
 Major Powell away. A few hundred yards to the rear we 
 put him in an ambulance. He enjoined us to return to the 
 firing line and do oiir best, that every man was needed. He 
 was shot in the side, and died that night, patriotic, cool, 
 and brave to the last. 
 
 We found the firing line in the sunken road mentioned, 
 which was about fifteen inches or more deep, affording ex- 
 cellent cover and good rest while firing. For a short 
 distance to the front there was an tmdergrowth of hickory 
 
64 A BOY AT SHILOH 
 
 and oak, not yet leaved out, so we could see and aim through 
 it, but so dense as to conceal our line at a few yards. We 
 held this position for hours, pouring a deadly fire upon the 
 enemy and repulsing every attempt to dislodge us. The 
 tinderbrush became wooden stubble, gnawed off by bullets. 
 The road-bed after the battle had a carpet of paper from 
 the cartridges we had bitten off. At the front one could 
 walk on the enemy's dead for acres. This is literally time; 
 and a large portion of the ground bore but charred remains, 
 from a fire that had swept over it. Before the position was 
 taken and many of the line captured, my ammxmition 
 being about exhausted, I found there was not in sight a face 
 I knew. A feeling came over me I cannot describe, a dread 
 that if I were killed no one would know what had become 
 of me, not even my brothers or parents. I deliberately 
 walked away. A few rods to the rear I saw the first evidence 
 of general supervision of the battle, a wagon-load of am- 
 munition piled by the roadside. But none of it fitted my 
 musket. Soon I met my brother John N. also himting the 
 regiment, which we found a little farther on, in line across 
 the road. It was now nearly simset. 
 
 To show in part the desperate fighting the enemy expe- 
 rienced in carrying the stinken road, I will give a few ex- 
 tracts from the accoimt written by Preston Johnston, 
 son and aide-de-camp to the Confederate commanding 
 general, who lost his life in the last charge. 
 
 " When the Confederate army reached Hurlbut's division and 
 that of W. H. L. "Wallace's, with a fragment of Prentiss's a 
 gigantic contest began. . . . Hurlbut's men were massed in 
 a position so impregnable and thronged with such fierce de- 
 fenders, that it won from the Confederates the title of 'The 
 Hornets' Nest.' Here, behind a dense thicket on the crest of a 
 hill, was posted a strong force of hardy troops as ever fought. . . . 
 For five hours brigade after brigade was led against it. Hind- 
 man's brigades, which earlier in the day had swept ever5rthing 
 before them, were now reduced to fragments and paralyzed for 
 the rest of the day. A. P. Stuart's regiments made fruitless 
 assaults. Gibson's brigade was ordered by Bragg to the assault. 
 
A BOY AT SHILOH 65 
 
 and made a gallant charge, but like the others recoiled and fell 
 back with very heavy loss. Bragg ordered them again to the 
 charge, and again they suffered a bloody repulse. This bloody 
 affray lasted till nearly 4 o'clock p.m. without making any 
 visible impression upon the Federal centre. . . . When Gen- 
 eral Johnston came up and saw the situation, he said to his staff ; 
 ' They are offering stubborn resistance here. I shall have to put 
 the bayonets to them.' . . . His hat was oS. His pres- 
 ence was inspiring as he sat on his thoroughbred bay. His 
 voice was persuasive; his words were few. He said: 'Men, they 
 are stubborn. We must use the bayonet.' When he reached 
 the centre of the line he turned and said, 'I will lead you,' 
 and moved toward the Federal lines. With a mighty shout the 
 line moved forward at a charge. A sheet of flame and a mighty 
 roar burst from the Federal stronghold. ' The Confederate line 
 withered, but there was not an instant's pause. The crest was 
 gained. Gen. Johnston had his horse shot in four places; his 
 clothing was pierced with bullets and his boot-sole was cut by a 
 noinie-ball. The Federal soldiers kept up a continuous fire 
 as they fell back on their reserves, and delivered volley after 
 volley as they sullenly retired. A minie-ball from one of these 
 did its fatal work. As he sat there after his wound . . . 
 Gov. Harris returned, and finding him very pale, asked him, 
 ' General, are you wounded ? ' He answered in a very deliberate 
 and emphatic tone: 'Yes; and I fear seriously.' These were his 
 last words." 
 
 About dark the head of Buell's army led by a brass band 
 playing merrily patriotic airs marched upon this field of 
 carnage. This made a deep impression upon all. After 
 dark our shattered battaUon was marched for rations inside 
 the intrenchment constructed by Colonel Webster, and then 
 marched out again. We had had nothing to eat all day. 
 Though exhausted from fatigue, rain and the firing of the 
 gunboats at short intervals all night, made sleep without 
 shelter or blankets impossible. At dawn we were in the 
 midst of the slain, and learned for the first time how far 
 the enemy had turned our left, how near he had approached 
 the Landing, and how desperate and bloody had been the 
 contest near our base. Many of us sat upon dead horses 
 
66 A BOY AT SHILOH 
 
 while we ate our breakfast of hard bread and raw bacon. 
 Near us were six Confederate dead, killed by a single cannon- 
 ball that had pltmged through a tree. 
 
 The Army had been assembled during the night, but there 
 was some delay in adjusting the lines. From the beginning 
 of the battle to the finish there w"as an incessant booming of 
 artillery and simply a constant roar of musketry that varied 
 only in intensity ; and ovir Army made continuous progress. 
 During the first part of the day my regiment was in the 
 second line, which was more trying than we had ever found 
 the first. The contest was very severe about ii o'clock, 
 and we were hugging the ground closely, bullets cutting the 
 brush just over us, when an officer, whose coolness and 
 bravery excited owe adiniration, rode up and spoke to some 
 of the officers. My brother William, then a sergeant, came 
 to me and handing me his canteen, said: "Go back to the 
 ravine and fill this and your own; and don't you come back 
 without water." I foimd no water directly in the rear, and 
 had to follow the ravine a long distance. When I returned, 
 the regiment was gone. I simply wandered and followed 
 the lines, making fruitless inquiries till otir sacked and 
 plundered camp was reached, late in the afternoon. In 
 1889, 27 years after the battle, my brother explained to 
 me for the first time, that he overheard the officer ask 
 what regiment it was, and say to the reply, it was just 
 the one he wanted, that he wanted to drive the enemy 
 from a certain position, etc. " Not believing I would live 
 through the rush," said my brother, "nor seeing how 
 anyone cotild, I thought I would try to save you." What 
 followed this order, though interesting, is no part of this 
 paper. 
 
 Our regimental quartermaster was in arrest for hav- 
 ing secured in his zeal another complete uniform for the 
 regiment, under the misunderstanding that it had none. 
 The enormous pile of boxes (here in the field) had been 
 emptied by our friends, the enemy. Old shoes covered 
 the ground for a radius of a himdred yards. Not a blanket 
 or stitch of clothing was left in our tents. I then and there 
 
A BOY AT SHILOH 67 
 
 formed the resolution to wear thereafter my best clothes in 
 battle. 
 
 The vigilance of Colonel Peabody saved the Union Army 
 from utter surprise. He was inspired, no doubt, by his 
 energetic adjutant, Captain Donnelly, and guided by him 
 and Major Powell, both men of military experience. 
 Peabody and Donnelly, like all my regiment, having Hved 
 in a slave State, and served in one nearly a year, imderstood 
 the spirit, energy, enterprise, and terrible earnestness of the 
 secessionists. When our Government resorted to war to 
 save the Union, the South knew that failure meant the death- 
 knell of slavery. A proud-spirited, fiery, warlike people, 
 they threw their whole souls into the contest, and were 
 willing to sacrifice their property and if need be their lives. 
 The fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, and the concentra- 
 tion of an army at Pittsburg Landing, was turning the im- 
 pregnable position of Columbus — "The Gibraltar of Amer- 
 ica," that blocked the Mississippi. It was a wedge splitting 
 in twain the Confederacy, and lopping off the great source 
 of supplies of its armies and people. It caused the greatest 
 consternation and alarm and called for a spontaneous and 
 unanimous effort of the people to hurl the invaders back, or 
 all would be lost. A proclamation was issued to gov- 
 ernors of states, who, in turn made passionate appeals to 
 the people, who bent every effort in response. The in- 
 vading army should be met before strengthened by the 
 arrival of Buell. Military organizations of whatever name 
 or nature rushed to the rescue, some of their governors 
 accompanying them, to urge them on to victory. The 
 Confederate generals were overwhelmed, and could not 
 handle and organize the hordes that came pouring in, and 
 delayed the start. 
 
 On the other hand, our Army was only a rapidly con- 
 centrated, badly organized aggregation of armed raw 
 material. The battles at Forts Henry and Donelson had 
 been won more by superb fighting qualities than from 
 generalship or military skill. The necessity that placed 
 General Grant in command on the eve of battle, was 
 
68 A BOY AT SHILOH 
 
 " swapping horses in the middle of the stream," and gave 
 him no time to compass the situation. The almost absolute 
 necessity that no battle should be fought before the arrival 
 of Buell's army seemed to forbid scouting or anjrthing that 
 might appear aggressive. Ignorance of the resources, 
 energy, and enterprise of the enemy lulled our commanders 
 into fancied security. The day before the battle, the day 
 the enemy arrived within two-and-a-half miles of camp and 
 delayed attack till morning only to have more daylight, 
 General Grant sent this official report : " I have scarcely the 
 faintest idea of an attack (general one) being made upon us, 
 but will be prepared should such a thing take place." 
 
 The regiments to compose this Army had not all arrived. 
 Prentiss's Third Brigade was stUl on the steamers. Divisions 
 were not camped within supporting distance ; and there were 
 wide gaps in the same line. Our left, due in part to the 
 non-arrival of Prentiss's other brigade, was too far from the 
 river and unsupported. Indeed, it was never expected that 
 a battle wotild be fought at Shiloh. The concentration of 
 troops had been so rapid that officers were entirely un- 
 acquainted and did not know what regiments were to the 
 right or left. Many regiments wore imiforms furnished by 
 their State ; and some of them were mistaken in the battle 
 for the enemy, and vice versa. There was a great variety 
 of small-arms and artillery; and troops became paralyzed 
 from want of proper ammunition alone ; and some regiments 
 had never loaded their arms before the battle. In fact, there 
 had been no proper training, and there was no system. 
 The only soldierly quality present was a desire to fight. 
 
 The battle was simply a series of fierce combats. So ■ 
 many brigade and regimental commanders fell, and their 
 successors knew so little as to what orders had been received, 
 or whence they came, that the reports simply defy a tangible 
 connection for an accvirate account of the struggle. The 
 Confederate Army with its great bulk at the front, struck 
 our short lines and enveloped them, so they had to give 
 way or be captured. 
 
 But they would not yield a step without determined 
 
A BOY AT SHILOH 69 
 
 resistance. They would then fall back upon fresh troops, or 
 take a strong position and repulse assault after assault, and 
 the ground was particularly favorable for such fighting. 
 The enemy fought to conquer or to fall; and they fell by 
 thousands. As the strength of the Confederate forces will 
 never be known, from their very conglomeration, and lack 
 of returns, so, too, will never be known the number of 
 their cotintless dead upon that sanguinary field. The 
 number must have been largely in excess of our own, which, 
 God knows, was horrible enough. Companions, no people 
 can be true to themselves who send untrained the flower of 
 their youth to such wanton slaughter. Had otu: Govern- 
 ment maintained at moderate expense a reasonably-sized 
 army, it could have reinforced promptly the garrison at 
 Fort Sumter, and other points, and nipped the rebellion 
 in the bud. Our political questions would have been settled 
 without bloodshed and thousands of millions of treasure and 
 half a million of lives would have been saved; and incal- 
 ciilable suffering and misery averted. None like the old 
 soldier, knows the real cost and horrors of war. Then let us, 
 a band of old soldiers and patriots devoted to our country, 
 keep impressed upon the people that if we would avert the 
 cost and horrors of war, we simply have to be always 
 prepared for one. 
 
AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM WITH THE 
 EIGHTH OHIO INFANTRY. 
 
 Read before the Commandery by First Lieutenant 
 
 Thomas F. De Burgh Galwey, U. S. Vols., 
 
 December i, 1897. 
 
 I INTEND in this paper to relate only that which fell 
 within the range of my own personal experience or 
 observation at the battle of Antietam, and I have pre- 
 pared it chiefly because I deem it a duty for every active 
 participant in important events of the Civil War to put on 
 record what he remembers that may be of value to the 
 future historians of that struggle. 
 
 Considered without regard to the strategy of the cam- 
 paign of which it formed a part, the Battle of Antietam 
 was a drawn battle ; but considered merely as a fight it was 
 one of the fiercest and most persistent of modem times, and 
 one of the fairest of the whole war. For the numbers really 
 opposed were altogether practically about even, and as to 
 advantages of position there was not on the whole much 
 preponderance on either side. When I speak of the numbers 
 I am aware that it is easy to misunderstand the battle, if 
 one follows some of the written accoimts, because of the 
 queer arithmetic, or vanity, or whatever motive, or means, 
 it may be, that has, in some of these accounts, juggled with 
 the estimate of ntraibers engaged. I say engaged, and it is 
 just as well to keep in mind the simple fact that, ordinarily 
 speaking, battles are fought not by those who are merely 
 present at the fight but that are present in the fight. Now, 
 at Antietam, though our army was probably more numerous 
 than the Confederate army, there were thousands of our 
 troops who were within range of the Confederate artillery 
 
 70 
 
AT THE BATTLE OP ANTIETAM 7 1 
 
 and yet did not fire a shot in all that long day. I am not 
 criticising the battle ; merely describing what I saw. The 
 men who did not fight, or a large proportion of them, would 
 have fought as well as those that did, but, through no fault 
 of theirs, they were not taken into the fight, or history 
 might have had to be differently written. 
 
 The 8th Ohio Infantiy was a part of Kimball's 
 brigade, of French's division, of Sumner's Second Corps. 
 Generally this brigade consisted of fotir regiments that 
 began their field service in July, 1861, in the West Virginia 
 campaign of that summer, the 4th Ohio, 8th Ohio, 14th 
 Indiana, and 7th (West) Virginia. Their first brigade 
 commander was General B. F. Kelley (a native West Vir- 
 ginian). Under him, in October, 1861, they assaulted 
 Romney, a mountain fastness, and capttured it, with many 
 prisoners, twelve pieces of artillery, and the entire wagon- 
 train of the enemy, an achievement that met recognition in a 
 congratulatory order from General Winfield Scott, said to 
 have been the old man's last official order. Then they 
 became the First Brigade of that newly organized division, 
 which, under General Lander, made the famous retreat from 
 Romney in January, 1862, in the midst of a dreadftil storm, 
 alternating between snow and rain and frost, in which 
 Stonewall Jackson was outwitted, and many of his men 
 perished with the cold. Lander being then succeeded by 
 General James Shields, the command of the brigade fell to 
 Nathan Kimball, Colonel of the 14th Indiana, and after- 
 wards brigadier-general. It was Shields 's division which 
 at Keamstown, near Winchester, in March, 1862, inflicted 
 upon Stonewall Jackson a square and unmistakable defeat, 
 the only defeat in gentiine fight ever suffered by the great 
 Confederate, who was piirsued after the battle and attacked 
 by Shields day after day without respite, until the Wash- 
 ington people, believing Jackson to have been driven 
 beyond need of further attention, sent Shields with the 
 division to Fredericksburg to join McDowell, there, still 
 ragged and barefoot from their long and arduous cam- 
 paigning, to pass in review before President Lincoln, in 
 
72 AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 
 
 humorous contrast with the tailor-made uniforms and var- 
 nished bootees of McDowell's other divisions; only to be 
 sent back in hot haste, still in rags and unshod, to meet 
 Jackson again, now victorious over Banks, and to begin 
 once more the work of htmting the Virginian up the Shenan- 
 doah Valley. That done, for some mysterious reason, 
 never fully or satisfactorily explained, Shields was retired 
 from the command, the division was broken up, and Kim- 
 ball's brigade was sent to the Peninsula to join the main 
 body of the Army of the Potomac, and shortly was attached 
 to the Second Corps and there remained to the end. At 
 the Battle of Antietam the 4th Ohio was absent, but a new 
 regiment, that had never been tinder fire, the 13 2d Pennsyl- 
 vania, was attached to the brigade. 
 
 The Second Corps became engaged between eight and 
 nine o'clock on the morning of September 17th. It had 
 been in bivouac on the eastern side of Antietam Creek, 
 near the Keedysville road, since the 15th, when it had 
 come from Turner's Gap in the South Motintain range, 
 the day after the battle there. But the whole corps did 
 not go in at once. During the night orders were received in 
 my regiment to be under arms at three o'clock ready to 
 move, but we did not move until seven, and by that time 
 the fighting seemed already to be well under way beyond 
 the high ground north of Sharpsburg. French's division in 
 column of fotirs — or, as we used to say then, in " four ranks, " 
 — Max Weber's brigade leading, then Morris's, then Kim- 
 ball's marched back on the Keedysville road and then filed 
 off to the left down-hill to the creek and forded it, waist-deep 
 just where Sedg\\'ick's division had crossed before us. 
 
 As second-sergeant of the left company of the regiment 
 I was the last of my regiment on this short march to the 
 creek. Just behind came the 13 2d Pennsylvania, and its 
 colonel's horse was close upon my heels. That colonel 
 himself was discussing in a serious way with his adjutant, 
 who rode beside him, the chances of coming out of the 
 battle unscathed, all of which was mimicked by a little 
 fellow of my company, a man of wild and lawless ante- 
 
AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 73 
 
 cedents — the colonel's pious contention that one must do 
 his duty under all circumstances and then leave the rest 
 to the Providence of God, and so forth, being jeered at by 
 the scamp, who ended his mockery by swearina;, in the 
 profane style that was his habit, that the bullet was not 
 yet moulded that would do him harm. And that was true, 
 for later in the day he was to fall in an ugly heap, the top of 
 his sktill cut clear off by a fragment of shell from the Diinker 
 Church, and the Pennsylvania colonel was also to be among 
 the slain of that day. A few hundred yards beyond the 
 ford, Weber's brigade halted long enough to close up its 
 lengthened ranks, then faced to the left and advanced in 
 line of battle, and Morris's and Kimball's brigades did the 
 same as they successively reached the same point. And 
 thus French's division moved forward into action, in three 
 parallel lines of battle, separated from each other by a 
 distance of about two hundred yards. 
 
 We moved in quick time and our course at first was 
 through a fine open oak wood. The wood was full of 
 stragglers and there were some dead, and many wounded 
 were passing our right towards the rear. We moved in 
 very good order in spite of the trees, but when we emerged 
 from the wood we came upon rolling gxoimd strewn with 
 huge boulders and masses of rock, witnesses of the glacial 
 epoch so dear to the geologist. 
 
 Sedgwick's division was already a good while engaged 
 and the smoke of their fighting was rising white and thick 
 off to our right front and perhaps a rmle or more away. 
 It was to be for our side a day of fighting by detail. To 
 our front Weber's and Morris's brigades were in view ad- 
 vancing in good style. We saw a few himdred yards ahead 
 of us a cluster of farm biiildings, an apple orchard just 
 beyond, and beyond that again a slight but distinct ridge 
 with a depression through it, and on the upward slope from 
 the depression a cornfield clear to the farther crest of the 
 ridge, and reaching out to our right of the farm buildings, 
 which were known as Rotdette's, another cornfield. To 
 our left front, farther on than Roulette's houses and 
 
74 AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 
 
 detached on this side of the ridge, was a considerable em- 
 inence, which seemed to overlook all the land in sight, and 
 this and the ridge formed for us just then, and for most of 
 French's division during the entire battle, the background 
 of the pictiu-e, above which were the blue sky and the 
 fleecy clouds of that bright and warm September day. 
 
 This is probably not a description that will fit in with a 
 topographical map leisurely drawn by surveyors, but it is 
 the picture that then was formed upon the retina of my 
 young eye and became fixed in my memory, as we saw 
 Weber's regiments, which had now passed beyond the 
 orchard and were near the foot of the low crest that runs 
 along this side of the depression, breaking up into small 
 groups, and a line of Confederates in butternut, with red- 
 looking flags, advancing from the depression, over the low 
 crest, upon Weber's men and firing into them. Just then 
 there came in from the right, from behind where Sedgwick 
 was engaged, the shattered remnant of another Ohio 
 regiment that belonged to Mansfield's Coips. 
 
 The colonel of the 8th Ohio at this time was Samuel 
 Sprigg Carroll, who died about three years ago in his home 
 in Washington, a major-general on the retired list of the army. 
 But at this time he was detached from us, in command of 
 another brigade, and was not to return to us until after the 
 Battle of Fredericksburg, where Kimball was disabled by a 
 severe wound. Carroll was a great fighter; one of the best 
 in the Army of the Potomac. But he was also a fine 
 tactician, not only on the drill-ground but also, and more 
 particularly, imder fire and in the crises of battle. In the 
 times that tried men's souls, and God knows this brigade 
 often experienced such times, Carroll was not only in the 
 midst of it but could be seen by all of the brigade whenever 
 there was stress of fighting, and every officer and man knew 
 that Carroll would see him. But if Kimball was not a 
 tactician, he had heart and grit and intelligence. He made 
 us a little speech at Rotilette's farm, the substance of which 
 was, "Boys, we are going for the 'Johnnies' now, and we 'U 
 stay with them all day if necessary!" 
 
AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 75 
 
 We sprang to our feet from the ground where we had 
 halted and moved forward, halting again, but for a moment 
 or two only, in the orchard, to unsling our knapsacks, 
 which we left on the grass there under the trees. 
 
 On our left was a road running towards the ridge. 
 As we pressed on, we were ordered to wheel slightly to the 
 left so as to come in on our left of Weber's line, and we 
 struck obliquely, therefore, upon this road, which was 
 enclosed on both sides by neatly painted board-rail fences, 
 that had to be climbed, as there was not time to pull them 
 down. Being the extreme left-hand man of the front rank 
 of the 8th Ohio I was the first to reach each of these fences 
 successively and thus rose twice into tindesirable prom- 
 inence for a mere second-sergeant. Two or three days 
 before I had drawn a new haversack, and that style of 
 haversack, as you know, was made with a strap long enough 
 for a seven-footer, so that I had "taken in the slack" 
 with a big knot. When I struck the first of these fences 
 my little store of "hard-tack," salt pork, coffee, etc., was 
 in its place, but as I was straddling the top of the second 
 fence a whir like a bumble-bee's flitted past my ear, and a 
 weight fell from my shoulder. Some so-called sharp- 
 shooter had missed me, but his biillet had cut the big knot 
 of my haversack strap and thus parted me from my rations 
 forever. On account of our slight left wheel my own com- 
 pany had nearly all passed over to our left of this road by 
 the time we arrived at the first crest of the ridge, while the 
 rest of the regiment extended out to the right, to the right 
 of that being the 14th Indiana. 
 
 At this time, somewhere about nine in the morning, 
 KimbaU's brigade was in compact line of battle in two ranks, 
 so far as the right wing of the brigade — ^the 14th Indiana and 
 the 8th Ohio. The left wing was all to our left of this road ; 
 the 7th (West) Virginia somewhat "refused," or bent 
 back to the rear, though it was afterwards, I believe (I do 
 not remember when or how) shifted altogether from the 
 left flank, while the 13 2d Pennsylvania was placed in 
 echelon in rear of the left flank. This formation was adopted 
 
76 AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 
 
 because there were no troops of ours on our left then, nor 
 for some time afterwards. 
 
 As we came up the Confederates fell very quickly back, 
 and disappeared down into an old rain-worn lane that ran 
 along through the depression in the ridge. This is the 
 famous "Sunken (or 'Bloody') Lane," out of which after 
 the battle the bodies of several hundreds of Confederate dead 
 were removed by our men, for burial. We halted upon the 
 slight crest upon which we had first seen the Confederates 
 appear in their attack upon Weber's men. We had a 
 plunging fire into the lane, which looked to us then like a 
 mere ditch and was distant about fifty or sixty yards. The 
 lane came down from higher ground from the direction of 
 the Dimker church towards oiir right front, and in front 
 of us seemed to be at its lowest, and then to rise slightly 
 again in the other direction, towards our left front. At our 
 left front a zigzag rail fence ran from the lane at right 
 angles up the slope, on our left of the cornfield there, the 
 cornfield being directly in front of us. When we first 
 reached this position on the slight crest, that corn was 
 standing and of about the height of a man and would par- 
 tially conceal troops in it, if they would keep down or remain 
 still. 
 
 You will pardon me for being particular about some of 
 these details. There is much dispute in most of the printed 
 accounts as to what troops of both sides were engaged in 
 the neighborhood of the Sunken Lane. The author of what 
 is perhaps the best known account from the Federal side. 
 General Palfrey, in his work The Antietam and Freder- 
 icksburg (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1882), seems 
 to regard the Sunken Lane as a great puzzle, and, if I 
 mistake not, it has not yet, after all these years, been de- 
 termined precisely what Confederate troops took part in 
 the fighting at this point. 
 
 We thought the Confederates in taking refuge in that 
 lane had put themselves into a sort of trap, for the ground 
 behind them, on which the corn grew, was a steep rise, and, 
 though we could see that they had reinforcements in that 
 
AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 
 
 77 
 
 com, there appeared to be hesitation among them. We 
 halted where we did without orders, just as all troops ad- 
 vancing under fire will do when they come to a slight swell 
 in the ground, a fence, a ditch, or any other temporary 
 advantage for a firing line. We had no orders to halt, it is 
 true, but it is also true that, not at least for some time 
 after, did we have an order to go on. At all events, we 
 settled down right there on the grass, our men bestowing 
 themselves as best they could to fire most effectively sitting, 
 kneeling, or lying down. There were Confederate battle- 
 flags at intervals in the Stmken Lane, six or seven, I think, 
 along otor front at one time, and more in the cornfield 
 behind, indicating, I suppose, just so many regiments. 
 The fence on this side of the lane had been pulled down and 
 the rails were piled up along this edge. On the other side 
 of the lane the fence, a common snake or zigzag fence, was 
 still standing at first, but later on I recollect noticing that 
 it was nearly all down. 
 
 It is almost certain that for a very short while after our 
 arrival we cotild have carried the lane and the slope beyond 
 by a dash, for the Confederates in the lane manifested no 
 disposition to attack. It was only rarely that a head could 
 be seen above the pile of rails, though on the several 
 occasions within the first hour when our men, by their own 
 impulse rather than by any concerted action, or author- 
 itative command, rose from their recumbent firing positions 
 and fixed bayonets to charge, the Confederates showed 
 themselves plainly enough and met us with a murderous 
 fire. It was about this time that I noticed that the Con- 
 federates in the cornfield were no longer visible; perhaps 
 they had withdrawn. But the minutes slipped by and the 
 good opporttmity was gone. 
 
 It is difficult to take accotmt of time in the heat of 
 battle — minutes may seem like hours, or hoiirs like minutes. 
 But it was not very long until it looked as if it might be a 
 question whether we could hold the ground which we had 
 so easily taken but had already lost so severely to keep. 
 Down over the crest and through the tall com we saw what 
 
78 AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 
 
 was probably a brigade, several lines — five or six according 
 to my observation and recollection — each with its battle- 
 flag, descending into the lane and there disappearing for a 
 small fraction of time. Then the musketry from the lane, 
 which had been intermittent before, broke out into a loud 
 roar, and from that on imtil the end the fighting at this 
 point w-as, with a few intervals, steady and destructive. 
 
 During all the time of this fight at the Sunken Lane my 
 company were mostly perched upon a little knoll to the left, 
 as I have before described it, of the road running to the lane. 
 Just across to the right of the road, and a little to the front 
 of the fence that ran along there, and gave, as it were, 
 the general alignment to the 8th Ohio, were tw"0 or three 
 trees, and under these trees, but in front of their trunks, the 
 two stands of colors of the regiment were for those three 
 hours or more waved by their bearers, both members of 
 my company, both exceedingly brave and daring men, and 
 neither of them was so much as hit upon that day, despite 
 their long continued and most conspicuous exposure of 
 themselves, though the colors they bore were shot through 
 and through many times. I can see another sergeant of 
 my company even now, as I fancy, kneeling upon the grass 
 on the farthest-out point of the knoll, loading and firing 
 with slow and grim htmior. The blood from an ugly flesh- 
 wound trickled down and reddened the powder grime on 
 his face, but he paid no heed to the advice to keep back a 
 little out of sight and only relaxed from his careftil loading 
 and firing to take now and then a fresh chew of tobacco. 
 My captain was off to the right for a good part of the time 
 acting as major, and both of our lieutenants were by this 
 time mortally hurt; one killed outright, the other carried 
 off to die in Hngering pain at the rear. The heads of white 
 clover were quivering in the grass about me and when I ex- 
 claimed to one of my men, "See the crickets jtimp!" he 
 thought I was joking and burst out laughing, and I very 
 soon perceived that the crickets were bullets. 
 
 I have read somewhere a Confederate account of the 
 battle in which it is said that "one thin Hne of Confederates 
 
AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 
 
 79 
 
 without reinforcements held the Sunken Lane all that 
 morning against the Yankees." But that is mere Southern 
 romance. Besides the reinforcements I have mentioned, at 
 least once again that morning more Confederates came down 
 through the cornfield and disappeared into the lane. And 
 another point I wish to make while I am at it: later on, 
 when we ascended that cornfield, as I shall describe, the 
 cornstalks were nearly all trodden down. But let that pass 
 for the moment. It was a mystery to us at the time, and 
 has been ever since, how such numbers as we saw come 
 down the slope cotild be disposed of in that lane, not to 
 speak of those who occupied the lane when we first arrived. 
 The great numbers of dead in the lane will partly explain it, 
 it is true. Hundreds perhaps ran away, wounded or not; 
 during all those hours there was not a moment that I could 
 not see numbers of men hastening away up through that 
 cornfield, and there was an almost unbroken string, of men, 
 in single file, for nearly all that time running along up by 
 the zigzag fence. Some of these, perhaps a considerable 
 proportion, were wounded ; some limped, some crawled, 
 many who were probably not wounded actually leaped. 
 The men of my company at least abstained from firing at 
 those that seemed to be woimded. And then my reg- 
 iment, as described presently, took about three hundred 
 prisoners. But after all these allowances, the mystery of 
 that awful Sunken Lane still seems tmexplained. 
 
 There was a time when a sudden lull occurred in the 
 Confederate fire from the lane, and then at one moment we 
 saw perhaps a dozen little white squares rise above the 
 fence-rails; whether they were white handkerchiefs (a 
 luxury hardly to be expected then and there) or the white 
 cotton haversacks used by the Confederates, we could not 
 distinguish. This was up the lane and rather opposite 
 the right wing of my regiment, and the 14th Indiana perhaps. 
 It seemed to mean desire for surrender and our brigade 
 line advanced, and it was at this time that the three hundred 
 prisoners referred to above were scooped in by the right of 
 my regiment ; just how I do not know, though I remember 
 
8o AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 
 
 well seeing the great crowd of long, lank North Carolinians 
 going off to the rear a few minutes after under the guard 
 of Captain Miller and his company of the 8th Ohio. It was 
 quickly plain that though there might be some in the lane 
 who wished to stirrender these were in the minority, for 
 we met a musketry fire so rapid and well aimed that we aU 
 unfixed bayonets and backed up step by step until we were 
 on the old ground, where we dropped down again and 
 resiuned our fire as before. 
 
 The waving of the battle-flags on the opposing lines 
 was a feature that struck me more at Antietam than any 
 where else in the war. Perhaps the first man killed on the 
 Union side at Antietam was a color-bearer of my regiment, 
 who was struck by a cannon-shot while holding his colors 
 in the line at the opening of the sudden Confederate can- 
 nonade on the morning of the i6th, while we were drawn 
 up in columns of brigades closed in mass, and out of sight, 
 as we supposed, from the enemy's artillery. The vacancy 
 was instantly sought for and obtained by a young corporal 
 of my company as "a soft snap," and during all those ter- 
 rible morning hours in front of the Sunken Lane he and 
 another of my company, carrying the two colors of the 
 regiment, were from first to last constantly visible to the 
 enemy, sometimes kneeling or sitting down, but a good 
 portion of the time standing up on their two feet and un- 
 tiringly waving the colors to and fro, a threat to the enemy 
 and an encouragement to their comrades. But there was 
 a Confederate battle-flag that was just as persistently waved, 
 though not for so long perhaps. For about two hours at 
 least it waved at the angle where the zigzag rail fence 
 ascended the slope from the lane, opposite to but somewhat 
 to our left of the position of my company on the knoll. I 
 do not remember that its bearer was once in our sight; he 
 probably kept close to the ground in the corner of the fence. 
 Time and again a group of my company would aim together 
 and pull trigger at the base of the flag-staff and now and 
 again that flag would go down, with a triumphant war- 
 whoop on our part. But it always rose again, sometimes 
 
AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 8l 
 
 after an interval, and my last recollection connected with it 
 is that it was still waving. 
 
 For what seemed like an hour after our arrival on the 
 groiind, we were all alone. We cotild look far to the rear, 
 but no Union troops were in sight and we were now sadly 
 in need of some relief. Our numbers were reduced; our 
 ammimition was running low. Our men had all begun with 
 sixty rounds, and now they endeavored to economize their 
 cartridges and to gather more from the cartridge-boxes on 
 the ground belonging to the dead or wounded. 
 
 Richardson's division at length came up on our left and 
 the Irish brigade of that division came into close touch with 
 us, the orderly sergeant of the right company of the 88th 
 New York, kneeling down, I remember, just at my left 
 shoiolder and banging away at the enemy. He was a red- 
 headed, red-bearded man, and the whole circumstance is 
 impressed on my mind from the fact that he put his hand 
 into the haversack of a dead Confederate whose body lay 
 on the grass in front of both of us and took therefrom a bag 
 of coffee, which he kept for himself, handing to me a bag of 
 sugar, which I accepted, only to recollect that my haversack 
 had been shot away, and so I gave the sugar to another. 
 
 The Confederate artillery off towards the Dunker church 
 had found our line with their shots and were enfilading us 
 from right to left. Hard-pressed men will always complain, 
 and otir men then complained that there was no artillery 
 support for Kimball's brigade. Many times I heard a 
 curse because no battery had yet been run up to the com- 
 manding eminence that I mentioned as to the left and 
 slightly to the rear of our line. Later on Pleasonton put 
 one of his horse batteries up there, but by that time our 
 struggle was nearly at an end. 
 
 But as the sxm approached its noon height how the 
 heavens did ring with the peal of artillery and the roar of 
 musketry, and we knew by the din, and by the yelling and 
 cheering of troops out of sight, that the fighting was fierce 
 elsewhere, as with us. 
 
 Noon came and went and we had not yet made head- 
 
 6 
 
82 AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 
 
 way, though many times we fixed bayonets, dressed our line 
 as well as we could, and rushed towards the lane, but at each 
 of these efforts the Confederates rose from their cover and 
 drove us back to our old position by their killing rain of 
 musket-baUs. Our solid line of battle had now become 
 reduced to a mere thin Hne of skirmishers; the rest of our 
 comrades lay about us on the grass wotmded or dead or 
 had gone disabled to the rear. It seemed as if we could 
 not endure it much more. We must go forward, or else 
 altogether abandon the ground. To our rear was nothing, 
 and Richardson's division had moved and left nothing on our 
 left 
 
 It was about this time that the captain of my company 
 appeared from the right, passing the order along the line 
 as he approached, "Fix bayonets! Battalion, forward, 
 right wheel, double quick," and the word of execution, 
 "March!" he spoke as soon as he reached us on the knoll. 
 
 Whether Captain Kenny originated that order or merely 
 coEomunicated it from another, I never knew. I know he 
 was the only one that gave it to us, or to any of the reg- 
 iment that I ever heard, and I know that, though not an 
 educated man, he must have inherited the instincts of a 
 race of warriors, and that he had a natural aptitude for 
 tactics; and, like Samuel Sprigg Carroll (and the two men, 
 so different in many respects and so alike in others, were 
 much attached to each other), it was when face to face 
 with the enemy that his aptitude as a tactician showed to the 
 best advantage. The Confederates had broken through the 
 line to the right of the 14th Indiana, and into the corn- 
 field there. 
 
 It was a good thing for us to have a voice of command 
 that we could hear, and the order was obeyed at once. It 
 seemed Hke merely a hop, skip, and jump till we were at 
 the lane, and into it, the Confederates breaking away in 
 haste and fleeing up the slope. What a sight was that 
 lane! I shall not dwell on the horror of it; I saw many a 
 ghastly array of dead afterwards, but none, I think, that so 
 affected me as did the sight of the poor brave fellows in 
 
AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 83 
 
 butternut homespun that had there died for what they 
 believed to be honor and a righteous cause. 
 
 We c4ambered forward up the steep slope, on the trodden 
 stalks, wheeling, as we went, to the right, until a mere 
 group of us, at the left of the line, stood upon the crest of 
 that ridge and saw just below a farmhouse, and, beyond that, 
 Sharpsburg. 
 
 Our right wheel was intended to be an attack upon the 
 right flank of those Confederates who were advancing into 
 the cornfield to our right of the orchard and Roulette's 
 farm buildings. But we were now evidently too v/eak for 
 the work cut out for us; before we had completed the wheel, 
 the right of our brigade had begun to fall back towards 
 those buildings, and the withdrawal extended towards the 
 right of the 8th Ohio and we could see the Confederates 
 pouring over through the cornfield towards our right rear, 
 a force of them stringing themselves out along a wall, from 
 which they were firing into the remnant of Kimball's 
 brigade that was passing them in retreat. 
 
 We had but three or four cartridges apiece, and we 
 numbered fifty or sixty, those of us who were still on the 
 crest, and we started back in a huddle, but slowly, and 
 then, stretching out in single file, we went back by the same 
 road which my company had crossed obliquely about four 
 hours before, and kept ourselves, as well as we could, close 
 to the still standing fence on the side towards the enemy. 
 They peppered us unmercifully and gibed and mocked us in 
 our humiliation as we who had shortly before believed our- 
 selves within reach of victory crouched and slimk down 
 that lane. 
 
 We turned into the road behind Rotilette's barn and 
 threw ourselves upon the grotmd where the rest of the 
 brigade had gathered and were getting their second wind 
 and receiving fresh ammunition. A brigade of the Sixth 
 Corps (a Vermont brigade we then understood) was just 
 then moving into the cornfield on our right with full car- 
 tridge-boxes, and they quickly put a check to the Con- 
 federate advance there. 
 
84 AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 
 
 It was while standing abotit at our ease at Roiilette's 
 bam that I got an effective lesson in the beauty of polite- 
 ness. I had stepped forward to sit down in a part of a 
 stone wall where the upper stones had fallen out, but, as I 
 did so, another man moved in the same direction with the 
 same intent. While we were both, in an impulse of self- 
 denial and good nature, each bowing to the other to take 
 the seat, a Confederate twelve-pound round shot struck the 
 smooth spot that we had both picked out, and, ricochetting 
 off, landed on a low ridge to our right rear, in the midst of 
 an advancing coliunn of foiirs of the Sixth Corps, throwing 
 the dust far up into the air and leaving an opening among 
 the files. 
 
 Early in the afternoon we were placed in position in a 
 ravine that led towards the right from Roulette's barn, and 
 there lay down behind the fence to the rear of the cornfield 
 as a support for the Sixth Corps troops there engaged, and 
 for the rest of the day took our share of such of the Con- 
 federate projectiles as missed the brave, stanch, ever re- 
 liable Sixth Corps men. 
 
 Before I close, I desire to say that my account is in 
 some respects probably in conflict with a good deal that 
 has been printed with regard to the part of the battle of 
 Antietam in question. Yet it should be said that most of the 
 printed accoimts are curiously vague as to what was done 
 by Kimball's brigade. No doubt, however, the board ap- 
 pointed by the War Department, under authority of 
 Congress, to mark out on the Antietam battle-field the 
 positions of the various commands will clear up many ob- 
 scure points. But I deem it my duty in the interest of the 
 truth of history to dissent to some extent from the account 
 of Antietam by General Palfrey to which I have refen-ed. 
 General Palfrey, it appears, was wounded early in the fore- 
 noon, and, being of Sedgwick's Division, could not in any 
 case have had personal knowledge of what he describes 
 concerning French's Division. I will quote one passage. 
 Here it is (page 94) : 
 
 There is no doubt that French's division did some very severe 
 
AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM 85 
 
 fighting, and met and repulsed successive attacks on its left, 
 front, and right, but it did not succeed in driving the Confederates 
 out of the old road. 
 
 [By the "old road" General Palfrey, as he elsewhere 
 explains, means what is generally called the Sunken (or 
 Bloody) road or lane.] 
 
 The smartest push made by the Confederates was on Kim- 
 ball's left, and Kimball's losses were very heavy, amounting 
 to about seven hundred out of about fourteen hundred in three 
 of his regiments, the 8th Ohio, 13 2d Pennsylvania, and 14th 
 Indiana. . . . Their gallant fighting did not accompUsh 
 much, as Federal and Confederate accounts agree that they 
 finally took position behind the crest of a hill which looked down 
 upon the old road. The Confederates had great advantage of 
 position, as the old road and the rails piled before it placed 
 them, as it were, in a fort, and they got some guns into a place 
 from which they were able to partially enfilade the line. 
 
 So far General Palfrey. 
 
 As I think I have shown, the position of the 8th Ohio, 
 at least, was not behind the crest, but upon it, that of my 
 own company (Co. B) on a knoll somewhat above the 
 crest. I have shown also that we drove out of the {Sunken 
 Road aU the Confederates who were not dead or imable to 
 escape. As to what was accomplished by the fighting of 
 Kimball's Brigade, I do not believe that any one is com- 
 petent to say. But to say that it "did not accomplish 
 much" is certainly tinreasonable, as will appear to any one 
 who, with some knowledge of the facts, attempts to answer 
 this question: "What would have been the result if Kim- 
 ball's men had -not fought gallantly all the forenoon at the 
 battle of Antietam?" 
 
A BOY'S EXPERIENCE AT VICKSBURG. 
 
 Read by Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick D. Grant, 
 Late U. S. Army, February 2, 1898. 
 
 1HAVE always appreciated the good forttine which en- 
 abled me to be with my father and his able lieutenants 
 in the field during our great struggle for national ex- 
 istence, and to see for myself the men and the events that 
 made so famous the chapters of our history for the years from 
 1861 to 1865. 
 
 In March, 1863, while I was at school at Covington, 
 Ky., my father gave his consent to my joining him at 
 Young's Point, near Vicksburg. I was stimulated to haste 
 by my desire to possess myself of a beautiful Indian pony 
 which Colonel Bowers, of father's staff, had provided 
 especially for me. 
 
 Arriving at Young's Point, I found my father's head- 
 quarters on a steamboat at the levee. I also found my 
 precious pony, had him saddled and bridled immediately, 
 and joined my father on a trip of inspection to the canal. 
 Here he foimd that the enemy was throwing up fortifications 
 on the oi:)posite side of the river, which so commanded the 
 canal that its use would be impracticable. We returned 
 to headquarters, stopping for consultation with several 
 generals on the way. Here I first saw General Sherman, 
 for whom my father had such unbounded admiration. 
 Later, father went on board Admiral Porter's flag-ship, the 
 Benton, for a consultation with his naval coadjutor. I 
 accompanied him, but on board, the Admiral, doubtless 
 remembering the old saying that "little pitchers have long 
 ears," called a man to show me all over the ship, — every- 
 where but in the cabin. Not then appreciating the reasons 
 
 86 
 
A boy's experience at vicksburg 87 
 
 for this special courtesy, I enjoyed my explorations very 
 much. It was during my absence that my father proposed 
 the passage of the Vicksburg batteries. 
 
 The transports were protected with bales of hay and 
 cotton packed arotmd the boilers; calls were made for 
 volunteers to man the boats ; and the troops were reviewed. 
 The call for boat crews was most eagerly responded to, 
 especially by the men of General Logan's division. Some of 
 the men advanced the most extraordinary reasons for being 
 selected for the service, and their courage and persistency 
 seemed truly marvellous to me. Col. W. S. Oliver's 8th 
 Missouri regiment volimteered almost en masse. 
 
 On the 1 6th of April, 1863, General Grant and Admiral 
 Porter held a final consultation. About 10 p.m. all lights 
 were put out, and the fleet started down the river. Sud- 
 denly a rocket went up from the shore ; a cannon blazed forth 
 from Warrenton ; and a shot passed directly in front of our 
 boat. We stopped; a lurid flame sprang up from a house 
 at De Soto, opposite Vicksburg, then another on the river 
 front, and soon fires were burning along the whole front of 
 the city, and the river was lighted as if by sunlight. Six 
 gunboats, looking like great black turtles, followed by three 
 fragile transports, moved directly toward the Confederate 
 batteries, which now opened fire. The Benton and the 
 other gunboats responded, and, steaming up near the city, 
 sent shot and shell pouring into Vicksbiu-g. The transports 
 kept over toward the Lomsiana shore, and one — the Henry 
 Clay — was set on fire by a red-hot shell, and burned to the 
 water's edge. The people of Vicksburg lined the hills and 
 manifested great excitement. On board our boat my 
 father and I stood side by side on the hurricane deck. He 
 was quietly smoking, but an intense light shone in his eyes. 
 The scene is as vivid in my mind to-night as it was then to 
 my eyes, and will remain with me always. 
 
 As soon as our fleet passed the batteries, and firing had 
 ceased, father's boat steamed back to Milliken's Bend. 
 The first step of the great campaign had been successfully 
 accomplished. 
 
88 A boy's experience at vicksburg 
 
 A few days later I accompanied my father, with eight 
 officers of his staff and an escort of twenty cavalrymen, 
 on a ride of thirty miles, to visit McClernand at New Car- 
 thage. It was a hard day's journey. At the crossing of a 
 slough, where there was but a narrow bridge, my father 
 made one of his daring leaps, putting his horse at the 
 opposite bank, which he just managed to reach. The rest 
 of us preferred to wait our ttun at crossing by the bridge, 
 over which a wagon train was slowly passing. We re- 
 mained that night at New Carthage, my father spending the 
 time conversing with McClernand. The following day we 
 returned to Milliken's Bend. 
 
 From there father moved to the head of the army, which 
 now had advanced to Hard Times. The problem now pre- 
 sented itself of getting the troops across the Mississippi 
 River. 
 
 On the 29th of April our gunboats steamed down to 
 Grand Gtilf, and engaged the enemy's batteries for about 
 five hours. Father was on board a little tug which moved 
 about amid the fleet. I had kept close to him and saw all 
 that was going on. After a trip to the Louisiana shore we 
 went on board the Benton, and as we entered the port-hole 
 I was sickened with the scenes of carnage. Admiral Porter 
 had been struck on the back of the head with a fragment of 
 shell, and his face showed the agony he was suffering, but 
 he planned a renewal of the conflict for that night, in order 
 to permit our transports to nm past the Confederate 
 batteries. During this interview with the Admiral he asked 
 me if I wanted to stay with him, and suggested that I might 
 fill the place of a gunner he had lost. The scene around me 
 dampened my enthusiasm for naval glory, so I replied: 
 "I do not believe that papa will allow me to serve in the 
 navy." 
 
 Our troops now moved down the western bank of the 
 Mississippi, to De Shroon's plantation, where the negroes 
 turned out to welcome us with great rejoicing, deeming us 
 the messengers of the Lord, bringing them freedom. 
 
 The following day, April 30, we went on board the 
 
A boy's experience at vicksburg 89 
 
 General Price, formerly a Confederate ram, and moved down 
 to where Brmnsburg had stood. Not a house was to be 
 seen; fire had destroyed the whole town. The crossing of 
 the troops continued vigorously, and, tired of watching 
 them, I fell asleep on deck. Awaking the next morning 
 I found my father had gone to the front, and the sotmd of 
 cannon announced the progress of a battle. General 
 Lorenzo Thomas told me that father had given strict orders 
 that I should not be allowed to go ashore, but he finally 
 permitted me to join a party in chasing a rabbit on the land, 
 and I took advantage of that permission to push my in- 
 vestigations over the hills. I fell in with a wagon train and 
 secured a ride on a mule; and after going some distance in 
 that way I joined a battery of artillery on its way to the 
 front, and later followed a passing regiment,- — -the 7th 
 Missoiui, which was soon in battle. Presently my father 
 appeared. My guilty conscience so troubled me that I hid 
 from his sight behind a tree. Within a short time a mighty 
 shout announced the victory of our troops, and the horrors 
 of a battle field were brought vividly before me. I joined 
 a detachment which was collecting the dead for burial, but, 
 sickening at the sights, I made my way with another detach- 
 ment, which was gathering the wounded, to a log house 
 which had been appropriated for a hospital. Here the 
 scenes were so terrible that I became faint and ill, and, 
 making my way to a tree, sat down, the most woe-begone 
 twelve-year-old lad in America. 
 
 Soon an approaching horseman hailed me with a shout : 
 "Why, hello, is that really you?" The horseman was an 
 orderly from my father's escort, and dismounting he pro- 
 ceeded to make me comfortable, putting down his saddle for 
 a pillow, and advising me to go to sleep. This I did, but my 
 sleep was broken by dreams of the horrors I had witnessed. 
 Suddenly I heard the orderly cry out, "Look here! yotir 
 your father has come." About fifty yeards off sat my 
 father drinking coffee from a tin cup. I went to him, and 
 was greeted with an exclamation of surprise, as he sup- 
 posed I was still on board the boat. In after years he often 
 
90 A boy's experience at vicksburg 
 
 told the story of my following him to the battle of Port 
 Gibson, with more interest and satisfaction than he man- 
 ifested to me at that time. 
 
 The next morning the burning question was that of 
 transportation. Horses were scarce, but I succeeded in 
 getting a moimt. Two enormous white artillery horses had 
 been captured the day before. I secured one of them, and 
 Mr. Charles A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, the other. 
 Mr. Dana, however, had the advantage of riding the horse 
 with saddle and bridle; I had to content myself with im- 
 provising a harness made of a clothes-line and the tree of 
 a side-saddle without stirrups. Badly equipped as I was, 
 many others were worse off in the beginning of the cam- 
 paign. At any rate, the sight of a small boy on the big 
 white horse made some sport on the road for the soldiers I 
 passed or those who passed me. 
 
 At Port Gibson General Logan came to see father, who 
 complimented him highly on his operations of the previous 
 day. On leaving General Logan turned to me and said, 
 "Come, my boy, and I will show you the prettiest fight you 
 will ever see." We went down to the lower suspension 
 bridge, to secure the crossing as my father had ordered. 
 
 I returned to Port Gibson, and, finding that my father 
 had left, I followed the troops which were crossing the 
 bayou. I rode on quite a distance, and then, stopping at a 
 house where some officers were sleeping on a porch, I 
 crawled in for a nap between two of them. They awoke, 
 and "said things," but when I mentioned my name one of 
 them — Colonel (afterward General) Sanborn — welcomed me 
 kindly and lent me part of his overcoat for a pillow. Becom- 
 ing very cold toward dawn, I went indoors, found a bed with 
 two occupants, and crept in between them. I slept well, but 
 by daylight I found that my bedfellows were two large 
 negroes. Somehow I had thought that the room seemed 
 close. 
 
 It was now the 3d of May and I found my father at the 
 North Fork, watching the crossing of the troops. Finding 
 that I was lame from the falHng of my horse the day before, 
 
A BOY S EXPERIENCE AT VICKSBURG 9I 
 
 father, who was ever kind and thoughtful, insisted that I 
 should take his mount, a horse belonging to Gen. A. J. 
 Smith. All of father's horses were at this time on the 
 other side of the Mississippi. We moved toward Hankin- 
 son's Ferry. At the forks of the road it became necessary 
 to clear away a body of the enemy's troops. With slight 
 loss and the capture of some prisoners this was accomplished, 
 and we moved into Grand Gulf. Here we found our old 
 friend the Benton and the gallant admiral, who welcomed us 
 most cordially. He gave father a bundle of despatches, in- 
 cluding one from General Banks, who said that he coxold 
 not reach Port Hudson as soon as he had expected, and 
 that he would have fewer troops than he had counted upon. 
 General Grant immediately began to write despatches, a 
 task at which he continued till two o'clock in the morning, 
 when he borrowed a change of linen, ordered his horse, and 
 started for McPherson's quarters. The next day Colonel 
 Lagow, in whose charge I had been left, started on after 
 father, and we overtook him at Rocky Springs. Near 
 here General Sherman, with the Fifteenth Corps, joined us 
 and he and father had some long conversations. 
 
 From the 7th to the 12th of May General Grant was 
 constantly in communication with Sherman, McPherson, 
 and McClemand, riding around from one to the other. 
 This made his headquarters so imcomfortable, and his mess 
 so irregular, that I, for one, did not propose to put up with 
 such living, and I took my meals with the soldiers, who 
 used to do a little foraging, and thereby set an infinitely 
 better table than their commanding general. My father's 
 table at this time was, I must frankly say, the worst I ever 
 saw or partook of. 
 
 On the 12th of May the Union army was pushed forward, 
 and at Fourteen Mile Creek Osterhaus had a skirmish to 
 clear the road. We heard the sotmds of battle away off 
 to the right, and later we learned that McPherson had won 
 the day at Raymond. 
 
 I had struck up a friendly acquaintance with one of the 
 orderlies, called "Pony." At Fourteen Mile Creek he and 
 
92 A boy's experience at vicksburg 
 
 I rode out on an independent trip, and, seeing ten or twelve 
 horses tied up in front of a house, we conceived the idea 
 of capturing the mounts and possibly the riders also, who 
 were inside the house. Not until we had gone too far to 
 retreat did the idea occur to us that the would-be captors 
 might possibly become the captured. It was with great 
 relief that we saw a man wearing a blue uniform come out 
 of the house, and we then discovered that the party we had 
 proposed to capture was a detachment of Sherman's signal 
 corps. Later on, trying to get back within our own lines, 
 we had some difficulty in convincing the pickets that we were 
 entitled to pass. 
 
 The next day I went over the battle-field of Raymond, 
 and here again I saw the horrors of war, the wounded and 
 the unburied dead. 
 
 We spent the night at Raymond, and then started for 
 Jackson, the capital of Mississippi. While passing through 
 a piece of dense woods on the way, the enemy's sharp- 
 shooters opened fire on us. One of the staff shouted to my 
 father that they were aiming at him. His answer was to 
 turn his horse and dash into the woods in the direction 
 whence the btillets were coming. Colonels Wilson and 
 Lagow, I, the orderlies, and the escort followed, and in skir- 
 mishing fashion we advanced till we came to a large house, 
 where we halted. Sherman's corps now came up, and 
 McPherson to our left was already engaged. Generals 
 Grant and Sherman were on the porch of the old house 
 when our line was broken by artillery fire, and o^xc men 
 began a retreat. The two generals immediately mounted, 
 rode among the men, and re-formed them. Meanwhile 
 Tuttle's division had passed through the dense woods, and 
 had captured the enemy's breastworks, and, wheeling to the 
 left, advanced up the line of intrenchments. Father 
 accompanied them. 
 
 Thinking the battle was ended, I rode off toward the 
 state-house, where the Confederate troops passed me in 
 their retreat. Though I wore a blue uniform I was so 
 splashed with mud, and looked generally so unattractive, 
 
A BOY S EXPERIENCE AT VICKSBURG 93 
 
 that the Confederates paid no attention to me. I have 
 since realized that even had I been captured it wotdd not 
 have ended the war. 
 
 At this time I saw a mounted officer with a Union flag 
 advancing toward the capitol. I followed him into the 
 biiilding and entered the governor's room, which had been 
 hastily abandoned. Finding what I supposed to be the 
 governor's pipe lying on the table, I confiscated it, primarily 
 and ostensibly for the national service, but secondarily and 
 actually for my own private and individual use. It had the 
 advantage of being still loaded and lighted. 
 
 Returning to the street, I saw the officer whom I had 
 followed, in the act of raising the Union flag over the build- 
 ing. He proved to be Captain (afterwards Colonel) Cor- 
 nelius Cadle. 
 
 Father and his staff, advancing at the head of the army, 
 soon reached the state-house, where I joined them, and went 
 with them to the Bowen House, the best hotel in Jackson, 
 where we took the room in which General Joseph E. Johnston 
 had slept the night before. 
 
 At Jackson we captured an important prisoner, who was 
 carrying despatches from Johnston to Pemberton. The 
 information gained from these despatches caused some 
 activity at headquarters, and the next day — May 15 — the 
 army started off in the direction of Vicksburg. 
 
 That night, while sleeping in the room with my father 
 at Clinton, I was awakened by a great knocking. Colonel 
 Lagow announced the arrival of a messenger from McPher- 
 son, and father seemed surprised at the news he received. 
 He gave orders for an early start in the morning, went back 
 to bed, and was soon sleeping quietly again. After a light 
 breakfast, before daybreak, we moved rapidly to the front, 
 General Grant keeping well ahead of the rest of us. At 
 Champion's farm we came upon the enemy, and were soon 
 in the midst of terrific firing. The staff officers were 
 despatched to various points, and very soon father and I 
 were left alone. Our line broke, and was falling back, when 
 father moved forward, rallied the men, and passed over 
 
94 A boy's experience at vicksburg 
 
 from Hovey's division to McPherson's corps, putting the 
 latter into action. There were now 15,000 men in our line, 
 which was about three miles long, and the battle raged 
 fiercely along its whole extent. McPherson, dressed in full 
 uniform, was mounted on a beautiful black horse. " Fighting 
 Jack" Logan, also in full uniform, was mounted on a white 
 horse, and as they passed to and fro, exposing themselves 
 recklessly, they made a most "superb" picture. 
 
 General Grant rode to all parts of the field, giving orders 
 to the generals, and despatching his staff in all directions. 
 Hovey was sustaining the heaviest part of the encotmter. 
 Suddenly hearty cheering was heard on the right of the line, 
 and father moved over in that direction, to find 3,000 
 prisoners taken, with eighteen guns. 
 
 After the battle of Champion's Hill, while riding toward 
 Edwards Station, father suddenly turned back, and I went 
 on into a house filled with Confederate wounded. They 
 were not feeling very friendly toward the Yankees, and they 
 threatened to kill me. Of course I decided not to intrude, 
 and I passed on. Further down the road, some of our 
 own men, who did not know me, attempted to take me 
 prisoner. Soon, however, an old soldier recognized me and 
 called for " Three cheers for young Grant," which were given 
 with a will, and I began to feel more comfortable. About 
 midnight I returned to the field and reached a house in 
 which I found my father and several of his staff officers, 
 most of whom were greatly elated over their victory. I 
 slept in the room with my father that night ; he even after 
 the great battle and victory of that day, and with the ex- 
 pectation and cares of another battle on the morrow, was, 
 as ever, most considerate of the comfort and welfare of his 
 young son. 
 
 The next morning we made an early start, and moved 
 toward the Big Black River. When we halted near the 
 railway bridge, General Grant and his staff occupied the 
 porch of a fine plantation house. 
 
 Our troops were now moving on the enemy's line at a 
 double quick, and I became enthused with the spirit of the 
 
A BOY S EXPERIENCE AT VICKSBURG 95 
 
 occasion, galloped across a cotton-field, and went over the 
 enemy's works with our men. Following the retreating 
 Confederates to the Big Black, I was watching some of them 
 swim the river, when a sharpshooter on the opposite bank 
 fired at me and hit me in the leg. The woiind was slight 
 but very painful, and I suppose I was very pale, for Colonel 
 Lagow came dashing up and asked what was the matter. 
 I promptly said, "I am killed." Perhaps because I was 
 only a boy the Colonel presumed to doubt my word, and 
 said, "Move your toes" — which I did with success; he 
 then recommended our hasty retreat. This we accom- 
 plished in good order. 
 
 After the capture of the fortifications, May 17th, our 
 army bridged the Big Black and crossed during the night. 
 
 On May i8th we reached the summit of Walnut Hills 
 just behind Vicksbtrrg, whence we could see the Mississippi 
 and Chickasaw Bayou, where Sherman had fought in 
 December. Sherman was greatly elated over the success 
 of the present campaign, and so expressed himself enthu- 
 siastically. Several outworks were captvired that day. 
 
 During the 19th father spent much of his time with 
 McClernand on the extreme left. He feared lest Pem- 
 berton might make his escape through this thinly guarded 
 part of our line. The 20th and 21st were spent in skirmish- 
 ing and in advancing our lines as much as possible. On 
 the 22d the great assaiilt was made upon the fortifications. 
 
 Early in the day General Grant had a narrow escape 
 from a shell fired directly down a ravine which he had 
 just entered. He was tmhurt, however, but was covered 
 with yellow dirt thrown up by the explosion. On this day 
 I saw a sight that will probably never again be witnessed 
 in this country, — an artillery duel extending over seven 
 miles in length. Beneath the smoke of this cannon- 
 ading the Army of the Tennessee could be seen moving to 
 the assault upon the enemy's lines, which became a sheet of 
 fire from the forts and rifle pits. At one point otir flag was 
 planted right at the base of the enemy's parapet. 
 
 An incident of this day's work was illustrative of youth- 
 
g6 A boy's experience at vicksburg 
 
 ful heroism, and of my father's tender nature. A small 
 boy, with blood streaming from a wound in his leg, came 
 running up to where father and Sherman stood, and re- 
 ported that his regiment was out of ammunition. Sherman 
 was directing some attention to be paid to his woimd, when 
 the Uttle fellow, finding himself fainting from loss of blood, 
 gasped out, "Calibre 56," as he was carried off to the rear. 
 At this moment I observed that my father's eyes were 
 filled with tears. 
 
 The wound I had received early in the campaign now 
 began to trouble me very much, and, under Dr. Hewitt's 
 expressed fears of having to amputate my leg, I remained 
 much at headquarters ; because of this I saw a great deal of 
 my father's methods, his marvellous attention to deta,il, 
 and his cool self-possession. I also witnessed the devotion 
 of his men to him, and the enthusiasm with which they 
 greeted "the Old Man," as they called him, when he passed 
 along the lines. Father was a splendid horseman, and 
 visited many points of his army every day. 
 
 General Sherman commanded the Fifteenth Corps, dur- 
 ing part of the siege of Vicksburg, and the remainder of 
 the time he had command of the troops placed from Haines's 
 Bluff to the Big Black to guard our rear. His personality 
 is too well known for me to describe it here, but it is a 
 pleasure for me to bear witness to my father's affection for 
 Sherman, and his esteem for his soldierly qualities. Indeed 
 it gave General Grant more pleasure to see Sherman hon- 
 ored and rewarded than it did to receive such tributes 
 himself. Sherman was impetuous in action, brilliant in 
 conversation, and thoroughly versed in the art of war; 
 but he was always thoroughly subordinate and ready to 
 obey promptly any order given to him. Two hotirs' notice 
 was amply sufficient for him to get under way to execute 
 any desired movement. On the 15th of May he was at 
 Jackson, Miss., and that night General Grant, desiring him 
 to move to the front, sent him orders to that effect. On 
 the afternoon of the i6th he arrived at Bolton with the head 
 of his corps, having marched twenty-five or thirty mUes 
 
A boy's experience at VICKSBURG 97 
 
 that day; and he wottld have been in the battle of Cham- 
 pion's HiU had the enemy waited on the field a little longer. 
 I had the pleasure of being under fire with General Sherman 
 several times and, like his troops, I was inspired with 
 great enthusiasm. 
 
 The next officer in rank, the commander of the Sev- 
 enteenth Corps, was Major-General James B. McPherson, 
 the Bayard of the Army of the Tennessee. Motmted 
 on horseback, young and handsome, always splendidly 
 dressed and most coiirtly in manner, he was the very im- 
 personation of a knight. General Grant always regarded 
 McPherson as the most promising officer of his age in the 
 army, and on his death father said that he had lost one of 
 his best friends and the country one of its ablest defenders. 
 McPherson's troops loved him, and one needs hear but once 
 the cheers given by the " Army of the Tennessee, " whenever 
 his name is mentioned in its presence, to appreciate the 
 love and devotion with which his memory is still cherished. 
 His very taking-off was illustrative of the man. When 
 ordered to surrender before Atlanta, he courteously lifted 
 his hat, bowed low, wheeled his horse, and dashed into the 
 woods. But the volley that instantly followed was but too 
 well aimed, and he fell. To me he was particularly kind 
 and I grieved deeply over his death. 
 
 Among the division commanders whom I was fortimate 
 enough to see upon the field of battle were Generals Logan, 
 Steele, John E. Smith, Crocker, A. J. Smith, Tuttle, Oster- 
 haus, Blair, Ranson, and Hovey. I have heard my father 
 say that with such officers an army must be irresistible. 
 There were others, besides those I have mentioned, whose 
 names and memories are alike honored for their services in 
 defence of their country, one of the most distinguished of 
 whom was our honored companion. Gen. G. M. Dodge, 
 who is presiding here to-night. 
 
 The siege of Vicksburg continued after the assaults of 
 the 23d of May, without much excitement except such as 
 Was caused by reports that Johnston was about to attack 
 oiu- rear. General Grant, however, made a personal 
 
98 A boy's experience at vicksburg 
 
 inspection trip (upon which I accompanied him) back to 
 the Big Black, and foxmd everything secure and well 
 guarded tmder the watchftil care of General Sherman. 
 The siege went on. Our parallels slowly but surely ap- 
 proached the doomed city. Deserters came in more 
 frequently, and reported the desperate condition of the 
 garrison. Rumors also came to us that Johnston was going 
 to make a determined effort to relieve Pemberton. These 
 reports led to another rumor that our troops would celebrate 
 the Fourth of July by a grand storming of the works. 
 Doubtless this rumor fotmd its way into the beleaguered 
 city, for on the morning of the 3d of July a flag of truce 
 was annotmced. General Grant betrayed no excitement, 
 but in the afternoon he rode out with his staff to a point 
 opposite Fort Hill, I accompanying them. Soon a white 
 flag appeared over the enemy's works, and a party of Con- 
 federates was seen approaching. Firing ceased, and under 
 an old tree General Grant met his opponent. The other 
 officers separated into groups and conversed, while the 
 works on both sides were lined with soldiers. 
 
 The consultation of the commanding generals lasted a 
 short while, and presently both parties retired to their own 
 quarters. Father was immediately joined by the largest 
 assemblage of general officers which I had ever seen, the 
 heroes of this most brilliant campaign and siege, deciding 
 upon and settling the fate of their foes. They had con- 
 quered and taken in their power the largest number of men, 
 the greatest quantity of war material and spoils ever sur- 
 rendered in battle. 
 
 After conversation General Grant despatched a note to 
 the defender of Vicksburg, and the group of officers dis- 
 persed. I remained in the tent, sitting on my little cot, 
 and feeling restless, but scarcely knowing why. Father 
 sat at his table writing. Presently a messenger handed 
 father a note. He opened it, gave a sigh of relief, and said 
 calmly, "Vicksburg has surrendered." I was thus the first 
 to hear officially announced the news of the fall of the 
 Gibraltar of America, and, fiUed with enthusiasm, I ran out 
 
A BOY S EXPERIENCE AT VICKSBURG 99 
 
 to Spread the glad tidings. Officers rapidly assembled, 
 and there was a general rejoicing. 
 
 The next day — the glorious Fotirth — as father was 
 starting for the front on the Jackson road, the booming of 
 guns was heard, apparently on our right. General Grant 
 looked vexed, and was about to order the arrest of General 
 Steele, whom he supposed to be responsible, saying that he 
 "ought to know better than to allow any triumphing over 
 conquered coimtrymen," when Steele himself rode up; the 
 firing was definitely located on our left, and the salutes 
 were stopped. Soon after, the Confederates were seen 
 filing out of their works and stacking their arms, — 31,600 
 brave men surrendering 172 cannon and 60,000 muskets to 
 the conquering but lenient Army of the Tennessee. 
 
 The arms being given up, the troops passed back into 
 the city, and General Grant, at the head of the Army of the 
 Tennessee, moved forward to take possession. His reception 
 by General Pemberton was most frigid. With a group of 
 Confederate officers Pemberton was seated on the porch of 
 a large house, but when father expressed a desire for a 
 glass of water he was allowed to go to himt for it in the 
 kitchen. This surly reception to the man who would not 
 allow his men to celebrate their victory was deeply resented 
 by the members of General Grant's staff, but father was 
 satisfied with his success in capturing Vicksburg and man- 
 ifested no resentment. 
 
 The Confederate officers who thus received him grate- 
 ftilly appreciated, later on, the clemency they experienced 
 at the fall of Vicksburg, and expressed this appreciation in 
 the most touching manner during General Grant's last 
 illness, at the time of his funeral, and at the dedication of 
 his tomb. 
 
 Passing through the city, where the Union flag had 
 already been hoisted over the coiirt-house. General Grant 
 went on board the Benton, where Admiral Porter con- 
 grattilated him upon the victory. The next day he estab- 
 lished headquarters at the house of a Mr. Lum, who soon 
 became his warm friend ; and during my father's last illness 
 
lOO A BOY S EXPERIENCE AT VICKSBURG 
 
 some of the most beautiful letters received by us were from 
 members of this charming Vicksbtirg family. 
 
 This ended my connection with the army for a while. 
 From the result of exposxire I had contracted an iUness 
 which necessitated my withdrawal into civilian life again, 
 and on the 8th of July I was sent home to recuperate. I did 
 not rejoin my father until after the battle of Chattanooga. 
 
 I remember with the utmost interest my life in camp, 
 and with deepest affection the men whom I met in the 
 army. Much of my time was spent among the private 
 soldiers, who were never too tired or too worn out to com- 
 fort and pet the yoxmg boy, — ^the son of the "Old Man." 
 Young as I then was, my camp life was of such natiu-e, — 
 I saw so much of the hardships, the self-denials, the suffer- 
 ings and labors of both privates and officers, — that my 
 proudest moments are when, like to-night, I am associating 
 with the old warriors, the veteran comrades of my father. 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL PAPER. 
 
 Read by Captain Charles C. Wehrum, TJ. S. Vols., 
 February 5, 1898. 
 
 THE paper read at our last meeting relating incidents 
 of the battle of Antietam vividly recalled old scenes 
 to me and reminded me of my personal reminis- 
 cences thereof. 
 
 In writing my description I have availed myself of com- 
 parisons made by Capt. Charles E. Davis, Jr., of the 13th 
 Mass. Infantry Vols., to which I have added. These may 
 interest you, therefore I take the liberty of addressing you. 
 The regiment I belonged to was the 12th Mass. (Web- 
 ster's) Infantry Vols., brigaded under George L. Hartsuff. 
 Few are aware that Antietam (loss 12,410) was the bloodi- 
 est battle of the war, if not of all wars. There were greater 
 losses at Gettysbtirg (23,001), Spottsylvania (18,399), Wil- 
 derness ' (17,666), Chancellorsville (17,287), Chickamauga 
 (16,179), Manassas (14,462), Stone River (13,249), Shiloh 
 (13,047), Cold Harbor (12,737), Fredericksburg (12,653), in 
 the order named, where the fighting covered two or three 
 days but the battle of Antietam was virtually fought in 
 one day, beginning with skirmishing for position late on 
 September i6th and ending at dark on September 17, 1862. 
 
 The Confederate losses were 12,601, and the Union's 
 12,410, or 20 per cent, of all the Confederate forces and 15 
 per cent, of all the Union forces present, and 20 per cent, of 
 all the Union forces actually engaged. The ist Texas of 
 Hood's division lost 82 per cent. This is the highest official 
 record of loss of any regiment in any war. 
 
 Theofficial record places the loss of the 1 2th Massachusetts 
 regiment at 67 per cent., but I claim that otir actual loss 
 
I0 2 SUPPLEMENTAL PAPER 
 
 of men engaged in line of battle was over 83 per cent. One 
 of our companies (H) was the evening before detailed as 
 provost guard, and another company was deployed on our 
 right as skirmishers ; both of these companies were counted 
 as present in battle with the regiment. 
 
 The total losses of all troops North and South engaged at 
 Antietam was 20 per cent. Contrast these figures with 
 former, or more modem battles. 
 
 Wellington lost 12 per cent, at Waterloo; Napoleon 14.5 
 per cent, at Austerlitz and 14 per cent, at Marengo. 
 
 The average loss of both armies at Magenta and 
 Solferino in 1859 was less than 9 per cent. At Konigsgratz 
 in 1866 it was 6 per cent. At Worth, Mars la Tour, Grave- 
 lotte, and Sedan in 1870 the average loss was 12 per 
 cent. 
 
 Now as to individual regiments in foreign wars: The 
 marvel of German fighting in the Franco-Prussian war was by 
 the 3rd Westphalian Infantry at Mars La Tour, where it 
 took 3,000 men into action and lost 49.4 per cent. 
 
 The Garde Schuetzen battalion took 1,000 men into 
 action at Metz and lost 46.1 per cent. 
 
 Contrasting these figures will show with what valor and 
 pertinacity our American armies fought, and especially in 
 the engagement at Antietam. 
 
 The battle was fought in open field, without breastworks 
 of any kind. All stood manfully, and as bravely as ever 
 men stood opposed to each other. 
 
 Well could old Joe Hooker acclaim: " The conduct of my 
 troops was sublime, and the occasion almost lifted me to 
 the skies, and its memories will ever remain to me." 
 
 Antietam was a victory, and it had the greatest political 
 significance. 
 
 When the stmimer of 1862 brought disaster after disaster 
 to the Union cause, finally ctdminating in the invasion of 
 Maryland by General Lee, Abraham Lincoln determined 
 on the emancipation of the slaves. 
 
 "I made," said President Lincoln, "a solemn vow 
 before God, that if General Lee was driven back from 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL PAPER 103 
 
 Maryland I wotild crown the restilt by the declaration of 
 freedom to the slaves." 
 
 General Lee was driven from Maryland, and on Sep- 
 tember 22, 1862, President Lincoln issued the proclamation 
 cialminating in their freedom on January i, 1863. 
 
 At Antietam it was clearly proven to the world that the 
 American soldier in tenacity and downright bravery is 
 second to none. A record was then made for which all 
 American citizens can justly be proud; and, as upon its 
 success depended the Emancipation Proclamation, it will 
 ever be noted as one of the most eventful epochs 
 in American history, second only to the Declaration of 
 Independence. 
 
FROM SIRE TO SON— A VETERAN'S TALK TO 
 MEMBERS BY INHERITANCE. 
 
 Read by Colonel Charles A. Woodruff, U. S. Army, 
 May 4, 1898. 
 
 THIS is a glorious occasion. From the other side of our 
 globe come the glad tidings that three days ago 
 the thtmder of our guns awakened the world to the 
 fact that we had a navy that could carry our flag to victory 
 in foreign waters, and at one blow capture a fortified navy- 
 yard and destroy a fleet that equalled ours in numbers, 
 ship for ship, man for man, gun for gun. 
 
 We send our heartfelt greetings to the ofificers and men 
 who have so grandly upheld the honor and glory of our 
 country. God bless them, one and all. 
 
 I have always been proud of my native State, but never 
 more so than now, when she has the honor of claiming as a 
 Green Mountain boy, the greatest naval hero of the age — 
 Companion George Dewey. 
 
 "Man is bom to suffer," but I shall not prolong yotir 
 misery by personal apologies for addressing you, even though 
 we are honored by the presence of so many distingxushed 
 companions, from whom, more especially at such a mo- 
 mentous time, we should all be delighted to hear. You are 
 at liberty, however, to blame our commander, who detailed 
 me. 
 
 It will be some time before I annotmce my text, but 
 when I do the responsibility rests with me. Our com- 
 mander suggested "Personal Experiences," and I wrote 
 a few pages upon that topic and read them to the most 
 amiable and long-stiffering of critics. "Well," she re- 
 
 104 
 
FROM SIRE TO SON 105 
 
 marked, " there are some fine points about that : you conceal 
 your modesty beautif xilly ; it has the magnitude of Gtilliver's 
 most remarkable observations, the improbability of the 
 Arabian Nights, and reminds me of the story of the veteran 
 of the Revolution who had a very vivid recollection of 
 the part he bore in that struggle, and describing the battle 
 of Trenton said, 'I had a sword about five feet long, and 
 was just mowing a swath through the Britishers and Hessians 
 when I felt a touch on my arm, and ttirning roimd, there 
 stood George, George Washington, looking kinder pleased, 
 and kinder sad-like, and he says, says he, "For God's sake 
 William" (he always called me William), "restrain your 
 impetuosity ; you 're just a deluging our continent with 
 gore." ' " 
 
 This gentle hint induced me to select an impersonal 
 subject, which would enable me to scatter more and tax 
 your credulity less. 
 
 My remarks were prepared at odd moments three or fotir 
 weeks ago, but the progress of events made some changes 
 necessary, and even now they may not be up to date. War 
 is upon us, and all minds are centred upon its causes, its 
 prosecution, and its results ; yet deeply interested as we are 
 in the burning diplomatic and moral questions that confront 
 the government, much as our heart's devotion goes out 
 towards the Army and Navy that is gathering upon our 
 southern coast and on Chickamauga's historic field, rep- 
 resenting as they do the best blood, brain, and brawn of 
 our united country; certain as we are that upon every 
 occasion whereon they meet the enemy under anything like 
 equal terms, when the clash of battle ceases they wUl be 
 found caring for their own and the enemy's dead and 
 wounded, imtil otu- wrongs are righted and Cuba freed, it 
 would be manifestly improper for me to discuss either; the 
 former are for our statesmen, in whom we have every con- 
 fidence; the latter wielded by commanders tried and true; 
 suffice it to say that one sentence will express yotir senti- 
 ments and mine: No matter what it costs we will uphold the 
 nation's life and honor. 
 
I06 FROM SIRE TO SON 
 
 Our members by Inheritance are proud of the flag their 
 fathers fought to save, and glory in the service of those who 
 won for them this inheritance; they cherish the heroic 
 memories of the war, delight to honor those who battled 
 for national unity, and cheerfully bear with us while each 
 recalls the personal incidents which unitedly constitute 
 the history of the war for the Union. Circumstances over 
 which they had no control prevented these young members 
 being designated "Original Companions of the First Class," 
 and they have modestly taken a back seat, but the time 
 is fast approaching when upon them will devolve the duty 
 of executing the ultimate objects of our order: " To foster the 
 cultivation of military and naval science; enforce un- 
 qualified allegiance to the General Government ; protect the 
 rights and liberties of American citizenship, and maintain 
 national honor, union and independence." And upon this 
 patriotic text my remarks are based. 
 
 When a nation forgets the warlike deeds, forgets to 
 cherish and revere the memory of those who won or de- 
 fended their liberties — and no people ever enjoyed liberties 
 that were not won and defended by the sweat and blood of 
 the battle-field — that nation is ready for destruction ; so too 
 a nation that is always looking backward, relying upon the 
 heroic achievements of the past, without physical or mental 
 preparation for duplicating or siirpassing those achieve- 
 ments, invites destruction. Our people have shown that the 
 deeds and memories of those who won and maintained their 
 liberties grow brighter and dearer as the historian rather 
 than the participant recites them. 
 
 The waves of patriotism that rolled over our united 
 coimtry from Maine to Texas, from Florida to Washington, 
 to the loud refrain: 
 
 "We are working and waiting, McKinley, 
 Working and calmly waiting for the call," 
 
 when we thought that himianity and our national honor 
 had been outraged, showed that otu: people have the 
 moral stamina to repeat the achievements that never yet 
 
FROM SIRE TO SON 107 
 
 failed to carry our flag to final victory ; and more than this 
 it showed the world that when our flag is assailed we are a 
 united people. 
 
 The call has come, and from the East and West, North 
 and South the response has been prompt and general. Yet 
 mingled with our pride in the sturdy patriotism of the 
 nation was a shame for our utter lack of preparation. — Just 
 think of it, Companions: the United States, with seven 
 million able-bodied men, billions of treasure, bonds at 
 120 %, bursting granaries, magnificent ship-yards and un- 
 limited manufactories, praying for delay when expecting to 
 confront a divided, decaying, war-worn, bankrupt enemy. 
 
 Our condition was discreditable to an intelligent people, 
 and a reflection upon the lawmakers who clamor for war 
 and vote for a reduction of every measure providing for 
 national defence, and then pose as economical patriots. 
 
 I once read a tract entitled, "What shall I do to be 
 saved?" The burden of the answer was, "Be prepared to 
 meet and conquer the enemy." To-day if we ask, " What 
 shall the nation do to be saved? " the only intelligent answer 
 is the same : " Be prepared to meet and conquer the enemy." 
 
 No good citizen, be he civilian or soldier, desires war for 
 the sake of war, but most citizens believe that honorable 
 war is better than ignoble peace. Washington said : " To be 
 prepared for war is one of the most effectual ways of pre- 
 serving peace." And he might have added, the most effect- 
 ual means of bringing war to a speedy and successful end. 
 Von Ihering said: "The end of law is peace, — the means to 
 that end is war." 
 
 Yet there are those who prate of the lion and lamb 
 lying down together (with the lamb outside) and discourage 
 everything that has a resemblance of preparation for war. 
 The same class objects to an army and navy because they 
 are trained for cruel work; so much can be said for the 
 stu-geon. The surgeon does not create the disease that 
 requires the knife. No more does the army or navy create 
 war — that is the work of the merchant, the banker, the 
 clergymen, the press, and the politicians. The soldier's 
 
Io8 FROM SIRE TO SON 
 
 business is to prosecute war to a successful conclusion, and 
 military knowledge and experience, combined with strong, 
 well disciplined battalions, and heavy battle-ships — have 
 ever been the elements of success ; but without an army and 
 navy such knowledge and experience wotild be useless and 
 will not be acquired. 
 
 There are those who fondly imagine that our great 
 strength, wealth, and isolation will of themselves render us 
 secture from invasion ; until a month ago they were just as 
 sure that there was no danger of foreign war; both are 
 delusive dreams. 
 
 Otir Nation is a sleeping giant who has thrown aside his 
 arms and shield; confident of his strength he places no 
 guard, and may be bound while he sleeps. 
 
 Ovir wealth is but a temptation to other nations; as 
 Bliicher said of London, so too can it be said of New York, 
 "What a city to loot!" 
 
 We are liable at any time to have to take up arms to 
 protect our trade, otir rights, our citizens, or to uphold 
 National honor and self-respect. In fact many feel that all 
 these are involved in our controversy with Spain; and had 
 we been prepared, who for a moment doubts that the de- 
 struction of the Maine and the murder of 260 American 
 sailors would have been atoned for thirty-six hours after 
 the report of the Naval Board reached our President, if 
 not before? That wotild not have been war, only just 
 reparation. 
 
 The ocean in this age of steam is no barrier, and, with oiir 
 international railroads, but furnishes unnumbered lines for 
 transportation and invasion ; and we should be prepared to 
 meet this danger, for the time has not yet come when man- 
 kind is ready to change the magazine rifle for the seed drill, 
 or the rapid-fire gtm for the mowing machine. 
 
 This statement will only be questioned by those who 
 fondly dream that the time will soon come, is almost here, 
 when there will be no more war ; they soar so high into the 
 realms of sentiment and become so imbued with an abstract 
 feeling of love for their fellow-men — except when their par- 
 
FROM SIRE TO SON 109 
 
 tictilar ox is gored — ^that they ignore the plain facts of the 
 case. In the decade from '61 to '71 more human blood was 
 shed by civiHzed, Christianized nations than in the preceding 
 fifty years ; last year the Anglo-Saxon thirsted for the blood 
 of the Turk; for two months our workshops have resounded 
 with the thunder of too long delayed preparations; to-day 
 the ocean is ploughed by the strongest navies the world has 
 ever seen, and the barracks of civilized, Christianized Etirope 
 shelter more trained soldiers than the s\ui ever shone on 
 before; and it is not due to the beautiful doctrine "peace 
 on earth, good will toward men," that these battalions are 
 not upon the field of battle, but to the fact that those who 
 control their movements are wise enough to count the cost, 
 before they throw them against an adversary equally well 
 prepared. This preparation is National life insurance. 
 What wotdd we think of a man who applied for life insurance 
 when in extremis f 
 
 Greece was one of those nations that relied upon the 
 good will of friendly powers, and in a short and disgraceful 
 campaign lost ever)rthing, including honor. Is our readiness 
 for war such as to enable us to point the finger of scorn at 
 Greece? 
 
 France completely wrapped herself in the mantle of 
 past achievements, declared war, and seven months later 
 humbly signed the hiuniliating conditions thoroughly pre- 
 pared Germany dictated. 
 
 Are we not as foolish and conceited as France, boasting 
 that we are all right, for in addition to our Regular Army and 
 National Guard we have a million and a half of veteran 
 soldiery, heroes of a score of glorious fields, when we know 
 that two days' hard marching and one night in a wet bivouac 
 would send three fourths of them to the hospital, and a 
 march from Havana to Matanzas would find the balance 
 in ambxilances? 
 
 If anticipated trouble with Spain threw us into a fever 
 of hurried and expensive preparation, what woiild be our 
 condition if England threatened us? She is strengthening 
 her fortifications to the north, northeast, east, south- 
 
no FROM SIRE TO SON 
 
 east and northwest of us ; has a subsidized railroad along our 
 4000 miles of northern border; she has lines of subsidized 
 steamers connecting British America with Australia and 
 India ; she is surrounding us with a net- work of cables that 
 establish perfect and almost instantaneous communication 
 between all points of her empire ; on the plea of having boats 
 for her fish commissioners, she has built vessels which only 
 need the guns, which are ready for mounting, to become 
 efficient gtmboats for the protection of her cities and the 
 Welland Canal, tmtil she can gather a fleet upon the lakes. 
 
 It was a beautiful sentiment of Tatnall's that "blood is 
 thicker than water," but British political blood has never 
 been too thick to seek the level of British interests; those 
 fortifications, those cables, that railroad, those boats are 
 Britain's life and accident policies. As a British officer 
 said, when the true design of those fortifications was 
 insisted upon: "By Jove, cousin, that's so, but don't you 
 know no fellow can tell what you Americans may do." 
 
 It may be that Great Britain now desires an alliance 
 with us; a union of English-speaking nations, "one tongue, 
 one people, invincible in war, triumphant in peace" is a 
 beautiful theory and we shoiild be prepared to meet them 
 half way with olive branch or guns, even if the preparations 
 cost a hundred milHon. The illy concealed hostility of 
 England and France during our great struggle for national 
 life, the alacrity with which France abandoned Mexico 
 when Sheridan appeared on the Rio Grande, and England 
 paid the Alabama claims when we had no other job on hand, 
 should convince us that a wholesome respect for our read- 
 iness for war, and not love for us, will secure the diplomatic 
 friendship of other nations. 
 
 In the golden words of Washington — and they are as 
 sterling to-day as when first uttered — "There is a rank due 
 the United States among nations which will be withheld, 
 if not absolutely lost, by a reputation for weakness. If we 
 desire to avoid insiolt, we must be able to repel it. If we 
 desire peace, one of the most powerful instruments in our 
 rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times 
 
FROM SIRE TO SON III 
 
 ready for war." "If we desire peace ... it must be 
 known that we are at all times ready for war." This is 
 the sentiment to which I am inviting yowc attention, but at 
 the present time it would sotmd ridiculous did we not know 
 that our unreadiness may be a prelude to a national tragedy. 
 
 In the concluding chapters of his memoirs, written while 
 his iron will grappled with death, and the lengthening 
 shadows of the tomb were falling around him. General Grant 
 said: " To maintain peace in the future, it is necessary to be 
 prepared for war, . . . and unless we are prepared for 
 it we may be in danger of a combined movement being 
 made some day to crush us out. We should have a good 
 navy and oiu: seacoast defences shoiild be put in the finest 
 possible condition." 
 
 Shall parsimony and demagogy deter intelligent Amer- 
 icans from acting upon the wise and patriotic advice of 
 Washington and Grant? 
 
 It is a labor of love for me to speak of our Navy, though 
 at aU times and under all circumstances the United States 
 Navy has shown its ability to take care of itself. In the 
 Revolution was sown the seed that was to bring forth a 
 harvest of honor, and from 1812 to i8i5an abundant harvest 
 was garnered. Commencing with only fourteen vessels 
 against a hundred sail, at its close we had the proud dis- 
 tinction of being the only nation that was ever victorious 
 in a naval contest with Great Britain. Our officers were ever 
 ready to lay yard-arm to yard-arm, and while we lost 471 
 guns, we captured 605, and I believe it is an historical fact 
 that from none of the bloody decks upon which our board- 
 ers trod were they ever repxilsed. 
 
 Our late war brought the Navy face to face with the 
 greatest task ever cut out for any navy in any war — thou- 
 sands of miles of coast to blockade, forts and batteries to 
 demolish, fortified rivers to open, transports to convoy, 
 privateers to chase, and ironclads to destroy. I have not 
 the time to tell the glorious story of how they did their duty: 
 suffice it to say that heartily was the task entered upon, and 
 grandly was it accompHshed. Never was the manhood of 
 
112 FROM SIRE TO SON 
 
 ottr Navy, from captain to marine, better shown than 
 when the Maine went down with all on board. And now 
 comes the crowning glory, of the victory in Manila. 
 
 In the futiire as in the heroic past let Congress provide 
 the means and our Navy will uphold national peace with 
 honor whenever there is water enough to float our battle- 
 ships. 
 
 While we are opposed to aggressive war, and do not need 
 so large a navy as that of Great Britain, the present 
 disparity of i to 5 should no longer be suffered to exist. A 
 perfect system of seacoast defences would show the world 
 that we fear no attack from hostile fleets, and leave the 
 Navy free to protect our commerce wherever American 
 enterprises may carry our flag. To-day we have few com- 
 pleted modern fortifications, but Congress and the people 
 are aroused, temporarily at least, to the absolute necessity, 
 and it is your business, the business of every patriotic 
 citizen, to keep them aroused until our harbors present an 
 inviilnerable front to the most powerfvil invader ; our cities, 
 our navy-yards and depots of supplies, safe and fortified 
 bases of operations for the Navy secured. 
 
 What I have to say about our land-forces was prepared 
 before the introduction of the "Voltmteer Army Bill," but 
 as that relates to "time of war," while I am suggesting 
 preparations for war, I shall make no changes. 
 
 We now have an army of about 26,000 effective men, 
 116,000 organized State troops, and 7,000,000 citizens 
 capable of passing a medical examination and bearing arms. 
 Our real army in the event of a great war must be drawn 
 from our 7,000,000 citizens, the nation in arms; and with 
 such an army as could be drawn from this force, properly 
 organized, disciplined, armed, and commanded, we could 
 triiunphantly face the world, provided our government 
 could exist imtil we could prepare it for the field. "But 
 there 's the rub." I yield to no man in my admiration for 
 and confidence in the American volunteers when their 
 intelligence, adaptability, patriotism, and enthusiasm have 
 become moulded by discipline and drill, but that takes 
 
FROM SIRE TO SON II3 
 
 time ; soldiers are not made in a day. While manhood is as 
 necessary as ever, the value of unorganized numbers has 
 decreased in the ratio of improvement of arms and organ- 
 ization, until to-day they are practically powerless. It 
 requires months to make soldiers out of raw materials; it 
 requires years to create officers who are fit to lead men to 
 battle and care for them in camp and on the march. 
 
 Let us be honest with ourselves : in the first year of the 
 war of 18 1 2 we were disgracefully beaten; in the Mexican 
 war our adversaries were as poorly prepared as oiurselves, 
 and even then, but for owe regular army, which, while only 
 ntimbering 27 per centum of the force, suffered 60 per centum 
 of the total loss in killed and wotmded, it would not have been 
 a war with thirty victories and no defeats ; in the contest 
 for the Union neither side was prepared, and in the words of 
 one of the ablest soldiers of to-day, " during the first year 
 of that war a regular force of one half the size of either 
 army could have defeated both armies combined." To-day 
 the time between the declaration of war and the movement 
 of the armies is but a day — ^literally, if war is declared to-day 
 the armies will move not later than to-morrow. 
 
 In fact during the past centtiry the movement of troops, 
 more often than the reverse, has been the prelude, the 
 thunder of cannon the actual declaration of war. 
 
 To-day the majority of the organized militia — National 
 Guard, State Volunteers, Naval Reserves, etc., are fairly 
 well drilled, and part are fairly well disciplined; very few 
 are eqtiipped and ready for active service, and hardly any 
 of them are instructed in camp life and duties, and the 
 officers are no better prepared than the men. Then too 
 they are State troops, no more a part of the militia referred 
 to in the Constitution than any other citizen between 18 
 and 45 years of age. 
 
 Who for a moment imagines that in the face of threatened 
 invasion — and for an offensive-defensive campaign beyond 
 our boundaries the Congress alone could call out any por- 
 tion of the militia, and then it would probably be too late — 
 who, I repeat, imagines that all our State executives would 
 
114 FROM SIRE TO SON 
 
 rise to the occasion and send all their organized militia to 
 the General Government, especially if they were opposed to 
 the war or felt that their individual States were in danger? 
 They did not do it in 1812, nor in 186 1 ; therefore we should 
 have as an auxiliary to the Regular Army a national 
 naihtia of at least 300,000, well drilled and disciplined, 
 thoroughly equipped, ready for the field, commanded by 
 regular officers, detailed for the purpose, available upon the 
 request of the several governors for local duty, but subject 
 to the direct call of the President for duty anywhere, with- 
 out the power on the part of any State executive to thwart 
 their movements. Such a force would indeed be a National 
 Guard in fact, as our State troops are in name only. 
 
 From this force and the Regtilar Army shoxild come the 
 officers for such new regiments as were necessary if the 
 nation was called to arms. During our late war we per- 
 sistently raised new regiments instead of keeping the veteran 
 regiments filled, and, worse still, officered them largely with 
 tmtried men, when the rank and file that gathered aroimd the 
 colors of our war-trained battalions offered some of the very 
 best material that ever carried a sword. 
 
 Napoleon's conquering legions were often largely com- 
 posed of recruits, but they stood shoulder to shoulder with 
 veterans, and were wielded by officers who had won their 
 right to command upon the field, in military, not political, 
 campaigns. 
 
 A few words about another matter, that relates to the 
 cultivation of military science. There are those who are 
 fond of saying, "Soldiers are born, not made." Well, I 
 suppose they are born, but great commanders have only been 
 made by study, drill, and, best of all, experience in war. 
 Cromwell is one of the notable exceptions to this rule. 
 Alexander was raised in camp; Cassar was a subaltern at 
 twenty and past forty when he received his first important 
 command; Marlborough was a student of the art of war at 
 fifteen, a subaltern at sixteen, and held no great command 
 until past thirty-two; Gustavus Adolphus and Frederick 
 the Great wore uniforms from the cradle to the grave; 
 
FROM SIRE TO SON II5 
 
 Napoleon, Grant, Lee, and Von Moltke were all militaty 
 students and subalterns, trained in war before they were 
 commanders. A special training supplemented by practice 
 never injured any man for his particular profession. 
 
 We don't like a standing army — this was recently 
 shown when, in the face of threatened war, the Congress 
 refused to favorably consider a bill giving otir infantry a 
 modem organization, readily admitting of expansion, recog- 
 nized the world over as the proper one (though tonder 
 stress of actual war it has finally passed a modified measure) ; 
 and the principal objection was based upon the idea that 
 luiless we had a great war the so-called National Guard 
 would have no opportunity for proving their worth. The 
 value, valor, and patriotism of our organized militia are not 
 questioned. I appreciate the time, labor, and thought that 
 they devote to their patriotic duties, but most of them are 
 engaged in peaceable avocations which war woiild seriously 
 interrupt, the officers are often such as would not be selected 
 to lead them in war, many of the men are the bread-winners 
 of families and they shotild not be called upon to make this 
 sacrifice unless the nation's needs actually demanded it; 
 putting new regiments in the field is a very expensive 
 operation and takes time ; their efficiency at first when most 
 needed is at a minimum, and their losses from disease at the 
 maximum. Let me enlarge upon the last phase of the 
 subject, for it is an important one and seldom touched upon. 
 
 In the Mexican war we lost 7 men by disease to i by the 
 bullet; respecting this matter the Surgeon-General said: 
 "The point to which particular attention is invited is the 
 disparity in the loss by disease in the several forces, the 
 monthly ratio in the voltmteer corps being nearly twice as 
 high as in the old army." 
 
 In the war for the Union we lost about 2^ by disease to i 
 by the bullet ; the ratio of deaths in the volunteers was about 
 50 per centum greater than for the regidars — in other 
 words, lack of discipline, ignorance, inexperience or careless- 
 ness sacrificed 50,000 men in disease alone. 
 
 These deductions are made in no spirit of invidious 
 
Il6 FROM SIRE TO SON 
 
 comparison, but simply to show that discipline and ex- 
 perience are as necessary for the camp as the field. 
 
 There are people who when they don't need the army 
 look upon it with the kindly contempt that animated the old 
 lady, whose dog, when the Army of the Potomac, 100,000 
 strong, was marching past, ran out to the gate and made a 
 terrible outcry ; she watched the dog and the column a while, 
 then said, "Come here, Towser, come here, don't bite the 
 army." 
 
 Part of the hostility to a standing army we inherited 
 from otu- forefathers who had suffered from an alien soldiery ; 
 part comes from ideas imported by those who fotmd a refuge 
 here from compulsory military service. The press and 
 demagogues have fostered this feeling; the former from a 
 careless habit of censure, the latter because that class 
 always appeals to popular prejudice, and an army costs 
 something and has no vote. 
 
 As a resxdt we have i soldier to each 2,400 inhabitants, 
 and that soldier is compelled to spread himself over 118 
 square miles of territory. And yet every man who loves 
 valor, justice, law, and order should be proud of otu- Regular 
 Army in war and peace, from 1791 to 1898 — in our early 
 Indian troubles, on the plains of Canada, at New Orleans, in 
 the everglades of Florida, in Mexico, in the war for the 
 Union, in the canons and on the prairies of the West, on 
 the turbulent frontier, in all our great strike troubles, on 
 the ice fields of Alaska and "Tampa's lonely shore" they 
 have an unbroken record of duty nobly done. Certainly 
 1,000 of such men to each million and a half of our inhab- 
 itants would not be a menace to our institutions ; this would 
 give us a standing army of 50,000 which coiild be readily, 
 quickly, and cheaply expanded to 125,000. Were our army 
 so organized to-day, there wotild be no necessity of calling 
 upon our citizen soldiery; except arotond biilletin boards 
 there would be no excitement, and the cost trifling com- 
 pared to what it will now be ; and if greater troubles threat- 
 ened them call out the proposed 300,000 National Guards, 
 and we could man our seacoast defences, and have for 
 
FROM SIRE TO SON II7 
 
 active operations three armies of at least 125,000 effectives 
 each. 
 
 With such an organization it will only be necessary for 
 the people, through their President, to give the order, the 
 Secretary of War will "touch the button, " the regulars and 
 the National Guard will "hold the fort" until our mighty 
 legions are prepared, and then "they will do the rest." 
 
 Sons of Loyal Legion Sires: Be at all times and under 
 all circumstances loyal to the traditions of your own 
 coimtry ; let other peoples and other nations dwell upon the 
 deeds that reflect honor upon themselves. America's achieve- 
 ments in peace and war shotild be sufficient to stimulate pride 
 in our General Government ; as citizens of this repubHc, no 
 matter where bom or from what land your fathers came, 
 remember that the tinhyphenated American vote is best 
 fitted to "protect the rights and hberties of American 
 citizenship." 
 
 The only ism we need to "maintain national honor, 
 tinion, and independence" is that American patriotism 
 exemplified by the fotmders and preservers of our govern- 
 ment. The only flag that should receive the caresses of our 
 free air is this one — imtarnished by private greed, unsullied 
 by base uses, symbol of a tmited country, eloquent with 
 heroic deeds and sublime sacrifices; fit emblem of the im- 
 mortal honor due to the immortal memory of those who fell 
 defending it in the forefront of battle ; this one whose fixed 
 stars testify alike to the wisdom of our statesmen and the 
 valor of our soldiers. 
 
 Let this flag and the principles it represents be your 
 pride in peace and guide in war ; and let your example teach 
 your children and your children's children to stand by it in 
 war and in peace. 
 
 "Stand by the flag, on land and ocean billow! 
 By it your fathers stood, unmoved and true; 
 Living, defended — dying, from their pillow 
 With their last blessing passed it on to you." 
 
AN UNLUCKY SHIP. 
 
 Read by Brevet Major-General Martin T. McMahon, 
 U. S. Vols., October 5, 1898. 
 
 YOU might be led to believe from the title of this 
 paper that it relates to one of the vessels lately 
 afloat in the bay of Manila or the harbor of Santiago. 
 But the ship whose tmhappy career is my subject carried 
 the flag before which the Manila and Santiago fleets went 
 down, and it was her misfortune that twice in her history 
 the same flag came down under fire, once by the order of her 
 commander, again by the hands of a victorious foe. 
 
 The United States frigate Chesapeake was built in 
 Norfolk, Virginia, in 1799. (She cost $220,678.) During 
 her early cruises, which were uneventful, she was com- 
 manded by Captain Samuel Barron, Captain James Barron, 
 Commodore R. V. Morris, Captain Stephen Decatur, and 
 Captain Isaac Htill. In 1807 she became the flag-ship of 
 Commodore James Barron and was ordered to the Mediter- 
 ranean. She was lying at Hampton Roads some months 
 prior to her sailing. A demand had been made by Vice- 
 Admiral Berkly of the English navy for the surrender of 
 three seamen, alleged to be deserters from a British frigate. 
 The demand was, of course, refused, and nothing more was 
 heard of it until the day the Chesapeake left Hampton Roads 
 three months later. As she weighed anchor the British 
 frigate The Leopard preceded her to sea. When about 
 thirty miles from the coast The Leopard approached and 
 hailed, annoimcing a despatch from the British admiral. 
 The Chesapeake came to, as is an act of international courtesy. 
 It was supposed the despatch was for Gibraltar. An Eng- 
 
 iiS 
 
AN UNLUCKY SHIP II9 
 
 lish officer came on board and demanded the immediate 
 delivery of the alleged deserters by direction of the British 
 admiral. At this time the Chesapeake was absolutely un- 
 prepared for what followed. Her deck was littered with 
 articles of every kind known on board a ship- — coils of rope, 
 materials, ammunition, and even hen-coops. The rammers 
 and primers of the guns had not even been distributed. 
 
 There were, moreover, a lady and her three children on 
 board as passengers, the family of Dr. Bullus, formerly of 
 the Navy, and then United States constd. He had taken 
 passage with his family to his post of duty in the Mediter- 
 ranean. His wife and her children were present in the 
 cabin when the English officer delivered his message and 
 departed. Mrs. Bullus died in 1868. She stated in her ac- 
 count of the affair of the Chesapeake and Leopard that 
 Captain Humphreys of the British ship, believing the 
 Chesapeake to be sinking, sent an officer over to take Dr. 
 Bullus, his wife and children on board the Leopard; that 
 Dr. Bullus refused, denoimcing the outrage perpetrated 
 on the American ship in such terms of indignation that the 
 English officer drew his sword, whereupon the Doctor 
 quickly drew the sword of an officer standing near by, and a 
 mutual attack was made which was quickly stopped by the 
 bystanders. 
 
 The English frigate, which in the meantime had taken 
 position for the purpose, immediately opened fire as soon 
 as her boat had rettumed and for fifteen minutes continued 
 broadside after broadside, although there was no answering 
 gun. The American ship was absolutely defenceless. 
 Commodore Barron ordered his flag to be lowered. The 
 ship was boarded by a British force and the three alleged 
 deserters, for whom demand had been rnade, with another 
 who was claimed to be a deserter from the British navy, 
 Were taken from the ship. Three men had been killed and 
 eleven wounded on the Chesapeake. One gun in answer to 
 the broadsides of the Leopard was fired by a live coal brought 
 from the galleys in his fingers by Lieutenant Allen. 
 
 You can well imagine the effect of this astoiinding 
 
I20 AN UNLUCKY SHIP 
 
 incident upon the navy and people of the United States. 
 Town meetings were held all over the country and resolu- 
 tions were passed demanding immediate action by the 
 Government, and the public sentiment was fully as intense 
 as that recently created hy the somewhat similar and equally 
 atrocious affair in Havana Harbor. We were at peace with 
 England, and the firing on the ship under the circumstances, 
 and the continuance of the fire when there was no answering 
 gtm, was cruel and brutal, and, as its opening had been, 
 contrary to the laws of nations. The English Government 
 offered immediate reparation and the return of the men. 
 Vice-Admiral Berkly was also relieved from his command, 
 but shortly afterwards — according to the custom of his 
 country — was promoted to a higher station. Two of the men 
 seized were rettirned to the Chesapeake; one had died, and the 
 other was hanged by order of a British Commander, which 
 added still another murder to the list. "Remember the 
 Chesapeake" became as much a war-cry in the Navy and 
 among the people as "Remember the Maine" in our own 
 day; and let me add, she was about as well remembered, 
 although not as promptly in point of time. 
 
 After the disclaimer of the British Government nothing 
 further could be done. But the vigorous sentiment of the 
 Navy remained unchanged. I have here a letter written 
 by a young officer, then comparatively unknown, but whose 
 name lives to-day one of the brightest in American history. 
 Oliver Hazard Perry, then a lieutenant, wrote as follows to 
 his father, who was in Europe at the time: 
 
 " You must ere this have heard of the outrage committed by 
 the British on our national honor, and feel with us all the in- 
 dignation that so barbarous and cowardly an act must nat- 
 urally inspire. Thank God! all parties are united now in the 
 determination to resent so flagrant an insult. There is but one 
 sentiment prevading the bosom of every American from North 
 to South. The British may laugh, but let them beware! for 
 never has the public indignation been so completely aroused 
 since the glorious Revolution that miade us a nation of freemen. 
 The utmost spirit prevails throughout the United States in 
 
AN UNLUCKY SHIP 121 
 
 preparing for an event which is thought inevitable, and our 
 officers wait with impatience for the signal to be given to wipe 
 away the stain which the misconduct of one has cast on our 
 flag." 
 
 The indignities and insults ofEered to us and to our navy 
 by the Government and officials of England continued as 
 before. The English ship of war Guerribre, under com- 
 mand of a vainglorious coxcomb, Captain Pechell, made 
 herself particularly obnoxious by the vprongs inflicted on 
 our commerce and our seamen. At last, Captain Rodgers, 
 commanding the frigate President, was ordered from 
 Annapolis to New York, where the Guerribre was cruising, 
 with instructions to find her. She had left the station, 
 however, where her last outrage was committed, and so 
 escaped the interview which Captain Rodgers most earnestly 
 sought. This was in 1811 and the cotmtries were still at 
 peace with each other. The President, towards the evening 
 the sixteenth day of May encountered a strange sail, and 
 supposing it at first to be the Guerribre proceeded at once to 
 investigate. The stranger showed no inclination to be 
 interviewed, and made sail. The President came up with 
 her, however, about half past eight o'clock at night and 
 gave the usual hail — "What ship is that?" The stranger 
 answered, "What ship is that?" and the hail was repeated 
 from the President. The stranger answered with a gun and 
 the President with a broadside. The fire continued several 
 minutes. The Englishman, for such she was, was reduced 
 to a wholly unmanageable condition and was incapable of 
 further resistance. Both had meanwhile displayed their 
 colors. The President ceased firing when the enemy's fire 
 had fallen off and asked if she had struck. The EngHsh 
 vessel resumed her fire without other answer. The Pres- 
 ident did likewise. Later the English fire ceased, and on a 
 repetition of the inquiry it was answered in the affirmative. 
 Captain Rodgers lay by all night in order to render assistance 
 shoidd it be necessary. The next morning he approached 
 the vessel, which proved to be the Little Belt, 22 guns, and 
 offered such assistance as might be required, accompanying 
 
122 AN UNLUCKY SHIP 
 
 it with proper apologies and regrets for the slight misunder- 
 standing, which might have been avoided had the English 
 ship answered his hail. It is needless to say, however, that 
 there was not the slightest doubt on board either vessel, 
 from captain to powder boy, as to the nationality of the 
 other. The Little Belt declined the proffered assistance, and 
 Captain Rodgers continued his cruise in search of the 
 Guerriere. He did not find her. Captain Hull did, how- 
 ever, on a later day in the Constitution and she thereafter 
 became, and is to-day, as to her name at least, a part of the 
 American navy. 
 
 This little misunderstanding furnished great comfort to 
 our gallant tars, who kept remembering the Chesapeake 
 during this incident, or accident, to the Little Belt. 
 
 Considerable correspondence took place between the 
 governments, but with no result other than the general 
 conviction that war could not be much longer postponed. 
 The Little Belt lost 1 1 killed and 2 1 woimded. 
 
 Another event connected with the fated ship, although 
 occurring many years later, I mention here because it re- 
 siilted from the affair of the Leopard. It was a tragedy 
 unsurpassed in its pathos by anything told in American 
 history. Commodore Barron, who had commanded the 
 Chesapeake, demanded, as was his right, a cotirt of inquiry. 
 This court reported against him and he was ordered before a 
 court-martial and found guilty of proceeding to sea in an 
 unprepared condition and of striking his flag without 
 resistance. Resistance was impossible, and he claimed that 
 he went to sea in obedience to peremptory orders from 
 Washington, notwithstanding the bad condition of his ship 
 and armament. Commodore Stephen Decatur was present 
 at the court of inquiry and was afterwards a member of 
 the court-martial. Barron was convicted and sentenced to 
 five years' suspension. These years he spent abroad. 
 
 Meantime, the United States had declared war against 
 Great Britain and conducted it to its termination. Thirteen 
 years after the affair of the Leopard, Commodore James 
 Barron and Commodore Stephen Decatur engaged in a 
 correspondence growing out of the matters which I have 
 
AN UNLUCKY SHIP 1 23 
 
 related and culminating in their meeting at Bladensburg. 
 This correspondence is indeed remarkable. The first letter 
 from Barron is brief and is as follows : 
 
 " Hampton, Va., June 18, 1819. Sir: I have been informed 
 in Norfolk that you have said that you could insult me with 
 impunity, or words to that effect. If you have said so, you will 
 no doubt avow it and I shall expect to hear from you." 
 
 Decatur in his reply wrote as follows : 
 
 ' ' Whatever I may have said in the very frequent and free 
 conversations I have had respecting you and your conduct, I feel 
 a thorough conviction that I never could have been guilty of so 
 much egotism as to say that "I could insult you" (or any other 
 man) with impunity." 
 
 The correspondence might well have ended here. 
 Barron, however, replied: 
 
 " Your declaration, if I understand it correctly, relieves my 
 mind from the apprehension that you had so degraded my 
 character as I had been induced to allege." 
 
 To which Decatur severely writes: 
 
 " I request you to understand distinctly that I meant not 
 more than to disclaim the specific and particular expression to 
 which your inquiry was directed." 
 
 Four months later the correspondence was renewed. In 
 it Barron claimed that Decatur had been guilty of indel- 
 icacy in sitting as a member of the court-martial after he 
 had been present at the court of inquiry, in this, that he 
 must necessarily have prejudged the case in which he was 
 called upon to act. Decatur claimed that he had asked 
 to be relieved from duty in the cotirt-martial, that the 
 Secretary of the Navy had refused to relieve him, and that 
 he was therefore bound to sit ; that he had moreover com- 
 municated to Barron's cotmsel the fact that he had formed 
 an opinion unfavorable to the accused, in the hope that he 
 would be challenged and relieved from serving. Meanwhile 
 he had opposed and was still opposing Barron's restoration 
 to active service. 
 
 On the 23d of October, in a letter addressed to Decatur, 
 Barron refers to certain taunts and boasts alleged to have 
 
124 AN UNLUCKY SHIP 
 
 been uttered by Decattir toward one who had been so 
 cruelly oppressed, as tmbecoming an officer and a gentleman 
 and assumes to regard Decatur's expressions as a challenge 
 which he accepts : 
 
 " I flatter myself [he adds], from your known personal cour- 
 age, that you would disdain any unfair advantage which your 
 superiority in the use of the pistol and the natural defect in my 
 vision, increased by age, would give you." 
 
 Decatur replied: 
 
 " I never invited you to the field, nor have I expressed the 
 hope that you would call me out. ... I stated that if you 
 made the call I would meet you, but that on all scores I should 
 be much better pleased to have nothing to do with you. I do 
 not think that fighting duels under any circumstances can raise 
 the reputation of any man, and have long since discovered that it 
 was not even an unerring criterion of personal courage. . . . 
 But in my opinion a man who makes arms his profession is not 
 at liberty to decline an invitation from any person who is not 
 so far degraded as to be beneath his notice. . . . As to my 
 skill in the use of the pistol, it exists more in your imagination 
 than in reaUty. For the last twenty years I have had but little 
 practice and the disparity of age to which you have been pleased 
 to refer is, I believe, not more than five or six years." 
 
 Barron answered at great length, claiming that 
 
 ' ' no consideration, no power or authority on earth could or ought 
 to have forced any high-minded man to sit in a case which he 
 had prejudged. 
 
 Upon the subject of duelKng [he says] I perfectly coincide 
 with the opinions you have expressed. I consider it as a 
 barbarous practice which ought to be exploded from civilized 
 society; but, sir, there may be causes of such extraordinary 
 and aggravated insult and injury, received by an individual, as 
 to render an appeal to arms, on his part, absolutely necessary; 
 mine I conceive to be a case of that description." 
 
 Much else of remarkable interest and singular pathos, 
 considering the circumstances, is to be found in the cor- 
 respondence . Decatur at last writes : 
 
 " I have now to inform you that I shall pay no further attention 
 
AN UNLUCKY SHIP 125 
 
 to any communication you may make to me other than a direct 
 call to the field." 
 
 The call came as soon as Barron had recovered from a 
 fever which had confined him some days to his bed. Com- 
 modore Bainbridge served as the second to Decatur ; Captain 
 Elliott to Barron. They were to fight with pistols at eight 
 paces, and because of Barron's defective vision it was agreed 
 that both should take deliberate aim before the word was 
 given. Bainbridge was to give the word. He had an 
 impediment in his speech which in moments of excitement 
 became more marked. For this reason Barron asked him to 
 repeat the words as he intended to pronounce them. He 
 did so — "One, two, three, fire," without any stammer or 
 hesitation, precisely as he gave them later. Barron said to 
 Decatur, "Sir, I hope when we meet in the other world we 
 shall be better friends than in this . ' ' Decatur coldly replied , 
 "I have never been your enemy, Sir." 
 
 The word was given. Both fired so nearly at the same 
 instant that it seemed like one report. Both fell, Decatur 
 apparently dead, Barron to all appearances mortally 
 wounded. Decatur revived after a time and was brought 
 near his antagonist. Barron supposing that both were about 
 to die proposed a reconciliation. Decatur said he had never 
 been his enemy and he freely forgave him his death, though 
 he could not forgive those who had stimulated him to seek 
 his life. One report adds that Barron said, "Would to God 
 you had said this much yesterday." Decatur, knowing that 
 he was dying, expressed as his only sorrow that he had not 
 died in the service of his country. He was taken to Wash- 
 ington, and died the same night at his residence on La- 
 fayette Square. Barron was taken to Washington also and 
 was confined by his woimd until the loth of April, when he 
 was able to travel to his home in Virginia. When you 
 consider the high character of the men, and the services 
 they had rendered to their country and particularly the 
 pinnacle on which Decatur stood both in the Navy and 
 before the nation, and the wide reputation that he had 
 made both here and abroad as one of the greatest men that 
 
126 AN UNLUCKY SHIP 
 
 ever trod a deck, you will understand how profoiind and 
 terrible was the impression made throughout the 
 country. 
 
 Barron lived for many years thereafter and much sym- 
 pathy went out to him from all who imderstood the situation 
 or studied the correspondence. He was not restored to 
 active duty, but his son by adoption was appointed a 
 midshipman in the United States Navy at the age of two and 
 a half years. He subsequently became a post captain, the 
 youngest in the line naturally, but cast his fortimes with 
 the late Confederacy. 
 
 Decatur throughout all had been obdurate and in- 
 exorable, spoiled, perhaps, by the high position which he 
 held in the country and the Navy. Part of his early naval 
 training had been under Commodore Preble in the war 
 against the Barbary States. Preble, who was much older, 
 was an admirable officer, but arbitrary in act, and irritable 
 in temper. It is said of him that on one occasion, while in 
 command of the squadron operating against the Barbary 
 pirates, he called a coimcil of the captains of his ships. 
 Bainbridge, the only one of equal rank was absent. Those 
 who attended the council were Decatur, Stewart, Somers, 
 and Smith ; also Colonel Lear, an American gentleman who had 
 lived long in the enemy's country. The yotmg men listened 
 and said nothing, making no suggestions whatever, think- 
 ing, perhaps, that it was the Commodore's business to make 
 plans, and theirs to carry them out. When they had retired 
 from the cabin of the flag-ship the Commodore sat for some 
 moments leaning on his hand, and seemed in a melancholy 
 mood. Colonel Lear asked him if he were ill. "No," he 
 replied, "but I have made a mistake in accepting this 
 command. I never would have done so had I known that 
 the government were going to send me a parcel of children 
 to command my ships." 
 
 Some time later — when the names of these "children" 
 had become famous both here and abroad — Colonel Lear 
 reminded the Commodore of the incident and asked him 
 if he remembered it. 
 
AN UNLUCKY SHIP 127 
 
 - "Yes," said he, "I do perfectly; but they were good 
 children." 
 
 Another of the children then serving under Preble who 
 was not present at this consultation was equally good. His 
 life, which was as full of promise as that of the great Deca- 
 tur, closed too early, with the career of the ship which is 
 my subject — James Lawrence of New Jersey. I will men- 
 tion but two of the incidents of his splendid service because 
 they led directly to the final and fatal end. 
 
 To no idle glance of the indifferent passer-by does the 
 brown sarcophagus of Trinity where Lawrence lies enshrined 
 reveal the splendid story of his brief young life. But he 
 who waits and listens well may hear the guns of Tripoli by 
 night; may peer through the misty moonlight on the little 
 Moorish trading vessel with Decatur and his gallant band 
 concealed upon her decks, slowly approaching the captured 
 frigate Philadelphia, as she lies moored with shotted guns 
 and surrounded by fleet and fort in the land-locked harbor 
 of the enemy ; he may see from the frigate's deck the stream- 
 ing rocket as our gallant sailors burst aboard giving notice 
 to the ship without the harbor that the terrible work of 
 destruction has begim, — the crew leaping overboard, or 
 falling beneath the pike and cutlass, or hiding away to perish 
 in the flames, that are already bursting from every quarter 
 of the vessel ; at last Decatur and young Lawrence and the 
 rest returning to their frail bark alongside, extricating her 
 with difficulty from the blazing ship, and there, in the red 
 glare of the flames that reveal them to the enemy's gunners 
 now raining shot upon them from the forts and the fleet, 
 staying to give three good honest cheers before they man 
 the sweeps that carry them swiftly and triumphantly to the 
 open sea. 
 
 And so, too, would come to him who honors his country's 
 history many other fights and adventures on the broad 
 waters which made the name of Lawrence both dear and 
 famous. Two of these alone I will mention, inasmuch as 
 they lead directly to the close of his life, and the career of 
 the Chesapeake. 
 
128 AN UNLUCKY SHIP 
 
 When the war of 1812 broke out, there was a strong 
 feeling in Congress and with the people that our Navy was 
 too insignificant to cope with the overwhelming sea-power 
 of Great Britain, and the intention of the Government 
 appeared to be to keep our ships from the sea. But the 
 urgency of our gallant officers at last prevailed against these 
 views, and the few ships in our possession were fitted out in 
 haste to cruise against the enemy's commerce. 
 
 In justification of this view, very generally held, let me 
 mention this significant fact : The navy of England consisted 
 at that time of 1006 sea-going vessels, 800 of which were 
 efficient cruisers. The Navy of the United States consisted 
 of 20 sea-going vessels. 
 
 Lawrence had command of the Hornet, and after a most 
 effective cruise against merchantmen, capturing and destroy- 
 ing several, he arrived off San Salvador. An English brig, 
 the Bonne Citoyenne, was lying in the harbor. Lawrence, 
 upon arriving, knowing the ships were about equal in rate, 
 sent a challenge to the English captain, inviting him to come 
 out and fight. This was not accepted, for the just reason 
 that the Bonne Citoyenne had a large amount of government 
 treasure on board which the captain, no doubt, believed he 
 was not authorized to risk, in an engagement that could be 
 avoided. The Hornet remained a few days watching her 
 antagonist, and was then driven off by a British seventy- 
 foiu-. 
 
 Continuing her cruise off the Brazilian coast, she en- 
 countered a strange vessel, evidently a man-of-war and 
 apparently an enemy. 
 
 They approached each other under full sail; the colors 
 of both were set as they neared ; there was neither hail nor 
 answer, but as they passed within half pistol-shot, two 
 tremendous broadsides were their only greeting. The Eng- 
 lishman endeavored to wear short aroimd and obtain a 
 raking fire. A similar movement on the part of the Hornet, 
 executed more rapidly, brought her down upon the enemy's 
 quarter with the advantage of position and "in a perfect 
 blaze of fire." Within fifteen minutes of the first gun the 
 
AN UNLUCKY SHIP 1 29 
 
 English ensign was lowered, and immediately set again in 
 the rigging, tmion down as a signal of distress. The 
 Hornet's boats were lowered, and every effort made to 
 remove the wotmded and the crew from the sinking ship. 
 She went down at last carrying with her the dead body of 
 her captain, three of the Hornet's men, and nine of her own 
 crew. She was the British sloop of war Peacock, eighteen 
 guns, — Captain Peake. 
 
 There were, also, thirty-seven killed and wotinded on 
 board the Peacock, while Lawrence lost but one killed and 
 fotir wounded. The vessels were of the same rate, the 
 Hornet having a slight advantage in the number of her crew. 
 
 The Hornet was so loaded down with prisoners taken 
 from the Peacock and previous captures that Lawrence, not 
 willing to expose them to the fire of their own gxms on the 
 Espiegle lying ashore six miles distant, sailed for the United 
 States. And here let me say that when these prisoners 
 were finaUy released they addressed a most cordial letter 
 of thanks to Captain Lawrence and the American people, 
 for their kind and gentlemanly treatment, adding that they 
 were treated more like guests than prisoners. From this 
 you will see that civilized humanity to unfortunate men 
 who are taken prisoners while serving their country in war 
 is an American invention, and not of so late date as many 
 might imagine. 
 
 I might remark, also, that we have seldom had occasion 
 to complain of infringement upon the part of other nations. 
 
 The effect of this victory, following so soon upon the 
 capture of the Guerrihre by Commodore Hull in the Con- 
 stitution, was very great in the United States. There had 
 been, as I have said before, a sentiment in Congress and the 
 country that our little Navy was too insignificant to be 
 permitted to leave our ports, and when our ships were 
 finally allowed to take the offensive it was partly with the 
 idea that they would soon be swept from the ocean and every 
 available resource concentrated on the Army and our land 
 defences. Upon Lawrence's return honors were showered 
 upon him; swords, and complimentary votes, and, with 
 9 
 
130 AN UNLUCKY SHIP 
 
 it all, promotion and the fatal command of the Chesapeake. 
 She was lying in Boston Harbor, blockaded by the Shan- 
 non and Tenedos, two frigates of thirty-eight gims each. 
 Her crew were in a disorganized condition, dissatisfied be- 
 cause of a question of prize-money. They comprised many 
 landsmen and were all more or less demoralized because of 
 frequent liberty ashore. Captain Broke of the Shannon 
 dismissed his consort the Tenedos, and sent a written chal- 
 lenge to Lawrence to come out and fight him : 
 
 H.B.M. Shannon, off Boston, 
 June, 1813. 
 " Sir: 
 
 As the Chesapeake appears now ready for sea, I request that 
 you will do me the favor to meet the Shannon with her, ship 
 to ship, to try the fortune of our respective flags. To an officer 
 of your character, it requires some apology for proceeding to 
 further particulars. Be assured, sir, that it is not from any 
 doubt I can entertain of your wishing to close with my proposal, 
 but merely to provide an answer to any objection which might 
 be made, and very reasonably, upon the chance of our receiving 
 unfair support. After the diligent attention which we had paid 
 to Commodore Rodgers, the pains I took to detach all force but 
 the Shannon and Tenedos to such a distance that they could not 
 possibly join in any action fought in sight of the Capes, and the 
 various verbal messages which had been sent into Boston to that 
 effect, we were much disappointed to find the Commodore had 
 eluded us by sailing on the first change, after the prevailing 
 easterly winds had obliged us to keep an offing from the coast. 
 He, perhaps, wished for some stronger assurance of a fair meet- 
 ing. I am, therefore, induced to address you more particularly, 
 and to assure you that what I write I pledge my honour to 
 perform to the utmost of my power. The Shannon mounts 24 
 guns upon her broadside, and i light boat gun; i8-pounders 
 upon her main deck, and 3 2 -pound carronades on her quarter- 
 deck and forecastle; and is manned with a complement of 300 
 men and boys (a large proportion of the latter) , besides 30 sea- 
 men, boys, and passengers, who were taken out of recaptured ves- 
 sels lately. I am thus minute, because a report has prevailed in 
 some of the Boston papers that we had 150 men additional, lent 
 us from La Hogue, which really never was the case. La Hague 
 
AN UNLUCKY SHIP I3I 
 
 is now gone to Halifax for provisions, and I will send all other 
 ships beyond the power of interfering with us, and meet you wher- 
 ever it is most agreeable to you, within the limits of the under- 
 mentioned rendezvous, viz. from six to ten leagues east of Cape 
 Cod lighthouse; from eight to ten leagues east of Cape Ann's 
 light; on Cashe's Ledge, in Latitude 43° north; at any bear- 
 ing and distance you please to fix, ofE the south breakers of 
 Nantucket, or the shoal of St. George's Bank. If you will 
 favor me with any plan of signals or telegraph, I will warn you 
 (if sailing under this promise) should any of my friends be too 
 nigh, or anywhere in sight, until I can detach them out of my 
 way; or I would sail with you, under a flag of truce, to any 
 place you think safest from our cruisers, hauling it down when 
 fair to begin hostilities. 
 
 " You must, sir, be aware that my proposals are highly ad- 
 vantageous to you, as you cannot proceed to sea singly in the, 
 Chesapeake without imminent risk of being crushed by the 
 superior force of the numerous British squadrons which are now 
 abroad, where all your efforts, in case of a rencontre, would, how- 
 ever gallant, be perfectly hopeless. I entreat you, sir, not to 
 imagine that I am urged by mere personal vanity to the wish of 
 meeting the Chesapeake, or that I depend only upon your per- 
 sonal ambition for your acceding to this invitation. We have 
 both nobler motives. 
 
 " You will feel it as a compliment if I say that the result of our 
 meeting may be the most grateful service I can render to my 
 country; and I doubt not that you, equally confident of success, 
 will feel convinced that it is only by repeated triumphs, in even 
 combats, that your little navy can now hope to console your 
 country for the loss of that trade it can no longer protect. 
 Favour me with a speedy reply. We are short of provisions and 
 water, and cannot stay long here. 
 
 " I have the honour to be. Sir, 
 
 " Your obedient, humble servant, 
 
 " P. B. V. Broke, 
 " Captain of H. B. M. Shannon. 
 
 " N.B. — For the general service of watching your coast, it is 
 requisite for me to keep another ship in company to support 
 me with her guns and boats when employed near the land, and 
 particularly to aid each other if either ship, in chase, should get 
 on shore. You must be aware that I cannot, consistently with 
 
132 AN UNLUCKY SHIP 
 
 my duty, waive so great an advantage for this general service, by 
 detaching my consort without an assurance on your part of 
 meeting me directly, and that you will neither seek nor admit 
 aid from any other of your armed vessels if I despatch mine 
 expressly for the sake of meeting you. Should any special 
 order restrain you from thus anwering a formal challenge, you 
 may yet oblige me by keeping my proposal a secret, and ap- 
 pointing any place you like to meet us (within 300 miles of 
 Boston) in a given number of days after you sail; as, unless you 
 agree to an interview, I may be busied on other service, and 
 perhaps be at a distance from Boston when you go to sea. 
 
 " Choose your terms, but let us meet. 
 
 " To the Commodore of the U. S. Frigate Chesapeake. 
 
 Impressment of seamen and the right of search were the 
 direct causes of the war. No man on board an American 
 ship who betrayed the slightest tincture of a brogue or 
 dropped even a moderate proportion of his h's in con- 
 versation stood any chance with the boarding press-gangs 
 of the EngHsh Navy. 
 
 In regard to the passengers to whom Captain Broke 
 refers, the following extracts from his log may be interesting : 
 
 " Log of the Shannon, May 26th. 
 
 " Saturday, May 29th. Light variable winds and damp fog. 
 Fixed and corrected nine powder sights. Practiced at target 
 with musketry. At 4 p.m. spoke the Sherhrooke. General 
 Flower her prize. The latter had forty Irishmen on board. 
 Took twenty of the youngest." 
 
 Why should they take the youngest? Perhaps the next 
 entry in his log may explain. 
 
 " Monday, May 31st. Was a busy day. At 10 a.m. recaptured 
 Hunter, Halifax schooner taken by Yankee privateer brig. 
 Exercised the Irishmen at small arms." 
 
 These were the passengers to whom he refers. 
 A further entry, this from the pocket journal of Captain 
 Broke, I mention for its terse modesty. 
 
 " Tuesday, Jime i, 1813. Just o£E Boston Harbor. N. W. W. 
 Lawrence, p.m. Took Chesapeake." 
 
 This challenge, tmfortunately, did not arrive until Law- 
 
AN UNLUCKY SHIP 133 
 
 rence had already sailed to accept the equally plain chal- 
 lenge of the appearance of the Shannon alone, in the offing. 
 Had he received the written document he wotdd have 
 learned that his chivalrous enemy proposed to meet him at a 
 time to be agreed upon and in latitude and longitude to be 
 named. Battle vinder these conditions woiild have given 
 to the American ship the advantage of some preparation, 
 and would have greatly improved the discipline and con- 
 cert in action of her crew. 
 
 The Captain of the Chesapeake, tinderstanding the pres- 
 ence of his enemy, tmaccompanied by her consort, to be a 
 sufficient invitation to battle, had but one course to follow. 
 He had set a similar example in the case of the Bonne 
 Citoyenne, and cotdd not but accept, although filled with 
 misgivings as to his own condition. His men were new 
 to him and lax in discipline. The first officer of the ship 
 was sick and dying on shore, and his second in command 
 was the gallant young Ludlow, who had accompanied him 
 in the Hornet, who was with him still, and who from that 
 day to this present hotir never parted from him, — for he 
 sleeps to-day in Trinity Churchyard, as he died on the 
 conquered frigate, by the side of his heroic Captain, and 
 under the same montunent commemorating both. 
 
 The Shannon waiting battle without had rehearsed it 
 for all weather. From her consort when dismissed she had 
 picked her best seamen and gimners, and it is no disparage- 
 ment, but rather the reverse, to her gallant Captain to say 
 that never went a ship into action better prepared for 
 victory. Yet at noon of a stunmer day, June i, 1814, 
 down from the good city of Boston, through her rock- 
 bound harbor, past admiring crowds upon the shore, with 
 all her splendid spread of canvas, sailed the stately Chesa- 
 peake. She passed the lights and out into the open sea. 
 Yet even as she went, a half mutiny on board, among her 
 grumbling crew, gave sad omen of her fate. It was quieted 
 by Lawrence's personal interference and influence. The 
 Shannon stood out to sea under easy sail, followed by her 
 adversary, to whom she chivalrously left to decide when and 
 
134 AN UNLUCKY SHIP 
 
 where the battle should commence. At half past five in 
 the afternoon, when thirty miles from Boston light, the 
 Chesapeake fired a single gun. The Shannon recognized the 
 signal and hove to. Down upon her sailing fast came the 
 American frigate. The men were at quarters upon both 
 decks and every lanyard held awaiting the word of com- 
 mand. There was a moment of intense anxiety on the 
 Shannon before it was determined on which side the Chesa- 
 peake would close. Still she came sweeping majestically 
 on, for Lawrence had decided to lie close alongside and to 
 fight yard-arm and yard-arm. As the foremast of the 
 American ranged abreast of the mizzen-mast of the English 
 ship, the latter delivered her broadside, commencing with 
 her cabin-guns and following forward in quick succession. 
 For a second, no answering sound from the Chesapeake 
 save the crashing of her timbers, although the blood of her 
 Commander was already flowing. But as the vessels ranged 
 full alongside with one magnificent crash from the port- 
 battery, she delivered as destructive a broadside as ever 
 issued from a ship of her size and metal. After this grand 
 opening the fire of both ships for eight terrible minutes was 
 rapid, steady, and destructive, nor was it possible to tell 
 where the advantage lay. The Chesapeake had suffered 
 greatly in her spars and rigging and her sails were all aboard. 
 Lawrence was wounded but still kept the deck. Ludlow, 
 his first Heutenant, although twice wounded, still remained 
 on duty. The captain of marines, and the fourth lieuten- 
 ant were wounded mortally. The ship forged ahead for a 
 moment, then becoming for a time unmanageable she was 
 taken aback and, getting stem way on, came afoul of the 
 enemy, her mizzen rigging becoming entangled in the fore 
 chains of the Shannon. 
 
 Perceiving that the ships were about to foul, at a fearful 
 disadvantage to his own, Lawrence gave the order to call 
 away the boarders. Upon what trifling things turns often- 
 times the fate of battles ! A colored bugler who should have 
 sounded the call had hid himself in terror imder the latmch 
 of the ship, and when found he was unable to sound a note. 
 
AN UNLUCKY SHIP I3S 
 
 The order had to be given verbally and through aids. 
 The process was necessarily slow. Meanwhile the enemy's 
 carronades raked and swept the upper deck. Before the 
 boarders coxild be assembled from below, Lawrence was 
 carried there a dying man, and every officer was down above 
 the rank of midshipman. The enemy boarded at first 
 cautiously, then in full numbers and with a rush as the dis- 
 order on the Chesapeake became apparent. The crew, 
 as the English Captain reported, still fought desperately, 
 although in disorder, but presently resistance ceased, and 
 an English officer haiiled down the colors of the Chesapeake. 
 Captain Broke was terribly wounded as he led the boarders 
 and for many days it was believed that he would die. 
 
 The slaughter on both ships had been terrible, forty- 
 eight killed on the Chesapeake, and ninety-nine wounded; 
 twenty-three killed and fifty-six wounded on the Shannon; 
 yet the action lasted but fifteen minutes. 
 
 The guns were stilled and no sound disturbed the even- 
 ing air save the murmur and tread of men engaged in works 
 of mercy. The sea was perfect in its calm, and the smoke 
 of battle had drifted far abroad. But to the ears of a dying 
 man in the cabin of his dismantled ship the thunder of the 
 guns was still resounding. To his dying fancy, there came 
 clear again the splendor of conflict, the clash of arms, the 
 great ships grappled, the splintering timbers, and the bloody 
 decks. Over him waved once more the dear flag he had 
 loved and lived for, and as his great soul went forth in his 
 strong love of cotmtry, conquering the agony of mortal 
 wounds, he cried aloud — and the unutterable pathos of that 
 cry what words shall tell ? — " Don't strike the flag of my ship ! 
 Don't give up the ship!" And therewith there faded from 
 his mortal sense the sea and the land and the fairness 
 thereof, all cries of anguish and sound of victory ; and there 
 came instead, the ineffable dawning, the music of the celes- 
 tial choirs and the beatific vision, the presence of God, the 
 just reward of a life which had been lived for duty and lost in 
 a solemn baptism of blood by heroic death in battle for his 
 country. 
 
136 AN UNLUCKY SHIP 
 
 So brave yoirng Lawrence died. The ship he had sailed 
 so well and fought so gallantly bore his lifeless body into 
 Halifax — and never since or before the day when the shat- 
 tered frigate Victory brought the dead Nelson home from 
 Trafalgar, moved there over the waters a more glorious 
 catafalque bearing a more honored burden. He was laid to 
 rest in the city of the enemy, wrapped in the very flag on 
 which his last thoughts were centred. Past-captains of the 
 English Navy were his pall-bearers, while the shipping and 
 the town were in mourning. 
 
 On a later day the body was returned to this nation and 
 laid to final rest in Trinity. Ludlow, who was buried with 
 him at Halifax, was brought home with him after the peace, 
 and rests with him in the same vault. 
 
 After peace was declared, the London Times of December 
 30, 1814, says: 
 
 ' ' We have retired from the combat with the stripes yet bleeding 
 on our backs. Even yet, however, if we could but close the war 
 with some great naval triumph the reputation of our maritime 
 greatness might be partially restored. But to say that it has 
 not hitherto suffered in the estimation of all Europe, and, what 
 is worse, of America herself, is to belie common sense and 
 universal experience. "Two or three of our ships have struck 
 to a force vastly inferior!" No; not two or three, but many on 
 the ocean and whole squadrons on the lakes; and the numbers 
 are to be viewed with relation to the comparative magnitude 
 of the two navies. Scarcely is there an American ship of war 
 which has not to boast a victory over the British flag; scarcely 
 one British ship in thirty or forty that has beaten an Amer- 
 ican. With the bravest seamen and the most powerful navy 
 in the world, we retire from the contest when the balance of 
 defeat is so heavy against us." 
 
 And this was written before the Times had heard of the 
 capture of the Cyane and the Levant by the Constitution, the 
 disabling of the Endymion by the President, or the brilliant 
 victory of the Hornet over the Penguin. 
 
 The Chesapeake was never, it appears, refitted as a ship 
 of war, nor has her name been reproduced either in our 
 
AN UNLUCKY SHIP 137 
 
 Navy or, in accordance with the custom of the sea, in the 
 Navy of the conquering nation. 
 
 She was sold and taken to England, where she was sub- 
 sequently broken up and her timbers, which were sound and 
 massive, were used in the construction of a flour mill which 
 stands to this day and is known as the Chesapeake Mill, 
 the scars of battle still being visible in the solid oak. 
 
BATTLE OF NEWBERN AS I SAW IT. 
 
 A Paper Read by Brevet Major George G. Hopkins, 
 U. S. Vols., December 7, 1898. 
 
 AFTER the capttire of Roanoke Island our troops lay 
 quietly in camp for a month. 
 We had been designated as Guard to Head- 
 quarters, so, with the exception of guard duty once a 
 week, there was nothing to do except to amuse ourselves and 
 spectilate on what was to be our next move. 
 
 On the 9th of March, one month after the battle of 
 Roanoke Island, we received orders to strike tents, pack 
 our camp eqmpage, and prepare to move in light marching 
 order, and forty rounds of ammunition to each man, and 
 six days' rations in our haversacks. 
 
 We embarked on the two ferry-boats. Curlew and Eagle. 
 These boats had come from New York with live cattle for 
 the army. They were none the more comfortable for the 
 rough weather they had encountered on their voyage and 
 the cargo which they had brought. 
 
 Once on board we weighed anchor, and proceeded to the 
 rendezvous, which was Hatteras Inlet, where we found 
 fifty transports loaded with troops, and a fleet of fourteen 
 gunboats under Commodore Rowan. 
 
 All was in readiness on the eleventh, and on the next 
 morning orders were received from General Bumside for all 
 the fleet to get under way, as an important diversion was to 
 be made to aid the Army of the Potomac in its operations 
 before Richmond. 
 
 The morning broke clear and beautiful. The Soiuid 
 was without a ripple and dazzling to the eye, from the 
 
 138 
 
BATTLE OF NEWBERN AS I SAW IT. 1 39 
 
 reflection of the clear Southern sun on its mirror-like 
 surface. 
 
 This inland ocean so peaceful and calm, little betokened 
 the turmoil of war into which we were preparing to plunge. 
 
 The only land in sight were the sand dunes separating 
 the Sound from the ocean, and the southeastern point of 
 land at the entrance of the Neuse River. 
 
 In these tranqtiil waters the whole fleet of fourteen 
 gunboats and fifty transports weighed anchor, and with all 
 available bunting flying, bands playing, and men cheering, 
 the whole flotilla moved westward towards the mouth of 
 the Neuse River. 
 
 It was a sight for an artist, beautiful beyond description, 
 the weather giving no indication of the coming storm. The 
 flotilla might have been a pleasure excursion, so little was 
 there to indicate the errand of destruction on which it was 
 bent. 
 
 We drew out in a long line, and as we came nearer the 
 mainland the smoke of signal fires was plainly seen along 
 the south bank of the river, extending in the direction of 
 Newbem. These fires gave General Branch warning of the 
 approach of otu- army. 
 
 At midday the face of the heavens changed, and by after- 
 noon a cold, drizzling rain began to fall, accompanied by a 
 thick ocean fog. 
 
 This prevented any further progress and the whole 
 fleet came to anchor for the night, the location of only a few 
 vessels being visible to each of the others. 
 
 The rain fell all night and continued imtil the second 
 day, the morning of the i4thi In spite of the storm the 
 fleet moved on up the river on the 13th, tmtil it reached 
 Slocum's Creek, which empties its waters into the Neuse 
 about fifteen miles below Newbern. This point had been 
 selected by General Bumside as a suitable place to make a 
 landing, and subsequent examinations have proved that it 
 was the best point that could have been chosen, had we been 
 able to examine the whole river from Newbem to the 
 Sound. 
 
I40 BATTLE OF NEWBERN AS I SAW IT 
 
 In giving this command to General Btirnside, Mr. Lincoln 
 again demonstrated his sagacity in selecting the right man 
 for the right place. And General Burnside here displayed 
 his peculiar fitness for the task that had been assigned him. 
 The debarkation began as soon as the first transports 
 reached the Creek. 
 
 The expedition was organized in three brigades, com- 
 manded respectively by Generals Foster, Reno, and Park. 
 Our regiment was attached to the Third Brigade commanded 
 by General John G. Park. The First and Second Brigades 
 were landed first and it was not until dark that we received 
 orders to go on shore. 
 
 Nearly four thousand men had been put on shore before 
 our turn came. They had immediately taken up the line 
 of march, the tmit for the forward movement being the 
 company, instead of the regiment or even brigade, as is usual. 
 
 Rain had fallen thirty hours, and several thousand men 
 had marched over an ordinary country road with a clay 
 bottom. The condition of such a road on a dark, cold, 
 rainy winter's night, beggars description, but is familiar to 
 many of you. The men without a murmur took up the 
 line of march. At each step we sank six or more inches 
 into the mud ; with each attempt to push on we had to raise 
 pounds of mud with our feet. In many cases the low army 
 shoes were drawn off by suction, and in the intense darkness 
 it was almost impossible to find them, so that many men 
 had to march on shoeless, and fight all the next day in 
 stocking feet. 
 
 Thus for nine weary hours we toiled on, passing in the 
 night some very strong positions which the enemy had 
 abandoned without firing a shot. The largest of these 
 earthworks was about eight miles from Newbem, and 
 extended from the river to the railroad, a distance of three- 
 quarters of a mile, with a ditch nine feet wide and six feet 
 deep. There were platforms built for their guns, but these 
 had all been removed. Properly handled, this work with 
 a thousand men should have held ten thousand in check for 
 a long time. 
 
BATTLE OF NEWBERN AS I SAW IT 141 
 
 Slowly we trudged along until three o'clock in the 
 morning, when we were ordered to bivouac for the night. 
 Here we found ourselves three miles from Newbem, having 
 marched twelve miles in nine hours. 
 
 Many of you who have been through similar experiences 
 can appreciate otir fatigue and exhaustion. Yet I do not 
 remember to have heard a complaint during the entire march 
 from any one of the men. 
 
 But what was the place where we were to bivouac? 
 The land was very level, so that the water did not run off 
 but lay in pools between the trees with which the table- 
 land was thickly covered. 
 
 Few fires were built, as it was not easy to find the place 
 where one would bum, nor the material with which to 
 make one. The alternative was to stand in a cold rain 
 or lie down in a pool of water. We all chose the latter, and 
 most of us were soon wrapped in sleep, notwithstanding 
 aU ottr discomforts. 
 
 At daybreak the long roll awoke us from our weary 
 slumbers. We breakfasted on a small ration of wet "hard 
 tack," and cold coffee from our canteens. 
 
 As soon as we were in line I ordered all my men to draw 
 their charges from their gims and clean out the nipples 
 and reload. One man failed to obey, of which more anon. 
 
 Soon the boom of cannon and rattle of musketry told us 
 that the battle was on. The whizzing of bullets about us 
 and the "chunck" as they hit a tree every few seconds, 
 told us that we were in the fight, if only on its edge. 
 
 We had formed line of battle and were not allowed to do 
 anything except to stand and take the chance of stopping 
 some of the bullets that were flying unpleasantly near, 
 buzzing in our ears as they sped on their destructive 
 mission. 
 
 Our brigade was held in reserve to support the First or 
 Second as occasion might require. Should the victory 
 prove an easy one, the reserves are not put in action and 
 receive no credit for the success of arms, but should it prove 
 that the enemy make a very stubborn resistance and victory 
 
142 BATTLE OF NEWBERN AS I SAW IT 
 
 is doubtftd, then the reserves are expected to take the 
 most exposed and critical position, requiring the greatest 
 coolness and staying qualities, always having to meet an 
 enemy flushed with some advantage gained. 
 
 It was with the greatest difificulty that we kept our men 
 in line while in this position, as a scattering fire, which you 
 cannot reply to, will make the bravest soldiers tremble. 
 With swords drawn, and a feeling that if you were not an 
 officer you would consider th^ expediency of seeking a safer 
 place, we forced our men to keep a solid front. 
 
 Fortunately General Park, appreciating the difficiilty of 
 our exposed condition, ordered the brigade to lie down. 
 There was no fear that the men would not keep this position, 
 so we were at liberty to move about and see what was 
 going on. 
 
 In our immediate front the view of the battle was 
 obscured by trees and smoke. The road over which we had 
 made our weary night march ran directly along our rear. 
 Being free to move about, we coiild see a short distance 
 ahead where the road emerged into an open plain. A 
 little distance beyond on an elevation stood a large oak 
 tree, and under it General Burnside and his staff sat on 
 horseback. It was not the safest place in the world, but 
 from it could be had a grand view of the raging battle. 
 
 I had been there but a few minutes when a shell struck 
 a large limb of the oak cutting it off, just over where General 
 Burnside sat on his horse directing the troops, and it fell 
 with a crash among the horses, the General having a very 
 narrow escape, and it seemed a miracle that no one was 
 hurt. Fearing that we shoiild be ordered forward, I re- 
 turned to my command. Shortly after this the reserves 
 were ordered into the very hottest and most difficiilt 
 position in the fight, and to assault the strongest part of 
 the fortifications. 
 
 The fortifications of the enemy were strong and well 
 arranged and extended from the river to the railroad, a 
 distance of nearly a mile. At the western termination, 
 their left flank, they had erected a strorg bastion, defended 
 
BATTLE OF NEWBERN AS I SAW IT I43 
 
 by a wide, deep ditch with abatis of heavy timber admirably 
 placed. This bastion mounted a number of heavy guns and 
 was a formidable fort. Extending east from this was a 
 line of earthworks, stretching to the railroad on the extreme 
 right. Their right flank was the most carefully fortified 
 portion of their line of defence, expecting that this would 
 be the point where we were likely to attack in force. At 
 this point the railroad embankment was some six feet high. 
 To the east of this was an old brick kiln; this, with some 
 houses, was pierced for sharpshooters, while fifty yards in 
 front was a gully, some thirty feet deep, through which ran 
 a small stream with about three feet of water in it. Between 
 the stream and the breastworks the trees had been felled 
 and left, in order to make an assault very difficult. To the 
 west of the railroad the ground was swampy, and filled 
 with down timber. Back of this swamp on several sand 
 hills were nine or ten redoubts. From all of these positions 
 their fire could be concentrated upon the ground over which 
 we had to pass. 
 
 General Burnside had counted on the fire of the gunboats 
 for his artillery support, but the obstructions in the river 
 proved too formidable to be quickly removed. The only 
 ordnance, therefore, that could be brought into action were 
 six small brass boat howitzers dragged by men. 
 
 Opposed to this the enemy had thirty heavy guns and 
 twelve pieces of field artillery, all mounted behind earth- 
 works. These guns commanded the clearing in front of the 
 enemy's works on all sides. These extensive works were 
 commanded by Confederate General Branch and defended 
 by eight thousand men. 
 
 The attack was ordered to be made along the whole line 
 stretching from the river to the railroad. The First Brigade 
 under General Foster occupying the right half of our line, 
 the Second Brigade under General Reno was to cover the 
 other half of the front from the right centre to the extreme 
 left. The Third Brigade under General Park, to which we 
 were attached, was in reserve, covering the left centre. 
 
 Our position during the early part of the battle was 
 
144 BATTLE OF NEWBERN AS I SAW IT 
 
 most trying. We were within long range of the enemy, 
 receiving some of their fire, but not being able to defend 
 otirselves. But our time was to come and in a shape to 
 test the endurance of the most experienced veterans. 
 
 General Foster on our right was engaged from early 
 morning, but was imable to dislodge the enemy from their 
 strong position. 
 
 General Reno, in moving to his position, found that the 
 line of the enemy extended to the west of the railroad, and 
 should he succeed in carrying the works east of it he would 
 be exposed to a flank attack himself, instead of overlapping 
 the Confederate flank as he expected. 
 
 The First Brigade had been engaged several hours and 
 had been repulsed in their assaults upon the enemy's earth- 
 works and were nearly exhausted. Their ammunition was 
 used up, and both howitzers and men unable to return fire. 
 
 General Reno was directed by General Bumside to 
 make an effort to penetrate the Confederate right centre 
 and to concentrate his brigade at this point, thus uncov- 
 ering the enemy's right flank, which General Park was 
 directed to cover with the Third Brigade, by moving by the 
 left flank. This brought us into easy rifle range, and exposed 
 us to a murderous fire of artillery and musketry with no 
 protection. The enemy being covered we could do little 
 execution with our Enfield rifles. 
 
 General Reno determined to make an effort to penetrate 
 the enemy's works in the centre. But for such an heroic 
 dash he could only spare four hundred men under Lt.-Col. 
 Clark of the 21st Massachusetts. This charge was one of 
 the bravest deeds of the war, and was beautifully executed at 
 a point where the field artillery had full play. The works 
 were carried, the gunners bayoneted at their post, the 
 harness destroyed, and horses stampeded. But the enemy 
 rallied and made a concentrated attack with overwhelming 
 force, and the little band were compelled to retreat and 
 abandon the guns that they had captured, — but were 
 brought off in good order. 
 
 Now came our turn for a terrific encounter. As this 
 
BATTLE OF NEWBERN AS I SAW IT I45 
 
 handful of the 21st Massachusetts were driven back, the 
 order was given for the Third Brigade to rise up and charge. 
 Down the slope into the ravine below we rushed; over 
 swampy grotmd and fallen trees, through the Creek at the 
 bottom with three feet of water in it, up the slope, through 
 tangled brush, under a galling fire, the btillets coming down 
 like hail, so thick that it seemed incredible that any of us 
 shoiild have survived it ; over the abatis, through the ditch, 
 over the parapet into the fortification, we charged. Our 
 brigade had been depleted to strengthen the others, so that 
 we had in this charge only the 8th Connecticut, 4th Rhode 
 Island, and our first battalion, 5th Rhode Island, of five 
 companies. The 21st Massachusetts had disabled the field 
 batteries and this saved us from having them turned on 
 our right flank. The Confederates fled before us. The 21st 
 Massachusetts and the rest of Reno's brigade charged, and 
 the main body of the enemy was soon in full retreat. Their 
 position to the west of the railroad was impregnable to an 
 assault, owing to the swamp and slashed timber that sur- 
 rounded it. Ours was not a desirable place to be in as the 
 fire was still very heavy. One lieutenant fell behind a 
 convenient trunk of a fallen tree and we supposed he had 
 been killed, but he walked into camp in the evening without 
 a scratch upon him. He did not wait for charges to be pre- 
 ferred, but resigned the next day, being unable to stand the 
 ridicule that greeted him wherever he went. 
 
 Once in the main line of the Confederate defences, we 
 found ourselves exposed to a flank fire on our left, from the 
 positions already referred to, and we wheeled to the left 
 and opened fire upon this position at close range. This we 
 kept up for some time, hoping to keep these troops occupied 
 while the First and Second brigades were working roimd to 
 their rear, to cut them off from their main army. 
 
 Here some of our bravest men laid down their lives for 
 their country. 
 
 We deployed column along a ridge where we were within 
 close range and here deHvered our fire, faUing back to tha 
 clove to load, then advancing to fire. 
 
146 BATTLE OF NEWBERN AS I SAW IT 
 
 We had in Company E an Irishman who stuttered in a 
 most peculiar fashion. He was a lazy dog, always shirking 
 work, but did not know what fear was. When the first 
 volley had been discharged, every one obeyed the order to 
 fall back except Tom. There he stood alone, exposed to 
 the entire fire of the enemy. They must have admired his 
 bravery, as they did not shoot him down. The order was 
 given to fall back but he did not obey, but went on loading 
 in his exposed position. He said: "Bub-bub-but those 
 fellows are firing at me and my gun won't go off." We had 
 to take him by the arm to bring him back to cover. Told 
 him to throw away his gun and pick up one of those that 
 were lying all about us. But he persisted: "Bub-bub-but 
 I want my own gun." 
 
 So we drew his ramrod and put it into the barrel and it 
 protruded about twelve inches. He had three charges, one 
 on top of the other. If the gim had happened to go off it 
 would have knocked him down, if it had not burst and done 
 more serious damage. Lazy Tom had failed to draw his 
 charge when ordered to do so in the morning. We took 
 his wormer and drew the three charges, cleaned out his 
 nipple, and gave him back his gtin. He said, "Bub-bub- 
 but now I'll give it to them," and up he went to fire. 
 
 The danger of being cut off and captured caused the 
 enemy to evacuate this strong position, as our other brigades 
 were working roimd in their rear and they would soon have 
 been at our mercy. 
 
 In retreating the Confederates set fire to the bridge 
 across the river as soon as their troops had crossed. They 
 placed barrels of turpentine at intervals the whole length 
 of this bridge. They not only fired the bridge but set fire 
 to the city in many places. But for the arrival of Com- 
 modore Rowan (who had managed to work his way up the 
 river by this time) with his gunboats, the entire city would 
 have been burned to the groimd. But he landed his men 
 promptly and soon had the flames under control. 
 
 Our regiment was ordered to take possession of the 
 •deserted artillery quarters, where we found everything had 
 
BATTLE OF NEWBERN AS I SAW IT 147 
 
 been left behind, even the dinner partly prepared. Shad- 
 rack, an old colored man left behind by the Confederates in 
 their hasty retreat, said: "Come in, Massa Yanks, dem 
 Rebs done gone lef dare dinner for you uns to eat." And 
 right glad we were to eat it, as we had hardly tasted any 
 food that day. We were wet, cold, tired, and sad, as some 
 of otir most beloved comrades had bitten the dust that day. 
 
LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS. 
 
 A Paper Read by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel William 
 Hemstreet, U. S. Vols., December 13, 1899. 
 
 IF the kodak had always been an art, mankind to-day 
 would be without sentimentality, error, and superstition 
 respecting history, which is the biggest liar in the world. 
 Realism satisfies modern craving. What wotild we not give 
 for a few kinetographs of Babylon, of Hannibal crossing 
 the Alps or foraging in Spain; how we would devour the 
 scene of a section of Cyrus's or Alexander's columns, or of 
 the wade through the Red Sea, or of the busy builders on the 
 Coliseum or the Cheops, or of the workshops and kitchens 
 in the Middle Ages with all their facial expressions, clothing, 
 eqtdpments, etc.! 
 
 When our Spanish War commenced, a young lady in 
 Brooklyn said she was awfully, awfully sorry we were 
 going to have war, for now we wotild have to listen to a lot 
 more war stories. But has all been said about our Civil 
 War? Not tmtil the stars are counted or every comrade 
 has told his experience. This paper will, in honor and 
 truth, convey to your minds a few first-handed verbal 
 photographs, without touching up or tinting, all the way 
 from Sumter to Appomattox, without the break of a day, of 
 some of the personalities of that mighty conflict that burst 
 upon the country like a thtinder clap from a blue sky. In 
 one evening's talk one must omit episodes that do not 
 convey a general lesson, and must suppress all self-allusion 
 except enough for authenticity. In the preface to The 
 Fair God is this: "A personal experience is more attractive 
 to listeners. A circumstance from the tongue or pen of 
 
 148 
 
LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 149 
 
 one to whom it actually happened, or even its spectator, is 
 always more interesting than if given second-hand." 
 
 The telegraphic nerve shock from Sumter intoxicated 
 the heart and brain of wild, reckless, patriotic, generous 
 Chicago. Business lost its head. The Board of Trade 
 stopped gouging, joined hands, sang patriotic songs, and 
 immediately raised a battery whose shot-torn wheels now 
 ornament its walls. Even Abra'm, Ikey, and Shacob sang 
 "Der Sthar-sbankled panner" until their jugular veins 
 swelled. Patriotic bunting covered the city; there were not 
 halls enough for drill, so that function overflowed into the 
 streets and fields. Enemies became brothers; bells tolled, 
 bonfires cast their witchery through the night, sharp 
 reports of cannon shook every dwelling; and, from the 
 timiult, even irreverent men rushed to their bedsides and 
 fell upon their knees in secret prayer. The national feeling 
 had been touched. April i8th Governor Yates telegraphed 
 to our brigadier-general-on-paper: "Raise and arm as 
 large a force as possible and be prepared to march at a 
 minute's warning." In our profound peace and un- 
 preparedness those words smote upon every heart and 
 they showed us young fellows what stuff remained in the 
 old fellows. General Swift was a bald-headed, rottmd, 
 boiling Irishman, and the most patriotic of Americans. 
 God bless his memory! He had that telegram in double- 
 sheet posters all over the city by daybreak. At his head- 
 quarters in his bank, before noon, the floor was piled with 
 contributions from citizens in the shapes of old Queen 
 Anne muskets, old sabres, lint, bandages, pepper-box 
 revolvers, daggers, treatises on war, etc. One of the darling 
 old chivalry of 1812, with red nose and frilled shirt bosom, 
 brought the "Gineral" a bottle of choice old brandy for an 
 emergency. A dear old maid from my boarding-house 
 brought me a Testament and silk undershirt, saying, with 
 practical tenderness, the threads might help to extract a 
 ball. As I was setting out upon a slaughtering expedition I 
 cotold not see where the Testament came in. Our friends the 
 chaplains can mix religion and war, but somehow I never 
 
150 LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 
 
 could do the trick. On the next April 8th Jefferson Davis 
 proclaimed thanks to Almighty God for the victory at 
 Shiloh, and on April loth Abraham Lincoln did the same 
 thing. This lady's old father, a stranger to me, who had 
 been in the War of 181 2, with tears upon his furrowed face, 
 locked arms with me and marched to the rendezvous. Oh, 
 that blessing follows me still! Before General Swift's 
 office, men direct from the workshops, desks, and counters 
 crowded one another for places in the line while waiting 
 for guns. There was the blacksmith with smut on his bare 
 arms, and the bookkeeper with pen over his ear. In thirty- 
 six hours General Swift started for Cairo with a staff and six 
 full companies, including a battery, armed to the teeth. 
 That was a wonderftil thing then. Now New York would 
 have an army corps tmderway in twelve hours. Swift had 
 at the front the fourth organization in the whole country, 
 and the second west of the Alleghanies. He alone, with 
 shirt sleeves roUed to his shoulders, sweating like a steer, 
 occupied the box-car making cartridges for our cannon. 
 In the same plight at Big Muddy Bridge, reported to be 
 ambushed by the enemy, with suspenders down over his 
 hips, bareheaded, with cocked double-barrelled shotgun, 
 he led the column across. Before arriving at Cairo, he 
 ordered a detail ready to go into the Saint Charles Hotel 
 and cut all the bed sheets into three-inch strips for bandages. 
 Another detail was ordered to prepare to seize the nearest 
 lumber yard and saw a thousand three-feet lengths to board 
 up the windows of the hotel so as to economize powder in 
 blowing it up if it shoiold interfere with the range of the 
 cannon. He enjoined silence and attention upon all his 
 staff, saying he would do all the "hollering." The mayor of 
 the town sent a keg of brandy for the staff. The General 
 forbade us to touch it until it was analyzed. We took it 
 up into our rooms and "analyzed" it, reporting to the 
 general we had destroyed it. So we had. On camp being 
 made, pickets thrown out, and batteries planted command- 
 ing both rivers. General Swift, although by his zeal and un- 
 lettered military instinct having done what hardly any 
 
LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 151 
 
 other man could have done, was reheved by Captain B. M. 
 Prentiss of the Quincy Blues. Swift bitterly regretted this, 
 and told me that but for the laws of the State and the exigen- 
 cies of the hour he would challenge Dick Yates to a duel. 
 We soon had six regiments, guns, and powder, but no uni- 
 forms and not a copy of the Regulations nor a blank in the 
 whole camp. The livelong summer was spent in speeches, 
 patriotic songs, firing blank cartridges, and dress parades 
 Six thousand fine volunteers spoiled there for a fight. The 
 colonels elected Prentiss to be brigadier and the governor 
 commissioned him. He promised the boys their Fourth of 
 July dinner in Memphis. He had his next Fourth of July 
 dinner in Memphis but as a prisoner, after more vigilance 
 and stubborn fighting than any other officer at Shiloh. 
 
 In October Prentiss and the young first Illinois three-years 
 brigadier met upon a railroad platform at the Iron Mountain 
 reconnoissance, where Prentiss yielded the command under 
 violent protest. Eight years after, Prentiss was a back 
 country postmaster, and the new young brigadier was 
 President Grant. As to the surprise at Shiloh, Prentiss 
 was more on the alert than anybody else. He had not 
 been given a cavalryman, and his pickets and reconnois- 
 sances were by foot. On the evening of April 5th, the night 
 before the battle, I was summoned to his headquarters. 
 He came in hurriedly with Colonel Peabody and Colonel 
 Miller and excused himself, saying he believed "those devils 
 were out there in front." The three officers mounted and 
 rode to the front. The next morning Colonel Peabody was 
 killed at the first fire, Surgeon-General Everett lay dead in 
 full uniform at the door of his tent, and soon after Colonel 
 Miller and General Prentiss were captured. You know the 
 rest. 
 
 All our six Cairo colonels became major generals. 
 Therewas one clean shaven, chubby-faced, blue-eyed, sunny- 
 hearted colonel, without uniform, prematurely gray, thirty- 
 nine years of age, who then resembled Henry Ward Beecher. 
 He was often cheerfully dancing about with his hands in his 
 trousers pockets, humming operatic measures and bubbhng 
 
152 LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 
 
 over with wit and humor; it was a wonder where he of the 
 wild and woolly West had heard an opera. He wotild on 
 the sttimp make most fervid appeals to his men to only 
 ' ' follow where he wotild lead. ' ' The next summer at Corinth 
 as a brigadier-general a bullet stopped inside of him, when 
 he remarked that carrying rebel lead inside of him would 
 send him to Congress, but that if it had only gone clean 
 through him it would be no good. You know him as 
 Senator and Governor Oglesby, of Illinois, hailed always 
 by the Army as " Uncle Dick." 
 
 Bear in mind that this paper expresses no opinions and 
 will indorse or qualify nothing, but is simply a report. A 
 regular officer was sent to us at Cairo to line out our fortifica- 
 tions. Prentiss, who did not like him, received many 
 dispatches from a rising young of&cer named McClellan, 
 then commanding the Department of the Ohio, telling him 
 to make no move without permission. One day Prentiss 
 vexatiously tore up a dispatch, saying: " I believe that man 
 McClellan is just another damned old wind-bag like 
 Benham." 
 
 We improvised a Post band from the enlisted men, 
 and oh, such a band! Having a musical sympathy with 
 the volunteer cornetist he was invited to my room where we 
 "blowed each other's tnmipets. " He was an intelligent, 
 loyal, and companionable fellow, with a heart as true as 
 steel, and was made a clerk and orderly at headquarters. 
 Two years after at Corinth, hearing a band at General 
 Dodge's headquarters, I as a ragged, dirty infantry captain 
 went over there and saw in the cottage, being presented to 
 the ladies and big officers, the new temporary corps com- 
 mander, our former cornetist of Cairo, Major-General 
 Benjamin F. Grierson, the great cavalry raider. Brains 
 will tell ! When mounting guard at Cairo I usually rewarded 
 a certain young private soldier for his neatness by assigning 
 him to the coveted duty of orderly at the St. Charles. Three 
 years after, he was killed as a brigade commander. Colonel 
 Charlie Greathouse. Brains will tell! Captain Houghtal- 
 ing's cook caught a catfish in the Ohio, and the captain 
 
LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 153 
 
 invited me to dine with him off that delicacy in his slab 
 cabin upon the levee. The cook, with the vizor of his cap 
 over his right ear, sat down with us. Three years after, 
 when Sherman was pursuing Hood over Lost Mountain, 
 I was crouched by the roadside, collapsed with cold, fatigue, 
 and hunger, and in that loss of spirit brought on by physical 
 extremity. A passing war-horse, mounted by a well-fed 
 rider, so comfortably clad and rested, with Havana cigar, 
 gauntlets, boots and spurs, uplifted my abashed and envious 
 eyes to our catfish cook, a captain of artillery. Brains will 
 tell! 
 
 At Chicago we all had great hopes for a dashing young 
 lawyer who had got a commission in the then so-called 
 crack cavalry regiment. He was an orator, a society man, 
 a politician, a ready parliamentarian, and had all the vitality 
 and egoism necessary. His mamma said he would be Pres- 
 ident. In a violent altercation with the Adjutant-General 
 of the State I heard him say: "You can't squelch me; I am 
 going to make a name and fame in this war if brave deeds 
 can do it." But the colonel of his regiment, although the 
 ladies called him a beau-ideal of a soldier, with his moustache, 
 swinging sabre, boots and spurs, like all other beau-ideals, 
 was no good for real war. He was a Southern regular and 
 never intended to hurt a hair of a rebel's head, but he 
 liked Uncle Sam's commission and pay all right. His 
 regiment was divided up into small detachments guarding 
 rear depots and bridges. At the end of the war, coming 
 through Kentucky, I saw, sitting upon a bale of hay, un- 
 shaven, soiled, disgusted, and dejected, with a briar-root 
 pipe and a full squad of troopers, our young lawyer who was 
 going to make a name, still a lieutenant. Brains will tell, 
 but they need opportunity. 
 
 In the three months' service Cairo was the Western war 
 centre and it was visited, upon duty and otherwise, by 
 many old officers of the Mexican War and of the regular 
 Army to whom it was a reunion. So slow is time to the 
 young that we boys looked upon them with reverence like 
 resurrected knights of the Middle Ages. Prentiss wore the 
 
154 LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 
 
 yet blood-stained sash of Colonel Hardin, who was killed 
 at Buena Vista. To us young volunteers, to whom the 
 Mexican War was almost a m5rth, and which happened 
 before our teens, the presence of those old heroes was a 
 stimulant, although that war had been only fourteen years 
 back. Now it is thirty-four years since the close of our 
 Civil War. 
 
 There came to Cairo a swarthy, heavy moustached, 
 glowering civilian, sizing up everything but saying nothing. 
 Of him one of our detectives said: "I 'd like to shoot that 
 fellow; I heard him say on the cars going over Big Muddy 
 Bridge, that our guard there was another imposition of your 
 damned black republican administration. ' ' Three months 
 later our swarthy friend came down loyally to Cairo at the 
 head of his regiment ; and three months after, I saw him on 
 a cot in a hospital boat, after the battle of Fort Donelson, 
 drinking a bowl of gruel handed him by a woman, and staring 
 dreamily into space. I said then and there: "That man is 
 ambitious and sees a great future ; for, like Saul, he has seen 
 a new light. ' ' Three years later, when Sherman bade farewell 
 to his army at Louisville, our swarthy friend, being for a 
 moment overcome and dismounted by the intense heat, I, 
 with others, fanned him with my hat. He was Major-General 
 John A. Logan, commander of the Army of the Tennessee. 
 A year or so after, when we took up the war of peace, I was 
 at his house in Washington. A stately blonde lady, who 
 affectionately called him "honey," was busily making up a 
 bed in the front parlor. There too was an infant. Time 
 has sped qidckly and that infant's career is in history, he 
 having just died on the battlefield, — Major John A. Logan. 
 We now see a stately, gray-haired lady who says she would 
 rather be Gen. John A. Logan's widow than any other 
 man's wife. All the oceans of earth cannot measure 
 the heart of such a woman to inspire and comfort heroes. 
 Another "Egyptian" colonel came to Cairo in November 
 with his regiment. The Post commander came out in 
 civilian's clothes to receive him. The colonel said, "Gen- 
 eral, these are loyal Egyptians"; then in a conversational 
 
LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS ISS 
 
 tone to three or four of the right files said, " Present arms!" 
 which ceremony ran toward the left like a wave in a row of 
 falling bricks. Five months after, I saw for an instant that 
 man in the mortal scathe and swirl of Shiloh, mounted, and 
 with the American flag wrapped about him, gallantly cheer- 
 ing his brigade. He was Gen. John A. McClemand. Cap- 
 tains Foote, Walk, and Rogers came up to Cairo on their 
 tin-clad scows ; you know they were afterward commodores. 
 Around in the mud upon the levee, on foot, trousers rolled 
 up, and mustering in squads, were two regular army captains, 
 within a few months after known as Major-General Pope 
 and Major-General Pitcher. Young man, remember that 
 in war promotions are rapid. 
 
 The large exchange of the St. Charles Hotel was always 
 filled with a motley crowd of volunteer officers, commercial 
 travellers, spies, newspaper men, sightseers, etc. Some 
 evenings Prentiss would call a meeting of his officers there 
 who would offer resolutions and address him as "Mr. 
 Chairman." One day there stalked into our headquarters, 
 the billiard room, a lordly Kentuckian in citizen's dress 
 save a kepi which had a little bit of militia gold exposed 
 under the glazed cover. He wanted to know — but in a 
 pleasant and dignified manner — by what right General Pren- 
 tiss fired cannon from Illinois into sovereign Kentucky's 
 waters, Kentucky claiming by deed the Ohio River to the 
 Illinois shore. General Prentiss replied: "These are Federal 
 cannon, and I will fire them anywhere I please on Federal 
 soil." All the newspapers quoted him. Our lordly visitor 
 was Simeon B. Buckner, who, six months after that, surren- 
 dered Fort Donelson. He spoke to Prentiss of John C. 
 Breckinridge as Kentucky's "god." 
 
 There was often standing alone and silent in the crowd 
 waiting for dinners, contemplatively looking down and 
 stroking his long beard, a slight but stolid young man, 
 thirty-nine years old, with a brown frock-coat, sheep's-gray 
 trousers frayed at the heels, and a Kossuth hat. He was 
 one of the new colonels of the three years' men, had been 
 brigadiered, and was to take command of the Post. He 
 
156 LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 
 
 had a quiet, thrifty, Practical look, devoid of glory and the 
 "Hurrah, boys !" of the rest of us. I guessed that he was 
 a soUd merchant up North and that when he got his boys 
 well off he would go back to business. Four months after 
 that I went, immediately upon the surrender of Fort 
 Donelson, to the headquarters' boat to dispatch to the 
 Chicago Tribune. Captain John A. Rawlings lay spraw- 
 led out on the cabin table, reading a novel. Into the 
 cabin came skipping and half dancing this young brigadier 
 just spoken of, without any insignia of rank except 
 sword, with an enlisted man's overcoat, and his trotisers 
 thrust inside common store calfskin boots covered with 
 mud. He read to Rawlings, for the first time, that famous 
 laconic correspondence written on the field in the night, 
 which electrified the North, ending with the words. "I 
 can accept no terms but immediate and unconditional 
 surrender; I propose to move immediately on your works," 
 and Buckner's letter of surrender. This was Grant. The 
 two men shook hands and laughed in boisterous congrat- 
 ulation. Old John looked down into Grant's face and Grant 
 looked up into old John's face and Grant chuckled and 
 laughed and said — "How will that sound up North?" 
 Grant was, even early in the war, impassive as to men; he 
 seldom spoke to inferiors; he always and everywhere had 
 that personal poise and inertia when beset by men, that, 
 when accompanied with unvarying common-sense, we all 
 worship and truckle to at last. But events excited Grant 
 as they do all men of intelligence. Going upon head- 
 quarters' boat the day after the battle of Shiloh with a 
 request from the family of General Prentiss to obtain a flag 
 of truce to convey a message about the death of the Gen- 
 eral's wife, my Colonel whom I was with remarked to 
 Rawlings what he had just heard from a young major who 
 came galloping from the front back to his regiment, that 
 the rebels were at us again. A man in an adjoining state- 
 room jumped out of a bunk, caught up his trousers from 
 the floor, and said, "It 's a damned lie; put that Colonel 
 under arrest," then dropped the garment and rolled back 
 
LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 1 57 
 
 into his bunk. This was Grant. The young major gal- 
 loping with the alarm from the front was Gen. Green C. 
 Raum, late Commissioner of Pensions. A day or two after- 
 ward when repeating the same request for General Prentiss's 
 son, I saw, up in the texas of the boat, Major-General Hal- 
 leck in his civilian suit of black, a swallow-tail coat, and vel- 
 vet slippers, pacing back and forth, hands in his trousers' 
 pockets, and scolding in a loud and haughty manner. He 
 had always been Grant's senior, and served in the Mexican 
 War. Grant sat there demure, with red face, hat in lap, 
 covered with the mud of the field, and im distinguishable 
 from an orderly. Time's whirligig of three years found 
 Halleck a member of Grant's staff. In those early days at 
 Cairo none could see the eternal mausoleum now on the 
 banks of the Hudson ; and now who knows where Halleck, 
 the military scholar and author, is btuied? 
 
 Before leaving Illinois, and to show the fading lantern 
 slides of human life, let us notice one more personality. 
 The vice-president of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, 
 with whom I was associated clerically in the same office, 
 got the war fever. He used to muse and sketch military 
 affairs on blotting-paper. One morning he was missed, and 
 turned up in an Eastern State as a major-general. He was a 
 towering personage by nature. He had been Speaker of 
 the House of Representatives and a governor. He was a 
 born leader of men, magnetic, brusque, but genial, with a 
 voice and manner that wotild sop you up like a sponge. 
 The next I saw him was after the war, a leader in Congress, 
 in the tumult of the closing hour of the House and of his own 
 political career, white-haired but still grand. It is some 
 years since that I saw in a paper an account of this per- 
 sonage, as a feeble old man on a railroad car, asking in 
 pleading voice : " "Will somebody tell me where I am? I am 
 General Banks." So we all evaporate. 
 
 Our Western volunteers moved right on from the first. 
 At Paducah, after the capture of Fort Henry, in February, 
 1862, I noticed mingling with the mass of Secession pris- 
 oners and asking them many questions a tall, lank, quick, 
 
158 LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 
 
 chattery man, with no insignia of rank but a brigadier- 
 general's coat. I concluded he was a sort of literary soldier 
 intending to write a history of the short war. I next saw 
 him, two years and a half afterward, on the advance to 
 Atlanta when the cry came where I was on picket duty: 
 " Turn out the guard !" Coming up the road was a brilliant 
 cavalcade of staff officers, orderlies, and bodyguard, at the 
 head of whom was our historian at Paducah, General 
 Sherman, then also with his famous "side boards" and 
 brass stirrups. And that hand-to-hand fight from Chat- 
 tanooga to Atlanta brings up another personality. When 
 I was a boy in Oneida County our village choir got up a big 
 concert. We sent to Utica for a skilled flutist and a skilled 
 fiddler, the only hired talent we could afford. The flutist 
 was a well-known shoe-dealer and militiaman. On the 4th 
 of July, '64, at our assault at Nick-a-Jack Creek, a colonel 
 was brought upon a stretcher from the skirmish line, down 
 the main road, across which my company of Missourians 
 lined. The wounded officer lying on his back, his hands 
 clasped under his head, looked up and quite joyfully said: 
 " General, we have carried the works but I have lost my leg; 
 I know it, both bones are smashed." This colonel was 
 afterward known as Governor Noyes of Ohio and Minister to 
 France. On my looking back to see what general had been 
 addressed I recognized our former flutist and shoe-dealer of 
 Utica, General John W. Ftaller of the Ohio Brigade. He 
 was physically a small man, but if the war had lasted he 
 would have developed the genius of Napoleon. 
 
 During the three days' fight of Fort Donelson an 
 Indiana regiment, in column of companies, halted in our 
 front, in the snow, with a young officer at their head, who 
 sat his horse in a decidedly theatrical, silent, and im- 
 pressive pose. He was sallow, like the victims of coffee 
 and tobacco, thin-faced, grave, with savage moustache and 
 mutton-chop whiskers . A few days after on his headquarters' 
 boat, with fingers pressing congested temples, elbows on his 
 knees, he scolded my Colonel who was old enough to he his 
 father. A few weeks after, he sat on a log smoking a cigar 
 
LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 1 59 
 
 and holding the reins of his horse, with five thousand 
 splendid soldiers, five miles from Shiloh, all day long in the 
 sound of our guns, while our Southern brethren were 
 drubbing us soundly, and he never lent a hand, thus losing 
 the military opportunity of his Hfe. I heard of him often, 
 but did not see him again until thirty years after, when he 
 lectured in our chtu-ch in Brooklyn as the beloved and 
 admired author of Ben Hur and The Prince of India, Gen. 
 Lew Wallace. 
 
 Frank Blair, our corps commander, was politician and 
 soldier combined; he made a study of the names of us 
 Missourians. When he came down to take command of the 
 I yth Corps he rode around to the various regimental head- 
 quarters and said, when the whiskey was brought out: 
 "Yes, let's get drunk together, boys, and learn each other's 
 points." One day in the Carolinas I was riding along alone 
 in the drizzling rain and was astounded by General Blair 
 with his staff, under a tree, hailing me by name to dismount 
 and take a drink with him; but my vanity was soon dis- 
 pelled by the uncomplimentary inquiry he made about a 
 foot lieutenant with short trousers and no stockings, splash- 
 ing alone on foot up the road, whom also he invited to take a 
 drink. The General was always grave and stern-looking, 
 although fond of a deep and dry joke. He had a falsetto, 
 jaded, almost whining voice, like many another hero. He 
 was a first-class Rebel hater. On oiir nearing Savannah, 
 men and horses were killed or wotmded one morning by 
 treading upon concealed bombs in the dust of the highway. 
 Blair ordered forward the Confederate prisoners and com- 
 pelled them to get down and remove the luiexploded bombs 
 with their hands. One day during the passing of his column 
 he was sitting upon a piazza when the matron came flouncing 
 with great indignation and said, "Gineral, your soldiers are 
 digging up aU our ground peas." Blair, knowing that his 
 soldiers would eat anything from a mule to a lap-dog, and 
 that some would steal an3^hing from a gravestone to a 
 baby's chemise, stroked his long sandy goatee and drawled 
 out with judicial and medical gravity: "Waal, Madam, I 
 
l6o LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 
 
 don't believe the peanuts will hurt the soldiers." The lady- 
 enjoyed a joke, for she flounced back with a facial mixture of 
 humor and disdain that would be hard even for her to paint. 
 Gen. Joseph A. Mower, who rose from a journeyman 
 ship-carpenter to be a major-general, was a partictilar pet of 
 Sherman's, who said in his general order on Mower's death, 
 that his brave deeds would fill a volume. When Sherman 
 undertook his great march he sent for Mower, who was on 
 the Red River, intending to give him a corps; but the 
 politicians did not miss a trick in that war, so Mower had to 
 take our division and Fuller had to go back to his brigade. 
 In the middle of a night, soon after leaving Atlanta, when 
 the country was speaking of us as the lost "army," there 
 galloped up to our headquarters' camp-fire some one who in 
 a gruff voice asked the sentinel for General Mower's tent. 
 All knew Sherman's strident tone : there was nothing like it 
 in the Army; it measured up to the characteristics of a 
 commander-in-chief. Lying upon the sand I raised up the 
 wall of my tent and eavesdropped. The scene was historic : 
 the two splendid patriot chieftains standing at the blazing 
 camp-fire in earnest counsel; the faithful, silent, pacing 
 sentinel with glinting bayonet; the starry sky, the great 
 sleeping Army, the silent night, the impatient war- 
 charger, — all ought to be painted. You remember the venge^ 
 ful feelings of the Army against Charleston and the threat 
 to sow salt there. Sherman said: "Big raid this. Mower; 
 big raid." Then after further constiltation and counsel 
 he said: "We will come out at Savannah and then march 
 through the Carolinas, behind Charleston; ignore her, 
 damn her, ignore her altogether!" You may also now 
 remember that when Sherman took Savannah both Lincoln 
 and Grant wanted him to bring his army by the sea to 
 the Potomac, but it had been Sherman's original idea, 
 always persisted in, to — " cut around the peritoneal cavity" 
 of the Confederacy. This took the heart out of Lee's Army 
 of the Potomac. To me Sherman was the most blazing 
 figure of the continent. He was not only commander-in- 
 chief but the smartest man in an army that idolized him. 
 
LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS l6l 
 
 He knew everything from mending a mule's harness to grand 
 tactics and civil diplomacy. He was tall and gaimt, and, 
 although only forty-four, his face was deeply furrowed and 
 his voice was a positive, quick, and rough basso, showing 
 an alert, active, and resolute mind. His customary ap- 
 pearance was to walk along the roadside with his hands 
 in his trousers' pockets, withnever a sword nor a belt, and 
 talk good earnest common-sense with the person nearest him, 
 regardless of rank. This was delightful for a subordinate, 
 knowing his exalted position and yet feeling at ease. 
 
 The Civil War was a vast magnet that drew to it the bits 
 of steel from the popular rubbish. Of course promotions 
 were rapid to many who were not scholars but were rough 
 diamonds whom the war ground and set. We had a brigade 
 commander who was a good fighter and tactician, but a 
 self-conscious, aggressive, ignorant malaprop. He spelled 
 barracks, "barax, " and when one modestly ventured to 
 correct him he told us to go — where — we thought we already 
 were — and said, "You Eastern men don't know as much as 
 you think you do." He told us Georgia was settled by the 
 "Juggernauts," and also informed his half -fed brigade that 
 they would soon find plenty of oysters, as at that time of 
 the year when the tides were high they would come up the 
 rivers in large numbers. 
 
 In '63 when our regiment was on outpost duty at Corinth 
 our corps commander suddenly dashed into camp, alone, 
 and without a word to anyone, went through and through, 
 inspecting quarters and eqmpments ; he shot through my log 
 cabin, scowling at me, but without a word. He looked to me 
 as big as a poplar tree and about a thousand years old. He 
 soon sent two of our field officers home, shot a deserter, and 
 hanged a spy. On our approach to Atlanta I was honored 
 by commanding his bodyguard. Although only thirty-six, 
 for exacting discipline, celerity, and bravery he won universal 
 admiration. He was a brash young fellow, always on the 
 skirmish line. The men used to say he could build a railroad 
 about as fast as an old man could walk. After thirty-five 
 years I met him here as our honored commander, General 
 
1 62 LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 
 
 Dodge. He got me out of a scrape once, but with a pungency 
 of Saxon that would have Hfted the hat of Phil. Sheridan. 
 So I here make grateful acknowledgment. 
 
 Speaking of Corinth, General Thomas was there. Lying 
 in an ambulance I was passing by a cottage when a man 
 came out on the verandah and ordered us to turn back. He 
 had no insignia of rank and we took him for a doctor. We 
 did not ttun back, so the man swore at us and we swore back. 
 An order of arrest soon apprised me I had rtm up against 
 General Thomas. For two months I was "retired on fiiU 
 pay" and then honorably acquitted. But I must have been 
 very provoking to the old gentleman, for old regular officers 
 afterward told me they would as soon expect to hear General 
 Howard swear as General Thomas. I call him the "old 
 gentleman," — he was twenty-two years yoimger than I am 
 now. On Thomas's staff at Corinth was a tall, young, 
 smiling, polite, but dignified Heutenant-colonel. When I 
 was ordered to make an outpost, he put his arms around my 
 shoulders, walked along a piece and advised in a brotherly 
 manner, told how to fortify, shook hands, and said he would 
 be out there soon to see how we were situated. But I next 
 saw him two years after, in the fight of the 2 2d of July at 
 Atlanta, as elegantly mounted he rode by oux front, alone ; 
 and five minutes later he was killed, at the age of thirty-six, 
 as Commander of the Army of the Tennessee, General James 
 B. McPherson. Sherman in his letter to Grant said 
 McPherson could have been President, and that "he fell 
 booted and spurred as a knight and gentleman shoxild wish." 
 He always smiled in battle. So did some of the rest of us — 
 when we could get it. 
 
 Fortxme reqtdred me to ride with General Kilpatrick's 
 staff a half a day. Kil. was a very slight man physically, 
 with pale complexion, straw-colored hair, and Dundreary 
 whiskers ; but he was an original character, positive, brave, 
 fertile in resources, hypnotic and dominating over those 
 nearest him. He was restless and rude ; he did aU. the talk- 
 ing. For a few minutes he rode on one thigh and then 
 over on the other; next he would playfully rowel the horse 
 
LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 1 63 
 
 of an officer on his right and then of another on his left; 
 then he wotild smash an officer's hat over his eyes. Sud- 
 denly he stopped, jumped from his horse prone under a 
 tree saying: "This is my headquarters for the night; give 
 that officer an escort to his column. ' ' At the end of the war, 
 in Washington, Frank Blair's father gave Frank's corps 
 officers an entertainment at Silver Springs. The night 
 being intensely hot and my clothes wintry I lay down on 
 the lawn. Soon there grouped near in the dark some general 
 officers among whom were Grant, Sherman, Logan, Blair, 
 Hancock, Schofield, Terry, Slocum, Rosecrans, Meade, and 
 others. Opinions and reminiscences were exchanged by 
 those former classmates. One asked Jeff C. Davis, he that 
 killed General Nelson at the East House for slapping his 
 face, what he thought of Kilpatrick. Davis answered: 
 " Oh, boy, boy; blank, blank boy; thinks because he can get 
 into a saddle at three o'clock in the morning and make a 
 blank of a noise that he is a general." 
 
 Here is a touching incident that comes near home. One 
 dark, cold, sleety morning about four o'clock, at Pocataligo, 
 our division headquarters, in a negro log-cabin, were aroused 
 by a young colonel who wanted a discharge form for a private 
 soldier, saying the lad could take a train waggon for the 
 coast that morning, but if he missed that he would have to 
 plunge into a new campaign. So the colonel, to make a sure 
 thing, had saddled up and ridden a mile in the darkness and 
 wintry storm instead of sending an orderly or the soldier's 
 company officer, showing an altruistic and democratic 
 disposition characteristic of many of our officers. A few 
 days after, mad-cap Mower, desiring to have his division the 
 first across the Salkehatchie, made a dash at River's Bridge, 
 and standing there with his staff in the elbow of the narrow 
 causeway while a Secession battery played directly on the 
 spot, he ordered the 3 ad Wisconsin to charge over the 
 narrow roadway, headed by its stalwart young colonel, 
 upon his horse, with his bugler by his side. That regi- 
 ment proceeded in columns of fours at double time when 
 the round shot tore through it, one aimed directly at 
 
164 LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 
 
 the colonel taking ofE the head of the bugler and killing 
 several men. The planks of the bridge had been removed 
 from the stringpieces, so the 3 2d vanished instantly into 
 the swamp. But it was a gallant exploit. I can see that 
 yoimg colonel now, with broad breast, sandy goatee, and 
 glaring eye, riding his horse right atTthe guns. But you 
 can't reasonably expect a colonel to walk his horse over a 
 girder against a battery. You wottld not do it yourselves. 
 Afterward you knew that colonel as the whitehaired and 
 venerable General Jerry Rusk, Governor of Wisconsin and 
 Commissioner of Agriculture. An Ohio regiment at the 
 head of which, on foot, was its young colonel, the same just 
 mentioned, as visiting our headquarters in the night 
 for a private's muster-out blank. As he was receiving 
 instructions from General Mower where to charge, a shell 
 exploded in our midst. When the smoke cleared away the 
 colonel was lying quivering in the mud. A long shell had; 
 torn through the knee making a rend of twenty inches 
 without breaking the skin on either side. We took him to 
 an old bam on the bluff where, with the wintry wind howling 
 through and lighted by two tallow candles, he was laid upon 
 a carpenter's bench for the amputation. While waiting 
 for the reaction he looked about upon the wounded soldiers 
 and said, cheerily: "Boys, now that we are suffering and 
 dying this way for our country we can comprehend the 
 sufferings of Jesus Christ for us. " Soon after he whispered 
 to Dr. Rose to give him an anodyne as his pain was ex- 
 cruciating and he did not want to betray any feelings before 
 the men. That young colonel is our beloved companion 
 here, who bears his burden with Christian fortitude and 
 American grit. Gen. Wager Swayne. Soon after that charge 
 Mower caUed Colonel Rusk into his tent, and mixing two 
 hot whiskies, made a remark that elected Jerry Governor 
 of Wisconsin; he said: "Rusk, I want to drink to your 
 health; you are the only man I know who can ride as far 
 into hell as I can." Our famiUar companion General 
 Howard was right in this elbow under fire before and after 
 the wounding of Swayne, and personally administered to 
 
LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 165 
 
 Swayne in the bam. I have a letter from him to me 
 as a division provost marshal on Sherman's march, stating 
 that he believed there was an organized band of robbers 
 that preceded the army. He procured Sherman to issue 
 an order making pUlaging a capital offence. Under that 
 order I tried and convicted a soldier for stealing a bedquilt. 
 He was sentenced to be shot to death with musketry at 
 such time and place as the commanding general might 
 direct. Howard approved the finding and sentence but 
 commuted the man to Dry Tortugas for five years. This 
 at once attests Howard's chivalry, humanity, and the in- 
 tended good order as against private crime which gives an 
 army a bad name as it does a civil government. 
 
 Getting up to North Carolina, duty placed me for a mo- 
 ment in personal communication, at the battle of Benton- 
 ville, with an army commander, a slight young man, 37 
 years old, as straight as an Indian, and with the eye of a 
 chief, standing among a large staff. Twenty-five years 
 after, I saw him here unknown and pushed by the crowd 
 on a Fulton Ferry boat. I said, " General, I have seen you 
 at the head of thirty thousand men in battle where your 
 word was death or life to thousands, and now in this demo- 
 cratic country a bootblack wont get out of your way." 
 He replied: "That shows us the hoUowness of all office 
 holding; I am content." Singularly, soon after, my acci- 
 dental place in the ranks of a Grand Army funeral escort 
 brought me exactly at the door of his tomb as the sun set 
 over the hills of Greenwood, the bugle sounded taps, and 
 artillery thundered its parting salute to the memory of 
 General Slocum. 
 
 After the grand review at Washington Sherman took 
 his whole army to Louisville for muster-out and farewell. 
 This was a personal and romantic triumph, for it was there 
 three years before, as an unknown officer, he had been called 
 crazy for saying we needed a half million of men to subdue 
 the rebellion. As he rode to the head of each division 
 standing in close order by columns of regiments, his addresses 
 from his horse were brief, solemn, and historical. Soon 
 
1 66 LITTLE THINGS ABOUT BIG GENERALS 
 
 those bronzed, tattered, listening ranks who had followed 
 him in the field 2000 miles were dispersed back into ihe 
 yeomanry of the land. The next time I saw him was 
 twenty years afterward, retired, sitting on a hard-wood 
 bench as a private delegate with the Missouri delegation at 
 the Grand Army reunion in Boston. Next was his body 
 all wrapped in the American flag, drawn down Broadway, 
 the last of General Sherman's mortality, but still living, as 
 General Howard said to him, on his death-bed: "General, 
 your body is not you; you will always live." I took my 
 sons to the curbstone, and, while raising reverently our hats 
 as the hearse passed, to a funeral dirge, I thought of glorious 
 years and fields where that form, now so narrow coffined, 
 had been a living tower of strength, at the head of his 
 mighty hosts and panoply of war that he called a "grand 
 and beautiful game," all vanished here like the dreams of 
 a night, but spiritually eternal and glorious. 
 
THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN THE GREAT 
 
 WAR. 
 
 A Paper Read by Brevet Colonel Horatio C. King, 
 
 U. S. Vols., February 7, 1900. 
 
 THE Rebellion broke upon a nation wholly unused to 
 war. The conflict with Mexico, compared with the 
 great wars of history, can be regarded as scarcely 
 more than a respectable skirmish. The entire force en- 
 gaged was not greater than a single corps in the terrible 
 conflict which was waged with fluctuating fortunes from 
 1861 to 1865. It was repugnant to our better natures to 
 enter upon a fratricidal strife in the spirit which inspires 
 nations of different blood and speech. So in the earlier 
 days of the war the advance armies carried a pen in one 
 hand and a blank receipt for property in the other, while 
 the sword and musket were used, apparently, for ornament 
 — an appearance of force and castigation which were very 
 tenderly applied. 
 
 Property for three years of the war, at least so far as the 
 Shenandoah Valley was affected, was gingerly preserved. 
 With a consideration quite unparalleled in the history of 
 foreign wars, plethoric bams were carefully avoided, the 
 people cultivated their farms with little hindrance, and the 
 Dtinkards, a religious sect who were opposed to fighting on 
 conscientious grounds, sowed and reaped without molesta- 
 tion and were always ready to supply the Confederates to 
 the extent of their ability, for money if they could get it, 
 or without if the Confederate exchequer was low, as was 
 usually the case. In consequence the Shenandoah Valley 
 became a sort of military race-course, up and down which 
 the contending armies chased each other with gi"eat regu- 
 
 167 
 
1 68 THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN THE GREAT "WAR 
 
 larity. It was long before our government seenied to fully 
 appreciate the necessity of putting an adequate force there 
 and not until 1864, when Sheridan was sent into this land 
 flowing with milk and honey, was the importance realized 
 of devastating this region and making it impracticable for 
 the Confederates to again undertake to make incursions 
 into Maryland and Pennsylvania, at so long a distance 
 from their base of supplies. Sheridan made it impossible 
 for them to subsist upon the country. 
 
 It would take a better hand at mathematics than myself 
 to compute the number of times our army entered Win- 
 chester leisurely and left it in haste. I saw recently in New 
 York an ex-Confederate Winchester girl who I fear will 
 never be thoroughly reconstructed until she is bom again 
 and bom a man (for it is next to impossible to reconstruct 
 the women) , and she asserted that from the window of her 
 residence at the extreme end of the street of which the 
 Strasburg pike is a continuance, on the classic site known 
 as Potato Hill, she had seen the backs of the retreating 
 "Yanks" at least seventy times. It is fair to assume that 
 she derived less pleasure from the sight of the retreating 
 graybacks an equal number of times, and was particularly 
 discomfited when the small but solid Phil Sheridan came 
 to Winchester to stay. 
 
 The Valley figures in the war by the presence in 1861 
 of a Union force under General Patterson which the wily 
 Confederate General Johnston outwitted, and leaving our 
 troops to enjoy the picturesque sight of deserted tents and 
 abandoned camp-fires, skipped blithely through Manassas 
 Gap just in time to turn the tide of battle at Bull Run and 
 send our raw recruits panic-stricken back to and through 
 Washington, some not halting until they reached their 
 peaceful homes in Maine. Their apology was that they 
 received an order to retreat and that they never heard it 
 countermanded. 
 
 After Bull Run, Stonewall Jackson was sent to look 
 after Confederate interests in the Valley, and at Winchester 
 in March, 1862, received an unpleasant set-back from our 
 
THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN THE GREAT WAR 1 69 
 
 General Shields that induced him to cultivate the acquaint- 
 ance of the residents nearer to his base of suppUes. Ewell 
 coming to his rescue with ten thousand men, Jackson 
 plucked up fresh courage and overwhelmed Colonel Kenly 
 at Front Royal after a handsome resistance. Banks was 
 at Strasburg with only 6000 men, and his condition was 
 critical. Without waiting to thank the citizens of Stras- 
 burg for their hospitality. Banks "sifted northward" with 
 a speed that the truth of history compels us to denominate 
 flight. He had a warm welcome in Winchester, the women 
 throwing hot water and any convenient missiles from the 
 windows on the troops. Without waiting long to acknow- 
 ledge these delicate attentions, away he went for Martins- 
 burg, scrambled across the Potomac, and did n't take a long 
 breath until his demoralized army was massed — or more 
 properly huddled together at WHliamsport. [In this affair, 
 a company of Zouaves under our own Comrade General 
 then Captain C. H. T. CoUis especially distinguished itself 
 by a heroic resistance, and its captain received a personal 
 letter of thanks from General Banks.] This left Stonewall 
 a chance to drop down to the Peninsula in time to take a 
 hand in the seven days' fight that sent McClellan to Harri- 
 son's Landing. 
 
 Pope's lamentable failure left Maryland open to invasion, 
 and the Confederate Army, elated with victory, took the 
 regular thoroughfare up the Valley, and pranced around on 
 free soil until whipped by McClellan at Antietam and sent 
 back to Winchester to recruit and repair damages. 
 
 The next pleasant experience of importance occurred in 
 June, 1863, when Ewell's and Longstreet's corps almost 
 enveloped Milroy's small command of 7000 at Winchester, 
 accepted an involuntary transfer of 4000 men, and con- 
 fiscated 29 guns, about 300 wagons, and 400 horses. Here 
 is another evidence of the extreme impoliteness of the gray- 
 backs, and the lack of foresight of the Yankee authorities. 
 Surely this region was fitly styled the "Valley of Humilia- 
 tion, " a term which returned to vex the Confederates a year 
 later. Subsisting on the abundant resources of the Valley, 
 
170 THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN THE GREAT WAR 
 
 Up came the exultant Confederate hordes who once more 
 crossed into Maryland, meandered very much at will to the 
 Susquehanna, until brought to bay at Gettysburg and 
 magnificently punished by Meade. The Winchester ladies 
 again saw the backs of their retreating "people" as they 
 struck out for the Rapidan, with sixty thousand men less 
 than when Lee advanced to the subjugation of the North. 
 
 In May, 1864, we find Sigel with 10,000 men moving 
 up the Valley. Breckenridge welcomed him with great 
 cordiality at Newmarket, accepted a present of six guns and 
 1000 small-arms, and reduced his command some 700 men, 
 'Who fought no more mit Sigel." Hunter, who suc- 
 ceeded him, had better luck. At Piedmont, he captured 
 1500 prisoners, 3 guns and 3000 small-arms. Advancing 
 to Lynchburg, he found that he had taken a bigger contract 
 than he could fill, and after great hardship, came out sad 
 and sorrowful somewhere in West Virginia. 
 
 Now comes the year of Jubal-E. (I'm glad some of you 
 saw it Early.) This hopeful chieftain with 20,000 men, 
 moved rapidly towards Martinsburg. Thereupon Sigel 
 advanced backwards to Shepardstown and Weber to Mary- 
 land Heights. But this Early bird was after a larger worm. 
 Washington was his objective. The Confederates expected 
 to call a convention in the national capital and dictate 
 terms of peace. General Wallace entertained the Con- 
 federates at Monocacy long enough to enable General 
 Wright to reach Washington with the Sixth Corps and the 
 advance of the Nineteenth. Early was too late. A needless 
 delay of one day saved the city. A lively skirmish in front 
 of Fort Stevens on the 12th of July assured Early that the 
 convention could not be called at that time and he walked 
 off with about 5000 horses and 2000 cattle — four-footed. 
 There were some two-footed official cattle in Washington 
 not included in the capture, who could have been well 
 spared if captured. Wright followed the adventurous 
 Jubal and gave him a lively turn at Snicker's Ferry on the 
 Shenandoah, and Averell polished off a part of his force at 
 Winchester, taking four guns and several hundred prisoners. 
 
THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN THE GREAT WAR I? I 
 
 This was not the time Crook was caught napping at Oak- 
 land. He was in command at Harper's Ferry and a few 
 days after had a Uttle picnic to Winchester which he sup- 
 posed Early had abandoned. But just outside on Kerns- 
 town Heights he struck the enemy with such force that he 
 rebounded to Martinsburg with the loss of 1200 men. Then 
 a raiding party under McCausland moved down the Valley, 
 crossed into Pennsylvania, and burned the defenceless town 
 of Chambersburg. For this act of vandalism there can be 
 no apology, at least none that Chambersburg is likely to 
 accept. General AveriU caught these bad boys, spanked 
 them well for their mischief, and drove them into the moun- 
 tains of West Virginia. 
 
 If in this hasty review of the operations in the Valley 
 up to the present point, I have omitted any one who was 
 successful or who was handsomely routed, I beg pardon. 
 Events succeeded each other with such rapidity that mem- 
 ory can scarcely be trusted to recount them. Let me 
 hasten to Sheridan's part in the Shenandoah tragedy. He 
 is my principal objective and he proved himself "every 
 inch a soldier." 
 
 At last, a strong feeling of coldness arose in the hearts 
 of the authorities at Washington against the people of the 
 Valley, and it was resolved that this rich granary and 
 storehouse should be made imtenable. In the language of 
 Grant: "The people must be informed that, so long as an 
 army can subsist among them, recurrences of these raids 
 must be expected, and we are determined to stop them at 
 all hazards." Little Phil, the Marshal Ney of the Army, 
 and the soldiers' pride and admiration, was selected for this 
 important mission. With him were the Sixth Corps which 
 earned by its swift marches the sobriquet of the " two-legged 
 cavalr>'," two divisions of the Nineteenth Corps (Gen. Emory) , 
 two divisions of the Eighth Corps (Gen. Crook) , and a corps of 
 cavalry under Torbert, with Merritt, Duffie, and Averell as 
 division commanders, and as brigade commanders, Custer, 
 the dashing and fearless; Devin (old Devinthe intrepid, who 
 cut off his gray moustache and whiskers, because he said 
 
172 THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN THE GREAT WAR 
 
 the role of "old Devin" was " played out ") ; Lowell, the 
 noble cavalier, who at Cedar Creek, though badly wounded, 
 refused to leave the field, and later in the day received a 
 mortal wound; Gibbs of the regulars, rotund, jolly, brave, 
 and imperturbable; Mcintosh, who left a good leg at Win- 
 chester and won permanent laurels ; Chapman, Tibbetts, and 
 Wynkoop, good men all and true, who were to add fresh 
 lustre to the glory of the cavalry arm. Although Sheridan's 
 force was superior to Early's he wisely forbore to make an 
 attack until confident of success. Defeat would have opened 
 the gate again to Maryland and Pennsylvania and sent 
 consternation and despair throughout the loyal North 
 already greatly discouraged and complaining. For six 
 weeks, Sheridan lay on or near the Opequan Creek con- 
 fronting Early's army, which was on the west bank, covering 
 Winchester. At last the opportune time came. Through 
 the intelligence and bravery of the loyal girl of Winchester, 
 Rebecca M. Wright, whose patriotism is honored in history, 
 Sheridan was advised of the withdrawal of a portion of 
 Early's forces. Grant came up to take a look at the situa- 
 tion and told him to "Go in" on Tuesday. But Sheridan 
 with an impatience and pugnacity characteristic of the 
 Celtic race from which he sprang, opened the ball on 
 Monday. On the 17th of June, 1864, Early blunderingly 
 detached two of his divisions on an excursion to Martins- 
 burg, but recalled them in time to participate in the magnifi- . 
 cent struggle known to the Confederates as the battle of 
 Winchester, but designated by Sheridan as the battle of 
 the Opequan, to distinguish it from some scrimmages not 
 quite so favorable to our side which were fought in or near 
 that town. 
 
 Early's command comprised Rhodes's division (Major- 
 General S. D. Ramseur, commanding), Gordon's division, 
 Early's division (General John H. Pegram, commanding), 
 "WTiarton's division, Kershaw's division, the artillery di- 
 vision under Colonel Carter and cavalry forces, two divisions 
 under Lomax and Fitz Lee. 
 
 On the 19th of September, the Sixth Corps made its way 
 
THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN THE GREAT WAR 1 73 
 
 through a narrow ravine and was posted on Sheridan's left. 
 The Nineteenth was on the right of the Sixth; the Eighth 
 moved toward the enemy's left, while the cavalry occupied the 
 flanks. Sheridan had a bad habit of early rising and the 
 army was astir by two o'clock. Although it started early 
 the heavy work did not begin until about noon. But I have 
 not time allowed me for detail. Wilson took care of Lomax 
 along the Senseny Road, the Sixth Corps handled Ramseur 
 and Rhodes roughly at and near the Berry ville Pike; the 
 Nineteenth Corps engaged Gordon, Generals Grover and 
 our companions Molineaux, and the lamented Sharpe 
 manoeuvring their brigades with great gallantry and skill. 
 Then there was a temporary check to the Sixth and Nine- 
 teenth Corps, but the tide of battle again turned in our 
 favor. Russell's division drove back the enemy and in 
 the effort its noble commander sacrificed his life. 
 
 Then there was a lull in the storm, and Sheridan moved 
 up the Army of West Virginia, while Torbert and Averell 
 had taken a little detour to look after the enemy's flanks. 
 The Sixth and Nineteenth lost no time in pressing the Con- 
 federates towards Winchester. The latter were much 
 demoralized by the fire in the rear of the Confederate left 
 flank. An attempt was made to check the advance by 
 occupying the earthworks near the town, but the game 
 was up. The cavalry turned the flanks, and away went 
 Early's army through Winchester, a broken up, confused, 
 disorderly mass, dispirited and demoralized. The cavalry 
 continued the pursuit to Kemstown, and under the cover of 
 the darkness the rout continued to Strasburg. Sheridan, 
 overjoyed, indited the despatch which ranks with the most 
 famous of epigrammatic reports. " We have just sent them 
 whirling through Winchester." And Winchester was no 
 more visited by the troops of the expiring Confederacy, 
 except as spies or on parole. The Union loss was about 
 5000, the Confederates 4000, and five pieces of artillery 
 and nine battle flags. Early, feeling secure at Strasburg, 
 prepared to rest and repair damages, but Sheridan followed 
 him swiftly, and by a pretended attack in front, and a well- 
 
I 74 THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN THE GREAT WAR 
 
 planned and well-executed flank movement on the part of 
 Crook's force, Early was again routed, his army driven 
 through the Blue Ridge, the Union forces occupjdng Staun- 
 ton and Waynesboro. Although the year of Jubal-E had 
 come, he himself did n't seem to appreciate it. 
 
 I shall not undertake to go into the events in the Valley 
 of minor importance. The kid-glove policy was thoroughly 
 abandoned and the region was rendered untenable by a 
 hostile force. Sheridan himself found it necessary to return 
 nearer to his base of supplies (Martinsburg) , but delayed 
 long enough to give Rosser a taste of what our cavalry 
 could do. They polished him off handsomely and drove 
 him twenty-six rmles on the jump. If I remember rightly, 
 the cavalry denominated this the Woodstock races. The 
 winnings were eleven guns, caissons, and forges and pretty 
 much everything else the Confederates had on wheels. 
 
 Stung with defeat and humiliated by the taunts of his 
 men and the censure of the authorities at Richmond, Early 
 took advantage of Sheridan's absence in Washington to 
 make an effort to recover his lost prestige — an effort which 
 was wellnigh successful. Heavily reinforced and under 
 cover of a dense fog, on the morning of the 19th of October, 
 Early made his attack on our left. Our troops lulled into a 
 feeling of security, by the previous successes and also by 
 reconnoissances which developed no strength on the part 
 of the enemy, were completely taken by surprise. The Eighth 
 Corps was on the left of the pike. The Nineteenth was on 
 the right of the Eighth. Thorbum's division was asleep 
 when Kershaw's infantry walked right over them. A panic 
 ensued. Molineaux's brigade of the Nineteenth Corps was 
 fortunately awake under orders for a reconnoissance at day- 
 break and time was thus gained to get the troops in line and 
 check the onset. But only for a moment, for Gordon came 
 suddenly through the fog and, striking the divisions of 
 Kitching and Hayes on the flank, the troops broke and 
 leaving the Nineteenth Corps under an enfilading fire, they 
 were also compelled to retire. Early showed good generalship 
 and strategy in this performance. He struck where our 
 
THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN THE GREAT WAR 175 
 
 line was weak and not properly picketed; but there were 
 several items in his contract yet to be carried out. The 
 Sixth Corps had not been invited to their innings, and with- 
 out any discussion of points of etiquette, went in. The 
 change of position necessary to meet the Confederate attack, 
 threw them back from their original line from one to two 
 miles, at which point the Union troops rested and the lines 
 were re-formed, the cavalry aiding magnificently by holding 
 the pike. I suppose one is excusable for standing by the 
 arm with which he was most closely identified; and I may 
 be permitted, therefore, to say that the impression I 
 received was that if it hadn't been for the cavalry that 
 day. Early would have arrived next day in sight of the 
 defences of Washington. The halt was made about four 
 miles from the original point of attack. But the stragglers 
 were rushing back to Winchester in frightful numbers, 
 carrying exaggerated news of the Confederate success. 
 
 Sheridan had been to Washington and arrived at Win- 
 chester on the morning of the 19th. The cannonading 
 twenty miles away was supposed to be from a reconnoissance ; 
 but as it increased in force he started on a gallop to the 
 front. Two miles from Winchester he met the stragglers. 
 Issuing orders to stop them with the force in Winchester, 
 he rushed on. Buchanan Read has immortalized this rapid 
 ride, and if there is more or less of poetry in the conception, 
 I decline to remove any of the decorations. Horse and 
 rider had grand work before them, and when there was any 
 fighting to be done, Sheridan never rode at a snail's pace. 
 His presence acted like magic. Everyr^^here, in answer to 
 his urgent encouragement to turn about, the stragglers 
 again faced to the front. His arrival at the line of battle 
 was the occasion for the wildest enthusiasm. Riding along 
 the front of brigades, he reassured the men and gave orders 
 for an advance. 
 
 At this time, the battle had apparently ceased. There 
 was some little firing, but Early was re-arranging his forces 
 for a further attack. This he made on the left and was 
 handsomely repulsed. The Confederates, intent on plunder 
 
176 THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN THE GREAT WAJi 
 
 (it had reached the period of their existence when a square 
 meal and a decent suit of clothes were more to many of them 
 than the success of the Confederacy), were demoralized in 
 part and neglectful of their opportunities. At four o'clock 
 a general advance was ordered and the Union forces, Emory 
 on the right, Wright on the left, Crook in reserve, and Merritt 
 on the flanks, moved with irresistible force. The cavalry- 
 enveloped their flank and inspired terror, for they had 
 acquired a wholesome dread of the cavalry. By nightfall 
 the exultant victors of the morning were in disheartened 
 and desperate rout. The Union disaster of the forenoon 
 had been wiped out and all the guns lost (24) were recap- 
 tured and twenty-four of the Confederates', besides battle 
 flags, wagons, ambulances, and other "plunder." 
 
 Sheridan received a major-generalcy in the regular Army 
 for this achievement and the country rang with his praise. 
 Grant ordered a salute of 100 guns at City Point and there- 
 abouts, and telegraphed Stanton: "Turning what bid fair 
 to be disaster into a glorious victory stamps Sheridan what 
 I have always thought him, one of the ablest of generals." 
 Congress gave him a vote of thanks, and did n't neglect to 
 include also the of&cers and soldiers under his command, 
 and a better army never fought under any leader. 
 
 The work in the Valley was thus pretty well accom- 
 pHshed. Some of the troops were withdrawn. The cavalry 
 went on a reconnoissance and a raid or two just to keep off 
 ennui and to stir up the animals. Among other things 
 Loudoun County was subjected to a general devastation 
 in return for its affectionate attentions to Mosby and his 
 murderers. 
 
 And with this ended all serious work in the Shenandoah 
 Valley. 
 
FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. 
 
 A Paper Read by Captain John R. Howard, U. S. Vols., 
 October 3, 1900. 
 
 THERE is no doubt that in all ordinary cases the accept- 
 ed test of merit is, and must be, material, practical, 
 success. Yet it is a familiar fact that many a pioneer 
 — ^whether amid the warriors, statesmen, philosophers, 
 inventors, explorers, or reformers of the world — has finished 
 his life in apparent failure, while the cause in which his life 
 was spent has gone on without him to a glorious triumph, 
 and largely by reason of his having lived. 
 
 Moreover, the names which all accept as typical of great 
 movements show but a small part of the multitudinous 
 efforts of head and heart and will that have gone to bring 
 things to pass. In thinking of our Civil War, we briefly 
 image to ourselves such men as Sumner in the Senate, 
 Stanton in the Cabinet, Beecher on the platform, Grant in 
 the field, Lincoln in the White House; yet the Companions 
 of this Order have heard recounted in this room many a 
 daring deed of heroes unknown to the world at large, and 
 there are thousands that never will be told — all of which 
 had their part and lot in the grand consummation. 
 
 It is in both of these classes that my subject falls to- 
 night. It chanced that for some years I was intimately 
 connected with the man whom I love to remember and to 
 talk about; and there are certain facts in his career that 
 may be worth recalling, in justice to his fame, — ^facts either 
 forgotten or perhaps not ever known to the gallant men 
 who did their part in those stirring days, and who in these 
 later days are glad to have justice done even to " our friends 
 the enemy " — much more to their own companions in arms. 
 
 177 
 
iy8 FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 And to set forth the fair view of Fremont's relation to 
 the war it will be necessary to take a brief glance at who 
 and what he was before the war, since that has an important 
 bearing upon the subject. 
 
 The career of John Charles Fremont was a singularly- 
 romantic one, in that it ranged through so many adven- 
 turous episodes and such extreme vicissitudes of fortune. 
 He was bom in Savannah, Georgia, in the year 1813, his 
 father being a Frenchman settled in Norfolk, Virginia, his 
 mother of a distinguished Virginian family named Whiting. 
 The father died when the boy was five years old; and at 
 the age of fifteen the youth entered the junior class of 
 Charleston College. His old Scotch teacher was very proud 
 of his attainments in Latin and Greek, in which he seems to 
 have been quite a prodigy, but in college he stood especially 
 high in mathematics. For several years after leaving 
 college he taught mathematics ; at the age of twenty, became 
 a mathematical instructor in the U. S. Navy; and two years 
 later, after a severe examination, was appointed professor 
 of mathematics, and assigned to the frigate Independence, — 
 this being before the day of Annapolis. 
 
 He soon left the sea, however, and became a civil en- 
 gineer and surveyor, laying out railroad lines in Georgia and 
 between Charleston and Cincinnati, and exploring the 
 mountain passes between North Carolina and Tennessee 
 in connection with a military reconnaissance of the Cherokee 
 country. 
 
 In 1838-9 he accompanied Jean Nicollet in his govern- 
 mental explorations of the line between Missouri and the 
 British territory, and was so highly commended in Nicollet's 
 reports that he was appointed a second lieutenant of 
 Topographical Engineers, in the United States Army. He 
 was not twenty-five years old. 
 
 In 1840, while in Washington City, where his Army 
 connection and agreeable personality made him a favorite 
 in the choicest society, Fremont met Miss Jessie Benton, 
 daughter of the famous Democratic Senator Thomas H. 
 Benton of Missouri, her mother being of the Virginia Ran- 
 
FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 1 79 
 
 dolphs. As the damsel was but fifteen years old, her parents 
 natiirally objected to any permanent relation, and the 
 young Ueutenant was ordered off to explore the Des Moines 
 River in the far Northwest. He rapidly accomplished 
 the task, returned to Washington with satisfactory reports, 
 and in 1 84 1 the young folks took fate into their own hands 
 and were united for life. 
 
 But, although happily married, Lieutenant Fremont 
 had the fever of enterprise now fully aroused. The hunger 
 for adventurous exploration was upon him, and, project- 
 ing in his own mind a geographical survey of the entire 
 territory of the United States from the Missouri River to 
 the Pacific, he applied to the War Department for per- 
 mission. He was thereupon instructed to begin upon the 
 Rocky Mountains, and particularly to examine and report 
 upon the Southwest Pass. 
 
 This, his first exploration, Fremont accomplished in 
 what Senator Linn described as "the incredibly short space 
 of four months, " fully exploring the Wind River Mountains 
 and ascending their highest point — ^nearly 14,000 feet high, 
 since known as Fremont's Peak. During the whole course, 
 he took barometrical and astronomical observations; made 
 maps, showing topography, character of soil, practicable 
 routes, military positions, etc., with many drawings of 
 special features ; and brought home a great variety of botani- 
 cal and geological specimens. His condensed report of 
 this expedition excited great interest in this country and 
 in Europe, the London Athencsum remarking, "We have 
 rarely met with a production so perfect in its kind. " 
 
 In May, 1843, having barely returned from this first 
 expedition, he sought and received orders, and started on 
 his second, aiming to clear up the mysteries of the Great 
 Basin, as it was called, between the Rockies and the Pacific. 
 But already there had begun a jealousy of this active young 
 intruder from civil life, whose exploits shamed the easy-going 
 West Pointers lounging about Washington in those times 
 of peace. He had hardly left his home in St. Louis with his 
 party when orders arrived countermanding his departure. 
 
l8o FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 The young wife was left in St. Louis in the absence of her 
 husband (her father being in Washington as Senator) , with 
 instructions to open all letters and forward important ones 
 to him, up to a given date, by special messenger. She 
 opened the countermand, but quietly pigeonholed it; and 
 her husband, in blessed ignorance of it, went his way, and 
 accomplished one of the most eventful and wonderful ex- 
 peditions of modem times. It occupied a year and two 
 months. It opened up Utah and mapped the Great Salt 
 Lake (until then supposed to empty into the Pacific Ocean) , 
 the Columbia and Upper Colorado rivers, and crossed the 
 Sierra Nevada range into California, after frightful hard- 
 ships to the party, from savage Indians, snow, cold, and 
 hunger — some of the men going insane. The return journey 
 took a southerly route through Utah again to Kansas. 
 Upon his report of this, Fremont received a double brevet, 
 and became captain. 
 
 In the spring of 1845, still upon his own request, he set 
 forth once more, this time to traverse again the desert basin 
 for practicable overland routes, and explore the coast 
 region of California and Oregon. During this expedition 
 Fremont came into collision with General Castro, the Mexi- 
 can Governor of California, and became interested in the 
 fortunes of the American settlers there, of whom there were 
 several thousand. There was already an emigrant's wagon 
 trail across the continent to Oregon, but Fremont's ex- 
 plorations were to find practicable railway routes. The 
 gold was not discovered till 1848; the Mexican province of 
 California, however, was made known as a land of wonderful 
 fertility, and during 1843-4-5 adventurous Americans were 
 pushing their way across. The journey then took six 
 months; now, six days. 
 
 The Mexican authorities at first granted Fr6mont per- 
 mission to explore; but, under the unsettled condition of 
 the relations between the two countries, and the dispute 
 over Texas, this was withdrawn and he was ordered to 
 depart. He refused, until he should have organized the 
 Americans for their own defence. He then obeyed; but 
 
FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR l8l 
 
 just as he had reached Oregon again he was met by a special 
 messenger from the Washington Government ordering him 
 to watch over the interests of the United States in California, 
 as there was a rumor that the province was to be transferred 
 to Great Britain. 
 
 He instantly returned, found the Mexicans about to 
 attack the American settlers, rallied the latter to his camp, 
 started out with speed and vigor, and in less than one 
 month all Northern California was freed from Mexican 
 authority. 
 
 He was now elected governor by the American settlers, 
 who had raised the "Bear Flag" of independence. But, 
 learning that Commodore Sloat of our Navy had arrived 
 at Monterey (for the war with Mexico had now begun) and 
 had promptly taken possession of that town only a few 
 days before the arrival in the bay of an English fleet ap- 
 parently on the same errand, Fremont reported to that 
 ofi&cer what he himself had already done, hauled down the 
 Bear Flag, and put himself under orders. (Meantime he had 
 been promoted to be Major and Lieut.-Colonel.) The Com- 
 modore appointed him military Commandant , and civU 
 Governor of the territory. Under the Naval authority and 
 co-operation he directed all the operations on land. The 
 larger operations began in July, 1846, and so efificiently 
 were they pushed that on the 13th of the following January 
 Fr6mont concluded articles of capitulation with the Mexi- 
 cans, leaving California the property of the United States. 
 
 In effect, the young fellow had conquered this royal 
 province and turned it over to his own country. 
 
 Meantime General Kearny of the U. S. Army, sent on 
 the same errand overland with a small force, had arrived, 
 had been rescued from the Mexicans by Commodore Stock- 
 ton (who had succeeded Sloat), and after some months 
 decided to claim precedence, since he had been sent with 
 expUcit orders as to the Mexican Province of CaHfornia, 
 while the Navy and the young scientific explorer had 
 acted only on general principles in a time of war. Fre- 
 mont was now in a quandary; for the Army General was 
 
1 82 FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 technically his superior officer, and his orders conflicted 
 with those of the Navy Commodore, whose authority not 
 only Fremont but Kearny himself had recognized and acted 
 under for months. Compelled to choose, Fremont decided 
 that, until his two superior officers should settle their dis- 
 pute, Stockton's claim upon him was paramount. 
 
 For this he was shortly afterwards arrested, sent east 
 in disgrace by Keamy, court-martialled, found guilty of 
 mutiny and disobedience of orders, and sentenced to dis- 
 missal — a majority of the court recommending him to the 
 clemency of the President on account of his distinguished 
 services. President Polk disapproved the verdict of mutiny, 
 but confirmed the rest of the verdict and the sentence, of 
 which however he remitted the penalty. Fremont, de- 
 siring justice, refused official clemency, and resigned his 
 commission. 
 
 As an offset to this attempt to disgrace a worthy and 
 brilliant officer, during the following winter Congress settled 
 the expenses of Fremont's hitherto unpaid California 
 battalion, with many encomiums on his services from emi- 
 nent Senators and Representatives. It ordered the printing 
 of his manuscript map of California and Oregon, correcting 
 many former errors, and of his Geographical Memoir of 
 Upper California — a lucid and compendious account which 
 eHcited almost extravagant praise from American and 
 European scientists ; while the Smithsonian Institute pub- 
 lished with beautiful engravings an account of his botanical 
 collections prepared by Professor Torrey. 
 
 In our bare mention of Fremont's expeditions, we have 
 been able to say hardly anything but that he suffered hard- 
 ships in getting over the mountains and the deserts. But, 
 said Senator Breese : " Everything necessary to show climate, 
 soU, and productions has been collected. More than one 
 thousand specimens in botany, a great number in geology 
 and mineralogy, with drawings of birds and animals and 
 remarkable scenery, and a large collection of the skins of 
 birds, with the plumage preserved, have been, as the com- 
 mittee are informed, brought home." 
 
FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 1 83 
 
 When Fremont left the Army he was but thirty-four 
 years of age. Yet, says the Hon. John Bigelow, "he had 
 won the homage of the whole scientific world, and had 
 achieved among his own countrymen a popularity more 
 unanimous and more universal than had ever before been 
 enjoyed by one of his years. Before most men have begun 
 their careers, he was covered with honors enough for the 
 close of his." 
 
 It may be interesting to state, what I was surprised to 
 learn, that no less than seventeen different States contain 
 cities or towns bearing the name of Fremont. 
 
 But, although thus out of the Army, Fremont was not 
 the man to be idle. 
 
 The next year, in October, 1848, he started on a fourth 
 expedition, this time at his own expense, through the 
 country of the Apaches and other hostile Indians, to find 
 a northern railway route to California. In the snowy 
 Sierras the guide lost his way, and the party suffered horribly 
 from cold and hunger — all the animals and a third of the 
 men perishing. They returned to Santa Fe in New Mexico, 
 and here Fremont gathered another party and pushed on, 
 indomitable, being rewarded by discovering a safe route 
 to Sacramento. 
 
 Fr6mont now settled with his family in California, 
 where in 1847 he had bought the estate called "Las Mari- 
 posas" — The Butterfly Tulips (owing to the millions of that 
 pretty wildflower carpeting the fields). Here, as the dis- 
 covery of gold and the influx of settlers rapidly enlarged 
 the community, he became interested in politics, and es- 
 pecially in the Constitutional Convention, which he was 
 most anxious to have commit the new State to freedom 
 by prohibiting slavery — ^for, like his distinguished father- 
 in-law, he was a sound-money, free-soil Democrat. The 
 administration Democrats were equally determined to make 
 California a slave State; but the Free-soilers carried the day. 
 
 The next year, 1849, President Taylor, who had suc- 
 ceeded Polk, appointed Fremont a commissioner to fix the 
 boundary between the United States and Mexico, an ap- 
 
184 FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 pointment which he accepted as a recognition of the gov- 
 ernment's former injustice to him. But in December of that 
 year he resigned the position, because he had been elected 
 a Senator of the new State, on the Free-soil ticket. It is 
 well to note here that one of the defeated pro-slavery 
 candidates was Henry Wager Halleck, a West Point ex-army 
 officer, at that time a lawyer, and afterwards widely known 
 as a prominent Federal major-general during the CivU 
 War. 
 
 Fremont now proceeded to Washington. He had 
 drawn the short term, but during that time devoted himself 
 especially to bills in the interest of California. Their 
 variety will indicate the breadth of his information and 
 intelligence — ^including postal routes, land-titles, survey 
 of public lands, donation of lands to settlers, working of 
 mines, laws and a judicial system, education, public build- 
 ings, Indian tribes and their lands under Spanish laws, a 
 transcontinental road, — and so on, in all, eighteen bills. 
 
 In 185 1 the Free-soil party were defeated in California, 
 so that Fremont was not re-elected Senator. Therefore in 
 1852 he visited Europe, with his family. Here he was 
 received with marked distinction, social and scientific. In 
 England the Royal Geographical Society awarded him a 
 medal. In Germany Alexander von Humboldt was most 
 friendly and became his warm correspondent for years 
 afterwards; the scientists generally overwhelmed him with 
 attentions, and the King of Prussia made him a member of 
 the famous Order of Merit. 
 
 In France the Fr6monts spent a restful year, welcomed 
 into the society of the old French regime and equally popular 
 with the new comers of the third Empire. But, during this 
 pleasant experience, it was learned that the United States 
 Government had ordered the exploration of three railroad 
 routes . across the continent, and Fremont, unspoiled by 
 leisure and luxury, left the civilization of Paris and has- 
 tened home to equip at his own expense his fifth expedition, 
 for completing the work of his fourth from the point where 
 the guide had lost his way; and by September, 1853, he had 
 
FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 185 
 
 Started with his party. This was one of the severest of 
 his expeditions, and, although completely successful, it 
 was after terrific hardships that he reached California — 
 having subsisted fifty days on horseflesh and been for 
 forty-eight hours with no food at all. On this expedition 
 the new invention of photography was utilized for the first 
 time in the public service, and many fine daguerreotype 
 views were taken. In 1855 Fremont removed to New York 
 to prepare the report of this last expedition and to raise 
 money for the developing of gold-mining interests on his 
 Mariposa estate. At this time he sought out my father, 
 John Tasker Howard, for aid in the promotion of his Mari- 
 posa Company. Mr. Howard had been for many years a 
 shipping and commission merchant in New York, and since 
 1848 had been interested in steamships and in California, 
 whither he had despatched the first passenger steamer 
 after the discovery of gold. 
 
 In 1856 the new Republican party — composed of mug- 
 wump independent deserters from all the G. 0. P.'s of that 
 day — ^most unexpectedly nominated Fremont as their first 
 national candidate for the Presidency. And here, again, 
 note for future reference, that Fremont's easy gaining of 
 this unsought prize seriously disappointed Wm. H. Seward 
 and Salmon P. Chase, both of whom, with good reason, had 
 high expectations. 
 
 Fremont's prominence before the people, and his popu- 
 larity, may be judged from the enthusiastic unanimity of 
 the Republican Convention, which broke away from the 
 political leaders; and by the further fact that the National 
 American Party also nominated him; and still further by 
 what is not generally known, the fact that the Democratic 
 leaders had also offered him their nomination, which he 
 declined on account of their position on the slavery question. 
 They then nominated — and elected — James Buchanan. 
 
 Fremont, thereupon, promptly dropping oolitics, re- 
 turned to his private affairs. He was no politician; he had 
 no political following or section of workers within the party. 
 His nomination had been the result of an irresistible popular 
 
1 86 FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 impulse. The presidential campaign had been an un- 
 dreamed-of episode; and it was ended. Of course, as he 
 had no use for the politicians, they had none for him; so 
 he and they parted company. Fremont now busied him- 
 self with Mariposa affairs, and returned to California in the 
 early part of 1858, taking his family and accompanied by 
 Mr. Howard, (whose office had been his personal head- 
 quarters during the Republican campaign) , mining experts, 
 and representatives of capital. 
 
 As I was then just out of college, and, although engaged 
 in teaching, was not very firmly anchored, my father took 
 me along for the trip. So that all that spring and summer 
 I had the pleasure of one of the most fascinating little 
 circles I ever knew: the Colonel, his wife, daughter, niece, 
 and two splendid little black-eyed boys. These latter are 
 now both in the service of their country : Lieut.-Commander 
 John Charles Fremont, a graduate of Annapolis, com- 
 manding the torpedo-boat Porter during the Cuban war, 
 later in charge of New York harbor, and at present com- 
 manding a vessel in Asiatic waters ; and Major Frank Preston 
 Fremont, a graduate of West Point, who also saw Cuban 
 service and is now with his regiment in the Philippines. 
 They lived for the summer in a cottage on the slope above 
 Bear Valley, about a mile from the mountain mine. There 
 were some interesting experiences when a neighboring min- 
 ing company " jumped " Fremont's mine and tried to hold it, 
 vi et armis; but all was finally settled, and the marauders 
 withdrew. 
 
 And this was my impression of Colonel Fremont — a man 
 slender, upright, elastic and tough as fine steel. He had 
 an eye like a falcon, for intense earnestness, but twinkling 
 with fun on the slightest provocation. He was peculiarly 
 neat in his attire, simple in his habits. He never used 
 tobacco, and in years of familiar intercourse I never knew 
 him to drink any intoxicant, beyond a glass of claret with 
 his dinner. In conversation he was rather deliberate, 
 singularly clear, and, without being at all stiff, quite re- 
 markably choice in his use of words — probably both from 
 
FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 1 87 
 
 his lucidity of thought and from his training in language, 
 his youthful classics and his perfect familiarity with French 
 and Spanish. An Army officer, who had spent so many 
 years among rough men, in the wildest regions and amid 
 unending trials of patience, might be supposed to be some- 
 times rough in speech ; but, on the contrary, I never heard 
 him utter anything approaching to a profane or a vulgar 
 expression. He was invariably considerate, gentle, cour- 
 teous — perhaps especially so to his inferiors in age and 
 station, — and, in manner, one of the most elegant gentlemen 
 I have ever met. 
 
 In i860 Colonel Fremont and Mr. Howard again visited 
 Europe, on Mariposa business. In 1861, when Lincoln 
 came in, Fremont should have been sent as U. S. Minister 
 to France, had fitness been considered. It would have 
 been an ideal appointment. But that would have been 
 too prominent a place for a former, and perhaps a future, 
 presidential candidate. He had no political group to push 
 his interests, and in spite of widespread newspaper dis- 
 cussion he was passed over. But when a few months later 
 the war broke out, he offered his services to the Government, 
 and through the influence of Montgomery Blair, Senator 
 Benton's old friend, Mr. Lincoln's Postmaster General, 
 Fremont was appointed a major general in the regular 
 Army and assigned to the command of the Department of 
 the West, with headquarters at St. Louis. He took with 
 him not a line of written instructions, but his orders were, 
 in general, to pacify Missouri, — a hotbed of secession, filled 
 with rebel troops and scattered bands of bushwhackers, 
 devastating the State and preying upon the Union men 
 with fire and sword, — and then to descend the Mississippi. 
 
 I was at that time in Freiberg, Saxony, whither I had 
 gone to study mine-engineering; and my father, who was 
 with Frdmont in London, wrote me that the General wished 
 me to join him in Missouri; so I gladly started for home, 
 and early in August, 1861, with a captain's commission, 
 was installed in St. Louis as his private secretary and one of 
 his aides-de-camp. 
 
l88 FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 To tell the story of Fremont's hundred days in Missouri 
 would demand far more time than we have for it. 
 
 It was one thing for a general to stand in the vicinity 
 of loyal Washington, with all the resources of the Govern- 
 ment at hand, and to "organize" the scores of thousands 
 of troops sent on by the great Eastern States perfectly 
 armed and equipped ; and a totally different thing to go to 
 St. Louis, seething with secessionists, having a few State 
 troops scattered over the great State of Missouri, and these 
 unpaid and with enlistments already expiring. Fr6mont 
 had no guidance of written instructions, no troops, no arms, 
 no ammunition, wagons, animals, forage, or supplies, no 
 rQoney, — " no nothing." It was a clear case of " bricks without 
 straw." However, he was accustomed to do much with 
 little, and he set vigorously to work. He called for troops ; 
 and they came, flocking to his name, from Illinois, Indiana, 
 Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri. Failing of any supplies from 
 Washington, despite appeals and entreaties, he bought on 
 his own responsibility the arms to equip his troops as they 
 came pouring in. And so too it had to be with ammunition, 
 animals, harness, wagons, forage, beef, clothing, supplies of 
 every kind. Ever}d;hing had to be created. This was the 
 " extravagance" of which he was accused. And even under 
 this stress, he had hardly got together and equipped eight 
 thousand new troops, when five thousand of them were 
 ordered to Washington. On the urgent representations of 
 Vice-President Colfax, who happened at the time to be in 
 St. Louis, this requisition was reduced to three thousand. 
 
 During the six weeks of feverish preparation for taking 
 the field, we all rose and began to work at six in the morning, 
 and except for brief meals worked steadily till twelve at 
 night— the General harder than any one else. The mail 
 was mountainous and multitudinous, and in those raw days 
 contained bushels of chaff to small measure of grain. And 
 the procession of people who "must see the General," 
 either on their own affairs or on their "views" of the affairs 
 of the Department, compelled even that too amiable man 
 to set up a sort of inquiring reception committee before his 
 
FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 189 
 
 door, for sifting out the persons who really did have serious 
 business with him, and to whom he had to spare some of his 
 packed and crowded hours of work. In the mihtary De- 
 partment of the East this would have been — ^and was — a 
 matter of course ; in the free and untrammelled West it was 
 an "aristocratic barrier"! 
 
 The Department was large, the troops few, and the 
 enemy threatening at various points in Missouri itself, when 
 from down the Mississippi a force of twenty thousand was 
 reported as advancing under Jeff. Thompson to attack 
 Cairo, at the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, — 
 the gateway to the whole West. So, reinforcements were 
 ordered to the relief of Lexington; Lyon was directed to 
 retire from Springfield — for he could retreat, while Cairo 
 could n't ; and Fr6mont himself went down the river to 
 Cairo. He had but three thousand four hundred troops to 
 use, but he marched and countermarched them through 
 and about the streets of St. Louis, he himseh going to the 
 wharf in an open barouche with a clattering cavalry escort, 
 making as great a display as possible, and embarked his 
 little force on a large number of transports (that is, old 
 ferry-boats) . Then the secessionists of St. Louis sent word 
 to their friends below that Fremont was going to Cairo with 
 ten thousand men. Mr. Jeff. Thompson therefore hauled 
 off, and Cairo was saved. That was a sample of the " Ori- 
 ental luxury and display" he was accused of. 
 
 He also built forts, and fortified St. Louis and one or 
 two other important points, so that a small garrison could 
 hold them, releasing his army for field work. Alas, more 
 "extravagance"! Yet this policy became a prime element 
 of military strength all along the line, from St. Louis to 
 Washington. 
 
 So violent and persistent were the secessionists of 
 Missouri in aiding the Rebellion, that Fremont, prompt to 
 see the weak point, was equally prompt to strike at it. 
 And on August 30, 1861, he issued his famous proclama- 
 tion of martial law, confiscating the property of active 
 secessionists in his Department and declaring their slaves. 
 
igo FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 if any they had, to be free men, — a word that thrilled the 
 whole North, and electrified earnest Unionists into a sudden 
 realization that there actuUy was a short road to the heart 
 of the Confederacy, and that Fremont had found it. 
 
 He was not allowed to take it, however. With great 
 consideration. President Lincoln wrote privately, asking 
 him to withdraw that part of his proclamation. Fremont 
 repHed that he had made it after careful consideration, as 
 he would have fought a battle or done any other act for 
 the furtherance of victory in his own Department, and 
 preferred not to change it as of his own motion, but, if at 
 all, under the President's order. And it was ordered. Not, 
 however, before two negroes, slaves of Thomas L. Snead, 
 a prominent secessionist, had been declared free by proclama- 
 tion on September 12, 1861 — the first-fruits of emancipation 
 under the war power. 
 
 It has always been a solace to me that, as the General's 
 secretary, it was in my handwriting that the original proc- 
 lamation went out; for although it was the chief cause of 
 Fremont's removal, it sounded the keynote to which the 
 whole North — and, what is more, the Government — attuned 
 by the mighty strain of unsuccessful war — had to come. 
 
 A thing that I can barely mention is that Fr6mont 
 organized and prepared for river-work the gunboat flotilla, 
 with Captain (afterwards Admiral) Foote as commander, 
 which afterwards did such splendid service for Grant on 
 the Mississippi and at Forts Henry and Donelson. More- 
 over, he gave Ulysses S. Grant his first important command, 
 at Cairo; and it was in pursuance of Fr6mont's own plan 
 and orders that Grant made the dash into Kentucky, over 
 the bridge built by Frdmont at Paducah, which gained 
 him his first success and high commendation. 
 
 On September 25th Fremont took the field, to chase 
 down Price's army. Into that, driven before his rapid 
 advance, were gathered all the Missouri and Arkansas 
 rebel troops and the guerrilla bands as well, which had been 
 desolating the State. For Fremont had made an arrange- 
 ment with Price to hang bushwhackers and to exchange 
 
FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 19I 
 
 prisoners of war — ^the first exchange, by the way, that the 
 U. S. authorities ever did arrange with the rebels. This 
 act, too, was countermanded by the Government; but 
 likewise that policy, too, the Government had to adopt 
 later on. 
 
 For about four weeks, struggling to get together his 
 divisions, delayed by lack of transportation and by un- 
 willing co-operation from some of his generals — ^men like 
 Pope and Hunter of the regular Army, who, as of yore, were 
 jealous and discontented, and who deliberately refused 
 to move without more transportation — Fremont drove 
 ahead with his own portion of the troops and with no more 
 transportation than the others had. Near Springfield he 
 threw out his Body Guard — a splendid little body of cavalry 
 commanded by the Hungarian Zagonyi (for, contrary to 
 General Scott's ideas, Fr6mont had strained every nerve 
 to gather and train a cavalry force, the Guard being a kind 
 of model nucleus for the 5000 or so that he had got in hand) . 
 And the one hundred and fifty heroes attacked and drove 
 out of Springfield two thousand of the enemy, posted in 
 the edge of woods on the crest of a hill. The Guard lost 
 about one third of their number, but sabred many more 
 of their opponents. Said Zagonyi in his quaint English: 
 "We did use sabre only. The pistols is a trooble — and not 
 so sure." 
 
 After waiting in vain a couple of days for the laggards 
 to come up, and anxious to strike Price and his forty thou- 
 sand men before they should scatter over the border, Fre- 
 mont, having but twenty-six thousand with him, planned 
 his attack and had ordered an advance on the following 
 morning — ^when he received an order relieving him of his 
 command. 
 
 To sum up his three-and-a-half months' work — aside from 
 his raising and equipping four-fifths of the 55,000 troops 
 he left in Missouri — ^let me read a brief paragraph from 
 Prof. Patton's Four Hundred Years of American History, 
 indicating what ideas Fremont struck out, which influenced 
 the whole war. 
 
192 FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 "Fremont's career at the West was brief — only one hundred 
 days: but, being a man of military instincts and training, he 
 showed in that time a sagacity which was not allowed fair prac- 
 tical development. In that brief time he was the first to suggest 
 and inaugurate the following practices, then widely decried, 
 but without which the war would not have been successfully 
 concluded : the free use of cavalry (strongly opposed by General 
 Scott and others) ; exchange of prisoners with the enemy ; forti- 
 fication of large cities, to allow armies to take the field ; building 
 of river gunboats for interior operations at the West; and the 
 emancipation of the slaves. In short, he contributed more than 
 is generally credited to him." 
 
 As to Fremont's administration in Missouri, it is enough 
 that his successors Hunter and Halleck had to carry out 
 his countermanded preparations — completing his fortifi- 
 cations and resuming his contracts for animals, supplies, 
 etc., and that, after an elaborate Congressional investigation 
 during the next winter, he was in the following spring — 
 March, 1862 — appointed to the command of the Mountain 
 Department in Western Virginia. 
 
 Fremont started southward from Wheeling, under 
 instructions to co-operate westwardly with the Army of 
 the Tennessee, but was suddenly recalled from the Franklin 
 VaUey to cross the Blue Ridge to the eastward and to 
 head off Stonewall Jackson, who had driven Banks north to 
 the Potomac and was on his way through the Shenandoah 
 Valley south again. There was no practicable road across 
 the mountains where Fremont's force then was. Therefore, 
 stripping his army of aU but essential baggage, he turned 
 back, moved rapidly, under alternations of great heats and 
 pouring rains, crossed the mountains, and came upon 
 Jackson's rear at Strasburg in the Valley. From there 
 south to the Shenandoah River it was a seven days' 
 chase and a running fight, and Jackson's famous "foot- 
 cavalry" led it in fine style, burning aU bridges be- 
 hind them. But, even with rebuilding of bridges and 
 fording of streams, driving ahead, Fremont kept up with 
 the rapid chase, and at last came upon Jackson's force 
 
FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 193 
 
 at Cross-Keys near the river, and fought it all day. He 
 had sent scouts ahead to order the bridge over the Shenan- 
 doah burned in front of Jackson. But it was not done, and 
 during the night Jackson's forces slipped over the bridge 
 and burned it behind them, capturing the vahant regular 
 army brigadier who would not take orders from Fremont 
 but was going to hold the bridge. That officer made a gallant 
 but foolish fight: "Obedience is better than sacrifice." It 
 was a splendidly brilliant campaign on the part of Jackson ; 
 for McDowell and Shields, ordei-ed to co-operate with 
 Fremont, did it half-heartedly, and Jackson had beaten 
 Banks, and foiled and escaped from Banks, McDowell, 
 Shields, and Fremont. The Confederate General after- 
 wards said laughingly to one of our officers. Captain Golding 
 of Ohio,who was captured by him, and who told me himself: 
 " If McDowell had done his part in the Luray Valley as 
 well as Fr6mont did his in the Shenandoah, there would n't 
 so many of us have got away to Richmond." And if 
 anybody knew, it was Stonewall Jackson. 
 
 The various armies of Banks, McDowell, and Fremont 
 were then recalled down the valley and consolidated under 
 Major-General John Pope. Not only was Pope Fremont's 
 junior in rank, but there was bad blood between them on 
 account of Missouri matters. Fremont, therefore, knowing 
 that there would be trouble, asked leave to go to Washington 
 to explain the situation. This was refused him. He then 
 asked to be relieved of his command. This was done ; and 
 in spite of positive promises, he never was assigned to 
 active duty again. 
 
 Why not? Because to army jealousy had been added 
 political jealousy, and besides, there were some men then 
 in high station who had power to suppress him. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was a great and good man, but he was 
 by nature and life-long training a politician, — honest and 
 honorable, but judging largely from the political point of 
 view. Mr. Lincoln and all the rest feared that Fremont's 
 popularity, and especially the effect in the North of his 
 
194 FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 original emancipation proclamation, might make him again 
 a formidable competitor for the presidency. They might 
 have spared their anxiety; he was emulous only of success 
 in the war. The General commanding all the armies of 
 the United States was now Henry Wager Halleck — the 
 defeated pro-slavery candidate for U. S. Senator from 
 California in 1859: unforgiving! In the Cabinet were Wm. 
 H. Seward and Salmon P. Chase, who through Fremont 
 had lost the first Presidential candidacy : unforgiving! In 
 the Cabinet still was Postmaster-General Blair, Fremont's 
 former friend, who, because his brother Frank Blair in 
 Missouri had not been allowed to control Department affairs, 
 had become Fremont's enemy: unforgiving! There were 
 others, but these were enough. Fremont was shelved. 
 
 His subsequent career contains many points of interest, 
 but we cannot dwell upon them. What I would fain leave 
 with you as the essence of Fremont's character and achieve- 
 ment is : first, that he was an untiring foe to slavery and a 
 potent factor in the cause of freedom; and, second, that 
 he was a sagacious and indefatigable seeker for the best 
 way, and boldly prompt to take it. Undeterred by distress 
 of body and of spirit, he found the passes through the 
 mountains and over the arid plains, and to-day the vast 
 transcontinental traffic rolls easily along the lines that he 
 so painfully laid out between the Missouri River and the 
 Pacific Coast. That coast itself we owe to him. His energy, 
 audacity, prudence, and skill gained for the United States 
 the great State of California; and that it came into the 
 Union with its golden soil free from the taint of slavery, 
 ten years before the war between the free and the slave 
 States, was due to him and the other leaders of the Free 
 Soil party there. He was the first hero around whom the 
 hosts of freedom gathered when the great political strife 
 began. The slogan of the young Republican party was 
 "Free speech, free press, free soil, free men, Fr6mont and 
 victory!" The victory was not for him; but it came later 
 for the cause that he loved. While, in the war itself, he 
 pointed out unerringly — and himself was the first to use — 
 
FREMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR 1 95 
 
 the five great elements without which the Federal cause 
 would never have succeeded. 
 
 Fremont was no failure: he was a pioneer, in peace and 
 in war. 
 
 Bom when Madison was President, receiving his first 
 commission from Andrew Jackson, Fremont died, during 
 Harrison's administration, in 1890, a poor man. But "a 
 good name is better than great riches"; and as long as the 
 mountains last, on whose highest peak he raised the stars 
 and stripes more than half a century ago, so long must the 
 American people honor the name of Fremont, the Pathfinder. 
 
THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG. 
 
 A Paper Read by Captain William L. Heermance, U. S. 
 Vols., December 5, 1900. 
 
 TO write of the cavalry at Gettysburg it will be proper 
 to go back to the early part of June, 1863, when 
 General Pleasanton, who after the battle of ChanceU 
 lorsviUe had succeeded General Stoneman in command 
 of the cavalry corps, was ordered by General Hooker to 
 make a reconnaissance across the Rappahannock. After 
 Chancellorsville General Lee's army had been moved back 
 to the heights about Fredericksburg and reinforced by two 
 divisions of Longstreet's corps, who were in North Carolina 
 at the time that battle was fought. General Hooker, being 
 suspicious that some movement was contemplated, ordered 
 this move of the cavalry, and on June 9th the crossing was 
 made at Kelly's and Beverly's Fords. Meeting detach- 
 ments of the Confederate cavalry on the advance to Brandy 
 Station, where they were found in force under the command 
 of General J. E. B. Stuart, who had concentrated his com- 
 mand there for review by General Lee, who by secret marches 
 had transferred the corps of Ewell and Longstreet to Cul- 
 peper Courthouse, leaving A. P. Hill at Fredericksburg 
 to confront our army, while he moved by the Shenandoah 
 Valley to invade Maryland and Pennsylvania. The fighting 
 between the two cavalry commands at Brandy Station 
 was protracted and severe; charge after charge was made 
 by both sides, and at close quarters, our men using sabre 
 and the enemy their pistols. The superiority of our horse- 
 men was there established and remained with us until the 
 close, where at Five Forks under Phil Sheridan the cavalry- 
 carried off the honors of the day. 
 
 196 
 
THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG 197 
 
 The following, from a Southern paper, is an incident of 
 the engagement: 
 
 While at home recruiting his command in men and horses, 
 an old fanner friend came to gallant Colonel "Bill" Deloney 
 and said: "Bill, my boy here has got the war fever. His mother 
 and I have tried to get it out of him, hut it 's no use. He swears 
 he '11 run away if I don't let him go, so I 've mounted him on the 
 best racing colt I had, and here he is. Take him with you, but 
 I've this much to say: If he ever shows the dominicker, kill 
 him right then and there; don't let him come home." The old 
 farmer raised game chickens , and fought them too. He had a 
 contempt for dominicker roosters, because he did n't think they 
 would fight, and that was his blunt way of describing a coward. 
 Deloney turned and saw a fair-haired country lad of seventeen, 
 standing perfectly erect, his lips compressed, but a vivid 5re 
 flashing from his steel-blue eyes. The boy never said a word, 
 but parted tenderly from the old man and went to Virginia to 
 join the cavalry. 
 
 Deloney watched with pride the rapid improvement of the 
 young recruit, but had forgotten the incident until the cavalry 
 fight at Brandy Station. When squdarons were charging and 
 counter-charging with the intrepid clash and dash of the Light 
 Brigade, Pierce Young suddenly ordered him to attack a Federal 
 brigade that was forming on the flank. 
 
 "Get right among them. Bill, an break them up with cold 
 steel," was the order; "don't give them time to form." 
 
 The words were hardly spoken when his command, Deloney 
 far in advance, was sweeping down upon the foe ; but before he 
 was within a hundred feet of the enemy something went by him 
 like a cyclone's breath: the Georgia boy was standing on tiptoe 
 in his stirrups, bareheaded, his golden hair streaming, with 
 sabre high in the air, and as he passed, with the light of battle 
 in his face, and eyes flashing defiance, he turned in his saddle 
 and shouted, "Colonel, here 's your dominicker!" 
 
 A moment more, and he struck the enemy's line like a cannon 
 shot, his sabre flashing on every hand, until he was literally 
 hacked down by the startled foeman. When the fight was over 
 Deloney looked for him, and there he lay in the calm of death, 
 his boyish face glorified with the dying thought — "They '11 tell 
 pa I never showed the dominicker. " 
 
198 THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG 
 
 General Pleasanton recrossed the river that night, having 
 obtained the information as to General Lee's proposed 
 movenaent, which General Hooker disposed his army to 
 meet. Our cavalry followed General Stuart, who with his 
 command was watching the mountain passes of the Blue 
 Ridge, and at Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville we were 
 successful in severe engagements, retaining the supremacy 
 we had established at Brandy Station. From its position 
 on the Rappahannock our army had been withdrawn to 
 protect Washington and was in the vicinity of Fairfax and 
 Manassas, while the main part of the Confederates were 
 in the Shenandoah VaUey. June 27th, General Hooker 
 crossed the Potomac, the cavalry having crossed at Ed- 
 wards Ferry on June 24th — ^the three divisions disposed 
 as follows: General Buford with the first division on the left 
 flank; the second division, commanded by General Gregg, 
 the right flank ; General KHpatrick, commanding the third 
 division, taking the centre. The reserve brigade, commanded 
 by General Merritt, had been detached from the first division, 
 leaving with General Buford the two brigades commanded 
 by General Gamble and General Devin. Lee's army had 
 come down the Shenandoah Valley, crossing the Potomac 
 at Shepardstown and Williamstown. General Buford with 
 his two brigades kept between the Union and Confederate 
 forces, passing into Pennsylvania by way of Frederick and 
 Boonsboro. To show how strangely circumstances will 
 work together, at the latter place, while halted on the march, 
 the Union sentiment was shown by the young girls giving 
 flowers to our soldiers, and I was favored by receiving a 
 bimch, with a small American flag, from a young lady, in 
 front of whose house I had stopped. About ten days later, 
 in an engagement there, I was wounded and carried to the 
 same house where this young lady lived, and after the 
 surgeon cut the bullet from my breast, she gave me all the 
 care a sister could until I was able to go home ; but it did not 
 end as such events should, for I have not seen her since, but 
 often look at the faded flowers and flag given me, with plea- 
 sant remembrance of the care and kindness of Annie Weckler. 
 
THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG IQQ 
 
 From June 24th to the 30th we were engaged with small 
 bodies of the enemy, meeting them in considerable force 
 on the 29th at Fairfield. On the 30th we passed the First 
 Corps, under General Reynolds, at Emmitsburg and pro- 
 ceeded to Gettysburg, my regiment, the 6th N. Y. Cavalry, 
 being in advance, and I have here a guidon carried that day 
 on entering Gettysburg. About a mile from the town we 
 were met by the young girls of that place, who, dressed in 
 white with red and blue ribbons, formed along the road ; and 
 as we rode by they sang their patriotic songs, that made the 
 blood flow quicker in our veins, as we thought of those at 
 home, and that we were there to defend Northern soil from 
 the desolation that we had seen so much of in the homes of 
 our Southern brothers, who had forced us to fight against 
 them. As each man drew his rein tighter we charged 
 through Gettysburg, the small force of Confederates there 
 retreating before us. General Buford's command was 
 placed to the north and west of the town, all roads being 
 picketed by which the enemy could approach. The two 
 brigades consisted of one battery and eight regiments, in 
 all about 4000 men, Gamble's brigade on the left, Devin's 
 on the right. A little after daylight on the morning of the 
 ist our pickets were fired on, and the two brigades were 
 sent out dismounted as skirmishers to check the enemy's 
 advance, until the First Corps, we had passed at Emmitsburg 
 the day before, could be brought up. Gamble's left was 
 across Willoughby Run, and Devin's right rested on the 
 Mummasburg road. Calef's battery was placed where the 
 monument to General Buford now stands, and the four 
 guns at the four comers of the stone on which it rests are 
 the same as were used that day ; and it was the same battery 
 that played an important part in the Mexican War and from 
 the first to the last of our Civil War. General Buford saw 
 at once the importance of holding the lines of Seminary 
 Ridge for our infantry, and sent the cavalry dismounted 
 well to the front to meet the veterans of Hill's division, 
 whose skirmishers were now feeling their way towards us, 
 deceived as to what was in front of them, by our dismounted 
 
200 THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG 
 
 cavalrymen, whom they mistook for infantry. General 
 Buford's orders were that the Seminary Ridge must be held, 
 and his words to General Devin were, " You will have to fight 
 like the devil to do it." Gamble at first pressed back the 
 enemy, but in turn was slowly forced back from his advance 
 line. Devin's brigade, who joined them on the right, held 
 their position until Hill's advance had flanked their right 
 on the Mummasburg road and advanced their batteries, 
 which opened on the skirmish line both from front and 
 flank. The First Corps having come up and secured the 
 Seminary Ridge, we had been fighting to hold for them, 
 we were ordered back. I commanded the extreme right 
 and returned under a severe fire down the Mummasburg 
 road to a clump of woods north of the Seminary where we 
 had left our horses; seeing that the enemy had gotten so 
 far in rear of our flank, the men in charge supposed we had 
 been gobbled up, and had gone back to the Seminary 
 grounds with them, and exhausted as we were we had to 
 double-quick another mile before we reached them. In 
 his oration at the dedication of the monument to General 
 Buford, Major-General James H. Wilson says, " The cavalry 
 had performed prodigies of valor and, against overwhelming 
 odds, had held the field for over four hours against the in- 
 creasing pressure from Lee' s veterans . ' ' The Eleventh Corps 
 having come up, Devin's brigade was moved to their right 
 and, connecting with the York road, advanced our pickets 
 on that road about a mile While in this position a battery 
 of the Eleventh Corps, placed in the cemetery, shelled us so 
 persistently that after sending word to them that we were not 
 the enemy, with no cessation of their firing at us, we were 
 forced to fall back from our position to the town, being 
 shelled all the way back. The enemy, having possession 
 of the road we had left, advanced their sharpshooters at- 
 tacking our flank; they were driven back by dismounted men 
 of the 9th New York Cavalry. Gamble's brigade had been 
 doing gallant work on the left, and were among the last to 
 leave Seminary Ridge, where with the First Corps a gallant 
 fight had been made, to hold that position until the rest 
 
THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG 201 
 
 of the army could come up and take the second line along 
 Culp's Hill, the cemetery, Little Round Top, and Devil's 
 Den, where on the second and third days Lee met with 
 such a defeat that the high-water mark of the rebellion was 
 reached, and continued to recede until, at Appomattox, 
 it ceased to flow. In all the disputes over the part taken 
 by others in this battle, there has been no one but who has 
 been wilHng to give to General Buford the highest praise 
 for the gallant work that held Seminary Ridge with his 
 small command against the veterans of Hill's corps, from 
 daylight until the First Corps came up about ten o'clock. 
 Riding ahead of his troops General Reynolds, meeting Gene- 
 ral Buford, cried out, "What's the matter, John?" "The 
 devil's to pay," said Buford. "I hope you can hold on 
 until my corps comes up," said Reynolds. "I reckon I 
 can, " was the reply. General Hancock, the Count de Paris, 
 and others give to Buford and his cavalry the highest praise 
 for their work at this first day's fight. Buford alone selected 
 the ground to be held, seeing on his arrival the day previous 
 the advantage of its position. That night the division 
 was placed along the Emmitsburg road, on the morning 
 of the 2nd it was engaged on the enemy's right and, with 
 Berdan's sharpshooters, felt their advance until relieved by 
 the Third Corps, when we were withdrawn to Taneytown 
 and Westminster to look after our wagon trains, and as 
 Lee_felljback followed him to and across the Potomac. The 
 second and third divisions, under command of Generals 
 Gregg and Kilpatrick, after crossing the Potomac, had been 
 following Stuart's cavalry, who had been raiding on our 
 line of communication, capturing many of our supply wag- 
 ons, but our cavalry pressed them so hard that they were 
 kept^on the defensive and prevented from joining General 
 Lee; and one cause of his disastrous defeat was the want 
 of his cavalry, that had been cut off from all communication 
 with him. On June 30th the third division had met them 
 at Hanover and intercepted their connecting with Lee's 
 army, pressing him over to the right, until on the 2nd 
 of July the Confederate cavalry was in our rear on the York 
 
202 THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG 
 
 and Harrisburg roads, confronted by the second division 
 and Custer's brigade from the third division. The rest of 
 the third division was on our left, where they were joined 
 by the reserve brigade commanded by General Merritt, who 
 had been detached from the first division for special service 
 in the rear of our army. The cavalry of both armies had 
 been in active service for nearly a month; men and horses 
 had about reached the limit of endurance; intense heat and 
 dust, hard fighting, short of food for men and forage for 
 horses, had done its work; hundreds of horses had fallen 
 unable to rise again; of3&cers and men tramped on foot, 
 leading their horses to save the little strength left in them, 
 and no one would think looking at that column as it passed 
 that the next day they could take part in the most brilliant 
 cavalry engagement that is known to history. 
 
 The morning of July 3d found the commands of Generals 
 Gregg and Custer on our right and in rear of the reserve 
 artillery. General Custer was ordered by General Gregg 
 to a position on the Hanover road, covering the approach 
 to Gettysburg. 
 
 General Stuart had at last succeeded in making con- 
 nections with Lee's army, and on the morning of the 3d 
 moved forward in advance of Ewell's corps, which was on 
 Lee's left; this movement was for position to attack our 
 rear and reach the reserve artillery, at the time of Pickett's 
 gallant charge on our front centre. Had it not been that 
 our cavalry had been so disposed as to meet and defeat it, 
 this movement of Stuart's might have been successful; 
 and if it had, there is little doubt that Lee's army, waiting 
 for the panic it would cause, would have followed Pickett's 
 men, broken through our centre, and the story of Gettysburg 
 had a different ending. This movement gives a different 
 phase to what seemed such a needless sacrifice of General 
 Pickett and the brave men who followed him, for the two 
 movements working together offered a chance of success, 
 that warranted the sacrifice. The Confederate Cavalry 
 numbered about 7000; the second division, including Cust- 
 er's brigade, about 5000. About noon of the 3d General 
 
THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG 2O3 
 
 Custer was attacked and General Gregg moved his command 
 to the position on the Hanover road on the left of General 
 Custer's line; it having been reported that the enemy's 
 cavalry was moving to our right. General Custer was 
 ordered to join his division, who were on the left of the army, 
 and proceeded to do so ; but, the brigade that relieved him 
 being severely engaged, he was directed by General Gregg 
 to remain. Mcintosh's brigade had relieved Custer and the 
 ist New Jersey Cavalry was moved forward; meeting a 
 heavy force of the enemy at Rummell's bam, part of the 3d 
 Pennsylvania was sent to their support. Having exhausted 
 their ammunition our regiments on the right fell back. 
 The 5th Michigan, armed with Spencer repeating rifles, 
 was ordered to relieve them ; although short of ammunition 
 this regiment held its ground stubbornly. As the ist New 
 Jersey attempted to withdraw the enemy advanced on both 
 flanks; the right of the ist New Jersey and sth Michigan 
 remained on their part of the line until the last cartridge 
 was fired and the last revolver emptied, then fell back hav- 
 ing lost heavily. Part of the 5 th Michigan reached their 
 horses and joined the 7th Michigan in their charge. The 
 5th Michigan was commanded by Russell A. Alger, who 
 here, as before and after, rendered distinguished service 
 in that brigade of heroes commanded by General Custer, 
 when Secretary of War his personal and political enemies 
 circulated many false statements reflecting on his military 
 career, which were taken up not only by the yellow journals 
 but by some which claim to be respectable. When state- 
 ments showing their untruth were sent them, they refused 
 to make the correction asked. Such journalism is the curse 
 of the country, and it would be a good thing if some editors 
 could be suppressed as they were during the Civil War when 
 they maligned their country and its leaders. 
 
 At this time the Confederates advanced the ist Virginia, 
 which charged and was met by the 7 th Michigan at a stone 
 and rail fence and across which, face to face, they fought 
 with carbines and revolvers. The enemy being reinforced 
 the 7th Michigan was forced to fall back, and in turn the 
 
204 THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG 
 
 ist Virginia, after crossing the fence, were compelled to 
 retire by the fire from our battery in front and dismounted 
 cavalry on their flanks. At this time the brigade of Hamp- 
 ton and Fitz-Hugh Lee came from behind a piece of woods 
 that had concealed them from view. I cannot describe 
 the engagement better than to copy from the address of 
 Col. Wm. Brooke Rawl, delivered upon the occasion of 
 the dedication of the Cavalry Monument on the field of the 
 engagement. He says : 
 
 Every one saw at once that, unless the grandest attack of all 
 was checked, the fate of the day would be decided against the 
 Army of the Potomac. In close columns of squadrons, advancing 
 as if in review, with sabres drawn and glistening like silver in 
 the bright sunlight, the spectacle called forth a murmur of ad- 
 miration. Then Gregg rode over to the ist Michigan, which, as 
 it had come on the field a short time before, had formed close 
 columns of squadrons supporting the batteries, and gave the 
 word to charge. As Town ordered sabres to be drawn and the 
 column to advance Custer dashed up with similar orders and 
 placed himself at its head. The two columns drew nearer and 
 nearer, the Confederates outnumbering their opponents three 
 and four to one. The gait increased, first the trot, then the 
 gallop. Hampton's battle-flag floated on the van of his brigade. 
 The orders of the Confederate ofi&cer could be heard, "Keep to 
 your sabres, men, keep to your sabres," for the lessons they had 
 learned at Brandywine Station and Aldie had been severe. 
 There the cry had been, "Put up your sabres; Draw your pistols 
 and fight Hke gentlemen." 
 
 As the approaching coltunrs drew nearer and nearer, each 
 with perfect aUgnment, every man gathered his horse under him 
 and gripped his weapon the tighter. . . . Staggered by the 
 fearful execution of the two batteries, the men in the front of 
 the Confederate column drew in their horses and wavered, some 
 turned, and the column fanned out to the right and left, but 
 those behind came pressing on. Custer, seeing the men in the 
 front ranks of the enemy hesitate, waved his sabre and shouted, 
 "Come on, you Wolverines," and with a fearful yell the ist 
 Michigan rush on, Custer four lengths ahead 
 
 It is not my purpose to go into detail of the brave deeds 
 
THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG 205 
 
 done that day, but to show, as on the first day the work of 
 the cavalry held Seminary Ridge and gave the advantage 
 of position to our army, so at this crucial moment the 
 cavalry fought back those who if successful would have 
 turned the success of Gettysburg into defeat. At this 
 same time Kilpatrick, with Fams worth's brigade, was on 
 the left flank between Big Round Top and the Emmitsburg 
 road; pushed forward he met the ist Texas regiment and 
 ordered General Famsworth to charge them. This gallant 
 officer knew that he was riding to his death, for Law's 
 brigade was on each side of the valley he was to ride through, 
 and largely protected by stone fences. But placing himself 
 at the head of his men, with but a handful of his gallant 
 followers left with him, he rode upon the skirmish line of 
 the 15th Alabama regiment, and, pistol in hand, called up 
 Lieutenant Adrian, who commanded the line to surrender. 
 The skirmishers in turn fired upon him, killing his horse 
 and wounding General Famsworth in several places. As 
 he fell to the ground Adrian approached him and demanded 
 his surrender which he curtly refused. In an article written 
 for the Century Magazine by the Confederate General Law, 
 who held the extreme right of Lee's army, he speaks of the 
 conspicuous gallantry of General Famsworth in leading 
 this charge, which was made against his judgment and was 
 as desperate as that of Balaclava, where " some one had 
 blvindered. " The total loss of the Army of the Potomac 
 at Gettysburg was 23,000 men, more than half of which was 
 sustained by the First, Second, and Third Corps. The loss 
 of the cavalry corps in the three days' fighting there was 
 about 900. Add to this the loss from June 9th, when we 
 uncovered this movement of Lee's to invade Maryland and 
 Pennsylvania, up to July ist, and the percentage of loss 
 to the cavalry corps shows their work to have been severe, 
 and their per cent, of loss heavy. As I stated in the paper 
 I read before this Comrnandery on " The Cavalry at Chan- 
 cellors vrUe, " the work that was done by the cavalry did 
 not receive the recognition it was entitled to at the time; 
 but since the war closed more attention has been drawn 
 
2o6 THE CAVALRY AT GETTYSBURG 
 
 to its achievements, and those of us who served with it feel 
 proud that it was our privilege to follow the guidon and 
 respond to the bugle call as 
 
 Our good steeds snuff the evening air, 
 
 Our pulses with their purpose tingle. 
 The foeman's fires are twinkling there: 
 He leaps to hear our sabres jingle ! 
 Halt! 
 Each carbine sends its whizzing ball. 
 Now, cling-clang! forward all 
 
 Into the fight! 
 Dash on beneath the smoking dome! 
 
 Through level lightnings gallop nearer! 
 One look to heaven! No thoughts of home — 
 The guidons that we bear are dearer. 
 Charge ! 
 Heaven keep those whose horses fall! 
 Cut left and right! 
 
 They flee before our fierce attack! 
 
 They fall! they spread in broken surges! 
 Now, comrades, bear our wounded back, 
 And leave the foeman to his dirges. 
 Wheel! 
 The bugles sound the swift recall : 
 Cling-clang! backward all! 
 
 Home, and good-night! 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR 
 GREAT COMMANDERS IN THE CIVIL WAR. 
 
 Read by Major-General Grenville M. Dodge, U. S. V., 
 February 6, 1901. 
 
 abraham lincoln. 
 
 I FIRST met Abraham Lincoln in Council Bluffs, Iowa. 
 It was, I think, in 1858. I had been making recon- 
 naissances west of the Missouri River for the Union 
 Pacific Railway, and on my return I stopped at the Pacific 
 Hotel. After my dinner, Mr. Lincoln sought me out and 
 engaged me in conversation about what I knew of the 
 country west of the Missouri River. He very ingeniously 
 extracted information from me, and I found that the secrets 
 I was holding for my employers in the East had been given 
 to him. 
 
 My second interview was in 1863. While in command 
 at Corinth I received an order from General Grant to report 
 to the President in Washington. No explanation coming 
 with the order, it alarmed me, as I had been arming some 
 negroes to guard a contraband camp; and, as there had 
 then been no authority given me for it, I thought I was 
 to be called to account. But when I reached Washington, 
 and reported to the President, I found he had not forgotten 
 our conversation on the Pacific House stoop, and he had 
 called me to consult as to the proper place for the initial 
 point of the Union Pacific Railway; and, after a full dis- 
 cussion of aU the points, he decided upon Council Bluffs, 
 the place I recommended. 
 
 Again, in 1864, after the Atlanta campaign. General 
 Grant called me to City Point. It was in October, 1864, 
 
 207 
 
208 RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 
 
 and at a time when everything around Petersburg looked 
 blue ; the desertions from our army were about equal to the 
 enlistments, and there was a general demand that Grant 
 should move. I spent two weeks looking at one of the 
 finest and best-equipped armies I ever saw. As I was 
 leaving, General Grant suggested I should call on President 
 Lincoln as I returned to my command in the Army of the 
 Tennessee. General Rufus IngaUs, Chief Quartermaster of 
 the Army of the Potomac, and Major-General Burk, of the 
 British army, who commanded in Canada, were on the 
 headquarters boat that took me to Washington. When 
 I arrived I went immediately to the White House. In the 
 anteroom I met Senator Harlan, of Iowa, who took me 
 immediately to President Lincoln. He had a room full 
 of callers, and asked me to sit down until he disposed of 
 the waiting crowd. I sat there and watched President 
 Lincoln dispose of one after another, always in a kindly 
 way. After waiting a long time I felt that perhaps he had 
 disposed of me in the same way that he had the others, and 
 I took occasion to say to him that I had only called to pay 
 my respects, and, unless he desired me to wait longer, I 
 would bid him good-bye. He immediately asked me to 
 wait, saying he desired to see me if I had the time to spare. 
 After the crowd had gone the doors were closed. President 
 Lincoln saw I was ill at ease, not knowing what I was there 
 for or what to say, but he sat down near his desk, and, cross- 
 ing his legs, took down a small book; I think it was called 
 The Gospel of Peace; anyhow, it was very humorous, and 
 as he read some extracts from it he soon had me laughing 
 and at my ease. 
 
 He was called to lunch and took me with him ; and then 
 he continued the same rnethods he did the first time I saw 
 him and extracted from me all I had seen on my visit to 
 General Grant and the Army of the Potomac, got my views, 
 and finally drew me out until he had obtained from me an 
 answer to a question, something like this: "You know, Mr. 
 President, we in the West have no doubts about Grant, and, 
 if he is given the time, I have no doubt he will soon whip 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 209 
 
 Lee's army. When, or how, I confess I cannot see, but that 
 he will I have no doubt whatever. " As I said this we were 
 leaving the table, and Lincoln brightened up, took my hand 
 in his, and said, with great solemnity, " I am so glad to hear 
 you say that!" As I bade him good-bye, in a cordial way 
 I asked him if there was an5rthing I coiald do to repay his 
 great kindness to me. He answered only, "If you don't 
 object, I would like to have you take to your army, when 
 you go, my kindest regards." 
 
 I was then too young to weigh and comprehend all that 
 was said, but in after years, when I learned the great crisis 
 pending, I saw how completely he took me into his power 
 and extracted my innermost thoughts, and what a satis- 
 faction it was to have me express that implicit faith in 
 General Grant while so many were disseminating charges 
 and denouncing his great battles as great destruction of 
 life without proper compensation. 
 
 In after years I learned that Grant knew the conflict 
 in Washington and knew that, if I had the opportunity, I 
 would give the President an unprejudiced view of what 
 I saw and learned. I never saw President Lincoln afterward, 
 but whUe in command of the Department of Missouri I 
 daily saw what a kindly heart he had, and how his sym- 
 pathies went out to every one in trouble, and his great 
 desire to save life. The conflict in Missouri was a bitter, 
 personal, revengeful one. I remember, the day before 
 President Lincoln's assassination, a lady came to see me 
 whose son was about to be executed for murder, committed 
 as a guerrilla. She had been to Washington to save him, 
 and had seen the President. She brought me Mr. Lincoln's 
 card, on the back of which he had written : 
 
 " My DEAR General Dodge: — Cannot you do something 
 for this lady, who is in so much trouble ? " 
 
 I understood the case : that, while he would not interfere, 
 he hoped that I could see my way to do so, and he disposed 
 of the lady in that way. 
 
 The lady, in presenting the case, supposed that card 
 
2IO RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 
 
 alone would pardon her son, but when I told her I would 
 consider it, she was indignant and left, no doubt determined 
 to report me to the President and appeal over my head. 
 That evening President Lincoln was assassinated ; all officers 
 holding important commands were notified in the night, 
 so that they could prepare for the excitement that was bound 
 to come. The lady called the next day and asked me for 
 the card ; said she desired to keep it as a memento, no doubt 
 giving up all hope for her son ; but I did not have it in my 
 heart, after Lincoln's death, to carry out the order of the 
 court, and therefore commuted the sentence to imprisonment. 
 
 GEN^lRAL U. S. GRANT. 
 
 My first interview with General Grant was a day or two 
 after the battle of Corinth. I was in command of the Fourth 
 Division District of West Tennessee and was rebuilding 
 the railway from Columbus to Corinth. I had just made 
 the connection at Humboldt and had been several days 
 at the front, giving personal attention to the work. I 
 received a despatch from General Quimby, my commanding 
 officer, directing me to report immediately at Corinth for 
 orders. I was away from my own headquarters in a work- 
 ing, undress suit ; had nothing with me and hesitated about 
 going as I was, but I concluded it was best to report, so took 
 the train and at Jackson, Tenn., General Rawlins, whom 
 I had never seen, came on the train and asked if I was on 
 board. I made myself known to him and General Rawlins 
 said that General Grant was out on the platform and desired 
 to see me. I apologized to General Rawlins, stating that I 
 was not in a proper condition for presenting myself to the 
 commanding officer. General Rawlins saw my predicament 
 and he said : " Oh, we know all about you, don't mind that." 
 I stepped out on the platform. General Grant met me, 
 shook me cordially by the hand, and I then saw that he was 
 no better dressed than I was, which greatly relieved me. 
 In a few words General Grant informed me that he had 
 assigned me to the command of the Second Division of the 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 211 
 
 Army of the Tennessee at Corinth, and quietly, but with a 
 determination that struck me so forcibly that I could make 
 no answer, said, "And I want you to understand you are 
 not going to command a division of cowards. " I stammered 
 out something, I know not what, and tried to thank him, 
 but had no comprehension of what he meant, as I had heard 
 nothing against the division ; but when I arrived at Corinth 
 and assumed command, relieving General Davies, I found 
 that in the battle of Corinth, on the second day, the division 
 had been forced back into the town of Corinth, but had 
 held their organization intact and finally regained all lost 
 ground, really saving the day. I also found that it was 
 the division that was organized by Grant at Cairo, that 
 fought at Belmont, that stormed the works at Donelson 
 and was a favorite with Grant. General Rosecrans, in his 
 official report of the battle of Corinth, had branded the men 
 as cowards and General Grant had disapproved his action 
 and comments. The division won imperishable renown. 
 Upon their banners was inscribed, "First at Donelson," 
 and from that time until after the Atlanta campaign they 
 served directly under me. From Corinth to the end of the 
 war, they took no steps backward. Their great battle at 
 Atlanta, where they held a whole corps of Hood's army; 
 and afterward at Altoona, when, under General Corse, they 
 held that strategic point against the terrific onslaughts of 
 four times their number, gave me cause to always remember 
 the words of General Grant. 
 
 I have not time to recite here many of the acts of General 
 Grant which bound him so closely to those who served 
 under him, and which marked him as the greatest general 
 of this or any other age. 
 
 The great distinguishing qualities of General Grant 
 were truth, courage, modesty, generosity, and loyalty. He 
 was loyal to every work and every cause in which he was 
 engaged ; to his friends, his family, his country, and to his 
 God; and it was those characteristics which bound to him 
 with hooks of steel all those who served with him. He 
 absolutely sank himself to give to others honor and praise 
 
212 RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 
 
 to which he himself was entitled. No officer who served un- 
 der him but understood this. I was a young man and given 
 much larger commands than my rank and experience entitled 
 me to. Grant never failed to encourage me by giving me 
 credit for whatever I did or tried to do. If I failed he 
 assumed the responsibility; if I succeeded, he would recom- 
 mend me for promotion. He always looked at the intention 
 of those who served under him, as well as to their acts. If 
 they failed him, he dropped them so quickly and so efficiently 
 that the whole country could hear and see their fall. 
 
 I wiU give you an object lesson which shows Grant's 
 idea of duty. While I was stationed at Corinth, looking 
 after that flank of the army, Grant hammering away at 
 Vicksburg, and Rosecrans pounding Bragg in Tennessee, 
 it was necessary for me to be awake. I was in a dangerous 
 position, and the enemy could have destroyed either cam- 
 paign by establishing themselves in my position. I wrote 
 Grant at Vicksburg that I thought, with the 12,000 men 
 I had, I could penetrate by the Tennessee Valley to the rear 
 of Bragg and destroy his communications and supphes 
 concentrated in that valley and force him to retreat. I 
 received no answer to my letter, and I began to think I had 
 made a fool of myself and swore inwardly that it was the 
 first and last time that I would ever be caught in such a 
 boat. A long time (to me) after the suggestion, General 
 Oglesby, who was commanding that district, received a 
 despatch from General Grant, instructing him to have 
 Dodge carry out the movement suggested in his letter, and 
 that was all the order I received: and I marched up the 
 Tennessee Valley, destroying the railways and stores, which 
 the Confederate government estimated to be in value not 
 less than $20,000,000. Of course Bragg threw before me 
 and behind me such forces as he could spare, so that the 
 rumors that reached Corinth were, generally, that I was 
 captured, whipped, etc. These reports were all fired into 
 General Grant, and no doubt he became disgusted at them; 
 but he finally wired in answer to them that " If Dodge has 
 accompUshed what he started out to do, we can afford to 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 213 
 
 lose him." That settled the question; they sent Grant no 
 more rumors. The enemy was distracted by my sending 
 out from my column General Streight, who had been sent 
 out upon his celebrated raid by Rosecrans. Grant, in 
 commenting on it afterward, said to me that he knew the 
 troops I had, and he had no doubt they would be heard 
 from before they were captured or destroyed. I did not 
 start out to fight, but to destroy; and he thought the dis- 
 traction of the movements of Streight would puzzle the 
 enemy so much that I would be able to get out of harm's 
 way before they could concentrate a force upon me which 
 I could not whip. 
 
 After the war, it was my good fortune to be thrown with 
 Grant a great deal, and I was associated with him in some 
 of his enterprises, such as the railway from the city of 
 Mexico to the Pacific Ocean ; and it was impossible for me 
 to meet him as I did and not comprehend that he was in 
 civil life, as in military life, of that peculiar make-up which 
 could let small matters go without attention, but in any 
 crisis rise to command it. He was so modest and so simple 
 that his greatness was absolutely forced on one from his very 
 acts. Nevertheless, so far, no critic in this nation or any 
 other has ever been able to write a word against his military 
 course or civil life which carried strength enough to be 
 mentioned the second time. Grant's greatness was ad- 
 mitted long before he left our shores, and, although a 
 simple citizen, he was honored as no one ever was before, 
 and his simplicity astonished the world. 
 
 GENERAL SHERMAN. 
 
 My first meeting with General Sherman was in the fall 
 of '63. I was commanding at Corinth. Sherman had 
 received orders from General Grant to move from Memphis 
 to the Tennessee River and up that valley to rebuild the 
 Memphis and Charleston Railroad. When he reached 
 Corinth, he was to take my command with him. I was 
 lying very ill in Corinth when General Sherman came to my 
 bedside. He read me a long letter from Grant, outlining 
 
214 RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 
 
 what he expected of Sherman's movement. In the letter 
 some complimentary things were said of me and my com- 
 mand. Sherman no doubt read the letter to me thinking 
 it woiild do more to make me well than any other medicine, 
 and it did so. After he had finished he said, " Now, do you 
 think you are well enough to do what Grant wants you to 
 do?" I said, "Yes." Sherman said, "I will give you 
 plenty of time; there is no hurry." I soon got on my feet 
 and in a few days was called to luka, and while there an 
 order came to Sherman to drop everything and push for 
 Chattanooga, and that remarkable march was made across 
 the State. My conamand brought up the rear and Sherman 
 would write back letters to me, encouraging me and telling 
 me what roads to take so that I could feed my animals 
 and men. I remember that at the crossing of Elk River 
 he wrote back and told me not to try to follow the Fifteenth 
 Corps, as they had literally skinned the country. He said 
 he did not believe they had left a chicken for me and ad- 
 vised me to keep north toward Pulaski, and thus we forged 
 along, living off the country. After Sherman had reached 
 Chattanooga, he wrote me a letter stating that Grant could 
 not wait until I got up and they would have to fight with 
 what he had in the advance ; but, to soothe our disappoint- 
 ment at not being in the fight, he wrote me that if I would 
 ride from Bridgeport to Chattanooga, as he had, I would be 
 glad not to force my corps through there, as the road was 
 knee-deep in mud, and literally paved with dead mules. 
 
 After Chattanooga, when Grant had been called east 
 and Sherman had returned from his Meridian raid, the 
 corps commanders of the Army of the Tennessee were called 
 to Nashville. None of us had ever been there. We had 
 been without communication by rail and were a sorry- 
 looking lot. Grant intended taking some of us east with 
 him, but Sherman protested, and only Sheridan, from the 
 Army of the Cumberland, went. We all arrived in Nash- 
 ville in the evening — Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Logan, 
 Rawlins, and some others that I do not now remember. 
 We were poorly, roughly dressed, generally wearing a 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 21$ 
 
 soldier's overcoat. Grant took us to call on Andrew John- 
 son, the noilitary governor of Tennessee, who was very- 
 emphatic in his denunciation of what a rebel deserved and 
 what he would get under him ; but while I was in Tennessee 
 I never put my hand upon a prominent rebel, taking his 
 stock and provisions, that Johnson did not try to puU it off. 
 
 As soon as our call was over, Sherman said we would 
 go to the theatre. No one in Nashville had heard of our 
 being there, so we paid our way in and had front seats in 
 the balcony. The house was filled with soldiers, going to 
 and returning from veteran furlough. No one observed us. 
 The play was Hamlet, which was simply being murdered. 
 General Sherman was a fine Shakespearean scholar and he 
 criticised the play severely and loudly. As I sat next 
 to him, I cautioned him that we would be recognized and 
 that there would be a scene. The grave-digger scene was 
 on, and the actor was soliloquizing on Yorick's skull, 
 when a soldier way back called out so that the whole 
 audience could hear, " Say, pard, what is it, Yank or Reb?" 
 and the whole house was in an uproar. Grant said we had 
 better get out, so we left undiscovered. Sherman then 
 said we had better get some oysters, and put General Raw- 
 lins forward to find a place. He took us to a very fair 
 saloon. We went in and found that all the tables were 
 occupied but one; that, a large table with only one man 
 sitting at it. Rawlins, who was a retiring man, asked this 
 person if he would not take a small table near by and give 
 our party the other one. He did not mention who his 
 party was, but the man replied that the table was good 
 enough for him and he guessed he would keep it. So 
 RawHns said we had better hunt another place, and out we 
 went. Sherman told Rawlins we would never get anything 
 under his guidance, so he stopped some one and asked for 
 an oyster saloon. The man pointed out one kept by a 
 widow and we went in and ordered our oysters, and naturally 
 all hands got to discussing matters until the hour was getting 
 late, when the woman came in and told us we must leave, 
 as the rules of the city were that every place must be closed 
 
2l6 RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 
 
 by midnight; so we were turned out with our meal about 
 half concluded, and then we went up to General Grant's 
 headquarters, which were in a large house presided over 
 by Colonel Bowers. We camped there over night, some 
 in beds and some on the floor. Our experience of the even- 
 ing was, of course, discussed, and the aids heard it, and 
 before breakfast the next morning Grant and Sherman were 
 overrun with callers who came to apologize — ^the theatre 
 proprietor, the saloon keeper and the widow — all expecting 
 to be summarily disposed of for their inhospitality; but 
 Sherman laughingly told them it was all right, that it was 
 what they might expect from a lot of Rebels and that they 
 would not be hurt. 
 
 The next evening we were invited to dine at the house 
 of the commanding officer. We were in the Department of 
 the Cumberland, and at the dinner there was a lady who 
 had known Grant and Sherman in the old army, and was 
 still of that army ; but she was very critical and found fault 
 with the way Sherman made war, especially with the treat- 
 ment his troops gave the East Tennesseeans in the march 
 to Knoxville. Sherman tried to fend off and change the 
 conversation, but the lady stuck to him, and finally Sherman 
 turned on her and said: " Madam, my soldiers were without 
 food, blankets or shoes, and no doubt they took what they 
 could find. My men had to subsist even if the whole of 
 Tennessee was ruined to sustain them. There are two 
 armies here, one in rebellion against the other fighting for 
 the Union. If either must starve to death, I propose it shall 
 not be the one fighting for the Union. There is nothing 
 too good for them. War is cruelty; there is no use trying 
 to refine it; the crueler the sooner ended." That ended 
 the talk about the Army of the Tennessee, and the dinner 
 was a very cool one from that moment on. 
 
 When we parted at Nashville, Sherman accompanied 
 General Grant as far east as Cincinnati. When the Society 
 of the Army of the Tennessee had its meeting in Cincinnati 
 in 1889, Sherman pointed out to me the room in which 
 Grant developed his plan for the grand movement of our 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 217 
 
 army on May i, 1864. They pored over their maps, and 
 they agreed that all armies should move at once, and Grant 
 told Sherman he must press Johnston so that he could not 
 send any troops to help Lee, and Grant said he would give 
 Lee all he wanted to do to take care of the Army of the 
 Potomac. You all know the result of these brilliantly 
 conceived and energetically executed campaigns that 
 closed out all the Rebel armies within one year after that 
 time. I have no time to follow Sherman from Chattanooga 
 to Atlanta, and from Atlanta to the sea, and in his strategic 
 movement from Savannah to the time of Johnston's sur- 
 render. In my opinion, that movement alone is aU Sherman 
 needs to fix for all time his place in history as one of the 
 greatest masters of the art of war. 
 
 After the battle of Chattanooga the government had 
 been issuing and selling rations to the citizens of Tennessee. 
 When General Sherman prepared for his Atlanta campaign 
 he knew that its success depended upon his ability to feed 
 his men and animals, and he, therefore, issued order No. 8 
 stopping this issue to citizens. In a few days he received 
 the following despatch from President Lincoln, dated May 
 4, 1864: 
 
 I have an imploring appeal from the citizens, who say your 
 order No. 8 will compel them to go north to Nashville. This 
 is in no sense an order, nor is it even a request that you will do 
 anything which in the least shall be a drawback upon your 
 military operations, but anything you can do consistently with 
 the appeals of these suffering people I should be glad of. 
 
 On May 5th General Sherman sent an answer charac- 
 teristic of the man and general: 
 
 A. Lincoln, President: 
 
 We have worked hard with the best talent of the country, and 
 it is demonstrated that the railroad cannot supply the army and 
 the people too: one of them must quit, and the army does not 
 intend to tmless Joe Johnston makes us. The issues to citizens 
 have been enormous, and the same weight of corn and oats would 
 have saved thousands of the mules whose carcasses now corduroy 
 
2l8 RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 
 
 the roads, and which we need so much in war. I will not change 
 my order, and I beg of you to be satisfied that the clamor is 
 partly humbug and for effect. I advise you to tell the bearers 
 of the appeal to hurry to Kentucky and make up a column of 
 cattle and wagons and go over the mountains on foot by Cumber- 
 land Gap and Somerset to relieve their suffering friends, as they 
 used to before the railroad was built. Tell them they have no 
 time to lose. "We can relieve all actual suffering by each com- 
 pany and regiment giving their savings. Every man who is 
 willing to fight and work gets a full ration, and all who will not 
 fight and work we offer them free passage in the cars. 
 
 Sherman always sustained his of&cers who assumed 
 great authority in an emergency, although they might be 
 wrong. As an instance, I give you the following : 
 
 Before General Sherman crossed the Chattahoochee for 
 his attack upon Atlanta, his army was stretched from Soap 
 Creek to Sandtown Ferry, facing the river. My corps, the 
 sixteenth, was upon the extreme right, and I thought the 
 crossing was to be by the right flank, as it was so much nearer 
 to Atlanta, and my orders were to seize all ferryboats and 
 other means of crossing. General Sherman came to my 
 headquarters, took out his map, and asked how long it 
 would take me to construct a bridge across the river at 
 Roswell , some forty miles away beyond our extreme left, 
 telling me it was rock bottom and could be forded, and that 
 there was a road bridge at that point which the Confederates 
 had destroyed. I supposed I would have to go into the 
 woods and cut the timber, and told him it would require 
 at least a week. He had not been gone more than an hour 
 when I received orders from General McPherson to move 
 to Roswell, and that General Sherman would communicate 
 directly with me. The march was a hot, dusty one, in the 
 rear of the army, but I did not halt, except for our meals and 
 an occasional hour's rest. I received at Marietta a despatch 
 from Sherman urging me to get there as soon as possible. 
 
 On arriving, I immediately put a brigade across the 
 river, and it was as fine a sight as I ever saw when Fuller's 
 Ohio brigade, in line of battle, forded the river. The ene- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 219 
 
 my's cavalry held the other side. As they moved across, 
 holding their guns and cartridge boxes high above their 
 heads, the bands of the corps struck up lively tunes. The 
 Rebels poured in a heavy fire, but it was too high. No-w- 
 and then a boy -would step into a hole and disappear for a 
 moment, but all got across and immediately sought shelter 
 under the steep cut bank, -where Fuller re-formed and 
 made his charge, cleared out the enemy in short order, 
 and built a strong tete de pont. 
 
 Ros-weU had cotton and woollen factories that had been 
 running up to the time that General Garrard's cavalry 
 captured, and burned naost of the them. The opera- 
 tives were chiefly women, and these Garrard moved to 
 Marietta by detailing a regiment of cavalry, each member 
 of which took one of the operatives on his horse; in this 
 way they were aU taken into Marietta, and were sent north 
 by Sherman. Over the proprietor's house was flying a 
 French flag. I saw immediately that if I utilized the balance 
 of the buildings I could erect the bridge in half the time, and 
 instructed Captain Armstrong, who had charge of the 1,500 
 men detailed to build the bridge, to tear do-wn the buildings 
 which were left from Garrard's fire, and utilize them. The 
 next morning some of my officers, who were better la-wyers 
 than I was, told me that the proprietor was making a strong 
 protest, and that I was liable to get into trouble on account 
 of -violation of international law. Although I was using 
 the material, I thought it best to write General Sherman 
 a letter stating what I had done, and what the claims were, 
 at the same time notifying him that by using this material 
 I would have the bridge completed by Wednesday. I 
 arrived there by noon on Monday, the loth of July. Sher- 
 man answered in the following characteristic letter: 
 
 Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi. In 
 
 THE Field near Chattahoochee River. 
 
 Jiily II, 1864. 
 General Dodge, 
 
 Roswell, Ga. ; 
 I know you have a big job, but that is nothing new for 
 
2 20 RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 
 
 you. Tell General Newton that his corps is now up near General 
 Schofield's crossing, and all is quiet thereabout. He might 
 send down and move his camps to proximity of his corps, but I 
 think Roswell and Shallow Ford so important that I prefer him 
 to be near you until you are well fortified. If he needs rations 
 tell him to get his wagons up, and I think you will be able to 
 spare him day after to-morrow. I know the bridge at Roswell 
 is important, and you may destroy all Georgia to make it good 
 
 and strong. 
 
 W. T. Sherman, 
 Major-General Commanding. 
 
 You will perceive it is very diplomatic; he says nothing 
 in relation to international law, or the French flag, but ends 
 his letter by telling me that I may destroy all Georgia to 
 accomplish what I am sent to do. Of course I read be- 
 tween the lines, and paid no further attention to the French 
 flag. After the war great claims were made, and we were 
 censured by the government, which I have no doubt paid 
 roundly for the factories. 
 
 On July 1 2th, just three days after I arrived there, I no- 
 tified General Sherman that the bridge was completed, and 
 the army commenced crossing on the final movement to 
 Atlanta. Sherman was greatly surprised, as it had been 
 represented to him by officers he had sent there that it would 
 require a much longer time to erect the bridge. 
 My official report read as follows: 
 
 A foot bridge 710 feet long was thrown across the river, and 
 from Monday noon, July 10, until Wednesday night, July 12, 
 a good, substantial, double track, trestle road bridge, 710 feet 
 long and 14 feet high, was bmlt by the pioneer corps of and 
 detailed from the command. 
 
 Sherman as a soldier and as a citizen was two different 
 men. As a soldier, he demanded the utmost limit of a 
 man's endurance. His own loyalty and energy were such 
 an embodiment and absolute obedience to orders, that he 
 could conceive no duty for a subordinate that he could not 
 cheerfully perform and consider it a privilege instead of a 
 duty. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 221 
 
 His appreciation of what the war meant , and his papers 
 written during the war upon the different miHtary and civil 
 phases of it, stamp him as a soldier, statesman, and one who 
 could advise and lead in civil life, but who absolutely knew 
 himself so well that no inducement could entice him to 
 enter the political field. 
 
 After the war, as a citizen, Sherman was one of the most 
 genial of companions. It was his delight to surround 
 himself with comrades and distinguished citizens and re- 
 count the good qualities of the soldiers who served with him, 
 and to hold them always to the front. Then what soldier 
 is there here who, when he met Sherman at reunions and 
 encampments, did not feel his kindly words and his great 
 efforts to make their meetings jolly, happy, successful ones ; 
 and above all, none of the sophistries or ingenious argu- 
 ments that have been used since the war to prove that this 
 coimtry is doing more for the soldier than he is entitled to, 
 ever had for one moment the countenance or even the 
 silence of Sherman to prove it. He could not discuss the 
 bad qualities of the soldier who had faced bullets, and did 
 not consider such a discovery pertinent to the question, but 
 as a discovery after the fact. 
 
 Sherman's after-dinner speeches were always happy and 
 to the point, and always with a new thought, so that he 
 was always in demand. I saw a great deal of him after the 
 war — ^travelled with him; and it was a long time before I 
 could fathom the soldier who was so exacting, whom we 
 called " The Old Tycoon, " and the citizen who responded to 
 every request, and who delighted in doing kindly acts for 
 all of us, and kept himself poor in answering the appeals 
 of his old comrades. 
 
 GENERAL PHILIP H. SHERIDAN. 
 
 My first promotion in a command was in 1861, to the 
 post of RoUa, Missouri, and concentrated there, preparatory 
 to the march to the southwest, was the nucleus of that army 
 that Curtis led so successfully to victory. A young staff 
 officer reported to me there, small in stature, very modest 
 
222 RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 
 
 in his ways ; in fact, his diffidence belittled his great abilities. 
 I was inexperienced in the necessities of the campaign, and 
 my troops had about three wagons to a company. This 
 staff officer was Captain Phil. Sheridan. His first order 
 at RoUa was to reduce transportation to three wagons to 
 a regiment and I had a small rebellion on my hands, 
 every regimental, every company officer applying to me to 
 countermand the orders of such an unfeeling regular army 
 officer. The German regiments absolutely refused to obey 
 it; but I had learned myself to respect the experience of 
 educated soldiers, and when I supported Sheridan, and 
 endeavored to carry out his orders, I came in for a share 
 of the blessings which came from our people and press. 
 However, the 4th Iowa Infantry, which I commanded, 
 fell promptly into line. 
 
 The army was one half American and one half German, 
 with the Germans under the command of Sigel, who had 
 been deposed by Halleck from the command of the army 
 and succeeded by General Curtis, who had no bed of roses 
 to lie upon. Sigel was then considered a great general 
 We were then learning that retreat was often as much 
 a victory as success which came from advance. Sheridan 
 in that campaign fed and furnished transportation for an 
 army hundreds of miles from its base, with neither rail 
 nor water to aid him, and stamped himself as a great stafE 
 officer. Where he got the com for the animals and bread 
 and meat for ourselves was a puzzle to every soldier who 
 tramped from Rolla to Pea Ridge. 
 
 Sheridan says in his Memoirs: "In accomplishing this I 
 was several times on the verge of personal conflict with irate 
 regimental commanders, but Colonel G. M. Dodge so cor- 
 dially sustained me with General Curtis by strong moral 
 support, and by such efficient details from his regiment, 
 the 4th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, that I still bear him and 
 it a great affection and lasting gratitude." 
 
 Unfortunately for that army. General Curtis relieved 
 Sheridan just as we needed him most, but it was a great 
 favor to Sheridan. During that campaign Sheridan, when 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 223 
 
 he came to the army, shared my tent and told me of his 
 dif&culties and of his efforts and failures. I sometimes had 
 detailed to help him almost all of the 4th Iowa Infantry, in 
 squads, at once. He often said to me, " Dodge, I believe 
 I could do something if I could get into the line, " telling 
 me what a field was before me, so young and in command 
 of a brigade. It seemed to be his ambition to get the 
 command of troops. A brigade was his idea. 
 
 After Pea Ridge my duties took me to Corinth, where 
 I found Sheridan as quartermaster to General HaUeck's 
 personal headquarters, and it was there that he got his first 
 commission in the line as colonel of a Michigan cavalry 
 regiment. 
 
 There have been a great many statements as to how 
 General Sheridan obtained his first commission as colonel 
 of the 2d Michigan Cavalry. I can give it to you authori- 
 tatively. Colonel Gordon Granger was the first colonel of 
 the regiment. When he was made a brigadier-general, 
 Governor Blair of Michigan was at the front at FarmviUe, 
 near Corinth. He was opposed to appointing another 
 regular army officer to command that regiment, but General 
 Gordon Granger told Captain Alger, late Secretary of War, 
 that he had found a colonel for the regiment in Sheridan, 
 and induced Captain Alger to go personally to Governor 
 Blair, whom he found at Pittsburg Landing, and with 
 whom was his adjutant-general. General Robertson. Blair at 
 first absolutely refused to appoint Sheridan, but after a long 
 discussion of the matter, and the condition of the regiment 
 being such that it needed a head immediately, he finally 
 acquiesced, and the adjutant-general, upon a dry-goods 
 box at Pittsburg Landing, wrote out the order on a sheet 
 of paper. Captain Alger took it back, and he with the 
 quartermaster of the regiment went to Sheridan with it, 
 who was surprised to receive it; on that very night, 
 27th of May, Sheridan took command of the regiment, and 
 moved with Elliott's brigade of cavalry to Beauregard's 
 rear, at BooneviUe, south of Corinth. They reached Boone- 
 ville and destroyed the railroad. Beauregard's army was 
 
224 RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 
 
 on the retreat. They struck Elliot's command and forced 
 them to retreat. Sheridan captured a great many pris- 
 oners, but he had to let them go. They also captured and 
 destroyed a large amount of Beauregard's transportation. 
 After the evacuation of Corinth, Colonel Sheridan was 
 posted at Booneville, the outpost of the army on the south. 
 While stationed here, on July ist, with a view of surprising 
 Sheridan, General Chalmers attacked him early one morning 
 with 5000 men. Sheridan had with him less than 1000 
 men, and soon discovered that if he stood on the defensive 
 he would be defeated, and probably captured. He im- 
 mediately determined to take the offensive, and sent Captain 
 Alger with four companies of cavalry, ninety-two men, about 
 three miles to the rear of Chalmers's force, giving him about 
 one' hour to get there, and instructed him that the moment 
 hejreached Chalmers's rear he was to form in fours and 
 charge through his force, and, if possible, join him (Sheri- 
 dan), who would attack in the front at the same moment. 
 Alger carried out his orders to the letter, but was unable to 
 charge completely through, although he lost half of his 
 command. At the appointed time Sheridan charged in 
 front, and Chalmers, attacked in front and rear, became 
 demoralized, and his force was soon defeated and scattered. 
 This was a great victory, and immediately brought Sheridan 
 to the front as a great cavalry leader, for up to that time 
 our cavalry had not been very successful. For this battle 
 Sheridan was made a brigadier-general. He says that when 
 he was appointed colonel of this regiment he felt that his 
 fortunes had turned, and he was getting into line with what 
 his wishes had been during the whole war. He did not 
 appreciate as fully as others what he had done. From 
 that time on he steadily advanced until he became one of 
 the great commanders of the Civil War. 
 
 I met him again after Missionary Ridge as commander 
 of a division, Grant taking him east from what he saw of him 
 during that battle and giving him command of his cavalry, 
 where he demonstrated how valuable an arm cavalry 
 was to the service, and that they could fight as well as travel. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 225 
 
 When I was at City Point Grant told me of the great 
 ability and fighting qualities of Sheridan, and of his differ- 
 ences with Meade and the trouble he had to keep two fiery 
 dispositions from conflict. He said that after the battle 
 of the Wilderness Meade and Sheridan had some hot words, 
 and Meade came to him and said: "Do you know what 
 Sheridan said to me last night? He was mad and told me 
 if I would let him out he would wipe up the earth with Jeb 
 Stuart," whom they were all so afraid of. Grant answered, 
 in his quiet way: "Why, Meade, why didn't you tell him 
 to go and do it? Let him out; that 's just what we want. " 
 Meade gave Sheridan the order, having no confidence in 
 his success, but we know the result of those brilliant marches 
 and battles in the rear of Lee until Stuart was killed and 
 one half of the Rebel cavalry destroyed. That made per- 
 manent Sheridan's position in that army. The battles of 
 the Valley of Virginia and Five Forks followed, and from 
 a captain and quartermaster at Rolla we find him a lieu- 
 tenant-general, dying while in command of our army. 
 
 GENERAL GEORGE H. THOMAS. 
 
 In the winter of 1863-4 it fell to the lot of my corps to 
 be quartered in the richest part of Tennessee, both in what 
 it produced and in Rebels. I occupied the country extending 
 from Columbia to Decatur. I had 12,000 men and 10,000 
 animals to feed off the country. I was quartered in the 
 Department of the Cumberland, commanded by General 
 George H. Thomas, but I was not subject to his orders; a 
 difficult position, as my troops had lived so long on foraging 
 that no doubt they committed many depredations, and the 
 complaints of the officers of the Army of the Cumberland 
 and the citizens of that country piled up against me moun- 
 tains-high. They appalled even myself, and, as they passed 
 on up through different headquarters, the indorsements 
 upon them virtually made me command a lot of undis- 
 ciplined, depredating bummers that ought to be driven out 
 of the department for the benefit of the service. The com- 
 
 15 
 
226 RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 
 
 plaints finally reached General Thomas. General Sherman 
 was away on the Meridian raid and I was reporting directly 
 to General Grant. General Thomas knew the work I had 
 before me in rebuilding the railway to Decatur and Hunts- 
 ville, and had kept watch of my progress, and, instead of 
 following the indorsements of his subordinates, passed the 
 papers on to General Grant, stating that probably I was 
 so engaged in my other work that I was not aware of the 
 depredations and that they were unauthorized. When the 
 charges reached Grant, he put an indorsement on them that, 
 as it travelled back the same way that it came, must have 
 made the indorsers' ears tingle ; for Grant knew the Sixteenth 
 Army Corps, and what it was made of, and the great work 
 it was doing, and made it very plain in his reprimands to 
 those who had denounced us without a hearing. When the 
 documents finally reached me, I felt it my duty to write 
 General Thomas a letter stating how difficult my position 
 was and how much I regretted that I should have fallen 
 under the ban of his officers, but how much we appreciated 
 his courtesy and commendation. 
 
 In May, 1864, 1 came into the same grand army with 
 Thomas, and he made it a point, so plain that every one could 
 see it, to be very friendly with me. I was brigadier-general 
 commanding a corps, while under him were major-generals 
 commanding divisions. Thomas always had a word of 
 encouragement for me and always a kind word for me when 
 he was with other officers, and you can appreciate what a 
 help it was. After Atlanta I fell to the command of the 
 Department of the Missouri. General Thomas was facing 
 Hood at Nashville and I had an opportunity to return 
 some of his thoughtful aid to me, for I sent him every 
 organized command in my department. I had nothing 
 left but a few companies of Missouri State militia, to take 
 care of a great department, and it was those troops 
 that, in the battle of Nashville, under that superb soldier 
 A. J. Smith, crushed Hood's left and almost captured his 
 command. 
 
 After the war, General Thomas, when en route to his com- 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME OF OUR GREAT COMMANDERS 227 
 
 mand on the Pacific coast, stopped off and visited me at my 
 home. Thomas told me how thankful he was and how 
 much he appreciated my efforts to send him troops and how 
 opportune their arrival was. Thomas was then a happy, 
 satisfied soldier; in fact, I never saw any of those disap- 
 pointments, or anything of that feeling that has been de- 
 picted by some of his historians, and I do not believe the 
 thought ever entered his head that his superior officers or 
 his government did not appreciate the great work he did in 
 the war. It seems to me nothing can be more unfortunate 
 to a general than to have, after the fact, himself depicted 
 as not having had the proper appreciation or credit for 
 what he had done. Especially must this be the case in a 
 person of the sturdy disposition and soldierly qualities of 
 the "Rock of Chickamauga, " General George H. Thomas. 
 These great commanders brought the Civil War to a 
 successful issue. They were all bom great captains, and the 
 closer you got to them, the longer you saw and studied them, 
 the greater they grew — not only to the officers, but to the 
 boys who shouldered the muskets, who, in fact, were clear- 
 headed and just critics. They seldom applauded their 
 Commanders, but they never lost faith in them. These boys 
 followed willingly and eagerly wherever they were led. They 
 judged them then as the world judges them now — not by 
 their words, but by their great deeds. 
 
WITH SHERIDAN'S CAVALRY. 
 
 A Paper Read by Surgeon Alphonso D. Rockwell, U. S. 
 Vols., December 4, 1901. 
 
 NO one who has not participated in the strange and stir- 
 ring scenes of actual war can even faintly appreciate, 
 I fancy, the fascination that attaches to all its mem- 
 ories. The old soldier will tell one that even the odor of 
 burning leaves carries him back instantly to the bivouac 
 and camp-fire. The crack of the sportsman's rifle recalls 
 the picket line, and the simultaneous discharge of a score 
 or more is wonderfully suggestive of the ominous reports 
 along the skirmish line. More than all else, perhaps, the 
 roar of the cannon, according to its nearness and the volume 
 of its sound, suggests the threatening or fully opened con- 
 flict, and brings fresh to mind the mingled and peculiar 
 sensations experienced by every participant. Because of 
 these common experiences, dear to the memory of all, I 
 venture to offer to-night a few purely personal recollections 
 and impressions. 
 
 The spring of 1864 saw the Army of the Potomac, with 
 its encampments along the northern line of the Rapidan, 
 in momentary expectation of the order to prepare for 
 another wrestle with its ever watchful, its desperate, but 
 incomparable antagonist, the Army of Northern Virginia. 
 
 Grant had recently assumed command of all the Federal 
 armies, his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, 
 while Sheridan, with the halo of his recent brilliant record 
 in the West fresh around him, took in hand, for the first 
 time, as his sole command, the cavalry corps attached to 
 this army. On the 2d of May came the looked-for orders 
 that were to end the quiet and uneventful monotony of 
 
 228 
 
WITH SHERIDAN S CAVALRY 229 
 
 camp life, and set in motion an army of more than 100,000 
 men with its "rolling of drums, tramp of squadrons, and 
 immeasurable tumult of baggage wagons." To adequately 
 describe the commingled scenes of earnest preparation, vo- 
 ciferous • salutations and commands, ludicrous incidents 
 and picturesque movements, associated with such a general 
 disruption calls for an abler pen than mine. Confusion 
 reigns supreme seemingly, but soon it becomes evident that 
 this "mighty maze is not without a plan." Scattered for- 
 mations begin, and soon, companies of men, like riUs flowing 
 to their streams, assume the concrete form of a regiment, 
 regiments coalesce into brigades, brigades into divisions, 
 untn finally the whole cavalry corps of 12,000 moves grandly 
 away to meet the enemy, but when, or where, or how, it 
 knows not. 
 
 Shortly after midnight on the 4th of May the crossing 
 of the Rapidan began. Opposition to the passage had 
 been expected, and, although not a shot was fired, yet no 
 one wUl forget the strained and expectant state of mind as 
 we plunged into the cold waters in anticipation of a volley 
 from the opposite shore. 
 
 Galloping up the hill to the plain, no reminder of the 
 enemy was seen, with the exception of torn bags of grain 
 and meal which the Confederate pickets had left in their 
 hasty flight. A few miles further the outskirts of the famous 
 Wildemess was reached, and here in a few hours were gath- 
 ered the converging lines of troops which had crossed on 
 pontoons further up the river. The cavalry took but little 
 part in the battle of the Wildemess, but on the 8th of May 
 Sheridan was ordered to concentrate his scattered forces, 
 pass around the right of Lee's army to its rear, and after 
 doing all the damage possible by destroying railroads, 
 burning supplies, etc., proceed to Haxall's Landing, on 
 the James. 
 
 This historic raid consumed fifteen days, in which time 
 was concentrated perhaps as much movement and incident 
 as in any other operation of similar length during the war. 
 Early on the morning of the 9th we were in motion, the 
 
230 WITH SHERIDAN S CAVALRY 
 
 object being to get away from Lee's infantry before meeting 
 Stuart's cavalry. It was early spring, and a cloudless sky 
 and clear invigorating atmosphere contributed to render 
 the day nearly perfect. The roads were in excellent con- 
 dition, free from mud or dust, and we were passing through 
 a country untouched by the ravages of war. Few whites 
 were seen, but the negroes from every hamlet and hut 
 gathered along the roadside in undisguised admiration at 
 the ceaseless stream of artillery and horse. " Pompey, 
 have you seen any soldiers go along this way to-day?" was 
 asked of a grayheaded old negro, and the old fellow lifted 
 up both hands and excitedly ejaculated, " Yes, Marser, 
 tousands, and tousands, and tousands ; you go right ahead 
 into Richmond now, sure." It was sufficiently evident by 
 the old man's unfeigned action and tone that he, at least, 
 was heart and soul with the Union cause. 
 
 Our regiment, the 6th Ohio, brought up the extreme rear 
 of the line, and the beauty and quiet of the day was still 
 upon us when, as we made a turn through a stretch of wood, 
 the advance was startled by the well-known Confederate 
 call, accompanied by rapid firing. The colonel command- 
 ing, turning in his saddle, saw the rear of his regiment 
 scattering in every direction, closely pressed by the at- 
 tacking party. In an instant everything was in the utmost 
 confusion. The artillery, pack-train, and forming bodies 
 of troops seemed to be inextricably mixed, and the writer 
 found himself in a sort of pandemonium, separated from 
 every familiar face, and uncertain which way to turn, to 
 avoid the increasing fire, or to find a post of duty. Just 
 then a staff officer galloped past, and with a shout "You 
 are wanted this way. Doctor, " he swept by, and I followed 
 on. 
 
 In a moment a position was attained enabling me to 
 witness the rare sight of cavalry fighting hand to hand with 
 sabre and pistol. The excitement was too great to allow 
 the details to be firmly fixed in mind. A swajdng mass of 
 horsemen, and the roar of a section of artillery in the rear, 
 were the main impressions made. Only one distinct act 
 
WITH SHERIDAN S CAVALRY 23 1 
 
 can be recalled at this day. The adjutant of the regiment, 
 whose death occurred but a short time subsequently, had 
 just received the ineffectual fire of a Southern soldier. I 
 see the adjutant now, as I have in imagination seen him 
 htmdreds of times before, with that expression of concen- 
 trated excitement characteristic of such scenes of peril. 
 With horses careering side by side, he had grasped the 
 Confederate by the coUar of his coat with one hand, and 
 with the other was in the act of striking him from his saddle 
 with the butt of his pistol. 
 
 One poor fellow was lying upon the turf bleeding and 
 pale, and, dismounting, I gave the reins of my horse to an at- 
 tendant who had just joined me. It was anything but a 
 pleasant time or place for the exercise of the gentle ministra- 
 tions of the healing art. Bullets were whistHng through the 
 air on every side, and it needed only the ear to assure us that 
 the enemy were in close proximity. The wounded man was 
 too weak to lift his head from the ground, and as I was 
 intently examining the arm, through which a bullet had 
 passed, the startling cry of "Here they come" was heard. 
 
 We were in a ploughed field, and in looking up a body 
 of Confederate cavalry was seen, not over a hundred yards 
 away, coming towards us, as rapidly as the nature of the 
 ground would permit, firing their carbines and with aU 
 manner of exclamations. 
 
 Not one of us stood on the order of his going. Th& 
 orderly gallantly led the flight, followed b)"^ the surgeon, who 
 was in turn followed by the wounded man. He, poor 
 fellow, had not feigned anything, as he lay there apparently 
 unable to rise. It was only the stimulus of imminent 
 danger that enabled him to leap unassisted to his feet and 
 to his saddle. My own horse, left to himself, started, 
 and there was only time to grasp him around the neck, 
 and throw one leg over the saddle. The efforts of the 
 thoroughly terrified horse, as he plunged through the soft 
 earth, were frantic enough, but not more so than my own as 
 I strained every nerve to retain my hold and right myself. 
 Success finally crowned these efforts, and our speed was 
 
232 WITH SHERIDAN S CAVALRY 
 
 further rewarded by the welcome sight of a line of our 
 own forces just ahead. These were flanked, and as we 
 came to a halt the wounded man was close at our heels. 
 In a sudden attack such as this there could be no very 
 satisfactory or permanent alignment. The scene of con- 
 test constantly shifted; hence no sooner had we alighted, 
 and stretched the almost fainting man upon the ground, 
 than we had the extraordinary experience of being ex- 
 posed for a second time in five minutes to the enemy's 
 charge, and were compelled to fly once more; this time we 
 did not halt until we had safely outdistanced that per- 
 sistent body of Rebels. 
 
 Pressing on towards Richmond, we found that Stuart, 
 the brilliant Confederate cavalry leader, had, by moving 
 on roads parallel to ours, outstripped us and planted himself 
 in our path at Yellow Tavern, six miles from the Capitol. 
 In this severe skirmish General Gordon was killed, and 
 the renowned Stuart mortally wounded. Following up his 
 successes, Sheridan penetrated the outer defences of Rich- 
 mond, causing the greatest excitement and consternation. 
 
 On the morning of the 12th it was proposed to recross 
 the Chickahominy, but the bridge was found destroyed, and 
 had to be rebuilt under a heavy fitre from a force of the 
 enemy on the opposite side, while at the same time we 
 were harassed by attacking bodies from the direction of 
 Richmond. 
 
 For a few hours it was a season of anxiety to Sheridan, 
 lest he should be attacked by an increasing force before the 
 completed bridge afforded him an opportunity to go on his 
 way. 
 
 The story was current among us that, when the bridge 
 was finished and the troops about to cross, the General 
 seized a bottle and, lifting it to his mouth with a " Here 's 
 to you, Johnnies," a stray bullet effectually shattered it. 
 Nothing daunted, it is further related, the General, 
 turning in the direction whence came the missile, quickly 
 substituted for his salutation the reproach, "That's d — d 
 unhandsome of you, Johnny." 
 
WITH SHERIDAN S CAVALRY 233 
 
 For the next few weeks the cavalry were incessantly- 
 active. The disastrous assault at Cold Harbor took place, 
 in which they took vigorous part, losing heavily in killed 
 and wounded, and almost immediately after were ordered 
 to proceed along the Central Railroad of Virginia, damage 
 it as much as possible, and then join the command of Gene- 
 ral Hunter in the lower valley. When Sheridan reached 
 Trevilian Station he found himself opposed by a large 
 force of cavalry under Hampton and Lee, who had followed 
 closely and on interior lines to intercept him. On the 
 morning of the i ith of June the opposing forces met, and 
 through all that day the fighting was desperate, and the 
 losses great. The advantage was on our side perhaps, but 
 learning from prisoners that Hunter was not in a position 
 to be readily reached, and that he was likely to be opposed 
 by both Ewell and Breckinridge, Sheridan decided to 
 withdraw quietly under the cover of darkness. It was 
 twilight when my regiment was sent out to do picket duty, 
 covering the withdrawal of the rest of the troops. The dust 
 raised must have been seen, for a furious storm of shell was 
 opened upon us. Shells exploded around and above us, and 
 the brilliant illumination in the twilight added to the im- 
 pressiveness of the scene. 
 
 The storm lasted but for a few minutes, but in that time 
 it seemed as if the regiment would be annihilated. Many 
 of us were struck in face and body by branches and bits of 
 flying bark from the trees, but no one was hurt. The fact 
 that not a man was injured illustrates how out of all pro- 
 portion to the damage inflicted may be the noise and de- 
 moralizing effect of an artillery fire. After midnight the 
 withdrawal was successfully accomplished, and with entire 
 secrecy, and a backward march began, which in some re- 
 spects was more painful than anything we experienced 
 before or after. We had captured some six hundred pris- 
 oners, who had to be guarded, -and were encumbered with 
 nearly the same number of wounded men. We were far 
 from our base of supplies, and five hundred helpless men, 
 suffering from injuries of almost every conceivable character, 
 
2 34 WITH SHERIDAN S CAVALRY 
 
 had to be transported for days, over rough roads, in ambu- 
 lances, and in army wagons without springs, and in the heat 
 and thick dust of summer. 
 
 Look not for the extremest horrors of war upon the 
 battle-field, however awful the carnage or cruel the adver- 
 sary, but find it rather in some of the experiences of prison 
 life, and the unutterable and prolonged agonies of a retro- 
 grade march, such as ours of eight days' duration. 
 
 From sunrise to sunset the long cavalcade of canvas- 
 covered vehicles toiled along with jar and jolt, enveloped 
 in clouds of dust and eliciting from the wretched sufferers 
 a continuous succession of groans and heartrending outcries. 
 Soldiers in general know little of such scenes as these. 
 The excitement and danger of the battle over, the resultant 
 suffering is quickly removed and left to its proper care. 
 
 Our brave and humane old colonel had occasion to ride 
 forward along the line of the moving ambulances. He 
 returned actually pale with suppressed emotion and ex- 
 claimed: "My God! No consideration would tempt me to 
 go over that course again and see the sights and hear the 
 groans I have this day seen and heard." 
 
 Glad enough were we to reach our supplies at the White 
 House on the 21st, where we passed the night. On the 
 22d an immense train of 900 wagons started to join 
 the main army. The cavalry was ordered to protect 
 these trains until they crossed the James at Bermuda 
 Hundred. 
 
 Beyond the Chickahominy, Torbert with one division 
 was held with the train, while General Gregg with the other 
 was sent to St. Mary's Church to protect an uncovered 
 flank. We were here confronted again by our agile and 
 valiant opponents, the cavalry division of Hampton and 
 Lee, who were eager to obtain some of the rich pickings in 
 the trains, moving along " so near and yet so far. " Several 
 hundred yards in our front was the edge of a dense forest, 
 and from the frequent interchange of shots between our 
 pickets and the concealed foe it was apparent that danger 
 lurked in those dark recesses. 
 
WITH Sheridan's cavalry 235 
 
 The morning wore wearily away and a portion of the 
 afternoon. 
 
 The train to be protected had nearly passed, and the 
 troops were drawn up ready to retire, when suddenly the 
 enemy opened a furious fusilade from the woods. 
 
 Henceforth until darkness ended the conflict it was 
 with us a series of stands and retreats. All the noncom- 
 batants were soon in full retreat. At every position lost 
 by us the enemy planted his artillery and vigorously 
 bombarded the retreating mass. The usual field hospital 
 was established, a mile or two in the rear, where the wounded 
 were brought. 
 
 Ord'ers soon came to move further on, and the wounded 
 were relifted into the ambulances and carried to a place 
 supposed to be secure, but presently an aid dashed up with 
 the cry, "Get out of here!" A few bursting shells gave 
 emphasis to these words, and with no delay the wounded 
 were again hustled into the waiting ambulances. The last 
 one had disappeared, and I was about to follow, when four 
 men came up bearing a wounded man on a shutter. Dis- 
 mounting and kneeling by his side I found him to be the 
 adjutant of our regiment, suffering evidently from a fatal 
 wound in the side. He recognized me only by my voice, 
 and asked in faltering tones if his wound was mortal. My 
 answer was perhaps evasive, but he divined instantly the 
 truth, and in tones intensely pathetic and which seem to me 
 as real now as then he said, " My time has come — I must 
 die. " But even then men were rushing to the rear and on 
 a crest of ground, not far away, the enemy could be seen. 
 
 The "boys," although quite exhausted, cheerfully 
 lifted the dying man again, in a last attempt to place him 
 beyond the reach of danger. A loud shout, sharp firing, and 
 the tread of horses revealed at that moment a body of 
 charging Confederate cavalry directly in our rear. 
 
 There was not a moment to lose seeing which, the ad- 
 jutant with a supreme effort, raising himself upon his elbow 
 and looking behind, cried, "Leave me, boys. Leave me," 
 and he was dropped and left to his fate. 
 
236 WITH Sheridan's cavalry 
 
 The foe rushed by, but fortunately without injuring 
 him, and the next day we found his dead body by the 
 roadside. 
 
 We learned that he lived but a short time after our 
 departure, and was ministered to by a kindly old negro. 
 
 I can never recall without emotion the evidence of his 
 inherent nobility of character, illustrated by his quick cry 
 of "Leave me, boys." 
 
 How the cavalry took part in the capture of the Weldon 
 Railroad and the siege of Richmond and Petersburg is too 
 long a story to be told here. These cities finally fell; the 
 decisive battle of Five Forks was fought, and then began 
 in good earnest the flight of the enemy's army with ours 
 in close pursuit, and General Custer in the van. It was 
 but six days that this race kept up, when, like a lion 
 driven to his lair, the enemy's remnant, on the morning of 
 the 9th of April, made its last desperate struggle. How 
 describe the incessant activity of the two armies during 
 this brief period ! — every road for miles was thronged with 
 the pursued and the pursuing. With every nerve strained 
 to its highest tension, Lee had for his objective point Lynch- 
 burg with its rations and defences. The very poverty of 
 his troops was an aid towards this. Lightly loaded, and 
 impelled by every impulse of self-preservation, they marched 
 with quick step, and, although suffering from hunger and the 
 depression of expiring hope, they for a time repelled with 
 all their old-time vigor and dash every onslaught of ours. 
 The two armies were now moving parallel to each other 
 along the Appomattox River and every day had its battle. 
 Owing to the rapid movements of the troops, the wounded 
 were left behind, and in attending to them my little party 
 of attendants found itself far in the rear. While overtak- 
 ing the regiment our route lay along roads crowded with 
 marching columns of infantry and artillery, and as we 
 prolonged our chase into the night, the scene on every hand 
 was rare and picturesque beyond description. Passing 
 along the highway, through the encampment of some corps 
 or division, the gleam of innumerable fires would redden 
 
WITH Sheridan's cavalry 237 
 
 the atmosphere for miles. In every direction they could 
 be seen, now blazing up brightly, now glimmering faintly, 
 while in closer proximity every fire had its group of weary 
 men intent on refreshment and repose. As the light played 
 over the forms and faces of these men and those that were 
 sleeping, with here and there a blood-stained bandage; as 
 it was reflected from the stacked arms and penetrating 
 woody recesses revealed still other groups of blue-coated 
 soldiers, scenes were presented well worthy to be reproduced 
 upon canvas. 
 
 We finally overtook our command at Prince Edward 
 Courthouse and as I write this name an incident related by 
 Colonel NewhaU^ is recalled that is worth repeating. When 
 General Sheridan reached this hamlet, he dismounted at 
 the fence of a stiff old gentleman, who was sitting on his 
 high piazza and scowling fiercely at him as he rode up. He 
 bowed in a dignified way to the General, who bobbed at him 
 carelessly, drew out his inevitable map, lighted a fresh 
 cigar, and asked if any of Lee's troops had been seen about 
 there that day. "Sir," he answered, "as I can truly say 
 that none have been seen by me, I will say so, but if I had 
 seen any, I should feel it my duty to refuse to reply to your 
 question. I cannot give you any information which might 
 work to the disadvantage of General Lee. " This was very 
 patriotic and all that, but the General was not in the humor 
 to chop patriotism just then, so he only gave a short whistle 
 of surprise and asked, "How far is it to Buffalo River?" 
 "Sir, I don't know." "The devil you don't. How long 
 have you lived here?" "All my life." "Very well, sir. 
 It is time you did know. Captain, put this gentleman in 
 charge of a guard, and when we move, walk him down to 
 Buffalo River, and show it to him. ' ' And so he was marched 
 off five miles from home to look at a river which was as 
 familiar to him as his own family. 
 
 If it had not been for the persistent attacks of the cavalry 
 upon the flank and rear of the rapidly retreating enemy, 
 there can be no question but that he would have eluded us. 
 
 1 With Sheridan in Lee's Last Campaign. 
 
238 WITH SHERIDAN S CAVALRY 
 
 It was the cavalry which, marching night and day, finally 
 forged ahead of the Confederate army, and on the 8th of 
 April threw itself boldly across the enemy's path. That 
 night from their elevated position the sleepless pickets of the 
 6th Ohio saw the camp-fires of what was left of Lee's weary 
 troops, as they flared and finally died away in the amphi- 
 theatre below. To be directly in the pathway of a desperate 
 enemy at bay is not the most pleasant of positions, but 
 even the rank and file had heard that the infantry supports 
 were being pushed rapidly forward, and knew that the 
 expected morning attack must be held in check at whatever 
 cost. At daybreak could be plainly seen the forming lines, 
 and soon our brigade and that of Mackenzie were attacked 
 in front and flank, and so rapidly were we pushed back that 
 it seemed as if they would after all escape us. All this time, 
 however, the infantry had been hurrying with might and 
 main; and at the supreme moment when the cavalry was 
 giving way in every direction, Lee found two solid lines 
 of infantry blocking the way. As the white flag was borne 
 out from the broken ranks of the enemy toward us, how 
 our cheers echoed and re-echoed through the morning air at 
 the thought of peace! Who can describe these things, and 
 also the unutterable sadness incident to the last conflict of 
 a long struggle? Men who had passed unscathed through 
 four long years of active warfare fell on this last day and 
 closing hour. One poor fellow lay dying, and, on being 
 told the cause of the cheering that reached his ears, ejacu- 
 lated, "Too bad, too bad!" It was only a few months 
 before that I had occasion to proffer assistance to young 
 Colonel Janeway with his eighth wound. He was perhaps 
 the youngest commanding colonel, being but little over 
 twenty years of age, and that he was brave and of splendid 
 promise goes without saying. Urgent appeals from loving 
 friends had extorted from him the promise that if he was 
 wounded again he would resign. Shortly before the last 
 shot was fired, I saw him gayly riding at the head of his 
 regiment, smoking a cigar, preparing to lead his men into 
 
WITH SHERIDAN S CAVALRY 239 
 
 action. Ten minutes later I kneeled at his side as he lay 
 with his ninth wound — dead — with a bullet through his 
 head. 
 
 Thus here, at Appomatox, ended the sad and bloody 
 work that attended the progress of Sheridan's cavalry. 
 
MAJOR ZAGONYI'S HORSE-GUARD. 
 
 A Paper by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Trei- 
 CHEL, U. S. Vols. Read by the Recorder, Oct. 2, 1901. 
 
 ON the 25th of October, 1861, the anniversary of 
 the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, an 
 action was fought at Springfield, Missouri, so re- 
 markable in its character, in view of the disparity of forces 
 engaged, the spirit and desperation of the attack, and the 
 distance marched by the victorious troops, that we can 
 scarcely wonder at the incredulity with which the first 
 accounts of the affair were received on both sides of the 
 Atlantic. As, however, aU the official reports have been 
 made public, and the engagement has, moreover, been 
 made the subject of a military investigation, the means of 
 arriving at the truth in relation to it are accessible ; and 
 from these sources principally the following description of 
 this brilliant charge is derived. 
 
 The body-guard of Major General Fremont, during his 
 command of the Western Department, consisted of about 
 three hundred mounted men, mostly natives of western 
 States, commanded by Major Zagonyi, a Hungarian exile, 
 and officered by gentlemen from various cities of the United 
 States — two lieutenants, Newhall and Treichel, being 
 residents of Philadelphia. Both officers and privates were, 
 to a great extent, men of education and means; and this 
 circumstance, together with the fact that they were enlisted 
 as a body-guard, gave rise to many ill-natured criticisms 
 and sneers, which, as the confidence of the Administration 
 was gradually withdrawn from General Fremont, grew 
 into direct attacks upon their bravery and efficiency. Their 
 uniforms, their kid gloves, their bay horses, their foreign 
 commander, were each, in turn, subjects of ridicule. 
 
 240 
 
MAJOR ZAGONYI S HORSE-GUARD 241 
 
 General Fremont, in his pursuit of Price, after the fall 
 of Lexington, had crossed the Osage with his troops, and 
 on the 24th of October, after a march of twelve miles with 
 his guard and the advance of the army, encamped on the 
 prairie, not far from the Pomme-de-terre River. During 
 the march of that day, Major Zagonyi had received infor- 
 mation that a small body of the enemy, said to number only 
 four hundred, were encamped at Springfield. 
 
 Burning with desire to retrieve the reputation of his 
 corps, and to indulge their eagerness for a battle, the Major 
 begged permission to go forward and attack. To his earnest 
 request General Fremont finally yielded, upon condition 
 that Major Zagonyi should take, in addition to the three 
 companies of his guard, a body of about two hundred men 
 then engaged in making a reconnoissance some nailes in 
 advance of the army. 
 
 At eight o'clock in the evening of the 24th, Major Za- 
 gonyi started with one hundred and seventy men, all the 
 effective force of his guard, and took the road to Springfield, 
 then fifty-four miles distant. At midnight he reached 
 Bolivar, where he overtook the reconnoitring party com- 
 manded by a Major W. ; and, after leaving directions for 
 that force to follow him at once, proceeded seven miles 
 further on to a farmhouse on "Three Mound Prairie," 
 where he halted to feed his horses and wait for the re- 
 inforcements. Some two hours after, Major W. arrived 
 with his troops, but as he had been taken suddenly ill. 
 Major Zagonyi directed him to remain at the farm, take 
 some rest, and follow in a carriage at daybreak with a small 
 escort. 
 
 With his force thus increased to about four hundred 
 men. Major Zagonyi left "Three Mound Prairie," and pro- 
 ceeded at a walk due south, towards Springfield. Shortly 
 after sunrise the advance of his little column surprised and 
 captured a small foraging party of the enemy, one only 
 escaping. He, however, dashed off in the direction of 
 Springfield, and all hope of a surprise upon the enemy was 
 lost. 
 
2 42 MAJOR ZAGONYI S HORSE-GUARD 
 
 From these prisoners, moreover, and a Union man who 
 met them near this point, the startHng intelligence was 
 gained that the forces of the enemy, who were said to be 
 stationed on the direct road between Bolivar and Spring- 
 field, were not fewer than twenty-two hundred, and con- 
 sisted of both cavalry and infantry. To go forward and 
 attack seemed desperation, but to turn back involved the 
 certainty of malicious remark. The following curious 
 despatch sent back at this moment to General Fremont shows 
 that there was no hesitation as to the course to be pursued : 
 
 Major Gen'l Fremont. 
 
 Near Springfield, Oct. 25, 1861. 
 
 General : I have just learned that the force of the enemy is over 
 nineteen hundred. I go forward, and will try what I can do. 
 At the same time, I suggest the sending of reinforcements, so 
 that if defeated I may be able to fall back with my wearied 
 troops, and if victorious I may have a force to hold the town. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Chas. Zagonyi. 
 
 About six miles from Springfield a loyal farmer met the 
 body-guard, confirmed the previous statement as to the 
 number of the enemy, described their position on the north 
 side of the town, on the road by which Major Zagon5d was 
 then approaching, and, after some persuasion, consented to 
 guide the troops to a road which, entering Springfield, from 
 the west, might still enable the Major to attack the enemy 
 on their weakest side. At about two o'clock in the after- 
 noon, therefore, the column left the road, and struck off 
 in a southwesterly direction, partly through a grove of oak, 
 and partly over a small prairie, until they reached the 
 Neosho road at a point about four miles due west of 
 Springfield, 
 
 Failing to receive intelligence of this detour. Major W., 
 with his escort of five men, drove into Springfield about 
 three o'clock in the afternoon, and was, of course, immedi- 
 ately made prisoner. But the enemy, probably fearing 
 that the approaching force was but the advance of a much 
 larger body, hastily left their encampment on the Bolivar 
 
MAJOR ZAGONYl's HORSE-GUARD 243 
 
 road and, passing through the town, took up a position on 
 the Neosho road, about a mile west of Springfield, where 
 they halted and awaited the attack. 
 
 The road from Neosho, after leaving the small prairie 
 over which Major Zagonyi passed, enters a dense forest of 
 oak, covered with tinderbrush and made absolutely im- 
 penetrable for cavalry by a profuse growth of the wild 
 grape-vine. Passing through this for a quarter of a mile, 
 it emerges upon a cleared space from which the village of 
 Springfield is visible. From this point it descends rapidly 
 about a hundred and fifty yards, to a small creek, and then 
 ascends again to the high ground on which the town is situ- 
 ated. It was on this high cleared ridge at the entrance of 
 the wood that the enemy posted themselves. At about half- 
 past four o'clock in the afternoon, the column of Major 
 Zagonyi came through the wood at a rapid trot. The 
 instant the head of the column appeared, it was assailed by 
 a murderous fire of small arms from both sides of the road. 
 The attack was so sudden and unexpected that, for a second, 
 the whole body halted. But immediately ordering them 
 forward, Major Zagonyi and the first company of the 
 body-guard, under the command of Lieutenant Newhall, gal- 
 loped down the hill to the creek at its foot. For a naoment it 
 appeared as if this little band of only about seventy men 
 was utterly lost, for Captain Foley of the second company, 
 misunderstanding the momentary halt, had thrown himself 
 from his horse with two or three of his men, at the entrance 
 of the wood, and was taking down the rail fence which 
 bordered both sides of the road. Discovering his mistake, 
 however, he remounted and the two remaining companies 
 of the guard dashed down the road under the galHng cross- 
 fire, and joined Major Zagonyi at the creek. 
 
 The two hundred men of the reconnoitring party at- 
 tempted to follow, but were unable to face the storm of 
 bullets which met them as they emerged from the forest, 
 and after losing two of their officers and several men turned 
 and fled in disorder, firing a random volley into the woods 
 as they retreated. 
 
244 MAJOR ZAGONYI S HORSE-GUARD 
 
 Meanwhile, the fence at the creek had been taken down, 
 and the body-guard, passing into the field on the north 
 side of the road, formed in line of battle under the fire of 
 the enemy. Twenty of them had been killed or disabled 
 in their dash down the road, and only one hundred and 
 fifty were left to attack a force of cavalry and infantry 
 twenty-two hundred strong. On the extreme left of the 
 enemy,resting on a comfield,was a body of about six hundred 
 cavalry; between this force and the road were stationed 
 two regiments of infantry numbering about twelve hundred, 
 while on the south side of the road, with two rail fences 
 intervening, were about four hundred more. Within five 
 minutes from the time the first gun was fired, the guard 
 were in the field and formed in line of battle. At this 
 moment, the fire of the enemy slackening a little. Major 
 Zagonyi shouted: "They have discharged their pieces — 
 don't give them time to load again. Charge!" Hardly 
 waiting for the word of command, the brave men, who less 
 than three months before had been quietly pursuing their 
 peaceful avocations at home, dashed up the hill, spreading 
 out like a fan as they went, and attacking at the same 
 moment both the infantry and cavalry. The impetuosity 
 of their onset, their wild shouts, and the apparent despera- 
 tion of the attack were too much for the enemy. The 
 cavalry did not wait to receive the charge, but fled head- 
 long in all directions ; many of them in their affright throw- 
 ing themselves from their horses and seeking refuge in 
 the standing com or the thick wood. The infantry at- 
 tempted to stand, and fought desperately for a minute or 
 two, but the line at first wavered, and soon broke, and all, 
 except a few hundred who continued to fire from behind 
 the shelter of trees, fences, and stacks of com, fled precipi- 
 tately. Many retreated up a narrow lane which led to 
 the north, and were pursued by a lieutenant at the head of 
 about thirty men, who inflicted frightful havoc upon the fly- 
 ing mass. Another lieutenant coolly took down the fences 
 which separated him from the small force on the south 
 side of the road, and dispersed or sabred all who had dared 
 
MAJOR ZAGONYl's HORSE-GUARD 245 
 
 to remain in there after the defeat of the main body. In 
 the recklessness of success, some of the guard attempted 
 to follow the fugitives who were retreating through the 
 dense woods in the rear; but their horses were unable to 
 penetrate the thick and matted underbrush, and several, 
 entangled in the vines, fell by the hands of the enemy's 
 sharpshooters. 
 
 The rout was complete. One hundred and six of the 
 enemy were left dead on the field ; the number of wounded 
 was never ascertained. Of the body-guard, sixteen were 
 killed, and about forty wounded; of the latter only one 
 mortally and few seriously. 
 
 In less than hah an hour the pursuit was over, and 
 Major Zagonyi collected such of his followers as were still 
 mounted and charged through the town of Springfield, to 
 which many of the fugitives had escaped, and were making 
 feeble efforts to resist stih further. In no instance, however, 
 coiiLd their officers rally them sufficiently to make a stand, 
 and in a short time the streets were entirely cleared, the 
 flag of the United States flying from the courthouse in 
 the centre of the town, and the loyal inhabitants of the 
 town collecting to welcome their defenders. 
 
 It was now dark, and Major Zagon3d, having only about 
 one hundred effective men, and being more than fifty miles 
 distant from the nearest Union troops, feared that the 
 enemy might discover his weakness and return to attack 
 him at night, when his wearied men would fall an easy 
 prey. He therefore decided to withdraw to a safe position 
 and return to the town on the next day. Without dis- 
 moimting, therefore, he commenced his march north. 
 Soon after his departure. Corporal Sloan of the body-guard, 
 with sixteen men who had lost their horses in the attack, 
 came into the town, took possession of the courthouse, 
 and held the place until the return of Major Zagonyi. About 
 twelve o'clock at night Major Zagonyi reached the farm 
 on "Three Mound Prairie," at which he had halted in the 
 morning. Here the wearied soldiers, too tired even to 
 throw out pickets, rested till day. From eight o'clock on 
 
246 MAJOR ZAGONYl's HORSE-GUARD 
 
 the previous evening they had, without food or rest, 
 marched (including the detour near Springfield) eighty-five 
 miles; had fought and routed an enemy of nearly fifteen 
 times their strength, and had pursued his scattered forces 
 for more than two hours. 
 
 Unfortunately for the body-guard, the order super- 
 seding General Fremont had already been issued and was 
 on its way to his camp. Their battle cry, "Fr6mont," 
 was supposed to indicate rather enthusiasm in their com- 
 mander than in their cause, and orders were issued from 
 Washington to disband them. General Fremont made 
 urgent but unavailing appeals to have them retained, and 
 on the 28th of November they were dismissed from the 
 service. From their three months' service they carried back 
 to their peaceful firesides the memory of one fierce and 
 bloody but glorious engagement. 
 
PATRIOTISM. 
 
 A Paper read by Major-General John R. Brooke, 
 U. S. Army, February 5, 1902. 
 
 THAVE acceded with reluctance to the request of our 
 Commander to make you an address this evening. It 
 is foreign to my habit to make any set address. A short 
 after-dinner speech or talk in a reminiscent vein, to those 
 with whom I have been closely associated in war, is a differ- 
 ent thing. Besides that, all themes have been exhausted 
 within the last thirty years before our commanderies. 
 "There is nothing new under the sun." This is very true 
 in our order, and the ground has been so thoroughly cov- 
 ered that I would fain depart from the usual practice, and 
 speak to you to-night on a subject which has often been 
 spoken upon before, but which is ever new, and will con- 
 tinue to be so to the end of time, in so far as our country 
 is concerned. 
 
 I desire to say a few words to you to-night on Patriotism. 
 And what I say is not taken from books, but is a short 
 resume of the history of our country where patriotic effort 
 has been put forth. The love of country, otherwise Patriot- 
 ism, commenced when the Europeans first put their feet 
 upon these shores. I do not refer to those colonies which 
 were established in the far South, but particularly to those 
 which were established on the New England coast, on this 
 Island of Manhattan, on the Delaware River, on the Rappa- 
 hannock and the James, and in Georgia and the Carolinas 
 — in fact, the Anglo-Saxon colonies ; and our Dutch friends 
 of New Amsterdam, the Cavaliers, and the Huguenots will 
 not, I hope, resent the grouping of them in this way. 
 
 The long, desperate battle with the old country, with 
 
 247 
 
248 PATRIOTISM 
 
 the aborigines and the elements, which extended throughout 
 all the colonies on this Atlantic coast to establish their 
 right of possession and to religious freedom, begot that 
 independence of thought and action which led finally to 
 their severance from the domination of the old country. 
 The struggle, commencing at Concord and continuing to 
 Appomattox, established the colonies and succeeding States 
 as a nation. It is a matter of history that the efforts from 
 177s to 1783 were opposed by many who had the same 
 material interest in this new world as those who fought 
 the battle of freedom. On Washington's shoulders rested 
 the greatest responsibility. It was he who carried to a 
 successful termination that desperate struggle of eight 
 years, and we know that his heart was often heavy; we 
 know that his hands were frequently tied by those who 
 should have assisted him to bear the burden ; we know 
 there were those in his armj' who tried to overthrow him ; 
 we know that he bore all the calumnies which were begotten 
 of the various cabals with that dignity and with that pat- 
 riotic spirit which impelled him to bear all things so that 
 our country might emerge from under the cloud which 
 hvmg over it dvuing the whole time of the Revolution. 
 
 There were other struggles following, difficulties which 
 finally resulted in the War of 181 2. The responsibilities, 
 however, of the new government had gained a strong hold 
 in the minds of our people, and they were not disposed to 
 yield to any effort to belittle them, but were ready to main- 
 tain the results of the Revolution with their treasure, their 
 blood, and their lives. 
 
 Then we come to the Mexican War. The gallantry of 
 those who went forth under the flag of our country is too 
 well known to us to need repetition here. Suffice it to say 
 that in this war were trained those men who led the opposing 
 armies in the War of the Rebellion. In this dreadful war, 
 where our people were arrayed against their brethren, was 
 shown to the world that devotion to principle, that patriotic 
 impulse to do what was thought to be right, on both sides, 
 which were a legacy from our Revolutionary sires. 
 
PATRIOTISM 249 
 
 We pass on from that war, which is too well known to 
 you to need any special reference here, to the time, in 1898, 
 when, after thirty years of peace with foreign nations, our 
 country was again called to arms to assist a people who were 
 trying to throw off a yoke which, in comparison with that 
 which our forefathers threw off in the Revolutionary War, 
 was heavy indeed. In that, as was the case on land and 
 sea in all the wars in which our country has engaged with 
 foreign foes, deeds of gallantry were displayed which com- 
 pare with the fabled achievements of the great soldiers of all 
 preceding ages. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the interval between these 
 wars was all peace. Our little army at the close of the 
 Revolution, consisting of a few hundred men, was stretched 
 along our northern and western borders, protecting the 
 first wave of immigration that pressed on into the great 
 vaUey of the Mississippi. The Army was always in the van 
 of those who came to us from foreign shores to enjoy the 
 freedom which our institutions assured them. Wave upon 
 wave this great sea rolled westward, until to-day the 
 Pacific Ocean on the west, like the Atlantic on the east, is 
 the boundary of what we know as the United States 
 of America. This wave of pioneers, following this long, 
 thin line of border defenders, appreciated the gallantry and 
 devotion to duty of the little army whose bones lie scat- 
 tered in successive lines from north to south throughout 
 the whole of our western territory. This appreciation 
 and the trust engendered thereby, resulted in the settle- 
 ment of the part of our country lying between the Alleghany 
 Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 To turn back a moment : The impulse for freedom was 
 first manifested at Lexington, in Massachusetts Bay Col- 
 ony, and had its fruition at Yorktown, Va. Between those 
 events, deeds of heroism, deeds of patient long-suffering 
 and constancy, gave birth to what we revere to-day — 
 Patriotism. On land and on sea we had exhibitions of 
 brilliancy and daring on the part of commanders that have 
 inspired our sister services down to this day. No one, 
 
250 PATRIOTISM 
 
 while our flag flies, will forget the names of Washington, 
 of Greene, of "Light- Horse Harry" Lee, of Sumter, of 
 Anthony Wayne, and a host of other gallant men on land, 
 of John Paul Jones, of Connyngham, of Arnold on Lake 
 Champlain, and their compatriots who sailed the seas. 
 
 In the War of 181 2, at Chalmette, Jackson drove back 
 the pride of English arms and we had peace. On the sea, 
 the names of Hull, Lawrence, Decatur, and Perry be- 
 came forever renowned. Scott, Jackson, Perry, Lawrence, 
 Decatur, and oh! so many others of soldiers and sailors, 
 that the list is too long to speak of more. Then comes 
 the long roll of gallant men in our border wars, who by their 
 indomitable courage drove back, step by step, to the west, 
 savagery and the wilderness, exhibiting that highest order 
 of patriotic effort which induced them to do their brave 
 deeds in silence in the deep forests, on the broad plains, 
 and on the rocky heights of the great mountain chains; 
 written history is silent regarding them. Their memory 
 is enshrined in the hearts of those who followed in the path 
 pointed out by them. 
 
 Now come we to the great leaders of our great war for 
 the maintenance of the Union. In its beginning we had no 
 developed great leaders. In time, in the Mississippi Valley, 
 a man grew, and grew, and grew, until his fame covered all 
 the land, — his name was Grant. Another by his side took 
 up the work he left undone when he went to broader fields. 
 Sherman, grand, brilliant, meteor-like, is known through- 
 out the world. Thomas, a man of cool, calm temperament, 
 thorough, taciturn, and clear-headed in all he did; the 
 gallant McPherson, whose blood soaked the earth in July, 
 1864; Howard, who took his place; and amongst your 
 brothers here is one whom Fame touched with her magic 
 wand, — Grenville M. Dodge. In the East, Meade turned 
 back the tide at Gettysburg; here fell, seriously wounded, 
 one who stood from the beginning of our order as its Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, to the end of his life, an example to all 
 the youth of the land, of patriotism, bravery, ability, and 
 singleness of purpose, — Hancock "the Superb." Here 
 
PATRIOTISM 251 
 
 Gregg defeated " Jeb" Stuart in his effort to turn our right 
 with intent to interfere with our communications. Sedg- 
 wick laid down his Hfe at Spottsylvania ; Sheridan destroyed 
 the armies of the rebellion in the Shenandoah Valley with 
 brilliant effort and superb generalship. These were all 
 professional soldiers. Our armies during that great struggle 
 were filled with the best and ablest men of our country, — 
 men who knew at first but little of the tented field or clash 
 of battle, but whose patriotism moved them forward to do 
 their mightiest ; many of them lie in honored graves, some 
 stiU live to walk the earth. Their names are too numerous 
 for me to repeat them here. 
 
 In civil affairs, we have Washington and those who 
 succeeded him in the Presidency ; Jackson, whose exclama- 
 tion, "By the eternal, the Union must and shall be pre- 
 served," put off the issue then bom until the day when 
 we were called to arms by the immortal Lincoln who, many 
 of us believe, was endowed by the Creator to meet the awful 
 crisis when a government of the people, by the people, and 
 for the people was endangered, and to guide our ship 
 of state safely through the storms which then assailed it 
 into the harbor of peace, so that a government of the people, 
 by the people, and for the people has not perished from the 
 earth. 
 
 Again, in a very recent time, our country has as a result 
 of war been compelled to emerge from the seclusion which 
 it so long enjoyed, and under the able guidance of WUliam 
 McKinley stands in the front rank of great powers. Pa- 
 triotism has been the guiding sentiment in the hearts of 
 those here mentioned, and of our people in aU the trials 
 through which our country has passed. Patriotism has 
 inspired us to uphold our flag and our institutions, until 
 we can now feel that our nation is standing on a solid basis, 
 and receives the respect of the civilized world. 
 
 Recently, one whom we delight to honor, one of the 
 great thinkers of our country, is reported to have foretold 
 a reaction in patriotic expression. I hope and pray that 
 he has been misquoted. God forbid that in patriotism 
 there should be any reaction and the consequent subsidence! 
 
THE ARMY IN THE PHILIPPINES. 
 
 A Paper Read by Major-General Grenville M. Dodge, 
 U. S. Vols., May 7, 1902. 
 
 "T DESIRE to enter my protest, and call the attention 
 
 I of the Companions, to the position of a portion of the 
 
 -L public press, and some people, towards our army in the 
 
 Philippines, and what they assert are cruelties perpetrated 
 
 there. 
 
 There is a certain portion of the press, and also of the 
 people, who are, and always have been, absolutely opposed 
 to the operations of our army in the Philippines. They 
 were very anxious to push us into a war, which we were all 
 opposed to, but after getting us there they refused to accept 
 the results, and have persistently opposed everything done 
 that was not in exact accordance with their views. In order 
 to work upon the sympathies of the people, some of the 
 papers are publishing pictures showing our soldiers in the 
 very act of committing great outrages; the pictures were 
 manufactured in their own offices, as were also most of the 
 outrages complained of. You have not, however, seen in 
 these papers any pictures portraying the cruelties perpe- 
 trated upon our soldiers, which have been worse than any 
 acts ever committed by the savages in our wars with them; 
 they are, in fact, too revolting to relate. I have had much 
 to do with Indian warfare, but have never seen any cruel- 
 ties to be compared with those inflicted upon our soldiers by 
 the Filipinos, and these occurrences were not rare, but gen- 
 eral, — ^happening all the time. Very little has been said on 
 this subject, for it was not the policy of the government to 
 have the stories of these atrocities printed, or brought before 
 the people; but now that our army is being so bitterly at- 
 
 252 
 
THE ARMY IN THE PHILIPPINES 253 
 
 tacked, it is time that the soldiers' side of the question 
 should be presented, and we are learning of the soldiers 
 who have been assassinated, their feet burned, buried alive, 
 killed by slow-burning fires, their bowels cut open and wound 
 around trees. The Filipinos indulged in every torture and 
 indignity that was possible, and, as a general thing, our 
 soldiers did not retaliate. How they managed to refrain 
 from taking vengeance is beyond my comprehension, but 
 their action is greatly to their credit and honor. 
 
 The question I wish to bring before you, however, is 
 what are the rights of an officer in such matters ; what are 
 his duties and privileges in war in an enemy's country that 
 is under martial law? Take, for instance, General Smith's 
 position when he was sent to Samar, with instructions to 
 wipe out the insurrection there. He is said to have issued 
 instructions to kill everybody found in arms who was over 
 ten years of age, and to burn the country, if it was necessary 
 to wipe out the insurrection, and the result is that in ninety 
 days or less he did wipe out the insurrection, and without 
 any great loss on our side or on the part of the enemy. 
 Now they are denouncing him for a threat, — not an act. 
 The temptation to retaliate must have been very great, 
 for the treatment the 9th Infantry received from those 
 savages was nothing short of murder, followed with the 
 most horrible mutilations, by a people who pretended to be 
 their friends, and at peace. In the ninety days he was 
 operating there General Smith brought the island to peace ; 
 everybody in it surrendered, and it is quiet. If he had 
 made war under the methods advocated, allowing no one 
 to be hurt, in all probability the subjugation of the island 
 would have required a year's time, and there would have 
 been ten times the suffering and loss of life that actually 
 occurred. He simply followed the plan of war that was 
 pursued by Grant, Sherman, and the other commanders 
 in the Civil War, — that is, made it just as short and effective 
 as possible. You know Sherman's position was that after 
 a certain length of time, when an enemy had been whipped, 
 it was their duty to cease making war, and if they did not 
 
2 54 THE ARMY IN THE PHILIPPINES 
 
 do SO, he considered that any means were justifiable in 
 order to bring it to an end. He stated this very clearly in 
 his St. Louis speech, in which he said: 
 
 I claim that when we took Vicksburg, by all the rules of civ- 
 ilized warfare, the Confederates should have surrendered, and 
 allowed us to restore peace in the land. I claim also that when 
 we took Atlanta they were bound by every rule of civilized 
 warfare to surrender their cause, which was then hopeless, and 
 it was clear as daylight that they were bound to surrender and 
 return to civU life. But they continued the war, and then we 
 had a right under the rules of civilized warfare to commence 
 a system that would make them feel the power of the govern- 
 ment, and cause them to succumb. I had to go through Georgia 
 to let them see what war meant. I had a right to destroy, which 
 I did, and I made them feel the consequences of war so fully 
 that they will never again invite an invading army. 
 
 You all know of the troubles that occurred in the border 
 States during the Civil War, and of the cruelties t^o the 
 families of Union men who entered our army. It was father 
 against son, brother against brother, and, as General Sher- 
 man said, "It was cruelty and there was no refining it." 
 We know that severe orders were given for treatment of 
 enenaies within our lines, when their acts were in violation 
 of the laws of war. In one case torpedoes were placed under 
 a road over which our troops were marching, and several 
 soldiers were kiUed. Sherman happened to come along just 
 at that time, and said to the Colonel of the ist Alabama 
 Cavalry, which was his escort, "Bum the country ^within 
 fifteen miles surrounding this spot." You all know what 
 that meant; it was a license under which other things 
 besides burning were done. An eyewitness describes 
 Sherman's march to the sea and through the Carolinas as 
 a cloud of smoke by day, and a pillar of fire by night. Who 
 ever made the suggestion that Sherman's uniform should 
 be stripped off for this, or that he should be shot, as some 
 of our representatives in Congress and our press now de- 
 mand should be done for making war in earnest? 
 
 Take another case, where Captain Anderson captured 
 
THE ARMY IN THE PHILIPPINES 25S 
 
 a train of convalescent unarmed Union soldiers in North 
 Missouri, and placed them in a line and shot every one of 
 them. Shortly afterwards Colonel Johnson, of the Missouri 
 State Militia, who was following Anderson, came up. An- 
 derson attacked this 'militia command of 170 men and 
 killed 143, only 17 getting away. Only one man was taken 
 aUve, and he saved himself by giving a masonic sign. The 
 War Records are fuU of cases of individual acts, and I select 
 one of which I had personal knowledge. It is found in 
 volume 38 of the War Records. The orders in Missouri 
 at that time were that any person who harbored a guerilla, 
 and did not report the fact to the nearest commanding 
 Union officer, should receive the same treatment as the 
 guerilla. A man by the name of McReynolds violated 
 these orders, and harbored Quantrell, the guerilla, and the 
 officer who detected it, after stating all the facts and evi- 
 dence, reported to me as follows : " On consultation with the 
 squadron commanders. Captain HambHn and Lieut. Grain, 
 it was decided to execute McReynolds, which was carried 
 out under my orders. R. M. Box, Capt. Co. H, 7th Cavalry, 
 Missouri State Militia." In reporting this case to the 
 Adjutant-General in Washington I did not approve it, as 
 my investigation showed that the statements of McRey- 
 nolds' acts were not true. I did not censure the officers, but 
 issued an order that officers should follow more closely the 
 orders of the Department, and ended that order as follows : 
 " Hereafter men caught in arms wiU have no mercy shown 
 them." 
 
 General John McNeil, of Missouri, took twelve citizens 
 out and shot them, it being claimed they were connected 
 with a guerilla that shot a Union man. In local history it 
 was known as the Palmyra Massacre. It is claimed that 
 the Union man turned up alive. 
 
 If the reports of the numbers of robbers, guerillas and 
 outlaws who were shot on sight in Kentucky, Missouri, and 
 Tennessee, and elsewhere, by both sides in 1864 and 1865 
 could be gathered up, they would furnish sensations and 
 cruelties enough for these water-cure journals for years. 
 
2S6 THE ARMY IN THE PHILIPPINES 
 
 Consider this matter in a broader sense. Take the 
 order of General Grant to General Sheridan to make the 
 Shenandoah Valley a barren waste. It was absolutely- 
 destroyed so that the enemy could not again occupy it. 
 I can see no difference between an order to make a country 
 a barren waste and Smith's order to make Samar a howling 
 wilderness. Take the order I received to go to the rear 
 of Bragg's army and destroy the valley of the Tennessee, 
 and all the supplies gathered there for the use of his army, 
 which valley was burned from Bear River to Decatur. 
 These were orders from principal officers in our army, and 
 I only quote them to show the contrast between that time 
 and the present. Senators in their places in Congress find 
 it necessary in these days to take up the question. Senator 
 Rawlins of Utah made an attack upon our officers, and 
 especially upon General Chaffee, which was nothing short 
 of disgraceful, and should not be allowed to go without 
 vigorous condemnation. He represents a State and people 
 under whose orders Lieutenant Gunnison and his party 
 were massacred by Mormons disguised as Indians. Some- 
 one should get up in the Senate and call him to account for 
 these things, and ask him, in consideration of these facts, 
 why he is so deeply outraged by the orders of General 
 Chaffee, a gallant soldier and gentleman, a humane man, 
 and one who, in my opinion, has done nothing in the Philip- 
 pines but what was perfectly justified, and will in time be 
 considered to have been humane. 
 
 The two senators from Colorado have taken it upon 
 themselves to denounce in bitter terms what they call un- 
 heard-of acts and cruelties of our army. I would point out 
 to them a case in their own State, which was more severe 
 than any act in the Philippines has been. A regiment 
 of Colorado cavalry under Col. J. M. Chivington, a minis- 
 ter by profession, attacked and destroyed a band of In- 
 dians encamped on the Big Sandy, near Camp Lyon, 
 who claimed to be under the protection of the officers at 
 Fort Lyon. This was a massacre of men, women, and 
 children of a friendly band of Indians, and was one of the 
 
THE ARMY IN THE PHILIPPINES 257 
 
 main causes of bringing into arms against the United States 
 every tribe of Indians south of the Yellowstone. When 
 an investigation of this affair was ordered, the State of 
 Colorado almost unanimously protested against it, up- 
 holding the act, and quoting that old saying, "There is no 
 good Indian except a dead one." Think of our wars with 
 the Indians in which whole bands were wiped out, even 
 the women and chUdren being destroyed ; think of the wars 
 in which we employed Indians against Indians; they not 
 only killed, but scalped. I do not know of a single treaty 
 ever made with the Indians that the United States has not 
 violated, and when an Indian had the hardihood to object, 
 the government started in to wipe him out. This has been 
 the treatment of the Indians from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific, until at the present time there is not a wild Indian 
 living in the entire country; yet I cannot remember that 
 this press has ever been aroused ; it was too near home. 
 
 Take the case of Major Glenn, who is about to be court- 
 martialled, as the testimony goes to show, for giving the 
 water cure to the presidente in one of the provinces in 
 Luzon. This presidente had been appointed to office by 
 our government, had taken the oath of allegiance, and was 
 there to represent us. While he was occupying this po- 
 sition, it was discovered that he was the captain of an 
 insurgent company, giving active assistance to the enemy, 
 and he was, therefore, a traitor and a spy, and under the 
 laws of war deserved to be shot ; but instead they propose 
 to court-martial Glenn for simply giving him the water cure, 
 and this I believe is a great wrong. 
 
 Order loo, which is often quoted, was issued in the 
 Civil War to govern officers. It was prepared by Professor 
 Lieber, and was considered and adopted, I believe, by a 
 board of officers; anyhow, it was very carefully drawn. 
 I am told it has been considered and used by nearly all 
 the nations. It gives an officer great latitude, and where 
 an officer meets a savage enemy, or one that is violating 
 the laws of war, those laws are suspended and it is virtually 
 left to his own judgment as to how far he should go in 
 
258 THE ARMY IN THE PHILIPPINES 
 
 inflicting punishment, and under this order there is no doubt 
 both Smith and Glenn were protected in their actions. It 
 may seem harsh, but you are all aware how many harsh 
 orders were given in the Civil War for the purpose of forcing 
 the enemy to comply, and how often these orders and 
 threats accomplished the purpose without any other act. 
 When the colored troops were first organized, on several 
 occasions Confederate officers sent in demands for them to 
 surrender, coupled with the threat that if they refused the 
 place would be taken and no quarter granted. I know 
 of one instance where an officer believed this threat and 
 surrendered a regiment of colored infantry for the purpose 
 of having them protected. Then there is the case of Fort 
 Pillow; whether or not Forrest gave the order it is claimed 
 he gave, I do not know, but the fact that no quarter was 
 shown there has been amply verified. 
 
 Within the past week there has been appointed a com- 
 mittee of distinguished citizens, most of whom are well- 
 known opponents of our government in its policies and acts 
 during the Spanish War. They propose to hunt up and 
 lay before Congress all cases of cruelty on the part of our 
 Army, with the avowed purpose of sustaining the national 
 honor. I must say that this is the first time I ever heard 
 of national honor being sustained by such naethods. Have 
 you, or any one else, ever heard a single word of protest from 
 these people, or any one connected with them, against the 
 revolting cruelties of the enemy in the Philippines? They 
 evidently have no desire to learn about these things, but 
 want some excuse for attacking our Army, hoping thereby 
 to bring dishonor upon our country before the world. The 
 national honor never has, never can, and never will be pro- 
 tected by such methods. It is upheld and maintained 
 to-day, as it always has been, by the patriotism of our 
 people as represented by our Army in the Civil War, Cuba, 
 the Philippines, and China. 
 
 These attacks upon the Army are for a double purpose, 
 and you should not forget it. Every time they make this 
 great hubbub about cruelties they are hitting back to 
 
THE ARMY IN THE PHILIPPINES 259 
 
 those that were in the Civil War. There is an element in 
 this country that already has no use for the soldier of the 
 Civil War. They are continually crying about the pension 
 he is getting, that he is favored in the government service, 
 etc., etc. They do not dare attack him openly, as yet, but 
 do it covertly. There is no officer listening to me that did 
 not see cruelties in the Civil War. Many of you have had 
 to order them, but you know you were never brought to 
 account for them when they were acts of necessity. We 
 were always careful that no cruelties were committed by 
 enlisted men, but whatever was done was by the order of 
 an officer. It was the practice of the War Department never 
 to interfere in these matters, leaving -them to the officer who 
 was in charge of the forces in the field. None of these things 
 occurred without his knowledge; he was on the spot and 
 knew the necessity for them, and if he did not take action 
 it was considered that none was necessary, and they were 
 seldom called to account for it afterwards. But in the 
 Philippines they are bringing officers to account simply 
 because of the outcry of people who care nothing for the 
 merits of the case, except to make capital against our 
 country's policy in maintaining itself in the Philippines. 
 In view of all the facts, I must doubt the sincerity of those 
 who are seeking to bring discredit upon our little Army, 
 the marvellous efficiency of which has won the admiration 
 of the world. Under the regulations, it is impossible for 
 the Army to defend itself and make answer to these attacks, 
 except through its own officers, and their reports do not 
 reach the public, for the press seems to use only that which 
 reflects upon the Army, and omits that which is in its favor. 
 It is the duty of every Companion here, as well as of every 
 good citizen, to enter his protest against these unjust 
 attacks. The right side is beginning to get a hearing, and 
 when the facts and causes for the action of the Army are 
 generally known, it will be found that our Army is as hu- 
 mane and well-behaved a body of troops as ever went into 
 a foreign country, and we must all assist in seeing that it 
 receives justice. 
 
APPOMATTOX 
 
 A Paper Read by Brevet Major-General Joshua L. 
 Chamberlain, U. S. Vols., October 7, 1903. 
 
 I AM to speak of what came under my observation 
 in the action at Appomattox Courthouse and the 
 circumstances attending the surrender of the Army of 
 Northern Virginia, April 9, 1865. 
 
 You will understand that I am not attempting to present 
 matters upon a uniform scale or to mark the relative merits 
 of participants. This is only the story of what I saw and 
 felt and thought, — in fact, my personal experience, in- 
 cluding something of the emotions awakened and the 
 reflections suggested by that momentous consummation. 
 
 In order that you may understand the pressure of 
 conditions and the temper of our spirits in this last action, 
 permit me to recur briefly to the situation of affairs. The 
 great blow had been struck, the long hold loosened. Lee's 
 communications had been cut; his intrenched lines broken 
 and overrun ; his right rolled up ; Richmond and Petersburg 
 evacuated by the Confederate forces and officials, and in 
 our possession; his broken army in full retreat, or rather, 
 desperately endeavoring to get off, — either to Danville, to 
 effect a junction with Johnston in North Carolina, or to 
 Lynchburg, where they might rally for one more forlorn 
 but possibly long resistance. Meade with two corps of the 
 Army of the Potomac — ^the Second and Sixth — was pressing 
 Lee's rear; while Sheridan with his cavalry — three divisions 
 — and our Fifth Corps of infantry under Griffin was making 
 a flying march to circumvent Lee's path and plans; our 
 combined forces all the while seeking to draw him to final 
 battle, or compel him to surrender. 
 
 The 8th of April found the Fifth Corps at Prospect 
 
 260 
 
APPOMATTOX 261 
 
 Station, on the South Side Railroad, nearly abreast of the 
 head of Lee's retreating column, while Meade was with 
 his two corps close upon Lee's rear at New Store, ten miles 
 north of us, across the Appomattox. At noon of this day 
 General Ord, of the Army of the James, joined us with two 
 divisions of the Twenty-fourth Corps under General Gibbon, 
 and Bimey's division of the Twenty-fifth Corps, — colored 
 troops ; Ord, by virtue of seniority, becoming commanding 
 officer of the whole. He was a stranger to us all, but his 
 simple and cordial manner towards Sheridan and Griffin, 
 and even to us subordinates, made him welcome. We 
 pushed on, — the cavalry ahead. 
 
 The Fifth Corps had a very hard march that day, — 
 made more so in the afternoon and night by the lumbering 
 obstructions of the rear of Ord's tired column, by courtesy 
 given the road before us, the incessant check fretting our 
 men almost to mutiny. We had been rushed all day to 
 keep up with the cavalry, but this constant checking was 
 worse. We did not know that Grant had sent orders for 
 the Fifth Corps to march all night without halting; but it 
 was not necessary for us to know it. After twenty-nine 
 miles of this kind of marching, at the blackest hour of night, 
 human nature called a halt. Dropping by the roadside, 
 right and left, wet or dry, down went the men as in a swoon. 
 Officers slid out of saddle, loosened the girth, slipped 
 an arm through a loop of bridle-rein, and sunk to sleep. 
 Horses stood with drooping heads just above their masters' 
 faces. All dreaming, — one knows not what, of past or 
 coming, possible or fated. 
 
 Scarcely is the first broken dream begun when a cavalry 
 man comes splashing down the road, and vigorously dis- 
 mounts, pulling from his jacket front a crumpled note. 
 The sentinel standing watch by his commander, worn in 
 body but alert in every sense, touches your shoulder. 
 "Orders, sir, I think!" You rise on elbow, strike a match, 
 and with smarting, streaming eyes read the brief, thrilling 
 note, from Sheridan — like this, as I remember: "I have 
 cut across the enemy at Appomattox Station, and captured 
 
262 APPOMATTOX 
 
 three of his trains. If you can possibly push your infantry 
 up here to-night, we will have great results in the morning." 
 Ah, sleep no more! The startling bugle notes ring out 
 "The General"— "To the march!" Word is sent for the 
 men to take a bite of such as they had for food : the prom- 
 ised rations would not be up till noon, and by that time 
 we should be — where? Few try to eat, no matter what. 
 Meanwhile, almost with one foot in the stirrup you take 
 from the hands of the black boy a tin plate of nondescript 
 food and a dipper of miscalled coffee, — all equally black, 
 like the night around. You eat and drink at a swallow; 
 mount, and away to get to the head of the column before 
 you sound the "Forward." They are there — the men: 
 shivering to their senses as if risen out of the earth, but 
 something in them not of it! Now sounds the " Forward, " 
 for the last time in our long-drawn strife; and they move 
 — these men — sleepless, supperless, breakf astless , sore- 
 footed, stiff- jointed, sense-benumbed, but with flushed 
 faces pressing for the front. 
 
 By sunrise we have reached Appomattox Station, where 
 Sheridan has left the captured trains. A staff-officer is 
 here to turn us square to the right, — ^to the Appomattox 
 River, cutting across Lee's retreat. Already we hear the 
 sharp ring of the horse-artillery, answered ever and anon 
 by heavier field gtms; and drawing nearer, the crack of 
 cavalry carbines; and unmistakeably, too, the graver roll 
 of musketry of infantry. There is no mistake. Sheridan 
 is square across the enemy's front, and with that glorious 
 cavalry alone is holding at bay all that is left of the proudest 
 army of the Confederacy. It has come at last, — the su- 
 preme hour! No thought of human wants or weakness now: 
 all for the front; aU for the flag, for the final stroke 
 to make its meaning real. These men of the Potomac and 
 the James, side by side, at the double in time and column, 
 now one and now the other in the road or the fields beside. 
 One striking feature I can never forget, — Birney's black 
 men abreast with us, pressing forward to save the white 
 man's country. 
 
APPOMATTOX 263 
 
 I had two brigades, my own and Gregory's, about 
 midway of our hurrying column. Upon our intense pro- 
 cession comes dashing out of a woods road on the right 
 a cavalry stafE-officer. With sharp salutation he exclaims: 
 " General Sheridan wishes you to break off from this column 
 and come to his support. The rebel infantry is pressing 
 him hard. Our men are falling back. Don't wait for 
 orders through the regular channels, but act on this at 
 once!" 
 
 Sharp work now! Guided by the staff-officer, at cavalry 
 speed we break out from the column and push through the 
 woods, right upon Sheridan's battle-flag gleaming amidst 
 the smoke of his batteries in the edge of the open field. 
 Weird-looking flag it was : fork-tailed, red and white, the 
 two bands that composed it each charged with a star of 
 the contrasting color; two eyes sternly glaring through the 
 cannon-cloud. Beneath it, that storm-centre spirit, that 
 form of condensed energies, mounted on the grim charger, 
 Rienzi, that turned the battle of the Shenandoah, — both, 
 rider and steed, of an unearthly shade of darkness, terrible 
 to look upon, as if masking some unknown powers. 
 
 Right before us, our cavalry, Devins's division, gallantly 
 stemming the surges of the old Stonewall brigade, desperate 
 to beat its way through. I ride straight to Sheridan. A 
 dark smile and impetuous gesture are my only orders. 
 Forward into double lines of battle, past Sheridan, his 
 guns, his cavalry, and on for the quivering crest! For a 
 moment it is a glorious sight: every arm of the service in 
 full play, — cavalry, artillery, infantry; then a sudden 
 shifting scene as the cavalry, disengaged by successive 
 squadrons, rally under their bugle-calls with beautiful 
 precision and promptitude, and sweep like a storm-cloud 
 beyond our right to close in on the enemy's left and com- 
 plete the fateful envelopment. 
 
 We take up the battle. Gregory follows in on my left. 
 It is a formidable front we make. The scene darkens. In 
 a few minutes the tide is turned; the incoming wave is at 
 high flood; the barrier recedes. In truth, the Stonewall 
 
264 APPOMATTOX 
 
 men hardly show their well-proved mettle. They seem 
 astonished to see before them these familiar flags of their 
 old antagonists, not having thought it possible that we 
 could match our cavalry and march around and across 
 their pressing columns. 
 
 Their last hope is gone, — to break through our cavalry 
 before our infantry can get up. Neither to Danville nor 
 to Lynchburg can they cut their way ; and close upon their 
 rear, five miles away, are pressing the Second and Sixth 
 Corps of the Army of the Potomac. It is the end ! They are 
 now giving way, but keep good front, by force of old habit. 
 Half way up the slope they make a stand, with what per- 
 haps they think a good omen, — behind a stone wall. I 
 try a little artillery on them, which directs their thoughts 
 towards the crest behind them, and stiffen my lines for a 
 rush, anxious for that crest myself. My intensity may have 
 seemed like excitement. For Griffin comes up, quizzing me 
 in his queer way of hitting off our weak points when we 
 get a little too serious ; accusing me of mistaking a bloom- 
 ing peach tree for a rebel flag, where I was dropping a 
 few shells into a rallying crowd. I apologize — I was a 
 little near-sighted, and had n't been experienced in long- 
 range fighting. But as for peaches, I was going to 
 get some if the pits did n't sit too hard on our 
 stomachs." 
 
 But now comes up Ord with a positive order : " Don't 
 expose your lines on that crest. The enemy have massed 
 their guns to give it a raking fire the moment you set 
 foot there." I thought I saw a qualifying look as he 
 turned away. But left alone, youth struggled with pru- 
 dence. My troops were in a bad position down here. I 
 did not like to be "the under dog. " It was much better to 
 be on top and at least know what there was beyond. 
 So I thought of Grant and his permission to "push 
 things" when we got them going; and of Sheridan and 
 his last words as he rode away with his cavalry, smiting 
 his hands together — "Now smash 'em, I tell you; smash 
 'em!" So we took this for orders, and on the crest we 
 
APPOMATTOX 265 
 
 stood. One booming cannon-shot passed close along our 
 front, and in the next moment aU was still. 
 
 We had done it, — ^had " exposed ourselves to the view of 
 the enemy. ' ' But it was an exposure that worked two ways. 
 For there burst upon our vision a mighty scene, fit cadence 
 of the story of tumultuous years. Encompassed by the 
 cordon of steel that crowned the heights about the court- 
 house, on the slopes of the vaUey formed by the sources 
 of the Appomattox, lay the remnants of that far-famed 
 army, counterpart and companion of our own in mo- 
 mentous history, — the Army of Northern Virginia — Lee's 
 army ! 
 
 It was hilly, broken ground, in effect a vast amphi- 
 theatre, stretching a mile perhaps from crest to crest. On 
 the several confronting slopes before us dusky masses of 
 infantry suddenly resting in place ; blocks of artillery, stand- 
 ing fast in column or mechanically swung into park ; clouds 
 of cavalry, small and great, slowly moving, in simple rest- 
 lessness; — all without apparent attempt at offence or de- 
 fence, or even military order. 
 
 In the hollow is the Appomattox, — which we had made 
 the dead-line for our bafifled foe, for its whole length, a 
 hundred miles; here but a rivulet that might almost be 
 stepped over dry-shod, and at the road crossing not thought 
 worth while to bridge. Around its edges, now trodden to 
 mire, swarms an indescribable crowd: worn-out soldier 
 struggling to the front; demoralized citizen and denizen, 
 white, black, and all shades between, — following Lee's army, 
 or flying before these suddenly confronted, terrible Yan- 
 kees pictured to them as demon-shaped and bent ; animals 
 too, of all forms and grades; vehicles of every description 
 and non-description, — public and domestic, four-wheeled, 
 or two, or one, — heading and moving in every direction, 
 a swarming mass of chaotic confusion. 
 
 All this within sight of every eye on our bristling crest. 
 Had one the heart to strike at beings so helpless, the Ap- 
 pomattox would quickly become a surpassing Red Sea 
 horror. But the very spectacle brings every foot to an 
 
266 APPOMATTOX 
 
 instinctive halt. We seem the possession of a dream. 
 We are lost in a vision of human tragedy. But our light- 
 twelve Napoleon guns come rattling up behind us to go 
 into battery ; we catch the glitter of the cavalry blades and 
 brasses beneath the oak groves away to our right, and the 
 ominous closing in on the fated foe. 
 
 So with a fervor of devout joy, — as when, perhaps, the 
 old crusaders first caught sight of the holy city of their 
 quest, — with an up-going of the heart that was half psean, 
 half prayer, we dash forward to the consummation. A 
 solitary field-piece in the edge of the town gives an angry 
 but expiring defiance. We press down a little slope, through 
 a little swamp, over a bright swift stream. Our advance 
 is already in the town, — only the narrow street between 
 the opposing lines, and hardly that. There is wild work, 
 that looks like fighting; but not much killing, nor even 
 hurting. The disheartened enemy take it easy; our men 
 take them easier. It is a wild, mild fusing, — earnest, but 
 not deadly earnest. 
 
 A young orderly of mine, unable to contain himself, 
 begs permission to go forward, and dashes in, sword-fiour- 
 ishing as if he were a terrible fellow, — his demonstrations 
 seemingly more amusing than resisted; for he soon comes 
 back, hugging four sabres to his breast, speechless at his 
 achievement. 
 
 We were advancing, — tactically fighting, — and I was 
 somewhat mazed as to how much more of the strenuous 
 should be required or expected. But I could not give over 
 to this weak mood. 
 
 My right was "in the air," advanced, unsupported, 
 towards the enemy's general line, exposed to flank attack 
 by troops I could see in the distance across the stream. 
 I held myself on that extreme flank, where I could see the 
 cavalry which we had relieved, now forming in column of 
 squadrons ready for a dash to the front, and I was anxiously 
 hoping it would save us from the flank attack. Watching 
 intently, my eye was caught by the figure of a horseman 
 riding out between those lines, soon joined by another, and 
 
APPOMATTOX 267 
 
 taking a direction across the cavalry front towards our 
 position. They were nearly a mile away, and I curiously 
 watched them till lost from sight in the nearer broken ground 
 and copses between. 
 
 Suddenly rose to sight another form, close in our own 
 front, — a soldierly young figure, handsomely dressed and 
 mounted, — a Confederate staff -officer undoubtedly, to whom 
 some of my advanced line seemed to be pointing my position. 
 Now I see the white flag earnestly borne, and its possible 
 purport sweeps before my inner vision like a wraith of 
 morning mist. He comes steadily on, — the mysterious 
 form in gray, my mood so whimsically sensitive that I could 
 even smile at the material of the flag, — wondering where 
 in either army was foimd a towel, and one so white. But 
 it bore a mighty message,- — that simple emblem of homely 
 service, wafted hitherward above the dark and crimsomed 
 streams that never can wash themselves away. 
 
 The messenger draws near, dismounts; with grace- 
 ful salutation and hardly suppressed emotion delivers his 
 message: "Sir, I am from General Gordon. General Lee 
 desires a cessation of hostilities until he can hear from 
 General Grant as to the proposed surrender. " 
 
 What word is this! so long so dearly fought for, so 
 feverishly dreamed, but ever snatched away, held hidden 
 and aloof ; now smiting the senses with a dizzy flash ! " Sur- 
 render"? We had no rumor of this from the messages 
 that had been passing between Grant and Lee, for now 
 these two days, behind us. "Surrender"? It takes a mo- 
 ment to gather one's speech. "Sir, " I answer, "that matter 
 exceeds my authority. I will send to my superior. General 
 Lee is right. He can do no more. " All this with a forced 
 calmness, covering a tumult of heart and brain. I bid 
 him wait a while, and the message goes up to my corps 
 commander. General Griffin, leaving me mazed at the bod- 
 ing change. 
 
 Now from the right come foaming up in cavalry fashion 
 the two forms I had watched from away beyond. A white 
 flag again, held strong aloft, making straight for the little 
 
268 APPOMATTOX 
 
 group beneath our battle-flag, high borne also, — the red 
 Maltese cross on a field of white, that had thrilled hearts 
 long ago. I see now that it is one of our cavalry staff in 
 lead, — indeed I recognize him. Colonel Whitaker of Custer's 
 staff; and, hardly keeping pace with him, a Confederate 
 staff-officer. Without dismounting, without salutation, 
 the cavalryman shouts: "This is unconditional surrender! 
 This is the end!" Then he hastily introduces his com- 
 panion, and adds: "I am just from Gordon and Longstreet. 
 Gordon says 'For God's sake, stop this infantry, or hell 
 will be to pay!' I '11 go to Sheridan, " he adds, and dashes 
 away with the white flag, leaving Longstreet's aide with me.' 
 
 I was doubtful of my duty. The flag of truce was in, 
 but I had no right to act upon it without orders. There 
 was still some firing from various quarters, lulling a little 
 where the white flag passed near. But I did not press 
 things quite so hard. Just then a last cannon-shot from 
 the edge of the town plunges through the breast of a gallant 
 and dear young officer in my front line, — Lieutenant Clark, 
 of the 185th New York, — the last man killed in the Army 
 of the Potomac, if not the last in the Appomattox lines. 
 Not a strange thing for war, — this swift stroke of the mortal ; 
 but coming after the truce was in, it seemed a cruel fate 
 for one so deserving to share his country's joy, and a sad 
 peace-offering for us all. 
 
 Shortly comes the order, in due form, to cease firing 
 and to halt. There was not much firing to cease from; but 
 "halt," then and there? It is beyond human power to 
 stop the men, whose one word and thought and action 
 through crimsomed years had been but forward. They had 
 seen the flag of truce, and could divine its outcome. But 
 the habit was too strong ; they cared not for points of direc- 
 tion, but it was forward still, — forward to the end; forward 
 to the new beginning; forward to the Nation's second birth! 
 
 But it struck them also in a quite human way. The 
 
 ' I think the first Confederate officer who came was Captain P. M. Jones, 
 now U. S. District Judge in Alabama; the other, Captain Brown of 
 Georgia. 
 
APPOMATTOX 269 
 
 more the captains cry "Halt! the rebels want to sur- 
 render," the more the men want to be there and see it. 
 Still to the front, where the real fun is! And the forward 
 takes an upward turn. For when we do succeed in stopping 
 their advance, we cannot keep their arms and legs from 
 flying. 
 
 To the top of fences, and haystacks, and chimneys they 
 clamber, to toss their old caps higher in the air, and leave 
 the earth as far below them as they can. Dear old General 
 Gregory gallops up to inquire the meaning of this strange 
 departure from accustomed discipline. "Only that Lee 
 wants time to surrender," I answer with stage solemnity. 
 "Glory to God!" roars the grave and brave old General, 
 dashing upon me with impetuosity that nearly unhorsed 
 us both, to grasp and wring my hand, which had not yet 
 had time to lower the sword. "Yes, and on earth peace; 
 good will towards men," I answered, bringing the thanks- 
 giving from heavenward, manward. 
 
 "Your legs have done it, my men," shouts the gallant, 
 gray-haired Ord, galloping up cap in hand, generously 
 forgiving our disobedience of orders, and rash "exposure" 
 on the dubious crest. True enough, their legs had done 
 it, — ^had "matched the cavalry" as Grant admitted, had 
 cut around Lee's best doings, and commanded the grand 
 halt. But other things too had "done it"; the blood was 
 still fresh upon the Quaker road, the White Oak Ridge, 
 Five Forks, Farmville, High Bridge, and Sailor's Creek; and 
 we take somewhat gravely this compliment of our new 
 commander, of the Army of the James. At last, after 
 " pardoning something to the spirit of liberty, " we get things 
 "quiet along the lines." 
 
 A truce is agreed upon until one o'clock, — it is now ten. 
 A conference is to be held, — or rather colloquy, for no one 
 here is authorized to say anything about the terms of 
 surrender. Six or eight officers from each side meet between 
 the lines,near the courthouse,waiting Lee's answer to Grant's 
 summons to surrender. There is lively chat here on this un- 
 accustomed opportunity for exchange of notes and queries. 
 
270 APPOMATTOX 
 
 The first greetings are not all so dramatic as might be 
 thought, for so grave an occasion. " Well, Billy, old boy, 
 how goes it?" asks one loyal West Pointer of a classmate 
 he had been fighting for four years. "Bad, bad, Charlie, 
 bad I tell you; but have you got any whisky?" was the 
 response, — not poetic, not idealistic, but historic ; founded 
 on fact as to the strength of the demand, but without evi- 
 dence of the questionable maxim that the demand creates 
 the supply. More of the economic truth was manifest that 
 scarcity enhances value. 
 
 Everybody seems acquiescent, and for the moment 
 cheerful, — except Sheridan. He does not like the cessation 
 of hostilities, and does not conceal his opinion. His natural 
 disposition was not sweetened by the circumstance that 
 he was fired on by some of the Confederates as he was coming 
 up to the meeting under the truce. He is for unconditional 
 surrender, and thinks we should have banged right on and 
 settled all questions without asking them. He strongly 
 intimates that some of the free-thinking rebel cavalry 
 might take advantage of the truce to get away from us. 
 But the Confederate officers, one and all, Gordon, Wilcox, 
 Heth, "Rooney" Lee, and all the rest assure him of their 
 good faith, and that the game is up for them. 
 
 But suddenly a sharp firing cuts the air about our ears, 
 — ^musketry and artillery, — out beyond us on the Lynch- 
 burg pike, where it seems Sheridan had sent Gregg's com- 
 mand to stop any free-riding pranks that might be played. 
 Gordon springs up from his pile of rails with an air of aston- 
 ishment and vexation, declaring that for his part he had 
 sent out in good faith orders to hold things as they are. 
 And he glances more than inquiringly at Sheridan. "Oh, 
 never mind, " says Sheridan, " I know about it. Let 'em 
 fight!" with two simple words added, which literally taken 
 are supposed to express a condemnatory judgment, but 
 in Sheridan's rhetoric convey his appreciation of highly 
 satisfactory qualities of his men, — especially just now. 
 
 One o'clock comes; no answer from Lee. Nothing for 
 us but to shake hands and take arms to resume hostilities. 
 
APPOMATTOX 271 
 
 As I turned to go, General Griffin said to me in a low voice, 
 "Prepare to make, or receive, an attack in ten minutes!" 
 It was a sudden change of tone in our relations, and brought 
 a queer sensation. Where my troops had halted, the op- 
 posing lines were in close proximity. The men had stacked 
 arms and were resting in place. It did not seem like war 
 we were to recommence, but wilful murder. But the order 
 was only to "prepare," and that we did. Our troops were 
 in good position, — my advanced line across the road; and 
 we stood fast intensely waiting. I had mounted and sat 
 looking at the scene before me, thinking of all that was im- 
 pending and depending; when I felt coming in upon me a 
 strange sense of some presence invisible but powerful — 
 like those unearthly visitants told of in ancient story, 
 charged with supernal message. Disquieted, I turned about ; 
 and there behind me, riding in between my two lines, ap- 
 peared a commanding form, superbly mounted, richly 
 accoutred; of imposing bearing, noble countenance, with 
 expression of deep sadness overmastered by deeper strength. 
 It is no other than Robert E. Lee! And seen by me for 
 the first time within my own lines. I sat immovable, with 
 a certain awe and admiration. He was coming, with a 
 single staff-officer ' for the great appointed meeting which 
 was to determine momentous issues. 
 
 Not long after, by another inleading road, appeared 
 another form — plain, unassuming, simple, and familiar to 
 our eyes ; but to the thought as much inspiring awe as Lee 
 in his splendor and his sadness. It is Grant! He, too, 
 comes with a single aide, — a staff-officer of Sheridan's.^ 
 Slouched hat without cord; common soldier's blouse, un- 
 buttoned, on which, however, the four stars; high boots, 
 mud-splashed to the top, trousers tucked inside; no sword, 
 but the sword-hand deep in the pocket ; sitting his saddle 
 with the ease of a bom master; taking no notice of anjrthing, 
 all his faculties gathered into intense thought and mighty 
 calm. He seemed greater than I had ever seen him, — a 
 
 'Colonel Marshall, chief of staff. 
 ^Colonel Newhall. 
 
2 72 APPOMATTOX 
 
 look as of another world about him. No wonder I forgot 
 altogether to salute him. Anything like that would have 
 been too little. 
 
 He rode on to meet Lee at the courthouse. What 
 momentous issues had these two souls to declare! Neither 
 of them, in truth, free, nor held in individual bounds alone ; 
 no longer testing each other's powers and resources; no 
 longer weighing the chances of daring or desperate conflict. 
 Instruments of God's hands, they were now to record His 
 decree ! 
 
 But the final word is not long coming now. Staff- 
 of&cers are flying, crying "Lee surrenders!" Ah, there was 
 some kind of strength left among those worn and famished 
 men belting the hills around the springs of the Appomattox, 
 who rent the air with shouting and uproar, as if earth and 
 sea had joined the song. Our men did what they thought 
 their share, and then went to sleep, as they had need to do; 
 but in the opposite camp they acted as if they had got hold 
 of something too good to keep, and gave it to the stars. 
 
 Besides, they had a supper that night, — ^which was 
 something of a novelty. For we had divided rations with 
 our old antagonists now that they were by our side as 
 suffering brothers. In truth, Longstreet had come over 
 to our camp that evening with an unwonted moisture on 
 his martial cheek and compressed words on his lips : " Gen- 
 tlemen, I must speak plainly; we are starving over there. 
 For God's sake, can you send us something?" We were 
 men; and we acted like men, knowing we should suffer for 
 it ourselves. We were too short-rationed also, and had 
 been for days, and must be for days to come. But we 
 forgot Andersonville and Belle Isle that night, and sent over 
 to that starving camp share and share alike for all there 
 with ourselves; nor thinking the merits of the case dimin- 
 ished by the circumstance that part of these provisions 
 was what Sheridan had captured from their trains the night 
 before. 
 
 At last we sleep — -those who can. And so ended that 
 9th of April, 1865, — Palm Sunday — in that obscure 
 
APPOMATTOX 273 
 
 little Virginia village now blazoned for immortal fame. 
 Graver destinies were determined on that humble field 
 than on many of classic and poetic fame. And though 
 the issue brought bitterness to some, yet the heart of hu- 
 manity the world over thrilled at the tidings. To us, I 
 know, who there feU asleep that night, amidst memories 
 of things that never can be told, it came like that Palm 
 Sunday of old, when the rejoicing multitude met the meekly 
 riding King, and cried "Peace in Heaven; glory in the 
 highest!" 
 
 Late that night I was summoned to headquarters, where 
 General Griffin informed me that I was to command the 
 parade on the occasion of the formal surrender of the arms 
 and colors of Lee's army. He said the Confederates had 
 begged hard to be allowed to stack their arms on the ground 
 where they were, and let us go and pick them up after they 
 had gone ; but that Grant did not think this quite respectful 
 enough to anybody, including the United States of America ; 
 and while he would have all private property respected, 
 and would permit officers to retain their side arms, he 
 insisted that the surrendering army as such should march 
 out in due order, and lay down all tokens of Confederate 
 authority and organized hostility to the United States, in 
 immediate presence of some representative portion of the 
 Union army. Griffin added in a significant tone that Grant 
 wished the ceremony to be as simple as possible, and that 
 nothing should be done to humiliate the manhood of the 
 Southern soldiers. 
 
 We felt this honor, but fain would share it. We missed 
 our Second and Sixth Corps. They were only three miles 
 away, and just moving back to BurkeviUe. We could not but 
 feel something more than a wish that they should be brought 
 up to be participants in a consummation to which they 
 perhaps more than any had contributed. But whatever 
 of honor or privilege came to us of the Fifth Corps was 
 accepted not as for any pre-eminent work or worth of ours 
 but in the name of the whole noble Army of the Potomac; 
 with loving remembrance of every man, whether on horse 
 
2 74 APPOMATTOX 
 
 or foot or cannon-caisson, whether with shoulder-strap of 
 office or of knapsack, — of every man, whether his heart 
 beat high with the joy of this hour, or was long since stilled 
 in the shallow trenches that furrow the red earth from the 
 Antietam to the Appomattox! 
 
 On the morning of the nth our division had been moved 
 over to relieve Turner's of the Twenty-Fourth Corps, Army 
 of the James, near the courthouse, where they had 
 been receiving some of the surrendered arms, especially 
 of the artillery on their front, while Mackenzie's cavalry 
 had received the surrendered sabres of W. H. F. Lee's 
 command. 
 
 At noon of the nth these troops of the Army of the 
 James took up the march to Lynchburg, to make sure of 
 that yet doubtful point of advantage. Lee and Grant had 
 both gone, — ^Lee for Richmond to see his dying wife , Grant 
 for Washington, only that once more to see again Lincoln 
 living. The business transactions had been settled; the 
 parole papers made out; all was ready for the last turn, — 
 the dissolving-view of the Army of Northern Virginia. 
 
 It was now the morning of the 12th of April. I had 
 been ordered to have my lines formed for the ceremony 
 at sunrise. It was a chill gray morning, depressing to the 
 senses. But our hearts made warmth. Great memories 
 uprose; great thoughts went forward. We formed along 
 the principal street, from the bluff bank of the stream to 
 near the courthouse on the left, — ^to face the last line of 
 battle, and receive the last remnant of the arms and colors 
 of that great army ours had been created to confront for all 
 that death can do for life. We were remnants also, — 
 Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania, 
 New York, — ^veterans, and replaced veterans ; cut to pieces, 
 cut down, consolidated, divisions into brigades, regiments 
 into one gathered by State origin, back to their birth- 
 place ; this Httle line — quintessence or metempsychosis of 
 Porter's old corps of Gaines's Mill and Malvern Hill; men 
 of near blood bom, made nearer by blood shed. Those 
 facing us — now thank God, — ^the same. 
 
APPOMATTOX 275 
 
 Our earnest eyes scan the busy groups on the opposite 
 slopes, breaking camp for the last time,^taking down their 
 little shelter-tents and folding them carefuUy, as precious 
 things, then slowly forming ranks as for unwelcome duty. 
 And now they move. The dusky swarms forge forward 
 into gray columns of march. On they come, with the old 
 swinging route step, and swaying battle-flags. In the van, 
 the proud Confederate ensign, — the great field of white 
 and for canton the star-strewn cross of blue on a field of 
 red, this latter escutcheon also the regimental battle-flags — 
 following on crowded so thick, by thinning out of men, that 
 the whole column seemed crowned with red. At the right 
 of our line our little group mounted beneath our flags, the 
 red maltese cross on a field of white, erewhile so bravely 
 borne through many a field more crimson than itself, its 
 mystic meaning now ruling all. 
 
 This was the last scene of such momentous history that 
 I was impelled to render some token of recognition; some 
 honor also to manhood so high. 
 
 Instructions had been given ; and when the head of each 
 division column comes opposite our group, our bugle sounds 
 the signal and instantly our whole line from right to left, 
 regiment by regiment in succession, gives the soldier's 
 salutation, — from the "order arms" to the old "carry" — 
 the marching salute. Gordon at the head of the column, 
 riding with heavy spirit and downcast face, catches the 
 sound of shifting arms, looks up, and, taking the meaning, 
 wheels superbly, making with himself and his horse one up- 
 lifted figure, with profotmd salutation as he drops the point 
 of his sword to the boot toe ; then facing to his own com- 
 mand, gives word for his successive brigades to pass us with 
 the same position of the manual,^honor answering honor. 
 On our part not a sound of trumpet more, nor roll of drum ; 
 not a cheer, nor word nor whisper of vain-glorying, nor 
 motion of man standing again at the order; but an awed 
 stillness rather and breath-holding, as if it were the passing 
 of the dead! 
 
 As each successive division masks our own, it halts 
 
276 APPOMATTOX 
 
 the men face inward towards us across the road, twelve 
 feet away; then carefully "dress" their line, each captain 
 taking pains for the good appearance of his company, worn 
 and torn and half starved as they were. The field and 
 staff take their positions in the intervals of regiments; 
 generals in rear of their commands. They fix bayo- 
 nets, stack arms ; then, hesitatingly, remove cartridge-boxes 
 and lay them down. Lastly, — reluctantly, with agony of 
 expression, — they tenderly fold their flags, battle-worn 
 and torn, blood-stained, heart-holding colors, and lay 
 them down; some frenziedly rushing from the ranks, 
 kneeling over them, clinging to them, pressing them to 
 their lips with burning tears. And only the Flag of the 
 Union greets the sky! 
 
 What visions thronged as we looked into each others' 
 eyes! Here pass the men of Antietam, the Bloody Lane, 
 the Sunken Road, the Cornfield, the Bumside-Bridge ; the 
 men whom StonewaU Jackson on the second night at Fred- 
 ericksburg begged Lee to let him take and crush the two 
 corps of the Army of the Potomac huddled in the streets 
 in darkness and confusion; the men who swept away the 
 Eleventh Corps at Chancellorsville ; who left six thousand 
 of their companions around the bases of Culp's and Cem- 
 etery HiUs at Gettysburg; these survivors of the terrible 
 Wilderness, the Bloody-Angle at Spottsylvania, the 
 slaughter pen of Cold Harbor, the whirlpool of Bethesada 
 Church! 
 
 Here comes Cobb's Georgia Legion, which held the 
 stonewall on Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg, close before 
 which we piled our dead for breastworks so that the living 
 might stay and live. 
 
 Here too come Gordon's Georgians and Hoke's North 
 Carolinians, who stood before the terrific mine explosion 
 at Petersburg, and advancing retook the smoking crater 
 and the dismal heaps of dead — ours more than theirs — 
 huddled in the ghastly chasm. 
 
 Here are the men of McGowan, Htmton, and Scales, 
 who broke the Fifth Corps lines on the White Oak road, 
 
APPOMATTOX 277 
 
 and were so desperately driven back on that forlorn night 
 of March 31st by my thrice-decimated brigade. 
 
 Now comes Anderson's Fourth Corps, — only Bushrod 
 Johnson's division left, and this the remnant of those 
 we fought so fiercely on the Quaker road, two weeks ago, 
 with Wise's Legion, too fierce for its own good. 
 
 Here passes the proud remnant of Ransom's North Car- 
 olinians we swept through Five Forks ten days ago, — and 
 all the little that was left of this division in the sharp pas- 
 sages at Sailor's Creek five days thereafter. 
 
 Now makes its last front A. P. Hill's old corps, — Heth 
 now at the head, since Hill had gone too far forward ever 
 to return : the men who poured destruction into our divi- 
 sion at Shepardstown Ford, Antietam, in '62, when HlU re- 
 ported the Potomac running blue with our bodies; the 
 men who opened the desperate first day's fight at Gettys- 
 burg, where withstanding them so stubbornly our Robin- 
 son's brigades lost 1185 men, and the Iron Brigade alone 
 1153, — these men of Heth's division here too losing 2850 
 men, companions of these now looking into our faces 
 so differently. 
 
 What is this but the remnant of Mahone's division, 
 last seen by us at the North Anna? its thinned ranks of worn, 
 bright-eyed men recalling scenes of costly valor and ever- 
 remembered history. 
 
 Now the sad great pageant, — Longstreet and his men! 
 What shall we give them for greeting that has not already 
 been spoken in volleys of thunder and written in lines of 
 fire on all the river-banks of Virginia? Shall we go back 
 to Gaines's Mill and Malvern Hill? Or to the Antietam of 
 Maryland, or Gettysburg of Pennsylvania? — deepest graven 
 of all. For here is what remains of Kershaw's division, 
 which left 40 per cent, of its men at Antietam, and at Gettys- 
 burg with Barksdale's and Semmes's brigades tore through 
 the Peach Orchard, rolling up the right of our gallant Third 
 Corps, sweeping over the proud batteries of Massachusetts, 
 — Bigelow and Philips, — where under the smoke we saw 
 the earth brown and blue with prostrate bodies of horses 
 
278 APPOMATTOX 
 
 and men, and the tongues of overturned cannon and cais- 
 sons pointing grim and stark in the air. 
 
 Then in the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania Kershaw 
 again, in deeds of awful glory, and thereafter, for all their 
 losses, holding their name and fame, until fate met them 
 at Sailor's Creek, where all but these, with Kershaw himself, 
 and Elwell, and so many more, gave up their arms and 
 hopes, — all, indeed, but manhood's honor. 
 
 With what strange emotion I looked into these faces 
 before which in the mad assault on Rives's Salient, June 
 18, '64, I was left for dead under their eyes! It is by 
 miracles we have lived to see this day, — any of us standing 
 here. 
 
 Now comes the sinewy remnant of fierce Hood's division, 
 which at Gettysburg we saw pouring through the Devil's 
 Den, and the Plum Run gorge; turning again by the left 
 our stubborn Third Corps, then swarming up the rocky- 
 bastions of Round Top, to be met there by equal valor, 
 which changed Lee's whole plan of battle, and perhaps the 
 story of Gettysburg. 
 
 Ah, is this Pickett's division? — this little group, left 
 of those who on the lurid last day of Gettysburg breasted 
 level cross-fire and thunderbolts of storm, to be strewn back 
 drifting wrecks, where after that awful, futile, pitiful charge 
 we buried them in graves a furlong wide, with names 
 unknown ! 
 
 Met again in the terrible cyclone-sweep over the breast- 
 works at Five Forks; met now, so thin, so pale, purged 
 of the mortal, — as if knowing pain or joy no more. How 
 could we help falling on our knees, — all of us together, — 
 and praying God to pity and forgive us all ! 
 
 Thus, all day long, division after division comes and 
 goes, — the surrendered arms being removed by our wagons 
 in the intervals, the cartridge-boxes emptied in the street 
 when the ammunition was found unserviceable, our men 
 meanwhile resting in place. 
 
 When aU is over, in the dusk of evening, the long lines 
 of scattered cartridges are set on fire; and the lurid flames 
 
APPOMATTOX 279 
 
 wreathing the blackness of earthly shadows give an un- 
 earthly border to our parting. 
 
 Then, stripped of every token of enmity or instrument 
 of power to hurt, they march off to give their word of honor 
 never to lift arms against the old flag again till its holders 
 release them from their promise. Then, their ranks 
 broken, — the bonds that bound them fused away by forces 
 stronger than fire, — they are free at last to go where they 
 will; to find their homes, now most likely stricken, de- 
 spoiled by war. 
 
 Twenty-seven thousand men paroled; seventeen thou- 
 sand stand of arms laid down or gathered up; a hvmdred 
 battle-flags. But regiments and brigades — or what is 
 left of them — have scarce a score of arms to surrender; 
 having thrown them away by road and riverside in weari- 
 ness of flight or hopelessness of heart, disdaining to carry 
 them longer but to disaster. And many a bare staff was 
 there laid down, from which the ensign had been torn in the 
 passion and struggle of emotions, and divided piece by 
 piece, — a blurred or shrunken star, a rag of smoke-stained 
 blue from the war-worn cross, a shred of deepened dye from 
 the rent field of red, — to be treasured for precious keepsakes 
 of manhood's test and heirlooms for their children. 
 
 Nor blame them too much for this ; nor us for not blaming 
 them more. Although, as we believed, fatally wrong in 
 striking at the old flag, misreading its deeper meaning and 
 the innermost law of the people's life, blind to the signs oj 
 the times in the march of man, they fought as they were 
 taught, true to such ideals as they saw, and put into their 
 cause their best. For us they were fellow-soldiers as well, 
 suffering the fate of arms. We could not look into those 
 brave, bronzed faces, and those battered flags we had met 
 on so many fields where glorious manhood lent a glory to 
 the earth that bore it, and think of personal hate and mean 
 revenge. Whoever had misled these men, we had not. We 
 had led them back, home. Whoever had made that quarrel, 
 we had not. It was a remnant of the inherited curse for 
 sin. We had purged it away, with blood-offerings. We 
 
28o APPOMATTOX 
 
 were all of us together factors of that high will which, 
 working often through illusions of the human, and following 
 ideals that lead through storms, evolves the enfranchise- 
 ment of man. 
 
 Forgive us, therefore, if from stem, steadfast faces eyes 
 dimmed with tears gazed at each other across that pile of 
 storied relics so dearly there laid down, and brothers' hands 
 were fain to reach across that rushing tide of memories 
 which divided us yet made us forever one. 
 
 It was our glory only that the victory we had won was 
 for country; for the well-being- of others, of these men 
 before us as well as for ourselves and ours. Our joy was 
 a deep, far, unspoken satisfaction, — the approval, as it 
 were, of some voiceless and veiled divinity like the ap- 
 pointed "Angel of the Nation" of which the old scriptures 
 tell — leading and looking far, yet mindful of sorrows; 
 standing above all human strife and fierce passages of 
 trial; not marking faults nor seeking blame; transmuting 
 into factors of the final good corrected errors and forgiven 
 sins; assuring of immortal inheritance all pure purpose and 
 noble endeavor, humblest service and costliest sacrifice, 
 unconscious and even mistaken martyrdoms offered and 
 suffered for the sake of man. 
 
THE GENERAL STAFF CORPS 
 
 A Paper Read by Major-General Henry C. Corbin, 
 U. S. Army, December 2, 1903. 
 
 IN treating a subject so comprehensive as the one under 
 consideration, it will be necessary for us to take a 
 glimpse at the laws creating staff organizations for our 
 Army, the importance of which has not always been fully 
 understood. Naturally, much of the staff legislation in this 
 country foimd inspiration in the organization and the 
 experience of armies of other countries. 
 
 The first hint we can find anywhere of a "general stafif" 
 is as early as 1655, previous to which time it was employed 
 in the Swedish army, but about that date adopted by the 
 Prussian army under the Great Elector. The chief prin- 
 ciple of the general staff organization in all armies has been 
 to make it the eyes and the ears, so to speak, of the com- 
 mander, obtaining for him the most complete information 
 that is possible for military experts to gather and compile. 
 The thought that there has always been a fixed law and 
 regulation for a general staff of one country, applicable to 
 any and all others, is erroneous, and yet this seems to have 
 found lodgment in the minds of even the most intelligent 
 military writers. While the same general principles have 
 necessarily obtained in the organization of the general staff, 
 yet in every instance they have been made to fit the 
 peculiar laws, conditions, and form of government existing 
 in the countries to which applied. So that it is necessary 
 for us to get rid of the impression that we have adopted 
 any peculiarly foreign system. The War Department and 
 the Congress may possibly have been influenced by the 
 knowledge of wise and efficient army administration in 
 
 281 
 
282 THE GENERAL STAFF CORPS 
 
 Other countries; but as a matter of fact the present law 
 was constructed wholly upon lines consonant with our own 
 form of republican government, keeping always in mind 
 that the administration of our rnilitary affairs shall both 
 in letter and in spirit be subordinate to the civil authority. 
 
 In order that the law providing for a general staff corps 
 may be better understood we shall have to examine with 
 some care the laws for the organization of the present staff 
 departments. To do this I shall ask you to consider the 
 staff departments as fixed by General Washington and 
 other founders of the Republic. It will be seen that all 
 along the line, from the beginning down to almost the very 
 date of the passage of the general staff law, officers of the 
 Army, Secretaries of War, and the Congress, have con- 
 fused staff departments with the "general staff." 
 
 General Washington in 1775 was unanimously elected 
 "to command all the continental forces raised or to be 
 raised for the defence of American liberty;" Beginning 
 with June of the same year, we have this record: 
 
 "The Congress then proceeded to the choice of the officers in 
 the Army by ballot. 
 
 ^ :k s): :^ :lfi ^ 
 
 "Resolved, that Horatio Gates, Esq., is now chosen Ad- 
 jutant-General, and shall have the rank of Brigadier-general." 
 
 The same day Congress resolved that General Schuyler 
 was a proper person for Deputy Adjutant-General, and two 
 days later three additional majors were elected. 
 
 General Thomas Conway was elected Inspector-General. 
 
 Wniiam Tudor, a law pupil of John Adams and a lead- 
 ing counsellor of Boston, was elected the Judge Advocate 
 General. 
 
 General Mifflin was elected Quartermaster-General. 
 
 Joseph Trumbull was elected Commissary-General of 
 Stores and Provisions for the Army of the United Colonies, 
 and on the 31st of the same month there were ten deputy 
 Commissary-Generals elected. 
 
 The medical branch of the service was first created in 
 
THE GENERAL STAFF CORPS 283 
 
 1775 by the designation of an "Hospital Department for 
 the Army, "under the several heads of Director-General and 
 Chief Physician, of which there were three; Physician- 
 General, of which there were five ; Surgeon-General, of which 
 there were three; Chief Physician and Surgeon, of which 
 there were three; Chief Physician; and one Purveyor and 
 one Apothecary. 
 
 The Corps of Engineers was formed on the nth of 
 March, 1779, although there appears to have been a Chief 
 of Engineers, with two assistants, on the i6th of June, 1775, 
 the day before the battle of Bunker Hill; but the records 
 at my command regarding the organization of this corps 
 are somewhat obscure, and the earliest date of which we 
 have any clear account was the nth of March, 1779. It 
 is well established, however, that Colonel Richard Gridley, 
 of Massachusetts, was the first Chief of Engineers, and 
 that he was succeeded by Colonel Rufus Putnam of the sanae 
 State. 
 
 The Ordnance Department was also organized in 1775, 
 and what is now known as the Chief of Ordnance was then 
 called the Commissary of Artillery. Mr. Ezekiel Cheever 
 was the first to hold that office. 
 
 The Signal Corps was provided for by act of March, 
 1863, and its first organization consisted of Major Albert 
 J. Myer, Signal Officer. This corps has gradually grown in 
 importance until now it is recognized as one of the most 
 potent factors in the make-up of our Army. 
 
 More recently there have been provided by Congress the 
 Record and Pension Office and a Bureau of Insular Affairs. 
 
 So that, with these latter exceptions, the organization 
 of the staff departments of the Army was on the 14th day 
 of February, 1903 — ^the date of the approval of the Staff 
 Bill — very much the same as provided by the Continental 
 Congress on the recommendation of General Washington 
 at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1798, General Washington, in ad- 
 dressing the Hon. James McHenry, then the Secretary of 
 War, uses the following language : 
 
284 THE GENERAL STAFF CORPS 
 
 "In forming an army, if a judicious choice is not made of the 
 principal officers and, above all, of the general staff, it never 
 can be rectified thereafter. The character then of the Army- 
 would be lost in the superstructure. The reputation of the 
 commander-in-chief would sink with it and the country be in- 
 volved in inextricable expense. To remark to a military man 
 how important the general staff of an army is to its well-being 
 seems to be unnecessary." 
 
 It will be noticed that General Washington himself 
 used the term "general staff" in speaking of the organiza- 
 tion of the original staff departments. 
 
 Again, on the next day, General Washington addressed 
 the Secretary of War in the following terms : 
 
 " The appointment of general officers is important, but of 
 those of the general staff all-important." 
 
 Again it will be observed. General Washington treated 
 the organization of the several staff departments as a general 
 staff. It is but fair to interpret his use of the phrase " gen- 
 eral staff" as referring to the staff departments. It is 
 presumably the use of a term having a significance at that 
 date that it does not now possess. 
 
 Further on he says: 
 
 " The Inspector-General, Quartermaster-General, Adjutant- 
 General . . . ought to be men of the most respectable 
 character and of first rate abilities, because from the nature of 
 their respective offices and from their being always about the 
 Commander in Chief, who is obliged to intrust many things to 
 them confidentially, scarcely any movement can take place 
 without their knowledge. . . . Besides . . . they ought 
 to have those of integrity and prudence in an eminent degree 
 that entire confidence might be reposed in them. Without these, 
 and their being on good terms with the commanding general, 
 his measures, if not designedly thwarted, may be so embarrassed 
 as to make them move heavily on." 
 
 On December 27, 1815, the Hon. William H. Crawford, 
 then the Secretary of War, in a report remarks: 
 
 " A complete organization of the staff will contribute as much 
 to the economy of the establishment as to its efficiency. The 
 
THE GENERAL STAFF CORPS 285 
 
 stationary staff of a military establishment could be substan- 
 tially the same in peace as in war, without reference to the 
 number or distribution of the troops of which it is composed." 
 
 In 18 18, Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary of War, in ad- 
 dressing the Congress, said : 
 
 " The staff, as organized by the act of last session, combines 
 simplicity with efficiency. . . . Were our military establish- 
 ment reduced one half, it is obvious that, if the same posts 
 continued to be occupied which now are, the same number of 
 officers in the Quartermaster's, Paymaster's, Medical, and Ad- 
 jutant- and Inspector-General'^s Department would be required. 
 
 To compare, then, as is sometimes done, our staff with those 
 of European armies assembled in large bodies is manifestly 
 unfair. The act of last session, it is believed, has made all the 
 reduction which ought to be attempted. It has rendered the 
 staff efficient without making it expensive. Such a staff is not 
 only indispensable to the efficiency of the Army, but it is also 
 necessary to a proper economy in its disbursements ; and should 
 an attempt be made at retrenchment by reducing the present 
 ntunber, it wovild, in its consequences, probably prove wasteful 
 and extravagant. 
 
 In fact, no part of our military organization requires more 
 attention in peace than the general staff. It is in every service 
 invariably the last in attaining perfection; and if neglected in 
 peace, when there is leisure, it will be impossible, in the midst 
 of the hurry and bustle of war, to bring it to perfection. It is 
 in peace that it should receive a perfect organization, and that 
 the officers should be trained to method and punctuality, so 
 that at the commencement of a war, instead of creating anew, 
 nothing more should be necessary than to give it the necessary 
 enlargement. 
 
 With a defective staff we must carry on our military opera- 
 tions under great disadvantages, and be exposed, particularly 
 at the commencement of a war, to great losses, embarrassments, 
 and disasters." 
 
 It will be noted here that so learned a man as Mr. Cal- 
 houn — ^in 1818, in speaking of the staff departments — used 
 the term general staff. 
 
 Until the passage of the General Staff Bill the several 
 
286 THE GENERAL STAFF CORPS 
 
 staff departments, excepting in a way the Adjutant-Gen- 
 eral's and Inspector-General's departments, were by law 
 under and subject only to the control of the Secretary of 
 War — ^the Adjutant-General and Inspector-General reporting 
 to both the Secretary of War and to the commanding 
 general. It was not possible under the statutes for the 
 commander-in-chief to give an order of any character to 
 any of the supply departments. This was in no sense due 
 to the judgment or the whims of any one connected with 
 the War Department, but was a matter of iron-clad laws. 
 The general commanding was not required or even expected 
 to examine estimates. This, too, by statute was left 
 entirely to the head of the War Department. For many 
 years the senior officer of the Army was clothed with the 
 title of Commander-in-Chief. He was possessed of but 
 limited legal authority to command the line, and none at all 
 over the supply and staff departments. 
 
 Lieutenant-General Schofield, a most distinguished soldier 
 and an erninent student of constitutional law, in his memoirs 
 characterized the only true function of the senior general 
 in time of peace as being that of chief of staff to the Secre- 
 tary of War and the President. 
 
 The only countries of the civilized world which were for 
 many years without an organization such as is understood 
 by the term of "General Staff Corps" were the United 
 States and Great Britain. The reason therefor is found in 
 the fact that the institutions of both countries are based 
 upon the representative principle and a strict subordination 
 of the military to the civil authority, demanding a 
 rigid separation, as far as the Army is concerned, of the 
 purse and the sword; the King of England and the 
 President of the United States each having the prerogative 
 of command, with the representatives of the people in each 
 country holding the purse-strings under the constitutional 
 power vested in them of making appropriations for the 
 support of the Army. 
 
 The irritating differences in England between these 
 two authorities have been not unlike our own. It is gratify- 
 
THE GENERAL STAFF CORPS 287 
 
 ing to notice that our British cousins are about to follow in 
 our footsteps and are seeking to establish a siiiular remedy 
 for the establishment of unity of administration of the 
 affairs of the Army. 
 
 It is true that we have taken but little if any heed of 
 the lessons of our several wars. We have never been pre- 
 pared for any contingency. We have in every instance 
 prepared for war only after war has been declared. What 
 this neglect has cost us as a nation in the way of lives and 
 money would be difficult for the most intelligent to deter- 
 mine. That it has been very great any novice can readily 
 show. As a matter of fact, any companion of this order 
 knows this to be too true, and we hesitate to speak or write 
 of it, as it involves national reproach; and yet we should 
 not be true to the best interests of the Republic, to ourselves, 
 and those coming after us, if we did not lay bare these facts 
 and apply remedies that have been too long neglected. 
 This can well be made the unfinished business, so to speak, 
 of the members of the Loyal Legion. Those of you charged 
 with large business undertakings would soon lose the con- 
 fidence of aU business men if you did not make wise pro- 
 visions against the possibilities of the future; and those 
 charged with the great responsibility of our national defence 
 should at least be as wise, as prudent, as men in ordinary 
 business affairs. By this light, who vnH undertake to say 
 that placing the staff departments by law under military 
 authority, and yet within the supervisory control of the 
 Secretary of War and the President, was not a step well 
 taken? 
 
 In August, 1899, a distinguished citizen of our own State 
 and city — Mr. Elihu Root — was called by President Mc- 
 Kinley to the head of the War Department. From the 
 very beginning of his work he made a careful analysis of 
 the laws and regulations governing the War Department. 
 He soon discovered a lack of authority on one hand and 
 the binding by the statutes of the staff departments on the 
 other. He sought a remedy which he found in the general 
 staff idea that had been abroad in the Army for a number 
 
2 88 THE GENERAL STAFF CORPS 
 
 of years — shaving been advocated by such officers as Scho- 
 field, McClellan, Hazen, Upton, Ludlow, George W. Davis, 
 and many others. The combination of these views with 
 Mr. Root's great genius has found a solution from which 
 the Army and country may rightfully expect only satis- 
 factory results. It is not too much to say that, for the first 
 time since the founding of the Republic, harmonious ad- 
 ministration of Army affairs has been provided for by law; 
 and regulations conflicting with law, and laws clashing 
 with the Constitution, have either been eliminated or so 
 adjusted by the genius of Mr. Root as to make any mis 
 understanding most difficult. From the beginning of the 
 government until the passage of the Staff Act, the Army 
 was possessed of two commanders — ^first, the President, 
 the constitutional Commander-in-Chief, with the senior 
 general officer also as Commander-in-chief under the pro- 
 visions of regulation and assignment. That these conditions 
 led to friction is a fact which is apparent almost in every 
 chapter of the military history of the last hundred years, 
 and no fair-minded man could do otherwise than hold the 
 laws and regulations conflicting with the requirements of 
 the Constitution responsible for this unfortunate state of 
 affairs. That this impediment to harmony has been re- 
 moved is a matter for congratulation by every well-wisher 
 of the Republic; and, as I have already said, the credit of 
 this wise solution is due more to Mr. Root than any, or I 
 may say than to all, other men. 
 
 Under the new regime, it can reasonably be expected 
 that the War Department in the future will be administered 
 with intelligence and harmony; if not, it will be due to a 
 lack of proper feeling on the part of those charged with the 
 work. Not only has the administration of the Staff Corps 
 been wisely provided for by law, but great care has been 
 taken to safeguard the rights of commanders; and hence- 
 forth the administration of the War Department must 
 necessarily be separate and distinct, and yet supporting, 
 in the most intelligent way, generals in command of armies 
 and troops in the field. 
 
THE GENERAL STAFF CORPS 289 
 
 The act of February 14, 1903, creating the General 
 Staff Corps declares: 
 
 " That there is hereby established a General Stag Corps, to be 
 composed of officers detailed from the Army at large under such 
 rules as may be prescribed by the President." 
 
 The second section provides: ' 
 
 " That the duties of the General Staff Corps shall be to prepare 
 plans for the national defence and for the mobilization of the 
 military forces in time of war; to investigate and report upon 
 all questions affecting the efficiency of the Army and its state 
 of preparation for military operations . . . and co-ordinat- 
 ing the action of all the different officers who are subject under 
 the terms of this Act to the supervision of the Chief of Staff. . . 
 
 Section 3 provides 
 
 one Chief of Staff and two general officers, all to be detailed 
 by the President, and not below the grade of brigadier-general. 
 In addition there shall be four colonels, six lieutenant-colonels, 
 twelve majors, twenty captains. " 
 
 Right here will be noted, and with interest, the latitude 
 given the President by Congress in the selection of a Chief 
 of Staff. The field embraces all general officers from the 
 lieutenant-general to and including the junior brigadiers 
 in either the line or the staff departments. 
 
 The regulations made tmder this act — defining the 
 more specific duties of the General Staff — place all under 
 the direction of the Chief of Staff, who in turn in all matters 
 acts only under the authority and direction of the Presi- 
 dent and Secretary of War — thus recognizing without 
 any reservation whatever that under our Constitution the 
 command of our Army and Navy can rest with none other 
 than the President and his duly constituted agent, the 
 Secretary of War. In this connection the provisions of 
 that great instrument are mandatory, and cannot be set 
 aside in any other way than by a constitutional amend- 
 ment. Any legislation or administration of military affairs 
 that does not have this fact well in mind is wholly illegal. 
 The manifold duties of our constitutional Commander-in 
 
290 THE GENERAL STAFF CORPS 
 
 Chief, as well as the absence often of a military training, 
 make it necessary that both the President and Secretary 
 of War shall have at hand for guidance the best military 
 eyes and ears and thought that the Army can give. These 
 it is felt have been provided in the existing staff depart- 
 ments, supported by a Chief of Staff and a corps of military 
 experts detailed from all branches of the service and known 
 as the "General Staff Corps"- — all fully in accord with the 
 Commander-in-Chief. In this connection the present regu- 
 lations say: 
 
 " The Chief of Staff is detailed by the President from officers of 
 the Army at large not below the grade of brigadier-general. The 
 successful performance of the duties of the position requires 
 what the title denotes — a relation of absolute confidence and 
 personal accord and sympathy between the Chief of Staff and 
 the President, and necessarily also between the Chief of Staff and 
 the Secretary of War. For this reason, without any reflection 
 whatever upon the officer detailed, the detail will in every case 
 cease, unless sooner terminated, on the day following the expira- 
 tion of the term of office of the President by whom the detail is 
 made ; and if at any time the Chief of Staff considers that he can 
 no longer sustain toward the President and the Secretary of 
 War the relations above described, it will be his duty to apply 
 to be relieved." 
 
 It is a pleasure, no less than a duty, to correct any im- 
 pression that may be in your minds that the General Staff 
 Corps was bred and bom on lines of hostility to or doubt 
 or dissatisfaction with existing staff departments. The 
 prevailing thought of the author was to make stronger and 
 better that which was already good, and to make efficient 
 administration more so by bringing into action the highest 
 intelligence of the service, be it either from the staff or line. 
 No one can doubt for a moment the general efficiency of a 
 staff that gave supreme satisfaction to Washington, Scott, 
 Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan. From Concord to Appo- 
 mattox, and all through our Indian wars, its record stands 
 approved; its service during the war with Spain will, as 
 it is better understood, have the appreciation of all patriotic 
 
THE GENERAL STAFF CORPS 29I 
 
 citizens. A staff that put in the field nearly 300,000 effi- 
 cient troops, fully clothed, armed, and equipped, within eight 
 weeks from the date of declaration of war, cannot but 
 challenge the admiration of all those who examine its 
 work with fairness and intelligence. 
 
 The best answer that can be made to the critics of our 
 Army in the Spanish War is the fact that the Republic put 
 to rout the army and navy of one of the oldest countries 
 of Europe in one hundred and twelve days — hardly more 
 time than was required to organize some of our regiments 
 for service in the Civil War. This thought alone will give 
 some idea of the rapidity with which work was accomplished. 
 
 The improvements in arms have been so great that if 
 General Grant himself shotild be called back he, the great 
 master of military science and war, would not understand 
 the handling of a single arm now in use. In addition, the 
 use of high explosives and the rapidity of transportation, 
 the application of electricity to military operations, etc., 
 make it necessary that we should improve all that is possible 
 in the way of administration. It should be made quick, 
 direct, and comprehensive — it was this thought, more than 
 all others, that inspired the law providing for the organi- 
 zation of the General Staff Corps. As yet it is in its infancy ; 
 it will be in order for it to be afflicted with all infantile 
 diseases, and possibly experience may suggest legislative 
 remedies, but these will be of minor importance. Its 
 principles are right and it will stand every test of a fair 
 trial. The better it becomes known the more the people 
 will like it. 
 
 We have been too unmindful of the injunction of Wash- 
 ington that in peace we should prepare for war. We have 
 trusted to luck quite enough, and wisdom insists that we 
 shall risk it no more. Any further trifling on these lines 
 may mean the life of our country. To make this prepared- 
 ness complete and comprehensive is the important work 
 with which the General Staff Corps is charged. 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI. 
 
 A Paper Read by Adjutant Wm. Forse Scott, Fourth 
 Iowa Cavalry Vet. Vols., February 3, 1904. 
 
 THIS is a story of the war in the West, of the last cam- 
 paign beyond the Mississippi ; a campaign in which 
 a part of the Union troops and most of the Confeder- 
 ates marched over 1500 miles, beginning in torrid heat 
 and ending in snow and zero cold; a campaign begun for 
 politics and ending with dramatic coincidence on the day 
 on which politics were finally swept out of the war in the 
 defeat of McClellan and re-election of Lincoln ; a campaign 
 so disastrous to the enemy that from Iowa to the gulf peace 
 prevailed during the remaining six months of the war. 
 
 In 1864 the Confederate " Trans-Mississippi Department" 
 was commanded by Lieutenant-General Edmund Kirby 
 Smith, with headquarters at Shreveport in the northwest 
 comer of Louisiana. He had usually from 30,000 to 50,000 
 men within reach, and a plenty of supplies. He was a man 
 aggressive in words, but not in acts, and so he always mag- 
 nified his difficulties. But he was secure in his place be- 
 cause he was a favorite of Davis, one of the few who enjoyed 
 that distinction. His department included Louisiana, 
 Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, and the Territories. Having 
 an ambition for administration he looked upon himself as 
 a sort of governor-general of that region as well as its 
 military general. And he must have had time enough for 
 affairs of state ; for, although he commanded the department 
 more than two years, he neither originated a campaign nor 
 marched upon one (except a short distance in repelling 
 Banks) and the War Department at Richmond repeatedly 
 complained that his despatches were few and meagre. 
 
 292 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 293 
 
 His camp was the rendezvous of all the political "lame 
 ducks" of Missouri and Arkansas, the governors, congress- 
 men, and other statesmen who cotild n't stay at home because 
 of the Yankees and who could n't go into the army because 
 their country would then suffer for lack of statesmanship. 
 For, although Legislatures could not meet and elections 
 coidd not be held in Missouri, Arkansas, or Louisiana during 
 that time, these statesmen solemnly kept up, in one place 
 or another, on one pretence or another, the hollow perfor- 
 mance of their political functions. Even the holy doctrine 
 of State rights did not prevent some of them from holding 
 on to office. The State of Missouri voted against secession 
 by a great majority, yet not one of its State-righters " fol- 
 lowed his State according to his true allegiance," as the 
 imposing phrase then ran. They followed its enemies and 
 fled to other countries, where, under various fantastic 
 theories, they persuaded themselves that they were holding 
 the offices of Missouri — the "true" Missouri. 
 
 Before they went, however, they proclaimed their 
 undying devotion to their people, their State, their insti- 
 tutions, and always their honor, in an infinite number of 
 speeches, all filled with impassioned language, decorated 
 with classic parallels, supported now and then by ingenious 
 arguments, and closing with heroics and self-dedication. 
 Some of the conceits of these logic-choppers are funny 
 enough now. For an instance, when they got breath again 
 after the adverse vote on secession (which vote, under the 
 doctrine of State rights, of course clearly kept the State 
 in the Union) they said that those who had voted against 
 secession were not the true sons of Missouri and that the 
 duty of the hour was to be true sons, that is, to go into 
 or with the Confederate army; and the governor, the lieu- 
 tenant-governor, the general commanding the State militia, 
 and some of the members of the Legislature promptly did so. 
 
 That idea seems absurd enough, but it is outdone by 
 others that sprang from these feverish brains. Safe within 
 the lines of the Confederate army in the wilds of the Ozark 
 Mountains, the faithful governor, Claiborne F. Jackson, 
 
294 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 invented a dazzling scheme for the salvation of his people. 
 Seeing that he could not bring about a convention or a 
 Congress or a session of the Legislature, because his orders 
 would not be obeyed, he realized that all the powers which 
 a convention or Congress or Legislature might exercise must, 
 in such an emergency, devolve upon the governor. 
 He could not see where else the powers were at such a time : 
 they must therefore be in himself. He rose grandly to his 
 duty in this stern hour, and all alone by himself he issued 
 a declaration of independence, — a long, solemn, stilted 
 paper, imitating the declaration of '76, in which he appealed 
 to the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of 
 his intentions, declared that the political connection between 
 the United States and the people and government of Mis- 
 souri is and ought to be totally dissolved, and that the State 
 of Missouri is a sovereign, free, and independent republic, 
 with full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract 
 alliances, etc. 
 
 If you follow out Mr. Jackson's document, you will see 
 that he had rather more right and power to strike that great 
 blow than the Revolutionary fathers had to issue their 
 declaration in '76. At any rate he was sure of it himself, 
 and, as his mighty act has never been repealed or repudi- 
 ated, Missouri would seem still to be a free and indepen- 
 dent republic. 
 
 Yet this lofty governor was only a dull plodder when 
 compared with the genius who permitted himself to fill 
 the office of lieutenant-governor. This serious-minded 
 youth, Thomas C. Reynolds, carefully examined himself 
 and found that he too was full of powers that no one else 
 had suspected. He posted off to Richmond, without 
 waiting for the slow governor to issue his declaration of 
 independence, and set up as the "ambassador" of his 
 "sovereign State." He formed an "alliance" between 
 Missouri and the Confederate States, turned over to the 
 Confederate President the army of his government and all 
 the property of the United States in Missouri, and came 
 back staggering under a load of still more powers invented 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 29S 
 
 and conferred upon him by the "warrior statesman," as 
 he called Davis. He halted at New Madrid, in the midst 
 of a noisy little rebel army, which, under Davis's direction, 
 General Polk had sent from Kentucky. There were two 
 small divisions under General Pillow. As many more 
 Confederates were in northeast Arkansas under General 
 Hardee. These bodies were to be joined as "The Army of 
 Liberation, " the Missouri rebels were to be added, St. Louis 
 was to be taken, and the vandal hordes swept from the 
 State. Great Reynolds reached New Madrid just after Pillow, 
 exulting to find himself supported by a Confederate army. 
 Governor Jackson was not then in Missouri, having gone 
 just over the line, in Arkansas, to try to get the aid of 
 Hardee. Reynolds immediately saw that he was governor, 
 at least for a day or two, and promptly issued his proclama- 
 tion. It begins: "I return to the State, to accompany in 
 my official capacity one of the armies which the warrior 
 statesman whose genius now presides over the affairs of 
 our half of the Union has prepared to advance against the 
 common foe. . . . The sun which shone in its full 
 mid-day splendor at Manassas is about to rise upon Mis- 
 souri." Then, himself rising superior to the awkward fact 
 that a great majority of his fellow-citizens had voted against 
 secession, he said that as for himself he disregarded forms 
 and looked to realities; that therefore he viewed any ordi- 
 nance for the separation of Missouri from the United States 
 as a mere outward ceremony ; that in fact the act of secession 
 was already consummated in the hearts of her people, and 
 that "therefore all persons co-operating with the expedition 
 I now accompany may expect that in the country under its 
 influence no authority of the United States will be permitted, 
 and that of Missouri as a sovereign and independent State 
 will be exercised, with a view to her speedy regular union 
 with her Southern sisters. " That is, the tread of Reynolds 
 upon the trembling earth was alone the equivalent of 
 secession. Only his magic foot upon the various parts 
 of the State and the thing was done. 
 
 But that was only one of the hard knots that came easy 
 
296 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 to this Alexander. He found the problem of the right of 
 secession in Missouri quite simple. The slave States on 
 the Atlantic coast based their secession upon the theory of 
 powers reserved to themselves when they agreed to the 
 Constitution of 1789. Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and 
 Mississippi had to have another ground, but they professed 
 to find it in the claim that they were formed in territory 
 originally belonging to the Atlantic States. But the States 
 beyond the Mississippi, in the Louisiana purchase, were 
 without either of these grounds. Their territory had been 
 bought with money paid in by all the States, and chiefly by 
 the Northern States. The ordinary Southern statesmen 
 spun out several specious arguments to evade this difficulty, 
 but Reynolds soared above them all. He admitted that 
 the territory had been purchased by the general govern- 
 ment and with funds supplied by all the States, but he 
 found that the sale was made by France on condition that 
 the United States should never part with the territory and 
 he said that that constituted a " condition running with 
 the land" (as the lawyers say); that the act of secession 
 would part Missouri from the United States and thus make 
 a breach of the condition; that the land would therefore 
 revert to France and become a colony of that empire; and 
 that the emperor would undoubtedly send an army to 
 recover his own, which army, with the true sons of Missouri, 
 would easily defeat the United States. 
 
 But Louis Napoleon neglected his great opportunity, 
 and that brilliant child of the little governor's warm fancy 
 was never able to get on its legs, but died without baptism. 
 In fact, very soon afterward both the governors had to 
 retire in humiliation to the wilds of Arkansas before the 
 march of the Union volunteers, enlisted mostly in their own 
 unappreciative Missouri. 
 
 They were accompanied by other statesmen of the un- 
 happy minority and by Sterling Price, who was both states- 
 man and soldier. Here is the most noted man produced 
 by Missouri on the Confederate side. He was a lawyer, 
 he entered politics at an early age, was a conspicuous mem- 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 297 
 
 ber of the Legislature for several terms,and a member of Con- 
 gress, he led a regiment of Missouri cavalry in the Mexi- 
 can War and was promoted to brigadier-general. He was 
 governor of the State twice between 1850 and i860, and 
 although a Democrat was very popular among the Whigs. 
 A Virginian, a tall man, of fine presence, of a genial spirit, 
 persuasive and patriotic in speech, he had a wider influence 
 than any man in the State. He was a "Douglas" man in 
 i860 and a "Conditional Union" man until Lyon's famous 
 capture of Camp Jackson ; he was president of the conven- 
 tion which voted against secession, but finally, late in May, 
 1 86 1, accepted from Governor Jackson the appointment of 
 general in command of the Missouri State Guard, a kind of 
 an army of militia just then authorized by the secessionist 
 Legislature. Under this commission he organized several 
 brigades of Missouri secessionists and fought with them in 
 the west and southwest of the State half a dozen of the 
 haphazard engagements which were frequent in the first 
 year of the war; but his forces were not strong enough to 
 hold the country, the Confederate generals of neighboring 
 States would not or could not help him, and within six 
 months he was driven into Arkansas. 
 
 But the secessionists who remained in Missouri and 
 those who were in the rebel armies constantly dreamed of 
 the return of Price at the head of a conquering column, and 
 he himself was always nursing hopes and schemes to that 
 end. He considered himself especially the soldier of Mis- 
 souri, and all or nearly all Missouri regiments and batteries 
 in the Trans-Mississippi department were assigned to his 
 command. The exiled governor and lieutenant-governor 
 and other Missouri statesmen who found it prudent to 
 remain in Arkansas often communed with Price upon these 
 dreams. 
 
 When Governor Jackson died in Arkansas in 1862, the 
 lieutenant-governor (Reynolds) assumed to be governor. 
 Reynolds was a remarkable man. He was a young lawyer, 
 trained in politics, fiery and vindictive in spirit, with no 
 sense of humor, but with a vast conceit of his abilities and 
 
298 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 of his of&ce; and he looked upon his return to the capital 
 of Missouri as a holy crusade. Having had no military 
 experience himself, Price appeared to him to be the one 
 man to direct the military work of the crusade. There 
 must have been many conferences between the two in Ar- 
 kansas and Louisiana. Reynolds' term as lieutenant-gover- 
 nor expired at the end of 1862, and another governor and 
 lieutenant-governor had been elected; but it was clear to 
 him that that election was illegal, that he was the only 
 lawful governor, and Price and his Missouri soldiers cheer- 
 fully recognized him. He kept up strenuously his commu- 
 nications to the Confederate government and with the 
 governors of the other trans-Mississippi States, who, like 
 himself, were unwilling sojourners away from their capitals ; 
 and he constantly tried to persuade the powers at Richmond 
 that the one thing that would win the cause of the Con- 
 federacy was a vigorous campaign in Missouri. 
 
 But no great attention was given to him except by the 
 Missourians until the summer of 1864. Then there was a 
 concurrence of events which led Davis to consider that, 
 if not clearly practicable, such a campaign was at least 
 desirable; and he gave General Smith authority to try it. 
 
 Lee's army in Virginia was staggering under the blows 
 of Grant; Hood's in Georgia was being ground by Sherman; 
 but Forrest had achieved two brilliant successes in Missis- 
 sippi, and Smith had defeated Banks on the Red River. 
 The Presidential campaign was on between Lincoln and 
 McClellan, between the war party and the anti-war party, 
 and the secessionists not only watched the political cam- 
 paign with keenest interest, but with desperate zeal 
 made many attempts to aid the McClellan cause. Not 
 only in Missouri, but in Illinois, in Indiana, and even in 
 Iowa, there were secret societies — ^the "Sons of Liberty," 
 the "Order of American Knights," the "Knights of the 
 Golden Circle," the "Copperheads," etc., all in communi- 
 cation with Southern spies and emissaries, and busy in 
 discouraging Union enlistments, in exaggerating or in- 
 venting Union defeats and Confederate successes, and in 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 299 
 
 many ways seeking to obstruct the prosecution of the war 
 and to encourage the hopes of the rebels. Price himself 
 was said to be " Grand Commander" of one of these societies 
 —the "O. A. K's." 
 
 Now, on account of the geographical position of Mis- 
 souri, its possession was of very great importance, and it 
 was even more important to the Confederates than to the 
 Federals. If a Southern army could occupy Missouri just 
 before the Presidential election, hold the capital and per- 
 haps St. Louis, the vote of the State could not be taken, 
 or if taken would go for McClellan; the vote in the neigh- 
 boring States would or might also be turned to McClellan, 
 and Sherman would be compelled to retire from Atlanta to 
 the Ohio. A rosy dream it looks from our side, but 
 such visions were not uncommon in the warm Southern 
 imagination. Indeed, when Hood left Atlanta it was with 
 a definite idea of driving Sherman back to the Ohio by the 
 easy process of marching there ahead of him, and at the 
 same time Price was marching north to the recovery of 
 Missouri. 
 
 Kirby Smith grumbled against the proposed campaign, 
 but grumbling was one of his characteristics, and he was 
 jealous of Price, who had become a Confederate major- 
 general and inevitably would have command. A campaign 
 for the recovery of Arkansas would have been more to his 
 liking, and from a right military point of view that is what 
 ought to have been undertaken. 
 
 Though Smith at last consented, he was not at all 
 zealous. He found difificulties in the way of supplying a 
 force as large as Price wanted ; but Price would go anyhow 
 and his Achates Reynolds was more than eager. These 
 two had a common cause and worked out the plans in 
 loving harmony. .^Eneas was marching to redeem Missouri 
 and his Achates was going along to govern it. 
 
 To meet this movement no definite preparations were 
 made on our side until Price was on his march. General 
 Rosecrans, then at St. Louis in command of the Department 
 of Missouri, heard rumors of it in July and August, and 
 
30O THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 reported them to Washington; but Halleck and Grant 
 were not inclined to credit the reports, and treated them 
 indifferently. This was in part because they relied upon 
 General Steele at Little Rock, who held the fortified line 
 of the Arkansas River and who was sure that all movements 
 of the enemy west of the Mississippi were designed only 
 against his position. 
 
 But in fact communications between Price's army and 
 the secessionists and secret societies in Missouri and es- 
 pecially in St. Louis were several times detected, showing 
 schemes of organizing to aid Price's campaign. Indeed 
 there was so little effort at concealment that in August 
 Price's minor officers, and even the soldiers, talked openly 
 in their camps, within a hundred miles of Steele's head- 
 quarters, of the object of their preparations then plainly 
 in progress. 
 
 As there had been no regular Confederate forces in 
 Missouri for two years, nearly all United States volunteers 
 had been taken from the State to distant fields ; and Rose- 
 crans was often at his wit's end for means of defence against 
 the guerillas and bushwhackers who swarmed all over the 
 State. These miscreants doubled their numbers and ac- 
 tivity when the rumors of Price's coming were spread, and 
 every county clamored for protection against them. 
 
 Rosecrans' chief support was an organization called 
 the State Militia Cavalry, about 4000 of whom formed a 
 division of three brigades under General Sanborn. With 
 this division were several battalions of Iowa and Illinois 
 cavalry volunteers. Another body called the Provisional 
 Enrolled Militia had been recently enlisted under Rose- 
 crans' orders, especially to defend their own towns against 
 the guerillas, but, excepting a portion organized into two 
 mounted regiments and attached to Sanborn's "Cavalry 
 Militia," they proved of no use against Price. Rosecrans 
 was also then trying to raise in the State several new regi- 
 ments of United States volunteer infantry, and two of 
 these were organized so far as that a part of them did good 
 service in the first engagement. 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 30I 
 
 For the rest, all of Rosecrans' appeals to the War De- 
 partment, to the governors of neighboring States, and the 
 generals of neighboring departments, brought him at the 
 last hour, only a few regiments of "hundred-days" men 
 from lUniois, to help defend St. Louis. 
 
 But early in September that old Roman, General An- 
 drew J. Smith arrived at Cairo from Memphis, on his way 
 to join Sherman at Atlanta, with one of his divisions of 
 veteran infantry, numbering 5000. By dint of much 
 telegraphing Rosecrans got Grant to direct Smith to take 
 the field against Price; and he moved on up to St. Louis. 
 Then all in Missouri waited to see what Price would do. 
 
 Meantime, in July and August, small bodies of Price's 
 cavalry made short raids and dashes upon Steele's outlying 
 posts and gave him much trouble. He believed these 
 attacks Were only leading up to an assault in force upon 
 Little Rock, and called loudly for more troops. Accordingly 
 he received 7000 infantry from General Canby, commanding 
 at New Orleans, and a little later 4000 infantry and nearly 
 2000 cavalry from Memphis. 
 
 These Memphis troops were "lent" by General Wash- 
 bum for a special emergency supposed to exist at Devall's 
 Bluff, the strongest post on the Arkansas below Little Rock. 
 The infantry was one division of the Sixteenth Corps, com- 
 manded by General Joseph A. Mower, and the cavalry was 
 composed of detachments from two brigades of the cavalry 
 corps of the District of West Tennessee, commanded by a 
 bom cavalryman, now a member of this commandery, 
 General Edward F. Winslow. 
 
 The infantry moved by boats down the Mississippi and 
 up the White River to Des Arc. The cavalry was ferried 
 over the Mississippi at Memphis, marched across the cotmtry 
 through the great swamps of the Saint Francis valley, and 
 halted at Brownsville, within a few miles of Little Rock. 
 The weather was sultry almost beyond endurance. 
 
 This was September 6th, the very day on which Price 
 was crossing the Arkansas, 60 miles above Little Rock, with 
 two of his divisions, on his way to St. Louis. But General 
 
302 
 
 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 Steele still insisted that the movement was designed against 
 Little Rock. 
 
 When the expedition was ordered Price was in command 
 of the District of Arkansas, and he was to take all the 
 cavalry in that district. He did take all except a few 
 regiments and scattered companies. He had 33 regiments 
 and 10 battalions, with 6 batteries, all Arkansans and Mis- 
 sourians. When they entered Missouri they numbered 
 about 15,000, with 18 guns. They were all mounted, but 
 about 3000 were then unarmed. They were organized 
 as the "Army of Missouri," in three divisions, one com- 
 manded by Major-General James F. Fagan, a famous 
 Arkansas soldier, one by Major-General John S. Marmaduke, 
 a Missourian, afterward governor of Missouri, and a third 
 by Brigadier-General Joseph O. Shelby, also a Missourian 
 and a cavalry officer almost without a superior in marching 
 and in boldness. 
 
 Early in August Price received his instructions from 
 Smith, but he did not move until the 28th. On that day 
 he left Camden, in the south of Arkansas, with the two 
 divisions of Fagan and Marmaduke, and marched north 
 and east toward the Arkansas River, passing west of Little 
 Rock hardly twenty miles distant. He had already sent 
 Shelby into northeast Arkansas to collect recruits and 
 horses. On September 6th and 7th, at Dardanelle, he crossed 
 the Arkansas, without resistance from Steele, and within 
 a few days joined Shelby at Pocahontas, on the Black River, 
 within one day's march of the Missouri line. 
 
 Here the organization of his army was completed, and 
 the three divisions, moving on different roads, entered 
 Missouri September 19th, at a point nearly south of St. 
 Louis and distant by the roads about 250 miles. 
 
 General Steele finally heard of Price's concentration 
 near the Missouri border, and decided upon pursuit. This 
 was September 17th, and the next morning he started 
 Mower's division of infantry and Winslow's cavalry from 
 Brownsville. None of his own troops were sent. Twelve days 
 had thus been lost while Price was riding steadily away. 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 303 
 
 What the theory of this pursuit was does not appear in 
 the records; what might have happened if Price had been 
 overtaken can only be guessed ; but what was actually done 
 is a painful memory to the survivors, and especially to the 
 unfortunate infantry, for they not only had to march over 
 300 miles to the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau in the terrible 
 heat, half the way through malarious swamps and lowlands, 
 but they had to keep up with the cavalry, which could be 
 done only by marching far into the night. They actually 
 did bivouac near the cavalry every night for a week. 
 
 On the 29th Winslow's cavalry reached the Missouri 
 line on Price's trail, the infantry coming up two days later. 
 It was not known where Price then was, but his road was 
 followed 60 miles further, to GreenviUe, Mo., where, on 
 October 2d, definite news came of the battle at Pilot Knob, 
 six days before, with orders to Mower and Winslow to 
 move their men to the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau and 
 take boats for St. Louis. 
 
 They had been out five weeks from Memphis; had lost 
 and left behind, by sickness and death, a large part of 
 their numbers; the remainder were exhausted by the 
 extraordinary march and the heat ; nothing had been accom- 
 plished, and the end was within one day's ride by steam- 
 boat from the starting-point. But this is only one of the 
 many times during the war when a long and laborious 
 struggle reached its end with no record but one of costly 
 waste and suffering. 
 
 THE INVASION OF MISSOURI. 
 
 When Price crossed the border he looked upon himself 
 and his coming fame very seriously. His mission was to 
 redeem the State. The pretending Governor Reynolds with 
 him also looked upon himself and his future seriously — very 
 seriously. There was a hated usurper in his chair at Jeffer- 
 son City and the executive mansion was closed against 
 the lady of the lawful governor. He was eager to share the 
 dangers of the campaign and insisted upon a place at 
 the head of the column, notwithstanding the advice that his 
 
304 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 great ofSce justified him in taking a safer position. He 
 proudly replied that the proper place for the governor of 
 Missouri, marching to restoration, was in the front. 
 
 Not only high hopes, but virtuous resolutions for the 
 good of their countrymen, filled the breasts of these patriot 
 leaders. At the border Price announced that his campaign 
 was "not a raid," but for the "occupation" of Missouri; 
 and he and his division generals and Governor Reynolds 
 and General Kirby Smith all joined in a chorus of procla- 
 mations, declarations, and instructions, to the effect that 
 they were undertaking a just and holy cause, that there 
 must be no influence of personal feeling or revenge, no 
 wanton acts of destruction or devastation, or any seizure 
 of property except under necessity, by proper authority 
 and upon compensation. Formal orders were issued, 
 embodying these pious resolves and declaring that any 
 disobedience was simply a short way to death. As more 
 than half of Price's men were Missourians coming to their 
 own country, and one of the expectations of the campaign 
 was the enlistment or conscription of many more Mis- 
 sourians at their homes, the necessity for these orders sug- 
 gests a singular moral character in this army of redeemers. 
 
 But the high virtues thus published never got into 
 practice. The actual march of the patriots was more 
 fearful than a cyclone. Neither friend nor enemy was 
 spared. With unwavering impartiality they robbed se- 
 cessionist and Unionist alike. They plundered and burned 
 houses and stores, they drove people from their homes, 
 desolated the farms, carried off or killed the live stock, and 
 whatever they could not put to use they wantonly destroyed. 
 The orders of the General were repeated and repeated, but 
 nobody would submit to restraint in the midst of such 
 opportunities. A provost-guard was organized in each 
 brigade, and there was a provost-marshal-general, who 
 declared that the officers of his department were extremely 
 active in efforts to enforce orders ; there was a court-martial, 
 organized at the beginning of the campaign, which held 
 sittings from time to time on the march. The inspector- 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 305 
 
 general has testified that he rode two horses to death trying 
 to prevent straggling and "scouting." This scouting was 
 not the service implied in the ordinary use of that word, 
 but was simply marauding by authority, the objects being 
 plunder and personal vengeance. The Missourians, re- 
 turning near their old homes under the protection of an 
 army, could not resist the desire to punish their former 
 neighbors whom they believed to be their enemies. General 
 Price absolutely and repeatedly forbade the horrid practice, 
 but it appeared in the court of inquiry which was held after 
 this campaign that, in spite of his stringent orders, per- 
 mits were granted for these " scouts, " not only by company 
 and regimental officers, but even by brigade and division 
 commanders. 
 
 For disobedience of these orders arrests were made 
 from time to time, from privates up to colonels, but there 
 is no evidence that any one was tried or punished, except 
 that one brigadier, in a passion, shot down two of his men 
 out of hand, not so much for committing crimes as because 
 one of them imprudently declared that they meant to keep 
 at it. 
 
 But if the rough riders had no respect for their general's 
 orders, neither had they any for their governor's comfort 
 or dignity. That precious little man, whom they had for 
 six weeks carried along at the head of the main column, in 
 all the glory of a four-horse ambulance, complained bitterly 
 to Price, in front of Jefferson City, the capital he had come 
 to possess, that the plunder was so complete and the man- 
 agement so bad that he could not even get shoes for his 
 horses; and he said, in extremity of grief, that "the whole- 
 sale pillage of horses and mules, as of goods generally in 
 the vicinity of the army, has made it impossible for me to 
 obtain anything by purchase. In fact, in an expedition 
 designed to re-establish the rightful government of Missouri, 
 the Governor of the State cannot even purchase a horse or a 
 blanket, while stragglers and camp-followers are enriching 
 themselves by plundering the defenceless f amiHes of our own 
 soldiers in the Confederate service." 
 
3o6 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 After a time Price gave up even the reiteration of his 
 orders, and he seems to have considered it a defence, before 
 the court of inquiry after the campaign, when his witnesses 
 said that his men were largely recruits, conscripts, "ab- 
 sentees," and deserters, that they were officered by men 
 of their own kind, were undisciplined, and that discipline 
 was impossible with such a command. But that was when 
 he was required to explain his crushing defeat. 
 
 When Price entered the State his organization and 
 marching orders were elaborately complete. General Pagan, 
 with the largest division, marched in the middle toward 
 Pilot Knob, General Marmaduke on the right about ten 
 miles distant, and General Shelby at the same distance on 
 the left. 
 
 Each column took in the towns and villages within its 
 reach, occasionally driving out or destroying a small party 
 of militia, converged at Fredericktown, and moved on to 
 the front of Pilot Knob, where they halted the night of 
 September 26th. 
 
 The next day was to witness Price's first engagement 
 and his humiliating defeat, and on the Union side one of 
 the most brilliant achievements of the war. 
 
 BATTLE OF PILOT KNOB. 
 
 Pilot Knob is 86 miles southwest of St. Louis. It was 
 then the terminus of the Iron Mountain railroad from St. 
 Louis, a central depot for military supplies for southeast 
 Missouri, and the site of large and very important ironworks. 
 The chief defence was an earthwork called Fort Davidson, 
 which was simply a large bastion, then mounting four 
 siege guns and three large howitzers. It stood in a rounded 
 plain or basin, surrounded except on the northwest by steep 
 hills five or six hundred feet high. Field guns planted on 
 any of these hiUs could fire directly into the fort, and there 
 were no bomb-proofs. From the east hills a creek ran 
 westward across the plain 500 yards south of the fort and 
 then turned to the northwest. Along the east side of this 
 stream was the road to Potosi, a post 20 miles north. A 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 307 
 
 curtain of rifle pits ran out on the east and west sides of the 
 fort, facing southward. Directly south of the fort was a 
 gap between two of the hills, through which came the road 
 from the south, the way the enemy would be expected to 
 come. 
 
 The night of September 24th Rosecrans heard that Price 
 was nearing Pilot Knob. He directed Brigadier-General 
 Thomas Ewing, Jr., then commanding the District of St. 
 Louis, which included Pilot Knob, to take one brigade of 
 Smith's division and patrol and garrison the railroad. 
 Ewing was busy in these duties, the morning of the 26th, 
 forty miles north of Pilot Knob, when scouts reported the 
 enemy at Fredericktown, twenty miles southeast of it. 
 He took five companies of the 14th Iowa Infantry, vet- 
 erans, and went down to Pilot Knob by rail. He found 
 Major Wilson, of the State Militia, in command, gathering 
 his men from small posts in the district and preparing for 
 defence. Wilson has got together eight companies from 
 different regiments of volunteers, raw troops who had just 
 been enlisted, eight companies of the State Militia, seven 
 of them mounted and one dismounted, one battery of field 
 guns and two mortars. With these and the 14th Iowa 
 detachment, Ewing could number 105 1 officers and men. 
 He at once organized all into a defensive force, and also 
 armed and organized the men employed in the quarter- 
 master and commissary departments, with some citizens, 
 so that, altogether, he had a mixed lot of about 1200 to 
 hold the fort. 
 
 A reconnoitring force, sent out as soon as Ewing arrived, 
 returned within a few hours, reporting the rebel advance 
 not far beyond Ironton, a village two miles south of the 
 fort ; but it was yet uncertain whether it was part or all of 
 Price's force. Ewing thereupon sent down to Ironton 
 the four companies of the 14th Iowa and all his mounted 
 men, the best half of his command, under Major Wilson, 
 to feel of the enemy and if possible drive him back. This 
 was apparently successful, but it turned out that only 
 Price's advance had been met. During the night Wilson 
 
3o8 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 had to retire to Ironton, and at daybreak he was pushed 
 back to the gap, which he then attempted to hold. 
 
 E wing's orders had been to hold the fort against any- 
 mere detachment, and to evacuate if the main army of the 
 rebels should appear; but he could not yet learn the num- 
 bers of those advancing; there were large quantities of 
 supplies at the post; the ironworks were of great impor- 
 tance, and there would be great advantages in delaying 
 the enemy two or three days and in making a stubborn 
 fight. To gain these advantages and to develop the plans 
 of the enemy by conflict Ewing determined to hold on. 
 
 And then this bold young general, who came from the 
 State where in those days generals grew, and who was 
 schooled in Kansas where, a little earlier, men learned the 
 courage of their convictions, performed one of the most 
 brilliant deeds of the war, without a parallel unless it be 
 in Corse's defence of Allatoona. 
 
 It was not,indeed,Price's whole force that was advancing 
 upon him, but the two divisions of Fagan and Marmaduke, 
 with ten guns, numbering nine or ten thousand. The 
 third division, Shelby's, had been sent, by a westward 
 circuit, to strike the railroad twenty miles north of the 
 fort, which was successfully done, and thus General Smith 
 was prevented from reinforcing or communicating with 
 Ewing. 
 
 Ewing directed Wilson to hold the gap by fighting at 
 the southern end, and if overpowered to fall back along 
 the hillside, so as to be out of the range of the fort guns. 
 Wilson resisted long and obstinately. Marmaduke tried 
 to flank him by going westward around or over the western 
 hill, but as soon as his men appeared they were picked off 
 by skirmishers and broken up by the howitzers in the fort. 
 Then a larger force was pushed into the gap along the hill- 
 sides, and Wilson was driven back ; but all the guns of the 
 fort could be turned in that direction, which was done, and 
 the gap was again cleared and again seized by Wilson. 
 
 For an hour now no further attempt was made. Then 
 Price advanced his entire force, covering the gap and the 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 3O9 
 
 hills on both sides, and Ewing's men retired to the fort. 
 The rifle pits were manned, supported by two of the field 
 guns, and a plenty of canister was supplied to the guns in 
 the fort, to sweep the plain. The lines of the enemy were 
 seen coming down the slopes of the two hiUs in front. On 
 the west hill they had planted four guns within 800 yards of 
 the fort, and were getting its range and dropping shell into it. 
 
 Under cover of this fire. Price ordered an assault. Each 
 of his two division generals present had urged the assault 
 and had assured Price that he could with his division take 
 the fort within a few minutes. Marmaduke's line was 
 formed near the foot of the west hill, facing the southwest 
 front of the fort, and Pagan's near the foot of the east hill, 
 facing the southeast front. There were six brigades and 
 several unattached commands in these lines, a seventh 
 brigade having been sent, mounted, round the west hill 
 and across the creek to the Potosi road, to cut off retreat 
 in that direction. Pagan's line was more or less broken 
 by the necessity of moving through the village of Pilot 
 Knob, and Marmaduke's by the ravines, rocks, and fallen 
 trees in his way; but they advanced steadily. 
 
 With canister and shell Ewing swept the slopes, and 
 when the lines reached the plain his muskets had easy 
 and destructive range. Marmaduke's men would not 
 stand it. When they reached the creek and found they were 
 sheltered in its dry bed they stuck there. Only a part went 
 further and hardly a hundred approached the ditch under 
 the fort. Then the survivors turned and fled, and, getting 
 again into the dry creek, they hugged that safe position 
 until after dark. 
 
 Pagan's men did better. They moved up with fine 
 courage, though harassed and disordered by a few com- 
 panies which obstinately occupied several positions of 
 advantage in succession and retired only when the muskets 
 in the fort and east rifle pits could open at short range. 
 Then they made a rush for the ditch and the advance reached 
 it, but they too then lost heart and fled, leaving the plain 
 covered with dead and wounded. 
 
310 
 
 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 Meantime Pagan's mounted brigade, which had flanked 
 the fort on the west and taken the Potosi road, moved down 
 from the north, but was met by a sortie and fierce attack 
 from the rifle pits and driven off. Desultory firing followed 
 in front, at long range, for an hour, and night closed the 
 conflict. 
 
 Ewing now found that Price himself was there, with 
 two of his divisions, and that Shelby's third division was 
 between him and St. Louis. He believed he had been 
 attacked by 12,000 men with ten guns, and these numbers 
 were not much beyond the truth. But he did not know 
 that Price had sent north for Shelby's division to aid in 
 the next assault, nor that Shelby, without receiving the 
 order, was already moving down by night. He was expected 
 to come by the Potosi road, a movement which would have 
 cut off Ewing's retreat, but it happened that he followed 
 the railroad, on a line parallel with the Potosi road and a 
 few miles east of it. Ewing had lost a full quarter of his 
 men, had but 900 left, and these were worn by two days' 
 strenuous efforts, one whole day in fighting. 
 
 He saw that fighting outside the fort was hopeless, and 
 he felt sure that daylight would find all the enemy's guns 
 planted on the hillsides, firing directly into the fort. His 
 last news of General Smith's forces was that two regiments 
 were at Mineral Point, near Potosi, twenty-three miles 
 north, but Shelby had cut the telegraph line and the 
 railroad. He determined to evacuate. It was the only 
 chance to escape surrender or destruction. 
 
 On the Potosi road the enemy had had no guns and only 
 the mounted brigade which had been driven off. Ewing 
 hoped that it had left the road or that he could evade it 
 or, if necessary, drive it again. At any rate it was the only 
 road or pass not found heavily guarded. To add to his 
 troubles a great fire at the neighboring ironworks, burning 
 a vast pile of charcoal, lighted up the fort and valley like 
 noonday. 
 
 But nothing could daunt this splendid soldier. He sent 
 out scouting parties to clear the village and the valley of 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 3II 
 
 any straggling or reconnoitring rebels, and kept his chain 
 of pickets alert ; and, to diminish the chances of discovery, 
 he did not begin preparations till midnight. Then he had 
 his men busy, filling knapsacks, haversacks, and cartridge 
 boxes, and piling on or near the magazine all the materials 
 he could not take away but which the rebels might. At 
 three o'clock, the infantry, led by Colonel Fletcher, of 
 the 47th Missouri, afterward governor of Missouri, 
 moved out into the ditch and through the upper rifle pit, 
 and formed in a deep shadow. The cavalry and guns 
 went over the drawbridge, after covering it with tents and 
 soft stuff to prevent noise. Some one was left to make 
 sure of the firing of the magazine before daybreak. 
 
 Now the forlorn column took the road and moved as 
 fast as could be done quietly. The fires of a camp were 
 seen on the right and another on the left, but not a rebel 
 was met. 
 
 There is a romantic tale told by Confederate of&cers 
 since the war, to explain their failure to watch this road. 
 It is the old story of the impressionable young brigadier 
 and the fascinating lady who wiles him and his staff away 
 from their posts, to a feast in her mansion, until the plans 
 of her friends succeed. There was in fact a brigade of 
 Arkansans, commanded by Colonel Dobbin, directed to 
 hold this road; but whether it was the deceitfulness of 
 woman or only commonplace neglect of duty that caused 
 his failure I do not know. 
 
 Ewing pushed his column more and more rapidly. Ten 
 miles away, before the day broke, he heard the explosion 
 of the magazine, and knew that if a pursuit was not already 
 begun it would soon begin. He sent a party across the 
 country, to reach the troops at Mineral Point and have them 
 march down to meet him, but it had to return with the 
 report that these regiments had fallen back toward St. 
 Louis and that Shelby had taken Potosi. Ewing at once 
 turned off westward, on the road to RoUa. Shelby had 
 in fact halted on the Potosi road, only a few miles'^ahead, 
 and was waiting for Ewing to appear. 
 
312 
 
 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 At sundown this plucky little column had made thirty- 
 one miles from Pilot Knob. But both Shelby and Marma- 
 duke were closing up in pursuit with their men mounted. 
 Learning that the further road to RoUa was mostly open 
 and easily attacked by cavalry, Ewing now turned off to 
 the northeast, toward Harrison, thirty-five miles distant, 
 and marched all night. He meant to gain the advantage 
 of a road which ran for many miles along the side of a steep 
 ridge, where his column could not be flanked. In the 
 morning, just after the ridge was reached, the enemy's 
 advance charged upon the rear, but Ewing kept his veterans 
 and two guns there, and it was impracticable to flank him. 
 Repeated attempts to break the rear were made, and fighting 
 went on all day. Near Harrison the country became open 
 and the whole command had to be kept fighting in rear and 
 on both flanks. But night came to their relief and they 
 got into Harrison. The horses were sheltered in a railway 
 cut and the men posted behind barricades of railway ties 
 and buildings, where they received and repulsed another 
 assault. 
 
 Now a train of cars appeared from St. Louis, carrying 
 stores to Rolla. Ewing turned out the goods and put in his 
 men, but before he could move he saw that the stations 
 nearest Harrison, on both sides, were burning. He took 
 the men off the cars and spent the night fortifying. 
 
 At daybreak the enemy appeared in force, and held 
 their position all day, but did not assault until night, when 
 again they failed. But they maintained a constant fire from 
 skirmish lines, while Ewing kept all the men possible at 
 work in strengthening his defences. All that night too 
 was devoted to this work, though there were frequent 
 harassing alarms. Saturday morning Price showed larger 
 forces and drew in nearer, with an incessant skirmish fire. 
 Every moment an assault was expected. Ewing had sent 
 to Rolla and Franklin, the nearest posts, and to St. Louis, 
 for help, but no word came back to him. Suddenly, early 
 in the afternoon, the rebels withdrew from the front, and 
 two hours later 500 men of the 17th Illinois Cavalry rode 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 313 
 
 in from Rolla. There was still a night's march before 
 Ewing's devoted band, but there was no more fighting, 
 and the next day it was safe under the guns at Rolla. 
 
 Seven days these stubborn fellows had been "on the 
 jump, " as they say in the west, three days and nights they 
 had marched, covering nearly loo miles, three days and 
 nights they had been fighting and fortifying, always 
 against many times their number, and all with no thought 
 in the mind of their fearless and indefatigable leader except 
 that of compelling success. One third of his men were lost, 
 but for these the enemy had had to pay four or five for one. 
 At Pilot Knob alone Price's killed and wounded were re- 
 ported by the post-surgeon there at over 1500. 
 
 To the unfortunate Price it must have seemed that he 
 had struck a tiger, but to those of us who have had the 
 privilege of knowing General Ewing he was not a tiger at 
 all, but a gentle, kindly man, a lofty, unyielding patriot. 
 
 It was a disastrous day for Price. Of course he tried 
 to minimize it in his official report, but it stands out in his 
 court of inquiry; and it is plain enough in the records that 
 it changed his mind and his plans and was a serious blow 
 to his confidence of the success of his campaign. 
 
 He marched on toward St. Louis, but when within 
 forty miles he turned to the left, sent a brigade to take 
 Washington, a small town on the Missouri, forty miles from 
 St. Louis, and then moved west upon Jefferson City. He 
 reports that he had learned that the defences of St. Louis 
 were so strong that it would not be prudent to attack them; 
 and so he easily abandoned that first great goal of his cam- 
 paign and set out for the second, — the capture of the State 
 capital. His men were very active, making extra marches, 
 capturing small posts, sometimes by assault, sometimes 
 without, breaking up the Pacific railroad, then in con- 
 struction, burning bridges, plundering towns and farms, 
 and making a wide swath of desolation. On October 4th he 
 passed the Gasconade River, after some resistance by the 
 militia, but at the Osage River, twelve miles from Jefferson 
 City, and at the Moreau, six miles, he met some experienced 
 
314 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 troops and had to fight hard, suffering severely and losing, 
 among other officers, one of his best brigadiers, Colonel 
 Shanks. The next day, October 7th, he appeared before 
 Jefferson City with all his force. 
 
 The care of Generals Rosecrans and Smith had been 
 chiefly for St. Louis. Smith had withdrawn his infantry 
 to the north of the Meramec, within ten miles of the city. 
 Now he marched west toward Washington, and such other 
 troops as were available were sent up the Missouri on boats. 
 The scattered parts of Sanborn's division of the militia 
 cavalry were hurried toward Jefferson City, and managed 
 to concentrate there before the investment was complete, 
 though not without a sharp brush with Price's left. General 
 Clinton B. Fisk had been ordered to take command at 
 Jefferson City, and by the time Price appeared he had 
 gathered a heterogeneous body of over 7000 men, about 
 half being Sanborn's militia cavalry and the remainder 
 enrolled militia, unorganized volunteers, stray detachments, 
 and citizens. But there was a good line of entrenchments, 
 and he manned them with the dismounted militia cavalry, 
 as being the most experienced troops, holding the others in 
 reserve, but keeping them busy digging more rifle pits. 
 
 Price's great fault was slowness. He spent all of October 
 7th in drawing up his lines and exchanging useless artillery 
 fire with Fisk. During the night his movements indicated 
 a complete investment, but in the morning, after threat- 
 ening an attack on Fisk's right, he withdrew, and a re- 
 connoisance disclosed that he was marching to the west. 
 Sanborn's cavalry was immediately mounted and set to 
 work harassing the rear. He moved his brigades on the 
 different roads taken by Price's divisions, and kept them 
 all occupied in petty fighting till Boonville was reached. 
 
 Price says he had information that there were 15,000 
 Union troops at Jefferson City and 24,000 more moving 
 upon him from St. Louis a report two or three times as 
 great as the fact. But his experience at Pilot Knob was 
 probably the secret spring of his present caution. It would 
 be a long time before he could again get his wild riders to 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 3^5 
 
 assault earthworks. So, as he had easily given up his 
 first great object of takmg St. Louis upon an extravagant 
 report of its strength which he made no effort to verify, 
 so now he did the same thing at the State capital, his one 
 other grand goal. 
 
 "What the thoughts and the language of the crushed 
 Governor Reynolds were as he rode away from the capital 
 and the official mansion he had so long coveted and so long 
 labored to reach, from which he was now separated only 
 by some intrenchments and militia, without striking a 
 blow, probably no man could adequately tell. Certain 
 papers which he wrote two months later, though showing 
 heroic attempts at restraint, are yet lurid in meaning. 
 
 THE ATTEMPT UPON KANSAS. 
 
 In his official report Price keeps up a pretence that after 
 he left Jefferson City he was still seeking the proclaimed 
 objects of his campaign, and he talks of the people rallying 
 to his standard, the gathering of recruits, and the capture 
 of arms and ammunition for them; but within a few days 
 he decided that he would not be able to protect and feed 
 so many, and that anyhow there were not enough arms to 
 be had. He shows that he now considered his march as 
 simply a big raid, the goal of which was Kansas. After- 
 thoughts are sometimes in striking contrast to forethoughts. 
 
 There was nothing to be got in Kansas which could not 
 be got more plentifully and more easily in Missouri, and 
 retreat southward through Missouri would be easier and 
 safer than through Kansas. The real motive of a march 
 through Kansas, a free State which had not yet seen a 
 Confederate campaign, may reasonably be guessed. 
 
 Major-General Curtis, commanding the Department 
 of Kansas, had suspected from the beginning that Price 
 had Kansas in mind, and before Price reached Missouri he 
 was busily engaged in preparing to defend Kansas against 
 him. He collected his troops from distant points in the 
 Indian country, called upon the governor of Kansas to turn 
 out the militia, and got into an active correspondence with 
 
3l6 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 Rosecrans and other general officers in Missouri. By the 
 time Price reached Jefferson City Curtis had his forces 
 gathered and organized near Kansas City. He had about 
 5000 U. S. volunteer cavalry, nearly all being Kansas regi- 
 ments under General Blunt, about the same number of 
 Kansas miHtia under General Deitzler, and thirty field guns, 
 mostly small howitzers. 
 
 Meantime the pursuit from St. Louis was kept up, but 
 for ten days it was infantry following cavalry. General 
 Smith was too prudent to move his infantry far from St. 
 Louis as long as Price threatened that place, but Price's 
 march was clearly westward. Smith set out after him. 
 The destruction of bridges and some uncertainty as to 
 Price's movements, however, caused delays, so that Smith 
 did not reach Jefferson City until October 13th, five days 
 after Price's departure. 
 
 Mower's division of Smith's command was stiU more 
 unlucky. It had been sent from Cape Girardeau to St. 
 Louis on boats, and on the 9th, still in the boats, it moved 
 on up the Missouri River, ordered to Jefferson City; but 
 the water was low and the sand-bars numerous, and these 
 brigades did not reach Jefferson City until the 15th and 
 1 8th, when Smith and the other division were seventy miles 
 further west and moving. Mower landed and set out to 
 join by forced marches, making twenty-five nules a day and 
 one day thirty-three. They did finally join on the border 
 of Kansas, but both divisions had to see that their heroic 
 efforts were wasted. They were one day behind the pre- 
 liminary engagement and seventy miles behind the decisive 
 battle. They were halted and rested, and then returned 
 to St. Louis. 
 
 Winslow's cavalry, which had marched with Mower 
 through Arkansas, had a different experience. It also 
 went from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis on boats, but was 
 stopped at St. Louis long enough for reclothing and for 
 shoeing and replacing horses, and on October i ith marched 
 for Jefferson City. 
 
 It reached there on the i6th, and found itself under 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 317 
 
 the orders of Major-General Pleasanton. He had been 
 a conspicuous cavalry commander in the Army of the 
 Potomac, and was now in charge of one of the districts 
 of the Department of Missouri. 
 
 His present orders were to organize all the cavalry in 
 the campaign into a provisional division, and to operate 
 in conjunction with Smith's infantry. He effected an 
 organization in four brigades, three of them being Sanborn's 
 militia cavalry already spoken of, commanded by Generals 
 Sanborn, Brown, and McNeil, and the fourth Winslow's. 
 Winslow's brigade had been diminished by detachment 
 and casualties imtil it now numbered about 1200. It was 
 composed of detachments from the 2d and 3d Iowa, 
 4th and loth Missouri, and 7 th Indiana, all of them old 
 regiments. With Sanborn's militia, the division contained 
 about 5500 men. The militia brigades had each a section 
 of artUlery, but there were no guns with Winslow's brigade. 
 The most of Winslow's men, however, had the Spencer 
 carbine. 
 
 On the loth Price had occupied Boonville, on the Mis- 
 souri, sixty miles above Jefferson City, with Sanborn's 
 cavalry harassing him flank and rear. He reports that he 
 captured at Boonville a lot of arms and received 1200 to 
 1500 recruits. He sent detachments in all directions to 
 get arms and ammunition, to destroy railways, steamboats, 
 and other property, some of them under murderous guer- 
 illa chiefs who were not ofificers of his army; and he sent 
 two generals and three brigades to capture Glasgow, a 
 small town on the north bank of the river defended by 
 Colonel Chester Harding, who, on his way down the river, 
 happened to stop there the day before with 600 men but 
 no artillery. After an obstinate resistance of eight hours, 
 and driven to the last position of defence, Harding sur- 
 rendered, and Price got 500 prisoners and about 1000 small 
 arms. The stores for which the enemy had come Harding 
 had destroyed. This was the most important success of 
 Price in the whole campaign. 
 
 Then he moved on toward Lexington and reached it on 
 
3l8 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 the 19th. Lexington is on the Missouri, about 150 miles 
 northwest from Je£Eerson City. General Curtis had already 
 sent General Blunt from Kansas City, with his division 
 of volunteers, to meet Price. The Kansas miHtia had 
 refused to leave their State. General Blunt reached Lexing- 
 ton on the 1 8th, and waited one day for news of the militia 
 which he still hoped would be sent to reinforce him. Price 
 promptly attacked him, and, having heavier artillery and 
 a country easy for flanking, drove him back toward Kansas 
 City. Blunt retreated until he reached the Little Blue 
 River, a stream flowing north to the Missouri, twenty nules 
 east from Kansas City. The west bank of this river is 
 bold and rough, and Blunt undertook to defend it. But, 
 unfortunately, under conflicting orders he flrst moved 
 the greater part of his force to Independence, ten miles 
 further west, and then returned it to the Little Blue. Mean- 
 time Price's advance arrived and forced the crossing, and 
 then with continuous fighting Blunt was driven. back to 
 Independence. From this place he retreated by night 
 westward to the west bank of the Big Blue River, where 
 he found Curtis busily engaged constructing defences. This 
 was the night of October 21st. Curtis had induced the 
 Kansas militia to cross the border for operations in the 
 vicinity of Kansas City, and the Big Blue was only five 
 miles from that place. 
 
 Pleasanton was all this time following Price with the 
 militia cavalry, striking his rear and flanks as opportunity 
 offered, but deferring any serious engagement until the 
 arrival of Winslow's brigade. Winslow, on leaving Jefferson 
 City, had marched by the most direct route toward Kansas 
 City, instead of following the course of the river as Price 
 and Pleasanton had done. He was frequently delayed 
 in crossing streams where the bridges had been de- 
 stroyed, but the last two days he made seventy-five 
 miles, reaching Independence in the afternoon of October 
 
 22d. 
 
 Here Pleasanton was found, his front being then en- 
 gaged with Price's rear, just west of the town. There had 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 3 19 
 
 been a great opportunity, for Curtis had met Price's ad- 
 vance at the Big Blue, five miles ahead, and resisted the 
 passage. Between the two forces Price ought to have 
 been hurt; but for some reason action was not vigorous 
 enough, and Price crossed the river at Byram's Cord. His 
 first division was over and moving toward Kansas City, 
 six miles distant. 
 
 Pleasanton, who had, practically, been waiting for days 
 to get Winslow's experienced troopers in his front, now 
 immediately ordered the brigade into action; and with- 
 out stopping at Independence it rode on to the front. 
 The 3d Iowa, being the head of the column, drove in 
 the enemy's rear guard and with the aid of the loth 
 Missouri, which made a vigorous dash upon his right, com- 
 pelled Marmaduke who commanded the division, to dis- 
 mount and face a new enemy, while he slowly yielded. 
 Night came on, but Winslow pressed forward, with oc- 
 casional volleys, and crowded Marmaduke into the river, 
 though not then aware of that effect. Marmaduke's report 
 shows that he was in great trouble during the night between 
 the necessities of constant defence at short range and of 
 crossing the river in darkness. But, as the hills at this 
 point are on the east side of the river and precipitous, there 
 was no reaching the ford with artillery, and Marmaduke 
 got over before morning. 
 
 Price now faced about and formed his whole command 
 for battle. His belief was that Smith had come up with 
 a large body of veteran infantry and cavalry. Shelby's 
 division was his left wing, at Westport, facing north on 
 Kansas City, Marmaduke's the right wing, facing east on 
 the Big Blue, and Pagan's the centre, on the Independence 
 road. Curtis had fallen back before him and was in position 
 with his right on the Kansas State line, facing south, in 
 front of Shelby, and his left facing east in front of Pagan. 
 This left Pleasanton on the east bank of the Big Blue, in 
 front of Marmaduke, who held the west bank, five miles 
 from Curtis and separated from him not only by Mar- 
 maduke's division, but also, practically, by Pagan's. 
 
320 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 Pleasanton was thus attacking Price's right wing, while 
 Curtis held his left and centre. 
 
 The mihtia cavalry of Sanborn and Winslow's brigade 
 gave Pleasanton here a force of about 5500, while Curtis 
 had a motley command of 12,000 to 15,000, composed of 
 Blunt 's Kansas cavalry, a division of Kansas militia, many 
 small detachments of various kinds hurried in from various 
 posts, and many armed citizens; but he had no time for 
 careful organization or careful dispositions. 
 
 BATTLES OF THE BIG BLUE AND WESTPORT. 
 
 At the earliest light on the 23d Winslow moved on 
 toward the Big Blue, and Pleasanton added one of the 
 Missouri brigades to his command. This was General 
 Brown's, now under Colonel Phillips. The enemy began 
 to throw shell from a low plateau 500 yards west of the 
 river. Winslow ordered Phillips to take his brigade through 
 the ford and move by the left around the right of this 
 position, while he sent one battalion of the 4th Iowa, 
 dismounted, to wade across on his own right and drive 
 off the enemy's skirmishers. Two guns were opened on 
 the enemy to cover these movements. Both crossings 
 were made under sharp fire, with some loss, and the re- 
 mainder of Winslow's brigade then crossed easily, quickly 
 dismounted, and charged Marmaduke's position in front. 
 Marmaduke ought to have held on, having his whole division 
 there, but a second charge broke him, and he moved off 
 rapidly to the west. Unfortunately, at the moment of 
 success, Winslow was severely wounded in the leg. He 
 attempted to continue the command in the saddle and then 
 in an ambulance, but was compelled to give up. 
 
 Marmaduke's lively imagination led him to report of 
 this affair that he was " attacked •with, great fierceness by 
 an overwhelming force and after a most strenuous resistance 
 had to fall back before the foe," none of which was true 
 except the falling back. He must have had twice the 
 numbers of the attacking force and certainly had twice 
 as many guns. 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 321 
 
 But, though this was not a great battle, it was highly 
 important in its results. While it was going on Curtis and 
 Blunt were fighting a bigger and hotter battle with Shelby 
 and Fagan. AU the forenoon they were bitterly struggling' 
 with Kansas City for the stake, sometimes one driving the 
 other back and sometimes yielding a nule or so. 
 
 It was in this battle that Price first made his novel use 
 of unarmed men. He had about 3000 in a brigade under 
 a Colonel Charles H. Tyler. He held them in line Mrithin 
 view of his enemy, more or less under fire, and with a line 
 of armed skirmishers in front. Of course they moved from 
 time to time, as the action required, to make a show of 
 numbers. 
 
 The losses were heavy on both sides, but before noon 
 the rebels suddenly ceased to attack, and soon were seen 
 mounted and moving rapidly southward over the prairie. 
 This was due to Marmaduke's defeat by Winslow, which 
 had broken off Price's right flank, and compelled him to 
 withdraw his whole force. And the next blow of Winslow' s 
 brigade turned this movement into a rapid retreat. 
 
 When Marmaduke was driven off Pleasanton moved 
 Sanborn's and McNeil's brigades across the river and sent 
 them directly westward, in column of companies, con- 
 verging with Price's march southward from Westport. 
 Sanborn, in advance, struck the left of Shelby's division 
 on a prairie, and there was another fight. As Shelby had 
 to get out he was ugly, and Sanborn's brigade was roughly 
 handled and thrust aside. 
 
 Winslow's brigade had now come under the command 
 of Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick W. Benteen, of the loth 
 Missouri Cavalry, a remarkably fine officer, who afterward 
 distinguished himself in the regular army in many campaigns 
 against the Indians. As the brigade had been reUeved by 
 the other brigades after the defeat of Marmaduke and was 
 under no orders. Colonel Benteen sent the men into a large 
 cornfield to feed their horses. While the horses were 
 feeding the noise of battle to the west was heard, and pres- 
 ently both sides in the conflict appeared over a swell of the 
 
322 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 prairie. It was Shelby pressing -back Sanborn and McNeil. 
 Seeing now in the cornfield still another enemy, Shelby's 
 gunners began to throw shells . 
 
 Benteen did not wait for news or orders. His trum- 
 peter sounded To horse ! and quickly the brigade was out 
 of the field, formed in column of companies on the open 
 prairie. Half a mile in front, along a low swell of the 
 prairie, was the enemy's line, with two guns firing, but firing 
 too high. Nothing between but the tall light grass. 
 
 Forward ! rang out from a score of bugles, followed by 
 Trot ! and then Gallop ! Shelby now had four guns throvnng 
 shot as fast as possible, but there was little time for that, 
 and the range was high. His small arms rattled with 
 desperate speed, and the air was thick with smoke in his 
 front, but not a shot was fired from the advancing column. 
 No sound from them but the scream of bugles and the 
 pounding feet of their galloping horses. As one man they 
 rode, without check or waver, like Fate rushing upon her 
 victim. Within 200 yards Benteen ordered On the left 
 into line ! and then Charge ! the bugles screamed. Rarely 
 has there been a scene like that. Benteen meant to break 
 the line first and fight afterward. 
 
 But the enemy would not stand it. Before they were 
 reached they broke and fled in the utmost precipitation, 
 scattering widely toward the south, fighting more or less as 
 individuals, but mostly trying to escape only. The brigade 
 was recalled, formed, and pursued four miles, until the 
 rebels gained the cover of a range of wooded hills behind 
 a rocky creek. General Curtis then appeared, with Blunt 
 and the Kansas cavalry. Curtis was superior in rank to 
 Pleasanton, and he took command of both forces and went 
 into bivouac. 
 
 It was clear now that Price's only course must be a 
 retreat south to the Arkansas River, but there was some 
 confusion of counsel as to whether pursuit should be made, 
 and Curtis did not make a start until the next day. He had 
 Blunt's division and Pleasanton's, together about 9000 
 cavalry, with twelve or fifteen Hght guns. Price had as 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 323 
 
 many guns and more men, but he had lost a large part 
 of his best men, and a mass of green recruits or con- 
 scripts and unarmed men encumbered rather than aided 
 him. He persisted in keeping up a long train, and he 
 had been marching nearly two months. He was not at all 
 as strong as he looked ; but Curtis was cautious. 
 
 At ten A.M. on the 24th the column set out in pursuit, 
 with Blunt in front. The way led over wild prairie, directly 
 south, in Missouri but near the Kansas border. No attempt 
 to check was made by Price, except by burning the prairie 
 grass, which was not effective, and the pursuers rode sixty- 
 four miles without stopping, except to feed the horses and 
 make coffee. Then, at four in the morning. Price's rear 
 was struck at the river Osage or Marais des Cygnes. The 
 ford was deep and miry, the enemy had been all night 
 crossing, and his rear was still on the north side. Two low 
 hiUs or "mounds" covered the ford and were defended. 
 It was very dark and raining. As soon as there was light 
 enough the hill on the right was taken by the 4th Iowa, 
 in a dismounted rush, while the other hill fell to another 
 regiment, and the rebels not yet over the river were cap- 
 tured, with a lot of loaded wagons and one gun. Meantime 
 Colonel Benteen had found the river fordable farther up, 
 and a part of the division crossed there. All were over 
 by ten o'clock. General Blunt's division was far behind. 
 
 BATTLE OF MINE CREEK. 
 
 The rain had ceased, the sun shone briUiantly, the air 
 was bracing, and the scene was again a great prairie. Ben- 
 teen's brigade was the last of Pleasanton's division to leave 
 the river, but within a few miles it passed two of the Mis- 
 souri brigades. The third one, Phillips's, was still ahead. 
 
 As Price could not be far in advance, the formation 
 was in column of companies. At about twelve o'clock the 
 advanced skirmishers reported the enemy halted. Benteen 
 moved his command forward at a trot, and, on reaching 
 the crest of one of the prairie ridges, saw what appeared to 
 be the whole of Price's army. It was in fact the two 
 
324 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 divisions of Pagan and Marmaduke, the division of Shelby, 
 with Price and the train, being then five or six miles further 
 south. 
 
 A marshy little stream called Mine Creek was the im- 
 mediate cause of the halt. It had been very troublesome 
 to the rebels, though they had been using two crossings. 
 Fagan and Marmaduke had got perhaps a third of their 
 men over, when they saw that they must turn and fight. 
 They formed in two lines, mounted, with the creek at their 
 backs. There were four guns in battery at the middle of 
 the line and two at each end. Marmaduke's division was 
 the right wing and Pagan's the left. On the south side of 
 the creek was another lesser line with two guns. There 
 must have been 6000 men in these lines. Small trees were 
 scattered along the stream, but all the rest on all sides 
 was open prairie. 
 
 Phillips's brigade was seen half a mile further back and 
 on the right, but neither of the other Missouri brigades was 
 in sight. Benteen saw at once the bad position of the 
 enemy in relation to the creek. He sent an officer at high 
 speed to Phillips, to tell him that he was going to charge 
 and begging him to join. He did not wait for other troops 
 to come up, nor even for orders from Pleasanton, who was 
 in the rear. He threw his men into column of regiments, 
 the loth Missouri in front, the 4th Iowa second, the 3d 
 Iowa third, and the small detachments of the 4th Missouri 
 and 8th Indiana last. He had now about iioo men. He 
 took the right of the advanced regiment and ordered Trot! 
 and Gallop! intending to charge in column of regi- 
 ments. The enemy was only musket range distant, and 
 was already firing. Benteen's regiment in front, the loth 
 Missouri, suddenly balked, and checked all those behind. 
 Benteen then ordered Charge! and put himself in the lead. 
 The regiment braced up and moved again, but only enough 
 to clear the confusion in the rear. It was unaccountable, 
 for these were men of long experience and many battles. 
 Benteen rode out full in the front, his hat gone, his long 
 hair flying, his sword swinging about his head, his face white 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 32$ 
 
 with anger and his voice roaring Charge! with fierce pro- 
 fanity. Phillips's brigade had also started forward, but had 
 already halted, and began firing on the rebel left at long 
 range. 
 
 The commander of the 4th Iowa happened to be the 
 genius for this awkward situation. He was Major Pierce, 
 a long, clumsy Yankee, who had never been specially 
 distinguished, and was never supposed to possess military 
 ability. Seeing Benteen's difficulty, he galloped to the 
 left of his own regiment, which, because of its larger numbers, 
 projected to the left of the regiment in front the length of 
 about two companies. That is, between these two com- 
 panies and the enemy there was a free field. 
 
 Major Pierce had a great scheme in his head. He 
 ordered his own regiment forward from the left in column 
 of fours, and as the column drew out around the left of the 
 advanced regiment, he placed himself at its head, ordered 
 Trot! — Gallop! — Charge!" and rode right at the rebel line. 
 His column struck near its right flank and went through 
 like a cannon-ball. The remainder of the brigade at once 
 followed up the charge, and almost before it could be told 
 the whole of Marmaduke's division was in hopeless confusion 
 and Pagan's breaking. Phillips then brought his brigade 
 up in a charge against Pagan, and the rout of the whole 
 force was complete. Within a few minutes, more than a 
 thousand rebels were killed, wounded or captured, while 
 Marmaduke and three brigade commanders, with five of the 
 eight guns, were captured. Pagan tried to hold the re- 
 mainder of the rebels on the south side of the creek, but 
 his resistance was feeble, three more guns were lost, and 
 the whole command galloped away across the prairie, 
 with no appearance of order. 
 
 When a battle had appeared imminent reports had been 
 sent on to Price, who was with Shelby's division, six 
 miles ahead. By a singular irony of fate Price was at 
 that moment engaged with Shelby in planning an attack 
 upon the town of Port Scott, a few miles beyond, which 
 was garrisoned by a small force and contained large 
 
326 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 supplies. But now he ordered Shelby's division back to 
 the support of Marmaduke and Fagan, and he rode with it 
 himself. His shock and distress may be imagined when 
 he met the flying fragments of the two divisions, without 
 guns and without order. He describes them as in "utter 
 and indescribable confusion, many having thrown away 
 their arms, deaf to all entreaties and commands, and in 
 vain all efforts to rally them." He let them all go and 
 turned to Shelby, his last hope. But Shelby never lost 
 his head, and the men who followed him were dare-devUs. 
 With characteristic courage he undertook to save the day. 
 He occupied several advantageous positions in succession, 
 only falling back under attack, and thus protecting the 
 broken divisions and saving the train until nightfall. 
 
 The victorious cavalrymen dropped upon the grass and 
 fell asleep holding their bridles, too tired to care whether 
 there was fire or food. In three days they had gone nearly 
 100 miles, had fought five battles, and had had little sleep, 
 the last night none. 
 
 The next morning, more tired than ever and stiff with 
 cold, they dragged into Fort Scott, where they had plenty 
 of food and fire, and were allowed a day's rest. 
 
 It was the end of Price. He redoubled his efforts to get 
 away. He destroyed the greater part of his train, aban- 
 doned all things not of stem necessity, closed up the re- 
 mainder of his command, and hurried into the mountain 
 wilderness of southwest Missouri. General Blunt, with the 
 Kansas cavalry, by forced marches, overtook his rear three 
 days later and at once attacked, but Shelby's division held 
 him back in a stubborn engagement until night and then 
 withdrew. 
 
 A LONG PURSUIT. 
 
 That was the last seen of Price by the pursuing col- 
 umn, although the pursuit was kept up ten days longer. 
 Winslow's brigade ought now to have been released and 
 returned to its own army. In fact orders had already been 
 issued by Sherman and Thomas to bring it into Tennessee to 
 
THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 327 
 
 join Thomas, then pitted against Hood. The Kansas and 
 Missouri troops were more than enough to finish the work 
 with Price. But Rosecrans made no effort to execute these 
 orders, while Curtis directly ordered the brigade to go with 
 him, and Colonel Benteen deemed it his duty to obey. So 
 the Missouri troops, who had been in the field one month, 
 were now aU returned to their permanent camps, while 
 Winslow's men, who had marched near a thousand nules to 
 help them, and had been out two months, were now sent 
 on into the wildemess for a third month. 
 
 The road led through the Ozarks of southwest Missouri, 
 the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas and Indian 
 Territory, to the Arkansas River, beyond Tahlequah, the 
 Indian capital. The weather became very bad, storms of 
 rain and snow alternating with hard freezing. Rations were 
 cut down and finally disappeared. For ten days there were 
 no commissary supplies. Com meal and flour were picked 
 up in small lots by foragers, apples were fotmd, and there was 
 on some days a scanty supply of beef from cattle that had 
 been dropped out of Price's herds. But the horses suffered 
 more. Very little com was found, the snow covered the 
 grass, and for two or three days they could eat only twigs 
 and such dry grass as was tall enough to rise above the snow. 
 
 In the afternoon of November 7th, the advance of the 
 pursuing column reached the Arkansas River. The last of 
 the enemy had got over a few hours before. But their 
 numbers had sadly dwindled. Hundreds and thousands had 
 deserted, and Price crossed the river with only a few thou- 
 sand men and three or four guns. 
 
 This was the farthest point of pursuit proposed by any 
 of the several generals who issued orders for this badly 
 managed campaign. But an order was now received from 
 Halleck, directing whoever might be in command to release 
 Winslow's brigade at once and send it to Nashville, where 
 Thomas was straining every nerve to meet Hood. 
 
 That night the little brigade lay down in their blankets 
 on the bank of the Arkansas in this wildemess, without any 
 supper, and were again covered by a deep snow. But the 
 
328 THE LAST FIGHT FOR MISSOURI 
 
 morning was the 8th of November, election day — "Mc- 
 Clellan and peace at any price" against "Lincoln and the 
 vigorous prosecution of the war." They could not make 
 their vote official, but the Iowa men went through the forms 
 and voted unanimously for " Lincoln and the vigorous pro- 
 secution of the war." And they had " prosecuted the war" 
 so vigorously in this campaign that from that time until 
 Kirby Smith surrendered there was no march of the enemy 
 and no fighting other than small bushwhacking in Missouri 
 or Arkansas. 
 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS. 
 
 Read by Major-General O. O. Howard, U. S. A., 
 May 4, 1904. 
 
 BIRTH. 
 
 THE Welsh people have for a long time been a source 
 of mystery and wonderment to scholars. It is now 
 shown that they were veritable Celts ; and we know 
 that Celt means a weapon made of stone or hard metal. 
 What might we not expect of such a people? 
 
 These Celts were named Welsh (Welsh signifies alien) 
 because they would not be conquered by Angles, Danes, 
 Saxons, Normans, or Romans, and were consequently alien 
 to them all. Little by little, however, they had to give way 
 in old England ; but they backed off like the Rock of Chica- 
 mauga, always believing in God, and always fighting, till 
 they held their small Chattanooga-nook of Britain, from 
 which neither they nor their language have ever been dis- 
 lodged. A few of them do emigrate for the benefit of the rest 
 of the world. One of these, a descendant, Thomas by name, 
 settled in Southhampton, Virginia, and he had in him 
 strength of mind, decision, probity, and the usual hardness 
 of character that belongs to the Welshman. This was the 
 father's side of George H. Thomas. 
 
 But nowadays wise men tell us that boys follow the 
 mental calibre of the mother — the mother makes the man. 
 
 For three hundred years the Huguenots have battled 
 for human rights. Theirs is the best blood that runs in 
 human veins. It is gentle ; it is enterprising ; it is brave ; it 
 is persistent, it is pious. Such was the origin of the 
 
 329 
 
330 SKETCH OP THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 
 
 mother, a bona fide French Huguenot-scion. Now we are 
 prepared for the full effect of this primary historic statement 
 
 "George Henry Thomas was bom in Southhampton 
 
 County, Virginia, on the 31st day of July, 181 6. His father 
 was Welsh and his mother of French Huguenot descent." 
 The family had' a goodly property, and so George might 
 have lived upon its ample income ; but, as one would natu- 
 rally suppose, this was not to be suffered. 
 
 To beget in him a proper self-reliance and energy as a 
 boy he was made to understand that after his school days 
 he must lay the foundations of his own fortune. It was 
 certainly a happy hereditary combination, the Welsh and 
 the Huguenot: strength and gentleness, intelligence and 
 enterprise, decision and piety, boldness and probity, the 
 hardness of clear grit and persistency. Is it not better 
 than a fortune to have this Welsh and Huguenot solidarity 
 born in one? 
 
 BOYHOOD. 
 
 George H. Thomas, in many respects, is like a classic 
 character of ancient history, whose deeds and words have 
 wonderfully moved mankind, concerning whom little is 
 known except deeds and words. 
 
 Thomas's boyhood passed almost without record. One 
 of our popular writers one day said to me that he had a 
 book entitled A Diary of Napoleon by Napoleon's Fnend. 
 The book gave lively pictures of Napoleon's daily unre- 
 corded life. From its pages the writer said that he had 
 gathered more information concerning Napoleon, and had 
 a better view of the actual man, than could be obtained from 
 any of the previously published historic accounts. 
 
 Like this writer, with a view of giving side-lights to the 
 well-known character and work of Thomas, I have sought 
 for incidents of his childhood and youth. 
 
 Finding by correspondence that two of his sisters were 
 yet in Virginia, at or near the place of his birth, to one 
 of them I addressed a letter in these words : 
 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 33 1 
 
 "Governor's Island, N. Y. H., April 12th, 1890. 
 "Dear Miss Thomas: 
 
 "Your good brother was my instructor in artillery at the 
 military academy, ^nd in later years I was on duty with him a 
 great deal. 
 
 " Recently I have been asked to write an article upon his life 
 and character. Now if you or your sister would write me any 
 incidents you can remember about him, I shall be very grateful. 
 Boys usually show their traits of character early. When he 
 became a man> he exhibited firmness and great patience, con- 
 fidence in his friends, and quick forgiveness to any one who, 
 having injured him, expressed sorrow for it. He was such a 
 thorough gentleman always that his family have reason to be 
 proud of him, as doubtless you are. Hoping that your good 
 sister and yourself will be willing to help me, I am, 
 " Very truly yours, 
 
 " Oliver O. Howard, 
 
 " Major- General, U. S. Army. 
 " Miss J. E. Thomas, near Newsom's Depot, 
 
 " Southampton, Virginia." * 
 
 Miss Thomas was kind enough simply to return my letter, 
 on the back of which she wrote : 
 
 " General Howard: In answer to your inquiry respecting the 
 character of the late General Thomas, I can only inform you 
 that he was as all other boys are who are well born and well 
 reared." 
 
 But that was all. 
 
 A gentleman of about Thomas's age, and who attended 
 school with him, says, " He was a lad of few words and of 
 an excellent spirit." A black man, a Howard University 
 student by the name of Scott, while teaching a colored school 
 near Southampton, gathered some words of another black 
 man, named Artise. Artise was 80 years old. He knew our 
 hero as a little boy. He says, " George was playful as a 
 kitten when a boy, and seemed to love the negro-quarters 
 more than he did the great house. Many times he would 
 obtain things out of the great house for us negro boys, 
 his playmates." The old man further avers: "George 
 was the dearest lover of sugar, and at times would hook it 
 
332 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 
 
 and give it to the boys for catching coons and possums. 
 At the age of going to school he would try to teach them, 
 at night, what he learned at school in the day, and aU this 
 without his parents' orders." 
 
 Artise added that he, "Massa Thomas," as he always 
 called him, " at the time he returned from the Mexico war, 
 brought all the slaves at home new suits of clothes for Sunday 
 wear, and did [then] teach them the wordpf God." Teacher 
 Scott represents old Artise as a queer genius. Artise im- 
 agines that he will see "Massa" Thomas again on earth 
 before he dies ; yes, sometime again in the old Southampton 
 County, where he once was. He often dreams of " Massa" 
 Thomas and himself as boys again, together in the pasture 
 field tmder the big tree there, playing church. 
 
 Here then we find a few simple sjsetches: a healthful 
 boy, well reared ; a lad of quick perception, but, like Moses, 
 of few words; and, like David, of ruddy countenance and 
 of excellent heart. He was joyous and full of condescen- 
 sion. In the slave time, when the "mine and thine" were 
 not so distinctly marked as to-day, Thomas's foraging for 
 the little negroes was rather of the benevolent kind than 
 like that of later days in Tennessee! Sugar, it appears, was 
 good for coons and possums as well as for soldiers. His 
 sympathy for the blacks, thus early shown by bringing them 
 knowledge, clothing, and lastly the Divine Word, was cer- 
 tainly remarkable, and a step or two, at least, ahead of his 
 white neighbors. 
 
 YOUTH. 
 
 There was a private school, of the higher grade, in 
 Southampton, called the Southampton Academy. Here 
 our youth passed through the usual curriculum and received 
 his diploma. 
 
 Very soon after his graduation he entered the law office 
 of James Rochelle, Esq., his mother's brother. 
 
 Thomas told this anecdote of himself, which was illus- 
 trative of two traits of character, and demonstrated that 
 he was markedly practical and decidedly persistent— the 
 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 333 
 
 experiment probably was made during a school vacation: 
 He says that the notion came to him, as he was thinking of 
 mechanical constructions, to make, as one would in chem- 
 istry, some practical tests. He began with the saddle. 
 Every day he went to the saddler's shop and watched the 
 operatives; how each part was cut out and prepared, and 
 how the parts were put together. He then went home to 
 try his knowledge, and very soon succeeded in finishing a 
 saddle himself. 
 
 Again watching closely a cabinet-maker, and working 
 as before, he became, in time, quite skilled in the construc- 
 tion of furniture. He pursued his practical mechanics in 
 other directions till he acquired not only the ability to make, 
 from leather, wood and the metals, many articles of use, but 
 he formed the habit of that close observation which our old 
 West Point professor, Mahan, used to denominate " common 
 sense." 
 
 Chaplain Van Horn gives the beginning of his military 
 career. He says: "The famous John Y. Mason, M. C. from 
 Thomas's district, called to see his uncle, Mr. Rochelle, 
 to tender through him a cadet appointment." Rochelle 
 answered the offer thus: "Let us call the boy and ascertain 
 what he thinks of the proposition." The boy did not fail 
 to accept the offer; and so the whole current of his life was 
 suddenly turned in a hitherto unexpected direction. 
 
 His letter of appointment to West Point came early 
 enough for him to make the journey thither for the June 
 examination of 1836. 
 
 Our General Johnson, of the Fourteenth Corps, who en- 
 tered the Academy the year Thomas finished, doubtless 
 hearing the story there, remarks that," during his plebe year, 
 he [Thomas] was subjected to the same trying ordeals [of haz- 
 ing] through which his predecessors had passed, but he en- 
 dured them all without murmur or complaint." But I think 
 that the elevation of soul that Thomas must have acquired 
 through simdry duckings, gridiron performances, and sore 
 shins was extraordinary; for Johnson further avers that 
 "when the next year his own turn came, he [Thomas] not 
 
334 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 
 
 only would not haze the new cadets, but he gave the new 
 plehes the benefit of his counsel and. advice," and in this 
 way secured to himself life-long friends. If anybody could 
 do it, George H. Thomas could thus bring good out of evil. 
 You could n't place him where he would not be a friend of 
 the outraged and the oppressed. 
 
 We need not delay upon Academic life. It differed little 
 from that of Sherman, Getty, Ewell, and other classmates. 
 He had a fair preparation in his home training, academy 
 and law studies. He was naturally a thorough student, 
 and already, at the outset of cadet life, twenty years of age. 
 Hence his standing of twelfth in a class of forty-two cadets, 
 fairly gauges his scholarship; not a genius, but a young 
 man of good mental powers. His fine health, his singular 
 industry, his retention of what was once comprehended 
 put him among the first quarter; and his unusual memory 
 gave his instructors great satisfaction. It is remarked of 
 him by his associates that he never lost the use of what he 
 had once learned. 
 
 In June, 1840, he graduated and became a second lieu- 
 tenant in the Regular Army; the ist of September he joined 
 the 3d Artillery at Governor's Island. In a few months he 
 was on the old drill-ground among the Everglades of Florida. 
 Before the end of 1841 Thomas had already distinguished 
 himself there on an Indian expedition, so that General 
 (then Colonel) Worth, joining with his captain, recom- 
 mended him for his first brevet. 
 
 Campaigning in Florida in those days was no child's 
 play. The swamps, the lakes, the palmetto forests, the 
 hot sands, the bogs of miasma, the persistent mosquitoes and 
 the flies in dark swamps — who does not remember them! 
 Without paths or roads, the Indians would come, shoot, and 
 disappear with incredible swiftness. It took the best of 
 health, temperate habits, devotion to duty, and great firm- 
 ness of character to spend a year in that country and not 
 get some taint. George Thomas endured his first trials 
 there, and came out not only unscathed, but honored. 
 
 Our systematic account of an army officer given by the 
 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 335 
 
 Army Register is like a skeleton without sinews, muscles, 
 or flesh. That skeleton sends Lieutenant Thomas, in January, 
 1842, with his regiment, to New Orleans Barracks, but it 
 does not say how hard he studied, nor even how polite he 
 was to the dark-eyed young ladies of that superb city. It 
 soon drives him on to old Moultrie, in Charleston Harbor, 
 but it does not tell how there in debates, he obstinately 
 battled for the Union in the teeth of fire-eaters; and how 
 happy he was to be again bounced off in May to Fort Mc- 
 Henry, near Baltimore, and made more happy by an actual 
 promotion to a first lieutenancy. The skeleton, the next 
 year, gives him a few more baths in the hot atmosphere of 
 Moultrie, but the sound of war sweeping up from the Texas 
 border soon called him out to join our stanch old General 
 Zachary Taylor, in Mexico, who was, after Thomas joined, 
 for a time with his small army opposite Matamoras, on the 
 Rio Grande. Taylor fell back to his supply station at Point 
 Isabel, leaving behind, at Fort Brown, eight companies. 
 Thomas's company was one of these so detached. There he 
 helped Major Brown, who died at his post in defending the 
 fort, against the Mexicans' noisy bombardment and futile 
 assaults, keeping up this work till Taylor returned. 
 
 Behold Thomas next commanding a section of a battery 
 and with the renyosa (skirmishers) banging away at the 
 Mexican masses. After that, back with his regiment, he 
 did such fine service that he was brevetted a captain. 
 
 The skeleton next has placed him, in December, 1846, 
 with General Quitman, penetrating Mexico, where on the 
 lead he formed part of the brigade that entered Victoria. 
 
 Again the skeleton brought him to Taylor, and the hard 
 fought battle of Buena Vista, but it does not tell as Headley 
 does, of the remarkable "steadiness, skill, and bravery" of 
 this young captain; how he managed to put in most effec- 
 tive cannon shots, and many of them, against the common 
 foe. For this activity he was again, brevetted a Major. 
 
 After a few days on some little side duty in Texas, in 
 1848, the Register fetches Major Thomas to Fort Adams, 
 R. I. Picture to yourselves, friends, a stout, brave, hand- 
 
336 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 
 
 some young man, strong in heart and unmarried, over there 
 near Newport's social life. Remember it was after the great 
 Mexican hardship and distinction ! And then, when hardly 
 settled in the first skirmish line of acquaintance with the 
 most attractive young women of the land, he was hastened 
 off a second time to that everlasting war-cursed land of the 
 Seminoles ! He went, of course, and stayed, without a mur- 
 mur, till 1850. Murmuring at orders was a child of later 
 date and among a different sort of men. That old Register, 
 in 185 1, the next year after I became a September cadet, 
 conducted Major Thomas to Boston and gave him a sight of 
 Faneuil Hall and Bunker Hill, and stationed him in Boston 
 Harbor. 
 
 Within three months the superintendent of the Military 
 Academy, at West Point, noticing his proximity and his 
 availability, had secured his detail as Instructor of Artillery 
 and Cavalry. I remember him well as he appeared at West 
 Point, tall but so well proportioned that you hardly thought 
 of his height, full-built without corpulence, a large head, 
 short, brown hair and short moustache, large limbs and firm 
 tread. His countenance was fair enough naturally, but 
 then browned and very ruddy by much exposure. I assure 
 you that, to cadets, Major Thomas of Virginia, who had 
 been in bloody battles, and had been three times brevetted 
 for gallantry, was not a figure to pass without notice. 
 
 We even now remember his strong, mandatory voice, 
 in O. T. W. P. among the rattle of the gun carriages and the 
 clamor of section officers. His solid seat on a good sized 
 horse, when he led the cavalry charge or jumped the hurdles, 
 caught every eye. 
 
 In the recitation-room his easy, kind manner and good 
 marks, awarded us often for indifferent recitations, made our 
 boyish hearts warm. Many a cadet said then, "God bless 
 Major Thomas." Well, he remained at West Point nearly 
 four years, training young men from North and South, till 
 the year I left the Academy. 
 
 What the Mississippi River, the Charleston, Baltimore, 
 and Boston harbors could not effect, the Hudson River 
 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 337 
 
 did, — ^it furnished a helpmeet to Thomas. He married 
 Miss Frances S. Kellogg, of Troy. How West Point and 
 Troy came together we may not say, for the Hudson is 
 deep and fraught with mystery; but we will say that we 
 challenge novelists to describe a more magnificent couple. 
 In height they were well matched. During that West 
 Point term of duty, a beautiful and accomplished woman 
 became the joy and comfort of a handsome, solid man. 
 
 It will be remembered that by act of Congress in 1855 
 four new regiments were added to our regular army — ^two 
 of cavalry and two of infantry. Of the 2d Cavalry, 
 Albert Sidney Johnston was made the Colonel, Robert 
 E. Lee the Lieutenant-Colonel, W. G. Hardee the senior 
 Major, and George H. Thomas the junior Major. After 
 being on other duty for a while, about the ist of May, 1856, 
 Thomas reached his regiment in Texas. From May, 1856, 
 to November, i860, he visited on court-martial and inspec- 
 tion duty several posts; served on escort duty in removing 
 Indians to the Indian Territory, and was sent out on two 
 or three independent Indian scouts. 
 
 His story of one of these scouts is of especial interest. 
 A single extract, modestly put, gives us a clue to the opera- 
 tions. Thomas says: 
 
 "As we were overhauling them [the savages] one fellow [an 
 Indian] more persevering than the rest, and who still kept his 
 position in rear of the loose animals, suddenly dismounted 
 and prepared to fight, and our men in their eagerness to de- 
 spatch him, hurried upon him so qttickly that several of his 
 arrows took effect, wounding myself in the chin and chest, also 
 Private William Murphy of Company D in the left shoulder, 
 and Privates John Tile and Cooper Siddle, of the band, each 
 in the leg, before he fell by twenty or more shots." 
 
 This expedition was against wild and troublesome 
 Indians near the head-waters of the Concho and Colorado 
 rivers, of Texas. Major Thomas's wound was a very pain- 
 ful one. He had by himself drawn out the arrow from his 
 flesh, but with considerable difficulty, and it made such deep 
 
338 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 
 
 and serious cuts that they left a noticeable scar on his chin, 
 and an ugly one upon his breast. 
 
 In November Major Thomas came from the borders of 
 Texas to the East on a leave of absence, granted for one year. 
 Once, when I was a small boy at school in a Maine village, 
 great excitement arose because a citizen of the village, a 
 Mr. Tupper, who resided part of each year in Savannah, 
 Ga., had bought and brought home with him a slave. 
 Everybody admitted that he had done so from pure hu- 
 manity, to keep the black boy from being sold and sent off 
 to the cotton fields ; but Mr. Tupper' s brethren in the Bap- 
 tist church thought it was a sin to buy a human being ; and, 
 as Mr. Tupper had not yet formally manumitted the boy, 
 he was dropped from the church rolls. 
 
 I find a similar case in the history of Thomas's Texas life. 
 He had bought a slave woman, just as many officers were 
 constrained to do, at a time when it was not possible to hire 
 servants. When he was about to leave Texas, he was much 
 perplexed as to what he ought to do. Ordinarily one would 
 have supposed that a young Virginian like him would have 
 sold his slave at the highest market rate. But Thomas said 
 to himself, " I have n't the heart to sell a human being, and 
 I will not." He, to the amusement of comrades, and at 
 considerable expense, transported this slave woman to his 
 father's home in Southampton. After the war, when she, 
 her husband, and children became free, he transferred the 
 whole family to his station at Nashville, Tenn. They some- 
 times worked for him, but, like free folks, sometimes loafed. 
 He ever after cared for them as long as he lived, teaching 
 them independence and self-support. 
 
 During the year's furlough, only part of which Thomas 
 was destined to enjoy, many strange and exciting events 
 followed each other in rapid succession — such as the at- 
 tempted secession of States, the firing upon Sumter, the 
 resignation of the Southern officers, among them several 
 of his own regiment. By May 3d, 1861, he became Colonel 
 of the 2d Cavalry. He took commnatad Carlisle Bar- 
 racks, Pa. , and remained there until the first of June ; then, 
 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 339 
 
 •uniting four companies with a Philadelphia regiment of 
 volunteer cavalry, he moved to Chambersburg, Pa., where 
 he joined General Patterson, and was given a full brigade. 
 
 The 2d of July he crossed the Potomac near Williams- 
 port, Md., and passed into West Virginia and engaged with 
 others in the famous battle of Falling Waters. It was his 
 first engagement in the Civil War. There was no hesita- 
 tion from State feeling. Thomas was foremost in the attack 
 and in the subsequent pursuit of the enemy. Stonewall 
 Jackson, on the other side, also in the battle, received his 
 first baptism of fire. Here Greek met Greek, the one fighting 
 for his whole country, and the other for an anticipated 
 fragment thereof. 
 
 While Thomas was up there under Patterson and Banks, 
 in West Virginia, General Robert Anderson went to Wash- 
 ington, and, as I hear, paid a visit to General Scott and Mr. 
 Lincoln to ask a great favor. General Sherman uniting in his 
 request. He solicited this — that Colonel Thomas should be 
 one of his commanders in his department in Kentucky. 
 Being asked if Thomas's loyalty could be relied upon, the 
 gallant Anderson replied, " Yes, I will guarantee his loyalty 
 with my life!" 
 
 In August, 1 86 1, Thomas was made a brigadier-general. 
 The 1 2th of September following he was in Kentucky, and 
 assumed command of that hatcher of armies, that source of 
 regiments and brigades, discipline, drill, instruction, and 
 supply, " Camp Dick Robinson." 
 
 It is not difficult to imagine all the chaos of that large 
 wild camp — ^the ever-changing commanders of the depart- 
 ment, or district, and the ambition of those great men, who, 
 unused to war, had come from civil pursuits to assert their 
 prerogatives. Above and below Thomas's volunteer rank 
 there was commotion and perpetual unrest. Steady, strong, 
 firm, deliberate, he soon brought order out of confusion. 
 He declined to be subordinated to juniors in the command 
 given him; and, through the considerate and generous Sher- 
 man, he managed to keep his camp till he had gotten in a 
 fair state of readiness one field division. 
 
340 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 
 
 Behold now how ably he used the troops placed under 
 his charge! The earliest good news from the whole field, 
 after Rosecrans' West Virginia success, came from Thomas. 
 It was from the Mill Springs battle, which was fought 
 the 19th of January, 1862. General Thomas had with 
 him, as he passed Columbia, Ky., one small division. Gen- 
 eral Schaeff, now assigned to Thomas, had a detached 
 brigade, with a squadron of cavalry and at least one battery 
 of artillery, and was at that moment at Somerset, about 
 30 miles distant from Thomas, due east. The Confederate 
 Crittenden, with the famous ZolUcoffer as his second in 
 command, had, coming toward him, pushed across the Cum- 
 berland at a point near Mill Springs, about ten miles 
 south of Thomas's position. 
 
 General Thomas here attempted a movement hard to 
 execute in war, and succeeded — ^viz., to concentrate scat- 
 tered forces in the face of enemies of equal strength, enemies 
 who are already united. Crittenden had a force about as 
 large as Thomas's all told. Thomas directed Schaeff to so 
 move his infantry and cavalry as to be near the enemy 
 simultaneously with himself. 
 
 It appears that Zollicoffer, commanding the advance 
 of the Confederates, understood this attempt and rushed 
 ahead to drive in a wedge of separation. But Thomas, 
 helped by Major W. H. Fishback, had calculated too well 
 for his enemy. He reached Logan's Cross Roads in time 
 to skirmish and hold Zollicoffer in check until General 
 Schaeff had formed junction with him (Thomas) . 
 
 The battle increased: it was severe, continuing part of 
 two days; but the Confederates were at last thoroughly 
 beaten, ZoUicoffer slain, and the entire opposing force 
 broken up and driven across the Cumberland. Some sort 
 of suspicion or jealousy at that time kept from Thomas 
 his meed of praise; so that, though he had broken down 
 the barriers which then shut up loyal friends in East Ten- 
 nessee, and had gained a superb victory, yet he himself 
 was not even mentioned in the forthcoming War Depart- 
 ment orders of thanks and congratulation. It takes time 
 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 34I 
 
 for suspicion, jealousy, ambition, and calumny to gnash, 
 gnaw, and consume themselves. But time is long and 
 Justice never dies! 
 
 In all the subsequent Kentucky and Tennessee opera- 
 tions of Buel, and Rosecrans, who succeeded Buel, the name 
 of Thomas was prominent. The influence of a strong man 
 over men, over those who are under him or associated with 
 him in business, always makes itself felt. That influence 
 is greater than can be explained. Thomas had it. Thomas 
 made it a hobby to have every equipment complete. All 
 his army corps strove for completeness of equipment and 
 preparation. Thomas always showed steadiness in habits 
 of life, — in gait, in morals, and intellectual operations. 
 He did not hasten his decisions unless forced by the enemy's 
 cannon to do so ; but he adhered to a principle, a move- 
 ment, an opinion, a decision, with unfailing tenacity. So 
 you would soon find the troops that he trained given to 
 steadiness of movement, firmness of stand, and great relia- 
 bility in action. 
 
 After the almost drawn battle oi Stone River, when 
 Rosecrans, as a diligent commander, in the night was pre- 
 paring for what he deemed an inevitable retreat, it is said 
 that he disturbed Thomas from a sound sleep, with the 
 imperious question, "General Thomas, will you protect the 
 rear during a retreat to Overall's Creek?" Thomas, half 
 awake, promptly answered — and we who knew him can 
 imagine with what sonorous and solid emphasis the answer 
 came — "This army can't retreat!" It was such a well- 
 formed and solid conviction that it only interrupted his 
 much-needed sleep for a single moment. He had a few 
 hours before brought his division out of such exceeding 
 peril, and so strongly established a new and reliable line, 
 that he was determined for himself and for Rosecrans never 
 to give up the position. And be sure the Army of the Cum- 
 berland did not retreat, but the Confederates did! 
 
 During the first ten days of September, 1863, after 
 Vicksburg and Gettysburg had been properly disposed of, 
 the Army of the Potomac was again astride of the Rappa- 
 
342 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 
 
 hannock, and reposing with watchful glances toward Cul- 
 peper Courthouse. The Army of the Cumberland had 
 meanwhile been marching to the vicinity of Lookout Moun- 
 tain range. Thomas was then leading the Fourteenth Corps. 
 Up in the mountains, at Trenton, Tenn., the headquarters, 
 a despatch came from General Wagner announcing the 
 evacuation of Chattanooga by Bragg and his Confederates. 
 Rosecrans immediately called Thomas to him "to consult 
 in regard to arrangements for the pursuit." Under his 
 wholesome advice, Rosecrans and Thomas then made haste 
 to move on. 
 
 How promptly the Army of the Cumberland crossed 
 the range; how both Union and Confederate armies ap- 
 peared to have sought a battle — ^the battle coming on, like 
 that of Gettysburg, where neither leader had planned for 
 it, and in such shape that Rosecrans' officers could hardly 
 tell where to put their hospitals, cooks, and strikers! The 
 retreat after the bloody battle, took up its own line 
 towards the shelter of Chattanooga, and would, we know, 
 have been a sad affair but for the fearless stand which 
 Thomas, with his corps and a few other officers with frag- 
 ments of the army, made near Rossville. Van Horn says : 
 
 " To take command of half of the army, with no supporting 
 cavalry, with exposed flanks and uncovered Unes; to be supreme 
 on the field by the demands of the situation rather than by the 
 orders of a superior, and under such circumstances to contend 
 successfully against Bragg's army, . . . was an achieve- 
 ment that transcends the higher successes of generals." 
 
 General Thomas was attaining larger and better rela- 
 tions with the Washington authorities ; for, ten days after 
 Chickamauga, Mr. Stanton telegraphed to C. A. Dana, then 
 at Nashville, these pregnant words: "The merits of 
 General Thomas and the debt of gratitude the Nation owes 
 to his valor and skill are fully appreciated here ; and I wish 
 you to tell him so. It is not my fault that he was not in 
 chief command months ago." 
 
 The 1 6th of October, the very next month, General 
 Thomas was put in command of the Army of the Cumber- 
 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 343 
 
 land. The situation at that time was by no means de- 
 lightful; but it had a quick relief when General Grant 
 was set over the entire Western field, because there were 
 soon to be troops enough and abundant supplies. Grant 
 telegraphed Thomas substantially, Hold Chattanooga. 
 Thomas at once replied "Will hold Chattanooga till we 
 starve ! ' ' 
 
 Grant ordered Hooker to push Geary and Howard up from 
 Bridgeport, twenty-eight miles, to Lookout Valley. There 
 Thomas had us met by Hazen's and Turchin's brigades and 
 welcomed. The crazy night fight of Wauhatchee sealed 
 and secured the bread line, and the hungry soldiers were glad. 
 General Grant for this move gives to Thomas the whole 
 credit of getting out of a bad fix, saying in a despatch 
 from Chattanooga to Washington: "Thomas's plan for 
 securing the river and the south side road hence to Bridge- 
 port has proved eminently successful." Grant was always 
 strong and fearless to strike the match, whoever made it- 
 very determined to pull the trigger, whoever cocked the rifle. 
 
 It was quick work among the Chattanooga hills. Our 
 people passed in double time from dismay to confidence, 
 from weakness to strength, from valley-besiegement to 
 ridge-top and mountain victories. This was the fact after 
 Grant came in sight of Bragg's lofty flags and dominating 
 cannon. 
 
 Thomas bore here an elegant part. His judgment in 
 council, his help in refitting, his disposition of forces, his 
 choice of reinforcements — ^in brief, his energetic backing up 
 and support of his great commander — were thorough and 
 happy. First, Bragg was defeated and fled; next, Knox- 
 ville was relieved. All the ground was then clear to Dalton, 
 the key point of Georgia, so that the troops spent the 
 winter of '63 and '64 near Chattanooga in comparative ease 
 and contentment. 
 
 In the spring of '64, veterans wiU remember the battles 
 of more than a hundred days, when every day but three 
 the armies of McPherson, Schofield, and Thomas were under 
 fire from "Joe" Johnston. 
 
344 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 
 
 Thomas was Sherman's wheel-horse. He bore the brunt 
 of the skirmishes, combats, and battles till near Atlanta, the 
 2 2d of July. Sturdy, untiring, uncomplaining, Thomas 
 pounded Johnston's centre so hard every hour of every- 
 day that Schofield and McPherson could in turn play 
 upon his flanks ; and Johnston had to keep his centre there 
 to be pounded. 
 
 Thomas was at the first spring skirmish in May, '64, 
 at Tunnel Hill near Dalton, and with a veritable sigh he 
 saw Hood slip away at the last combat, of Lovejoy Station, 
 the 1 8th of September. At Jonesboro, as his troops went 
 into action by my side, just to the left of Logan's corps, 
 his old stout horse, that hated to trot when laden with 220 
 pounds, actually roused himself to a gallop, and his master 
 was almost furious at some stupid officers who had failed 
 soon enough to comprehend the situation. 
 
 No one needs the detail of General Thomas's battle of 
 Nashville, on the isth and i6th of December, 1864. 
 That glorious success, together with Sherman's Christmas 
 present of Savannah, was a good wind-up to the whole 
 year's campaigning. 
 
 To bring about this wind-up General Sherman, com- 
 manding the Western armies, had selected Thomas and sent 
 him back to Nashville, giving him the Fourth Corps (Stan- 
 ley's), the Twenty-third Corps (Cox's), A. J. Smith's division, 
 all the cavalry under Wilson, with such other reinforce- 
 ments as he could pick up by withdrawing garrisons and 
 bringing up furloughed men and recruits. At best his 
 army was but a patchwork, yet Thomas could patch well 
 if Sherman and Grant gave him time. Schofield, Thomas's 
 second in command, conducted rearward the retiring 
 troops. It required Schofield's fierce battle at Franklin 
 before Thomas could get together his scattered fragments. 
 But at last it was all done. Hood, with a veteran Con- 
 federate army, long organized and well commanded, nearly 
 equal in numbers to Thomas's, marched northward, crossed 
 the Tennessee, fought at Franklin, and then sat down be- 
 fore him at Nashville. Both were fairly well intrenched. 
 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 34$ 
 
 Unavoidable delays from cold and ice followed. The impa- 
 tience of authorities at this situation belabored Thomas till 
 his sensitive heart bled ; but he would not attack till he and 
 nature were ready, and then he did attack with vehemence! 
 Who has heard of Hood's army since? It was beaten. It 
 was scattered. The swiftness and depth of the grand old 
 Tennessee could not arrest the flight of its individual 
 atoms. As an army it was wrecked against the Rock of 
 Chickamauga. 
 
 We had a hearty correspondent of the New York Herald 
 with us during the Atlanta campaign. His picture of 
 Thomas interested me. He said : 
 
 Major-General Thomas is quite the reverse of Sherman in 
 manner and appearance. He is tall, stout, with brawny trame 
 and shoulders. His head is slightly bent forward, as if drooping 
 with thought and care. His hair and beard, which he wears 
 pretty short, are rather dark and slightly sprinkled with gray. 
 He is about fifty years of age, and looks his age fully. He is 
 very reserved: speaks little. His cold, phlegmatic features 
 never wear a smile, or if he smiles, he smiles in such a manner 
 as if he mocked himself, and scorned the spirit that would be 
 moved to smile at anything. 
 
 " As a General, Thomas is calm and cautious ; does everything 
 by rule ; leaves nothing to chance. He makes his arrangements 
 for a battle with caution and foresight; and is sure to have 
 every column and division move with clock-work regularity, and 
 strike at the proper time and place. Nothing disturbs or un- 
 nerves him." 
 
 So much for the correspondent. "Would some power 
 the giftie gie us to see ourselves as ithers see us !" 
 
 To me General Thomas's features never seemed cold. 
 His smile of welcome was always pleasant and cordial. 
 When I went from him into battle his words and acts of 
 confidence drew toward him my whole heart. If I suc- 
 ceeded he commended me without stint. If my attack 
 failed, he quickly saw the cause, and never, as some others 
 did, blamed me in order to shield himself. 
 
 When the blacks came near him he befriended them. 
 He often gave colored women and children protection 
 
346 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE H. THOMAS 
 
 papers and sent them north. He was habitually kind and 
 gentle, and eminently just in all his relations of life. His 
 horse, the mules around him, and the cat that followed 
 him and lay purring at his feet, received unfailing marks of 
 his gentle soul. 
 
 Lee has had numerous devoted friends. Stonewall 
 Jackson, for other reasons, has had his large following, — 
 those who loved and cherished his memory, — ^but Virginia 
 did not fiimish to the entire war a better general nor a 
 greater man than George H. Thomas. 
 
 When a cadet his comrades gave him the sobriquet of 
 "Washington," and indeed he was a Washington in figure 
 and strength of frame, in mental ability and acquirement, 
 in a gentle but manly and indomitable spirit ; and with far 
 less opportunity his achievements put him by Washington's 
 side, — a manly man, sans peur et sans reproche. 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL GRANT, 
 AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST. 
 
 A Paper Read by Major-General Grenville M. Dodge, 
 U. S. Vols., October 5, 1904. 
 
 AS a soldier General Grant stands among the first in the 
 history of warfare. As a citizen, his acts, his fore- 
 sight, and his method of meeting and settling all 
 great questions stamp him as the peer of the best statesmen 
 that the world has produced. In fact, in the Old World his 
 statesmanship is considered equal to his great achievements 
 as a soldier. As he came to be known only after he was forty 
 years old, the question naturally arises, was there anything 
 in his boyhood or early manhood that indicated the abilities 
 that were so rapidly developed during the Civil War? He 
 says that as a boy he loved only horses and work on the farm, 
 not books, and that even the uniform of a soldier had no 
 attractions for him ; that he was an indifferent scholar, and 
 preferred reading a novel to studjdng his lessons; that his 
 great desire was to travel and see our country, and when 
 he was appointed to West Point the only inducement for 
 him to accept was the disgrace it would bring upon him 
 to dechne after his father had asked for the appointment; 
 and, finally, he was reconciled to it because it would enable 
 him to see Philadelphia and New York, and that his long 
 stay in those cities instead of repairing promptly to West 
 Point brought a sharp reminder from his father. 
 
 At West Point Grant was an indifferent scholar, had a 
 positive dislike to everything military, and neglected his 
 studies. After graduating he remained in the Army hoping 
 to be a professor at West Point, rather than an officer in 
 the field. He considered the Mexican War an unholy one. 
 
 347 
 
348 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 He says: "I regarded the war as one of the most unjust 
 ever urged by a stronger against a weaker nation, from the 
 inception of the movement to its final consummation, — a, 
 conspiracy to acquire territory out of which slave States 
 might be formed for the American nation. The Southern 
 rebelHon was the outgrowth of the Mexican War." 
 
 Grant joined Taylor's command on the Rio Grande, and 
 although acting as quartermaster he took part in nearly 
 aU the battles. He says: "At the battle of Monterey my 
 curiosity got the better of my judgment, and I mounted a 
 horse and rode to the front to see what was going on. I 
 had been there but a short time when the order to charge 
 was given, and lacking the courage to return to camp, where 
 I had been ordered to stay, I charged with the regiment." 
 
 He evidently took in the tactics, logistics, and strategy, 
 and sometimes criticised them. In one or two of the last 
 fights near the City of Mexico he thought the enemy could 
 have been driven out by flank movements without the 
 great losses in front attacks on the enemy's strong positions. 
 At the gates of Mexico he developed some of those wonderful 
 quahties that were so prominent in the Civil War, when he 
 took his httle squad of men to flank the Mexican troops out 
 of their position at the Garita San Cosmie, and caused the 
 fall of the City of Mexico, and received the commendation 
 of the commanding officer, and was brevetted. 
 
 After this campaign in the Mexican War he seemed less 
 inclined than ever to follow the army permanently, and 
 soon resigned and returned to civil Ufe. 
 
 General Grant entered the service in the Civil War as 
 Colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry, and brought the regi- 
 ment to great efficiency. He was sent to northern Missouri. 
 His first order was to march against Colonel Harris, who 
 had a rebel regiment near the town of Florida. General 
 Grant says: 
 
 "As we approached the brow of the hill frora which it was 
 expected we could see Harris's camp, and probably find his men 
 ready formed to meet us, my heart kept getting higher and 
 higher until it felt to me as though it was in my throat. I 
 
GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 349 
 
 would have given anything then to have been back in IlHnois, 
 but I had not the moral courage to halt and consider what to do. 
 I kept right on, and when I found that Harris had left it occurred 
 to me at once that Harris had been as much afraid of me as I 
 had been of him. This was a view of the matter I had never 
 taken, and it was one I never forgot afterwards. From that 
 event until the close of the war I never experienced trepidation 
 upon confronting the enemy, although I always felt more or 
 less anxiety. I never forgot that the enemy had as much reason 
 to fear my force as I had his. The lesson was a valuable one." 
 
 From north Missouri he was sent to southeast Missouri, 
 and was then made a brigadier-general, and ordered to 
 Cairo. His first important battle was Belmont, brought 
 about by his movement to threaten Columbus. His orders 
 were to make a demonstration against the Confederate 
 force at or near Columbus, Tenn., to prevent their sending 
 reinforcements to a Confederate command that a Federal 
 force had been sent to attack on the St. Francis River. 
 
 BELMONT. 
 
 Grant had no intention of fighting a battle when he 
 started out. His orders did not contemplate an attack, 
 but after he started he says that he saw that the officers 
 and men were elated at the prospect of doing what they 
 volunteered to do, fight the enemies of their cotmtry, and he 
 did not see how he could maintain discipline or the con- 
 fidence of his command if he returned to Cairo without at- 
 tempting to do something. This battle first brought the 
 country's attention to Grant. He displayed that confidence, 
 good judgment and self-reliance that afterwards became so 
 conspicuous. 
 
 FORT HENRY AND DONELSON. 
 
 General Grant was ordered soon after Belmont to make 
 a demonstration up the Tennessee River, and towards 
 Columbus, Ky., with a view of holding the Confederate 
 forces there while the campaign around Bowling Green was 
 proceeding. In this movement General C. F. Smith 
 
350 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 reported that Fort Heineman, opposite Fort Henry, on the 
 Tennessee River, could be captured. Grant believed the 
 true line of operation for his force was by the Tennessee 
 and Cumberland rivers, and asked permission to visit St. 
 Louis and lay the plan before General Halleck, but says: 
 " I was received with so little cordiality that I perhaps 
 stated the subject of my visit with less clearness than I 
 might have done, and I had not uttered many sentences 
 before I was cut short as if my plan was preposterous, and I 
 returned to Cairo very much crestfallen." On his return 
 he consulted Flag Officer Foote, who commanded the gun- 
 boat fleet on the Mississippi River, and he agreed with Grant; 
 and, notwithstanding his rebuff. Grant renewed the sug- 
 gestion, backed by Flag Officer Foote, and on January 28th 
 wrote General Halleck fully in regard to his plans. On the 
 ist of February he received instructions, going fully into 
 every detail, to march upon and capture Fort Henry. On 
 the 2d the expedition was started, and on the 6th Fort 
 Henry was captured, and Grant wired Halleck that on the 
 8th he would move on Fort Donelson, not even waiting for 
 orders to do so. On February 16, 1862, Fort Donelson sur- 
 rendered to him with its entire force. Grant in this battle 
 displayed the tactics which were ever in his mind — when 
 the enemy attacked to also attack on some other portion 
 of the line; and when the enemy attacked and turned 
 his right he immediately attacked and turned the enemy's 
 right, and carried their intrenchments, forcing the final 
 surrender. 
 
 In writing Mrs. Grant of the capture of Forts Henry and 
 Donelson, he says: "These terrible battles are very good 
 things to read about for persons who lose no friends, but I 
 am decidedly in favor of having as little of them as possible. 
 The way to avoid it is to push forward as vigorously as 
 possible." 
 
 After Fort Henry and Donelson, Grant started to carry 
 out this program, and visited Clarksville and Nashville. 
 Because General Halleck, his commanding officer, did not re- 
 ceive prompt reports from General Grant.he issued this order : 
 
GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 351 
 
 " You will place Maj .-General C. F. Smith in command of 
 expedition and remain yourself at Fort Henry. Why do 
 you not obey my orders and report strength and position 
 of your command?" 
 
 Up to this time Grant had not received one word from 
 Halleck, and all his reports sent to Halleck went to the 
 end of the telegraph line, where the operator was a rebel 
 who deserted and took all these despatches with him. Buel, 
 Halleck, and McClellan all failed to comprehend Grant's 
 great victories. They were looking for the enemy to re- 
 cover, while Grant thought of nothing but their demoraliza- 
 tion and the desire to follow them. Grant, on the ground, 
 was the only person who saw the situation, and had any. 
 power to take advantage of it. The rebels, in their con- 
 sternation, abandoned everything as fast as possible, and 
 even evacuated Chattanooga, three hundred miles away. 
 
 When HaUeck got into communication with Grant, he 
 informed him that he was advised to arrest him because he 
 went to Nashville, a point within his own command, and 
 no one could hear from him. They could not trust the man 
 , who within thirty days had broken through the entire rebel 
 line, driven their forces beyond the Tennessee, and captured 
 their fortified places and aU the troops in them. In writing 
 of this to his wife, Grant says : 
 
 All the slander you have seen against me originated away 
 from where I was. The only foundation was the fact that I 
 was ordered to remain at Fort Henry and send the expedi- 
 tion up the Tennessee River under command of Maj or- General 
 C. P. Smith. This was ordered because General Halleck re- 
 ceived no report from me for near two weeks after the fall of 
 Fort Donelson. The same thing occurred with me. ... I 
 was not receiving the orders, but knowing my duties was re- 
 porting daily, and when anything occurred to make it necessary, 
 two or three times a day. When I was ordered to remain behind 
 it was the cause of much astonishment among the troops of my 
 command, and also a disappointment. When I was again 
 ordered to join them they showed, I believe, heartfelt joy. 
 
 I never allowed a word of contradiction to go out from my 
 headquarters, thinking this the best course. I know, though I 
 
352 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 do not like to speak of myself, that General Halleck would re- 
 gard this army badly off if I was relieved. Not but what there 
 are generals with it abundantly able to command, but because 
 it would leave inexperienced officers senior in rank. You need 
 not fear but what I will come out triumphantly. I am pulling 
 no wires, as political generals do, to advance myself. I have 
 no future ambitions. My object is to carry on my part of this 
 war successfully, and I am perfectly willing that others may 
 make all the glory they can out of it. 
 
 General McClellan, on Halleck's recommendation, or- 
 dered that Grant should be relieved from duty and inves- 
 tigation made. He even authorized Grant's arrest, this 
 within two weeks of the great victory that electrified the 
 country. Grant's explanation of delays in receiving dis- 
 patches, his visit to Nashville, etc., reached Halleck, and 
 Grant was restored to his command on March 13th, Hal- 
 leck claiming his explanation to Washington had exon- 
 erated Grant; but he did not inform Grant that his whole 
 trouble came from his (Halleck's) misleading reports to 
 Washington. 
 
 Grant proceeded immediately to Savannah, Tenn., 
 where he found General C. F. Smith in command, sick, and 
 and soon to die. 
 
 General Grant says of the condition of the South, after 
 the fall of Donelson, that his opinion was and still is that 
 the way was open for the National forces to occupy any 
 part of the Southwest without much resistance. If one 
 general had been in command of all the forces west of the 
 AUeghanies, who could have taken the responsibility, he 
 could have moved to Chattanooga, Memphis, Corinth, and 
 Vicksburg, and with the troops pouring in from the North 
 he could have kept all these places, leaving his army to 
 operate against any body of the enemy that could have 
 been concentrated in his front. Rapid movement, with 
 the occupation of the enemy's territory, would have dis- 
 couraged a large number of young men who had gone from 
 that territory into the rebel army, and brought them back, 
 and we would have permanently held a position that 
 
GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 353 
 
 later cost so many lives to conquer ; but our delays gave 
 courage to the enemy, and they collected new armies, forti- 
 fied their positions, and twice afterwards came near making 
 their line on the Ohio River. 
 
 SHILOH. 
 
 No campaign or battle of Grant's has received such unjust 
 and severe criticism as the battle of Shiloh, but as we now 
 read the official reports of that battle, we see that at night 
 on the first day of the battle Grant was master of the field, 
 with Wallace's division of 5000 fresh troops that had not 
 fired a gun ; that the enemy were exhausted and demoralized 
 and had no reinforcements,' and, as Grant claims, he would 
 have whipped them the second day without the aid of Buel. 
 The fact is, from the very moment of attack on the second 
 morning Beauregard, who was in command after the death 
 of Albert Sidney Johnston, commenced retreating and fell 
 back to Corinth, and Grant, if he had not been restrained 
 by orders, would within a week have had his forces facing 
 Corinth, less than twenty miles away. The one mistake 
 made by Grant at Shiloh was in not intrenching his forces 
 as they arrived from day to day, on the general line of 
 defence. Grant admits this, but says it was his purpose to 
 proceed immediately against the enemy at Corinth ; he did 
 not think it necessary, and it never entered his mind that 
 the enemy would attack him. Besides, these troops were 
 mostly green, and needed drilling and discipline more than 
 they did experience with pick and shovel; and Grant also 
 says that there was no hour during the day when he doubted 
 the eventual defeat of the enemy. 
 
 In the first day's battle the forces on each side were 
 about equal. Grant says that up to Shiloh he believed the 
 rebellion would collapse suddenly as soon as a decisive 
 victory could be gained, and after such victories as the 
 capture of Donelson, the fall of Bowling Green, Nashville, 
 (with its immense amount of stores), Columbia, Hickman, 
 opening the Tennessee and Cumberland from mouth to 
 head, he believed peace would come. After this, when 
 
354 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 Confederate armies were collected, and new lines of defence 
 from Chattanooga to Corinth and Knoxville, and on to the 
 Atlantic, were formed, and they took the offensive, he 
 gave up all idea of saving the Union except by complete 
 conquest. Up to this time he had protected property and 
 citizens; after this he pursued the plan of consuming and 
 destroying everything that could be used to support and 
 supply armies, and this policy he pursued to the end of the 
 war. 
 
 Grant never made a report of the battle of Shiloh, as 
 Buel, who commanded the Army of the Ohio, refused to 
 make reports to him. A few days later General Halleck 
 arrived at Pittsburg Landing and assumed command, and 
 Grant was placed second in command and ignored. Halleck 
 had three armies: the Ohio, Buel commanding; the Army 
 of the Mississippi, Pope commanding ; and the Army of the 
 Tennessee, Grant's old command, to the command of which 
 General George H. Thomas was assigned. There was no 
 time after the battle of Shiloh but that the enemy would 
 have retreated from Corinth had a movement been made 
 against it. Beauregard had about 50,000 men in Corinth, 
 while against him were 100,000, and any of the three armies 
 could have planted itself on his conixnunications and forced 
 him to fight in the open or retreat. Grant suggested to 
 Halleck such a move by the left, but says he was silenced 
 so quickly that he thought probably he had suggested an 
 unmilitary movement. Logan, who commanded a brigade, 
 on the 28th of May told Grant the enemy had been evacu- 
 ating several days, and if they would let him he could go 
 into Corinth with his brigade. Beauregard published his 
 orders for and evacuated on the 26th of May, and our army 
 entered on the 30th, the enemy not leaving a thing, not 
 even a sick or wounded soldier. Even after they had left 
 Halleck issued orders on the 30th of May for a battle, and 
 had his whole army drawn up in line to meet the enemy. 
 The army was greatly disappointed at the result. Grant says 
 he was satisfied Corinth could have been captured in a 
 two-days campaign made immediately after Shiloh, without 
 
GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 355 
 
 any additional reinforcements, and that after Corinth they 
 had a movable force of 80,000 men, besides sufficient force 
 for holding all territory acquired in any campaign. New 
 Orleans and Baton Rouge were ours, and the enemy had 
 only a single line of railroad from Vicksburg to Richmond, 
 and in one move we had the opportunity to occupy Vicks- 
 burg and Atlanta without much opposition; but we con- 
 tinued to pursue the policy of distributing this great army, 
 and for nearly a year accomplished no great results from it, 
 giving up the territory back to Nashville, holding only the 
 line from the Tennessee River to Memphis. 
 
 General Grant's position at Corinth, with a nominal 
 command, became so unbearable that he asked permission 
 of Halleck to move his headquarters to Memphis. He had 
 asked to be relieved from a command under Halleck, but 
 Sherman prevailed upon him to stay. On June 21, 1862, 
 he moved to Memphis. On July nth Halleck was placed 
 in command of all the armies, at Washington, and Grant 
 returned to Corinth, and in July, 1862, was given only 
 the command of the District of West Tennessee, which 
 embraced West Tennessee and Kentucky west of the 
 Cumberland. 
 
 As one reads the reports and makes comparisons — first 
 Grant fighting at every opportunity, winning every battle; 
 pleading to move on the enemy after every battle, but 
 stopped, humiliated after each campaign, and finally when 
 given a command only allowed a district, while on the other 
 hand Halleck, who had not fought a battle, who took fifty- 
 five days or more with two men to the enemy's one to make 
 twenty miles, which by a simple flank movement could have 
 been accomplished in two days, with one of the best oppor- 
 tunities of the war to capture or destroy an army of 50,000 
 men, Halleck who prevented Grant from reaping the full 
 benefit of every battle he fought, is brought to Washington 
 and given full command of all the armies, while Grant was 
 not even allowed to resume command of the department 
 he vacated — the record is most astonishing. Halleck had 
 no confidence in Grant. The officers in the field looked on 
 
356 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 in amazement, and wondered what the powers in Washing- 
 ton could be thinking about. Grant accepted whatever was 
 given him, never making a word of protest or complaint. 
 He was now again in position to commence moving on the 
 enemy, and although Halleck's great army had been dis- 
 tributed, Grant had left in his command 50,000 troops, and 
 commenced preparing for another movement, not even sug- 
 gesting that more force be sent him. There was facing him 
 an army of about 40,000 men under Van Dom, and Grant 
 with his numerous posts and large territory could not muster 
 more than 20,000 men for an aggressive army. He says that 
 his most anxious period during the war was the time that he 
 was guarding all this territory until he was reinforced and 
 took the aggressive. 
 
 On August 2d Grant was ordered to live upon the 
 country, upon the resources of citizens hostile to the govern- 
 ment, to handle Confederates within our lines without gloves, 
 impoverish them, and expel them from our lines. Grant 
 did not see the necessity of this, and says he does not recol- 
 lect having arrested or imprisoned a citizen during the 
 entire rebellion. 
 
 During this time, with his inferior force. Grant sent two 
 divisions to Buel and one to Rosecrans at Corinth. 
 
 Van Dom, who commanded the rebel army in Grant's 
 front, soon saw how small a force Grant had, and decided 
 to attack him. He brought Price's army across the Missis- 
 sippi River, and both combined and moved on Grant's lines. 
 Grant moved to Jackson himself, so he could be in close 
 touch with his force, and where, by the railway from Jackson 
 to Grand Junction and Jackson to Corinth, he could re- 
 inforce the point attacked more readily. Price immediately 
 moved on luka, and Grant saw a chance to defeat and 
 capture him, and went immediately to Glendale, sending 
 Rosecrans' force from Corinth to the rear of Price, and 
 General Ord to head him off. A portion of Rosecrans' 
 force fought Price near luka, but Ord did not know or hear 
 of the battle, although the order was if either force was 
 attacked to notify the other. There were two roads leading 
 
GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 357 
 
 out of luka to the south, and Rosecrans was ordered to take 
 possession of both, but failed to occupy the easterly one, 
 and during the night Price retreated on this road, avoiding 
 both Rosecrans and Ord. Van Dom and Price combined 
 their forces southwest of Corinth, and moved immediately 
 on that place. As soon as Grant ascertained this he ordered 
 Hurlbut with all the force he had to move from Memphis and 
 get in Van Dom's rear, and started McPherson with a 
 division from Jackson to reinforce Rosecrans. Van Dom 
 commenced his attack on Corinth on October 2d. Rose- 
 crans had pushed his second division out nearly three miles 
 from Corinth, and allowed the attack to fall upon this di- 
 vision, which was steadily pushed back during the day 
 until it finally reached the inside works at Corinth, fighting 
 very gallantly at every one of the lines of defence. On the 
 second day Van Dom and Price had Corinth practically 
 invested, and a very severe battle ensued, both sides fighting 
 with great gallantry and great loss. Van Dom and Price 
 were completely defeated, and their army retreated com- 
 pletely demoralized, and should have been relentlessly 
 followed, and their trains and artillery captured; and, 
 although Grant urged this in despatch after despatch, for 
 some reason there were delays, and when the troops did 
 follow them they took the wrong road, which enabled the 
 enemy to escape, although Hurlbut's and Ord's forces 
 captured portions of their trains and artillery. 
 
 Grant criticises Rosecrans severely for his movements 
 in these battles, and censures him for failing to capture 
 Price at luka and to follow Van Dom after Corinth. There 
 were many protests from McPherson, Hurlbut. and other 
 officers, who were ordered to aid Rosecrans in these bat- 
 tles, and these protests especially related to his reports. 
 
 Mrs. Grant, who was present with General Grant at, 
 Jackson, stated that these ofificers appealed to her in the 
 matter, and in her talk with General Grant he was disin- 
 clined to relieve Rosecrans. While the matter was under 
 discussion, on the 23d of October, 1862, the War Depart- 
 ment assigned Rosecrans to the command of the Army of 
 
358 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 the Cumberland. Mrs. Grant says when Grant received 
 the despatch he came out of the tent holding it in his hands, 
 and declared that his greatest trouble had been solved. 
 Grant says in relation to Rosecrans that as a subordinate 
 he found that he could not make him do as he wished, and 
 had finally determined to relieve him from duty if he had 
 not received this assignment, and that he was greatly 
 pleased at his being assigned to the command of the Army 
 of the Cumberland, believing that perhaps in such a position 
 he would be more efficient and useful than he was as a 
 subordinate. 
 
 Grant up to this time had only been commanding the 
 District of the Tennessee, but still had in his command 
 50,000 men. The authorities at Washington still seemed 
 disinclined to give him the command he was entitled to, 
 but on the 25th of October, 1862, he was placed in command 
 of the Army and Department of the Tennessee. 
 
 At the time of the battle of Corinth I was in command of 
 the 4th Division, District of West Tennessee, and was 
 rebuilding the railway from Columbus to Corinth. I had 
 just made the connection at Humboldt, and had been several 
 days at the front giving personal attention to the work. I 
 received a despatch from General Quimby, my commanding 
 officer, directing me to report immediately at Corinth for 
 orders. I was away from my own headquarters in a work- 
 ing undress suit, had nothing with me, and hesitated about 
 going as I was; but I concluded it was best to report, so 
 took the train, and at Jackson, Tenn., Colonel John A. 
 Rawlins came to the train and asked if I was on board. I 
 made myself known to him, and he informed me that Gene- 
 ral Grant was out on the platform and desired to see me. I 
 apologized to Colonel Rawlins, stating that I was not in 
 proper condition for presenting myself to the commanding 
 officer. He saw my predicament, and said, " Oh, we 
 know all about you; don't mind that." I stepped out on 
 the platform. General Grant met me, shook me cordially 
 by the hand, and I then saw that he was no better dressed 
 than I was, which greatly relieved me. In a few words 
 
GEN. GRANT AN0 HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 3Sg 
 
 General Grant informed me that he had assigned me to the 
 command of the Second Division of the Army of the Ten- 
 nessee, at Corinth, and quietly, but with a determination 
 that struck me so forcibly that I could make no answer, said, 
 "And I want you to understand that you are not going to 
 command a division of cowards." General Rosecrans, in 
 his official report of the battle of Corinth, had branded the 
 men as cowards, and General Grant had disapproved his 
 action and comments. The division won imperishable 
 renown. Upon its banner was inscribed " First at Donel- 
 son," and from that time until after the Atlanta campaign 
 they served directly under me. From Corinth until the 
 end of the war they took no step backward. Their great 
 battle of Atlanta, where they held a whole corps of Hood's 
 army, and afterwards Altoona, when, under General Corse, 
 they held that strategic point against the terrific onslaughts 
 of four times their number, gave me cause to always re- 
 member the words of General Grant. 
 
 Grant's first campaign against Vicksburg was for Sher- 
 man with 30,000 men to go down the Mississippi River 
 by boat and attack Vicksburg from the Yazoo side, while 
 Grant attacked Pemberton and his army, then at 
 Granada, and if Pemberton retreated follow him to the 
 gates of Vicksburg. General J. E. Johnston soon saw the 
 danger of this combined attack of Grant and Sherman on 
 Vicksburg, and immediately ordered a movement of General 
 Van Dom and all his cavalry, together with the forces of 
 Generals Jackson and Forrest, from Middle Tennessee upon 
 Grant's communications, to force the abandonment of 
 Grant's advance. 
 
 At the same time the force I commanded at Corinth was 
 to move down the Mobile and Ohio road towards Meridian 
 for the purpose of protecting that flank, and holding what 
 force I could in my front. On December 9th Grant wired me 
 that Jackson's cavalry, some 3000 men, he thought was 
 starting to my rear, and on December i8th he directed me to 
 take such force as could be spared, and, with troops at Jack- 
 son and those in the field, to attack Forrest and drive him 
 
360 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 across the Tennessee. The Ohio brigade, under Colonel 
 Fuller, struck Forrest at Park's Cross Roads, whipped him, 
 captured 400 prisoners and all his artillery, and by January 
 7th Forrest had been driven across the Tennessee, and 
 Jackson had been driven south to the Tallahatchie, and I 
 reported in the following dispatch: 
 
 " Had gunboats come up the river at the time requested, or 
 had General Davies been allowed even a transport with a piece 
 or two of artillery to come and destroy the flats, we should 
 have captured the rebel [Forrest's] force on this side of the river. 
 As it was they had several hard knocks before they escaped. 
 Captured four cannon and six hundred prisoners." 
 
 Van Dom attacked Holly Springs on the 20th of De- 
 cember, where were stored all of Grant's supplies. Colonel 
 Murphy, who commanded this post and had plenty of troops 
 to defend it, surrendered without firing a gun. This com- 
 bination of Johnston's and the surrender of Holly Springs 
 forced Grant to retreat to the line of the Mobile and Ohio 
 road, and allowed Pemberton to move to Vicksburg and 
 defeat Sherman's attack upon that point. 
 
 This is the first, and, I believe, only case where a cam- 
 paign was defeated and two separate armies forced to re- 
 treat by a cavalry raid (one going down the Mississippi River 
 to Vicksburg, and the other towards Vicksburg by land by 
 way of Granada) and was the first time Grant ever aban- 
 doned a campaign. As he fell back he lived off the coun- 
 try, and finding his army was so easily fed he said that if he 
 had had the experience before he would have let his base 
 of supplies go, and pushed on to Vicksburg, living off the 
 country, holding or defeating Pemberton, and preventing 
 him from reaching Vicksburg before Sherman could have 
 taken it. After this time Grant and all the armies he 
 commanded followed this policy, obtaining their rations by 
 living off the country when necessary. Especially was 
 this the case in his campaign in the rear of Vicksburg, which 
 immediately followed after the defeat at Holly Springs. 
 
 After the defeat of Sherman and the loss of Holly Springs, 
 Grant determined to move his whole command down the 
 
GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 36 1 
 
 Mississippi River, leaving me in command at Corinth to 
 cover his left flank, and prevent any portion of Bragg' s 
 army from reaching the Mississippi River, or, in fact, making 
 a lodgment west of the Tennessee. 
 
 GRANT ON THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN. 
 
 As soon as Grant moved down the Mississipi, and 
 placed his army on the levees, he determined in his own 
 mind that bold campaign to the south and rear of Vicks- 
 burg. Knowing he could not make it until the waters fell 
 in April or May, he utiUzed the time and kept his troops 
 busy in several plans for passing Vicksburg, or by using the 
 Yazoo tributaries to make a landing to the north and east 
 of Vicksburg. He had very little faith in these projects, 
 although they tended to confuse the enemy and mislead 
 them as to his real plan of campaign. He kept his own 
 counsels as to this plan, knowing it would receive no support 
 in Washington, but probably draw forth an order prohibiting 
 it. It would also receive criticism from all military sources, 
 as the plan was an absolute violation of all the rules and 
 practices of war, virtually placing his entire command at 
 the mercy of the enemy, cutting loose from all the bases 
 of support and supply, so that he must take with him all 
 the rations and ammunition he would use in the campaign. 
 Nevertheless he never hesitated, though urged to abandon it 
 by some of his ablest generals. Grant says he was induced 
 to adopt the plan first on account of the political situation, 
 which was threatening, the anti-war element having carried 
 the Congressional elections, and the Confederates were 
 forcing our troops as far north as when the war commenced ; 
 so that to abandon this campaign and return to Memphis, 
 the nearest point from which he could operate by land 
 and have a base and railroad to supply it, would be 
 very disheartening to the government and the people. 
 Grant ran the batteries and landed his forces on the east 
 side of the Mississippi River, and faced the enemy with less 
 men than they had; in the entire campaign when he 
 planted himself in the rear of Vicksburg had only 43,000 
 
362 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 men while the enemy had 60,000. In comparison as to 
 boldness, the total ignoring of all former practices of war- 
 fare, the accepting of the probability of nine chances of 
 failure to one of success, this campaign has never been ap- 
 proached in its originality and the wonderful grasp of its 
 possibilities and great fighting success. Viewing it from 
 this standpoint, it cannot be compared to any other known 
 campaign. After Vicksburg the Confederacy was doomed, 
 and Gettysburg coming at the same time Hfted the nation 
 from the slough of despondency to the highest point of hope, 
 enthusiasm, and certainty of success. 
 
 As soon as this campaign was over Grant wished to 
 move immediately on Mobile, but that fatal policy that 
 had formerly scattered a great army, and relieved Grant of 
 his command, was renewed here. He lay quiet, his great 
 abilities unutilized, until the disaster at Chickamauga forced 
 the government again to use him to retrieve our misfortune, 
 and again to snatch victory out of a threatening disaster. 
 
 Right after the Vicksburg campaign General Grant pro- 
 posed occupjnLng the Rio Grande frontier because the 
 French had entered Mexico, and to use immediately the 
 rest of his army to capture Mobile and move on Mont- 
 gomery and Selma, Alabama, and perhaps Atlanta, Georgia, 
 using the Alabama River from Mobile to supply his column, 
 but again his great victorious army was scattered. Parke, 
 with the Ninth Corps, was returned to east Tennessee, and 
 Sherman, with the Fifteenth Corps, was started from 
 Memphis to march along the Memphis and Charleston 
 Railway to the Tennessee River, and up that river slowly, 
 evidently for the purpose of being in position to aid 
 Rosecrans in his campaign against Bragg. 
 
 CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 Right after the battle of Chickamauga, and the concen- 
 tration of the Army of the Cumberland in Chattanooga, 
 the despatches of the Assistant Secretary of War, Charles 
 A. Dana who was in Chattanooga, greatly alarmed the 
 authorities in Washington, and at a conference it was 
 
GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 363 
 
 decided to at once place that army in General Grant's com- 
 mand, and the MiHtary Division of the Mississippi was 
 organized, which virtually included all the territory west of 
 the AUeghanies. General Grant was placed in coramand of 
 it, and proceeded immediately to Chattanooga. In ten days 
 he placed a starving army on a safe basis, had opened its 
 " cracker line," and was forming his plans to attack Bragg. 
 Sherman, who was marching from the Mississippi east, 
 was ordered to drop everything and move to Chattanooga. 
 Sherman had commanded the Fifteenth Army Corps, but 
 now took Grant's command of the Army of the Tennessee, 
 and moved rapidly east with the Fifteenth Army Corps, 
 then commanded by Frank P. Blair, and the left wing of 
 the Sixteenth Corps, commanded by Dodge. On November 
 5th Grant ordered Sherman to leave Dodge's command 
 at Athens, Alabama, to rebuild the Nashville and Decatur 
 road, which he said was necessary for him to have to feed 
 his army. He said in his letter: "It is not my intention 
 to leave any part of your army to guard roads, and par- 
 ticularly not Dodge, who has kept continuously on such 
 work." 
 
 There was a combination of circumstances at Chat- 
 tanooga that rendered it necessary for Grant to fight at 
 once. As Longstreet had left Bragg's front for the pur- 
 pose of whipping Bumside at Knoxville, the authorities in 
 Washington were greatly disturbed at the fear of losing 
 east Tennessee, which was almost unanimously Union in 
 its sentiment, and despatches were continually coming to 
 Grant from Washington to go to the aid of Bumside. 
 Grant's answer was that he would fight as soon as Sherman 
 got up, and that would in effect relieve Bumside. On 
 November 21st Grant wired to Halleck, " I have never felt 
 such restlessness before as I have at the condition of the 
 Army of the Cumberland." Sherman reached Chattanooga 
 himself on November 17th, his force arrived on November 
 26th, and the battle was immediately fought. 
 
 Grant's plan of the battle was well considered and made 
 out before Sherman's arrival. His principal attack was 
 
364 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 to be made by Sherman on Tunnel Hili, Bragg' s right 
 flank, in order to force Bragg to weaken his centre, and, if 
 possible, for Sherman to capture and hold the railroad in 
 Bragg' s rear, and force him either to weaken his lines or 
 lose his communications with his base at Cleveland Sta- 
 tion. Hooker was to perform a like service on our right (the 
 enemy's left), and force his way from Lookout Valley to 
 Chattanooga Creek and Rossville, forming a line there across 
 the ridge, facing south, thus threatening the enemy's rear 
 on that flank. Thomas, with the largest army, the Cum- 
 berland, was to assault in the centre while the enemy was 
 engaged with most of his forces defending his two flanks, 
 but Thomas was not to assault until Hooker reached and 
 formed at Rossville. After the first day's operation Grant 
 sent this despatch to Washington: "Fight to-day pro- 
 gressed favorably. Sherman carried the end of Missionary 
 Ridge and his right is now at the tunnel and his left at 
 Chattanooga Creek. Troops from Lookout Valley carried 
 the point of the mountain, and now hold the eastern slope 
 and a point high up. Hooker reports 2000 prisoners 
 taken, besides which a small number have fallen into our 
 hands from Missionary Ridge." Mr. Lincoln replied : " Your 
 despatches as to fighting on Monday and Tuesday are here. 
 Well done. Many thanks to all. Remember Bumside." 
 The next morning at daylight Sherman attacked. Grant 
 had reinforced him with Howard's corps coming from 
 Hooker. Hooker carried Lookout, moved to his position, 
 and finally Thomas's army moved against the centre, carry- 
 ing everything before it, and won a victory, whereas thirty 
 days before the government was considering how to extri- 
 cate the Army of the Cumberland from the clutches of 
 Bragg. Grant pursued to Ringgold, where the Iowa troops 
 suffered terribly in an unnecessary assault, as in a couple 
 of hours the enemy would have been flanked out of the 
 position. The victory at Chattanooga was won against 
 great odds, considering the advantage the enemy had in 
 position and intrenchments. Bragg made several grave 
 mistakes: first in sending away his ablest corps com- 
 
GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 365 
 
 mander, Longstreet, with 20,000 men, to attack Burnside 
 at Knoxville; second, in sending away a division of troops 
 on the eve of the battle; third, in placing so large a force 
 on the pla.in in front of Bumside's impregnable intrench- 
 ments and position. 
 
 I have heard it said that this battle was fought by the 
 men without orders or plan, but General Grant said to me 
 that in aU the battles he had fought this one followed more 
 closely his plans and original orders than any other. 
 
 Right in the midst of the battle Lincoln wired Grant not 
 to forget Burnside. Grant wired, " I will start Granger 
 this evening to Bumside's relief." 
 
 Grant followed the enemy to Ringgold, and stayed over 
 night at Graysville with Sherman, and returned to Chat- 
 tanooga on the evening of the 28th. He says: 
 
 "I found Granger had not got off, nor would he have the 
 number of men I had directed. He moved with reluctance and 
 complaint, and I therefore determined, notwithstanding the fact 
 that two divisions of Sherman's army had marched from Memphis 
 and gone into battle immediately on their arrival at Chattanooga, 
 to send him with his command, and also gave him Howard and 
 his Eleventh Corps. Granger's order was to accompany him." 
 
 Sherman's troops were not fit to make this march to 
 Knoxville. They were without clothes, shoes, blankets, or 
 overcoats. 
 
 Sherman's movement with Granger's corps of the Army 
 of the Cumberland saved Knoxville, as Longstreet had 
 invested it. Sherman proposed to Burnside that Longstreet 
 should be driven out of Tennessee, but Burnside thought he 
 could do it without using Sherman's force. He thought 
 that Longstreet would either get out of east Tennessee, or 
 return to Bragg's army; but he was mistaken, and this mis- 
 take caused a great deal of trouble, and was one of the main 
 causes of preventing Grant's comprehensive campaign for 
 the winter. Longstreet remained in east Tennessee until 
 spring and was the cause of continual anxiety in Washing- 
 ton and at Knoxville. Grant said that it was a great mis- 
 take, and greatly regretted that he did not insist upon their 
 
366 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 fighting Longstreet, and forcing him to retreat from east 
 Tennessee when the movement was first made. 
 
 As soon as the Chattanooga and Knoxville campaigns 
 were completed, General Grant wrote Halleck that they 
 could not make a winter campaign south of Chattanooga 
 on account of the difficulty of the mountain region and the 
 rainy season. To utilize his large force he proposed to 
 gather up a sufficient number and move by the Mississippi 
 River to New Orleans, thence to Mobile, attacking or 
 investing that place, capture it, and then move into Ala- 
 bama, and perhaps Georgia — a very feasible operation, as he 
 could have water coramunication to Selma and Montgomery. 
 Sherman was to move from Vicksburg with 5000 men from 
 Hurlbut's command, and McPherson's Seventeenth Corps 
 then stationed at or near Vicksburg, east to Meridian, de- 
 stroying the railroads and gathering all stock and supplies 
 that the enemy could use. 
 
 On December 21, 1863, I was called to Nashville to 
 meet Generals Grant and Sherman in relation to the part 
 my command was to take in this combined movement. 
 I was to take my corps, the troops at Corinth, and in con- 
 nection with General W. S. Smith's command of 10,000 
 cavalry, sweep the Tennessee Valley, thence to Tombigbee 
 Valley in Mississippi, destroying all railroads from there to 
 Corinth, and then to Decatur, Alabama. All stock and sup- 
 plies were to be taken that could be utilized, the intention 
 being that the commands of Sherman and myself should 
 destroy the railroads and take the products of the country, 
 so that no considerable force of the enemy could remain 
 long in west and middle Tennessee and Mississippi. 
 
 The fear of Lincoln and Halleck that Bragg might re- 
 cover and retake Chattanooga if Grant's army was moved 
 from there, and the anxiety of Lincoln and Stanton for 
 east Tennessee while Longstreet remained there, though 
 General Foster, who commanded east Tennessee, had more 
 troops than Longstreet, caused the abandonment of aU 
 this campaign except Sherman's movement from Vicks- 
 burg to Meridian. On December 27th Grant started for 
 
GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 367 
 
 Knoxville, telegraphing Washington he would force a battle 
 in east Tennessee as soon as he arrived. Thus for the 
 fourth time magnificent armies, competent to go anywhere, 
 imder the most competent commander, were dispersed 
 and scattered, and during the whole winter virtually ac- 
 complished nothing. 
 
 December 20, 1863, Grant moved his headquarters to 
 Nashville, and prepared his force for the spring campaign. 
 He expected to make the campaign to Atlanta himself, 
 and then to Mobile, if it had not already been taken, then 
 to Savannah. Much contention has arisen as to who first 
 suggested the move to Mobile and Savannah. There is 
 no doubt Grant had it in his plans for his spring campaign 
 which he expected to make in 1864. Whether he had in- 
 dicated it to any one I do not know. However, Sherman 
 evidently had it in mind as soon as the Atlanta campaign 
 fell under him, and probably both of them considered it 
 a proper campaign to make, and Sherman made it with 
 Grant's approval. 
 
 From early in the rebellion Grant had been impressed 
 with the idea that the active and continuous operation of 
 aU the troops that could be brought into the field, regardless 
 of season or weather, was the proper course to pursue. The 
 armies in the East and West acted independently and 
 without concert, like a baUcy team, no two puUing together, 
 enabling the enemy to use to great advantage his interior 
 lines of communications to reinforce the army most vigor- 
 ously pressed, and to furlough a large number during the 
 season of inactivity to go to their homes and work in putting 
 in crops to be used for the support of their armies. Grant 
 says that he therefore determined as soon as he was in 
 command of all the armies : first, to use the greatest number 
 of troops possible against the armed force of the enemy, 
 preventing him from using the same force at different sea- 
 sons against first one and then another of our armies ; sec- 
 ond, to hammer continuously against the armed force of 
 the enemy and his resources until there should be nothing 
 left to him. 
 
368 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 Our experience proved how prophetic were Grant's 
 recommendations; and, had his advice been followed in 
 each of his great campaigns and his great victorious 
 army on each occasion been held intact and used as he 
 suggested, instead of being partially disbanded or lying in 
 idleness, the war in the West would have been ended in 
 1862 or 1863. After Donelson, Grant said, there was nothing 
 to prevent the combining of his own and Buel's army and 
 moving to the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railway, 
 using the Tennessee River as its base, proceeding to the 
 capture of Vicksburg and opening the Mississippi River. 
 This was in 1862. 
 
 After Shiloh Halleck's army of 100,000 men could have 
 been used, and in sixty days Vicksburg would have fallen 
 and the Mississippi would have been open; but Buel with 
 his army moved east and finally fell back to the Cumberland 
 River, from which he started, while the rest of Halleck's 
 army was scattered, thereby accomplishing nothing. 
 
 After Vicksburg Grant had 70,000 men, with whom he 
 could have moved on Mobile, captured it, and by use of 
 the Alabama River penetrated to Atlanta; but Parke was 
 sent to east Tennessee with the Ninth Corps, Sherman with 
 the Fifteenth Corps spent the summer moving from Mem- 
 phis to Chattanooga, while A. J. Smith with two divisions 
 of the Sixteenth Corps went to Banks and was not utilized 
 again until the fall of 1864. 
 
 After Chattanooga Grant planned to move 30,000 men 
 of that army to Mobile and with the forces on the Mississippi 
 take that city and penetrate to Atlanta by way of the 
 Alabama River, while the rest of the army swept north 
 Mississippi and west Tennessee and destroyed the commu- 
 nications so it could not be again occupied by a Confederate 
 army. All these plans showed a mind and foresight that 
 stamped him as a great general. If any of these plans had 
 been carried out at the time they would have eliminated 
 the Confederate army from the Western country, and 
 enabled a concentration of the army against the Confederate 
 forces in the East. 
 
GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 369 
 
 Before Grant assumed command of all the armies there 
 was promulgated a maxim of war that two battles by two 
 different armies should not be fought at one time. An 
 officer of the highest rank and largest command, in com- 
 menting on this, said if our Western armies engaged all 
 their forces at the same time it would leave them without 
 a single reserve to stem the effect of possible disaster. 
 This policy, of course, allowed the enemy, holding the 
 interior lines, the opportunity to reinforce any one of its 
 armies, and at all times bring an equal or superior force 
 against any one of our armies. Grant's plans were the 
 reverse of this, and his orders to all our armies were to 
 move on the enemy at the same time and keep them busy, 
 and prevent any one of the rebel armies from reinforcing 
 the other ; it was this policy that so depleted the enemy's 
 forces that within a year they were defeated and could not 
 muster force enough to stop the movement of any one of 
 our armies, and this brought peace. 
 
 Grant's four years' experience at West Point, and the 
 acquaintances there formed, and in the Mexican War, gave 
 him a knowledge of the officers on both sides in the Civil 
 War ; so that while many people clothed Lee and Johnston 
 with almost superhuman ability. Grant says he knew they 
 were mortal ; it was just as well he felt this. 
 
 General Grant, in discussing the criticisms upon him, 
 said: 
 
 "Twenty years after the close of the most stupendous war 
 ever known we have writers who profess devotion to the nation 
 trying to prove that the nation's forces were not victorious. 
 Probably they say we were slashed around from Donelson to 
 Vicksburg and Chattanooga, and in the East Gettysburg to 
 Appomattox, when the physical rebellion gave out from sheer 
 exhaustion. I would like to see truthful history written; and 
 history will do full credit to the courage, endurance, and soldierly 
 ability of the American citizen, no matter what section of the 
 country he hailed from, or in what ranks he fought. " 
 
 Speaking of those who opposed our country during the 
 war, Grant gave this opinion; "The man who obstructs a 
 
370 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 war in which his nation is engaged, no matter whether 
 right or wrong, occupies no enviable place in life or history. 
 The most charitable posthumous history the stay-at-home 
 traitor can hope for is oblivion." 
 
 It would be impossible for me to close my sketch of 
 General Grant without paying a just tribute to the one who 
 was so much with and to him, and to us, but whose work 
 we do not see recorded in the war records or the history of 
 Grant in his official work in civil life. I speak of his de- 
 voted wife, Julia Dent Grant. After every campaign she 
 visited General Grant, and was welcomed by every one in 
 his command. She had a kindly, gracious way that cap- 
 tured us. The officers who had annoyances and grievances 
 they could not take to the General and his staff appealed 
 to Mrs. Grant. She was very diplomatic, and knew which 
 to consider and which she could not take up with the 
 General, and many an officer could thank her for interceding 
 and straightening out his grievance. We went to her with 
 great confidence in what she could do ; although she always 
 asserted that she had no influence in army matters I noticed 
 none of us were ever concerned about or censured for our 
 appeals to Mrs. Grant, and there is no soldier who did not 
 love to see her with the army, and did not regret her de- 
 parture. During Grant's administration, his troubles, and 
 his sickness, she was always the same. She straightened 
 out many little contentions, and a suggestion to the General 
 often pointed the way to settle many Httle annoyances. 
 After General Grant's death I saw much of her, and was 
 charmed with the great number of incidents she had stored 
 away and her great remembrance of what had happened. 
 At our army reunions we always had a word from her and 
 sent her our greetings, and they were happy mile-stones 
 in her life. Many happy hours I have spent with her 
 as she recalled events in the General's life, and his old 
 comrades always received a hearty welcome from her. 
 The nation will never know how much it is indebted to her 
 loyal devotion and good advice. It is a singular fact that 
 i n his own home General Grant was uneasy and discontented 
 
GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 37 1 
 
 when Mrs. Grant was away. He was devoted and loyal to 
 her, and his last request that she be laid at his side, no 
 matter where they placed him, was worthy of the great 
 man, as well as due to his devoted helpmeet. The hold 
 she had, not only on her own country, but on all others, 
 was shown by the universal mourning at her death and 
 the great respect shown her as we laid her by the side of 
 the General at Riverside. 
 
 In civil life, as President, General Grant laid down the 
 pohcies that the country maintains to-day on all great 
 questions — the maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine, the 
 settlement of all disputes by arbitration, the currency, gold 
 standard, the upbuilding of the navy, the policy in the 
 West Indies, acquisition of foreign territory, retirement of 
 greenbacks until paid out for gold, and the education of our 
 people, upon which nothing more clear than his speech at 
 Des Moines, Iowa, has ever been uttered. It has always 
 been an enigma to me to hear people speak of General Grant 
 and say he was a great soldier but a failure in civil life, for 
 his standing throughout the world is as high or higher for 
 his acts as a civilian as for the great victories of the Civil 
 War. Grant as a statesman was the same as he was when a 
 soldier. When we were living in a camp and not on a cam- 
 paign it was hard to get a reply to a letter or despatch, or get 
 any comfort from him, but the moment he got on his horse 
 to lead a campaign it seemed as though he anticipated all 
 events. His judgments seemed infalhble, his decision was 
 made instantly, and the answer to a letter or despatch was 
 ready the moment he read it. He never hesitated; he 
 never was ambiguous. Any person receiving a letter from 
 him did not have to write a second time for an explanation, 
 and he greatly objected to receiving dispatches showing 
 indecision and expressing doubts during a campaign. To 
 the subordinates he trusted he gave great latitude, and 
 seemed to have the utmost confidence in their success. His 
 orders stated what he wanted done, leaving to them aU 
 details, invariably saying if they needed help he would 
 support them. 
 
372 GEN. GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 
 
 After the war it was my good fortune to be thrown with 
 Grant a good deal, and I was associated with him in some 
 of his enterprises, such as the railway from the City of 
 Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, and it was impossible for me 
 to meet him as I did and not comprehend that he was in 
 civil life, as in military life, of that peculiar make-up which 
 could let small matters go without attention, but in any 
 crisis would rise to command it. He was so modest and so 
 simple that his greatness was absolutely forced upon one 
 from his very acts. Nevertheless, so far no critic in this 
 nation or any other has been able to write a word against his 
 miUtary course or civil life which carried strength enough to 
 be mentioned a second time. Grant' s greatness was admitted 
 long before he left our shores, and, although a simple citizen, 
 he was honored as no one ever was before, and his simplicity 
 astonished the world. Some critics of General Grant have 
 said that during the war he absorbed from others many of 
 his great qualities as a soldier, but no one can read the war 
 records without seeing that the strength of his despatches 
 and orders, the boldness of his plans, his fearless attack of 
 superior numbers, and his decisive victories in the early part 
 of the war were equal if not superior to those of the last 
 year of the war. 
 
 The great distinguishing qualities of General Grant were 
 truth, courage, modesty, generosity, and loyalty. He was 
 loyal to every work and every cause in which he was engaged : 
 to his friends, his family, his country, and his God ; and it 
 was these characteristics which bound to him with hoops 
 of steel all those who served with him. He gave to others 
 honors and praise to which he was himself entitled. No 
 officer served under him who did not understand this. I 
 was a young man and given much larger commands than 
 my rank entitled me to. Grant never failed to encourage 
 me by giving me credit for whatever I did, or tried to do. 
 If I failed he assumed the responsibility; if I succeeded he 
 recommended me for promotion. He always looked at the 
 intention of those who served under him, as well as to their 
 acts. If they failed he dropped them so quickly and effi- 
 ciently that the whole country could see and hear their fall. 
 
JAPAN'S PREPARATION FOR WAR. 
 Read Dec. 7, 1904, by Major L. L. Seaman, U. S. V. 
 
 I WISH to express to you the profound appreciation I 
 feel for the distinguished honor you have done me 
 in inviting me to address you this evening. 
 
 The Loyal Legion represents to me the highest ideals of 
 my boyhood, ideals that are as indelible as if graven on 
 stone, that have influenced my actions throughout my 
 entire life. 
 
 It was in the lap of a soldier that I learned my letters — 
 a brave, and gentle soul, brother of your late comrade 
 General Ruggles, whom I loved as I did a father and whose 
 own heroic life ebbed away within the grim walls of Libby 
 Prison. He it was who taught me how to lisp my first 
 syllables, and it was his love of country, his patriotism, 
 his brave but terrible death, that instilled into my youthful 
 mind an unconquerable desire to be a soldier, and an 
 adoration for its exponents that was little short of hero- 
 worship. 
 
 I am doubly glad to be with you to-night because also 
 of the presence of the distinguished representative of the 
 land which has offered me such generous hospitality this 
 past summer at a time when her titanic struggle with Russia 
 on the field of Mars literally astonished and amazed the 
 military critics of the world. 
 
 Various are the reasons given to account for this wonder- 
 ful success of the Japanese. The average man sums up his 
 theory in the expression, "They are great fighters — 
 probably as brave as ever met in war." The military man 
 accounts for the victories on the ground of unusual per- 
 fection of detail, coupled with a heroism that has never been 
 
 373 
 
374 JAPAN S PREPARATION FOR WAR 
 
 surpassed in battle. Still others, seeking deeper for a cause, 
 ascribe it to a fanatical spirit of patriotism, inspired by the 
 devoted self-sacrifice of an entire people. 
 
 These theories are excellent in their way, but the real 
 reason for Japan's success thus far lies in her masterly 
 preparation for war, a preparation the like of which the 
 world has never seen before. She is making war on strictly 
 scientific principles. She is making it a national business. 
 She is not experimenting with conditions that arose after 
 the clash of arms commenced. No; for a decade ago she 
 formed her purpose, and deliberately set about to study in 
 the most scientific manner exactly what war meant, and 
 what its outcome was likely to be ; and, having ascertained 
 this to her satisfaction, she is now pla3dng the game to its 
 remorseless finish. 
 
 Already she has taught the other nations profound and 
 convincing lessons in many fields, and the most impressive 
 of these is that the normal condition of the soldier is health, 
 and that those who die in war should die from bullets 
 received on the firing line and not from preventable disease 
 in quarters. 
 
 Ten years ago, at the conclusion of her war with China, 
 Japan found herself in possession of Port Arthur and the 
 Liaotung peninsula. This territory was permanently ceded 
 to her by the terms of the treaty of Shimonoseki, signed in 
 1895. Later, she was ousted from it by the concert of 
 Russia, Germany, and France, England weakly acquiescing. 
 Unable to cope with these allied powers, which ostensibly 
 and hypocritically stood for the "territorial integrity of 
 China, " but really for their own cunningly laid plans to 
 plunder China themselves, she was forced to relinquish the 
 fruits of her victory and to accept instead a small monetary 
 indemnity, and the island of Formosa. 
 
 Just there, modem statesmanship sprang into full ex- 
 istence in Japan. Robbed of her legitimate conquests, a 
 great light dawned upon her. Her statesmen foresaw that 
 not only would China be despoiled by the other nations, 
 but that her own independence was imperilled and that in 
 
japan's preparation for war 375 
 
 time, if she did not resist, she would be reduced to a state 
 of vassalage to the new occupant of Manchuria. She saw 
 one paw of the great White Bear already clutching Port 
 Arthur, whilst the other was stealthily pushing its way 
 down through Korea, with claws extended ready to reach 
 across the straits to Japan. 
 
 From that moment Japan began to prepare for war; not 
 from motives of revenge — she put aside the memories of 
 her trials and disappointments except for their inspiration 
 in battle — ^but for her very existence, as a free and independ- 
 ent people. She prepared for a war that should not be a 
 campaign of weeks or months, but of years if necessary. 
 No detail, however insignificant, was overlooked. Her 
 heart and soul were in the work, and the result was a prepara- 
 tion such as was never known before in history. 
 
 I need not recount Japan's victories : you are all familiar 
 with them. The fact that she has swept on from triumph 
 to triumph, from the Yalu to Liaoyang in the teeth of the 
 Russian foe, entrenched and fortified, whose units are no 
 cowards, but who fight with the bravery of fanaticism and 
 the courage of desperation, and has never yet met with 
 actual reverse, and only been checked occasionally here and 
 there, is principally due to this wonderful preparation. 
 
 How has this result been accomplished? First, Japan 
 sent her statesmen all over the Western world to investigate 
 and compare the military systems in vogue, and, having 
 satisfied herself that Germany's was the best for her needs, 
 adopted the German army methods. The best German 
 military instructors she could command were called to Japan 
 and set at work developing, to the smallest detail, an ideal 
 military system. She studied the lessons of war most as- 
 siduously, and, having learned all the Germans could teach 
 her, she dismissed her instructors and actually began to 
 improve upon their ideas. She saw objectionable features 
 here and there, which were eliminated, and for them sub- 
 stituted others more suitable to her requirements. 
 
 What was the result ? 
 
 When the call to arms came, her troops were mobilized 
 
376 japan's preparation for war 
 
 with the utmost dispatch. Every man, trained as a soldier, 
 knew exactly his place, knew when and where to report 
 without confusion, knew where his individual kit was ready 
 and waiting. Most of the soldiers came in their working 
 clothes from the fields to the nearest village, went straight 
 to certain lockers, put on uniforms there waiting for them, 
 put their old clothes back in the same lockers, and in ten 
 minutes were transformed from agricultural peasants into 
 soldiers, ready for service. 
 
 So much for the men. 
 
 While these troops were being prepared all these years, 
 Japan had been heaping up supplies of every variety — 
 clothing, food, munitions of war, and surgical and medical 
 necessities. Her student-statesmen had been learning other 
 things than the best system of manoeuvring upon battle- 
 fields. As a result of their inquiries, young men were sent 
 abroad to study. Some became graduates of the United 
 States Naval Academy ; others attended the great technical 
 schools of Europe and America. Japan learned how to 
 make her own guns, projectiles, and ammunition. There 
 was no time to build her own battle-ships, and these were 
 bought abroad, but she began to build her smaller ships of 
 war, and even now is undertaking shipbuilding on a far 
 larger scale. Contracts for the construction of two battle- 
 ships for other Asiatic nations — one for Siam and one for 
 China — are now being filled in Japan, and at Nagasaki she 
 is now constructing two splendid 15, 000-ton merchantmen 
 for her trans-Pacific service. Prof. Shimose, a Japanese 
 chemist, invented an explosive compound, named after 
 him "Shimose powder." I have seen the effects of this 
 famous powder. It is not used for killing — propulsion, I 
 mean — but for its explosive qualities in blowing up ships 
 and in loading shells. As an evidence of its power of frag- 
 mentation, the case of a Russian bluejacket may be cited. 
 He was on the cruiser Variag in the Chemulpo fight when 
 a Shimose shell burst near him. An examination of his 
 body disclosed 161 distinct wounds. 
 
 Enormous arsenals were constructed and filled with 
 
japan's preparation for war 377 
 
 finished products for use in war. Training schools for of- 
 ficers, on hnes similar to West Point and Annapolis, were 
 established. 
 
 Then came the most wonderful part of Japan's military 
 development. Japan's student-statesmen had learned that, 
 as a rule, in war five men die of disease for one from injuries 
 and bullets. She decided this enormous waste of men was 
 needless and she set herself to correct it. She established 
 the largest, richest and best-equipped Red Cross hospital 
 system in the world, a system with more than eleven hund- 
 red thousand members, with stations in every part of the 
 empire. She equipped this system with hospital ships, 
 perfect in every detail, and rented them out as liners tmtil 
 they should be needed in war, the rental papng for their 
 maintenance, and a handsome profit on the investment. 
 
 Long before the war began, the storerooms of the so- 
 ciety in Tokio were crowded with wagon-loads of surgical 
 dressing material, cots, tents, bedding, ambulances , and 
 uniforms for nurses. In addition to making these prepara- 
 tions, the society had been training nurses for military ser- 
 vice, and in Tokio, where its hospital has a capacity of only 
 200 beds, there were 260 nurses to care for the patients. 
 
 All this was only a small part of the advance she made 
 over other nations in the medical side of her preparations. 
 Her students had absorbed the most progressive methods 
 in the great medical schools of the Occident. They saw, 
 if their army was to be kept well in the field, preventable 
 diseases must be controlled. They developed the germ 
 theory and started to make war upon bacteria. They 
 established institutes for the study of infectious diseases and 
 for the manufacture of serum and lymphs of various kinds. 
 It is now acknowledged by the whole world that to Japan 
 belongs the credit of some of the most valuable contributions 
 to medical science in the field of bacteriology. To her we 
 are indebted for the discovery of the germs of tetanus (lock- 
 jaw) and of the plague. Through the investigations of her 
 students the best serum treatment of these diseases, and of 
 diphtheria, has been secured. Her students are still busily 
 
378 japan's preparation for war 
 
 at work in these fields in the expectation of overcoming 
 dysentery, typhoid, leprosy, tuberculosis, erysipelas, and 
 similar diseases. The results they have already attained 
 have placed them in the front rank with rival investigators 
 in similar fields in Europe and America. 
 
 Still further did these students go in their endeavor to 
 eliminate unnecessary sickness among the soldiers at the 
 front. Japan soon realized that the crux of the situation 
 lay in the character of the ration for the troops. She set 
 about to master that problem and has gone along way toward 
 solving it. The ration is suited to climatic conditions and 
 consists largely of rice, compressed fish, army biscuits, a 
 few salted plums, tea — which necessitates the use of large 
 quantities of boiled (sterilized) water — a few ounces of meat, 
 if obtainable, and some juicy, succulent pickles. 
 
 Striking proof of the value of this scientific study of the 
 ration came long before the outbreak of the present war. 
 Dr. Takagi, as Medical Director of the Imperial Navy, ac- 
 complished one of the greatest tasks that ever confronted 
 the medical authorities of any country. To him the navy 
 is indebted for the eradication of that most terribly fatal 
 disease beri-beri, the former terror of Oriental armies. In 
 the war with Korea forty-five per cent, of the Japanese 
 troops had this disease, and the mortality was appalling. 
 Now it is practically unknown in the navy. This eradica- 
 tion was brought about almost entirely through the scientific 
 study of the navy ration and its refomiation. As a result 
 of this change in food, the proportion of meat and vegetables 
 being regulated scientifically, a finer, more robust, red- 
 blooded set of sailors does not exist than those in Japan's 
 naval service to-day, and years have passed since a case of 
 beri-beri has been seen on shipboard. 
 
 Having largely mastered the ration problem, the sur- 
 geons of the army, hundreds of whom had been trained in 
 the institutes pertaining to the study of preventive medicine, 
 as well as in hospitals where the most improved methods 
 of antisepsis were in use, determined not to interfere with 
 wounds on the battle-field unless immediate death threatened 
 
japan's preparation for war 379 
 
 except by the application of first-aid dressings. Probing 
 of wounds, which invites the danger of infection, or opera- 
 tions on the field, do not take place, except in cases of great 
 emergency, where it is absolutely necessary for the imme- 
 diate saving of Hfe. The hospital corps men who accompany 
 the army are trained as nurses in the hospitals and taught 
 the application of first-aid methods in the most thorough 
 and practical manner. In great emergencies they are 
 sometimes capable of rendering efficient assistance before 
 the arrival of the surgeon. 
 
 And so in every department preparatory to the actual 
 making of war Japan not only took the best ideas of the 
 Western world, but improved on many of them for her own 
 needs. She established her great base hospitals and de- 
 veloped her transport system to the highest degree of 
 perfection. 
 
 I wish that you could have gone with me last summer 
 through these hospitals; could have visited the great ar- 
 senals, crowded with supplies ; the enormous plants covering 
 hundreds of acres given up to the manufacture of war mu- 
 nitions; the hospital ships, the shipyards, the transports, all 
 of which they allowed me to visit with the utmost freedom. 
 Japan is the land of the sealed lip, so far as the slightest 
 revelation of her plans for making war is concerned, but 
 she is wonderfully frank in disclosing her vast preparations 
 for that war. 
 
 The war came on. 
 
 Immediately Japan exhibited a new departure in military 
 strife. She discarded absolutely all the pomp and panoply 
 of war. In the two weeks I spent in Tokio I scarcely saw 
 half a dozen men in uniform except in the office of the 
 War Department. There was an absolute absence of the 
 gold-laced, brass-buttoned ostentation and parade, the 
 swashbuckling, spur-heeled bravado, so much to be seen in 
 certain European capitals even in times of peace. 
 
 While I was waiting in Tokio, Japan already had two 
 armies in the field, a third was ready to leave for the front, 
 and a fourth was being mobilized. Immense stores of 
 
380 japan's preparation for war 
 
 supplies, food, coal, ammunition, to the amount of thousands 
 upon thousands of tons, were being shipped from the ports 
 of the Inland Sea through the Straits of Shimonoseki to the 
 Gulf of Pechili ; great fleets of transports were canying troops 
 to the Manchurian peninsula, and up toward Dalny and 
 Port Arthur; a vast and comprehensive system of manu- 
 facture to supply the needs of the soldier and of the sailors 
 was going on, but it was all done with such perfect organiza- 
 tion and intelhgent system that one had to search even in 
 the imperial capital — ^the very centre of administrative 
 activity — to discover any tangible evidence of the actual 
 existence of war. 
 
 Japan made the medical department of her army of 
 equal importance with that of the strictly fighting branch, 
 and ranked its officers accordingly. The prevailing idea, 
 as soon as hostilities began, was to prevent disease. The 
 Japanese sent their medical officers out with the first screen 
 of scouts. They took their microscopes and chemicals, 
 tested and labelled wells, so that the army to follow should 
 drink no contaminated water. 
 
 When the scouts reached a town, the medical officer 
 immediately instituted a thorough examination of its san- 
 itary condition, and if contagion or infection was found, 
 he quarantined and placed a guard around the dangerous 
 district. Notices were posted so that the approaching 
 column was warned, and no soldiers were billeted where 
 danger existed. 
 
 Microscopic blood tests were made in all fever cases, 
 and bacteriological experts, fully equipped, formed part of 
 the staff of every divisional headquarters. The medical 
 officer also accompanied foraging parties, and, with the com- 
 missariat officers, sampled the food, fruits, and vegetables 
 sold by the natives along the line of march, long before the 
 arrival of the army. If the food was tainted or the fruit 
 overripe, or the water required boiling, notice was posted 
 to that effect, and such was the respect and discipline of 
 every soldier, from commanding officer to the file in the 
 ranks, that obedience to its orders was absolute. 
 
japan's preparation for war 381 
 
 The medical officer was also found in camp, lecturing 
 the men on sanitation, and the hundred and one details of 
 personal hygiene, how to cook and to eat, when not to 
 drink or to bathe — even to the paring and cleansing of the 
 finger-nails, to prevent danger from bacteria. Long before 
 the outbreak of hostilities he was with the advance agents of 
 the army, testing provisions that were being collected for 
 troops that were to follow ; and as a consequence of aU these 
 precautions, he is not now found treating thousands of cases 
 of intestinal diseases and other contagion and fevers that 
 foUow improper subsistence and neglected sanitation: 
 diseases that have brought more campaigns to disastrous 
 termination than the strategies of opposing generals or the 
 bullets of their followers. If the testimony of those con- 
 versant with the facts can be accepted, supplemented by 
 my own limited observations, the loss from preventable 
 disease in the first six months of the terrible conflict now 
 raging will be but a fraction of one per cent. ; this, too, in 
 Manchuria, a country notoriously unsanitary. Up to 
 August ist, 9,862 cases had been received at the reserve 
 hospital at Hiroshima, of whom 6,636 were wounded. 
 Of the entire number up to that time only 34 had died. 
 Up to July 20th, the hospital ship Hakuai Maru alone 
 brought 2,406 casualties from the front without losing a 
 single case in transit. Up to July ist, 1,105 wounded, a 
 large porportion of whom were stretcher cases, were received 
 at the hospitals in Tokio; none died, and aU but one pre- 
 sented favorable prognoses. 
 
 Naturally one asks: Were these medical results antici- 
 pated? As an answer, the statement of a distinguished 
 Japanese officer, when discussing with me the subject of 
 Russia's overwhelming numbers, is pertinent. "Yes," 
 he said, " we are prepared for that. Russia may be able to 
 place 2,000,000 men in the field. We can furnish 500,000. 
 You know that in every war four men die of disease for 
 every one who falls from bullets. That will be the position 
 of Russia in this war. We propose to eliminate disease as 
 a factor. Every man who dies in our army must fall on 
 
382 japan's preparation for war 
 
 the field of battle. In this way we shall neutralize the 
 superiority of Russian numbers and stand on a compara- 
 tively equal footing." 
 
 Compare this with the attitude of Russian officials in 
 the Far East as stated by Captain Gunderson of the steam- 
 ship Unison, wrecked off the Miatou Islands last August, 
 as she was attempting to run the blockade of Port Arthur. 
 I was on that wreck three days in company with my friend 
 Capt. Boyd, loth United States Cavalry, and Captain Gun- 
 derson repeatedly assured us that no one in Russia had any 
 idea Japan really intended war. As an evidence, he cited a 
 conversation with his brother, who is the Russian surgeon- 
 general at Vladivostock, and who said: "Oh, there will 
 be no war. If Russia expected war, I should be the first 
 to know it, so my hospital could be in readiness. As it is, 
 I have never been so short of supplies as I am to-day. 
 There will be no war." That night Admiral Togo tor- 
 pedoed the Russian squadron, and practically closed Port 
 Arthur to the outside world. 
 
 Regardless of the outcome of this terrible war, history 
 will never again furnish a more convincing demonstration 
 of the benefit of a medical, sanitary, and commissary depart- 
 ment thoroughly organzied, equipped, and empowered, to 
 overcome the silent foe. 
 
 Every death from preventable disease is an insult to 
 the intelligence of the age. When it occurs in an army, 
 where the units are compelled to submit to discipline, it 
 becomes a governmental crime. Witness the French cam- 
 paign in Madagascar in 1894, where of the 15,000 men sent 
 to the front 29 were killed in action, and over 7000 died 
 en route to and from the scene, from preventable causes. 
 
 The Japanese do their killing, but they do it differently. 
 They, too, have their tragedies, but they are legitimate 
 tragedies of grim war. By the methods I have faintly de- 
 scribed — their recognition of the importance of preventive 
 medicine and sanitary and commissariat supervision — ^they 
 have doubled the fighting efficiency of their army, and 
 reduced to a minimum the loss from preventable disease. 
 
japan's preparation for war 383 
 
 As an American who yields to no one in his love of coun- 
 try, who admires with an intensity that knows no abatement 
 the man on the firing line, I ask you, gentlemen, what 
 does aU this marvellous record of Japan mean for the other 
 nations? And I leave to you, trained as you have been on 
 battle-fields such as I never saw, to answer. 
 
THE NAVY. 
 
 A Paper Read by Rear-Admiral Joseph B. Coghlan, 
 U.S. Navy, December 13, 1905. 
 
 I FEEL as though I am here under a species of "false 
 pretences" to-night. When I was asked to recom- 
 mend some one to address you to-night, and could 
 really think of no officer in this vicinity who could " fill the 
 bill," I was in earnest. I was then asked if I would say 
 something on the occasion, as it had been settled that this 
 was to be a "Navy night." Thinking from the invitation to 
 me, to address you, that you would be easily pleased, I, in a 
 moment of aberration of mind, consented. Then came the 
 unkindest cut of all. " Don't make it reminiscent" was 
 told me, as though I could possibly be egotistical enough 
 to imagine that any of my poor memories could entertain 
 such splendid old veterans as yourselves. All this was 
 enough to make me uncomfortable, but when I saw my- 
 self advertised, as it were, to "read a paper on the Navy" 
 my heart fairly failed me, and, like the boy at school, I was 
 sorry I had had any thing to do with the whole thing. 
 
 The Navy as we all know is assuming greater importance 
 every day. As our country expands its trade, so the needs 
 of a navy become greater. For after all the existence of a 
 navy depends upon the needs of commerce. In fact navies 
 are the handmaids of commerce, and where commerce 
 does not exist navies are not needed. Were it not for 
 commerce each nation could shut itself up with a species 
 of Chinese wall, and stew and rot in its own incestuous life. 
 But so long as human nature remains as it is, so long will 
 commerce survive: so long will the jealousies and animosities 
 
 384 
 
THE NAVY 385 
 
 engendered by commercial competition exist, and so long 
 will the needs of navies be felt. The expansion of our 
 country in the last decade, with its possibilities of greatly 
 expanded commerce, has forced home upon our people the 
 needs of a greater navy. The need of greatly increased 
 markets for our expanded productions brings with it the 
 need for their protection, and the idea of protection points 
 immediately to the very "raison d'etre" of the Navy — viz. 
 to be ready, should the occasion ever unhappily arise, to 
 swiftly deal a death-blow to an enemy! For you all know 
 that the best protection lies in your power to attack and 
 crush your enemy, and for this purpose you must have 
 sufficient force well handled. All this must seem mere truism 
 to you, but it can never be too often repeated. It is not 
 the cry of "Wolf! wolf!" but the wise man's idea, viz.: 
 Make every preparation, and when the wolf does come we 
 can slay him. Now in our own country lately things have 
 been in a way reversed, and our policy would seem to have 
 been to "prepare the handmaid for the most extensive 
 demands which can come from her mistress." 
 
 And, strange as it may appear, the handmaiden has in 
 a measure been growing faster than her mistress. But this 
 is right and proper, for when that mistress becomes fully 
 conscious of her own needs she will start to the front with 
 an ease and a stride which her poor handmaid will find 
 it hard to maintain. We have but to study the same things 
 as seen in the experience of other countries to see how true 
 this is. The handmaid, upon whom the mistress will in 
 the end have to rely, should therefore prepare herself to 
 sustain the heavy burden to be laid upon her in the future. 
 But this hanging back, as it were, of the mistress. Commerce^ 
 cannot be too long delayed without serious injury to the 
 handmaid, the Navy. So long as commerce in our own 
 bottoms is delayed so long will the Navy be crippled. The 
 genius of our people and the many opportunities for men 
 to engage in lucrative work on shore will always tend to 
 make it difficult to maintain the proper number of men to 
 man our vessels. In times of peace this will not be so 
 
386 THE NAVY 
 
 detrimental, for we shall probably never keep in commission 
 more than a moiety of our vessels. 
 
 But the moment the alarm of war is sounded where 
 shall we turn for the men who shall then be needed so 
 badly? 
 
 With no vessels carr5dng our flag in foreign commerce, 
 what shall we do, where can we turn? Our people are, I 
 think, thoroughly alive to the fact that the Navy must always 
 be ready, and I feel confident that, so far as we can, the 
 Navy keeps so. But unfortunately the people are very slow 
 to recognize any difference between the requirements of 
 peace and those of war. They only demand "results," 
 forgetting that what to them may appear as having been 
 most lavish expenditures have been merely the minimum 
 which good judgment demanded. 
 
 The sudden mobilization of our whole fleet, after years 
 of work with half of it, will call for doubling the number 
 of men, and where are they to come from? 
 
 There will be plenty of raen, such as they are, to put on 
 board the vessels, but what from a seaman's standpoint 
 will they be? The vast majority will be without the 
 slightest idea of the "sea habit"; men whom it will take 
 months if not years to get into shape, for they will have to 
 be taught from the rudiments up. 
 
 The last war in the East has again shown us the danger 
 of such a position. The Russian fleet, with nearly a year of 
 practice on its way to China, was immediately found to be 
 infinitely inferior to the veterans of Japan ! It is often said 
 that a few months will get our men into good shape. Yes ? 
 but where is the enemy who will give us even those few 
 months? For such a one we will not need preparation! 
 
 Some are trying to partly solve the problem by the idea 
 of a naval militia. This may give us a few men, but they 
 will be mostly men whose mode of life does not give them 
 the stamina, physical of course, to stand the strain and 
 hardships. Even the best of these lack the sea habit, which 
 would keep them good men during their first few weeks at 
 sea. And so we are driven to the inevitable conclusion that 
 
THE NAVY 387 
 
 our recruits in war must come from our deep-sea vessels, 
 vessels engaged in foreign commerce. Being used to the 
 sea, they can easily be transformed into handy men for 
 war purposes. This supposes, of course, that the men under 
 constant training will form the nucleus about which the new 
 men can cluster. Had we a carrying capacity afloat com- 
 mensurate with the needs of even our present commerce, 
 then indeed could we form a national reserve upon which 
 we could rely without a misgiving. Until we have a mer- 
 chant marine, these needs of the Navy are a danger to our 
 country. 
 
 Don't for a moment think I am in any way criticising 
 the Navy or its men. I know them and it, and whatever 
 men can do, that is being done to-day; and all the thought, 
 care, and work being done to-day is in no way thrown away. 
 Nothing can be thrown away which tends to give us a body 
 of high-spirited, self-respecting men, whether they remain 
 in the Navy or go again into civil life. Gentlemen, it be- 
 hooves us, as veterans of the great war, where unprepared- 
 ness brought such great disasters, to see to it, as far as it 
 lies in our power, that that great need of our Navy and 
 country, a deep-sea merchant marine, is established. 
 
 It is not in my province to point a way. The arguments 
 pro and con on every proposition pointing in that direction 
 are astute and voluminous. But the fact remains that, 
 after years and years of agitation, we have no merchant 
 marine, and the Navy no recruiting ground for war. Other 
 nations are in various ways correcting this evil; for the 
 sake of our country and its^future, let us also do it. 
 
 If you stop to think for a moment you will remember 
 that never before the Spanish War did our nation, after a 
 war was over, attempt to better the condition of the Navy. 
 This one has been a notable exception. From some four 
 battle-ships of about 10,500 tons displacement, with mod- 
 erate speed, we have gradually expanded until at present 
 we have afloat, under construction, or authorized twenty- 
 seven. In this time we wasted some millions upon four 
 monitors. The Spanish War taught us the worthlessness 
 
388 THE NAVY 
 
 of these vessels for even "long-shore" work. A type of 
 vessel which under Cavite point in Manila Bay rolled 
 twenty times to the minute is not a very safe platform 
 from which to fire 10- or 12-inch guns. The ordinary light 
 trade swell along the Cuban and Porto Rican coasts, taught 
 us that the latest modifications of the monitors, the battle- 
 ships, were the only thing upon which we could rely for 
 effective work. 
 
 For, after all, when you outline the armored parts of 
 our earlier battle-ships you will see that they are practically 
 monitors built up into a more steady platform, thus giving 
 incidentally better living quarters and larger coal-carrying 
 capacity, and the greater size giving us also more speed. 
 This last is a prime attribute. 
 
 The late war in the East has also modified the ideas of 
 many on the usefulness of the torpedo-boat and has pointed 
 out its grave defects, while the submarine, so called, is 
 looked upon with wary eyes. To be sure we find many yet 
 who see, in spite of all failures, great success in each of those 
 types. Others again seek a combination of the two as the 
 proper agent to "revolutionize warfare" again. How 
 many times have you seen and read of the great weapons 
 which revolutionized warfare, both afloat and ashore ? 
 And how many remain to-day? And old War goes on in 
 the even tenor of his way killing his thousands in the same 
 old way, and with the same old weapons slightly modified by 
 the study of the ages. The only man who will ever revolu- 
 tionize warfare is the man who wiU abolish it, and no signs 
 yet appear of his coming. I do not wish to advertise any- 
 one's wares or ideas, but I must say I do see in our latest 
 torpedo, and the combination of torpedo-boat and sub- 
 marine, a weapon which is far in advance of the older ideas. 
 The phase of the combined torpedo-boat and submarine is 
 yet in an experimental stage, but to me the possibilities 
 are immense. It seems as though in one direction it can 
 never advance beyond its prototypes — viz. : it must ever re- 
 main a weapon of chance — one which by stealth only can do 
 
THE NAVY 389 
 
 its work. The under-water torpedoes of a battle-ship seem 
 to be the only way in which a torpedo can, as it were, be 
 used in the open. The battle-ship has the power of pro- 
 tection and can carry its weapon up to within striking 
 distance, provided always that she has sufficient speed — 
 an attribute which some people think unnecessary. So 
 far as the idea has been worked out the combined tor- 
 pedo-boat and submarine is an amplification of the skim- 
 ming dish and a fin keel, the greater part of which latter 
 is expanded into a good-sized submarine, entirely beneath 
 the water, the lower body carrying the torpedo and the 
 motive power and supporting the rudder, the upper body 
 being almost entirely above water for flotation, which can 
 be insured by its being lined or filled with cork etc. ; from 
 the lower body rises, through the upper one, a small well- 
 protected conning tower or tube impervious to shot. So 
 far as present experiments have gone the model boat has 
 been quite successful. A great drawback is the heavy 
 draft of water; while the decreased speed places it in some 
 respects below a torpedo-boat destroyer. The whole thing 
 is in an experimental stage and most certainly will be im- 
 proved on. I mention this to show you that there can be 
 no -final type in war vessels, and the only thing for an up- 
 to-date country to do is to try to keep not only abreast of, 
 but a bit in advance of the times, as represented by other 
 nations. 
 
 It may interest you to know that in the coming year at 
 least four battle-ships will be added to those now in com- 
 mission — two of them, the Connecticut and Louisiana, of 
 16,000-tons trial displacement and eighteen-knots speed at 
 that draft. When they are fully loaded they will be over 
 17,000 tons displacement and will represent the quickest 
 work ever done in this country in battle-ship building ; and 
 this I am happy to say has resulted from the policy of the 
 government of building the Connecticut at your own navy- 
 yard. And remember that not a day's extra or overtime 
 work has been done on her. In fact she has been a source 
 
390 THE NAVY 
 
 from which often men have been drawn to do work requir- 
 ing skill, intelligence, and quickness on other vessels. At 
 present it looks as though the government-built vessel 
 would be completed the quicker of the two. The cost may- 
 be a bit higher, but not enough to cover the difference in 
 hours of work, and vacations with pay, allowed navy-yard 
 employees. But the real cost can only be fairly obtained 
 after a year or two in service, when the repair expenses can 
 be compared. 
 
 But the greatest value is the demonstration that battle- 
 ships can be built in this country in much quicker time than 
 the private firms have been wilHng to admit. 
 
 Without intending to be disagreeably critical or to cast 
 any reflections upon any one, I may say I think that in 
 building our new Navy we have followed too closely the 
 European practices, so that our vessels are in a way replicas 
 of those abroad. It seems as though our own inventive 
 genius has not been given full play. These remarks are of 
 course only my personal thoughts. Time was when we led 
 the world in types and I most sincerely hope that that will 
 again be our boast. Italy seems to be the one who should 
 hold the pennant at present. Her men have been bold 
 enough to cut loose from the trammels of European practice 
 and have blazed a way for themselves, and in a manner 
 which, I think, is worthy of all praise; not only for free 
 and original thinking but for splendid results. 
 
 I, for one, believe thoroughly in turret protection for 
 guns, and the more guns in turrets, the better fighter the 
 vessel makes. The results of gunfire on the Russian vessel 
 the Tzarovitch I think bear me out in that opinion. 
 
 One can easily see that American inventive genius is 
 still in the ascendant, as is shown in various internal appli- 
 ances, which Europe is at last copying; from this I am 
 convinced that our genius should also extend its efforts to 
 the types of ships and the same success would reward our 
 efforts. 
 
 I am not in sympathy with the line of thought which 
 
THE NAVY 39 -t 
 
 would immediately relegate our officers of experience to the 
 scrap-heap. I cannot bring myself to think that what I 
 and others of the same age did cannot be done by those 
 coming after us. I rather incline to the opinion that the 
 pace we have set will be exceeded by the newer generation 
 with the improved tools which we have helped to forge 
 for them. I try to flatter myself that my reasoning on this 
 subject is wholly impersonal, as I will soon reach the Osler- 
 izing age and will pass to what will soon be the "great 
 majority," viz. the Retired List. But I ask naval men to 
 pause and see if the retirement for age in grades will keep up 
 the flow of promotion? When the Retired List becomes 
 so very great, Congress and the people will refuse to keep 
 up such an army of unemployed men. Hence the only 
 way out of the dilemma is to fix a "discharge age," at 
 which every man, unless he has done great service to the 
 country in time of war, and in war actions in face of the enemy, 
 will be summarily discharged. Thus and thus only can we 
 have a steady flow of promotion. 
 
 But, Companions, there is one other thing I can with pride 
 say to you. The Navy is still imbued with the old spirit 
 which has so often led us to victory. Never, in my ex- 
 perience, has this spirit been so prevalent in every branch 
 and corps. Each, in his sphere, is lending his best energies 
 to the perfection of the whole, and the only jealousies are 
 those pleasant ones of who can best serve his country by 
 doing his duty in his sphere of action. So long as this lasts 
 our anxieties need not be very great. But we must have 
 the proper tools, and in sufficient quantity and of the right 
 quality. Our cry must always be, "The biggest ships of 
 their class, with the biggest guns and the greatest speed." 
 This is the Navy's right, for so long as the units are not 
 to be the greatest in number, we can only do the required 
 work through their quality. This was our ancient policy 
 from which such splendid results flowed, and to equal them 
 it must be our policy now and in the future. 
 
 From the reports of the Secretary of the Navy, the Presi- 
 
392 THE NAVY 
 
 dent's last message, and the remarks attributed to many 
 Congressmen of both houses regarding a further increase 
 of the Navy, the words of one of our officers a year and a 
 half ago seem prophetic. He said, substantially, "The 
 naval wave raised by the war with Spain seems to have 
 reached the outer line of shoals, and will soon expend itself 
 on the beach of neglect." 
 
DISCIPLINE AT THE UNITED STATES MILITARY 
 
 ACADEMY 
 
 A Paper read by Colonel Edgar S. Dudley, U. S. Army, 
 February 7, 1906. 
 
 THE matter of discipline at the U. S. Military Academy 
 is most important, for it affects not only the welfare 
 and vitality of the Academy, but, through its in- 
 fluence upon the Army at large, in the character of the 
 officers it supplies, it also affects the welfare and safety of 
 the nation. 
 
 We cannot afford, therefore, to relax the rigid military 
 discipline of each individual cadet, irksome though it is, 
 which is necessary to develop in him that promptness of 
 action, that unhesitating obedience to orders, that ready 
 and willing compliance with law and regulations, and that 
 recognition of the necessity of the full performance of duty, 
 honor, and responsibility, which characterizes the efficient 
 officer in actual service in our Army to-day. 
 
 It is a trite saying, but as true as ever, that " he who 
 would command others must first learn to command him- 
 self." And this is the very first lesson a young man learns 
 upon entering the Military Academy. Coming from home, 
 or from some educational institution whose theory of 
 government is to let the student govern himself within the 
 utmost limits possible, and without immediate personal 
 restriction, accustomed to consider himself, perhaps, the 
 equal of any one, with a freedom to express his own 
 personal opinions, and to argue his point in case of 
 difference, the new cadet finds himself, on reporting at 
 West Point, under restraint not only of personal action 
 but of expression of opinion; he is everywhere, and at all 
 
 393 
 
394 DISCIPLINE AT THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY 
 
 times, subject to the command of a superior, and when he 
 receives an order no reply is permitted, however much he 
 may differ in his views as to its wisdom. The necessity for 
 self-control begins at once and it follows him through every 
 act of his daily life until he graduates ; the rule of obedience 
 to law and orders stays with him in all his future service 
 if for no other reason than that it has become a habit. 
 
 Discipline teaches not only self-control but prompt obe- 
 dience to authority, conformity to law and regulations, 
 uniformity of action, and righteousness of conduct. At 
 the Military Academy it involves the use of the cadet's time 
 each day, the clothing worn, the manner and thoroughness 
 of recitation, a multitude of incidental matters of life and 
 conduct, and, above all, those principles of honor and truth- 
 fulness which fix the standard by which he is judged, not 
 only by his superiors but by his comrades and eventually 
 by the country. From the moment of entering the Academy 
 discipline is with him always. It rises with him in the 
 morning at the call of reveille, it attends him through the 
 day, and he lies down at night under its ever-present care- 
 He learns that "duty" is the one great law of life, and 
 this law is embodied in every lesson of every day of his life 
 until he graduates and goes forth with the impress of the 
 Academy, the watchword of the soldier, " Duty, honor, 
 oyalty to country." 
 
 This institution differs from all others, if we except 
 Annapolis, in that it controls the time and actions of every 
 student, and thereby draws out of him his very best and 
 develops all his faculties to the highest extent possible. 
 The mental requirements are severe, and I believe that but 
 for the accompanying physical training that goes with it 
 many would be unable to stand the strain. Mental training 
 and discipline work side by side with the physical each 
 being the helpmeet of the other, and as a result the influence 
 of men so trained, upon the Army at large cannot well be 
 measured. 
 
 In considering the influence of the graduates upon the 
 Army I wish to digress for a moment to speak of those 
 
DISCIPLINE AT THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY 39S 
 
 officers who are not graduates but whose work is with them, 
 and whose influence upon the Army and the country is as 
 great as theirs. 
 
 Cadets graduate with but a theoretical knowledge and 
 have yet to learn that what they know is but the foundation 
 for practical work which is to follow. 
 
 Just after the Civil War the great majority of the com- 
 missioned officers of the regular Army were non-graduates 
 of the Military Academy. But these men were veterans 
 of war service, and the world has never seen finer soldiers 
 and better officers than those of our armies at the close of 
 that war. Those who came from such experience into 
 the regular Army, and remained with it, brought a practical 
 knowledge of warfare that no graduate without war service 
 can ever have. 
 
 It is some of those men who to-day stand at the head of 
 the American Army. Such soldiers as Generals Brooke, 
 Chaffee, Corbin, Bates, and MacArthur, with all of whom I 
 have served in close personal as well as official relations, I 
 know to be, and you know are, men of great ability, of 
 exceptional character, amongst the finest soldiers of present 
 time. And there are Generals Young, Wade, and the others, 
 a list too long to enumerate, but whose names are familiar 
 to you all as soldiers of ability, experience and fame. 
 
 I do not intend to limit my remarks to those who became 
 generals, because the number of that rank is limited, so that 
 all cannot attain that grade no matter how well they deserve 
 it, whether graduates or not. Nor do I limit what I say 
 entirely to veterans of the Civil War, for the officers who 
 have entered the army from other sources, and, with all the 
 disadvantage of lack of technical foundation possessed by 
 the graduate, have marched side by side with him in making 
 the Army what it is to-day, deserve all the more credit and 
 honor in that each has, by his own work, placed himself 
 alongside the graduate in influence and ability, so that no 
 one stops now to ask is he a graduate or not. Their own 
 work shows their worth and I only wish, as a graduate, to 
 pay them that tribute which they so well deserve. 
 
396 DISCIPLINE AT THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY 
 
 HAZING. 
 
 There is one species of discipline at West Point that a 
 young man entering there has always, heretofore, had to 
 undergo that is not laid down in law, orders, or regulations, 
 and is in fact contrary to them all; and that is the dis- 
 cipline exercised by upper-class men over the new-comers 
 or "plebes" as they are called. 
 
 In all educational institutions it seems to be the custom, 
 since time immemorial, for upper-class men to annoy, have 
 fun with, or, as we used to call it, "devil" the freshmen, 
 and the fresher the subject appeared the better the game. 
 West Point has been no exception to the rule; but it has 
 differed somewhat in character. Instead of gathering in 
 some new-comer's room and " smoking him out," or assault- 
 ing him, if he wore a certain style of hat or carried a cane, at 
 West Point it took the form of " additional instruction in the 
 duties of a soldier," and especially the great importance of 
 respect for and obedience to his superior, which of course 
 meant, just then, the older cadet of a higher class who was 
 giving him the instructions. If he had to clean a gun or 
 pile the bedding of an older cadet, it was only in the line of 
 what that cadet had to do himself, and the plebe was learn- 
 ing how to do things to which he had never before been ac- 
 customed. Much of the devilling of sentinels, which I am 
 afraid was sometimes carried too far, taught self-restraint 
 and self-reliance and resulted in the instruction of the new 
 cadet as to what action he should take in case of emergency, 
 and in a practical knowledge of the rights and duties of 
 a sentinel. 
 
 With a few exceptions of brutal men who exceeded the 
 limits of decent amusement and instruction in this way, 
 the treatment was not injurious to the body or self-respect 
 of the plebe, and was generally recognized by him as in- 
 tended more for fun and frolic, and education into the details 
 of the hardships of cadet life, than with an idea of injury 
 to him physically or mentally. It was a rule in my day 
 that no upper-class man should touch a plebe in " devilling" 
 
DISCIPLINE AT THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY 397 
 
 him; to lay hands upon him was not permissible, but 
 verbal "devilling" was an amusement of which he could 
 avail himself, if not caught at it. There was nothing dis- 
 honorable on either side in asking a plebe to pile one's bed- 
 ding, to carry a pail of water, or to clean a gun; for every 
 cadet had to do these things for himself, unless he got some 
 plebe to do it for him. But to ask a new cadet to black 
 your boots entitled him to refuse, and to fight rather than 
 do it; and no upper-class man ever did such a thing, to my 
 knowledge, and if one did his comrades never sustained 
 him in the wrong. 
 
 When the character of the devilling was once recognized 
 by the new cadet as not originating in personal antagonism 
 to him, but as really a matter of "fun," he generally took it 
 in good part. To assure you that this must have been the 
 case I have only to recall the fact that a large number of 
 young men, myself one of them, who were soldiers or 
 officers of volunteers during the Civil War, reported at the 
 Academy in 1865 and 1866, some of them direct from the 
 field. At least one came, in 1865, wearing the shoulder- 
 straps of a captain, was saluted by soldiers and cadets as he 
 passed, only to find himself, like all other plebes, the subor- 
 dinate of the upper-class men as soon as he reported as a 
 new cadet. He accepted it all, as others did, in good part, 
 had no trouble that I ever heard of, took the usual devilling, 
 and was graduated. 
 
 Those plebes who were devilled most, and with whom the 
 older cadets took most pains in their discipline, were the 
 sons of wealthy or prominent men. It was deemed necessary 
 for their good, and the benefit of their classmates, that such 
 young men should understand that, as cadets, all stood 
 upon the same level, that no snobbishness would be endured. 
 The rich and the poor came here from all sections of the 
 country and of all classes and degrees of society; but after 
 they reported, wealth, or knowledge, or family reputation, 
 counted for nothing. 
 
 The older cadets seemed to take special delight in making 
 the acquaintance of sons of officers of high rank. It is 
 
398 DISCIPLINE AT THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY 
 
 reported that General Fred Grant, my friend and classmate^ 
 received special attention, and that he fought at least three 
 different men on one and the same day because they insisted 
 that his father was not a greater man than George Washing, 
 ton. Even his antagonists admired him for his grit, and 
 loyalty to his father. 
 
 But as the years passed by a new element appeared in 
 the " devilling" : it took forms unheard-of before, and turned 
 into a system of brutality that the older graduates would 
 never have recognized or believed possible. There grew up 
 class organizations, with an elected president for each, and 
 "loyalty to class" rather than "loyalty to the corps" be- 
 came the predominant spirit. A "fighting committee" 
 was organized for each class. Originally intended to pre- 
 vent fights and adjust difificulties, it deteriorated into a 
 rules committee on the method of meeting — how, when, 
 where, and what men should fight; for it has always been 
 the rule that there should be a fair fight and so men must 
 be matched as nearly as possible; if one man was smaller 
 than the other a classmate was selected to fight for him. 
 That in these fights with plebes the upper-class man more 
 frequently won than the plebe did was due to his better 
 physical training and not to difference in size. 
 
 Under these new conditions, somewhere in the nineties, 
 the " devilling" began to assume a new and dangerous form; 
 it became tyrannical, ungentlemanly, and brutal in many 
 instances. The old cadets began to require the plebes to 
 undergo physical exercises, keeping them at it to the point 
 of physical and nervous prostration, and then "devilling" 
 became " hazing." 
 
 You may wonder how this change of treatment came 
 about, and I can only suggest an opinion that it was " brought 
 there." Testimony taken in an investigation shows that 
 a system of hazing had grown up at a Preparatory school 
 for entrance to West Point, where numbers of candidates 
 annually gathered to be coached prior to the entrance exam- 
 ination, and, that, not being under close military super- 
 vision and control, they had developed a system of physical 
 
DISCIPLINE AT THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY 399 
 
 attack which they later used on new cadets at the 
 Academy. 
 
 A member of Congress recently cited a case which he 
 stated had occurred at West Point (Cong. Record, Jan. 5th) 
 in which a young man refused to be hazed, and said that 
 any one who attempted to haze him would have to take 
 the result, and the result was the death of one of the young 
 men who tried it. I can find no record of such an event 
 at West Point, but have heard that something of the kind 
 occurred at a preparatory school. This discovery of hazing 
 at the preparatory school, and its resultant effect upon the 
 Academy, was one of the reasons why General Mills and the 
 Academic Board recommended the admission of candidates 
 on certificate of graduation from approved high schools, 
 or of attendance, without condition, at a college or uni- 
 versity, so that they could come directly from their homes 
 or school free from associations and examples which favored 
 hazing. 
 
 You may wish to know why I make a difference in the 
 use of the words "devilling" and "hazing," and I will say 
 that in my mind it is the difference between innocuous fun — 
 such fun as even the grown-up and sedate members of the 
 New York Stock Exchange are reported to sometimes in- 
 dulge in, — between such fun and positive injury; between 
 good intent and evil intent ; between reasonable, though not 
 lawful, insistence upon the performance of duties which all 
 have to perform, combined with moderate amusement, and 
 excess thereof, with brutality. 
 
 The limit may not be always clearly drawn, and even 
 Congressmen are in doubt as to where it should be placed ; 
 for in a recent speech in Congress (Cong. Record, December 
 19, 1905) a member was interrupted by another and asked: 
 "Take the case of General Sheridan's boy who went to 
 West Point. Of course they had some fun with him. They 
 made him sit on a saddle on a clothes-horse and had him re- 
 cite Buchanan Read's 'Sheridan's Ride.' Now was that 
 hazing? Would you dismiss all those boys who played a 
 joke like that upon a boy who went to West Point ? Would 
 
400 DISCIPLINE AT THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY 
 
 you bar those boys from the Army forever?" To which 
 the reply was : " I would not say that was hazing. If I was 
 the officer in charge I would have sense enough to make a 
 distinction between play and hazing." To which the in- 
 quiring member replied, "But that was hazing." So I 
 leave the question to each of you for himself, only saying 
 that I believe each case must be decided for itself upon the 
 circumstances attending it. 
 
 Sometimes the devilHng was not confined to the new 
 cadets — the amusement even extended to tricks to try the 
 watchfulness and patience of the tactical officers, and if the 
 cadets could make them think that something was going to 
 happen, and get them all out of bed at night watching for it, 
 and then nothing happened, they were delighted. It even 
 reached the professors, at least on one occasion, and I wiU 
 have to tell another story on General Grant. It is reported 
 that at one time Professor Church, who was the author of an 
 excellent work on Descriptive Geometry, entered the section 
 room where Cadet Grant, with others, was waiting to 
 recite, and kindly asked if there was any problem in the 
 lesson which any cadet in the section did not understand, 
 to which Grant replied that there was one which he did not 
 understand, naming it; whereupon Professor Church made 
 a full and clear demonstration of it, and when completed 
 he turned and said, " Mr. Grant, this problem is very simple; 
 why did n't you understand it?" To which Grant replied, 
 "Well, Professor, the fact is I hadn't studied that part of 
 the lesson." The look of disgust on the Professor's coun- 
 tenance would have done credit to a just "devilled" plebe. 
 
 But time forbids my entering into details. It is suffi- 
 cient to say that General Mills, coming to duty just about 
 the time that hazing had reached its highest point, found 
 himself "up against" a harder proposition than possibly 
 any superintendent has met since Thayer established his 
 system of control. 
 
 He encountered difficulties that were sufficient to dis- 
 courage almost any one, but he was persistent in his deter- 
 mination to exterminate the evil until he succeeded. His 
 
DISCIPLINE AT THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY 40 1 
 
 measures met with strong opposition from the cadets, who 
 thought the immemorial rights and customs of the corps 
 were being interfered with. He found himself also con- 
 fronted with two Academic regulations which, together 
 with the feeling of the cadets, common to young men, that 
 it was dishonorable to give evidence against one another, 
 prevented his getting at facts relative to hazing which he 
 was sure existed but of which he could not obtain satis- 
 factory evidence to convict. 
 
 One of these regulations was to the effect that a cadet 
 need not answer any question that would criminate him; 
 and another regulation was that, in addition to the punish- 
 ment to be awarded an older cadet for interfering with a 
 new cadet, the new cadet was himself punishable for per- 
 mitting himself to be interfered with. So that, between 
 these two regulations and the class ideas of what it was 
 honorable to do and what not to do, it was impossible to 
 get evidence, each cadet claiming for himself the privilege 
 of not answering because in the answer he might incriminate 
 himself. 
 
 It finally came to a point where the first class men de- 
 tailed in command of companies one day refused to sign the 
 certificate that they had properly performed their duties as 
 such, on the ground that they were not required to incrimi- 
 nate themselves. They were relieved and placed in arrest, 
 but, notwithstanding this, on the next day four more com- 
 pany commanders and eight acting lieutenants followed 
 the same plan. It was evident that this new step was tak- 
 en because the company commanders are on honor to re- 
 port breaches of discipline, and they were averse to reporting 
 their comrades, or themselves, for hazing. 
 
 General Mills at once revoked the appointments of all 
 
 cadet officers and placed an army officer in direct command 
 
 of each company, with another as adjutant, and strict 
 
 military discipline was enforced. Within three or four 
 
 days these cadets made a frank acknowledgment of their 
 
 error and offence, were restored to duty after due admonition, 
 
 and matters started on the new basis of responsibility. 
 26 
 
402 DISCIPLINE AT THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY 
 
 Later, after an attack upon the Academy by the news- 
 papers, resulting in a Congressional investigation, which 
 investigation materially strengthened the position which 
 General Mills had previously taken, each of the four classes, 
 by resolution voluntarily taken, promised to cease the haz- 
 ing of new cadets. 
 
 From that time General MiUs has had the matter well in 
 hand ; he has secured the desired modification of regulations, 
 which now permit him to investigate, and to determine 
 whether or not a question shall be answered, as well as 
 having power given him to summarily sever from the institu- 
 tion any cadet guilty of hazing, to await the action of the 
 Secretary of War; which action has been dismissal from the 
 Academy. 
 
 Of the fact that he has suppressed hazing, as it existed 
 when he took command at the Military Academy, I am as- 
 sured, not only by the report of a recent board of officers 
 to that effect, but from personal, unofficial, information 
 received from members of the fourth class themselves. 
 It is so completely stopped that "devilling" has taken the 
 form of entirely ignoring members of the fourth class; it 
 is as if they were not existing in the presence of the upper- 
 class men, except on official occasions, and it is so complete 
 that some of the plebes think it is too much so; that they 
 are missing something to which they are as much entitled 
 as were their predecessors; that they had rather be "dev- 
 illed" than "ignored." It is true that bracing, which is 
 simply the requirement to throw the shoulders back, still 
 exists, but only in ranks and as a part of official discipline, 
 for excess of which the cadet officer is held responsible. 
 
 It has been a great victory for General Mills, an advance 
 in the promotion of discipline, an invaluable instruction in 
 the necessity for obedience to authority, a preparation for 
 their great field of future work in life, for the insuring of that 
 habit of action and feeling of responsibility to duty that 
 leads the soldier to face the enemy whether behind the 
 breastworks of Santiago, within the walls of Pekin, or in 
 the dangerous marches against the treacherous More. It 
 
DISCIPLINE AT THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY 403 
 
 makes men, men who are ready to accept every duty de- 
 volved upon them, with a habit of obedience and faithful- 
 ness that leads them to success in whatever station placed, 
 whether in military command, or in the administration of 
 civil affairs with great responsibility thrust upon them, and 
 to fulfil the duty whatever the situation or difficulty. 
 
 General Mills has not only suppressed hazing during his 
 tour of duty at West Point as superintendent, but he has 
 shown his ability in administration in the originating of the 
 "new West Point," and his name will ever be linked with 
 that institution as one of its greatest superintendents and 
 benefactors. In charge of its interests at the close of the 
 first century of its existence, he has started it anew with 
 splendid buildings to meet the requirement of the coming 
 century, which will make the Academy in that respect, as 
 well as in its method of education and discipline, worthy of 
 the admiration of foreign powers, and keep it, as it ever 
 has been, the pride of the American people. 
 
 He has had a hard and strenuous fight for success, but 
 he has attained it; and he has succeeded because he has 
 retained in his own life the lessons and discipline of his early 
 days at the Military Academy, and embodies in his personal 
 character the principles there acquired, and is himself a 
 living exemplar of the motto of the Academy : " Duty — 
 Honor — Country. ' ' 
 
WEST POINT. 
 
 A Paper read by Colonel Chas. W. Larned, U. S. 
 Military Academy, February 7, 1906. 
 
 I WAS fully conscious of the serious handicap which 
 awaited me as a mere military pedagogue in having 
 it fall to my lot in the absence of my chief to repre- 
 sent the National Military School before an assemblage con- 
 taining so many veterans of one of the great wars of history; 
 but I did not count upon having in my oratorical wake the 
 great corps commander and former Superintendent of the 
 Academy, whose name was famous when I was a little school- 
 boy, and that distinguished graduate and brilliant orator — 
 our late Ambassador to France. I appeal to your charity 
 and my own insignificance as I fall between this upper 
 and nether millstone ; and I bless my stars, and absence of 
 stars, that I come first in the inverse order of importance 
 and rank while you are fresh and good-natured. 
 
 Before talking to my text I will ask your indulgence for 
 a short bit of historical narration which, considering my 
 position as proxy for the head of the Academy, seems to me 
 a very fitting preface for any present discussion of the In- 
 stitution. In the fall of '98 we, the old guard of the Aca- 
 demic Board, heard with amazement and consternation that 
 the President had appointed a first lieutenant of cavalry Sup- 
 erintendent of the Military Academy. In due course he ap- 
 peared — a quiet, dignified, good-looking young man of 
 forty-one, with grajash hair, a hole in the side of his head, 
 and lacking one eye. I think that, barring the Senate of the 
 United States, the Academic Board of the Academy is at 
 
 404 
 
WEST POINT 405 
 
 the same time the most dignified, the most independent, 
 and the most obstinate deHberative body in the world. 
 The first session was a somewhat trying quarter of an hour 
 for both the Board and its president. I feel sure the young 
 Superintendent was wondering how he could best manage 
 with such a lot of opinionated petrifactions; and they, on 
 their part, were resenting having been, together with the 
 great National Academy, presented on a tray with the com- 
 phments of the Administration to a first lieutenant of 
 cavalry, as a testimonial for having bravely done his duty at 
 San Juan HiU. I am incHned to think we were both justified 
 in our emotions from our respective standpoints. However 
 that may be, eight years have passed, and the Superintendent 
 now wears a star, and West Point is passing through an 
 epoch of progressive regeneration, both academic and archi- 
 tectural, more comprehensive and beneficial than all the 
 changes effected since Thayer's day. The institution is 
 being put in harmony with modem military and technical 
 conditions in education, and is being equipped with a plant 
 which will enable it to operate with the highest degree of 
 efficiency. During his administration also the serious evil 
 of hazing has been effectually suppressed — ^that subtle and 
 elusive spirit of fun and oppression so prone to excess and 
 so difficult to control. 
 
 It is no reflection upon his distinuished predecessors 
 that so much was left to be accomplished by one admin- 
 istration. The time had not been fully ripe for this 
 reorganization, and only the experiences of recent wars 
 and the rapid technical development, both military and 
 civil, of latter years combined to bring it to fruition; 
 but, none the less, the work has been done, and its accom- 
 plishment is a splendid monument to the able administrator 
 who did it. I can say this the more freely of the officer who 
 bears my signature on his diploma, because, although cor- 
 dially in sympathy and co-operating with all the important 
 measures of my chief's administration, I have frankly op- 
 posed him within the limits of my functions, as I was bound 
 to do by the obligation of my duty to the Academy and 
 myself, in details of which my judgment disapproved. But 
 
4o6 WEST POINT 
 
 I am glad of this opportunity of saying that the man who 
 has given an eye, and very nearly his life, to his country; 
 who is one of fifty graduates to wear its medal of honor; 
 and who, in an administration of eight years, has brought 
 about the regeneration of its great military school has 
 shown as clear a title to his star as that of any officer who 
 wears it. 
 
 In that modem development of society which we call 
 civilization a military school is on the defensive. It is the 
 one educational machine that stands for destructive instead 
 of constructive activities. Among the older monarchical 
 communities of Europe tradition and association have 
 accustomed people to the miltiary idea and its mechanism; 
 but in our new land when we dumped the tea into the sea 
 at Boston-port we threw overboard with it monarchical 
 traditions and Old- World conceptions, and started fresh. 
 Militarism, in the Old- World sense, was one of them; and, 
 although we have kept a very good stomach for fighting 
 when it comes our way, we do not as a people take kindly 
 to soldiering in peace times. All the same, it became very 
 evident early in our career that when an international scrap 
 happened along somebody should know the fine points of 
 the military art of self-defence in order to handle it; that, 
 in order to know, it was necessary to learn ; and, to learn, 
 a school was essential — hence, West Point. 
 
 This genesis of a military school is logically simple, and 
 the logic was very clear to Washington, Hamilton, and 
 others of our great political forbears; but it did not work 
 out so simply as a matter of realization in our jealous po- 
 litical system, and the young Academy several times nar- 
 rowly escaped shipwreck before Thayer took the helm and 
 steered it into clear water. For many years the hostility 
 to peace armaments of "Triumphant Democracy" threatened 
 its existence, and vituperative assaults upon its character, 
 accomplishment, and use followed it to the verge of the 
 Civil War. Its first convincing vindication came with the 
 war with Mexico, and the war for the Union left it founded 
 
WEST POINT 407 
 
 upon the rock of the nation's confidence, where it now 
 stands firmly, with a record of successful achievement in 
 both military and civil life which, in proportion to its 
 alumni, I believe to be unparalleled in any country. 
 
 I do not propose to weary you with the statistics of its 
 success, nor to brag of its achievements. The record of 
 these has been published recently in its Centennial memorial 
 volume, and has some place in the nation's history ; and the 
 the names of its famous commanders are sufficiently familiar 
 to all who hear me. Neither do I desire to argue the value 
 of military education in modem armaments, nor its special 
 function in a republic. All this has been threshed thread- 
 bare, and the intelligence that doubts the use of learning 
 boxing to one who has a sparring date with a prize-fighter 
 needs trepanning more than argument. Successful military 
 accomplishment would undoubtedly justify the existence 
 and cost of the military school as a business investment and 
 necessary evil in the peace economy; but this alone, funda- 
 mental as it is, would not remove the always latent, and 
 sometimes active, hostility of civilian regard during the 
 long periods of peace when it is a burden whose function lies 
 in a vague future. It would be a pretty serious indictment 
 of its status among institutions of learning if the Military 
 Academy generated nothing but the genius of destruction 
 and the art of scientific bloodshed. 
 
 Last February the chancellor of a New York university 
 said in reference to the participation of the cadets of West 
 Point and Annapolis in the inaugural parade : 
 
 The life of the soldier and the sailor, like the life of the police- 
 man, is one third marching and one third loafing; therefore there 
 is no particiilar waste of time in sending them over to march at 
 "Washington. We don't want college students to turn soldiers: 
 we have higher use for them. 
 
 This was the captious assertion of a college chancellor 
 regarding two institutions whose peculiar feature is the 
 uncompromising severity of their grind. Its curious inepti- 
 tude as applied to West Point is exemplified by the fact that, 
 during the first century of its existence, closing in 1902, 
 
4o8 WEST POINT 
 
 2371 of its 412 1 graduates — over half — entered civil life 
 at some period of their careers. Of this number 446 — 
 nearly 19% — attained eminence in civil walks alone; from 
 President of the United States and of the Confederate 
 States, ambassadors and high public functionaries, to 
 presidents of universities, colleges, and banks, — giving it 
 pre-eminence over all other universities and colleges in 
 this regard. 
 
 The slur and its refutation illustrates the point upon 
 which I desire a moment to dwell. It is that the supreme 
 justification of West Point is not its importance as a technical 
 school of war, but as the foundry in which are forged some of 
 the finest and most valuable elements of national character 
 of more importance to the state than any degree of com- 
 mercial achievement — elements which, I venture to assert, 
 can be prepared and made operative nowhere better than 
 in that national school, by her system and under the tre- 
 mendous formative energies of the national authority. 
 The power to control, to compel, and to reward of other 
 schools is feeble in comparison with this force which ema- 
 nates from the will of the Great Republic — ^the giant among 
 nations — and which imposes upon each cadet of its military 
 school the noblesse oblige of national service and accounta- 
 bility to public sentiment. 
 
 At the period of adolescence, when character is plastic 
 and impulse wa5rward, before the stereotype has set, control 
 and constraint are the essential forces for impressing per- 
 manent form upon young manhood. If you can remove the 
 material from contaminating impurities, fuse it in the furnace 
 of hard work, and keep it in its mould until it has set, you 
 have done the best that education can do for character, 
 provided the mould is a noble one. What West Point 
 does for its cadets is precisely this. It takes its youth at 
 the critical period of growth; it isolates them completely 
 for four years from the vicious influences that corrupt young 
 manhood and from the atmosphere of commercialism; it 
 provides absorbing employment for both mental and physical 
 activities; it surrounds them with exacting responsibilities, 
 
WEST POINT 409 
 
 high standards, and exalted traditions of honor and in- 
 tegrity; and it demands a rigid accountability for every 
 moment of their time, and every voluntary action. It 
 offers them the inducement of an honorable career and 
 sufficient competence as the reward of success; and it has 
 imperative authority for the enforcement of its conditions. 
 
 It is often urged that the best environment for character 
 development is free exposure to normal influences and so- 
 cial temptations. I absolutely disbelieve it. I have never 
 heard that it made a seedling hardy to have a slug gnaw at 
 its root. If it is purposed that a sapling is to grow straight, 
 well proportioned, and to bear abundant, high-grade fruit of 
 its kind, it is not stuck at random in gravel or slime and left 
 without prop exposed to strong winds. If this is its culture 
 you are apt to get a gnarled, distorted tree with small, 
 bitter fruit. Keep the adolescent soul clean and untempted 
 as long as possible, and build up character, mind, and body 
 in an atmosphere as free from poison as it can be made. 
 The full-grown man then faces life with all three vitalities 
 as vigorous and healthy as human conditions can ensure — 
 with right habits acquired, and individuality crystallized. 
 For every character that can acquire moral strength in the 
 face of social temptations, and with freedom of action, there 
 are ten who are weakened, demoralized, or destroyed. 
 
 At West Point the main influences are : 
 
 I. Restraint. — For four years, with the exception of 
 one furlough of two months, the cadet is in a place of ideal 
 natural beauty, and completely aloof from every form 
 of vicious influence, but with abundant healthful social en- 
 joyment. 
 
 II. Discipline and Compulsion — by which every active 
 faculty is directed into channels of high development, and 
 kept working at full normal pressure without relaxation. 
 This is paternalism in education of the most intensified type. 
 The Academy undertakes to become responsible for the 
 moral, physical, and mental development of its charge ; and 
 it has for its motive power more than the activity of a 
 parent — the military authority of the Government over an 
 
4IO WEST POINT 
 
 enlisted man. There is an irresistible must making for pro- 
 fessional righteousness behind every act of a cadet's career 
 which, during four years of the most impressionable period 
 of his life, is, in countless different ways, leaving a formative 
 impression upon his character development. I beUeve 
 West Point to be the most powerful educational character- 
 former in the world, and the best. I care not for what 
 function in life the man is being prepared, such a period of 
 unremitting, unrelenting responsibility for every conscious 
 word and act, coupled with a life of vigorous mental and 
 bodily activity removed from the demoralizing influences 
 and temptations that undermine adolescence, is the best 
 that education can do to transform the heedless youth into 
 the responsible citizen. Every man that lives would be the 
 better for a similar probation at that period of growth. It 
 may be protested that this does not develop genius. I 
 answer, education does not properly concern itself with gen- 
 ius — it moulds and develops the standard man, and fits 
 him for activity as a member of society and the state. 
 No laissez faire system can properly do this at this period 
 of his life. 
 
 III. Tradition. — The cumulative moral sense of the 
 life of the corps for a century, by which its standards have 
 been formed and vitalized. 
 
 IV. Mental Training — resulting from a fairly high 
 minimum standard, exacted relentlessly by daily recitations 
 and rigid examinations admitting of no neglect; together 
 with habits of concentrated study at regular hours. 
 
 V. Reward. — The diploma of West Point, which is a 
 higher and more comprehensive guaranty of all-around actual 
 accomplishment and quality of body, mind and character 
 than, I believe, is afforded by that of any other institution 
 on earth; and a commission in the United States Army — 
 an honorable life profession with certainty of advancement. 
 
 West Point is, in a certain sense, a military university, 
 preparing its students in the fundamental principles and 
 practical applications underlying all branches of military 
 
WEST POINT 411 
 
 practice. In the early days it was the only military school 
 for all arms of the Service, and gave all the school training 
 to be had for both scientific and line corps. As special 
 schools were established for the different arms, West Point 
 continued its functions as a military college or university; 
 and the special schools were made post-graduate, as in civil 
 life, carrying the graduates of the different arms of the 
 service to a higher grade of specialization for each corps. 
 In this regard West Point is unique among the military 
 schools, the general practice of Continental Powers being to 
 organize separate special schools for all high-grade instruc- 
 tion, without any advanced, four- year-course, the mihtary 
 college preparing a broad foundation of general military 
 knowledge antecedent to them. 
 
 This position of West Point is most important and 
 characteristic, and is, above all, what has made its graduates 
 distinctive as a class. It is based on the principle that any 
 officer is a better specialist in his own branch who has a broad 
 grounding in the principles and duties of every branch of 
 the Service ; and also that, as every officer progresses in rank 
 and in responsibility, a general grasp of the duties of every 
 branch becomes increasingly important and even indispen- 
 sable. The command of a general officer in the field involves 
 the control and operation of every arm of the Service. This 
 may be, and often is, true in special cases of officers of even 
 lower rank. 
 
 This machinery produces a type of man of a quality and 
 temper altogether distinct, with habits of thought and action 
 and views of personal accountability free from the bias of 
 either political or commercial interests; and, while West 
 Point does not profess to prepare either military geniuses 
 or moral prodigies, it does propose to itself to turn out a 
 subaltern officer well grounded in the elements of all branches 
 of the military profession; with a mind trained to think 
 straight; with a character trained to see straight; with a 
 body, physically sound, disciplined to live straight; with 
 high ideals of personal integrity and truth ; and with habits 
 of life that are clean, simple, and regular. I believe that to 
 
412 WEST POINT 
 
 educate such a student body in a community is a sufficient 
 justification for the existence of any institution irrespective 
 of its special function; and that, in an age where commer- 
 cialism and politics tend to lower standards of integrity 
 and to heighten standards of luxury and wealth, the pos- 
 session to a nation of a body of citizens trained in such a 
 school is a valuable civic asset, and involves a degree and 
 character of preparation — mental, moral, and physical — 
 considerably in excess of the unassigned third of the chan- 
 cellor's ad captandum estimate of "one third marching 
 and one third loafing." 
 
 West Point's function is not, therefore, the production 
 of war geniuses, but of the well-balanced, broadly-trained, 
 clear-thinking subaltern— disciplined in mind, body, and 
 habit, and fit for special technical development; possessing 
 at the same time that general grasp of the military art 
 which qualifies for high command when it comes. It is 
 very doubtful if modern conditions foster the one-man genius 
 of Napoleonic tradition. The mechanism of war is now 
 of such technical complexity — logistics involves such a 
 mass of preparatory details, strategy covers such immense 
 fields, and battle tactics of great armies are so beyond the 
 grasp of a single eye and will — that the function of staff 
 control grows larger and larger, and ability in the lower 
 grades grows of more and more importance. That army 
 whose whole personnel is the better equipped morally, 
 mentally, physically, and mechanically, is the one which will 
 prevail. This moral, mental, and physical equipment of jun- 
 ior officers is the aim of the United States Military Acad- 
 emy, and it is their function to provide the mechanical 
 material for, and teach its use to, the enlisted soldier. 
 
 It is given no man to foresee with certainty the future, 
 but the rays from the searchlight of human progress give 
 enough dim form to events looming up in the fog ahead to 
 enable us to adjust our compass bearings. I venture to 
 believe from what I see that, in the century before us, the 
 issue before human endeavor is the social one. It has been 
 the supreme mission of the XlXth century to settle the 
 
WEST POINT 413 
 
 political issue. That fight has been won, its full fruition is 
 only a question of time, and America leads the van of 
 political emancipation. The fight for the coming generation 
 is Social Regeneration, in which are latent the contentions 
 becoming more and more acute between capital and physical 
 labor ; class and mass ; individualism and social government ; 
 and their many ramifications. It is the fight of the dis- 
 inherited for their birthright which is before the Western 
 world. In that struggle changes must come and traditional 
 relations will alter and disappear; war, armies, and military 
 organization will feel its influence ; new conditions will affect 
 our allegiance to time-honored traditions and beliefs; but 
 the time and the issue will never arrive when the genius 
 of the Academy will fail to serve as a safe inspiration to the 
 soldiers of the Republic ; or when the American people can 
 safely dispense with the services of those whose maxim of 
 action is the motto of the national school in the Highlands 
 of the Hudson: "Duty — Honor — Country." 
 
SERMON 
 
 Preached Sunday, April 8, 1906, by the Rev. William 
 
 Mercer Grosvenor, D.D., Rector of the 
 
 Church of the Incarnation. 
 
 ON behalf of the vestry and parishioners of the Church 
 of the Incarnation I very cordially welcome you all. 
 The New York Conimandery of the Loyal Legion 
 confers upon this parish to-day an honor, and we count it a 
 privilege that you should come here to worship God. And 
 yet this church is a most fitting place for you to come, for 
 here two of your greatest and most distinguished com- 
 manders worshipped, and on yonder walls the honored 
 names of Admiral Farragut and Commodore Eagle are 
 inscribed, a perpetual reminder to us all of their gallant 
 deeds in the service of our country, and of their noble 
 Christian character. It would be of great interest and 
 value to review the lives of these two men ; to do so would 
 mean practically to teU the naval history of their own times, 
 for both those names are written large in the story of our 
 country from the War of 181 2 to the close of the Civil War. 
 Added to all their fearless courage, splendid self-sacrifice and 
 far-sighted skill, both these men had spotless records for 
 high and noble character, and in all their eventful lives 
 they were ruled by a simple and almost childlike trust in 
 the providence and rulership of God. That famous order 
 to give thanks to Almighty God for the victory of Mobile 
 Bay, was but a single instance of Farragut's Christian 
 faith that made him the devoted husband and father, the 
 loyal friend, and gave to his genius that noble refinement 
 that made him the idol of all whom he commanded, worthy 
 to be the first Admiral of our American Navy. For years 
 
 414 
 
SERMON BY THE REV. WILLIAM M. GROSVENOR, D.D. 41 5 
 
 after Farragut's death Commodore Eagle regularly twice 
 every Sunday sat in his pew facing that monument to 
 Farragut, erected by the Loyal Legion, and when he died he 
 was buried at Woodlawn within an hundred feet of his old 
 comrade. 
 
 But if the place is fitting for this service, surely the 
 time is most appropriate. Army and Navy together have 
 wrought out the destiny of our nation. On April 9, 1865, 
 forty-one years ago, in the house of Mr. McLean at Appo- 
 mattox, Va., was held that famous conference between those 
 two brave and high-minded soldiers General Grant and 
 General Robert E. Lee, out of which came our national 
 peace. Mobile and Richmond together marked the end 
 of that dreadful tragedy and brought the brothers together 
 again in the old home. And so memories crowd into many 
 hearts to-day, and you rejoice that your famous order of the 
 Loyal Legion exists, and that with old friends and comrades 
 you can talk over those days and strengthen the sentiment 
 of patriotism which those experiences always inspire. For 
 the sake of that precious past you are organized, that its 
 deeds may never be forgotten, that its heroes may live in 
 the nation's memory, that the sacrifices of those heroes 
 may be in some measure repaid by the care of those whom 
 they have left behind them and who are in need; and that 
 all the great principles of government and freedom and 
 social order won by those days of war may be conserved and 
 maintained in the present life of the people. I do not know 
 of anjrthing more important to-day than the work that is 
 being done by your organization, and by the many other 
 patriotic societies. For the history that they recall and 
 the principles and the sentiments they maintain are ab- 
 solutely essential for all the future of our national life. 
 
 You will permit me at this point to make just one per- 
 sonal remark, that may have its bearing upon what I have 
 yet to say. The only incongruity that I have felt about 
 this service, was in the choice of your preacher. As I look 
 about this Chancel or think of the Hst of prominent clergy- 
 men who are companions of your order, or sons of dis- 
 
4l6 SERMON BY THE REV. WILLIAM M. GROSVENOR, D.D. 
 
 tinguished officers of the Civil War, I think that the 
 message you would most like to hear might better come 
 from one of them. But I console myself with the thought 
 that, even if I was born when Vicksburg was being taken, 
 still the proudest of you, or those of you with the most 
 accurate or imaginative memories, could not possibly have 
 been very old in 1865, so that after all the present and the 
 future are full of vital interest to you. Perhaps it is just 
 as well for all these honorable societies to hear from those 
 younger men who, whether they live in the North or the 
 South, are unable to remember anything that happened 
 "before the war." It is well to see how they are estimating 
 and using the forces set in motion by that great action. 
 The memories that are most precious are those that inspire 
 us to present duty, and the best reverence we can pay to 
 the heroes of the past is to use our heritage bought with 
 their blood for the truer and larger service of to-day and to- 
 morrow. The dead past we care little about, but the past 
 that we can to-day make vital and fruitful is that which 
 binds us all together in common service. 
 
 What are we called to do to-day? The supreme problem 
 of our American life is the assimilation of all these varied 
 foreign peoples into American citizenship and into the 
 unity of our national character. That national character is 
 bound to be an amalgam made up of the traditions and 
 the physical, mental, and spiritual qualities of all these 
 nations and tongues. But the point is this that in the 
 providence of God the Anglo-Saxon on this continent fur- 
 nished and still furnishes the mould into which all these 
 diverse elements are being poured. Traits that are Celtic, 
 Slav, or Latin will certainly find their place and remain as 
 subtle influences in the final type, but they are all compelled 
 to take their form in the Anglo-Saxon mould of freedom, 
 of law, of moral standard, and of religious responsibility. 
 The War of the Revolution with its Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence established on these shores forever the principles 
 of Magna Charta. Then were settled once and forever 
 the kind of government and the character of jurisprudence 
 
SERMON BY THE REV. WILLIAM M. GROSVENOR, D.D. 41 7 
 
 under which every immigrant must Hve his Hfe. That was 
 accompanied by certain ethical principles which also abide 
 and which made the colonies so free and strong. It was 
 my privilege to live for years among the hills of Berkshire. 
 Often did I hear the lament that the old farms and villages 
 were deserted. Yes, New England has suffered, but it was 
 the most fortunate thing that has happened in our American 
 life that it was those sons of the fathers of the Revolution 
 who -first went west, into western New York, into Ohio and 
 Indiana, and up and down the valley of the Mississippi, and 
 then up into the great Northwest, across the plains, and 
 then over the Rockies to the beautiful shores of the Pacific. 
 Suppose there are deserted farms in Maine, or Connecticut, 
 or Virginia. Those men, sturdy, proud, aggressive, by 
 going west made the mould in that new land, into which 
 later all these vast hordes from Europe are finding that they 
 must shape their life. Into the deserted farms many frugal 
 farmers from Canada and Europe, who are willing to toil 
 patiently among the rocks, are coming, and the land that 
 the prodigal sons of New England gave up as useless will 
 once more blossom as the rose. But the task of those earlier 
 days never was complete. There was a serious, almost 
 fatal fault left in the settlement of the days of '76. The 
 fathers had so much to do against the common foe across 
 the sea that they did not dare be logical and carry out to 
 the true conclusion their declaration of independence, for 
 there was a cause of division in the one family. It was 
 better to ignore that great defect, to leave it for the future. 
 And it was left a cancer, a festering sore, eating out all our 
 national happiness and destroying all our peace. The form 
 into which all this life from Europe was being poured was 
 defective. The character produced was full of ethical 
 uncertainty. Freedom meant one thing in one part of the 
 country and another thing in another part. Law was 
 differently administered and the ethical and religious stand- 
 ards were uncertain and forever clashing. At last the 
 issue came. The great Civil War was fought, and out of 
 that peace that brought us national unity there came those 
 
 »7 
 
41 8 SERMON BY THE REV. WILLIAM M. GROSVENOR, D.D. 
 
 absolutely essential things which we needed to have fixed 
 forever before any more people from across the sea should 
 begin to live their new life among us. It was the Civil 
 War that completed the revolution, and established forever 
 the form of organized life which will make all the glorious 
 traditions of Anglo-Saxon freedom, speech, law, and religion 
 the controlling force of the future. And that leads me to 
 say this — that no simile is perfect. The mould that holds 
 the amalgam suggests cold clay or steel, a passive thing 
 that does not fuse, but only holds the fluid mixture. We 
 must insist upon the value of that figure of the mould, and 
 then go on to the truth that after all it is a supremely vital 
 and living process. Language has words, the law is codified, 
 religion has its creed. But soon, very soon, the ideas that 
 words and codes and creeds stand for find their way into 
 the wondering eager minds and hearts of the children from 
 across the ocean, and they are not only the mould that shapes 
 their new convictions, but do, themselves, with -strong and 
 living power, create and bring forth loyal American citizens 
 and Christians. 
 
 Washington and Lincoln, how they stand forth the 
 very embodiment and utterance of the issues of their times. 
 They came in providential order, and the freedom won by 
 the cavalier of Virginia waited for its richer and completer 
 fulfilment in the freedom gained by the man bom of the 
 common people. 
 
 And what of the future? There is an old Arab proverb 
 "My brother and I quarrel, but it is we two against the 
 world." Our family is united. The serious questions of 
 the future, so far as we can discern them, are in no sense 
 sectional. They may concern the great social and indus- 
 trial life of the people. The battle of the future will be 
 fought for industrial freedom. The time is approaching 
 when those two giants capital and labor will face each 
 other, and settle this intricate and most perplexing question 
 of industrial and commercial rights. That peace which 
 came at Appomattox ushered in an era of wonderful com- 
 mercial development. All around us is an amazing pros- 
 
SERMON BY THE REV. WILLIAM M. GROSVENOR, D.D. 4IQ 
 
 perity, and yet with it a vast discontent. Whether we Uke 
 it or not the corporation and the trade union are with us, 
 and they will continue their fierce warfare until the cruelty 
 and the injustice and the astounding greed of these enormous 
 concentrations of capital are repressed, and they are com- 
 pelled to be honest and reasonable, and the brutal and ig- 
 norant tyranny of the trade unions is effectually restrained. 
 The immediate task before us all, no less heroic than the 
 deeds of the man of 1861, is for us, even at the loss of income 
 and of ease and comfort, to band together and work per- 
 sistently against this political and social and commercial 
 corruption. The men of the past were asked to die for 
 their country, we are asked to live for it. They were asked 
 to give up families and homes and farms, and then their 
 lives. We are asked to so live that we will protect and 
 maintain our family life against the iniquities of our divorce 
 law and the luxurious sensualism that is destroying all our 
 physical and mental and moral integrity. We are asked to 
 so manage our business that all the men under us are treated 
 with justice and mercy, even though we are compelled to 
 keep our dividends low. We are asked to sweep out so 
 far as we can, every Augean stable with which we have to 
 do, to insist on that eternal moral vigilance which is the 
 price of all freedom, and with unsparing truth set our own 
 houses in order, and then go into our halls of Congress, our 
 State Legislatures, our municipal governments and into 
 every department of our city affairs and compel our servants 
 and representatives to destroy all their bad laws and make 
 good ones for the just and equitable treatment of every part 
 of the country and of all our possessions in the West Indies 
 and in the islands of the Pacific, just laws for the protection 
 of the poor and the advancement of the best and highest 
 life of the people. Thank God the conscience of this nation 
 is aroused. Down beneath the supreme selfishness and 
 greed of men there is a divine sense of justice and truth, 
 and a demand for the loving acts of mercy. That con- 
 science and that pity will not cease until somehow we win 
 another victory for the final triumph of freedom. 
 
420 SERMON BY THE REV. WILLIAM M. GROSVENOR, D.D. 
 
 But for this task, so difficult and so far-reaching, surely 
 we must be well equipped. We are seeking to bring moral 
 right out of moral chaos, and so to transform the character 
 of the people, and transfuse all these alien races into that 
 same high character. It is the preservation and uplift of 
 the American character that is before us. How can we 
 expect to uplift it unless we bring into it faith in God, and 
 the inspiration of the divine life of our Lord Jesus Christ? 
 The very first principle that the Order of the Loyal Legion 
 acknowledges as fundamental is "a firm belief and trust in 
 Almighty God, extolling Him under whose beneficent guid- 
 ance the sovereignty and integrity of the Union have been 
 maintained, the honor of the flag vindicated, and the 
 blessing of civil Hberty, secured, established, and enlarged." 
 And then in that same spirit we remember all the precious 
 truths that belong to our Christian heritage. In the midst 
 of all the tokens of Christian influence, we recognize His 
 divine power, and His supremacy over the moral and spirit- 
 ual life of the world, until we cry out with the poet : 
 
 O Lord and Master of us all, 
 Whate'er our name or sign, 
 We own Thy sway, we hear Thy call, 
 "We test our lives by Thine. 
 
 And we also remember that, as on this day, the first Palm 
 Sunday, our Master entered into His last earthly battle 
 with the powers of evil. He, the Captain of our salvation, 
 went in triumph into the city of Jerusalem to win for us and 
 show us how to win the truest and highest victory that we 
 can ever achieve. He showed us supremely how sacrifice 
 even unto death is always the path to the highest triumph, 
 and how even the perfect man must also suffer, and that, 
 for the winning of the joy set before Him, He must endure 
 the cross and despise the shame, and so only at last sit down 
 victorious at the right hand of God. 
 
A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS 
 RESULTS. 
 
 A Paper read by Brigadier-General George W. Baird, 
 
 U. S. Army, May 2, 1906. 
 
 THE successful accomplishment of the objects of the 
 great war that is commemorated by the Loyal Legion 
 saw the Mississippi flowing unvexed to the sea, one 
 flag floating, and the national authority that it represents 
 prevailing from the lakes to the gulf; but beyond the Mis- 
 souri there held sway a loosely articulated alliance of tribes, 
 or tribes mutually hostile, powerful in war, that defied the 
 national authority and asserted, with force and arms, the 
 hereditary right to dominate and roam at will over the 
 vast empire that spreads out towards the mountains and 
 beyond. 
 
 Whatever record history shall make of those strong, 
 brave, warlike native Americans, they themselves had no 
 doubt of their right to the soil over which, for untold genera- 
 tions, their ancestors had roamed, and no doubt of their 
 right to sojourn where they pleased upon it. 
 
 "God made me an Indian and did not make me an 
 agency Indian," said Sitting Bull, proudly, backed up by 
 a thousand braves and holding council with General Miles. 
 
 One thing, then, the heroic little army of the frontier 
 had in common with the great national force of the period 
 that this order commemorates — the task of asserting and 
 maintaining the authority of the United States Government 
 against a powerful enemy that denied the rightfulness of 
 that authority. Under the warrant of the invitation of 
 our Commander, I have felt at liberty to undertake to 
 interest the Commandery for a few minutes in a war not 
 
 421 
 
42 2 A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 
 
 less perilous, calling for rather more than less of heroism, 
 than the war of the rebellion. It was not an enemy to be 
 despised. The prowess and knowledge of war of the strong 
 native races, like those of the " brave men who lived before 
 Agamemnon," have had no Homer to celebrate them in 
 immortal verse. They belonged to the race that has done 
 much to revolutionize the methods of warfare and the 
 fighting of battles. Braddock and his brave followers il- 
 lustrated, in the catastrophe by which they were over- 
 whelmed, the fatal weakness of the battle order of that day. 
 The American colonists had a century and a half of the 
 most effective teaching at the hands of those past-masters 
 of open-order fighting, utilizing cover and keen-eyed aiming; 
 and American armies, with that basis of thorough practical 
 teaching, have been the teachers of the armies of other 
 nations of that which they have been so slow to learn. 
 The British, in South Africa, required another lesson from 
 the text-book written in blood, and from that which is 
 permitted to become known of the long and costly war that 
 the German army has been waging on that same continent, 
 it would seem that that highly elaborated fighting machine 
 may have discovered its limitations. 
 
 If the American Indians had added cohesion and dis- 
 cipline to their other warlike qualities American history 
 might have been differently written. 
 
 The field of operations was immense, the war long and 
 costly in blood and treasure, and they cannot be adequately 
 treated in one brief paper. Let us concentrate our view 
 upon the Northwest east of the Rockies, and have in mind 
 chiefly the Sioux and their close allies the Northern Chey- 
 ennes. (It is pertinent to state here, and it well illustrates 
 the close association of Indian wars with the war of the 
 rebellion of which I have spoken, that a member of this 
 Commandery, Gen. G. M. Dodge, after his highly dis- 
 tinguished service as corps commander in the great war, 
 rounded out his military career by a protracted and effec- 
 tive campaign against the Indians of the Northwest before 
 he resigned.) The importance of the task was recognized 
 
A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 423 
 
 by the government, as indicated by the assignment to the 
 command, after the close of the war of the rebeUion, in 
 succession of the two great commanders, Sherman and 
 Sheridan, each when so assigned second in rank only to 
 the commander of the Army. 
 
 With Sherman in command of the Military Division of 
 the Missouri, having headquarters at St. Louis, a large 
 part of the newly reorganized Regular Army took up a task 
 already begun and, in the region of which I speak, struck 
 boldly out towards the Northwest, occupying a line of 
 posts, including Forts Reno, Phil. Kearny, and C. F. Smith, 
 intended to maintain a route of travel along the eastern 
 and northern borders of the Big Horn Motintains, the Pow- 
 der River Route. Ft. C. F. Smith, on the Big Horn River, 
 and later Ft. Ellis on the Gallatin, guarded the western 
 end of the route, which thus reached beyond the territory 
 of the Sioux and within striking distance of the mining 
 camps of the Rockies in Montana. This invasion of their 
 territory roused the bitterest hostility of the Sioux. The 
 posts were held by them in a constant state of siege. The 
 troops had to fight almost daily to secure needed supplies. 
 Two regiments of infantry and a half of a regiment of 
 calvary maintained the posts, but the road as a route of 
 travel ceased to exist. 
 
 On the 2ist of December, 1866, Captain Fetterman, 
 1 8th Infantry, who had been brevetted to the grade of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel for gallantry at Murfreesboro and Jones- 
 boro, was killed with his entire command near Ft. Phil. 
 Kearny. The troops held the posts, but the Sioux held 
 the country and stoutly asserted sovereignty by demanding 
 the abandonment of the posts as a sine qua non of any 
 negotiation. Their defiance of the national authority is 
 well illustrated by their opposition to the use of the flag 
 over the agencies where they obtained suppHes. General 
 Augur, then commanding the Department of the Platte, 
 strongly urged that the posts be maintained, rightly ar- 
 guing that their abandonment would be construed by the 
 Indians as a confession of weakness. But these views of 
 
424 A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 
 
 the military authorities were overruled. Under an act of 
 Congress of July 20, 1867, a Board of Commissioners was 
 organized to proceed to the Indian country and take in 
 charge the whole question. General Sherman was desig- 
 nated as a member of the board and all military movements 
 were made purely defensive pending the board's action. 
 Pursuant to that action the Powder River route was given 
 up. The posts to defend it were abandoned and the troops 
 withdrawn ; and thus, for the first time in the brief period 
 of history that I have in view, the sway of the Sioux in their 
 ancestral country was denied by the nation and then again 
 recognized, greatly to our loss and their gain in prestige. 
 Whatever the wisdom of this action, it postponed only and 
 did not settle the question at issue between the national 
 government and the warlike native Americans. But as 
 the old soldiers of the Revolution pressed westward beyond 
 the Alleghanies, and St. Clair attempted that which Wayne 
 accomplished, the winning of peace and security for settlers, 
 so the energy and growth of the nation, after the end of the 
 war of the rebellion, crowded upon the frontier. Aggres- 
 sion was the order, and its most characteristic form was 
 railways reaching out ever towards the western horizon, and 
 again such work for the troops as of old Wayne achieved 
 was called for. The Union Pacific is outside the self-imposed 
 limits of this paper. The records afford ample testimony 
 that every act along that line, from the first reconnois- 
 sance of engineers to the grading and the driving of the last 
 spike, was under protection of the ever-present soldiers. 
 
 The Northern Pacific reached the Missouri at Bismarck 
 and there, it was halted, because beyond the Sioux held 
 sway, to the great financial distress of its projectors, and 
 thus the final issue was joined. 
 
 Indians and railway builders alike coveted the valley 
 of the Yellowstone, and both with good reason. For the 
 latter, it afforded an ideal line of advance, with easy 
 grades and few bridges, to the base of an outlying spur 
 of the Rockies; for the former it furnished in abundance 
 all that they desired for the only life they loved. Even the 
 
A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 425 
 
 severity of its winters is at times tempered and often shor- 
 tened by that marvellous climatic agent the Chinook wind. 
 Military commands under Generals Stanley and Custer, in 
 the summers of the early seventies, gave protection to the 
 engineers who were determining the location of the railway 
 from the Missouri and through this valley. The centennial 
 year was the time when, and this valley the place where, the 
 final issue was joined. 
 
 Sitting Bull on the Little Missouri, Dakota, and Crazy 
 Horse on the Powder River, Wyoming, were leaders of the 
 hostile Indians who roamed over what General Sheridan 
 called "an almost totally unknown region comprising an 
 area of almost 90,000 square miles." 
 
 These positions of the hostiles afforded natural and easy 
 concentration for them in the valley of the Yellowstone. 
 Coming up from Fort Fetterman at the south General Crook 
 with fifteen troops of cavalry and five companies of in- 
 fantry, 1049 men, was the first to get a taste of the quality 
 of the native warriors. On the upper Rosebud, June 17, 
 1876, he suffered so severe a repulse at their hands that he 
 was compelled to fall back, and await reinforcements; for 
 the time his command was out of the campaign. 
 
 Meantime, General Terry's command was concentrating 
 at the mouth of the Rosebud, on the Yellowstone, the entire 
 7th Cavalry, commanded by General Custer, four troops 
 of the 2nd Cavalry, twelve companies of infantry and a 
 Gathng gun battery — about fifteen hundred men. 
 
 Of the battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25th, it is not 
 my purpose to speak at length. After General Miles had 
 achieved his successes along the Yellowstone we had as 
 prisoners hundreds of the Indians, including their leaders, 
 among them Rain-in-the-Face, who had participated in that 
 battle, and the General and other officers went over the 
 field with some of them and heard them narrate the 
 occurrences of that bloody day. These accounts, a thorough 
 examination of the field, and the statements of such a par- 
 ticipant in the battle as Col. E. S. Godfrey warrant me 
 in expressing an opinion and I have no hesitancy in saying 
 
426 A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 
 
 that those — and there were many — who condemned General 
 Custer for that catastrophe did a cruel injustice to a brave 
 soldier and competent commander. 
 
 Both Terry's and Crook's commands were heavily rein- 
 forced, and the two were united and, in the words of Gen. 
 James B. Fry, "did much marching but no fighting." 
 
 These successes of the Sioux greatly increased their 
 prestige and added essentially to their equipment, and 
 with the oncoming of autumn, and the withdrawal of the 
 large commands by the orders of General Sheridan, the old- 
 time masters of the valley, for the second time in the period 
 under review, after the challenge was given to their authority, 
 were left in control. But their control was disputed. In 
 the withdrawal there was left behind the 5th Infantry, 
 commanded by its colonel, General Nelson A. Miles, and 
 six companies of the 22nd Infantry, four of them at 
 the same station as the sth. These troops had come 
 from Kansas and the lakes after the battle of the Little 
 Big Horn. Their orders were to canton themselves in log 
 huts and hold points in the valley until the spring of '77, 
 when reinforcements would come and take up the war 
 again where it had been taken up in the spring of '76. The 
 orders contemplated isolation, inactivity, hibernating. Iso- 
 lation fortunately there was, but no inactivity and no 
 hibernating. Under the circumstances the isolation played 
 an important part in our history ; for it made the occasion 
 and the necessity of acting on his own judgment for a com- 
 mander to whom inaction was unbearable and who had the 
 initiative to strike out a line of action for himself and the 
 well reasoned method with which to follow that line to a 
 conclusion. The Indians belonged, as our government con- 
 tended, on reservations far to the southeast of the Yellow- 
 stone, in Dakota; their refusal to remain there and their 
 determination to visit their choice hunting grounds caused 
 the Indian Bureau to request the Army to force them to 
 remain on their reservations, and action pursuant to that 
 request caused this particular war. 
 
 Finding himself in sole command in the Yellowstone 
 
A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 427 
 
 Valley, his troops in cantonments, the main part at the 
 mouth of Tongue River, the remainder lower down the 
 Yellowstone opposite the site of what is now the town of 
 Glendive, General Miles laid his plans for a systematic cam- 
 paign. Through his own means of information he learned 
 when the Indians left their reservations, and, confirmed 
 in his opinion that they had reached the Yellowstone Valley 
 by the prolonged detention of an expected supply train, he 
 started with the sth Infantry from the mouth of Tongue 
 River down the left bank of the Yellowstone and came upon 
 Sitting Bull, Chief Gall, and their followers near the head of 
 Cedar Creek, a northern affluent of the Yellowstone. Gall 
 had acted an important part in Custer's fight. At the 
 place of meeting occurred the council already men- 
 tioned. 
 
 The scene was historic and the occasion dramatic. The 
 irreconcilable wild Indian spuming the national authority 
 and hating the restricted life of the reservation with its 
 daily dole of food in contrast with unrestricted roaming 
 and unlimited food, especially provided for him by the 
 Great Spirit, confronts the exponent of national power, 
 especially charged with the task of subjugating and restrict- 
 ing him. A thousand armed braves animated by the same 
 spirit attend the one; less than four hundred stand ready 
 to follow the other to the death. The lines are close drawn, 
 the feehng is tense, there is mutual distrust ; white men and 
 red confront each other, rifles in hand, finger upon trigger, 
 every eye intent upon the little group under the flag of truce 
 between the lines. Now a scattering line of Indians at- 
 tempts, with affected carelessness, to place itself in position 
 to surround the group, and only the self-possession of Gen- 
 ei-al Miles in calmly telling Sitting Bull " Those men are too 
 young for cotincil and must fall back" averts a catastrophe. 
 Sitting Bull doubtless contemplated an act of bad faith, 
 such as that by which General Canby lost his life at the 
 hands of the Modoc "Captain Jack" April ii, 1873. A 
 half-breed with Sitting Bull then was afterwards one of our 
 scouts and interpreters. He said that when one of the 
 
42 8 A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN 'MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 
 
 Indians said "Why don't you talk strong?" Sitting Bull 
 replied, " When I say that I am going to shoot him." 
 
 The General closed the council by sa)dng: "I will drive 
 you out of the country or you will drive me out. I will 
 give you fifteen minutes to decide, and unless you accept 
 my terms I will then open fire." 
 
 With an angry grunt the old medicine-man turned and 
 rejoined his followers. The troops in slender single rank, 
 in hollow square surrounding the train, advanced at the ap- 
 pointed moment. The country immediately became alive 
 with Indians; not less than a thousand warriors swarmed 
 all about the command. There was no halt and no falter- 
 ing. The steady infantry fire from a command that had no 
 flank to be turned and no unprotected rear to be attacked 
 could not be silenced. Courage merely, without discipline, 
 could not stand against it. And so the Indians were driven 
 from the deep valleys at the source of Cedar Creek so 
 precipitately that they left some of their dead behind. 
 For more than forty miles, abandoning food, lodge poles, 
 and camp equipage, they were pursued to the Yellowstone 
 and there, October 27th, more than four hundred lodges sur- 
 rendered to General Miles. 
 
 The 5th Infantry, 398 rifles, thus commanded, achieved 
 there a notable victory which was the turning of the tide. 
 
 Sitting Bull and his immediate following, family and 
 connections, broke from the main body during the pursuit 
 and escaped northward, and was later joined by Gall and 
 other chiefs with their followers — all to be again attacked, 
 as we shall see. 
 
 The early oncoming of a winter of unusual severity, 
 even for that region, gave a forcible emphasis to the general 
 instructions to hibernate; but the General determined to 
 make an ally of the climate and call to his aid the cold 
 which inclines the Indian to remain in camp in sheltered 
 valleys. 
 
 The fact that Sitting Bull and Gall had escaped and 
 were maintaining their old attitude of defiance robbed his 
 victory of a completeness that would have been satisfactory. 
 
A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 429 
 
 It still remained to make good the claim of the national 
 government to supremacy and it could be done only by 
 force. Returning to Tongue River he remained only long 
 enough to newly equip a force of the 5th and 2 2d Infantry 
 — 434 rifles, — and then pushed resolutely northward after 
 Sitting Bull. The trail was obliterated by the snow, and so 
 the command was divided and its various detachments 
 scoured the valleys of the Missouri and its northern and 
 southern affluents, above and below Fort Peck, until the 
 hostile camp wa,s discovered. 
 
 In the subdivision of the command a detachment, Com- 
 panies G, H, and I, 5th Infantry, 100 officers and men, was 
 placed under the command of First Lieut. — now General 
 — Frank D. Baldwin. As a captain in the 19th Michigan 
 Volunteers Baldwin had distinguished himself on the sth 
 of October, 1863, by holding a railroad bridge near Mur- 
 freesboro, Tenn., with his one company of fifty men against 
 a division commanded by General Joe Wheeler, until his 
 log defence was leveled by artillery and all but one of the 
 company were woimded. General Wheeler was so impressed 
 by his gallant defence that he released all of the men with- 
 out parole and permitted Baldwin to retain his sword. Two 
 years before the events of which I am speaking, in our cam- 
 paign in Texas and Indian Territory, he had come to the 
 front as a capable commander. His recent conspicuous suc- 
 cesses in the Philippines, both in Luzon and against the 
 Moros, in Mindanao, are familiar to all who are acquainted 
 with the active service of our Army. Although heading a 
 slender command in that arctic winter of 1876, he never had 
 greater need of the courage, power of initiative, and wise 
 self-reliance of an independent commander. The long 
 march, remote from base and possibility of support, had 
 exhausted rations and forage ; deep snow impeded the march 
 and prolonged exposure to cold lowered the vitality of men 
 and animals; and when, at last, the hostile camp was dis- 
 covered, December i8th, near the head of Redwater, a 
 southern affluent of the Missouri whose branches almost 
 interlock with those of Cedar Creek, where the battle of 
 
43° A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 
 
 October began, the question of success or of catastrophe 
 trembled in the balance. " When you are in doubt play- 
 trumps," and with Frank Baldwin in reach of the enemy 
 fighting is trumps. He adopted a method of attack new 
 in Indian fighting and certainly quite unusual in any warfare. 
 Drawing his supply wagons up in line with his little command 
 he charged the camp with every component of his force, 
 infantry firing, teamsters shouting, and the rattle of empty 
 wagons adding to the din of battle. Sitting Bull and his 
 people were doubly surprised by the attack and its method, 
 and driven pell mell from their camp, in which Baldwin 
 captured sixty animals and, fortunately for his starving 
 men, a large supply of buffalo meat. As a factor in the war 
 Sitting Bull was thus eliminated. His prominence was not 
 due to military prowess but to his character as medicine-man, 
 or soothsayer ; he was an inveterately savage Indian, who 
 hated the so-called "white man's road," and thus became 
 the nucleus of all disaffected and hostile Sioux. He and 
 his immediate following made their way across the Dominion 
 boundary, and General Miles made urgent appeals to the high- 
 er authorities of our government that they be either dis- 
 armed at the boundary or interned, as were 80,000 French 
 troops, under General Bourbaki, who were forced into 
 Switzerland in January, 1 87 1. 
 
 Unfortunately action to that end was not taken, or was 
 not effective, and, as was said of President Buchanan's 
 attitude at Washington in 1861, it maybe said of Sitting 
 BuU on the international boundary line, " He sat there like 
 a poultice, drawing the elements of insurrection to a head " 
 But he had no further desire to meet the soldiers of " Bear 
 Coat," as the Indians called General Miles because of his 
 fur- trimmed overcoat; and when our command arrived 
 near the boundary, at the time of the capture of Joseph 
 and his Nez Perc6s, in September, 1877, Sitting Bull 
 fled incontinently far to the northward. His ending 
 came many years later, December 15, 1890, not in 
 battle, but at the hands of men of his own race em- 
 ployed as agency police, who were attempting to arrest 
 
A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 43 1 
 
 him at the time of the "messiah craze," or "ghost dance 
 war." 
 
 The battle of Cedar Creek in October and Baldwin's 
 rout of Sitting Bull in December cleared the country north 
 of the Yellowstone of hostiles, but there stiU remained 
 a large, probably the largest, force and they occupied the 
 valleys of the Tongue and of other southern affluents of the 
 Yellowstone. Their subjugation now became the objective. 
 They were Sioux and their closely allied neighbors the 
 Northern Cheyennes. Their most important leader was 
 Crazy Horse, a well known Sioux chief of the Ogallalas. 
 He had been a prominent chief in the repulse administered 
 by the Indians to Crook's command June 17, 1876; also 
 at the battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25th. By the 
 time Baldwin's detachment, the last of the force to return, 
 had reached the cantonment the sway of that exceptionally 
 severe winter was firmly established. The thermometer 
 rarely went above zero ; was often so far below that mercury 
 was solid and only spirit thermometers registered. 
 
 (I have witnessed in that region a registry of sixty-one 
 degrees below zero, when the feet of mules were so badly 
 frozen that they shed their hoofs.) 
 
 Deep-flowing streams had ice from thirty-six to fifty inches 
 thick, shallow streams were frozen solid. Deep snow made 
 movement through the valleys slow. Over the hills and open 
 plains the intense cold, energized many-fold by the wind, 
 swept in blizzards exposure to which means death. Al- 
 though these northern Indians, with the same degree of 
 protection, can endure much more cold than white men, 
 their method of dress does not protect them thoroughly. 
 Can clothing, which yet allows mobility, be so increased as 
 to meet these climatic conditions? An affirmative answer 
 offers promise of unusual success and that was the answer 
 that General Miles and his officers sought for. The 436 
 officers and men of the 5th and 2 2d Infantry who started 
 up the valley of Tongue River, December 29, 1876, were 
 fur-clad, many of them, from head to foot. Frost-trimmed 
 woolen mtifflers were frozen solidly upon ice-clad beards. 
 
432 A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 
 
 Disrobing, with beard pulled out by the roots, had an accom- 
 paniment of language made classic by "our army in 
 Flanders." Buffalo-skin overshoes drawn on over German 
 socks protected the feet, but made swift movement 
 impossible. 
 
 "Take a step nearer" said the Spartan mother whose 
 son complained of having a short sword. The modem 
 equivalent of that "step nearer" is "one more cartridge." 
 The experienced campaigners of the 5th and 2 2d Foot 
 knew that well, and their ingenuity was stimulated to 
 devise methods of carrying many cartridges in the way 
 to make the burden the least onerous. They stripped 
 up canvas and made looped belts to carry double rows of 
 cartridges. Since then woven belts embodjdng the same 
 principle have been supplied to many armies, with greatly 
 accruing wealth for the quick-witted man who patented 
 the process of weaving them. 
 
 The Indians disputed the advance in sharp skirmishes, 
 January ist and 3d; on the 7th the advance guard made a 
 capture of eight Indians, of much importance because of 
 their relationship to chiefs, and a most determined effort 
 was made to recapture them. The scouts charged in and 
 were surrounded. Lieutenant Ned Casey, of the 2 2d In- 
 fantry, in command of a detachment of mounted infantry, 
 with characteristic intrepidity dashed into the rescue with a 
 scanty half-score of men and held his ground until the com- 
 mand arrived. 
 
 Retreating as the command advanced the Indians chose 
 well their field to make a stand. Near the southern border 
 of Montana, where Tongue River breaks through Wolf Moun- 
 tains, its narrow valley is bordered by abrupt bluffs whose 
 steep walls, as well as the remoter wooded hills, were then 
 covered with snow, or glazed with ice. Here, as the day 
 broke on the morning of January, 8, 1877, the Indians 
 turned and assumed the offensive. Their plan and effort 
 were to encompass the troops in the narrow valley and 
 have them at their mercy as they occupied the adjacent 
 crests and wooded hills. Whooping and yelling they came, 
 
A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 433 
 
 some who spoke English shouting "You 've had your last 
 breakfast!" and the scouts replying in language that shall 
 be here represented by a bar rest. Only the quick discern- 
 ment, bold initiative, and rapid movements of General 
 Miles, ably seconded by his httle command, changed the 
 nature of the battle and snatched a victory from conditions 
 that betokened defeat. 
 
 To fight a defensive battle in the valley was to court 
 failure, and the battle-field of Custer, sixty miles to the west, 
 although., like the Alamo, it "had no messenger" to tell of 
 the heroic deeds it witnessed, was eloquent in its testimony 
 of what failure meant in a battle with these same Indians 
 led by the same chief. 
 
 The Indians occupy the hiUs on the east and west of the 
 valley. Major Dickey with his battalion of the 2 2d In- 
 fantry, strengthened by Carter's company of the sth, was 
 charged with holding in check and driving back the attack 
 from the west, and with steadfast courage maintained the 
 fight. On the east the offensive was at once assumed. The 
 command was thrown boldly out to occupy widely sepa- 
 rated hilltops with a thin line. Every man is on the firing 
 line and must be a hero : there is no touch of elbow and no 
 rear rank. The Indians had not expected such a manoeuvre, 
 but they boldly meet it. 
 
 Greatly outnumbering the troops they meet them in 
 their front, and Crazy Horse makes a flanking movement 
 that threatens grave disaster. To the left and rear he 
 occupies hiUs from which his fire takes the troops in flank 
 and rear, and there is no second line that can be deployed 
 to meet this attack. More than three hundred miles of 
 wintry wilderness were at their backs, retreat meant disaster, 
 surrender meant death by torture. The commander and 
 every man knew this, — and the Indians on that flanking hill- 
 top increase while those in the front hold their ground. 
 Those hilltops must be seized, and that speedily. The 
 left wing of the little command is designated for that duty. 
 Lieutenant — now Lieutenant-Colonel — Pope serves his three- 
 inch gun judiciously to aid them. Gunner McHugh, 5th 
 
434 A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 
 
 Infantry, well earns his medal of honor by fearless exposure to 
 the hot rifle fire concentrated upon the gun while he coolly 
 trains it. Burdened with heavy clothing, stumbling through 
 snow-drifts, slipping on the icy acclivities, the men are 
 pressing forward, but in the confusion of interlocking slopes 
 they lose direction and incline to the right, and those Indians 
 on the left are getting far enough to the rear to encircle 
 the command with their rifle fire. 
 
 The commander is alive to every detail of the situation 
 and determines to launch a reinforcement. Turning to Lieu- 
 tenant Baldwin and pointing to the left he says, " Tell them 
 to take that hill and drive the Indians away." Putting 
 spurs to his horse " Redwater" Baldwin forces him at a run 
 up the icy hillside and then, hat in hand and with a ringing 
 shout, he puts new life into the hearts of the weary men 
 and, with the inspiration of his own brave onset, carries 
 them to those menacing hilltops. The battle still rages; 
 a blinding snow-storm joins forces with the combatants. A 
 medicine-man proclaims himself invulnerable to white men's 
 bullets and seeks glory by exposing himself along the front 
 of the line. His immunity fails him under a well aimed 
 shot and his fall is the turning-point of the fight. The 
 Indians were driven through Wolf Mountains towards 
 the Big Horn range. The rude log cantonment at the 
 mouth of the Tongue welcomed and sheltered the weary 
 frost-bitten men, and the commander and his staff devised 
 means to reap the reward of the victory. 
 
 And now the value of the capture made January 7th 
 is reaHzed. The captives had been protected and kindly 
 treated. Employing two of them and the half breed-scout 
 Bruguier the General sent, February ist, to Crazy Horse the 
 message, " Surrender at the cantonment or at your agency, 
 or I will attack you again." Crazy Horse was camped on a 
 branch of the Little Big Horn. He had already learned that 
 this was no idle threat and a delegation of chiefs came back 
 with Bruguier, February 19th. In the many councils that 
 followed there was doubtless mutual fear of treachery. On 
 our side certainly it was not intended, but on both sides it 
 
A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 435 
 
 was prepared for. The Indians put forward their best ora- 
 tors in the effort to secure better terms. Eloquence, force, 
 graceftil and impassioned gesture, all were there. They 
 were met by the qualities which combined with his success 
 in battle in giving to General Miles his mastery over In- 
 dians—the unyielding assertion of authority together with 
 kindness, protection, and absolute good faith. 
 
 The report of this delegation on their return to Crazy 
 Horse was so acceptable that on March i8th came a much 
 larger delegation, among them Little Hawk, an uncle of 
 Crazy Horse. He, with the others, accepted the terms, and 
 nine prominent leaders, Sioux and Northern Cheyenne, re- 
 mained in our hands as hostages for the performance of the 
 agreement to surrender in thirty days. Here for the first 
 time General Miles met the Sioux chief Hump, who became 
 the General's warm friend, as evidenced by his beautiful 
 and pathetic action at the tomb of Mrs. Miles in Arlington 
 Cemetery, and his message to the General, made pubHc in 
 dispatches from Washington last January. Hump was one 
 of the hostages. 
 
 Crazy Horse and Little Hawk led the Ogallalas to the 
 Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies in the Department of 
 the Platte. The Cheyennes came with White Bull and Two 
 Moons to the cantonment. The Minneconjous, under.Lame 
 Deer, refused to surrender and their subjugation was the 
 opening event of the spring of 1877 in the Yellowstone 
 Valley. 
 
 The battle of Wolf Mountains was Crazy Horses's last 
 encounter with the whites as a commander. He and his 
 people were placed on a reservation near Camp Robinson, 
 Nebraska. Falling under suspicion of intending to lead his 
 people on the warpath again, he was arrested, made a des- 
 perate break for liberty, was mortally wounded, and died 
 September 7, 1877. The temptation is strong to narrate 
 the events of the spring and summer, crowded with activities : 
 to tell how, as night began to yield to day, May 7th, Lame 
 Deer was surprised near the upper Rosebud, and his 
 camp, littered with the equipments of our comrades of the 
 
436 A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 
 
 7th Cavalry, was captured and he was slain ; how our fellow 
 campaigners of the 2 2d Infantry, relieved from field duty, 
 and returning to their lake stations, reached Chicago in 
 war-stained field dress, but- with rifles clean and cartridge 
 belts filled, just in the nick of time to impress the railroad 
 strikers with the fact that " them fellers hain't got no bokays 
 in their guns," and obviated the need of shooting by their 
 manifest readiness to shoot; how, as the summer drew to a 
 close, a long forced march to the far Northwest, almost to 
 the boundary, placed the command in position, September 
 30th, to surprise and, after the fiercest fight, to capture Jo- 
 seph and his Nez Perc6s, but I forbear. That winter's cam- 
 paign is a substantial fact of history and weU may stand by 
 itself. A fierce and menacing political campaign was waging 
 in Washington that winter; our isolation is indicated and 
 the lack of communication shown by the fact that, until 
 late in March, we supposed that Mr. Tilden had been in- 
 augurated as President, pursuant to the action of the 
 Electoral Commission of which we had heard. In his 
 annual report for 1877 General Miles thus summarized 
 the operations of his troops for the year ending with Octo- 
 ber: "Distance marched over 4,000 miles. Besides much 
 property captured and destroyed, 1600 animals were taken. 
 Upwards of 7000 Indians were killed, captured, forced to 
 surrender, or driven out of the country." And General Sheri- 
 dan, after briefly recounting the events of the year, ends 
 with the laconic statement — "And so the Sioux war was 
 ended." 
 
 The Northern Pacific Railroad, long halted at Bismarck 
 on the left bank of the Missouri, pushed rapidly forward, 
 steamboats plied on the Yellowstone and the Big Horn, 
 and all that has since become history in that region was 
 inaugurated. 
 
 It is cheap and easy to say that the railroads ended the 
 Indian wars. If the history of our Indian wars is ever 
 written it will be seen that the soldiers of the Regular Army 
 ended them, by weary marchings, by hunger and thirst and 
 sleeplessness, by endurance of polar cold and torrid heat, by 
 
A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MONTANA AND ITS RESULTS 437 
 
 hard fighting, by wounds, by cruel tortures and death. If 
 numbers engaged only are considered it is easy to belit- 
 tle the generalship and the soldiership of Indian warfare. 
 Paucity of numbers but emphasizes the cruci'al diificulty 
 of the task. Witness Miles, former commander of the largest 
 division in the unexcelled Second Corps during the War of the 
 RebelHon, facing thousands in a far-away wintry wilderness, 
 followed by the equivalent of half a regiment ; or Gibbon, 
 whose services in the great war all members of the Army of 
 the Potomac know, with his scanty force at the battle of Big 
 Hole. One who has never seen it cannot realize how short 
 a Une a few score or a few hundred men make, springing 
 boldly out in single rank, flanks in air and no reserves. 
 
 Laurels won in great armies have more than once been 
 withered in Indian campaigns. Brad dock in colonial his- 
 tory, St. Clair in the early life of the nation, occur to all — 
 and they by no means complete the Ust. 
 
 As the experiences of earlier years have passed before 
 me during the preparation of this paper, the patient en- 
 durance, the splendid heroism of the old army of the frontier 
 have been newly impressed upon me. In obscure skir- 
 mishes, in remote caiions, at some unmarked spot on the 
 ocean-like expanse of the plains, they fell as the never- 
 ceasing battle raged. 
 
 They lie in unknown graves ; their country never knew 
 their names and has forgotten their services ; but out of the 
 vast realm they rescued from savagery, she has carved 
 mighty States whose stars add to the galaxy of her glory. 
 Where Leonidas and his three hundred fell there was 
 erected a memorial with the legend, "Stranger, tell the 
 Lacedsemonians that we lie here in obedience to their laws." 
 From the scattered, unmarked, forgotten graves of those 
 unknown heroes comes the message, " Tell it to Columbia 
 that we lie here where we fell in obedience to her commands." 
 
IN MEMORIAM— LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. 
 SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 AT the banquet of the Commandery held October lo 
 1906, the members of the Commandery-in-Chief 
 which had been in session in New York City October 
 9th and loth, were present as guests. The addresses of the 
 evening, which were devoted to personal recollections of past 
 Commander-in-Chief, Lieut.-General John M. Schofield, were 
 made by General Horace Porter, General O. 0. Howard, 
 General Grenville M. Dodge, and General Wm. M. Wherry. 
 General Porter has not been able to supply a copy of his ad- 
 dress, but the others are given herewith. These are followed 
 by a more elaborate memorial prepared by General Wherry. 
 
 General Howard's Address. 
 
 Schofield and I were three years together as cadets 
 at the Military Academy. Sometimes we were in the same 
 company, either B or C, and often in the same division of 
 the barracks. He was one class ahead of me, so that we 
 bore the same relation to each other as a sophomore does 
 to a freshman; he being the sophomore, and I the freshman. 
 I have a very distinct recollection of his personality. He 
 was one of those young men of stout build, — large-chested, 
 who had rather an unusual amotmt of dignity in his deport- 
 ment. Indeed he was never more dignified in all his life 
 than the first time I met him, and he appeared then older 
 by about two years than the record. Schofield was of a 
 very serious turn, and I don't think he allowed himself to 
 have any approach to fun or jollity while a cadet. He was 
 in McPherson's class, but not much like him in appearance 
 or action. McPherson was tall, with a longer neck, and 
 
 438 
 
IN MEMORIAM 439 
 
 very genial in his manners, and especially kind to us plebes. 
 Schofield was not tinkind, but kept us uniformly at a re- 
 spectful distance. Both of these young men were diligent 
 students, — McPherson standing at the head of his class 
 almost from start to finish; he gave the strictest attention 
 to his studies, allowing himself very little collateral reading ; 
 whereas Schofield was seldom found without some book in 
 hand of historic or scientific interest, thus going over and 
 beyond his cadet course. This is something which told 
 very much in his favor later in life. 
 
 When he came to his second class year he took the 
 deepest interest in natural and experimental philosophy 
 and in mechanics. Under the supervision and direction 
 of Professor Bartlett he began to exhibit a genius for these 
 studies which the intensely active professor favorably 
 noticed. Schofield had been not more than three years 
 away from the school after his graduation when he was 
 recalled by this same professor to become one of his instruc- 
 tors and later an assistant professor in his department of 
 philosophy. In this work he had notable success. A year 
 later I was called back to the Academy by Professor Church 
 in the department of mathematics. I may say to you 
 confidentially that I enjoyed a special safeguard as a ca- 
 det at the Academy, as I was already engaged to a New 
 England young lady ; but Schofield did not have the benefit 
 of such a shield. I remember him often at parade and 
 sometimes even on Flirtation Walk with two charming 
 young ladies. They were the daughters of his high-toned 
 professor. They were so near of a size and seemed so much 
 alike a little way off, and were so rapid in motion when 
 walking by themselves, that the cadets called them "the 
 ponies." We could not tell, so evenly balanced was Scho- 
 field's attention, that is for a time, which of the two he 
 preferred. However, a happy marriage between him and 
 Kitty Bartlett occurred; and when we returned as instruc- 
 tors to the Mihtary Academy we both had our allotments 
 in married officers' quarters. 
 
 At that time Lieutenant Schofield became to me a very 
 
440 IN MEMORIAM 
 
 genial and helpful companion, and I am sure that Professor 
 Bartlett never had an abler helper nor the cadets a more 
 faithful instructor. I knew about Schofield's leave of ab- 
 sence to take a high place in the Washington College of St. 
 Louis of which General Porter has told us. From this good 
 work the war caUe.d him to co-operate with Lyon and Blair 
 and to help in no small way to save Missouri to the Union 
 during that first year of the great struggle. 
 
 When I went to the Middle West and began my partici- 
 pation in the battles about Chattanooga, and the march to 
 Knoxville with Sherman, Schofield was on his way to suc- 
 ceed Bumside at Knoxville, and soon to command the 
 Army of the Ohio. 
 
 In the spring of 1864, when Sherman brought together 
 his three armies to make them substantially one between 
 Chattanooga and Dalton, Schofield had the left wing, con- 
 sisting of one army corps and a division of cavalry; this 
 he handled so well that he gave General Sherman great 
 satisfaction in more than twenty battles and through all 
 the varied operations of the spring campaign of 1864 to the 
 taking of Atlanta. We were frequently together during 
 this extraordinary service, and I there realized more than 
 ever before what a thorough soldier and able man General 
 Schofield was. 
 
 I remember well how we sat together on our horses 
 beside the large Potter House — the air full of deadly missiles 
 — near General Sherman, our commander, the 2 2d of July, 
 1864: that is, during the battle of Atlanta. McPherson had 
 already fallen, and the Army of the Tennessee, in plain sight 
 before us, was actively recovering all its lost ground, when 
 Schofield urged Sherman to push his twenty -third Corps be- 
 tween the Confederates engaging Logan's front and Atlanta. 
 " No, no," Sherman said, "it is better for the Army of the 
 Tennessee to fight it out." 
 
 It was wise advice, but probably the movement pro- 
 posed by Schofield would have given us a more decisive 
 victory at Atlanta. 
 
 After the war and during the days of reconstruction 
 
IN MEMORIAM 44I 
 
 Schofield and I were frequently united jn the same work ; 
 sometimes I was the senior and sometimes he was ahead. 
 I had the rank above him in the volunteer appointments and 
 Schofield in the Regular Army. He being six months my 
 jxinior in years, it resulted in his commanding the Army 
 for six months after my retirement. Under President 
 Johnson Schofield acted for some time as Secretary of War, 
 and under President Cleveland he attained the coveted 
 rank of Lieutenant-General, with the three stars. 
 
 It is a theory of mine pretty well established that as- 
 sociation with yotmg people keeps elderly men young. 
 Schofield observed this regimen. He had a nice family. I 
 knew each member of it as the children were growing up 
 alongside of mine. Some years after the death of his first 
 wife the General married again, and his young wife and 
 daughter in these later years have given him that joy and 
 companionship which he so much deserved and greatly 
 loved. 
 
 Yes, often Schofield and I were, not rivals, rather com- 
 petitors in the exacting work given us both to do in life, 
 arid I feel that now in his departure I have lost a good com- 
 rade, companion and friend. 
 
 BY GENERAL GRENVILLE M. DODGE. 
 
 I first met General Schofield in August, 1861, when 
 he returned with the Httle army that had fought so val- 
 iantly in the battle of Wilson's Creek under the command 
 of General Lyon. Schofield was Adjutant-General of 
 that army, and in a large degree it was his efforts and 
 advice that brought the force, that had really won a 
 great victory and did not know it, safely to Springfield 
 and Rolla, where I was stationed. The fatal mistake of 
 dividing the army was made in the battle of Wilson's 
 Creek, Sigel's command attacking on one flank and Lyon's 
 on the other. Schofield said it was Sigel's plan, and he 
 was opposed to it. Of course, it was contrary to military 
 science, and the destruction of Sigel's force early in the 
 
442 IN MEMORIAM 
 
 day, its officers going to Springfield long before Lyon had 
 finished fighting, left Colonel Lyon with half of his force to 
 meet the entire strength of the enemy, which he did so gal- 
 lantly and successfully. 
 
 At this time General Halleck had relieved General Fre- 
 mont in command of the Department of Missouri. He found 
 this force at Rolla under the command of General Sigel, 
 and made it the nucleus of the Army of the Southwest, which 
 it was understood was to be commanded by General Sigel. 
 In answer to a letter written to Lieutenant Schofield, Major 
 Sturgis, Captain Hunter, and others concerning the Wilson 
 Creek battle, Schofield wrote a remarkable letter to General 
 Halleck, causing Halleck to place the Army of the South- 
 west under the command of General S. R. Curtis, Halleck 
 utilized Schofield in organizing the Missouri State Militia, 
 of which he was made a brigadier-general. Afterwards he 
 was in. command of the Army of the Frontier, and finally 
 the Department of Missouri, where he demonstrated his 
 marked ability as an executive officer. There was great 
 friction in that State among the Union people, and great 
 efforts were made to relieve General Schofield of the com- 
 mand, but President Lincoln stood by him, and on Novem- 
 ber 29, 1862, made him a Major-General. The Senate, under 
 pressure from Missouri, refused to confirm him. He was 
 again appointed by President Lincoln in May, 1863. 
 
 I had a good opportunity to study General Schofield's 
 administration of this difficult command, as I fell in command 
 of that department at the close of the war, and was greatly 
 impressed with his work. I followed his line of policy, and 
 received praise for doing that for which Schofield was severely 
 censured. Schofield frequently told me afterwards that I 
 reaped the benefit of his work, for which he received curses 
 and I blessings, which was true. 
 
 When General Grant took command of the Military 
 Division of the Mississippi, in 1863, he asked for Schofield 
 to take command of the Army of the Ohio, to relieve General 
 Foster, who was ill. When President Lincoln received this 
 request he said that would solve the difficulty, and by 
 
IN MEMORIAM 443 
 
 using the despatch received from Grant he induced the 
 Senate to confirm General Schofield. This was in the late 
 fall or winter of 1863. At this time General Schofield had 
 no acquaintance with General Grant, and felt that he was 
 selected for this important command from the fact that 
 when Grant was making the Vicksburg campaign General 
 Schofield sent to him from his department nearly all of his 
 organized force, which I remember we all greatly appreciated 
 at the time. 
 
 In the Atlanta campaign I again came into contact 
 with General Schofield. His Army of the Ohio was but a 
 corps in strength, and the Army of the Tennessee was only 
 about 25,000 strong. Both of the armies were not as large 
 as the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by General 
 Thomas. This organization did not appeal to either General 
 Schofield or General McPherson; they thought that the 
 three armies should be made more equal in strength. During 
 the entire operations the Army of the Ohio and the Army 
 of the Tennessee were almost always on the flanks, the 
 Army of the Cumberland being in the centre on account of 
 its strength. This, of course, brought more attacks upon 
 these two small armies, made them march more miles, gave 
 them much more work to do, and, naturally, this brought 
 complaints and criticism from the officers in these two armies. 
 One day I happened to be at General McPherson's head- 
 quarters when General Sherman, General Schofield, and 
 General Blair came there, and in a friendly conversation 
 comment was made upon these complaints and criticisms, 
 and the matter was discussed between them in an open and 
 friendly way. Sherman listened, and when they had 
 finished he said: "You know, Schofield and McPherson, 
 that the reason I keep you on the flanks is that if the enemy 
 should wipe you out I would have old Thomas left, and 
 they could not move him." Blair made a rather sarcastic 
 remark about sacrificing the two armies which all appreci- 
 ated and laughed at heartily — none more so than Sherman. 
 
 On the 19th of July, as we were approaching Atlanta, 
 Sherman had stretched out his armies, not fearing an attack 
 
444 IN MEMORIAM 
 
 by Johnston, looking for the usual defensive tactics on his 
 part. McPherson, with two corps of the Army of the Ten- 
 nessee, had been sent to Stone Mountain, some twenty 
 miles away, to strike the Augusta road and come back by 
 way of Decatur. My corps was on the extreme left of the 
 army. Early in the morning one of my secret service men, 
 a soldier of the 2d Iowa, who had been inside the enemy's 
 lines during the entire campaign, came out with the Atlanta 
 morning paper. It contained the order removing Johnston 
 and placing Hood in command of the rebel army. I saw 
 the great importance of this information, and immediately 
 rode over to General Schofield's command, where Sher- 
 man was marching. I found that Sherman and Schofield 
 had received rumors of the change of commanders, 
 which my paper confirmed. Sherman immediately asked 
 Schofield about Hood, knowing they had been classmates 
 at West Point. Schofield said to Sherman: "This means 
 a fight; Hood will attack you within twenty-four hours." 
 After discussing the matter, Sherman sat down on a stump 
 by the roadside and issued his orders calling McPherson 
 immediately to us, and closing us all in towards Thomas. 
 As Schofield predicted, Hood massed his army behind Peach 
 Tree Creek and attacked Thomas with his whole force, and 
 the battle of Peach Tree Creek was fought, in which Hood 
 was repulsed with great loss. The battles of July 2 2d and 
 28th foUowed, in which virtually one-half of Hood's army 
 was killed, wounded, or captured, and the capture of Atlanta 
 followed. 
 
 After the close of the war I again met General Schofield 
 on the line of the Union Pacific Railway at the time of the 
 Chinese massacre, which occurred during President Cleve- 
 land's first administration. The President had sent General 
 Schofield west from Chicago to investigate these troubles. 
 The labor element and the tramps coming east from Cali- 
 fornia had taken possession of the railroad trains. The 
 labor organizations in Denver heard of Schofield's coming, 
 and called a meeting, and declared that his special train 
 should not be allowed to pass over the road. Schofield was 
 
IN MEMORIAM ' 445 
 
 notified of this, and then laid down the doctrine that has 
 ever since been followed. He notified the rioters and strikers 
 that he was travelling over a miHtary road on military duty 
 under orders of the Commander-in-Chief; that interference 
 with his movements would be regarded as an act of war, and 
 would be so treated. This caused them to call a halt, and 
 his train went through safely to Rock Springs. He at this 
 time took the advanced position that was afterwards fol- 
 lowed — ^that any railroad, canying the United States mails, 
 whose trains were interfered with was in a position that 
 the United States was justified in , recognizing and taking 
 steps to protect and operate the lines with United States 
 forces. Up to this time there had been great trouble in 
 obtaining government protection when trains were stopped 
 by strikers and mobs. Schofield had made a study of this 
 question, and said to me afterwards that while these orders 
 received great criticism, he was prepared to defend them. 
 He told me once when I was in Washignton, pointing to a 
 drawer in his desk, that in that drawer was all the data and 
 information necessary to maintain his position. When the 
 great riot occurred in Chicago General Schofield was Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the Army, and it was the experience 
 he had at Rock Springs that enabled him to present the 
 matter so fuUy and completely to President Cleveland that 
 he did not hesitate to use the United States forces against 
 the rioters there over the head and protest of the governor 
 of that State. 
 
 It was my great good fortune to have had the friendship 
 of General Schofield from the time of our first meeting until 
 we laid him to rest at Arlington. He frequently travelled 
 with me, and I could plainly understand why Grant and 
 Sherman had such great confidence in him. He was cool, 
 quiet, and level-headed. He always had a convincing reason 
 for all his acts. Years ago he was a strong advocate of the 
 reforms Secretary Root brought about in the army, and 
 it was a great satisfaction to me, and one of the greatest 
 pleasures of my life, to have had his steady, stanch friend- 
 ship, and to have known him so long. 
 
446 IN MEMORIAM 
 
 BY BRIGADIER-GENERAL WM. M. WHERRY. 
 
 To ask any one to say something in addition to a speech 
 General Porter makes on any subject is like asking him to 
 add alloy to fine gold. I cannot hope to add to the quality 
 of what General Porter has spoken, but as a lifelong friend of 
 General Schofield, and his staff officer for a quarter of a 
 century, enjopng his confidence and trust, I am here to-night 
 to add my tribute to his memory. From my long service 
 with him I might adduce many concrete illustrations of his 
 ability, his greatness, and his achievements, and I have 
 written a sketch of his career and character illustrated in 
 that manner; but that memorial is too lengthy to present 
 to you to-night, so at the invitation of your Commander I 
 shall hand it to your Recorder for publication among the 
 sketches read before this Commandery from time to time. 
 
 General Schofield was an extraordinary man in so many 
 ways that, even if he had not lived at the time of the Civil 
 War and won distinction in that gigantic conflict, he would 
 have attained to eminence. 
 
 In Missouri, in the earliest days of the war, he had the 
 confidence of Lyon and Blair, and later of Fremont and 
 Halleck, and of Grant, and of the immortal Lincoln, who 
 stood by him through a bitter and malignant contest in 
 Missouri and Kansas, and recorded in the most emphatic 
 manner his approval of General Schofield as an able and 
 discreet military and civil administrator. 
 
 During the Atlanta campaign his Army of the Ohio was 
 called the "whip-cracker" of the lash which Sherman was 
 using against Johnston, and he proved his greatness by 
 what he accomplished with it. General Schofield demon- 
 strated his greatness as an independent commander when, 
 with it and a part of the Army of the Cumberland, he held 
 back Hood for Thomas's concentration and preparation at 
 Nashville, and when at Franklin he administered such a 
 defeat to the veteran army which had confronted Sherman 
 all summer, that it fell an easy victim at Nashville. He 
 maintained his reputation at the battle of Nashville under 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 447 
 
 Thomas, and, later, in his own campaign in North Carolina. 
 He was prominent in the surrender of Johnston to Sherman. 
 
 He was able as a diplomat, when, without making an 
 offensive demand upon the Emperor Napoleon, he ably- 
 carried out the instructions of Mr. Seward, " to get his legs 
 tinder Napoleon's mahogany and give the Emperor to under- 
 stand that the American people will not tolerate a monarchy 
 maintained only by French bayonets" in Mexico. 
 
 He was great in administering the State of Virginia under 
 the Reconstruction Acts and in securing for it a decent 
 constitution. 
 
 He was great as Secretary of War at a critical period. 
 He was great as a commander of military departments and 
 divisions and as a commander of the whole army. He was 
 great even in retirement. 
 
 He was able as an educator, eminent as a scientist, broad 
 in statesmanship, and profound in philosophy. 
 
 He was a true friend and was tender in his domestic 
 relations. 
 
 His most striking characteristics were his thoroughness 
 in investigation, his wide knowledge, his calmness, his equi- 
 poise. He never slighted anything. If a thing were worth 
 doing, it was worth doing well. He was deliberate, but not 
 slow. He was modest, but was fully aware of his powers; 
 ambitious, but not self-seeking at the expense of others. 
 His patriotism and devotion to duty were of the loftiest 
 kind. He was one of the kindest and gentlest of men, and 
 when he died the Army lost one of its noblest exemplars 
 and the country one of its wisest and most distingmshed 
 citizens. 
 
 To those of us who knew him, who have felt the inspira- 
 tion of his presence and example in the field or in office work, 
 who have labored side by side with him for the same ideals 
 and to accomplish the same purposes, his memory will always 
 be inexpressibly tender and sweet. And to those who shall 
 come after us it will endure through the luster of his achieve- 
 ments as long as the RepubHc cherishes the memory of her 
 heroic and devoted sons. 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, 
 UNITED STATES ARMY. 
 
 Prepared by Brigadier-General Wm. M. Wherry, 
 United States Army. 
 
 ANOTHER heroic figure has "passed over the river," 
 and gone to " rest beneath the shade of the trees " 
 that wave their leaves in requiem at ArHngton. 
 Lieutenant-General John McAllister Schofield, the intel- 
 lectual peer of Grant and Sherman and Sheridan and Meade 
 and Thomas, the last survivor of our great leaders, bom 
 of and tried in the fierce conflict of forty years ago, like 
 those who had gone before " sleeps his last sleep, has fought 
 his last battle," and has left his name and reputation to 
 enrich the pages of history and to awaken the patriotic 
 ardor and enthusiasm of the youth of his country. 
 
 General Schofield was bom in Chatuauqua County, 
 New York, September 29, 183 1, and died at St. Augustine, 
 Florida, March 4, 1906, so that his life embraced most 
 engrossing periods in the history of the development of our 
 country and the preservation and application of our govern- 
 ment. In his early youth his father removed to the West, 
 and eventually made a home at Freeport, Illinois, where the 
 boy, amid the rugged surroundings of a frontier life, grew 
 up a sturdy youth noted for industry, sobriety, and relia- 
 bility. Attracting the attention of the representative of 
 that district in Congress, he was sent a cadet to the United 
 States Military Academy in 1849, and graduated with the 
 class of 1853. Owing to some youthful indiscretion he was 
 tried, with others of his classmates, and made the scapegoat 
 of the occasion, suffering dismissal, while they were sus- 
 pended only, and he was out for six months. Finally, 
 
 448 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 449 
 
 through the intervention of Senator Stephen A. Douglas, he 
 was restored to his class, and, notwithstanding, graduated 
 seventh, just missing the Engineer Corps. 
 
 General Schofield was assigned to the artillery and 
 served in Florida until 1856, when he was sent to West Point 
 as assistant instructor in the department of natural and 
 experimental philosophy. In Florida the garrison of the 
 post at which he served was never over twenty-five men, 
 and the duties nominal and purely routine, so Schofield 
 devoted his time to a study of international and constitu- 
 tional law to such good purpose that he was fully equipped 
 to meet the grave issues he encountered as an administrator 
 of civico-military affairs during the Civil War, and subse- 
 quently under the Reconstruction Acts. And when he was 
 Secretary of War, under President Johnson, Mr. Wm. M. 
 Evarts of New York, no mean authority on law, said of 
 him, " General Schofield is the best constitutional lawyer 
 I have known outside the bar." As assistant professor 
 of natural and experimental philosophy at West Point 
 General Schofield held a high place among scientists, and 
 was noted as an extremely accurate and lucid teacher; and 
 he prepared a work on astronomy, the manuscript of 
 which was unfortunately lost or destroyed during the war. 
 
 In i860 Schofield accepted the chair of Physics in 
 Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. There he main- 
 tained his reputation as a scientific educator, but for six 
 months only, when the war of the rebellion broke out, 
 and, being on leave of absence from his military status, 
 he appHed for duty, and was assigned as mustering officer, 
 and to report to General Nathaniel Lyon. 
 
 It was at this period I first met General Schofield, for I 
 was enrolled as a volunteer, and was taking an active part 
 in the organizing and drilling of the patriotic Union men of 
 St. Louis for military service. We served together as staff 
 officers to General Lyon, and we were soon bound by a 
 friendship and intimacy that continued without a break tiU 
 the day of his death. He was then but a few months over 
 twenty-nine years of age, in the vigor of young manhood, 
 
4SO LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 of average height, but a large frame, and large well-developed 
 head, prematurely bald, over-hanging brows, clear blue 
 eyes, soft rather than cold in expression, with quiet, gentle, 
 very reposeful manners, but of a gravity and equipoise that 
 conveyed the impression of a man much older, at least about 
 in middle life. Deliberate and calm as Grant or Thomas, 
 and quick to act as the impulsive Sherman or Sheridan. 
 
 As soon as Lyon had mustered into service the first 
 contingent of Missouri troops, and when he started on his 
 campaign after the capture of Camp Jackson at St. Louis, 
 he made Schofield (who had been then mustered in as Major 
 of Colonel F. P. Blair, Jr.'s, regiment, the ist Missouri 
 Volunteer Infantry) his chief of staff, and as such Schofield 
 participated with marked ability and distinction in the 
 campaign ending with the death of Lyon at Wilson's Creek, 
 Mo., August lo, 1 86 1. For several months thereafter Scho- 
 field was employed reorganizing Blair's infantry regiment 
 into one of artillery of twelve batteries and in the procure- 
 ment of guns for use in the department ; and he bore such 
 a distinguished part in the battle of Fredericktown, Mo., 
 November 21, 1861, that he was made a Brigadier-General 
 of Volunteers therefor, and of that date. On the 27th of 
 November he was assigned to "command all the militia 
 of the State" of Missouri, with his headquarters at St. 
 Loiois. This was for the purpose of organizing a body of 
 militia under the provisional governor of the State in ac- 
 cordance with a special agreement between the Federal 
 government and the State government, the troops to be 
 used only in defence of the State, but to be paid, equipped, 
 and supplied by the United States. The experience and 
 results proved General Schofield a capable and efficient 
 organizer. 
 
 In the autumn of 1862, to meet a threatened invasion 
 of Missouri from northwestern Arkansas, General Schofield 
 organized the Army of the Frontier, — three divisions, one 
 of volunteers from Kansas under Blunt, one of Missouri 
 State militia under Totten, and one of volunteers serving in 
 Missouri under Herron, and himself took the field. Here, 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 45 1 
 
 September 20, 1862, I joined his staff as aide-de-camp, and 
 continued to serve with him as chief of staff and confidential 
 aide, until we parted in Paris, while on his mission to 
 France in January, 1866. By skilful manoeuvring he drove 
 Hindman south of the Arkansas River, but was unable to 
 bring him to battle. General Curtis withdrew the Army 
 from Arkansas and distributed it in southwest Missouri, 
 leaving Blunt's division in an exposed position near the 
 Arkansas border. Hindman took advantage of this, and, 
 during Schofield's illness at St. Louis, readvanced to attack 
 Blunt, who was fortunately reinforced by the other divi- 
 sions making forced marches, and the indecisive battle of 
 Prairie Grove was fought. Out of this campaign dissen- 
 sions arose which led General Schofield to ask to be relieved 
 from service under General Curtis, and in the spring of 1863 
 he was sent to report to Rosecrans in Tennessee, and assigned 
 to command the Third Division, fourteenth Army Corps, 
 General Thomas's old division. In this pleasant command, 
 amid congenial surroundings and anticipations of a brilliant 
 campaign under tried leaders, only a month was passed; 
 and President Lincoln sent Schofield back to Missouri, this 
 time in corrmiand of the department, embracing the States 
 of Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory, 
 General Curtis being relieved therefrom. 
 
 To convey an adequate impression of the perplexities and 
 responsibilities of this command to the mind of any one not 
 a resident of Missouri, but living at that time, would be 
 difficult ; to one of a subsequent generation, an utter impos- 
 sibility. Here was a territory of over 270,000 square miles, 
 the State of Missouri, a slave State ; not in open rebellion 
 but torn and distracted by factions of every political shade ; 
 governed by a provisional government true to the Union but 
 supported cordially by only a bare majority of its Union 
 citizens, scouted by its rebels, and opposed by the radical 
 Unionists ; a state overrun by guerillas and partisan bands ; 
 Arkansas on the south in open rebellion, and occupied in 
 part by a Confederate army; the Indian Territory and 
 Kansas on the West, one subject in part to Confederate 
 
452 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 control, the other intensely radical in politics and tradition- 
 ally bitter towards Missourians, all of whom they classed 
 as enemies and responsible for the wrongs to "bleeding 
 Kansas" in the fifties; a State subject to such raids as 
 Quantrell's in August of 1863, and bent on reprisals for 
 past grievances. The radicals in Missouri and Kansas were 
 for confiscation of property by miUtary provost marshals 
 without resort to courts, and in violation of all but the 
 laws of war in extreme cases ; for a suspension of the writ of 
 habeas corpus, the harshest treatment of all who differed 
 from them, and an immediate freeing of the slaves. The 
 military problems in this vast region were of siiificient magni- 
 tude to engross and occupy the resources of a master mind 
 untrammelled by other questions ; yet they were inseparable 
 from matters of state policy, of civic questions, involving 
 the rights of citizenship, and property, and liberty, even 
 life, under the laws and constitution of the United States 
 and the laws of war. This grave responsibility when Scho- 
 field assumed it rested upon the shoulders of a young man 
 of less than thirty-three years of age! Yet he grappled it 
 with a finn and master hand, and the study of constitutional 
 law, to which he had devoted his three years in Florida, 
 stood him in good stead and he came out of it in triumph. 
 Illustrative of what was expected of him I quote entire the 
 following characteristic letter from President Lincoln, dated 
 the day General Schofield assumed the command : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, 
 May 27, 1863. 
 General J. M. Schofield. 
 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 Having relieved General Curtis and assigned you to the 
 command of the Department of the Missouri, I think it may 
 be of some advantage for me to state to you why I did it. 
 
 I did not relieve General Curtis because of any full conviction 
 that he had done wrong by commission or omission. I did it 
 because of a conviction in my mind that the Union men of 
 Missouri, constituting when united a vast majority of the whole 
 people, have entered into a pestilent factional quarrel among 
 themselves — General Curtis, perhaps not of choice, being the 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 453 
 
 head of one faction, and Governor Gamble that of the other. 
 After months of labor to reconcile the difficulty, it seemed to 
 grow worse and worse, until I felt it my duty to break it up 
 somehow; and as I could not remove Governor Gamble, I had 
 to remove General Curtis. 
 
 Now that you are in the position, I wish you to undo nothing 
 merely because General Curtis or Governor Gamble did it, but 
 to exercise your own judgment and do right for the public interest. 
 
 Let your military measures be strong enough to repel the 
 invader and keep the peace, and not so strong as to unnecessarily 
 harass and persecute the people. It is a difficult r61e, and so 
 much greater will be the honor if you perform it well. If both 
 factions or neither shall abuse you, you will probably be about 
 right. Beware of being assailed by one and praised by the 
 other. 
 
 Yours truly 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 
 The first military act of General Schofield after taking 
 command was to almost denude his department of effective 
 troops by sending to General Grant's assistance at Vicks- 
 burg a fine division under General Herron, which enabled 
 Grant to complete his investment of the place. To replace 
 these troops until General Grant should return them after 
 the fall of Vicksburg, Schofield called out and relied upon 
 the mihtia of the State, finally enrolling and arming every 
 able-bodied man between the ages of eighteen and forty- 
 five. This he was alone enabled to do by working in har- 
 mony with Governor Gamble, for which he was roundly 
 abused and even denounced by the extreme radicals. 
 Operations against the guerillas in northern and central 
 Missouri were relentlessly conducted, directed in detail by 
 General Schofield from his headquarters in St. Louis, and 
 in time the bands were suppressed. After Vicksburg fell 
 General Grant returned the troops Schofield had sent him 
 and soon all Confederate forces were driven to the south of 
 the Arkansas River. But the political intrigues and en- 
 deavor to force the hand of Mr. Lincoln's administration be- 
 came more and more pestiferous and bitter in both Kansas 
 and Missouri. Finally Quantrell made his raid into Kansas 
 
454 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 and sacked Lawrence, bnatally killing many unarmed citizens 
 in cold blood. The press of both States became frenzied. 
 Sober-minded people were so shocked by the outrage that 
 most violent retaliatory measures, against all suspected even 
 of having harbored at any time the slightest sympathy for 
 their own kith or kin in rebellion, were advocated, and 
 General Lane, the United States Senator from Kansas, 
 known as Jim Lane, took advantage of the occasion to stir 
 up strife: making incendiary speeches, advising relentless 
 retaliation on Missouri, and denouncing General Schofield 
 and his subordinate, General Thomas Ewing, who com- 
 manded the District of the Border. General Schofield alone 
 remained cool and unperturbed by the clamor against him- 
 He proceeded to Leavenworth and interviewed Lane, for- 
 bidding any retaliatory invasion of Missouri by Kansas; 
 rendered the Paola camp-meeting, called by Lane for that 
 purpose, innocuous, and, to prevent any repetition of an 
 invasion across the border counties of Missouri, into Kan- 
 sas, authorized the famous General Order No. ii, issued 
 by General Ewing, depopulating the two tiers of counties 
 in Missouri next to the Kansas border. This stringent 
 measure, of course, entailed suffering and privation, but it 
 was effective and has been justified as an act of war. It 
 produced fierce invective from the other side and added 
 another charge against a general abused because he was not 
 radical enough in putting down rebellion. General Lane, 
 aided by his military satellite General Blunt, led a noisy and 
 implacable political faction in Kansas as bitter against the 
 true supporters of Mr. Lincoln's administration as was the 
 corresponding faction in Missouri. Their main object was 
 to keep Lane in the Senate, their particular following in 
 power, and their shibboleth was plunder. 
 
 These fierce factional fights in Kansas and Missouri con- 
 tinued during the autumn and early winter of 1863, Mr. 
 Lincoln supporting General Schofield with unvarying te- 
 nacity and with confidence in his integrity and the wisdom of 
 his course, as shown by the following letter to a delegation 
 demanding Schofield's removal: 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 455 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C. 
 October 5, 1863. 
 
 Hon. Charles D. Drake and Others, Committee. 
 Gentlemen: 
 
 Your original address, presented on the 30th ultimo, and 
 the four supplementary ones, presented on the 3d instant, have 
 been carefully considered. I hope you will regard the other 
 duties claiming my attention, together with the great length and 
 importance of the documents, as constituting a sufficient apology 
 for my not having responded sooner. 
 
 These papers, framed for a common object, consist of the 
 things demanded and the reasons for demanding them. 
 
 The things demanded are : 
 
 First. That General Schofield shall be relieved and General 
 Butler be appointed as Commander of the Military Department 
 of the Missouri. 
 
 Second. That the system of enrolled militia in Missouri 
 may be broken up and national forces be substituted for it; and, 
 
 Third. That at elections persons may not be allowed to 
 vote who are not entitled by law to do so. 
 
 Among the reasons given, enough of suffering and wrong to 
 Union men is certainly, and I suppose truly, stated. Yet the 
 whole case as presented fails to convince me that General Scho- 
 field, or the enrolled militia, is responsible for that suffering 
 and wrong. The whole can be explained on a more charitable 
 and, as I think, a more rational hypothesis. 
 
 We are in civil war. In such cases there always is a main 
 question ; but in this case that question is a perplexing compound 
 — Union and Slavery. It thus becomes a question not of two 
 sides merely but of at least four sides, even of those who are for 
 the Union, saying nothing of those who are against it — Thus 
 those who are for the Union with, but not without, slavery; those 
 for it without, but not with; those for it with or without, but prefer 
 it with; and those for it with or without, but prefer it without. 
 Among these again is a subdivision of those who are for gradual, 
 but not immediate, and those who are for immediate, but not for 
 gradual extinction of slavery. 
 
 It is easy to conceive that all these shades of opinion, and 
 even more, may be sincerely entertained by honest and truthful 
 men ; yet all being for the Union, by reason of these differences 
 each will prefer a different way of sustaining the Union. At 
 
456 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 once sincerity is questioned and motives are assailed; actual 
 war coming, blood grows hot and blood is spilled. Thought is 
 forced from old channels into confusion; deception breeds and 
 thrives; confidence dies, and universal suspicion reigns. Each 
 man feels an impulse to kill his neighbor, lest he be first killed by 
 him. Revenge and retaliation follow, and all this, as before said, 
 may be among honest men only. But this is not all. Every 
 foul bird comes abroad, and every dirty reptile rises up. These 
 add crime to coilfusion. Strong measures deemed indispensable, 
 but rash at best, such men make worse by maladministration. 
 Murders for old grudges and murders for pelf proceed under 
 any cloak that will best cover for the occasion. 
 
 These causes amply account for what has occurred in Missouri, 
 without ascribing it to the weakness or wickedness of any general. 
 The newspaper files — ^those chronicles of current events — ^will 
 show that the evils now complained of were quite as prevalent 
 under Fremont, Hunter, Halleck, and Curtis as under Schofield. 
 
 If the former had greater force opposed to them, they had 
 also greater forces with which to meet it. When the organized 
 rebel army left the State, the main Federal force had to go also, 
 leaving the department commander at home relatively no 
 stronger than before. 
 
 Without disparaging any I affirm with confidence that no 
 commander of that department 'has, in proportion to his means, 
 done better than General Schofield. 
 
 The first specific charge against General Schofield is that the 
 enrolled militia was placed under the command of General 
 Curtis. That, I believe, is true; but you do not point out, nor 
 can I conceive, how that did or could injure loyal men or the 
 Union cause. 
 
 You charge that upon General Ctirtis being superseded by 
 General Schofield, Franklin A. Dick was superseded by James 
 O. Brodhead as provost-marshal-general. No very specific 
 showing is made as to how this did or could injure the Union 
 cause. It recalls, however, the condition of things, as presented 
 to me, which led to a change of commanders for the department. 
 
 To restrain contraband intelligence and trade, a system of 
 searches, seizures, permits, and passes had been introduced 
 by General Fremont. When General Halleck came, he foun4 
 and continued the system and added an order, applicable to some 
 parts of the State, to levy and collect contributions from noted 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 457 
 
 rebels to compensate losses and relieve destitution caused by 
 the rebellion. The action of General Fremont and General 
 Halleck, as stated, constituted a sort of system which General 
 Curtis found in full operation when he took command of the 
 department. That there was a necessity for something of the 
 sort was clear ; but that it could only be justified by stem neces- 
 sity, and that it was liable to great abuse in administration, 
 was equally clear. Agents to execute it, contrary to the great 
 prayer, were led into temptation . Some might , while others would 
 not, resist that temptation. It was not possible to hold any to a 
 very strict accountability ; and those yielding to the temptation 
 would sell permits and passes to those who would pay most, and 
 most readily, for them, and would seize property and collect levies 
 in the aptest way to fill their own pockets; money being the 
 object, the man having money, whether loyal or disloyal, would 
 be the victim. This practice doubtless existed to some extent, 
 and it was a real additional evil that it could be, and was, plausibly 
 charged to exist in greater extent than it did. 
 
 When General Curtis took command of the department, 
 Mr. Dick, against whom I never knew anything to allege, had 
 general charge of this system. A controversy in regard to it 
 rapidly grew into almost unmanageable proportions. One side 
 ignored the necessity and magnified the evils of the system, 
 while the other ignored the evils and magnified the necessity, 
 and each bitterly assailed the motives of the other. I could not 
 fail to see that the controversy enlarged in the same proportion 
 as the professed Union men there distinctly took sides in two 
 opposing political parties. I exhausted my wits, and very nearly 
 my patience also, in efforts to convince both that the evils 
 they charged on each other were inherent in the case, and 
 could not be cured by giving either party a victory over the 
 other. 
 
 Plainly the irritating system was not to be perpetual, and 
 it was plausibly urged that it could be modified at once with 
 advantage. The case could scarcely be worse; and whether it 
 could be made better, could only be determined by a trial. 
 In this view, and not to ban or brand General Curtis, or to give 
 a victory to any party, I made the change of commander for 
 the department. I now learn that soon after the change Mr. 
 Dick was removed, and that Mr. Brodhead, a gentleman of no 
 less good character, was put in the place. The mere fact of 
 
458 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 this change is more distinctly complained of than is any conduct 
 of the new officer, or other consequence of the change. 
 
 I gave the new commander no instructions as to the adminis- 
 tration of the system mentioned, beyond what is contained- in 
 the private letter, afterward surreptitiously published, in which 
 I directed him to act solely for the public gOod, and independently 
 of both parties. Neither anything you have presented me, nor 
 anything I have otherwise learned, has convinced me that he 
 has been unfaithful to this charge. 
 
 Imbecility is urged as one cause for removing General Scho- 
 field; and the late massacre at Lawrence, Kansas, is pressed as 
 evidence of that imbecility. To my mind that fact scarcely 
 tends to prove the proposition. That massacre is only an 
 example of what Grierson, John Morgan, and many others might 
 have repeatedly done on their respective raids, had they chosen 
 to incur the personal hazard and possessed the fiendish hearts 
 to do it. 
 
 The charge is made that General Schofield, on purpose to 
 protect the Lawrence murderers, would not allow them to be 
 pursued into Missouri. While no punishment could be too 
 sudden or too severe for those murderers, I am well satisfied 
 that the preventing of the remedial raid into Missouri was the 
 only safe way to avoid an indiscriminate massacre there, in- 
 cluding probably more innocent than guilty. Instead of 
 condemning, I therefore approve what I understand General 
 Schofield did in that respect. 
 
 The charges that General Schofield has purposely withheld 
 protection from loyal people, and purposely facilitated the 
 objects of the disloyal, are altogether beyond my power of belief. 
 I do not arraign the veracity of gentlemen as to the fact com- 
 plained of, but I do more than question the judgment which 
 would infer that those facts occurred in accordance with the 
 purposes of General Schofield. 
 
 With my present views I must decline to remove General 
 Schofield. In this I decide nothing against General Butler. 
 I sincerely wish it were convenient to assign him a suitable 
 command. 
 
 In order to meet some existing evils, I have addressed a 
 letter of instructions to General Schofield, a copy of which I 
 enclose to you. 
 
 As to the "enrolled militia," I shall endeavor to ascertain 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 459 
 
 better than I now know what is its exact value. Let me say- 
 now, however, that your proposal to substitute national forces 
 for the enrolled militia implies that in your judgment the latter 
 is doing something that needs to be done, and if so the proposi- 
 tion to throw that force away, and supply its place by bring- 
 ing other forces from the field, where they are urgently needed, 
 seems to me very extraordinary. Whence shall they come? 
 Shall they be withrdawn from Banks, or Grant, or Steele, or 
 Rosecrans ? 
 
 Few things have been so grateful to my anxious feelings as 
 when, in June last, the local force in Missouri aided General 
 Schofield to so promptly send a large general force to the relief 
 of General Grant, then investing Vicksburg and menaced from 
 without by General Johnston. Was this all wrong? Should the 
 enrolled militia there have been broken up, and General Herron 
 kept from Grant to police Missouri? So far from finding cause 
 to object, I confess to a sympathy for whatever relieves our 
 general force in Missouri, and allows it to serve elsewhere. I, 
 therefore, as at present advised, cannot attempt the destruction 
 of the enrolled militia of Missouri. I may add that, the force 
 being under the national military control, it is also within the 
 proclamation in regard to the habeas corpus. 
 
 I concur in the propriety of your request in regard to elections, 
 and have, as you see, directed General Schofield accordingly. 
 I do not feel justified to enter upon the broad field you present 
 in regard to the political differences between radicals and con- 
 servatives. From time to time I have done and said what ap- 
 peared to me proper to do and say. The public knows it all. 
 It obliges nobody to follow me, and I trust it obliges me to 
 follow nobody. The radicals and conservatives each agree with 
 me in some things ; and disagree in others. I could wish both to 
 agree with me in all things for then they would agree with each 
 other, and would be too strong for any foe from any quarter. 
 They, however, choose to do otherwise. I do not question their 
 right; I, too, shall do what seems to be my duty. I hold 
 whoever commands in Missouri, or elsewhere, responsible to 
 me, and not to either radicals or conservatives. It is my 
 duty to hear all; but at last, I must, within my sphere, judge 
 
 what to do and what to forbear. 
 
 Your ob't sert. 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 
460 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 Finally General Grant asked for an officer to command 
 the Department and Army of the Ohio at Knoxville, in relief 
 of General Foster, whose illness compelled his removal from 
 command, and Grant expressed a preference for Schofield 
 or McPherson. Mr. Lincoln embraced the opportunity to 
 relieve the situation in Missouri, and to settle other problems 
 of a political character then threatening. He divided the 
 Department of Missouri into three departments, giving 
 Kansas to General Curtis, radical enough to meet the views 
 of Kansas, and removing a threatened division in politics 
 from Iowa. Missouri was given to Rosecrans, appeasing his 
 friends in Ohio and elsewhere; Arkansas, where only there 
 were Confederate troops to be confronted, was given to 
 Steele, a tried and able soldier; and Schofield was sent to 
 Knoxville to relieve Foster. 
 
 During all this harassing period, even when assailed 
 with virulence and malignant vituperation, misrepresented, 
 misconstrued, and mendaciously vilified. General Schofield 
 bore himself with a dignity, coolness, and calm impertur- 
 bability truly admirable, and his letters and reports are 
 models of close reasoning, clear statement, and wise dis- 
 cussion of principles, free from rancor and personal irritation. 
 
 It is not to be wondered at, however, that he gladly 
 hailed the change to a command free from political adminis- 
 tration, and promising active work in command of troops, 
 in co-operation with other armies on a large theater of 
 operations, and under a brilliant leader. 
 
 Schofield took command at Knoxville February 8, 1864, 
 and his first work was to drive Longstreet out of east 
 Tennessee, and prepare for participation in the Atlanta 
 campaign under Sherman. It would be interesting and 
 instructive to go into the details of these operations, but 
 they, like so much I have gone over, are so voluminous as 
 to forbid. 
 
 Here I must digress somewhat and go back to the Kan- 
 sas-Missouri period. November 29, 1862, Mr. Lincoln nom- 
 inated Generals Schofield, Blunt, and Herron to be Major- 
 Generals of Volunteers of the same date. Schofield, then 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 461 
 
 being senior in date of commission as Brigadier-General, 
 wotild under the rules continue to rank the others. Senator 
 Lane of Kansas bitterly and acrimoniously opposed his 
 confirmation by the Senate, and succeeded in deferring 
 action thereon iintil Congress adjourned. Blunt and Herron 
 were confirmed. After the adjournment and during the 
 recess Mr. Lincoln renominated Schofield of the original 
 date, and when Congress met the confirmation was again 
 bitterly opposed by Lane, and held up all through 1863^ 
 and was still pending in the spring of 1864, when the failure 
 to bring Longstreet to bay in east Tennessee and fight a 
 successful battle enabled Schofield's enemies to secure an 
 adverse report on his confirmation by the Military Committee 
 of the Senate. General Henderson, Senator from Missouri, 
 informed Schofield of this, and urged him in a letter to " whip 
 somebody anyhow," and thus secure his confirmation. The 
 following extracts from his letter in reply to Henderson are 
 characteristic of the man and express more fully than any 
 words I can use his lofty patriotism, steadiness of pur- 
 pose, dignity of character, and freedom from clap-trap, 
 buncombe, and grand-stand or newspaper notoriety: 
 
 Headquarters, Army of the Ohio, 
 Knoxville, Tenn. April 15, 1864. 
 
 Dear Senator: 
 
 I have just received your letter of the 7th, informing me that 
 the Military Committee has reported against my nomination, 
 and urging me to "whip somebody anyhow." I am fully aware 
 of the importance to me personally of gaining a victory. No 
 doubt I might easily get up a little " clap- trap " on which to manu- 
 facture newspaper notoriety, and convince the Senate of the 
 United States that I had won a great victory, and secure my 
 confirmation by acclamation. Such things have been done, 
 alas! too frequently during the war. But such is not my theory 
 of a soldier's duties. I have an idea that my mihtary superiors 
 are the proper judges of my character and conduct, and that 
 their testimony ought to be considered satisfactory as to my 
 military qualities. 
 
 I have the approval and support of the President, the Secre- 
 tary of War, General Halleck, General Grant, and General 
 
462 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 Sherman. I am willing to abide the decision of any one or all 
 of them, and I would not give a copper for the weight of any- 
 body's or everybody's opinion in addition to, or in opposition 
 to, theirs. 
 
 If the Senate is not satisfied with such testimony, I can't 
 help it. I never have and never will resort to "buncombe" for 
 the purpose of securing my own advancement. If I cannot 
 gain promotion by legitimate means, I do not want it at all. . . . 
 In all this time I have yet to hear the first word of disapproval 
 from my superior officer of any one of my military operations 
 (unless I except Curtis, who disapproved of my pursuing Hind- 
 man so far into Arkansas), and in general have received high 
 commendation from my superiors, both for my military opera- 
 tions and administration. I would rather have this record, 
 without a major-general's commission, than to gain the com- 
 mission by adding to my reputation one grain of falsehood. 
 
 Grant was here in the winter, and Sherman only a few days 
 ago. They are fully acquainted with the condition of affairs. 
 I have been acting all the time under their instructions, and I 
 believe with their entire approval. They are generally under- 
 stood to be men whose opinions on military matters are entitled 
 to respect. I cannot do more or better than refer the Senate 
 to them. 
 
 One thing is certain: I shall not be influenced one grain in 
 the discharge of my duty by any question as to what action 
 the Senate may take on my nomination. ... If the Senate 
 is not satisfied as to my past services, why not wait until they 
 can know more? I am tired enough of this suspense, but am 
 still perfectly willing to wait. 
 
 In fact, I have become, in spite of myself, very indifferent 
 on the subject. I am pretty thoroughly convinced that a ma- 
 jor-general's commission is not worth half the trouble I and 
 my friends have had about mine, and I feel very little inclina- 
 tion to trouble them, or even myself, any more about it. 
 
 The Senate has its duty to perform in this matter, as well 
 as myself and my superior officers. If senators are not willing 
 to act upon the concurrent testimony of all my superior officers 
 as to what services I have rendered, I shall not condescend to 
 humbug them into the belief that I have done something which I 
 really have not. 
 
 You ask me what are the prospects of putting down the 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFI^LD, U. S. A. 463 
 
 rebellion. I answer unhesitatingly that when the management 
 of military matters is left to military men the rebellion will be 
 put down very quickly, and not before. I regard it as having 
 been fully demonstrated that neither the Senate, nor the House 
 of Representatives, nor the newspapers, nor the people of the 
 United States, nor even all of them together, can command an 
 army. I rather think if you let Grant alone, and let him have 
 his own way, he will end the war this year. At all events the 
 next ninety days will show whether he will or not. 
 
 I find this letter is both too long and too ill-natured. I feel 
 too much as if I would like to "whip somebody anyhow," so I 
 will stop where I am. Let me hear from you again soon. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 J. M. SCHOFIELD. 
 
 Hon. J. B. Henderson, 
 U. S. Senate, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 Longstreet was held in check in Tennessee by an inferior 
 force and finally withdrew to join Lee for the final struggle 
 in Virginia. Schofield destroyed the railroad from Bull Gap 
 down and concentrated his troops to join Sherman for the 
 Atlanta campaign, which he did with his Army of the Ohio 
 at Red Clay, Georgia, on the 5th of May. 
 
 Schofield 's part in the brilliant campaign that followed 
 is recorded in history and fills a bright page in the record 
 of that time. The saUent points of his achievement then 
 are: Movement against Rocky Face and the withdrawal of 
 his army from the immediate presence of the enemy by a 
 brilliant application of tactics, the passage through Snake 
 Creek Gap and battles of Resaca, Dallas, Lost Mountain, 
 Pine Knob, Gulp's Farm, the crossing of Olley Creek, passage 
 of the Chattahoochee, and participation in all the subse- 
 quent battles and operations of that pregnant and interest- 
 ing campaign, including especially the turning movement 
 at Rough and Ready Station. His part, with the smallest 
 army of the three employed, was as noted and conspicuous 
 as that of any commander under Sherman. 
 
 When General Sherman stripped for the "march to the 
 
464 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 sea," he finally left Schofield with his corps, the twenty- 
 third, to assist General Thomas in holding "the line of the 
 Tennessee," and in "taking care of Hood." The eventful 
 campaign which followed and Schofield's share in it demon- 
 strated beyond cavil his military capacity and proved his fit. 
 ness for independent leadership. It gave lustre to his name 
 and crowned him with imperishable renown. Its recital in 
 detail would be full of interest and instructive of the art of 
 war, but it would fill a voltime, and space and time ad- 
 monish that I touch it briefly, in order to recite, without 
 fatiguing you, the full synopsis of General Schofield's career. 
 
 Schofield moved from near Rome, Ga., by marching and 
 by use of the railroad and reported with his corps to Thomas, 
 at Nashville, November 5th, and after being sent with some 
 of his troops to Johnsonville, to meet a raid by Forrest, 
 was ordered by Thomas to Pulaski, to take command of all 
 troops in the field to check any advance by Hood and give 
 General Thomas time to concentrate his scattered forces at 
 Nashville, and to moimt and equip his cavalry. 
 
 General Schofield's command consisted of the Fourth 
 corps under Stanley at Pulaski, his own Corps, the twenty- 
 third, less two brigades left at Johnsonville and the cavalry 
 under Hatch, in all about 28,000 men. Hood's infantry was 
 estimated to be between 40,000 and 45,000 and Forrest's 
 cavalry about 10,000. 
 
 Hood crossed the Tennessee, and on the 21st informa- 
 tion was brought that he was advancing. Schofield inter- 
 posed his army between Hood and Columbia, and was 
 assembled there and entrenching by the 24th. The position 
 was held till the night of the 27 th, when it became evident 
 Hood would not attack, but would cross Duck River above 
 to turn the position. Schofield crossed to the north bank. 
 Notwithstanding Schofield's cavalry had been somewhat 
 augmented, Wilson was unable to prevent Forrest from 
 crossing and withdrew his entire force from, any contact 
 with the infantry, retreating to Rally Hill, and thence ad- 
 vised Schofield to withdraw beyond the Harpeth. To 
 gain information the cavalry should have furnished, infantry 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 465 
 
 reconnoissance had to be resorted to. Forrest effected his 
 crossing on the 28th and Hood's infantry began to cross 
 on the 29th, but he could not move his artillery without 
 the Columbia pike, and Schofield boldly determined to gain 
 one more day's delay for Thomas, by holding the crossing 
 at that place till night. Dispositions were made accord- 
 ingly and the trains were pushed to Spring Hill, where 
 Stanley was sent and directed to entrench one division of 
 his corps. Hood's head of column reached Spring Hill too 
 late to dislodge Stanley, and the other troops were passed 
 by his rear on to Franklin. Cox held the crossing at Colum- 
 bia till dark, then moved on past Stanley's division, which 
 acted as rear guard, into Franklin. It was daylight when 
 the advance reached that place, and unavoidable delay in 
 bridging the Harpeth necessitated deployment and hasty 
 entrenchment. The impetuous Hood, foiled in all previous 
 endeavor, by the mathematical calculation as to time and 
 distance to be covered in marching and deployment made 
 by his skilful antagonist, followed closely and attacked 
 Schofield in position and ready to receive him, about 3.30 
 P.M. The result of the battle that ensued was a foregone 
 conclusion. Hood's veterans charged again and again, 
 each time to be hurled back by the withering fire of the 
 no less tried and heroic troops opposed to them. The car- 
 nage was great, 6500 of Hood's men killed and wounded, 
 and near 1000 prisoners; the loss of officers was immense, no 
 less than six generals killed, six woimded, and one captured. 
 Our loss, 2500. 
 
 Schofield withdrew that night and under Thomas's orders 
 marched to Brentwood, the next day to Nashville. 
 
 There were many thrilling episodes and instructive 
 incidents ia this brief campaign, of vital interest to the 
 student of history and instructive to one studying the art 
 of war, but time presses and I must not be prolix. All 
 such are referred to Schofield's own book. Cox's books, and 
 other contemporaneous literature. 
 
 Schofield's action in and influence upon the subsequent 
 operations including the battle of Nashville and the pursuit 
 
466 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 of Hood's broken and dispirited army are matters of his- 
 torical record and sustain his claims to generalship. The 
 end was approaching, and, at his suggestion in a letter to 
 General Grant, Schofield's corps was transferred to the 
 East and the Tenth Corps at Ft. Fisher, under Terry, was 
 added to his command, to capture Wilmington and make a 
 base for Sherman on his march from Savannah. This 
 service was duly and brilliantly performed ; Wilmington fell 
 February 2 2d, and Schofield took a part of his force to New- 
 beme on the Neuse, soon clearing out that line and effecting 
 a junction at Goldsboro with General Sherman. 
 
 Events followed rapidly. The end of the bloody strife 
 was nigh. Grant captured Petersburg and Richmond and 
 was pressing Lee's shattered forces. Just as Sherman's army 
 entered Raleigh news of the surrender at Appomattox was 
 received. Sherman marched his other armies through 
 Raleigh and occupied the town with Schofield's Army 
 of the Ohio, now become the centre of his combined 
 armies. 
 
 The details of Johnston's surrender to Sherman, and the 
 disapproval at Washington of the terms first granted, are 
 matters well known, but it is to be mentioned here that 
 Schofield was not present at the first meeting between Sher- 
 man and Johnston and did not know the terms agreed upon 
 until long after they were rejected. But Schofield was 
 present at the second meeting, and he it was who, when the 
 two principals fotmd it impossible to formulate an agree- 
 ment that would meet the perplexing exigency, suggested a 
 plan and drew up the papers that were signed and proved 
 acceptable to all concerned. Johnston's army was paroled 
 by Schofield and sent in detachments to their respective 
 homes. Sherman went to Savannah in person, and his 
 armies marched to Washington, except Schofield's, which 
 was left in charge of North Carolina. 
 
 Schofield proceeded to frame regulations for the ad- 
 ministration of affairs under existing conditions, and his 
 orders and memoranda show a perspicacity and grasp of 
 principles adequate to the occasion and circumstances. 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 467 
 
 But his ideas were not to prevail, nor was he to be left to 
 carry out any policy in North Carolina. 
 
 One morning in May, while seated at my desk in General 
 Schofield's of6ce at Raleigh, a swarthy, alert man of foreign 
 air entered. He proved to be Signor Mariscal, secretary 
 of legation from Mexico at Washington, bearing credentials 
 from General Grant and Minister Romero. His mission was 
 to offer General Schofield command, as GeneraUssimo, of the 
 patriot armies of Mexico, opposing Napoleon's imperial 
 government in Mexico tmder Maximilian. I was sent to 
 Washington to interview Romero, and shortly after my 
 return and report, in June, General Schofield left North 
 CaroHna, and as all know was committed to the freeing of 
 Mexico from French domination. It resulted in his being 
 first sent to France under the auspices of our State De- 
 partment. There he acquitted his mission in a diplomatic 
 and most acceptable manner: Napoleon withdrew Bazaine's 
 army, Maximilian's government was overthrown, and that 
 iU-starred prince was executed. Mexico was free. 
 
 On his return to this country from Europe, in July, where 
 I had left him, at Paris, in January, Schofield was assigned to 
 command the First Military District at Richmond, Virginia, 
 unriei' tne Reconstruction Acts. The wise policy he pursued 
 here saved the State from an obnoxious and unbearable 
 constitution, and the people from the worst forms of carpet- 
 bag misrule and plunder. I rejoined him in May, 1867, and 
 served with him till September, 1885. 
 
 The strained relations between the President and Con- 
 gress, in which the trial of impeachment was pending, and 
 which was likely to fail of conviction, made imperative the 
 selection of a Secretary of War acceptable to both sides. 
 General Schofield was agreed upon, and entered Mr. John- 
 son's cabinet as Secretary of War after almost unanimous 
 confirmation by the Senate, and continued to fill that high 
 office successfully and smoothly until six weeks after General 
 Grant's inauguration. 
 
 Eight years of useful service in command of geographical 
 departments and divisions followed, in which successful 
 
468 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 Indian campaigns were conducted, and during which Scho- 
 field wisely influenced the amelioration of the poHcy toward 
 those unhappy tribesmen. Then came five years of service 
 as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, 
 in which it was sought to enlarge the usefulness of that 
 institution and place it abreast of modem advancement in 
 education and the art and science of war. Then more 
 strictly military commands of geographical military divi- 
 sions, the Division of the Pacific, the Division of the Missouri, 
 and the Division of the Atlantic successively, till on the 
 death of Sheridan, in August, 1888, General Schofield suc- 
 ceeded to the command of the Army. In this position he, 
 for the first time in the history of our Army, reconciled 
 the relations, in a time of peace, between the General-in- 
 Chief of the Army and the Secretary of War. During his 
 incumbency of that high office it was administered in entire 
 harmony with the War Department, and his power and 
 influence was recognized. Here he gave an impetus to the 
 fortifpng and arming our seaboard for defence, to the 
 instruction and reorganization of the Army; and it was to 
 his legal acumen as much as any others' that such forceful 
 and successful measures were adopted to quell the riots 
 which interfered with inter-State commerce and the free 
 passage of the United States mails. His instructions as to 
 the proper use of the national troops on such occasions 
 show the grasp of a master mind and will be ever regarded 
 as setting forth the law. 
 
 In February 1895 Congress after long-deferred action 
 passed the bill reviving the grade of Lieutenant-General, in 
 his favor, and General Schofield was appointed and con- 
 firmed as Lieutenant-General, United States Army. In 
 September of that year he, being sixty-four years of age, 
 was retired from active service by operation of law. 
 
 When the Spanish War broke out, in 1898, he was called 
 from his retirement to Washington by President McKinley 
 to act as his military adviser, but it was an anomalous 
 position. Under our faulty laws he could not be clothed 
 with authority, and his military genius, ripe judgment, and 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 469 
 
 I 
 
 experienced skill were of no avail to the country in an hour 
 of need. General Schofield returned to a dignified repose, 
 and spent the remaining years of his life in domestic tran- 
 quillity. Yet he took an unabated and lively interest in 
 affairs and was influential in framing the bill for a Chief of 
 staff and a general staff for the Army, and in endeavors 
 for the enlargement and future of the Military Acad- 
 emy. 
 
 In 1897 he published his book Forty-Six Years in the 
 Army, partly autobiographical and partly philosophical 
 discussion of mihtary operations and events in which he 
 bore a prominent part. It is a mine of information to the 
 student and historian, written in a lucid manner and from a 
 lofty plane. 
 
 In all the forty-five years I knew General Schofield I 
 found him ever genial and sympathetic, easily approached 
 and mindful always of the feelings and rights of others; 
 unostentatious, and with a serene dignity that commanded 
 the respect of all. In the camp, and on the march, and 
 around the mess-table he was free and enjoyed the jokes 
 and wit of others. Although he rarely indulged in any 
 light word himself, you could see his eyes twinkle and his 
 features relax and expand when "a good thing" was said. 
 He was loyal and respectful to his superiors in the hierarchy, 
 a comrade with his contemporaries, and the paternal friend 
 and protector of his juniors and of the soldier. Any one 
 could go to him with a grievance, or for advice, and one 
 always came away feeling better even though not sustained. 
 His cahn judicial manner gave confidence, and he always 
 admitted there were two views of a subject and listened 
 patiently to the presentation of the other side. He was 
 possessed of a massive frame and was dehberate in action, 
 so that he gave the impression of physical inertness. He 
 was fond of comfort, even of the luxury of living, of the 
 table, but I never knew him to complain when duty and the 
 exigencies of the service demanded continuous action or a 
 surrender to the roughest and most primitive living. He 
 would spend days and nights mounted, or in a box car on 
 
470 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 the railroad, and live on the plainest camp fare, and yet 
 maintain an equanimity serene. 
 
 In battle he was calm and collected, and quick as light- 
 ning to deliver the bolt into the weak place of an enemy's 
 defence. 
 
 In administration in his office he was unfailingly present 
 and industrious. He relied upon his subordinates and ac- 
 corded to them a wide latitude. Toward his staff he was 
 considerate and trusting. He expected the chiefs of the 
 staff departments under him to be experts in their respec- 
 tive specialties and left them to work out details unham- 
 pered, but when one of them went to him for assistance or 
 advice he found General Schofield always able to disen- 
 tangle the snarl. 
 
 In his family he was tender and gentle. His domestic 
 relations were always smooth and happy. About the last 
 wish he expressed was to take his breakfast on the morrow 
 with Georgina, his little daughter. He was the soul of 
 hospitality and loved to have his friends around him, and 
 especially enjoyed young people, entering mth keen sym- 
 pathy into their sports and diversions. With them he often 
 had the air of a gentle professor imparting information. 
 
 In general conversation he was clear and entertaining 
 and covered a wide range of subjects. He was confiding 
 and generous, and had a warm sympathy for those in dis- 
 tress. In all our intercourse I never knew him to be gloomy 
 or austere or to lose his calm serenity. 
 
 This is an inadequate recital of the career and achieve- 
 ments of a man who figured so prominently in the history of 
 his country, who was at once an educator and a scientist, 
 versed in natural philosophy, physics, and astronomy, and 
 in the art and science of war, a leader of armies, able in 
 strategy and logistics, and organization; an administrator, 
 civil and military, learned in the laws, a statesman and a 
 diplomatist, a patriot, and a true friend, — one who was 
 not superficial only in all these virtues, but possessed of 
 the fundamental and everlasting principles upon which they 
 were based. I can only hope that this portrayal by one 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A. 47 1 
 
 of his intimates may give a better idea of this great man, 
 whom, by reason of his modesty and freedom from self- 
 vaunting, his countrymen know so Uttle. 
 
FINAL SCENES AT THE CAPTURE AND OCCUPA- 
 . TION OF RICHMOND, APRIL 3, 1865. 
 
 Read by Brevet Brigadier-General Edward H. Ripley, 
 Dec. 5, 1906. 
 
 THIS paper is the story of the work of the First Brigade, 
 Third Division, of the Twenty-fourth Army Corps, 
 which I had the honor to command at the capture and 
 occupation of Richmond, April 3, 1865. It was written soon 
 after the war to fifl a gap in a collection of some 400 of my 
 war letters collected and preserved by a thoughtful mother, 
 and is a description of an historical event which for grandeur 
 and spectacular effect had few if any equals in the course of 
 the Civil War. It necessarily is written in the first person ; 
 but a veteran who has the right to say proudly, of any 
 event of interest in the Civil War in which he participated, 
 "A part of which I was" will understand it. 
 
 On the night of the 27th of March, 1865, the First Division 
 of the Twenty-fourth Army Corps, under Brigadier-General 
 Robert S. (" Sandy") Foster of Indiana, and the inde- 
 pendent division, under Brevet Major-General John W. 
 Turner, led by Major-General John Gibbon, our corps 
 commander, and accompanied by Major-General E. 0. 
 C. Ord, the commander of the Army of the James, then 
 holding the lines on the Bermuda front and the north 
 side of the James River, stealthily withdrew from their 
 trenches in front of Richmond, and by daylight of the 28th 
 had crossed the river and were well on their way to the left 
 of the Army of the Potomac. There they took their full 
 share of the bloody battles which Meade and Sheridan 
 delivered in quick succession, until Lee, breathless and 
 
 472 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 473 
 
 exhausted, gave up the contest and surrendered at Appo- 
 mattox Courthouse. 
 
 Our division, the Third of the Twenty-fourth Army Corps, 
 under Brigadier-General Charles Devens, was left behind to 
 extend over and hold the trenches thus evacuated. That 
 night I was withdrawn from our position at the right of 
 Fort Harrison, and stretched out in a thin line over the 
 ground recently held by the three brigades of Foster's 
 division. Daylight broke to find me established in General 
 Foster's abandoned headquarters at the sallyport on the 
 Newmarket road, at the salient of our lines, where we 
 approached most nearly to Richmond. 
 
 Here a new regiment was added to my command, and 
 about 500 convalescents and stragglers, representing nearly 
 every regiment in the other two divisions, were organized 
 into a regiment, equipped, and taken upon my rolls. The 
 brigade then comprised the following regiments: 
 
 The staff, 7. Officers. Men. 
 nth Ct. 26 412 Major Chas. Warren command- 
 
 
 
 
 mg. 
 
 13th N. H. 
 
 13 
 
 247 
 
 Lieutenant - Colonel Norman 
 Smith commanding. 
 
 19th Wis. 
 
 IS 
 
 308 
 
 Major Vaughn commanding. 
 
 8ist N. Y. 
 
 II 
 
 83 
 
 Captain Betton commanding. 
 
 98th N. Y. 
 
 17 
 
 268 
 
 Lieutenant - Colonel William 
 Kreutzer commanding. 
 
 139th N. Y. 
 
 16 
 
 306 
 
 Major Theo. Miller commanding. 
 
 Convalescents 
 
 14 
 
 546 
 
 
 A total of 119 2250 
 
 Of these my morning report showed 91 officers and 
 2219 privates for duty, and 90 officers and 1950 privates 
 effective. 
 
 We lay here without incident until Saturday evening, the 
 ist of April, when I received orders from General Grant to 
 hold the brigade under arms all night, massed and ready for 
 an assault on the enemy's works in our front; to spend the 
 night out on the outer vidette line, carefully watch for 
 
474 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 signs of unusual movements on the part of the enemy with 
 whom we were in close contact, and, if I became suspicious 
 of uneasiness on their part, to send word to General Weit- 
 zel, the commander of the colored corps and of the forces 
 left on the north bank of the James, and assault at once 
 on my own responsibility. 
 
 When taps sounded that night the brigade was silently 
 massed in bivouac in column behind the sally through 
 our works across the Newmarket road. 
 
 Our videttes and those of the rebels were within easy 
 conversing distance, so that it seemed impossible for them 
 to make any movement unobserved. 
 
 It was a clear, starlight night, still and beautiful. I 
 can experience again through the lapse of the years, as my 
 thoughts go back to that dramatic scene, the peaceful round 
 of the hours, as I lay with my ear to the ground, listening 
 for a sign of life among the slumbering hosts of friends and 
 foes that environed me. 
 
 Hour after hour at the same moment the officers of the 
 pickets on both sides came up from the reserves and passed 
 along, the hushed sound of low voices breaking the solemn 
 stillness for a moment as the videttes reported to their relief, 
 and then with catlike caution retired to rest in the con- 
 scious unconsciousness of a picket reserve. 
 
 Stmday morning came with no apparent knowledge on 
 the part of the enemy of the gigantic blow that was uplifted 
 in the air beyond theWeldon Railroad and already descending 
 full of fate to the doomed Confederacy. They stayed quietly 
 in their camps, enjojdng a peaceful Sabbath, under the 
 observation of the look-outs I had posted in the tops of 
 trees along my front. 
 
 Bursting full of great events as we knew the week would 
 be, nearing the end, as we saw from the crowds of despairing 
 Confederates who nightly threw away their arms and with 
 them all hope of their cause, and came into our lines, not a 
 man of us dreamed when night came that of all the laborious 
 Sundays of the long years we had passed with an armed foe 
 in our front, this was the last. 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 475 
 
 As evening came the order for redoubled vigilance was 
 repeated. In had been a day of unusual solemnity, lying 
 through the dragging hours in the straining suspense of 
 waiting for the fateful word that would dash us against those 
 fearful walls of red earth, deep ditches, impenetrable abattis, 
 and thickly planted torpedoes, from which so many bloody 
 assaults of columns heavier than ours had been hurled back 
 with ease. It is not enjoyable to stand through a long 
 day and coolly contemplate the desperate chances of a for- 
 lorn hope, which was expected not to win, but to amuse the 
 enemy and hold him in place. 
 
 The night fell cloudy and dark as I plunged into the 
 mysterious silence and gloom for my last night on the picket 
 line. It passed uneventfully, as the preceding one had 
 passed, except that blue mist settled on the earth. About 
 4 o'clock in the morning a column of flame suddenly shot 
 high in the air in the direction of Richmond, quickly fol- 
 lowed by another and another. Then came the subdued 
 hum of noises far away toward the doomed city. To my 
 eager ears, drinking in the sounds from that mighty primeval 
 telephone the earth, as I lay with my ear pressed closely 
 to it, the low, supernatural rumbling seemed as though its 
 interior was alive with the busy motion of its myriad of the 
 dead. Still, strangely, no sound came from our immediate 
 front. We strained our eyes in vain to catch sight, through 
 the mist and darkness, of the opposing videttes. The first 
 gray of dawn showed us that, favored by the night and the 
 mist, they had, with the stillness of ghosts, been stealthily 
 withdrawn. 
 
 I quickly deployed our picket line as skirmishers, pushed 
 them on, and followed closely with the brigade, ready to 
 deploy, sending word to General Weitzel, through General 
 Devens, that I was advancing to the assault and to hurry 
 up supports. This was the first movement of any of the 
 troops along the Union line, and as we gained the parapet 
 of the rebel fortifications we found it deserted. 
 
 Pushing my skirmishers still forward I looked down the 
 line of Union defence toward Fort Brady — our left, resting 
 
476 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 on the James, which this higher ground commanded in its 
 view — ^to see if the forward movement was general. Skir- 
 mishers were advancing, but at that moment, we alone were 
 in possession of the enemy's works. Alone the First Brigade 
 of the Third division, Twenty-fourth Army Corps, entirely 
 unsupported, was within the renowned and impregnable 
 defences of the rebel capital, happily without loss, although 
 the front of their abattis was planted thick with torpedoes. 
 
 Understanding that the order to assault quickly upon 
 detecting any movement of the enemy meant that General 
 Grant wished General Ewell, commanding the Confederate 
 forces on the north side of the James, attacked and held at 
 all hazards, I pushed on with the utmost haste to overtake 
 him and force him to fight. When first over the works the 
 excitement was intense and the men rushed wildly in every 
 direction, capturing and claiming guns for their respective 
 regiments, until a howling maniac in blue sat astride of 
 every one of the thickly planted guns in reach. It was some 
 time before the enthusiasm could be controlled and the 
 men got back to their ranks. The onward movement to 
 the second or inner line was rapid but cautious, not knowing 
 at what moment we might strike Ewell's rear guard, waiting 
 for us behind them. 
 
 At every instant the terrific explosions in the direction 
 of Richmond grew more frequent and great volumes of 
 black smoke rolled up into the heavens, showing that the 
 work of destruction begun by the rebels themselves was 
 going rapidly on. 
 
 The slower advance, while feeling our way over the 
 second line, gave the balance of our division time to over- 
 take us, which they did, falling in behind the First Brigade. 
 
 The headquarters cavalry, commanded by Major Stevens 
 of General Weitzel's staff, now passed us, and a light battery 
 came dashing up demanding the way on the Newmarket 
 road, apparently filled with a crazy ambition to gallop on, 
 attack Ewell, and capture the city with unsupported guns. 
 In possession of the road, and knowing no use for artillery 
 on the skirmish line, we refused to yield it. The eager, 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 477 
 
 crack-brained young officer in command, frenzied with the 
 wild joy with which every heart was throbbing, seeing an 
 open field extending some distance ahead along our left 
 flank, rushed into it with his horses lashed into a mad 
 gallop and tried to run in ahead of us. The 13th New 
 Hampshire, at the head of the column, broke of its own in- 
 spiration into a sharp double-quick until the too impetuous 
 young artilleryman found himself pocketed in a swamp 
 with which the field was terminated. He then fell into 
 his proper place in the rear of the brigade. 
 
 From the second Hne, then past the inner batteries to 
 Rocketts, where it became more certain that Ewell had 
 made good his escape and there was to be no fight over the 
 city, not even with his rear guard, I rode backward and 
 forward along the column, exchanging congratulations with 
 the officers, and looking down into the flashing eyes and 
 quivering faces of the men as they glanced up at me in the 
 mute freemasonry of a common joy and glory. It was 
 hardly needed, so eager and furious was the march and so 
 well closed up the ranks from the anxiety of the rear regi- 
 ments to grasp the long-fought-for prize as soon as the head 
 of the column, but as I drifted back and forth along the 
 flank, and occasionally sat still in my saddle to enjoy the 
 sight of the long column rushing by, I sang out, as of old, 
 but never before so exultingly, that old, old song which will 
 never die out from the ears of the veteran until death shall 
 close them, "Close up, boys! Close up! No straggling in 
 the ranks of the First Brigade to-day. Close up ! Close up ! " 
 
 It was my last, as I stood up in my stirrups singing 
 the last refrain of a song sung for three long years: in the 
 golden sunshine of Southern springs, in the fierce heat and 
 choking dust of Southern summers, the mud and frosts 
 and snows of winter. Harsh, heartless, inexorable, it had 
 risen and pierced the midnight air in that valley crowded 
 with the tragedies of the war, — the Shenandoah with its 
 quickly alternating triumphs and defeats, — on the Penin- 
 sula with its deadly miasmas, and North Carolina amid 
 the gloom of its tar forests and the slumping of its soft 
 
478 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 sands. Through the weary hours of the night it had risen 
 like the weird cry of the owl — "Close up, men! Close up! 
 Close up, men ! Close up ! " 
 
 I stood there on the threshold of the rebel capital, with 
 the old cry upon my lips, and knew not that at that mo- 
 ment, by our incredible presence within those fateful lines, 
 the cruel war was at last over, and that that peace we had 
 so longed and prayed for, triumphant peace, hovered over 
 us and that I should never again haunt the flank of a 
 marching column with a heart steeled against all its natural 
 sympathies, and shout to men sick in body, sick at heart, 
 lame, foot-sore and exhausted, — -"Close up, men! Close 
 up!" I am glad that the last note of this cry fell a glad 
 refrain upon the ears of an exultant column, and glad that 
 I can look back in my memory into faces lighted up with 
 joy, instead of being haunted with the last memory of faces 
 stamped with the misery and wretchedness of a cruelly 
 forced march. 
 
 At last, about 7 o'clock in the morning, we approached 
 Rocketts, the steamboat landing at the lower end of the 
 city, where the rebel iron-clads had been lying. There I 
 received orders to deploy a strong line of guards across from 
 the river up the ravine of Gillies Creek, with orders to permit 
 no one to pass, but to turn every one back to join his com- 
 mand, and get ready for the formal entry into the city. I 
 was also ordered to dress up my own command and put all 
 my regimental bands at the head of the column. I hap- 
 pened to have the tinusual number of three. While this 
 was going on an iron-clad, which was lying in the stream 
 abreast of us, the last of all the river fleet, blew up with a 
 terrible concussion, nearly knocking us off our feet and over- 
 whelming us with a tempest of black smoke, cinders, and 
 debris. I do not remember that any one was injured, yet 
 a part of it went over our heads into the fields beyond. The 
 roar of the exploding arsenals, magazines, and warehouses 
 filled with explosives of the ordnance bureau was deafening 
 and awe-inspiring. 
 
 At this moment Col. Geo. W. Hooker, assistant adjutant- 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 479 
 
 general of the Third Division, rode up to me and said : " You 
 are in luck to-day, General. General Weitzel has given orders 
 that you are to have the head of the column in the triumphal 
 entry which we are ready to make into the city." I was, 
 of course, elated at this, for it would have been natural for 
 General Weitzel to have given to the colored troops of his own 
 corps the place of honor for this historical pageant, as Horace 
 Greeley, in his history of The American Conflict, wrongly 
 avers that he did, ignoring the presence of any but 
 colored troops in Richmond that day. This would have 
 been, however, great injustice to General Devens and to me, 
 for my brigade of his division was the first over the line, 
 and the first to reach the city at Rocketts, and Devens's was 
 the only division which kept its formation perfect and could 
 have attacked Ewell had he come to bay. My brigade was 
 at that moment at the head of the column because we had 
 taken it and kept it, and it belonged to us as a right and 
 not as a courtesy. No one got ahead of us but the little 
 squad of headquarters cavalry, which had overtaken and 
 passed us, and which did not pass the enemy's lines until 
 after my message had reached General Devens and been sent 
 by him to Weitzel. 
 
 At length every preparation was completed that could 
 give to the entry of the Union troops an imposing character. 
 No time could be wasted on this, as we seemed about to 
 plunge into a sea of fire, or rather the crater of an active 
 volcano, and if any portion of the doomed capital was to be 
 saved it had to be done quickly. When the word came, 
 with my three bands at the head of my column, I turned in 
 my saddle and cried "Forward!" to the eager troops. The 
 bands had arranged a succession of Union airs which had not 
 been heard for years in the streets of the Confederate capital, 
 and had arranged to reUeve each other so that there should 
 be no break in the exultant strain of patriotic music during 
 any portion of the march. 
 
 The route was up Main Street to Exchange Hotel, then 
 across by Governor Street to Capitol Square. The city was 
 packed with a surging mob of Confederate stragglers, ne- 
 
480 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 groes, and released convicts, and mob rule had been su- 
 preme from the moment Ewell had crossed the James and 
 burned the bridges behind him. 
 
 The air was darkened by the thick tempest of black 
 smoke and cinders which swept the streets, and as we 
 penetrated deeper into the city the bands were nearly 
 drowned by the crashing of the falling walls, the roar of 
 the flames, and the terrific explosions of shells in the burning 
 warehouses. 
 
 Densely packed on either side of the street were thou- 
 sands upon thousands of blacks, until that moment slaves 
 in fact, for the emancipation proclamation had never be- 
 fore penetrated the rebel territory to strike their fetters off. 
 They fell upon their knees, throwing their hands wildly in 
 the air and shouting: " Glory to God! Glory to God! The 
 day of Jubilee hab come; Massa Linkum am here! Massa 
 Linkum am here!" while floods of tears poured down their 
 wild faces. They threw themselves down on their hands 
 and knees almost under our horses' feet to pray and give 
 thanks in the -wild delirium of their sudden deliverance. 
 Although the shops had been gutted and were open, the 
 houses were closed, and when we reached the better resi- 
 dence portion of the city the blinds were tightly shut and 
 none of the better class of the whites were to be seen, though 
 we occasionally saw an eye peering through the blinds. 
 
 At the gate of the square opposite the north entrance of 
 the Confederate capitol groxmds an aide-de-camp of General 
 Weitzel was waiting with orders to halt the head of the col- 
 umn there and report to him at the eastern porch. I passed 
 through the gate into the park, followed by my staff and 
 cavalry escort, and made my way to him. I found the lawn 
 and shrubbery, through which the black smoke and burn- 
 ing cinders were swirling, crowded with the headquarters 
 cavalry of the corps and division commanders. Upon the 
 broad landing at the head of the tall flight of steps stood 
 General Weitzel and staff, the noble personality of General 
 Devens with his staff, and grouped around were the division 
 commanders of the Twenty-fifth Corps of colored troops, 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 481 
 
 -with the Hon. Joseph Mayo, the mayor of the city, and other 
 city officials. 
 
 These gentleman had driven out in a barouche to a point 
 where they met the head of the column and tendered, with 
 theatrical effect, the keys of the fallen city, and begged the 
 clemency and help of the Northern victors. 
 
 I dismounted and ascended to General Weitzel, who stood 
 the central figure of this brilliant historical scene. I saluted 
 and waited in innocent curiosity his orders, unsuspecting 
 the distinguished honors the First Brigade was to receive at 
 his hands. 
 
 " I have sent for you. General Ripley," he said, "to inform 
 you that I have selected you to take command of this city 
 and your brigade as its garrison. I have no orders further 
 to communicate ; except to say that I wish this conflagration 
 stopped, and this city saved if it is in the bounds of human 
 possibility, and you have carte blanche to do it in your own 
 way." 
 
 I do not remember exchanging any suggestions with 
 him then, except to say that I would like the other troops 
 withdrawn wholly from the city. He thereupon gave orders 
 to the division commanders to march their troops through 
 the city and go into camp along the interior line of works 
 and give no passes. 
 
 This was done, yet I had more or less trouble from the 
 disorder of the colored troops, many of whom stole in and 
 went directly to their old masters and mistresses to enjoy 
 their day of triumph over them. It was reported to me 
 that one went to a residence not far from my headquarters 
 down Main Street, where his wife was still a servant. They 
 made the lady and her daughters bring out their finest cloth- 
 ing and ornaments, play ladies' maids to the black women, 
 and finally prepare dinner for their former servants. While 
 it was going on word was sent to a white safeguard near 
 there, who appeared on the scene to arrest the man. He 
 turned savagely on the guard, who in turn was obliged in 
 self-defence to use his bayonet and run him through. In 
 the hurry and confusion of those intensely absorbing days 
 
482 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 I never had time to learn for myself if this story was 
 true. 
 
 Leaving General Weitzel I returned to the brigade, hur- 
 riedly selected the city hall for my headquarters, despatched 
 regimental commanders under the guidance of the city offi- 
 cials to select in various sections of the city proper points at 
 which to establish their regiments for effective work. Other 
 officers were sent with members of the fire department to 
 get at the engines and hose carts, but found to our utter 
 astonishment and dismay that, to make the destruction of 
 their capital more certain and complete, the Confederate 
 rear guard had cut the hose and disabled the engines. 
 
 The alleged destruction of Columbia by the troops of 
 Sherman's army, if it were true, which it is not, cannot be 
 compared with the ruthless barbarity of the rebel troops. 
 
 At Richmond they attempted the destruction of their 
 capital, filled as it was to overflowing with thousands of 
 defenceless women and children, fugitives from all over the 
 South, and with thousands more of the sick and wounded 
 of their own army, when its destruction could not have the 
 effect to sustain the sinking Confederacy for a moment. It 
 was a barbarism unparalleled in history. The burning of 
 Moscow by the stem Rostopschin was terrible but effective 
 warfare, yet he first drove the unfortunate inhabitants out, 
 then piled the city full of combustibles, destroyed the pumps, 
 and turned loose thousands of abandoned wretches, crim- 
 inals of the worst class, in an empty city. He destroyed 
 it, but in so doing snatched in an instant the fruits of his 
 great campaign from Napoleon, inflicting on him the greatest 
 defeat he had ever sustained, from which he never recovered 
 and which was the beginning of his downward plunge to 
 Elba. 
 
 There is nothing in the pages of history more wantonly 
 brutal and barbarous than the desperate attempt of Ewell 
 to bum the city of Richmond over the heads of its defence- 
 less and starving women and children, its sick and wounded, 
 without warning them of the fate which was hanging over 
 them. 
 
Facsimile of the cover of the Order Book of the Libby Prison. 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 483 
 
 The Confederacy, like a wounded wolf, died gnawing at 
 its own body in insensate passion and fury. 
 
 The regiments quickly stripped for the fight of their 
 lives, unique and terrible, a contest with a gigantic fire ex- 
 tending already over a large part of the city, and roaring 
 like a great battle with the explosions of the vast store of 
 war materials, and threatening the destruction of the entire 
 city with its helpless inhabitants. 
 
 None of the usual fire-fighting machinery was at hand. 
 The retreating army of Ewell had cut the hose; the Rich- 
 mond firemen were unequal to the task, so the First Brigade 
 had to depend upon blowing up and pulling down buildings 
 in the pathway of the flames to check them. Happily the 
 wind blew down the river and carried the flames and cinders 
 in a straight line through the business and away from the 
 residence section. 
 
 All day long and into the night the brave men of the 
 Northern army battled with desperate courage and splendid 
 self-sacrifice to save the apparently doomed capital of those 
 mistaken men who were yet fighting under Lee with dogged 
 obstinacy to destroy this great union of States. Had it 
 been for their own homes and firesides their fight could not 
 have been more heroic. When midnight came the fires 
 were checked and under control and the city saved. The 
 horrible roar of the flames still went up, with the crash- 
 ing of falling walls and explosions of ordnance stores; 
 but the fire was headed off and the exhausted troops 
 rested. 
 
 As quickly as possible one of the staff was sent to Libby 
 prison and to Castle Thunder to liberate any prisoners there, 
 and to organize a guard for the care of the thousands of 
 Confederate stragglers and pillagers who were being arrested 
 by the provost guards in clearing the streets. They hauled 
 down and brought to me the garrison flag that had floated 
 over the Libby prison and witnessed the terrible sufferings 
 of the thousands of Union officers packed inside its walls. 
 They brought away also the official record of the prison, 
 with its tell-tale confession of inhumanity contained in the 
 
484 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 celebrated letter of Judge Ould, commissioner of exchange, to 
 General Winder, commandant of the Libby and Castle Thun- 
 der, in which Ould shamelessly boasts of an arrangement 
 he had made by which he gets rid of a "lot of broken-down 
 and worthless Yankees in exchange for Confederates in splen- 
 did condition." They also brought the key to the main 
 entrance to the Libby, which turned on every Union ofificer 
 ever incarcerated there. This key, comrades, which I hold 
 in my hand, is the key of that American Bastile, and to you, 
 General Pierson, and to you other companions who in your 
 golden youth were thrust within that gloomy portal, and 
 with the rattle of this fatal key left your young hopes be- 
 hind, I extend in the name of this Commandery our hearty 
 congratulations that, having endured such sufferings, you 
 have survived to encounter this key again after more than 
 forty years amid such genial surroundings. Later the guard 
 of the executive mansion of Jefferson Davis brought me an 
 infernal machine in the shape of an imitation lump of coal, 
 which he took from a writing desk used by President Davis. 
 This was used to throw in the coal bunkers of our war-ships 
 to blow them up. I have also the great seal of the Confed- 
 eracy, together with a monograph of its history ; also the orig- 
 inal designs submitted at Montgomery for the new flag of 
 the Confederacy. All these are in my possession and to be 
 seen in my collection of Civil War relics in the Soldiers' 
 Memorial Hall at Rutland. 
 
 Among the many trophies of the war I did not succeed 
 in keeping were the flags of the celebrated Richmond Howit- 
 zers, which had been presented to them by the Richmond 
 ladies. They seemed too heavy, with their rich embroidery 
 of gold bullion, to flutter even in a gale of wind. I have 
 never seen any flags so extravagant in costliness. They 
 must have been the product of the first wild enthusiasm of 
 secession, before the grinding poverty had settled down 
 upon the people and it took thousands of Confederate paper 
 money to buy a pair of boots. One day General Weitzel 
 sent Lieutenant Graves of his staff to say he had heard of 
 them, and would be pleased if I would let them be brought 
 

 
 ^i*4^ ^a^ro^ *^ ^ 
 
 
 ^i'—r-/:^ ^^ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 .^y^ ^*^<*^ /t'<r,^. L^^li_x I 
 
 ^^■'•-^^^■^tr yA. 5»i 
 
 
 A;y yyA^^.^4^ _ 
 
 Facsimile of the letter of Judge Ould, Rebel Commissioner of 
 Exchange, to General Winder, referred to on opposite page, and 
 the key to the Libby Prison, both now in the possession of General 
 Edward H. Ripley. 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 485 
 
 Up for his inspection. Graves promised to return them, but 
 I never saw them again. 
 
 It was with supreme satisfaction that the cavalry swept 
 the streets of the Confederates and clapped them into Libby, 
 giving them a taste of their own prisons. The next morning 
 when I rode past it was so full they boiled up on the roof. 
 
 After opening headquarters in the city hall, my first 
 official action was to prepare, print, and have placarded over 
 the city an order commanding all good citizens to aid the 
 military authorities in restoring order by retiring to their 
 homes, keeping closely within doors, and threatening with 
 arrest any citizens who should be found on the streets after 
 nightfall. I ordered the daily papers to be taken posses- 
 sion of and prepared for issue under loyal management, and 
 directed patrols upon every street to arrest the drunken 
 mob of pillagers who were running riot, and to bring the pil- 
 laged property to the city hall, where it was taken by an 
 officer, receipted for, and piled away in various back rooms 
 of the building, until an immense and curious mass of plun- 
 der was accumulated. My office was at once besieged and 
 taken possession of by crowds of terror-stricken ladies whose 
 minds had been filled with the wicked and outrageous cal- 
 umnies heaped upon the Northern troops by the Richmond 
 papers, and who expected that the regime initiated by their 
 own people was but the prelude to the reign of terror which 
 the "Yankee monsters" would inaugurate when settled in 
 the possession of the city. 
 
 TERROR OF THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 
 
 Old ladies came and threw themselves on my neck in 
 paroxysms of terror and implored me to save them; others 
 clung to my arms until they had extracted a personal pledge 
 from me ; others threw themselves on the floor and grasped 
 my knees until I would promise them a soldier safeguard 
 in their own house. One lady, deeply veiled, came in great 
 excitement, and leaning on my shoulder whispered in my 
 ear, " I am the daughter of General Keim of Pennsylvania, 
 
486 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 and I appeal to you as a Northern woman for protection." 
 I replied warmly, " As a Northern woman you ought to know 
 that you do not need to make such an appeal." I gave her 
 at random the first private soldier I could put my hands on 
 as a safeguard, and sent him home with her to be respon- 
 sible for the safety of the block in which she lived. Of her 
 experience with this average Northern soldier I will later on 
 tell the story. 
 
 General Stems of Longstreet's corps left a letter with 
 his wife confiding her and her children to the care of the 
 officer commanding the victorious Northern troops, saying 
 he intrusted them to him as soldier to soldier. 
 
 Another lady, dressed in the deepest weeds, shivering 
 like an aspen leaf with terror, her face concealed with a 
 crape veil, whispered in my ear, " I am the widow of Gen- 
 eral Grade [a Confederate general killed shortly before at 
 Petersburg], and I appeal to you as a soldier's widow to a 
 brother soldier to protect me and my fatherless children." 
 She then told me that she had a large family of young chil- 
 dren, that they had had nothing to eat for several weeks but 
 bean soup, and that to cook it they had to bum up their 
 bannister rail and other portions of their house. I turned 
 her over to the care of my old college tutor Millard, and his 
 Christian Commission, whom I had installed in the room 
 across the hall from my office in the city hall, and who took 
 care for me of the crowds of ladies who applied for protec- 
 tion and aid; rendering me most effective and timely ser- 
 vice for several days by writing safeguards, which they 
 brought to me to sign, the violation of which by a soldier 
 was death. I afterward sent an aide to visit Mrs. Grade 
 and ascertain her most pressing necessities, and supplied her 
 with rations from my mess until I was able to get her trans- 
 portation to her friends in the North. 
 
 The staff officers assigned to the distribution and domi- 
 dling of guards in the private residences sent soldiers home 
 with the ladies who had thronged headquarters, aiming to 
 place a soldier in the centre house of each two opposite 
 blocks, making him responsible for their safety. These 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 487 
 
 safeguards remained in these families from ten days to two 
 weeks, in most cases treated as guests rather than as guards. 
 They were men taken indiscriminately from regiments of 
 Wisconsin, Connecticut, New Hampshire, northern and 
 central New York, and from Brooklyn, and were therefore 
 a fair representation of the soldiers of Devens's division and 
 consequently of the Twenty-fourth Army Corps. I not only 
 never heard a complaint of any rudeness or roughness, but, 
 on the contrary, there was unstinted praise of their civil as 
 well as military qualities and bearing, so unexpected in 
 them by the Richmond ladies. 
 
 SOLDIERLY BEARING OF THE UNION MEN. 
 
 And here I may illustrate by relating the story of one, 
 as told me by both Mr. and Mrs. Wirt Robinson, the latter 
 of whom was the daughter of General Keim of Reading, Pa., 
 referred to earUer. I personally escorted Mrs. Robinson to 
 the hall and ordered the soldier standing at the head of the 
 line to sling his knapsack and go with the lady to her home 
 and be responsible for its safety and the houses of her neigh- 
 bors. He shouldered his rifle and fell in behind her as I 
 bade her good morning. There was no personal selection, 
 no especial and minute instructions as to his duties. Mr. 
 Robinson afterward told me that upon entering the house 
 the guard asked where he could deposit his knapsack and 
 his three days' cooked rations where they would be least in 
 the way, and where he could sit. He was given a seat in 
 the hall, where he remained for some little time, after which 
 he remarked to Mr. Robinson that he saw he had a library, 
 and if it would not inconvenience any one it would be a pleas- 
 ure to hira to sit there and make use of the books, as it had 
 been a long time since he had had access to any. Mr. Rob- 
 inson politely told him, of course, the whole house was at his 
 disposal. Several hours later, hearing nothing from his once 
 dreaded Yankee invader, he stole quietly into the library 
 to find him deeply immersed in a very serious metaphysical 
 work; he engaged him in conversation, and to his profound 
 
488 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 surprise found this bronzed, war-worn veteran, private sol- 
 dier of the North, was a college graduate and a professional 
 man. Although they had little to offer, and his haversack 
 was as substantial as their meagre Confederate larder, they 
 welcomed him as an honored guest, and gladly gave him 
 their best hospitality. The next day I sent them supplies 
 from my mess, and in return Mr. Robinson, who was an old- 
 fashioned bon-vivant, and had not the heart to literally obey 
 the stem edict of the city officials to destroy all wines and 
 liquors before the Yankee vandals arrived, having hidden 
 store of priceless old Serchal Madeiras, which had made the 
 East Indian voyage many times in Richmond merchant 
 vessels, brought it out and promptly sent me a carboy. 
 
 Referring again to the experience of the Richmond ladies 
 with the private soldiers of the North, Mrs. Gracie, the widow 
 of General Gracie, of the Confederate army, in a note to 
 me wrote : " Your guard is quite a literary character, and I 
 have been searching among all the old books I have to find 
 him something to read. We have had no use for novels 
 in the Confederacy: alas! our lives have proved novels of 
 themselves." 
 
 Again later: "Your guard has proved himself a treasure. 
 I could not do without him, he is so efficient. I cannot 
 thank you enough for giving him to me; indeed, between 
 him, the nice candles, and a respectable fire, which you so 
 kindly sent me, I am beginning to feel a little civilized." 
 I could give many more such acknowledgments of their 
 admiration of our soldiers. 
 
 On the other hand, from women of the commoner class, 
 we had experiences not unlike those of our troops at the 
 capture of New Orleans. While they were uncertain what 
 the Yankees were going to do with them, frightened, and 
 clamoring for our protection, they were polite enough in 
 their manners ; but as soon as they realized we were not ruf- 
 fians, but soldiers, respecting their sex, their behavior 
 quickly changed, and many of them assumed an insulting 
 manner toward our troops and our flag. 
 
 The 13th regiment of New Hampshire, composed of an 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 489 
 
 unusually fine lot of New England men, was quartered in a 
 large market on lower Main Street, and particularly annoyed 
 by these very ungrateful and unwomanly demonstrations. 
 Its colors, state and national, were hung out from its porch, 
 guarded by a sentry, who paced his beat along the side- 
 walk ; and although they owed the safety of their persons, 
 their property, and the preservation of their city to the gen- 
 erous and gallant efforts of the men who fought under those 
 colors, many of these women would pull up their skirts, wrap 
 them carefully to one side, and with every expression of 
 loathing and hatred go out into the middle of the street to 
 avoid passing under them. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Norman Smith, commanding the regi- 
 ment, a brave officer, who was seriously wounded in the 
 famous assault on Fort Harrison, under General Stannard, was 
 ordered to detail some officer tactful and firm to escort every 
 woman who attempted this back, and quietly, and with 
 more politeness than they were entitled to receive, make 
 them understand that we would tolerate no insults to our 
 uniform or colors, but that they must cease such demon- 
 strations or encounter severe measures. This soon had its 
 effect and we saw no more of it. 
 
 A NIGHT WITH THE FLAMES. 
 
 At about 2 o'clock in the morning I got sufficient respite 
 from the exertions of the day to get into the saddle and make 
 an inspection of my command. Accompanied by my staff, 
 I rode through the sleeping city from one end to the other. 
 Not a human being was encountered of all the destroying 
 mob who had filled it to overflowing in the morning. On 
 every alternate comer stood the motionless form of a sentry; 
 not a ray of light from a house gave hint of life within, ex- 
 cept at a comer grocery, where light was detected through 
 a crack in the shutters. The sharp rap of an aide's sabre 
 hilt on the door brought out a panic-stricken German gro- 
 cer, who had been too frightened to go to bed, and who was 
 sitting up with the few worldly goods he had left. For hours 
 
49° CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 we passed up and down the streets, which echoed with the 
 clatter of our horses' hoofs and the jingle of our sabres, 
 astonished at the discipline which had been established in 
 so few hours out of chaos. Returning we left the brigade 
 headquarters cavalry in the rear of the house, the men in 
 reliefs at their horses' heads, and our horses saddled and 
 bridled ready for any alarm. 
 
 It was near morning when we gave ourselves up to rest 
 in the house of Mrs. Allen, which we had selected for our 
 domestic headquarters, and enjoyed the delicious and novel 
 intoxication of rest on real beds under a roof after three long 
 years of campaigning. This was not altogether a realiza- 
 tion of our dream of domestic repose, however, as we dare 
 not undress or even pull off our boots or lay aside our arms. 
 
 There has been much written on the subject of Ewell's 
 responsibility for this terrible war measure, and I have this 
 autograph letter from his brother, Prof. Benj. S. Ewell, of 
 William and Mary College, dated Richmond, April, 1865. 
 It reads as follows : 
 
 Sir: — In relation to General Ewell and the late disastrous 
 conflagration in this city, I ask to make the following state- 
 ment: After the fall of Savannah, Ga., the Confederate Congress 
 passed a law requiring officers in command to destroy all cotton, 
 tobacco, and other valuable products liable to capture. Some 
 weeks ago General Ewell received official notice of this law, and 
 with it an order to prepare for the destruction of the tobacco, 
 etc., stored in Richmond, that could not be carried away, the 
 destruction to be completed in the event of evacuation. He 
 immediately notified the parties concerned of the order, directing 
 all tobacco not removed to be deposited in some place or places 
 where it could be destroyed without danger to the city. The 
 details were intrusted to an officer of his command. For the 
 fire in no way is General Ewell responsible, as in the execution 
 of a military order in respect to which he had no discretion he 
 sought by every means in his power to provide against such a 
 catastrophe as followed. 
 
 Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
 
 Benjamin S. Ewell. 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 49 1 
 
 My answer to this was simple enough. General Ewell 
 deliberately chose to instruct his ofi&cers to execute this 
 order though it endangered the lives of thousands of helpless 
 women and children and his sick and wounded comrades 
 of Lee's army, who crowded the city, rather than risk that 
 more or less cotton and tobacco should fall into the hands of 
 the hated Yankees when the value of it was not of any im- 
 portance to the North as a war measure. He invited a holo- 
 caust of his own friends to keep us out of a milUon or two 
 dollars' worth of cotton and tobacco. 
 
 Every officer in command must exercise at times his 
 own judgment as to the possibility or desirability of execut- 
 ing even very stringent orders. 
 
 VALUABLE RECORDS SAVED. 
 
 Among the acts of vandalism we were happily able to 
 arrest, before irreparable damage was done, was the sacking 
 of the Virginia State Library. An officer entering it found 
 the floor covered with the colonial and other records in 
 which it was so rich. They had been wantonly taken from 
 their cases and thrown around. A guard was at once posted 
 over it with imperative orders to let no person pass without 
 written permission from headquarters, and when, several 
 days later, I tried to enter it, it was with difficulty I could 
 persuade my own guard to let me pass. The floor was yet 
 covered with an interesting mass of time-worn papers. I 
 believe little real damage was done to these valuable archives. 
 
 The Confederate archives, such as were left in the hur- 
 ried retreat, were the most interesting and important spoils 
 of our capture, and the first things sought for and guarded, 
 together with the contents of the telegraph offices. These 
 I some days later, on the arrival of Chas. A. Dana, Assistant 
 Secretary of War, turned over to him. One half of the large 
 accumulation of copies of the Confederate telegraph dis- 
 patches were found, the other half have never been found. 
 They were said to have been carried off by a woman on the 
 day of our entry. 
 
492 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 A report having come to me that Mrs. Robert E. Lee, who 
 had left the city hurriedly, was very ill and wished to return 
 to her home, I sent an ambulance to assist her; and after 
 Appomattox and General Lee's home-coming I arranged to 
 protect him as much as possible from the annoyance of the 
 curious public which had begun to throng from the North 
 to this famous stronghold of the Confederacy. 
 
 PRESIDENT Lincoln's visit. 
 
 As fast as possible the Confederate prisoners were pa- 
 roled and urged to lay aside their gray uniforms, take to 
 citizen's dress, and aid in the maintenance of order, which 
 they very generally and in good spirit did. They were 
 mostly men who on the abandonment of their capital saw 
 that further fighting was useless and upon the retreat of 
 Swell's corps quietly stayed behind. One of these came to 
 my quarters on the day of Mr. Lincoln's arrival on Admiral 
 Porter's flag-ship, Malvern, April 4th, and begged an 
 interview. The streets were crowded during the daytime 
 with excited throngs of negroes and whites, and we were 
 very uneasy at Mr. Lincoln's insistence upon visiting all 
 interesting points. We tried to make him consent to an 
 escort, but he would not allow it, and strolled through 
 the city like a private citizen, followed by crowds of 
 people, white and black. It was a very dangerous thing 
 to do, and we were obliged, unknown to him, to sur- 
 round him with a crowd of detectives in citizen's dress, 
 heavily armed. His reception by the emancipated negroes 
 was dramatic in the extreme. The War and Navy Depart- 
 ments were particularly anxious as to Mr. Lincoln's personal 
 safety, as the following dispatches illustrate : 
 
 MR. LINCOLN CAUTIONED. 
 
 I. 
 
 City Point, April 3, 8:30 a.m. 
 Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of "War: 
 
 General Grant reports Petersburg evacuated and he is confi- 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 493 
 
 dent Richmond is taken. He is pushing forward to cut off the 
 retreating army. I start to join him in a few minutes. 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 II. 
 
 War Department, April 3, 10:30 a.m. 
 To THE President: 
 
 I congratulate you and the nation on the glorious news in 
 your telegram just received. Allow me respectfully to ask you 
 to consider whether you ought to expose the nation to the 
 consequences of any disaster to yourself in the pursuit of a 
 treacherous and dangerous enemy like the rebel army. If it was 
 a question concerning yourself only I should not presume to say 
 a word. Commanding generals are in the line of their duty 
 in running such risks; but is the political head of a nation in 
 the same condition? 
 
 Edwin M. Stanton, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 III. 
 
 City Point, April 3, 5:00 p.m. 
 Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War: 
 
 Thanks for your caution, but I have already been to Peters- 
 burg, staid with General Grant an hour and a half, and returned 
 here. It is certain that Richmond is in our hands and I think 
 I will go there to-morrow. I will take care of myself. 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 
 " I will take care of myself." In those six words lay the 
 fate of the great Emancipator. 
 
 Admiral Porter in his book writes : 
 
 The President was received by General Weitzel, whose head- 
 quarters were in the house of the fugitive President of the 
 Confederacy. He took us to the state-house, the Libby prison, 
 and the public offices which had escaped the terrible conflagra- 
 tion of the day before. Late in the afternoon we were greatly 
 relieved to get the President safely back on board the Malvern. 
 On Wednesday and Thursday of the following week I was com- 
 pleting my final dispositions for my departure from City Point 
 for Washington, which was hastened by a feeling of nervous 
 apprehension for the President, the result of reflecting upon the 
 risks he ran. 
 
494 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 The Confederate soldier alluded to above, who came to 
 my headquarters and begged to have an interview with me 
 on a very important subject, was a more than usually intel- 
 ligent and fine-appearing man in uniform, by the name of 
 Snyder. 
 
 He began by saying that he was an enlisted man in 
 Raine's torpedo bureau, an organization of the Confederate 
 secret service, which had among its duties such services as 
 the blowing up of our magazines and our river steamers, 
 raids on our rear like the St. Albans raid, firing of Northern 
 cities, like the simultaneous attempts on the Fifth Avenue 
 and many other New York hotels, the blowing up of the 
 powder boats at City Point, the distribution of small-pox 
 clothes, etc., etc., in fact all kinds of deviltry and irregular 
 warfare, calculated to create panic or discontent in the rear 
 of the Union armies. Their method was to plan an expedi- 
 tion and detail certain men who never knew what they 
 were to do until they arrived at a designated rendezvous and 
 received their orders. 
 
 A CONSPIRACY TO TAKE LINCOLN'S LIFE. 
 
 With the capture of Richmond and the abandonment of the 
 Petersburg lines, he believed the war was hopeless and not 
 another gun should be fired. Indeed his conscience told him 
 every life taken now was in a way a wanton murder, and every 
 right-minded man should strive to avert the shedding of another 
 drop of blood. He had seen with the greatest anxiety President 
 Lincoln expose himself to a fearful risk in walking so carelessly 
 unattended and unprotected through the streets filled with peo- 
 ple whose hearts in their defeat were bitter, and it would be but 
 human nature for some one to take the opportunity to revenge 
 the lost cause on the person of the man who represented the 
 triumphant cause of the Union. 
 
 He then said that what he was particularly anxious to 
 tell me was this : 
 
 He knew that a party had just been dispatched from Raine's 
 torpedo bureau on a secret mission, which vaguely he understood 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 495 
 
 was aimed at the head of the Yankee government, and he wished 
 to put Mr. Lincoln on his guard and have impressed upon him that 
 just at this moment he beHeved him to be in great danger of 
 violence and he should take the greater care of himself. He 
 could not give names or facts, as the work of his department was 
 secret, and no man knew what his comrade was sent to do, but 
 of this he was convinced, that the President of the United States 
 was in great danger. 
 
 Upon expressing willingness to make a statement and 
 swear to it, I called in Captain Staniels, acting assistant 
 adjutant-general, who took down his statement under oath. 
 I then told him I should feel obHged to keep him in custody 
 until I could arrange an interview with President Lincoln. I 
 wrote the President a note and sent it at once aboard the Mal- 
 vern, asking an interview at his earHest leisure on an important 
 matter. It was then about lo o'clock in the evening. In 
 reply he wrote me a personal note, saying he would see me 
 at 9 o'clock the next morning. I was promptly on hand, 
 taking Snyder and his statement with me. 
 
 A MEMORABLE STATEMENT. 
 
 Admiral Porter's boat was waiting at the dock. The 
 President received me most cordially in the Admiral's cabin, 
 and then sat down on the long cushioned seat running along 
 the side of the ship behind the dining table, I taking my seat 
 opposite him. Little Tad, who was then a small and very rest- 
 less boy, amused himself by running up and down the length 
 of the sofa behind his father and jumping over his back in 
 passing. As I progressed in the explanation of my errand, Mr. 
 Lincoln let his head droop upon his hands as his elbows 
 rested on the table, his hands supporting his chin and clasp- 
 ing either cheek in an expression of the most heart-breaking 
 weariness, his great, melancholy eyes filling the cabin with 
 the mournful light they emitted. I read the paper; I urged 
 upon him the reasonableness of the warning, the good faith 
 and apparent integrity of the man, and to make the impres- 
 sion deeper, if possible, I begged him to let me bring him in 
 
496 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 and talk with him, but it was all to no purpose. Finally 
 he lifted his head, and, casting upon me that face above all 
 human faces that of a "man of sorrows and acquainted 
 with grief," he said: "No, General Ripley, it is impos- 
 sible for me to adopt and follow your suggestions. I deeply 
 appreciate the feeling which has led you to urge them 
 on me, — but I must go on as I have begun in the course 
 marked out for me, for I cannot bring myself to believe that 
 any human being lives who would do m£ any harm.." The 
 interview then ended. He was so worn, emaciated, and 
 pallid that he looked more like a disembodied spirit than 
 the successful leader of a great nation in its hour of supreme 
 triumph. I never saw him again; he left Richmond that 
 afternoon, and City Point for Washington in a few days. My 
 warning to him was on the morning of the 5th of April; on 
 the night of the 15 th — a short ten days after — he lay in 
 his blood at Washington, a victim of the wolfish desire for 
 revenge against which Snyder so honestly and prophetically 
 warned him. I have so often thought of the web of fate I 
 held in my impotent hands that morning, and what would 
 have happened to the destinies of this great, new nation 
 which has sprung up out of the blood and agony of that 
 desperate conflict if I had been able to persuade the great 
 President to let his friends protect him until the first rage 
 of the enemy over defeat had expended itself and the 
 realization had come in time to them that he, and his great 
 and generous General Grant were the best and wisest friends 
 they had. Would the miseries and crimes of the reconstruc- 
 tion period have been escaped under his patient, loving 
 leadership, or would it have proved too great a task to bring 
 the sections together and weld them into a sound, healthy 
 body, and the great war President have lived to have been 
 robbed of the lofty prestige in which he died ? 
 
 No man can answer that question, but I have never had 
 any doubt of his holding a higher place in the Pantheon of 
 immortals because I failed, nor any doubt of the lengthened 
 period of the healing of the wounds of the nation because 
 he yielded to his conviction that he was following a path 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 497 
 
 marked out for him by a higher power. Still I would like 
 to feel that I had been able to persuade and save him from 
 his tragic fate. 
 
 By Wednesday much interest began to be felt in the open- 
 ing of the churches on Sunday, and the question asked, " How 
 will the ministers conduct service under the new order of 
 things?" I therefore sent an invitation to all these gentle- 
 men to meet me at my headquarters that afternoon to ex- 
 press their views. They all came, to the number of twenty 
 or more, representing every creed. It was not difficult to 
 come to an understanding with the pastors who had no es- 
 tablished form of prayer, but the rectors of the Episcopal 
 churches, Messrs. Minnigerode, Peterkin, and others, took 
 the ground that as their form of prayer, established by the 
 church of the South, required prayer for President Davis, 
 no power could change it except that which created it. The 
 controversy was warm and amusing to the onlooker, as I 
 sat in the middle of the parlor of Mrs. Allen's house, a mere 
 boy, with twenty or more reverend gentlemen laying down 
 the ecclesiastical law to me. I cut it short by saying to 
 Rev. Dr. Minnigerode, who did the most of the talking: " You 
 forget, sir, that Richmond is again a part of the United 
 States, and under martial law civil and ecclesiastical law is 
 superseded. The churches will all be open on Sunday, will, 
 no doubt, be thronged with an unusually large attendance, 
 and the services will be conducted with regard to loyalty to 
 the United States. Such of you as recognize this reasonable 
 necessity will not be interfered with, but I have an abun- 
 dant supply of clergymen to assign to such pulpits as may be 
 needed to conduct loyal services." They then retired, and 
 I crossed the hall to the opposite parlor, where the theat- 
 rical managers were assembled, to arrange for the opening 
 of the theatres. 
 
 CONTROVERSY WITH THE RICHMOND MINISTERS. 
 
 In the morning I received from Dr. Minnigerode a long 
 and warm protest against any interference by the state 
 
498 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 with the church, vehemently denying my right to place 
 any minister in his pulpit. This paper is in the War Re- 
 cords, where it is pubhshed to complete the history of the 
 heated controversy between Secretary Stanton, Assistant 
 Secretary Dana, General Weitzel, and myself, on the subject 
 of the services to be held. 
 
 April 9th Dana telegraphed Stanton : 
 
 The churches have all been well filled to-day. The ladies, 
 especially, have attended in great numbers. The regular clergy 
 have prayed, almost without exception. The sermons were 
 devout and not political. The city is perfectly qiiiet, and there 
 is more security for persons and property than has existed here 
 for many months. 
 
 This was Secretary Dana's tribute to the splendid work of 
 the First Brigade. 
 
 On April loth Dana telegraphed to Stanton: 
 
 Permission was given to open all churches yesterday on the 
 general condition that no disloyal sentiments should be uttered. 
 No especial authority was given to omit the prayer for the Presi- 
 dent, but it was distinctly understood that that prayer would 
 not be said in Episcopal churches. As I have already reported, 
 Weitzel is of the opinion that this prayer should be required of 
 all those denominations of whose service it forms a regular part, 
 but on the urgent advice of Shepley, military governor, and Brevet 
 Brigadier-General Ripley, he did not give a positive order enforc- 
 ing it. 
 
 This was a deliberate untruth. The reverse was the fact, 
 as will be seen by Dr. Minnigerode's protest to me. The 
 War Records contain long despatches on the subject, too 
 long to copy here. 
 
 Secretary Stanton approved my position, but Weitzel, 
 who had first revoked my order, when he found Stanton was 
 angry with him, deliberately threw the responsibility and 
 blame on me. Dana, detecting it, telegraphed Stanton, " I 
 report the fact, confessing that it shakes a good deal my 
 confidence in Weitzel." 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 499 
 
 AT THEATRE. 
 
 My conference •with the theatre managers was followed 
 by the following letter from R. D'Arcy Ogden of the New 
 Richmond theater: 
 
 General Edward H. Ripley, Commander U. S. Forces. 
 
 Sir: — I have at last succeeded in subduing the somewhat 
 chaotic condition of my corps dramatique and I desire, with 
 your approval, on Monday, April loth, to give a "Grand Enter- 
 tainment," something I hope worthy of your and the other gen- 
 erals' appreciation. The company is somewhat augmented, and 
 on Monday I present Macbeth in which for scenic and musical ef- 
 fects I have been told I have succeeded as well as any of the New 
 York or European theatres. With your approval I desire to decor- 
 ate the boxes you and the other generals will do me the honor to 
 occupy with headquarters flags, etc., and arranging an overture 
 entirely national, and would like to know the precise moment, 
 as nearly as possible, you would enter the theatre. 
 
 The affair fully answered all D'Arcy Ogden's anticipa- 
 tions. Probably the New Richmond Theatre never saw so 
 brilliant a scene. Our brigade and division headquarters 
 supplied him with all the national colors he could use, and 
 the audience, mostly in uniform, was large, brilliant, and 
 enthusiastic. 
 
 Lincoln's death. 
 
 On the 15th of April, order being completely restored, 
 General Patrick, Provost-Marshal General of the Army of 
 the Potomac, was assigned to the command of Richmond 
 and my brigade was moved out into the inner line of works 
 west of the city. 
 
 1 By the sad coincidence of last week's terrible tragedy 
 my mind is painfully swept back to that April morning 
 forty-one years ago when a gallant young captain came 
 to me from General Patrick to arrange the taking over of the 
 
 • Capt. Philip Schuyler was killed in a railroad accident on the 
 Southern Railway Nov. 29, 1906, and his body consumed in the burning 
 wreck. 
 
500 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OP RICHMOND 
 
 command — until but yesterday a highly honored member of 
 this Commandery, a brave soldier, a model citizen, an ideal 
 American gentleman, who, whether fighting to preserve the 
 nation his famous ancestor and namesake fought so well to 
 establish, or in the everyday work of a useful citizenship, 
 always through a well-spent life living up to the highest 
 traditions of his honored name: Philip Schuyler, Captain 
 on the staff of the Provost-Marshal General of the Army 
 of the Potomac. 
 
 On Sunday, the i6th, I was in the saddle from early in 
 the morning until noon, riding from regiment to regiment, 
 following up the Sunday morning inspections. When these 
 were finished I rode into the city to pay my formal respects 
 to General Devens, our division commander, as was the cus- 
 tom on Sundays. He occupied the governor's mansion. 
 While here we were stunned and panic-stricken by our first 
 intelligence of the assassination of President Lincoln, and, 
 as first reported, of the whole Cabinet. It had been with- 
 held from the troops twenty-four hours. For the first few 
 hours I felt that we were, like the Roman legions, holding 
 the government in our hands ; that in us, the armies of the 
 Potomac, the James, and the Tennessee, were the Country 
 and the Government, and that we, thank God, were yet 
 complete and in the full pride of our power able to control 
 the destiny of the Republic. I rode back in profound dejec- 
 tion, thinking of Snyder and my fateful interview with the 
 President so quickly stricken. 
 
 On Saturday, the isth, I had written to my friends in the 
 north: 
 
 The war is over and we all feel as though we might be mus- 
 tered out at any moment. I myself feel my occupation gone; 
 do not expect to see an armed rebel or again hear a hostile shot 
 fired. Lee's army is crowding in here, but we feel no more their 
 presence than as though they were the Rutland Lightguard, and 
 now it is all that left of that once grand and glorious Army of 
 Northern Virginia. What a terrible fate has like a lightning 
 stroke fallen upon it. 
 
 Shortly after this I took the brigade across the James to 
 
CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 50I 
 
 the Broad Rock race-course, three miles south of Manchester, 
 where we went into tents again. 
 
 From here it began to be scattered. On the 20th of May 
 I wrote : 
 
 Weitzel's colored corps sailed last evening for Texas 25,000 
 strong. We are breaking up and floating apart like a weakened 
 raft. I have but three of my regiments with me. The 19th 
 Wisconsin is at Fredericksburg, the 8ist New York at Williams- 
 burg, and the 98th New York at Danville, but the brigade is not 
 destroyed and they report yet to me. 
 
 I feel very strongly toward this approaching short and charm- 
 ing month of June, that is to cap and make complete my three 
 years of war experience. Every day that passes and brings me 
 nearer to a peace footing and citizenship teaches me how strongly 
 — more strongly than I ever dreamed — I have become wedded to 
 this stirring, heroic life ; and yet it has become painfully monoto- 
 nous, and when, day before yesterday, upon the arrival of Gov- 
 ernor Pierrepoint, a salute was fired, and the roar of the first gun 
 broke the oppressive and stifling silence of the last two months, 
 regiment after regiment sprang to its feet and gave cheer after 
 cheer of gratified relief. 
 
 Those who argue that henceforth the 4th of July will be dull 
 and stupid are wrong. The guns of the 4th will stir the blood of 
 thousands of men who are pining for the excitement of their war 
 days, and it will thrill through them like wine to a faint and 
 thirsty man, or the blast of a bugle to a warhorse. 
 
 On the 9th of June I wrote : 
 
 To-morrow we have our farewell corps review, after which the 
 gallant Twenty-fourth Army Corps will pass into history. 
 
 It will be a sad sight for all. I shall stay with my brigade 
 until the last. My days and nights under Southern skies, under 
 trees, under canvas, under ground, in trenches, on Southern 
 verandas, are rapidly drawing to a close, and as I leave mine 
 night after night, I heave many a sigh as I think that one more 
 has gone never to return. 
 
 Within a few days the 9th Vermont regiment, which 
 had won distinction in general orders after hot competition 
 as the finest of the eighteen regiments of Devens's division, 
 left for Vermont to hang its banners in the capitol at Mont- 
 
502 CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF RICHMOND 
 
 pelier ; lay aside its rifles, and sink away into our Green 
 Mountain valleys to disappear from the sight of man for- 
 ever, leaving but a dream of its heroic past. Life seemed 
 collapsed in the dull routine of country business, like the 
 explosion of a shell in the air, leaving but little smoke and 
 few fragments behind to tell of the glorious days that had 
 been. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abbot, Gen. Henry L., 33 
 Abbott, Col. J. C, 10, 11, 15-18, 
 
 21-23. 33. 34, 45. 49 
 Achates, 299 
 Adams, John, 282 
 Adrian, Lieut., 205 
 JEneas, 299 
 Agamemnon, 422 
 Alabama, 15th, 205 
 Alabama Cavalry, ist, 254 
 Alexander, 114, 148, 296 
 Alger, Russell A., 203, 223, 224 
 Allen, Lieut., 119 
 Allen, Mrs., 490, 497 
 American Conflict, The, 479 
 American History, Four Hundred 
 
 Years of, 191 
 Ames, Gen. Adelbert, paper of, 
 
 1-24; mentioned, 29, 31, 33, 34, 
 
 37. 38. 42-44. 47. 50. SI 
 Anderson, 277 
 Anderson, Capt., 254, 255 
 Anderson, Gen. Robert, 339 
 Antietam, At the Battle of, with 
 
 the 8th Ohio Infantry, 70-85; 
 
 Supplemental Paper on, 101-103 
 Appomattox, 260-280 
 Armstrong, Capt., 219 
 Army Register, 33s, 336 
 Arnold, 250 
 Artise, 331, 332 
 Atlantic, the, 33 
 Augur, Gen. Christopher C, 423 
 Averill, Gen. William W., 170, 171, 
 
 173 
 
 B 
 
 Babcock, Col., 32 
 
 Badeau, Adam, 19, 21, 23 
 
 Bagg, Maj., 40 
 
 Bainbridge, Commodore, 125, 126 
 
 Baird, Gen. George W., paper of, 
 
 421-437 
 Baldwin, Gen. Frank D., 429-431, 
 
 434 
 
 Banks, Gen. Nathaniel P., 72, 91, 
 
 157, 169, 192, 193, 292, 298, 
 .^ 339. 368, 459 
 Barksdale's brigade, 277 
 Barney, Lieut.-Col. Albert M., 20, 
 
 3°. 40 
 Barron, Commodore James, 118, 
 
 119, 122-126 
 Barron, Capt. Samuel, 118 
 Bartlett, Prof., 439 
 Bartlett, Ritty, 439, 440 
 Bates, Gen. John C., 395 
 Bazaine, 467 
 "Bear Coat," 430 
 Beauregard, Gen. P. G. T., 223, 224, 
 
 353.354 
 Beecher, Henry Ward, 151, 177 
 Bell, Col. L., 14, 21-24, 36. 37. 46, 49 
 Benham, 152 
 Ben Hur, 159 
 Benteen, Col. Frederick W., 321- 
 
 325. 327 
 Benton, flag-ship, 86-88, 91, 99 
 Benton, Miss Jessie, 178 
 Benton, Senator Thomas H., 178, 
 
 187 
 Berdan, Gen. Hiram, 201 
 Berkly, Vice-Adml., 118, 120 
 Betton, Capt., 473 
 Bigelow, Hon. John, 183 
 Bigelow's Mass. Battery, 277 
 Birney, Gen., 261, 262 
 Blair, Gov., 223 
 Blair, Gen. Frank P., 97, 159, 163, 
 
 194. 363. 440. 443. 446. 450 
 Blair, Montgomery, 187, 194 
 Blucher, 108 
 Blunt, Gen., 316, 318, 320-323, 326, 
 
 450. 451,. 454. 460, 46r 
 Bonne Citoyenne, English brig, 
 
 128, 133 
 Bourbaki, Gen., 430 
 Bowers, Col., 86, 216 
 Box, Capt. R. M., 255 
 Boyd, Capt., 382 
 Braddock, 422, 437 
 Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 17, 48, 64, 
 
 65, 212, 256, 342, 343, 361-366 
 
 503 
 
504 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Branch, Gen. Lawrence O'B., 139, 
 
 143 
 Breckinridge, Gen. John C, 155, 
 
 170, 233 
 Breese, Fleet Capt. K. R., 11, 18, 
 
 22 
 Breese, Senator, 182 
 Brodhead, James O., 456, 457 
 Broke, Capt. P. B. V., 130, 132, 135 
 Brooke, Gen. John R., paper of, 
 
 247-251; mentioned, 395 
 Brooke — Rawle, Col. William, 204 
 Brown, Capt., 268 
 Brown, Gen., 317, 320 
 Brown, Maj., 335 
 Bruguier, 434 
 Buchanan, President James, 185, 
 
 430 
 Buckner, Gen. Simon B., 155, 156 
 Buell, Gen. Don Carlos, 65-68, 341, 
 
 351. 354, 356, 368 
 Buford, Gen. John, 198-201 
 BuUus, Dr., 119 
 BuUus, Mrs., 119 
 Burk, Gen., 208 
 Burnside, Gen. Ambrose E., 138- 
 
 140, 142-144, 3.153-365. 440 
 Butler, Gen. Benjamin F., 1-3, 7, 9, 
 
 10, 19, 24, 28, 30-33, 455, 458 
 
 Cadle, Col. Cornelius, 93 
 
 Cassar, 114 
 
 Calef's battery, 199 
 
 Calhoun, John C, 285 
 
 Canby, Gen. Edward R. S., 301, 
 427 
 
 "Captain Jack," 427 
 
 Carleton, Gen. Chas. A., 11, 23 
 
 Carroll, Gen. Samuel Sprigg, 74, 82 
 
 Carter, 433 
 
 Carter, Col., 172 
 
 Casey, Lieut. Ned, 432 
 
 Castle Thunder, 483, 484 
 
 Castro, Gen., 180 
 
 Century Magazine, 205 
 
 Chaffee, Gen. Adna R., 256, 395 
 
 Chalmers, Gen. James R., 224 
 
 Chamberlain, Gen. Joshua L., pa- 
 per of, 260-280 
 
 Chapman, Gen. George H., 172 
 
 Chase, Salmon P., 185, 194 
 
 Cheever, Ezekiel, 283 
 
 Chesapeake, V. S. S., 1 18-120, 122, 
 127, 129-136 
 
 Chicago Tribune, 156 
 
 Chickamauga, Confederate gunboat, 
 34 
 
 Chief Gall, 427, 428 
 
 China, war with, 374 
 
 Chinese massacre, 444 
 
 Chivington, Col. J. M., 256 
 
 Christian Commission, 486 
 
 Church, Prof., 400, 439 
 
 Clark, Lieut., 268 
 
 Clark, Lieut.-Col., 144 
 
 Cleveland, President Grover, 441, 
 
 444. 445 
 Cobb's Georgia Legion, 276 
 Coghlan, Adml. Joseph B., paper 
 
 of, 384-392 
 Colfax, Vice-President Schuyler, 
 
 T 88 
 Collis, Gen. Charles H. T., 169 
 Colorado Cavalry, 256 
 Columbia, 437 
 Comstock, Gen. Cyrus B., 9-1 1, 
 
 15. 31. 32. 34-37. 50 
 Congressional Record, 399 
 Connecticut Artillery, ist, 33 
 Connecticut, 6th, 16 
 Connecticut, 8th, 145 
 Connecticut, nth, 473 
 Connecticut, XJ. S. S., 389 
 Connecticut Vols., 7th, 15 
 Connyngham, 250 
 ConstiHUion, U. S. S., 122, 129, 136 
 Continental, steamer, 56 
 Conway, Gen. Thomas, 282 
 "Copperheads," 298 
 Corbin, Gen. Henry C, paper of, 
 
 281—291; mentioned, 395 
 Corse, Gen. John M., 211, 308, 359 
 Cox, Gen. Jacob D., 344, 465 
 Crawford, Hon. William H., 284 
 Crazy Horse, 425, 431, 433-435 
 Crittenden, Gen. George B., 340 
 Crocker, Gen. Marcellus M., 97 
 Cromwell, 114 
 Crook, Gen. George, 171, 174, 176, 
 
 425, 426, 431 
 Curlew, ferry-boat, 138 
 Curtis, Gen. Newton Martin, 6, 8, 
 
 12—14, 18— 24; paper of, 25—51, 
 Curtis, Gen. Samuel R., 221, 222, 
 
 315, 316, 318-323, 327, 442. 451. 
 
 453. 456, 457. 460, 462 
 Custer, Gen. George A., 171, 202- 
 
 204, 236, 268, 425-427, 433 
 Cyane, the, 136 
 Cyrus, 148 
 
 D 
 
 Daggett, Col., 12, 22, 23 
 
 Dana, Charles A., 90, 342, 362, 491, 
 
 498 
 David, 332 
 
 Davies, Gen. Thomas A., 211, 360 
 Davis, Capt. Charles E., Jr., loi 
 Davis, Gen. George W., 288 
 Davis, Jefferson, 150, 292, 295, 298, 
 
 484, 497 
 
INDEX 
 
 SOS 
 
 Davis, Gen. Jefferson C, 163 
 
 Decatur, Capt. Stephen, 118, 122- 
 127, 250 
 
 Deitzler, Gen. George W., 316 
 
 Deloney, Col. "Bill," 197 
 
 Devens, Gen. Charles, 473, 475, 479, 
 480, 487, 500, 501 
 
 Devin, Gen. Thomas C, 171, 172, 
 198—200, 263 
 
 Dewey, Adml. George, 104 
 
 Dick, Franklin A., 456, 457 
 
 Dickey, Maj., 433 
 
 Dill, Capt. Hamilton, 58 
 
 Dobbin, Col., 311 
 
 Dodge, Gen. Grenville M., 97, 152, 
 162; paper of, 207-227; men- 
 tioned, 250; papers of, 252-259, 
 347-372; mentioned, 422, 438; 
 memorial address on Gen. John 
 M. Schofield, 441-445 
 
 Donnelly, Capt. Geo. K., 53, 57, 
 58, 62, 67 
 
 Douglas, Senator Stephen A., 449 
 
 Drake, Hon. Charles D., 455 
 
 Dudley, Col. Edgar S., paper of, 
 393—403 
 
 Duffie, Gen. Alfred N., 171 
 
 Dunkards, the, 167 
 
 Eagle, Commodore Henry, 414, 415 
 
 Eagle, feiTy-boat, 138 
 
 Early, Gen. Jubal A., 170-175 
 
 Elliott, Capt., 125 
 
 Elliott, Gen. Washington L., 223, 
 
 224 
 Emory, Gen. William H., 171, 176 
 Endymwn, the, 136 
 England, King of, 286 
 Espiegle, the, 129 
 Essington, Capt. H. B., 13 
 Evans, Capt. Simon S., 58 
 Evarts, Wm. M., 449 
 Everett, Surg.-Gen., 151 
 Ewell, Prof. Benjamin S., 490 
 Ewell, Gen. Richard S., 169, 196, 
 
 202, 233, 278, 334, 476, 477, 479, 
 
 480, 482, 483, 490—492 
 Ewing, Gen. Thomas, Jr., 307-313, 
 
 454 
 
 Pagan, Gen. James F., 302, 306, 
 
 308-310, 319, 321, 324-326 
 Farnsworth, Gen. Elon J., 205 
 Farquhar, Lieut., 29 
 Farragut, Adml. David G., 414, 
 
 415 
 Fetterman, Col. William J., 423 
 Fifth Avenue Hotel, 494 
 
 Fishback, Major W. H., 340 
 
 Fisk, Gen. Clinton B., 314 
 
 Fitz Lee's division, 172 
 
 Fletcher, Col. and Gov., 311 
 
 Foley, Capt., 243 
 
 Foote, Adml. Andrew H., 155, 190, 
 
 350 
 Forrest, Gen. Nathan B., 298, 359, 
 
 360, 464, 465 
 Fort Fisher, N. C, the capture of, 
 
 Jan. 15, 1865, 1-24; the capture 
 
 of, 25-51 
 Forty-six Years in the Army, book, 
 
 469 
 Foster, Gen. John G., 140, 143, 144, 
 
 366, 442, 460 
 Foster, Gen. Robert S. ("Sandy"), 
 
 472. 473 
 Frederick the Great, 114 
 Fremont in the Civil War, 177-195 
 Fremont, Major Frank Preston, 
 
 186 
 Fremont, Gen. John C, 240-242, 
 
 246, 442, 446, 456, 457 
 Fremont, Lieut.-Commander John 
 
 Charles, 1S6 
 French's division, 71-74, 84 
 Fry, Gen. James B,, 426 
 Fuller, Gen. John W., 158, 160, 218, 
 
 219, 360 
 
 Galwey, Lieut. Thomas F. De 
 
 Burgh, paper of, 70-85 
 Gamble, Gen. William, 198—200 
 Gamble, Gov., 453 
 Garde Schuetzen battalion, 102 
 Garrard, Gen. Kenner, 219 
 Gates, Gen. Horatio, 282 
 Geary, Gen. John W., 343 
 General Flower, the, 132 
 General Price, Confederate ram, 89 
 General Staff Corps, the, 281-291 
 German army, 422 
 Getty, Gen. George W., 334 
 Gettysburg, The Cavalry at, 196- 
 
 206 
 Gibbon, Gen. John, 261, 437, 472 
 Gibbs, Gen. Alfred, 172 
 Gibson's brigade, 64 
 Glenn, Major, 257, 258 
 Glisson, Capt. O. S., 29 
 Godfrey, Col. E. S., 425 
 Golding, Capt., 193 
 Gordon, Gen. James B., 232 
 Gordon, Gen. John B., 172-174, 
 
 267, 268, 270, 275, 276 
 Gospel of Peace, the, 208 
 Gracie, Gen. Archibald, Jr., widow 
 
 of, 486, 488 
 Grain, Lieut., 255 
 
5o6 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Granger, Gen. Gordon, 223, 365 
 Grant, Lieut. -Col. Frederick D., 
 
 paper of, 86-100; mentioned, 
 
 398, 400 
 Grant, Mrs. Julia Dent, 350, 351, 
 
 357. 358. 370. 371 
 
 Grant, Gen. U. S., 8-10, 19, 28, 32- 
 34, 50. SI. 56, 58. 61, 67, 68, 87, 
 91-99, III, IIS, 151. 156. IS7. 
 160, 162, 163, 171, 172, 176, 177, 
 190, 207—217, 224-226, 228, 250, 
 253, 256, 261, 264, 267, 269. 271, 
 273, 274, 290, 291, 298, 300, 301, 
 343, 344; personal recollec- 
 tions of, and his campaigns in 
 tl],e West, 347-372; mentioned, 
 415, 442, 443, 445, 446, 448, 450, 
 453. 459-463, 466, 467, 473, 476, 
 492, 493. 496 
 
 Graves, Lieut., 484, 485 
 
 Greathouse, Col. Charlie, 152 
 
 Great Spirit, 427 
 
 Greeley, Horace, 479 
 
 Greene, Gen. Nathaniel, 250 
 
 Gregg, Gen. David McM.,'198, 201- 
 204, 234, 251, 270 
 
 Gregory, Gen. Edgar M., 263, 269 
 
 Gridley, Col. Richard, 283 
 
 Grierson, Gen. Benjamin H., 152, 
 458 
 
 Griffin, Gen. Charles, 260, 261, 
 264, 267, 271, 273 
 
 Grosvenor, Rev. William Mercer, 
 D. D., sermon of, 414-420 
 
 Grover, Gen. Cuvier, 173 
 
 Giierrikre, English ship of war, 121, 
 122, 129 
 
 Gunderson. Capt., 382 
 
 Gunnison, Lieut., 256 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus, 114 
 
 H 
 
 Hakuai Maru, Japanese hospital 
 
 ship, 381 
 Halleck, Gen. Henry Wager, 157, 
 
 184, 192, 193, 222, 223, 300, 327, 
 
 350-352. 354-356, 363. 366. 368, 
 
 442, 446, 456, 457, 461 
 Hamblin, Capt., 255 
 Hamilton, Alexander, 406 
 Hampton, Gen. Wade, 204, 233, 234 
 Hancock, Gen. Winfield S., 163, 
 
 201, 250 
 Hannibal, 148 
 
 Hannibal and St. Joseph R. R., 53 
 Hardee, Gen. William J., 295, 337 
 Hardin, Col., 154 
 Harding, Col. Chester, 317 
 Harding, Major O. P., 13 
 Harlan, Senator, 208 
 Harris, Col., 348, 349 
 
 Harris, Gov., 65 
 
 Harrison, President Benjamin, 195 
 
 Hartsuff, Gen. George L., loi 
 
 Hatch, Gen. Edward, 464 
 
 Hayes, Gen. Rutherford B., 174 
 
 Hazen, Gen. William B., 288, 343 
 
 Headley, 335 
 
 Heermance, Capt. William L., pa- 
 per of, 196-206 
 
 Hemstreet, Lieut.-Col. William, pa- 
 per of, 148-166 
 
 Henderson, Gen. J. B., 461, 463 
 
 Henry Clay, transport, 87 
 
 Herron, Gen. Francis J., 450, 453, 
 459-461 
 
 Heth, Gen. Henry, 270, 277 
 
 Hewitt, Dr., 96 
 
 Hill, Gen. Ambrose P., 196, 199, 
 200, 277 
 
 Hindman, Gen. Thomas C, 64, 451, 
 462 
 
 Hoke, Gen. Robert P., 276 
 
 Homer, 422 
 
 Hood, Gen. John B., 10 1, 153, 211, 
 226, 278, 298, 299, 327, 344, 345, 
 359. 444. 446. 464-466 
 
 Hooker, Col. Geo. W., 478 
 
 Hooker, Gen. Joseph, 102, 196, 198, 
 343.364 
 
 Hopkins, Major George G., paper 
 of, 138-147 
 
 Hornet, U. S. S., 128, 129, 133, 136 
 
 Houghtaling, Capt., 152 
 
 Hovey, Gen. Alvin P., 94, 97 
 
 Howard, Capt. John R., paper of, 
 
 177-195 
 
 Howard, John Tasker, 185-187 
 
 Howard, Gen. O. O., 162, 164-166, 
 250; paper of, 329-346; men- 
 tioned, 364, 365, 428; Memorial 
 address on Gen. John M. Scho- 
 field, 438-441 
 
 Hull, Commodore Isaac, 118, 122, 
 129, 250 
 
 Hump, 435 
 
 Humphreys, Capt., 119 
 
 Hunter, the, 132 
 
 Hunter, Capt., 442 
 
 Hunter, Gen. David, 170, 191, 192, 
 
 233. 456 
 Hunton, Gen. Eppa, 276 
 Hurlbut, Gen. Stephen A., 62, 64, 
 
 357. 366 
 
 Illinois Central R. R. Co., 157 
 Illinois Cavalry, 17th, 312 
 Illinois Infantry, 21st, 348 
 Independence, frigate, 178 
 Indiana, 7th, 317 
 Indiana, 8th, 324 
 
INDEX 
 
 507 
 
 Indiana, 13th, 36 
 
 Indiana, 14th, 71, 75, 79, 82, 85 
 
 Ingalls, Gen. Rufus, 208 
 
 Iowa, 2d, 317, 444 
 
 Iowa, 3d, 317,319, 324 
 
 Iowa Cavalry Vet. Vols., 4th, 292, 
 
 320. 323-325 
 Iowa Infantry, 4th, 222, 223 
 Iowa Infantry, 14th, 307 
 Irish Brigade, 81 
 Iron Brigade, 277 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, 195, 250, 251 
 
 Jackson, Col., 31 
 
 Jackson, Gov. Claiborne F., 293- 
 
 29s. 297 
 Jackson, "Stonewall" (Thomas J.), 
 
 71, 72, 168, 169, 192, 193, 276, 
 
 339. 346 
 Jackson, Gen. William H., 359, 
 
 360 
 Janeway, Col. Hugh H., 238 
 Japan's Preparation for War, 373- 
 
 383 
 Jeffers, Commodore William N., 2 
 Johnson, President Andrew, 215, 
 
 441, 449. 467 
 Johnson, Lieut.-Col., 14 
 Johnson, Col., 255 
 Johnson, Gen. Bushrod R., 277 
 Johnson, Gen. Richard W., 333 
 Johnston, Gen., 65, 168, 217, 260 
 Johnston, Preston, 64 
 Johnston, Gen. Albert Sidney, 337, 
 
 353 
 Johnston, Gen. Joseph E., 93, 97, 
 
 98, 2r7, 343, 344, 359. 360. 369. 
 
 444. 446, 447. 459. 466 
 Jones, Corporal, 42 
 Jones, Capt. P. M., 268 
 Jones, Maj., 40 
 Jones, John Paul, 250 
 Joseph, 430, 436 
 Jubal E., 170, 174 
 
 K 
 
 Kansas City Journal of Commerce, 
 
 55 
 Kansas Cavalry, 320, 322, 326 
 Kansas Militia, 316, 318, 320 
 Kearny, Gen. Philip, 181, 182 
 Keim, Gen. William H., daughter 
 
 of, 485. 487 
 Kelley, Gen. Benjamin F., 71 
 Kellogg, Miss Frances S., 337 
 Kempton, Silas W., mate, U. S. N., 
 
 43 
 Kenly, Col., 169 
 Kenny, Capt., 82 
 
 Kershaw, Gen. Joseph B., 172, 174, 
 
 277, 278 
 Kilpatrick, Gen. Judson, 162, 163, 
 
 198, 201, 205 
 Kimball, Gen. Nathan, 71-75. 8r, 
 
 83-85 
 King, Col. Horatio C, paper of, 
 
 167-176 
 Etching, Gen. John Howard, 174 
 Knight, Orderly A. D., 42, 43 
 "Knights of the Golden Circle," 
 
 298 
 Korea, war with, 378 
 Kreutzer, Lieut.-Col. William, 473 
 
 Lagow, Col. Clark B., 9r-93, 95 
 La Hague, British warship, 130 
 Lamb, Col. William, 3, 4, 7, 8, 19, 
 
 20, 25, 27, 40, 41, 45, 48 
 Lame Deer, 435 
 Lander, Gen. Frederick W., 71 
 Lane, Gen. "Jim" (James H.) 454, 
 
 461 
 Larned, Col. Chas. W., paper of, 
 
 404-413 
 Law, Gen. Evander M., 205 
 Lawrence, Capt. A. G., 12, 18, 21, 
 
 38 
 
 Lawrence, Capt. James, r27-i3o, 
 132-136, 250 
 
 Lazy Tom, 146 
 
 Lear, Col., 126 
 
 Lee, Gen. Fitzhugh, 204 
 
 Lee, "Light Horse Harry," 250 
 
 Lee, Gen. Robert E., 4, 27, 48, 102, 
 103, 115, 160, 170, 196, 198, 200— 
 202, 205, 208, 217, 225, 229, 230, 
 233, 234, 236—238, 260—262, 265, 
 267, 269-274, 276, 278, 298, 337, 
 346, 369, 415. 463. 466, 472, 483, 
 491, 492, 500 
 
 Lee, Mrs. Robert E., 492 
 
 Lee, Capt. R. H., 33 
 
 Lee, " Rooney," 270 
 
 Lee, Gen. William H. F., 274 
 
 Leonidas, 437 
 
 Leopard, the, British frigate, ri8, 
 119, 122 
 
 Levant, the, 136 
 
 Libby Prison, 483-485, 493 
 
 Lieber, Prof., 257 
 
 Lincoln, President Abraham, 17, 
 71, 102, 103, r43, 150, 160, 177, 
 187, 190, 193, 207-210, 217, 251, 
 274, 292, 298, 328, 339, 364-366, 
 418, 442, 446, 451-454, 459-461, 
 
 492-495.499. 500 
 Lincoln, Little Tad, 495 
 Linn, Senator, r79 
 Little Belt, the, 121, 122 
 
5o8 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Little Hawk, 435 
 
 Little Things about Big Generals, 
 
 148-166 
 Lockwood, Capt. H, C, 17, 18 
 Logan, Maj. John A., 154 
 Logan, Gen. John A., 87, go, 94, 
 
 97, 154, 163. 214, 344, 354, 440 
 Lomax, Gen. Lunsford L., 172, 173 
 hondon AthencEum, 179 
 London Times, 136 
 Longstreet, Gen. James, 169, 196, 
 
 268, 272, 277, 363, 365, 366, 460, 
 
 461, 463, 486 
 Louisiana, steamer, 29 
 Louisiana, U. S. S., 389 
 Lowell, Gen. Charles Russell, 172 
 Ludlow, Lieut., 133, 134, 136 
 Ludlow, Gen. William, 288 
 Lunn, Mr., 99 
 Lyman, Lieut. -Col., 13, 42 
 Lyon, Col., 442 
 Lyon, Gen. Nathaniel, 189, 297, 
 
 440-442, 446, 449, 450 
 
 M 
 
 MacArthur, Gen. Arthur, 395 
 Mackenzie, Gen. Ronald S., 238, 
 
 274 
 Madison, President James, 195 
 Magill, Capt. David B., 43, 44 
 Mahan, Prof. D. H., 7, 333 
 Mahone, Gen. William, 277 
 Maine, XJ. S. S., 108, 112, 120 
 Malvern, V. S. S., flagship, 492, 
 
 493. 495 
 Mansfield, Gen. Joseph K. F., 74 
 Marble, Capt., 15 
 Mariscal, Signor, 467 
 Marlborough, 114 
 Marmaduke, Gen. John S., 302, 306, 
 
 308, 309, 312, 319-321, 324-326 
 Marshall, Col., 271 
 Mason, John Y., M. C, 333 
 Massachusetts Infantry Vols., 12th, 
 
 lOI 
 
 Massachusetts Infantry, 13th, loi 
 Massachusetts, 21st, 144, 145 
 Mayo, Hon. Joseph, 481 
 Maximilian, 467 
 McCausIand, Gen. John, 171 
 McClellan, Gen. George B., 152, 169, 
 288, 292, 298, 299, 328, 351, 352 
 McClernand, Gen. John A., 88, 91, 
 
 95. 15s 
 McDowell, Gen. Irvin, 71, 72, 193 
 McGowan, Gen. Samuel, 276 
 McHenry, Hon. James, 283 
 McHugh, gunner, 433 
 Mcintosh, Gen. John B., 172, 203 
 McKinley, President William, 106, 
 
 251, 287, 468 
 
 McLean, Mr., 415 
 
 McMahon, Gen. Martin T., paper 
 
 of, 1 18-137 
 McNeil, Gen. John, 255, 317, 321, 
 
 322 
 McPherson, Gen. James B., 91-94, 
 
 97, 162, 218, 250, 343, 344, 3S7, 
 
 366, 43S-440, 443, 444, 460 
 McReynoIds, 255 
 Meade, Gen. George G., 163, 170, 
 
 225, 250, 260, 261, 448, 472 
 Merritt, Gen. Wesley, 171, 176, 198, 
 
 202 
 Mexican War, 248, 297, 332, 347, 
 
 348, 369, 406 
 Meyer, Lieut. -Col. F. X., 38, 40 
 Michigan, ist., 204 
 Michigan, 5th, 203 
 Michigan, 7th, 203 
 Michigan Cavalry, 2d, 223 
 Michigan Vols., 19th, 429 
 Mifflin, Gen. Thomas, 282 
 Miles, Gen. Nelson A., 421, 425-428, 
 
 430. 431. 433. 435-437 
 
 Miles, Mrs. Nelson A., 435 
 
 Millard, 486 
 
 Miller, Capt., 80 
 
 Miller, Maj. Theo., 473 
 
 Miller, Col., 151 
 
 Mills, Gen. Albert L., 399-403 
 
 Milroy, Gen. Robert H., 169 
 
 Minneconjous, 43s 
 
 Minnesota, frigate, 25 
 
 Minnigerode, Dr., 497, 498 
 
 Missouri, The Last Fight for, 292- 
 328 
 
 Missouri Cavalry, 297 
 
 Missouri Provisional Enrolled Mi- 
 litia, 300 
 
 Missouri State Guard. 297 
 
 Missouri State Militia, 226, 255, 
 293. 442, 45°. 453. 455. 456. 458. 
 459 
 
 Missouri State Militia Cavalry,300 
 
 Missouri State Militia Cavalry, 7th, 
 Co. H., 255 
 
 Missouri, ist, 63, 450 
 
 Missouri, 4th, 317, 324 
 
 Missouri, 47th, 311 
 
 Missouri Cavalry, loth, 317, 319, 
 
 321. 324 
 Missouri Infantry, 13th, 53 
 Missouri Infantry, 21st, 58 
 Missouri regiment, 7th, 89 
 Missouri regiment, 8th, 87 
 Missouri Infantry, 43d, 59 
 Missouri Vol. Infantry, 25th, 53, 62 
 Molineux, Gen. Edward L., 173, 
 
 174 
 Montana, A Winter Campaign in, 
 
 and its Results, 421-437 
 Moore, Col., 58, 59 
 
INDEX 
 
 509 
 
 Moore, Col. J. W., 13, 21, 24, 40, 46 
 Morehouse, Capt. R. D., 42 
 Morgan, Gen. John H., 458 
 Morris, Commodore R. V., 118 
 Morris's brigade, 72, 73 
 Morton, Charles, Capt., U. S. A., 
 
 paper of, 52-69 
 Morton, John N., 64 
 Morton, Marcus, 59 
 Morton, William, 61, 66 
 Mosby, Col. John S., 176 
 Moses, 332 
 Mower, Gen. Joseph A., 160, 163, 
 
 164,301-303, 316 
 Murphy, Private William, 337 
 Murphy, Col., 360 
 Myer, Maj. Albert J., 283 
 Myrick's battery, 33 
 
 N 
 
 Napoleon, 102, 114, 115, 330, 447, 
 
 467, 482 
 Napoleon, Louis, 296 
 Navy, the, 384—392 
 Navy, Secretary of the, 4, 5, 50, 123, 
 
 391 
 Nelson, (English Admiral), 136 
 Nelson, Gen. William, 163 
 Newbern, Battle of, as I Saw It, 
 
 138-147 
 Newhall, Col., 237, 271 
 Newhall, Lieut., 240, 243 
 New Hampshire, 7th, 15, 16 
 New Hampshire, 13th, 473, 477, 
 
 488 
 New Hampshire Vols., 3d, 15, 16, 
 
 45 
 New Jersey Cavalry, ist, 203 
 Newton, Gen. John, 220 
 New York, 3d, 34 
 New York, 8ist, 473, 501 
 New York, 88th, 81 
 New York, 98th, 473, 501 
 New York, 112th, 46 
 New York, 117th, 13, 31, 38-43, 
 
 48 
 New York, 139th, 473 
 New York, i42d, 30, 40, 42 
 New York, 185th, 268 
 New York Cavalry, 6th, 199 
 New York Cavalry, 9th, 200 
 New York Engineers, 15th, 33 
 New York Heavy Artillery, i6th, 
 
 33 
 New York Herald, 345 
 New York Light Battery, i6th, 33 
 New York Stock Exchange, 399 
 Nez Perces Indians, 430, 436 
 Nicollet, Jean, 178 
 North Atlantic Blockading Squad- 
 ron, 50 
 
 Northern Cheyenne Indians, 422, 
 
 431, 435 
 Northern Pacific R. R., 424, 436 
 Noyes, Gov., 158 
 
 Ogallalas, 431. 435 
 
 Ogden, R. D'Arcy, 499 
 
 Oglesby, Gov. and Gen. Richard 
 
 J., 150, 212 
 Ohio, 4th, 71, 72 
 Ohio, 6th, 230 
 Ohio Infantry, Eighth, At the 
 
 Battle of Antietam with the, 70- 
 
 85 
 Oliver, Col. W. S., 87 
 Ord, Gen. Edward O. C, 261, 264, 
 
 269, 356,357. 472 
 "Order of American Knights," 298, 
 
 299 
 Osterhaus, Gen. Peter J., 91, 97 
 Ould, Judge, 484 
 
 Paine, Gen. Charles J., 2, 10, 11, 22, 
 
 29, 34, 44, 48 
 Palfrey, Gen. Francis W., 76, 84, 
 
 85 
 Paris, Count de, 201 
 Parke, Gen. John G., 140, 142-144, 
 
 362, 368 
 Parker, Commander James, 3 
 Patrick, Gen. Marsena R., 499 
 Patriotism, 247—251 
 Patterson, Gen. Robert, 168, 339 
 Patton, Prof., 191 
 Peabody, Col. Everett, 54, 57-61, 
 
 67, 151 
 Peacock, British sloop of war, 129 
 Peake, Capt., 129 
 Pechell, Capt., 121 
 Pegram, Gen. John, 172 
 Pemberton, Gen. John C, 93, 95, 
 
 98, 99, 359, 360 
 Penguin, the, 136 
 Pennsylvania, 3d, 203 
 Pennsylvania, 97th, 13 
 Pennsylvania, i32d, 72, 75, 85 
 Pennsylvania Vols., 203d, 13, 24, 
 
 40, 42 
 Pennypacker, Col. Galusha, 12-14, 
 
 21-23, 36, 37, 40, 46, 47, 49, 51 
 Perry, Capt. Oliver Hazard, 120, 
 
 250 
 Personal Memoirs (Gen. Grant), 
 
 28 iK.'! 
 
 Personal Recollections of Some of 
 
 our Great Commanders in the 
 
 Civil War, 207-227 
 Peterkin, Dr., 497 
 
Sio 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Philadelphia, V. S. S., 127 
 Philippines, The Army in the, 252- 
 
 259 
 Philips' Massachusetts battery, 277 
 Phillips, Col., 320, 323-325 
 Pickett, Gen. George E., 202, 278 
 Pierce, Maj., 325 
 Pierrepoint, Gov., 501 
 Pierson, Gen. J. Fred., 484 
 Pillow, Gen. Gideon J., 295 
 Pitcher, Gen. Thomas G., 155 
 Pleasonton, Gen. Alfred, 81, 195, 
 
 198, 317-324 
 Polk, President James K., 182, 183 
 Polk, Gen. Leonidas, 295 
 Pompey, 230 
 "Pony," Orderly, 91 
 Pope, Gen. John, 155, 169, 191, 
 
 193. 354 
 Pope, Lieut.-Col., 433 
 Porter, Lieut., 37 
 Porter, torpedo-boat, 186 
 Porter, Admiral David D., 2—6, 8— 
 
 II, 18, 19, 29, 35, 36, 47, 50, 86- 
 
 88, 99, 492, 493, 495 
 Porter, Gen. Fitz-John, 274 
 Porter, Gen. Horace, 438, 440, 446 
 Powell, Maj. James E., 54, 58, 63, 
 
 67 
 Preble, Commodore Edward, 126, 
 
 127 
 Prentiss, Gen. Benjamin M., 55, 56, 
 
 58, 59, 64, 68, 151-153, 155-157 
 President, U. S. S., 121, 136 
 Price, Gen. Sterling, 190, 191, 241, 
 
 296-310, 312-327, 356, 357 
 Prince of India, The, 159 
 Prince, Maj. F. W., 33 
 Prussia, King of, 184 
 Prussian army, 281 
 Putnam, Col. Rufus, 283 
 
 Q 
 
 Quantrill, William C. (guerrilla), 
 
 255. 452. 453 
 Quinby, Gen. Isaac F., 210, 358 
 Quincy Blues, 151 
 Quitman, Gen. John A., 335 
 
 R 
 
 Rain-in-the-Face, 425 
 Raines's torpedo bureau, 494 
 Ramseur, Gen. Stephen D., 172, 
 
 173 
 Randolph, 178 
 
 Ransom, Gen. Thomas E. G., 97 
 Ransom's North Carolinians, 277 
 Raum, Gen. Green B., 157 
 Rawlins, Gen. John A., 156, 210, 
 
 214, 215, 358 
 
 Rawlins. Senator, 256 
 Read, Buchanan, 175, 399 
 Rebellion, war of the, 248 
 ' ' Red Water, " 43 4 
 Reeves, Capt. James H.. 34 
 Reno, Gen. Jesse L., 140, 143-145 
 Revolution, war of the, 248, 249, 
 
 416, 424 
 Reynolds, Gen. John F., 199, 201 
 Reynolds, Gov. Thomas C., 294- 
 
 299.303.304.3^5 
 Rhind, Commander Alexander C, 
 
 2, 29 
 Rhode Island, 4th, 145 
 Rhode Island, 5th, 145 
 Richardson, Gen. Israel B., 8t, 82 
 Richmond, Final Scenes at the 
 
 Capture and Occupation of, 
 
 April 3, 1865, 472-502 
 Richmond Howitzers, 484 
 Ripley, Gen. Edward H., paper of, 
 
 472-502 
 Robertson, John, Adjt.-Gen. of 
 
 Mich., 223 
 Robinson, Gen. John C, 277 
 Robinson, Mr. and Mrs. Wirt, 487, 
 
 488 
 Rochelle, James, 332, 333 
 Rock of Chickamauga, 227 
 Rockwell, Surg. Alphonso D., pa- 
 per of, 228-239 
 Rodes, Gen. Robert E., 172, 173 
 Rodgers, Commodore John, 121, 
 
 122, 130 
 Rodgers, Commodore, 155 
 Rollins, Lieut.-Col., 15, 16 
 Romero, Minister from Mexico, 
 
 467 
 Root, Elihu, 287, 288, 445 
 Rose, Dr., 164 
 Rosecrans, Gen. William S., 163, 
 
 211-213, 299-301, 307, 314, 316. 
 
 327, 340-342, 356-359, 362, 451, 
 
 459. 460 
 Rosser, Gen. Thomas L., 174 
 Rostopschin, 482 
 Rowan, Commodore Stephen C, 
 
 138, 146 
 Ruggles, Gen. George D., 373 
 Running the Blockade (book), 27 
 Rusk, Gen. Jerry (Jeremiah M.), 
 
 164 
 Russell, Gen. David A., 173 
 Rutland Lightguard, 500 
 
 Sanborn, Gen. John B., 90, 300, 
 
 314. 317.320-322 
 Saul, 154 
 
 Scales, Gen. Alfred M., 276 
 Schmitz, Capt. Joseph, 58 
 
INDEX 
 
 5" 
 
 Schoepf, Gen. Albin, 340 
 
 Schofield, Georginft, 470 
 
 Schofield. Gen. John M., 163, 220, 
 286, 288, 343, 344; In Memoriam 
 of, 438-447; Sketch of the Ser- 
 vices of, 448-471 
 
 Schuyler, Capt. Philip, 499, 500 
 
 Schuyler, Gen. PhiUp. 282 
 
 Scott, 331, 332 
 
 Scott, Col., 55 
 
 Scott, Wm. Forse, Adit., 4th Iowa 
 Cav. Vet. Vols., paper of, 292- 
 328 
 
 Scott, Gen. Winfield, 71, 191, 192, 
 250, 290, 339 
 
 Scribner's Sons, Charles, 76 
 
 Seaman, Major L. L., paper of, 
 
 ^ 373-383 
 
 Sedgwick, Gen. John, 72-74, 84, 
 
 251 
 
 Semmes, Gen. Paul J., 277 
 
 Seward, William H., 185, 194, 447 
 
 Shadrack, 147 
 
 Shanks. Col., 314 
 
 Shannon, British frigate, 130-135 
 
 Sharpe, Gen. Jacob, 173 
 
 Shelby, Gen. Joseph O., 302, 306, 
 308, 310-312, 319, 321, 322, 324- 
 326 
 
 Shenandoah Valley in the Great 
 War. the, i6y-Tj6 
 
 Shepley, Gen. George P., 498 
 
 Sherbrooke, the 132 
 
 Sheridan, Gen. Philip H., no, 162, 
 167, 171— 176- 196, 214, 221—225, 
 228, 229, 232, 233, 237, 238, 251, 
 256, 260-264, 268, 270—272, 290, 
 399, 423. 42S> 426, 448, 450, 468, 
 472 
 
 Sheridan's (Gen.) boy (Lieut. Philip 
 H.),399 
 
 Sheridan's Cavalry, With. 228-239 
 
 Sherman, Gen. William T., 17, 32, 
 58, 59, 86, 91, 92, 95-98, 153-158, 
 160, 162-166, 213, 221, 226, 250, 
 253, 254. 290, 298, 299, 301, 326, 
 
 334, 339. 344, 345. 3S5, 359. 360, 
 362-368, 423, 424, 440, 443-448, 
 450, 460, 462, 463, 466, 482 
 Shields,Gen. James, 71, 72,169,193 
 Shiloh, A Boy at, 52-69 
 Shimose, Prof., 376 
 Siddle, Private Cooper, 337 
 Sigel, Gen. Franz, 170, 222, 441, 
 
 442 
 Simmons, Sergt., 63 
 Simpson, Lieut. George, 30 
 Sioux Indians, 422-424, 426, 430, 
 
 431. 435. 436 
 Sire to Son, From — A Veteran's 
 talk to Members by Inheritance, 
 104-117 
 
 Sitting Bull, 421, 425, 427-431 
 
 Sloan, Corpl., 245 
 
 Sloat, Commodore John D., 181 
 
 Slocum, Gen. Henry W., 163, 165 
 
 Smith, Col., 46 
 
 Smith, Gen. Andrew J., gi, 97, 226, 
 
 301, 307, 308, 310, 314, 316, 317, 
 319. 344, 368 
 
 Smith, Gen. Charles F., 56, 349, 
 
 ^ 351. 352 
 
 Smith, Gen. Edmund Kirby, 292, 
 
 298, 299, 302, 304, 328 
 Smith, Gen. Jacob H., 253, 256, 258 
 Smith, Capt. John, 126 
 Smith, Gen. John E., 97 
 Smith, Lieut. -Col. Norman, 473, 
 
 489 
 Smith, Gen. William S., 366 
 Snead, Thomas L., 190 
 Snyder, 494-496, 500 
 Soldiers' Memorial Hall, Rutland, 
 
 484 
 Somers, Lieut. Richard, 126 
 "Sons of Liberty," 298 
 Spanish War, 290, 291, 387, 468 
 Staniels, Capt., 495 
 Stanley, Gen. David S., 344, 425, 
 
 464, 465 
 Stannard, Gen. George J., 489 
 Stanton, Secretary Edwin M., 8, 
 
 17, 51, 176, 177, 342, 366, 492, 
 
 493. 498 
 St. Charles Hotel, 155 
 St. Clair, Gen. Arthur, 424, 437 
 Steele, Gen. Frederick, 97, 99, 300- 
 
 302, 459, 460 
 Stephens, Alexander H., 28 
 Sterns, Gen., 486 
 Stevens, Maj., 476 
 
 Stewart, Gen. Alexander P., 64 
 Stewart, Lieut. Richard, 126 
 Stockton, Commodore Robert F., 
 
 181, 182 
 Stoneman, Gen. George, 196 
 Stonewall, 169, 263 
 Streight, Gen. Abel D., 213 
 Stuart, Gen. James E. B., 196. 
 
 198, 201, 202, 225, 230, 232, 251 
 Sturgis, Maj., 442 
 Sumner, Gen. Edwin V., 71 
 Sumner, Senator, 177 
 Sumter, Gen. Thomas, 250 
 Supplemental Paper, 1 01-103 
 Swayne, Gen. Wager, 164, 165 
 Swedish army, 281 
 Swift, Gen., 149-151 
 
 Takagi, Dr., 378 
 
 Tatnall, Commodore Josiah, no 
 
 Taylor, Thomas E., 27 
 
512 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Taylor, President Zachary, 183, 
 
 335, 348 
 Tenedos, British frigate, 130 
 Terry, Gen. Alfred H., io-r2, 14- 
 
 18, 21-24, 34-37. 43. 4S. 47. 49- 
 
 51, 163, 425. 426, 466 
 Texas, ist (infantry), loi, 205 
 Thayer, Gen. Sylvanus, 400, 405, 
 
 406 
 "The Old Tycoon," 221 
 Thoburn, Col. Joseph, 174 
 Thomas, Capt., 40 
 Thomas, Gen. George H., 162, 225- 
 
 227, 250, 326, 327; Sketch of the 
 
 Life of, 329—346 ; mentioned, 354, 
 
 364. 443. 444, 446-448, 450. 451. 
 
 464. 46s 
 Thomas, Miss J. E., 33 1 
 Thomas, Gen. Lorenzo, 89 
 Thompson, Gen. M. Jeff., 189 
 Tibbits, Gen. William B., 172 
 Tilden, Mr., 436 
 Tile, Private John, 337 
 Togo, Admiral, 382 
 Torbert, Gen. Alfred T. A., 171, 173 
 
 234 
 Torrey, Prof., 182 
 Totten, Gen. James, 450 
 Town, Col. Charles H., 204 
 Treichel, Lieut. -Col. Charles, paper 
 
 of, 240-246 
 Trickey,Capt. WilliamH., 15, 16, 45 
 Trumbull, Gen. Joseph, 282 
 Tsarovitch, Russian vessel, 390 
 Tudor, Gen. William, 282 
 Tupper, Mr., 338 
 Turchin, Gen. John B., 343 
 Turner, Gen. John W., 274, 472 
 Tuttle, Gen. James M., 92, 97 
 Two Moons, 435 
 Tyler, Col. Charles H., 321 
 
 U 
 
 "Uncle Dick," 152 
 
 Union Pacific R. R., 424, 444 
 
 United States Military Academy, 
 Discipline at the, 393-403; men- 
 tioned, 448, 468, 469 
 
 United States Naval Academy, 
 376, 407 
 
 United States, President of the, 
 286-290, 404, 408, 461, 467, 493- 
 496, 498, 500 
 
 U. S. Artillery, 3d, 33, 334 
 
 U. S. Artillery, 4th, 53 
 
 U. S. Cavalry, 2d, 337, 338, 425 
 
 U. S. Cavalry, 7th, 425, 426 
 
 U. S. Cavalry, roth, 382 
 
 U. S. Infantry, ist, 54 
 
 U. S. Infantry, sth, 426-429, 431- 
 433 
 
 U. S. Infantry, 9th, 253 
 
 U. S. Infantry, i8th, 423 
 
 U. S. Infantry, 22d, 426, 429, 431— 
 
 433. 436 
 Unlucky Ship, An, ir8— 137 
 Upton, Gen. Emory, 288 
 
 Van Dorn, Gen. Earl, 356, 357, 359, 
 
 •?6o 
 VanHom, Col. R.T., S5. 60 
 Van Horn, Chaplain Thomas B., 
 
 333, 342 
 Variag, Russian cruiser, 376 
 Vaughn, Maj., 473 
 Vermont brigade, 83 
 Vermont regiment, 9th, 501 
 Vicksburg, A Boy's Experience at, 
 
 86—100 
 Victory, English frigate, 136 
 Virginia, ist, 203, 204 
 Virginia State Library, 491 
 von Humboldt, Alexander, 184 
 Von Ihering, 107 
 Von Moltke, 115 
 
 W 
 
 W., Mai.,'241, 242 
 Wade, Honest Ben., 9 
 Wade, Gen. James P., 395 
 Wagner, Gen. George D., 342 
 Wainwright, ist Lieut. John, 13 
 Walke, Commodore Henry, 155 
 Wallace, Gen. Lewis, 159, 170, 353 
 Wallace, Gen. William H. L., 64 
 Walling, Lieut., 7 
 Walling, Capt. William H., 30, 42 
 War between the States, The (book), 
 
 28 
 War, Secretary of, 9,17,32,51,117, 
 
 282, 284—287, 289, 290, 402, 441, 
 
 447. 449. 461, 467, 468, 491-493 
 War of 1812, 248, 414 
 War Records, 255, 498 
 Warren, Maj. Chas., 473 
 Washburn, Gen., 301 
 Washington, Gen. George, 105, 107, 
 
 no, III, 248, 250, 251, 282—284, 
 
 290, 346, 398, 406, 418 
 Wayne, Gen. Anthony, 250, 424 
 Weber, Gen. Max., 72-76, 170 
 Webster, Col., 65 
 Weckler, Annie, 198 
 Wehrum, Capt. Charles C, paper 
 
 of, 1 01-103 
 Weitzel, Gen. Godfrey, i, 5-10, 24, 
 
 28-30, 32, 34, 474-476. 479-482,. 
 
 484, 493. 498, 501 
 Weldon R. R., 474 
 Welker's "black-gun" battery, 63 
 
INDEX 
 
 513 
 
 Wellingfton, 102 
 
 Westphalian infantry, 3d, 102 
 
 West Point, 404-41^; mentioned, 
 
 449 
 West Virginia, 7th, 71, 75 
 Wharton, Gen. Gabriel C, 172 
 Wheeler, Gen. Joe (Joseph), 429 
 Wherry, Gen. William M., 438; 
 
 Memorial address on Gen. John 
 
 M. Schofield, 446-447; paper of, 
 
 448-471 
 White Bull, 435 
 Whiting, 178 
 Whiting, Gen. William H. C, 5, 8, 
 
 20,40,41,45,48,49 
 Whittiker, Col., 268 
 Wilcox, Gen. Cadmus M., 270 
 Wilson, Col., 92 
 Wilson, Maj., 307, 308 
 Wilson, Gen. James H., 173, 200, 
 
 344, 464 
 Winder, Gen. John H., 484 
 Winslow, Gen. Edward F., 301-303, 
 
 316-321, 326, 327 
 
 Wisconsin, igth, 473, Soi 
 
 Wisconsin, 32d, 163, 164 
 
 Wise's Legion, 277 
 
 WoodruflE, Col. Charles A., paper of, 
 
 104-117 
 Worth, Gen. William J., 334 
 Wright, Gen. Horatio G., 170, 
 
 176 
 Wright, Rebecca M., 172 
 Wynkoop, Gen. George C, 172 
 
 Yates, Gov., 149, 151 
 
 Young, Gen. Pierce M. B., 197 
 
 Young, Gen. Samuel B. M., 395 
 
 Zagonyi, Major Charles, 191 
 Zagonyi's, Maj., Horse Guard, 240- 
 
 246 
 Zent, Lieut.-Col. Samuel M., 17, 36 
 ZoUicoflEer, Gen. Felix K., 340