s^HBlllSiSlfSlSJl; SfiHH : I- ! |gfeal5ggl~» §wfe#.^ SM FJprrirotnigjf . : HP £S»S&K!BB§|rs3 ffi^ .'■ BBS ^^ ^Sle^SO^cQF ': ■ U~ ■^^g^^^^^^a '.'!;■'; lgfRil|§3raffi£ gffiKSHS fS5ftpTO*tt£y«'*iP IHBllttmB aSaar. " Illfilli swill I impl 3Ii§§ ,;/„ iSKIPI ISiliill '&. SfiSSlSiill SSSb wms ■:<;■■ llliPPIglP^flilslB lain Ip ' v ■ '• ; fyxmll WLmvmxty ptaeg BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF 3rienrg 3B. Sage 1891 A,.?.*) sim ^Fil.!3 Cornell University Library PN 4874.D25W74 Life of charle ^,|A|||Jim|||S|||||||||||||||| 3 1924 027 459 209 p. a Cornell University WJj Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027459209 14 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA BY James Harrison Wilson, LL.D. LATE MAJOR-GENERAL, U.S.V. NEW YORK AND LONDON Harper & Brothers Publishers MCMVII Copyright, 1907, by Harper & Brothers. All rights reserved. Published May, 1907. CONTENTS i EARLIER YEARS Ancestry and family history — Clerk in store at Buffalo — Learns Seneca language— Coffee Club — Prepares for college — Enters Har- vard Page 1 II EDUCATION Rank at college — Teaches school — Eyes break down — Leaves college — Correspondence with friends — Joins Brook Farm . . . Page 12 III COMMUNITY LIFE Reasons for joining Brook Farm — Secretary and trustee — Anecdote of Carl Schurz — Condition and progress of the association . Page 33 IV IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM City editor New York Tribune — Visits Europe as correspondent — Revolution of 1848 — Provisional government of France — Sympathizes with the people — Louis Napoleon a danger to the republic — -The policy and duty of France Page 61 V POLITICAL STUDIES ABROAD Dana visits Berlin — Republican movement in Germany and Austria — Louis Napoleon elected president of France — Doubts of his honesty and sincerity — Summary of political situation — Returns to America — Review of socialism Page 83 CONTENTS VI RETURN TO NEW YORK JOURNALISM Continued confidence in socialistic experiments — Praises Kossuth — Macready riots — Antislavery agitation — General Taylor elected president — Greeley, Dana, and the Tribune — Opposes carpenters' strike — Favors free speech and free press — Protective tariff — Land reform — Pacific Railroad Page 94 VII THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY Dana and Lincoln — "Human Restlessness and Divine Providence" — Early views of the Tribune — Lecture on slavery at Chicago — Er- icsson's caloric engine — Principles of Dana and Greeley — The blue pencil Page 110 VIII DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES Defeat of General Scott for president — Filibustering — Opposes Doug- las's Nebraska bill — Tribune reduces expenses — Continued op- position to slavery — Against the Know - nothing movement — "Manifest Destiny" — Failure of Fourierism — -Bleeding Kansas — Organization of Republican party — Sleeping-cars suggested — De- fends the press Page 125 IX DANA'S INFLUENCE IN THE TRIBUNE Correspondence with Greeley — Continues fight against slavery — Fre- mont nominated for president — Continued agitation in behalf of free Kansas — Death of Senator Benton — Leadership of the Tribune — John Brown's raid Page 141 X LAST DAYS WITH THE TRIBUNE Dana's Literary Activities — Political campaign of 1860 — Lincoln's Cooper Union speech — Lincoln elected president — Signs of secession — Bombardment of Fort Sumter — The Union cannot be dissolved — " Forward to Richmond " — Tribune's change of policy — Emanci- pation Proclamation — Dana dismissed from the Tribune . Page 155 CONTENTS XI WAR BETWEEN THE STATES Dana at Washington — Stanton Secretary of War — Course of the Tribune — Auditor of accounts at Cairo — Visits Memphis — Makes Acquaint- ance of Grant and Rawlins Page 182 XII EYES OP THE GOVERNMENT Appointment as Assistant Secretary of War recalled — Buying cotton at Memphis — Proposes regulation of the trade — Appointed Commis- sioner of the Army Pay Department — Joins Grant in front of Vicks- burg — Correspondence with Secretary of War .... Page 194 XIII VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN Supports Grant's plans — Despatches to Secretary of War — General McClernand's services and character — Letter to Huntington — Suc- cessful advance of the army — Participates in all its operations — Oc- cupation of Jackson — Battle of Champion's Hill . . . Page 204 XIV SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF VICKSBURG Grant invests Vicksburg — Estimate of McClernand — Adventure in the field — Association with Grant — Parole of the Confederates . Page 225 XV GENERALS AND STAFF, ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE Grant, Sherman, McPherson, Blair, Steele, and Rawlins — Stanton and Sherman at the great review — Personal letters to Stanton . Page 238 XVI DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON Duty in War Department — Letters to Colonel Wilson — Joins Rosecrans — Campaign and battle of Chickamauga — Despatches and letters from Chattanooga — Grant ordered to Chattanooga — Meets Stanton at Louisville Page 248 CONTENTS XVII CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA Dana guides Grant and staff — Thomas's relations to Grant — Through Lookout Valley — Dana in the field — Missionary Ridge — Expedition to Knoxville — Dana and Carl Schurz — Return to Washington . Page 278 XVIII DANA IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT Conferences with Lincoln and Stanton — Plan of campaign in Alabama — Letters to Wilson — Extraordinary capacity for work — Supervision of army contractors — Grant Lieutenant-General — Rawlins Chief of Staff — Estimate of Lincoln Page 298 XIX GRANT'S OVERLAND CAMPAIGN AGAINST RICHMOND Army of the Potomac crosses the Rappahannock — Battles in the Wilder- ness — Dana at scene of action — Despatches to Stanton — Advance to Cold Harbor — Abortive battles — Crosses Chickahominy — South of the James — Counter-movement against Washington . . . Page 316 XX CONFEDERATE OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA Dana returns to Washington — Generals Smith and Butler — -Defensive attitude in front of Petersburg — Despatches to Grant — Services to Grant and the army Page 332 XXI ADMINISTRATION OF WAR DEPARTMENT Services in Washington — Spencer carbines — Sheridan's Valley cam- paign — Dana visits Sheridan — Defensive attitude of army in Virginia — Sherman's march to the sea— Nashville campaign — Dispersion of Hood's army — Letters to Wilson — Cavalry campaign in Alabama and Georgia — Grant's final campaign — Collapse of Confederacy— Dana goes to the front — Assassination of Lincoln — Arrest and trial of ' conspirators — Capture and confinement of Jefferson Davis — Visits Fort Monroe — Events and great review at Washington — Returns to civil life , Page 341 CONTENTS XXII BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA Editor of Chicago Republican — Opposes policy of Andrew Johnson — Supports Grant for presidency — Life of Grant — Failure of Chicago newspaper — Returns to New York Page 370 XXIII PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION Dana buys New York Sun — Prospectus of new management — Supports Grant for President — Opposes impeachment of Andrew Johnson — Independent policy in politics — Defends Grant's military career — Warns South against revolution — Editorial reconstruction — Approves acquittal of President — Letters and editorials — Nominates Greeley for the Cabinet — Favors expulsion of French from Mexico — Holds Great Britain responsible for Alabama claims — Commends initial policy of Grant's administration — Opposes creation of new depart- ments of government — Approves general amnesty — Recommends Greeley for Grant's Cabinet or Minister to England — "Manifest Destiny " or " Continental Union " — Annexation of Haiti and Santo Domingo — Repeal of tenure of office act — Arrest of Samuel Bowles Page 380 XXIV GRANT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION New York Sun as an independent newspaper — Rawlins Secretary of War — Dana recommended for collector of customs — Washburne secures appointment of Moses Grinnell — Dana commends appoint- ment — Grant's cabinet announced — Wide-spread disappointment — Nominations of Stewart and Borie regarded with amazement — Raw- lins highly commended — No splendid administrations — Call for Borie's resignation — Dana declines appraisership of merchandise — Criticises Grant's use of Tallapoosa — The " Black Friday " conspiracy — Frauds in the custom-house — Death of General Rawlins — Appointment of Belknap — Sun opposes Hoar's confirmation — Condemns Secretary Fish Page 404 XXV EPOCH OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION Dana favors " Continental Union " — Breach between Sumner and Presi- dent — Condemns bestowal of office for pecuniary favors— Grant's re- vii CONTENTS lations in office — Ku-Klux outrages no excuse for invading the South — French arms scandal — Corruption in Washington — "Addition, Divi- sion, and Silence" — Dana arrested — Credit Mobilier exposures — In- dependent Republicans and Democrats nominate Greeley for pres- ident — Dana supports him — Personal journalism — Grant's second election — Effort to extradite Dana to Washington — Safe Burglary Conspiracy — Frauds of the Whiskey Ring Page 421 XXVI GRANT'S SECOND TERM Sun leads opposition — Against third term — Dana thanks press for its support — Democrats control House of Representatives — Tilden and Hendricks nominated — Dana against Electoral Commission — Claims Tilden was elected by the ballots in the boxes — W. E. Chandler's letter against overthrow of Packard's government in Louisiana — " No force bill! No negro domination!" — Reduction of regular army — Removal of Southern question from current politics — Against free coinage of silver — Exposes Garfield's connection with Credit Mobilier — Indifference to dogma — Obituary of George Ripley . Page 438 XXVII ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT HAYES BEGINS A NEW ERA Dana declines to subscribe to memorial — Opposition to dishonest Republicans — Warning against growth of corporate power — Against increase of federal authority — Suggests Holman for president — ■ Opposes Cleveland for governor — Against him for president — Sup- ports Butler — Favors Randall for speaker — Carlisle elected — Argu- ment against internal revenue laws — Civil service reform — Against nationalization of railroads — Need of opposition to government — Proposes public subscription for General Grant — Doubts Cleveland's adherence to pledge against second term — Overflowing treasury — Tilden on coast defence — Monroe Doctrine — Annexation of Sand- wich Islands — Davis and the Lost Cause — Letter on Edwin M. Stanton — Horizontal reduction of tariff — Increase of navy — Mc- Kinley tariff act — Sackville-West's letter — Favors re-election of Cleveland — Economic utility of corporations — Favors protection of American railways against Canadian competition — Continental union — Commends Harrison's inaugural address — Condemns his acceptance of Cape May cottage — Good word for office-seekers and trusts — Commends Cleveland's action against Chicago strike — Opposes his third candidacy — The noble controversies of politics CONTENTS — Death of George William Curtis — Samuel J. Randall — Benjamin P. Butler — Sketches of Beach and Bennett Page 456 XXVIII CLOSING PERIOD Opposes Bryan for president — Democratic party must give up its heresies — Supports McKinley — Dana's substantial victory over public corruption — Loss of friends — Dana's ample fortune — Travels beyond sea — Visits Mexico and Cuba — Supports Cuban rebellion — Tribute to Jos6 Marti — Dana's scholarship — Class in literature — His inner life — Skill as horseman — Appreciation of art — Home at Sixtieth Street and Madison Avenue — Paintings, tapestry, and ceramics — Dana's personality and home life — Love of children — The Art of Newspaper Making Page 490 XXIX END OP LIFE-WORK Ceases to go to office— Doctors called— Resignation — Last editorial — Death at hand — Conclusion — Summation of character . Page 513 APPENDIX Page 517 INDEX Page 535 PREFACE Having met Charles A. Dana first in the spring of 1863, during the Vicksburg campaign, it was my good-fortune to serve with him in the field during three of the most memorable campaigns of the Civil War, and for a short period under him as a bureau officer of the War Depart- ment. Our duties threw us much together, and of all the men I ever met he was the most delightful companion. Overflowing with the knowledge of art, science, and litera- ture, and widely acquainted as he was with the leading men and movements of the times, his conversation was a constant delight and a constant instruction. Blessed with a vigorous constitution and an insatiable desire for information, he never once, by day or night, or in the presence of danger, however great, declined to accompany me on an expedition or an adventure. Naturally this companionship begot both a confidence and an intimacy that, I am glad to say, lasted to the end of his career, and are my warrant for becoming his biographer. As a journalist and as Assistant Secretary of War, Mr. Dana was one of the most influential men of his time. Weighed for the strength and variety of his faculties, and for his power to interest and impress men's minds, he must be considered as the first of American editors. Yet it hap- pened that in the great era of the Civil War his energies were so powerfully called upon, and his services were so vigorous and effective, that he must also be classed among the real heroes of that unequalled conflict. By his pen no less PREFACE than by his official action, he exerted a tremendous in- fluence upon both the men and the measures of his day. As field correspondent, and office assistant to Stanton, the great War Secretary, he was potent in deciding the fate of leading generals as well as in shaping the military policies of the Administration. With the possible ex- ception of John A. Rawlins, Assistant Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff to General Grant, Dana exerted a greater influence over Grant's military career than any other man. It is perhaps well to add that while his family and his associates have put me in possession of many letters, doc- uments, and clippings bearing on his public and private life, and have given me every possible assistance in the preparation of this work, I am solely responsible for its character and for the opinions which the reader will find expressed in the following pages. James Harrison Wilson Wilmington, Delaware, 1907 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA EARLIER YEARS Ancestry and family history — Clerk in store at Buffalo — Learns Seneca language — Coffee Club — Prepares for college — Enters Harvard The subject of this memoir, Charles Anderson Dana, was the eldest child of Anderson Dana and his first wife, Ann Denison. He was seventh in the male line, from Richard Dana, the colonial settler, through Jacob, Jacob second, Anderson first, Daniel, and Anderson second. In the female line, he was descended from Ann Bullard, Patience , Abigail Adams, Susanna Huntington, Dolly Kibbe, and Ann Denison, whose mother, it should be noted, was Anne Paine, a daughter of one of the best- known and most widely disseminated families of New England. It will be observed that although the sur- name of one of these maternal ancestors is unknown, there is every reason to believe that, like the rest, her family were colonists of straight English blood. The same statement is doubtless true in reference to all the collateral connections, hence it may be confidently assert- ed that, with the exception of the attenuated stream from the Italian forebears of the first settler, the Dana family l THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA is of absolutely pure New England blood. A study of its genealogy shows that practically every ramification of it has its American root in the earliest immigratioL of the colonists, a fact that well accounts for Dana's character as one of the most intense Americans, one of the most stalwart believers in the American people, and one of the most devoted partisans of American institutions that the country has produced. While the family records show but little of unusual distinction, they are filled with the names of serious men and women of all occupations and callings. In common with their neighbors, some were farmers, some mechanics, some merchants, some soldiers, and some sailors, with here and there an author, professor, lawyer, doctor, general, judge, legislator, and even a gov- ernor. While they were mostly plain and unpretentious people, they seem to have been always abreast of the times in native intelligence, industry, scholarship, courage, and public spirit. Susanna Huntington, the great -grand- mother, and Ann Denison, the mother of Charles, were women of unusual character and worth, to whom the family immediately connected with the subject of this memoir freely confess their obligation for much of whatever supe- riority of character or intellect its most favored members may be thought to possess. Charles Anderson Dana was born August 8, 1819, at Hinsdale, a small town in western New Hampshire. His father was at that time a merchant in a modest way, but failed in business when his eldest son was only a few years old. This misfortune was followed shortly by the removal of the family to the village of Gaines in western New York. Here the father had charge of a warehouse on the banks of the Erie Canal for a while, but soon gave it up to culti- vate a small farm which he had bought near by. But mis- fortune still followed the family. Nearly the whole fell sick of the ague, at that time the scourge of every new 2 EARLIER YEARS' settlement in the country. The mother died, leaving four young children, Charles Anderson nine, Junius seven, Maria three years of age, and David a babe in arms. This loss made it necessary for the family to return to the home of Ann Denison's father near Guildhall in northeastern Vermont. Here the children were divided. Charles went to his uncle David Denison, who lived on a farm in the Connecticut River valley, while his brother and sister re- mained with their grandfather near by. The life was a healthful one, and Charles, being from the first an unusually bright boy, was sent to the neighbor- hood school which, as was then customary, was kept open during the winter months only. Fortunately the teacher was an undergraduate of a New England college, who was not only competent but took an interest in his work. Charles naturally made rapid progress, and by the time he was ten years of age had become so proficient in most of his English studies that he was classed with boys as much as six and eight years his senior. Early after be- coming a member of his uncle's family, he came into pos- session of a Latin grammar, and at once began the study of Latin. Whether this merely stimulated his natural aptitude, or developed an inherited but latent instinct for language, must necessarily remain a matter of specula- tion; but it is certain that from that time forward this New England lad, with but a slight strain of Continental blood in his veins, showed an extraordinary capacity for the acquisition of foreign tongues and the study of both ancient and modern literature. By the time he had fairly entered his twelfth year, it was supposed that he had acquired sufficient education, especially in reading, writing, and arithmetic, to earn his own living, and accordingly, with the consent of his uncle and grandfather, he was sent to Buffalo, where he arrived greatly exhausted from the long and tiresome journey by '" « 3 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA stage-coach. After several weeks' rest he became a clerk in the general store of Staats & Dana. He had already been taken into the family of his uncle William, who was junior partner of the firm, but later took board at the Eagle Tavern, which at the time was the best in Buffalo. This was a most important move in the life of the young adventurer. It placed him in a wider and more progres- sive field than was offered by the wilds of northeastern Vermont. Buffalo, situated at the eastern end of Lake Erie, near the outlet of the Erie Canal, was already be- coming a commercial centre of great importance. It con- tained a population of about twenty-five thousand souls, and counted a number of distinguished lawyers and doc- tors as well as prosperous merchants among the principal citizens. It was even at that early day noted for the education, refinement, and public spirit of its leading people. William Dana was himself a man of intelligence and note, who was interested in one of the principal stores of the city, with a branch at a neighboring town, both establishments having an extensive trade in dry goods and notions with the surrounding country, and especially with the civilized Indians of the Six Nations. Naturally enough, as these were the first Indians Charles had ever seen, the young clerk became greatly interested in them and their primitive ways, and as the women spoke but little English, he set about learning their language. In a short time he had practically mastered it, and his re- tentive memory never forgot it. Many years afterwards, during the siege of Vicksburg, he gave a striking illus- tration of the thoroughness with which he had learned this strange tongue and the tenacity with which he had retained it. Coming into camp one night after a hard day's ride, we found a strange officer at the camp-fire, Captain Ely S. Parker, a full-blooded and well-educated Seneca Indian, who had been recently detailed at head- EARLIER YEARS quarters to assist Colonel Rawlins and Captain Bowers in the growing work of the adjutant-general's department. Dana was duly introduced, but before taking off his side arms and making himself comfortable, he said to me, aside : " I think I know that man's people, and if he is a Seneca, as I think he is, I can speak his language. What do you think he would do if I were to address him in his own tongue?" As the gentleman was also a stranger to me, I could hardly venture an opinion, but as my own curios- ity was aroused, I said at once, "Try it on and let us see." Thereupon Dana, without a perceptible pause for reflec- tion, addressed the captain in a well-sustained phrase filled with clicks and guttural sounds. Parker, although a man of grave and dignified bearing, looked puzzled and surprised at first, but as soon as Dana paused his inter- locutor replied in words of the same kind. A brief but animated conversation followed, and before it was ended a smile of gratification broke over Parker's face, and an acquaintance was begun which lasted till his death. Dana afterwards told me that he had learned the language as a boy, but had neither spoken nor thought about it seriously since he left Buffalo, over twenty years before. He and Parker met frequently during the various campaigns in which they took part, and were in the habit of conversing in the Seneca dialect, especially when they did not care to be understood by others. This incident attracted the special notice of the other officers present, and particularly of General Grant, upon whom it apparently made a deep and lasting impression. The general, it will be noted, was not much of a linguist himself, but he often mentioned this talk at his camp-fire as illustrating Dana's unusual talents in that direction. But Dana's study of languages did not end with his mastery of the Seneca dialect. It will be recalled that he had begun the study of Latin at his uncle's in Vermont, 5 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA and now that his new life as a clerk not only gave him more leisure of evenings, but brought him in contact with a larger circle of educated people, he renewed the study of that language with avidity and industry. His progress was phenomenal. He not only mastered the grammar, but soon became proficient in reading the Latin classics, which in those days were supposed to be the only sure foundation for a liberal education. Just how or when the young clerk began with the Greek grammar and literature is not recorded, but that he did begin probably while at work in Buffalo, and that he made the same rapid progress as with Latin, becomes certain when his later attainments are considered. He was from the start a good clerk, and mastered the details of the business. Indeed, there is rea- son to believe that he always looked back upon his experi- ence in his uncle's store as having made a business man of him, although it is certain that he early acquired a distaste for store-keeping if not for commerce, and secretly deter- mined to become a scholar and devote himself to a profes- sional life. He received a salary for his services, and while it was but small, as was customary in those days, the cost of living was correspondingly low, and hence he was able to lay by something for future use. One who was a fellow-clerk for several years describes him as " a quiet, studious boy who loved nature and books, and although a good salesman, rather prone to spend too much time in the adjoining book-store looking over vol- umes he could not buy." He loved to make long excur- sions into the woods, and fishing was a perfect delight to him. It is said that when he first saw Niagara Falls, he was so impressed by them that he composed an ode on their grandeur which had considerable merit, but as it has long been lost this statement must be taken on faith. As the lad grew in strength and intelligence, his taste 6 EARLIER YEARS for literature and his determination to acquire a thorough education became the ruling purpose of his life. Although he dressed well and was agreeable in manners, he rather shunned than sought social gatherings. He thought they took too much time, and that he had better spend his evenings at home reading poetry, romance, and history. During this period he became greatly interested in the American Revolution and in the early presidents. He specially admired General Jackson, and sounded the praises of the great Tennesseean upon all proper occasions. From the first he was unusually independent in the selec- tion of his books. Among the rest, he read and openly expressed his admiration for the works of Tom Paine, pos- sibly because he may have been a distant kinsman, but certainly because he was a patriot who addressed his countrymen, in Common Sense and The Crisis, in virile and masterly English. Until he was seventeen, Dana confined his general read- ing to the masters of English literature, and this fact doubtless accounts for the purity and vigor of the style which from that time forth characterized his correspond- ence as well as his more formal writings. He was now in the period of his dawning ambition. The world and its mysteries were opening before him, and alluring him to explore and master their significance. With the avid curiosity which is the chief characteristic of youth, he sought by all the means within his reach to know, not only the history of his country, but the nature of man and the motive of his actions in the pursuits of life. He was indifferent to nothing which opened the secrets of history or revealed the laws of the visible world about him; but even in his earliest reading it is to be ob- served he showed a decided preference for the study of man and his attainments rather than for science; for literature and art rather than for mathematics and 7 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA physics; and that in his chosen field he regarded language as the chief instrument — the master-key with which to unlock the secrets of the intellectual world. And this ex- plains why henceforth, even to the end of his career, the study of language was his chief occupation and delight. Before passing to an account of the new life upon which young Dana was about to enter, it is worthy of note that during the Patriot War, which took place in Canada about this time, Buffalo, as a frontier town, became greatly excited. Sympathy ran high with the patriots; General Scott was sent to the Niagara border to insure the ob- servance of strict neutrality, and to prevent an outbreak which the capture and burning of the Caroline by the Canadians came near precipitating. The militia was called out, but, barring a few parades and marches through the streets of Buffalo, it took no part in active operations. Young Dana, as a member of the City Guard, which he had joined along with a number of his companions when the excitement began to rise, participated in its exercises, and so long as the crisis lasted was somewhat in danger of becoming a soldier. Notwithstanding a serious and cautious turn of mind, he shared the public sympathies, and regarded himself as fully able to do a man's part, not only towards maintaining the public order, but in de- fending the public interests. The Patriot War, however exciting, was a passing epi- sode which soon gave way to another of far greater con- cern to the subject of this narrative. A great financial and business crisis was at hand, which, unfortunately for the uncle and his partner, but perhaps fortunately for their young clerk, was about to overwhelm the firm in irre- mediable ruin. It will be recalled that a wild and de- structive panic which involved all kinds of business throughout the United States took place in 1837. In common with thousands of other merchants who did a 8 EARLIER YEARS credit business, Staats & Dana could neither collect the money due to them nor pay what they owed to others, consequently there was nothing left for them but to close their doors, discharge their clerks, and save what they could from the wreck. Of course young Dana shared the fate of his compan- ions, and thus found himself unexpectedly at the parting of the ways. His career as a merchant's clerk, except for temporary employment the next year by George Wright & Company, was ended Without the slightest regard to his preferences; but they now asserted themselves, and without hesitation he decided to enter college as soon as he could make the necessary arrangements and complete his preparation in scholarship, which was done entirely by himself. While it is not positively known, it is alto- gether probable that he selected Harvard mainly through the influence of his friend and neighbor Dr. Austin Flint, a brilliant young practitioner of medicine who had graduated there in 1833, and removed to Buffalo to en- ter upon his profession two years later. It is certain that young Dana soon became intimate with him, and that they spent much of their leisure together till Dana set out for Cambridge. Flint was a man of high scholar- ship and engaging manners, and afterwards achieved great distinction at Buffalo as well as in New York, to which place he removed in 1859. For several years after part- ing he and Dana appear to have kept up an active corre- spondence, extracts from which will be given as occasion arises. Encouraged by his friends, sustained by his ambition, and impelled by his cherished purposes, Dana left Buffalo to enter upon his new life in June, 1839. He was then about twenty years of age, tall and slender, with a fresh complexion, fastidious in taste and habits, and highly es- teemed by all who knew him. Speaking of him, an old 9 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA friend says, "The general impression he made upon all in Buffalo at that time was that of a student bound to gain knowledge, and that he was blessed by an intelligence su- perior to most of the young men with whom he associated." That the prevalent impression of young Dana, at the period alluded to above, must have been highly favorable is strongly supported by the fact that on January 29, 1839, he delivered before the "Coffee Club" of Buffalo, of which he was a member, an exceedingly interesting lecture on "Early English Poetry," the manuscript of which, in his own clear and distinct handwriting, is now in my possession. It shows the wide range of his reading on the subject of his lecture, and exemplifies his poetical theories, his power of statement, and his canons of criti- cism. While his style at that time appears somewhat stilted, it was surprisingly clear, direct, and comprehen- sive for a lad of his years and opportunities. Speaking in after years to an old friend, Dana declared, that " the best days of his life, as regards health and hap- piness, were spent in Buffalo, whence he went to fish in the Niagara, to hunt in the American and Canadian woods, to hobnob with the Indians at their reservation near by, and to make trips down the river to the falls." It was surely a delightful region, which he must have left with regret, and to which he returned with pleasure whenever he had the opportunity. His best and most intimate friends still lived there, and were always ready to receive him with open arms and a generous welcome. He had passed his teens and reached his adolescence among them, and in entering upon a still broader field of life and in- tellectual development, he naturally turned to these friends and this home of his youth for sympathy and en- couragement. It should be stated that his father, who appears to have always been somewhat of a dreamer and never a suc- 10 EARLIER YEARS cessful or forehanded man, had married again and was raising a new family, which taxed his slender resources to the utmost. He had done nothing for his first set of children after taking them to Vermont, nor was he after- wards able to give them any help whatever. Charles, like the rest, was therefore forced to depend absolutely upon himself and such chance assistance as he could se- cure from his friends, or from the funds of the college which he attended. His own savings could not have exceeded two hundred dollars at most, but without doubt or fear he went forth, as many another American youth has gone, with unfaltering faith and a stout heart to find an education and to make his way in the world. n EDUCATION Rank at college — Teaches school — Eyes break down — Leaves college — Correspondence with friends — Joins Brook Farm On a bright morning in June, 1839, Charles Dana, then about two months over twenty years of age, left Buffalo for Cambridge, for the purpose of entering Harvard Col- lege. Travel in those days was by stage-coach, canal, and steamboat, and was far more difficult and tiresome than now. The annual university catalogues and the faculty rec- ords show that Charles Anderson Dana, of Buffalo, ma- triculated as a freshman without conditions in Septem- ber, 1839, and that his standing at the end of his first term was seventh in a class of seventy-four, with an ag- gregate mark of 2246. The maximum is not given, but the highest attained by any member of the class is given as 2421. In view of the fact that Dana had not attended school since he was twelve years of age, and that he had prepared himself for college during such leisure as he had after doing his daily work as a clerk, this result must be counted as quite unusual if not extraordinary. After his first term, Dana was not ranked again, doubt- less for the reason "that his work was apparently never quite complete at the end of any other term." The records show, August 31, 1840, that he was "re- admitted to the sophomore class on probation," and that on September 1st, he (with other sophomores) was permitted 12 ■ EDUCATION to drop the study of mathematics, taking some prescribed course of study instead thereof. On November 23d of the same year it was voted that Dana (with other sopho- mores) have permission to be absent during the winter for the purpose of "keeping school." On January 13, 1841, it was "voted that Dana (with four other sopho- mores) be admitted to the university in full standing as a matriculated student." On May 31st following, it was "voted that Dana, sophomore, be matriculated," and finally, on June 2, 1841, it was "voted that Dana, sopho- more, have leave of absence for the rest of the term on account of ill-health." While the faculty records fail to make any further ex- planation, it is suggested by the president's secretary that the meaning of the several matriculations men- tioned above is probably, that at each of the given dates Dana had made up his back work, although it never hap- pened to be complete at the end of any term after the end of the first of his freshman year. It is clear, how- ever, that he completed two years of college work, resumed his connection with the college on September 6, 1841, was entered in the annual catalogue for 1841-42 as a junior, and that the honorary degree of bachelor of arts was conferred on him by the university in 1861, as of the class of 1843. So far as the records go, this is the whole story, but the gaps will be filled in with sufficient detail from other sources. The fact is that the supply of money Dana had brought with him to college soon became exhausted, and having no one to whom he could turn for help, he was forced to find employment, and, as was the fashion, naturally took to school-teaching. His first and only engagement seems to have been at Scituate, where he boarded with the family of Captain Seth Webb. His salary was twenty-five dollars a month, including board, as was the custom of the times. 13 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA It appears that early in May of that year the student had begun to feel the necessity for help, for on the 12th, C. C. Felton, professor of Greek, wrote him a letter which he kept all his life. It runs as follows: "I hasten to answer your letter which reached me last evening. Upon receiving it, I immediately conversed with the president on the subject, and ascertained what I supposed was the fact, that there is a fund which is loaned on easy terms to young men desirous of availing themselves of it. I do not know precisely how large it is, but I presume you would find no difficulty in meeting your college expenses with what you might thus obtain, added to what you might earn by teaching school during the winter. "I advise you by all means to return to college, for with your abilities and honorable purposes it is impossible you should fail of success, and this I should have said to you before had I known that you were about to leave the college. It was some time after the beginning of the present term when I was first informed that you had left your class, and I re- ceived the intelligence with much regret. Had you con- sulted me I should have strongly dissuaded you from the step. "You need have no gloomy forebodings for the future. Industry, talent, and elevated principles, all of which I doubt not you possess, are sure of accomplishing their aims sooner or later. Relying upon these as your best supporters, I earnestly counsel you to resume your studies at the earliest possible moment." This letter sheds a flood of light upon the condition and character of Dana, as well as upon the consideration in which he was held by his professors. Coming as it did from one of the most learned and influential members of the faculty, afterwards for two years its honored president, it makes it clear that Charles Dana was even at that early day no ordinary person, but one who arrested the atten- 14 EDUCATION tion and excited the sympathetic interest of those in author- ity over him. He always cherished these words of regret, encouragement, and counsel, as well he might, for the con- fidence and strength they must have given him in the struggles which beset his career from first to last. At all events, he did return from time to time to his college work, until he had completed his second year, when he was forced to give it up entirely by the failure of his eyes, which will be more fully referred to hereafter. As it appears from the records of the faculty, he early gave up mathematics and the sciences, and concentrated his mind upon the classics, literature, and philosophy, for which he then had a decided predilection. It is worthy of note, that while in later life he was by no means in- different to the sciences, all of which made such tremen- dous strides during the last half of the nineteenth century, he always held that a thorough knowledge of both ancient and modern languages was a useful equipment for the profession of journalism. The time spent at Scituate seems to have been both profitable and happy. He became fast friends with the family in which he boarded, and especially with the sons of Captain Webb, one of whom afterwards named his eldest son after him. School-teaching, though useful, was wearisome. It not only compelled him to study the ordi- nary branches in order to keep ahead of his pupils, but gave him an opportunity of evenings to continue the study of his college course. But it had another influence which was not so favorable. It necessarily took him out of the college much of the time, and thus deprived him of college society, and of association with his classmates, with few of whom he ever came to be intimate. He was an indus- trious and omnivorous reader, and whether in or out of college wasted but little time in the diversions and pleas- ures of college life. 15 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA He did all he could, without reference to hours, to master the studies laid down in the curriculum; but not content with that, he burned midnight oil in lighter and doubtless more agreeable reading. In those days gas was always bad and but little used. At best the main de- pendence was on candles and whale-oil lamps. Coal-oil and camphene were unknown, and consequently many a pair of good eyes were ruined. Dana's, which from his studious habits must have always been overtaxed, if not naturally weak, gave out while he was reading Oliver Twist by candle-light, and thus compelled to find relief, he retired from college and sought a less exacting occupation. While at Buffalo he kept up a somewhat desultory cor- respondence with his family, and especially with his father, who cautioned him to write only " as often by mail as real- ly necessary," adding, "I live a few rods from the post- office and can in some way pay the postage even if Mr. Kendall (the Postmaster-General) pleases to require spe- cie." The subjoined letter from his father presents an- other obstacle than the need of money to his entering college : "At any rate, the information [your aunt gave me] about you is far, very far from being agreeable. She tells me that you have been for a long time in the habit of attending the Unitarian meeting. Is it possible that the smooth sophistry of its supporters and advocates, and the convenient latitude of its doctrines have so beguiled you that you have lost sight of the odious and abominable courses and unfaith to which they unavoidably lead? If so I do not suppose anything your father could say would produce any alteration, still I would raise a warning voice and say ponder well the paths of thy feet lest they lead down to . . . the very gates of Hell! "My fears are greatly increased by the suggestion that you expect shortly to go to the Cambridge University. When 16 EDUCATION there, if you should finally take that course, hope must be at an end. I know that it ranks high as a literary institution, but the influence it exerts in a religious way is most horrible — worse even than Universalism — and in fact, in my opinion, worse than deism. Can you not give up going there and turn your attention to Hudson?" I have quoted: the foregoing extracts to show that the family belonged to the Orthodox Congregational Church of New England, and naturally viewed any departure from that faith as sure to lead downward. There seems to be no doubt that Charles early began to draw away from the religion of his father, and while at Cambridge, if not before, became attracted by the greater freedom of the Unitarian faith. The Cannings and the Ripleys, who were not only eloquent but liberal men of great learning, had already impressed themselves on the New England mind, and it would have been a curious circumstance if their "sweetness and light" had not won its way into the heart of the young and open-souled student. I find no evidence that he ever formally united with the Unitarian or any other church, but he made it clear in his corre- spondence with his friends at Buffalo that he at one time thought seriously of studying theology and becoming a minister of the gospel. If he had had sufficient means to continue at college in comfort and without interruption, in spite of his father's remonstrance and the weight of family tradition, he might possibly have taken that course. As it turned out, however, his fortunes were too uncer- tain, his life too unsettled, to admit of his settling down to the rigid requirements of an orthodox faith. Evidence even at this early day is not wanting that he was essen- tially a freethinker, or at least a fearless seeker after truth from the start, no matter in what direction it might lead him. 17 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA While living at Buffalo, he chose his special friends from the doctors, lawyers, teachers, and law students, a dozen or so of whom united with him in forming the Coffee Club, the object of which was mutual improvement in literature. It met weekly at the houses of such members as had houses, and at such other places as might be rented by those who had none. Original and selected essays were read, dis- cussed, and referred to the scribe. How long this society was in existence is not known, but that it held together for several years is evident from Dana's correspondence with James Barrett, who was at that time a law student in the office of Deacon James Crocker, a rising lawyer of Buffalo. The Rev. Mr. Hosmer, Dr. Austin Flint, and John S. Brown, head of the principal school of the city, were also members, and all became intimate with Dana, but Flint and Barrett were his special friends, and to them we are indebted for correspondence which casts a light upon Dana's plans and mental development. On April 1, 1839, Dana wrote from Buffalo to Barrett about the delights and the pranks of the day, and also the occupations and plans of several of their friends, and added: "As for myself, I labor daily at my studies, almost like a wanderer in a desert land, without guide save here and there a defaced and time-worn finger-post wherefrom he may gather somewhat of information, but no certain intelligence of his locality, or accurate knowledge of the path lying before him. And yet do I advance with a stout heart and unwavering determination, fearing not but that I shall at last arrive at the end of my toilsome journey. Some fears of pecuniary dif- ficulties, with which at your departure I was oppressed, have vanished; an arrangement is about to be concluded by which I shall have at my command four hundred dollars per year, so that I shall be above want. ... I commence this morning at the biographical part of the Greek Reader." 18 EDUCATION This letter was promptly answered, and followed by another, and still another, both of which show a growing friendship, a playful fancy, and a clearing prospect. On May 24th he wrote to Barrett: . . . "Now for myself. I am reviewing my Latin and Greek together daily, or rather nightly, which is the only sort of instruction I have had since your absence began. Mr. Hosmer wrote to Professor Felton, of Cambridge, who replied that I need have no fears on the score of admission, as, under the circumstances, I might be allowed to make up deficiencies while going on with the class." On January 16, 1840, after he had been at Cambridge nearly a half-year, Dana wrote to Dr. Flint: . . . "For my part, I am in the focus of what Professor Felton calls 'supersublimated transcendentalism/ and to tell the truth, I take to it rather kindly though I stumble sadly at some notions. But there is certainly a movement going on in philosophy which must produce a revolution in politics, morals, and religion, sooner or later. The tendency of the age is spiritual, and though the immediate reaction of the mind may be somewhat ultra, it is cheering to know that a genuine earnest action of some sort is in progress. Even old Harvard is feeling it. Locke is already laid aside, or the same thing as laid aside. Paley is about to suffer the same fate, and what is better perhaps than the inculcation of any positive doctrine, a course of study in the History of Philosophy is to be introduced and carried on with the study of Locke and Cousin, Paley and Jouffroy. Though it may be vain to ex- pect a university as far advanced as the age, still I hope to see old Harvard not very far behind. "I attend Mr. Emerson's lectures only; they are without dispute very fine, though perhaps they might be better with- out some of his peculiarities. Their great merit appears to me to be their suggestive character; they make me think. 3 19 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA " Thinking you would like to know something certain about Spinoza, I send you Mr. Ripley's last pamphlet which is devoted to the examination of his system. I think you will be convinced that the common charges against him are false, and that instead of having been an infidel, or pantheist in the ordinary sense of the term, he was in the highest sense a theist." On March 4, 1840, Dana wrote from Lancaster, New Hampshire, to James Barrett as follows: ... "I have been at Cambridge one term, half a year, and have never passed time so pleasantly and profitably to myself. I entered without any difficulty, and was fortunate enough to be put into the highest of the three sections into which the class is divided, which division is made with regard to proficiency in Latin and Greek. Without working so hard or so constantly as formerly, I have been able to maintain a respectable standing in my class and devote considerable time to philosophy and general literature. My class is a pretty large one for Cambridge, and I believe pretty good in point of talent. It is almost needless to say that I have become at- tached to it and the university. "When I wrote you last, I thought myself rich enough to get through college with ease, but since then my prospects have changed considerably. Instead of doing as I wish, I shall have to do as I can. I was not so confident in the fulfilment of my expectations as to feel that disappointment very seriously. To save money, I have concluded to leave college for the present term, and with my books I am located here among my relatives and the mountains. " Though I should much prefer returning to Cambridge, my present situation is not without its advantages, besides the cheapness of living, and I do not think I shall have any dif- ficulty in being contented. "I regret that Wakefield is to leave us, as he is almost the only man I have found here by whom I could expect to be helped through difficulties in Thucydides, which I am going 20 EDUCATION at as soon as I receive the rest of my books. At present I am at work on Xenophon's Memorabilia. ... He is withal one of the pleasantest fellows I have met with in a long time. "I heard from John Brown [of the Coffee Club] some two months since. He is. good-natured as ever, happy in his wife and baby, and overflowing with love for all men. His heart is a continual fountain of gladness, and once in a while he comes out with a thought so beautiful and poetical that it makes you wonder how such a soul ever got into such a body." . . . On April 12, 1840, he wrote again to Barrett, but this time from Guildhall, Vermont, whither he had gone to save money and continue his studies: . . . "I am glad to see, in your account of miscellaneous reading, authors of such inoppugnable orthodoxy as Coleridge and Carlyle. To Coleridge, though I have read but a moiety of his writings, I look up as to a spiritual father; to me he is a teacher of wisdom. Apropos of Carlyle, in a recent letter to Mr. Emerson he says, that in preparing a second edition of the History of the French Revolution for the press, he was him- self disgusted with the style, so that we may hope for his re- turn to the pure and beautiful English of his earlier works. "As for myself, I am living at my uncle's in true otium cum dignitate, no bells calling me to prayers or recitations, no college official coming to my door with 'the president wishes to see you, Mr. Dana,' and not one of those cursed bores 'seek- ing whom he may devour' ever disturbs my meditations. In one corner of my room stands my bed, next a window looking towards the sunrise is my desk, a side-table is covered with books; while your humble servant in dressing-gown and slip- pers sits near the fire in a great arm-chair, having 'pen in hand.' Here I study eight hours daily, having an occasional relaxation with a famous old fowling-piece that hangs in the kitchen, and a little tinkering once in a while in the workshop. I am fed, warmed, lighted, and otherwise cared for, for about nothing — perhaps a dollar a week, and that unwillingly taken. " Besides all this I am with my only sister, who is now about 21 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA fifteen and whom I had not seen for more than eight years. To her young mind I may be of some assistance. This is the reason, in addition to what you justly call the 'causa causarum' that I stay here rather than at Lancaster, where I have relatives and where I might have found agreeable so- ciety. From this, however, I am not wholly excluded, as I go thither three times a week to the post-office. " Of true companions like yourself, I have but one — a young orthodox minister whose name is Burke. . . . With him I dis- cuss philosophy, religion, and literature. In his religious dogmas I do not of course agree, and therefore with him I avoid all 'vain discussions.' If it were not for him I should dwell in a sort of intellectual solitude. . . . Though I am here to the great advantage of what many care for more than for life — to wit, my purse — and to my great good otherwise, I long to be with you, to five with you, and if possible will do so before I return to Cambridge, which I mean to do in the latter part of August. What will it cost to keep me at Woodstock? . . . "Your eulogy concerning your New England village girls, as I suspect goes a notch or so beyond the reality, but a little extravagance on this subject may be pardoned in any one, certainly in yourself, for saith not the poet: " ' The heart with its new sympathy with one Grows bountiful to all.' "What marvel then that you should attribute 'beauty and brightness and loveliness' to the whole feminine gender! . . . ... "I have just finished the first book of Thucydides, and find some dozen passages, despite all my labor, utterly un- translatable. If I cannot find a translation and you have a copy of the original, I'll send them down for your considera- tion." On August 18, 1840, Dana wrote again from Guildhall to his friend Barrett: "After a week of pleasure at Hanover, I find myself once more on the hither side of the North Pole, in safety as I trust 22 EDUCATION of both mind and body. To me withdrawal from my daily studies and occupations is an event that occurs but seldom; but from its rarity it is the more highly enjoyed. To you such withdrawals are doubtless frequent, nay, as I guess, are reck- oned among your duties, and done in the spirit wherein every duty should be performed. "Since my return I have been busily engaged in preparing for my examination for readmission to college, whither I go next week — to practise an art of which I am wholly ignorant — to wit, the art of living without means. And yet in some sort I am rich, for are not the kind hearts and kind hopes of friends, 'fit though few,' of more value than wealth that begets self- ishness? "Last week I had letters from Buffalo. There is nothing new in that beautiful city of agitations, where the mass are restless and excitable as the surface of their own lake. Our friends are well-faring. I look forward with pleasure to the time when I shall breathe again the air of Cambridge and Boston, in which the mind may draw long breaths and be strengthened, so genial it is, and where, but for term-bills and washer - women, one would never guess that there are such things as money and money - getting in the world. And, indeed, I hold it an evidence of human depravity that there are such things, and dream (nay, it is not a dream but a prophecy) of the time when the cycle of humanity shall be completed and it shall not be said 'God makes man, and man makes money.' "I shall expect to hear from you at Cambridge. Direct to me at Harvard University, and if I do not get your letters, 'why, the de'il is in it.' "Tell me what you think of Jones Very and I'll tell you something about the man. "I had almost forgotten to say how much I owe you for a large share of the pleasure of my visit to Hanover, and to re- mind you of our bargain, 'to live together and write books.' In the meanwhile, I trust no legal or other logicalities may obscure in us the love of the beautiful or the hatred of the Devil. 23 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA "Give my best remembrances to my namesake and every other who asks or thinks of me." This letter is signed in Greek characters, Danaos, which was his college nickname. It was followed by one from Cambridge dated October 29, 1840, to Barrett, which tells the story of his work: . . . "When I tell you what and how much I have to do, you won't think very badly of me. We have four recita- tions a week in Latin, of an hour each, four in Greek, three in rhetoric, three in German, three in French, and two in history, with a written exercise in Latin or Greek every week and one in German, besides a theme every fortnight. The classical lessons are long enough to satisfy the most desirous of 'getting ahead.' Thus you see we are constantly enough occupied. The faculty work us so that we may have no time for mischief — and they seem to have hit on the right plan — the college was never quieter. "I suppose you are busy rejoicing over 'Whig Victories,' and looking forward confidently to the end of corruption and misrule. I trust you may not be disappointed, but my hope is not altogether without fear. It seems to me that the meas- ures of this election [Harrison's] might make any one fear, though he regards them from a nearer point of view and very much more in the whirlpool than I. Shall we not go from hot to hotter? Will not succeeding elections require still greater 'excitements' and more tremendous machinery? I am aware that these things are called 'expressions of public opinion/ and 'manifestations of indignation' at bad govern- ment, but I don't believe it. As the courts say (with a slight alteration), 'God send us good deliverance.' "You say truly that this is hallowed ground. Even the outward air of things tell you that. I thought when I first came into the college grounds on my return that I had never before seen their beauty. It was a sunny afternoon, and the trees in the yard had lost none of their summer leaves. I could almost have fancied myself in Academus. To go into 24 EDUCATION the library begets a sort of sadness. Nowhere does one feel so much the force of the old saying: 'Time is short: art is long.' As you loiter in the alcoves you cannot help thinking how few of so many books you can ever read. And isn't it the sadder thought, how few of them are worth reading? "Some of the winter courses of lectures have been an- nounced and make me regret the necessity of my going away to teach school. Mr. Dana the poet begins next week a course of literature. Night before last John Quincy Adams delivered an introductory lecture. He will be followed by several dis- tinguished gentlemen. Professor Walker, a man of truly great mind, is to give twelve lectures on natural theology, and Pro- fessor Silliman, I know not how many on geology, besides others almost as attractive." We now learn for the first time that Dana's ambition was not limited to mastering the course at Harvard. As we have seen, he had been disappointed in his arrange- ments for money, and had been compelled to take refuge among his relations for the purpose of economizing. But still greater economies were necessary, and in his letter to Barrett he recalls a plan they must have talked over together : "My purpose of going to Germany grows fixed and definite. I am told that I can live there at a university for fifty dollars a year, and can earn something besides by teaching English. If at the end of my junior year, I can get hold of two or three hundred dollars, I shall go, and then, God willing, I shall write you letters from Germany. . . . . . . "After the 27th of November till the beginning of the next term, I shall be at Scituate, Massachusetts, engaged in cultivating the tender young idea." On November 21, 1840, he wrote to his friend Dr. Flint, at Buffalo, and while this letter covers the subjects alluded to in the letter to Barrett, it not only does so much more fully, but brings in new matter of interest, 25 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA the social experiment known as Brook Farm. Hence I give it almost in full : "Next to the pleasure of sitting in your office and talking face to face is the pleasure of talking to you, as it were — spiritually and from a distance. And as the former is a pleas- ure of hope and not of definite anticipation, I may be allowed the most abundant consolation I can derive from the latter. "I shall not attempt to give you any information about Boston or Boston society. Of the city I know little, and of the people nothing, so that I must refer you to Townsend, who can doubtless tell you everything that has happened, is hap- pening, or is likely to happen. Of the literary world, I am little less ignorant, as I am not only kept at home, but kept too busy by college studies to read or hear much besides them. Of the scanty intelligence I have you shall have the benefit. Mr. Dana, the poet, is now delivering a course of lectures on literature, and things in general which, as know- ing people who hear them say, are beautiful and profound. Mr. Dana is a disciple of Coleridge in philosophy. Dr. Walker is to deliver a course of twelve lectures on Natural Theology at the Lowell Institute. As introductory to them he will give the discourse he delivered last summer before the alumni of the university in defence of philosophy. Of this, which has had great influence hereabouts, you have perhaps seen notices. Hardly anything makes, me regret the necessity for pedagogizing through the winter more than that I shall lose these lectures. Of new books I hear nothing. The next in Mr. Ripley's series of foreign literature are expected to be Neander's Church History, selections from Schiller's prose writing, and a volume of poems from Uhland and Korner. "Apropos of Mr. Ripley, he leaves his church on the 1st of January as I am informed. He is to be one of a society who design to establish themselves at Concord, or somewhere in the vicinity, and introduce, among themselves at least, a new order of things. Their object is social reformation, but of the precise nature of their plans, I am ignorant. Whether the true way to reform this dead mass — society — be to separate from 26 EDUCATION it and commence without it, I am in doubt. The leaders of this movement are Mr. Emerson and Mr. Alcott, and those who are usually called Transcendentalists. "With these men are my sympathies. I honor as much as ever their boldness, freedom, and philanthropy; but I am beginning to regard their philosophy and theology quite dif- ferently. The fact is, as I think, their system is nothing more nor less than Pantheism. Though the most esoteric of their doctrines were never communicated to me, I never felt en- tirely satisfied, even in the time of my belief in those of theirs which I understood. I feel now an inclination to orthodoxy, and am trying to believe the real doctrine of the trinity. Whether I shall settle down in Episcopacy, Swedenborgianism, or Goethean indifference to all religion, I know not. My only prayer is, ' God help me.' "After all, doctor, speculative opinions and creeds are of little consequence. The great matter is to get rid of this terrible burden of sin — to bring our thoughts and lives into harmony with the law of God. "I have looked into Swedenborg, and am looking forward to study him. My slight reading has been sufficient to show me that to profoundest insight into spiritual things, to the sublimest philosophy, he added an angelic humility and holi- ness. You may think I speak in superlatives, but superla- tives only can be applied to Swedenborg. Besides, there is a great deal that appears to me visionary and mystical in his writings, but all this is received by men for whose intellectual strength and acuteness I have great respect. When I have read I may receive it also. "Have you read Coleridge? If not, let me once more advise you to do so. If you can get hold of The Friend I advise you to read it first. You will not think the time mis- spent. I am now reading his Aids to Reflection. . . . "I shall be for the next three months at Scituate, unless I should be turned out or suffer some other misfortune incident to school-masters. My intended flock is said to be of the most unruly and savage description, and I expect a pitched battle with them." . . . 27 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA So far as the records show, the battle did not come off. The new school-master was received with toleration if not with enthusiastic approval. After the usual struggle with the larger boys he made friends among both parents and children, earned the honor of a namesake, and taught his winter school through to the end. On January 10, 1841, he wrote from Scituate to his friend Barrett: ... "As to my German fancy, it still possesses me. If I hold my present purpose and can by hook or crook get two or three hundred dollars, I shall go in a year or two and you shall have letters from Germany ad contentum. But where am I to get the needful? Would it were as in the days of wise King Solomon, when gold and silver were to be had for the picking up. I do not, however, give myself much trouble about these things. I am fed and clad, and am permitted to learn something, and is not this enough? "Said Erasmus, when a student at Paris, poor and in rags, 'I will first buy Greek books and then clothes.' "As for my present situation, it is laborious enough. My school numbers in all nearly eighty, and the average attend- ance is about sixty-five, most of whom are unruly sailors, who have to be managed with a strong hand. By dint of hard flogging I have got them into tolerable subjection, but still it is wearisome business. I am paid twenty-five dollars a month with my board in one family through the whole term. Of literary intelligence I have not much to tell you, for though not very far from the Emporium, I am not near enough to hear the 'on dits' before they are fairly 'on dits!' Dr. Chan- ning has lately published a book on Emancipation, which is fully worthy of him, and a little book of Coleridge's, called Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit, has lately been repub- lished. "As for my own reading, it is principally theological. I have just begun the study of Swedenborg. Next to the long- ing for moral freedom, for the subjection of the body to the law of the spirit, my most earnest wish is for a revelation of 28 EDUCATION the truth, for the peace and serenity of an undoubting, a truly religious faith." . . . At the beginning of the second term, in the spring of 1841, Dana was back at college and hard at work, but the struggle was brought to a sudden end by the complete failure of his eyes. Writing to Barrett, June 7th, he says: ... "Be aware, however, O sagest of lawyers, that this is to be no lengthy epistle, as my eyes will not serve me for any length of time. About six weeks ago through overmuch study they gave out, since which time I have learned my lessons for the most part by having them read to me. So you see that I can offer you, dear friend, in whom I do claim an interest, the sympathies of a fellow-sufferer. I manage to do tolerably well in the recitation-room, though my favorite studies do not receive such close attention as if I could take the books into my own hand. "As to your invitation, if it had reached me a week ago, I doubt if I could have resisted it. But one afternoon last week, when my eyes were particularly troublesome, it occurred to me that nothing would be so serviceable to them as a visit to Buffalo. Since then nothing else has been in my head. I think continually of 'old familiar faces ' and friendly greetings, and imagine myself taking long walks and expounding the mysteries of spiritual philosophy to one of the most attentive listeners. I mean, moreover, to have a meeting of the Coffee Club and enjoy one more of those 'nodes cenaeque deum.' 1 . . . "One of my good friends, a classmate, is to lend me what funds I want, and so you see I cannot help going. . . . My next letter shall be longer. I have many things to say to you." This visit was made to Buffalo as intended, and although his friends while there showed him every attention, and gave him much pleasure by their society, and by the out- 1 Satires of Horace, vi. 65. 29 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA door exercise and diversions they put in his way, he was compelled 'to write as follows to his friend Barrett on July 17, 1841: . .• . "Nevertheless, my eyes improve so slowly that I fear I shall not be able to return to college for a year, in which case I propose to return to Massachusetts and work on a farm. Whatever I do you shall know of my location and of me." Unfortunately, his fears proved to be well founded, and in the absence of the means with which to secure scientific treatment, or even to give his eyes the rest they absolutely required, he returned to Cambridge after a short visit to his father in Ohio. He seems to have enrolled himself for the next year in the college catalogue as a member of the junior class. Instead, however, of resuming his studies, he decided to join the Brook Farm Association which Dr. Ripley was just getting fairly under way. Foreseeing that the complete restoration of his eye- sight would require more time than he thought at first, and that meanwhile he would be straitened for money, he had addressed a letter of inquiry to Dr. Ripley from Buffalo, in July, asking the terms under which he might be permitted to join. He had previously heard the proj- ect discussed in college circles, and doubtless was suffi- ciently informed as to its general scope and purpose to justify specific inquiries. To this letter Ripley replied from Brook Farm, August 4, 1841, as follows: "I am truly sorry that I cannot give you a decided answer at once in regard to your joining us this winter. At present our limited quarters are completely filled, and with the ar- rangements that we are now making, we shall have no more room, unless we add to our buildings this season. This we propose to do, and shall probably decide in one or two weeks. In that case, I shall rejoice to have you with us, on the condi- 30 EDUCATION tions you mention, and perhaps you would find our plans so attractive and feasible that you would be induced to complete your education at our institution, and connect yourself with us permanently. It is from the young, the energetic, the pure- minded, the self-relying, who have given no hostages to society and who expect and ask but little of it, that the life-blood of our enterprise is to proceed. So far God has prospered us. Our faith in our ideas increases with every day's experience. Our present social relations are more truly Christian and democratic than aught I know of elsewhere; and with an un- flinching spirit of perseverance, self-sacrifice, and hope, it -will not be long before we shall be able to live in accordance with the divinest laws of man's nature. "If you can wait a few weeks before you are obliged to decide upon your movements, I shall be thankful; we all want you should be with us; and the moment I can see the way clear you shall hear from me again." What precipitated his final action is not definitely known, but from the letter quoted above, it is evident that Dr. Ripley regarded him as a desirable acquisition, and therefore forced the necessary arrangements to re- ceive him. The only definite explanation of his own made at the time is found in a letter to his sister, dated Brook Farm, West Roxbury, September 17, 1841. It runs as follows: . . . "I returned from Buffalo four weeks since, but as my eyes are not fully restored, although they are considerably improved, I have not returned to college. I am living with some friends who have associated themselves together for the purpose of living purely and justly and of acting from higher principles than the world recognizes. I study but little — only as much as my eyes will permit. I pay for my board by labor upon the farm and by giving instruction in whatever lies within my capacity. I thought at first of pro- posing to come and stay with you, but the excellent society 31 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA into which I should here be thrown, and a warm sympathy with the peculiar views of my friends, decided me to come here. I may possibly visit you in the course of the year, but even that is quite doubtful. I shall if I can afford it." The life he was now entering upon seemed just what would be best for him. The Brook Farm Association was no charitable or philanthropic Utopia, but an honest and conscientious effort to combine co-operative labor with dem- ocratic living and intellectual improvement. There were to be no drones and no privileged members. Everybody was to work, everybody was to receive wages, and every- body was to pay for what he got. Dana was engaged to teach Greek and German, or anything else "within his capacity," and to work on the farm. With the proceeds of his teaching and of his wages for farm labor he was to pay for his living. Having had eight years' experience. as clerk in a general store at Buffalo, he was regarded as a competent business man, and as such he was chosen to act as one of the trustees for the property and management of the association. From the first he became one of its most industrious and useful members. Young, ardent, and ac- tive, with no infirmity except his overstrained optic nerves, he was fit for any task which might come his way. With an extraordinary facility in languages, he was an excellent teacher, and this is certified by the fact that his pupils gave him at once the title of "Professor," which he held to the end of his connection with the association. Ill COMMUNITY LIFE Reasons for joining Brook Farm — Secretary and trustee — Anecdote of Carl Schurz — Condition and progress of the association In the absence of any more positive statement than that given to his sister, the exact reasons which caused Dana to join the Brook Farm Association must remain more or less a matter of speculation. He had, of course, been absorbing the " supersublimated transcendentalism" of New England from the day of his admission into Har- vard College, but it has been shown from his own letters that while he was much impressed by the " boldness, free- dom, and philanthropy" of Emerson and Alcott, and greatly admired the independence and unselfishness of Channing, Ripley, and the new school of thinkers, he was by no means carried away with the hope that the move- ment would completely revolutionize the mass of society. He was willing to do the part which fell to his lot, and did it with all his heart to the entire satisfaction of his associates, but it will not be forgotten that he was en- tirely without means to pay his way elsewhere, and that besides finishing his education, he was to get at Brook Farm the physical training he required, for a minimum of cost, combined with a maximum of pleasure, if not of profit. He was just beginning his twenty-third year, an age at which most young men of the day were getting through college and starting the active work of life. His ambition was for the highest education then offered by 33 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA either Europe or America, and yet he was only half-way through his college course. In short, he was seeking for truth and light, but under disadvantages which were al- most insuperable. If he had any predilection at that time it was for theology, with a strong tendency to Uni- tarianism. He had implied a preference for Episcopacy, but finally took up Swedenborgianism, with the intimation that he might end in Goethean indifference to dogmatism of every kind. Curiously enough, as will be shown here- after, this foreshadowed the real line of his spiritual evolu- tion, as completely as if he had said it at the close rather than at the beginning of his career. Although I have read all the accounts I could find of the Brook Farm experiment, I have failed to discover any word from Dana indicating complete confidence in its success. He speaks frequently and earnestly in favor of co-operation, and in praise of the able and unselfish man- agement of Dr. Ripley. He lent his name and such credit as he had to the association, and stood by it till it was overwhelmed by disaster. He wrote much for the Har- binger, which was its organ, but his writings of this period indicate his aspirations rather than his settled convictions. They show that he had a practical turn of mind, and at the same time was looking to the great ends of life, rather than to the means by which they were to be reached. In view of all the circumstances of the case, which I have set forth whenever possible in his own words, I am forced to the conclusion that he connected himself with Brook Farm because it offered "the best solution of his own diffi- culties then within reach, rather than from mature con- viction that the experiment there to be tried was founded in true philosophy, political economy, and the require- ments of modern society. Anxious as he was for spiritual and intellectual growth, and persistent as he had been in seeking for the truth, his opinions were by no means 34 COMMUNITY LIFE settled. He was still growing and expanding, still striv- ing to solve the riddles of life, testing all things and hold- ing only to those he found satisfactory to his own ideals and to his own judgment. Hitherto he had been a faith- ful student and an omnivorous reader, to the neglect of bodily exercise, but now that his eyes had failed him, he was forced to reverse his mode of life and to give the pref- erence to out-door work. This was perhaps the best thing for him, so long as his vision was impaired. He remained at Brook Farm altogether about five years, or from 1841 till 1846, and in order that his life there may be more fully understood, I subjoin a condensed account of the interesting experiment which was tried out at that place. The movement which culminated in the Brook Farm Association grew primarily out of the Transcendental Club, which first attracted serious attention at Boston about the year 1840. It was sometimes called the "Sym- posium," but whether it ever had a regular organization or title remains uncertain even to this day. Transcenden- talism has been defined as an efflorescence of Aristotelian and German philosophy. It "was a reaction against the essential conservatism of both the Unitarian and the Trinitarian forms of Puritanism, neither of which cherished any belief in the self-sufficiency of the human mind out- side of revelation." ' The leading men in the movement were undoubtedly Emerson, Alcott, Charming, Hedge, and last, but not least, the Rev. George Ripley. Many other people of like temper and character, especially in New England, doubtless gave support to the cult, if it can be properly so designated. The subject of this memoir was undoubted- ly in sympathy with the movement from the time he first began to understand its tendencies, and in order to inform 1 Brook Farm, etc. , by Lindsay Swift. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1900. This is the best account of Brook Farm extant. 4 35 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA himself at the fountain-head of its doctrines as set forth in the speculations of Kant, Spinoza, and Schelling, he early began the study of German; and by the time he left college had sufficiently mastered that language to regard himself as competent to teach it. Many years afterwards, during the war between the States, as Major-General Carl Schurz, Mr. Dana, and I were riding from Knoxville to Chattanooga, those two distinguished dialecticians beguiled the weary hours in conversation carried on indifferently in both German and English. In one of the pauses Dana remarked: " General Schurz, you speak English with greater purity and precision than any man I have ever known." Whereupon General Schurz rejoined: "Well, Herr Dana" (which he pronounced with the broad a), "you speak German better than any man I ever heard speak it who was not born and educated in Ger- many." The compliment in each case seems to have been fully justified. The Brook Farm Association was undoubtedly a Tran- scendental movement, inasmuch as it was the outgrowth of pure idealism. The germ of the plan may have sprung from the Neuhof of Pestalozzi, who was a Transcenden- talist, but Ripley always insisted that it was an evo- lution of "pure idealism." It was organized tentative- ly in the winter of 1840, at which time Ripley decided to buy the farm from which the organization took its name, and to "make himself responsible for its manage- ment and success." In April of the next year, with his wife and sister and some fifteen others, he took possession of the farm-house and out-buildings already on the estate. The first six months were spent in "getting started," and in organizing the " Brook Farm Institute of Agricult- ure and Education," which constituted the special at- 36 COMMUNITY LIFE traction to Dana, who joined late in September and took part in forming the articles of association, getting sub- scriptions to the stock, and in electing the officers of the institute. The par value of the shares was fixed at five hundred dollars each, of which Dana took three and Ripley three; the rest, in all twenty-four shares, were taken by various others, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, in lots of one, two, and three shares. The favorite number seems to have been three. Of the entire amount subscribed only one- third was actually paid in. The property consisted of about one hundred and ninety-two acres, and was sit- uated in the town of Roxbury, on the road leading from Dedham to Watertown, about nine miles from Boston. The purchase price was ten thousand five hundred dollars, six thousand of which was secured by a mortgage "for three years and twenty-one days." This was followed at once by a second mortgage for five thousand dollars, from which it will be seen that the place was mortgaged to start with for five hundred dollars more than it cost. Dana, although adolescent and without any capital whatever, was at once elected recording secretary, one of the three trustees, and a member of the committe of finance, and also of the committee on education. The sole asset of the association was the farm, mort- gaged at' the start for more than its value, while its only dependence for actual income was the farm produce which might be grown, and the charge for tuition and board which would be furnished to such as might join the insti- tute. I have given these details for the purpose of show- ing that the association, whatever might have been its merits as a business undertaking, and however unsound or visionary may have been the principles and aims on which it was founded, was foredoomed to failure, primarily for lack of capital. It was doubtless an honest and un- 37 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA selfish effort at co-operation, but it ought to have been manifest to its supporters from the first day that the association was too limited in membership, and included too few of the various interdependent vocations of life to justify the slightest hope of success. Although every member of the association was to receive pay for his work, and give pay for what he got, it ought to have been apparent that neither the farm, with its short hours of unskilled labor, nor the school with its limited attendants, could possibly earn enough to sustain the enterprise and keep it out of bankruptcy. It is worthy of note, however, that notwithstanding its insufficiency of capital and its paucity of production, the association sustained itself and perhaps gained a little on its initial strength for about five years. The simplicity of life and the insufficiency of the charges at Brook Farm are well indicated by a letter from George W. Curtis and his brother Burrill, belonging to a well-to-do New York family, written in a beautiful hand to Dana in March, 1842. It runs as follows: "We received on Wednesday a letter from Mr. Ripley. He puts the price of board at three dollars, being less than the usual price by one dollar. Can you inform us whether this one dollar is to be considered by us as the compensation for our labor? If not, what is the rate of compensation? And will the difference of age between us (my brother being eigh- teen and I twenty) make a difference in this rate? If so, what ? "The charge for washing is five dollars and fifty cents per quarter. I presume this will not be varied, will it? "Will you also inform us whether we are to carry with us such furniture as we need or not? "Also, the best mode of conveyance out of Boston. "If you are unable to reply personally, will you please drop an answer to the care of George Curtis, Esq., cashier, Bank of Commerce, New York?" 38 COMMUNITY LIFE This letter must have been preceded by another, which has not been found, from these interesting brothers, for on March 18, 1842, Ripley wrote to Dana, who had evi- dently gone to New York on business, as follows : . . . "We have just received an application which we are inclined to think a good deal of from two Transcen- dental brothers, James Burrill and George William Curtis, natives of Providence, I suppose, but now apparently resi- dents in New York. They are young men, eighteen and twenty, with high ideal aims, and seem to seek our community, as an emblem or an attempt to realize what they yearn for. They wish to board with us, and work some three or four hours daily on such work as city-bred youth can apply themselves to. Their letter is a gem. So, too, I hope are they. I infer from what they say, though not quite distinct, that they want to see how they like us and we shall like them, and then, if all is right, become one, or rather two, of us. It is decided to receive them for three months at three dollars a week, etc. I shall write them to that effect to-morrow or next day. Pray find them out and open to them our Scripture, as you did to Greeley. They ask me to address them care of George Curtis, Bank of Commerce, New York. You can soon see whether they are of us and should be with us. "I am glad you had the talk you did with Mrs. Child; to be sure, we can see no way open just now by which they could join us this month or the next month, or the month after, but I cannot give up the inner faith that all who truly belong with us will find their way here, as surely as the wild duck finds the south in winter, and no want of externals can prevent it. We are in a prosperous state enough now, exteriorly, I fancy; perhaps too much so. I almost dread the effect of being allowed not to struggle with poverty and other hardships: and to meet this danger we must gather in those who are disinterested and magnanimous through and through: those who see and love our idea as we do ourselves, and are willing to live for it, which is no doubt a good deal harder than to die for it, since one is a much longer process than the other. 39 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA "It is clear, I think, that we are the first to attempt the organization of a society on purely democratic, Christian principles, and though I agree with you that we are not the last hope of Divine Providence, I cannot but believe that our principles are like seed-corn for the nations — and our pea- jackets, blue frocks, and cowhide, if you please, the compost on which they are planted. At any rate, if a blue frock can- not be metamorphosed into a prophet's robe or an angel's wing, why is it any better than the tattered surplice of the priest ? "How do you spend your time in the city of cities? I can hardly fancy you a gay man about town, and I suppose you must be rather homesick by this time. "I almost forgot to mention a very piquant visit we had from a come-outing Shaker the other day, who gave me a great deal of light on the inside of Shakerism. It is a detest- able, miserly, barren aristocracy, without a grain of humanity about it. Enormous wealth is made at the expense of all manly pursuits and attainments." One of the most interesting contemporary letters I have found in reference to this novel experiment in sociology was written by Horace Greeley to Charles A. Dana, from New York, August 29, 1842; and as it is the earliest rec- ord of their acquaintance, and besides contains an impor- tant statement of some of the dangers which threatened at the time, it is given with no omission except the address and closing paragraph, both of which were purely formal : "I received yours of the 24th on Saturday evening, at Albany, having spent Friday and Saturday there on business. I take the very first opportunity to thank you and the com- munity for your kindness. I shall write to Mrs. Greeley to- day, and presume you will hear from her directly — probably in the course of the week. I cannot doubt that she will be very happy to accept your obliging offer. She is still at Watertown, very eligibly situated in most respects, but almost 40 COMMUNITY LIFE isolated from society, which in her state of virtual blindness, so far as reading and study are concerned, is a great privation indeed. With you she will find all she needs, and I hope her recovery to health and vision will be sure and rapid. It will be a great satisfaction to me in every way to know that she is with you, not only on her account, but my own, as I hope sometime to be able to steal two or three days from my distracting, harassing occupation to pay her a visit, and yours is just the place that I should like to find her. "And now a word in answer to the suggestions in your last. I do not deny the advantage of your plan for a community of which every member shall be actuated solely by a true Christianity or a genuine manfulness — a disposition to bear others' burdens, and to count it happiness to do and suffer for the indolent and unthankful. Yet can we hope to bring the world suddenly or speedily to this frame of mind? I fear not. Well, let us suppose that in a community of one hun- dred persons there shall be two or three who cherish a dis- position to enjoy and not earn — to be helped by others and not help others. What then? Will not their example weigh terribly on the spirits and influence the conduct of all? Will not the spirit of self-denial in A be sorely tried by seeing that the only effect of its exercise is to confirm B in selfishness, in- dolence, and uselessness? Nay, more: Is not the world now filled with people who would think themselves valuable mem- bers of a community while doing little or nothing for its wel- fare and employing the time of two members each in their own personal service? I think I have known such. Hence my fear for your system — that it is adapted only to angelic nat- ures, and that the entrance of one serpent would be as fatal as in Eden of old. I think Fourier's system avoids this danger, by having a rampart of exact justice behind that of philanthropy. With this no one will be tempted to say — why shall I labor, when another in wanton idleness consumes the product? Why shall I assume unpleasant functions, when others avoid them and in secret laugh at my easy good-nature? "I know you will pardon my frankness and pertinacity; for you know that my interest in the subject is almost painful. 41 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA I have encountered much opposition and ridicule on account of what I have published and the little I have written in favor of association, and have shocked the prejudices of many- worthy friends, some of whom have stopped my paper on account of this, and all been chilled in their friendship by my unyielding fanaticism. All this is nothing: but the failure of your experiment would be something. My world would have a darker sky than now. Understand, then, my friend, that I would not have you change anything which works well with you (for I am an ingrain conservative as well as radical), but should circumstances of discouragement ever arise, I would have you prepared to meet and overcome them, readily and signally. Do not let anything 'daunt you, much less destroy. I hear awful predictions of your overthrow, at which I trust you smile, but which to a distant friend may well cause some little anxiety. I hope I shall yet live to see the infidels con- founded — no, converted. Do you ever read that quaint, devout old record by Ezra of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem? "I am lecturing you too freely. Enough." But this wise and pathetic letter, although it points out weaknesses in the association which must have destroyed it ultimately, even if the original insufficiency of capital had not proved to be fatal, it did not, so far as can now be discovered, discourage those who had practical charge of the management. Dana, in whom we are principally in- terested, went sturdily about his daily task. When scholars began to come to the institute, he taught, and taught well, whether the lessons were in Greek, German, or Spanish. When he had no scholars, he worked on the farm at whatever came handiest, but seems to have pre- ferred feeding and milking the cows and looking after the dairy. When neither of these departments claimed his attention, he wrote for the Dial, and afterwards for the Harbinger, or delivered lectures and talks wherever he had an audience. He was cheery and alert in his tasks. In 42 COMMUNITY LIFE fact, he was regarded, because of his clerical experience, as a sort of business expert and manager, and as such avoided no duty and shirked no responsibility. It should be remembered that the association was a joint-stock, not an incorporated, company. Every person who held one or more shares was considered a member, and was allowed one vote for each share. The stock was non-assessable. The property was vested in and held by four trustees. The interest on the stock was to be paid in certificates of stock, although any holder, if he pre- ferred, might have the amount of interest due him from any unappropriated cash on hand. But, as might have been expected, mortgages grew faster than cash in the treasury. After three years' experience, and much dis- cussion, it was decided to convert the association into a "Phalanx," in accordance with the system of Fourier, whose writings were at that time attracting a good deal of attention in both Europe and America. But this was a change in name rather than a change in character. Withal, much had been said and written about the Brook Farm community. Its fame had been widely spread. Many interesting and earnest men and women who fa- vored plain living and high thinking had given it their ap- proval and support, and a still larger number were watch- ing it with hopeful attention. Visitors poured in from various parts of the country, and especially from New England. They were received with boundless hospitality and a hearty welcome. Food and entertainment were at first furnished free of charge to all important visitors; but when it is remembered that as many as four thousand visitors were registered in one year, it becomes appar- ent that this alone would in the end certainly bankrupt the concern no matter how successful it might be other- wise. Hence it was finally decided to make a minimum charge for board and lodging furnished to transient visit- 43 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA ors. But neither this economy nor new subscriptions to the stock could save the experiment. Still its expenses increased, the deficit grew, and a fourth mortgage was negotiated and placed upon the property. It should be said in fairness, however, that the community had con- tinued to grow till it had become too numerous for the original accommodations, and hence it was necessary to build a larger, more commodious, and better arranged house, which under the new organization was to be known as the " Phalanstery." Its estimated cost was about ten thousand dollars, of which about seven thousand dollars had been raised on stock, when, through carelessness of the carpenters, the house, which was approaching com- pletion, took fire and was totally destroyed. This oc- curred on the night of March 3, 1846, and proved to be a disaster from the effects of which it was impossible to rescue the association. No further stock could be sold, and while Ripley and his associates stood up bravely for a few months longer, during which Ripley completed the sacrifice of his library to pay the final debts, which amount- ed after all to less than a thousand dollars, the place was closed, and the community was scattered to take up less ideal but more practical pursuits in the greater world about them. The farm was a beautiful one, admirably adapted to dairy purposes. It had been skilfully and honestly man- aged by an expert farmer. The old farm-house, romanti- cally designated as "The Hive," with its subsidiary build- ings, "The Cottage," "The Eyrie," and the stables were prettily situated, and the whole place, with its collection of clever men and charming women, was most attractive. As a consequence, the farm grew in value from the start, and when it was sold, in 1849, it brought, at public auction, nineteen thousand one hundred and fifty dollars, or a sum sufficient to pay off all the mortgages, executions, and 44 COMMUNITY LIFE accumulated interest, and leave a clear balance of seventeen hundred and four dollars to be applied to other claims against the " Phalanx." Thus it is seen that in the end the Brook Farm Association, as well as its successor, the Brook Farm Phalanx, went out of business with only a trifling loss. This, as before stated, was assumed and paid by Dr. Ripley, and in this manner the business honor of all concerned was saved from reproach. The farm to- day belongs to the Association of the Evangelical Lutheran Church for Works of Mercy, and is used as a shelter for homeless children. The society gathered there under the auspices of Dr. Ripley was a most interesting one. It counted among its most distinguished members Hawthorne, the author of the Blithedale Romance, which has been styled "The Epic of Brook Farm"; 1 George William Curtis and his brother; Margaret Fuller; the Macdaniel family; John S. Dwight; J. T. Codman; Albert Brisbane; and a number of lesser lights who have disappeared from the annals of the times. Although the organization doubtless owed much to the in- fluence of Emerson and W. H. Channing, it is a noteworthy circumstance that while they gave it their countenance and moral support neither ever formally became a member. Hawthorne, who was one of the earliest subscribers, severed his relations with the association by a letter on October 17, 1842, addressed to Dana as secretary. It runs as follows: "I ought, some time ago, to have tendered my resignation as an associate of the Brook Farm Institute, but I have been unwilling to feel myself entirely disconnected with you. As I can see but little prospect, however, of returning to you, it becomes proper for me now to take the final step. But no 1 Brook Farm, etc., by Lindsay Swift, p. 171. The Macmillan Com- pany, publishers, New York. 45 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA longer a brother of your band, I shall always take the warmest interest in your progress, and shall heartily rejoice at your success — of which I can see no reasonable doubt." It is proper to add that the organization in both of its forms was based strictly on the principles of mutual as- sociation, from which it never departed. It believed heartily in co-operation but never became in the slightest degree communistic. It never indulged in the delusion that each member should have an equal profit in the earnings and advantages of the association, but held to the last that these should be divided according to the respective interests of the share-holders. It never opened its doors to the world at large, but selected its members from the best of those asking to be admitted. Its plan was to pay each member fairly for his work, and charge a fair price for what each person got. Manifestly a society of this sort might continue to flourish so long as it chose its members with proper care, sold its stock for a suffi- ciently high price, and had a membership sufficiently large to include all the necessary human pursuits, with a mar- ket of outsiders sufficiently near to buy its surplus prod- ucts at remunerative prices. Whatever may have been the merits or demerits of the plan on which the associa- tion was founded, and however fanciful may have been its ideals, with its "groups and phalanxes," its "hives and eyries," its membership included many of the highest and brightest minds of the day. "Their character was approved." They lived in the ordinary privacy, except that they boarded together and spent their evenings in talk, music, and dancing, upon which there was no bar. They were idealists who hoped to evolve a superior form of society, but there was too little capital and not enough profitable work to insure the success of their interesting experiment. 46 COMMUNITY LIFE Such readers as may desire to know more about the de- tail of this novel but Utopian association, will find an in- teresting account of it in Lindsay Swift's Brook Farm, from which what I have said in this narrative has been largely drawn. Whatever may have been its influence on others, it was undoubtedly of substantial advantage to Charles A. Dana. This is clearly shown not only by his subsequent career, but by the following verbal quotation from Mr. Swift's book, for which I desire to express my acknowledgments to the author and to his publishers, the Macmillan Company : "Dana seems not to have defied worldly custom either in the matter of blouses or unusual hair; in fact, he was not es- pecially responsive to the little caprices of his fellows, and seldom joined in the merriment, but was always on hand for the serious affairs, having been made a trustee soon after his arrival. He not only worked and taught well, but sang well, and was bass in a choir which, according to Arthur Sumner, sang a 'Kyrie Eleison' night and day. 'It seems to me,' adds Sumner, 'that they sang it rather often.' One admirable bit of training for his future profession Dana acquired through his connection with the Harbinger, to which he was a fre- quent contributor. Many of his articles were youthful and imitative — hardly better than any well-brought-up young fellow might produce. The mannerisms of the sturdy Eng- lish reviewing of the day sat heavily upon him, and he was constantly dismissing the victims of his disapproval with the familiar conge" of the British quarterlies. Short poems and literary notices formed the major part of his work, but it is unnecessary to particularize the amount or quality of what he did. It was all excellent practice. Poe, Cooper, and Anthon were his youthful hatreds. "According to Colonel Higginson, the 'Professor' was 'the best all-round man at Brook Farm, but was held not to be quite so zealous or unselfish for the faith as were some of the others,' though his speeches in Boston and elsewhere were 47 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA most effective. Dana was at that time a very young man, with the faults, but with all the splendor and promise, of youth. No one has criticised the fidelity of his work at the school, and no one, not excepting Ripley, spoke more fervidly than Dana in the cause of association. He was wise, if not wholly in- genuous, for he had the sagacity, at the 'meeting held in December, 1843, to advocate a continuance of associationism for Brook Farm, while the followers of Brisbane, bringer of huge programmes and unnumbered woes, proclaimed the virt- ues of modified Fourierism. Dana lost the toss, but did not forsake the field. On the contrary, even after the flames of the Phalanstery swept up vortically the hopes of five years, he still valiantly preached the faith delivered to the saints. "As a mature man the great editor found so few causes on which he could lavish his vanishing enthusiasm that it is a pleasure to recall his scrupulous adhesion to the doctrines of association until those doctrines became normally merged into vaster and more immediate problems. His name ranks in importance with Orvis and Allen as a lecturer, although he probably did not, so often as they, address the public. But when he talked he was influential. On the platform Dana had no especial fluency, but he did have the compensating graces of frankness and a natural manner. On one occasion he defended, and most honestly, ambition as 'the greatest of the four social passions.' This it was, the speaker argued, which brought the associates together in order to better social conditions. It corresponds to the seventh note of music, requiring for completeness the striking of the eighth note, which belongs also to the octave beyond. To strike these notes is to arrive at a final object, the higher unity. Noble and straightforward sentiments, but born, one would hardly think, of that 'mordaunt and luminous spirit,' as Dana was afterwards remembered. In Dana, however, there were mem- ories, some of them tender, for these sincerer days. Dana, who wore no emotions on his sleeve, never forgot, and never in word, however much in conduct, repudiated Brook Farm. No abler or more sympathetic tribute has ever been paid to the association than was spoken by him at the Univer- 48 COMMUNITY LIFE sity of Michigan on January 21, 1895. The charm of the life, the causes of failure, his own experiences, are all candidly and gracefully told. Mr. Ripley is mentioned with respect and cordiality. Where the treasure is there will the heart be also. Charles Dana, who laughed at much which some men hold dear, never vilipended his own experience at Brook Farm, though it is a matter of conjecture whether he retained faith in any particular reform, social or political. He took pains in this lecture to deny that there was any communism in the experiment. Nothing in his nature would have responded to that principle. The real trouble at Brook Farm to him was evident: 'it didn't pay'; but he insisted that the breaking up was regretted by all who shared the life there. He severed his own connection soon after the fire, at which he did not chance to be present, and secured work in Boston on the Chronotype at five dollars a week." But returning to the life at Brook Farm, which had such an important bearing upon the development of Dana's character, let me quote further from his corre- spondence with Dr. Ripley. This is necessarily occa- sional because they were separated but seldom. Both stuck closely to the work they had undertaken. Dana was, however, occasionally absent on business, and dur- ing the trip to New York, already alluded to, Ripley wrote, April 10, 1842, as follows : "The best news I have heard for some time is that you will be with us next Sunday, for though no one, I suppose, is essential to the life of another, we miss you sadly at every turn, and it hardly seems as if our Brook ran as pleasantly as usual while you are not here. Since Braddy left us, the boys have had 'little Latin and less Greek,' that is to say, none at all of either, except regular doses in the grammar. We are going on famously in algebra, however; I like to teach it and the boys take hold of it well: to say nothing of a large class — boys and girls, Minot and all, two evenings in the week. Salisbury 49 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA came the day we expected him: he is 'a sweet youth and tall,' greatly addicted to study and a prime hand with the kine. He takes the place of our worthy Mr. Dunbar, with whom, gra- cious mercy! we parted friendly two or three weeks ago. Hill has arrived, and is perched up in the new house, which per- haps you know we have christened the 'Eyrey': because I suppose, there are no eagles there, only doves and such poultry. Nobody else, I believe, has come; not even my lover Lamed, from whom I hope not much. "I am glad you are seeing all sorts of people, and talking to some of them about our wild notions. Tell me all you know of the Curtises: do they mean to join us by-and-by, or come they merely as spectators? What corner or crevice can we find for Mrs. Greeley: I see not: perhaps, we can make one before the summer is over. At Avery's I am sure, she would be homesick: besides, we should scarcely see her there, or she us. We are very glad to get the Tribune every week, as we do from Mr. Greeley: it is as pleasant an avenue as we could have wherewith to communicate with the Babel world it comes from. "One bad thing alone belongs to your coming back, we sha'n't get any letters from you: we shall miss them so much that you will have to write us now and then, and send your letters from house to house." Dana's tastes and inclinations during his connection with Brook Farm, while primarily occupied in completing his education according to his preconceived notions, nat- urally led him to write for such journals as would pay him for his contributions. As the Dial at first, and the Harbinger afterwards, were the official organs of the as- sociation, he by preference wrote much for them, but as he covered a multitude of subjects, it would be difficult to summarize what he said. While it was thoughtful, vig- orous, and virile, it was like much which goes to make up the sum of our daily lives, of but little permanent value. It broadened and strengthened his mind and cultivated 50 COMMUNITY LIFE his style, which became steadily more practical and direct and less fanciful and florid. The life of actual labor com- bined with his intellectual pursuits had strengthened his body, improved his eyesight, and increased his confidence in himself, and this was of the first importance to him at least. The Harbinger was published for about two years, beginning in June, 1845. It was edited mainly by Dr. Ripley; but in this as in everything else Dana seems to have been his principal assistant and understudy. It was issued both in Boston and New York, and while Curtis, Cranch, Lowell, Dwight, Osborne Macdaniel, and many others, were regular or occasional writers, Dana was evi- dently the principal one. In the first three volumes his activity is particularly noticeable. He wrote editorials, essays, book reviews, poems, and bright, clever notes on many subjects. To the fourth volume, published mostly after Dana had married and removed to New York, he also appears as a contributor, but his articles were neces- sarily less numerous. In his earlier contributions he fre- quently and fully sets forth the principles on which the association was founded, and to those he did not fail to add elaborate statements of his own views on universal association and the regeneration of society. His first editorial leader for the Harbinger appears to have been published in June, 1845, and was on the sub- ject of "Commerce." While the limits of this memoir will not permit the quotation of this entire article, its conclusion is so pertinent to existing conditions that I give it as follows: . . . "From intimate acquaintance of many years with com- mercial life, and from careful observation of both large and small commercial transactions, we are constrained to believe that in commerce absolute and complete honesty, integral s 51 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Christian honesty, is impossible. This is a broad and strong assertion, but we appeal to the inmost consciousness of those of our readers who are acquainted with the matter if it be not true. There was truth and justice in the action of the Saviour, when he drove the merchants out of the temple, telling them they had made it a den of thieves. Modern commerce wears a more decent coat, perhaps, but underneath it is but little altered. Whatever exceptions we may find, all will admit that its constant tendency is to destroy individual integrity. Is not this enough to condemn civilized commerce, and incite us to substitute for it a system of guarantees and security, by removing commerce entirely from the grasp of individual self- ishness? The method of doing this with security and ad- vantage is known to us; we shall hereafter take occasion, to bring it forward." So far as I am able to ascertain, Dana did not bring forward his method of freeing commerce from the grasp of individual selfishness. Perhaps, after all, he came to the conclusion that it was a subject beyond his powers, though he may have included his treatment of it in his disquisitions upon the scope and advantages of " Universal Association," as found in various numbers of the Harbinger. In a review of Downing's Fruit and Fruit Trees of America, he reached a conclusion to which but few people of the present day will object. It runs as follows: "There are many in the list of gentlemen whose aid he (Downing) acknowledges which bring before us golden and purple recollections, visions of fruits which in themselves are arguments enough against the doctrine that the earth is accursed and the mother of no good thing. If any man be- lieve that social harmony is impossible we will agree to silence his most obstinate assertions with some of the pears named in Mr. Downing's catalogue. No one whose soul such flavors had ever approached could refuse to assent to the most glow- ing anticipations of the Future of Mankind." 52 COMMUNITY LIFE In another article he condemned Poe's Tales, then at- tracting wide attention, as "clumsily contrived, unnatural, and every way in bad taste," while in still another he com- mends Martin Farquhar Tupper's "Crock of Gold" as a poem which "abounds in beautiful passages, is written in a nervous, straightforward style, is free from sentimentalism, and shows that the author is a man of good sense as the world goes, be- sides something more." It is curious to note in passing how the world, and Dana himself for that matter, have reversed both of these opin- ions, and yet it took many years to do it. As given here they show how completely a man's judgment may be re- versed by the lapse of time. Among other notable articles which Dana contributed to the Harbinger is one on the universality of humbug, another combating the idea that interest on capital is wrong, and a third on " Irish Repeal." Whatever we way conclude as to the correctness of the sentiments quoted above, we must admit that they are expressed in clear and vigorous prose, which it would be difficult to improve. But our aspiring writer did not con- tent himself with prose. Indeed, the family tradition is that, under the guidance of a favorite aunt, he began to write poetry at the early age of eight. Some of his lines are still occasionally quoted by his daughters. After his connection was made with Brook Farm he resumed the practice, and as early as April, 1842, contributed to the Dial a poem of fifteen lines entitled "Herzliebste." This was followed in July by one of fourteen lines on "Eter- nity." The next year he wrote for the same paper "Manfulness" and "Via Sacra." In 1844 he wrote a touching tribute of sixteen lines to his friend Robert Bartlett, who had been reported as dead, also another to 53 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA "Edelfrida." Throughout the year 1845 his muse seems to have been more prolific, for he published in the Harbinger "Auf Wiedersehen," which was followed by a hymn, "Les Attractions sont Proportionelle aux Des- tines" after Novalis, "Ad Arma," "The Secret" (from the German of Seidl), "The Beauty of the Earth" (from the German of Ruchert), "Mutual Longing" (from the German of Heine), " To the Moon (from the German of Holty) . The next year, 1846, he published the " Bank- rupt," "Erotis," "Patience" (from the German of Spitta), "The Question" (from the German of Heine), and "Memnon." Of these "Erotis" is the longest and "Memnon" the best. Those of the last two years -were all published in the Harbinger, from which they ob- tained some circulation, but I cannot learn that any of them outlived the year of its birth, or passed perma- nently into the literature of the period. Indeed, there is one good reason to believe that the author finally con- demned them himself, for he enshrined none of them in the American Household Book of Poetry, a well-known and widely circulated book of the best short poems in the language, of which he was the compiler. He doubtless gave his own poetic children every consideration to which he thought they were entitled, as they were found among his personal effects clearly transcribed, and done up ready for the printer, but several of them had been carefully crossed out with the blue pencil from the pages on which they were copied at the date of their production. It is proper to say, however, that in 1885 Mr. Dana himself selected three of these early poems to appear in a volume entitled Representative Poems of Living Poets, compiled by Miss Jeannette L. Gilder, and published in 1886. Mr. Dana's selections were "Eternity," "Herzliebste," and "Manfulness." As fair specimens of the whole, I call at- tention to the three which follow: 54 COMMUNITY LIFE "VIA SACRA "Slowly along the crowded street I go, Marking with reverent look each passer's face, Seeking, and not in vain, in each to trace That primal soul whereof he is the show. For here still move, by many eyes unseen, The blessed gods that erst Olympus kept; Through every guise these lofty forms serene Declare the all-holding Life hath never slept; But known each thrill that in man's heart hath been, And every tear that his sad eyes have wept; Alas for us! the heavenly visitants — We greet them still as most unwelcome guests, Answering their smile with hateful looks askance, Their sacred speech with foolish, bitter jests: But oh! what is it to imperial Jove That this poor world refuses all his love?" "TO R. B. 1 "Beloved friend! they say that thou are dead, Nor shall our asking eyes behold thee more, Save in the company of the fair and dread, Along the radiant and immortal shore, Whither thy face was turned for evermore, Thou wert a pilgrim towards the True and Real, Never forgetful of that infinite goal; Salient, electrical, thy weariless soul, To every faintest vision always leal, Ever midst those phantoms made its world ideal. And so thou hast a most perennial fame, Though from the earth thy name should perish quite: When the dear sun sinks golden whence he came, The gloom, else cheerless, hath not lost his light; So in our lives impulses born of thine, Like fireside stars across the night shall shine." 1 Robert Bartlett. 55 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA " MANFULNESS " Dear, noble soul, wisely thy lot thou bearest; For, like a god toiling in earthly slavery, Fronting thy sad fate with a joyous bravery, Each darker day a sunnier mien thou wearest. No grief can touch thy sweet and spiritual smile; No pain is keen enough that it has power Over thy childlike love, that all the while Upon this cold earth builds its heavenly bower; And thus with thee bright angels make their dwelling, Bringing thee stores of strength where no man knoweth; The ocean-stream from God's heart ever swelling, That forth through each least thing in Nature goeth, In thee, oh, truest Hero, deeper floweth: — With joy I bathe, and many souls beside Feel a new life in the celestial tide." These poems show that Dana was going through a period of mental activity and development in which every faculty was cultivated to the highest degree by study, reflection, and composition. Surely and steadily the idealist and dreamer was laying down his illusions and taking up the methods of a practical business-man. He was then, and remained throughout his life, devoted to idealism, poetry, and romance, but never after that time did he allow either to lead him away from the practical duties of the hour. It is worthy of passing notice that Dana for a part of this period also kept a book of quotations which abounds in extracts from Coleridge, Longfellow, Wordsworth, Car- lyle, Motherwell, Cousin, Considerant, Fourier, Schiller, Goethe, Spinoza, Heine, Herman, Kepler, Bruno, Novalis, Bohme, Swedenborg, Virgil, Horace, Cicero, Thucydides, Euripides, and Sallust. It is still more worthy of notice that they were made always in the script and language in which they were written, whether it was English, Ger- 56 COMMUNITY LIFE man, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Danish, Latin, or Greek. These extracts consist of lofty thoughts and sentiments, which necessarily touched responsive chords in his own soul, or else they would not have- been gathered. They are of interest not only because of the sentiments and principles they inculcate, but because they show a growing familiarity on the part of the student with both ancient and modern literature. From the foregoing statement it is evident that the five years Dana passed at Brook Farm with the friends he loved had gone far to prepare him for the battle of life. They brought him many benefits for which he always re- mained grateful, but the greatest benefit and blessing which it brought him was his life partner and wife. Among the clever and interesting people gathered there were the Macdaniel family, consisting of a widowed mother with her three children, one son and two daughters. They were from Maryland, where the family was long settled. They brought with them an air of refinement which always characterized them. The youngest member of the family was Eunice, an attractive and spirited girl, with black and sparkling eyes, and a slight but erect and energetic figure. If her mind had dwelt in the form of a man, it must have been regarded as a notable one. It im- pelled her to do her full part not only as a member of the community, but in the long and beautiful life to which it introduced her as a wife and mother. During her stay at Brook Farm, she is said to have had serious intentions of becoming an actress, but notwithstanding this some- what romantic purpose, she was not unmindful of the practical affairs of life, and became an efficient member of the housekeepers' group. Whether from the experience she gained in that way, or from her natural aptitudes, she became famous in her married life as one of the most ac- complished housewives of her time. She was from the 57 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA first a self-centred person who knew her own powers, and formed her own opinions. In due time she won the ad- miration of Charles Dana, who offered her his heart and hand with all his worldly goods. As has been seen, he was far from rich, but this was no bar. Fortunately even in those days money counted for little, while character was regarded as a matter of prime importance. They were married at 39 Walker Street, New York, on March 2, 1846. This, it should be noted, was the day before the Phalan- stery was burned, and satisfactorily accounts for the fact that Dana was not at the fire. With their lives linked by the sacred ties of husband and wife, and having as yet no per- manent home, they were literally compelled to go forth into the world to meet such fortune as life had in store for them. Dana is described at that time as "a handsome man, not after the graceful type of the Curtises, but masculine, yet so slender as to seem tall. He had a firm, expressive face, regular and clear-cut, a scholar's forehead, auburn hair, and a full beard. Strong in mind and general physique, he conveyed the impression of force, whether he moved or spoke. In his old age he preserved a look of virility and determination, though hardheadedness clearly predominated over graciousness. He was, at Brook Farm, kindly mannered, and gave a pleasant impression to those who met him, while a natural dignity kept him from many of the extravagances into which some of the others easily fell. He showed a taste for the farm-work, which later, when success gave opportunity, grew into a fondness for live-stock and all the accompaniments of a country life. An admirable nervous and muscular strength explains much of Dana's capacity for successful work." * The newly wedded couple continued their connection for a few months with Brook Farm, and Dana did all he 1 Swift, Brook Farm, pp. 151, 152. 58 COMMUNITY LIFE could to sustain the sinking hearts of his associates, but he could not conceal from himself, at least, that the end had come. Some two years before he had made an arrange- ment to write for the Boston Daily Chronotype for four dollars per week, and now that Brook Farm had failed him, this small weekly compensation was his main de- pendence. With the expense of a young wife added to his own it was pitifully inadequate. He doubtless con- tributed "pot-boilers" to other journals, but withal he was face to face with the necessity for a new departure, and made haste to abandon idealism and associationism for the more practical if less romantic struggle that was before him. After the failure of Brook Farm had deprived Dana of steady occupation, he sought and obtained closer re- lations with the Chronotype, and was formally employed by its owner .and editor, Elizur Wright, to read the ex- changes, edit the news, and make himself generally use- ful. It was also understood that during Wright's absence Dana should act as editor, but all without additional com- pensation. The newspaper was an orthodox publication, and was therefore a great favorite with the Congregational ministers of Massachusetts. As an evidence of the young writer's independence of thought, and of his radical de- parture from the gloomy doctrines of Calvin, as well, per- haps, as an instance of his growing sense of humor, Wright used to relate the following anecdote with evident satis- faction. On the occasion of a temporary absence from the city his paper came out "mighty strong against hell," to the astonishment of the subscribers as well as of the re- sponsible editor. In referring to this incident years after Dana had come to be a great editor, Mr. Wright said it gave him a great deal of trouble at the time, as it obliged him to write a personal letter to every Congregational minister in Massachusetts, and to many of the deacons 59 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA besides, explaining that the paper's apparent change of doctrinal attitude was due to no change of faith on his own part, but' to the fact that it had been left temporarily in charge of "a young man without journalistic experience." It has been seen that Dana had already made the ac- quaintance of Horace Greeley, who was fast becoming, with his Tribune and his facile pen, one of the most in- fluential men in the country. It has been seen too that Greeley and his wife were sympathetic with Brook Farm, and especially so with its doctrines and plans. This sym- pathy was doubtless the initial influence which led to Dana's connection with the Tribune, and to the long per- sonal and professional intimacy which grew up between these remarkable men. As a matter of interest, I have added in an appendix l the address on Brook Farm already mentioned, which was delivered at the University of Michigan in January, 1895. So far as the comparatively brief compass of this ad- dress permits, it is probably the most enlightening ex- position of the society, its aims and character. •Page 517. IV IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM City editor New York Tribune — Visits Europe as correspondent — Revolution of 1848 — Provisional government of France — Sympathizes with the people — Louis Napoleon a danger to the republic — The policy and duty of France As can well be imagined, Dana was not long in reach- ing the conclusion that the journalistic field of Boston was not likely to afford him a sufficient opportunity for the exercise of his talents or to yield him a sufficient in- come for his growing necessities. Accordingly he decided, late in 1846, to remove to New York, and through Horace Greeley, whose acquaintance he had made five years be- fore, he secured employment as city editor of the Tribune at ten dollars per week to start with He began work in his new position in February, 1847, but before the year was out he realized that his income was insufficient and felt compelled to strike for a higher salary. Inasmuch as he had not only shown his usefulness, but had attracted attention to himself as a journalist of unusual talents, Greeley promptly yielded, and advanced his assistant's pay to fourteen dollars per week, while his own as chief editor and proprietor was only a dollar more. After this advance Dana gradually became completely absorbed in bis work on the Tribune, and was therefore forced to ter- minate his engagements with other newspapers. Just what articles he wrote at first for the Tribune, or what class he preferred to write, is not known, but as he was full of energy, exceedingly intelligent, and widely 61 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA read for so young a man, it may be fairly assumed that he took a hand in every important question before the public. As he was in later days often heard to declare, he had already come to regard the world as a "mighty interest- ing place," and nothing which concerned it at large, or his own country in particular, could well be a matter of indifference to him. It had been a desire of Dana's during the whole of his student life to travel in Europe, especially in Germany. He was greatly interested in the language, literature, and philosophy of that country, and wished above all things to broaden his acquaintance with them. Fortunately the political discussions which began in 1847, culminated in 1848, and finally ended nearly a quarter of a century later in a federated German empire, afforded him the oppor- tunity he was so anxiously looking for. The wish to go abroad was strengthened by the fact that a revolution had broken out in France, which ended in the expulsion of Louis Philippe and the establishment of a republic with Louis Napoleon as president. In view of this troubled condition of affairs, his desire to visit Europe became ir- resistible. He therefore told Greeley frankly he wanted to go. The interview that took place was related by him many years afterwards substantially as follows: "Greeley said that would be no use, as I did not know anything about European matters, and would have to learn everything before I could write anything worth while. Then I asked him how much he would give me for a letter a week. He said ten dollars. On this I went, about the middle of the year, and wrote one letter a week to the Tribune for ten, one to McMichael's Philadelphia American for ten, one to the New York Commercial Advertiser for ten, one for the Har- binger at five, and one for the Chronotype at five. That gave me forty dollars a week for five letters till the Chronotype went up, and then I had thirty-five. On this I lived in Europe 62 IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM nearly eight months, saw plenty of revolutions, supported myself there and my family here in New York, and came home only sixty-three dollars out for the whole trip." But this is not all. While the trip was in every way a financial and intellectual success, it is believed that al- though the letters written to the various journals on his list were not absolutely identical, they constituted the first syndicated correspondence ever contracted for by any one either in Europe or America. Perhaps nothing in Dana's career ever showed more clearly his practical sense, or bore stronger evidence as to his natural genius for journalism, which, except during the war between the States, was to be his occupation to the end of his life. That Dana was greatly interested at that time in the improvement of the social and economic condition of the masses of mankind, and lost no opportunity to gather in- formation bearing on the subject, is shown by both his correspondence with the Tribune and the editorials which he wrote for that journal after his return. His earliest sympathies in that direction were clearly indicated by his connection with the Brook Farm Association, and by his writings for the Harbinger and Chronotype. But there is reason to believe that his observations abroad, especially of the selfishness, violence, and chicanery of the actual leaders, early began to shake his faith in theories however plausible, and to direct his attention to the motives and character of men as the largest factor in human affairs. It is certain that during his entire stay in Europe he kept a close watch on the leading men as well as on the drift of public affairs, especially in France. He formed definite and not always favorable opinions about those who were most conspicuous. During the summer of 1848 Louis Napoleon made his first appearance as a claimant for public favor, and. although he made ample protestations 63 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA of patriotism and fidelity, Dana as early as December of that year did not hesitate to declare that he had " no faith in the sincerity of Louis Napoleon's adherence to the re- public," and expressed the belief that "he would rather be emperor than president." In this epigrammatic opin- ion Dana's insight had made him prophetic, while in others dealing with more complicated subjects, as for instance in the expression which he credits to "a shrewd observer," that "the ultimate triumph of socialism is certain," he was at least premature. Dana's first letter from Paris was written June 29, 1848, and gives a graphic account of the contest which was raging in the streets between the temporary government, representing the conservative interests of society, and the proletariat, composed of the working-men who wanted better wages and conditions, assisted by the professional agitators, who wanted notoriety or social change. It will be recalled that Louis Philippe had been deposed and driven out early in the year, the monarchy had been re- placed by the republic, and General Cavaignac had been called to the head of the provisional government with absolute authority to restore and maintain peace. The government had undertaken to find work for the unem- ployed in and about Paris, but as it had neither workshops nor business organizations, neither factories nor machinery, and was without knowledge of what the public stood in need, it was ignorant of what to produce or how to find a market for it. In pursuance of its benevolent but fatu- ous policy, the workmen were in one instance set to work wheeling earth from one side of the river to the other, and when they had no more room in which to pile it up, they were required to wheel it back to the place from which they took it. In another they were sent to the country with the promise that work would be ready for them, but the country authorities, having no work for 64 IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM strangers, made haste to send them back to the city. Production and distribution were badly disorganized. The private workshops were closed; the numbers of the unem- ployed increased till the government found itself at one time with more than one hundred thousand able-bodied idle men on hand. It offered to find places for them in the army, with food and clothing, but this was by no means satisfactory. Many wanted work which would enable them to support their families, while many wanted them- selves and families supported without work. The bour- geoisie, who were, then as now, the well-to-do middle class, having capital, factories, and shops, were disgusted with the idleness, confusion, and violence which prevailed, and while it naturally disapproved of the government's well- meant but misdirected efforts to find work for the un- employed, gave ready and effective support to its efforts to suppress insurrection and violence. Indeed, the con- servatives of every class became so incensed at the idle- ness which prevailed on every hand that they openly favored the extermination of the hungry and insurgent proletariat. The government, although established by the revolution, with absolute control of the army, gathered about itself all the elements of conservatism, the royalists, the imperialists, the constitutional republicans, the con- servative socialists, and the non-partisan bourgeoisie, and made common cause against the insurgents, killing in a few days as many as ten or twelve thousand. The French government estimated the killed at fully thirty-six thousand, but Dana, after personal investiga- tion, came to the conclusion that twelve thousand would cover the entire number. During the first ten days of his stay in the distracted city he was constantly on the go, visiting the scenes of interest. Soon after his arrival he was himself subjected to a domiciliary visit, during which he was severely lectured for his slowness in opening his 65 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA door to the soldiers, and their amiability was not increased by the discovery of an improved gunlock which he had taken over in his baggage to oblige a friend. After a pro- longed parley he succeeded in satisfying his suspicious visitors that he was really an American and not a con- spirator. He describes most graphically what he saw of the actual insurrection, but as soon as order was restored he devoted himself to the study of what the revolution meant, what had brought it about, and what its objects were. To this end he visited the Assembly, and the bu- reaus of government where discussions were carried on, and took ample notes of all he saw and heard. His first letter gives a comprehensive account of the course adopt- ed by General Cavaignac, M. Thiers, M. Carnot, M. Con- siderant, M. Walewski, and many others, who afterwards became prominent or disappeared entirely from public life. He also describes the part played by the working- classes and the conservatives, the stagnation of trade and manufactures, the violence of class hatred, the intense activity of the leading journals, and the re-establishment of social order on a progressive and permanent basis. All this is set forth with unusual lucidity and vigor. Another letter treats of the condition of the working- classes, and the plans under consideration for their amelio- ration as set forth in the discussions which took place in the Assembly, where, among other things, it was promised to encourage associations of workmen with their former employers, by allowing them to undertake jobs on the pub- lic works without giving bonds, as was required from in- dividual contractors. This proposition was debated with "agitation." Many amendments were proposed, and much was said about the elevation of the laborer and his emancipation from the wage system. The miseries of these people and the selfishness of the middle classes were described at large. The Assembly devoted itself with deep 66 IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM attention to the subject, and seemed to feel the need of doing something effective, to make the lot of the laborers more tolerable and their life more like the life of human beings. . . . "'Still,' the writer adds, 'there is a long way be- tween such transient emotions and the perception of the fact that the emancipation of labor is the present especial duty and destiny of this nation, and that it depends on the wealthy to say whether it is to be done peacefully and with benefit to all, or whether by refusing to do it they will bring on a new and more desperate phase of the revolution.' " No one can read this letter without perceiving that the French people were deeply moved by the disarrangement of economic conditions which everywhere prevailed. That Dana was full of sympathy for them, and greatly inter- ested not only in the actual condition of affairs, but in the provisions of the new constitution which were then under discussion, is apparent in every line. He attended the daily session of the Assembly, and listened with the closest attention to the debates in which such men as Victor Hugo and Felix Pyat, General Cavaignac and General Baraguay d'Hilliers took part. His analysis of the ques- tions and the discussions which followed is most searching. It constitutes an excellent bit of reporting, but in the progress of later years it has lost its significance for the present generation, and must therefore be omitted from this narrative. Much of a later letter is taken up with an account of the proceedings of the committee on the constitution, the organization of the legislature, the right to labor, religious freedom, the formation of clubs and secret societies, the debate between M. Thiers and M. Proudhon, the pro- posed intervention in Italy, the condition of trade, and the alarming increase of beggary in Paris. In regard to the last-mentioned subject, I quote as follows: 6 67 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA . . . "To answer the demands made upon one in the streets by those who are evidently unused to begging would require daily a small fortune. At evening all Paris, almost, seems to be abroad in search of charity. Young men stop you in the streets to ask assistance, and respectably dressed women, duly veiled, entreat the passers on the sidewalks to buy some ornament, which is their last resource against starvation. Charity is, or soon will be, utterly unavailing against the destitution. The number of persons who were in the national workshops was one hundred and five thou- sand. Since the insurrection there has been a regular system of furnishing those of them who wished with pecuniary relief at their homes. The number claiming it is now more than two hundred thousand. The distributer in one small district says that when he began it was estimated that there were forty-two persons to be aided in his district; at his second dis- tribution there were seventy-one, and at his third, which took place five days after the first, eighty-eight. So that the num- ber of public paupers — for these unfortunates are nothing else — had been more than doubled in five days. Where is the government to find means to sustain this load of misery?" . . . The letter of August 3d was devoted mainly to M. Proud- hon's reply to the speech of M. Thiers in the Assembly. The subject under consideration was socialism or the rights and duty of property. The Assembly was packed with people anxious to hear this "insatiable radical," who had been mentioned as "the Robespierre of a new ter- ror," but whom Dana characterizes as "not so great a man though a better one." ... "He is a logician with the French passion for theat- rical effect. Robespierre was a man of profound sincerity. Proudhon is a man of unequalled skill in dialectics. Robes- pierre was a man of ideas. Proudhon is a man of mental conception. Robespierre spoke to convince; Proudhon to startle. But the man of '48 is of his times, as the man of '93 68 IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM was of his. Robespierre made violence the instrument of liberty. Is it the destiny of fraternity to pass through the same companionship and through similar strains? I cannot believe it. There will be great and trying difficulties, but the passion which raged then can hardly be kindled now, besides, history does not repeat itself." . . . It is noteworthy that this radical philosopher, although possessed of imperturbable nerve and self-control, was listened to by his fellow-members with but little patience. What he considered as his best points against the " royalty of money" and the "aristocracy of capital" were received with laughter and derision. The greatest confusion pre- vailed throughout his address, but the speaker held his ground as " unchanged as if he were reading aloud to him- self." His offensive doctrines were set forth at great length, but curiously enough the Assembly, after hearing him through to the end, resolved to pass to the order of the day as the best way of expressing its disapproval of Citizen Proudhon's odious attack on the right of property, as an inexcusable appeal to the worst passions of the work- ing people, and a calumny on the revolution of February. The resolution was carried by six hundred and ninety-one as against the single vote of Proudhon and one other member! This overwhelming decision gave satisfactory assurances to the world that the day of violence was past. The sober sense of the Assembly had not only condemned the schemes of the radical socialist, but had pronounced them to be visionary and impracticable as well as sub- versive of public morals and social order. It is to be observed that it was in thjs speech that Proudhon laid before the Assembly and the nation his prop- osition to abolish interest and rent, as the best means of stimulating production and creating a state of universal abundance, cheapness, and enjoyment. It was also in 69 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA this speech that he proposed the organization of credit by means of a bank of exchange, which it was contended would make the actual current product of industry in- stead of specie the standard of circulation, and thus carry the world forward with another great stride. Dana sets forth all Proudhon's theories clearly and with evident interest, but nowhere gives them his approval as prac- ticable or workable schemes of government. They were novel and suggestive speculations on matters of great human concern, but there is no evidence that they pro- duced anything more than a passing impression upon the alert and virile mind of the writer. He alluded to them upon more than one occasion in after life, but, like the French Assembly, ultimately came to look upon them as visionary and impracticable. Dana spent the whole of July, August, and September (1848), or something over three months, at the French capital, much of the time in close attendance on the meet- ings of the Assembly, where the principal business was the framing of a definite constitution of government for the republic. As the men who had that important matter in hand had come to understand fairly well that the causes which had led to the revolution were social rather than political, the discussions turned more upon the condition of labor and industry, and the duties of government in respect thereto, than upon mere political rights or forms of administration. One is struck by the complete ab- sence of all reference to the science of political economy from the discussions of the day, whether in Dana's letters or the French journals. The word economics, now so com- monly in use, seems to have been entirely unknown at that time. Dana made no use of it, but, like the leading French journalists and statesmen, spoke and wrote only about socialism. All economic phenomena were classified and discussed under that head, and so far as one can now 70 IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM perceive, Dana as well as the public men with whom he came into daily contact, was dealing largely with symptoms rather than with the actual cause of disease — with abstract theories rather than with practical measures of reform. In this correspondence Dana charges the conservative or bourgeois party with both making the insurrection and putting it down — with refusing to pay the men in the national workshops and yet continuing to pay them in the shop of charity — with abolishing the monarchy and then conspiring to continue its abuses — with establishing an elective presidency and then preparing to convert it into a hereditary one — with promising aid to Italy and then refusing it. He calls attention to the fact that while all Europe has been going through political convulsions, the retrograde party is everywhere gathering strength — every- where rejoicing in the prospect of returning to power. "The revolutionary forces have only two allies — winter and famine — against which armies are powerless and martial law of no effect." The discontentment which had spread to England, and was increased by famine in Ireland, shook his confidence in the eternity of British institutions, and led him to declare : . . . "The majesty of England is after all fragile at the base, the feet of the statue are of clay. Its day will come, sooner or later, whether to-morrow or the next century, no man can foretell. A feudal aristocracy monopolizing the soil, and the moneyed aristocracy monopolizing the materials and implements of industry, are both things that cannot stand before the spirit that is abroad. Nor will they disappear peacefully by a gradual and harmless process." . . . The agitation continued in France, the army was kept constantly on the alert, the streets of Paris were filled with artillery, conspiracy was suspected on every hand, the 71 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA republic was in constant fear of overthrow, the provisional government was divided against itself. On every side the call was for a great man who could meet the emergencies, guide the country through the whirlpool, and secure in- stant safety for the mighty interests of the people. At this juncture Dana pointed out in his letter to the Tribune that it was vain to long for a great leader, and that . . . "as the world advances the crises of its progress are more and more beyond the control of human genius. This age seems poorer in individual greatness than other ages, be- cause its necessities and perils are more gigantic, and indi- viduals cannot tower above them." . . . And yet Dana continued to attend the Assembly and to report its proceedings. His September letters constitute a condensed but comprehensive summary of the discussions which took place over the provisions of the new constitu- tion, whether in the press or in the legislature. They pre- sent with impartial candor the fervid eloquence of Lamar- tine, the unimpassioned conservatism of De Tocqueville, the sturdy resolution of Cavaignac, the shifty statesman- ship of Thiers, and the lofty patriotism of Hugo. They note with approval or disapproval both the small men and the great, as they passed across the stage, and it may well be doubted if any newspaper in the world, at that time, presented a more animated or a more truthful picture of the notable men and measures connected with that im- portant historical epoch than that furnished by Dana to the Tribune. However much one may feel disposed to question the personal criticisms or the philosophical re- flections in which these letters abound, it must be admitted that they are presented in a freshness and beauty of style which in thjs day at least would surely result in giving them permanent existence as a book of travels and ob- servation. 72 IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM After listening to the petty cavillings and verbal criti- cisms of many small disputants, he hailed with delight Lamartine's approach to the tribune, and from what fol- lows, one can almost hear the distinguished member of the provisional government as he addresses the legislature : . . . "The essence of Lamartine's oratory is sentiment, im- agination. It is not the reason he addresses, and logic is not one of his weapons, but there is something electric, something inspired in his words which makes you forget reason, forget everything, indeed, but the magnificent periods that seem to envelop you like an atmosphere of the finer and more ex- citing quality. His oratory absorbs you, carries you away, magnetizes and delights you. You are revived, elevated, en- nobled by its influence. Your mind afterwards works more freely, as if it had been bathed in some invigorating and expanding element. He has not argued with you, has not convinced you, has not instructed you, but you come from hearing him with a new faith in truth and in humanity, with clearer insight, and with fresh resolution and courage." A close but kindly criticism follows. The orator fails to grasp great principles in their details and to develop them into workable institutions. While he sympathizes with the people and favors their right to labor, he con- veys no intelligible idea of how that right is to be secured. Having no clear idea of his own, he necessarily utters noth- ing but vague and glittering generalities. . . . " 'But,' says our correspondent, 'I find myself criticising him as coolly as if there was nothing else to say about his speech but to point out its faults, when at the time of its delivery one would as soon have thought of finding fault with a summer sunrise.' " As no analysis can do justice to these letters, the reader must be content with an extract now and then on some 73 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA subject of general interest. In speculating upon the course of events in Germany and Austria, as viewed from Paris, Dana declares that no reaction can ever take back the abolition of seignorial rights, or reimpose the burdens which the revolution has lifted from the backs of the peo- ple. Then he adds, with confidence : . . . "The freedom of the press, the education of the masses can also not be done away with, though they may for a time be subjected to restrictions. It is in vain for barbarism and tyranny to attempt to regain the conquests of liberty; they may seem to triumph for a while, but they are destroyed by their triumph. The Croats of Jellachich may be victorious, but that very victory will leave them less savage than before, and inoculate them with ideas to which they are strangers." In commenting upon the provisional government under the presidency of General Cavaignac, whom he praises for his honorable descent, his spotless character, his faithful performance of duty, and as though laying down a principle for future use, he says : . . . "The career of the general has been a brilliant one; from his first entry into military life to the insurrection of June he has been uniformly successful. But to be a successful soldier is one thing, and to be a man capable of directing the affairs of a state in a difficult crisis is another. "General Cavaignac is a soldier still, and only a soldier. His government is the government of the sabre and the bay- onet; it rests on military not on moral force. Its end is the preservation of order by means of the army and the dictator- ship. His policy is military law; he is not a statesman, but a chieftain whom circumstances have put into power. It follows that his rule is only temporary, and that as the cir- cumstances which raised him to his present prominence dis- appear ... he will return to the rank from which he has emerged, a skilful soldier, but politically a cipher. . . . 74 IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM "Indeed, in nothing that belongs to the sphere of the states- man is [his] administration above mediocrity; it marches in the line of juste-milieu and of routine— is neither one thing nor the other — does not gain the confidence of the bourgeoisie nor the attachment of the people, and has nothing to rely upon but the army, the fear of change and an uncertain something that may follow the change, which naturally exercises a great influence in the Assembly, if not on the population in gen- eral." ... And so it was to the end. The provisional government took no liberties with the people but to maintain order. Its chief laid down no policies and propounded no theories of social reform, but steadily maintained order, holding the drawn sword between the factions, and finally hand- ing over the government intact and unbroken to his elected successor. He had been called by the Assembly to the position he occupied. He had entered upon it with devotion, and he would go out of it with honor. While Dana at the time seemed to think this but a narrow plat- form — a policy of negation, and therefore a bitter disap- pointment to the people, whose privations and sacrifices entitled them to something better — he could not withhold his tribute of admiration from its author "for the firm- ness and chivalrous spirit with which he assumed his posi- tion." He evidently feared his failure, yet hoped for success, and it is to be recorded that his success was com- plete. What Dana thought of it finally is unknown, but there can be but little doubt that in later years he would have given it unstinted praise had he been called upon for an opinion. Even a revolution does not appear from a central point of observation, as it does from one far re- moved either in distance or time. So far as one can judge from Dana's analysis of the speeches and the newspaper discussions, he sympathized with those who stood out for the "right of every individual 75 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA living on the soil of the republic not to die of hunger, the guarantee of a subsistence procured by labor, and a series of institutions to make good that guarantee," rather than with those who favored the measures that were passed. It is to be observed that this is merely an inference, and that he nowhere expresses his personal preference or opinion, but contents himself with reporting the discussions of the hour with a good deal of fulness, as bearing upon an acute question in France which had not yet made its appearance in his own country, but which might do so in the natural course of events. It is only fair to remember that Dana was still gazing at the world with the eyes of curiosity rather than of matured judgment. He was gathering and reporting facts and opin- ions as he found them, and while he was doubtless thereby forming his own ideas tentatively at least, it was no part of his plan to express them in this correspondence, except upon such fundamental questions as had already been settled both for time and eternity. He favored individual liberty of conscience, religion, and labor; he stood for free opinions, free voting, free press, and free education. He sympathized with the poor and down-trodden. He hated tyranny, oppression, and privilege; he favored the eleva- tion of the people by all proper means, and it is not to be denied that he thought those means might be brought for- ward more rapidly and more surely by a spirit of aggressive inquiry and investigation than by the conservative proc- esses of evolution. In truth, it must be said he stood in awe of no speculation however bold, but appears to have held himself free to listen to every honest suggestion for the improvement of the human lot, no matter from what source it came or who stood forth as its champion. It was about the middle of September that Louis Na- poleon was elected a member of the National Assembly, in five departments by overwhelming majorities. The event 76 IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM was full of interest to Dana, and he made haste to report and comment upon it to the journals which he represented. To the Tribune he said: . . . "All the moderate Republicans regard the result as a severe blow at the Republic and lament it. The Legiti- mists rejoice at it. 'A Napoleon was fatal to the Republic of '93 — a Napoleon will be fatal to the Republic of '48, and a second restoration will be, they think, more fortunate than the former.' The Red Republicans are not sorry; they regard it as a blow not at the Republic, but at the administration of Cavaignac and the state of siege of which they are impatient to be rid. "To say the least, the result is a striking one: Napoleon a pretender whose purposes, or rather those of his friends, are masked but not extinguished; Fould an extreme reactionist whose Republicanism is more than doubtful ; Raspail a violent Revolutionist, and an aspirant for the succession of Marat, a leader in the outbreak of May 15th. These men do not por- tend peace and quiet, but disturbance and convulsion, and the weakness of those who represent moderate opinions in the .press and the chamber only strengthen them. Louis Napoleon in ordinary times and ordinary circumstances would pass for nothing more than a hare-brained and very foolish young man; now he is magnified into a danger to the Re- public, and the people vote for him because he is made a greater man than he is [and], because he represents the medium of the emperor." . . . This closely enough foreshadows the course of history in respect to that extraordinary man and his career, to stand for prophecy. In connection with a previous re- mark of Dana's, that Louis Napoleon would rather have the empire than the republic, and with the fact that he finally overthrew the republic and made himself emperor, it must be conceded that this was a prophecy which has- tened hotfoot to fulfilment. In connection with Louis Napoleon's election to the Assembly, Dana calls attention 77 THE LIFE OP CHARLES A. DANA to the fact that the vote actually cast for him was smaller than it was at either of the previous elections in those districts, and that this circumstance seemed to justify the conclusion that a large number of the French people did not, even upon such important occasions, care enough for universal suffrage to take the trouble of going to the polls. Later, in referring to Louis Napoleon's first appearance in the Assembly, Dana says : ... "He was instantly the sole object of attention of every person in the House except the unlucky orator who hap- pened to be in the tribune; even the elegant and massive lorgnette of ivory that President Marast wields with such con- summate skill was gracefully levelled upon him. He bore the quizzing with calmness and courage. He was dressed in black with a bad-looking mustache — at least that was the verdict of the ladies in the gallery. He is rather under- sized and seems worn with dissipation. As soon as his election was proclaimed he read a speech about two minutes long in which he took the oath of allegiance to the Republic and his constituents. All parties joined in applauding it." ...» The fact is that both the radicals and the conservatives were tired and the country impatient. The discussion had been going on with more or less intensity for six months, further agitation was discouraged, and while the committee on the constitution was not altogether satis- fied with its work, both the Assembly and the people in- sisted upon settling down to the organization of a defini- tive if not a permanent government. Dana, while faithfully reporting the final result to the newspapers at home, declared with characteristic emphasis : . . . "The agitation will not stop, and ought not to stop, till all monopolies are abolished and a free field opened to progress of every kind. As long as there are fetters on this 78 IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM people they will struggle to shake them off. Every new effort loosens the bonds somewhat, and if they made no effort they would never be loosened. "Monopolies, that oppress whole classes," he added, "do not come off easily, but once off can never be restored, and whatever the agitation may cost let us remember this truth, which is too generally overlooked and too easily forgotten, that it cannot be as destructive, inhuman, and fatal in its consequences as the evil that occasions it. . . . The struggle for freedom may be terrible, but the stagnation of oppression is more so. The French agitation has its sufferings, but a return to the old quiet would be worse." And this seems to have been "truth" to Dana through- out his life. Agitation had no terrors for him, but re- mained as the breath of his nostrils in every great occasion, and even in every occasion which he thought to be great. On September 28th he wrote two letters, the first of which related exclusively to French affairs, and the second to the progress of the revolution in Germany, Austria, and Italy. On October 4th he wrote his final letter from Paris relating mostly to the policy of France towards the surrounding countries. I shall omit all reference at this time to the second, and confine myself to the consideration of the third. It was a period of universal ferment. The process of consolidation and reconstruction had every- where begun. Thrones were tottering, republics were ris- ing, and constitutions were coming into existence. France, having been the first to drive out the old and install the new, was regarded as the leader of modern Europe. All the elements of discontentment turned naturally towards her for guidance and assistance, and she was swift to promise both. Ledru-Rollin had eloquently said: " There are two means of propagating Republican princi- ples — one armed, that of force; the other pacific, that of ideas." 79 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA The latter the provisional government had inaugurated in a magnificent manifesto which the whole nation received with enthusiasm. This means had. been most fruitful, for within two months all the sovereigns of Germany were obliged to settle accounts with their subjects. The cry of France had found an echo. The unity of Germany had begun to be founded. The German democracy were ridding themselves of their petty princes, and yet the allied monarchs were, as in '93, convinced that it would be nec- essary to conquer the revolutionary genius of France — first to extinguish the conflagration around themselves, and then to destroy forever that France whence the revo- lution had gone forth. The spirit of democracy had spread throughout the continent. The people of Italy and Hungary were like those of France and Germany, showing a firm determina- tion to substitute republicanism for despotism. Local disturbances seemed about to merge themselves in Euro- pean revolution, and the people were everywhere calling for help. But the provisional government wisely de- clined to send the French army on a democratic crusade. France had troubles of her own in abundance, and deeply as she might sympathize with the people of other countries, she drew lessons of wisdom from her past history, and finally planted herself firmly on the doctrine of non-intervention. It must be confessed that while Dana's views upon this important question are far in advance of the period in which they were uttered, they are none the less eloquent on that account. They are given at length in the extract which follows: . . . "The duty of France is not to undertake the propa- gation of Republican principles by armed force. She should not send her armies into a country to compel its people to accept a freedom for which they are not ripe, which they do not desire; but on the other hand it is her duty, neglect 80 IN ACTIVE JOURNALISM of which is exceedingly dangerous, to fly to the assistance of every nation that in the name of Liberty invokes her aid. It is her duty to come out from the old league of kings and despots, and, planting herself on the rock of popular Liberty, to proclaim the era of Universal Emancipation. She is not put at the head of the great movement of these times in order that she may shirk from the responsibilities which that post implies. The aid which from motives of mere self-interest, she rendered to America in the hour of need she is bound to render from motives of paternal generosity to Italy, to Germany, to Hungary, and to Poland, to every appealing nation to which that aid may avail. Those nations are in some sort her children — called into life by her influence and example — and it is treachery of. the same hue, though of a fainter tinge, to allow them to be strangled by Absolutism, as it would be to allow one of her own provinces to be taken from her by Austria or Prussia. The notion that they are foreign nations and may be neglected is a relic of an idea happily growing more obsolete every day. The truth that in Christendom, in Europe, there are no foreign nations, but that all are members of one sisterhood, of one commonwealth, is taking its place. These general considerations form only one aspect of the argument. For France it is not only a question of morals but of interest. "The battle between Democracy and Absolutism com- menced in Europe long ago; it was definitely engaged in '92 when the French Republic was first proclaimed. The Res- toration was merely a truce between the contending parties which the Revolution of February [1848] broke off. ... "I am not a lover of war but of peace. War is as hateful to me as the direst form of crime and destruction can be to any one, but I believe that the world is not yet so far advanced that it may not be a necessity and a duty. In this view I cannot resist the conviction that there is some- thing providential in the growth of this National Spirit in the French nation. It is their preparation for the last and most momentous war in Europe for the final struggle between Despotism and Liberty." . . . 81 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Calling attention to the alliance between Russia, Prussia, and Austria to resist the democratic tendency of the times, he declares: ... "If France is the positive pole of Europe, Russia is the negative — the one the day-dawn, the other blackest mid- night; the one life, the other death." Pointing out how Russia was becoming everywhere the leader of the party of resistance, that France was in better condition to make war than any other nation of Europe, and that a general war was sure to break out sooner or later, he argued that the sooner France begun it the sooner and the more certainly would she conquer a lasting peace. But in order that his personal views should not be mis- understood, he said, in conclusion: ... "I have not been arguing in favor of war for the sake of war. God forbid that any man should be so depraved as that! I have simply attempted to show that a war is in- evitable, that it will be a war between France and Russia, or between Liberty and Despotism, and that France has lost the opportunity of strengthening herself very greatly by neg- lecting the dictates of humanity in the case of Italy. The is- sue of the war, as I have already said, can only be in favor of Liberty; first political liberty will be established, clearing the way for progress, and then will follow equality and fraternity. All is not attained with the overthrowal of despots, and aU the despotism is not overthrown when the kings are driven from their capitals. From political to social and industrial free- dom, the distance at times seems long, but it is not too long for humanity." While the prophetic strain which characterizes this dec- laration may be considered premature, it clearly indicates that Dana's sympathies lay with the party of discontent- ment and progress wherever it might be found, or what- ever might be its chance of success. 82 POLITICAL STUDIES ABROAD Dana visits Berlin — Republican movement in Germany and Austria — Louis Napoleon elected president of France — Doubts of his honesty and sincerity — Summary of political situation — Returns to America — Review of socialism Dana left Paris about October 6th, and arrived at Berlin shortly afterwards. His first letter from that place was dated October 10th, and gave a general account of the re- publican movement throughout Germany. It indicates a close study of conditions not only in that country but in Austria-Hungary as well. In both, as in France, the peo- ple were arrayed against the nobility, for the abolition of unjust feudal rights and of unlimited power, for the estab- lishment of equality under the law, for individual and col- lective liberty, for free religion, free press, and for a wider distribution of the soil. While they favored a united Ger- many under a republican government, they had not yet, says Dana, adopted "the absurd idea that German na- tionality must include every race that speaks the German language, or which has ever been under German author- ity." Here, as in France, Dana, speaking their language fluently, and mixing with the people freely in their places of meeting and amusement, speedily gained their confi- dence and became acquainted with their inmost aims and aspirations. Considering their aptitude for giving practical application to abstract ideas, he hastened to declarej c- "The question of this age, I begin to think, must be decided in Germany. It was here that was accomplished the 7 83 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA great movement of the Reformation which gave individual liberty to the world, and in so doing introduced all the evils _that belong to individualism and the reign of unlimited com- petition as the guiding principle of society Q It is here that the next and greatest step is perhaps to be taken, and with the organization of fraternity, the rights of individuals and the full activity of freedom will be reconciled with Universal Prosperity and Justice. But it is not extravagant to believe that the civil war which may accompany or precede the ac- complishment of this great change will be short and harmless compared to that war in which the Reformation contended for existence. In spite of clouds which hang upon the horizon, ' I have an instinctive faith that the storm, if it burst at all, must soon disappear in a glorious enduring day. The grounds of this faith I may have occasion to develop in future letters, but for the moment the fact that the German character is eminently fraternal is worth considering." . . . While in Berlin he mingled freely with the citizens in the streets, both before and after the collision which oc- curred between the workmen and the National Guard; and in his letter of the 17th, he gives a graphic account of the fighting and of the public funeral of those who were killed in the affray — of the orations which were delivered by the clergymen and representatives — of the quarrel be- tween the king and those who favored the reduction of his powers — of the failure of the Assembly both there and at Frankfort — and of the threatened condition of affairs in Austria. He had intended to go through Bohemia and Prague to Vienna, to study the condition of affairs on the spot, but for some reason not explained changed his plans, and went directly to Frankfort-on-the-Main. He wrote two letters from there, both dated November 27th; the first related to the Prussian revolution, and gave a graphic account of the king's triumph, which was attributed large- ly to the cowardice of the armed burghers, especially of 84 POLITICAL STUDIES ABROAD Berlin, and the incompetence of both the civil and military leaders. To this should be added the fear of anarchy, the desire of quiet and profitable times, and a willingness on the part of many to accept a "constitutional throne" as a sufficient guarantee of their personal and property rights. Dana indulged in the prophecy that Prussia, and with it Germany, must become a republic, but he did not vent- ure to predict whether the change would be brought about peaceably or by revolution, nor how soon it might be ex- pected. He thought that there were too many repub- licans and socialists, too many thinkers and writers, too many journals and magazines throughout Germany to per- mit the continuance of arbitrary rule; but how soon or how thorough the changes would be, he did not venture to predict. He recognized the effort to re-establish the empire on the basis of a customs-union, or zollverein, in . which there should be free-trade between the states and a common tariff against all outside countries. He set forth the arguments in favor of a policy which should guard German industry against foreign competition, and grant free-trade to such countries only as would consent to a genuine reciprocity. He considered the question of an elective or hereditary emperor for life or for a term of years, but came to the conclusion that the preponderance of Prussia over the other German states was so great that the king of that country would carry off the prize, and that Germany as a whole would gain nothing from the revolu- tion, except " that instead of thirty-four sovereign princes she would have thirty-five." He pointed out that the composite character and dynastic interests of the Austria- Hungarian empire, and especially the opposition of the Slavonic leaders, would make it impracticable to incor- porate any of the provinces of that empire into the new German Federation. He gives a brief but an interesting account of affairs at Vienna and in the Danubian provinces, 89 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA as reported by the newspapers, but owing to the continu- ance of the state of siege at Vienna, and of the civil war in Hungary, he gave up his proposed trip to those regions, and returned to Paris, where he arrived December 6 or 7, 1848. The first letter after his arrival is dated December 10th, and the second December 14th. They relate to the parties, the candidates, and to the election of Louis Napoleon as the first president of France under the new constitution over Cavaignac the provisional president, Ledru-Rollin, candidate of the revolutionary party, and Raspail, the candidate of the extreme socialists, by an overwhelming majority in the proportion of five votes to two. Dana attributes this extraordinary result to the refusal of the provisional government, backed by the bourgeoisie, the commercial classes, the clergy, and the office-holders to protect the natural rights of the laboring classes. From the first he declared : ..." I have no faith in the sincerity of Louis Napoleon's adherence to the Republic. His history is marked with ex- amples of falsehood too glaring to allow any confidence to be placed in his protestations even were he a man of sufficient intellect and character to be capable of genuine sincerity. There is no doubt that he would much rather be Emperor than President." . . . He pointed out that while the new constitution, with all its defects, established a republic, and guaranteed liberty, order, and the opportunity of progress as no other French constitution had ever done, it had also established a centralized government which might be " a good arrange- ment for a despotism, but not for a free country." It, however, failed to make provision for the right to labor, and thus ignored one of the principal contentions of the revolution, and yet he thought that neither the Legitimists, 86 POLITICAL STUDIES ABROAD the Bonapartists, the socialists, nor the radicals would try to overthrow it. Surveying the whole field, he con- cluded that the party into whose hands the revolution had fallen "had been tried and found wanting," that the prominent impulse in every quarter was to oust it, and that as there was no really great man to save it, the voters would settle down "on Louis Napoleon, whom they de- spised, to defeat Cavaignac, whom they hated." Mingling with the plain people in their daily life, study- ing their manners and habits of thought, their labor and socialistic associations, and conversing freely with them in the restaurants, workshops, places of amusement, an but studying its execution on the spot. Grant was an un4 common fellow — the most modest, the most disinterested, and the most honest man I ever knew, with a temper that noth- ing could disturb, and a judgment that was judicial in its comprehensiveness and wisdom. Not a great man, except, morally; not an original or brilliant man, but sincere, thought-; ful, deep, and gifted with courage that never faltered; when the time came to risk all, he went in like a simple-hearted J unaffected, unpretending hero, whom no ill omens could de- ject, and no triumph unduly exalt. A social, friendly man, too, fond of a pleasant joke, and also ready with one; but liking above all a long chat of an evening, and ready to sit up with you all night talking in the cool breeze in front of his tent. Not a man of sentimentality, not demonstra- tive in friendship, but always holding to his friends, and just even to the enemies he hated." It is to be observed that, so far as known, the foregoing sketch, first published in McClure's Magazine and afterwards in the Recollections (D. Appleton & Co.), contains the last word ever penned or uttered by Dana in regard to the great soldierwith whom he had been so intimate, and who had then been dead so many years. And here it is proper to add that notwithstanding the unsparing criticism which Dana direct- ed against Grant and his policies of administration during his two terms as president, he never varied from this esti- 239 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA mate of Grant's character as a soldier. Nowhere and at no time did he criticise his campaigns and battles, or condemn his methods of command and military adminis- tration. Looking back over the history of the war, he of course saw incidents and occasions in which changes might have produced better results, but none in which he im- pugned the good judgment, the good faith, or the high patriotism of the general. While he had collaborated with me in a Life of Grant, designed mainly to promote his election to the presidency, and had freely used the Sun's columns for his defence from unjust military criticism, it is a part of the history of the times that he came ulti- mately to regard him as peculiarly lacking in the qualities necessary for the proper administration of the national government. As will be shown hereafter, he criticised and condemned many of his measures and policies with the most perfect freedom, but stood always for the great merit and virtue of his military career. Returning to the staff-officers and generals whom Dana first met and became intimate with during the Vicksburg campaign, at the risk of repetition I quote from the original letters in my possession, sent from Cairo (July 12 and 13, 1863) to Stanton, as follows: "Lieutenant-Colonel Rawlins, Grant's assistant adjutant- general, is a very industrious, conscientious man, who never loses a moment, and never gives himself any indulgence except swearing and scolding. He is a lawyer by profession, a townsman of Grant's, and has a great influence over him, especially because he watches him day and night, and when- ever he commits the folly of tasting liquor hastens to remind him that at the beginning of the war he gave him [Rawlins] his word of honor not to touch a drop as long as it lasted. Grant thinks Rawlins a first-rate adjutant, but I think this is a mistake. He is too slow, and can't write the English language correctly without a great deal of careful consideration." . . . 240 ' GENERALS AND STAFF While the foregoing quotation gives an excellent sum- mary of Rawlins's character and of his relations with Grant, whom he served with singular distinction and ability, not only as adjutant but as chief of staff and Secretary of War, it may be well to call attention to the fact that Dana per- haps undervalued him in the strictly clerical office of adjutant. It is true that Rawlins was without any tech- nical training when he began his military career, and wrote always a crabbed hand, but it cannot be denied that with his legal training, his incessant attention to duty, and his careful study of the regulations and standing orders of the War Department, he became in every respect a most compe- tent and trustworthy assistant within the strictest limits of his duty. He doubtless remained to the close of his career lacking in the precise knowledge of battle tactics and forma- tions, but no man on either side of the great conflict came in the end to understand the general principles of the mili- tary art better than Rawlins did, nor can any one read his letters and political speeches, or the" military reports which were edited by him, without coming to the conclusion that, whatever may have been the deficiencies of his earlier edu- cation, he was master of a terse, clear, and vigorous style, admirably adapted to the requirements of his various posi- tions. It is believed that had Dana's attention been direct- ed specially to Rawlins's merits in this direction, he would have promptly conceded all that is here claimed for him. I had many conversations throughout life with Dana about Rawlins, and know that I am doing neither injustice when I assert that Dana regarded Rawlins as one of the ablest as well as " one of the most upright and genuine characters " he "ever came across," and that he was fully within the truth when he said that without him "Grant would not have been the same man." The simple fact is that the great character which has passed into history under the name of Grant was compounded of both Grant and Rawlins 241 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA in nearly equal parts. While one has become a national hero whose fame will never die, the other unnecessarily effaced himself, and is now scarcely known beyond the acquaintance of his surviving comrades or the limits of the community from which both took up arms for the cause of the Union. But to return to the staff-officers and generals whom Dana described in his letters to Stanton. The next officer mentioned was Major Theodore S. Bowers, who became Rawlins's principal assistant early in the war and remained with him to the day of his unfortu- nate death in a railroad accident at Garrisons, near West Point. He was a man in every way after Rawlins's own heart. By profession a printer and the editor of a country newspaper, he entered the army from southern Illinois as a private soldier, and was detailed for duty as a clerk at Grant's headquarters. By his unselfish devotion to duty, no less than by his personal gallantry at the capture of Fort Donelson, he rose steadily from one position to another as vacancies occurred or as Rawlins himself was promoted. He was one of the most modest, unselfish, and devoted officers that ever served in the Union army. Mr. Dana says of him in the Cairo letter : ..." Major Bowers, judge-advocate of Grant's staff, is an excellent man, and always finds work to do." The next men mentioned with approval and commenda- tion were Lieutenant-Colonel Bingham, chief quartermaster, and Lieutenant-Colonel Macfeeley, chief commissary, both of the regular army and both officers of the highest merit. This was attested by the fact that no army was ever better transported, equipped, and subsisted than Grant's Army of the Tennessee. Each of these officers became head of his department, and throughout a long and useful life sustained the high character Dana had given him. 242 GENERALS AND STAFF Several other officers of Grant's Western staff were de- scribed with less commendation, as will be seen by reference to the Recollections, where full names, for obvious reasons, were omitted. Of William T. Sherman, Dana always wrote in terms of commendation. He first met him shortly after his arrival at Milliken's Bend, and in the letter to his friend Hunting- ton, already quoted, it will be recalled that he speaks of him especially as " a man of genius and of the widest intel- lectual acquisitions." It is but natural that he should have been from the first favorably impressed by the sparkling conversation, the great intelligence, and the extensive knowledge of military and political history displayed by that officer on every suitable occasion. Later, in an account of the differences between Sherman and Stanton growing out of the terms of surrender granted to Joseph E. Johnston's army in North Carolina, Dana, by a few vigorous touches, strongly accentuates Sherman's peculiarities. After stating that the secretary was deeply indignant with the general for meddling with matters be- yond his jurisdiction, he adds : ... "No doubt his indignation was intensified by his dis- like of Sherman. The two men were antagonistic by nature. Sherman was an effervescent, mercurial, expansive man, spring- ing abruptly to an idea, expressing himself enthusiastically on every subject, and often without reflection. Stanton could not accommodate himself to this temperament." 1 . . . Before leaving this subject it may be well to say that no reconciliation ever took place between these historical characters. General Grant made an effort, at the great review which was held in Washington after the close of the 1 Dana, Recollections of the Civil War (D. Appleton & Co.), p. 289. 17 243 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA war, to bring them together. It was stated by the press, and afterwards in Sherman's Memoirs, thatwhen Sherman passed by Stanton to take his place on the reviewing stand, the latter proffered his hand and the former refused it. This statement is confirmed by Colonel du Pont, who was on -the reviewing stand, and perhaps by others, but Dana always contended in conversation with me that Sherman was "entirely mistaken." That "the secretary made no mo- tion to offer his hand or to exchange salutations, but as the general passed merely gave him a slight inclination of the head equivalent to a quarter of a bow." A more dramatic account of this incident is given in the life of Stanton, 1 in which it is alleged that Sherman "shook hands with all until he came to Stanton, when he turned away." This, it is said, brought a call for Stanton which was followed by cheers and a recognition he would not otherwise have received. It is further said that afterwards, while a military commission of which Sherman was a mem- ber was in session at the War Department, Stanton invited Sherman into his private room, where they had an official conversation, but there is not the slightest evidence that they were ever again on friendly terms. Stanton, it will be remembered, did not long survive the war, and Sher- man's sense of injury was too acute to be followed shortly by forgiveness. They were, indeed, naturally antagonistic, and now that the war was over and Stanton soon to return to civil life, there was no special reason why they should be friends. Dana always regarded McPherson as an officer of first- class ability, not so brilliant as Sherman, but in every way a capable and loyal subordinate, who understood his pro- fession down to the minutest details. He was for some 1 Edwin McM asters Stanton, etc., pp. 288, 289. By Frank A. Flower, Akron, Ohio. The Saalfield Publishing Company, New York, Chicago, 1905. 244 GENERALS AND STAFF time looked upon by many as the man most likely to have furnished brilliant ideas and plans to Grant, but i)ana was not long in learning that whatever may have been his merits he was content to volunteer no opinions and give no advice unless it was asked for. He was, indeed, a man of rare modesty, undaunted courage, and absolute loyalty, and had he not been killed in battle, at the head of an army, must have risen to still higher honors. What Dana may have said in conversation with the President and the Secretary of War in regard to Grant, Sherman, and McPherson can never be exactly known, but that he held them in the highest esteem cannot be doubted. Throughout the long years of our acquaintance, in which we had many conversations in regard to them, he never failed to speak of them and their military services in the highest terms of praise and admiration. Nor can there be any doubt that he did all in his power to strengthen them in Washington, or that he regarded them as true heroes who would serve their country in every emergency with the most unselfish devotion. Moreover, he always looked upon his services near them with unalloyed satisfac- tion, and never failed to congratulate himself upon the good- fortune that had brought him into such close and cordial relations with them. He was far from being an emotional man, but he made no effort to conceal the feelings of affec- tion and respect with which he looked upon these splendid soldiers, as exemplifying the best product of our national military school and the best training of the regular army. Dana's official correspondence shows nothing more than a mere mention of General Ord, who,dt will be remembered, succeeded McClernand in the command of the Thirteenth army corps, but I personally know that he held that sin- gularly modest and most excellent officer in the highest esteem. Ord belonged to the artillery of the regular army, and served as a corps and army commander till the end of 245 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA the war with great usefulness and distinction, though it so happened that Dana met him but seldom either in the Vicksburg or Richmond campaign, and had no opportunity to become intimate with him. The simple fact that all complaint in reference to the Thirteenth corps ceased after it passed under Ord's control is conclusive evidence that the change which Dana had urged so persistently was neces- sary, and that the new commander was a judicious and fortunate selection. Dana's two remarkable letters from Cairo to Stanton have been published in full in his Recollections, and hence they are omitted from this narrative. They constitute a series of contemporaneous sketches of unusual interest and accuracy, and so far as I can learn they are the only ones of the kind ever sent to the Secretary of War. That the secretary regarded them as private and confidential is shown by the fact that they were not placed on the files of the War Department, but were finally returned to the writer, where they remained till they were placed in my possession. They are in Dana's well-known hand, and are singularly free from erasures or changes. Having known personally and officially every officer mentioned, I confidently assert that in no case did Dana do injustice or give a false or exag- gerated impression. What he says about Grant, Sherman, McPherson, Hovey, Osterhaus, A. J. Smith, William Sooy Smith, John E. Smith, Giles A. Smith, Logan, Lawler, Blair, Steele, Woods, C. C. Washburn, Stevenson, Leggett", McArthur, Crocker, Ransom, and Quimby is a model of perspicuity as well as of fair and judicious portraiture. In every instance, except where death overtook the officer, as in the cases of McPherson, Crocker, and Ransom, Dana's prediction of future usefulness and distinction was fully realized. It is remarkable that in no single instance was he mistaken, and still more remarkable that in no single instance where doubt was cast upon the officer's character 246 GENERALS AND STAFF or usefulness did his future service show that serious in- justice had been done him. There is of course no way of ascertaining what use Stanton made of the information contained in these letters, but he probably kept them close at hand for reference as long as necessary, and thereafter made but few mistakes in regard to the officers to whom they referred. Looking back upon the period of the great war, with its widely scattered armies and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, commanded mostly by generals of but little military expe- rience drawn from every walk of life, I cannot suppress the thought that the country would have been greatly benefit- ed had the secretary directed Dana to visit every depart- ment and army and send him a sketch of every important officer connected with them. It could not have failed to place in his hands fresh and exact information of a kind in which the records were singularly deficient. It can scarcely be believed, but it is the truth, that there was no regular system in use by which the habits, character, and efficiency of even the highest officers were regularly made known to the general-in-chief or to the Secretary of War. Everything in relation thereto was hap-hazard and largely a matter of chance, or, what was worse, was left to the newspapers, or to the partiality of personal and political friends. Even Dana, who was constantly with the army till the end of the war, when any great campaign was on refrained from sending in such sketches as those from Cairo, and confined himself thenceforth mainly to report- ing operations and important events. That this course was marked out for him by his official superior there can be but little doubt. XVI DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON Duty in War Department — Letters to Colonel Wilson — Joins Rosecrans --Campaign and battle of Chickamauga — Despatches and letters from Chattanooga — Grant ordered to Chattanooga — Meets Stanton at Louisville Dana was the first man from Vicksburg to reach Wash- ington, and although he was anxious to rejoin his family for a few days' rest, and was besought by his friends, George Opdyke, the merchant, and Mr. Ketchum, the banker, to go into business, at the earnest solicitation of Stanton he concluded to remain in the service of the War Department. He had been appointed assistant secre- tary during the Vicksburg campaign, but probably for the reason that Congress had not yet authorized a second as- sistant his name was not sent to the Senate for confirma- tion to that office till January 20, 1864. It should, how- ever, be noted that it was acted on almost immediately. It will be remembered that the double victory of Vicks- burg and Gettysburg marked the culmination of the great Rebellion, and that the country was correspondingly elated and exultant. Dana, with full particulars of the wonderful campaign and siege, in which he had taken such a creditable part, was made everywhere welcome, and by everybody urged to tell the exciting story of Grant and his army. Inasmuch as they had been completely successful, and had defeated in detail and had scattered, killed, or captured almost the entire force, estimated at sixty thousand men, arrayed against them, the story of their deeds could not be 248 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON repeated too often. The President, the Secretary of War, the general-in-chief, the cabinet, and both Houses of Con- gress wanted to hear it, and their interest in it was height- ened by the fact that although Gettysburg was justly regarded as a great victory it was marred by the escape of the Confederate army across the Potomac into Virginia. Notwithstanding the necessity of repeating his story and of attending to such other business as pressed upon him, Dana found time to write to me in his own hand from the War Department, July 21, 1863. As this letter has never been published elsewhere, I give it in part as follows : ... "I got here very safely, and find everybody in dis- tress because Meade failed to capture Lee. There can be no question that a vigorous attack, seasonably made, must have resulted in. the surrender of his entire army. Meade was anxious to make it, but his four principal corps commanders, Sykes, Sedgwick, Slocum, and French, all his seniors in rank, were so determinedly opposed to it, while the only one who strongly urged it, Wadsworth, was only a temporary corps commander and a volunteer to boot, that he yielded and let the critical opportunity go by. The President wrote him a letter recommending such an attack, but it came too late, by some accident. The facts since discovered show that there was no possibility of our failure. . . . . . . "There is no talk of removing General Meade or putting General Grant in command of the Army of the Potomac. . . . ..." I am going home to Connecticut for a fortnight. Then the secretary desires me to come back here for some duty not yet explained to me. But I am sure I shall not for a long time have anything to do or any association as agreeable and instructive as during my three months with the Army of the Tennessee. "I had almost forgotten to say that the New York riots are over and cannot be repeated. Governor Seymour and the leaders of the Copperhead Democracy were mostly at 249 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA the bottom of the whole dreadful business. Seymour has had the idea of resisting the draft by the forces of the State, but is too great a coward to attempt the execution of the scheme with the large Federal force now concentrated in the city." . . . The foregoing letter is particularly noticeable because it shows that Dana at least had been considering even at that early day the chance of Grant's being ordered to the com- mand of the Army of the Potomac. Before starting East he had discussed the suggestion with Rawlins and others as a possible consequence of Grant's great victories in the West; but the time had not yet come, though the idea was born. The disgrace of Chickamauga had yet to be incurred and wiped out, and the defeat of Bragg's army at Missionary Ridge had yet to be accomplished before the country and its government could recognize Grant's great merits and call him to the head of our armies. As this narrative pro- ceeds it will become apparent that Dana was destined to play an important part in the accomplishment of that great end. After a fortnight with his family on the Connecticut coast, where he greatly enjoyed the rest and recreation he had so well earned, he returned to Washington for further service. He wrote to me from the War Department, August 11, 1863. Omitting purely personal matters, I quote as follows : . . . "You speak with regret of Sherman's retreat from Pearl River. I had the same feeling at first, but on reflec- tion have come to doubt the possibility of pursuing Johnston to the Tombigbee with adequate results, owing to the want of water in the country and the exposure of the line of sup- plies to being cut by the enemy. The vital place of attack is Mobile, in my judgment, and when you once have that post in your possession you can make the Tombigbee, the Ala- bama, and all the country about them untenable by the 250 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON Confederacy. With Mobile to start from, and gun-boats on the river co-operating with your armies, the war may be ended in Mississippi and Alabama together, and the enemy crowded backward into Georgia. "As for the draft in the city of New York, the order was given yesterday to execute it this week. The delay has been caused only by the difficulty in concentrating there the neces- sary body of troops at the same time that reinforcements in considerable numbers had to go forward to Charleston. From that place there is no news that is not published, and you can doubtless judge a great deal better than I can as to the probability of Gilmore's taking it before the usual storms compel the withdrawal of the fleet. Be sure that at any rate he will not fail for lack of either men or material. My own impression, however, is that he will soon lose the co- operation of the iron-clads; meanwhile, however, he is in- trenching himself with a view to that contingency, so as to be able to carry on the siege alone. "I got here yesterday to begin my duties as assistant secretary of war, but have not yet fairly set to work. I dare say, however, that I shall find no lack of employment. I feel some dread of work in an office, and would much prefer the life on horseback and in the field which I enjoyed with you in Mississippi. "Of the Army of the Potomac I can tell you no news that is worth telling. What you see in the newspapers is, of course, mainly fictitious or distorted. " General Grant has made some recommendations for pro- motions to major-generalships, and so has General Meade. The difficulty in both cases is that the law limits the number of major-generals and that the list is now complete. Per- haps you have already learned that both General Sherman and General McPherson have been appointed brigadiers in the regular army. "Prime is at the home of his family on Long Island. Still very feeble. "I am sorry not to have been here when Colonel Rawlins was here the other day. At that time, however, I was at 251 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Westport, sailing and swimming in Long Island Sound; The most enthusiastic imagination cannot exaggerate the delight of a few days spent in such recreations, nor the contrast with the infernal heat of this city. "Pray let me hear from you as soon as you can, and keep me informed as to movements and improvements in the Army of the Tennessee. General Thayer was here yester- day seeking correction in the date of his commission — in vain. "Remember me cordially to Rawlins and Bowers. Also to the general, who is, I trust, enduring with health and philosophy the climate of Vicksburg." Dana spent the remainder of that month in the perform- ance of various duties connected with the administration and maintenance of the army, and especially with the sup- ply departments and contractors whose place it was to furnish what was required. With his wide acquaintance and his vigorous methods he found ready and constant occupation, by which he relieved the secretary of many harassing details. It will be recalled that he had come to the conclusion, notwithstanding the high character and marked abilities of Colonel Rawlins, that he could not be regarded as techni- cally a good adjutant-general. This view, he found, was also held by the leading officers of that bureau. They seemed to forget with him that the paper work of Grant's army, with its many detachments and the great extent of territory covered by their operations during the last six months, must necessarily be less perfect than that of the armies closer to Washington. But knowing, besides, that Grant had recommended and would probably secure the promotion for Rawlins which would make a vacancy that should be filled by the best available man, he wrote to General Grant, suggesting Major Samuel Breck, one of the most accomplished officers of the regular army, for that 252 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON place. This explains the following " private " letter to me, dated August 31, 1863: ... "I have written a note to the general suggesting Major Sam Breck as just the man he needs for assistant adjutant-general, in case he is about to take a new one. Breck is now at the head of one of the departments of the adjutant-general's office here, but, as I have accidentally learned, would much rather serve in the field. I don't sup- pose any other department commander could get him, but General Grant is pretty omnipotent just now. Breck is a first- rate man in his sphere, and a cultivated, gentlemanly, efficient fellow. If no one is wanted, or if the place is filled, all right. "I have written Rawlins a note to warn him of a storm brewing against him. The complaint is one I mentioned to you the other day; and I suppose if the difficulty is not remedied some sharp corrective will be applied. Between ourselves, the truth is that the adjutant's department in the Department of the Tennessee has never been well administered. "Much to my surprise I find that Judge Scates * keeps the accounts of his office with the adjutant-general here in ex- cellent order — not quite so perfect, indeed, as those of the Army of the Potomac, with its unequalled adjutant, 2 but yet altogether satisfactory. "A charge against the 'High Dominie Dudgeon' was squelched the other day. ... I hastened to say that Michael was a splendid old fighter, with only two grains of discretion, and this must be a blunder and nothing worse. Anyway it's laid to sleep. 3 "I am off for Burnside this p.m., and then to Rosecrans." As soon as it became certain that Rosecrans, in obedience to the official pressure which had been put upon him, was 1 Adjutant - general of the Thirteenth corps, a distinguished lawyer and ex-judge of Illinois. 2 General Seth Williams, of the regular army. 3 This refers to General M. K. Lawler, than whom there never was a more honest or capable soldier in the volunteer army. 253 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA actually moving against Bragg, the secretary decided to send Dana to report the operations of the Army of the Cum- berland, as he had reported those of the Army of the Ten- nessee. Burnside had been sent to repossess east Ten- nessee, and it was expected that he and Rosecrans would form a junction and continue their operations together. The secretary's instructions required that Dana should join Burnside first, but not finding that feasible he proceeded to join Rosecrans. Chattanooga was now the great ob- jective of the Union forces in that theatre of operations. He bore a letter of introduction to Rosecrans, dated August 30th, in which the secretary designated him as " one of my assistants, who visits your command for the purpose of conferring with you upon any subject which you may desire to have brought to the notice of the department." He commended Dana as a gentleman of distinguished char- acter, patriotism, and ability, possessing the entire confi- dence of the government and worthy of every courtesy and consideration. 1 Although much delayed, he reached Louis- ville on September 5th, and Nashville a day or two later. Here he joined Andrew Johnson and General Gordon Granger, whom he met for the first time, and arranged to go to the front with them, which he did a few days later. As Bridgeport on the Tennessee was at that time the end of that section of the railroad by which the army south of the Tennessee was supplied, Dana was compelled to con- tinue his journey on horseback. His route lay through Shellmound, Wauhatchie, and the Lookout Valley, with mountains and magnificent scenery on either hand. Chat- tanooga had been occupied by Crittenden's corps on Sep- tember 9th. Rosecrans reached there on the 10th and Dana on the evening of the 11th. He at once reported at head- quarters, but Rosecrans, whose head had probably been 1 Dana, Recollections of the Civil War, p. 104. 254 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON turned by the success of his preliminary strategy, instead of receiving his visitor courteously burst at once into abuse of the government, declaring that it had not properly sustained him, that his requests had been ignored and his plans thwarted, and that both Stanton and Halleck had done all they could to prevent his success. This outbreak was of course unexpected, but Dana, who always had con- trol of his own temper, replied that he had no authority to listen to such complaints, that his mission was to find out what the government could do to aid him, and that he had no right to confer on other matters. 1 This retort produced a quieting effect, and was followed presently by a rational explanation of the condition of the campaign, the movements and position of the contending forces, and of the hopes and plans of the National com- mander. The Confederate authorities had concealed their real plans with skill. They had sent Longstreet with a formidable corps of veteran infantry from Virginia to rein- force Bragg, 2 and had gathered from Alabama and Missis- sippi all the detachments and garrisons they could replace by calling back to the colors the men Pemberton had sur- rendered and Grant had paroled at Vicksburg. No word of this had yet reached Rosecrans. He was unconscious of the storm about to burst upon him. His own army was moving by divergent roads on a front of forty miles or more southeastwardly through the mountains of northwestern Georgia, but with the instinct of a real strategist he foresaw that his columns could not properly support each other in case of a concentration of the enemy against either of them. He saw also that such a concentration was possible, and that the only way to counteract it successfully was to con- 1 Dana, Recollections of the Civil War, p. 106 et seq. 2 The earliest notice of this movement received by the government was from General Meade, September 14, 1863. See Official Records, Serial No. 50, p. 35. 255 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA centrate his own army in such way as to cover both the route back to Bridgeport and that to Chattanooga. Ac- cordingly Rosecrans and his staff, on September 13th, sallied out from Chattanooga for the purpose of joining Thomas's corps at Stevens's Gap. Dana found the army in " the best possible condition." Its left flank was secured by Burn- side's occupation of east Tennessee, but the broken and difficult country in which it was operating filled Dana with the fear that if the enemy should move strongly against Rosecrans's right wing it might endanger his long and pre- carious line of communications and force him to retreat beyond the Tennessee. To meet this danger Dana made haste, September 14th, to bring it to the attention of the Secretary of War and to urge him " to push as strong a column as possible eastward from Corinth," in northeastern Mississippi. 1 This was in Grant's department, and the rail- road running east from Memphis was in his possession, but it was too late to meet the emergency. Grant's troops were too much scattered; shortly after the fall of Vicksburg Grant himself had gone to New Orleans, while Sherman, with the bulk of the army, had been frittering his time and strength away in central Mississippi. The government at Washington had been clearly outgeneraled by the govern- ment at Richmond, and although Rosecrans had succeeded in concentrating all of his own forces within supporting distance for defence, Bragg had also succeeded in concen- trating all the forces placed at his disposal. As it turned out his reinforcements were the larger and his concentration the more formidable. The mystery which surrounded Bragg's purposes was gradually dispelling itself, and yet it was not entirely cleared away till several days after the great battle had been fought. Hour by hour it became more apparent that Bragg was not retreating but was get- 1 Pana to Stanton, September 14, 1863. 256 DANA'RETURNS TO WASHINGTON ting ready to give battle. The first clash of arms was at Stevens's Gap, but through misunderstanding or misman- agement on the part of the Confederates their attack was not pushed home. The Confederate forces were not yet sufficiently in hand. Longstreet, unknown to the Union commander, was expected from the eastward by the rail- road from Atlanta. The two armies, separated by streams, high ridges, and dense forests, and yet grappling at each other as opportunity offered, drifted gradually towards the northeast. The Army of the Cumberland kept in the valley of the Chickamauga, with its left and rear buttressed against the slopes of Missionary Ridge, and each hour more fully covering Chattanooga, while Bragg swept around to the eastward, covering his own communications with Atlanta and yet more seriously menacing Chattanooga in case vic- tory should crown his efforts. Bragg, of course, knew that Longstreet was near at hand, but Rosecrans was apparently unconscious of this momentous fact, although a despatch from Dana to Stanton, Crawfish Springs, September 16th, shows that a possibility of such reinforcements,' by the way of Ringgold or Dalton, had been considered, but that no part of Longstreet's corps had yet been received at Lafay- ette, which on that day was the seat of Bragg's headquar- ters. There is no sign yet that Rosecrans had thought of changing from the offensive to the defensive, or that he sus- pected Bragg of an intention to fight an aggressive battle. From noon of September 16th till the end of the campaign Dana sent many despatches daily. They refer to every important matter connected with the movements or supply of the army, and must have been of infinite value to the government. One of the earliest of these pointed out that the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, on which the army depended for its supplies, was not only charging the gov- ernment higher rates than those charged by other roads, but was persistently giving the preference to private freights 257 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A.'DANA or lending its cars to other roads. This condition of affairs fully justified Dana's statement that "it will be impossible to maintain this army without a complete change in the management of that road." His next despatch called for two thousand cavalry remounts, and recommended that the chief quartermaster of that army should be allowed to purchase them. 1 On the 17th headquarters were still with- out information of Longstreet's arrival. The next day reports were received from various sources that Longstreet had reached Atlanta, and this caused Dana to notify Stan- ton that Burnside's forces were needed by Rosecrans. At noon, September 18th, he reported the appearance of rebel cavalry and infantry at the front, that our position behind the Chickamauga was excellent, and " everything ready for serious attack." Later in the day he added: . . . "Our troops are now being drawn towards our left, and concentrated as much as possible. Rosecrans has not yet determined whether to make a night march and fall on them at daylight or to await their onset." On September 19th, at 10.30 a.m., he telegraphed to Stanton : . . . "As I write enemy are making diversion on our right. . . . An orderly of Bragg's just captured says there are reports in rebel army of Longstreet's arrival, but he does not know that they are true. Rosecrans has everything ready to grind up Bragg's flank." At 1 p.m. he corrected his earlier despatch and said the attack was on our left. "There is [the] fighting." 1 This entire series of despatches will be found in the Official Records, Serial No. 50, pp. 182-221. 258 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON At 2.30 p.m. : "The fight continues to rage; enemy repulsed on left by Thomas has suddenly fallen on right of our line of battle held by Van Cleve; musketry there fierce and obstinate. . . . Decisive victory seems assured to us." At 3 p.m. : "Enemy forced back by Crittenden on right has just massed his artillery against Davis on centre. His attack there, is the most serious of the day." . . . At 3.20 p.m. : "Thomas reports that he is driving rebels and will force them into the Chickamauga to-night. . . . The battle is fought in thick forest, and is invisible to outsiders. Line [of battle] is two miles long." At 4 p.m. : "Everything is prosperous." At 4.30 pm. : "I do not dare to say our victory is complete, but it seems certain. Enemy silenced on nearly whole line. Longstreet is here." At 5.20 p.m.: "Firing has ceased. . . . Enemy holds his ground in many places. . . . Now appears to be undecided contest." . . . At 7.30 p.m. : "The firing did not cease till an hour after dark, the feeble light of the moon favoring the combatants; this gives us x8 259 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA decidedly the advantage in respect of ground. The result of the battle is that enemy is defeated in attempt to turn our left flank and regain possession of Chattanooga. His attempt was furious and obstinate; his repulse was bloody and main- tained to the end. If he does not retreat, Rosecrans will renew the fight at daylight. His dispositions are now being made." . . . At 8 p.m. Dana reported the number of men which had not been engaged as two brigades and one regiment there and the reserve corps of eight thousand at Rossville; the number of prisoners captured as two hundred and fifty from thirty different regiments; ten guns captured, seven lost. At 11 p.m., that the number of wounded did not exceed two thousand. It will be observed that although Dana's despatches show Longstreet as having made his appearance, they leave it to be inferred that Rosecrans had utterly failed to take him into account. This was a fatal error, the deplorable consequences of which were destined to show themselves the next day; but as yet no one in the National army seemed to be conscious of the disaster which was at hand. Withal, the bitter struggle from dawn till dark had filled officers and men, from the highest to the lowest, with feelings of apprehension. They had held their own, especially on the left across the La- fayette-Chattanooga road, but as it turned out the centre and right were not only weakly posted but too much spread out for a successful defence. That night Rosecrans called a council of war at the Widow Glen's house which Dana and the leading generals attended, but which does not seem to have resulted in any adequate conception of the real situation nor in any imme- diate dispositions to solidify and strengthen the irregular line of defence into which the army had been forced. Thomas, upon whom the heaviest fighting of the day had 260 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON fallen, had made good his position and felt sure he could hold it, but wanted reinforcements. Apparently it was the opinion of those present that the position should be strengthened by sending the detached divisions back to their respective corps, closing the army to the left, straight- ening the line of intrenchments, and strengthening them where necessary. Written and verbal orders for the most essential of these measures were duly sent out, but instead of making the necessary changes at once, under cover of darkness, they were put off till the next day. This delay was due mainly to the fact that both officers and men were overcome with fatigue. They had been marching for sev- eral days and fighting more or less constantly for the last fourteen hours. As Dana had already reported, all but two brigades of the National army within reach had been en- gaged; and so, unwarned by martial instinct or by expe- riences of the past, the generals, as Dana related to me a few days later, after drinking hot coffee and hearing General McCook sing "The Hebrew Maiden," repaired to their respective commands and waited till after daylight before starting to consolidate their lines and strengthen their intrenchments. Within the enemy's lines the situation was far more hopeful. While they had been held in check throughout the day and the battle was an undecided one, they were conscious that with the aid of Longstreet's hardy veterans from the East victory might fairly be expected to smile upon them the next day. They had acquired a wholesome dread of the National left under the invincible Thomas. They had thrown themselves in vain time and again against the improvised breastworks which everywhere barred their ad- vance, and now, reinforced by fifteen thousand fresh troops, they had wisely decided to try their fortunes in a turning movement against the National right. The distances to be passed over to that flank by Longstreet, coming in from the 261 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Atlanta Railroad, were several miles greater, but as the country was unknown to him the forenoon was well ad- vanced before he got within fighting range of the Union right. The first shot seems to have been fired at about nine o'clock. By ten o'clock, or a little after, the battle was raging furiously from left to right, but nothing had yet occurred to reveal Bragg's real plan of battle or where his heaviest attack might be expected. The most that can be said is that while Thomas from the first believed he was receiving it and was calling for reinforcements, the fatal weakness of the Union line was not yet apparent. Rose- crans, who was up bright and early, rode from one flank to the other of his army before the action began, but he had as yet failed to detect the weak spots or to insist upon the proper disposition of his troops to render their position impregnable. The story of the bloody disaster which followed the sus- tained attack of Longstreet against Rosecrans's right was first made known in Washington by Dana's despatch from Chattanooga, dated September 20th — 4 p.m. He had been too much engaged in watching the battle to write or send messages from the field, and it must be confessed that the earlier stages of the second day's struggle were too un- certain, too ill-defined, to justify anything but the most general statements. That none whatever was sent is one of the most ominous circumstances of that memorable morning. It is not my purpose to recount the details here, but merely to point out the fact that Dana, who happened to be behind the divisions of Davis and Sheridan, which had just been placed in line to fill the gap made by the with- drawal of Wood, was swept away in the deb&cle which fol- lowed the first successful onrush of the Confederate col- umns, and as soon as he could disentangle himself rode rapidly to Chattanooga. It must be added that Rosecrans, McCook, Crittenden, Sheridan, Davis, Van Cleve, and many 262 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON staff-officers, including Horace Porter and J. P. Drouillard, were also borne irresistibly to the rear by the troops who had fled in what Dana designates as "wholesale panic." * These officers, with only one exception, were regulars, with two West-Pointers of approved experience and unimpeach- able valor. Had they known or even supposed that the left and left centre would hold fast they would surely have stayed on the field till the battle was over. They did the very best they could with the light they had, and history must so record it, notwithstanding the criticism which was so freely visited upon their conduct at that time and afterwards. The story of the battle, and the events of that afternoon and night, have been told many times and in many differ- ent ways from that day to this. Dana's despatches give the essential details as they came to his knowledge, but there is on the whole no better nor more comprehensive summary of what actually took place than is contained in a letter which he wrote to me just a fortnight after the battle. It is dated Chattanooga, October 3, 1863, and as it has not been previously printed I give it in full as a part of this narrative: ... "I have been here now some four weeks, having wit- nessed the movements of the campaign for some ten days previous to the battle of Chickamauga, and seen the greatest but not the best part of that battle. I was standing with General Rosecrans just in the rear of the right of Jeff. C. Davis's division when it was broken by the rebel columns and fled in utter panic. Bull Run had nothing more terrible than the rout and flight of these veteran soldiers. The enemy came upon them in columns six lines deep, formed with brigade fronts, three brigades being massed behind each other, firing as they advanced. The fire was more violent 1 Dana to Stanton, Chattanooga, September 20th. 263 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA than I ever heard before, but I do not think our lines would have been broken but for a gap in them caused by taking Wood's division from the centre to reinforce the left, and not entirely filling up the space thus vacated. Through that gap the rebels came in, and then Davis's division broke and ran in helpless panic. I never saw anything so crushing to the mind as that scene. I was swept away with part of Rosecrans's staff, and lost in the rabble. Some of these officers, and especially Drouillard and Porter, drew their swords and worked like good fellows trying to rally and reorganize the fugitives; but as often as they got a squad together a shell crashing through the tree-tops (for the battle was fought mainly in a forest), or a few canister-shots drop- ping on the dry leaves, would send the cowards packing again. "I rode twelve miles to Chattanooga, galloping my horse all the way, to send despatches to Washington, and found the road filled all the distance with baggage-wagons, artillery, ambulances, negroes on horseback, field and company officers, wounded men limping along, Union refugees from the coun- try around leading their wives and children, mules running along loose, squads of cavalry — in short, every element that could confuse the rout of a great army, not excepting a major- general commanding an army corps, . . . while part of the corps . . . remained to cover themselves with glory and save everything by fighting on the left under the lead of that magnificent old hero, General Thomas, and of Gordon Granger, the Marshal Ney of the war. It was a great fight which these twenty-five thousand men waged there against eighty thousand (Bragg had sixty-seven thousand veterans and fifteen thousand militia) till darkness covered the field, and it saved everything for us. In this fight the men who most distinguished themselves were Generals Thomas, Granger, Steedman, Brannan, Palmer, Hazen, Turchin, and Colonel Harker. The last-named commanded a brigade which got out of ammunition, and at the end three times repulsed the columns of Longstreet with the bayonet. But they were all heroes, and we owe them a debt of gratitude we can never sufficiently pay. They punished the enemy so awfully that 264 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON if our forces had remained on the ground, it is the opinion of General Thomas, as well as of many others less judicious and reserved than he, that the enemy must have retreated. But Thomas was not sure that he could get up supplies of am- munition in season, and retired accordingly. "Our loss in this battle was about fourteen thousand killed, wounded, and missing, and forty pieces of artillery. But we repulsed the enemy even after one-half our line of bat- tle was dissolved, and saved Chattanooga. The conduct of McCook and Crittenden in leaving their commands is to be investigated by a court of inquiry, and the order relieving them from command and consolidating the two corps (now together about fifteen thousand strong) into one under Granger is now on its way here from Washington. "I should also tell you that General Rosecrans came to Chattanooga after the rout of the left, and consequently bore no part in the glory of the afternoon's battle. He seems in w consequence to have lost some of his great popularity with * the soldiers, whose idol is now very naturally the man who saved them, and indeed saved us all, Thomas. For my own part, I confess I share their feeling. I know no other man whose composition and character are so much like those of Washing- ton; he is at once an elegant gentleman and a heroic soldier. "But I shall let my pen run on in a protracted scrawl which you will find it very difficult to read, I fear. I must tell you that I am charmed with Porter, and that some of us are trying to make him, or have him made, a colonel. As for the general condition of this army, I must write you an- other time. There is much to say about it. But at the bot- tom it is essentially the same sort of an army as that of the Tennessee. "Some of your troops will now come this way, of course. I wish it were possible for you to come with them. This is a much more difficult country to campaign in than Louisiana and Mississippi. Here it is all mountain warfare, to be waged over high ridges with few passes and in narrow valleys. It is a most picturesque region, rich in minerals, but of little worth for agriculture. 265 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA "Your letter is so good that I shall send it to the Secretary of War. Remember me kindly to the general, to Rawlins, and to Bowers." It will be observed that this letter contains no explana- tion of why Rosecrans did not sally out at daylight on the second day of the battle and "grind up Bragg's flank," as he must have told Dana he intended to do. It makes no explanation of why he failed entirely to assume the offen- sive, by a turning movement against the enemy's right, as he might have done. It makes no suggestion that the battle was fought primarily to " save Chattanooga," although that was the actual result. It gives no explanation of Rose- crans's change of plan from a pursuit of the flying enemy to a defensive battle for the salvation of his strategic base of operations. But no one can read Dana's despatches in con- nection with this letter, and the Confederate reports, without reaching the conclusion that the controlling factor in the great battle was the timely arrival of Longstreet's corps from the East, and the decisive part it took in the second day's fighting. From Dana's two despatches of the 20th, as well as from the more deliberate statements of the correspondents and historical writers, there can be no doubt that the fortuitous coming of Granger and Steedman, with five thousand men of the reserve corps, to the right of the line at Chickamauga arrested the progress of Longstreet and saved the Union army from ruin. Dana did all in his power for Granger and Steedman, as he did for many others whose qualities attract- ed his attention in this campaign. Colonel Harker, whom he mentions with others as having especially distinguished himself, was a young West-Pointer who was promoted to brigadier-general for conspicuous gallantry in this battle. Many other officers who fought at Chickamauga, and espe- cially those who held the field with Thomas, owe much of 266 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON their future distinction to Dana's recommendation. Indeed, it may be said that in this campaign as well as in that of Vicksburg, Dana's greatest service was due to the light his correspondence and his conversation threw upon the con- duct and personal qualities of the various officers who came under his observation. There can be no doubt that his influence with Stanton was from the first in favor of reliev- ing Rosecrans from the command of the Army of the Cum- berland and placing it in charge of Thomas. He was also one of the first persons in official station to urge the consoli- dation of the military departments in the country tributary to the Mississippi under one supreme commander, as sug- gested by Grant in his memorable letter from Memphis, January 20, 1863. 1 He had been fully acquainted at Milli- ken's Bend with Grant's views on that subject, and in his de- spatch of September 27th he specially spoke of that general for the chief command. Preceded as this mention was by a searching analysis of Rosecrans's character, and a con- clusive demonstration of his incapacity to meet the great emergencies of his position, it could not fail to command Stanton's approval. Grant, it will be remembered, was left at that time comparatively idle. After capturing Fort Donelson and the army defending it, he had captured Vicksburg and its still larger garrison. He had thus gained two out of the three great strategic centres of the Mississippi Valley; and inasmuch as his were the only complete victo- ries so far won by the National forces, it seemed to be in- evitable that Grant should be called upon to make good the nation's hold upon the third great objective point of the war in the Southwest. Dana's despatches to the secretary are conclusive on these points, but in addition they throw important light on the entire course of events both before and after the great 1 Badeau, Military History of U. S. Grant, vol. i., p. 626. 267 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA battle. Not the least important report sent by him to Washington, September 21st, was the rumor that Ewell's corps from Virginia had also joined Bragg, too late to take part in the battle, that it was said to be now moving to the Tennessee River above Chattanooga. He evidently doubt- ed this report, for in the same despatch he added, with a perfect insight into the probabilities of the case, " but if Ewell be really there, Rosecrans will have to retreat beyond the Tennessee." Only that morning he had reported for the first time that Longstreet was certainly there. Two hours and a half later, on the testimony of "an intelligent de- serter," he added that all of Johnston's Mississippi army was with Bragg, that Mobile had been stripped of soldiers, and that the entire Confederacy seemed to be concentrated in front of Chattanooga. While it turned out later that these reports were not literally correct, that Ewell had not yet arrived, and that the Confederacy had not concentrated all of its forces under Bragg, Dana's vigorous despatches had the immediate effect of so arousing the government that it at once put forth its best efforts to reinforce the army now gathered at Chattanooga by troops from every quarter that could spare them. Burnside was again or- dered down from east Tennessee. On September 23d two army corps under Hooker were ordered out from Virginia, while two under Sherman had been already ordered up from Mississippi. But what was still more important as a direct consequence of the situation at and about Chatta- nooga, and of Dana's voluminous representations in regard to it, were the orders which finally transferred Grant him- self to that theatre of operations, consolidated the depart- ments of the Tennessee, the Cumberland, and the Ohio into the Military Division of the Mississippi, and gave its com- mander complete authority over all the military forces within its widely extended limits. That Dana's letters and despatches contained the first suggestions on which these 268 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON great measures were based there can be no doubt. Between September 21st and October 18th, inclusive, a period of twenty-eight days, Dana sent fifty-eight despatches, or a daily average of slightly over two, to Stanton; and these de- spatches touched every important rumor and event, as well, as every important officer, connected with the campaign and battle of Chickamauga, and with the events which followed the retreat of the Union army into the intrenchments of Chattanooga. After making it clear that the army was safe from the enemy behind the fortifications, he laid bare with a pitiless hand the incapacity, the imbecility, and the utter lack of firmness which characterized the conduct of Rosecrans. He called attention to his failure to enforce the discipline of the army against superior officers charged with drunkenness and neglect of duty, and finally declared that it often "seemed difficult to believe him of sound mind." He commented with the utmost freedom upon every circumstance connected with the alleged misconduct of corps, division, and brigade commanders, and pointed out the needs of the army in every department. He was one of the first to mention the starving condition of the artillery horses, and also of the mules used for hauling sup- plies from the rear. Recognizing that with the break-down of the transport department the soldiers themselves would soon be starving, unless the most vigorous efforts should be put forth to shorten the line of supplies and to maintain it intact against interruption by the enemy, he reported that " the appointment of Baldy Smith as chief engineer of the department infuses much energy and judgment into that branch of the operations"; that the department staff had been entirely reorganized, with Major-General Reynolds chief of staff, General Smith engineer, and General Bran- nan chief of artillery, and that " the remarkable strength of the new staff cannot fail to add much to the discipline of the army." 269 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA On October 8th he mentions General Rousseau as one " who seems to be regarded throughout this army as an ass of eminent gifts" — that the consolidation of the two corps was well received and "must produce the most happy con- sequences " — but to avoid the impression that the measure was intended as "a token of disgrace and punishment," he recommended that an order should be issued from Wash- ington complimenting the steadiness and gallantry of the men, and putting the consolidation on its true grounds. On the 11th he called attention to the fact that his despatches had been deciphered and their contents partly made known while in transit through Nashville and Louisville, and that he should have a new cipher whose meaning no operator could guess out. The next day he called attention to the fact that if Bragg should make a serious effort to march into Kentucky, "this army will find itself in a very helpless and dangerous condition," that "it has on hand but two days' rations for the troops," that the moun- tain and bottom roads north of the river "might any day be made impracticable by a little rain," that a fatal mistake had been made in " the abandonment of Lookout Mountain to the rebels" against the earnest protest of Granger and Garfield, that they were "unquestionably right," and that "Rosecrans, who is sometimes as obstinate and inaccessible to reason, as at others he is irresolute, vacillating, and in- conclusive, pettishly rejected all their arguments, and the mountain was given up. It is difficult to say which was the greater error, this order or that which on the day of battle created the gap in our lines. At any rate, such is our present situation: our animals starved, and the men with starvation before them, and the enemy bound to make des- perate efforts to dislodge us. "In the midst of this the commanding general devotes that part of the time which is not employed in pleasant gossip to the composition of a long report to prove that the 270 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON government is to blame for his failure. It is my duty to declare that while few persons exhibit more estimable social qualities, I have never seen a public man possessing talent with less administrative power, less clearness and steadiness in difficulty, and greater practical incapacity than General Rosecrans. He has inventive fertility and knowledge, but he has no strength of will and no concentration of purpose. His mind scatters; there is no system in the use of his busy days and restless nights, no courage against individuals in his composition, and with great love of command, he is a feeble commander. He is conscientious and honest, just as he is imperious and disputatious; always with a stray vein of caprice and an overweening passion for the approbation of his personal friends and the public outside. "Under the present circumstances, I consider this army to be very unsafe in his hands, but know of no man except Thomas who could now be safely put in his place." That same afternoon Dana reported Jefferson Davis as being present with Bragg's army. On the 12th he asks Stan- ton if it would not be possible for General Halleck to come to Chattanooga, adding, "What is needed to extricate this army is the highest administrative talent, and that without delay." After thirty-six hours of heavy rain, which had swollen the rivers and greatly injured the roads, he reported the country as denuded of forage and food, that the troops had been put on three-quarter rations, and that it was imperatively necessary to open the river and shorten the lines of wagon transportation. On the 15th he reported that it was still raining with great violence, the mud in the roads was constantly growing deeper, that the troops had now been put on half rations, and that it would soon become necessary for all persons except soldiers to leave Chatta- nooga. In that case he asked if he should return to Wash- ington or endeavor to make his way to Burnside. On October 16th he reported that although there had been but 271 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA little rain for sixteen hours the mud was growing deeper, the mortality among the animals increasing, that the mules " were too weak to haul the wagons up the mountains with- out doubling the teams," and that the chief of artillery had told him that in case of retirement " he could not possibly haul away the artillery with the horses that are left." In the same despatch he adds : . . . "Nothing can prevent the retreat of the army from this place within a fortnight, and with a vast loss of public property and possibly of life, except the opening of the river. ... In the midst of all these difficulties General Rose- crans seems to be insensible to the impending danger, and dawdles with trifles in a manner which can scarcely be imag- ined. . . . Meanwhile, with plenty of zealous and energetic officers ready to do whatever can be done, all this precious time is lost because our dazed and mazy commander cannot perceive the catastrophe that is close upon us, nor fix his mind on the means of preventing it. I never saw anything which seemed so lamentable and hopeless." The same afternoon he telegraphed that he had just had " a full conversation with General Rosecrans upon the situ- ation, in which he says that the possession of the river as far up as the head of Williams Island, at least, is a sine qua non to the holding of Chattanooga." . . . That Rosecrans expects " ' as soon as the weather will allow, the enemy will cross the river in force on our left, and then it will be neces- sary for us to fight a battle, or else to retreat from here, and attempt to hold the line of the Cumberland Mountains.' "... And finally that Rosecrans " inclines to the opinion that they will rather attempt to crush Burnside first." In the foregoing it is painfully manifest that there is neither plan nor purpose. All is vague, uncertain, and vacillating in the mind of the commanding general. So 272 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON much so, indeed, was this the case, that Dana, at eleven o'clock on the 17th, turns again to the subject with the declaration that "The general organization of this army is inefficient, and its discipline defective. The former proceeds from the fact that General Rosecrans insists on personally directing every department, and keeps every one waiting and uncertain till he himself can directly supervise every operation. The latter proceeds from his utter lack of firmness, his passion for uni- versal applause, and his incapacity to hurt any man's feelings by just severity. . . . There is thus practically no discipline for superior officers, and, of course, the evil, though less per- nicious in the lower grades, is everywhere perceptible." On the 18th, although it was raining again, there was hope for the final cessation of the storm. "Meanwhile," Dana adds, "our condition and prospects grow worse and worse. The roads are in such a state that wagons are eight days making the journey from Stevenson to Chattanooga, and some which left on the 10th have not yet arrived. Though subsistence stores are so nearly exhausted here, the wagons are compelled to throw overboard portions of their precious cargo in order to get through at all. The returning trains have now, for some days, been stopped on this side of the Sequatchie, and a civilian who reached here last night states that he saw fully five hundred teams halted between the mountain and the river, without forage for the animals, and unable to move in any direction. "I rode through the camps here yesterday, and can tes- tify that my previous reports respecting the starvation of the battery horses were not exaggerated. A few days more and most of them will be dead. ... It does not seem possible to hold out here another week without a new avenue of supplies. . . . Amid all this the practical incapacity of the general commanding is astonishing, and it often seems diffi- 273 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA cult to believe him of sound mind. His imbecility appears to be contagious, and it is difficult for any one to get anything done ; . . . and if the army is finally obliged to retreat, the prob- ability is that it will fall back like a rabble, leaving its artillery, and protected only by the river behind it. If, on the other hand, we regain control of the river and keep it, subsistence and forage can be got here, and we may escape with no worse misfortune than the loss of twelve thousand animals." This was the last of Dana's despatches for that period. It will be observed that they were written from hour to hour and gave an exact account of events as they appeared to him at the time. What is more, they had thoroughly aroused the government and caused it to put forth its best efforts to save Chattanooga and the army which had been shut up and beleaguered within its fortifications. In addi- tion to these despatches Dana also wrote letters from time to time to the Secretary of War, but as they have not been published in the Official Records it is probable that they were considered as private and confidential. Dana himself kept no copies, and if the originals are in existence they will probably be found among the private papers and corre- spondence of Stanton. In connection with this subject it may be well to call attention to the fact that long after the campaigns of Chick- amauga and Chattanooga were closed, General Rosecrans and his friends set up the claim that the battle of Chicka- mauga was fought for the primary purpose of making good his hold on Chattanooga, which had been the principal objective of the campaign from the first, and that after his army had occupied that place and come so near being forced by starvation to retreat from it, he had formed a definite plan for shortening his supply line by opening the river and the Lookout Valley to Bridgeport. This view of the case is in no way supported by Dana's despatches. While they mention the fact that Rosecrans recognized the necessity 274 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON of shortening the line, and intimate that he may have had a vague purpose of that sort, they make it clear that he did not regard the emergency as nearly so great as it appeared to Dana, nor believe that the shorter line could be opened till Hooker's corps, detached from the Army of the Poto- mac on the 23d, should arrive at Bridgeport and occupy the country between there and Chattanooga.' It is specially worthy of note that there is not a word in any of these despatches foreshadowing the plan which was actually de- vised by General William F. Smith, and successfully carried into effect under his supervision. While it is abundantly evident that Dana reported from time to time everything that came under his observation, it is also evident that he was really much more concerned with conditions as they actually existed than with the means of changing them, that he felt it to be a matter of much greater importance to get rid of the incapable Rosecrans and secure the appoint- ment of a competent man to take his place than to report or pass upon such plans as might be passing through his hazy mind. And that this was the view that the secretary took of Dana's recommendations is abundantly shown by the sequel. As early as September 30th Stanton tele- graphed him : . . . "If Hooker's command get safely through, all that the Army of the Cumberland can need will be a competent commander. The merit 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 was not my fault that he was not in chief command months ago." But this is not all. Immediately after receiving the analysis of Rosecrans's character contained in Dana's de- spatches of September 27th and September 30th, the Secre- tary of War ordered Grant to Cairo by telegraph for confer- i9 275 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA ence. This was on October 3d, but as this despatch had to be transmitted to Grant at Vicksburg by steamer, it did not reach him till the 10th. It was, however, expected, and no time was lost in complying with its terms. General Grant and his entire headquarters started at 11 p.m. that night, but the steamboat was a slow one, and did not reach Cairo till the morning "of the 16th. Having reported his arrival at once, he received a telegram the next day from Halleck, directing him to proceed to Louisville, where he would "meet an officer of the War Department with orders and instructions." As it turned out, the secretary himself was the officer who was to meet Grant, and the first meeting between these distinguished men took place on the morning of September 18, 1863, in the Union Station at Indian- apolis. It was not altogether free from embarrassment to Stanton, who had somewhat impulsively mistaken Dr. Kittoe, the staff surgeon, for the general. Trivial as this incident may seem, Dana and the officers present always believed that it produced an unfavorable impression which lasted till the secretary's death. That he was disappointed in the general's appearance and bearing cannot be positive- ly stated, but it is certain they never became devoted friends. They went on together to Louisville, arriving there the same night. They spent two days together in continued conference, the result of which was that Grant was placed in command of the Military Division, Rosecrans was relieved, Thomas was assigned to the command of the Army of the Cumberland, and a full understanding was reached in reference to future operations. On his departure from Washington, Stanton had tele- graphed Dana also to meet him at Louisville, but this order was delayed in transmission did not reach Dana till the 19th. Meanwhile he had come to the conclusion that Rosecrans, unless restrained by a positive order, "would retreat at once from Chattanooga." To make sure that 276 DANA RETURNS TO WASHINGTON this should not be done he sent a despatch to the secretary at Louisville, and then set out on a most fatiguing horseback ride across Walden's Ridge through Jasper to Bridgeport, where he arrived the same night. The next day the special train by which he was going North met General Grant and his staff near Nashville in another special going South. Stanton, having finished his mission, had returned to Wash- ington, but before leaving had authorized Grant to take Dana, whom he had not met, back to Chattanooga, and this was done, to the satisfaction of all concerned. It will be noted that every point made by Dana had been covered by the secretary's orders. Rosecrans had not only been relieved, but to prevent the possibility of the further disaster, Thomas had been ordered, October 19th, 11.30 p.m., to "Hold Chattanooga at all hazards," and had re- plied at once, "I will hold the town till we starve!" It is of course possible that these orders would have been issued without Dana's interposition, but under all the circumstances of the case it must be considered as greatly to his credit that he should have anticipated them one and all by the information as well as by the specific recommendations contained in his despatches from the im- mediate scene of action. When it is recalled that Lin- coln himself had styled Dana " the eyes of the govern- ment at the front," and that all of his despatches as soon as read at the War Department were sent at once to the White House, the conclusion is irresistible that they were the actuating cause of the changes which they recom- mended. XVII CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA Dana guides Grant and staff — Thomas's relations to Grant — Through Lookout Valley — Dana in the field — Missionary Ridge — Expedition to Knoxville — Dana and Carl Schurz — Return to Washington Genekal Grant had hardly arrived at Stevenson on the afternoon of October 21, 1863, when he was met by an officer bearing an invitation from General Hooker to call upon him. They had been companions and possibly cronies in less fortunate days; besides, it was alleged that Hooker was ill; but neither Grant nor his staff considered this as a proper excuse for Hooker's marked violation of established military etiquette. Dana, like the rest, noted with ap- proval that Grant, although not yet fully recovered from his late fall, made no reference to his own lameness, but, quietly ignoring the invitation of his subordinate, indicated that he desired to see at his car that night all the general officers within reach before going on to Bridgeport, the end of the road in operation. The incident was a trivial one, but its effect was all that could be desired. It was followed immediately by a call from Hooker, who showed no particular sign of illness, as well as from Rosecrans, Howard, and Butterfield. At nine o'clock the next morning the party set out from Bridgeport on horseback for Chattanooga, by the way of the roundabout road through Jasper. Grant was accom- panied in this ride by General Howard, as well as by Dana, Rawlins, Wilson, Bowers, Parker, and a few orderlies. 278 CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA Dana, who knew the road well, was the guide as far as Jasper. Here the party divided, Grant and staff taking the longer route, while Dana and I, after baiting our horses, climbed Walden's Ridge by a cut-off road which he knew well. We made our way by moonlight to the eastern edge of the plateau overlooking the valley of the Tennessee, and the beleaguered town some seven miles away as the crow flies. Here we rested till the moon went down. We then descended the mountain to the crooked road along the north bank to the ferry at Chattanooga. As the south bank was only a couple of hundred yards away and in the posses- sion of the enemy, our ride was an exciting one, within close range of the enemy's pickets, till we came to Moccasin Point. We ran the gantlet for several miles as rapidly and as noiselessly as possible, keeping within the shadow of the overhanging trees and seeking out the soft parts of the road so that the enemy's vedettes might neither see nor hear us. Fortunately we were fired upon but once, and reached the ferry without injury. Dana was known to the guard, who set us across the river without delay. He was also familiar with the streets of the town and guided our party quickly to Captain Porter's quarters, where we arrived shortly before midnight. Although we were not expected, we were received with true military hospitality. Our host gave us the best he had, but his supplies were limited. Our horses got only two ears of corn apiece, and each of us only one square of fried hardtack, with a small piece of salt pork and a cup of army coffee without milk or sugar. After our ride of fifty-five miles that day it was a most satisfactory meal, but it told its direful story of approach- ing starvation for the besieged in words far more impressive than any formal report. Still guided by Dana, we mounted early next morning and rode at once to pay our respects to General Thomas, the new commander. This was my first meeting with that 279 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA distinguished man, but, introduced by Dana, it was the beginning of a friendship which speedily became intimate and lasted till his death. He received us with every mark of consideration, and during the conversation which fol- lowed he made haste to say, "Mr. Dana, you have got me this time; but there is nothing for a man to do in such a case but to obey orders." This was an allusion to the dis- inclination which he had frequently shown to supplant those in authority over him. He of course knew that he was the legitimate successor of Rosecrans. He knew also that the latter could not longer hold command of that army with- out great injury to its efficiency, and this was his method of letting it be officially understood that he was done de- clining the responsibilities and honors to which he was justly entitled. This interview over, we called upon Gen- eral Smith, the chief engineer, and General Brannan, the chief of artillery. Those distinguished officers at once declared that under the sane and steady guidance of Thomas the danger of further disaster had not only disap- peared but that order and confidence had already been established throughout the army. Our next duty was to ride the lines, visit the advance posts, and confer with the actual commanders of the troops. Everywhere we found short rations, little forage, and plenty of hungry soldiers and starving animals. And yet every vestige of discon- tentment had disappeared. Everybody seemed cheerful and hopeful. Officers and men alike had regained resolu- tion and courage. Smith had already worked out his plans "for shortening the cracker line," and Thomas had given them his approval. It remained only to lay them before Grant and under his sanction to perfect the means of put- ting them into effect. That night at nine o'clock Grant and his staff, "wet, dirty, and well," rode into town and went at once to Thomas's headquarters, where Dana and I soon found them. 280 CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA It had been raining hard most of the day. The roads were rough, muddy, and slippery. The distances to be traversed were great, and the gait of Grant and his staff was too rapid for the headquarters' wagons. As a consequence they were left behind in the mountains and did not arrive till the next day. Meanwhile, Grant's horse had fallen and severely bruised his lame leg, his clothes were soaked with rain, and both he and his staff were ravenously hungry. Although they had been taken in at Thomas's headquarters, they were not expected, and strangely enough nothing had been done to relieve their discomfort, when Dana and I arrived on the scene. Grant was sitting on one side of the fire over a puddle of water that had run out of his clothes; Thomas, glum and silent, was sitting on the other, while Rawlins and the rest were scattered about in disorder. The situa- tion was embarrassing, but Dana and I took it in almost at a glance, arid after a moment's conference with Rawlins, who had already begun to show his anger, I broke in with the remark : " General Thomas, General Grant is wet, hun- gry, and in pain; his wagons and camp equipage are far behind; can you not find quarters and some dry clothes for him, and direct your officers to provide the party with supper?" This suggestive question broke the spell and brought to Thomas's serious countenance a smile of cordiality which, although belated, was followed at once by orders to Willard, his senior aide-de-camp, for rooms, dry clothes, and supper. Conversation began, and it was not long till a glow of warmth and cheerfulness prevailed. Smith and Porter came in arid were presented, and before the evening closed the casual observer would not have suspected that there had been the slightest lack of cordiality in the reception which had been accorded to the weary general and his staff. The foregoing incident was nevertheless an important one, and was followed by important consequences which 281 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA more or less seriously affected the relations of Grant and Thomas to the end of their lives. These great officers were singularly alike in taciturnity and pride, much as they dif- fered in other respects. Grant, while slow to suspect incivility from any one, was not incapable of seeing it when his attention was called to it. He was personally kind, gentle, and hospitable, and never suspected any one else of being less so than himself; but Rawlins was alert and suspicious, and never forgot or forgave the incivility of this incident. Dana and I discussed it frequently afterwards, and came to the conclusion that it had its origin in the Shiloh campaign, where Grant, although nominally second in com- mand, was really in disfavor, while Thomas, who belonged to another army, had been put in command of nearly all of Grant's troops. But back of that, Thomas's services and connections with the old army had been more creditable than Grant's, while his rank had been higher. As volunteer generals they had both done most excellent service. If Grant had captured Fort Donelson and taken Vicksburg, Thomas had won the battle of Mill Spring, had assisted in turning the disaster at Shiloh into a glorious victory, and by his personal courage and determination had saved the Army of the Cumberland at Chickamauga. If one had rendered great services, the other had also. Under the cir- cumstances of their respective careers they, as well as their friends, might well differ in regard to which was the greater or more deserving man. After all, they were but men, hon- orable and upright, to be sure, but neither indifferent to his own interests nor to his own merits. Each respected the other, but neither respected nor valued the other more than himself. Each had confidence in the other, but neither had as much confidence in the other as in himself. While Thomas was far too lofty a man to criticise his commanding general, both Dana and I held the opinion from that time forth that Grant had more confidence in Thomas than 282 CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA Thomas had in Grant, and that the incident in question grew out of the feeling which was perhaps unconscious on the part of Thomas, that in the command of the Army of the Cumberland he required supervision from no one, and especially not from Grant. This view of the case was confirmed by the fact that from that time forth the staff of General Thomas, which was pre- sided over by a distinguished but somewhat narrow-minded regular, never worked in harmony with the staff of General Grant nor showed proper subordination to it. They neces- sarily had much to do with each other, but they never worked cordially or harmoniously together. It is interest- ing to add that while Dana was a silent observer he always held that the conduct of Grant and his chief of staff during these trying times was more to be commended than that of their subordinates. In spite of the chilly welcome Grant had received the evening before, he rode with Thomas bright and early to look over the ground which Smith had discovered at Brown's Ferry, opposite the north end of Lookout Valley, as a basis of operations for "shortening the cracker line." Dana's work for the rest of the campaign was of secondary importance. ,He established his former relations with Grant and was everywhere treated as a member of his staff, but he had but little to do except to " act as the eyes of the government," and keep it fully informed of the opera- tions in progress. He not only accompanied the generals in the reconnois- sance which they made on Saturday, but on the next after- noon at five o'clock he started with me overland to join Hooker's column on its march from Bridgeport through Wauhatchie and Lookout Valley to Brown's Ferry. Dana had come to know the country on both sides of the river thoroughly, and it seemed to be as great a pleasure to him in this campaign as in that of Vicksburg to take part in the 283 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA movements of the troops. We arrived at Bridgeport at noon Monday, but instead of finding all arrangements com- pleted, Hooker was neither there in person nor were his troops ready to begin the movement till sunrise the next morning. We got off at sunrise the next day, reached Shellmound by 10.30 a.m., and Whitesides by night. On the way we inspected the coal-mines and the Nickajack caves. The following day the column, with but little skirmishing, went into camp at Wauhatchie, within a few miles of the bridge which Smith, by a brilliant series of operations, had laid at Brown's Ferry. Instead, how- ever, of remaining with Hooker, we cautioned him against a surprise, and proceeded by way of the new bridge to Chattanooga, and were thus the first to use the shorter " cracker line," which was to play such an important part in relieving the army from want and preparing the way for future victories. We arrived at headquarters after dark, and at once reported Hooker's exposed position, urging that he should be ordered to withdraw to the bridge that night. We pointed out that his camp was within cannon-shot of Lookout Mountain, and that the enemy would doubtless fall upon it in force before daylight. Grant was both provoked and anxious. He had but a poor opin- ion of Hooker at best, and neither the incident at Steven- son nor our report had diminished his anxiety. We had done all we could to convince Hooker that he was in danger, as had Hazen, who was in command at the bridge-head, but Grant sent no further orders, and Hooker did not move. The temptation was too great for the enemy, and the con- sequence was the bloody affair of Wauhatchie, which took place between midnight and four o'clock next morning, 1 at the cost of several hundred men killed, wounded, and prisoners. 1 Dana to Stanton, October 29th and 30th. 284 CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA The next morning Dana and I rode with Grant and Thomas into Lookout Valley, where we met Hooker, Howard, and Geary. The meeting, as may well be imag- ined, deepened Grant's mistrust of Hooker, and resulted, as soon as he got back to headquarters, in a despatch from Dana to Stanton, dated that day, October 29, 1863 — 1 p.m., which rims as follows: " General Grant desires me to request for him that Lieu- tenant-Colonel J. H. Wilson, of his staff, Captain of Engineers, be appointed Brigadier-General of Volunteers. Grant wants him to command cavalry, for which he possesses uncommon qualifications. Knowing Wilson thoroughly, I heartily in- dorse the application. "Grant also wishes to have both Hooker and Slocum re- moved from his command, and the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps consolidated under Howard. He would himself order Hooker and Slocum away, but hesitates because they have just been sent here by the President. Besides, I think he would rather prefer that so serious a proceeding should come from headquarters. Hooker has behaved badly ever since his arrival, and Slocum has just sent in a very disorderly com- munication, stating that when he came here it was under promise that he should not have to serve under Hooker, whom he neither regards with confidence nor respects as a man. Altogether, Grant feels that their presence here is re- plete with both trouble and danger." . . . As I was detached the same afternoon with orders to examine and fortify the passes in Lookout Mountain, I knew nothing of this despatch till my return to head- quarters several days later. It was then communicated to me by Rawlins and Dana in response to the appeal I was making at the time to secure promotion for Porter. My promotion, to take effect from the date of its recom- mendation, came in due time, but, for reasons which I never ascertained, Grant's request for the removal of •285 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Hooker and Slocum from his command was not granted, and this is specially noticeable for the reason that such requests through Dana were generally complied with promptly enough. During the first week of November Bragg detached a part of his force, and it was correctly surmised that this was for the purpose of co-operating with other Confed- erate forces in an effort to drive Burnside out of east Tennessee. Grant therefore became anxious to know the actual condition of affairs in Burnside's department, and concluded to send Dana and myself to ascertain, with discretionary authority to issue orders in his name, should it become necessary to secure compliance with such sug- gestions as we might think best to make. We started November 9th, with an escort consisting of one troop of cavalry. The distance to Knoxville, by the route we took to avoid the enemy's main body, was about one hundred and seventy-five miles. That part of Ten- nessee, although no longer a newly settled country, abound- ed in forests and streams difficult to cross. The nights were getting cold, the roads were bad, and the entire country open to raids of the Confederate cavalry. We succeeded in making our way through Smith's Cross- roads, Prestonville, and Kingston, to Lenoir's Station, and thence by rail to Knoxville, where we arrived late at night on the 12th. Calling at once on Burnside, we spent most of the night and the next day in conference with him and his generals. Early on the morning of the 14th we started on our return trip, and, riding around the head of Longstreet's column, reached Chattanooga without ac- cident or delay by the night of the 17th. Dana sent two telegrams from Knoxville to Stanton, and three from Chattanooga, while I sent one to Grant, giving a full state- ment of the situation as we found it in east Tennessee. It was Dana's first meeting with Burnside, whom he 286 CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA found to be a man of impressive appearance, but possessing a weak mind full of vagaries. After a long argument, in which we both participated, we succeeded in getting him to adopt the course which kept his army intact till after the victory of Missionary Ridge, when it was relieved of all danger by a strong detachment of Grant's army, under Sherman. Grant's theory of the campaign in east Tennessee was that Burnside should hold fast to Knoxville, which was the centre of population and of railroads for the entire region, drawing supplies as far as possible from the sur- rounding country, and yet always operating in such man- ner as to imperil no part of his command. This it was not difficult to make Burnside understand as a matter of theory, but we found that he had already thrown a strong detachment forward to the Little Tennessee, up the valley of which the foraging was unusually good, and seemed determined to follow with his whole force. He had con- structed a bridge across the Holston for that purpose, and appeared to think it would be a pity not to use it. As this movement would have left the road to Knoxville open to the advancing columns of the enemy, and might easily, in the presence of such a leader as Longstreet, have ended in the capture of Burnside and his whole force, we united in earnest remonstrance against the suggestion. It was in allusion to this foolish project that Dana, in his despatch of 12 m., November 18th, said: "Parke argued against this idea in vain, but finally Gen- eral Wilson overcame it by representing that Grant did not wish him to include the capture of his entire army among the elements of his plan of operations." Dana's despatches, as published in the Official Records, will well repay the military student by the light they cast 287 THE LIFE OP CHARLES A. DANA upon the difficulty which is frequently encountered in controlling the operations of a widely separated but co- operating army or army corps. The ride of something over three hundred miles to Knox- ville and back had just enough danger and adventure in it to make it romantic. Camping at night, when we could, near outlying detachments of our own troops, or, when we must, at lonely farmsteads, gave us an insight into the manners and customs of the people. It was during this trip that we first saw the loyal east Tennesseean, and heard him declare that he had no sympathy with " the rich man's war and the poor man's fight." At the end of the first day's march we put up at an unusually comfortable farm-house, where we saw several good-looking young women and small children " dipping snuff," and apparently enjoying it. We were everywhere received with gener- ous but unpretending hospitality. The best was placed freely at our disposal. Forage for our horses, with food and shelter for ourselves, were never denied, and it was often with difficulty that we could make our host take pay for it. In the latter part of our ride we had the com- pany of Horace Maynard, a loyal citizen, who gave us much interesting information about the State and its people. It was during this ride, perhaps the longest we ever took together, that Dana beguiled our journey with an almost continuous disquisition on history, romance, poetry, and practical life. His extraordinary memory for the great passages of both prose and poetry of all ages and all coun- tries struck me at the time as phenomenal. His quotations were both apt and endless, and as they were delivered always in a pleasant voice and manner, and, when ques- tioned, were followed by a prompt statement of the author, I found them most interesting and instructive. I did not know then that Dana had delivered a lecture on "Early English Poetry," nor that he had compiled The Household 288 CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA Book of Poetry, but on learning those facts later, I fre- quently tested the accuracy of his memory by reading pas- sages from his book and then asking who wrote them, and I cannot recall a single instance in which he did not answer correctly except where the author was marked "Anonymous." It is an interesting circumstance which surprised us both, that General Lawler, the plain, old- fashioned southern Illinois farmer whom Dana called "The High Dominie Dudgeon," made it one of his inno- cent boasts during the Vicksburg campaign, that no man in the army could repeat a line of standard English poetry of which he could not repeat the one preceding and the one following it. We never lost an opportunity to test the accuracy of that remarkable man's memory, and, greatly to our gratification, never failed to find it as good as he claimed it to be. Before leaving this subject I should perhaps state that all through life Dana was a delightful conversationalist, who never seemed to forget anything he had ever read, but was at once able to call it to mind. Always cheerful, bright, and kindly himself, and taking an optimistic view of life, he treated its phenomena as a true philosopher, and commenced upon the world's great men of every grade and nationality, not only without heat or prejudice, but with marked moderation and charity. Never, even in the midst of his most exciting controversies as a journalist, was he known, strange as it may seem, to speak a word of bitterness or contempt against his most deadly antagonist. For the light it threw on Dana's own characteristics, this ride into east Tennessee was a memorable one. It was made still more so by the fact that we got back just in time to participate in the preliminary movements and the great battle of Missionary Ridge. Dana, of course, reported his return at once, and the next day received a gratifying reply in which Stanton rejoiced at his safety, 289 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA assured him of the great anxiety he had felt about him for several days, directed him not only to make his arrange- ments to remain in the field during the winter, but to con- tinue his reports as frequently as possible, " always noting the hour." Nothing could show better than these words the value at- tached by the President and the Secretary of War to Dana's despatches, unless it be one a few days later from Wat- son, who in the absence of Stanton was acting Secre- tary of War. After notifying him that the President was sick and the secretary absent, he added: "But both re- ceive your despatches regularly, and esteem them highly, not merely because they are reliable, but for their clear- ness of narrative and their graphic pictures of the stirring events they describe. The patient endurance and spirited valor exhibited by commanders and men in the last great feat of arms, which has crowned our cause with such a glorious success, is making all of us hero-worshippers." And what a splendid privilege it was that Dana enjoyed! With robust health, faculties acute and fully aroused, trusted by the generals with all their plans, passing rapidly from place to place, and participating in the councils and dangers as well as in the triumphs of the army, it was both his pleasure and his duty to know everything, see every- thing, and report everything just as it was to the anxious authorities who had sent him out as their representative. He was, indeed, a commissioner of the government, not vain, empty, and pretentious, like those sent out by the French government in the early days of the Revolution, but modest, wise, and tactful, and in every way worthy of the mission with which he was intrusted. From what- ever point of view they are considered, it must be admitted that the ability and success with which he discharged his delicate but important duties are worthy of high praise. They afford an example for imitation in future wars, and 290 CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA when properly studied and analyzed they should reveal a set of practices and principles which should form a valu- able part of our future military system. The account Dana gives in his despatches from day to day constitutes a contemporaneous statement of events just as they appeared at the time. And this is most im- portant when considered in connection with history. Ob- viously it is almost impossible for a general in the midst of a battle to keep an accurate record of what takes place in the various parts of the field, but in view of the fact that there is besides an almost uncontrollable tendency in the military mind, when it comes to writing reports, to make it appear that every fortunate movement was spe- cially ordered, and that the battle in its most brilliant parts was planned and the victory gained just as they were intended. In actual practice this is rarely the case, and the battle of Missionary Ridge is no exception to the rule. The general plan of that battle, as was well known to us both and as reported by Dana at the time, was that Sherman's forces should advance from Bridgeport through Lookout Valley, and after crossing the river on the Brown's Ferry bridge, should continue their march behind the hills on the north side of the river to a point opposite the mouth of the Chickamauga and the north end of Missionary Ridge; that Smith should here, under cover of darkness, lay a pontoon bridge across the Tennessee, upon which at the appointed time Sherman's troops should cross to the south bank; that they should then advance against the enemy's right flank, and roll him up or drive him from his direct line of retreat; that Howard should move out from Chattanooga by the south side of the river, cross Citico Creek, and join in Sherman's movement, and that Thomas, holding the centre, should co-operate as circumstances might require, while Hooker should march from Lookout by the way of Rossville against the enemy's left flank. *o 291 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA As it actually turned out, Sherman's march was much delayed, and ended at the position assigned him a day late, owing to the fact that he made the mistake of encumber- ing his columns by the division wagon-trains. It also turned out that he halted, after recrossing to the south side of the river, to fortify, instead of proceeding at once to the attack, and that when he did attack, instead of carrying the enemy's flanking intrenchments, he was not only repulsed, but never succeeded in capturing them, or in actually turning or taking in reverse the enemy's line. In Other words, an impasse took place from the first, and was never dissolved by any effort on the part of Sherman or Howard. It was thought at the time, and was after- wards claimed in the reports of both Sherman and Grant, that Sherman's movement had been met by a counter movement of many troops from other parts of the enemy's line, but a subsequent examination of the Confederate re- ports shows that Bragg, after Sherman made his lodge- ment on the south side of the river, drew no troops from his centre or left to strengthen his right. Dana fell into this error at the time as did the rest, but this did hot affect his mind nor his report further than to relieve Sherman from blame for the repulse of his attacks from the first to the end of the action. No one can read the despatches without becoming convinced that Generals Grant and Thomas, as well as the staff-officers, including Dana, who were present with them on Orchard Knoll, thought on the second day of the battle that Bragg was moving troops to his right against Sherman, and it was to prevent an overwhelming concentration of the enemy on that flank that Grant first mildly suggested that the time had come, and an hour later positively ordered Thomas to make a diversion from his front in Sherman's favor by advancing his line against the enemy's rifle-pits at the foot of Missionary Ridge. It should be remembered that all the marching and 292 CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA skirmishing on the first day of the battle, November 23d, was for position, and that Dana, in his despatches of 7.30 p.m. of that day, said: . . . "Grant has given orders for a vigorous attack at daybreak by Sherman on the left, and Granger [commanding a corps of Thomas's army] in the centre, and if Bragg does not withdraw the remainder of his troops, we shall have a decisive battle." . . . It is to be specially noted that Sherman's attack was neither delivered on time nor was it successful, that it did not commence till after 9 a.m., and that Granger's was not delivered till after 4 p.m. It is also to be noted that Granger, instead of giving his attention to his corps, wasted his time in personally supervising the noisy but harmless service of a field-gun close to headquarters, greatly to the annoyance of Grant, and finally that this incident, trivial as it was, became the first step towards Granger's undoing. It convinced Grant that the " Marshal Ney of the Army," as Dana had styled him, was a trifler instead of a great soldier, and it was well known at the time to Rawlins and myself that it produced the same effect upon Dana. With these facts well in mind, it is easy to understand that part of Dana's despatch of Novem- ber 26th — 10 a.m., in which, referring to the final attack at the battle of Missionary Ridge, he says: . . . "The storming of the Ridge by our troops was one of the greatest miracles in military history. No man that climbs the ascent by any of the roads that wind along its front can believe that eighteen thousand men were moved up its broken and crumbling face, unless it was his fortune to witness the deed. It seems as awful as the visible inter- position of God. Neither Grant nor Thomas intended it. Their orders were to carry the rifle-pits along the base of the Ridge and capture their occupants, but when this was 293 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA accomplished, the unaccountable spirit of the troops bore them bodily up those impracticable steeps, over bristling rifle-pits on the crest, and thirty cannon enfilading every gully. The order to storm appears to have been given simultaneously by Generals Sheridan and Wood, because the men were not to be held back, dangerous as the attempt appeared to military prudence. Besides, the generals had caught the inspiration of the men, and were ready them- selves to undertake impossibilities." . . . As Dana was personally present with the generals in frequent conversations throughout the day, and finally rode with Grant and his staff to the top of the Ridge before the fighting was ended, there is every reason why this account should have contained the exact truth as it did. And yet Grant and Sherman, when they wrote their reports, stated in substance that the battle was fought just as it was plan- ned, and was won just as it was intended. Both made the same contention in their memoirs, and always adhered to that view. They either failed to consult Dana's de- spatches to the Secretary of War, or deliberately ignored them in favor of their own misconceptions. It may be safely added that history, and especially military history, is far too frequently written in that way. The military student will find a brief but accurate sum- mary of the remainder of this campaign in Dana's de- spatches. He was personally present with General Grant in his visits to the various parts of the army up to Novem- ber 29th, on which day he left Chattanooga again with me for Knoxville. I had been sent to act as chief engineer to the forces detached for the relief of Burnside. Grant had pushed Bragg back from Missionary Ridge towards Resaca and Atlanta, thus separating him hopelessly from Long- street and rendering effective co-operation between them henceforth impossible. But Longstreet had shut Burn- side up and was closely besieging him in Knoxville. The 294 CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA emergency was a pressing one, and in designating Granger to command the relieving column, Grant instructed him to use all possible haste and energy. But Granger failing to move with celerity, Grant ordered Sherman, a day or two later, to take command of the relieving troops, and at the same time added enough to them to make the column irre- sistible. As operations had ceased elsewhere, Dana was, as usual, glad to go, and overtook Sherman at Charleston, on the Hiwassee River, two days from Chattanooga. Thence- forth we were constantly with the advance-guard, doing all in our power to hurry the march. Our route traversed Athens, Philadelphia, Morgantown, and Marysville, all the way through a beautiful country, well supplied with cat- tle and provisions. Long's cavalry reached Knoxville at 3 a.m., December 4th, but we were delayed till late the next afternoon. Meanwhile the enemy, after suffering a bloody repulse on the 29th, had raised the siege and marched away to the north the next day. He had, of course, been advised of Sherman's coming, but as the relieving march was necessarily slow, he had ample start to make it difficult, if not impossible, to overtake him. In addition to taking an active part in all the operations, Dana, by his despatches, as usual kept the government in- formed as to the incidents of the march, the construction of the bridges, the movements of the various infantry corps and divisions, and the failure of Elliot's cavalry to move from Sparta through Kingston for the purpose of taking part in the campaign. He commented upon the ex- pectations of General Frank P. Blair, as to the command of an army corps, called attention to the anger of Grant at Granger, declared, notwithstanding his previous commen- dation, that Granger was unfit to command, intimated that Sheridan ought to succeed him, and finally prepared the secretary's mind for the fact that the winter rains would probably put an end to further operations in that quarter. 295 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA The campaign having come to an untimely stop at Rnox- ville, Dana and I concluded to return to Chattanooga by the route we had just marched over, and on the way down had the company of Generals Blair and Schurz. As we travelled rapidly, Dana's horse gave out the second day, and as Longstreet's command had swept the country clear of everything fit for a remount, I asked Blair to let Dana have a led horse of his till another could be got, but this he churlishly declined to do. At the village of Philadelphia, a few miles in the rear, we had heard confidentially of a horse which had been concealed from the Confederates in a stall between a false wall and the rear end of the stable, and Dana proposed to go back for that, but the distance was too great. We therefore pushed on as best we could till we came to the camp of Colonel Hecker (president of the German Confederation of 1848). Here we discovered an excellent gray gelding running at large in a field near by, and, although strict orders had been issued to respect private property, at our request the colonel directed his men to catch the horse and bring it in, adding by way of explanation, with a suggestive twinkle of the eye, " It be- longs to Herr Dana, the Assistant Secretary of War." During this long but pleasant ride Dana and Schurz beguiled the journey with conversations in German and English, which gave each a high opinion of the other's skill in languages, as previously related. Dana and I got back to Chattanooga on December 10th, and after conferences with Grant, not only about the campaign just finished, but about the next one which should be undertaken, Dana made arrangements to return to Washington for the purpose of laying Grant's views be- fore the Secretary of War and the President more fully than could be done by letter. General Smith, who had been transferred early in the campaign to Grant's staff as chief engineer, and as such had exercised a decisive influence 296 CAMPAIGN OF CHATTANOOGA in the formation of the plans which had proven so success- ful, also took an active part in the conferences in reference to the plans for the winter campaign. Rawlins and others gave their views, so that Dana, while carrying Grant's final decisions, was fully advised as to the opinions of all who might be supposed to have any influence in regard to their determination. The war was clearly over for the winter in east Tennessee and northern Georgia. The Confederate forces, notwithstanding their concentration and partial victory at Chickamauga, had been overwhelm- ingly defeated at Missionary Ridge and thwarted at Khox- ville. Longstreet had begun his toilsome march back to Virginia. Dana, as has been seen, had exerted a tremen- dous influence upon the reorganization of the Army of the Cumberland, the establishment of the Military Division of the Mississippi, the assignment of Grant to the supreme command, and the concentration of an overwhelming force at Chattanooga. He had expressed himself freely in ref- erence to the consolidation of corps and the assignment of generals to command. He had written frankly whenever necessary in regard to the personal behavior and habits of the leading officers, and while it may be said that his language in some cases seems severe, I can state, on my own knowledge, that in every instance what he said was fully warranted, and had a most beneficial effect not only upon the service, but upon the fortunes of the war. It resulted in the elimination of several conspicuous but in- efficient or unfortunate major-generals, and in the reforma- tion of another, of whose habits Thomas had complained, but who was really a first-class soldier, and finally became one of the most useful and distinguished division and corps commanders in the Western army. XVIII DANA IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT Conferences with Lincoln and Stanton — Plan of campaign in Alabama — Letters to Wilson — Extraordinary capacity for work — Supervision of army contractors — Grant Lieutenant-General — Rawlins Chief of Staff — Estimate of Lincoln Dana arrived at Washington about the middle of De- cember. On the 19th he informed me that as yet he had seen no one in authority, and I reported the fact to General Grant, who had gone to Nashville on the 18th for the purpose of completing arrangements for pushing the campaign in east Tennessee. Rawlins had gone North to be married. On December 21, 1863, at 6 p.m., Dana telegraphed General Grant in substance that after a detailed explanation the President, the Secretary of War, and General Halleck had fully approved his project of a winter campaign in Alabama, not only because it would keep the army active during the rainy season, but because it appears to have been well conceived and cer- tain of producing the desired effect. "If it succeeds," said the Secretary of War, " Bragg's army will become pris- oners of war without our having the trouble of providing for them." The execution of this plan would have been authorized at once but for the anxiety which existed in reference to Longstreet's continued presence in east Tennessee. With him expelled from that region, Grant could start for Mobile at once. The difficulty seemed to have been that Halleck could not understand where an army was to be got large enough to make Longstreet's 298 DANA IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT dislodgement certain, or even to provide against his seizure of Knoxville, Cumberland Gap, or some other controlling point in our possession, while Grant might be operating with the bulk of his forces against Mobile. This view of the case was confirmed by a despatch from Halleck to Grant the next day. It fully justified the further sug- gestion contained in Dana's despatch that "the surest means of getting the rebels altogether out of east Ten- nessee is to be found in the Army of the Potomac." To this Halleck replied, "That is true, but from that army nothing is to be hoped under its present commander." This gave Dana the opportunity to present Grant's second proposition, which was that "either Sherman or W. F. Smith should be put in command of that army." Halleck's reply to this left but little doubt that Smith would be called to the place, and this was based upon the distinct declaration that, as long as a fortnight before Dana's return to Washington, both the Secretary of War and General Halleck "had come to the conclusion that when a change should be made General W. F. Smith would be the best person to try." While they entertained some doubts "respecting Smith's disposition and personal character," which Dana thought he had cleared up, they promised to promote him to the first vacancy in the list of major- generals, and all agreed with Grant "in thinking that it would be on the whole much better to select him than Sherman." Realizing how uncertain action was at that time in any given case, or in any given direction with the powers in Washington, Dana prudently closed his despatch with the following sentences: ... "As yet, however, nothing has been decided upon, and you will understand that I have somewhat exceeded my instructions from the Secretary of War in this communication, especially in the second branch of it, but it seems to me 299 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA necessary that you should know all these particulars. I leave for New York to-night to remain until after New Year's.' » i This was one of the most interesting despatches Dana ever sent, for it not only shows that the President, the Secretary of War, the General-in-Chief, and General Grant were at that time in accord with reference to several of the leading generals and their employment, but that they all favored Grant's suggestion as submitted by Dana for a campaign against Mobile. This plan was originally brought forward by W. F. Smith, and as it promised to keep a great part of Grant's army usefully employed in cleaning up the Confederate forces and capturing the Confederate strong- holds in the Middle South, it received Grant's entire ap- proval. It is believed that this plan of operations con- tained the germ of the "March to the Sea," as it would cut that part of the Confederacy east of the Mississippi in two again, and, if followed by a vigorous campaign from central Alabama, would have taken Atlanta in the rear, compelled the abandonment of northern Georgia, and rendered the Chattanooga-Atlanta campaign of the next year unnecessary. It is important because it also shows, when taken with Halleck's despatch of the next day to Grant, 2 that Halleck would not permit Grant to carry out his plan for a campaign in Alabama till Longstreet was driven entirely from east Tennessee. As Longstreet was an able and very deliberate man, slow to move and hard to beat, he took his own time to get out of east Ten- nessee. Even then he retired only in the face of over- whelming numbers. Sherman and Thomas, who took no part in the campaign north of Knoxville, gathered their forces deliberately into a powerful army in front of Chattanooga. 1 Dana to Grant, December 21, 1863 — 6 p.m. 2 Official Records, Serial No. 56, p. 458, Halleck to Grant, December 21, 1863. 300 DANA IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT Dana was greatly disappointed at the outcome. He had great confidence in Grant's skill and energy, and felt that with the forces at his disposal he could have cleaned up Alabama in three months. But this was not to be. It will be remembered that Grant, instead, went to Knox- ville, where he arrived on the last day of the year. After four days, which he spent in studying the situation and in giving detailed instructions for the campaign against Longstreet, he left for Nashville. The entire journey, which took seven days, was made on horseback from Moundsville, through Cumberland Gap, Barboursville, London, and Frankfort, to Lexington. The journey from Lexington through Louisville to Nashville was made by rail. Grant's headquarters were established at the last- mentioned place about the middle of January, 1864, and remained there till he was called East to take general command of all the National armies. Immediately after the holidays Dana returned to the War Department, where he not only participated in the multifarious duties connected with the administration and maintenance of the army, but for the first time had an opportunity to observe and study the great secretary as he showed himself in the midst of his daily and nightly work. On January 11, 1864, he wrote to me from his desk in the department. Omitting purely personal passages, the letter runs as follows : . . . "Yesterday I had the happiness of sending the gen- eral a despatch much more important because more decisive than that referred to in yours of the 24th. . . . The general is authorized to go ahead according to his own judgment. "There are very great complaints here in the quarter- master-general's office respecting the impossibility of getting supplies for General Banks down the Mississippi. Qoal, hay, horses— everything is seized at Memphis, Vicksburg, or Natchez. One cargo of one hundred and twenty-five horses arrived at 301 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA New Orleans with twenty-seven of the animals of which it was originally composed, all the others having been exchanged for worthless or broken-down creatures. The Secretary of War and general-in-chief having declined long since to in- terfere with General Grant in the form of orders, the quarter- master's department have resorted to the expensive plan of shipping supplies for Banks by way of the seaboard. Hay, for instance, has been bought for him in Illinois and sent by way of Baltimore to save it from the grip of Hurlbut. I be- lieve, however, that General Halleck sent an order on the subject to General Sherman last week. "I saw Porter the other day at his office, where he sits with Mr. Lyford on the other side of the same table. Porter wears a ' biled shirt ' with great effect, and otherwise is spruce and handsome. He was not in uniform, and it seems to be the dodge at the ordnance office to dress en pekin. . . . "About Porter's promotion — I made up my mind that no officer in the ordnance department could be promoted, ex- cept in his own branch of the service, as soon as I got here and studied the ground. They tell me that there are few ordnance officers, that every man of them is kept at work on important duty, and that all are indispensable. Besides, so I am told, none of them can pass the examination required for promotion unless he devote himself assiduously to learn- ing his duty by a regular course of service alternately in field, bureau, and arsenal. This seems to be as fixed as the laws of the Medes and Persians, and I do not now see any way in which Porter can be extricated from the operation of the rule. He has himself renounced the idea, and contents him- self, as well he may, with the fulness of conjugal bliss and the daily routine of clerical duty at his desk. "Mrs. Rawlins I had no opportunity of seeing, but I hope she will add nothing but happiness to the life of her excellent husband. His appearance made me anew anxious about him. I fear that his lungs may be seriously affected. His loss would be a great misfortune, not only for his friends, but still more for the country. Public servants of his quality will always be few; and there are plenty of men whose names 302 DANA IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT will flourish largely in history without having rendered a tithe of his unostentatious and invaluable contribution to the great work of the nation. "You ask about General Meigs. I will tell you as a secret, which you may tell General Grant and Rawlins, that the affairs under charge of that officer are in a condition of much disorder and frightful waste. He may yet prove an able commander in the field, but as an administrative officer he is a most expensive failure. "You are aware, of course, that Steele with Arkansas has been added to the command of U. S. G. Stoneman has been sent to Steele. Stoneman is another expensive failure. He is not worth a continental. Out of twenty-four thou- sand cavalry horses bought here under his supervision, less than four thousand are reported as effective for service. This is a fact not to be repeated, but I tell it to you for the general, who may have to decide how or when to use him, or not to use him. "I had a delightful fortnight in New York, and would have been glad to remain there a month longer. My family I found and left in good health, though not well pleased at my long absence. If I remain here, as I fear I may, they may possibly come here. . . . . . . "It looks now as if A. L. would certainly be re-elected president. It is also probable that IT. S. G. will be made lieutenant-general . ' ' "The reform and revivification of the Army of the Potomac is a very slow and hard job. It depends on the President, and he is not easy to move. ... I see no prospect of any legis- lation getting rid of useless generals. Each has friends, and these friends are loud and energetic. "Please remember me affectionately to W. F. Smith and General Brannan." One of the first matters of importance connected with the operation of the War Department to which Dana's attention was called by the secretary, was the unsatis- factory condition of the Cavalry Bureau, which had to do 303 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA with the organization, inspection, remount, and equip- ment of the mounted troops. It had been for several months under the charge of General Stoneman, who had been succeeded recently by General Garrard, both of whom were old and experienced officers, but much too deliberate to suit the impatient secretary. He could not wait a day, but decided to reorganize the bureau at once, and directed Dana to take the matter in hand. The latter thereupon suggested my detail for the work, and, in pur- suance of the secretary's authority, issued the necessary orders directing me to report at. the War Department for duty as soon as I could settle my business as a member of General Grant's staff. I was notified at the time that my new assignment would last till spring only. I arrived at Washington January 24th, and after taking charge of my office at once resumed my relations with Dana. We had rooms together, boarded at the same house, and were closely associated till the spring campaign of the Army of the Potomac began, when we both returned to the field, he to become again "the eyes of the government" at Grant's headquarters, and I to command a division of cavalry under Sheridan. During our stay in Washington it was our custom to get to work at nine o'clock and close our desks at five o'clock. What business I had higher up was, as a rule, done through Dana, and this gave me the opportunity of seeing him frequently, and always at the close of the day, when it was our custom to go on horseback to the cavalry depot at Giesboro, or to ride about the defences and the suburbs of the city. I generally found him at his desk, and was greatly impressed by the rapidity with which he mastered each case, and put it in train for settlement. In the morning he always had a great pile of papers before him, and it was his rule to dispose of them before closing for the day. He worked like a skilful bricklayer. As 304 DANA IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT soon as one paper was disposed of, he took another in hand, and thus without losing a minute from hour to hour kept at his task till it was completed. Untiring, method- ical, and possessed of an infallible memory, I have never met a man in any walk of life who concentrated himself more completely upon his work, or got through it with less friction or greater rapidity than he did. In this respect he was the admiration of the department. As he was uniformly self-contained and courteous, never impatient nor violent, every one, civilian and soldier alike, having business with any of the bureaus, took it by preference to him, and never by any chance to the secretary, if he could be avoided. Thus it will be seen that Dana was at once the breakwater and the channel to that imperious official; but with all Dana's suavity and skill, it will be readily perceived that his position was by no means an enviable one. It was to this five months' tour of duty in the War De- partment, during the winter of 1863-64, that Dana was indebted for his intimate acquaintance with Stanton. Previously their meetings were casual, but now official business brought them daily and sometimes hourly in contact with each other. As the assistant secretary was always master over his own temper, and never overawed or confused by the furious outbursts which at times so sadly marred the secretary's behavior, these frequent meet- ings gave Dana an opportunity to study the character and idiosyncrasies of his chief under conditions which were open to but few others. Judged by his work, and the suc- cess which crowned it, it must be admitted that Stanton was one of the strongest and greatest men of his time, but Dana, not only that winter but afterwards, admitted that had the secretary known how to control his temper, and to act with common courtesy, he would have been a still greater man, and might well have been called upon 305 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA to succeed Andrew Johnson as president. In this respect Dana was vastly his superior, and there can be but little doubt, had occasion required it, that he could have filled the office of secretary with great advantage to the army as well as to the country at large. No civilian till the end of the war had been so constantly with the army, or had become so intimately acquainted with the active generals in the field as Dana had, and no one can read his despatches without perceiving that he had many qualities and much information which would have been most useful in the higher position. Stanton was undoubtedly a true patriot and a great worker as well as a man of imperious will. The burden of administering the affairs of the army fell mainly upon his shoulders, and necessarily tried his temper as well as his strength. At times he was on the verge of collapse, and when it is considered that he had only two civil assist- ants, it can be well understood that he must have been frequently almost distracted. It was the duty of Watson and Dana to supervise the contracts for horses, mules, wagons, harness, tents, cloth- ing, camp equipage, arms, ammunition, drums, fifes, flags, and every other article used by the army. Fraud was everywhere rampant, and everywhere those engaged in it had their friends among the governors of the States, the members of the Senate and of the House of Representa- tives. Many of these gentlemen were almost as impatient and overbearing as the secretary himself, but fortunately most of them stood in wholesome awe of his authority, and gave him a wide berth in their effort to serve their friends. It was my duty, as chief of the Cavalry Bureau, to super- vise the contracts for cavalry arms, equipments, and re- mounts. For the first and second the Ordnance Bureau was mainly responsible, but the cavalry horses, of which 306 DANA IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT great numbers were needed, were purchased by a quarter- master assigned to the bureau. The inspections were, however, under the control of the purchasing quarter- masters, many of whom were from civil life and without adequate experience, in consequence of which the quality of the horses had steadily declined, and many of those received were entirely unfit for service. This was the condition of affairs when I took charge of the bureau. Obviously, the first thing to do was to arrange for better inspections, and this was done by organizing a board of three inspectors for each horse-market, composed of two cavalry officers and one civilian, and issuing stringent orders for their guidance. Dana, who was himself a good horseman, took a lively interest in the details. The next thing was to notify all bidders that the horses furnished by them must conform to the specifications, and that under the law no contractor would be permitted to transfer his contract, but would be required to fill it in person. Within a few days tenders for eleven thousand horses, were opened and awarded to the various bidders according to law. The horses were to be delivered at St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, St. Paul, Chicago, Elmira, Albany, and Giesboro, but the only contractor of the lot that com- plied with the requirements of the government was the one at St. Louis. Fortunately he had already furnished a thousand horses for which he had not been paid, and recognizing that these were good security, he loyally and honestly furnished twenty-five hundred head more in strict accordance with his tender. All the rest of the successful bidders, at one stage or another of the business, failed to furnish the horses which had been awarded to them. The law was at that time quite precise and severe in its provisions. The penalties prescribed were fine and imprisonment, but they had not hitherto been enforced. Dana had been kept carefully informed of every stage in « 307 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA the business, and recognizing that an example must be made, when the last day of grace expired he put the machinery of the law in motion, and within twenty-four hours arrested each of the defaulters, and started him on the way to Washington for trial by a military commission. Seven contractors were caught and confined in military prison. Most of them were tried, convicted, fined, and sentenced to the penitentiary, where the worst of them were, held till after the end of the war. Of course the proceedings were arbitrary and unusual, and were followed by a great outcry of the politicians high and low, but both Dana and the secretary stood firm; the law and the re- vised regulations were enforced to the letter, and although one case was afterwards carried to the Supreme Court, the new system was upheld in all its parts. The result was that the business of the bureau was put on a sound basis, the remounts purchased thereafter were good and service- able, and although the prices paid soon adjusted them- selves to the new standard, the measures resorted to were successful in putting an end to the frauds which had come to be the rule rather than the exception in that branch of army business. But this was not the only case of the kind. Nearly every other branch of the army supply business was per- meated by fraud, and what made it more difficult to deal with was the fact that some of the most competent and most energetic contractors were the most dishonest. Not content with a fair profit, they sought those contracts in which "the tricks of the trade" could be most easily prac- tised, and their capital most rapidly turned over. In tents, a lighter cloth or a few inches off of the size; in harness, split leather; in saddles, inferior materials and workman- ship; in shoes, paper soles; in clothing, shoddy; in mixed horse-feed, chaff and a larger proportion of the cheaper grain; in hay, straw and weeds; in fuel, inferior grades of 308 DANA IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT coal or wood, and so on, through the entire list, nearly every article presented its chance for sophistication and dishonest profit. Every contractor had to be watched, and when it is remembered that the quartermasters and inspectors were not always honest, but frequently stood in for a share of the profit, it will be readily understood that Dana's time, as well as that of the first assistant secretary, was constantly employed. A system of detec- tion had to be organized and carried into effect, and the more successful it was the greater the outcry and the harder the pressure from the politicians. War governors, representatives, senators, and even the President himself were pressed into the service of the "best citizens" who were caught cheating the government; but withal Dana pursued the noiseless tenor of his way, sure always of Stanton's support, and that the interests of the army and of the country would be promoted by a rigid enforcement of the laws and the regulations in regard to army con- tracts. On the whole this work was carried on with increasing success, so that long before the end of the war supplies of all classes were secured fully up to contract and speci- fications, and the wants of the army were filled with promptitude and liberality never surpassed in any country. This was by no means a pleasant or popular service. It was seldom if ever praised by the newspapers, but the men who managed it are certainly entitled to as much praise as those who faced the enemy in the field. The co-opera- tion of all was necessary to success, and the work of Stanton and his assistants, it must be admitted, was not less neces- sary than that of the soldiers themselves. During this winter Dana saw much of the leading men at Washington. As a trusted agent of the War Depart- ment, who had been through both the Vicksburg and Chattanooga campaigns, it was correctly assumed that he 309 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA must know all about Grant and his leading officers. The war in the East had come to a stand-still, and consequently a deep feeling of anxiety had taken possession not only of the administration, but of Congress and the country at large. As Dana wrote me shortly after his return from the West, the suggestion that Grant should be made a lieutenant-general, and placed in command of all our armies, was under consideration, and seemed to have taken hold of the public mind. The country had been eagerly seeking for some one to lead it to victory. It had hailed McClellan as the "Young Napoleon" and Halleck as the "Old Brains" of the army. It had had its "Fight- ing Joe," its respectable but incompetent Burnside, and its worthy but unsuccessful Meade. It had lavished its men and money without stint upon the Army of the Potomac, and that army had won a partial success at Antietam, and a still more substantial one at Gettysburg, but as yet it had not gained a complete victory. Lee and his veterans, with their "tattered uniforms and bright bayonets," still kept the field and barred the way to Richmond. So long as this continued to be the case, and the Confederacy remained unconquered and defiant, the constant question of the government was, necessarily: Where is the man who can finish the task before us? Grant was the only general that had so far made a clean job of his campaigns, and his name was naturally uppermost in the public mind, but there were many doubters, especially in the Army of the Potomac — many who thought that Grant's successes were due rather to good-fortune than to good management; many who contended that he had not yet fought either the best leaders or the best troops of the Confederacy, and many who openly expressed the fear that when he met Lee and his army he would prove unequal to the task before him. The only member of either branch of Congress who 310 DANA IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT seemed confident that Grant was the man was E. B. Washburne, Republican member of Congress from the Ga- lena district, but his advocacy was regarded as not entire- ly disinterested. Dana had corresponded with him in the early days of the antislavery movement, and also from Cairo, and now found himself at the same boarding-house with him. Eliot, of Massachusetts, and Sedgwick, of New York, were also there, and this constituted a coterie with whom Dana was in constant communication. The move- ment spread from them to others. The Secretary of War himself was won over, and finally the President, but withal it did not spread like wildfire. Many senators and repre- sentatives sought out Dana, and plied him with questions about Grant's habits, his character, and his fitness for command. I was present at many of the interviews, and assisted as fully as I could in helping on the measure, which slowly but surely gained headway, and was finally adopted. Washburne's earnestness and force gradually swept aside all opposition in the House, while Dana's ad- vocacy, although less vehement, was regarded not only as far better informed but much more disinterested. It was particularly effective with the cabinet and the Senate. Curiously enough, there is reason to believe that the ques- tion of Grant's political ambitions was an important factor in the settlement of the case. It is known that shortly after the Vicksburg campaign Lincoln sent for his old friend Russell Jones, of Galena, then United States mar- shal at Chicago, afterwards minister at Brussels, and asked him if "that man Grant" wanted to be president. Fort- unately Jones was able, from information received in a late personal interview, to give the most positive and satis- factory assurances on that point. But with- the Chatta- nooga campaign added to his credit, the question now came up again, and fortunately Dana felt fully justified in saying that Grant's only ambition was to help put 311 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA down the Rebellion, and that he was not only not a can- didate for the presidency, but was in favor of Lincoln's re-election to that great office when the time came around. How much influence the information and assurances given by Washburne, Jones, and Dana may have exerted upon Lincoln, Stanton, and the Congress in the final de- termination of the matter can never be precisely known, but that they were important if not controlling factors there can be no doubt. While each of them knew all of Grant's weak points, as well as his strong ones, all felt confident that he could be trusted hereafter as heretofore, and would prove equal to the great task before him, either with or without the rank of lieutenant-general. They had all been as close to Grant as any one else except Rawlins, and as they knew the latter had absolute con- fidence in him, they exerted themselves to their utmost in his behalf, and fortunately for the country never had the slightest cause to regret it. It should be remembered that a new office was created for Rawlins as well as for Grant. Hitherto he had been only Grant's adjutant-general, with the incidental duties of chief of staff, but henceforth he was to have that title by law, and while he never laid claim to the technical knowl- edge of a Berthier or a Jomini, it is conceded by all who knew him that he had a breadth of view and a force of character which, through his personal relations with his chief, made him far more important than any purely profes- sional chief of staff could ever have been. In short, Raw- lins was regarded as one with Grant — as an essential part of his great chief — and this fact was never lost sight of for a minute by the men who were at that time in actual charge of the government and were all-powerful in legislation. It was but natural that Dana, who had been designated " the eyes of the government," should have seen more and come to know more about Grant and his surroundings than any 312 DANA IN WAR DEPARTMENT other civilian at Washington. It was but natural, there- fore, that he should have had a greater influence with the men inside of the government, with whom he was on the closest terms, than any one else. While it is not known that he ever made any claim on this account, and indeed was entitled to no especial reward for doing what he con- ceived to be his duty, one cannot suppress the reflection that it all might have turned out quite differently had Washburne or he taken another course. The world readily adjusts itself to accomplished facts, and takes but little account of what might have been the result had this or that man taken a different course at this or that crisis, but it is at least interesting to note that Dana, although filling a subordinate position, had many opportunities to exert upon those highest in authority whatever in- fluence was due to the information he had gathered, and was fortunate enough throughout the great conflict to exert it always for the advancement of the public interests. He seems never to have asked for anything personal, but to have considered himself amply repaid for his services in Washington and in the field by the consideration he received from the great characters with which they brought him in contact, rather than by the pay he got or the re- wards bestowed upon him. It was a never-ceasing source of satisfaction to Dana that his residence in Washington brought him constantly in contact with the President and his cabinet. This is abundantly shown in his masterly sketch of Lincoln, 1 whom he regarded as a very great man, full of gentle kind- ness and amiable sincerity, treating his cabinet, several of whom were men of extraordinary force and self-assertion, with unvarying candor and respect, and yet never failing to impress them one and all with the fact " that he was the 1 See Dana, Recollections of the Civil War, p. 171 et seq. 313 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA master and they the subordinates." When he yielded to them, it was because they convinced him that they were right — never because he wished to avoid responsibility. In their judgment much was imperfect in the adminis- tration. They were frequently impatient with the Presi- dent, but he was never so with them. Calm, equable, and uncomplaining, he was always considerate, pleasant, and cordial. He was never in a hurry, and never tried to hurry any one else. In every discussion, even in every joke, he showed the profoundest thought and the most matured wisdom. It was his word that went at last, and his decision that closed every argument. His authority, his reserve force, and his gigantic frame were most im- pressive. There was nothing flabby or feeble about him. With tremendous powers of endurance, he worked every day, and every night when necessary, as though he had done nothing the day before. With a smile as engaging as that of a woman, there was such a charm and beauty about his expression, such good-humor and friendly spirit looking from his eyes, that you never thought whether he was awkward or graceful; you thought of nothing except what a kindly character this man has — how benevolence and benignity were combined in his appearance — how in- telligence and goodness were combined in his character. You felt that here was a man who saw through things, who understood things, and was entitled to your respect accordingly. This is in substance Dana's estimate of Lincoln as a president and as a man, but, high as it is, he thought him still higher as a politician. Indeed, he regarded him as easily the first American in that class, and mainly because he had an extraordinary knowledge of human nature. He appears to have taken Dana into his inmost confidence hi such matters during the earlier months of 1864, and to have consulted him fully about the amendment to the 314 DANA IN WAR DEPARTMENT Constitution to legalize the abolition of slavery, about the admission of Nevada as a State, and generally about where to get the necessary votes in Congress to carry through the various policies of his administration. It was a matter of prime importance that the leading newspapers should give him their support, that Greeley and Bennett especially should not oppose his measures; and to this end he frequently consulted Dana, who was a newspaper man himself, and knew them well. In his capacity to control men, or to neutralize their opposition, Lincoln was without a rival, and made no mistakes. The unerring judgment, and the consummate patience with which he acted when the time arrived, constituted a quality which, so far as Dana knew, had not been exhibited to a higher degree by any other man in history, and which proved him to have been intellectually one of the greatest of rulers. Another interesting fact which Dana was among the first to mention was that Lincoln had finally developed into a great military man — that is, into a man of supreme military judgment. This conclusion he supported by the following statement: ... "I do not risk anything in saying that if one will study the records of the war . . . and the writings relating to it, he will agree with me that the greatest general we had, greater than Grant or Thomas, was Abraham Lincoln. It was not so at the beginning; but after three or four years of constant practice in the science and art of war, he arrived at this extraordinary knowledge of it, so that Von Moltke was not a better general or an abler planner or expounder of a campaign than President Lincoln. To sum it up, he was a born leader of men. He knew human nature; he knew what chord to strike, and was never afraid to strike when he ' believed that the time had arrived." 1 1 Dana, Recollections of the Civil War, p. 181. 315 XIX GRANT'S OVERLAND CAMPAIGN AGAINST RICHMOND Army of the Potomac crosses the Rappahannock — Battles in the Wilder- ness — Dana at scene of action — Despatches to Stanton — Advance to Cold Harbor — Abortive battles — Crosses Chickahominy — South of the James — Counter-movement against Washington The winter and spring of 1864, in Washington, consti- tuted a most interesting period. While the Confederacy had received its death-blows at Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Missionary Ridge, the Mississippi had been opened and the Union army had established its sway over vast areas of the border States. Lincoln, although greatly encouraged, was far from happy. His re-election was near at hand, but by no means conceded. Many strong men, both in Congress and out of it, th6ught that he should step aside and allow a stronger one to take his place. His own cabinet contained two candidates, the Senate several, and the army one at least. The Democratic party had pronounced the war a failure, and so long as Lee re- mained unvanquished there was a show of reason in their contention. It was absolutely essential that Lee should be beaten and that the Confederacy should be overthrown, and to that end every resource of the government was placed at the disposal of Grant. The forward movement in Virginia began on May 4th, with an effective force of one hundred and twenty thousand men, and only two days after that the desire of both Stanton and Lincoln for the fullest de- tails of the marches and battles became irresistible. Grant, 316 GRANT'S OVERLAND CAMPAIGN who was habitually reticent, had no time for details, and hence they sent for Dana, who was found at a reception, but who made haste to present himself, although in even- ing clothes. They told him they had been in the dark since the army began its movement, were greatly troubled, and had concluded to send him to the front again. They naturally asked him how soon he could start, and were correspondingly gratified when he replied, in half an hour. A special train and a cavalry escort were prepared while he was changing his clothes, but the dangerous project still weighed heavily on the President's mind, and although the night was well advanced he sent for Dana again. They went over the subject more fully, but it was not till the kind-hearted President was assured that both Dana and his escort were equipped for running away, if they found them- selves confronted by a party which they could not fight successfully, that he dismissed them with, "Good -night, and God bless you!" At seven o'clock on the morning of May 7th they reached the Rappahannock, where they had breakfast. The same afternoon Dana reported to Grant at Piney Branch Church, and notwithstanding the heavy fighting of May 5th and 6th, in the almost impene- trable jungles of the Wilderness, he found the army moving slowly but successfully towards Spottsylvania Court-House. This of itself was a momentous fact, which he reported at once to Washington. Hitherto the Army of the Potomac, which now constituted Grant's main command and princi- pal dependence, had not fought its battles through. It had had ample time to rest and recruit, and had been heavily reinforced. Its cavalry had been reorganized and placed under Sheridan. Its material and transportation were in good condition, and everything seemed to favor success. The plan for an advance by the left was fairly under way, but unfortunately the movements of the infantry columns were not rapid enough to carry them through the Wilder- 317 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA ness to the open country beyond, before Lee had sallied out and boldly brought them to bay. The situation was one of great peril. Under similar circumstances the Army of the Potomac had twice before given up its ad- vance and recrossed the Rappahannock. On the night of the 6th the question arose in the minds of many as to whether it would not do so again. Grant had met Lee and had fought him two days without gaining a substantial victory. Would he fight him again, or would he retreat? For two hours — indeed, for all that night — the fate of Grant and of the great army under his command seemed hanging in the balance; but fortunately the lieutenant- general's courage proved to be equal to the great emer- gency, and with the determination to fight it out on that line if it took all summer, he pressed forward on the road to Richmond. At this juncture Dana arrived on the scene of action, and was soon familiar with all that had taken place, and, what was better, was soon doing all in his power to sup- port and encourage the forward movement. And the value of support and encouragement at this juncture will be better understood when the fact is recalled that there were only two generals and three staff-officers in all that army that had ever been in campaign or battle with Grant; that he was surrounded by strangers who, to say the least, were generally doubtful of his capacity to lead them suc- cessfully against Lee and his hitherto invincible veterans. I found Dana at Grant's headquarters soon after his arrival, and from that time forth, whenever I could go to headquarters, or it was not too dangerous for him to come to me, we met frequently. He was in fine spirits, and from the day of his arrival he was, as of old, on terms of the closest intimacy with Grant and his staff. All were glad to see him and to assist him in getting the facts as they occurred. His despatches were sent daily, and even 318 GRANT'S OVERLAND CAMPAIGN hourly when necessary, and were based upon his own observations as well as upon official information as it came to headquarters. They covered every detail of interest; but as the generals commanding the various corps and divisions were men of experience and approved ability, and as the organization of the army itself had been con- trolled by Grant and was in every way satisfactory to him, Dana had but little occasion to comment upon the leading officers. All of Dana's despatches, something over seventy in number, are set forth in the Official Records just as they were sent. Whenever necessary for the pur- poses of this narrative, I have quoted from them, but much the larger part of what I have said is drawn from other sources. In the third one of the series he reports the occupation of Spottsylvania CourHIouse by the cavalry; the arrival of Longstreet at that place with two divisions of infantry that had marched all night; Grant's order for Warren to attack them with the support of Sedgwick; the death of Sedgwick, and the failure of these two corps to attack as ordered. He also reported Grant's orders to detach Sheridan with the cavalry corps, to operate against Lee's communications, and, after doing all possible dam- age, to march to the James River and communicate with Butler. This was followed by the statement that "Gen- eral Hobart Ward is under arrest for running away" from the battle in the Wilderness, and that General H. G. Wright had succeeded to the command of Sedgwick's corps. The next sixteen despatches, frofn the 10th to the 18th inclusive, relate to battles for the possession of Spottsyl- vania Court -House. They describe in sufficient detail the operations of Hancock's corps on the right in the neigh- borhood of Corbin's Bridge; the departure of Sheridan 1 Dana, Recollections of the Civil War, p. 189 et seq. 319 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA with the cavalry, leaving the army with an effective strength of only ninety-four thousand men; Upton's suc- cessful assault of the enemy's works with twelve regiments; the failure to support his movement; the transfer of Han- cock's corps from the extreme right to a position between Wright and Burnside; his impetuous and successful assault of the enemy's works, and his capture of two generals, with eighteen cannon and many prisoners; the dissatis- faction of Grant and Meade with Warren; the night trans- fer of Warren and Wright to the left; the rumors of Lee's retirement; the prevalence of rain; the fatigue of the army; the second successful assault by the intrepid Upton; the massing of the army in compact formation to cover Fred- ericksburg, and to resist counter-attack; the continuance of rainy weather and bad roads; the concentration of Lee's army around the Court-House, covering the road from Fredericksburg to Richmond; the withdrawal of Lee's trains to Guiney's Station; a full statement of the killed, wounded, and missing, amounting on May 16th to a grand total of 36,872; the arrival of the first reinforcements; another order "to attack at daylight," which was not obeyed; an order for a further decisive movement towards the left; a sudden but unsuccessful return to the right; the gallantry of the new heavy artillery troops; and finally the success of the turning movement which compelled the enemy to withdraw towards Richmond, and enabled Grant to advance to Guiney's Station. From this place to Cold Harbor the operations of the contending armies were minutely described, but as they consisted mainly of turning movements to the left across the intervening rivers, in which Grant showed great resolu- tion and persistency, and the prompt and unerring pre- cision with which Lee interposed his army between him and Richmond, I need not analyze them day by day. They make it clear that Lee carefully avoided giving 320 GRANT'S OVERLAND CAMPAIGN battle in the open, and that his army thenceforth fought mostly behind breastworks, while on the other hand Grant and his generals were becoming more and more cautious, and their men were more and more reluctant to attack the enemy when covered by intrenchments. By May 20th Sheridan with his cavalry had regained touch with the army, and thenceforth, till he was again detached, contributed greatly to the success of Grant's effective manoeuvres. Both officers and men approved their wisdom, and greatly preferred them to the "smash- 'em-up" policy which, unfortunately, again became the cry a few days later. On the 26th Dana, after giving a detailed account of the day's operations, closed his despatch with these sig- nificant words : . . . "One of the most important results of the campaign thus far is the entire change which has taken place in the feelings of the armies. The rebels have lost all confidence, and are already morally defeated. This army has learned to believe that it is sure of victory. Even our officers have ceased to regard Lee as an invincible military genius. On part of the rebels this change is evinced not only by their not attacking even when circumstances seem to invite it, but by the unanimous statement of prisoners taken from them. Rely upon it, the end is near as well as sure." A few days later he chronicled the success of the cavalry operations in aid of the flanking movement which carried the army, without accident or delay, to Hawe's Shop south of the Pamunkey. After giving a full account of the vari- ous operations, he emphasized the fact that our officers and men were "in' high spirits at the successful execution of this last long and difficult flank movement," that Grant himself, feeling doubtful of its success, had feared for a while that he might be obliged to go to the White House 321 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA to make his crossing certain, that he meant to fight in that neighborhood "if he had a fair chance," without running "his head against heavy works," and that at any rate he would remain there over the next day to give time for the cavalry to break up the railroads and destroy the bridges over Little River and the South Anna. Notwithstanding the heavy fighting which began on May 30th, Dana took time, at Grant's special request, to call the Secretary of War's attention to the fact that at New Orleans, and perhaps elsewhere, a custom had grown up of paying commutation for fuel and quarters to officers lodged in the houses of rebels, and recommending that a general order should be issued prohibiting the practice everywhere within the limits of the rebellious States. In the same despatch Dana called attention to the serious mismanagement of all the administrative departments of the Ninth army corps: that the men were without ra- tions and the animals without forage, that the artillery horses had not had their harness taken off for nine days, that their shoulders and backs were sore, and that a thousand new horses were wanted immediately to supply the waste. He closed his despatch with the statement that this lamentable condition of affairs was known to Grant, and ought to be known to the War Department also. On May 31st he noted the fact that the enemy was hold- ing fast on the Cold Harbor road, that the cavalry could not finish the destruction of the railroad and bridges and rejoin "before to-morrow night," that Smith, with rein- forcements from Butler's army, was delayed at New Castle, and had been directed not to begin his march towards Cold Harbor till he had everything ready. On June 1st Dana reported that Sheridan, after heavy fighting, had made good his hold on Cold Harbor; that if Wright had been there to support him, they might have 322 GRANT'S OVERLAND CAMPAIGN dispersed Lee's army; that both Grant and Meade were intensely disgusted with the failure of Wright and War- ren; and finally that "Meade says a radical change must be made, no matter how unpleasant it may be to make it, but I doubt whether he will really attempt to apply so extreme a remedy." This despatch, dated 5 p.m., praised Sheridan "as a general who obeys orders without excessive reconnoi- tring." This was followed by the announcement that he was engaged in a new turning movement around Lee's right flank and against his rear, and closes with the sig- nificant statement that . . . "General Grant's present design is to crowd the rebel army south of the Chickahominy; then he means to destroy both of the railroads up to the North Anna before he moves from here; besides, he wishes to keep the enemy so engaged here that he can detach no troops to interfere with the operations of Hunter." 1 In pursuance of the policy of crowding Lee south of the Chickahominy, Dana's later despatches of the same even- ing, aided by those of the next day, show that while Sheridan's orders did not reach him in time to enable him to perform the part assigned to him, Wright, Smith, Warren, and Hancock had all been engaged and had suf- fered heavy loss; and that notwithstanding each of these generals claimed to have gained substantial advantage, Lee still held fast to the battle-field. Fierce and deter- mined fighting, in which the enemy sallied from his cover, followed after nightfall, but without changing the gen- eral result. Grant remained unshaken, and, notwithstand- ing his heavy losses, ordered a renewal of the attack to be made early the next morning. It will not be forgotten that he had indicated his disposition only a few days be- 1 Then marching against Lynchburg. 22 323 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA fore not " to run his head against heavy works," if it could be avoided. Dana's despatches throw but little light upon the abandonment of this policy, and yet it is certain that it had not escaped his observation. He records the fact that the order to attack on the morning of the 2d had not been carried into effect, and that Grant, at 2 p.m., had postponed it on account of heat and dust and the fatigue of Hancock's men till 4 a.m. the next day. Dana gives a full account of the fighting on the 3d, but it was all costly and abortive. The order of battle from left to right was Hancock, Wright, Smith, Warren (in single line), with Burnside massed in rear of his right wing. Sheridan with two divisions of cavalry was on the extreme left, while Wilson with one division was well beyond and behind the enemy on the extreme right; but there was no coherence or co-operation between the vari- ous parts of the extended line. Indeed, singular as it may seem, none was provided for in the order of battle, and but little was possible. The fighting was desultory and hopeless from the first. According to Dana: . . . "At noon we had fully developed the rebel lines, and could see what was necessary to get through them. Han- cock reported that in his front it could not be done. Wright Was decidedly of opinion that a lodgement could be made in his front, but it would be difficult to make much by it, unless Hancock and Smith could also advance. Smith thought he could carry the work before him, but was not sanguine. Burnside also thought he could get through, but Warren, who was nearest him, did not seem to share this opinion. In this state of things General Grant ordered the attack to be suspended. . . . The weather is cool and pleasant. Showers have laid the dust." It was on the third day that many of the disheartened soldiers wrote their name's upon strips of paper and pinned 324 GRANT'S OVERLAND CAMPAIGN them to their coats for the identification of their bodies in case of death. It was this series of disjointed, discon- nected, and unsupported attacks, extending over three days and several miles of front, which Smith afterwards charac- terized as "murderous." Knowing that Grant had, from the first, left the details of carrying his orders into effect to Meade and his corps commanders, he held that officer primarily responsible for the useless loss of life, and criti- cised his generalship in unmeasured terms. It was in allusion to these attacks, and the absence of any provision whatever to make them successful, or even to take ad- vantage of such success as chance might give to them, that the young but experienced Upton frankly confessed that there was no position in connection with that army to which he did not aspire. 1 It was in connection with the costly series of battles from the Pamunkey to the Chicka- hominy that the newspapers now joined in the flood of criticism, which, for the first time, was concentrated upon Grant rather than upon Meade. To those who took part in the campaign, it at once became a question of absorbing interest as to who was responsible for it all. After having attacked Lee's left flank in rear, I closed in upon the infantry, and for the first time in ten days found myself within reach of Grant's headquarters. Dana made his way to my bivouac on the evening of June 4th, and after dining with me on coffee, hardtack, roasted wheat, and fried bacon, told me the story of the marches and battles as he had learned it from personal observation. On the 7th, after conference with Grant, Meade, and Humphreys, I had conversations with Rawlins, Dana, Comstock, Porter, and Babcock, during which each gave me interesting details of what had taken place. On the afternoon of the 8th Dana and Rawlins 1 Life and Letters of Major-General Emory Upton. D. Appleton & Co. 325 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA came to my camp near Long Bridge and remained to din- ner, during which they took me completely into their con- fidence. They not only told me the story of the marches and battles substantially as I have condensed it above, but they did more: they gave me their innermost views of the campaign, its successes and its failures, concealing nothing and extenuating nothing. During this conversa- tion they made it known to me, substantially as set forth in Dana's despatch of June 4th — 7 p.m., that our infantry had begun regular siege approaches to the rebel works; that Sheridan had been ordered to destroy the railroad from Richmond through Gordonsville to Lynchburg, as an indispensable element in Grant's plan; that Grant ex- pected before reaching the Chickahominy to have crushed Lee's army by fair fighting and completed this work; that before moving further in accomplishing the great object of the campaign the work of destruction must be finished; and finally that, if Sheridan failed in it, the whole army would swing around for that purpose, even if it should be necessary to temporarily abandon its communications with the White House. They commented with approval on the flanking movements which had brought the army from Spottsylvania to Cold Harbor with comparatively little loss. They heartily favored its continuance, and as heartily condemned "the insane policy of butting into intrenchments." They lamented the bloody experiences of Cold Harbor, and explained that the change of policy which had there shown itself with such distressing results was due to the personal influence of an engineer who had come from the West with Grant and enjoyed his highest confidence. It was this officer to whom Rawlins attributed the cry of "Smash 'em up! Smash 'em up!" They explained that it embodied the pernicious idea which had taken possession of Grant and done all the mischief. When I expressed surprise that Rawlins had not prevented 326 GRANT'S OVERLAND CAMPAIGN its adoption, they called attention to the fact that the lieutenant-general's working staff was now composed mainly of regulars, of but recent acquaintance with Grant and but little experience with troops, and that, while they had perhaps not intended it, they had supplanted Rawlins in the dominating influence which he had hitherto exer- cised with his chief. The criticisms to which I have al- luded had not yet become known to the army. Smith gave me his views, a few days later, in a letter which, with his permission, I sent to Dana to be used as he thought best, but both Dana and Rawlins were powerless. There was no one to whom they could appeal as against Grant, who was now in supreme command, by their concurrence, and this satisfactorily accounts for the fact that no men- tion of these criticisms is to be found in Dana's despatches. Their only course, with all the help they could get, was to exert their influence directly upon Grant himself as oppor- tunity offered. What they or others may have said after that to Grant I have no means of knowing, but it is cer- tain that Rawlins remained at his post to the end, never changing nor concealing his opinions, and never failing to condemn the policy of " Smash 'em up " when he had a proper opportunity. It is also certain that Grant at once resumed his sounder practice of resorting to turning move- ments, and never afterwards butted into intrenchments when it could be avoided. Whether this decision was due to his own reflections and good judgment, or to the weight of criticism and influence to which he had been subjected, must forever remain an unsettled question. Fortunately for the country, Grant was not a general to remain long idle or in doubt. On June 7th Dana re- ported, with many other details, that Sheridan had set out at 3 a.m. to destroy the railroads north and west of Richmond; that Grant "is now nearly ready to strike for the James." Later the same day he reported that 327 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA " Crittenden had asked to be relieved because his division is not equal to his rank"; that certain transports were not clean enough for wounded soldiers; and that one of them was serving "beef to wounded soldiers so fat and gristly that even the well could not eat it." On June 8th, at 4 p.m., Dana reported to Stanton, among other things, that two divisions of Warren's corps had taken position to the left of Hancock near Bottom's Bridge; that two officers of Grant's staff were with Butler, " mak- ing preparatory arrangements for the movement of this army to Bermuda Hundred, and that — possibly the march may begin to-morrow night." From the same despatch it appears that the corre- spondent of a Cincinnati newspaper had given currency to the report that General Meade, after the battle of the Wilderness, had favored the withdrawal of the army to the north side of the Rappahannock, and that Grant had prevented it. It also appears that Meade, incensed by this report, had that day caused the provost-guard to arrest the offender, and, after parading him through the camps with large placards on his breast and back inscribed "Libeller of the Press," had expelled him from the lines. On June 9th Dana reported the army as still at Cold Harbor, working under General Barnard's direction at a line of inner intrenchments to cover its withdrawal, which would probably take place the next night; that Meade was much troubled at the report that after the battle of the Wilderness he had counselled retreat; that this report was "entirely untrue," and that Meade had not shown any weakness of that sort, nor had he once intimated a doubt as to the successful issue of the campaign. As this de- spatch was sent with Grant's knowledge and approval, it gave great comfort to both Meade and the administration at the time, and should have put the discreditable rumor to rest forever. 328 GRANT'S OVERLAND CAMPAIGN Dana's despatches show that he remained at Cold Har- bor till the afternoon of June 12th with Grant; that the long halt of the army was at an end, and that the great movement by the left, apparently against Richmond, but really to cross the James River at Bermuda Hundred, was to begin that night. His last act before breaking camp that afternoon was to call the attention of the Secretary of War to the misconduct of Generals Ward, Owen, and, Eustis, and to the fact that General Grant desired General Slocum, who was making war against a den of thieves at Vicksburg, should be left in command at that place. His first act after getting into camp that night four miles beyond Long Bridge was to report "everything going on perfectly; . . . troops moving rapidly; . . .weather splendid." During the entire day of June 13th Dana appears to have been engaged in riding from point to point, for the purpose of watching and reporting the movement of the army by the left flank towards Fort Powhatan on the James. The next day he crossed the James to Butler's headquarters at Bermuda Hundred, and the day after- wards went to City Point. His despatches for that period cover all the important operations in that field, and show that "All goes on like a miracle"; that "the weather is cloudy, threatening rain, but I think we shall get every- thing out of the Chickahominy bottom upon the highlands along the James River before any trouble from that source. " Singularly enough, he added, "We know nothing of Lee's movements. He has not yet sent troops to Peters- burg." He reports later that Smith was to have attacked the last-named place at daylight on the 15th, that at 4 p.m. he had carried a line of intrenchments, and that at 7.20 p.m. he assaulted and carried "the principal line" before Petersburg. In the same despatch he tells us that he had ridden over the conquered lines with Grant, and found them to be "more difficult even to take than was 329 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Missionary Ridge"; that none of Lee's army had reached Petersburg when Smith stormed it, but that they seemed to be there the morning afterwards, making arrangements to hold the west side of the Appomattox. He commends the pontoon - bridge built by Major Duane, nearly seven hundred yards long, as "of the most admirable solidity." By the 19th it became evident that Smith's work was incomplete, and that the enemy had constructed an inner line covering Petersburg, which he meant to hold if pos- sible. According to Dana, it was to meet this condition of affairs that Grant again ordered a general assault, which was, as usual, unsuccessful; that the fighting "had not been equal to our previous fighting, owing to our heavy loss in superior officers"; that Grant, who was responsible for the first day's fighting, while Meade had ordered that of the second and third days, had finally declared "that no more assaults should be made, and that he would now manoeuvre." It also appeared that Sheridan's attempt to destroy the railroads north of Richmond had not been entirely successful, and that Ewell's corps had gone to Lynchburg. In his despatch of June 20th Dana says, "Meade is ordered to devote himself to swinging his army around upon the south and southwest of Petersburg," with the view of cutting both the Weldon and Lynchburg railroads, and resting his left flank on the Appomattox. He adds: ... As the object is to get possession of the railroad and enclose the enemy, fighting will not be sought for, though of course it will not be avoided. Once extended to the Appomattox, the railroad will be thoroughly destroyed as far south as practicable, then, if necessary, the Army of the Potomac may . . . move upon the Danville road, leav- ing its base of supplies here to be guarded by its fortifica- tions and the forces of General Butler." 1 1 Official Records, Dana to Stanton, July 20, 1864 — 5 p.m. 330 GRANT'S OVERLAND CAMPAIGN This statement, it will be observed, is most important, as it clearly shows that Grant's plan on that day was to break up the Confederate railroads, and force his way by the left flank to the Appomattox River. It is a noteworthy fact that this remained his general plan to the end, and that Lee, for nearly ten months, or till his right flank was finally turned, beaten, and driven back at Five Forks, succeeded in defeating every movement and combination to carry it into effect. Lee's detachment of Ewell, also mentioned for the first time in that despatch, was an event of the greatest im- portance, for it not only put the seal to the defeat of Hun- ter at Lynchburg, but notified the government of a series of bold and energetic counter-movements down the valley of the Shenandoah against Washington, which were des- tined to completely paralyze Grant's aggressive plans, and compel the principal army under his command to main- tain a defensive attitude till the following spring. This was one of the most interesting epochs in the his- tory of the war. It gave rise to several misunderstand- ings and controversies, the most important of which was between Generals Butler and W. F. Smith. Dana's de- spatches throw light upon them all. Having been written in the midst of the events which they describe, they are of unusual value to the historian, and will be more fully referred to in the next chapter. XX CONFEDERATE OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA Dana returns to Washington — Generals Smith and Butler — Defensive attitude in front of Petersburg — Despatches to Grant — Services to Grant and the army On June 21, 1864, the President and a small party, in- cluding the Secretary of War, arrived at City Point on a short visit to General Grant and the army. Dana joined them at once, and when the visit was ended accompanied them to Washington for a few days. As both the Presi- dent and Secretary of War "were anxious to have his daily reports of the operations around Petersburg," he made haste to return, arriving at headquarters on July 1st. Here he found a condition of affairs far from en- couraging. Instead of waiting for Sheridan's return from his movement against the railroads north of Richmond, Grant sent the rest of his cavalry straight out into the Confederacy to break up those leading west and south from Petersburg. Meade had tried to extend his left to cover the highways and railroads, but had failed and settled down supinely on the defensive. He was now en- gaged in quarrelling with Warren, but would probably settle the matter at issue without proceeding to the ex- treme remedy of relieving him. Butler was "pretty deep in controversial correspondence with Baldy Smith, in which it will be noted that Grant says, "Butler was clearly in the wrong." Rumors had just come in that the move- ment, against the Danville and Southside railroads had 332 . CONFEDERATE OPERATIONS come to grief, while Sheridan had stopped north of the James River to rest. To make matters worse, Grant was losing confidence in Meade, who had the reputation of being ill-tempered towards his subordinates, and was becoming unpopular with them. He had besides begun to show signs of impatience and discouragement. It had come to be almost a habit with him to ask, "When is Grant going to take Richmond?" His position was doubtless embar- rassing; he had but little independent authority, but was expected to receive orders and arrange all the details for their execution, while others would necessarily get most of the credit. The staff arrangements could not well be worse ; the organization of the forces was fatal to close and effi- cient co-operation. While Grant, as generalissimo, had full power, and was primarily responsible, he was disposed to place much of the blame for the inconclusive results on Meade, and by July 7th seriously thought of relieving him from command. This is shown by Dana's despatch of 8 a.m. that day, stating that "A change in the commander of the Army of the Potomac now seems probable. . . . Grant seems to be coming to the conviction that Meade must be relieved. The facts in the matter have come very slowly to my knowledge, and it was not until yesterday that I became certain of some of the most important. I have long known Meade to be a man of the worst possible temper, especially towards his subordinates. I do not think he has a friend in the whole army. . . . At the same time — as far as I am able to ascertain — his generals have lost their confidence in him as a commander. His orders for the last series of assaults upon Petersburg, in which he lost ten thousand men without gaining any decisive advantage, was to the effect that he had found it imprac- ticable to secure the co-operation of corps commanders, and therefore each one was to attack on his own account, and do the best he could by himself. Consequently, each gained 333 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA some advantage of position, but each exhausted his own strength, . . . while for the want of a general purpose and a general commander to direct and concentrate the whole, it all amounted to nothing xbut heavy loss to ourselves. Of course there are matters about which I cannot make inquiry, . . . but I know that General Wright has said to a confidential friend that all of Meade's attacks have been made without brains and without generalship." Additional light is thrown on the state of affairs treated of above by certain private notes which Dana wrote me that week. From one of July 2d, I quote as follows: "You can't imagine how delighted we were yesterday to hear of your safety. Kautz's report had made us fear that most of your command might have been captured. Still we knew that you were a hard fellow to catch, and that if any way could be found you would find it. Let us have your official report as soon as possible. . . . "The state of affairs here is better than when you left. "Judging by what I saw in Washington, the people are very despondent and anxious. "Twenty thousand men are on their way here from the Department of the Gulf. "Come over and see us as soon as you can." From a note of the 7th, I quote as follows: ... "I can tell you as a great secret not to be spoken of that Butler is ordered to Fort Monroe and Smith put in command of the troops in the field. "Franklin and Ord are here on a visit. "Porter has just gone out on a flag of truce. Nothing important. ... "I was out at Petersburg with a lot of senators this morning." 334 CONFEDERATE OPERATIONS The Official Records show that Grant requested Halleck to obtain an order assigning Smith to the command of the Eighteenth army corps and sending Butler back to Fort Monroe, on July 6th, at 10 a.m., and that the order was issued by the War Department on July 7th. They also show that two days thereafter Smith took advantage of ten days' leave of absence, which had been granted to him the day before on account of his head, and that before leaving he turned over the command of his corps to the next in rank, and notified Butler accordingly. He ap- pears to have started that afternoon, and to have spent the night at Fort Monroe. The next day Butler is said to have called upon Grant with a request for Smith's re- moval. Exactly what he based this upon, or what took place in the interview which followed, has never been fully stated. From the Official Records it is certain, however, that an order was issued from Grant's headquarters on July 19, 1864, relieving Smith, while still absent, from the command of the Eighteenth army corps, and that this order was followed by Smith's farewell address, dated July 20th. As the circumstances related above led to one of the most persistent and acrimonious controversies connected with the Civil War, every detail throwing light upon it has been looked upon as important. Grant ignores the subject in his Memoirs, but Dana, who was sitting with Grant when Butler called, described the meeting to me many times afterwards as an embarrassing one, in which Butler, clad in full uniform, with a haughty air and flushed face, held out a copy of the order directing him to re-establish his headquarters at Fort Monroe, and asked, "General Grant, did you issue this order?" To this Grant replied, in a hesitating manner, "No, not in that form." Whereupon, perceiving that the interview was likely to be an unpleasant one, Dana took his leave 335 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA with the impression in his mind that Butler "had in some manner cowed his commanding officer," and this impression was never effaced. It was now becoming evident at Grant's headquarters that Ewell and Early, whose detachment from Lee's army had been reported by Meade, were moving down the Shenandoah Valley. Having disposed of Hunter and forced him to withdraw in the direction of the Ohio, they were quick to perceive that there was no force in the way to stay their march towards Washington. On July 6th Grant came to the conclusion that Washington was their objective, and as he was now charged with the manage- ment of all military operations, defensive as well as offen- sive, he became exceedingly anxious to know exactly what was taking place so far to the rear. To that end, several days later, he asked Dana to return to Washington, for which place he started at once, arriving there for duty on the 11th. He found both Washington and Baltimore in a state of great excitement. The air was filled with alarming rumors, the Confederate forces were reported as advancing on Baltimore; several Confederate generals were said to have dined at Rockville a day or two before; houses had been burned near Washington, and clouds of dust could be seen in several quarters. Having sifted reports and rumors as carefully as he could, he summed them all up in a despatch, which he sent to Grant at ten o'clock that night. 1 In this despatch he reported the burning of the Gunpowder Bridge, beyond Baltimore, the capture of General Franklin, the defeat of Wallace at Monocacy, heavy skirmishing by Lowell's cavalry in front of Washington, and great activity on the part of Augur, Gillmore, McCook, and Ord in preparing for the defence of the capital. He reported also a great destruction of mills, workshops, and factories, 1 Official Records, Dana to Grant, July 11, 1864 — 10 p.m. 336 CONFEDERATE OPERATIONS and the breaking of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad for many miles. This despatch ends as follows: "No news from Hunter. The force of the enemy is every- where stated at from twenty to thirty thousand. The idea of cutting off their retreat would seem to be futile, for there are plenty of fords and ferries now in their control, where they can cross the Potomac and get off, in spite of all our efforts to intercept them, long before our forces can be so concentrated as to be able to strike an effective blow." Dana gave emphasis to the foregoing despatch by two others which he sent to General Grant the next day. The first was dated July 12th — 11.30 a.m., and after recit- ing the fact that no attack had been made on either Washington or Baltimore, it reiterated the statement that "nothing can possibly be done towards" cutting off the enemy for want of a commander, and added that Augur commands the defences of Washington, Wright the Sixth corps, Gillmore a part of the Nineteenth corps, and Ord the Eighteenth corps, " but there is no head to the whole, and it seems indispensable that you should appoint one." It then called attention to the fact that " Hunter will be the ranking officer if he ever gets up, but he will not do," that in the judgment of the secretary he ought instantly to be relieved, as he had proved himself far more incom- petent than Sigel. In conclusion he added: ..." The secretary also directs me to say that advice or suggestions from you will not be sufficient. General Halleck will not give orders except as he receives them; the President will give none, and until you direct positively and explicitly what is to be done, everything will go on in the deplorable and fatal way in which it has gone on for the past week." 337 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA This portentous despatch, showing the complete paralysis of the government at Washington, was followed at 12 m. the same day by another which reported Longstreet's corps as "coming rapidly down the Valley," and that pos- sibly the "inactivity of the rebels in this vicinity is be- cause they are waiting for reinforcements." It is evident from these despatches that the greatest confusion existed, but it turned out that the prognostica- tion of rebel intentions was unfounded, and that notwith- standing the great opportunity offered them, they had con- cluded, perhaps in ignorance of the chance they had thrown away, to withdraw to the Shenandoah Valley, which they did without interruption or serious delay. To meet the great emergency thus forced upon him, Grant made haste to send the Sixth corps to Washington and then to go in person. After looking over the situation, he concluded to put Sheridan in command with orders to dispose of the Confederate forces in the Valley as a condition precedent to the resumption of operations in front of Petersburg. Meanwhile, this rendered it necessary to main- tain a defensive attitude in front of Petersburg, and as this relieved Dana from the necessity of further service in the field, Stanton directed him to resume his duties in the War Department. It will be seen, however, that his last services as a cor- respondent had resulted in his becoming the eyes of Grant as well as of the government, and that he had for the third time played an important, if not a determining, part in connection with the fortunes of both Grant and the coun- try. It can scarcely be denied that had Dana, during the Vicksburg campaign, taken a different course, and instead of doing all in his power to strengthen Grant's hands, had reached the conclusion that the risks were too great, and that Grant was not only unfit to be trusted with such great responsibilities, but ought to be relieved, the career of 338 CONFEDERATE OPERATIONS that general might very well have come to a premature end. It is almost equally certain that had Dana, after Chickamauga, done what he could to strengthen Thomas's hands and to build him up as the successor to Rosecrans, Grant might have failed to get the opportunity to add the salvation of Chattanooga and the victory of Missionary Ridge to his previous victories. Again, had Dana mini- mized Grant's merits and joined the hostile critics in de- nouncing his management of the campaign against Lee, instead of doing all in his power to magnify his perform- ances, he might have seriously weakened the confidence of the government in the general's abilities and character even at that late day. Finally, had Dana proved unequal to the duties of his position on his return to Washington, and left Grant to learn from others the disagreeable facts which he communicated to him on July 11th and 12th, or had he failed to transmit to Grant the vigorous opin- ions of the Secretary of War as to the headless condition of military affairs about Washington, or had Grant elected to remain at City Point, and to leave to others the man- agement of the campaign against Early and Ewell, his reputation must have suffered greatly in the public mind, as well as in the estimation of the administra- tion. Viewing the circumstances as set forth in this narrative, and drawing such conclusions from them as we may, no one can read Dana's letters or consider his connection with the facts related in them without reaching the conclusion that he acted with unusual prudence, good sense, prompti- tude, and fearlessness in presenting the best interests of the army to the government in reference to the Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Knoxville, and Petersburg campaigns, as well as in presenting the views of the government to Grant during the Confederate demonstration in the direction of Washington. 23 339 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA It has fallen to the lot of no other American to serve as the confidential medium of communication between the army and the government, and between the government and the general-in-chief, as it did to Dana during the War of the Rebellion. XXI ADMINISTRATION OF WAR DEPARTMENT Services in Washington — Spencer carbines — Sheridan's Valley cam- paign — Dana visits Sheridan — Defensive attitude of army in Virginia — Sherman's march to the sea — Nashville campaign — Dispersion of Hood's army — Letters to Wilson — Cavalry campaign in Alabama and Georgia — Grant's final campaign — Collapse of Confederacy — Dana goes to the front — Assassination of Lincoln — Arrest and trial of conspirators — Capture and confinement of Jefferson Davis — Visits Fort Monroe — Events and great review at Washington — Returns to civil life Immediately after Early had withdrawn to the south side of the Potomac, and left Washington to comparative quiet and safety, Dana resumed his routine duties as Assistant Secretary of War, and soon became as completely absorbed in them as he had been in those of the army in the field. While he and Watson divided the work between them according to their own convenience, Dana gave spe- cial attention and much of his time to the investigation of frauds against the government on the part of con- tractors, and in the supervision of the operations of the Secret Service agents, who were employed in learning what was going on within the enemy's lines. But with all his cares he still found time for correspondence with his friends. On August 4, 1864, he wrote me from the War Depart- ment as follows: "I saw Rawlins on Sunday, and am sorry to notice the signs of increasing disease. I fear there is no hope for him. "To-day we got the news of Stoneman's reverse. It is 341 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA a small affair — only five hundred men lost, and very likely the story is much exaggerated. In ordinary circumstances the event would be of no influence, but as the main campaign has produced no decisive results yet, the public mind has developed an extraordinary sensitiveness, , and this disaster will weigh far more than it ought. 1 "Why didn't you come down with the general on Sunday? "The general at first proposed to put either Sheridan or Meade in charge of the campaign in the Valley; next he sent word to leave Hunter in command if he had already taken the field, but to put Sheridan over the Sixth corps and the cavalry, and now Halleck has telegraphed to him to suggest that Sheridan had better be put in command of the whole, but no reply has been received. "It is dreadful to say that, with the large force assembled for this campaign, there is not a reasonable certainty as to what will be its result. "Sheridan says that cavalry is of no great value on the James River, because the country is so broken, and on the south side so swampy, that it cannot be used with effect. He suggests that another division be brought up to act from this direction. "I fall back on my faith in Providence. That will bring us out if human devices fail." . . . It was in pursuance of Sheridan's suggestion that my division of cavalry was also ordered from the James to Washington on August 4th, and a few days later to the Valley of Virginia. On August 29th Dana, who had accompanied me in my march through Washington, wrote to me as follows: . . . "Affairs generally seem to be in a much better con- dition than when you were here. Farragut's success at Mo- 1 Stoneman surrendered his entire command to an inferior force of Confederates, mostly militia, while on a raid in the vicinity of Macon, Georgia. 342 WAR DEPARTMENT bile has done much to revive the public mind, and the per- tinacity with which Grant holds the Weldon road against Lee's frantic efforts to retake it is of equal, if not greater, value. I am also expecting from Sherman news of impor- tance. It is three days since he took the mass of his army to the south and southeast of Atlanta, abandoning his base on the Chattahoochee, leaving an army corps to hold his in- trenchments there, all for the purpose of definitively cut- ting the connection between Hood and Macon, and forcing him to surrender for want . of supplies. It will take some time to complete the operation, especially as it must involve a pretty elaborate destruction of both the West Point and the Macon railroads, but the fact that the Richmond papers make no report of the movement is greatly in favor of our success. "McClellan will be nominated at Chicago to-day or to- morrow. "I was in New York for ten days week before last, and was at Westport for one day. The loveliness of the place seemed to me something beyond imagination. ... "I had a letter from Baldy Smith on Saturday. I told him in reply that it was very much his own fault, and that if he had had no tongue, and had never known how to write, I had no doubt he would now be commanding one of the large armies." Although every request had been granted, Sheridan's accession to the command of the Middle Military Division was not followed by an immediate restoration of con- fidence. Many thought he was too young and inexpe- rienced for the great responsibilities which were imposed upon him. Six weeks of marching and countermarching ensued. It began to look as though Sheridan was more prudent than was necessary with the great preponderance of troops which he had with him in presence of the enemy. The financial world became more and more uneasy, and when the price of gold, which was the great barometer of 343 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA the times, began to mount by rapid advances to the high- est figures yet known, Grant himself took alarm and made a hurried visit to Sheridan to ascertain what was the matter. Fortunately, Sheridan had got his bearings, and when Grant arrived on the scene and learned the facts as they existed he wisely concluded that it was only neces- sary for him to say, " Go in!" The battle of the Opequan, or Winchester, was fought, and on the receipt of the news at Washington, September 21st, Dana wrote to me in enthusiastic terms as follows: "A thousand cheers for the great victory won by the Army of the Shenandoah! It is an event whose importance is not to be measured by the immediate results of the battle. It is like the battle of Chattanooga in its far-reaching con- sequence. "I am sorry Mcintosh has had such bad luck. 1 "As for General Smith's proposition, I am in doubt. Four weeks ago Gillmore went to City Point after the same thing, and got a pretty decisive cold shoulder. Some officer is to have it, but I don't know who it is, and, since Rawlins and Bowers are both absent, there's nobody I can write to. I should like much to have it given to Smith. Perhaps I will write to the general. "Rawlins is getting well. Dr. Green, in New York, says nothing is the matter with his lungs. His throat only was in trouble, according to Dr. Green, and after some weeks of cutting and caustics the throat is pronounced cured. He goes back to duty next week. "I have just heard from New York of the burning of my library. It was insured, but the money can't replace the books." At the conclusion of the first Valley campaign I was promoted and ordered West, and on the way to my new 1 This gallant brigade commander lost a leg in the battle. 344 WAR DEPARTMENT field of duty I spent a day with Dana at Washington, arranging for his co-operation in supplying me with such remounts, equipments, and improved fire-arms as might be needed. It was through his assistance that I had a few weeks before been enabled to completely rearm the Third Cavalry Division with the Spencer repeating maga- zine carbine, and thus to give it the distinction of being the first division of troops in the world to carry a full supply of such arms. As the gun at Kearneyville and Winchester had abundantly proven itself to be easily the best cavalry fire-arm so far invented, my desire to have all that could be furnished by the Ordnance Bureau for the Western cavalry received Dana's hearty approval, and it was through his cordial assistance that I was enabled that winter to completely furnish three divisions with these admirable weapons. It is worthy of note that these di- visions operated together as the Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi, to the end of the war, and were the first army corps in the world to carry such arms. It may also be truthfully said that no part of that corps using these arms was ever repulsed or ever failed in at- tacking the enemy, whether he was in the open or behind intrenchments. I had hardly got to my destination in upper Georgia when I received a note from Dana, dated October 10th, running as follows: "Perhaps you can suggest to General Sherman to ask for General Smith. It is a great pity that his eminent abilities should be left unemployed. "Everything going on well. Sheridan has perfectly de- vastated the Valley for a distance of ninety miles from Win- chester south." It is greatly to Dana's credit that, notwithstanding his clear perception of Smith's shortcomings, he had not lost 345 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA interest in his employment, but remained his friend to the end. On October 19th Dana wrote me from the War Depart- ment as follows: "For four days I have been pretty busy, owing to the absence of Mr. Stanton, gone to confer with General Grant at City Point. "Sheridan was here to see General Halleck day before yes- terday, and reached his army on Cedar Creek yesterday. This morning he has been fighting a battle, with what result we don't know yet. Augur, at Rectortown, reports that at noon the cannonade had ceased, and that the sounds had not indicated any falling back of Sheridan's forces. You will hear the result by telegraph before this reaches you. "Sheridan's sleeve-buttons reached me in time to send them to him just as he was getting into the cars to leave. They were very rich. I got them through George H. Boker, of Philadelphia, who has just written a splendid poem on Sheridan's glorification. " It rather looks here as if Sherman might have caught Hood, but I know the difficulties of the country. Sherman seems to have waited a day for his wagons, when he might possibly have been fighting." It was only a few hours till the telegraph brought the news of Sheridan's complete victory over Early at Cedar Creek. His army had been surprised at dawn, attacked in flank, and driven pell-mell from its camps, but it had rallied of its own accord and formed a new line about two miles in the rear, and was ready to advance at the word. This was given as soon as the necessary ar- rangements could be made. Sheridan's victory was in- stant and complete. It was specially noticeable, not so much for the whirlwind promptitude with which it was gained, as for the fact that it was the only instance of the 346 WAR DEPARTMENT kind afforded by the war. It was the only case on either side in which an army, surprised and driven from the field in the morning, had rallied and returned to the fight the same afternoon and gained a complete victory. Even without the dramatic incidents which the reporters and the poets have connected with it, the performance was a sufficiently notable one to entitle Sheridan to a special reward, and this the government at once determined to bestow upon him. To that end, it promoted him to the rank of major-general in the regular army, and, as an additional expression of its satisfaction, sent Dana to de- liver the commission in person. The journey was made by special train over the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to Harper's Ferry, and thence on horseback with a cavalry escort to Sheridan's camp, some fifty miles farther up the Valley. After performing the agreeable duty intrusted to him, and riding through the enthusiastic army, Dana returned overland to Washington by the way of Manassas Gap. Throughout his journey along the Valley of Vir- ginia, and from the Valley to Washington, although under escort, he was constantly in danger of capture by Mosby and his enterprising guerillas. Up to that time they had made that entire region most dangerous to all such parties, but Dana passed through it unmolested, and seems to have been scarcely conscious of the danger he was incurring. Shortly after returning to Washington, he was sent to Indianapolis for the purpose of conferring with Governor Morton in reference to some new cavalry regiments for which horses, arms, and equipments were required. Hav- ing satisfied himself of the merits of the case, he returned to Washington and settled down for the winter at the routine work of the department. On November 14th he wrote to me : "I don't believe General Grant is coming to Washington, 347 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA "I judge that Meade is likely to be relieved and Hancock to be put in his place, but this is a mere private impression not to be repeated. "Sheridan seems to be likely to be kept where he is for the present. I don't see the possibility of any Rebel cam- paign being made in the Valley, when all supplies must be hauled from Stanton. It is all a desert there; nothing is left except what corn was standing in the fields. All barns and their contents have been destroyed, and all stacks of hay and grain. All the cattle have been driven out, big and little, horned, hairy, and woolly. This in the Luray and Moorefield valleys, as well as in the main valley. Sheridan has fallen back to the Opequan, and has fortified his position some- where near Smithfield, with the railroad to supply him from Harper's Ferry. Under these circumstances, and with Loudon and Fauquier similarly devastated, I don't see how the Rebels can try it again in that direction this fall, and my judgment is clear that Crook with his force will be ample to do all that is needed. If I were the general, I would take the other two corps and two divisions of cavalry for use elsewhere. "Sheridan and Sherman are generals after the style I have always looked for in one respect at least — they devastate in- deed. "The former of the two appears to me to be the first mili- tary genius whom the war has produced on either side." . . . On November 23d he wrote me again, as follows: "Immediately on the first report of Canby's misfortune an order was made assigning General Reynolds to the tem- porary command of the military division. We now learn that Canby is not likely to be long disabled. "I don't see any chance of Smith's being employed till General Grant desires to employ him. "Franklin is not likely to have a command anywhere. . . . "Don't believe any of the reports about approaching changes in the cabinet. If Mr. Stanton is to be Chief-Justice, 348 WAR DEPARTMENT I don't know it; and I do know that neither General Butler nor General Banks is to be Secretary of War." . . . As is well known, the Army of the Potomac and the forces under Sheridan maintained a strictly defensive at- titude in Virginia during the entire fall and winter of 1864-65, while Sherman, without opposition worthy of the name, was "marching through Georgia." Hood, with an undefeated army which Sherman had failed to bring to bay, had been left behind, free to make his way into middle Tennessee, except as he might be opposed by Thomas, with the fragments of the three armies which Sherman had not thought good enough to accompany him on his holiday march. Hood's campaign was well planned and well directed, and failed only because his columns lacked weight and resources. Fortunately, they were opposed by the steady and invincible Thomas, who could neither be rattled nor defeated. Rawlins alone seemed to proper- ly understand the difficulties and dangers which surrounded Thomas from the time Sherman (turned his face towards the sea-coast and Hood began his advance into middle Tennessee. So persistent had the far-sighted chief of staff become for the concentration of an invincible force at Nashville that he went in person to St. Louis to see that every available division and corps was gathered up and sent without delay to make Thomas's position absolutely secure. As can be well understood, the circumstances of the case, as they actually existed, were much better known to Thomas and his officers than to the lieutenant-general or to the War Department. This naturally led to an ac- tive correspondence between the various parties concerned. As I was the junior corps commander under Thomas, and the condition of the cavalry had been an important factor in the problem to be solved, I naturally availed myself of 349 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA the first opportunity to write fully to Dana, as well as to Rawlins. The first reply I received was from Dana. It was marked private, and, of course, has never been published. It was written from the War Department, January 4, 1865, and runs as follows: "I was absent in New York all last week, and found your most welcome letter on my table on Monday morning, the 2d instant, when I returned. " You are aware long ere this that General Thomas has been appointed to the vacant grade of major-general in the U. S. A. This was done on the recommendation of General Grant, or rather with his hearty concurrence, for the proposal came first from Mr. Stanton. I hope that it will obliterate all unpleasant feeling in the general's mind. In my judgment, while there are more brilliant and more fertile minds than his, a character more pure and noble and sure than his does not exist. There is no man in whom, in the long run, confidence can more safely be placed, nor one who would fill the highest station with superior dignity and wisdom. "The difficulty in General T[homas]'s case grew out of the fact that during the Atlanta campaign he was always a little too slow for the rapid and impatient spirit of Sherman. Then, after Hood had got to Nashville, he was long in getting ready to fight, and it was not surprising that both General Grant and the War Department should feel anxious at the delay. A sudden march to the north across the Cumber- land might, as it seemed, place Hood's army in the centre of Kentucky, causing Thomas to follow him through a country rich in reinforcements and in supplies. General Grant de- sired him to be attacked at once, but General Thomas kept putting it off for reasons which no doubt were good, but which were too much like those so often urged by Buell and McClel- lan to be satisfactory. The truth is that Grant finally started for Nashville himself, but reached here with the news of the first day's successful battle. That, of course, stopped him 350 WAR DEPARTMENT and changed all disposition to find fault into praise and ad- miration. "The fact that Sherman left Thomas with insufficient forces to fight the rebel army is indisputable, but yet I do not think that Sherman is to be blamed for it. He did not start for Savannah until he had positive information from Rawlins that A. J. Smith's troops would reach Paducah in four days, and from other quarters that the horses and equipments of your cavalry would be got forward in ample season. Those things being determined — and I do not see why he need have had any doubt with regard to them — there was no reason for him to wait any longer. That A. J. Smith should be thirty days instead of four is not astonishing, but Sherman had no cause to anticipate it. "But without looking too curiously into the past, let us admit that everything has turned out for the best. The de- lay to attack Hood, of which Grant, Stanton, and Halleck, in my judgment, quite justifiably complained, especially was of the most beneficial consequences. The ease with which the victory was gained was apparently due very much to the snow-storm, which froze the enemy and starved him, so that he fought at the greatest disadvantage. The only mistake I can now see in the campaign was the misdirection of the pontoon train. I wish you would tell me who is to blame for that. Very likely, however, it was not misdirected at all, for my information respecting it is derived from the newspapers alone. "With regard to the organization of your corps, and the probability of its being recognized by the President, I know nothing. The way to get it done is for General Thomas earnestly to request it, and to say that he regards it as in- dispensable to the future efficiency of his army. As for the Spencer carbines, everything will be done that is possible, but I doubt whether you can get the whole product of the armories now at work on that arm. But I will see General Dyer on the subject. You have perhaps noticed in the news- papers the appointment of a board consisting of Majors Laidley and Benton, Ordnance Corps; Major Maynardier and 351 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Captain Kellogg, Infantry; and Captain Rodenbough, of the Cavalry, with Lieutenant Edie, Ordnance Corps, to examine all breech-loading arms with a view to deciding which is best for infantry and which for cavalry service. This looks to the entire abrogation of muzzle-loaders for infantry. I find that Dyer is not disposed to adopt the Spencer for foot- soldiers, and that he also doubts whether it is the best arm for cavalry. But on this point experience will decide; the great point is to get rid of the ramrod. "Of Washington news there is not much to tell. The most interesting question just at this moment is whether the anti- slavery amendment of the Constitution will pass the House of Representatives next week. It is hoped that a sufficient number of Democratic members will now vote for it to pass it, and send it to the States for ratification; but I can't tell whether the hope is well founded. . . . "I came near leaving here about a fortnight ago to take the place of adjutant-general of the State of New York. The inducements were complete control of all military ap- pointments among the troops of that State, the opportunity of great political usefulness, and an amount of pay on which I could five. But Mr. Stanton would not consent, and so I shall stay here for the present. But as soon as the war is so far over that I can properly leave, I shall attend to my own affairs. . . . "From City Point I have no news. Joe Bowers was here a fortnight since, looking as well as ever. Dunn was up on Monday with a bundle of despatches for the secretary. He said all were well. Comstock accompanied Butler to Fort Fisher. That affair makes unpleasant feeling between army and navy. What is the real truth I don't know. "W. F. Smith has gone to New Orleans as the head of a board to investigate the Quartermaster's Department there, and everything else. "We have nothing of moment from Savannah since its sur- render. Of course, Sherman's army will not be idle there. The Rebels are in desperation. Jeff. Davis wants to make terms with France or England, and is willing to become colonially 352 WAR DEPARTMENT dependent on either of those powers and to abolish slavery. A violent discussion is now going on in the Confederacy on this subject, and on others, as, for instance, on arming negroes. I don't see how they can keep themselves going for a great while longer. The capture of Richmond now would certainly end them, and that event I suppose is not far distant. , . . "Rawlins was looking very well when I saw him last, a month ago." . . . Shortly after the close of the Nashville campaign it was decided to send Schofield's army corps from Ten- nessee to the Chesapeake Bay to assist in the closing ope- rations in the Eastern theatre; and, as Dana had special charge of railroad transportation for the War Department, he was directed to make the necessary arrangements for the transfer, and not only managed all this business with consummate skill, but supervised the arrangements which were required in order to enable the soldiers to participate in the Presidential election. On January 24, 1865, Dana wrote to me from the War Department as follows: . . . "With regard to horses and arms, I do not know what has been done. General Halleck has been of opinion that you were asking for more horses than could be well foraged, and that it was impossible to keep mounted in the field so large a force of cavalry as you have desired. I judge that the views of General Halleck will be likely to prevail, and that you cannot count on the regular supply of horses to keep more than fifteen thousand cavalry constantly mounted in connection with General Thomas's command. "The Ordnance Bureau is sending forward for you all the Spencer carbines that can be spared, and, as the number fur- nished will soon be increased by the large contributions to be expected under the contract of the Burnside Company, I presume that you will soon be able to arm all your command with this weapon. 353 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA "You inquire what changes are probable in the new cabinet. The only change that is absolutely certain as yet is that which will result from the return of Mr. Fessenden to the Senate, to which the legislature of Maine last week elected him. Who will be his successor is as yet entirely undeter- mined. The prominent candidates for the office, just now, are Mr. Hooper, of Boston, and Governor Boutwell, of Massa- chusetts, both members of the House of Representatives. As far as my judgment goes, I should be well satisfied with either, though I am more intimate with Mr. Boutwell, and consider him the superior man of the two. At the same time, Mr. Hooper is a person of the most solid character and ca- pacity, and of very great experience in commercial affairs. "Whether any other members of the present cabinet will retire is at this time only a matter of speculation. I have supposed that Mr. Welles would not be likely to remain, and also that Mr. Usher's transfer to some other position of use- fulness was probable. But these things are still without any sure indication, and I should not be surprised if all the present cabinet should be retained with the exception of Mr. Fessen- den. I especially regard it as certain that Mr. Stanton will continue in the War Department, and Governor Denison in the General Post-Office. Mr. Speed will also no doubt remain as Attorney-General. "There has been a good deal of talk about Mr. Seward's withdrawal from the State Department, but I cannot find that it rests on any good grounds. Mr. Seward is certainly a candidate for the Presidency, and might think it prudent to retire for a time from public life, and to avoid the respon- sibilities which will be imposed upon him in office during the coming four years. But, on the other hand, he is an old and practised office-holder, and I have observed that men once used to power are very loath to resign it. For that reason I judge that he will lay the consideration of policy aside, and take any chances for nomination and election to the Presi- dency which may belong to Mr. Lincoln's Secretary of State. . . . "I suppose that the advance of Schofield's corps is here by this time, although it has not yet been reported to me." 354 WAR DEPARTMENT During the cavalry campaign through Alabama and Georgia, in March and April, 1865, I was necessarily cut off from all communication with the North. No letters reached me from any quarter, and the only news I re- ceived came through the Confederates or the "intelligent contraband." I knew that the spring campaign would begin "all along the line" as soon as the weather would permit, but I had no word from the time I left the Ten- nessee River till I arrived at Macon, Georgia, as to what had actually taken place in Virginia and the Carolinas; and after the armistice it took several days to re-establish telegraphs, and several weeks to open railroad communica- tion and the postal service with the North. It was not till that was done that it became possible to learn the par- ticulars of the great events that had taken place. After the defeat and dispersion of Hood's army, the conviction became wide-spread that the Confederacy was doomed to an early collapse. Sherman had met with no resistance in his march to Savannah. While the moral effect of dividing the Confederacy in two again was very great, it is true that Sherman's divergent or eccentric move- ment made it practicable for Johnston to join Lee before Sherman's army could possibly form a junction with Grant's. This was a strategic mistake, which might have turned the scale for good against the National forces had the Confederate authorities been able to keep their people in the ranks. But desertion, quite as much as fighting, had done its work. The Southern soldiers were certainly tired of the war, for, in spite of the conscription, the woods were full of them. True, the leaders yet showed an un- daunted front, but it seemed to be rather for the purpose of securing terms than with any well-founded hope of gaining a substantial victory. They made a brave stand at Bentonville, and another at Averysborough, but the odds against them were overwhelming. With all they 24 355 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA could do, they were forced to yield, though not till Lee's surrender made Johnston's inevitable. Even then they bore themselves with such confident assurance as ena- bled them to hoodwink Sherman and to secure their own terms of capitulation from that enterprising but credulous leader. 1 After standing on the defensive in front of Petersburg for ten solid months, Grant began his own forward move- ment, late in March, 1865, with an overwhelming superi- ority of force. Sheridan's victorious army had rejoined Meade south of the James. Schofield's corps from the West had been directed towards the heart of North Carolina. Fort Fisher had fallen. Thomas had annihilated Hood. Sherman was marching northward, leaving a wide swath of ruin and desolation behind him. Canby was now sure of Mobile, while Wilson with his cavalrymen was march- ing through the heart of the Confederacy, destroying its last arsenals, armories, factories, and depots, and breaking up its last line of transportation. The end was at hand! The final and greatest of all Grant's turning movements had been well started. The battles of Dinwiddie Court- House and Five Forks crowned it with success. Lee's right flank had been finally turned, his line of intrench- ments had been broken, and Petersburg and Richmond had been abandoned. Davis and his cabinet were in flight, and the deb&cle had begun. Even Lincoln had gone to the front, with the hope of being in at the death. At this juncture the impatient Stanton asked his assist- ant to "go down at once," for the special purpose of re- porting the condition of affairs and gathering up the Con- federate archives. On the morning of April 3d it was known that Richmond had fallen, but details were lacking, and Dana set out for the James River as soon as a steamer 1 Gorham, Ldfe and Public Services of Edwin M. Stanton, vol. ii., pp. 170 et seq. 356 WAR DEPARTMENT could be got ready for his use. His son Paul and his friend Roscoe Conkling went with him, but the party did not reach City Point till the morning of the 5th, by which time the excitement was all over and there was but little to learn at that place. Lincoln had also become im- patient, and had gone to Richmond the day before, and this left Dana and his party nothing to do but to follow him. They reached the captured capital of the Con- federacy early that afternoon, and after walking about the town and learning what they could from General Weitzel, who had occupied it on the 3d, Dana began his search for the records and documents of the Confederate government. In this he was but partly, successful, for the most valuable papers had been sent off to the South, while the others had been badly disarranged and scattered. Dana gathered up such as could be found, and sent them to Washington, where they became the nucleus of the great collection now in the possession of the government. During his stay at Richmond Dana saw much of the President, and was in constant conference with him in reference to the conditions which they found prevailing about them, the questions which were coming up for solu- tion, and the measures of government which it might be advisable to adopt. With both Lincoln and Andrew John- son the Vice-President, on the ground to see for them- selves, and with Grant in hot pursuit of Lee some sixty or seventy miles to the southwest, there was but little of importance that the Assistant Secretary could send to the Secretary of War at Washington; but he was, as usual, alert and industrious. He sent a number of despatches which will be found in the Official Records. It was always a source of regret to him, however, that his attendance on the President had made it impracticable for him to join Grant in time to be present at the surrender. Events were crowding rapidly on each other in that field, and it was 357 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA largely a matter of chance where any of them might meet the civil officers of the government. Grant and Lee now occupied the centre of the stage, while the Secretary of War, the Assistant Secretary of War, and even the Presi- dent himself, were anxious spectators at a distance. Not one of them seems to have expected the curtain to drop when it did, and even after it had closed the final scene the secretary wanted a fuller account than he had re- ceived, and directed Dana to proceed to Grant's head- quarters and gather up such details as might appear to be of interest; but Grant was not one to tarry long on the scene of his chief glory. He was as glad as the lowest private in the ranks that the war was ended, and made haste to leave the field. Dana joined him en route, and accompanied him to Washington, where they arrived on April 13, 1865. The next day Dana had an interesting interview with Lincoln at the White House, in regard to the arrest of Jacob Thompson, a Confederate commissioner, who was trying to make his way from Canada through Maine to Europe. Stanton thought he ought to be caught, but sent Dana to refer the matter to the President. As soon as the latter understood the question to be answered, he said, " No, I rather think not. When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he is trying to run away, it's best to let him run!" 1 That night, while at the play, Lincoln received his death wound at the hand of an assassin. Humanity and the country stood appalled; but Stanton, who had been from the day of his appointment as Secretary of War the strong man of the government, at once took charge. His first thought was to send for Dana, and it was to him that he dictated all the orders and telegrams that were sent out 1 Dana, Recollections of the Civil War. D. Appleton & Co. 358 WAR DEPARTMENT that night. They closed their work and parted with each other at about three o'clock the next morning. The Pres- ident was still alive, but unconscious and breathing heav- ily. He died a few hours later, and almost immediately afterwards the secretary sent an order to Dana directing him to arrest the commissioner who had been the last ob- ject of the good man's solicitude. Dana at once put the machinery under his control in motion for that purpose, but this was far from being his most important duty in that emergency. He made every effort not only to apprehend the murderer of the President, but to detect and bring to justice all persons suspected of having co-operated with him in the accomplishment of his crime. It was from the first believed that the terrible tragedy was the result of a conspiracy of many persons. Through the preliminary measures set on foot by the War Department, and largely carried into effect under Dana's direction, the conspiracy was developed, and the con- spirators were arrested and brought to trial. Dana had gathered many letters and much information showing the details of the conspiracy, and on May 18th gave his testi- mony in the case. Shortly afterwards private business took him to Chicago, whence he was recalled to Washing- ton to identify the key of the Confederate secret cipher, which he had found at Richmond in the office of Mr. Benjamin, the Confederate Secretary of State. Having completed this duty, the Secretary of War sent him to Fort Monroe to see that the commanding officer should take every necessary precaution to prevent the suicide or the escape of the prisoners of state about to be confined at that place; and it was under this specific in- junction that Dana wrote the order of May 22, 1865, authorizing and directing General Miles to place manacles and fetters upon the hands and feet of both Jefferson Davis and Clement C. Clay, Jr., whenever he might think 359 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA it advisable. The crime with which they were charged was one of extraordinary gravity. It had not only turned the nation's joy into a feeling of grief and resentment, but had horrified the civilized world. It should not, therefore, be thought altogether strange that the precautions taken were in excess of any real danger, and that it took several months to dispel the illusions upon which they were based. Fortunately, the charges finally gave way to a calmer and more dispassionate consideration of the evidence, and the prisoners were discharged without trial or further humil- iation. In a telegram dated Fort Monroe, May 21, 1865 — 1 p.m., 1 Dana gave a full description of the landing and confine- ment of the prisoners, and the precautions taken for their security. He commented upon the haughty bearing, com- posed features, and firm step of Davis, in contrast with the more modest demeanor of Clay. He described the dress and appearance of both, and the manner in which each took leave of his family and friends. Notwithstanding the vicissitudes of politics and the mellowing influence of time, Dana evidently felt to the end of his career that no great injustice or unnecessary indignity had been inflicted upon Davis while a prisoner at Fort Monroe. His Recollections* contain his final statement on that subject — namely: ... "I believe that every care was taken during Mr. Da- vis's imprisonment to remove cause for complaint. Medical officers were directed to superintend his meals and give him everything that would excite his appetite. As it was com- plained that his quarters in the casemate were unhealthy and disagreeable, he was, after a few weeks, transferred to Carroll Hall, a building still occupied by officers and soldiers. That Davis's health was not ruined by his imprisonment at 1 See Official Records. 2 Dana, Recollections of the Civil War, p. 287. 360 WAR DEPARTMENT Fort Monroe is proved by the fact that he came out of the prison in better condition than when he went in, and that he lived for twenty years afterwards, and died of old age." Having performed the duties which took him to Fort Monroe, Dana returned to Washington in time to witness the great review of Meade's and Sherman's armies, and of Sheridan's cavalry. This took place on May 23d and 24th, and on May 30, 1865, he sent to me at Macon a letter which has not been heretofore published. It runs as follows: "I have received a good many letters from you, but have not answered them for the fear that during the meanderings of your eventful campaign they might never reach you. Now, however, that you seem to have made a settlement, and to be within reach of the mails, I take the first moment at my command to reply to all your kind communications. "First, let me congratulate you on the brilliant success of your campaign. You can understand the reasons why I have enjoyed this especially. I have been delighted to find you putting down in this decisive manner all the criticisms and objections which certain friends of ours have been in the habit of making occasionally. I am delighted, too, that you have not fallen into any mistake growing out of the political complications connected with the peculiar termination of the war, and with the remarkable situation in which the State of Georgia is left by it. "Second, let me inform you that the report which you probably have seen in the newspapers, that I have left the department, is only partly true. I have not yet left it, but propose to do so about July 1st. I have agreed to go to Chicago to undertake there the editorship of a new daily journal which is about to be established. As you are aware, it has not been my wish to return to my old profession on re- tiring from office, but to find some sphere of practical or in- dustrial activity; but as nothing of this kind offered itself, 361 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA and as the inducements to take this place at Chicago were satisfactory, I have waived all scruples and made an agree- ment to go there. The prospects of pecuniary success seem to me to be very encouraging. Many of the leading politi- cians of the State, and a great number of the most prominent business men of Chicago, have assured me that no efforts will be wanting on their part to establish the prosperity of the new concern, and I see no reason to doubt that I shall be able not only to make a livelihood there, but to gain a political position in many respects agreeable as well as use- ful. At any rate, if this anticipation is not realized, it will not be for want of exertion and industry on my part. As I said, I shall go to Chicago soon after July 1st; the family, however, will not move there before September or October. Their design is to spend the summer somewhere in Vermont or New Hampshire, though this is still vague and partly un- determined, except in the case of Zoe, who is going to Conway, near the White Mountains, to spend the month of July with some friends from New York. Of course we shall take a house in Chicago, and when you go there, there will always be a room ready for you. "The great event here has been the grand review of last week. The Army of the Potomac was reviewed on Tuesday, and Sherman's two armies on Wednesday. Everything passed off with great brilliancy. The Army of the Potomac exceeded the other two armies in numbers, although the Sixth army corps was not present, it being at the time on the road between here and Richmond. The old Army of the Tennessee, however, bore off the palm in appearance and in discipline. Its men were finer, its marching better, and its general effect much more soldierly and impressive. This great display of military power has had a deep influence upon the minds of the foreign diplomatists who were present, and they will now distinctly understand that, as a warlike people, the Americans are not to be despised. "The most interesting incident at this review was, per- haps, the meeting between General Sherman and Mr. Stanton. A good deal of excited feeling had been caused beforehand 362 WAR DEPARTMENT on account of the decided condemnation by the secretary of General Sherman's agreement with General Johnston, and by the publication by General Halleck of orders to General Wright and to General Stoneman to pay no regard to orders from Sherman, and not to stop hostilities until they had received instructions to that effect from Washington. Sher- man was intensely grieved and disturbed by this publication, and is reported to have insulted Halleck while passing through Richmond. 1 I imagine, however, that this insult was by no means so extreme as has been reported in the newspapers. General Halleck told me that the letter which Sherman wrote him on the occasion had never been seen by any one but himself, and I am sure that its substance has been exceed- ingly exaggerated by those who have attempted to report it. Before General Sherman came here, his brother Charles had been very active in stirring up a quarrel, and all the politi- cians who are in league with Mr. Blair, and whose special object is to turn Mr. Stanton out of office, were assembled here on that occasion in order to effect their great purpose. Nothing, however, has come of their efforts, and nothing will. When Sherman met Mr. Stanton on the President's stand, it was noticed by everybody that they merely bowed to each other, but did not shake hands. A day or two after a letter from Sherman to Colonel Bowman was published, very in- discreet in its expressions, and quite bitter in its spirit, assail- ing the Secretary of War for having suppressed General Sher- man's reports and letters. To this charge the secretary has made no reply, nor has he in any way taken any notice of the quarrel which has thus been attempted to be forced upon him. The difficulty, however, seems to be dying out of it- self. Sherman's more discreet friends perceive and under- stand that he can gain nothing by attempting to make a controversy with the secretary, either for the reason of his condemnation of the treaty with Johnston, or because the reports of Sherman have not been published. With regard to these reports it appears that only one has failed to be 1 See Sherman, Memoirs. 363 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA published, and that by an accident of which the secretary was entirely unaware. Nor do I yet know whether this re- port has been withheld by General Grant, or has otherwise failed to reach the adjutant-general. It is the report of that part of the campaign between Atlanta and Savannah, and anybody can see that the secretary, instead of wishing to withhold it from the public, would only have been too anx- ious to lay before the people the definite account of military movements so remarkable and interesting. "With regard to Sherman's letters, the suppression of which is also charged by his friends, there are some of these, I am sorry to say, which instead of doing him credit and in- creasing his reputation with the public, would injure it very seriously. In one of them, for instance, addressed to Gen- eral Grant, he says that if the secretary desires Jeff Davis to be arrested, he must send his bailiffs and detectives to do the job, because his soldiers are not to be employed on such business, but also adds that if the soldiers were to try to do it, they could not succeed, because Jeff has already got be- yond their reach. Of course this was written some time be- fore your troops had succeeded in taking him a prisoner. I presume, however, that nothing will come of all the excite- ment and discussion upon the question except that the public will become confirmed in the idea that Sherman, however brilliant as a soldier, is not to be trusted as a public man of sound and safe judgment. I am sorry for it on his account ; but I cannot say that I really regret, on account of the coun- try, the events which have taken him out of the category of possible candidates for the presidency. "I went down to Fortress Monroe the other day to see your prisoner committed to the casemate in which he is con- fined. He was marched ashore in the midst of a guard at the head of which were the troopers of Colonel Pritchard. General Miles, formerly of the Second corps, who has been sent to the fortress to take command during Jeff's incar- ceration, led him along by the left arm. Davis marched with as haughty and defiant an air as Lucifer, Son of the Morn- ing, bore after he was expelled from heaven, and I was rather 364 WAR DEPARTMENT surprised not to find in his mien or step the signs of that physical exhaustion and that mental depression which all persons had represented him as having fallen into. General Miles, however, tells me that this was merely a piece of acting for that special occasion, and that he has since either exhibited signs of the greatest weakness, or of a sort of intense and imbecile fury. When and how he is to be tried is, so far as I know, not yet determined. He has been in- dicted by the grand jury of this city for participation in the raid which Breckenridge and Early made here last summer, it being necessary to have some overt act with which to sus- tain the charge of treason. Possibly, however, owing to the great difficulty of being certain about a jury, it may be de- termined to try him by a military court, in which case the trial will take place at Fortress Monroe. "General Grant is quietly established here in the discharge of his official duties as commander-in-chief. He has the same office which General Halleck occupied, and Rawlins and Bowers keep their desks in the room on the other side of the hall. I think that they find it rather dull work and pretty hard. The mass of papers that is sent there is no joke. "Mr. Seward is recovering, 1 and will no doubt entirely regain his strength. His fractured jaw must be nearly united by this time. For the last month he has worn one cap on the top of his head, and another under his chin, the two being united by bands of steel, and connected with a gutta-percha apparatus fitting to his jaws inside his mouth, and all rendering him, in connection with the wounds about his face and neck, one of the most horrible spectacles that the human eye ever beheld. He will, however, soon be able to lay aside this apparatus. His son, it is probable, will never recover. So far every active exertion has been soon followed by a hemorrhage from the broken artery in the top of the brain, and the number of fractures of the skull is so great that, however he may seem to regain his strength, his fife must always be exceedingly faint and precarious. . . . 1 From the injuries inflicted upon him by the assassin who attempted to kill him at the time the President was murdered. 365 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA . . . "Of course you get all the common run of news from Badeau, who I suppose has not much to do except to write private letters. I notice that your old aide-de-camp Hudson * now wears the straps of a lieutenant-colonel. It is rather astonishing to see what an enormous crop of brigadier-gen- erals has sprung up within the last few months. I should say that there were more officers of that rank than of any lower grade. "Merritt and Custer have both gone with Sheridan, whose command embraces the States of Arkansas and Texas alone, leaving Pope to command Missouri and the Northwest, and Canby to command Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. "Sherman's troops are now all camped just outside of Washington north of the Potomac, it having been found advisable to separate them from the Army of the Poto- mac, whose camps are all on the south side of the river. A good many fights have occurred between the private sol- diers of the two armies. I have heard of one or two men who have been killed, and one or two who have been serious- ly wounded. Sherman's men are also pretty troublesome to the farmers and other quiet people where they are. He will, however, begin to move away at once. The first detachment of seven thousand is to leave to-morrow for Louisville, where it will be stationed for the present as a reserve, and the regi- ments which are to be mustered out will begin to proceed to their respective States, day after to-morrow. As soon as they arrive at the capitals of those States they will be paid and disbanded, so that they can go home and go to work again.". . . As the foregoing was written when the events described were fresh in Dana's mind, his account of the meeting be- tween Stanton and General Sherman, and what actually took place on the reviewing stand may be considered as conclusive, though it is but fair to add that the incident, whatever may have been its exact nature, was a purely 1 In the Knoxville expedition. 366 WAR DEPARTMENT personal one, the principal effect of which was to emphasize the general's resentment towards the secretary for the part the latter had taken in the rejection of the agreement between Sherman and Johnston for the capitulation of Johnston's army, and for the re-establishment of peace east of the Mississippi. During the remaining weeks of his life in Washington, Dana assisted in all the business of the department inci- dent to the arrest and trial of the President's assassins, and to the discharge of the great army of volunteers, but as this was mostly routine work which the permanent bureaus disposed of in the usual manner, he made but little record of the part which fell to his lot. While he worked on to the last with unabated industry, his task was really done, and his mind was henceforth naturally more concerned with his own future as affected by the offer he had received from Chicago to re-enter the profession of journalism. On June 2d he wrote to me as follows : . . . "Noyes has been here with your letter, but I was out and did not see him. " Governor Brown is now at large by order of the President, but on what terms I don't know. "The war being over, the army is rapidly being reduced, and new military divisions will at once be created, and lots of general officers and staff - officers will be mustered out. Very likely you may go with the rest, but I know that you will descend as gracefully and probably more cheerfully than you went up. But General Grant will take care of you in one way or another. "I suppose Halleck will command the Pacific coast; Sheri- dan west of the Mississippi; Thomas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Northern States between the mountains and the Mississippi; Sherman, the South; and Meade, the Atlantic coast from the southern boundary of South Carolina to Canada, with a district commander in every State. 367 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA "Mr. Seward continues to get better. Sherman's excite- ment is cooling off, and I suppose he begins to think he has gone too far. The President is as lenient as was his prede- cessor; I think he even beats him in pardoning. They in- form me from Chicago that my new paper is very successful at the start. I send you the first number, in the making of which I have had no share; if, however, I can make twenty thousand dollars a year by it, while I exert a wholesome and honest influence on the politics of the country, and on its general progress, I shall be content." This was followed by a note dated June 18th, part of which is here inserted: "Though I didn't have the good-fortune to see Captain Noyes, I got the saddle, and have used it regularly ever since. It is very good, indeed, as I can testify from experience. It was not needed to keep you ever fresh in my memory, but I can assure you that it is not valued any the less because it came from you. . . . "The President's proclamation appointing James John- son provisional governor of Georgia was issued this morning. I dare say you know a great deal better than I do who he is. I never heard of him before. . . . ... "I shall remain (here] till July 1st, and then shall go to New York on my way to Chicago, where I expect to arrive about the middle of next month. "Major Eckert is' to be my successor in office." . . . Having been delayed in his departure for Chicago, he wrote his last letter to me from the War Department, on July 4th, as follows : "Your very interesting letter of June 23d reached me this morning by way of Chicago. As you will see by the date of this letter, I have not yet set out to go there. I expected to leave last Saturday, and actually handed in my resigna- 368 WAR DEPARTMENT tion and had my trunk packed, but at the last moment Mr, Stanton asked me to stay another week, and I consented, though at considerable inconvenience to myself. . . . ... "I am sorry you have sent to subscribe for my paper, for I intended to send it to you myself, as soon as I got to work upon it — that is to say, about three weeks from now. "About brevets for your officers, I suppose the fact is just the same as with everybody else, Mr. Stanton has been too busy to sign the papers. There is a pile of them about two feet high now lying upon his table, and I presume, though I don't know, that yours are in with the rest. ... "I propose to show your letter to General Grant, but to no one else. "Rawlins has gone to Galena with his wife. General Grant has gone to Albany to celebrate the Fourth. General Hal- leck is here on his way to San Francisco. Slocum is assigned to command Mississippi, and I suppose Steedman will have Georgia. "A heap of generals will be mustered out very soon, but you are not in the lot. "Poe is here getting up his engineer's work from Sher- man's campaigns, but I haven't seen him. Ulffers is with him. He came to see me the other day. "Peter Hains got his leave of absence about three weeks since to take command of a New Jersey regiment, so that he is a colonel in spite of everything." . . . XXII BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA Editor of Chicago Republican — Opposes policy of Andrew Johnson — Supports Grant for presidency — Life of Grant — Failure of Chicago newspaper — Returns to New York Having terminated his connection with the War Depart- ment, Dana sent in his resignation on July 1, 1865, and a few days later proceeded to Chicago for the purpose of be- coming editor of the Daily Republican. It has been stated that he was not specially anxious at best to take up again the work of journalism, and that he had hoped on his retirement from the public service to make some business connection which would offer better inducements than editing or publishing a newspaper, but this hope was not to be realized. His talents according to the belief of his friends lay in the direction of his previous employment, and at the instance of Senator Trumbull and other promi- nent men of Illinois, he consented to accept the editorship of a new Republican paper which had been started a few weeks before. Its capital was fixed at five hundred thou- sand dollars, and this sum, had it been paid in, or even subscribed by solvent people, would have been ample, but as it turned out the enterprise was based largely upon promises that were never realized. Dana threw himself with his accustomed vigor into the discussions of the day, and soon made his mark in the affairs of the city and State, as well as of the nation. The re-establishment of the Union, through the reconstruction 370 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA of the Southern States, and their readmission to the privi- leges and protection of the Federal government, had al- ready become the absorbing question of the day. Dana, one of the founders of the Republican party, and perhaps as much identified as any other man with its policies, be- lieved fully in the supremacy of the Constitution and the laws, as well as in the supremacy of the national govern- ment, but recognized the difficulty as well as the novelty of the situation with which the administration and the Congress had to deal. Naturally independent, if not radical in his views, his qualities soon began to show themselves in the character of his newspaper. He had personally but a poor opinion of Andrew Johnson, who as president at least was a creature of accident. In common with the more conservative Republicans, Dana was loath to break with him, but as the fight developed he gradually found himself taking sides with Stanton, and favoring the radical policy of reconstruction which was brought forward by his friends in Congress. While this was by far the most important question under discussion, the issues were slow in developing themselves. Besides, however interesting they may have been, they were not a sufficient basis upon which to found a popular newspaper. Chicago, although a growing and important place, was far from being, as it is now, the second city in the Union. It was well supplied with newspapers, several of which were exceedingly able and enterprising, and this made it all the more difficult for the Republican. It was brilliant, able, independent, and interesting; but capital as well as talent was needed, and it soon became evident to Dana that capital in sufficient quantities could not be had to put it firmly on its feet. After a year of struggle and disappoint- ment he resolved to give it up and buy or found a news- paper in New York. On November 6, 1865, he wrote to me that he had re- 25 ' 371 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA ceived and used certain hints that I had sent him about the condition of affairs in Georgia, that he had just learned that one of the President's private secretaries had been caught selling pardons and stealing otherwise to the amount of thirty thousand dollars; that he had been re- lieved from his confidential position and ordered back to to his regiment, where he would be permitted to resign in order not to scandalize the President, and that the story was not then public. It seems to be worthy of observa- tion that it afterwards got out, and became somewhat not- able as the first of a series that brought serious discredit on official life in Washington. The same letter contained a statement to the effect that ..." The plan of rushing the South back into the Union, so that she may vote for a friend of ours [Andrew Johnson] in 1868 won't Work. The rebels are rampant, and will have to come down." . . . This passing remark shows an early tendency towards the course he afterwards openly adopted and strenuously supported to the end. A few days later Dana wrote to me that while it was most desirable that the ex-Confederate " officers should go to work like honest men to earn their living," he doubted the wisdom of trying to associate them with Northern offi- cers in the express company which had been recently organized. He preferred a scheme for cotton raising with the help of freedmen which had been presented to him, but the fact that he could not command the necessary capital kept him out of that undertaking and probably out of bankruptcy as well. The price of cotton was high, and there ought to have been profit in raising it, but negro labor, which must have been the main dependence, was far too much unsettled by the abolition of slavery to war- rant the hope of success in such a venture. 372 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA Early in December Dana went to Washington on busi- ness, but before going wrote to me that the volunteers having all been discharged, the regular army would be in- creased to perhaps fifty thousand men, to be made up by retaining a sufficient number of the colored troops, and that the feeling was at that time against Washburne's bill to revive the grade of general, mainly because it was sup- posed that men who did not know General Grant as we did would think that the general himself was at the bottom of it. In the same letter he expressed his hearty approval of retaining such officers as Sickles, Robinson, T. W. Sher- man, and Mcintosh in the service till some other provision could be made for them, because each had lost a leg in battle. Shortly after his return to Chicago, he acknowledged the receipt of a letter from me written at Richmond, intimating that while in Washington a few days before I had discovered signs of a change of feeling towards him at General Grant's headquarters. This appeared to give him great concern, as it made him think there might be much less sense there than he would like to believe. He added: . . . "As for my being unfriendly to the general, that is too absurd to be thought by any but a fool. About Lee's surrender I had my own judgment, and when it was necessary for me I expressed it. So of the bill to make Grant a gen- eral. That bill is a dreadful mistake. It exhibits a desire for rank and money that detracts from the general's great- ness in a fatal way. I have never been more afflicted by any public measure than by that bill. But I refrained from saying anything against it until I was compelled to. And I tell you that it would be much better for the general's future that it should not pass. I dare say it may be got partly through Congress, owing to the cowardice and weak- ness of the members; possibly it may be got quite through; but there are few sensible men who approve it in their hearts. 373 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA "There seem to be some gentlemen who don't realize the difference between a friend and a lackey. "However, I don't suppose the general is of any such opinion as these persons. If he were, I should be very sorry. Sorry to lose his friendship, but yet more sorry that he could withdraw it for such a cause. I think that under such circumstances his misfortune would be greater than mine. I have no objection to Rawlins and Bowers seeing what I have written. "I am glad you have asked to be mustered out. It is the right and only thing, but I fear it will keep you from coming to see me." . . . How the idea of Dana's being unfriendly to Grant at that time originated I have no means of recalling. Neither of the officers mentioned above could have suggested it. They were far too disinterested and sensible, and far too likely to share Dana's opinions on such subjects to con- demn him for entertaining them. The charge of un- friendliness must have started with quite another set who disliked Dana, and took this means of neutralizing his in- fluence with Grant. The latter was credulous and easily worked upon, especially by men whom he liked and saw daily, and who were selfish enough to appeal to his egotism without revealing their own motives. But whatever may have been its origin, there is no evidence that the alleged unfriendliness on the part of Dana had as yet produced any impression on Grant. He was slow to anger and re- sentment, and was far from being given to suspicion. While he was not at all likely to take sides, or judge others harsh- ly in their personal controversies, he was by no means in- different to his own interests. Slow enough to anger in reference to injuries done to others, he was also slow to suspect or resent insults or injuries intended for himself. But withal he was unrelenting when his anger was once thoroughly aroused. The most that can be said is that 374 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA some of Grant's intimates at that period were inimical to Dana, and had begun to avail themselves of such chances as they had to arouse Grant's suspicion against him. But that their efforts were so early successful can hardly be believed. This view of the case is strengthened by the fact that externally, at least, Grant and Dana remained on friendly if not intimate terms till some time after Grant had become President. This is shown not only by Dana's letters to me during that period, but by the still more important fact that when he was asked in the spring of 1868 to write a Life of Grant, and accepted on the condition that I should collaborate with him in the work, I took the precaution of writing to Rawlins for his views on the en- tire subject before accepting the proposition, which was that I should prepare the text, that Dana should read, re- vise, and amend it as far as necessary, and that the book should be published in our joint names. To this, not- withstanding Grant's understanding with Badeau, and Ba- deau's strenuous objection that any one but himself con- nected with Grant's military career should write his life, Rawlins not only gave his hearty approval, but assured me that neither he nor Grant, with whom he had fully con- ferred, saw the slightest reason why I should not accept Dana's offer, or write the book separately on my own ac- count. There was no suggestion of Dana's unfriendliness in this correspondence, and no doubt cast upon his perfect good faith. Other facts will be cited in their proper order to sustain this view of the case. The troubles with the Chicago Republican began almost immediately after Dana's connection with it. He had scarcely got settled and begun work in earnest before the fact that enough actual capital had not been provided became apparent. I visited him in February, and found that the concern was already crippled by lack of means. The situation was both unexpected and embarrassing. 375 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA As Dana had been compelled to borrow money while in government employment to pay the difference between his meagre salary and his actual expenses, he counted upon the ample salary which had been promised him to pay his debts, put his family in easy circumstances, and begin the accumulation for a rainy day, but this was not to be. On April 30, 1866, he wrote to me: "I have been worked to death since you were here, and much disturbed by difficulties in the Republican. These diffi- culties are serious, and how they will end I don't know. "I shall get out of the concern if I can, unless- it is put on a different basis, and means are raised by the capitalists who have invested in it to carry it through in a satisfactory manner. The publisher is a bad man, and not as judicious as he is smart. That is the essence of the trouble. I am holding on to see what will turn up, and also to save too great a sacrifice in the process of extricating myself. "I conclude that the express company is all up, for I see that J. E. Johnston has been beaten in an attempt to be- come president of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. Where does this leave you, and how soon will you get out of it ? . . . How is Rawlins?" Matters now culminated rapidly. The parties concerned could not raise the money necessary to put the newspaper on a sound footing, and there was nothing for Dana to do but to leave it. He went East in June for a conference with his friends, in consequence of which he decided to start a newspaper of his own in New York. On July 18, 1866, he wrote me from Washington that he was there on business, and had gone over on the same train with General Grant and his family; that Porter and Badeau were in the party; that the heat and dust were stifling, and that he had seen the party the next day in much more comfortable condition. He added: 376 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA ..." Rawlins, too, looks very well, but I notice that his cough still seems very ugly." During this trip he was asked in the interest of General Grant to write a criticism of William Swinton's Decisive Battles, but on account of the pressure of his engagements he was forced to shift the burden to me, at the same time offering to revise my manuscript and to visit me for that purpose should it become necessary. About this time he notified me that a successor to Professor Bache as Super- intendent of the Coast Survey was soon to be appointed, and that I could get the place if it suited me, but he added, the best thing for me was . . . "to get into the great battle of the world in some active position." . . . The next day he wrote to me from New York: "I don't believe Rawlins has made any alliance with . . . the Copperheads. The President is an obstinate, stupid man, governed by preconceived ideas, by whiskey, and by women. He means one thing to-day and another to-morrow, but the glorification of Andrew Johnson all the time. He is capable of almost any enormity, but he will be foiled and covered with even greater infamy than John Tyler. "Send along Swinton as soon as possible. I shall be here certainly till the end of next week, and possibly somewhat longer. Then I shall go to Chicago for a short time." . . . On July 27, 1866, he stopped with me in Delaware on his way to Chicago. While there he sold his house at a profit, and thus made it possible to re-establish his family in New York, although he had not yet secured all of the capital needed for his new venture, and seemed to be quite uncertain as to his ultimate success. Indeed, that project 377 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA proved harder to carry through than he expected. So far as could be seen, there were already enough daily news- papers in New York City, and hence, with all Dana could do, he could not complete his financial arrangements till well towards the close of 1867. Perhaps the delay was a fortunate one both for himself and for his stockholders, for on January 8, 1868, he wrote : "Thanks for your welcome letter. It finds me in the midst of business. "Just as we were about commencing our own paper, the purchase of the Sun was proposed to me and accepted. It has a circulation of from fifty to sixty thousand a day, and all among the mechanics and small merchants of this city. We pay a large sum for it — $175,000 — but it gives us at once a large and profitable business. If you have a thousand dollars at leisure you had better invest it in the stock of our company, which is increased to $350,000, in order to pay for this new acquisition. Of this sum about $220,000 is invested in the Tammany Hall real estate, which is sure to be productive, independent of the business of the paper. . . . "Remember me cordially to Rawlins and the general. I have written to the latter, asking for the discharge from the Second Cavalry of the young German I wrote to you about last summer. His father is very anxious to get him released from his position as a private soldier. If you can put in a word for him, please do so." Before leaving that part of Dana's life connected with the Chicago Republican, it is proper to say that the official files of that newspaper were destroyed with the office in the great fire, and, so far as I have been able to ascertain, there is no other in existence. It is therefore impossible to give either the declaration of principles which guided him, or a summary of the views which he expressed on the topics of the day. The most that can be said is that they were 378 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA independent and vigorous, but not at first specially hostile to Andrew Johnson or his policies. They were doubtless followed logically by the editorials of the New York Sun, and may be inferred generally from them, till the break with General Grant introduced a new era in Dana's life. XXIII PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION Dana buys New York Sun — Prospectus of new management — Supports Grant for President — Opposes impeachment of Andrew Johnson — Independent policy in politics — Defends Grant's military career — Warns South against revolution — Editorial reconstruction — Approves acquittal of President — Letters and editorials — Nominates Greeley for the Cabinet — Favors expulsion of French from Mexico — Holds Great Britain responsible for Alabama claims — Commends initial policy of Grant's administration — Opposes creation of new depart- ments of government — Approves general amnesty — Recommends Greeley' for Grant's Cabinet or Minister to England — " Manifest Des- tiny " or " Continental Union " — Annexation of Haiti and Santo Domingo — Repeal of tenure of office act — Arrest of Samuel Bowles Dana closed the contract for the control of the New York Sun late in December, 1867, or early in January, 1868, for himself and his associates, among whom were such distinguished men as William M. Evarts, Roscoe Conkling, Thomas Hitchcock, Alonzo B. Cornell, Cyrus W. Field, Edwin D. Morgan, George Opdyke, David Dows, Salem H. Wales, William H. Webb, and Freeman Clarke. Sev- eral other gentlemen of nearly equal prominence were in- cluded in the list of stockholders. They were nearly all Republicans, and all influential in the political or com- mercial life of New York and of the country at large. The prospectus of the new management of the newspaper was printed in its editorial page of January 27, 1868. After giving notice that the Sun would henceforth be published from the building known as Tammany Hall, at the corner of Nassau and Frankfort Streets, that the price would re- 380 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION main at two cents, and that the paper would contain more news and other reading matter than heretofore, it made the following comprehensive declaration of policy and principles, over the signature of Charles A. Dana, "man- ager and editor": "In changing its proprietorship, the Sun will not in any respect change its principles or general line of conduct. It will continue to be an independent newspaper, wearing the livery of no party, and discussing public questions and the acts of public men on their merits alone. It will be guided, as it has been hitherto, by uncompromising loy- alty to the Union, and will resist every attempt to weak- en the bonds that unite the American people into one nation. "The Sun will support General Grant as its candidate for the Presidency. It will advocate retrenchment and economy in the public expenditures, and the reduction of the present crushing burdens of taxation. It will advocate the speedy restoration of the South, as needful to revive business and secure fair wages for labor. "The Sun will always have all the news, foreign, domestic, political, social, literary, scientific, and commercial. It will use enterprise and money freely to make the best possible newspaper, as well as the cheapest. "It will study condensation, clearness, point, and will en- deavor to present its daily photograph of the whole world's doings in the most luminous and lively manner. "It will not take as long to read the Sun as to read the London Times or Webster's Dictionary, but when you have read it, you will know about all that has happened in both hemispheres. . . . . . . "We shall endeavor to make the Sun worthy the confidence of the people in every part of the country. Its circulation is now more than fifty thousand copies daily. We mean that it shall soon be doubled; and in this the aid of all persons who want such a newspaper as we propose to make will be cordially welcomed." 381 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA In one of the first numbers of the paper Dana took strong ground in favor of the United States protecting all of its citizens as well as Great Britain protects hers. The occasion was the arrest of George Francis Train, an eccen- tric but harmless citizen, as a Fenian, and this general at- titude was at all times afterwards maintained as Dana's guiding principle in discussing our relations with England and the British empire, for which he had no overweening love or admiration. He appears never to have forgotten the attitude of Britain towards the colonies in their weak- ness, or the States in their distress, and it is safe to say that all through his editorial life his position on all ques- tions of British practice or policy affecting the United States or any other American country or colony could be predicted with absolute certainty as anti-British. The presumption seems to have been ever-present in his mind that it was the immemorial and certain policy of Britain and her statesmen to bully the weak and bow to the strong powers of the earth; to take what they could get away with from those who could not defend themselves, and to respect and cringe to those who were strong enough to re- sist injustice and outrage. From the start he favored the election of Grant as Presi- dent, not so much in admiration of his superior wisdom or virtue as for the central fact that, having been the victori- ous leader of the Union armies against the hosts of the slave-holding Confederacy, he had come to be regarded, since the death of Lincoln and Stanton, by Union men everywhere as the best exponent of the Union cause, and his election would be considered, not only by the American people, but by the world at large, as settling for good and all the question of national sovereignty and the perpetuity of the Union, in which there should be no denial of equal citizenship on account of "race, color, or previous condi- tion of servitude." 382 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION From the first Dana favored "manhood suffrage" and the complete enfranchisement of the freedmen, and ridi- culed the idea that eight hundred thousand black votes could dominate or control five million white ones. He sneered at the cry of negro supremacy, as raised by the Southerners, and declared that the horrid spectre they had conjured, when dragged into the light, '' would turn out to be the veriest phantom." As early as February 7th he took ground against the impeachment of Andrew Johnson as "far too serious an undertaking for the facts and evidence in the case." On the other hand, he severely condemned Johnson's arbitrary methods as sure to lead to trouble of the gravest character. He declared, with emphasis which could not be misunder- stood, that "Law is law, and must be obeyed," and this necessarily included the act of Congress for the protection of Federal office-holders from unjust and partisan removal, as well as the Constitution itself. Knowing from long association with Stanton that he was devoted heart and soul to the cause of the Union, and would countenance no act for its injury, he stood with that distinguished states- man and lawyer for the right of Congress to prescribe every step and lay down every condition precedent for the readmission of the seceding States to the privileges and protection they had rejected when they passed their ordi- nances of secession. He denied the right of the President, of his own motion and prerogative, to fix the terms or to define the steps by which the Southern States might again become sovereign members of the Union. He held it to be the right and duty of the loyal States, through their representatives in Congress, to "so reconstruct the Union as to protect it from future rebellion," and that it was neither just nor decent to denounce this policy as partial and proscriptive. From the first to the last he was firm in the belief that the Congress should take the lead in all 383 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA such matters, and that it should proceed, with deliberation and justice to every interest, to pass the necessary laws to carry this policy into effect. On the all-important question of the national debt and the national currency, he took the ground, in the month of March, 1868, that "If we mean to be honest at all, there is no escaping pay- ment in specie. Anything else is repudiation, disguise it as we may." And this remained his text till the question was settled forever in the only way it could be honestly settled — name- ly, by actually paying every bonded obligation in gold, and by resuming specie payments and making every paper obligation good for its face in that metal. The Sun did as much as any journal in the United States towards bring- ing about this settlement, and in accordance with its in- dependent policy in politics, from the earliest days of Dana's management, it did all in its power to compel the Democratic party to give up its sectional heresies, and plant itself on advanced and patriotic ground broad enough to include the entire Union and all its interests. It desired to see that party as well as the Republican party become national in fact as well as in name, and in discussing the question Dana said: ... "In its earlier days the Democracy had a noble pride in being a party of liberal ideas, radical doctrines, and reformatory measures. ... It relieved and protected the poor by first ameliorating and then abolishing the law authorizing imprisonment for debt. It early became the ardent advo* cate of universal suffrage. . . . When it initiated this measure, the possession of landed property was an essential qualifi- cation both for the holding of office and the exercise of the elective franchise in all the States. ... It should remove the 384 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION debris of its broken-down platforms out of its path; adopt measures consonant with its liberal principles; bow its old- fogy leaders to the rear; summon its vigorous manhood to the front; inscribe progress, retrenchment, and reform upon its banner, and move onward to win victories for the masses in the future as its fathers won triumphs for them in the past. So it may restore its tarnished prestige and regain its lost power." Looking back upon the time of this noble utterance, and the series of political mistakes which for years there- after paralyzed the efforts of the Democratic party, who can find fault with Dana's broad and statesman-like views, or fail to regret that the party to which they were ad- dressed proved to be utterly incapable of accepting or carrying them into effect? They would certainly have made the party national instead of sectional, and might have materially changed the history of the country. It was in March of this year, 1868, that Dana entered into a contract with Gurdon Bill & Co., of Spring- field, Massachusetts, for a Life of General Grant, to be pre- pared mainly by me, edited by Dana, and published over our joint names. 1 The work was limited to one volume, octavo, and was written and printed within three months. It was issued in ample time to assist in the election of Gen- eral Grant to his first term as president. Indeed, that was its principal purpose, and while Dana wrote only three chapters — the thirty-sixth, thirty-eighth, and thirty-ninth — he read, approved, and passed all the rest, rarely ever changing the text in the slightest degree. It is also worthy of note that he never afterwards withdrew any part of his 1 The Life of Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Armies of the United States. By Charles A. Dana, late Assistant Secretary of War, and James H. Wilson, Brevet Major-General, U. S. A. Gurdon Bill & Co., Spring- field, Massachusetts; H. C. Johnson & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; Charles Bill, Chicago, Illinois. Pp. 431. 1868. 385 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA responsibility therefor, or modified his commendation and approval of Grant's military career. Whatever differ- ences arose afterwards between them, or found expression in Dana's criticism, related entirely to Grant's career in civil life. Indeed, it may be confidently asserted that Grant as a soldier, from the beginning to the end of the war, never had a better friend than Dana. The Sun, even in the midst of its bitterest criticism of his career as Presi- dent, and as a candidate for re-election, was always swift to repel the attacks of others who assailed his character and performances as a military man. Long years after all con- troversy was ended, and Grant had failed in business and paid the debt of nature, and Dana himself had become an old man, he reaffirmed all that he had ever said in defence of Grant's generalship either in the Sun, or in the Life to which he had attached 'his name. During the presidential campaign various newspapers, notably the New York World, assailed Grant's character as a general with great vehemence and pertinacity. It charged him with poor strategy and worse battle tactics, alleging that his victory over Lee was due solely to superiority of numbers and resources, and not to superior generalship. It claimed that he had won by "the policy of mere attrition," and pointed to his final report to sustain this view. It quoted the returns of casualties in the Virginia campaign to prove that his tactics were "murderous" and wasteful of human life. These points and many others, as they were brought forward, were answered in the Sun accord- ing to the facts of each case and the military principles applicable thereto. It was on the point of wastefulness of human life that Dana published in the Sun, and afterwards in the Life of Grant, 1 as well as in his own Recollections, 2 official tables 1 Dana and Wilson, Life of General U. S. Grant, p. 430. 2 Dana, Recollections of the Civil War, pp. 210, 211. 386 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION prepared in the War Department, showing that the National armies in Virginia lost more men killed, wounded, and miss- ing, while under its previous leaders, from May 21, 1861, to May 4, 1864, in their futile efforts to capture the Con- federate capital and overthrow the Confederate govern- ment, than did the armies operating in Virginia under General Grant from the time he began his campaign on May 4, 1864, till April 9, 1865, when Richmond was in his hands and Lee and his army were prisoners of war. For the first period the aggregate was 143,925; for the second, 124,390. The difference was something more than two years in time and 19,535 in casualties; and while the larger part of the latter was in captured and missing, the effect was to show conclusively that Grant's tactics were not only more successful in results, but better in quality than those of his predecessors. In view of the fact that the forces engaged were larger than ever before, the argument drawn from these tables was all the more unanswerable. As a matter of history it was never answered, and stands good to this day. It should be observed in connection with this subject that Dana at no time ever contended that Grant was a great organizer or tactician, or that his staff arrangements were perfect. He simply regarded Grant as the best and most successful general we had, and believing with Rawlins and others that he was a modest, disinterested, honest, and unpretending hero, with whom we could win, he did all he could to help him carry his great task through to a success- ful ending. Nobody knew better than Dana what Grant's limitations were, nor better than he where his tactics were bad and his management defective; but it is to his credit that he confined his criticism, both then and afterwards, to the inner circle of those who shared his knowledge and concurred in the faith with which they predicted Grant's ultimate success. 2 6 387 THE LIFE OP CHARLES A. DANA Curiously enough, Dana was never one of those who thought Grant made a mistake in giving up his position for life as General of the Army to accept the temporary office of President. Sherman and many others who knew him well frankly declared their distrust of his ability to sus- tain himself in civil life, or to compete successfully with experienced politicians and statesmen in managing national affairs; but Dana did not agree with them. He and I dis- cussed the question frequently, both then and afterwards, arid I am sure that while he made no effort to disguise his doubts, but relied mainly on Grant's good sense and his willingness to take counsel of those who had known him best and stood next to him, notably as Rawlins had done, Dana felt that it was not a question of personal interest, but one of personal duty; and that while Grant had done much for the country, the country had done much for him, and was entitled to his further sacrifices and services. Even if it had been known, or could have been foreseen, that Grant would make a failure of his civil administration, there is no doubt Dana would still have favored his can- didacy and election, if for no other reason than to settle forever the question of reconstruction on the basis of per- petual Union and national sovereignty. This was the view that Dana took from the first, and I have frequently heard him express the opinion that had Rawlins lived and retained his influence, Grant's civil career would have been as creditable as his military career; and long after Grant's death I heard Dana declare that it was a necessity of the times that the general should be elected; that it was his duty to accept; and that, notwithstanding the mistakes which might be justly charged to his administration, he was entitled to the grateful recollections of his country- men. No one can examine the files of the Sun without be- coming impressed with the soundness and breadth of its 388 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION views on the questions of that period. Dana had taken it over quite recently, and while pledging himself to main- tain its independence in politics, it was necessary in in- creasing its circulation to retain as far as practicable its old readers among the mechanics and shopkeepers of the city, who were mostly Democrats. While he was from the start just and sympathetic towards the South, he warned the Southerners to give no credence to the thought of revo- lution in the North, and to dismiss the idea that the North- erners were "a race of fanatics, Jacobins, agrarians, mer- cenaries, and cowards." He pointed out that the war had to a certain extent exorcised this fantasy, but expressed the prophetic fear that the exorcism would not be com- plete nor the delusion wholly disappear till a new genera- tion should arise "who know not John C. Calhoun and Jefferson Davis." Meanwhile the ignorant and credulous should understand that whatever shall happen in re- gard to the impeachment of the President, no party or creed in the North "has the remotest idea of resorting to a revolution even on the reduced scale of a riot," in order to redress any real or imaginary grievances. He added: . . . "If there had ever been a latent purpose, in one mind in a million, to apply this remedy under any imaginable circumstances, the terrible failure of the Confederate experi- ment has plucked it up by the roots, and will prevent its germinating again for a century to come. "Andrew Johnson may be deposed and disfranchised, and Benjamin Franklin Wade installed in his place; but a people who have seen the life-blood of a quarter of a million of their sons flow out on the battle-field are not going into a frenzy because an accidental President is toppled out of his chair, according to the forms of law, by the men who placed him there, but whose confidence he has betrayed. And if Mr. Wade should, in co-operation with the Senate, remove every Federal office-holder, from his cabinet down to the tide- 389 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA waiters, the people, so far from revolting, would feel rather relieved by the consciousness that no change could let loose upon them a more hungry swarm of vampires. If the ma- jority of Northern electors should regard the condemnation of Mr. Johnson as not justified by the law and the facts of the case, or the administration of Mr. Wade as inopportune or prescriptive, they will redress the wrongs of the former and punish the offences of the latter, not by violence, but through the irresistible yet peaceful energies of the ballot-box. "If, after a sharp struggle, Mr. Pendleton should be de- puted to lift up the official scourge and drive the Republicans from the public crib, so far from raising the sword against him, they would be much more apt to hoist their sails for a profitable voyage on that ocean of greenbacks wherewith he proposes to enrich the country. If, on the other hand, Gen- eral Grant should be sent to the Executive Mansion for the next four years, we should look for a reign of peace and pros- perity both in the North and in the South. The North would turn from its ordinary pursuits barely long enough to read the returns of the election, while the South would cease its resistance to the inevitable sequences of the Rebellion, com- plete the reconstruction of its shattered States, and devote its energies to reviving its depressed industry and educating its ignorant populace. "The North American race is not prone to revolution any more than its Anglo-Saxon progenitor. After many years of civil commotion, accompanied with an occasional crossing of bayonets, England got rid of the Stuarts. She shed but little blood; but even that has sufficed for nearly two cen- turies. After twenty-five years of political strife, followed by four years of terrible war, the United States has destroyed slavery, and its legitimate offspring, secession. Our taste for fighting is satiated. For a century to come the American remedy for the redress of grievances will be a peaceful resort to the ballot-box." Three days later, in an editorial on reconstruction, Dana referred to the elections already held and soon to 390 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION be held in the old slave States as "indicating with pre- cision" the drift of public opinion in the South on the subject of reconstruction. He pointed out that the con- gressional plan was sure to triumph; that the ten seceding States would all be restored to their old-time relations to the Union; would again resume the control of their politi- cal affairs under constitutions framed by themselves; would be represented in both branches of Congress, and would participate in the election of the next President of the United States. In a vein of philosophy he continued : ... "Of course this plan of restoration is not entirely congenial to a large mass of those who took an active part in the Rebellion. This is not surprising. It is not in the nature of things that the conquered party in such a conflict as that through which the country has passed during the last seven years should submit without grievous repinings and a certain show of resistance to the terms imposed by the victors. The South were a proud, a gallant people. Their hopes of independence had been raised to the highest pitch. They had staked their property; they had pledged their honor; they had shed their best blood to achieve a triumph. Their defeat whelmed them in impoverishment and ruin, tarnished their fame, crushed their lofty aspirations, and exposed them to the penalties of treason. The consciousness that the terms of reconciliation have no parallel for mag- nanimity in the history of great civil wars does not replenish their exhausted finances, nor revive their drooping industry, nor heal their wounded honor, nor restore to life their slain sons. Nevertheless, in view of all the circumstances, the defeated class in the South have accepted their new and trying situation with as much equanimity as could have been reasonably anticipated. Their crime was great, and terribly have they expiated it. Their fall has put poor, proud human nature to one of its severest tests, and they have stood the cast of the die with as much self-control as any people in like circumstances in all history. When they shall realize 391 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA that the change has become irrevocably fixed, they will no doubt find it far more tolerable than they expected, and may yet discover that even negro suffrage, under the kindly and skilful management of the old dominating class, will soon cease to be a source of annoyance, and ultimately be- come an element of power." The judgment of the Senate in the case of Andrew John- son, who had been impeached by the House of Representa- tives, was sufficiently indicated by the first ballot taken in the case. On May 19, 1868, Dana published in the Sun an editorial entitled a "Calm Review," which runs as follows : "The Republican party may fairly claim the credit of the most signal impartiality in the conclusion of the impeach- ment trial. "The President was impeached by the act of the Repub- lican majority in the House of Representatives. He was arraigned before the Senate, and tried with patience and in- telligence. The Republicans in the Senate were numerous enough to convict him. The country generally desired to see him ousted. It was felt that it would bring peace where there is now doubt and discord, and that it would tend power- fully to the speedy restoration of the Union and the revival of industry and business. We may even say that the world expected his conviction. It was the first time that the supreme executive officer of a nation had been brought before a tribunal, established by the people, for regular trial, and for peaceful deposition from office in case of conviction. Europe looked on with awe at this novel proceeding. Of course it was not supposed in these monarchical countries that any other result than the removal of the obnoxious executive could possibly follow. "Notwithstanding all this, the trial has ended in acquittal. Mr. Johnson still exercises all the powers of his great office. In spite of party feeling and party pressure, there are seven 392 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION Republican senators who have said, on their oaths, that the evidence and the law would not justify his conviction. It is creditable to these senators that they have had the firm- ness thus to decide. They dislike Mr. Johnson. They detest his character and his policy. But they will not swerve from the line of their convictions on that account. In their judg- ment he is not proved guilty, and so they declare." . . . It will not escape the observation of the intelligent read- er that the judgment which Dana expressed so promptly has long since been accepted, not only by the dispassion- ate people of the country, but even by the radical element of the Republican party, which brought on the impeach- ment and managed the trial of the President. It is now generally conceded that it is a fortunate circumstance that President Johnson was not removed from office, not only because he was not guilty of the "high crimes and misdemeanors" with which he was charged, but because his removal for differing with his party on a novel question of constitutional procedure would have set a precedent by which the independence of the chief executive might have been destroyed, while the character of the government itself would have been so changed as to become more like the revolutionary governments of Latin America than that established by Washington, Hamilton, and Marshall. 1 From this time forth it may be truthfully said that Dana was the Sun, and the Sun Dana. He was the sole arbiter of its policy, and it was his constant practice to supervise every editorial contribution that came in while he was on duty. The editorial page was absolutely his, whether he wrote a line of it or not, and he gave it the characteristic compactness of form and directness of statement which were ever afterwards its distinguishing features. 1 See Dewitt, Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson. 393 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA From the day Dana took charge the paper was success- ful. Its circulation fell off at first, but shortly afterwards began to increase. On June 2, 1868, in writing to his friend Huntington, after saying that his brain and hand were so used up with other writing and other work that he had but little strength or time for private correspondence, he added: . . . "Professionally I may be called prosperous. Since I have had the Sun, now five months, it has not failed to make money, and its subscription lists steadily increase. The profits are not very large, but that they should exist at all is surprising. I did not expect it. I have revolutionized the character of the paper, and as a matter of course increased expenses and lost readers in the process. The cost of making the paper is more than double what it was under its former proprietor, but its income from advertisements has increased also. When its sales are seventy-five thousand daily, as I think they are bound to be, its profits will be handsome, and the fellows who own stock will think themselves lucky. "In politics I maintain entire independence of party rela- tions, but I am going to help elect Grant President." In the same letter he gives an attractive sketch of his family life, of the growth, character, and education of his children, and of his abstention from society, partly because of the exactions of his calling, and partly because "we can't afford to entertain." He gives news of their com- mon friends and classmates, and winds up with pleasant assurances of the hospitality which his friend should hasten home to enjoy. In conclusion he says: . . . "Perhaps you are waiting till I am rich enough to spend a few weeks in coming to fetch you. What a jolly time that would be, to be sure ! And how you would endeavor, all in vain, to lead me into useless disputations on all matters 394 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION whatever. Yet I will promise to humor you sufficiently in that regard, and so for the present good-bye." And this brings us to the election of General Grant as first President of the re-United States. His nomination by the Republicans was from the first a foregone conclusion; but when it came, and Dana gave it his unqualified ap- proval, as he did, he again notified his readers that he did so, not as a partisan, but as a free American citizen. In the Sun of May 22, 1868, he wrote: . . . "In bestowing commendation upon him, we reserve to ourselves the privilege of dealing as fairly and impartially by the nominee of the Democratic party as by him. The organ and champion of neither party, we shall speak freely of each according to its merits, and hold the balance with even justice between the two, during the exciting canvass upon which the country is now entering." He had already expressed the opinion that it would be good policy for the Democrats to nominate Chase, as that would give us . . . "the two foremost men of the country leading the two opposing parties. It would be a spectacle worthy of the best days of the republic." In commenting upon Grant's nomination, which, not- withstanding the moderation of his views and the mag- nanimity of his conduct, was received by the South not only with disapproval, but with threats and predictions on the part of the turbulent and irreconcilable element of the Democratic party, throughout the entire country, that his election would be followed by disorder and possibly by further rebellion, Dana, on August 8, 1868, sounded a note of warning which, coming from an independent journal, attracted wide attention. It runs, in part, as follows: 395 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA ..." In 1856 the Democratic leaders beyond the Potomac threatened that, in the event of the choice of Fremont, they would not submit to his administration, but would appeal to the sword. The great majority of our citizens then re- garded this as empty gasconade; but when, in 1860, on the election of Lincoln, they attempted to reverse the decision of the ballot-box by a resort to the battle-field, we saw that their declaration of 1856 was no idle threat. The Spanish- American mode of retrieving the loss of a Presidential cam- paign has been once tried by the Southern Democracy. The experiment has cost the nation seven thousand millions of dollars and one million of lives, and has entailed upon us and our posterity a debt of three thousand millions of money, with its necessary accompaniment of remorseless taxation, putting the democratic theory of government to the severest tests ever endured by any people in all history. "Not accepting in quietude and submission the scathing retribution that followed their great crime, many of these ex-rebels and ex-traitors — surviving as they do through the generosity of General Grant, whom they pursue with their malignant hate, and through the clemency of the govern- ment, of which they have proved themselves so unworthy — again threaten that, in case they suffer a defeat at the polls in the coming autumn, they will, heedless of their recent dis- comfiture, once more appeal from the verdict of the hustings to the arbitrament of arms; while, on the other hand, they declare with marked emphasis that, if they are successful in the pending struggle, they will, under the protection of the administration, and in spite of recent amendments to the Federal Constitution, and of the new constitutions of their several States, and of the enactments both of Congress and their legislatures, restore the Lost Cause by forcibly resuming and exercising all the rights they forfeited by the Rebellion. "The main question, then, involved in the present con- test, and by the side of whose colossal proportions all matters concerning reconstruction and finance dwindle into insignifi- cance, is whether our citizens will tolerate in this country the Spanish-American mode of setting aside the legitimate result 396 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION of a Presidential election, either by the defeated minority on the one hand, or the triumphant majority on the other, re- sorting to violent measures to retrieve the losses of the former or redress the grievances of the latter. "The American people must meet this question in limine. These baffled conspirators threaten violence whatever may be the result of the election. Patriotic men of both parties, rising superior to the claims and clamors of faction, must, through the omnipotence of the ballot, trample the last throe and wriggle of life out of this pestilent serpent of Nullification and Revolution." During the period of doubt as to the result of the im- peachment trial, it was considered possible that the presi- dent of the Senate, then Mr. Wade, of Ohio, might succeed Andrew Johnson, and in this event that the cabinet would necessarily be reorganized. This gave rise to much specu- lation as to its probable composition. Many names were discussed in the Sun, but that of Horace Greeley was counted as the first. In presenting it on April 30th, Dana used the following language: ..." Of Mr. Greeley's capacity for the office of Secretary of State, the Republican party can have no manner of doubt since his famous letter to the blockheads of the Union League. 1 He has the advantage of Mr. Seward that he can be brief and forcible. Mr. Greeley's political record is without reproach." It will be remembered that from the time Dana left the Chicago Republican till he took charge of the Sun he con- tributed to no public journal, and took no public part in shaping national policies, but he was an observant specta- tor of both national and international events. From the end of the Civil War, and before the volunteer army was disbanded, he held that the first duty of the government 1 See Partem, IAfe of Horace Greeley, p. 515. 397 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA at Washington was to enforce the Monroe Doctrine, as against the usurpation of Maximilian and his French allies. He favored their expulsion from Mexico by force if necessary, and felt confident that, as soon as they knew the purposes of the United States, they would go without waiting for an appeal to arms. He also favored the policy of holding Great Britain to a rigid account- ability for the damage done to American shipping by the Confederate cruisers which had been built, fitted out, and permitted to sail from English sea-ports. On these two great questions Dana was emphatically an American. He affected no love for Great Britain, and the letters he wrote from Paris in 1848, and the editorials he after- wards published in the Tribune, . show that he had less for Louis Napoleon, and no confidence whatever in the stability of his dynasty. Long before our own troubles culminated he wrote: "No one can predict when the great edifice of fraud, violence, plunder, political pretence, and incapacity which constitutes the Second Empire will come to an end. The result is certain; the time and the mode depend upon acci- dent. But we know that Louis Napoleon has outlived his proper period, and we may at any hour be called to witness the closing catastrophe of this strange, eventful, unenviable career." From the date of Grant's election the question upper- most in the public mind was reconstruction, "which had been needlessly procrastinated " — as declared by the Sun — " under an administration that had forfeited the confidence and respect of the country," but which would be so com- pleted by its successor that before the next anniversary of our independence "every star would be restored to its appropriate place upon the national ensign, and a pro- tracted and bitter controversy would be brought to a felicitous close." 398 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION General Grant was specially commended as having early "set his face against any increase of the public expenses," as well as against " the encouragement of schemes of doubt- ful utility," or of such "as ought to rely on their own re- sources, although they might justly claim to be beneficial to the public." There was, perhaps not unnaturally, a pronounced ten- dency at that time on every hand to transfer all sorts of business to the general government; but this tendency re- ceived no support from Dana. To the contrary, he declared that all efforts in that direction "demand the closest scrutiny from the sincere friends of liberty," and that "hands off" is the true doctrine in a republic towards the government on all subjects which can be managed by in- dividual enterprise. These ideas received additional sup- port from the utterances of E. B. Washburne, who, as the representative from Grant's home district, was regarded as the spokesman of the new administration, both in and out of Congress. On the strength of , his speeches, as well as on account of a notable one delivered by General Raw- lins at Galena, their common home, the Sun inferred that the cardinal measures of Grant's policy would be rigid economy, searching retrenchment, strict accountability on the part of every office-holder, especially on the part of those charged with the collection and disbursement of the public moneys, the supremacy of the laws, and their rigid enforce- ment in every branch of the government and in every section of the Union. In the belief that the operations of the Federal govern- ment should be minimized rather than enlarged, Dana in- stinctively took strong ground against the creation of new executive departments and the exercise of new powers by the national administration. In condemnation of this idea, he contended that the time had come to start once again upon the true Democratic theory of simplifying the 399 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA machinery and reducing the importance of the central government. This conviction doubtless had much to do in bringing about the break between Dana and the ad- ministration he had done so much to put in power. At all events he took an early occasion to declare that liberty of the press is essential to the security of personal freedom, and that it was his "religious belief" that "men must be at liberty to say in print whatever they have a mind to say in print, provided it wrongs no one." On the other hand, he contended that "the right of silence is every bit as sacred as the right of speech," and that "the practice of publishing private conversations without special permis- sion should be regarded as a vulgar and reprehensible encroachment upon the right of every man to have his sentiments communicated to the public only by his own volition." This sound and decorous principle became thenceforth the rule of the Sun. It was during the month of June, 1868, that it was pro- posed in Congress to lay a tax upon the interest paid on government bonds. As this was generally regarded as looking towards repudiation, Dana made haste to declare that if the members who voted for it "had any sense of shame left they would never show their heads among honest people." Having always stood for sound money and honest gov- ernment, he complimented Horatio Seymour, the Demo- cratic governor of New York, as "a life-long believer in hard money." On the other hand, he denounced Butler, who had recently become a Democratic representative from Massachusetts, for bringing forward the proposition to strike from the United States legal -tender notes "the promise to pay in dollars." This, he pointed out, as a trans- parent effort to establish "fiat money," in opposition to which Dana promptly contended that there could be no value in government paper because the word " dollar was 400 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION inscribed on it," unless it expressed or implied by unmis- takable language that it was exchangeable for its equiva- lent in specie. In support of this honest contention, he urged, a few days later, that the first thing to be done in order to bring the country into a healthy financial condi- tion was to "raise the national credit so that its promises to pay . . . should be universally regarded as equal to the gold itself." As a fitting commemoration of Independence Day, Dana gave hearty commendation to Andrew Johnson's proclama- tion of amnesty to all political offenders. He and Greeley stood together on the wisdom of that liberal and timely measure. A few weeks later Dana declared that Jefferson Davis should also be pardoned, that no good could come from trying him for treason, and that he and his efforts against the Union " should be left to be dealt with by his- tory." In this he and Greeley stood together again, and it is most creditable to Dana that never at any time did he show the slightest ill-feeling, but, to the contrary, availed himself of every opportunity to commend the patriotism and ability of the man who had caused his discharge from the Tribune only a few years before. He strongly favored his election to the Senate, and recommended him for a place in the cabinet of Wade, in case that senator should be called upon to succeed President Johnson. But this is not all. When the public began to speculate on Grant's cabi- net, Dana brought Greeley's name forward with those of E. B. Washburne and Marshall 0. Roberts, as in every way worthy of favorable consideration. Not satisfied with this, or fearing that Greeley would not be chosen, he set forth his special fitness for the position of minister to England, which has always been justly regarded as the most im- portant post connected with the diplomatic service' of the United States. It will be recalled that although a rebellion against 401 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA the dominion of Spain broke out in Cuba in 1868, it for some time attracted but little attention in the United States. Dana was one of the first American editors to recognize the justice of the outbreak, and to express his sympathy for the Cuban people. In doing so he took occasion to say, September 29, 1868: . . . "The natural tendency of all the countries lying round the United States is to gravitate towards our system, and finally to become parts of it. To this rule Cuba forms no exception." It is needless to call attention to the fact that this is the doctrine of "Manifest Destiny," or "Continental Union," which Dana, from that time, never lost an oppor- tunity to promote. His sympathy for the Cubans through- out both their wars for independence was open and earnest. His first article was followed shortly by another favoring a declaration of sympathy on the part of Congress, and authorizing the President to recognize the independence of the Cuban people, when they should have established a republican form of government. For this, and for his constant friendship, the Cuban patriots soon recognized and ever afterwards held him to be the best and foremost friend they had in the United States. It should also be said that Dana at first opposed and then, after seeing the treaty which Seward had ne- gotiated for that purpose, favored the acquisition of the Danish island of St. Thomas. About the same time he ad- vocated the annexation of both Haiti and Santo Domingo "on fair and honorable terms," as the best means then feasible of making our position in the West Indies secure. In order to relieve Grant's administration from embar- rassment, he favored the repeal of the tenure of office act, which, it will be remembered, was passed for the restraint 402 PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION of President Johnson, and advocated the early adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which provides that the right of suffrage shall not be abridged by the United States, nor by any State "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." In local matters Dana took grounds against imprison- ment for debt, and against the New York law prohibiting the sale of liquor, as both unsound and ineffective. On the arrest of his friend Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Re-publican, while visiting New York, for libel, he not only condemned the act, but denied the right of any citizen of Massachusetts to use the courts of New York in any such case. All unconscious of its bearing upon himself in the future, he held then that it was of the essence of justice and the constitutional right of every American citizen to be tried by the laws and within the limit of his own State for any crime with which he might be charged against the people of that State. XXIV GRANT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION New York Sun as an independent newspaper — Rawlins Secretary of War — Dana recommended for collector of customs — Washburne secures appointment of Moses Grirmell — Dana commends appoint- ment — Grant's cabinet announced — Wide-spread disappointment — • Nominations of Stewart and Borie regarded with amazement — Raw- lins highly commended — No splendid administrations — Call for Borie's resignation — Dana declines appraisership of merchandise — Criticises Grant's use of Tallapoosa — The " Black Friday " conspiracy — Frauds in the custom-house — Death of General Rawlins — Appointment of Belknap — Sun opposes Hoar's confirmation — Condemns Secretary Fish From the preceding chapter it will be evident to the most casual reader that Dana, from the beginning, con- formed strictly to the principles which he had laid down for his government in the conduct of the Sun. From the day he took charge of it he made it an independent news- paper in the broadest sense of the words. While it sup- ported Grant for the presidency, it wore the livery of no party. While it discussed every public question and commented on the acts of every public man as occasion required, it must be admitted that it did so in no personal sense, but upon their merits alone. If the freedom of the press is essential to the freedom of the citizen, absolute independence of judgment on the part of the editor is not only his highest privilege, but his highest duty to the public. As the future course of this narrative will show, the Sun was never anything if not independent. In mak- ing it so, Dana estranged many friends, but while he 404 GRANT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION was not indifferent to their good opinions, as many sup- posed him to be, nothing turned him from the course he thought it his duty to pursue. He may not have been right always in the details of his statements or opinions, and probably cared but little for the mere appearance of consistency in what he said from day to day, but it is certain that he pursued the general course he had chosen with unfaltering constancy and fearlessness to the end. And it was by these virtues, commingled as they may have been from time to time with faults and errors of detail, that the Sun soon came to be the most widely read and most fre- quently quoted newspaper of the United States. Its style was terse and vigorous, clear and luminous, from the start. Whatever was worth saying at all was worth saying well, and in language which no man could affect to misunder- stand. Statesmen, lawyers, preachers, professors, and educated men of every calling read it with avidity, and this fact made it possible, not only by its utterances, but by the persistency with which it reiterated them, to exert a tremendous influence upon every occasion in shaping public opinion. During the month of February, 1869, while staying with General Grant in Washington, he read his inaugural ad- dress to J. Russell Jones, of Chicago, and myself, and in- vited our comments upon all important subjects except the cabinet. This he naively told us he regarded as "a purely personal matter" which he would not discuss with any one, not even with his wife. He gave us his views freely about many prominent civilians and soldiers, and asked us for the names of such as we thought worthy of consideration and place. On this hint we reminded him of a number he had not mentioned. It was during the first of these interesting conferences that he told us, in answer to a direct inquiry that he intended to send Rawlins, the chief of staff of the army, to command the Department 405 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA of Arizona, in the hope that the dry atmosphere and out- of-door life of that region would restore his health; and he specially authorized me to make this known to Rawlins. Thig was done the next day, when I was by no means surprised to learn that Rawlins was not only not pleased with the general's intention, but wanted to be Secretary of War, and thought himself fully entitled to that honor. Thereupon the matter was discussed in all its bearings, and finally at the request of Rawlins, I laid his views be- fore the general. Much to my gratification, the general, without the slightest hesitation or disappointment, directed me to tell Rawlins that he should be Secretary of War, but that he would have to wait a while, possibly thirty days, because he had asked Schofield to hold over. The matter was arranged accordingly, but instead of holding over a month, Schofield went out, and Rawlins went into the War Department on March 9th, the sixth day after the inauguration. I have General G. M. Dodge's authority for the statement that he took the same view of Rawlins's case, and received the same assurance that had been given to me. I have related these facts with greater detail perhaps than necessary, because they led to many other conferences, one of which at least was germane to this narrative. Know- ing that Rawlins not only had great influence with Gen- eral Grant, but as much interest in the success of his civil as he had had in his military administration, I talked with him even more fully than with Grant about both men and measures. We discussed the merits of many with whom we had become intimate during the war, and among the first of these was Charles A. Dana. We agreed that he had rendered both Grant and the government most important service; that he was a vital, able man; and that having a metropolitan newspaper fast rising into popularity and influence, he could be of great benefit to the new adminis- 406 GRANT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION tration. In consideration of the fact that he could not with justice to his own interests leave his newspaper, we concluded that the most suitable place for him was that of Collector of Customs at New York. Rawlins, who was a prudent man, took the matter under further advisement, and at our next meeting, not only expressed his concur- rence in the conclusion we had reached, but requested me to inform Dana that he was to have that place, and this was without qualification or condition. Feeling that it was a wise decision, I made haste to communicate it both by letter and in person. Inasmuch as Rawlins was at that time seeing Grant daily, and discussing every sort of ques- tion with him, except such as were personal to himself, I assumed that they had considered and decided upon Dana's appointment together, and that Rawlins had full authority for the assurance he had authorized me to give to Dana. This and this alone is consistent with the char- acter of Rawlins and his relations to Grant; but the matter hung fire, and, greatly to the surprise of many, Moses Grin- nell, a gentleman of much less consideration, received that appointment, while a month later an inferior place in the same service was offered to Dana. What or who caused this change of purpose has always been a matter of conjecture with me. It will be remem- bered that E. B. Washburne, Grant's first friend in public life, was also his first Secretary of State, and although he held office but a few days, for the purpose, as the President himself explained at the time, of giving him "special prestige as minister to France," he was most active, in the short interval allowed him, in disposing of patronage and breaking political slates. While it is evident that Grant wanted to do the proper thing, and appear not ungrateful to Washburne, it is also evident that he did not intend to have that aggressive statesman too near at hand, and there- fore decided to send him as far away as possible. That 407 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Dana concurred in this is hardly consistent with the as- sumption of the Sun that Washburne was to have a cabi- net position. What Washburne's real feelings were tow- ards Dana cannot be positively stated on any evidence in my possession, but the chances are that they were inimical. He was a strong, aggressive, and ambitious public man, not over-fond of his rivals nor over-lenient to the people he did not like. Having been long in political life, and a Republican before it was popular to be one, he had many debts to pay and many friends to reward. Grinnell was widely known at the time as a gentleman of the high- est character, but he was without political prominence, and was besides regarded as a special friend of Seward, which of itself could scarcely have commended him to Gen- eral Grant, no matter what might have been his rela- tions with Washburne. In making the announcement of this appointment in the editorial page of the Sun, March 26th, Dana certainly showed no feeling of resentment. He stated truly that it was regarded as a victory of the Seward faction over the Greeley faction of the Republican party in New York, and that . . . "it was all the more interesting from the fact that General Grant was supposed to have cherished anything but a feeling of love for the late Secretary of State, ever since the celebrated question of veracity in which Mr. Seward took the side of President Johnson." . . . It is to be noted that Dana went out of his way to add: . . . "For our own part, notwithstanding our sympathies are with the Greeley wing, we are not going to complain be- cause such a jolly veteran as Moses H. Grinnell has got a good thing. He is a splendid specimen of a New York mer- chant prince, and we do not question that he will leave the 408 GRANT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION collectorship, four or eight years hence, with his popularity undiminished." 1 There can be no doubt that this article expressed the real sentiments of Dana; but without reference to his feel- ings, or to those of the public at the time, the preference given to Grinnell over Dana must from every point of view be regarded as a political mistake, no matter who may have been responsible for it. It will be recalled that Dana had been charged with un- friendliness to Grant because he had criticised the terms of Lee's capitulation, and had opposed Washburne's bill, passed in 1866, reviving the grade of general for Grant's special benefit. It will also be proper to recall that in taking charge of the Sun, some eighteen months later, he had given fair notice to the country that it was to be an independent newspaper, that it would wear no party's collar, that it would discuss both men and measures solely on their merits, and that Grant's first official act as Presi- dent — the announcement of his cabinet — was not only to surprise the country greatly, but was to put Dana's good- will rudely to the test. If he had been merely an office- seeker, or willing to use his newspaper for the promotion of his personal interests, he could have remained silent, if he could not have commended the cabinet appointments which so greatly surprised even Grant's most intimate political friends. Taken as a whole, those appointments were a great shock to the party leaders of every grade, and especially so to the Senate, whose advice and consent must be had before the gentlemen named could enter upon their respective duties. They were: E. B. Washburne, for Secretary of State; A. T. Stewart, for Secretary of the Treasury; John M. 1 Grinnell served 1869-70, and was succeeded by Thomas Murphy. 409 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Schofield, holding over as Secretary of War; Jacob D. Cox, Secretary of the Interior; Adolph E. Borie, Secretary of the Navy; John A. J. Creswell, Postmaster-General; E. Rock- wood Hoar, Attorney-General. With the exception of Washburne, the list contained not a single name that any newspaper or political organization had ever suggested or, so far as known, had ever thought of for a Cabinet position, but, as has already been shown Washburne's appointment was temporary, and merely for the purpose of giving him prestige. As a matter of fact, he held office but a few days, when he was succeeded by Hamilton Fish, who had been so long absent from ac- tive public life that he was almost forgotten. Dana alone had remembered and mentioned him as a fit man for the Treasury Department, but he was completely unknown to the country at large, and Dana's mention of him at- tracted but little attention at the time. The nominations of Stewart and Borie were received with amazement. They were both merchants, entirely without experience in official life. Neither had ever held even the most insignificant office. Stewart was at the time the greatest merchant in the country, if not in the world; but, as he was largely engaged in the importing trade, he was absolutely disqualified from holding the office by a statute which had been long upon the books. It is not strange that Grant, a simple soldier, should have been ignorant of the law, which the newspapers, if not the senators, made haste to bring to his attention, but, instead of withdrawing the appointment at once, the President committed a still greater blunder by asking Congress to repeal the law. As this request was received with dis- favor, the nomination of Stewart was after a few days reluctantly withdrawn, and that of George S. Boutwell was substituted for it. But if Stewart's name was received with amazement, 410 GRANT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION Borie's was received with ill - concealed contempt. He was a most amiable and benevolent person, not even en- gaged in active business. He was a loyal and, to the ex- tent of very limited abilities, a trustworthy gentleman, who knew absolutely nothing about any department of the government, least of all about the navy. Recogniz- ing this, it was speedily made known that Admiral Porter had been, or would be, detailed as his principal assistant; but, instead of mending matters, this made them worse. Borie accepted the office and entered upon his duties; but when it became generally known that both he and Stewart had been liberal contributors to the fund for the purchase of a house for General Grant, and that the general's acquaintance with them dated from that purely personal transaction, the outcry became so great that Borie was presently forced to resign. His place was filled by George M. Robeson, an inconspicuous citizen of Camden, New Jersey, whose management of the depart- ment [finally brought serious discredit upon the adminis- tration. Doubtless in ignorance of the fact that the appointment was only temporary, Dana spoke of Washburne for the Department of State with unqualified approval. He char- acterized him as an experienced legislator "of vigorous, masculine intellect" and "thorough American feeling," who would surely maintain "the honor and the interests of our country in the momentous debates then pending with Great Britain and other foreign powers." With the understanding that Schofield would soon be replaced as Secretary of War by General Rawlins, Dana made haste to say of the latter: ... "No better man can be found for that office or any other. Able, original, true, and brave, there are few Ameri- cans of higher moral and intellectual worth than he." 411 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA This was followed by an appreciative estimate of Hoar's high qualities as a gentleman, a lawyer, and a judge. This was followed by the prophetic statement that ..." this is a working and not an ornamental cabinet. It contains a great deal of business faculty and comparatively little experience in the art and science of politics. We may be sure of one thing, however, and that is that there will be no conflict either of views or of ambition between its mem- bers and their chief." And so it turned out. Such of the first cabinet, as well as their successors, as had views of their own, or had man- ifested any noticeable degree of independence, were forced after a shorter or longer probation to throw up their posi- tions and return to private life. It is not germane to this narrative to discuss Grant's cabinet further at present. It is sufficient at this time to say that it was generally regarded as a chance body chosen rather for personal than political reasons. So far as can now be ascertained, it was not approved as a whole by a single newspaper, either Republican, Democratic, or in- dependent, in the United States, but it was widely and generally disapproved. Dana's criticism was neither more harsh nor more unfriendly than that of his contemporaries. They were greatly disappointed with the cabinet as a whole; and when Grant proposed that Stewart should be relieved of the legal disabilities which excluded him from the Treasury, they generally concurred with Dana, not only in pronouncing the proposal to be a mistake, but in holding that the law which interdicts from the Treasury every person engaged in trade, and every dealer in public securities, was wise and salutary. While this was the independent view of the matter, it was doubtless distasteful to the thick-and-thin supporters of the administration, 412 GRANT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION if not to Grant in person. Although Dana followed it by the commendation of Alonzo B. Cornell's appointment to the office of Surveyor of the Port as " one of perfect fit- ness," and by hearty praise of the President for recalling the order by which he had placed the administration of the army and the military bureaus under the general-in-chief , and returned it to the Secretary of War, where the law puts it, the other newspapers, and especially the Tribune, were swift to attribute Dana's criticism, mild as it was, to personal disappointment. While Dana ridiculed this imputation, he held inflexibly to the independent course he had adopted. He declared Sherman to be an honest man, but did not hesitate to say that his acceptance of one hundred thousand dollars, with which to buy a home in Washington, made it undesirable that he should be placed in charge of business which was of such great concern to the army contractors. On March 29th Dana questioned the Tribune's predic- tion that Grant's administration would be a "splendid" one, but this seems to have been little more than a verbal criticism based upon the fact that "the government is run mainly by Congress," and that "there have not been any splendid administrations." But on April 1st the Sun contained an article of far greater importance, urging that Borie should quit the Navy Department for reasons . . . "which are very simple but very strong. "In the first place, he is unable to do the duties of the of- fice, [although] Admiral Porter has been assigned to assist him. "In the second place, he is a pecuniary benefactor of Gen- eral Grant. He has given the general money; he was a large contributor towards the purchase of a house in Philadelphia, worth some fifty thousand dollars, which was presented to the general. Mr. Borie has got himself into this false posi- tion, hurtful to himself, still more hurtful to General Grant, and most of all hurtful to the dignity and the welfare of the 413 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA country, without sufficiently reflecting upon the grave and pregnant error he was committing." Dana drove this criticism home a few weeks later by the question, " Is there a man in this country who believes that, if Mr. Borie had been a poor man and unable to con- tribute money to General Grant in Philadelphia, he would to-day have been at the Navy Department?" Of course, such language was distasteful to those concerned. It was certainly based upon a higher ideal of public life than seems to have prevailed in Washington at that time and after- wards, but that General Grant himself seriously objected to the first part of it, at least, is far from being apparent. If he had any feeling about it at all, it was doubtless one of approval rather than disapproval, for two weeks later he sent Dana's nomination to the Senate as appraiser of merchandise at the New York custom-house. The Trib- une announced this appointment in terms of mock ex- ultation, to which Dana replied the next day in an editorial introducing an official letter which he had received from Secretary Boutwell, with whom he was on terms of per- sonal friendship. It was dated at the Treasury Depart- ment, April 14, 1869, and runs as follows: "You will have heard of your nomination as appraiser — an office for which probably you have neither taste nor in- clination, and which, regarding your own claims only, should not have been tendered you, and yet I hope you will not decline it. It is the point on which our success in collecting the customs revenues turns, and I know of no place in which you can render so efficient aid to the government. " If you accept, as I sincerely hope you will, I shall esteem it a personal favor, and you may count on my constant support." Dana's reply is an excellent illustration of his style, as well as of his independence and his views of public 414 GRANT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION duty. It is dated, "Sun Office, April 17, 1869," and is here inserted in full: "Your unexpected favor of the 14th instant was duly re- ceived. It would have been more speedily answered but for the personal request with which it closes. In these days of corruption in high places as well as low places, no upright citizen ought hastily to refuse such a request; but, after due consideration, I find myself constrained to decline this mark of esteem and confidence. I beg you, however, to believe that this is not done from either of the reasons you suggest. Having been educated to commercial pursuits, the office is not repugnant to my tastes; and as for serving the govern- ment at some sacrifice of my own interests and convenience, I trust that during the past few years I have sufficiently proved my readiness to do it. But I already hold an office of responsibility as the conductor of an independent news- paper, and I am persuaded that to abandon it or neglect it for the functions you offer me would be to leave a superior duty for one of much less importance. Nor is it certain that I cannot do more to help you in the pure and efficient administration of the Treasury Department by remaining here and denouncing and exposing political immorality than I could as appraiser by the most zealous effort to insure the faithful and honest collection of the customs." This incident was much commented upon by the Sun's contemporaries, one of which charged that Dana had turned on Grant and his administration for the reason that he had not been appointed collector. So far as I know, he was never an applicant for that or any other office. The action which I had taken with General Rawlins in his behalf was entirely on my own responsibility, in the interest of General Grant and his administration, and in the conviction that the appointment was one in every way fit to be made. I felt that Dana was entitled to it, by both his military and his political services, and that 415 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA it would prove advantageous to the country at large, as well as to the Treasury. Rawlins fully concurred in this opinion. But without regard to the cause or motive by which Dana's policy as editor of the Sun was controlled, it turned out that henceforth he found much in the current action of the administration to condemn, and that this * condemnation interested the public at large, however dis- tasteful it may have been to the office-holders and the men "inside of politics." Within two months a breach had occurred, which by the end of six had become impas- sable. Dana's absolute independence was now an impor- tant factor in the discussions of the day, and, while many conservative and prudent people did not hesitate to say that he was going too far and becoming entirely too personal in his criticisms, the circulation of the paper in- creased rapidly, and its revenues kept pace with its circu- lation. Borie resigned on June 26th, but that did not change Dana's course. In July Grant took the Talla- poosa, a naval vessel, for his private use, and this was disapproved by the Sun. Although the President is the constitutional commander-in-chief of the army and navy, this act was regarded as an innovation on the practice of his predecessors. It has since come to be a common cus- tom, and now passes without special comment. Later in the month the Sun called for a mass-meeting to denounce the shooting of American citizens by the Spanish authorities in Cuba, without trial. It had al- ready expressed the opinion that the administration was too lenient towards the Spanish government, and " should retrace its steps." It had severely commented upon Grant's acceptance of a gift of land in New Jersey, and in August it criticised him for . . . "the corrupting and demoralizing practice of giving office in return for presents, his fatal disregard of law, his petty for- 416 GRANT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION eign policy, and his deplorable failure to represent the senti- ment and to promote the manifest destiny of the country." This was preceded by a severe condemnation of United States Marshal Barlow for resisting his own arrest, under the advice of the President, who had written him a personal letter authorizing and requesting him to defy the processes and officers of the State courts, no matter under what pre- text they might assume to act. In September of that year a conspiracy was formed by men both inside and outside of Wall Street to raise the price of gold, whereupon the Sun called upon the Treas- ury Department " to block the game of this unscrupulous ring," and this was done, mainly through the President's own intervention, on what came to be known as "Black Friday." The story of that memorable day, involving as it did many distinguished names, has never been fully told, but one of its consequences was to call forth a letter from General Grant to Robert Bonner, which was widely pub- lished and commented upon. In its issue of October 16th, the Sun, after praising the President for writing it, "as one of the most sensible things he had ever done," declared: . . . "This letter disposes of the efforts to involve Gen- eral Grant with the gold conspirators. He had no more to do with the gold speculation than any other innocent man, except that he ordered gold sold, and thus broke the ring. The plans of the conspirators to involve General Grant, and thus to make their own fortune or ruin his reputation, were very skilful and adroit, but his plain, straightforward letter scatters them all to the winds. The whole country will be- lieve. General Grant, and will regard his letter with satisfaction." This clear and unequivocal commendation was never recalled. When it is considered in connection with many other utterances to the same effect, it shows beyond ques- 417 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA tion that Dana regarded Grant always as an honest man. It is interesting to note, however, that in commenting a few days later upon the appointment of a successor to the Assistant Treasurer of the United States, who had been removed for complicity in the gold conspiracy, the Sun declared that " no man can be appointed who has made donations of money, houses, horses, or anything else to General Grant." And this declaration was emphasized by the fact that after Grinnell's removal was called for, on account of the prevalence of frauds in the custom-house, it was dis- covered that he had also been one of the contributors to the fund for the benefit of General Grant. The death of General Rawlins, which took place Sep- tember 9, 1869, removed from the office of Secretary of War not only a very able man, 1 but a most fearless and devoted friend to General Grant. The loss was an irrep- arable one, for while Rawlins had been in no way con- sulted in the make-up of the cabinet, he was the only man in it, with the exception of General Cox, specially noted for independence of character, or who had known General Grant intimately from his obscure beginnings to the end of the war. Every other member of it made his ac- quaintance after the war was over, and all naturally thought that a man who had been so great a general must necessarily be also a great statesman. At all events, they seemed to act on this theory. Those of them, like Fish, who had no views in opposition to those of the Presi- dent, held their places to the end, while those like Cox and Hoar of the first lot, and like Bristow and Jewell of a later date, who had views of their own, sooner or later found themselves forced to resign. The appointment of Belknap, a soldier of excellent edu- 1 See Schofield, Forty-six Years in the Army, pp. 323, 420, 421. 418 GRANT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION cation and of fair abilities, although without experience in politics, was well received by the country and the disbanded volunteer army. Dana, who had known him during the Vicksburg campaign, commended it, but rather on ac- count of the independence Belknap had shown towards a kinsman of Grant's living in Iowa, who had claimed to control the internal-revenue appointments for that State, than for any special fitness for a cabinet position. While Belknap was technically an excellent Secretary of War, his career was unfortunately closed by scandal and impeach- ment, under circumstances that the Sun, in common with the independent and opposition newspapers throughout the country, did not fail to denounce. Although Dana had come to be an unsparing critic of the administration before the end of its first year, he did not fail to praise the President whenever an opportunity presented itself. He specially commended him for adopt- ing Secretary Seward's policy of purchasing Haiti and acquiring Santo Domingo. He also praised the President's views on the currency question as "sound and statesman- like," while on the other hand he criticised him severely for advocating the renewal of the income tax, which had been passed as a war measure with a specific declaration on the part of Congress that it should continue till 1870, and "no longer." Dana regarded this as a species of re- pudiation, alike injurious to the government and the busi- ness of the country. Somewhat later the Sun came out strongly against the nomination of Hoar, of Massachu- setts and of the cabinet, for a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court, for the circuit formerly represented by Justice Wayne, of Georgia. While it could say nothing against the eminent fitness of Hoar, it opposed his confirmation on account of his locality, and pronounced the appointment as " one of the most repugnant cases of carpet-bag-ism which had marked the era of reconstruc- 2 8 419 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA tion." The Republican Senate appears to have agreed with the Sun, for it rejected the nomination with no excuse and but little delay. About this time the Sun condemned Fish for permitting his son-in-law to be counsel for the Spanish government, and for not stopping the war against Cuba. It contended that the United States, with- in "five years after the abolition of slavery at home," were permitting themselves "to be used to fasten slavery and the slave-trade anew upon the people of Cuba." While the Sun from the first favored the annexation of Santo Domingo by honorable means, it came out in January, 1870, against " the consummation of the iniquitous scheme . . . without the honest consent of the Dominican people," and raised a warning voice against " the visit of the Presi- dent to the Senate's anteroom, to influence its action in favor of the Dominican Treaty," as establishing a dan- gerous precedent. XXV EPOCH OP PUBLIC CORRUPTION Dana favors " Continental Union " — Breach between Sumner and Presi- dent — Condemns bestowal of office for pecuniary favors — Grant's re- lations in office — Ku-Klux outrages no excuse for invading the South — French arms scandal — Corruption in Washington — -"Addition, Divi- sion, and Silence" — Dana arrested — Credit Mobilier exposures — In- dependent Republicans and Democrats nominate Greeley for pres- ident — Dana supports him — Personal journalism — Grant's second election — Effort to extradite Dana to Washington — Safe Burglary Conspiracy — Frauds of the Whiskey Ring It was during the first year of Grant's administration that Dana began to discuss the annexation of the British provinces of North America. He pointed out that Britain could not defend those colonies successfully against us; that free and unrestricted trade between them and the United States was necessary to their greatest prosperity; that the Reciprocity Treaty, which had lately expired, could not be re-enacted; that while it had carried the colonies pros- perously along for ten years, it had aroused their hostil- ity instead of conciliating them, and had been followed by an armed federation against us. Later he showed that an honorable union with us would settle the fisheries and fur-seal questions; abolish the custom-houses; extend the area of free-trade; insure free navigation of the St. Law- rence and the Great Lakes; enable the government to enforce the exclusion act, to protect our land and water transportation interests, to perfect the national defence, and to realize by peaceable and inexpensive means all the advantages of that continental republic which both nature 421 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA and political expediency seem to have favored from the first. Throughout life Dana remained the champion of that great idea. He opened his newspaper for its discussion when ever occasion offered. Philosopher, historian, and states- man were alike welcome to its columns, if only they prom- ised to advocate the great cause of "Continental Union." Nor can there be any doubt that he thought the end of the Civil War presented a rare opportunity for the settle- ment of the Alabama claims in a way which would greatly promote our permanent and paramount interests. It is not too much to say that he preferred annexation, even if it should be necessary to carry it into effect by force, to the settlement made by the Treaty of Washington. And yet his opposition to the Babcock-Baez Treaty for the acquisition of Santo Domingo, and the practical alliance which grew up between the Sun and the powerful group of senators who arrayed themselves against that measure, and finally defeated it, were the most potent influence in turning Grant, with all the power of the government back of him, against his own favorite policy of annexing Can- ada, and thus settling the Alabama claims and getting rid of a dangerous neighbor forever. 1 The immediate effect of the combined opposition to the Santo Domingo Treaty was to make an impassable breach between Senator Sumner, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the President. Thereafter it was only necessary for Sumner and his friends to support a measure to make it certain that Grant and his friends would oppose it. Sumner resisted the annexation of Santo Domingo, but favored the annexation of Canada and the neighboring provinces. From that time forth Grant did all in his power to override the opposition and to carry 1 See Treaty of Washington, by Charles Francis Adams. 422 EPOCH OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION his own measures through. To that end he gave his full- est support to Fish's plans for a settlement with Eng- land, and had the pleasure not only of seeing the haughty and recalcitrant Sumner deposed by his fellow-senators from the chairmanship of the Committee on Foreign Re- lations, but also of seeing the treaty of arbitration ne- gotiated, approved, and carried into effect. On the other hand, the senatorial group, aided by the Sun, after a long and bitter struggle, succeeded in defeating the annexation of Santo Domingo, largely because of the taint of corrup- tion which had been fixed upon the treaty, and its negotia- tion as well, as of the questionable methods by which its friends had sought to secure its ratification. This was one of the bitterest controversies of the times, and brought upon Dana the intense displeasure of the administration and its supporters; but on the whole it strengthened him with the people, and to-day it would be difficult to find an intelligent man anywhere to blame him for the inde- pendent and effective part he took in the discussion. Late in October, 1870, Dana replied fully to the charge that he had not treated Grant fairly in the columns of the Sun, and in justifying his course he contended that the system of bestowing office upon those who had conferred pecuniary favors upon the President was "a shocking innovation upon all the former practices and traditions of the country"; that in giving utterance to these feelings "the Sun had expressed the feelings of the whole Ameri- can people," and that no serious effort had ever been made in any quarter "to controvert the views of the Sun on this subject." Again he contended that Grant's foreign policy, ... "by its weakness, indecision, want of character, and anti-American sympathies, stood forth in glaring contrast with the vigorous sentiments and statesman-like promises 423 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA of his inaugural address; and the whole American people, bitterly disappointed, changed their feelings towards the President from one of admiration to one of regret and pity. This new feeling was plainly declared by the Sun, and no- where has there been any serious attempt either to deny its existence or to dispute its justice." Finally he declared that, in censuring the President when he deserved it, he had not compelled himself to acquiesce in every charge made against him, whether true or false. When a concentrated effort had been made to implicate him in the gold speculations, the Sun took a judicial view of all the known facts in connection with the President's own testimony and his letter to Bonner, and had not only frankly expressed the opinion that there was nothing in the case inconsistent with his innocence, but had declared its genuine satisfaction that such was the fact. A few days later it enumerated twenty-four of Grant's relatives who were then holding office, and within a week gave him hearty praise for recommending the abolition of the income tax. It admonished him that in surrounding a political convention with soldiers, in order to exclude citizens who were opposed to his renomination, he was menacing the liberties of the people. It cautioned him that in making the Ku-Klux outrages an excuse for invading the South with the armed forces of the country he was exceeding his constitutional authority. It lost no opportunity to denounce public corruption and public robbery. It cried out with "damnable iteration" against political fraud, bribery, and present-taking, whether by Republicans or Democrats, by municipal or federal office- holders, as a serious menace to our free institutions. It spared neither high nor low in its denunciations. It scored Robeson's corruption in the Navy Department and Tweed's spoliation of the city treasury with equal impartiality and equal severity. 424 EPOCH OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION . On February 17, 1872, the Sun published a leading editorial in which it stated that the nation was now " pass- ing through an epoch of public corruption without prece- dent in its history, and almost without precedent in the history of free governments." In support of this general- ization, it alluded to the frauds of the Tammany Democrats and the political revolution that had followed their detec- tion. But, great as they were, they sank into insignifi- cance, "not only beside those of the carpet-bag govern- ments of the South, but still more beside those committed by the Republican administration at Washington." It charged the Republican party and the Republican journals with stifling inquiry and concealing the magnitude and enormity of these crimes. It called attention to Senator Sumner's resolution of inquiry into the sale of arms and ammunition by the War Department to France, to be used in the war against Germany. It alleged that "millions of money had been made" by high officials and persons connected with the administration, and that those who were implicated were seeking refuge " in a committee which had been packed to hide the truth and to whitewash in- stead of detect and punish the guilty." It declared that this had been done in the Black Friday and custom-house investigations; that a resolution to investigate a deficit of six millions in the stamps of the Internal Revenue De- partment had been defeated ; that the facts of the case had been suppressed ; and that the truth had been successfully concealed in many instances. In this article the Sun declared that the frauds of the bosses in the District of Columbia " surpassed in greed and boldness" those of Tweed and his confederates in New York; that the Postmaster-General had corruptly partici- pated in the notorious Chorpenning claim against the Post-Office Department, and in the Baltimore whiskey frauds against the internal revenue; that the Navy De- 425 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA partment, in the purchase of machinery and supplies, as well as in the repair of vessels, had become "a sink of corruption." Charging the majority with complicity, it dared Congress to allow a full and searching investigation of the robberies which it had specified, and which it did not doubt would turn out to be robberies indeed. In conclusion the editor expressed his personal convic- tion that the President himself was primarily responsible for the corruption of the public service, and that he had . . . "done more to destroy in the public mind all dis- tinction between right and wrong, to make it appear that the great object of life and the chief purpose of official au- thority is to acquire riches, and that it makes no difference by what means this object is attained. Had Grant been a pure man of high moral sense, a delicate feeling of honesty, and a just conscience, his example, his influence, and his power would long since have sufficed to turn back the rising tide of corruption and to rescue the government from the dangerous evils with which it was struggling." It is to be noted that this terrible arraignment is en- tirely at variance with Dana's commendation of Grant as a military man. It was followed almost immediately by the first public denunciation of the "Whiskey Ring," which, with its widely extended system of frauds at the distilleries and warehouses throughout the country, cost the government untold millions before it could be broken up. It was a period of exposure. Public opinion was be- coming so aroused and inflamed that Congress felt com- pelled to intervene. The House of Representatives could no longer hold out against the whirlwind of indignation, and hence made haste to appoint a committee for the in- vestigation of the Navy Department. Although this, as it turned out, was an effective step towards reform, it did not at once silence those who were thus brought to the 426 EPOCH OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION bar of public opinion. They and their confederates, like the harpies of Tammany, thought the storm would soon "blow over," and, instead of putting their houses in order, they set about organizing a campaign of hatred and re- sentment against Dana and the Sun. In this they invoked the aid of the federal courts to punish the editor for offences which, if offences at all, were offences against the laws of the State in which they were committed. It was on June 20, 1872, that the Sun published a letter containing a phrase that was everywhere hailed as the shibboleth of corruption. It runs as follows: Treasury Department of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, March, 1867. "My dear Titian, — Allow me to introduce to you my particular friend Mr. George O. Evans. He has a claim of some magnitude that he wishes you to help him in. Put him through as you would me. He understands Addition, Division, and Silence. Yours, "W. H. Kemble. " To Titian J. Coffey, Esq., Washington, D. C." The writer was State treasurer at the time, but was con- victed in 1880 of trying to bribe members of the Pennsyl- vania legislature, and served a year in the penitentiary for his offence. His "particular friend" was a defaulter. The suggestive and comprehensive formula used in this letter needed no interpretation. Everybody understood it, and the press gave it the widest circulation, but the man who phrased it was a bold and fearless professional office-holder that could see no wrong in the words or in the use he had made of them. To the contrary, regard- ing them as innocent, and the connection of his name with them in an opposite sense as constituting a criminal libel, he sued out a writ against Dana, and had him arrested as he was passing through Philadelphia and put under bond 427 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA for fifteen thousand dollars. This kept the phrase before the public, and for months it was used by the newspa- pers of the country, and especially by the Sun, with telling effect in the campaign against fraud and corruption. In- deed, it may well be doubted if any catch phrase ever received a wider circulation, more aptly indicated the essential shamelessness of the methods then in force at Washington, or did more to arouse the public conscience against them. While still fresh in the public mind, the Credit Mobilier exposures began, and, involving as they did men of the highest position in both public and private life, they gave a degree of infamy to the formula of fraud which no amount of moral teaching or of decorous dis- cussion could have brought upon it. Meanwhile the movement of the Independent and dis- affected Republicans, of which the Sun was the head, had grown into a powerful party organization, which called a national convention, in which many distinguished men took part. It nominated Horace Greeley for president, and B. Gratz Brown for vice-president. These nomina- tions were afterwards adopted by the Democrats, on a platform which was based largely on the Sun's war against corruption in official life at Washington. When stripped of political verbiage, it meant nothing more nor less than "Turn the rascals out." With this cry, which soon came to be more widely heard than "Forward to Richmond" had ever been, Dana threw the Sun and himself into the canvass, and for a few weeks it looked as though the North, as well as the South, would take him at his word. He, and those who stood with him, believed thoroughly in the necessity of taking the government out of the hands of the Republican party, as well as in the honesty and capacity of Greeley, and spared no effort to make the country be- lieve in him as well; but as the canvass progressed it be- came evident that the majority of the voters were un- 428 EPOCH OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION willing to trust either the candidate or the men who, in case of his election, would naturally become his advisers. It was too close to the Civil War, and too many of its issues yet remained to be settled and disposed of, for the country to intrust the Democratic party with the control of the government. Greeley was generally admitted to be entirely honest, but he was also fantastic and easily imposed upon. The ultra-Democrats, who would have contributed the majority of votes, would have claimed, and, according to precedent, would have received, the majority of the federal offices. In short, it was widely believed that the election of Greeley would put the old secessionists, with all their heresies, in power; and, on the sober second thought, the country was not willing to agree to this. Besides, there seemed to be an element of quix- otism not only in the candidate but in the influence that secured his nomination. He had up to the close of the war been regarded with hatred by the Southerners as a radical abolitionist, and although, as soon as the war was over, he had become the exponent of forgiveness and amnesty, thus winning their hearts, there were still thou- sands on both sides of the line who could not realize that the union between Greeley and the Democrats was genuine and enduring. It has been suggested that Dana's earlier advocacy of the "Philosopher of the Tribune" began in a spirit of fun, and that it could not be sincere, and that the campaign for his election was hopeless from the start. To this Dana paid but little attention till after the campaign had ended in Greeley's defeat and death. To such as look below the surface, Dana's course at this time appears to have been not only genuine and disin- terested, but exceedingly useful to the country at large. In the light of subsequent events, it must be conceded that it was significantly vindicated by the Independent Repub- 429 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA lican movement, which not only selected Greeley, whom Dana had first nominated, but compelled the Democratic party to select him also, and to adopt a policy on which it ultimately went into power. While the movement at first was defeated at the ballot-box, the Sun's part in it received an amount of non-partisan and even of Republican ap- proval that has rarely ever been accorded to independent journalism. Ignoring with his accustomed indifference the efforts of the Republican press to put him personally on the de- fensive after the campaign was ended, Dana said in the Sun of December 6, 1872: "A great deal of twaddle is uttered by some country news- papers just now over what they call personal journalism. They say that now that Mr. Bennett, Mr. Raymond, and Mr. Greeley are dead, the day for personal journalism is gone by, and that impersonal journalism will take its place. That appears to mean a sort of journalism in which nobody will ask who is the editor of a paper or the writer of any class of article, and nobody will care. "Whenever, in the newspaper profession, a man rises up who is original, strong, and bold enough to make his opin- ions a matter of consequence to the public, there will be per- sonal journalism; and whenever newspapers are conducted only by commonplace individuals whose views are of no con- sequence to anybody, there will be nothing but impersonal journalism. "And this is the essence of the whole question." Looking back upon Grant's second election, it is now evident that while the country, with an awakened con- science, was in hearty sympathy with Dana's desire to see the public service cleansed of fraud and corruption, it preferred to continue the Republicans in power with a mandate to punish their own rascals, rather than to turn 430 EPOCH OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION the government over to Greeley and the secession Demo- crats. While no one can say positively what would have been the result of a reform administration at that time, assisted as it must have been by Senators Trumbull and Schurz, besides many other Independent Republicans of importance, it may now be plausibly contended that the country acted wisely in re-electing Grant, instead of trying a dangerous experiment. And this view of the case will appear all the more reasonable when it is recalled that, in spite of much work which yet remained to be done to "turn the rascals out," the Republican administration, and public life generally, had come to be pretty well puri- fied by the end of Grant's second term. To this no one contributed more than Dana. While the country's decision, not to intrust its govern- ment in the hands of the Democratic party, had silenced its leaders or consigned them to secondary positions in Con- gress or elsewhere, fortunately it had not silenced the in- dependent press. The Sun, ably seconded by the Chicago Tribune, the leading Republican newspaper of the North- west, and by the Springfield Republican, the most influential journal of New England, continued its campaign against fraud and corruption with unflagging zeal and undaunted courage. Its columns contained not only a daily epitome of the world's history, but of the history of the United States as well. No important event in politics, or in the practical administration of municipal, State, or national government, escaped its notice or its comment. The Sun had now become the most widely read and widely quoted journal of the country. Its daily circulation had passed far beyond a hundred thousand copies. It had become famous, not only for its unsparing criticism of every class of public act and deed that it did not approve, but for the vigor and clearness of its style. "Boil it down" — state it in the fewest possible words — had come to be the rule which 431 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA governed its writers. The blue pencil was constantly in the hand of its editor, who used it with unsurpassed skill and effect upon the compositions of its ablest contributors. It was everywhere and peculiarly the favorite journal of reading and thinking men, and yet its uncompromising and aggressive opposition to the administration and to the questionable acts of the office-holders had estranged many important persons in both public and private life. Several of Dana's oldest and dearest friends — cherished associates of Brook Farm and of the Tribune staff — had terminated all relations with him. It was at or about this time that one of his most in- timate friends of the war days, thinking that he was car- rying his criticism of Grant, his cabinet, and his official assistants too far, ventured to remonstrate with him in their behalf, but without effect. Dana listened patiently, and, when his friend had finished, replied earnestly and impressively: "I am not unmindful of what you say, nor of the good opinions of my friends, and my motives may not be as good as I think they are, but, having taken my course conscien- tiously, I shall follow it to the end, and shall be content with your judgment six years from now." And thus it was always. Self-centred, alert, industri- ous, and fearless, he took every precaution and incurred every necessary expense to learn the truth, and, once hav- ing satisfied himself, he exposed, commented, and con- demned with absolute independence and unsparing deter- mination to drag the offender and his wrong-doing into the full light of day. He believed that publicity was the greatest safeguard against the crimes of political life, and spared neither time nor money in his efforts to lay them bare and hold their perpetrators up to public execration. In the year 1873 an incident occurred in connection with 432 EPOCH OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION the Sun which will be forever memorable in the history of the American press, and which gave to Dana unequalled prominence as the fearless champion of its freedom. The administration and some of its friends, who had come under the special criticism of the Sun, resolved to silence it, and to that end resorted to an unusual and extreme exercise of despotic power to compel him to answer in Washington for what he had said in New York. It is needless to say that Dana resisted this scheme with all the resources at his command. He employed able counsel, and, thanks to the deeply founded provisions of the law, to the almost universal support of the newspapers, and to the decision of Justice Blatchford, of the national judiciary, the case against him was dismissed in an opin- ion which declared that the vicious plan to make news- papers criticising the administration answerable at Wash- ington could not be tolerated. This was undoubtedly one of the greatest episodes of Dana's life, and, without reference to the merits of the case against him, his part in it must be set down as a public service of the highest value and importance. During the whole of this year, and, indeed, ever after- wards, as occasion seemed to call for it, the Sun kept Kemble's formula of corruption — "He understands Addi- tion, Division, and Silence " — before the public. It exposed and denounced the Credit Mobilier gang, the Washington Ring, the Louisiana carpet-baggers, the Central Pacific con- tractors, the congressional " salary grab," and the plan for the annexation of Santo Domingo. It opposed the con- firmation of Caleb Cushing and George H. Williams for the Supreme Court of the United States, and had the pleas- ure of seeing their names withdrawn. It denounced the weakness and incompetency of Richardson as Secretary of the Treasury, the corruption of Creswell as Postmaster- General, and of Robeson as Secretary of the Navy. It 433 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA held up to public scorn the name of Oakes Ames, for dis- tributing gratuitously the stock of the Credit Mobilier, which had made enormous profits out of the construction of the Union Pacific Railway, and exposed such members of Congress and other public men by name as had accepted that stock in exchange for their votes and friendly offices. The revelations in this case constituted one of the most shameless scandals of our political history. They stained the character of one congressman, who lived it down and afterwards became President of the United States, and of another who became vice-president. They saddened the lives of more than one senator, and of many representatives who had no such ambition, but would have been content to remain in obscurity to the end of their days, if thereby they could have avoided the consciousness of their own unworthiness and retained the respect of their fellow- citizens. But the Credit Mobilier, involving as it did men of the highest prominence and influence, was only the first, not the vilest nor the most wide-spread, scandal of the day. It was followed, and in a measure dwarfed, by the Safe Burglary Conspiracy and the frauds of the Whiskey Ring. The first, it may be briefly stated, involved federal offi- cials of the District of Columbia and a member of the President's official household who was also superintend- ent of public buildings. The conspiracy had for its object the ruin of a highly respected private citizen of Washington through an effort to implicate him in a sham robbery of the assistant district-attorney's safe by a gang of pro- fessional burglars hired for that purpose. The rascals were to take certain accounts connected with city contracts, which would be found therein, to the house of one Colum- bus Alexander, who had called for their production in court, and, while placing them in his house apparently as his agent, he was to be arrested with them and haled off 434 EPOCH OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION to prison. Fortunately the rascals bungled and delayed their work to a later hour than was intended, and, still more fortunately, neither Alexander nor his family could be wakened, and accordingly avoided the trap set for them. The burglars themselves were, however, arrested, and, al- though they were released on straw-bail, in due time the conspiracy was fully exposed. The newspapers, and par- ticularly the Sun, made an outcry which not only aroused the country from end to end, but forced the Congress to order an investigation. The preliminary facts of the case were gathered by a committee charged with that duty, but, as it could not end its work before the end of the session, the House of Representatives required the secretary to complete it. He in turn delegated it to the solicitor of the Treasury. These men, Benjamin H. Bristow and Bluford Wilson, had only recently taken office, but, fearing nothing, they set resolutely about their disagreeable task, and in due time laid bare the almost incredible details and put the ma- chinery in motion which brought the principals to trial. Although the immediate ends of justice were defeated through the verdict of a packed jury, subsequent con- fessions and revelations brought the culprits to disgrace, from which they were never able to escape. 1 The Whiskey Ring was a corrupt combination for de- frauding the Treasury of the excise levied by law on dis- tilled spirits. It doubtless had its origin in the need for money with which to pay the expense of national elections, though individual distillers and collectors had probably conspired to make " crooked whiskey " soon after the first act of Congress was passed providing for the collection of internal revenue. Honest distillers were the first to com- 1 For a complete account of the Safe Burglary Conspiracy, see an article by the late General Henry V. Boynton, in the American Law Review for April, 1877, pp. 401-446. =» 435 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA plain; but, as the frauds grew in extent, the receipts of the Treasury fell off, and efforts more or less spasmodic and ill-directed were made to detect and punish the offenders, but the real task of bringing them to justice and enforcing the law fell upon Secretary Bristow and Solicitor Wilson. They were not long in discovering that the ring was na- tional in extent, that its headquarters and chief support were in Washington, and that its active operations were carried on in St. Louis, Chicago, Louisville, Milwaukee, St. Joseph, Peoria, Evansville, New Orleans, San Francisco, and many smaller places. It was composed of distillers, rectifiers, wholesale dealers, supervisors, collectors, and dep- uty collectors of internal revenue, gaugers, store-keep- ers, and various private persons, including the chief clerk of the Treasury and many petty officials, of whom, count- ing big and little, two hundred and thirty-eight were in- dicted and a large number were convicted and punished by fine and imprisonment. Something over three million dollars worth of property and taxes were recovered, but no estimate was ever made of the revenue out of which the government was defrauded from first to last. It must have reached many millions in the aggregate, but the prose- cutions were so vigorously conducted by the distinguished lawyers that were called to the assistance of the govern- ment that the frauds were entirely stopped and the prin- cipal offenders were safely lodged in the jails and peni- tentiaries of the country. The chief clerk of the Treasury, who was probably a tool of those who had secured his appointment, was sentenced for two years, but pardoned after he had served only six months. The supervisor of the St. Louis district and his assistant were sentenced for three years, but also pardoned before they had served their full term. The full history of the Whiskey Ring has never been written, but the newspapers of the day were filled with ac- 436 EPOCH OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION counts of the frauds, and of the facts brought out in the trials of those who were indicted for participating in them. The Sun was the leader in upholding and encouraging the officers of the law, and in condemning all who sympathized with or doubted the guilt of the accused. Never a day was permitted to pass that it did not denounce the rascals or recount the enormity of their crimes. The Chicago Tribune, the Springfield Republican, the Evening Post, and, indeed, nearly all the papers of the country that pre- tended to be honest and independent, took part in the discussion. Many leading periodicals, and especially the North American Review, 1 not only denounced the ring, but gave accounts of its operations. While the recollection of the events connected with this disgraceful chapter of American history has largely dropped from the public mind, it is safe to say that what there is left of it is a full vindication of the part taken by the independent press in breaking up the ring and bringing its members, great and small, to the punishment or disgrace they so fully de- served. 1 The North American Review for October, 1876, pp. 280-327, con- tains the fullest history of the Whiskey Ring ever published. It was written by Henry V. Boynton, for many years a leading journalist of Washington. XXVI GRANT'S SECOND TERM Sun leads opposition — Against third term — Dana thanks press for its support — Democrats control House of Representatives — Tilden and Hendricks nominated — Dana against Electoral Commission — Claims Tilden was elected by the ballots in the boxes — W. E. Chandler's letter against overthrow of Packard's government in Louisiana — "No force bill! No negro domination!" — Reduction of regular army — Removal of Southern question from current politics — Against free coinage of silver — Exposes Garfield's connection with Credit Mobilier — Indifference to dogma — Obituary of George Ripley Throughout Grant's second term the Sun was the leader of the opposition. Every act of the President or his cabinet was scrutinized, and such of them as did not accord with its views of the public interest were con- demned. The Republican congressmen, and especially such as held important positions in connection with the appropriations, the improvements of the city of Wash- ington, the Credit Mobilier, or the legislation which was intended to permit citizens accused of criminal libel to be arrested and brought to the capital for trial, were severely criticised. They were charged by name with acts of wilful wrong-doing, and the facts of each case were laid before the country with absolute fearlessness. Neither moderation nor mercy was shown to those who neglected the interests with which they were charged; and yet the Secretary of the Treasury was heartily praised for his opposition to the bill for inflating the paper currency, while the President was still more highly praised for vetoing it. 438 GRANT'S SECOND TERM The suggestion of a third term of the presidency for General Grant was heard, for the first time, before his second term was fully under way. It came from office- holders and politicians, and was kept constantly before the country, not only to the end of the term, but till it was finally put to rest four years later at the Chicago con- vention by the nomination of General Garfield, of Ohio. As the suggestion was at variance with the considerate course of General Washington, when he was offered a third nomination, and with what has since then generally been regarded as the unwritten law of the land, the Sun made haste to oppose it, and in doing so brought every argu- ment that it could frame to bear against it. It would be impossible to summarize the discussion, which extended over a period of seven or eight years, but in spite of this the third-term proposition received the support of a large number of the leading Republicans, many of whom Dana had formerly classed as his closest friends. Many other influential newspapers, in the conviction that the prece- dent would be a bad one, did what they could to defeat it, but Dana led in the fight, and it now seems probable that but for the part he took in it the movement would have been successful. Every possible criticism was brought to bear on the conduct of the public business, whether it re- lated to the use of the army in the work of reconstruction, to the collection of the revenues, to the inflation of the currency, to the current legislation, or to the management of the different executive departments. The summation of every argument was in substance that there was but one vital issue, and that was, "Turn the rascals out," and thus free the country at the same time from chronic corruption and the dangers of a virtual dictatorship. In returning his thanks to his brethren of the press, through the Sun, April 24, 1875, for the support they had given to the principle it had been his fortune to represent 439 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA in resisting the subpoena which would have placed him in the hands of the Washington ring, he said: . . . "It is not alone because it saves us money; it is not alone because it saves us from unlawful imprisonment. Both these dangers we might easily have shunned by declining to print any exposure of the rascalities at Washington. We knowingly and considerately risked our purse and person in laying before the public the malversations in office which were costing the people right heavily. The powers that be made strenuous efforts by perversion of the authority of the court, and abuse of its process, to lay hands upon us. Under these circumstances our chivalric brethren of the press have made our cause their own, and the cause of the country. The journals which have stood with us foremost in the front rank, the Times, Tribune, Evening Post, and Herald, in resisting the advance of tyranny, to our dying day we can never forget. "And so the press rises to the comprehension and asser- tion of its own dignity and power. And all petty and de- spicable jealousies and rivalries are buried deep in the strong current of the brotherhood of the press — the brotherhood representation of the rights of the people! "No newspaper office in the country should be unadorned by the portrait of the independent judge who, in the straight path of judicial duty, has done so much for popular rights. The name of Blatchfbrd should henceforth become a house- hold word, and never be forgotten." . . . But this was not all that Dana had to say on that sub- ject. While he felt deeply the necessity for cleaning out the rings which were preying upon the substance of the people, he asked, August 18th: . . . "Would it not be a fatal mistake if, in order to exe- cute justice upon some great public robber like Tweed, we should overturn and destroy those defences of liberty that have cost so much to erect, and whose worth and wisdom centuries of experience have justified? 440 GRANT'S SECOND TERM . . . "No matter what other amendments we may make in our laws, no matter with what unsparing radicalism we may lay the hand of change upon legislation and usages in- herited from other times, let us be conservative at least in everything that relates to the defence of liberty and to the sanctity of personal rights." The election of a majority of Democrats to the House of Representatives at the fall elections of 1874, and the organization of the House by that party the next year, show that the voters of the country had come to the con- clusion that the Republicans could not be trusted to ex- pose fraud and reform the public service. The change greatly encouraged Dana in the course he was pursuing. He had been the first to lay bare the Safe Burglary Con- spiracy, and to charge that it had been concocted by the Washington ring, planned and carried out by the Secret Service of the Treasury, paid for with public money, and protected by those " high in the confidence of the adminis- tration." The Sun's statements had been denounced as a calumny by the party organs, but the investigations which had gone to the bottom of the matter, justified that newspaper completely by securing additional testimony which both astounded and appalled the public mind. The facts and circumstances gathered by the committee were recounted from day to day in the columns of the Sun, in all their disgraceful details, and were finally set forth triumphantly in its issue of April 12, 1876, as a complete vindication of its course for the entire period of two years, during which it constituted a most absorbing topic of pub- lic discussion. It is difficult to realize, after the lapse of thirty years, that the Safe Burglary, the Whiskey Ring, the Credit Mobilier, and the Post-tradership exposures so completely engrossed the attention of the public press and of 'the people themselves; but when it is considered that 441 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA these great scandals affected the reputation of hundreds of officials of the highest rank, including several members of the cabinet, it will be seen that they were entitled to all the attention they received, and justly became important fac- tors in the presidential election which took place that year. It will be recalled that Tilden and Hendricks were the candidates of the Democrats, while Hayes and Wheeler were the candidates of the Republicans. The contest was perhaps the sharpest one the country had ever gone through. The issues were again those which had been so largely framed by the independent press of the country, and were so briefly summed up by the Sun in its famous cry of "Turn the rascals out." Most of the Southern States were still dominated by the carpet-bag governments, which were in turn upheld by the armed forces of the general government. But the white voters of the South were doing all they could to keep the colored men from the polls and prevent what they called negro domination. In this they were successful to a great extent, especially in Louisiana, which, on the face of the returns, had given a majority to Tilden and Hendricks, and which, if allowed to stand, made their election certain. But under the prompt and vigorous management of the National Executive Com- mittee, the Republicans set up claims which, if sustained, would give to Hayes and Wheeler the vote of the State, to- gether with those of South Carolina and Florida. The ex- citing discussion which followed throughout the United States, aided by the wide-spread apprehension that the question which had been raised could not be settled with- out a resort to violence, led to the organization of an Electoral Commission, to which they were referred for decision. This device, although unknown to the Con- stitution, received the sanction of both houses of Congress and of a number of leading Democrats, including, as many believe, Tilden himself; and the commission was com- 442 GRANT'S SECOND TERM posed of five senators, five representatives, and five jus- tices of the Supreme Court of the United States, so divided politically that the casting vote rested with Justice Brad- ley. After careful consideration, the commission made a decision which gave the presidency to Hayes, and doubt- less saved the country from an outbreak, or at least from confusion and uncertainty, which might have ended in anarchy and violence. It is an anomaly of history that while the vote of Louis- iana was counted for Hayes, the Republican government of the State, which was instrumental in establishing the charge of fraud, and should have logically stood with the decision, was soon repudiated by the Hayes administra- tion and forced to give place to a government composed mostly of white men. The Sun, having done its utmost to carry the country for Tilden, and having come so close to success, opposed the Electoral Commission from the day it was first sug- gested till it ceased to exist. It claimed that there was no proper warrant for it, either in law or justice; that Tilden was legally elected by a majority of the votes de- posited in the ballot-boxes, and that while many votes may have been wrongfully excluded or wrongfully thrown out after they were received, there was no warrant in law for counting votes not deposited, nor for the assumption that if deposited they would have been in favor of Hayes and Wheeler rather than for Tilden and Hendricks. It con- tended to the end that "the only real settlement" of the controversy which could satisfy the country would be one giving the office to the man who had been really elected; that the Democratic majority in the House of Representa- tives, in favoring the Electoral Commission, had committed "official suicide"; and that . . . "There is no process or method or invention or power 443 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA or miracle by which a he can be made truth or a fraud eon- verted into an honest reality. ... "No such settlement of the question can stand. Noth- ing can stand but the truth!" It is worthy of record that Dana never changed his mind nor moderated his condemnation of the settlement by which Hayes was made president. He regarded it as a fraud upon the American people, and could never bring himself to speak of it or of the fortunate beneficiary ex- cept in terms of contempt, and yet it is to be noted that Hayes not only appointed a cabinet of unexceptionable men, who conducted their departments without a shadow of blame, but gave to the country an administration which restored the control of the Southern States to the Southern people and carried into effect many of the reforms which Dana had so strenuously advocated. Indeed, it intro- duced a new era in national affairs, free from rings and conspiracies, if not from the intrigues and combinations of the bosses and the politicians. While the Sun never acquiesced in this disposal of the presidency, it tacitly admitted that its special field of official criticism had been materially narrowed by the exemplary conduct of the public business, and yet it con- tinued keenly on the alert in reference to everything that pertained to national politics. While there was no per- ceptible diminution of its independence, there was a grow- ing sympathy between it and the Democratic party which ultimately led it into inconsistencies that were difficult to reconcile with good judgment or to excuse in the interest of the common weal. It will be recalled that William E. Chandler, a member of the Republican National Committee from New Hamp- shire, was one of the first to call attention to the radical departure of President Hayes from the policy his party 444 GRANT'S SECOND TERM had hitherto pursued. He did this in an able statement addressed to the Republicans of his own State, but evi- dently intended for the people of the United States. It was dated December 26, 1877, and was printed in all the leading journals of the country. It recounted all the measures by which Tilden was deprived of the honors to which many believed him entitled, and pointed out with inexorable logic that Packard's right to the governorship of Louisiana was connected with Hayes's right to the presi- dency "by titles indissolubly connected in law, in morals, and by every rule of honor that prevails among civilized men." The annals of politics do not contain a fuller or clearer summation of the facts connected with any political episode of American history; and, while it did not directly assail the Electoral Commission, or the justice and wisdom of its action, it was in every essential detail an indepen- dent confirmation and indorsement of the contentions put forth in the Sun. It is not germane to the purposes of this narrative to summarize further Chandler's extraor- dinary letter. It has been mentioned here for the sole purpose of emphasizing the statement that Dana was far from being unsupported in the resolute views which he entertained in regard to the antecedent facts and the political complications connected with the Electoral Com- mission, and for the additional purpose of pointing out that he printed the letter and persistently kept it before his readers as a Republican vindication of his own position. In connection with the unsatisfactory state of political affairs prevailing throughout the South, Dana's sympathies were clearly with the white people. He recanted none of his principles in reference to slavery, nor to the essential justice and wisdom of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting discriminations against the freed- men on "account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude," but it is certain that he had long since become 445 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA convinced that the carpet-bag governments, based solely on the support of the colored voters, were not only in- trinsically vicious, but that their existence and conduct were in opposition to the true principles of the Constitu- tion and subversive of the best interests of the Southern people. His constant cry, so long as the Federal govern- ment undertook, under the authority of Congress, to con- trol the provisional governments or to exercise any super- vision whatever over State or federal elections was: " No force bill! No negro domination!" It is needless to add that the entire white vote of the South and a majority of the Northern vote supported him most heartily in the position he had taken on this im- portant matter, and finally united in permitting a settle- ment in substantial accord with this terse and forcible formula. Obviously, if there is injustice in this settle- ment, it lies in the fact that the Southern people do not acknowledge the colored people as a constituent part of the body politic, and do not apply the principle by which they regulate the right of suffrage with impartiality to both the white and colored people as they should. It was perhaps too early to expect any community in which illit- eracy, race prejudice, war memories, and social inefficiency play such an important part as they do in most of our Southern States to adopt a perfect political system. From the beginning of Grant's second term to the end of Arthur's administration the Sun favored the reduction of the regular army to a minimum force of ten or twelve thousand men. Its argument was that, having become one of the richest and strongest nations of the world, and having no dangerous or aggressive neighbors, the United States have no use for a large and expensive army, and that a small one would not only be correspondingly 446 GRANT'S SECOND TERM cheaper, but would afford sufficient support to the national authority to enable it to meet any emergency likely to arise, or in which it would be proper to use force at all. It regarded the continued presence of troops in the South as unnecessary and unwarranted, and contended that the greater the number of armed men at the disposal of the government, the greater the expense and the more power- ful would be the temptation to use them in a manner which might prove oppressive to the people. It is to be observed that Dana never ceased to deprecate the tendency, after the war was over, to call upon the Federal government in every matter thought to be of national importance, instead of depending upon the State authorities, whose special duty in our system of govern- ment is to take care of local and domestic interests. In this he was not only a true Democrat, but had the sup- port of many conservative statesmen of all parties from the earliest days of the republic to the present time. In- deed, there was no political controversy on this subject. The only question was as to how many officers and men were absolutely necessary to keep alive the military spirit, maintain order, and take proper care of the fortifications. About this it was easy for the most conservative men to differ. Although the Congress failed to adopt, the extreme view of it that Dana advanced, it took good care that the army should never be large enough to create a military class or to menace the rights of the people in any section. Throughout the administrations of Hayes, Garfield, and Arthur, while there were many important matters of national policy to be discussed, the speedy and, on the whole, the satisfactory removal of the Southern question from current politics left the great newspapers much more time for the consideration of purely social and economic questions than they had had since the close of the war. Dana having had the unusual satisfaction of seeing most 447 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA of his views adopted, and the public service in Washington, as well as in New York, relieved from the scandal of job- bery and corruption, by the selection of clean and honest men for office, wasted no time singing paeans of triumph, but settled down to the consideration of important ques- tions of national politics as they arose. From the start he opposed the effort to increase the use of silver as a money metal by any of the devices brought forward by the politicians or the representatives of the silver-mining interests. He also opposed independent bi- metallism on any plan not approved or supported by the entire commercial world: Rich as our country had be- come, and great as were the resources of its government, he scrutinized all propositions, and still more all legislation, which looked to an independent effort on their part to maintain silver at a parity with gold on an arbitrary basis of relative values. So long as that proposition was a living issue the editorial page of the Sun bristled with articles against it, and stood by the sound economic principle that the American standard of value, like that of the commercial world at large, should be gold, and gold alone. As the question of sixteen to one has been settled apparently for- ever, it would be both unprofitable and tiresome to sum- marize the arguments, or even to quote such as Dana him- self may have formulated from time to time. With an occasional denunciation of the rascality of the Louisiana returning board, for which it had a deep and abiding hatred, and an occasional paragraph in favor of the wholesome practice of turning out the federal office- holders from time to time and putting new men in then- places, the Sun gave special attention to the affairs of New York City. While it was tolerant of Tammany as a charitable association, it was bitterly opposed to the rule of the bosses, and in the campaign of 1870 against then- candidate for mayor it exerted a remarkable influence 448 GRANT'S SECOND TERM on the result by the use of the simple but picturesque refrain: " No king, no clown, To rule this town!" It rung the changes on this couplet in a manner which drove it home to the comprehension of the average voter, and gave a notable illustration of the force which a popular refrain may exert in such a contest as this was. The public mind was greatly excited, many excellent speakers took part in the canvass, but it may well be doubted if any argument used was more effective than this in the final overthrow of Tammany. In personal and social matters the Sun was always quite as independent as it was in politics. This is well shown by its attitude in regard to the Beecher-Tilton scandal, which for a season was an absorbing topic of discussion in both religious and secular society. Beecher was one of the most eloquent men of his day. He had done great service in presenting the cause of the Union in England, and was a preacher of unusual prominence, influence, and popularity. The sympathy of the public was strongly in his favor, but when his correspondence, as brought out in the trial, was considered in connection with the lady's con- fession and the undisputed facts of the case, the Sun did not hesitate to pronounce Beecher guilty nor to declare that . . . "his great genius and his Christian pretences only make his sin the more horrible and the more revolting." It was on October 1, 1878, that the Sun published an elaborate and circumstantial article recapitulating the ca- reer of General Garfield as a member of Congress, and charging him with complicity in the Washington ring, the operations of Oakes Ames and the Credit Mobilier, the 449 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA back-pay salary grab, the De Golyer paving contract, and many other irregularities of legislation. It was a bold and relentless arraignment, which attracted much attention at the time, and constituted later the strongest argument of the campaign against the election of Garfield to the presi- dency. It was repeated in many forms by Democratic speakers during the canvass, but failed to convince the ma- jority of the voters that Garfield was altogether unworthy. His popular plurality over "Hancock the Superb" was only seven thousand and eighteen, while he had a clear major- ity of fifty-nine in the electoral college. The President- elect was generally admitted to be a man of great amiabil- ity and of many admirable and showy qualities, among which was an unusual gift of oratory, while his opponent, although deservedly one of the most popular heroes of the war, was but a poor speaker and a bungling writer. It was in describing Hancock's letter of acceptance that the Sun, with ill-concealed contempt, declared that "it is as broad and comprehensive as the continent, as elastic as india-rubber, and as sweet as honey." And it was in speaking of his personality that it said : "General Hancock is a good man, weighing two hundred and fifty pounds." After the election was over and the result established beyond a doubt, it came out with the sententious state- ment, based upon the small plurality against it, that "what the Democratic party needs is leaders who are not knaves and not fools. It has votes enough." The assassination of Garfield a few months after his inauguration filled the public mind with sympathy and 450 GRANT'S SECOND TERM completely wiped out the memory of the charges that had been brought against him. This, together with the fact that his successor, although a comparatively unknown man, gave the country a clean and therefore popular ad- ministration, brought about a great change in the news- paper discussions of the period. It will be recalled that Dana was in early life inclined to the ministry, but gradually drifted away from the orthodox Congregational Church, and greatly shocked his father by turning towards the Unitarians, with whose belief he was more in sympathy, not only because their fundamental ideas seemed more liberal and reasonable, but because many of his college associates and best friends in New England were connected with that body. After removing to New York he became interested in the phi- losophy and speculations of Swedenborg, and for years attended the Swedenborgian Church. Later it is manifest that he left behind every form of belief based upon dogma, and inclined more and more to that Goethean indifference which he had mentioned in his youth. He had no patience with bigotry, intolerance, or pharisaism, but allowed every one perfect liberty in matters of faith. Although out of its chronological order, it may be well to relate here an incident bearing on this subject which took place early in the last year of his life. A friend who enjoyed his confidence and was accustomed to discuss all sorts of questions with him, said one evening : " Mr. Dana, you have sounded the depths of philosophy and of human wisdom; you have read the Bible, the Koran, and all the sacred books of the ancients; you have conversed with the pope and the great men of the earth — tell me, is there any- where any evidence which would be received in a court of justice that there is a life after death?" With a look of intense concentration of thought, but without a moment's hesitation, he replied : " Not a scintilla. It is all based on 30 451 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA man's egotism and that hope which springs eternal in the human breast." This was the last utterance he ever made on that sub- ject, and yet to those who knew him best Dana was throughout life, both by example and precept, the stead- fast friend of true religion. Leading himself a clean, wholesome, and upright life, in which every appetite and passion was held in absolute subjection to his own will, as became an honest gentleman and true philosopher, he never hesitated to rebuke intolerance, persecution, espion- age, or any other sort of interference with personal liberty and personal responsibility, whether it was conducted un- der the cover of religion, philosophy, or secular govern- ment. He made the Sun from the start a forum in which every form of religious belief could state its views and have an unbiassed and patient hearing, and some of the most learned and instructive discussions of the times, in the search for truth, were given to the world through its columns by Goldwin Smith and other occasional and regu- lar contributors. From one of its earliest and most notable articles I quote as follows : "There is nothing more derogatory to the character of the human race, there is nothing more painful and humiliat- ing to contemplate, there is no darker page in history, than the persecutions, the imprisonments, the cruelties, the tort- ures, the murders which have been inflicted in the hallowed name of religion. " ' Christ, all suffering and merciful One, What damning deeds have in Thy name been done.' " And again: . . . "The Americans are a proud-spirited, independent, liberty-loving people. They will tolerate no such superin- 452 GRANT'S SECOND TERM tendence, no such espionage. They will not have even the holiest religion crammed down their throats against their will. They will be free: 'They worship only God, nor even Him except in their own way.' "Spies may be a necessity of war, but in time of peace all men unite to make war on spies." The death of George Ripley, in July, 1880, one of a group of early friends and co-laborers, who had become estranged from Dana because of the independent and aggressive course pursued by the Sun in denouncing polit- ical corruption, afforded a suitable occasion for an illumi- nating article on socialism. As it was evidently written by Dana, and exhibits rare tolerance of another sort, and gives his matured views on the Brook Farm experiment and social democracy, I quote as follows: . . . "The social philosophy of this eminent thinker sprang from two sources: from his deep, inner faith in Democracy as taught by Jefferson, and from his conception of humanity as taught by Herder. Of these vital ideas his socialism was the logical consequence; and the community at Brook Farm was the fruit at once of his democratic convictions and of his weariness with the unsatisfactory, unprofitable routine of conventional society as he found it forty years ago existing around him in Boston. "He had very few intimate friends then or at any other time, yet three men were especially near to him, influencing his mind by their conversation and writings. These men were George Bancroft, Orestes A. Brownson, and Theodore Parker. The fundamental democratic doctrine of liberty, equality, and fraternity, and the doctrine of humanity as a living unity, they shared with him; his conclusions concern- ing the embodiment of democracy in new social forms they respected, but did not share. His experiment they observed with interest and sympathy, but in its pecuniary and personal risks they took no part. Indeed, no individual of distinction 453 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA joined in the enterprise except Mr. Hawthorne, and he re- mained but a month or two, investing a few hundred, which he took care to recover by a lawsuit afterwards. "The community of Brook Farm lasted about five years, and was finally dissolved in consequence of the destruction by fire of its most important and costly building. But if this disaster had not occurred, it must presently have come to an end. The plan was too large for the means, the profits were insufficient, and the friction was too great. It contained at the time about one hundred inmates, including school- teachers, mechanics, business men, farmers, and pupils. In pursuance of the attempt towards a more just retribution for labor, all employments were paid substantially alike; and thus persons who in the world without could earn large salaries received no more than those who could only earn small ones; but the great difficulty was, that enough could not be earned for all the needs of the establishment. "The world is not yet ripe for social democracy. " Yet it is not too much to say that every person who was at Brook Farm for any length of time has ever since looked back upon it with a feeling of satisfaction. The healthy mixture of manual and intellectual labor, the kindly and un- affected social relations, the absence of everything like as- sumption or servility, the amusements, the discussions, the friendships, the ideal and poetical atmosphere which gave a charm to fife, all these combine to create a picture towards which the mind turns back with pleasure as to something distant and beautiful, not elsewhere met with amid the routine of this world. In due time it ended and became almost forgotten; and yet it remains alive, and the purposes that inspired it still dwell in many minds. In the case of Mr. Ripley, they remained as the soul of his philosophy, the sure and steady light which lighted up the dark places of thought and action. He was a socialist and a democrat to the last. "The same is doubtless true of others who were with him, and who have since been scattered in the ordinary plains and byways of existence. The faith of democracy, the faith of 454 GRANT'S SECOND TERM humanity, the faith of mankind are steadily growing tow- ards a society not of antagonisms, but of concord; not of artificial distinctions, but of spiritual development towards a society commanding the forces of external nature and con- verting the earth into an abode of peace and beauty, excelling the mythical Eden of old; this we say still lives among men. The mortal remains of one of them are to-day committed to the earth, but the faith survives immortal and consoling. " 'One God, one law, one element, And one far-off divine event, To which the whole creation moves.' " XXVIt ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT HAYES BEGINS A NEW ERA Dana declines to subscribe to memorial — Opposition to dishonest Republicans — Warning against growth of corporate power — Against increase of federal authority — Suggests Holman for president — Opposes Cleveland for governor — Against him for president — Sup- ports Butler — Favors Randall for speaker — Carlisle elected — Argu- ment against internal revenue laws — Civil service reform — Against nationalization of railroads — Need of opposition to government — Proposes public subscription for General Grant — Doubts Cleveland's adherence to pledge against second term — Overflowing treasury — Tilden on coast defence — Monroe Doctrine — Annexation of Sand- wich Islands — Davis and the Lost Cause — Letter on Edwin M. Stanton — Horizontal reduction of tariff — Increase of navy — Mc- Kinley tariff act — Sack ville- West's letter — Favors re-election of Cleveland — Economic utility of corporations — Favors protection of American railways against Canadian competition — Continental union — Commends Harrison's inaugural address — Condemns his acceptance of Cape May cottage — Good word for office-seekers and trusts — Commends Cleveland's action against Chicago strike — Opposes his third candidacy — The noble controversies of politics — Death of George William Curtis — Samuel J. Randall — Benjamin F. Butler — Sketches of Beach and Bennett Early in the presidential term of Rutherford B. Hayes, a movement was started at Boston to place his portrait in Memorial Hall, with those of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, the only other graduates of Harvard University who had up to that time reached the office of president. It was proposed that the portrait should be paid for by subscriptions from his fellow - graduates, and Dana was invited to contribute. To this he replied, January 21, 1881: 456 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA ... "I decline to join in such a subscription. I am not willing to do anything that may be designed or construed as a compliment to Mr. Hayes, or that may recognize his tenure of the executive office at Washington as anything other than an event of dishonor. He was not chosen presi- dent. He was defeated in the election; and then a band of conspirators, Mr. Hayes himself conspiring and conniving with them, setting aside the Constitution and the law, and making use of forgery, perjury, and false counting, secured for him possession of the presidency to which another man had been elected; and when he had got possession of it, his most sedulous care was to repay with offices and emoluments those authors, managers, and agents of the conspiracy to whom he had been chiefly indebted for its infamous success. "Sooner than honorably commemorate such an event or do public homage to such a man, I beg you, gentlemen, with your own hands first to destroy the portraits of John Adams and John Quincy Adams in Memorial Hall, and then to raze to the ground the hall itself." . . . And this was the attitude that Dana maintained through- out life towards Hayes and his cabinet. There seems to have been nothing personal in his course. He had no ac- quaintance with Hayes, either as a soldier or as a citizen, but judged him solely from his connection with the Electoral Commission, and with the men and means by which he secured the presidency. To these he never failed to show a deep and abiding opposition based upon a literal con- struction of the Constitution and upon his own idea of righteous political conduct. His real battle had been for honest government, both national and State, and, although he had gained a substantial victory, he could not resist the temptation to fire an occasional shot at those who had taken what he thought was a dishonorable part in the campaign, or had succeeded in getting away with spoils of battle to which they were not entitled. 457 THE LIFEOF CHARLES A. DANA Dana seems at no time to have been opposed to Repub- licans as such, but always to dishonest Republicans, and this is strikingly shown by the fact that when Roscoe Conkling resigned from the Senate, because his wishes had not been complied with in reference to the appointment of a collector of customs for the port of New York, the Sun came out at once in favor of his re-election by the legis- lature, because it believed him to be an honest man, whose return to the Senate would be a rebuke to President Gar- field. But this was not all. It commended "the truth, devotion, and fidelity'* of Senator Piatt in following the example of his more distinguished colleague, while it de- nounced one of his principal opponents in the legislature who had taken a professional part in preventing the in- vestigation of the Black Friday conspiracy from uncov- ering the real culprits. As early as January, 1881, the Sun called attention to "the latent heat of public feeling," and its liability "to be kindled into flame" by the augmentation of corporate power through the absorption and consolidation of in- dependent but kindred corporations, as in the case of the great telegraph companies. It pointed out that a state of things entirely unforeseen by the framers of our national and State governments had arisen, and that the powers of government would have to be adjusted in some way to the new condition of things. It emphasized its statement by referring to the fact that individuals like Vanderbilt and Gould had already come to the exercise of power and influence which amounted to a balance of power in a State, and even in a nation. It concluded with the declaration that ..." a great struggle between the power of the multitude and the power of an individual wielded through corporate forms is at hand." 458 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA Considered in connection with the subsequent growth of corporate power, as exemplified by the life-insurance companies and the great railroad combinations of the present day, and by the radical measures resorted to by the national government to limit and control such com- binations, this statement, made over a quarter of a cen- tury ago, may well be regarded as prophetic. Although Dana always called himself a Democrat, he doubtless used the word in a sociological rather than a polit- ical sense. He was habitually opposed to any action on the part of the national government that could be properly left to the State governments, and it was mainly for this reason that he opposed, from the date of their first men- tion, every bill presented to the national Congress for the prevention of food adulterations and the regulation of interstate commerce. He strenuously contended that the clause of the Constitution which authorized the Congress to regulate commerce between the States had no such meaning as was given to it in the interstate commerce act, and that all such acts were "antagonistic to Democratic principles" and a "step in the direction of centralization and paternal government." He believed in rigid economy in the national expenditures, and therefore sympathized deeply with Holman, of Indiana, who began to attract public attention in 1882 for the frequency with which he objected to, and the persistency with which he scrutinized, the appropriation bills of the House. From that date, till he disappeared from public life, the Sun always men- tioned the Great Objector with respect, and did all it could to encourage him in his good work. It even went to the extent of suggesting that his nomination and election to the presidency would be a good thing for the country. Holman was a plain man, but an earnest and sagacious one, and in commending his example and virtues it is evident that Dana meant to indicate that he regarded •159 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA character and honesty as of far greater value in a public officer than polite accomplishments or a college education, It was in September, 1882, that Dana first announced his opposition to Grover Cleveland, who had just been nominated by the Democratic party of New York as their candidate for governor of the State. As the Sun remained a free and, at times, an intolerant critic of that distin- guished man, so long as he held public office, it is interest- ing to note that it based its opposition primarily on the ground that "It is not usually a wise thing in politics, any more than in war, to take a private from the ranks and at one bound to promote him to be commander-in-chief; yet that is what has been done in the case of Grover Cleveland." While it is true that Cleveland at the time of his election to the office of governor was without national experience or prominence of any kind, he was destined as governor, and afterwards as president, to reveal himself as a man of honesty, courage, and independence. Although a lawyer accustomed to city life, his intellectual growth had been slow, hence his character was neither fully developed nor fully understood till his public career was drawing to a close. Besides, it should be remembered that Dana was a firm friend of Tilden, and, so long as his faculties were unimpaired, naturally regarded him as the legitimate leader of his party. Both Cleveland and Dana were famed for their independence as well as for their impatience of re- straint, and these qualities made it probable that their initial divergence, Whatever its cause, would not only grow wider, but continue to the end. So far as can now be ascertained, no adequate effort was ever made to open the eyes of either to the real merits of the other, or to bring them together in support of policies and measures which both had sincerely at heart. 460 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA Owing mainly to the very large majority by which Mr. Cleveland was elected, he had hardly been installed as governor when the press of the country began discussing his availability as the candidate of the Democrats for president. Among the earliest of his supporters were several Mugwump or moderate Republican journals, and this circumstance, together with the fact that he had not yet greatly distinguished himself in public affairs, caused the Sun to decry the suggestion as premature, and likely to prove injurious to the fortunes of the Democratic party. But the fact is, that while Dana had come to be generally regarded as a Democrat, he was above all an independent, who had his own views on every subject. Unfortunately, they were unfavorable to Cleveland from the first, but, so far as can be discovered, they were based purely upon considerations of experience and fitness, and not at all on personal grounds. Besides, it should be remembered that, in looking over the political field, Dana had come to the conclusion, months before the nominating convention, that Butler, of Massachusetts, would be the strongest candidate that the Democrats could nominate, and had published an elaborate article setting forth his merits as "a man of the most fertile mind, of steady courage, and unflinching fidelity to whatever duty he assumes." In bringing him forward, he contended that the general's popularity with various outsiders and independent or- ganizations not connected with either of the great parties would prove to be an important if not a decisive element of strength. Later, when Dana was reproached by his colleagues of the press for inconsistency in favoring one whom he had previously denounced in severe terms for his connection with the Republican party, and for the support he had given to Grant's administration, the editor, without the slightest regard to the mere appearance of consistency, declared that " things had changed very much 461 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA since that time," and that for several years he had "felt profoundly grateful to General Butler" for the course he had taken in regard to the Electoral Commission, and particularly for the desire he had manifested to have Tilden installed in the place which had been unjustly given to Hayes. In further support of his candidate, Dana contended that all Democrats who could not for any reason vote for Cleveland, and all Republicans who would not on account of his unfortunate record vote for Blaine, could with entire propriety vote for Butler, . . . "both as a man to be immensely preferred to either of the others, and as a protest against such nominations." Having already declared in the columns of his news- paper that sooner than join in making James G. Blaine President of the United States, he would quit work, burn his pen, and leave to other and perhaps rasher heads the noble controversies of politics and the defence of popular self-government, and having opposed the nomination of Cleveland on the ground of inexperience and obscurity, there can be no doubt that his best excuse for supporting Butler is to be found in his desire to enter an effective protest against the other nominations. That he made a serious mistake in this, and thereby threw away both prestige and income, must be conceded by all who regard policy as better than independence. And this is the more noticeable because, in looking back upon the personality of the candidates and the issues of the campaign, it is now evident that Dana underestimated Cleveland and did not fully appreciate Butler's defects of character or the fatal influence of his instability of conviction upon the public mind. First a pro-slavery, if not a secession Democrat, next a radical Republican, then a Greenbacker, and finally an independent, he had established a reputation for neither 462 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA sincerity nor honesty, and had gained in no part of the country any considerable share of public confidence. While Dana showed no disposition to quarrel with the voting public, he was doubtless disappointed, if not sur- prised, at the returns. Withal, the successful candidate was still an untried man, while Dana himself was, if pos- sible, more than ever an independent one. Although the general results of the election, in putting the Democrats into power and turning the Republicans out, might well have been claimed by him as a substantial victory, it did not relieve him, in his own mind, from the supreme duty of keeping his journal true to its policy of independence. Having always been intensely American in his feelings, Dana's unvarying practice was to advocate such policies as would tend to increase the wealth, power, and inde- pendence of the American people. Recognizing that the human family was not a solidarity, but was divided into races and nations for governmental purposes, he felt that his first duty was to do all in his power to develop the re- sources, diversify the industries, and increase the wealth of his own country. To this end he had always favored a protective tariff as against a tariff for revenue only. He held that from the earliest days of the Democratic party its policy had conformed to this principle, and that noth- ing had occurred to justify a radical departure from it. For this reason he never gave countenance to the tendency which began to show itself in that direction with the ap- pearance of an unusual surplus in the national treasury. To the contrary, he repudiated the party tendency tow- ards free-trade legislation, and when the Democratic ma- jority in the House of Representatives manifested its purpose to choose a free-trade Democrat for the office of speaker, he threw himself into the fight against Car- lisle, of Kentucky, the party favorite, and favored Ran- dall, of Pennsylvania, a life-long and very able pro- 463 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA tectionist. The newspapers of the country took sides according to their convictions, and the discussion, which was a spirited one, covered the entire period between the election and the organization of the new House. Fore- seeing that a free-trade policy would split the party, and if followed by free-trade legislation would so disturb the business and prosperity of the country as to bring on hard times, which in turn would bring the Republicans again into power, Dana placed Randall on a simple but comprehensive platform of his own framing, and advocated it as the only one by which the Democratic party could hope to maintain itself before the country. It was clear and explicit, but it would be difficult to-day to decide whether it was in any partisan sense either Democratic or Republican. It advocated: " I. A Radical Reduction in the Expenses of the Govern- ment. "II. The Return of Every Superfluous Office-holder to Private Usefulness. " III. The Abolition of the Internal Revenue System. " IV. The Radical Reform and Simplification of the Tariff. " V. No Subsidies; no Jobbery; no Stealing; no Waste." But with all Dana and those who stood with him could do, Carlisle was elected, and the party started on a pol- icy that in four years ended in the double event which had been predicted. It is not the purpose of this nar- rative to decide whether this was due to the action of the Democratic party or to the operation of economic laws independent of both parties, but merely to point out that it was a signal vindication of Dana's judgment. With this explanation, and the fact that the two chief offices of the government were in the hands of men he had opposed, it is easy to understand that Dana felt under no sort of obligation to give either his support. He re- 464 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA garded Carlisle as an able man, and always mentioned him with respect, but this did not blind him to the fact that both the speaker and his party were on a road which must end in failure and defeat. His first duty under his repeated declaration of independence as a journalist was clearly to the public and to his own views of public in- terest. In this connection it is to be noted that through- out both of Cleveland's administrations he was just as independent and aggressive in his criticisms of men and measures as he was throughout both of Grant's. As will be indicated further on, he was frequently right in this, though it is not to be denied that his strictures upon the administration, and upon the measures which it adopted, were so uniformly hostile, and his personal references to Cleveland were frequently so disrespectful, as to subject both him and his newspaper for years to the harshest criticism. This was emphasized in the public estimation by the fact that Dana had found no noticeable difficulty in giving his unqualified support to General Butler, first for governor of Massachusetts, and second for the presidency of the United States. In both instances his critics claimed that Dana's main purpose was not so much to express his dis- approval of the other nominations as it was to witness " the rattling and smashing which would take place among the dry bones " if by any chance Butler should be elected. In this, curious as it may seem, he was far from being alone. It is well known that there were many voters in Massa- chusetts, and not a few in the country at large, who de- sired, in the phrase of the day, " to see what the Old Man would do " if called to either of the high offices to which he aspired. When his notable peculiarities were taken into consideration, this desire was perhaps natural enough, but it was difficult to defend it, or to justify the course of the Sun, against the suggestion which was frequently . 465 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA heard, that it was treating a grave and important matter with undue levity. It was during this period that the Sun brought forward its most elaborate arguments against the internal revenue laws as an outgrowth of the Civil War, but which had outlived the occasion that so fully justified them. It ad- vocated the abolition of the entire system, except the excise on distilled spirits and tobacco, as no longer neces- sary and as bringing the Federal government too close to the daily life of the people. For similar reasons it op- posed the adoption of a permanent civil service, and the establishment of competitive examinations for filling the public offices. It contended that, while the appointing power should be held responsible for the selection of its agents, it should be left free to exercise its own best judg- ment as to their qualifications. In reply to an invitation to attend a competitive examination at the New York custom-house, after stating the case in general terms as above, and allowing that every applicant for public office should be examined individually but not competitively for the work he wished to undertake, the editor continued as follows: ... "I do not believe in this method of reforming the present evils of civil service. Above all, I do not believe in the establishment in this country of the German bureaucratic system, with its permanent staff of office-holders who are not responsible to the people, and whose tenure of place knows no variation and no end except the end of life. "In my judgment a genuine reform of the evils complained of is reached by the rigorous simplification of the machinery of government, by the repeal of all superfluous laws, the abolition of every needless office, and the dismissal of every unnecessary officer. The true American doctrine on this sub- ject consists in the diminution of government, not in its in- crease. 466 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA "Moreover, the first and indispensable condition of any reform under the federal Executive is the election of a president who is earnestly and thoroughly a reformer. Until that is done we may expect to see shallow experiments, deceptive shams, and short-lived illusions, but no real or permanent improvement can be attained." . . . A few days later, in reply to a casual correspondent who suggested the nationalization of the railroads, the Sun ex- pressed itself against the proposition in terms which ap- pear to be quite as sensible to-day as when they were first uttered : . . . "We cannot imagine anything more absurd, unpatri- otic, and dangerous than this scheme. "There is one end which should be constantly pursued by every intelligent American in whatever belongs to legis- lation and government. This end is to diminish the power of government, to reduce the number and authority of office- holders, and to abolish as far as possible the interference of political agents in private affairs." After admitting, during the course of the discussion, that protection and free-trade should receive due attention from the Democrats in the next House, it took care to put itself on the broader and safer platform that their chief and most imperative duty would be "to stand as a unit against free-trade in the people's money and for the pro- tection of the public treasury." It followed this by a more elaborate article defining democracy to be "the government of the people for the people and by the peo- ple." It declared that its life is immortal, and does not depend upon any success of the hour; that elections may be lost and won, that wisdom or folly may prevail, that delusions may overcome the minds of men, and that in- terest may lead them astray; but when all political sins have been committed, all blunders have been endured and 31 467 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA punished, "the truth of democracy will still shine untar- nished and the hopes of mankind will still cluster around the possibility of its realization." Calling attention to the fact that there are two tendencies in human society — one to increase the power in government, the other to its dim- inution — and claiming that the Democratic party should be considered as the principal representative and embodi- ment of the latter tendency, the article concluded as follows: . . . "In every free commonwealth there is as great a need for an opposition as for a government; and though the Re- publicans should continue to hold the keys of power and place for another quarter of a century, the Democrats will continue to oppose their principles and resist their develop- ment. They may continue for a long time, and on many fields, to fight none but losing battles, and the tired and ex- hausted veterans may sadly drop out of the ranks and dis- appear; but new recruits, young, ardent, disinterested, be- lieving in liberty and devoted to the republic, will rise up to take their places. "No calamity can extinguish democracy; no one of those who are temporarily intrusted with leadership can break it down; it is immortal." While this, so far as known, is the last statement made by Dana in regard to the subject, and shows a distinct leaning to the Democratic party, it should be observed that it does not pretend to show that resistance to the central- izing tendencies of the times as a permanent principle of national policy is confined to that party alone, nor did it in any way change the Sun from an independent journal into a partisan organ. Broadly considered, it was merely an argument in favor of the fundamental principles of the American government, in preference to those of all other governments in which emperors, kings, or privileged classes exercise the chief power. 468 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA Throughout the year 1885 the Sun touched upon all the topics of the day, but never as a party organ. It discussed the national banks from an economic point of view, but was not overfriendly to them. Indeed, it thought they could be dispensed with entirely, or be deprived pf their function of issuing circulating notes without serious detri- ment to the national interests. While sympathizing deeply with General Grant, on ac- count of the financial disaster that had overtaken him through the failure of Grant & Ward, of which he was the senior partner, Dana, in an editorial doubtless from his own pen, opposed the proposition that Congress should give him a pension. He thought that no such precedent should be established, but proposed instead that the pub- lic sympathy should be manifested towards the unfortu- nate general by a great popular subscription to be limited to ten dollars from any subscriber, and that the proceeds should be put into the hands of trustees who should collect and pay over the interest and dispose of the principal as the surviving beneficiary might direct. While pointing out that this should not be considered as the payment of a public debt, and that General Grant's great military ser- vices were no more than his duty required him to render to the country that had educated and honored him, he did not wish to see the declining days of this eminent and patriotic soldier clouded with misfortune, and therefore asked his fellow-citizens to take hold and lift the burden off. While heartily commending Cleveland as a man who at least dealt in no false pretences, but expressed his thoughts plainly and without hypocrisy, he cast a doubt upon his adherence to the declaration, made soon after his inauguration, that he would not stand for a second election to the presidency. In support of this doubt, the article plainly intimated that the President might, from his own experience, conclude, as several of his predecessors 469 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA had, that it would be better for his party, his country, and himself to take a second election. It pointed out the in- fluences and arguments which would be brought to bear, and, although it cast no doubt upon the good faith or upon the firmness of the President's determination, it declared that nothing but time and experience could shed a con- clusive light on the question. As the sequel showed, the editor was both correct and prophetic, for in spite of his earlier convictions Cleveland was not only renominated twice, but the second time was re-elected after an inter- regnum of four years. During the whole of Cleveland's administration, and, for that matter, during the entire twelve years ending with his second term, Dana maintained the position of an in- dependent with Democratic leanings, but it would be im- possible within the limits of this narrative to epitomize the discussions in which the Sun was engaged. Such an epitome would necessarily touch upon every branch of human activity, for all were watched and commented upon by the editor and his able assistants. The newspaper had come to be recognized by the reading and thinking public, not only as the most enterprising, but as the most original and most interesting journal of the times. There was no subject which it hesitated to discuss, and none which it did not illuminate. One of the most absorbing topics of the day was the overflowing treasury of the general government, and how to reduce the continually increasing surplus. Many sug- gestions were made and considered, but the one which received the Sun's heartiest approval was set forth in Tilden's letter to the speaker of the House of Representa- tives, urging that no reduction of taxation should be made till a proper and adequate system of sea-coast defence had been constructed and paid for. It regarded this as far preferable to a free-trade tariff. Later it discussed the 470 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA gold standard and the fall in prices, in connection with the decrease in the output of gold. It quoted largely from the speeches of Goschen and Giffen, and did not hesitate for a brief period to favor silver monometallism, to be gradually brought about by the Treasury's monthly pur- chase of four million ounces of silver, as allowed by the silver purchase bill. But when it was seen that this measure was merely a deal in merchandise that would cause the great commercial nations which adhered to the gold standard to ultimately unload their surplus silver upon the United States, the Sun promptly gave its sup- port to Cleveland's recommendation that the silver pur- chase act should be repealed. On the other hand, it severely criticised the action of his Attorney-General for bringing a suit to set aside the Bell telephone patents in behalf of the Pan -Electric Company, in which he was charged with having a substantial ownership. It char- acterized the action of the administration as scandalous, and demanded the dismissal of Attorney-General Garland for involving the government in a patent suit in which it had no interest, and which the laws of the land were amply sufficient to deal with. It condemned the President for " the mild and concilia- tory foreign policy" which he adopted in the earlier part of his first term. It denounced his attitude towards Great Britain in regard to the Oorinto affair with Nicaragua as a serious manifestation of indifference to the Monroe Doc- trine, but did not fail to praise his message of retaliation touching the fisheries question. It asked for the resigna- tion of Secretary Bayard for negotiating the fisheries treaty which the Senate rejected, but praised both the President and Secretary Olney in high terms for the measures they took to compel Great Britain to arbitrate its dispute with Venezuela in regard to the boundary between that country and British Guiana. 471 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA It favored the acquisition of the Hawaiian Islands, which had been provided for in the closing days of Har- rison's administration. It severely condemned Cleveland for withdrawing the treaty of annexation which had been referred to the Senate for ratification. It condemned his action in sending a "paramount commissioner" to Honolulu without the advice and consent of the Senate as an assumption of authority and a violation of the fundamental law. It lost no opportunity to ridicule the paramount commissioner, or to inveigh against the re- establishment of the deposed queen upon her throne. It pointed out that the American people would not approve such a measure as this, no matter what excuse might be offered for it, and claimed that such acts as these, when added to the estrangement of the party leaders, which had already been brought about by the President's uncon- ciliatory manners and his advocacy of a free-trade tariff, would result in the defeat of the Democratic party at the next election. And yet it may be truthfully said that it never failed to praise such acts of Cleveland or his ad- ministration as it could consistently approve, and it did this with a heartiness which did more than its bitterest criticism to arouse the resentment of their party sup- porters. In May, 1886, the Sun published an editorial on the " Lost Cause," containing many evidences of having been written by Dana. It was called forth by a speech on that subject delivered by Jefferson Davis. After expressing admiration for the ability and eloquence of this remark- able address, and calling attention to the fact that it did not contain a single word on the subject of slavery, it con- tinued as follows: . . . "Yet this institution was indisputably the moving cause of all the acts, efforts, sacrifices, achievements, and 472 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA sufferings which Mr. Davis so wonderfully describes, exalts, and defends. Had there been no slavery, there would have been no secession and no civil war. Indeed, the great fruit of that war, next to the integrity and unity of the republic, is the extirpation of slavery. "As long as the institution lasted, with its principles hostile to the principles of the government, with its immense power of property and o politics constantly menacing rebellion, it was impossible that the country should be safe; and, now that it has been removed, there is no longer any apparent cause, that the most strenuous observation can detect, which carries with it any peril of the kind. The measure of public safety which has thus been gained is worth all that it cost, enormous as the cost was. "But this is not all. The removal of slavery did more than give security to republican institutions. It took away a great blot which rested upon the country, a contradiction and an incongruity most repugnant to the sentiments of generous, -enlightened, and progressive minds. It brought the United States, the leader of democratic progress, into harmony with democratic ideas. It made the land better and fairer to live in. "We are not surprised that in discussing these great events of twenty-five years ago Mr. Davis avoided all refer- ence to slavery. It does honor to his intelligence and his heart that he should thus omit from his review this supreme element in the great contest; but he would have been truer to history had he faced the facts and manfully explained their share in the prodigious struggle, some of whose nobler aspects he so eloquently illustrates." It was on June 17, 1886, that Dana wrote a memorable and appreciative letter to William P. Hepburn, a member of Congress from Iowa, in reference to Stanton, late Secretary of War. As it may be justly regarded as one of the greatest and most eloquent tributes ever paid to the character and services of an American statesman, it is here given in full: 473 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA "I am sorry to say that my period of intimacy with Mr. Stanton, and of service under him in the War Department, did not really begin until after General McClellan had been removed. For this reason I am not able to speak upon that point from personal knowledge of my own. But upon the general question of Mr. Stanton's purposes, I can say most emphatically that in all my acquaintance with him he never had but one purpose in his mind, and this was to carry the war efficiently forward to a victorious conclusion. He had no friends but those who were of that mind, and he knew no enemies but those whom he regarded as the enemies of his country. Whoever was not for prosecuting the war most vigorously, whoever hesitated, whoever interposed obstacles, whoever in his opinion failed to come up to the high mark of zeal and thoroughness, might be certain to have Mr. Stanton for a critic and an antagonist. "Of himself, of his own personal interests and advance- ments, no man could be less careful than he was. All mer- cenary considerations he despised, and the end of the great struggle left him a much poorer man than he was at the beginning. All mere friendships he was ready to disregard and fling away as soon as he came to believe that their object did not share his own high and patriotic enthusiasm for the Union. He was such a man in his day and work as Oliver Cromwell was in his, and they who now propose to judge him by any narrow standard of their own are sure to judge wrongly. "Of course, a great heroic figure like Stanton is not in- fallible, because he is a man. It was always possible for him to judge wrongly, and to be deceived by erroneous evi- dence. But one thing was never possible for Mm, and that was to be unfaithful to the Union or to show any mercy in feeling or in act towards its enemies. "It is very easy for men in this year of 1886 to find blem- ishes in the conduct or the character of this great man; but we who knew him thoroughly, and whose fortune it was to labor at his side and under his orders, cannot be mistaken in our opinion that without him the Union could not have been saved." 474 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA Towards the close of Cleveland's first term the Sun de- nounced the Mills bill, providing for a horizontal reduction of the tariff, and praised the McKinley act as establishing the most useful and the most scientific tariff that the United States had ever had. While it frankly admitted that the time had come for "the reconstruction" of the tariff, it strongly contended that its "abolition" would be ruinous to the Democratic party and injurious to the country at large. It favored the upbuilding of the navy, and praised William C. Whitney, the secretary of that de- partment, as the only member of Cleveland's cabinet that had proved himself equal to the exigencies of his high po- sition. It maintained its hostility to Secretary Bayard and Minister Phelps, on account of their alleged attitude of unfriendliness towards the Irish and the Irish cause. It received the proceeds of a popular subscription for the benefit of the Irish movement under the leadership of Parnell. On the publication of an imprudent letter of Sir Lionel Sackville-West, the British minister, advising a citizen who had been a British subject to vote the Demo- cratic ticket, it called for the dismissal of the minister, and had the satisfaction of seeing him on his way back to England within the short period of three days. It praised the President warmly for the spirit and promptitude of his action, and urged all citizens to vote for him rather than for General Harrison. With all the shortcomings of the Democrats in Congress, and all the objections which it had recorded against Cleveland and his management, the Sun preferred to see him re-elected than to see the Republicans again called back to power. Although Dana had been one of the first of the American editors to call attention to the phenomenal increase of corporations, he was also one of the first to call attention to their great economic utility, and to the necessity of dealing with them fairly and justly. So philosophical were 475 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA his views, and so ably were they supported by his contrib- utors, that they have remained to this day the guide of the Sun in its discussion of a question which is still far from a permanent or satisfactory settlement. The Sun has always maintained that railways and the improved methods of transportation are among the most useful and powerful agencies of American prosperity, and that in dealing with them and the abuses which have grown up in their management the people should never countenance measures looking to their ruin, their sequestration, or their acquisition by the general government. It even went so far as to urge that Congress, having passed a law for the regulation of interstate commerce, and putting certain restrictions on the American railroads, owed it to them that it should prohibit all foreign railroads and steamship lines from engaging in the same trade as rivals to our own railroads and common carriers, just as foreign steamship lines are prohibited from engaging in the coasting trade as rivals to our own steamship lines. Obviously this re- striction was aimed particularly at the Canadian railroads along our northern border. They had been heavily sub- sidized by the British and Colonial governments, and had been built primarily for military purposes, in pursuance of a well-defined policy on the part of the home govern- ment to " federate the empire " and to put its American dependencies in condition to defend themselves against possible aggressions from the American republic. In support of this suggestion, the Sun favored the peace- able acquisition of Canada and the neighboring provinces, and pointed out that this was not only in the direction of our manifest destiny, but that the result of continental union would not only dedicate one continent permanent- ly to the cause of peace, but would in addition settle many important questions growing out of the juxtaposi- tion of rival and possibly hostile sovereignties. Dana never 476 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA ceased to show his interest in this great question, and with a view to its proper and friendly solution accept- ed the presidency of the Continental Union Association, which at one time included in its membership many promi- nent and influential men throughout both Canada and the United States. It may be worth while in this connection to call attention to the fact that the Sun of April 21, 1887, asked the pertinent question: "Which of the great political parties is going to be the first to make the peaceable acquisition of Canada a plank in its platform? Don't both speak at once. . . . But think about it carefully and prayerfully as well as wisely. It is a great subject, and will not become any less great till the thing has been done." It did not fail to give special commendation to the Republican party for the unequivocal declaration which it inserted in its statement of principles in favor of that policy, but which, owing to the Spanish War a few years later, and perhaps to the fears of a timid administration, it at first softened and finally dropped entirely from its platform. While the Democratic party still controlled the House of Representatives, the Sun counselled it not to let the Republicans "lead the way in this most important move- ment," but to seize upon it as a chance for "moving up to higher ground." But questions of internal policy en- gaged the entire attention of both parties. Neither had time or inclination to discuss the country's future relations with its near-by neighbors, but both were content to leave matters of that sort to be disposed of as they might arise. While Dana regarded continental union as "the para- mount question of the hour" for the American people, he was far too practical an editor to engage in discussions for which they were not ready or which had not been brought 477 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA forward by a pressing public need. Indeed, he was an op- portunist, but an opportunist with such breadth of view and such knowledge of facts as enabled him to select the actual topics and make an interesting newspaper for every day of the year. In commenting on General Harrison's inaugural address, the Sun, with its usual directness, declared that it showed the new President to be "neither a sneak nor a fraud," and in view of the fact that it had already strongly ex- pressed its disapproval of his accepting a cottage at Cape May from his party friends, this sententious commenda- tion meant more than appeared on its surface. Taken in connection with the friendly comments that it made upon several of the gentlemen named for the new cabinet, it may be fairly regarded as foreshadowing a determination on the part of Dana to judge the incoming administration entirely on its merits. It was at this time that what appeared to many to be an indecent rush for office under the new administration brought from the Sun a characteristic article favorable to politicians as a class, and deprecating the outcry against them as both thoughtless and unjust. It contended frank- ly that, if a man wanted an office, he should ask the ap- pointing power for it, with the same freedom that he would ask a business man or corporation for a job. This view of the matter was as novel as it was sound and healthy, and seems to have been accepted as all that needed to be said on the subject. But the Sun was always opposed to the creation of new departments of government, not only because it did not want to see the government functions enlarged, but be- cause it did not want the army of federal office-holders in- creased. While it acknowledged that the rapid growth of population, which was a phenomenon of the times, would necessarily result in a corresponding increase of the office- 478 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA holders in the Treasury and Post -Office departments, it never lost an opportunity to argue against "all annexes and extensions" of federal power, the creation of "new hospitals for office-holders," and the enlargement of gov- ernmental activity, no matter what the excuse. For these reasons it objected to the creation of a department of agriculture, or a department of commerce and labor, both of which were then under consideration. It opposed the indiscriminate denunciation of trusts for political effect as " the greatest humbug of the hour," and explained that . . . "a trust is a vast partnership, a combination in trade or manufactures. The objects of trade being to buy as cheap as possible, to sell as dear as possible, and to get control of the market as far as possible, the formation for these pur- poses of these gigantic and widely extended partnerships is just as natural and regular as the partnership of two shoe- makers or of two blacksmiths." But while it held these views in regard to the nature and functions of trusts, and admitted that they should be subject to proper regulation by the power that created them, it also held that all trusts should be treated alike — that the commercial trusts should not be struck down while labor trusts and trades-unions should be allowed to carry on their operations without any regulation at all. True to its convictions, it always contended that neither labor trust nor trades-union should be permitted to deprive a private workman of his right to work at any time or place, or for any rate of compensation that might please him. It stood for the equal rights of all men before the law, and for the effective protection of every individual against the tyranny and violence of the many. While Dana had stood all bis life for the rights of every class of labor, and for the betterment of its condition by all proper means, he 479 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA was the only prominent editor in the country who at all times stood firmly for the rights of the employer as well as of the individual workman. The Sun was notably out- spoken in its condemnation of the railroad and other strikers, not for leaving their job nor for demanding higher wages and shorter hours, but for the injury they inflicted on the property of their employers, and for the outrages and violence which they visited upon those who were will- ing to take the places they had vacated. It will be remembered that the great strike at Chicago, and the interference of the mob with the operation of the railroads engaged in interstate commerce, called forth a notable proclamation from President Cleveland for the restoration of public order. The occasion led to a corre- spondence by telegraph with the governor of Illinois that attracted much attention at the time. Its immediate effect was to make it plain that the President required no call from him for assistance as a warrant for sending troops to disperse the mob and insure the free transmission of the United States mails. It was clearly his duty to see that all the laws of the United States, including the act regulat- ing commerce between the States, were enforced, that the government's mail service should be performed, and that to this end he should use, at his own discretion, such part of the army as he might think proper. Troops were ac- cordingly sent at once to Chicago, and to other parts of the country where the running of trains had been stopped. The effect was magical; the mobs were dispersed, their organization was broken, mail service was re-established, and order was everywhere restored. Upon all previous occasions, except in the case of re- ceivers who were operating railroads under the orders of the federal courts, it had been regarded as the established law of the land that United States troops could not be ordered into a State to repress riots or insurrection until 480 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA the governor had stated officially that he was unable to restore and maintain order, and was therefore forced to call on the President for assistance. Governor Altgeld, who sympathized with the Chicago strikers, took this view of the matter, and was greatly put out to find that the President not only intended to act independently and without invitation, but had no doubt of his perfect right to do so under the federal statutes then in force. This was a genuine surprise to the lawyers as well as to the business men of the country. It marks an epoch in the protection of internal commerce and in the maintenance of public order and tranquillity. In all this it is to be observed that President Cleveland had the full support and co- operation of the Sun and its editor, followed by a growing respect for his honesty and courage, yet it is to be noted that they abated nothing of their opposition to the move- ment favoring his renomination for the presidency. He had been twice nominated and once chosen, and, although Harrison's term had intervened, Dana set his face strong- ly against a third nomination, and went so far as to say that the greatest service that Grover Cleveland could now render to his party, or to his country, would be to put an end to the movement in his behalf. It must not be thought, however, that "the noble con- troversies of politics," which had for a third of a century engaged so much of Dana's attention, had entirely monop- olized it. Fierce as may have been his onslaughts upon public men whom he believed to be recreant to their public duties, much as he may have rejoiced in the heat and excitement of the conflict, it is not to be supposed that he was indifferent to the claims of early friendship or to the gentler memories of the past. As an enemy went down before him, or as a fellow-soldier in the battle of life fell by the way, he never failed to pay his tribute of affection or respect. In such composition he was peculiarly gifted. 481 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA A single paragraph on the death of George William Curtis, in 1892, a dear friend and associate of Brook Farm and the Tribune, who had been estranged from him for years, is at once a touching example of his literary skill and of his generosity. It is here inserted: "George Curtis lacked only two years of the Psalmists' period of threescore and ten; but his life was cast in pleasant places, and nothing but what was gentle, graceful, and poetic belonged to his career. He was one of those fortunate creat- ures who seem never to be compelled to do anything which is contrary to their inclinations. From his first appearance upon the stage of action, when he went to Brook Farm, in 1842, to the end at Staten Island, yesterday morning, he always maintained his own views of reform, and died as he lived, in the enjoyment of intellectual freedom and the culture of moral ideals, many of which the world has not yet learned to recognize. Elevated in purpose, lovely in character, the most delightful of companions, the soul of truth, not a great constructive genius either in literature, in politics, or in reform, though he attempted all of them with distinction, his personal and social qualities were always pure and perfect; and those who knew him best will join with us in laying upon his grave the fairest flower of memory and of hope." An instance of another kind, but scarcely less touching, is his tribute to Samuel J. Randall, his political friend and fellow-Democrat, who died in 1890, and whom he had supported so strenuously for speaker of the House of Representatives. Of him he wrote in part as follows: . . . "The history of Mr. Randall is narrated at some length in another part of this paper. It is impossible to read it without admiration for the character of the man, or without envy for such grand and unvarying devotion to the highest conception of patriotic duty. It is a most instructive and inspiring narrative. Resolute, modest, free from vanity and from selfishness, no public man has ever lived up to a purer 482 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA or a nobler ideal. There was no sham, no glitter, no cant in Randall, but a singleness of purpose, a supremacy of intelli- gence, and a magnanimity of action which temptation could not influence and weakness never marked with a blot. "Happy is the nation which can stand beside the open grave of a great man without a cloud upon its pride at hav- ing had such a son. Happy the people in whose day and generation such an example of public and private virtue and of manly, life-long fidelity to every obligation has been produced. Happy the age which has possessed a citizen of such generosity and such heroism, in friendship so genial, in integrity so complete. And happy, above all, in the midst of their sorrow, are the friends and family, the nearest and dearest of the departed, in the consciousness that the man they loved and mourn for was not merely great and potent in the service of his country and his party, but was equally true, affectionate, gentle, sincere, and spotless in every re- lation of life." It will not be forgotten that Dana had been severely crit- icised for the part he took in the presidential campaign in which Cleveland, Blaine, and Butler were the candidates. He had been charged with inconsistency, with levity, and even with insincerity; but at the death of General Butler, which occurred early in 1893, this is what he said : "For the last quarter of a century at least Benjamin Franklin Butler has stood out as the most original, the most American, and the most picturesque character in our public life. He had courage equal to every occasion; his given word needed no backer; his friendships and his enmities knew no variableness or shadow of turning; his opinions were never disguised nor withheld; his devotion to his country was without qualification; his faith in the future of liberty and democracy was neither intoxicated by their victories nor disheartened by their defeats; his intellectual resources were marvellous; his mind naturally adhered to the cause of 3* 483 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA the poor and the weak, and his delight was to stand by the under dog in the fight. In these qualities he was a great and an exceptional man, and his friends valued him and loved him as truly as his foes detested. But was he great always and in everything? Were his thoughts always thoughts of reality, and his utterances and acts always the utterances and acts of wisdom? Who would say so? No man attains to that height, and no man ever scorned the impostures of sham goodness and unattainable perfection more than Ben Butler. He was no pretender and no hypocrite. He lived his life, a life full of energy, of effort, of success, and of failure, and he has passed to the allotted reward; while we who remain may well be grateful to Heaven that such a man has been, " ' Nor farther seek his merits to disclose, Or draw his frailties from their dread abode, Where they alike in trembling hope repose — The bosom of his Father and his God.'" It will be noted that while Dana was the youngest of the great New York journalists, he knew them all person- ally, and had at various times professional or business relations with each of them. He was, of course, intimate with Greeley, and more or less sympathetic with the tastes and learning of William Cullen Bryant. As he was the survivor of the group, he was requested and consented to write his recollections of Bryant, Bennett, Greeley, Webb, Brooks, Beach, and Noah. In 1890 he dictated to his stenographer a brief account of Beach and a longer one of Bennett, but, unfortunately, never finished the series or published either of the sketches. As Beach was the founder of the Sun, and Bennett of the Herald, and as these are now the leading journals of the country in their respective lines, the sketches as corrected by Dana's own hand are here inserted: . . . "Moses Y. Beach was a business man and a news- paper manager rather than what we now understand as a 484 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA journalist — that is to say, one who is both a writer and a practical conductor and director of a newspaper. Mr. Beach was a man noted for enterprise in the collection of news. In the latter days when he owned and managed the Sun in New York, the telegraph was only established between Wash- ington and Boston, though towards the end of his career it was extended, if I am not mistaken, as far towards the south as Montgomery in Alabama. The news from Europe was then brought to Halifax by steamers, just as the news from Mexico was brought to New Orleans. Mr. Beach's energy found a successful field in establishing expresses brought by messengers on horseback from Halifax to Boston and from New Orleans to Montgomery, thus bringing the news of Europe and the news of the Mexican War to New York much earlier than they could have arrived by the ordinary public conveyance. With him were associated, sooner or later, two or three of the other New York papers; but the energy with which he carried through the undertaking made him a con- spicuous and distinguished figure in the journalists of the city. The final result was the organization of the New York Asso- ciated Press, which has now become a world-embracing es- tablishment for the collection of news of every description, which it furnishes to its members in this city and to other newspapers in every part of the country. Under the stimulus of Mr. Beach's energetic intellect, aided by the cheapness of its price, the Sun became in his hands an important and profitable establishment. Yet he is scarcely to be classed among the prominent journalists of his day." "Contemporary with him was James Gordon Bennett, of the Herald, in many respects the most brilliant, original, and independent journalist I have ever known. Cynical in dis- position, regarding every institution, every man, and every party with a degree of satirical disrespect, living through his protracted career in this city with very few friends, and those generally of a mental caliber inferior to his own, ready to affront alike the interests, the prejudices, and the passions of powerful individuals, or imposing parties with a judgment 485 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA always inclining to be eccentric, and a lawless humor for which nothing was sacred except his own independence, he yet possessed such fresh and peculiar wit, such originality of style, such resources of out-of-the-way reading and learning, such unexpected and surprising views of every subject, such comprehensive notions about news, and such ability to direct the collection of news, and to employ those able to organize and push that business, that he made himself the most in- fluential journalist of his day; and in spite of enmities and animosities and contempt such as I have never seen equalled towards any man, he built up the Herald to be the leading newspaper of this country, and, indeed, one of the great and characteristic journals of modern times. "Mr. Bennett was a Scotchman, and always spoke with a strong Scotch accent. He was a tall, spare, blond man, with a long and rather thin face, a Roman nose, small, blue eyes, and he was cross-eyed. This gave to his face a peculiar, sardonic expression. Yet there was such intellectual power and such an intellectual elevation in Bennett's face that it was always impressive and compelled the respect of those who were not certain whether he was going to befriend in the Herald the cause or the interest for which they were endeavoring to engage his support, or whether he would tear it with his criticism or wither it with his satire. "The last time I saw Mr. Bennett was in the summer of 1868, when I paid him a visit in his house at Fort Washing- ton. He was not very well, and was no longer taking a very active part in the conduct of the Herald, which had been handed over to his son, who was still aided by Mr. Frederick Hudson, for so many years Mr. Bennett's faithful and most efficient lieutenant. I found Mr. Bennett lying on the sofa, with an immense pile of newspapers that he had just read scattered on the floor. He told me that he had them brought up to him from the Herald office every day, and that he found no other amusement so attractive as their perusal; 'and yet,' said he, 'they are mostly domd fools.' He got up and showed me around the place, the garden, the grounds, and pointed out every striking view. I stayed to lunch with him, and was 486 BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA greatly interested in observing the extreme refinement and elegance of the repast. No literary man or artist of the most cultivated taste could desire anything more delicate or ar- tistic. Not one of the other distinguished men about whom I am now writing approached him in this kind of refinement, or in the culture which it suggested, except perhaps it may have been General Webb. "Mr. Bennett had an ample body of enemies, and received in his day more personal abuse than any other member of the profession. Much of it was undoubtedly provoked by his unbridled manner of speaking about many things which most people held sacred. During the first years of the Herald the Catholic religion was the special object of his witty flings, and I cannot recollect in all literature anything more blas- phemous and shocking than the expressions he frequently used. It often seemed as if he were running amuck against the established ideas and usages of society, yet it was all done with such an affluence of wit, such surprising illustrations, and such a store of historical references that even those who were shocked by the wickedness were entertained by the manner of it; and thus the indifferent general public bought the Herald, and stood by its editor with a sort of indiffer- ent sympathy which contributed to the steady increase of its popularity and power. Its success was entirely the work of Mr. Bennett; and, with all the rest, he had an entire apprecia- tion of the supreme importance of news, and went after it with as much force and elasticity as he went after everything else. He ran expresses in opposition to Mr. Beach, though he finally joined the combination and became a member of the Associated Press, with Beach, Greeley, Webb, and Brooks, for all of whom he maintained a kind of intellectual contempt, but none of whom he really hated half so much as he pre- tended. "There was one quality of Mr. Bennett's which is worthy of unqualified admiration, and that is his spirit of indepen- dence. This he maintained under every stress and difficulty. No man but he controlled the Herald; no mind but his in- spired it. There were all sorts of stories about blackmail and 487 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA self-vengeance, to which he never made any reply, and I be- lieve that they were all false. He was one of the proudest men in the world, and he scorned to defend himself against such imputations just as much as he scorned every suggestion which looked to his surrendering any opinion, purpose, or policy of his own. "In politics Mr. Bennett usually supported the Democratic party, and upon the question of slavery, which was the great theme of the half-century, he was always on the side of the institution, and poured all the violence of his sarcasm, logic, and hatred upon the abolitionists. His support of slavery was undoubtedly one of the points of popularity which made the Herald strong with the business interests and the con- servative sentiment of the country. Yet in 1856, when the Republican party started out on its magnificent career and nominated John C. Fremont for president, Mr. Bennett for the first time turned his back upon the Democrats, and gave a qualified but not ineffectual support to the Western path- finder. Now, for the first time, he began to make room in the Herald for arguments against slavery, and began even to write against the institution himself. These arguments were not like those of any other writer, but they were exceedingly efficacious, and this kind of qualified support was partially continued up to the nomination of Lincoln. But it was never pushed to the point of entirely breaking with the South- ern interest until after the Civil War began. Even then it was reported that Bennett would not hang out the stars and stripes from the Herald office until after Fulton Street had been visited by a mob. But, however that may be, it is certain that Mr. Lincoln made a great account of the Herald afterwards; and I know of my own knowledge that at one time he tendered to Mr. Bennett the appointment of minister to France. The compliment was declined; but it was appre- ciated, and I don't think that after that there was ever a word in the Herald which could have caused pain to Mr. Lincoln. "Finally, when the career of Mr. Bennett was ended, the antagonisms and hostilities that had surrounded his fife were 48S BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA all appeased, he breathed his last in the faith of the Church he had so often insulted; and his remains were followed to the grave by members of his own profession for pall-bearers, Horace Greeley and George W. Childs being among them. The Herald, which he created, is his monument, and now, after the lapse of nearly twenty years, it still bears the stamp of his genius and attests the vitality he imparted." XXVIII CLOSING PERIOD Opposes Bryan for president — Democratic party must give up its heresies — Supports McKinley — -Dana's substantial victory over public corruption — Loss of friends — Dana's ample fortune — Travels beyond sea — Visits Mexico and Cuba — Supports Cuban rebellion — Tribute to Jos6 Marti — Dana's scholarship — Class in literature — - His inner life — Skill as horseman — Appreciation of art — Home at Sixtieth Street and Madison Avenue — Paintings, tapestry, and ceramics — Dana's personality and home life — Love of children — The Art of Newspaper Making The end of Cleveland's second administration marked the close of the Sun's co-operation with the Democratic party. It had pointed out with persistency the failure of that party in Congress to live up to the pledges contained in its platform, especially in reference to the tariff; and when it cast aside at Chicago its "essential ideas and best traditions," and converted itself into a Socialistic-Populist party, with William J. Bryan as its candidate for president, on a platform containing doctrines "which were for the most part hostile" to those it had held in the past, Dana, in response to many letters calling for his individual opin- ions, gave them in the Sun of August 6, 1896. They are characterized by independence of judgment and lucidity of statement, and, although the crisis which called them forth is happily long since past, they are given in part as follows : . . . "The Chicago platform invites us to establish a cur- rency which will enable a man to pay his debts with half as 490 CLOSING PEEIOD much property as he would have to use in order to pay them now. This proposition is dishonest. I do not say that all the advocates of the free coinage of silver are dishonest. Thousands of them, millions, if there be so many, are doubt- less honest in intention. But I am unable to reconcile with any ideal of integrity a change in the law which will permit a man who has borrowed a hundred dollars to pay his debt with a hundred dollars each one of which is worth only half as much as each dollar he received from the lender. "The Chicago platform sanctions the use of the appoint- ing power of the President in such a way as to control the federal judiciary in deciding questions of constitutional law. It contemplates a change in the personnel of the Supreme Court of the United States to the end that the recent de- cision declaring the income tax unconstitutional may be reversed. Strange times, indeed, are these, when a man is told that in order to be a Democrat he must favor the im- position of an income tax and the destruction of the inde- pendence of the judiciary! "Still more alarming is the clearly implied approval of lawless violence contained in the denunciation of what is denominated in the platform 'government by injunction.' Veiled in the language of moderation, the wild light of an- archy shines through. "In my opinion, without reviewing the Chicago platform further, the declarations in regard to the currency, the Supreme Court, and the income tax, and the repression of forcible lawlessness by the aid of injunctions, are enough to demand its rejection by all good citizens, and the defeat of the candidates who stand upon it. "I regret exceedingly to find a disposition quite preva- lent to array the West against the East in the discussion of these matters. I see no occasion for making our differences sectional. Here there is no political hostility towards the West, such as is expressed towards the East by some Western newspapers and public speakers. Good citizens can perhaps best aid the cause of honest money and law and order by devot- ing more time to rational argument and less to inefficient abuse. 49X THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA "All questions relating to the tariff have become insignifi- cant for the time being, in view of the possibility, however slight, that the abhorrent principles of the Chicago platform may prevail. The duty and the necessity to compass the final overthrow of that platform by assisting in the defeat of William J. Bryan are most imperative and solemn. This may most certainly be accomplished by voting for the electors pledged to the support of William McKinley; but I have no quarrel with any Democrat who adopts any other course which seems to him equally well adapted or better adapted to the same end." These views, having been fully foreshadowed in the Sun, were now widely accepted by conservative Democrats, who either came out squarely with Dana in support of McKinley, on a platform pledged to gold as the national standard of value, or in support of an independent ticket composed of Democrats, about whose position and the platform on which they stood there could be no doubt whatever. While these men differed as to the practical measures to be adopted, they stood together in the be- lief that the time had come when . . . "the Democracy must purge and recreate itself. It must make itself again known and accepted as the party of equal rights, of party government, of republican ideas, and of political stability, or all that Jefferson labored for, and all that his successors have achieved in the Democratic name, will be lost, or credited to other parties. And by just so long as the need of this regeneration fails to be recognized, the beginning of Democratic restoration will be delayed." . . . These words, written before the election, were prophetic. They show no change in Dana's principles. They indicate no abasement of his ideals, no faltering in his purposes, but, taken in connection with the opinions already given, they show that he intended to waste neither time nor 492 CLOSING PERIOD effort in supporting men who were destined from the start to defeat. While he did not value McKinley highly as an original thinker, or as a statesman of the first rank, he acknowledged his good sense, and felt sure that, surrounded as he would be by a large group of the ablest men in his party, he would give the country a safe and conservative administration in substantial accord with the platform on which it had been chosen. Firm in this conviction, the Sun at once became an active advocate of the Republican candidates. As it had always been, it was independent and in no sense a time-serving partisan, but for this reason its influence was perhaps greater than ever before. McKin- ley received a larger plurality of votes than had ever been given to any candidate for president except General Grant. As before stated, Dana had won a substantial victory in his efforts to purify the administration of the govern- ment as carried on by the Republicans, and to give it a vigorous and American tone as carried on by the Demo- crats. Jobbery and scandal had entirely disappeared from the management of the great departments at Washington. Landaulets and family coaches were no longer bought by members of the cabinet and paid for with public money. The building lots of government officials were no longer graded at the cost of the city. Post-traderships had ceased to pay tribute for the benefit of those in power. Specula- tion in Star Route contracts and fraudulent claims against the government, as well as in naval materials and dis- carded arms, had come to an end. Safe-burglary con- spiracies and bonded - warehouse frauds had been sup- pressed. The Black Friday combination and the Whiskey Ring had been broken up. The revenues were honestly collected and accounted for. Log-rolling legislation had been reduced to a minimum. Municipal government in Washington and New York had been greatly improved, while the management of both State and national affairs 493 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA had been cleansed and lifted to a higher plane. In bring- ing about these results, Dana had taken the lead and done more than his full share. His newspaper had come every- where to be regarded as the fearless leader of popular opin- ion against bribery, peculation, and wastefulness in public office, and as the outspoken advocate of personal and official virtue. The boldness of its denunciation and the certainty of its exposure had filled the heart of the wrong- doer with fear, whatever might be his rank or station. It had occasionally made mistakes in judgment, but rarely in principle. While it had maintained the right of free speech and free comment at great trouble and expense, it had thereby made it safe in all parts of the country for the newspaper to stand fearlessly for the public interests. It had made "personal journalism," as practised at that time, not only fashionable, but respectable. It had brought both presidents and members of the cabinet, as well as senators and members of the House of Representatives, within the range of its influence, and had created policies which everybody in public life was compelled to respect. To all this Dana had given his best thought and most untiring industry. His boldness and bis aggressiveness had cost him some friends and much money, but never a tremor nor a doubt. He had pursued the course he thought best in every case, and, so far as can be seen, he never shrank from the heat and burden of the conflict. Not- withstanding the cost and the loss of battle, he seems to have borne himself cheerfully and bravely throughout fife, and to have carried a bold and joyous front in every en- counter. That he was fiercely criticised and bitterly de- nounced in turn was but natural, but as it became cer- tain that he could neither be tempted nor frightened from the path of duty, new friends gathered about him, and his fame as a champion of public virtue and public interests was established on an enduring foundation. 494 CLOSING PERIOD The Sun, to the making of which he had given his con- stant thought and his best work, had become not only the most powerful, but one of the most profitable newspapers of the day. It had made him rich, and surrounded him with comfort and luxury, and with these, as the fierceness of the struggle abated, came the desire and the determina- tion to travel beyond sea. So long as he was on duty at his task of making a daily newspaper, it was as natural for him to do the work of writer and editor as it was for the mechanic to ply the art by which he made his living. With the regularity of the clock, day in and day out, week in and week out, year in and year out, he devoted himself to his task, till the time came for him to play, and then he played with just as much earnestness and joy as he had worked. Always a student of languages, literature, art, and philosophy, he gave them every day of his life such a part of his time as he could spare from actual work. And in this no Chinese scholar who works throughout life and never finishes his education could have been more avari- cious of his time or more methodical in the use he made of it. As will be remembered, Dana made his first visit to Europe to observe and report upon the revolutionary movements of 1848 and 1849. He made his second visit in 1879, and his third in 1882. During the next decade he went many times, his travels lasting three or four months and taking him in turn to England, Ireland, France, Ger- many, Spain, and Italy. While he manifested but little curiosity to see the rulers or the courts, or to mingle with the official classes, he studied the people closely and gave much time to art of every kind. On one of his visits to Rome he had a private audience of the pope, during which they discussed Dante and quoted from the " Divine Comedy," to their mutual gratification. On another he crossed the Black Sea, and, after visiting Tiflis, went north through the Caucasus to Nijni-Novgorod, Moscow, St. Pe- 495 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA tersburg, and Warsaw. On still another he took in Con- stantinople, Brusa, the Levant, and Jerusalem. After his return from these Eastern journeys, he wrote several letters for the Sun, in which he gave an account of his travels and observations. These having been somewhat out of the usual, were subsequently collected and pub- lished in a small but interesting volume which is still on sale. 1 On one and another of his outings abroad he extended his travels beyond the beaten routes, and visited Denmark and Sweden, where the scenery, as well as the people, afforded him constant pleasure. His familiarity with most of the European languages and the Scandinavian dialects made it not only easy but highly interesting for him to talk with the natives, wherever he went, and it is noticeable that he always seemed to have a special interest in the Northern races. During his earlier trips abroad he left the Sun in edi- torial charge of the late John Swinton: but a few years after his son Paul had taken his place as an assistant editor, the latter was left in charge during his father's absence. It is to be noted that the editor-in-chief never gave any formal instructions, but left his lieutenant with full dis- cretion as to the course he should pursue upon any occasion that might arise. It was no part of his system to hamper his representative with directions that might not be ap- plicable to the situations arising in his absence. It was in accordance with his instinct and his philosophy to trust in the good sense and good faith of his associates, none of whom ever lived under suspicion. His experience in the editorial rooms, as well as in the army, had taught him that too many instructions rarely ever produce the best results. 1 Eastern Journeys — Notes of Travel, etc. pp. 114. By Charles A. Dana. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1898. 496 CLOSING PERIOD In 1883 Dana visited Mexico with a small party of in- timate friends, and not only saw much of the country, but made the acquaintance of the president, Gonzales, and many leading men. Later he travelled extensively in Cuba, and, having become proficient in the Spanish lan- guage in early life, it was easy for him to acquire an exact and extensive knowledge of Cuban history, resources, literature, and system of government, and to express his sympathy with the political hopes and aspirations of the Cuban people. Many of his best friends were Cubans, and throughout both of their revolutions against the mother- country— that of 1868-74, as well as that of 1895 — he was the firm and devoted friend and advocate of Cuban in- dependence. At the very outbreak of the last revolt against Spanish misrule, he gave his hearty encouragement through the columns of the Sun: "To the brave men in arms for the independence and the liberties of Cuba, to the patriots who would give their coun- try a Democratic-Republican government in the place of royalty, to the liberators who defy the power of Spain upon the battle-field, we send greetings! "The American Republic watches them in hope and sym- pathizes with them. The seventeen republics of the three Americas desire their success. "Let foreign domination upon this side of the Atlantic be brought to an end forever. America for Americans!" And thus it was ever with this patriotic editor. He was the friend and supporter of the oppressed and down- trodden of every race and country. The misgoverned and overtaxed colonists, not less than those who suffered wrong at home, counted with absolute certainty upon Dana's sympathy and support. He had been the friend of Kos- suth, of Mazzini, and of Garibaldi. He had pleaded in 497 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA turn for a Democratic republic in France, for a free and united Germany, for the independence of Hungary, for home rule in Ireland, and for the consolidation and en- franchisement of Italy, and naturally, when he sent greet- ings to the Cubans, they hailed him as a friend who would stand with them to the last. They looked confidently to him for guidance and assistance, as well as for the creation of a sentiment in their behalf throughout the United States, without which they could not hope to win. Such of their leaders and agents as came to this country hastened to make his acquaintance and to invoke his counsel and advice, which never failed them. One of the first and most admirable of their number to lay down his life for the independence of Cuba was Jose Marti, and the news of his death aroused in no one greater regret than it did in Dana. It called from his pen a noble and touching trib- ute of admiration and respect, which will be found in the Sun of May 23, 1895. It runs as follows: "We learn with poignant sorrow of the death in battle of Jose Marti, the well-known leader of the Cuban revolution- ists. We knew him long and well and esteemed him pro- foundly. For a protracted period, beginning twenty -odd years ago, he was employed as a contributor to the Sun, writing on subjects and questions of the fine arts. In these things his learning was solid and extensive, and his ideas and conclusions were original and brilliant. He was a man of genius, of imagination, of hope, and of courage, one of those descendants of the Spanish race whose American birth and instincts seem to have added to the revolutionary tinct- ure which all modern Spaniards inherit. His heart was warm and affectionate, his opinions ardent and aspiring, and he died as such a man might wish to die, battling for liberty and democracy. Of such heroes there are not too many in the world, and his warlike grave testifies that even in a positive and material age there are spirits that can give 498 CLOSING PERIOD all for their principles without thinking of any selfish return for themselves. "Honor to the memory of Jos6 Marti, and peace to his manly and generous soul!" And when a man who could write thus of a fallen hero at the beginning of a struggle, before victory had come to hallow his name, should himself pass away, little wonder is it that the Cuban leaders in the persons of Palma, Que- sada, and others should be the first to lay a wreath upon his tomb, and to testify the gratitude of a struggling peo- ple for his unselfish and sympathetic devotion to their cause. While giving to his profession always his first and most faithful attention, he had a wide range of talents and interests outside of his daily occupation. It has been mentioned more than once that he had a great gift for language, which he rightly regarded as the depository of man's inner and spiritual history. In studying words, he followed them through all their forms and mutations to their ultimate meaning, and in this found never-ending pleasure and instruction. One of his learned contem- poraries having read him a lecture for using the word "scrimmage" instead of "skirmish" in the columns of the Sun, he overwhelmed his would-be teacher by a witty paragraph in which he set forth a few of the many trans- mutations through which the word had gone from the Middle Ages to the present time. He showed beyond ques- tion that "scrimmage" was not only well established by immemorial usage, but was one of the breeziest and most suggestive forms ever used to convey a meaning perfectly at home in every modern European tongue. The fact is that there were few men of his time not wholly devoted to the higher branches of study who better de- served to be called scholarly than Dana. He was always 33 499 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA a most industrious and methodical student, with an un- usual gift for language. It was doubtless to this gift, which he showed as a clerk in the dry -goods store at Buffalo, while acquiring a working knowledge of the Seneca Indian dialect, as well as of Latin, Greek, French, and Spanish, that he was indebted for his admission into Har- vard College without a "condition." When it is recalled that he had not attended school at all for eight years, during which he had no time he could call his own except Sundays and evenings, it becomes evident that he must have had very unusual application, as well as very unusual talents and ambition. It is also evident that he had a genuine thirst for knowledge, which, together with his apti- tudes and tastes, gave special direction to his life-work and his career. Blessed with an extraordinary memory, his wide reading gave him at an early age an encyclopaedic knowledge of both ancient and modern literature. He was not only familiar with the classics, but with all the great works of the German, French, Spanish, and Italian authors. For a time, at least, poetry was his special de- light, and he knew the songs of Provence and the Romance tongues, as well as the Sagas, Low German, Scandinavian, and the plays of Ibsen. For years Dana's chief form of intellectual entertainment was to gather a half-dozen friends — generally young and un- instructed, but occasionally a matured student, who could help on the rest — about him once or twice a week, and read with them some important book in a foreign tongue. He began this practice in Chicago with Dante, and continued it with other classics almost without intermission to the end of his life. As his eyes never recovered sufficiently from the injury done them at Harvard to permit him to use them with comfort in artificial light, the practice was for each mem- ber of the class to read eight or ten lines, so as to bring the passage fully and freshly to mind, when the reader would soo CLOSING PERIOD translate and the master would correct and expound as cir- cumstance required. In this way they read the " Divine Comedy" several times, and followed it with the "Nibe- lungenlied," the "Sagas," and many minor poems, to the great instruction and happiness of those who were fortu- nate enough to be included within his charmed and de- lighted circle. Elihu Root,Willard Bartlett, John Nich- olson, and occasionally others, now counted among the distinguished men of the country, were admitted to his companionship and his instruction. While those happy nights may have left but few memories laden with specific facts and details, they did much to develop the taste, broaden the sympathies, elevate the ideals, stimulate the affections and the friendship, and expand the understand- ing of those who took part in them. Dana's own preparation for the readings was always made in the morning before going to his office, with such scrupulous fidelity as to compel every word to give up its exact and perfect meaning. In fact, all his work on the Sun, in addition to his great and varied reading for by far the greater period of his life, was done solely by daylight. From the time of his studentship, throughout his connection with the Tribune, the Cyclopaedia, the Household Book of Poetry, and the War Department, he rarely if at all taxed them at night, unless absolutely neces- sary, and then for the shortest possible period. Those who were closest to him believe that in later life he hardly ever opened any book, except a dictionary or a book of reference, for the direct purpose of accumulating knowl- edge, but always for the interest he found in the idea or the art which it contained. With his extraordinary powers of concentration, aided by his capacity to take in a column or a page almost at a glance, he could absorb from what he read all that it contained of value in an incredibly short time. 501 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA From the foregoing it may be fairly inferred that the outside public knew but little of Dana's inner life. He rarely ever showed himself in public, except at the theatre or the circus, in both of which he took a lively and ap- preciative interest. In the earlier days of the bicycle he became an expert rider, and for several years got a great part of his exercise from its use. He spent by far the greater number of his evenings at home. With a strong, vigorous constitution, and an excellent digestion, he early became a gastronome and gourmet of excellent taste, and one of his chief delights was to gather his friends about his dinner - table, where he entertained them with dishes and wines which were famous for their rarity and excel- lence. Upon such occasions his wit was genial and kindly, as well as free from connection with current controversies, and never failed to stimulate that of his guests. In view of the aggressive and uncompromising tone of the Sun in the discussion of public men and public ques- tions, it was widely believed that Dana was a man of vio- lent temper and of harsh and abusive language, but noth- ing could be further from the truth. No man of his time had a more even temper or one under better control. He was not only calm and deliberate in all his actions, but clean, modest, and temperate in speech, as well as behavior. Widely as he differed in his views and convictions from many of the public men of the day, he always spoke of them personally, if he spoke of them at all, in terms of moderation and charity, if not of respect. So far as his closest friends knew, he never mentioned even his bitterest enemy with heat or passion, or with unqualified disap- proval. If he could find an excuse for conduct he could not approve, it was sure to be a charitable one. He har- bored no animosity, and always strove to separate private character and motives from official conduct, and, in con- demning the latter, to reflect as little as possible on the 502 CLOSING PERIOD former. In this he seemed to be a true philosopher, who regarded human actions as the direct consequences of in- fluences and conditions over which the individual had but little control. And nobody seemed to realize more fully than he that in our public affairs philosophy and the higher education play but an inferior part in comparison with the primal instincts and interests of every-day life. He hoped and worked for the higher ideals and the nobler virtues of human nature, but recognized the fact that they were not always nor often the controlling influence in human affairs. He was always found on their side, and yet never quite overwhelmed because they were sometimes forced to give place to baser considerations. Dana's appreciation of the higher phases of art in other directions than literature was peculiarly quick and sure. Music at his home, of which there was much for many years, was mainly classical, but this did not exclude a liberal and appreciative sympathy for what was beautiful in other schools. His taste in music was much the same as in poetry. This was well shown by the monument erected, perhaps unconsciously on his part, to his own in- sight and appreciation of the poetical in English literature, as set forth in the Household Book of Poetry. That com- pilation has been already mentioned as the model and precursor of many others intended like it to embody and illustrate the breadth and elevation of the poetic senti- ment of the English-speaking people, and nothing could bear better testimony to the originality, the literary skill, and the thorough acquaintance of Dana with the poetry of our language than the contents and arrangement of that book. The selection, the classification, and the merit of the poems are not only admirable, but show an apprecia- tion of art in poetry that no other compiler has ever attained. For the artistic expression of imagination as found in 503 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA painting, Dana had the most intense admiration. In 1880 he built a large and commodious residence at the cor- ner of Madison Avenue and Sixtieth Street, and his first care was to decorate and embellish it with paintings, tapes- tries, and porcelains. But the form of art to which Dana gave the greatest attention was Chinese porcelain. To this, from the day it first attracted his notice, he devoted much of his spare time, and continued to do so with unabated interest throughout life. When it is considered that there were but few amateurs of similar predilection, and only one important collection in the United States — that of Mr. Walters, of Baltimore — before Dana began making his, it will be seen that his taste for this fascinating branch of ceramics was based upon an inbred artistic sense, and not upon a factitious or transitory fancy. His collection gradually developed into one of great brilliancy and in- terest, and contained many perfect examples of the potter's art as practised in the Far East from its earliest days to the period of its decadence. It contained several of the most noted specimens of peachblow, a large number of sang de bceuf and other rare and beautiful monochromes, and a bewildering assortment of decorated pieces of every shade and combination and of every classic form and every quality of paste, from the archaic celadon to the more modern and more beautiful blue and white, from the tiny snuff-bottle to the stately hawthorn vase, from the delicate egg-shell cup to the radiant ginger-pot of bleu de del. It was a harmonious assortment of decorative colors and graceful forms, which appealed to the owner's sense of proportion and of beauty, and blessed his leisure hours with ever-varying combinations to the end of his life. In addition to many Chinese pieces, it contained a smaller number of early Korean, Japanese, Persian, and Moorish pieces, combined to illustrate the evolution of 504 CLOSING PERIOD the ceramic art. A connoisseur writing about the collec- tion before it was scattered, after contrasting it with those of England, France, and Germany, expressed surprise that the best collection of all from the historical side should be in the hands of a New York amateur. Declaring that no other collection would furnish essential examples and illus- trations as fully as Dana's, he added: . . . "They are not in the British Museum; they are not in the Louvre; and they are conspicuously absent at Dresden. Let me suppose that I have to tell my hearers about the ear- liest dispersion of the porcelain of China to other countries, I should be able to show them some of it; and then the nature of the object itself, coupled with the locality in which it was found, should serve for scholarly conviction and a powerful aid to memory. Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta learned a great deal from their travels; but if we only had a few of the act- ual objects that they tell us of, how infinitely would our knowledge of those objects be increased? Therefore, when we trace the first developments of trade and make old docu- ments disclose that the Arabs many centuries ago invaded the remoter Eastern seas and carried back to the shores of India, to the Red Sea, and to the African coast, and to all the islands and continents that lie between, the products of China, it is mighty interesting to be able to put your hand on a piece of Chinese porcelain that somebody has dug up in Madagascar, or in Ceylon, or on the coast of Malabar, or on a Spice Island away down in the Malay Archipelago. That is precisely what I can do in the Dana Collection. There are specimens there of porcelain from all the places I have men- tioned. Most of them were found by excavating graves and sites of former dwellings; and perhaps the most interest- ing thing in the study of porcelain is the identification of these pieces with those described in the various literature of China which deals with the remote history and manufacture of porcelain. Since Dr. Hirth, of Leipsic, and Dr. Bushell, of Peking, have taught us to translate Chinese better than 505 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA the older scholars did, a new field of surer progress to knowl- edge has been opened before us, and the ancient porcelains of assured provenance have now an importance they did not possess before. For this reason I was, in my narrow way, quite carried away by my researches in New York; and I am persuaded that Mr. Dana must have had a most profound instinct in relation to the whole subject. Otherwise, how could he have sought, with such method and persistency, to acquire objects with which the ordinary amateur of porcelain does not concern himself at all, but which, from the scholar's point of view, are the most interesting objects there are? The whole range of the celadon that he gathered leaves no room to doubt the soundness of his belief. In all the other collections that I have seen, it is not so wide. So that I hold that if one would learn Martabani, and it is the foundation of the whole history of porcelain, he must go to New York- And it is not alone in respect of celadon that this is true Grandidier points with pardonable exultation to his clair de lunes, his gray and blue Sung bowls and jars. He has never seen Mr. Dana's." And here it may be said that the owner loved to play with these beautiful things, to rearrange them, to make new combinations and color schemes, and to discover new beauties and unsuspected harmonies, as a happy child loves to play with flowers; and no person could see him in the bright morning light handling and caressing his treasures without becoming interested in them as well as in their fascinated owner, or leave them without the con- viction that his love for them was as simple and unaffect- ed as it was deep and abiding. The collection, numbering something over four hundred pieces, large and small, was sold after his death for nearly two hundred thousand dol- lars. The sale attracted the connoisseurs from all parts of the country, and, as they represented collectors from nearly all parts of the world, the bidding and the prices paid made the event a genuine sensation. No collection 5oe CLOSING PERIOD up to that time had ever been sold in New York that equalled it in the quality and importance of the pieces which composed it, or in the prices which they brought. It is to be regretted that instead of being widely scattered they were not bought as a collection, and placed in a museum for the enjoyment and education of the public. In 1873 Dana bought Dosoris, one of two small islands, the area of which is about forty acres. It is situated near Glen Cove, on the north shore of Long Island, with which it is connected by a causeway and bridge. It contains a large, old-fashioned frame house, in which he made his country home, and around which he created a fairyland of trees and flowers. The natural beauties of the place were heightened by all the devices of the gardener and the arboriculturist. In these arts Dana showed the same aesthetic sense that had been his guide in poetry, music, painting, and ceramics. Every morning, evening, and Sunday, during spring, summer, and autumn, and fre- quently in the winter, he directed his men in laying out the grounds, constructing paths, roads, and flower-beds, and in transplanting trees and arranging new combina- tions and effects. To this end he brought rare trees from all parts of America and Europe. Through the thought- fulness of a friend, who fetched him acorns from the tomb of Confucius, he soon had flourishing Chinese oaks to add to the native trees which made his grounds so attractive. Many of his trees were noted for their perfection of form and foliage, which, added to the variety of the species found there, made Dosoris a place at which arboriculturists from all parts of America were welcome, and to which many came to study as well as to admire. For many years it is believed that no private place in the country afforded the journals devoted to such matters so many interesting subjects for illustration and discussion. As there was nothing churlish or exclusive in Dana's nature, he took 507 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA as much pleasure in showing his trees and flowers to his friends and neighbors as he did in looking at them himself. As can well be understood, the place was a joy and a de- light to those who visited it, and this was due quite as much to the geniality and intelligence of the owner, as to the beauties of nature and art which it gave him so much pleasure to exhibit and to describe. It follows almost, of course, that a man of such diversi- fied tastes and accomplishments, of such sane and en- lightened occupations, must have been a man of rare personality, and such was the case. His love of finding interest for the mind in everything he did made the world a joy and a delight to him in all its parts. His body was as vigorous and healthy as his mind. It was in harmony with all its surroundings. He was a strong and sturdy walker, an excellent swimmer, a fair boatman, and an admirable horseman, skilled in all the arts of the "high school." He doubtless rode in boyhood, but he first be- gan to ride for exercise when his intimate friend Frederick Law Olmsted was making Central Park. In this art as in the others the ordinary and commonplace did not satisfy him. He wanted to be a master of it, and was fort- unate in finding an old Spanish gentleman who was an accomplished horseman, and under whose instruction he worked as hard at both riding and training horses as he did at his other occupations. With the close and intelli- gent application he gave to his daily lessons, he not only learned how to sit and handle a horse in motion with ease and satisfaction, but how to give him all the accomplish- ments necessary to fit him for the saddle. With the skill he acquired in breaking and training, he soon became an excellent judge of saddle-horses, and so long as he used them, generally had an exceedingly good one in his own stable. From what has been said, it should be inferred that Dana had practically perfect health throughout fife. Even 508 CLOSING PERIOD such a thing as a headache or a rheumatic pain was un- known to him, and notwithstanding his exposure at times during the Civil War, he never had what could be called an ailing moment. Temperate and simple in his tastes and habits, he made no complaint of cold, hunger, or privation. He was by nature disposed to make the best of what life brought to him, and to look not only calmly but confidently to the future. He claimed but little for himself, but instinctively credited his fellow -men with good rather than bad motives. Suspicion was foreign to his nature, and although he was a man of high passion, strong enthusiasm, and vivid imagination, it would have been difficult to find among his contemporaries one whose habit of thought and philosophy of life were marked by greater sanity or more evenly balanced judgment. He did nothing from temper or passion, and adopted no course, either personal or official, unless it was approved by reason and reflection. With a keen sense of humor and a disposition of unfailing cheerfulness, he was dis- posed to find fun in everything, and these qualities made him a delightful companion alike to young and old, and gave a special tone to his newspaper. They were ever present in his home life, where they made him the most intimate friend of his children and their companions. In- deed, it was one of his most perfect gifts that he could adapt himself to the understanding and gain the confi- dence of the young as fully as of the old. Few parents ever lived in more perfect harmony with their children, and few children ever grew up in more perfect enjoyment and ad- miration of their father than was the case in Dana's house- hold. He played and worked with his son and daughters from their earliest days, not only helping them in their studies, but constantly supplementing and enlivening them with bits of information and learning, which they could not have gathered otherwise till later in life. 509 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA A favorite entertainment with him was to have his children read aloud German fairy tales and folk songs, or short poems from the French in the original, and then, with- out previous preparation, translate them with his help into English. In this way they absorbed much that was charm- ing at the time, and valuable thereafter, without effort, and without interfering with their regular study hours. No matter what might be the pressure upon him, he was always ready to help a child in its tasks. The evenness of his temper, his great capacity for work, and the extraor- dinary efficiency of his faculties, made it impossible to hurry or disturb him either at home or at his desk. These qualities gave to his character a balance and steadiness that shed a pleasant influence upon all who came within their reach. It is the testimony of those who had an opportunity to know, that no office of any kind was ever more quiet, happy, harmonious, and well-governed than was the Sun office under Dana. Every man in it fell unconsciously under the sway of his chief's personality, and from the first regarded himself as the respected and trusted servant of a master whose eye for what was praiseworthy was never shut, and whose quick and generous impulse was to recog- nize and reward merit and ability wherever he found them. No newspaper at that time paid better salaries than the Sun, and no better school of journalism ever existed in this country. While the principal instruction was given by the blue pencil, it was so thorough and so effective that those who were fortunate enough to receive it soon came to be known to the press at large as "the clever young men of the Sun," and many of them now hold high and lucrative positions in journalism. His originality and success have been widely recog- nized throughout the United States, and it is but just to add that he has been imitated as much in the make-up of 510 CLOSING PERIOD the newspaper as in the style of his own writing, or in that which he impressed upon his assistants and contributors. It was as natural for him to run his pencil through words and phrases, to substitute other words, and to transpose paragraphs and expressions in the contributions of others as in his own. His constant effort was to clarify, to strengthen, and to condense for the purpose of bringing out the meaning of the writer, saving the time, and find- ing the line of least resistance to the understanding of the reader. In all that was necessary to those ends he was an adept of transcendent ability, and yet much of what he did seems to have been done quite unconsciously. When asked how he did it, he replied, " When a man knows it he goes and does it." As his fame spread throughout the country, he was fre- quently called upon to deliver lectures, especially on the subject of journalism, and quite frequently accepted, but it is not known that he ever wrote out beforehand what he intended to say. Without being an orator, he was evidently able to think rapidly and clearly on his feet. His delivery was not only deliberate, orderly, and con- secutive, but unusually pleasing, if not eloquent. He was happy as a raconteur, and as his mind was stored with poetry, history, and anecdote, his most informal talks were always cheerful and interesting. While it is by no means certain that he had in the earlier stages of his editorial career any established canons for the profession of journalism or the art of newspaper-mak- ing, it is evident that the true principles to be observed slowly framed themselves in his mind, and ultimately re- ceived definite form and consistency. This was doubtless due in part to the fact that the Sun was printed for many years as a single folio, given up almost entirely to edi- torials and the briefest statement of the news. The science of journalism as developed on that paper by Dana is set 511 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA forth in three lectures, the first on "The Modern American Newspaper," delivered before the Wisconsin Editorial Association at Milwaukee, on Tuesday, July 24, 1888; the second on "The Profession of Journalism," delivered to the students of Union College, on Friday, October 13, 1893; and the third on "The Making of a Newspaper Man," de- livered at Cornell University, on Founder's Day, January 11, 1894. As these have been collected into a handy volume 1 which is still on sale, no effort is made in this narrative to epitomize them. They give succinctly, but somewhat informally, the results of his experience and reflection, and conclude with a few important maxims on which he evidently thought the whole art, so far as it could be formulated, is founded. 1 The Art of Newspaper Making. By Charles A. Dana. pp. 114, D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1900. XXIX END OF LIFE-WORK Ceases to go to office — Doctors called — Resignation — Last editorial — Death at hand — Conclusion — Summation of character In June, 1897, Mr. Dana began to feel unwell, and to re- main away from his office. He made no complaint of acute pain, but showed evidence of discomfort or malaise, the seat of which he located in his side. Having enjoyed extraordinary health throughout life, he naturally thought his trouble was a functional one which would soon pass away, but in this he was disappointed. He grew gradual- ly but slowly worse. The physicians were called, and in due time made the discovery that one of his vital organs was seriously affected, and that a cure was impossible. This was, of course, concealed from him, so far as it was possible to conceal so great a fact. He was never informed as to the real nature and probable course of his ailment, and never asked; but those who were nearest to him never doubted that he had from the earliest consultation of his physicians inferred from their silence, rather than from what they said, that it was incurable and would after a few months prove fatal. And this proved to be the case. The patient indulged in no repining, but gave up work, and with the cheerfulness of a philosopher who had en- joyed life to the full resigned himself calmly to his fate. He talked freely with his family and friends, showing no sign of revolt or trepidation. In the earlier days of his retirement he gave his views as to the question of life 513 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA after death as already related. He was calm, collected, and, if not cheerful, at least not overwhelmed by the shadow which was slowly darkening towards the end. He talked freely of passing events, and showed no diminution of in- terest in what was going on about him. He read the Sun, and occasionally a favorite book, but seemed to recognize the fact that the battle was over, and that nothing re- mained for him except a short period of rest by the side of the sea, under the trees he loved so well. Of course he was missed from his accustomed place, and it was not long till a country newspaper, which loved him not, spread the report that he had resigned from the Sun. The absurdity of the report was manifest to such as knew the real facts, but fearing that the public might credit it, he formally denied it in an editorial, which was headed " A Falsehood," and appeared on August 6, 1897, as follows: "A friend in Geneva informs us that certain papers in that neighborhood say that Mr. Dana has resigned as editor of the Sun. "This is a falsehood. Mr. Dana has never been of a re- signing habit, and hereby declares that he has not com- menced the practice in the present case. "He can still be found doing business at the same old stand, and the man does not live who can say that he has seen him there, or elsewhere, turn his back upon either a friend or a foe." These were the last words he ever wrote for the Sun. The end was at hand. But a few weeks of declining strength, with but little pain, and no obscuration of the intellect, remained for the untiring scholar, the unselfish patriot, the fearless official, the great independent and in- domitable editor. He died at his home, in the midst of his family, surrounded by the scenes he loved so much, on October 17, 1897, in the seventy - ninth year of his age. 514 END OF LIFE-WORK I have endeavored in this narrative to set forth the principal incidents, and to bring out the salient character- istics of this most interesting life. No important fact which has come to my knowledge has been omitted. I have not argued the case, nor stated the conclusions which might properly be drawn from the words and deeds of this fearless and aggressive man. He lived and fought in the open, concealing no act, hiding no thought, but giving to every cause he espoused, and to every conflict in which he took part, the best there was in him. No man of his time was better known, and it may well be doubted if any man of his time ever exerted a wider or a more wholesome influence in the education of the public mind to the right- eous settlement of the great questions which agitated the country for the half-century which closed his life. While he was certainly first in every political conflict, and brought to bear the extraordinary resources of his mind and pen, there were many who were glad to fly to his assistance when once he had sounded the charge. He neither carried on the fight alone, nor wasted time in gathering the spoils of battle. Like the great victor on the strand of Salamis, to his attendants he might well have exclaimed, " Ye may take these things; ye are not Themistocles." It was suffi- cient for him to know that the field was won, and that the Sun had been a leader not unworthy of the cause. That he was a very great editor, if not the greatest the country had produced, will be admitted generally. That he over- topped and overlooked all professional contemporaries of his later years no one will question. He stood alone in the last decade of the century. He had not only outlived the great men whom he had opposed and for whom he had fought, but he had outlived obloquy and detraction. His work was done, and there was but one Dana and one Sun. APPENDIX BROOK FARM An address delivered at the University of Michigan on Thursday, January 21, 1895: "Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen, — Let me begin by saying that this is intended rather for a conversation than for a regular discourse, and I shall be very much obliged to any one of you who will interrupt me to ask any question or clear up any point that occurs to him. It is almost a subject of ancient history that we are going to consider. Few persons who are here can be familiar with the outlines of it, and there will naturally be a good many things that may be obscure. Let these be made plain, if possible, as we go along. "About fifty years ago this country was the scene of an intellectual agitation that I do not think can be quite matched in history. It began with the antislavery movement, an at- tack upon an institution fortified by the Constitution of the United States, and connected with the great commercial in- terests of the country, amounting in pecuniary value to I know not how many thousands of millions of dollars; and it naturally inflamed the passions of the people, particularly in the Southern States, where slaves were held. This agitation was carried on with great intensity and fierceness of feeling on both sides, and with a terrible disturbance of the mind in almost the whole population of the country. To be called an abolitionist was, in many places, almost the greatest stigma that could be put upon a man. He was accused of attempting to destroy the foundations of the republic; he was launching 517 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA us into an unknown and dreadful struggle; he was appealing to moral sentiments when he questioned what affected more or less the property of the whole land; and the violence of the indignation which he roused was equalled only by the steadi- ness of his own purpose and his determination to stand by a movement based on the deepest foundations of human nature, and the feelings and the mind of every intelligent person. That was a great agitation, but it was accompanied by many others. They sprung up around it as a thicket of plants may surround a great tree. The antislavery agitation was carried on in two ways prin- cipally : by public meetings, conventions, and lectures held in different parts of the country, and by the newspaper press. The newspapers that were engaged in it at first were very few. There were not many men who had the moral nerve to enlist in the mighty battle. The most conspicuous of them all was William Lloyd Garrison, of Boston, and his principal associate was Wendell Phillips, also of Boston. They were objects on the one side of great admiration and respect, and on the other side they were assailed with a degree of vitupera- tion which I have never seen surpassed in any political con- test or in any contest whatever. They were mobbed; their meetings were broken up; they were assailed with every insult; they were sometimes in danger of being lynched, and harm of every sort was threatened against them. Nothing, certainly, but the most indomitable motives of conscience, and the clearest conviction of right and duty, could ever have carried them through their campaign. Finally the question that they had raised was settled by war, and we can all remember the horrors of that awful, that bloody struggle, whose tremendous features were relieved only by the glorious circumstance that the final decision was in favor of freedom, that it struck the fetters from every slave, and that in consequence there is now in this broad land no such thing as bondage, no such thing as a man who is merely a chattel like the beasts that perish. "It was a genuine emancipation. It was accomplished by war. And when it was done even those most bitterly op- posed to the abolition agitation joined in rejoicings at the 518 APPENDIX peace we had achieved. I ought to say, however, that a great deal more of the credit for this crowning result of emancipation and liberty was due to the abolitionists than they have re- ceived, or perhaps ever will receive, even in the verdict of impartial history. They did nothing directly to bring about freedom; they struck off the fetters of not a single slave; but they had awakened by their long labors, by their persistent efforts in the face of every obstacle, a moral sentiment which was active in the hearts of the whole country, and which, of itself, contributed much to the victory that right and liberty and conscience finally achieved. "While this supreme agitation was going forward, every other sort of agitation appeared along with it. Moral prin- ciples were evoked and attached to things that apparently had no relations to morality. Non-resistance was one of these moral principles. It was wrong to use force, we were told. The advocates of this theory averred that no govern- ment should stand on force. If it is force that finally decides, where is your republican government? We might as well have despotism. Our ideal is a government of intelligence, of conviction, of conscience, and of moral duty. I remember that this party of non-resistance proved to be pretty large. Its doctrine was that you must never resist physical con- straint. If a man struck you on one cheek, turn the other to him; overcome evil with good. Accordingly, there were many men, and men of bright intelligence and genuine culture, who refused to be a party in the operations of government, and who would not hold any office. Edmund Quincy, in Boston, one of the most charming men I have ever known, re- jected his commission as a justice of the peace, which Gov- ernor Everett sent to him, because he could not conscientiously hold any office the exercise of which implied the use of physical force. "Some of those moral standards which were set up at that time seem to us nowadays to have been fine-spun and un- substantial. I remember one of my friends, the late Mr. Bronson Alcott, a gentleman of distinction in his day, a philosopher and a writer of singular subtlety and elevation. 519 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA He came to the conclusion that the use of fire in cooking was wicked, that there could be no purity, nothing heavenly in food that was cooked by fire Why? Fire belonged in the other place. Another of his notions, which several of his friends adopted with him, was that it was wrong to use sheeps' wool in making clothes, because nature gave the sheep its fleece for its protection and warmth, and if you shear off the fleece for your own purposes, you deprive this unresisting and helpless sheep of its natural clothing. Therefore you ought not to do it; it was a sin. If you would go around in the field among the brambles where the sheep wandered, and gather up there the parts of their fleece which had been caught off by the twigs and branches, there would be no sin in making clothes of that sort of wool. But to go into a shop and buy a piece of woollen cloth and have it made into a coat would be sinful. As for cotton clothes, they could not be worn because there was slavery in every fibre. The cotton was cultivated by slaves and gathered by slaves, and the man who put on any American cotton was compromising with slavery, and making himself a party to slavery, when he ought to repudiate slavery, spurn the devil and all his works. So they couldn't rightfully wear either woollen or cotton clothes, and had to take refuge in linen. I recollect I was driving along one day in the winter when I came upon two of these gentlemen dressed in linen garments. They had on over- coats, but they were of linen. They looked cold, and owned it, and said they were glad when I asked them to drive home with me. When dinner came they were perfectly willing to take seats with us at the table, but they wished us to under- stand beforehand that they had brought their own food with them, and that they could not take part in any banquet that had been prepared by fire. They had a bag of apples and a bag of uncracked wheat; and out of that, with a drink of plain water, they made their dinner. "Well, the whole country was full of just such ideas, such arguments, and some of them were sensible and some were not. There was another movement of real and profound importance that was going on at that time, especially in Boston, and that 520 APPENDIX was what was known as the uprising of the Transcendental school. It was a school of philosophy. It grew up in op- position to the philosophy which taught that there was noth- ing in the intellect that had not before been in the senses. The Transcendentalists maintained the doctrine of the orginal intuitions of the mind, and that the soul communes with regions that he beyond the senses, and has intimations of divine truth that the senses cannot reveal. Their school was very active. There were men in it of great importance, men whose names remain in literature. There was Mr. Emerson, perhaps the first man, in his famous discourse on nature, to declare aggressively in this country the doctrine of this Transcendental school. Mr. George Ripley, a Unitarian minis- ter in Boston, was another advocate of it. He was a man of high education, immense knowledge, and of ability and courage equal to any man's. In this party of Transcendental philoso- phers the idea early arose — it was first stated by Mr. George Bancroft, the historian, who sympathized thoroughly with the Transcendentalists — that democracy, while it existed in the Constitution of the United States, while it had triumphed as a political party under Jefferson, and while it was then in posses- sion of a majority of the governments of the States, and at times of the government of the United States, was not enough. That was not the perfect realization of democracy. If democ- racy was the sublime truth which it was held to be, it should be raised up from the sphere of politics, from the sphere of law and constitutions; it should be raised up into life and be made social. The principle of equality, which allowed every man's vote to be as good as that of every other man, should be extended so that in society and in social life the same principle of equality should be applied throughout. One of the things that these democratic philosophers particularly objected to was that while the master sat in the parlor up-stairs, the servant sat in the kitchen down-stairs. They ought to be on the same level; equality and democracy should characterize our social relations. Every person — this was their teaching — should have an opportunity of education, so that all his faculties could be cultivated and developed, and all the ave- 521 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA nues of knowledge should be opened to every one who desired to enter. That could only be accomplished by the reform of society; and this reform of society these people, after long study and much discussion, determined it was their duty to realize. And that was what inspired the socialistic move- ment which began about 1835 or 1838. It was not, as you will observe, akin in the least to the theory of which Karl Marx is perhaps the most celebrated advocate, the govern- ment socialism, in which the government owns all land and machinery, all means of manufacture, all the shops of in- dustry, and the people are its employes and subjects. On the contrary, the socialism of that day contemplated merely a system of associated living, of combined households, with joint stock ownership of the joint property; every stockholder to get his share in the profits, which he had helped to earn, and the share earned by the capital he had invested. The idea of government monopoly in ownership was most repugnant to the theorists we are speaking of. Individuality and liberty were their cherished objects, and all forms of communism they zealously repudiated. Nor did the socialism we are consid- ering start from the uneducated or the poor. Its adherents were all people who had gathered in the fruit of the highest education, the fullest knowledge, the highest refinement that was known to American society in those times. They were scholars, thinkers, clergymen, philosophers, men and women of eminence in literature and society; and when some of them began to discuss the problem of revolutionizing social life, of placing it upon a democratic platform, and of giving each man an equal chance with every other man, their movement naturally drew a great deal of attention. It was joked about in the newspapers. The newspapers were great in joking then, as they have been since. They laughed at it and they proph- esied that as every such undertaking of which they had a record had failed before, this would also fail and go out as a passing cloud, as a fancy that had no substantial reality be- hind it. "The idea of founding a society of associated families was strengthened considerably by the experience of the Shakers, 522 APPENDIX and this argument was constantly brought forward in the meetings of those engaged in studying the subject. The Shakers were then of much more importance than they are now. I believe there were more societies of them, and they had the reputation of being rich as well as successful. They were all democratic in a certain sense. Every person had the same opportunity. They had to obey a kind of ecclesiastical author- ity, and they lived in celibacy; but so far as the ordinary social relations were concerned, the Shakers were entirely democratic. "Then there began to be published at about this time the writings of an ardent enthusiast, an American from western New York named Albert Brisbane. He had lived several years in Europe, especially in Paris, and there he had got ac- quainted with a man who was undoubtedly one of the great- est theorists upon the subject of social institutions and so- cial progress that has ever appeared — Charles Fourier. His system is complicated, but very remarkable and interest- ing, and well worth studying merely as a subject of intel- lectual scrutiny. Brisbane published several books in favor of Association, Industrial Association, Agricultural Associa- tion, Co-operative Association, or, as he called it, the com- bined order of society, as distinguished from the order of separate households, each family living by itself. His ar- guments were very striking. In the first place, there was the economy of the new system. You could lodge, feed, and clothe a thousand people in one great, combined household much more cheaply than when each family had its own separate dwelling. Each family would have its own apartments, and his idea in some respects suggested such great apartment- houses as we now have in some of our large cities, where one hundred families may live under one roof, and yet have an independent style of life. His views were greatly strength- ened in their influence by the adhesion of Mr. Horace Gree- ley, of the New York Tribune, then lately established. Mr. Greeley embraced the associative doctrine very early and with great enthusiasm and zeal. He saw the economical ad- vantages; he saw that a thousand people might live together and save money in a combined household, even when none of 523 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA them might have enough to live on separately; yet he did not profess to understand the philosophical theory of Fourier. His advocacy had great weight, and for a long period the newspaper which Greeley conducted, the New York Tribune, set apart one or two columns every day, for which the editor didn't assume any responsibility, but which were conducted by Brisbane. That produced a great effect all over the coun- try. Mr. Parke Godwin's writings, and those of the Rev. W. H. Channing on the same subject, were likewise of extraor- dinary force and persuasiveness. "Now, this new agitation took at once a very marked place in the moral discussions of that time, and in the social and economic discussions. Not that it drew away from either of the other intellectual and moral movements; there were just as many abolitionists after it as before, and just as many non- resistants; but a great many people — very intelligent people — took up this idea of social reform and of the reorganization of society upon the associative basis, applying the principle of as- sociation to industry, to art, to education, to the whole round of humanity's social existence. Acting under this impulse a party of philosophers in Boston, after long study and delibera- tion, now determined to try the experiment of an association, though without any of the special features of Fourier's sys- tem. The same determination was reached in other places. There was a party in Northampton, Massachusetts, which organized a small association. There was one begun by a Universalist clergyman, a most excellent man, the Rev. Adin Ballou, at Peacedale, also in Massachusetts. He was a non- resistant; so much so that I remember when a proposition was made to him, after several months, to combine his society with the Transcendental party that I have been speaking of, with Mr. Ripley and his associates, he emphatically declined. The Transcendentalists said, 'Let us all go in together and put our resources together, then we shall be a good deal stronger and our chance of success will be increased.' 'No,' said Mr. Ballou, ' we cannot do it. We are non-resistants, and you tolerate the application of force in government. There- fore we must remain apart.' 524 APPENDIX "It was in the spring of 1841 that Mr. Ripley and his friends determined to buy a farm of two hundred and odd acres in West Roxbury, about eight miles from Boston. It was a very pretty piece of land, most excellently situated, well watered, and not a bad soil — a very eligible place. They organized a society called the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education, and began work. This organization was conceived in Transcendentalism, and designed to carry on social life in accordance with democratic and Christian ideas. There had been all the time a notable agitation respecting the unsani- tary habits of college students, of people who pursued litera- ture and learning. They used to sit in their studies and get no regular exercise, and had no life in nature; they did not go out in the free air and gain their livelihood by the sweat of their brows. The argument was that while any one was pursuing philosophy and literature and philology and mathematics, he ought to work on the land, to cultivate the earth; and the man who didn't work on the land could not have first-rate health. This was their position. So, in order to reform society, in order to regenerate the world, in order to realize democracy in the social relations, these friends of ours determined that their society should first pursue agriculture, which would give every man plenty of out-door labor in the free air, and at the same time the opportunity of study, of instruction, of becoming familiar with everything in literature and in learning. So they began the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education. They went out in the spring and took possession of their farm. Next to Mrs. Ripley and Mr. Ripley, the most distinguished person who went with them was Nathaniel Hawthorne. He had also adopted the idea that he would like to work out-doors. He had got tired of the routine of literary life in his study, and of the more tedious routine of official life in the Salem custom-house; and so he started in by advancing money tow- ards buying the farm along the brook. "A large majority of the Brook - Farmers were literary people or of literary associations, but there were people of other callings among them, too. There was a pressman and a grocer, each with his family. Several had been farmers' 525 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA hired men. There was an English girl who had been a domes- tic, and a very superior woman she was. I also remember particularly an Englishman who came to Brook Farm from his service as valet to an English baronet then staying in Boston. His name was John Cheever, and he proved to be one of the most entertaining members of the society. He was very amusing, and always pleasant as a companion at table, for we all took our meals in the same room. There was no social differentiation at Brook Farm. "They began operations with zeal. They planted their crops and cultivated them, and these studious men, whose hands were soft before, and who had never touched a plough- share or a sickle in all their lives, now set to work as farmers. As a result, their health was improved and they had a great deal of entertainment out of it. And the people who read the newspapers got some entertainment, too, because their doings and transactions were occasionally reported. I was not there, but I afterwards became one of them. I broke down my eyes at Harvard College, and candor compels me to say, however, that I didn't break them down studying. I sat up a good part of one night and read Oliver Twist by candle-light. The book was just then published, and was very badly printed. When I got through I thought I would never see again. It was three o'clock in the morning. Well, in those days when a person broke down his eyes he had to try farming or else to go to sea — my cousin, Richard Henry Dana, spent two years before the mast for that reason, and a noble book he made out of it. Some of my friends said to me, 'Now is your chance; go out to Brook Farm.' So I went there. I had known them well before, and they kindly took me in. After I had been there a month or two I was elected one of the trustees, and from that time out I was fully in the movement. "A great deal of romance has been written and more has been talked about the transactions at Brook Farm. The city people who went there occasionally on fine summer days and walked over those beautiful fields where our philosophers were mowing or reaping, or those who stayed in the evening and attended one of the literary conferences, which were often 526 APPENDIX held, were always much impressed. Mr. Emerson came once or twice a year, and when he came there was a gathering in the parlor, and he would discourse, and some one else would dis- course, and others would ask questions, and there would be a discussion of some interesting literary or philosophical theme, and everybody listened with pleasure to this high debate. The same was the case when Margaret Fuller paid us an occa- sional visit. It was really delightful, and it gave a kind of character and reputation to the place that it never would have got from the more prosaic mowing and haying that went on there in the daytime. Then the opportunity of education was open to everybody who belonged to the society. Every per- son, member or member's child, paid so much for his board, and the Greek and Latin, the aesthetic philosophy, the singing and dancing were thrown in. But the regular students who were not members paid, and some of them worked, too, be- cause they liked it. I remember one young gentleman from an aristocratic family in Boston had the misfortune to get rusticated at Harvard, and he was sent off for six or eight months. Well, he came to Brook Farm; and I remember that some of his natural predilections developed themselves there as they had not before been able to do. One of his passions was horses, and if he could get a horse to curry and brush down, his happiness was complete. Nobody asked him to do it; he asked if he might, and he got the permission very easily, I assure you. So in the morning he would work an hour or more around the horses and then get his breakfast. In the afternoon, after he had done with his lessons, if he could drive four oxen to plough, or if he could get a stout team of horses and go and haul in wood, he thought it was lovely. He was never happier in his life than when he had on a long blue farmer's frock, and was starting off with his big cart after a load of wood. "So everybody enjoyed it. And it was really delightful, because there was this combination of intellectual occupa- tions and out-door work; and the living, too, was pretty fair. It was not luxurious; it was fair; it was nutritious. Every- body enjoyed it, and the thing went on beautifully. Every 527 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA now and then some intellectual swell would come to pay us a visit, and he would hold a discourse or a conversation, and we were all delighted to hear him. It was like having a free lecture course every evening. But there was no communism about it.. Individual liberty and independence were strictly guarded. The only thing that had the appearance of com- munism was the common opportunity of education and a living at the same time. Nobody could get better board than all had, and access to the means of instruction was open to every one alike ; and there was a common compensation. Each man got one dollar a day, and each woman the same. That was passed to the credit of each. Each one paid for his board a certain amount; I think it was two dollars and fifty cents a week. Woman stood on the same plane as the lords of cre- ation. A woman in that society was just as good as a man, and sometimes a great deal better. "But it didn't pay. We kept a good school, with a most extensive range of instruction, but we didn't have scholars enough, or get enough money from them. There wasn't enough money coming in. It wasn't exactly like an ordinary school, where the scholars sit around on benches and stand up when they are called on to recite. Everybody there could begin in the morning, and stay until four in the afternoon if he liked. Each pupil undertook to learn certain things, and those things he had to learn. His hours of recitation were regularly appointed, and he came knowing his lesson or else he was sent back to learn it. There was no absence of strictness in the mental discipline of the school. And yet it was a great deal freer than ordinary schools. If a young man wanted to go out and study his lesson under a tree, he had that privilege. The air of freedom and democracy about the place was one of its principal attractions. But the needed income did not materialize, and after the experiment had gone on about three years, it was concluded that we were not likely to revolutionize the social system of the world in that way. Our design was good, and we were most seriously in earnest. I never saw a more determined purpose than that pervading our member- ship. Here was the world suffering. The same complaints 528 APPENDIX abounded that we hear now, but the great public did not come over to us. We were constantly getting applications for ad- mission from families that wanted to come in, and we took them in if we thought best; but we hadn't accommodations, buildings, or the capital required for enlarging the establish- ment. We concluded that the reason we were not succeeding as we should do, and as we had hoped to do, was that we were too weak, too poor. We also began to pay more and more at- tention to the works of M. Fourier, the French writer. We con- cluded that if we could organize ourselves upon his system, which seemed to be getting adherents all over the country, we would be sure of making a greater impression on intelligent people. If we could only apply his system we might be able to accomplish our absorbing desire for a universal social re- form. We might thus do the duty that we felt was incumbent upon us. "So we determined to endeavor to apply Fourier's system. That is a very complicated doctrine. A great point of it is that the troubles, conflicts, difficulties, and disturbances that exist in society are due to the fact that the soul of man isn't suited with such social institutions as now exist. Man was made to be a harmonious being, to live in harmony with his fellow-man; and life upon this earth was designed by the Creator to be a scene of happiness and joy, with no other reasons or occasions for suffering than the events of mortality and the occasional accidents or attacks of sickness. How can a society be organized which will give happiness to man? You must begin with a true analysis of human nature; you must find out what are the constant, the lasting needs of human nature, and you must organize society to meet those needs, to satisfy those wants; and in order to do that we must obtain a scientific knowledge of human nature. That is not set out in any current and received philosophy. There is no school that teaches the real constitution of the human soul. According to Fourier, there are in the soul of man passions or affections and faculties. There are three kinds of these pas- sions. First, there are the five that bring man into relation with the outer world through his senses — sight, taste, touch, 529 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA smell, hearing. Then there are four social passions — namely, friendship, ambition, love, and the family affection. Then there are three intellectual affections which distribute the har- monies of the others. These are: First, the love of change — nobody wants to pursue any occupation longer than an hour and a half or two hours. The mind becomes tired and you need alternation. The next is analysis. That impulse takes a subject to pieces and finds out its parts. Then the third is the composite or combining passion, the desire that takes the parts of anything which you have analyzed, and combines them in a new whole, as Beethoven or Handel combined and varied the notes of the octave in a symphony or oratorio, in which the whole is new, while the elements are all old and familiar. Then, finally, in this system of metaphysics, the soul of man as a whole has an impulse towards unity, a passion for universal harmony, a religious passion. If, now, you ar- range society in accordance with this analysis of the soul, if you combine all these elements, as a great composer combines the notes of the musical scale, you will have harmony, econ- omy, joy, and delight, and life will be one scene of continu- ous pleasure and continuous usefulness, greater, nobler, more elevated, more complete than man in this world has yet known. Industry, instead of being monotonous, tedious, and repugnant, will be attractive, a source of pleasure and of artistic delight. That is the theory of Fourier stated in a most general manner. But it requires at least eight hundred men and women, eight hundred people, to apply this theory at all, and eighteen hundred to apply it thoroughly. With fewer than that it is impossible to arrange this social symphony; also it requires a vast capital. Fourier labored all his life on the problem. He had few friends, apparently. He was all his fife publishing books of impressive eloquence, brilliant analysis, and indignant protest, and appealing to kings and millionaires to come for- ward and give him the two million dollars which he found necessary to realize his theory and demonstrate to mankind that the millennium could now be begun and developed on the earth. But he never found the backer he was looking for, and died without even beginning to illustrate his idea. 530 APPENDIX "At the time of this new evolution in Brook Farm, there were several communities or associations in different parts of the country organized very much on our original plan. There was the North American Phalanx, so called, in New Jersey, twenty miles from New York; the Ontario Phalanx, in north- ern New York; there was one in Ohio, and there were several others. But none of them was successful; they did not pay. So we at Brook Farm made the change we had so long con- sidered. We got an act of the legislature incorporating the Brook Farm Phalanx, and our whole society was merged into this new establishment. We began again with hope. We got some new capital and we took in new members and added some new branches of industry — shoemaking, carpentry, work in britannia metal, and so on. But after a year or two we found that the business was not going profitably enough, and we went to work to erect a new building. We were now a phalanx, as Fourier's association is called. The habitation of a phalanx is a phalanstery, and we put into ours the last cent we had. Well, one night the whole thing took fire and burned up. And there was one unpleasant fact about it. I was at the head of the financial department, and I was away at the time in New York, and the one thing that we were most ashamed of was that the insurance expired the day before the fire and hadn't been renewed. But the faith of the majority of the members was not shaken. The faith of Mr. Ripley especially, a philosopher of the first order, was just as firm, and he was just as firmly convinced of the truth of the associative theory when he saw the building go up in smoke as he was before; he was just as certain then as when he laid the foundations. But after the building was burned up we had no longer the means of taking new pupils or introducing new industries and creating new revenues for ourselves. When we came to make up our accounts for the year we found we had taken in con- siderable money, and we had spent all but one thousand dol- lars of it. There were about seventy people in the establish- ment, including the members, children, and students, and certainly one thousand dollars wouldn't carry us through the next year. 35 531 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA "You may like to know something about the mode of life there. In reorganizing the society and bringing it down to the new basis, the teaching of Fourier, which we adopted, was that all industries should be carried on in groups and series. For instance, there should be a series of gardeners. One group of them cultivated trees, another small fruits, another vegetables, and there were half a' dozen of these different but connected groups. So it was all through the establishment. There was a series that managed the domestic labor or house- work. There was a group called the group of the dormitory that made the beds and took care of the bedrooms generally; one called the consistory that had charge of the parlors and public rooms; and one called the refectory, which included the cooks, the waiters, and the dishwashers. They were organized and worked together. I know that, because I was the head- waiter. And it was great fun, I can tell you. There were seventy people or more, and at dinner they all came in and we served them. So every department of the establishment was carried on in that way. Each person chose what he wished to do, what groups he would work in, and none of the boys and girls tried to shirk. There was more entertainment in doing the duty than in getting away from it. Every one was not only ready for his work, but glad to do it, and this brings me to a peculiar feature of the system: the person who did the most disagreeable work was the one to receive special honor and distinction, because he was a servant of the others and was rendering to his brothers a service not pleasant in itself, but which, in other circumstances, they would render to him. In this scheme of social democracy that was one of the most suggestive features. In the phalanx the young people, the middle-aged, and the old should all be ready to do a duty which may be inconvenient, as well as that which it is con- venient for them to do. For instance, Mr. Ripley, the head of the phalanx, was the chief of the cow-milking group. I be- longed to the same group. That was a universal quality and characteristic of the society. Just as a sculptor who is carv- ing an Apollo, an image of divine beauty, goes to his work with joy and passion, so among us every duty and every kind 532 APPENDIX of labor ought to be performed with the same enthusiasm, the same zeal, and the same sense of artistic pride. "That is the theory. It is true it was not always fully realized, but we realized a great amount of instruction, a great amount of satisfaction; and when we finally separated after the burning up of our building, in which so much of our hopes had been centred, we went away, each to begin life in the world again. I went to Boston to earn five dollars a week on a morning newspaper. We all began anew very soon except Mr. Ripley. He remained and settled up -the affairs. And when the business was closed up and all the accounts settled and paid, as they all were, we owed nobody a dollar. But I am sorry to say that George Ripley no longer possessed the fine library that he had previous to our experiment; it was sold to pay off the creditors. We were all proud of the fact, though he never spoke of it. And in a general way our experience was duplicated by the other associations or phalanxes. Without our special misfortune they all came to a similar end. I don't know of one of them that lasted till 1860. "That is the story of the socialist movement of that day, and it certainly went far beyond the dreams with which Coleridge and Southey and their friends are said to have en- tertained their youth a hundred years before. We may say that, as a reform of society, the movement accomplished nothing. But what it did accomplish was a great deal of good for those who were concerned in it and no great loss for any of those who furnished money. Still the questions re- main: Is the theory sound? Is that sort of social reform practicable? Fourier said it was, and that in the revolutions of time it would be brought about by natural causation, and without any special effort, though it might be hastened. There was nothing in any of these experiments to determine the absolute value of Fourier's system, since none of them started with the required capital, or with a selected member- ship of sufficient numbers, or a perfect knowledge of Fourier's law of groups and series and passional attraction. But is it a valid philosophy ? Is there truth in it ? Is it the Destiny of 533 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Man? I do not know; but I am sure that if it be the destiny of the future, mankind will have reason to thank the Infinite Father for conferring upon His children the manifold blessings of industrial attraction and passional harmony." INDEX Adams, Abigail, 1. Adams, John, 456, 459. Adams, John Q., 25, 138, 456, 459. "Addition, Division and Silence," 427. Alabama campaign, 355. Alabama claims, 422. Alabama River, 250, 251. Alcott, Mr., 27, 33, 35. Alexander, Columbus, 434, 435. Allen, Mr., 48. Alliance between Russia, Prussia, and Austria, 82. Altgeld, Governor, 481. America, aid to, 81. American Cyclopoedia, 158, 173- 177, 501. Ames, Oakes, 434. Amnesty for political offenders, 401. Ancestry and family history, 1, 2, 3. Anderson, Major, 164. Annexation of Canada, 421-423, 476-478. Anti-British feeling, 382. Antietam, 168, 199, 310. Antislavery amendment, 352. Appomattox, 330, 331. Appraiser of merchandise, 414, 415. Army, corps, Sixth, 337, 338, 342 362; Ninth, 322; Thirteenth, 318, 227, 236, 245; Eighteenth, 335, 337; Nineteenth, 337; of Potomac, 170, 249, 250, 251, 275, 299, 303, 304, 310, 317, 318, 330, 333, 349, 362, 366; of Shenandoah, 344; of Tennessee, 199, 233, 236, 242, 249, 252, 253, 254, 265, 362. Arrest of Dana for libel, 427, 428. Arthur, President, 446-447. Asboth, General, 204. Assembly, French, 66-70, 72, 76, 78, 92, 136; German, 84. Assistant Secretary of War, pref- ace, 185, 194, 248, 296, 301, 304, 305, 338, 341, 357, 358. Assistant Treasurer of United States removed, 418. Associated Press, 485, 486. Association of Evangelical Works of Mercy, 45. Athens, Georgia, 295. Atlanta, 234, 257, 258, 294, 300, 343, 350. Atlantic blockade, 195. Auburn, 221, 222. Augur, General, 336, 337, 346. Austria, 74, 79, 81, 83, 84, 85, 89, 96. Authors, 47. Babcock-Baez Treaty, 422. Babcock, General, 325. Bache, Professor, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, 377. Badeau, General, 365, 375. Baker's Creek or Champion's Hill, 221, 223, 225. Baltimore, 336, 337. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 337, 347. Bancroft, George, 453. Banks, General, 209, 212, 233, 301, 302, 349. Banks, N. P., Speaker, 142, 144, 147. Baraguay d'Hilliers, 67. Barker, Fordyce, 177. Barlow, United States Marshal, 417. Barnard, General, 328. 535 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Barrett, James, 18-21, 25, 28-30. Bartlett, Robert, 53. Bates, Attorney-General, 162. Bayard, Secretary, 471, 475. Bayou, Pierre, 220. Bayou, Tensas, 209. Beaeh, Moses Y., 484-487. Beecher-Tilton scandal, 449. Belknap, General, 418, 419. Bell, Senator, 180. Bern, General, 96. Benjamin, Senator, 153, 359. Bennett, James Gordon, 128, 314, 430, 484-489. Benton, Mayor, 351. Benton, Senator, 98, 104, 144, 145, 152. Bentonville, battle at, 355. Berlin, 83-85. Bermuda Hundred, 328, 329. Big Black River, 209, 216, 220, 221, 223, 225, 230. Bingham, Lieutenant-Colonel, 242. Black Ant, children's stories, 155. Black Friday, 417, 425, 493. Black, Jeremiah H., 182. Blaine, James G., 462, 483. Blair, General, 246, 295, 296, 363. Blatchford, Judge, 433. Bohemia, 84. Bohme, 56. Bonner, Robert, 417. Borie, Adolf E., 410, 411, 413, 414, 416. Boston, 23, 26, 456. Bottom's Bridge, 328. Boutwell, George S., 190, 353, 410. Bowers, Theodore, 5, 242, 252, 266, 278, 344, 352, 365, 374. Bowker, George H., 346. Bowman, Colonel, 363. Bradley, Justice, 443. Bragg, General, 233, 234, 250, 254- 258, 262, 264, 266, 268, 270, 271, 286, 292, 293, 298. Brannan, General, 264, 269, 280, 303. Breckenridge, General, 153, 365. Breck, Major Samuel, 252. Breeze, Sidney, 104. Bridgeport on the Tennessee, 254, 256, 274, 275, 277, 278, 283, 284, 291. Brisbane, Albert, 45, 48. Bristol, 234. Bristow, Benjamin H., 418, 435, 436. British Guiana, 471. Broderick, Senator, 153. Bronson, candidate for governor, 128 Brook Farm, 26, 30-39, 41, 43-49, 53, 57, 58, 60, 63, 94, 134, 432, 453, 454, 482; Dana's address on, appendix. Brooks, James, 487. Brooks, Preston S., 487. Brown, B. Gratz, 428. Brown, John, 21, 153, 154. Brown, Joseph E., governor, 367. Brown's Ferry, 283, 284, 291. Brownson, Orestes, 453. Bruinsburg, 216. Bruno, 56. Bryan, William J., 490, 492. Bryant, William Cullen, 484. Buchanan, President, 148, 149, 152. Buckner, General, 188. Buell, General, 350. Buffalo, 3, 5, 6, 8-10, 12, 16, 17, 23, 27, 30. Bullard, Ann, 1. Bull Run, 166, 168, 171, 175, 178, 263. Burke, orthodox minister, 22. Burnside, General, 253, 254, 256, 257, 258, 269, 271, 272, 286, 287, 294, 310, 320, 324. Butler, General Benjamin F., 147, 322, 328-332, 334-336, 349, 352, 400, 461, 462, 465, 483, 484. Butterfield, General, 278. Cabbt, 94. Cadwallader, S., 232. Cairo, Illinois, 190-192, 194, 204, 213, 219, 240, 246, 247, 275, 276. Calhoun, John C, 98, 140, 152, 389. California, 120; Lower, 126. Calvin, 59. Cambridge, 9, 12, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22-24, 30, 56. Cameron, Simon, 170, 178. Campbell, Lew, 144. Canada, annexation of, 133. 536 INDEX Canby, General, 348, 356, 366. Carlisle, 463, 464, 465, 510, 511. Carlyle, 21, 56. Camot, 66. Caroline, the, 8. Carter, Robert, 172, 173. Cass, Lewis, 125. Cavaignac, General, 64, 66, 67, 72, 74, 75, 86, 87, 89. Cavalry, Bureau, 303, 304, 306, 307; Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi, 267; remounts, 258,307; contracts for, 307-309, 353. Cedar Creek, 346. Central America, 133. Centralization of government, 459. Central Park, 139, 150. Chadwick, George, 195. Champion's Hill, 221, 223, 225. Chandler, William E., 444. Charming, 28, 33, 35. Charleston, 251; on the Hiwassee, 295. Characteristics of Dana, 502, 503, 508-511. Chase, Salmon P., 153, 162, 178, 179, 182, 183, 398. Chattahoochee, 343. Chattanooga, 36, 234, 254, 256, 257, 260, 262, 268, 269, 271, 273, 274, 277, 279, 286, 291, 294, 296, 297, 300, 309, 311, 339, 344; and Atlanta campaign, 300. Chesnut, Senator, 153. Chicago, 359, 361, 362, 368; ad- dress at, 116, 117; platform, 490- 492; Republican, 370, 375, 376, 378, 397; Tribune, 431, 437. Chickahominy, 323, 325, 326, 329. Chickamauga, 234, 250, 257, 258- 266, 268, 269, 274, 282, 291, 297, 339. Chickasaw Bayou, 225. Childs, George W., 489. Chinese porcelains, 503-505. Chorpenning claim, 425. Chronotype, Daily, 59, 63. Cicero, 56. Citico Creek, 291. Clark, Bayard, 144. Clay, Clement C, 359, 360. Clay, Henry, 98, 115, 152. Clayton, Senator, 142, 145. Cleveland, Grover, 460, 462, 465, 469, 472, 475, 480, 483, 490. Codman, J. T., 45. Coffee Club of Buffalo, 10, 29. Coffee, Titian J., 427. Cold Harbor, 320, 322-329. Coldwater River, 207. Collamer, Senator, 153. Collector of Customs, 407. Collins line, 131. Coleridge, 21, 26-28, 56. Colored troops, 235. Columbus, Tennessee, 204. "Commerce," editorial on, 51. Commercial Advertiser, 62. Comstock, Colonel, 325, 352. Concord, Massachusetts, 26. Conkling, Roscoe, 45, 195, 357. Considerant, Victor, 56, 66, 136. Consolidation of military depart- ments, Mississippi Valley, 267, 268. Continental Union Association, 477. Cooper, 47. Corbin's Bridge, 319. Corinto affair, 471. Cornell, Alonzo B., Surveyor of Port of New York, 413. Corporate power — trusts, 458, 459, 475, 476, 479. Correspondence, official. See note, page 205, also Dana's Recol- lections of Civil War. "Cottage, The," 44. Cotton, buying, 195-197. Cousin, 56. Cox, Jacob D., 410, 418. Cranch, 51. Crawfish Springs, 257. Credit Mobilier, 428, 433, 434, 438, 441, 442, 449. Cresswell, Postmaster General, 433. Crittenden, General, 98, 180, 254, 259, 262, 265, 328. Croats of Jellachich, 74. Crocker, Deacon James, 18. Crocker, General, 223, 246. Cromwell, Oliver, 474. Crook, General, 348. 537 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Cuba, 114, 125, 131, 133, 153, 180, 401, 402, 416, 420, 497-499. Cullom, Senator, 190. Cumberland, Army of the, 233, 254, 257, 267, 275, 276, 282, 283 297 Cumberland Gap, 299, 301. Cumberland Mountains, 272. Curtis, George W., 36, 39, 45, 51, 153, 177, 482. Curtis, James B., 36, 39. Custer, General, 366. Dalton, Georgia, 257. Dana family, 1, 2; Paul, 357, 496; the poet, 25, 26; Zoe, 362. Danubian provinces, 85. Danville Railroad, 330. Davis, Jefferson, 98, 153, 271, 352, 356, 359-361, 364, 365, 389, 401, 472, 473. Davis, General Jefferson C, 262- 264. Dayton, William L., 98. Deer Creek Bayou, 207. De Golyer scheme, 450. Denison, Ann, 1, 2, 3. Denison, David, 3. Denison, Governor, 354. DeShroon's Landing, 208, 216, 217. De Tocqueville, 72. Dial, the, 42, 50. Diderot, 158. Dinwiddie Court-House, 356. Dodge, General G. M., 406. Dosoris, 507, 508. "Doughface," 128, 130. Douglas, Stephen A., 98, 125, 126, 136, 151, 153, 199, 228. Douglass, Frederick, 102. Downing, 52. Dred Scott decision, 150. Drouillard, J. P., 263, 264. Duane, Major, 330. Dunbar, Mr., 50. Dwight, John S., 45, 51. Dyer, General, 351, 352. Early, General, 336, 339, 341, 346, 365. Eckert, Major Thomas T., 368, 501. Edie, John R., 352. Education of Dana, 12, et seq. Effort to extradite Dana to Wash- ington, 433. Electoral Commission, 442-445, 462. Eliot, Congressman, 295, 311. Emancipation of labor, 103. Emancipation Proclamation, 117, 169. Emerson, 19, 21, 26, 33, 35. Enfranchisement of negroes, 383. England, 71, 90, 143, 183. Ericsson, Caloric engine of, 119, 120. Euripides, 56. Europe, 62, 63, 71, 79, 90, 91, 92, 131. Eustis, General, 329. Evening Post, 437, 440. Everett, Secretary of State, de- spatch on Cuba, 125. Ewell, General, 268, 330, 331, 336, 339. "Eyrie, The," 44. Farragut, Admiral, 342. Fessenden, Senator, 354, Fifteenth Amendment, 403, 445. Fillmore, 125, 128, 149. Fish, Hamilton, 418, 420, 423. Five Forks, 331, 356. Flint, Dr. Austin, 9, 18, 25. Fort Fisher, 352, 356. Forts Henry and Donelson, 170, 189, 190, 191, 242, 267, 282. Fort Monroe, 334, 335, 359, 360, 361, 364, 365. Fort Powhatan on the James, 329. "Forward to Richmond," 166, 189. Foster, S. S., 149. Franklin, General, 334, 336, 348. Frauds of contractors, 341. Fredericksburg, 320. Fremont, General, 147-150, 186, 187, 396, 488. French arms scandal, 425. Galena, Rawlins' speech at, 399. Garfield, General, 270, 439, 445, 447-449, 458; assassination of, 450, 460. Garibaldi, 497. 538 INDEX Garland, Attorney-General, 471. Garrard, General, 304. Garrison, William Lloyd, 101, 102, 149. Geary, General, 285. Georgia, 113, 234. German Federation, 85. German language, 36, 57. Germany, 25, 28, 62, 74, 79, 80, 81, 83, 85, 89. Gettysburg, 248, 249, 310, 316. Giesboro, cavalry depot at, 304. Gilder, Jeannette L., 54. Gillmore, General, 251, 336, 337, 344. Godwin, Parke, 177. Goethe, 56. Goethean indifference to dogma, 27. Gordonsville, 326. Goschen and Giffen, 471. Gould, George, 458. Grand Gulf, 209, 210, 212, 216, 220, 221, 233. Granger, General Gordon, 254, 264-266, 270, 293, 295. Grant and Ward, 469. Grant, Frederick D., 219, 220. Grant, Life of, 240, 375, 385, 386. Grant's Memoirs, 335; cabinet, 405-414, 432. Grant, U. S., preface, 5, 170, 188, 190, 192, 193, 195-203, 205, 208- 212, 214, 215, 217-243, 246, 248, 250-253, 255, 256, 266-268, 275- 283, 285-287, 292-304, 310-312, 315-339, 343, 344, 346-351, 355- 358, 364, 365, 369, 373-375, 377, 381, 382, 385-388, 394, 395; / elected president, 396, 398, 399, 402, 405-423, 426, 430-432, 438, 439, 446, 465, 469, 493. Greeley, Horace, 39, 40, 50, 60, 62, 97, 99, 100, 106, 108, 113, 115, 121, 122, 127-131, 141, 142, 144- 148, 151, 153, 160-162, 165, 166, 171, 175-177, 179, 213, 314, 397, 401, 408, 428-431. Greeley, Mrs., 40-42. Great Britain, 398, 471. Grenada, Mississippi, 209. Grinnell, Moses H., 407-409. Guildhall, Vermont, 21. Guiney's Station, 320. Gunpowder Bridge, 339. Hains, Petek C, 369. Haiti, 402, 419. Hale, John P., Senator, 153. Halleck, General-in-Chief, 191, 192, 209, 234, 255, 271, 276, 298, 299, 300, 302, 310, 337, 342, 346, 351, 353, 363, 365, 367, 369. Halpine, Charles G., 194. Hammond, Senator, 153, 180. Hancock, General, 319-324, 328, 348, 450. Hankinson's Ferry, 220, 221. Hanover, 22. Harbinger, the, 34, 42, 47, 50, 51. Hard Times Landing, 217. Harker, Colonel Charles G., 264, 266. Harper's Ferry, 347, 348. Harrison, President, 472, 475, 478. Harvard College, 20, 25, 33, 500. Hawaiian Islands, 472. Hawe's Shop, 321. Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 37, 45, 454. Hayes, General, 442-445, 447, 456, 457, 462. Hazen, General, 264, 284. Hecker, Colonel, 296. Hedge, Professor, 35. Heine, 56. Helena, Arkansas, 207. Hendricks, 442, 443. Hepburn, W. P., 473. Herald, New York, 128, 129, 232, 440, 484-489. Herder, 453. Herman, poet, 56. Hildreth, 143, 153. Higginson, Colonel, 47. " Hive, The," 44. Hoar, E. Rockwood, 410, 412, 418, 419. Holman, the Great Objector, 459. Holt, 182. Hood, General, 343, 346, 349, 350, 351, 355, 356. Hooker, General, 268, 275, 278, • 283, 284-286, 291. Hooper, 354. Horace, quotation from, 56. Hosmer, Rev. Mr., 18. 539 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Household Booh of Poetry, 54, 157, 158, 174, 175, 177, 288, 289, 501, 503. Hovey, General, 223, 246. Howard, General, 278, 285, 291, 292. Hudson, Frederick, 128, 486. Hudson, Lieutenant-Colonel, 366. Hugo, Victor, 67, 72. "Human Restlessness and Divine Providence," 113. Humphreys, General, 325. Hungary, 80, 81, 86, 88, 96. Hunter, General, 194, 323, 331, 336, 337, 342, 453. Huntington, Susanna, 1, 2. Huntington, William Henry, 173, 175, 212, 243, 394. Hurlbut, General, 205, 225, 302. ICABIA, 94. Indianapolis, Indiana, 276, 347. Internal revenue, 466, 467. Irish cause, 475. Irish repeal. 53. Island No. 10, 191. Italy, 79-81, 88, 89. Jackson, city of, 209, 212, 220- 223. James, A. B., 147. James, J. Russell, 311, 312, 405. James River, 327, 329, 333, 342. Japan, 132. Jasper, town of, 277-279. Jefferson, Thomas, 129, 453. Jewell, Postmaster-General, 418. Johnson, Andrew, 254, 306, 357, 371, 372, 377, 379, 383, 389, 390, 392, 393, 397, 401, 402, 408. Johnson, James, provisional gov- ernor of Georgia, 368. Johnson, Oliver, 171. Johnston, General Joseph E., 223, 228, 233, 236, 250, 269, 343, 355, 356, 363, 367. Journalism, genius for, 63; lectures on, 512. Journal of Commerce, 105, 106. Kansas, 100, 127, 133, 136, 137, 147, 148, 152. Kant, 36. Kautz, General, 334. Kellogg, Captain, 352. Kemble, W. H., letter to Coffey, 427. Kepler, astronomer, 56. Ketchum, banker, 248. Kibbe, Dolly, 1. Kittoe, E. D., staff surgeon, 276. Know-nothingism, 128, 131. Knoxville, rides to, 286-288, 294, 296, 297, 299-301, 339. Kossuth, 96. Ku-Klux Klan, 424. Lafayette station, 257. Laidly, Major, 351. Lake Providence Canal, 207, 209, 210. " Lamartine, 72, 73. Lancaster, New Hampshire, 20. Land reform, 103. Languages, 3-7, 15, 20, 24, 36, 42, 62, 500, 501. Lawler, General, 223, 246, 253. Lecompton constitution, 151. Lectures on journalism, 512. Ledru-Rollin, 76, 96. Lee, R. E., 249, 310, 316, 318, 320, 321, 325, 326, 329, 330, 336, 343, 355, 356-358, 373, 386, 387, 409. Leggett, General, 246. Lenoir's Station, 286. Lexington to Louisville, 301. Liberty of the press, 400. Lincoln, 102, 110, 127, 130, 162, 165, 168, 178, 181-183, 190, 197, 198,-200, 203, 210, 219, 227, 238, 245, 249, 277, 285, 290, 296, 300, 303, 309, 311-317, 332, 337, 351, 354, 356-359, 383, 396, 488; assassination of, 358, 359. Little River, 322. Logan, General, 223, 246. Logan, Judge, 190, 199. Long Bridge, 326, 329. Longfellow, 56. Longstreet, General, 255, 257-262, 264, 286, 287, 294, 296, 297, 298, 300, 301, 319, 338. Lookout Mountain, 270, 284, 285, 291. 540 INDEX Lookout Valley, 254, 274, 283, 285, 291. Losses in Virginia campaign, 387. Louis Napoleon, 62-64, 76-78, 86, 87; election of, 88, 398. Louis Philippe, 62, 64. Louisville, 254, 276, 277, 301, 366. Lovejoy, Owen, 101. Lowell, poet, 51; Colonel, 336. Lyford, Stephen D., 302. Lynchburg, 330, 331. McClellan, General, 170, 178, 188, 189, 310, 343, 350, 474. McClernand, General, 199, 200, 210, 211, 218, 219, 221-223, 226- 228, 236, 238, 245. McCook, General, 261, 262, 265, 336. McClure's Magazine, 239. Macdaniel family, 45, 51, 57. McDowell, General, 166. Macfeeley, Lieutenant - Colonel, 242. Mcintosh, General, 344, 373. McKinley, bill, 475; William, 293, 492. McMichael, Morton, 62. Macon, 343, 355, 361. McPherson, General, 222, 223, 227, 244-246, 251. Macready riots, 97. Manassas, 172. "Manifest Destiny," 125, 133, 402. Marat, President French Assembly , 78 88 "March to the Sea," 300, 355. Marriage of Dana, 58. Marti, Jose\ tribute to, 498. Mason, Senator, 153. Maximilian, 398. Maynard, Horace, 288. Maynardier, Major, 351. Mazzini, 497. Meade, General, 249, 251, 310, 320, 323, 325, 326, 328, 330, 332- 334, 336, 342, 348, 356, 361, 367. Meigs, General, 303. Memphis, 191, 192, 195, 204-206, 225, 256, 267, 301. Merritt, General, 366. Mexico, 114, 133. Middle Military Division, 343. Miles, General, 359, 364, 365. Military Division of the Mississippi, 268, 276, 297. Milliken's Bend, 201, 212, 216, 235, 243, 267. Mills bill, 475. Mill Spring, battle of, 189, 282. Missionary Ridge, battle of, 250, 257, 287, 289, 290, 292-294, 297, 316, 330, 339. Mississippi River, 209, 212, 213, 225, 230, 251, 301, 316. Missouri Compromise, 98, 126. Mobile, 2, 250, 251, 268, 298, 299, 300, 320, 342, 343. Monocacy, battle of, 336. Monroe Doctrine, 398, 471. Monroe, President, 134. Moon Lake, 207. Mormonism denounced, 131. Morton, Governor, 347. Mosby, Confederate, 347. Motherwell, author, 56. Moultrie, Fort, 164. Moundsville, 301. Meyer's Universum, 155. Nashville, 254, 277, 298, 301, 349, 350, 353. Natchez, 301. National debt discussed, 384. Nauvoo, Illinois, 94. Nebraska, 126, 136, 137, 151; bill, 98, 126, 129. Negro question, 117, 118. Negro suffrage, 392. Neuhof of Pestalozzi, 36. Nevada, admission of, 313. New Carthage, 208, 216, 217. New Castle, Virginia, 322. New Orleans, 209, 256, 301, 322, 352 New Salem, 110. New York, 51, 58, 61, 94, 97, 148, 194, 195, 200, 249-251, 303, 343, 344, 350, 373, 376, 378, 448, 493. Niagara Falls, 6. Nicholson, John, 501. "No force bill! No negro domi- nation!" 446. "No king, no clown," 449. North American Review, 437. 541 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Northanna River, 323. Novalis, 56. Noyes, A. de C. 367, 368. Official correspondence. See Offi- cial Records. Official Records, 258, 259, 274, 287, 300, 319, 330, 335, 336, 357. Ohio, 30. OLney, Secretary, 171. Omnibus resolution, 98. Opdyke, George, 248. Orchard Knoll, 292. Ord, General, 245, 246, 334, 336, 337. Oregon, 120. Orvis, lecturer, 48. Ostend Manifesto, 131. Osterhaus, General, 246. Overland campaign, Grant's, 316, et seq. Owen, General, 329. Pacific Railkoad, 97, 103-105, 111, 120, 150. Paducah, 351. Paine, Anne, 1. Palma, 499. Palmer, Colonel, 264. Pamunkey, 321, 325. Panic, October, 1857, 48, 58. Paris, Dana in, 64, 65, 67, 68, 70; leaves, 83; returns to, 86, 91, 93, 136, 398. Parke, General, 287. Parker, Ely S., 4, 278. Parker, Theodore, 453. Pamell, 475. Patriot War, 8. Pearl River, 250. Pemberton, General, 220, 221, 223, 228, 255. Pendleton, George H. 390. People's Bank, 95. Perkins's Landing, 211. Perry, Commodore, 123, 132. Personal journalism, 430. Petersburg, 326, 329, 330, 332- 334, 338, 339, 356. "Phalanstery," 44, 48, 58. "Phalanx," 43, 45. Phelps, Minister, 475. 542 Philadelphia, 295, 296. Philadelphia- American, 62. Pierce, President, 126, 136, 137, 142. Pillsbury, Parker, 149. Pike, James, 116, 123; "Campaign Life of General Scott," 123. Piney Branch Church, 317. Piatt, Senator, 458. Poems, 53-56. Poe, poet, 47, 53, 157. Poland, 81. Pope, General, 366. Port Gibson, 211, 219, 220. Porter, Admiral, 207, 209, 210, 411. Porter, Horace, 263-265, 279, 281, 285, 325, 334, 362. Port Hudson, 209, 212, 233. Port Royal, 120, 194. Post, New York, 180. Post-office at Washington, sketch of, 156. Post-tradership scandal, 441 442. Potomac River, 249, 337, 341. Prague, 84. Prime, Captain, chief engineer, 208. Pritchard, Colonel, 364. Prohibition, 101. Protective Tariff, 102, 105-108, 110, 463. Proudhon, 67-70, 95. Prussia, 81, 85. Prussian revolution, 84. Quinbt, General, 246. Randall, Samuel J., 463, 482, 483. Ransom, General, 246. Railroad transportation, 353. Rappahannock River, 317, 318, 328. Raspail, 77, 86. Rawlins, General, preface, 5, 192, 197, 201, 207, 211, 220, 232, 240-242, 250-252, 266, 278, 281, 285, 297, 298, 302, 303, 312, 325, 326, 327, 341, 344, 349-351, 353, 365, 369, 374- 377, 387, 388, 399, 406, 407, 411, 415, 416, 418. INDEX Raymond, battle of, 221, 222. Raymond, Henry J., 129, 430. Recollections of the Civil War, 214, 239, 243. Reconstruction, 370-372, 383, 390, 391, 398. Red River, 209. Reduction of army, 446. Reeder, Governor, 136. Reformation, the, 84. Reform, industrial, social, land, and financial, 108, 112. Religion, 16, 17, 27, 28, 34, 451, 452. Republican party, foundation of, 126, 138, 152. Resaca, railroad station at, 294. Review, great, 341, 361, 362. Revolution, French, of 1848, 62, Reynolds, General, J. J., 269, 348. Richmond, 166, 256, 310, 318, 320, 326, 327, 329, 330, 332, 333, 353, 356, 357, 359, 363. Ringgold Station, 257. Ripley, George, 17, 26, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35-37, 39, 44, 45, 48, 49, 51, 153, 158, 176, 453, 454. Roberts, Marshall O., 401. Robeson, George M., 411, 424, 433. Robespierre, 68, 69. Robinson, GeneraS, 373. Rockville, 336. Rocky Springs, 221. Rodenbough, Captain, 352. Rolling Fork Bayou, 207. Roosevelt, President, 103. Rosecrans, General, 232-234, 236, 253-258, 260, 262-268, 271-278, 339. Rossville, 191. Rousseau, General, 270. Roxbury, 37. Russia, 82. Rust, Senator, 144, 145. Sackville-Wbst, Sib Lionel, 475. Safe Burglary Conspiracy, 434, 435, 441, 442, 493. St. Thomas Island, 402. Sale of arms to France, 425. Sallust, 56. Santo Domingo, 402, 419, 420, 422, 435. Satartia, trip to, 231, 232. Savannah, 352, 353, 355. Scates, Judge, 253. Schiller, 56. Schofield, General, 353, 354, 356, 406, 410, 411. Schurz, Carl, 36, 296, 431. Scituate, Massachusetts, 13, 15, 25, 27 28 Scott, General, 118, 123, 127, 175, 213. Secret Service agents, 185, 186, 341. Sedgwick, General, 249, 311, 319. Seward, William H., 99, 118, 130, 145, 152, 153, 161, 162, 179, 180-182, 354, 365, 368, 397, 402, 408, 419. Seymour, Governor, 249, 250, 400. Shakers, 40. Shankland, General, 143. Shellmound, 254. Shenandoah Valley, 331, 336, 338, 342, 344, 345. Sheridan, General, 262, 294, 304, 317, 319, 321, 323, 324, 326, 427, 330, 332, 333, 338, 343-349, 356, 366, 367. Sherman, Charles, 363. Sherman, General T. W., 373. Sherman, General William T., 208, 209, 212, 220, 227, 230, 233, 243, 244, 246, 250, 251, 256, 268, 291-295, 299, 300, 302, 343, 345, 346, 350, 351, 355, 356, 361-364, 366-368, 388, 415. Sherman's Memoirs, 244. Shiloh, battle of, 191, 192, 282. Sickles, General, 373. Sigel, General, 337. Silver and bimetallism, 448. Slavery, 97-102, 110, 114-117, 119, 126, 127, 129, 130, 134, 136-139, 148, 151-154, 158, 160, 169, 179, 213, 217, 314, 445, 472, 473. Slidell, John, 153. Sloeum, General, 285, 329, 369. Smith's Crossing, 286. Smith, General A. J., 246, 351. Smith, General C. T., 190. Smith, General Giles A., 246. Smith, General John E., 496. Smith, General Kirby, 236. 543 THE LIFE OF CHARLES A. DANA Smith's Plantation, 217. Smith, General William F. (Baldy), 269, 275, 280, 281, 283, 284, 291, 296, 299, 300, 303, 322, 324, 325, 330, 331, 332, 335, 343, 344, 345, 348, 352. Smith, General William Sooy, 246. Socialism, 70, 71, 92-94, 119. Soule, Pierre, 131. Sound money, 120, 121, 400, 448. Southanna River, 322. Sparta, 294. Special Commissioner of the War Department, 200, 204, 212, 236, 290, 317. Speed, Attorney-General, 354. Spinoza, 20, 36, 56. Spottsylvania Court -House, 317, 319, 320. Springfield Republican, 403, 431, 437. Squatter Sovereignty, 98. Staats & Dana, 4, 9. Stanton, Secretary, preface, 170, 178, 181-189, 193-195, 197, 198, 200, 203-205, 207, 209, 210, 212, 215, 218, 223, 225, 226, 229, 233, 237, 240, 242-249, 255-258, 266, 267, 269, 271, 274, 276, 277, 285, 286, 289, 290, 294, 296, 298-302, 305, 306, 309, 311, 312, 316, 322, 328, 329, 332, 337, 338, 339, 346, 348, 350, 351, 352, 354, 362, 363, 366, 367, 369, 371, 382, 383, 473, 474. Steedman, General, 266, 369. Stevenson, Colonel, 246; station, 278 Stevens's Gap, 256, 257. Stoneman, General, 303, 304, 341. Strike of carpenters, 101. Strike in Chicago, 480, 481. Sumner, Senator, 99, 148, 153, 422, 423, 425. Sumter, Fort, 164, 165, 177. Sun, New York, 379-382, 384, 386, 388, 392, 393-395, 397-399, 404, 405, 408, 409, 414-417, 419, 423-425, 427, 428, 430, 431, 433, 438, 439, 443-446, 453, 458, 459, 461, 465, 466, 468-471, 475-478, 484, 490, 495, 511, 514, 515. Sunflower Bayou, 207. Swedenborg, 27, 28, 56, 451. Swift, Lindsay, 47. Swinton, John, 496. Swinton, William, Decisive Battles, 371. Sykes, General, 249. "Symposium," 35. Syracuse, 138. Tallahatchee River, 207. Tallapoosa, 416. Tammany, 425, 427, 448, 449. Tax on bonds, 400. Taylor, Bayard, 123, 132, 133, 177. Taylor, General, 99, 236. Tennessee, 232. Tennessee River, 204, 233, 268, 291. Terry, Judge, kills Senator Brod- erick, 153. Thiers, 66-68, 72. Thomas, General George H., 189, 256, 259, 261, 262, 264, 267, 271, 275, 276, 279, 280-283, 285, 291, 292, 293, 297, 314, 339, 349, 350, 351, 353, 367. Thompson, Jacob, 358. Thucydides, 56. Tilden, Samuel J., 442, 443, 445, 460, 462, 470. Times, New York, 128, 129. Tombigbee River, 250. Toombs, Southerner, 153. Townsend, Mr., 26. Train, George Francis, 382. Transcendentalism, 19, 27, 33. Treaty of Washington, 421. Tribune, New York, 50, 60-63, 72, 77, 92, 94, 96-100, 108-110, 113- 115, 118-121, 123, 125, 127-129, 132-134, 136-141, 144, 146-154, 158-162, 165-168, 171-173, 175- 183, 186, 212, 401, 413 414, 432, 440, 500. Trumbull, Senator, 370, 431. Tupper, poet, 153. Turchin, General, 264. Tweed, William M., 424. Ulffers, 369. Union, dissolution of, etc., 98. " Universal Association," article on, 52. 544 INDEX University of. Michigan, address at, 49, 60. Upton, General, 320, 325. Usher, Secretary, 354. Valley of Virginia, 342, 347, 348. Van Cleve, General, 259, 262. Vanderbilt, 458. Venezuela, 471. Vicksburg, 4, 191, 192, 199, 204, 207-209, 212-214, 216, 221, 223, 225-228, 233-236, 238, 239, 248, 252, 255, 256, 267, 276, 282, 283, 301, 309, 516, 329, 338, 339. Vienna, 84, 86. Virgil, 56. Virginia, campaign in, 316, 349. Virginia, merchants of, 112, 113. Von Moltke, 314. Wade, president of the Senate, 389, 390, 397, 401. Wadsworth, General, 249. Wakefield, scholar, 20. Walden's Ridge, 277, 279. Waldron, Congressman, 146. Walewski, 66. Walker, filibuster, 126. Walker, Professor, 25, 26. Wallace, General Lew, 336. Ward, General Hobart, 319, 329. Warren, Fitz-Henry, "Forward to Richmond," 166, 189. Warren, General, 319, 320, 323, 324, 328, 332, 337. Washburae, E. B„ 311-313, 399, 407-411. Washburne's bill to make Grant general, 373, 409. Washington, Dana in, 126, 131, 138 141, 143, 145, 172, 177, 185, 194, 197; recalled to, 200, 225; returns to, 248, 250, 256, 262, 296, 298, 299, 304, 309, 313, 315, 331, 333, 336-339, 341, 342, 345, 347, 358, 361, 366, 367, 373, 493. Washington, George, 129, 349. Washington Ring, 449. Watson, Assistant Secretary of War, 290, 306, 341. Wauhatchie, 254, 283, 284. Wayne, Justice, 419. Webb, Captain Seth, 13. Webb, General Watson, 487. Webster, Daniel, 98, 113, 152. Weed, Thurlow, 161. Weitzel. General, 357. Weldon and Lynchburg railroads, 330, 343. Welles, Secretary, 354. West Point and Macon railroads. 343. Westport, 132, 252, 343. West Roxbury, 31. Wheeler, Vice-President, 442. Whig party, division of, 127. Whiskey Ring, 425, 426, 435-437. 441, 442, 493. Whitney, Asa, 104. Whitney, William C, 475. Wilderness, 317, 328. Widow Glen's house, 260. Williams, General Seth, 253. Wilmot Proviso, 98. Wilson, Bluford, 223, 435, 436. Wilson, Henry, 153. Wilson, J. EL, 201, 207, 211, 220, 222, 224, 225, 229, 278, 279, 281, 283, 285-287, 294, 304-307, 342, 344, 345, 349, 355, 356, 361, 375, 377, 385, 405. Winchester, battle of, 344. Wood, General, 262, 264, 294. Woods, General, 246. Woodstock, 21, 22. Wordsworth, 56. Wright, Elizur, 59. Wright, General H. G., 319, 320. 322-324, 334. Wright & Company, George, 9. Yates, Governor, 211. Yazoo Pass, 205, 207, 209, 215, 225, 230, 231. THE END llllil i ; i ■■ ■'>_■:: ffl^H 41111 SllllftS SSfSlll JMm. jgBBiisHsaEafil wSsBSffm iSSiiiiiilPiS iii^ilillPiliP Iglliilli ini ililijiiiiHi!:!:;ll^ ggggssjgg llllllIP iPilll iffifiiiiiiSl ^p3£$Sgp nil 1 , '< 1111 PiiSP PSpgfUillg lf!i.^Es!q llPilS sSIb