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 DYING FOR OUR COUNTRY 
 
 SERMON 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DEATH OF CAPT. J. SEWALL REED 
 
 REV. THOMAS STARR KING; 
 
 PHEACHED IN THE 
 
 FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN MILTON, 
 
 March 13, 1864. 
 
 -T-^ 
 
 BY .JOHN H. MORISON. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON, 
 
 n, Watek Street. 
 
 1864. 
 
DYING FOR OUR COUNTRY: 
 
 S E E M N 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DEATH OF CAPT. J. SEWALL REED 
 
 REV. THOMAS STARR KING 
 
 PREACHED IN THE 
 
 FIEST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN MILTON, 
 Maucu 13, 1864. 
 
 BY JOHN H. MORISON. 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON, 
 
 5, Water Street. 
 
 1864. 
 

SERMON. 
 
 John XV. 13 : " Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lat 
 
 DOWN HIS life for HIS FRIENDS." 
 
 These words were spoken by our Saviour the even- 
 ing before his crucifixion, and refer to his own death, 
 — that great event, which, in connection with his 
 teachings and his acts, has wrought such a change in 
 the moral convictions, the spiritual insight, and the 
 religious life, of the world. The whole plane of our 
 being has been lifted up and enlarged by the senti- 
 ment here expressed, illustrated and confu-med as it 
 was so speedily by his death, and his resurrection from 
 the dead. The end for which we are born has thus 
 been projected into higher realms. This world has 
 been eniiched and glorified by the light which streams 
 upon it from the world of spiritual life and joy in 
 which he lives, and which he has brought mto more 
 evident and vital relations with us. Because he lives, 
 we shall live also. As we live and believe in him, we 
 are made partakers of his life, and already become 
 members of that kingdom which rises over us, which 
 enfolds us m its embrace, and carries up into its wide 
 
and holy realm the soiils of his followers, and the 
 work which seems unfinished and in vam because of 
 their premature departure from the earth. 
 
 Here is one of the decisive tests of discipleship indi- 
 cated by Jesus. He who so lives amid the higher 
 sentiments and affections of our religion as to subordi- 
 nate every thing else to them is recognized as belong- 
 ing to him. Thus it is, that he who loses his life for 
 his sake shall find it. That is, he Avho, at the com- 
 mand of higher obligations, disregards this visible, 
 apparent, earthly life, enters mto the unseen, substan- 
 tial, eternal life, and, so far, is lifted up into his wider 
 sphere of piu'e, unselfish living. 
 
 Here is a real ground of distinction between those 
 who are followers of Christ and those who are not. 
 If you find a man to w^hom property or life is more 
 sacred than duty, you may be sure that he has not 
 entered into the spirit of Jesus. If you meet a man 
 who scoffs at the finer sentiments of our nature, and, 
 in respect to the greatest sacrifices which are made to 
 them, asks, " Why all this waste'? " you may be sure 
 that he is unable to know any thing of the ideas which 
 Jesus came to declare, or the life which he came to 
 impart. Here, more than in any ecclesiastical or theo- 
 logical opinions or professions, is the best test of om* 
 allegiance to Christ. He who resists temptation to 
 wrong-doing, and in his life keeps himself unspotted 
 from the world ; he who preserves the sweetness of 
 his affections, and, delighting to do what he can for 
 the comfort and happiness of others, forgets himself 
 
in his devotion to them ; he who esteems the cause of 
 righteousness more sacred than that of self-interest, 
 who considers the integrity and life of his country as 
 of more importance than any private end, and who, so 
 believmg, gives his life in attestation of his belief, — 
 he so far enters mto the spirit of our Lord, and ap- 
 proves himself his follower and disciple. 
 
 " Greater love hath no man than this, that a man 
 lay down his life for his friends." He who spoke 
 these words died in order that the world might be 
 drawn towards him, and, through faith in him, be 
 made partakers of his divine and eternal life. His 
 immediate followers, with no country except the 
 spiritual community in which they were united, were 
 called often to attest their fidelity to hun by dying as 
 witnesses to his truth ; and, the more they died, the 
 more thek numbers multiplied, and their cause pre- 
 vailed. When prosperity and ease and life became 
 dearer to them than their faith in Christ, and their 
 fidelity to him, then their cause languished, and their 
 religion became inoperative and dead. 
 
 Those times of martvrdom, in the forms in which it 
 then existed, have passed away. But there are other 
 trials which furnish the same test of character, and in 
 which our fidelity, even unto death, is as essential to 
 the rectitude of our own lives and the advancement of 
 God's kingdom on the earth. 
 
 The highest conception we can form of a Christian 
 commonwealth is that of a great spiritual community, 
 the unseen Church of Christ, in which his ransomed 
 
ones of all ages and lands are gathered together, and 
 which, in one unbroken communion, reaches down 
 from heaven to earth, and draws into its embrace, from 
 every kindred and nation and tongue, those who fear 
 God and work righteousness. 
 
 This is the highest idea that we can form of a 
 Christian commonwealth. Next to this, and, in its 
 highest state, beyond any thing that the world has yet 
 known, coincident with it, is the idea of a Christian 
 people, united together in one great commonwealth ; 
 protected by wise and equal laws ; owing allegiance to 
 the same government ; looking to the national flag as 
 the emblem of liberty and justice, of union and strength, 
 the ensign of a nation ready to put forth all its energies 
 to defend the rights of the weakest citizen against the 
 most powerful empire on the earth ; guarding all its 
 children with equal care ; opening its schools to rich 
 and poor alike ; protectmg churches and hospitals, and 
 all benign institutions and charities ; raising highways 
 through the wilderness for the houseless ; preparing 
 homesteads for the homeless ; and, like the great Bene- 
 factor of our race, sendmg out its gracious invitations 
 into distant lands, and inviting people of every rank 
 and condition, but especially the poor, the down- 
 trodden, and the oppressed, to come, without money 
 and without price, to share with us the privileges that 
 we and our children enjoy. Next to the idea of the 
 universal Church of Christ, reaching from earth to 
 heaven, through all ages and all lands, is this idea of 
 a Christian commonwealth, reaching from ocean to 
 
ocean, — from the lakes and forests of the North 
 almost to the tropics ; administering its laws with an 
 authority so gentle, that we were hardly conscious of 
 its pressure ; while its benefactions visited us like the 
 dews and the providence of God, — so silently, that we 
 forgot to be thankful for them. No such common- 
 wealth as this of ours ever before existed, — no one so 
 free, and yet so secure ; so little interfering with indi- 
 vidual rights, and yet so universally extending its pro- 
 tection and its gifts to all. We began our life as a 
 people here in the wilderness. We grew up by the 
 neglect of the nation which had authority over us. 
 Our institutions, our government, and our laws were 
 left to form themselves around us, like our bodies, by 
 no arbitrary rules, but almost as a natural growth from 
 the vital forces which were at work within. The old 
 governments and nations of the earth, which at fkst 
 despised or ignored us, at length began to look upon us 
 with admiration and fear. We were rapidly preparing, 
 in the regular progress of our advancement, to take 
 our place as the foremost among them all ; and except 
 for one cruel injustice, allowed by our government, 
 and bindmg its chains on four millions of helpless peo- 
 ple, its influence was more and more felt throughout 
 the world in favor of freedom and justice, and against 
 the old despotisms which had so long oppressed the 
 hearts and hopes of men. This, my friends, was the 
 commonwealth in which we were born ; under whose 
 laws, and in whose institutions, we were nurtured. 
 Lived there ever a people on the face of the earth 
 
8 
 
 who had so much reason to honor and reverence and 
 sustam the Government which threw its protecting 
 arms and laws around them ; whose blessings were so 
 many, and its burdens so light? If foreign nations 
 had leagued themselves together to overtlu'ow and de- 
 stroy it, should we not have esteemed it a privilege and 
 a joy to lay down our lives in its defence ? If traitors 
 at home should league themselves together, and, after 
 secretly plotting against it for more than a quarter of 
 a century, should aim their murderous weapons at the 
 bosom from which thek life and ours alike was drawn, 
 though they were a thousand times our brethren, could 
 we stand by, and see them murder the common mother 
 of us all ? " Greater love hath no man than this, that 
 he lay down his life for his friends." And here traitors, 
 with murderous hands and thoughts, are trying to cut 
 in pieces and destroy the dear and venerated form of 
 her, who, as our common mother, has pressed us all to 
 her bosom, and who, with bleeding countenance and an 
 expression of infinite sorrow, looks imploringly to us 
 for our support. By all that is most sacred in life, by 
 our reverence for Christ and the righteous laws which 
 he would have us obey, by what we owe to our chil- 
 dren's children, she calls upon us to save her from this 
 act of treachery and murdel*; to save our national 
 honor and life ; to uphold through her the supremacy 
 of wise and equal laws; to leave her with added purity, 
 so as to awaken a deeper love and reverence among 
 those who shall come after us. Shall we not obey her 
 call, and lay down oui' lives if need be, freely, in de- 
 
fence of her, who, next to onr Sa'^iour, is our greatest 
 benefactor and friend ? 
 
 This is the appeal which " our own, our native 
 land " has been niakuig to her children for the last 
 three years, xlnd not m vain. No call of a suffering 
 parent was ever more bravely or more faithfully and 
 reverently obeyed. From every walk of life, and for 
 every post of duty, her sons have come forth ; and 
 thus we have been enabled to see, as never before, 
 what specimens of large and generous manhood had 
 grown up under her care. From our common-schools 
 and our colleges, from poor men's homes and rich 
 men s homes, young men, moved by a common enthu- 
 siasm, have gone forth, side by side, to confront a com- 
 mon danger, and to preserve the mtcgrity and life of 
 the nation. Examples have been given of a heroism 
 as beautiful, of a gentleness as whining, of a generosi- 
 ty as noble, of a fidelity as sacred, and a reliance on 
 God as devout and unfaltering, as any that are to be 
 found in the pages of history or of poetry. I cannot 
 think of them, whether living or dead, otherwise than 
 with gratitude and honor. Then* names will be kept 
 among us as watchwords to kmdle the patriotism of 
 the young in all coming generations, and to keep alive 
 their reverence for " whatsoever things are honest, 
 whatsoever things are lovely and of good report." 
 While they live, let our prayers call down the protec- 
 tion and benediction of Heaven upon them; and, when 
 they die, let their names and memory be cherished as 
 the dearest and most sacred of our treasures. 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 I wish to speak this morning of two men, in widely 
 different spheres of activity, equally devoted to the 
 same cause, and equally, I think, laying down their 
 lives for their country, within the last few weeks. 
 One of them was born and passed his early years 
 within sight of this church. This quiet scene of rural 
 loveliness surrounding the home of his childhood ; these 
 trees, standuig here as God's sentinels to protect and 
 guard his house of worship ; these roads and fields ; 
 this house of prayer, and the Sunday school connected 
 with it, — all, doubtless, had their influence in forming 
 his character, and preparing him for the responsible 
 duties that were to be laid upon him. He was thirteen 
 years old when I came here in January, 1846. Once 
 in that winter, by reason of a most violent storm, I 
 preached to an audience of five persons ; and he was 
 one of the five. He had no advantages of education 
 which any boy among us may not have. He went to 
 the town-school ; and then, for a short time, was a 
 student in the academy under the instruction of IMr. 
 Ezra Ripley, — a man of high purposes, of rare purity, 
 integrity, and modesty, who, at the commencement of 
 this war, left an extensive and increasing practice at 
 the bar, and carried with him into the military service 
 the brave and persistent resolution, the keen sense of 
 right, and the instinctive hatred of wrong, for which 
 he had been distinguished in civil life. After more 
 than two years of faithful and efficient service, he died 
 near Vicksburg, Miss., a few weeks after the capture 
 of that city. The ability with which he acted, and 
 
11 
 
 the value of the services which he rendered, were verv 
 inadequately represented by the position which he 
 held as lieutenant in the Twenty-ninth Kegiment of 
 Massachusetts Volunteers. 
 
 At the age of seventeen, James Sewall Eeed went 
 to California, where, beginning as a day-laborer in 
 some mechanical employment, he worked his way up 
 to a post of responsibility and trust in a large mercan- 
 tile house, whose confidence and respect he always 
 afterwards retained. Few among us knew the tempta- 
 tions to which our young men were then exposed in 
 that distant land, freed as they were from all the re- 
 straints of home, and from the legal and moral safe- 
 guards which are furnished by the laws and habits of 
 a well-ordered community. It is the testimony of those 
 who knew him best through his whole experience 
 there, that he never took advantage of the disordered 
 state of society to relax the severity of his principles, 
 or to give up any thing of his moral purity and ingenu- 
 ousness. At the age of twenty-two, he was the cap- 
 tain of a military company, and exercised a great and 
 salutary influence over his men. He spent one season 
 in Lower California, and the next on Frazer's River, 
 where he was brought into contact with the Indians, 
 whose adnuration and confidence he gained by his re- 
 markable courage and his honesty, and whose grate- 
 ful and devoted services he secured by his generosity 
 and kindness. 
 
 At length, there came a time when the government 
 of California had become so corrupt that the laws 
 
12 
 
 were perverted, and coiu'ts of justice turned into in- 
 struments of violence and wrong, by those whose 
 business it was to administer them. Neither Hfe nor 
 property was respected ; and some of the best citizens, 
 who had made themselves obnoxious to wicked and 
 lawless rulers, were shot dead, cither in the streets or 
 at their places of business. Tlie courts of justice 
 offered no redress, but sheltered the murderers from 
 harm. It was one of those rare and fearful occasions 
 which are not likely ever to occur in a settled commu- 
 nity, under our popular form of government, when the 
 people are justified in taking the laws into their own 
 hands, and securing the ends of justice by a summary 
 and illegal process. Here our friend, as a military 
 officer, by his judgment, his perfect fearlessness, and 
 the ascendency which he had over his men, rendered 
 important services to the cause of good government, 
 and secured for himself, on a larger scale than before, a 
 name and a place in the community, as one who might 
 be relied upon in any great and perilous emergency. 
 
 When the civil war broke out, he wished to offer 
 himself as a volunteer. But the loyalty of California 
 was at that time so doubtful, and the ties which bound 
 her to the Union were so new and untried, that it 
 seemed as if loyal citizens were more needed, and 
 might be more useful to the Government, there than 
 here. But he got out his military books, and studied 
 them with continuous and earnest attention ; and 
 when the fervor of our first enthusiasm here in the 
 East had abated, and it was beginning to be difficult to 
 
13 
 
 get the men that were needed, he, with a friend,* who, 
 hke himself, has been in some measure connected with 
 this rehgious society, determined to raise a company 
 of cavahy. Within less than a week, five hundred 
 men offered themselves as volunteers. But they could 
 get permission to enlist only one hundred. With 
 these picked men he came on from California about 
 fifteen months ago, and attached himself to the Second 
 Regiment of Massachusetts Cavalry. The expectations 
 which he and they inspired have not been disappointed. 
 He had, in a remarkable degree, the qualities which 
 endear an officer to his men, and command at once 
 their confidence and their obedience. He has had a 
 trying service, and has always been found ecpial to its 
 requirements. He might have escaped its hardships. 
 On those distant shores of the Pacific, he might have 
 remained at home, without any imputation upon his 
 patriotism or his honor. He was a man of warm do- 
 mestic affections. He loved his home with its comforts 
 and its endearments. But the voice of his country, 
 stabbed, and threatened with destruction, by the treach- 
 ery and violence of her own sons, calling on him to 
 give his ser\ices and his life in her defence, w^as a 
 voice which he could not resist. He has fallen in the 
 ripeness of his early manhood. No stain rests on the 
 fair fame which he has bravely and honorably won. 
 The more closely and confidentially I have inquh'ed 
 into his private history from those who knew him best, 
 
 * Capt. Archibald M'Kendry. 
 
14 
 
 and in his most secret walks, the more unhesitating 
 and unequivocal has been the testimony to the puri- 
 ty and the integrity of his life. No braver man lived ; 
 and he was as gentle as he was brave. A lady who 
 came from California with him, and whose sympathies 
 were strongly with the South, said she knew that he 
 was a brave man, because he was so gentle, so devoted, 
 and so patient in his attentions, to a little, helpless 
 child. And so it usually is. The finest qualities of gen- 
 tleness and modesty, of love and reverence, are those 
 which entwine themselves most closely and tenderly 
 around the strongest. In the field or the camp, when 
 others were tired out or discouraged, he was always 
 cheerful, and dispelled then* despondency by the conta- 
 gion of his own light-hearted and mirtliful spirit. Let- 
 ters from the camp say that it is dull and sad there now, 
 without him. But he has fallen in the performance of a 
 great and solemn duty. He pledged himself to a sacred 
 cause, and he has fulfilled his pledge. These trees 
 and hills will be clothed with a fresher green ; these 
 homes will be more secure, and better worth living in ; 
 these schools will be filled with a freer and more do- 
 cile succession of pupils ; these churches will be con- 
 secrated by a holier worship, a purer morality, and a 
 loftier faith ; a nobler race will walk our streets for 
 generations yet to come, when we are dead, and long 
 centuries hence, — because of the life which he and 
 others like him have lived, and the death which they 
 have died. If any of you should stand weeping by 
 what seems to you their untimely graves, remember 
 
15 
 
 the words inscribed on the tomb at Thermopylae : 
 " Go, tell them at Lacedirmon that we lie here in 
 obedience to her laws." Or, better than that, with 
 more of the Christian spirit in which so many of our 
 young men have entered this great and terrible con- 
 flict, write upon their tombs, or at least associate with 
 then* memory, the words, for ever consecrated as the 
 words of Jesus, and sanctified to us by his death : 
 " Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lav 
 down his life for his friends." 
 
 The day after our friend, with many tears and bless- 
 ings, was laid in his grave, the news came from San 
 Francisco, that his minister, the Kev. Thomas Starr 
 King, had suddenly died that morning. There was 
 but one man in the United States who had greater 
 power than he to draw together vast assemblies of 
 men, enchain them by his generous thoughts, and 
 charge them with his own enthusiasm. When this 
 wicked war was forced upon us by the assault on Fort 
 Sumter, and it was doubtful M'hich side the new State 
 on the Pacific might jom, Mr. Kmg gave himself to 
 his country with a purpose as brave and as solemn as 
 if he had thrown himself upon the most desperate 
 battle-field. He traversed the State. He lectured ; he 
 preached ; he prayed. He electrified great masses of 
 men with his own self-forgetting patriotism. He caused 
 the sentiment of national honor and enthusiasm to 
 thrill through them, and bmd them to their country 
 with a warm and unfaltering devotion. There was in 
 in him no jealousy, no narrow thought of self, to dim 
 
16 
 
 the clearness of his eye ; no ugly ambition to gnaw at 
 his heart-strings, and interfere with his kindly judg- 
 ments, or prompt to ill-natiu'ed and ungenerous re- 
 marks upon the character and motives of others. An 
 intimate friend of his, who preached about him last 
 Sunday, with singular felicity of adaptation entitled 
 his sermon " The Unspotted Life." He had what no 
 bad man ever has, — a laugh which rung as clear and 
 mu'thful as the tones of a Christmas bell. When he 
 went from us, he bore with him the light-heartedness, 
 the elasticity, and the joyousness of a boy. But I 
 learn that one, who saw him a short time ago, said that 
 he looked then like an old man. The labors and the 
 responsibilities of a lifetime, crowded with such inten- 
 sity into those few brief months, had told upon him 
 as the work of years, and probably left him without 
 strength to bear up under a disease which otherwise 
 might have had no fatal power over him. I have little 
 doubt, that, like hundreds of other loyal men at their 
 various posts of duty in civil life, he died " a blessed 
 martyr" to his country, as truly as if he had been slain 
 upon the battle-field. 
 
 The last Sunday that Capt. Reed and his " Califor- 
 nia Hundred " spent in San Francisco, they attended 
 Mr. King's church. His concluding words, which I 
 read from a copy written in his own clear hand as 
 a parting memorial to his friend Capt. Reed, were 
 these : " God bless you, brother Americans, for your 
 readmess, for your zeal, for your pure offering of devot- 
 edness, which to-day add force as well as illustration 
 
17 
 
 to the pleadings of the gospel with our hearts ! You 
 are not ' weary ' of the call and the strain of patriot- 
 ism. There are those at the East who are. They 
 w^ear no wounds or scars. They have not exposed 
 then- lives. . . . And you, in these same hours, 
 seek the 0'p][)ortun\iy of pledging strength and skill, 
 and blood and breath, to our country's integrity and 
 honor. Heaven hear our prayers for you, and cover 
 you with its benediction! . . . May the flash of 
 your blades, if you are called into battle, be the dawn 
 of a better age for your country ! . . . Go, brethi'en : 
 do your tremendous duty with dedicated hearts ; in 
 the fear of God, which roots out all other fear ; in 
 allegiance to Christ ; with the New Testament very 
 near your hand, and its appeals very sweet to your 
 souls ! ' Be not weary with w^ell-doing,' though your 
 marches be long, and your hope of speedy success 
 denied. In due time you shall reap, if you fixint not ; 
 and, if those you leave at home be not cowards and 
 traitors both, you shall reap, though you bleed, though 
 you be maimed, though you die ; you shall reap in 
 your country's redemption and renewal, in the honor 
 that will invest your names in future years, in your 
 reward in the better world." 
 
 These, my friends, are great words of exhortation 
 and of promise. And shall they not be fulfilled? 
 Both he who spoke them, and the leader of those to 
 whom they were spoken, have laid down their lives in 
 attestation of their truth, and have entered into their 
 reward. It remains for us who yet live to follow them 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 by consecrating onrselves anew to the cause for which 
 they died, and by carrying on, in Avhatever sphere of 
 activity we can, the work which they have left unfin- 
 ished. It was well that our friend who died in battle 
 for us should be buried with every demonstration of 
 love and honor, and that his name should be held in 
 everlasting remembrance by those who wish well to 
 their country ; and when our brother on the shore of 
 a distant ocean, amid peaceful pursuits, fell almost as 
 suddenly at his post of duty, it was well that places of 
 business should be closed, and flags at half-mast, and a 
 whole community sorrowing as under a great and 
 common bereavement in the home of his adoption, 
 and that here words of tender and reverent commemo- 
 ration should be uttered. But we shall praise them 
 best, we shall most truly honor their name and their 
 memory, when we do as they have done, and in 
 thought and word, in heart and deed, give ourselves to 
 the work for which they lived and died. To us, as 
 to them, our Saviour's words apply : " Greater love 
 hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life 
 for his friends." 
 
19 
 
 CAPT. J. SEWALL REED. 
 
 At my request, Mrs. Reed furnished me with a little sketch 
 of her husband's life, to be used in making up my account 
 of his services ; but it is so much better than any thing I 
 can prepare, that, without asking her permission, I have 
 taken the liberty of retaining it in nearly the same form in 
 which I received it. In some parts, I have condensed it a 
 little ; but I am sure tliat no one can read it through with- 
 out a feeling of admiration for the young man who so freely 
 gave his life to his country. Nor can it, I think, be read 
 without a quickening sense of patriotic enthusiasm, and a 
 renewed devotion to the cause for which he died. We see, 
 in this as in other histories, by what providential ways our 
 young men have been prepared to take the self sacrificing 
 and heroic part which they have taken in the terrible con- 
 flict in which we are engaged. The cost of this war, in 
 tears and blood, to uphold our Government, and save it 
 from becoming a wreck and ruin, is indeed great; but who 
 shall say that it is too great, so long as it brings out cha- 
 racters like these, and holds up to us such types of self- 
 forgetting manhood ? Capt. Reed had been for some time 
 acting as major in command of a battalion. While em- 
 ployed in that capacity, he was killed near Drainsville, Va., 
 on the anniversary of Washington's birth-day, the 22d of 
 Februar}', 18G4. His funeral was at the church of the 
 
20 
 
 Second Congregational Society in Dorchester, where he 
 had been married a little less than five years before. It is 
 seldom that we have seen an assembly so large, and with 
 such evident marks of grief, as was there gathered to pay 
 the last tokens of love and honor to this brave soldier, this 
 genial friend, this upright and patriotic man. 
 
 James Sewall Reed was born in Milton, Mass., April 3, 1832. 
 Of his early life, his sclioolboy-days, you know probably as much 
 as I can tell you. My personal knowledge of him relates more to 
 his California life ; though, as a child, I remember having a mor- 
 tal dread of him, as I always saw him with a gu7i in his hand. 
 He was naturally of an impulsive, ardent, enthusiastic character ; 
 and in 1849, during the rage of the "gold fever," became much 
 interested in California. With him, to think was to do ; and he 
 became so desirous to try his fortune in that distant land, that his 
 parents reluctantly gave their consent, though he was a boy but 
 little more than seventeen years old. An extract from his journal 
 says, " On the 30th of October, 1849, we set sail from Boston in 
 the good ship 'Argonaut,' bound to San Francisco ; making up our 
 minds for a ' life on the ocean- wave.' " Here, at the outset, he 
 shows himself possessed of the characteristics of a good traveller ; 
 being always cheerful, making the best of every event, never dis- 
 couraged, and always finding something pleasant amid the dai'kest 
 scenes. They sailed round Cape Horn, and made a quick and 
 prosperous voyage ; going on shore at Valparaiso, eighty-nine days 
 out from Boston. On the 13th of March, 1850, they dropped 
 anchor in the Bay of San Francisco. Here commenced his first 
 experience of " camp-life : " for, on landing, he pitched his tent, 
 and commenced house-keeping ; washing, cooking, &c., for himself. 
 He immediately found plenty of work ; and, that he might lose 
 no time, he commenced building a flat-boat for river-travel. 
 Finishing this, he next tried his hand at painting ; at which he 
 continued for some weeks. His brother having arrived in Califor- 
 nia, as soon as they could get ready, they started for the mines. 
 They worked at mining, and were quite successful, some six or 
 eight months ; when, thinking their claim entirely worked out. 
 
21 
 
 and becoming a little tired of the life, they concluded to return to 
 San Francisco. While mining, they had enjoyed camp-life in 
 perfection, with sometimes a scarcity of provisions, which were 
 very poor, even when abundant ; but the life was not distasteful, 
 and many pleasant hours were spent there. They thought they 
 had completely exhausted the wealth of their mine ; but Sewall 
 has since told me that the same dirt had been worked over several 
 times since, and each time had paid better than the first, so little 
 was mining understood in those days. Returning to San Fran- 
 cisco, he soon obtained a situation with Macondray & Co., one of 
 the leading firms of the city. At first, he was employed in the 
 lumber-yard, taking account of the delivery and buying of the ar- 
 ticle ; but soon entered the store as salesman, Avhere he continued, 
 winning the respect and love of his employers, until 1854. 
 
 At this time, all who are acquainted with California history 
 will remember that the moral dangers to which a young man was 
 exposed were neither few nor small ; and older, stronger men 
 often fell victims. But, from the first, Sewall had absolutely set 
 his face against these things ; and such was the natural purity 
 of his character, his innate love of goodness and truth, that what 
 to many was enticing, to him was disgusting ; and few passed 
 through the ordeal of those early California days more free and 
 uncontaminated than he. His good mother's teachings here proved 
 their value: he reverenced that mother, and did not forget her 
 while away. 
 
 His military life commenced as early as 1852 ; and I think he 
 served in every position, except first lieutenant, from a corporal up 
 to captain, first in the Eureka Light Horse-Guards, and afterwards 
 the First Light Dragoons. In 1854, he returned to his New- 
 England home on a visit ; and had so changed during the five 
 years' absence, that even his mother did not know him. He came 
 home via Nicaragua ; and though the route was in bad condition, 
 and detentions were frequent, he always found something to enjoy, 
 while many were only annoyed. 
 
 He returned to California in November, 1854 ; and, soon after 
 his arrival tliere, he went with a friend into the tea-business, 
 which was quite successful, and in which he continued to show his 
 abilities as a busiuess-maa. 
 
22 
 
 1856 was a year famous in California history ; and he acted a 
 conspicuous part in that Vigilance Committee which accomplished 
 so much for the State. At this time, he was captain of the First 
 Light Dragoons. I copy from his letter the account of his con- 
 nection with the beginning of difficulties. He says, " On Sunday, 
 I went to Gov. Johnson, and tendered my resignation as captain 
 of the Dragoons, telling him that I was going to join the Vigi- 
 lance Committee. He refused to accept it ; biit I joined them, 
 and, at eleven o'clock, was sworn in by special request, although 
 they did not take any members that day ; and I am a member of 
 the Citizens' Guard, a company of a hundred and twenty-five 
 men, used for duty at the court-rooms." At this time, the Com- 
 mittee did not themselves know the arduous duties that lay before 
 them ; and, after the first ditficulty was settled, they thought all 
 would be quiet again ; but they were mistaken. When Sewall 
 resigned his commission as captain of the Dragoons (most of the 
 company having left also, and joined the Vigilance Committee), 
 he joined the Citizens' Guard as a private. In three days, he was 
 promoted to the position of captain of one of the companies, — the 
 Guard having been increased and divided into four companies. 
 Here he remained for a time, till he was elected captain of a com- 
 pany of Dragoons. There was quite a strife for a little time as to 
 which company should keep him ; and it was finally settled by 
 Col. Olney himself, Avho said, that, for the good of the cause, 
 Capt. Reed must go with the Dragoons ; for there were good 
 infantry ofiicers in plenty, but few that understood cavalry as well 
 Capt. Reed. So he became captain of Company B, Citizens' 
 Di'agoons, V.C. ; and continued to act in this capacity while he was 
 needed. His company numbered a hundred and sixty men. They 
 met for drill every evening, and oftener if circumstances required. 
 Business was almost entirely suspended during this excitement, 
 and all Avere interested in learning " the art of war." Men of 
 every rank and position shouldered the musket, and stood in the 
 ranks ; and Sewall often said that he had men in his command old 
 enough to be his father, yet all earnest and enthusiastic, ready to 
 sacrifice life and fortune in the support of justice and right. I 
 copy the account of the taking of "Judge Teny" as an example 
 of the state of excitement there : "I was sitting in my office, 
 
23 
 
 about tAvo, P.M., when I saw crowds of people rusliing down the 
 street. Supposing it Avas a fire, I thought but little of it ; Avhen, 
 in a minute, I heard the tap of the Committee-bell, and I knew 
 then there was trouble somewhere. I closed my store immedi- 
 ately, as all my neighbors were doing, and started for the stable. 
 Men were rushing through the streets as if wild ; and I soon heard 
 the cry, ' Judge Terry has killed one of the Vigilants ! ' I had 
 my horse saddled, and started for headquarters, where I found my 
 company present and in line. I reported to the general, and, in 
 less than half an hour after the bell rang, was on the ground, 
 among some two thousand men, who had surrounded the building 
 whither Judge Terry had fled. Judge Terry was taken prisoner, 
 though not a gun was fired or a man hurt ; and in another hour 
 the city was quiet again." Sewall was also sent more than once 
 on expeditions that required courage and ability, such as searching 
 houses, making arrests, &c. ; and always succeeded to the satisfac- 
 tion of the Committee. 
 
 Business in the city was now very dull, and Sewall became 
 interested in some mining speculations in Lower California. Some 
 friends were going down to that country to locate grants, mines, 
 &c. ; and, having had an excellent oiFer made to him, he concluded 
 to accompany them, thinking to increase his store of worldly 
 goods, and enjoy a trip through Lower California at the same time. 
 It was a wild, almost vmknown country ; but his love of adven- 
 ture led him to look upon the journey as one of pleasure rather 
 than toil. He left San Francisco in May, 1857 ; going by water to 
 Santa Barbara, — one of the southern ports of California. From 
 here he went to Los Angelos, San Pedro, San Diego, and other 
 towns in that vicinity ; riding on horseback hundreds of miles, 
 spreading his blankets in the open air, yet always happy, always 
 cheerful ; often obliged to shoot his supper before he ate it ; writ- 
 ing his letters on his saddle-cloth, the top of his hat, a tin plate, 
 or a milk-pan ; visiting mines ; locating grants ; riding sometimes 
 sixty-five miles in a day ; travelling among the Mexicans and 
 native Californians, — himself nearly as brown as they. He 
 speaks of them as treating him very kindly, and being very hospi- 
 table towards the " Americanos ; " and goes into raptures over the 
 beautiful scenery that is constantly attracting his attention. I 
 
24 
 
 copy one remark that will show his love for the " old flag : " 
 "I shall spend the glorious Fourth in Mexican territory, and not 
 under the ' stars and stripes ; ' but the American flag shall float 
 over me that day, if I can find the cloth to make one." He re- 
 mained in this country some nine months, and then returned to 
 San Francisco again. This trip was a failure in a pecimiary point 
 of view ; for he could not get the salary promised, as one of the 
 parties had died ; and he returned rather discouraged, his hopes of 
 success had been so sanguine. 
 
 He had been in the city but a short time when the " Frazer- 
 River excitement" turned the heads of the Californians. Gold 
 had been discovered in large quantities in British territory, and it 
 Avas thought it would prove a second California. The excitement 
 in San Francisco was intense ; and, with the hope of gaining what 
 he had lost in Lower California, Sewall determined to join the 
 multitude that were hurrying northward to the new El Dorado. 
 In company with one friend, who was to share the hardships and 
 the success of the trip, he left San Francisco, in June, 1858, in a 
 steamer bound to Victoria, Vancouver's Island. At Victoria they 
 purchased an Indian canoe ; and, with three other men, — making 
 five in all, — they commenced the journey up the river. It Avas 
 a hundred miles to Fort Langley, their first landing-place ; and 
 they intended to go a hundred miles beyond this. Their canoe 
 was heavily laden, and the river-currents were very strong. In 
 speaking of this journey, SeAvall says, " I think it is the hardest 
 work I have ever done ; " and he had done a little of that during 
 his life. 
 
 He spent the 4th of July, 1858, at Fort Langley ; and, as they 
 Avere on British ground, he determined that an American flag 
 should float over their tent, on that day at least. So, the previous 
 day, he set himself to work to make a flag that should be a re- 
 minder of his home ; and that flag is now in my possession. An 
 old red flannel shirt furnished the material of that color, an old 
 white shirt Avas torn up for the Avhite, Avhile a blue blanket fur- 
 nished the field for the stars. He could not make the stars to 
 suit him ; and so he cut the figures '76 out of some white, and 
 sewed it upon the blue ; and this flag floated over his tent on that 
 day, on that British soil. Here, too, he had only his tent to live 
 
25 
 
 iu, his blankets for a bed, and was obliged to do his own cooking, 
 washing, &c. 
 
 They went up the river as far as Fort Yale ; and, not being 
 able to go any farther in their boats, they landed, and proceeded 
 by land some twenty miles over the mountains on foot, and heavily 
 laden, as there were neither horses nor mules in that country. 
 About twenty miles above Fort Yale, he and his friends staked 
 out a claim, and again commenced mining, as sanguine of success 
 as though disappointment had never crossed his path. Until the 
 gold excitement, no one had travelled this country but Indians. 
 The Hudson-Bay Company had a few men at the different forts or 
 trading-posts ; but they did not travel about the country. 
 
 The Indians called them " King George's men," and the Ame- 
 ricans they called " Boston." The same qualities which gained 
 him friends among the Mexicans in California won the friendship 
 of the Indians of this northern land ; and many Avere the presents 
 of fish, berries, (fee, that he received from them. But all were 
 not so well disposed, as one event in this history will prove, 
 Sewall was one day sitting in his tent, when suddenly there came 
 in an Indian chief with some four or five of his tribe. At fii'st, 
 Sewall, thinking no evil, took little notice of them ; but they soon 
 commenced looking about them, and gathering up such articles as 
 they could see, intending to take them away. Sewall was alone ; 
 but, seizing his revolver, he stepped forward, bidding them not to 
 lay a finger on an article, or he would shoot them all. His reso- 
 lute daring cowed the chief; and he fell on his knees, and begged 
 for life. Sewall bade him get up ; which he did, saying, " Boston 
 good Indian, Boston no coward ! " His partner soon returned, 
 and has since told me that he had no doubt Sewall's courage saved 
 both their lives ; for those Indians were very unfriendly to the 
 whites. From this time, the chief, with all his tribe, were Sew- 
 all's warmest friends, — constantly bringing him little presents of 
 such as they had ; and it was not long before it was in his 
 power to do them a kindness. The various tribes of the upper 
 country had troubled the miners so much, that, at last, the miners 
 determined to exterminate the whole number. Sewall heard of 
 the organization, though he did not join them. He was some dis- 
 tance from the white settlements which had been annoyed, — they 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 being some forty miles farther up the river ; but, feeling that his 
 Indian friends were in danger, he determined to save them if pos- 
 sible. I copy his vv^ords : " Three of us started for the Indian 
 ranch just before dark, on the same evening that the company of 
 miners Avere to perform their work of extermination. As I was 
 the only one who could speak the Chinook tongue, I told the chief 
 that he must pack up and leave for the mountains immediately, or 
 the whites would kill them. In less time than I could tell them, 
 they were packed, and ready to leave, bag and baggage." The 
 old chief shook hands with them, and gratefully thanked them, 
 saying they would not forget it. That very night, their houses 
 were burned ; and they would have shared the fate of the rest, 
 had it not been for the timely warning. Very early the next 
 morning, Sewall was awakened by a visit from the old chief, with 
 a present for him ; and, while he remained in the country, they 
 w^ere his constant friends. 
 
 The Frazer-River gold mines proving somewhat of a humbug, 
 they left the country in November, returning to San Francisco not 
 much richer in worldly goods than when they left, but with a 
 larger experience, and many pleasing recollections of hours spent 
 there. Sewall, through all this time, never once alludes to the 
 hardships and discomforts, except to mention the facts ; and always 
 was cheerful, and sanguine of success. He engaged with his 
 whole heart and mind and strength in every scheme which inte- 
 rested him, and never gave up till he was convinced that he had 
 exhausted the whole. He was very expert in the use of tools ; 
 very quick and active ; and I have heard it said of him, that few 
 men could accomplish so much in a given time as he could. In 
 speaking of his travels, he says, " I have travelled about some in 
 my life. I have been south as far as latitude fifty-six degrees, and 
 here I am at fifty degrees north. I have lived under Chilian, 
 Mexican, and English governments ; and the only way a man can 
 truly prize our own glorious Republic is to see and travel in foreign 
 lands. I am a thorough American, and I glory in it." 
 
 Early in the spring of 1859, Sewall again came East; and we 
 were married the 25th of May, 1859 ; and, in September of the 
 same year, we returned to California. Sewall now determined to 
 settle down, and enjoy the pleasures of domestic life, which pos- 
 
27 
 
 sessed an especial charm for one who had been so long a wanderer. 
 He purchased a ranch some sixty miles from San Francisco ; and 
 there, in quiet happiness, he devoted his time to the cultivation of 
 his ranch. We had lived there about a year, when, even in our 
 distant home, we heard the nation's cry of alarm at the fall of 
 Sumter ; and when he heard of the mustering of armies, and 
 knew that danger was threatening that land he loved so well, he 
 would often say to me, " If I were only a single man, I should 
 certainly go East, and join the army." Even as early as this, he 
 began again the study of military science, and interested himself 
 in all pertaining to it; and, in the summer of 1861, he joined a 
 company of men, as private, who met for drill and instruction in 
 military matters ; but, knowing full as much as any of them, he 
 was frequently the instructor. During this time, his mind was 
 unsettled ; his thoughts were often dwelling on the danger that was 
 threatening that land he loved ; and I have often heard him say, 
 " that if this, the best government the sun shone on, was destroyed, 
 he should not wish to live." He would have joined the army at 
 this time, had it not been for me ; but I could not give him up. In 
 November, 18G1, we again returned to San Francisco, — an excel- 
 lent situation being offered him there, together with a better oppor- 
 tunity to serve his State as a military man ; for at that time it was 
 seriously thought that there would be trouble there. A new zeal 
 had been given to the different military organizations ; and he was 
 soon re-elected captain of his old company, — the First Light Dra- 
 goons, — having resigned that position when in Lower California. 
 Here I hoped he would be coutent, and gratify his love of military 
 life as captain of that splendid company ; but his heart was with 
 those noble men who were sacrificing their all for their country, 
 and again and again was the unwelcome subject discussed between 
 us. I had felt that there were plenty of men here, that there was 
 no lack of material, and that his services were not needed ; but 
 when I heard that men were less willing than formerly to volun- 
 teer, and that drafting even must be resorted to in Massachusetts, 
 I felt that it was my duty to give up my precious husband to the 
 cause. I saw that good men were needed, and I knew how admi- 
 rably adapted he was for the life ; and I, too, loved my country 
 too well to see her destroyed witliout doing my all to save her. 
 
28 
 
 I had no sooner given my consent than he proceeded to act ; and, 
 with other Massachusetts men, formed a plan, the result of which 
 you know. A finer body of men than the California Hundred, as 
 they were called, was scarcely to be found in any State ; and they 
 left San Francisco, Dec. 11, 18G2, for Boston; arriving in New 
 York the 2d of January, and in Readville the next morning. 
 They formed Company A, Second Massachusetts Cavalry. They 
 remained in camp a little more than a month ; when they were 
 ordered to Gloucester Point, Va. Here they were chiefly engaged 
 in picketing, scouting, &c. ; in all of which they performed the vari- 
 ous duties assigned them so as to win the respect of their com- 
 manding officers. In April, the rebels came down upon Fort 
 Magruder and "Williamsburg ; and Capt. Reed was ordered there 
 in command of a squadron. Our force there was not large ; yet, 
 contrary to their expectations, they were not attacked ; and, after 
 a stay of about a month, the command returned to Gloucester 
 Point. They remained here about a month longer ; when they 
 received orders to join Col. Spear's command in his raid up the 
 Peninsula, and here they saw their first severe fighting. I send 
 you a letter from one of the members of the company describing 
 the taking of the South Anna Bridge, which was done by Sewall's 
 command. It is not for me to speak of his coolness and bravery ; 
 but I can say that his actions at that time but increased the respect 
 and confidence of his men. They approached quite near Rich- 
 mond at that time, and were successful as to the object of the 
 expedition. Soon after their return, they were ordered to join the 
 army in the defences of Washington ; and were finally camped at 
 Vienna, Va. For the last four or five months of his life, Sewall 
 had commanded a battalion, though not commissioned as major ; 
 and no officer in the whole regiment was more popular or more 
 respected. Of the closing scenes of his life, I presume you are 
 informed. It seems so sad, he was so young, and just upon the 
 verge of military life, — so promising, so beloved; but 'tis well. 
 He gave his life to that country he loved so much, and fell as a 
 brave soldier wishes to die. Had he remained in San Francisco, 
 he would have attained distinction in civil life ; but he cared not 
 for it. 
 
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