^\ SV.>.^ \ i ^^ -<^^< %l^i LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ~B-t8 m G^p G3jp.|rir;frUj0. Shelf f.^ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 10*/ * .; UuJ vi. DEDIOATIOK Co tf)t iHemotg OF MY DAELING DECEASED PARENTS, TO THAT OF MY DKAR LITTLE BROTHERS AND SISTER (JULIO, LOUISE, EDGAE, AND LAUREAL), AND TO MY THREE BELOVED SISTERS (MARIE, TAVIE, AND ADELE), DO I LOVINGLY DEDICATE THIS BIOGRAPHY. THE AUTHOR. I J. PEEFAOE. In introducing the Biography of my Father to his and my Mother's relatives, friends, and to others, I hope that I may be given a little allowance for my style, composition and plan, inas- much as I am an inexperienced writer and this is my first, as it probably may be my last, literary undertaking. It is solely my devoted and admiring love for my sainted and noble Father which has impelled me, and my desire that his great name may be known even more widely and be perpetuated to a remote age, as also that his Life may be the means of doing good to men without distinction of creed ; for he truly deserved the appella- tion which so many who knew him have given him — "the American Bayard, the American Chevalier sans peur et sans re- proche." It had been the intention of Lieut. Col. Alex. J. Dallas, U. S. Army, a Catholic gentleman of great literary ability, to write a brief Memoir of him several years ago for insertion in some Catholic magazine or paper. Ill health compelled him to refrain from doing so, and I, feeling assured, from a strange — even wonderful — little circumstance which occurred to me not long after (early part of July, 1884), that it was God's and my dear Parents' desire that the work should be entirely my own, at once commenced the labor of love (August, 1884) and have since, during my spare moments from my other necessary duties, de- voted myself, heart and soul, to the undertaking, sacrificing my- self in every way and bearing up against all manner of disap- pointments, sorrows, trials, doubts and anxieties of mind, in vi PREFACE. addition to poor health, engendered by my constant occupation, and to naturally weak eyes. ' Only my devoted love for my Father and Mother and my hope that I was acting as God and His Blessed Mother willed, was able to carry me through and enable me to persevere. And now, thanks to the Divine Mercy, I am at the end of my labor of love, and if all my trials and sacrifices shall be productive of making ray work successful and causing it to bring forth good fruit, wlieresoever it may appear, I shall feel well repaid and shall be very content and happy. I trust that the manner in whicli I have brought my matter, so different perhaps to the generality of Biographies, may not reflect upon mine. It was a plan I adopted, on mature consid- eration, deeming it the best. Throughout I have called my Father by his Christian name, Julius, as also my Mother by hers, Mariquitta, so as to avoid creating any confusion when mentioning other members of their families whose names were necessarily introduced. All my Father's and Mother's letters were written in French, as also many of the letters written to me by different persons which I have inserted and have myself translated, and for the greater part of the translations of my Parents' letters I am indebted to my beloved sister Adele and to my noble hearted uncle Alexander, the balance being translated by myself. I have compared all these translations with great care, ^vord for loord, with the originals, and I have examined also most thoroughly every thing which is embraced in ray work, going over, with great pains, each and every particular. Moreover, after finish- ing ray work I subraitted it for criticism to certain of ray rel- atives and friends, and then revised the whole from their and ray own criticisms. Still, if there arc any inaccuracies remaining, I raust beg the kind indulgence of ray readers. In inserting descriptive letters and extracts of letters about my Father to myself, I have endeavored to place them where I PREFACE. ^j- deemed they suited best a certain period of his life, and in com- mencing their insertion I took the liberty of changing the ex- pression "your fether, etc./' to that of "Col. Garesch^" and "Julius," so as to preserve an unbroken uniformity of style. At the end of the Biography I have given some that speak of him in general terms, and as such I considered them a fittino- and beautiful finale to his grand and noble life, and here I did not change their direction to me. To my beloved sisters, loving relatives, kind friends, and to others, who have in any way given me information, encourage- ment, or assistance of any kind, whether material or by prayer : to each and all of them — for they are too many in number for me to mention all their names— I do herewith, from the bottom of my heart, tender my most grateful and sincere thanks, hoping that what I can only express in w-ords my dear Father will repay in blessings. Once more trusting that all those who knew him, or only knew of him, will appreciate and not contemn the pro- duction of my devoted heart but inexi^erienced hand, I subscribe myself the loving son and warmest admirer of the o-allaut. noble, and sainted Julius P. GrARESCHfe. The Author — Louis GarescM. Washington, D. C, May 3rd, 1887. c o isr T E isr T s. CHAPTER I. PACiE Julius' ancestry — the Garesche and Bauduy Families . 17 CHAPTER II. Julius' Parents ..... 27 CHAPTER III. Julius' birth— childhood— College life— Latin letter— desire to become a practical Catholic and consent of his father — remarks of his college chum, Mr. John T. Doyle, and of Fathers Stonestreet, Clarke, and Ward of the Cdllege— application for and appointment as cadet to West Point— anecdote of his missing the train 35 CHAPTER IV. His life at West Point — accident while home on furlough and manly fortitude— appointed A. A. Professor of French— severe illness just before graduation — graduation and assignment to the 4th Artillery — curious thing about his Class — remarks of Professors Kendrick and Bartlett and Classmates Generals Don Carlos Buell, F. F. Flint and Z. B. Tower— a manuscript of Julius— departure to spend his gradu- ating furlough with his relatives and family— horse named after him 49 CHAPTER V. Julius joins his family in St. Louis— narrow escapes from imminent death— ioins his Company and military history therewith — receives degree "of A. M. from Georgetown College— his letter to Alexander descriptive of tlie Provincial Council in Baltimore — receiving Holy Communion monthly in full uniform — chastising an insulting civilian — detailed on Recruiting Service— promoted First Lieutenant — departure for the Mexican War — remarks of Col. Joseph Stewart — important and flattering positions assigned to during tne War and afterwards— noble conduct about duel an insulting ofBcer tried to force on him— departure for St. Louis on Leave — Retreat at Florissant to determine whether or not he should embrace the Religious life — meeting with Mariquitta — his personal appearance — description of Mariquitta — their marriage 62 CHAPTER VI. Family of De Coudroy de Laureal— Mariquitta's parents — herself ix 79 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. PAGE Departure of Julius with Mariquitta for his post in Texas — their early married life there — his appointment as A. A. Quartermaster and A. Commissary of Subsistence of the Post — Mariquitta's return to the homestead of Limours — scourge of the Asiatic Cholera and Julius' tender devotion to the afflicted ........ 85 CHAPTER VIII. Kemoval of the troops to Fort Brown — remarks of an old lay Brother — Julius' great assistance to the Church and Mgr. Odin's testimony — forcible incident of Julius' humility of character — his letter to Mariquitta's mother on occasion of Octavie's First Communion — birth of Julio — Julius' wrongful arrest bj' his Commanding Officer — his ardent desire to see his wife and little son ..... 94 CHAPTER IX. Departure of Mariquitta with her baby to join Julius — their arrival at Fort Brown and its death and her own severe illness — Julius' perfect and most tender devotion to his dying child and herself . . .98 CHAPTER X. Julius' release from arrest — desire to have his innocence proved by a Military Tribunal — his description of his position in the Army in rank — Mariquitta's grief over the loss of hfr Julio and resignation to the Will of God— life of herself and .Julius at the Fort — Brother Roudet's remarks — Julius' great charity to the poor — his intense love for Mariquitta — flattering encomium of the Inspector General on excellent appearance and drill of his Company — regard of his Supe- riors for him — intention of General Brooke, Military Governor of Texas, to take him as his Aide-de-Camp to California and desire of his Lieut.-Colonel of Regiment, General Walbach, to have him appointed as his Adjutant should he receive the command of the Regiment . . . . . . . . . . . .110 CHAPTER XI. Arrival of Abbe Domenech at Brownsville — his remarks — the .Jubilee — Mariquitta's description of .Julius' intense love for hei'self — her dangerous illness and birth of Louise — Julius' beautiful devotion to Mariquitta, his pious resignation and devout gratitude to God upon her recovery — her promise to God to invite Abbe Domenech to take his meals with them 126 CHAPTER XII. Julius' sickness — his absorbing interest and occasional disheartenment about his Court Martial — application of General Walbach to have him detailed as his Adjutant — Mariquitta's sadness over the loss of her children and longings to return to Limours with Julius — her resignation — termination of the Court and transfer of Major Porter — Julius' and Mariquitta's subsequent nobleness to him — her present from Pope Pius the Ninth and Julius' decoration from him of Knight of St. Sylvester through Father Telmon — Julius' great joy thereat and intention rather to sacrifice his official position than give it up — his application for Sick Leave — Abbe Domenech's remarks — CONTENTS. xi PAGE Julius' departure on Sick Leave for Limours with Mariquitta — addi- tional remarks of Abbe Domenech , 134 CHAPTER XIII. Birth of Marie — Julias' summons to Washington as principal witness in Major Porter's trial — his visit to Mr. Bernoudy en route and narrow escape from death from a E. K. train — his arrival in Wash- ington, sickness and kind attentions of friends — visits Dentist — his description of his daily routine while in Washington — recommend- ation of last National Council of the U. S. — Julius' pity for Major Porter — postponement of the Court and his return to Limours . . 14-i CHAPTER XIV. Julius returns to Washington — his sorrow at being compelled to leave his Mariquitta but noble sacrifice for the sake of duty — description of his trip — meets Father de Smet, the great Indian missionary — Father Fred's pleasure in seeing Mariquitta's daguerreotype and promise to write to her — how an Officer on duty should travel . . 152 CHAPTER XV. Major Porter's trial postponed, and his fright about his trial — Julius' accidental meeting with his sister Lily — signal protection of his Guar- dian Angel near Baltimore — anecdote of Col. Payne — anxiety of Julius about his wife and little daughter and his relief — his intense love for both— devotion to his own mother — shaves off his beard and change it makes — remark of a young lady — his present and future plans — objection to the Theatre — decision of the Pope in regard to recommendation of last National Council of the U. S. . . . 158 CHAPTER XVI. Julius at Frederick City, Md., with his young sister Lily and aunt Lalite — his extreme sorrow at his long separation from Mariquitta — wretched teeth of present generation and principal cause — visits his relatives at "dear old Eden Park" — their notice of his striking re- semblance to his father — manner in which he wants Mariquitta to write her letters henceforth — his ardent desire that his baby should be vaccinated— Sainte Mario family — returns to Washington — sorrow for Eliza's death — gratitude to Mariquitta for her kind otfer about his mother — love for his relatives at Eden Park — good fortune in obtain- ing his former room in boarding-house — expectation of being extremely busy — his own innocence will be more fully established — sorrow for Major Porter — willingness to call his baby Mariquitta and objection to name of (^uitta and that of Ned—G2k.^i. Ord — Lieut. Saxton — Lieut. Gibbon's request to be transferred — Capt. Hunt — Mariquitta's scruple and his pious advice — dismay about being compelled to escort Capt. Ord's young sister to a Ball — his ardent love for Mariquitta and his baby — visits his young cousin Jerome at Georgetown College — his desire that Mariquitta should have her daguerreotype taken for him — Father Sestini's statement about his fasting all day so as not to lose his Communion .......... 167 CHAPTER XVII. Major Porter's trial ended — .Julius at New York — is to sail thence in command of Eecruits for Texas — sorrow at this prolonged separa- xii CONTENTS. PAGE tion from Mariquittabut pious resignation— flattering compliment to himself from the Court and also from the War Dept. — on board the " Irene" — intense love for Mariquitta and necessity of his nature receiving love — what Keligion has done for him — his Officers and Kecruits — great storm — rescues a shipwrecked crew — intends apply- ing for a position in Judge Advocate General's Corps — arrival at San Antonio 179 CHAPTER XVIII. Mariquitta's departure for Texas — Julius resumes command of his Company — is appointed to difterent responsible positions — his and Mariquitta's great sorrow about the death of her aunt Lily — little Marie— Julius' application to Col. Cooper for vacancy in his Corps — arrival of troops at Fort Brown, also of Major Porter — Julius on Engineer duty — flattering letter from Col. Cooper — General P. Smith — Julius' and Mariquitta's kindness to Major Porter — Yellow Fever at Fort Brown and her dread of it — Father Olivier's remarks — Julius' devotion to the afflicted and seizure himself with the terrible Yellow Fever — lying at death's door, and Mariquitta's fearful agony of heart, her vow and his miraculous recovery — his great fondness for his child, and his and Mariquitta's willing sacrifice for its good . . 185 CHAPTER XIX. Mariquitta's attempts to change Julius' ideas on domestic economy etc. — his delight with her housekeeping — birth of Octavie — Julius' great joy thereat, his witticism and Mariquitta's maternal pride — his departure for Mexico on official business— liemarks of General Jos. Koberts 195 CHAPTER XX. Julius' departure on an Indian scout and Mariquitta's sorrow and fears — he opens a wagon-road — little Marie and Tavie — his ambition about being loved by them — additional remarks of Father Olivier — Julius' devotion to his Company, his pride therein and their splendid appearance and drill — Mariquitta's grief at his prolonged absence — his visit to her and accident to his watch — illness of his mother, his wish to soothe her dying moments and his sadness — his longing to visit again his Mariquitta and children, and his description of his internal strife of "Conscience" and "Love" — sets forth and meets Bishop Odin and Father Olivier — sacrifices his pleasure for the sake of his horse — his return to Fort Brown — death of Mariquitta's uncle Louis — her devoted love for her children and husband — Julius' final return to Fort Brown 199 CHAPTER XXL Temporary detail of Julius as Quartermaster — Mariquitta's pride at the glorious soldierly death of her uncle Louis — Julius at the head of the list of First Lieutenants and the probability of his soon becoming- Captain — cost of living at Fort Brown as compared to the North — "Julius and her children are Mariquitta's world of happiness" — his devoted fondness for his little girls — his grief at his mother's death — his enthusiasm over tlie capture of Sebastopol — Father Fred's description of Alexander's noble advice and .Julius' refusal to accept of it, viz., Father Fred's own small inheritance — further remarks of , CONTENTS. \ xiii PAGE Brother Koudet — remarks of Mother Ste. Claire — Julius' translation of " Eeminiscences of an Officer of Zouaves" and reference to certain notes of his in it — remarks of Mr. Francisco Gonzales . . . 208 CHAPTER XXII. Julius' appointment to the Adjutant General's Corps, and correspond- ence of others in connection therewith, and his own acceptance of appointment ........... 215 CHAPTER XXIII. Julius' and Mariquitta's pleasure at his appointment — their departure with their children for Limours and his own thence for Washington — his letter to Mariquitta's mother descriptive of his anguish at see- ing his wife and Marie's sufferings on their voyage from Texas and his uncertainty as to his future destination — birth of Louis — Mai-ie's suffering — incident of Julius' kindness to a Cadet — Julius' return to Limours and his resignation at having to return thence to Washing- ton alone ............ 219 CHAPTER XXIV. Julius' description of his return to Washington — his grief at leaving his little family — presents his father-in-law with a pair of eye-glasses — reason why it is not easy for himself to accept presents — visits his Cousin Amelia — her insisting upon his arranging for a Novena for Marie's cure — begs Mariquitta to obtain all necessary prayers, tells her what to do and says what he will himself do — about cure of Amelia's sister Mary — urges Mariquitta to a most devout preparation and submission to the Will of God should the cure not be effected — entreaty about the can of water on the stove — visits Gen. Walbach, Mr. McLane and Capt. Hazzard in Baltimore — Capt. Phelps' transfer — Julius' trust in God for Marie's cure — his liking for his present position and entire satisfaction therein — complimentary visit of the Secretary of War — Father Koccofort's description of Julius' wish to go to Communion daily without exciting unnecessary comment — return to his same Boarding House — Col. Cooper's warm greeting and kindly sympathy — Julius' wish to visit Algiers and his fears of not realizing it — Capt. Hazzard's idea of Col. Cooper's intention of always keeping Julius in Washington — .Julius consults with Majors Mordecai and Lee about his voyage, and their views — suffers from a severe cold — extreme sorrow for the sufferings of his little Marie and admiration of Mariquitta's firmness — loving advice to her about Marie and commiseration for her trials in Marie's sickness — long- ing to know whether Na misses him and his great love for her — how fearfully he misses his little Louis — passion for his babies — attends a dancing soiree at Col. Cooper's — his liking for Col. Cooper — necessity of the Army being increased and his hope of one day writing ^^ Col. Garesclie" upon his visiting cards — attends a Mission by the Kedemptorist Fathers — Father Deshon — expatiates upon his great love for Mariquitta and his children, and that to God alone must they have recourse for Marie's cure, and that it is better to give Alms to His Poor than uselessly feeing physicians — Julius' Manu- script of the death and ascension of the Blessed Virgin — further re- marks of Mr. John T. Doyle 223 xiv CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXV. FAQE Julius' pleasure at the receipt of Mariquitta's last letters and his tender exhortations to her about her own health and the necessity of now turning Marie's attention to God and His Divine Mother — Father Telmon's Crucifix — how good God is to them all, eveisin their sepa- ration — sudden death of a gentleman in his Boarding House and frantic grief of the wife and mother — his longing and yet fear for another letter — receipt thereof and his great joy at its contents — ap- proval of day chosen for the termination of the Novena — his gratifi- cation at the pleasure his little letters gave to his little girls and anxiety to know what Na thought of hers — abandons his voyage to Algiers for Mariquitta's sake — physical and spiritual good the Mission did him and wonderful eloquence of one of the Fathers — desire that his wife should speak only French to their children — about his renounced wish to visit France and Algiers — Capt. Ord's admiring criticism on his " Keminiscences of an Officer of Zouaves" 237 CHAPTER XXVI. Julius' description to Mariquitta of all he has done and is doing regard- ing the Novena, and his earnest entreaty to turn Marie's thoughts to our Saviour and Holy Religion — his heart's longings for Mariquitta and his children and his passionate love and yearning for her society — that it is their duty now and how thej' should turn their little girls' minds to God — love for his little Louis, Na and Marie — Mrs. Goddard — Julius' ever ready courtesy to women and his joke about one — a man's greatest human happiness — re-assembling of Congress and a respite of work — commencement of the Novena — the little Orphans of the Asylum and their belief in the efficacy of their own prayers — tender entreaties to Mariquitta to take more care of her health and to be less scrupulous — his confidence in the good result of the No- A'ena, that God will surely grant their prayer, but if not then they must bear the cross patiently — entreats her not to despair about it — flattered by Na's refusal — his singular pleasure in knowing that Mariquitta dotes so tenderly on their little Louis — daily cold water bath 246 CHAPTER XXYII. End of Novena — Julius speaks to Mariquitta of resignation should it prove contrary to their hopes — Reading his sole pleasure, is averse to society — the kind of religious instruction he means for their children — letter from Father Fred — Julius' dread regarding result of Novena and great desire to know how Mariquitta bears the disaf)pointment— his consoling advice — true happiness is not of this world — his pang of heart about his renounced trip to Algiers — beautiful and simple little act of devotion for Mariquitta to practice — begs her not to be so sad and discouraged — her particular attraction for him at first — his fur- ther reference to little act of devotion — his longings and yet dread to hear from her — receipt of her letter — prayers and acts of devotion he again recommends to her — Major Porter's second trial, and how he makes it "black and blue for the witnesses," and his declaration that "Julius was the o^Uy gentleman at Fort Brown" — receipt of two letters from Mariquitta — letters from Alexander and her father — Julius' joy to learn how piously Mariquitta bears her great disap- pointment — his reference to his children — "Christmas is approach- ing" and his entreaty to Mariquitta to purchase for herself some pretty things— his enthusiastic admiration for Beauty in all things . 257 . CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER XXVIIL PAGE Christmas — their terrible voj^age on preceding one — severe Winter — Sister Lucy— how did his Mariquitta and children spend their Christ- mas — his desire and her failing to give him little details about her- self and the children in her letters — how he is spending his Christ- mas — is full of hope, love, and courage — his ardent desire that they should not allow their children ever to lose their precious little souls — fears he is to have two serious boils about the eye which will hinder his writing to her — enormous occupation at the OiBce — his love and devotion for lier — pain ber last letter has given him and entreaty for her forgiveness for his scolding and his sorrow at this scolding — his beautiful tribute to her loving heart — his repugnance to but still making New Year's calls — Capt. Phelps — Cassin's state- ment about Major Porter's trial — no need to worry about himself, and his ])ain in their separation — Congress to increase the pay of Officers of the Army and its absolute necessity — General Quitman's strong language — necessity of Mariquitta preserving her health — Major Garnett's notice of her strong resemblance to the beautiful Rachel — Julius' recommendation for her father to remain in the U. S. — heavy snows— the "Army Bill" — his fond recollections of her, and her image ever present to his mind ..... 266 CHAPTER XXIX. Happiness Mariquitta's letter has just given him — advises her to read " AH for Jesus" — is sorry that her father received no Christmas present and advises her to induce her sisters to co-operate with her in giving him a nice pair of furs — ^joy at her consent to procure a nurse for Louis — Col. Cooper's pleasure at his report — attends several dancing soirees — his love for Catholic reunions like the Lays' — detestable ink she uses — misses intensely his little boy — his special fondness for his babies — her uncle Callard and Cousin David — diplo- macy she must practice about the gift to her fiither — intense severity of Winter — Col. Freeman's perfect astonishment and exclamation — enormous press of work at the Office — point of honor with the Pres- ident and his Cabinet — great snow storm — fondness for his position and confident it is what is best suited for him — Col. Cooper's satisfac- tion with him as also that of the Secretary of War — his pleasure in completing a certain important Work and the aid he received therein from his friends in Heaven — his passionate love for Mariquitta and the great sacrifice of his Algerian expedition for her sake — abscess of Marie and his hopes thereof — the good and pleasure Mariquitta's recent letters have given him- — her father's great sutfering from the intense cold not surprising — his horror of the assassination of the Archbishop of Paris at the Altar — his gratitude to her mother for all her love and devotion to herself and their children — situation of the Army Bill — Capt. Phelps not angry — pride in his little girls and boy — hopes his wife does not suffer from the severity of the Winter — his painful longing for her — his sources of consolation so few and so different to other men's 276 CHAPTER XXX. His worriment over his own expenses — bis reproaches to himself — better to give Alms to God's poor tlian to fee physicians uselessly for Marie — joy Mariquitta's last letter gave him — Lieut. Saxton — Major Gar- nett and his young bride and his notice of Mariquitta's strong resem- blance to the beautiful Kachel, and Julius' own regret, for this reason, xvi CONTENTS. PAGE not to have seen Rachel — Louis — hopes the Winter is about to end — again advises Mariquitta to buy "All for Jesus" — his anticipated joy at soon being reunited to her and his ciiildren — his pleasure at the contents of her last letter — Sister Lucj^'s story — his regret that Mari- quitta's mother anticipated them in tlie gift to her father — his Criti- cism on argument of the Attorney General — has found his true voca- tion — Alexander's letter and its good news about her and Marie — his duty to submit to little disappointments — his father's Translation — begs her, for her own and Mario's good, occasionally to visit the City — imprudence in her father's wish to return to France and better for him to act upon his own (Julius') suggestion — his longing for her but pious resignation ......... 287 CHAPTER XXXI. How his happiness is bound up in Mariquitta and his agony of heart at their separation — success of the " Bill" — his intense y^j thereat — his late painful perspective of his future — noble ofl'er of Alexander — promise to his mother — idea of a partnership with some rich Capi- talist or Company — great sacrifice it would have been to give up his Profession — his perfect fitness for his present position — advance of Spring — his great sorrow when he receives no letters from Mari- quitta — her consolations in such moments — pleasure her letter of the 12th gave him — Father Fred's letter and his ear-ache — strangers flocking to Washington for the inauguration of President Buchanan and necessity of his purchasing a new uniform — sittings for his Daguerreotype that he intends presenting her — wins two prizes at the Orphans' Fair — Mrs. Buell — the " Cottage Furniture" and cost of their undertaking housekeeping — painful fears that Marie's sick con- dition will prevent their soon being reunited — wonderful influence Mariquitta's letters have over him — pleasure her latest news gives him — sea-baths for Marie — hopes for a respite of work through termination of present Congress — her mother's idea of a Novena to St. Joseph and his own to St. Hose of Lima — probable time he can start after her and his children — Piney Point a good bathing-place for Mario— shaves otf his beard — his necessary official calls upon new and old President and Secretary of War and his sorrow at parting with the retiring ones — about the new President and Secretary — vex- ation about his Daguerreotype — Marie's excellent memory and his pleasure at Mariquitta's religious instructions to her — his endeavors to obtain for her uncle Jean Baptiste the Professorship of Spanish at West Point — intention of applying for his Leave to go after her and sorrow at thus separating her from her mother 293 CHAPTER XXXII. Julius goes after his family — his description of their trip to Washing- ton — his distress in seeing no material for Religious in his little daughters — ^[ariquitta's severe illness, his devotion and agony — her longings for their own homo — his success in marketing — his descrip- tion of their little son and daughters — -Mariquitta's love for auctions — his objection to her reading " Les Confidences de Lmnariine" — his able and conclusive argument in the case of Lieut. Schaumberg — birth of Edgar and his death — Julius' connection with and organ- izing Society of St. Vincent de Paul in AVashington, liis charities and works relative to it and anecdotes thereof — Col. liichard F. O'Beirne's remarks 309 CONTENTS. xvii CHAPTER XXXIII. I'AGE Julius' Articles on " Executive Power over the Army" and " Law of Divorce" 318 CHAPTER XXXIV. Birth of Laureal ; his wonderful beauty, death, and the sorrow of all — death of Julius' uncle, John P. Garesche — Julius' letter about it as also about Laureal's to his aunt Lalite — his desire to wear his Cross of St. Sylvester in defence of the Holy See — his 3Iilitary Article to the Adjutant General — esteem in which he was held by all his supe- riors — his abilities, charities, and kindness of heart — performing Mr. Hanson's work during his absence on Leave — sacrificing his parental feelings for duty — near-sightedness, loss and finding of his gold eye- glass — his endeavor and success in obtaining an Artillery commission for the son of a bigoted Presbyterian minister 342 CHAPTER XXXV. Commencement of the Civil "War and Julius' appreciation of the coming crisis — his politics and true Union feelings and his sacrifices for them — his fears of an abolition war and of meeting his brothers on the field of battle — his letter and their answer — incident about his cousin Bauduy — letter of Ferdinand — incident about Montgomery Blair — revelation to a holy person of Julius' approaching death on the battle-field and his brother Fred's letter and statement about it — Julius' own presentiment — his patriotic letter in the " National Intelligencer" — his manifold and arduous duties — his promotions and General Lorenzo Thomas' esteem for his abilities and objections to allowing him to go in the field— appreciation held in by his supe- riors and the President — procures commissions for many persons — obtains Brigadier Generals' commissions for Ord and Rosccrans — remarks of Col. Alex. J. Dallas — Julius' De Imitatione Christi — his indignant objection to serving with Garibaldi — his indignation at the outcry against Gen. Chas. P. Stone — defends Gen. Sherman's representation regarding necessity of large forces for Kentucky — remarks of Gen. Henry J. Hunt 350 CHAPTER XXXVI. Julius' wish to go into action and Gen. Thomas' refusal — additional remarks of Gen. Don Carlos Buell — Capt. Fry's Telegram and Letter — Letter of Gen. Geo. H. Thomas — telegram of Gen. Halleck — refusal of Secretary Stanton and Gen. Lorenzo Thomas — Julius' ideas regard- ing some of the appointments then being made — his Article relative to the bestowal of the vacancies of Second Lieutenant in the new regi- ments — Secretary Stanton's dislike for him — Major Lee's legislation out of the Army — instance of Julius' strict adherence to military discipline and President Lincoln's tenders to him of a Brigadier General's commission — Gen. Ord's letter ...... 363 CHAPTER XXXVII. Julius' handsome and graceful appearance — anecdote of shovelling in his own coal — his passion for Music — birth of Adele — his visits to the poor and to the Hospitals, alone and with his children — regard of the Authorities for his good works — Mariquitta's loving complaint to her Confessor and his answer — Julius' connection with reorganization of xviii CONTENTS. PAGE the Adjutant General's Corps — appointed Lieut. Colonel — his chari- table proposition to his brother Officers — a writer's remarks— rising at night to pray — visiting the Blessed Sacrament and saluting it when passing b}^ — anecdote of seeing his little girls about to enter a Prot- estant church, and his advice to them and their brother regarding money they had found — a general favorite with the children on his square — his extreme near-sightedness and Mariquitta's teasings — his perfect devotion to his family — his objection to carrying an umbrella — when he used the " Du Kocher" part of his surname . . . 370 CHAPTER XXXVIII. Julius' endeavors to have the College and Convent at Frederick, Md., exempted from Hospital duty and letter of Father Jas. A. Ward, S. J.— Julius' communication for Gen. McClellan's eye — his en- deavors to secure the Sisters of Charity and those of Mercy as nurses and letters of Archbishops Kenrick of Baltimore and Hughes of New York on the subject— his Petition to the President and extracts of letters of Archbishops Kenrick of Baltimore and Purcell of Cincin- nati relative to it — his instrumentality in saving St. Aloysius' Church . . 380 CHAPTER XXXIX. Julius' extreme sorrow for the terrible evils of the War and his letter to the " Freeman's Journal" — his prediction and warning to Gen. McClellan — his dislike for Secretary Stanton and the hitter's hatred for him — Julius' remark to Major Geo. T>. Kuggles indicative of his presentiment of death — Gen. Martin T. McMahon's remarks — Julius' connection with Particular Council of Society of St. Vincent de Paul and his interest in the Society — letter and remarks of Father J. A. Walter — Kemarks of Father B. A. Maguire, S. J. — Julius' and Gen. Kosecrans' mutual friendship, and their formation among Catholic OtEcers of the Army of an Association in honor of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart — Rosecrans' anxiety to have Julius as his Chief of Staff, his request to Secretary Stanton and its acceptance and Julius ordered to report to him — Gen. Lorenzo Thomas' fury — Julius' visit to Gen.' Geo. Thorn and earnest request of him, and the latter's kind- ness to his wife and little ones — Julius' letter to Editor of Freeman's Journal — his affecting departure from Washington .... 388 CHAPTER XL. Julius' letters to Mariquitta and his children after his departure for the field and Mariquitta's to him — incident of his going to Com- munion at the Sodalists' Mass in Cincinnati — Gen. Eosecrans' Staft" — how Julius spent his last night on earth ...... 398 CHAPTER XLI. Julius' assignment per S. O. of the A. G- 0. — his last Order — his mili- tary history with the Army of the Cumberland and description of his death in the words of Capt. Wm. D. Bickham and Gen. Rosecrans, and the latter's additional statements — Poem regarding Julius and Rosecrans receiving Communion together on the fateful day — con- tinuation of Julius' military history and description of his death and disinterring of his body in the words of Col. C. Goddard, Major Frank S. bond, Orderly Robert Magee, a wounded Confederate, and Major J. Ralston Skinner ......... 434 CONTENTS. 2iix CHAPTER XLII. Julius' _" Nellie" — coincidence of St. Sylvester's Feast daj- — Col. Knif- fin's impression of Julius' edifying conduct before death — a brave soldier's recovery of Julius' effects — his temporary burial on the battle-field — Alexander's dispatch and Major J. Kalston Skinner's description of the identification and disinterment of his remains — his burial site afterward? marked by a small monument — the desk of the soldiers' love — Doctor Jerome K. Bauduy's letter — Barracks and Fort named after Julius — Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas' touch- ing tribute— U. S. Battery and Post of the G. A. E. also named in Julius' honor — Father Fred's grief— his two letters and assurance of • Julius' eternal happiness 451 CHAPTER XLIII. Father Lynch 's letter assigning reason why Mariquitta wished to have Julius buried in Washington — Alexander's arrival at Nashville after the remains, his intense grief and Surgeon Swift's earnest recommend- ation — the sad journey on to Washington, and the grief and honors accorded the body along the route — its lying in state in St. Aloysius' Church — Archbishop Kenrick's (of St. Louis) words in the pulpit and his letter to Mariquitta — exclamation of an Ofiicer— Gen. Geo. Tiiom breaks the sad news to Mariquitta— her fearful sorrow— Capt. Carbery Lay's happy thought— the children's grief— Mariquitta's visits with Alexander to the body — description of deep grief experi- enced throughout Washington, of the funeral and burial, and of the regard Julius was held in by all classes 460 CHAPTER XLI7. Affecting tribute of Conference of St. Patrick's, of Particular Council of the Society of St. Yincent de Paul, and of Philodemic Society of Georgetown College— Monument raised to Julius' memory at Mt. Olivet Cemetery and its description 471 CHAPTER XLV. Mariquitta's life subsequent to Julius' death — her own death and sub- sequent removal to and burial in his grave at Washington— ultimate cure of Marie— religious vocation of Tavie and Adele— instance of the force of Julius' example— History and Description of the Order of St. Sylvester 47Q CHAPTER XLVL Additional letters and statements of many of Julius' relatives, friends, and of others 437 BIOGRAPHY OF Lieut. Col. Julius P. Garesche. CHAPTER I. Julius' ancestry — the Garesche and Bauduy Families. The Garesche Family, a very ancient and noble one in France, formerly Catholic in principle, and tracing their origin back to the early epochs of the primitive Celts of Driiidical memory, were natives of the province of Saintonge, where they held a distin- guished position and possessed many and valuable ancestral estates, such as la Pr6e, Faveau, Nieul and others, besides many salt marshes. When Calvinism made its appearance in Saintonge thev were amouo; the first who embraced its false tenets, and thus by the laws of France wore deprived of their rights of nobility and to a certain extent of their prestige. Jean Garesche, the great-grandfather of Julius, inherited from his father a fortune very considerable for that period, which he seems to have increased by commerce with Holland, thus intro- ducing into his family many of the habits of that country, and amongst others the taste for tea, then so rare in France. His death, which occurred about 1754, at his mansion of Nieul, gave ri.se to a little incident showing:: the fanaticism of the times. Being one of the most distinguished and influential members of the Protestant religion, and at the same time rich and chari- table, he had acquired a certain ascendancy over the peasants of the neighborhood. This influence was displeasing to the neigh- boring Catholics who, in order to disturb the funeral, cau.sed 2 17 18 BIOGRAPHV OF stones to be thrown, wliich wounded several of. his friends and relatives. In consequence, the funeral procession was compelled to return to the house and the ceremony put off till night. This circumstance caused in the minds of the Garesches a great dis- like for Catholicity, and they found it very difficult to forgive Jean Garcsche du Rochcr for havino- chosen a wife of that re- ligiou. Hence she was very coldly received on her arrival from San Domingo in 1790, and it was only by her prepossessing manners and angelic sweetness of disposition that she won their love. Jean's eldest son,* Daniel Garcsche, established himself when very young at La Rochelle, and was chosen as the first Mayor of that large and populous city, after the creation of the mayor- alty. His firmness in administering the affairs of the city made for him nianv enemies and induced him to send in his resigna- tion, which, however, was refused, the people having implicit confidence in his management. They even granted him as a mark of their full satisfaction with his government a body guard for his protection. At last the Jacobins obtained the mastery and he only saved his head by flight. His beautiful wife's father, INIr. Carayon, was called the Pope of the Huguenots (Protestants), through the influence he had obtained by his great religious zeal, his gravity, and his immense riches. The second son, Isaac, was distinguished by his mind and by an easy and elegant diction. Chosen by La Saintonge as one of its Deputies to the National Assembly he there distinguished himself by the accuracy of his views on financial matters. He retired on the approach of the " Terrorism". When after the 18 brumaire Napoleon the First took the reins of government and associated with himself two consuls, Cambaceresand Lebrun ; * Subsequent to his death and owing to the course of events following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, his sons Daniel, Isaac, Jean and Pierre disposed of all their ancestral estates and left yaintonge. In the course of time Isaac and Pierre returned, after having increased their fortune in San Domingo by commerce, and repurchased their ancestral properties by right of an old French law which forced tlie purchaser to reconvey to the heir direct if he presented himself before the expiration of a certain number of years. . LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. I9 the latter, who had been Isaac's colleague in the National As- sembly, wliere he had been able to appreciate his talents, endeav- ored to recall him to Paris. But Isaac had an income of 15,000 livres, was without a son and without ambition, and dreading the political storms of the day declined, preferring the beautiful woods of his ancestral estate, Faveau, to the favors of the State. The third son, Jean Garesche du Roclier, [he added the name " Du Rocher" to his surname from an estate of his grandfather, after the custom of the younger sons of French nobles, who thus distinguished themselves from their elder brothers,] about the year 1760, after receiving his portion of the ancestral estates, money etc., emigrated to Port au Prince, San Domingo, and there entered into commerce with his brother Isaac. After a few years of success they both retired from business and Isaac returned to France. Jean remained and bouo-ht a coffee and some years afterwards a sugar plantation and the negroes of Madame De Launay.* He married in 1780 in San Domingo a Demoiselle de Brossay, also of French parentage and a most exemplary Catholic. Her only dowry, for she had no fortune, was her angelical sweetness of disposition, fine figure and beautiful face. Their children were six in number, viz., Jean, Vital Marie, three others that died, strange to say, successively at the same age, and lastly Lise. The fact of her three babes dying successively at the same age was so striking a coincidence that she expected also to lose her little dau momoriam immiuuet, sed tamen oordo semper lixum inlijerebit, nisi fortasse declarandi eam occasionem reperiam, et ex hoc amor erga te beiievolentiaque, si potest etiam hoc fieri, erunt profectii amplilicata. Ad nostram scilicet Wilming- tonis urbem matrem certi; meani redusse puto, unas enim ei literas con- scripsi, iiaud long{> post, nudius nemp6 quintns ct nullum adhuc acecpi responsum, quamvis earn satis habere otii Philadelphia; nosco, verum familiarum omni cura soluta et vacua; fao scribas mihi quomodo nunc eoror parva Maria valet, an meliCis, an pejCls, nam tamdiCl est quin literas LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 39 ullas matre excepi, ut nescio sane quid facilis aut quomodo valetis. Ut exemplo hoc confirinein, banc scilicet caussam esse putabain, cur nuUas nuper litteras accepi, sororem in morbum etiam majorem recidisse. ac vos tantA, sollicitudine, tantis curis oppresses, ne tantulam quidem tempus habere niihi Alexandrove scribere e pistol am ; rescribo ii^itur mihi, care pater, statini ut lias legeris, ut tandem noscam, quae ratio valetudinis sit parv86 Marise, nam animi interdum angore maximo versor. Maximum fuit, baud longfe ante incendium, in ipso limine, ut itti dicam, collegii, ani- madvertisti fortasse duas ligno structas aedes, a sinistra sitas, paul(5 ante quam collegii portam intrares harum proximae illae collegio ignem casu aliquo misero concepere, neque ulla vis coeli, quamvis per omne tempus rorarat imbrem, neque ulla hominum licet magna contentio, ejus furiosos impetus aut sistere aut morari potuit, sed inanem inutilemque operam suinpserunt, igni vires adeo non defecere, ut etiam augeri visi sint, et item omnibus circumstantium conatibus illudere: eo modo aliquantum temporis majCis ac majCis pen-exit incendium crescere, donee summum attigit, et in ruinas sublapsa est domus. Feci equidem omne quod mihi per setatem ac vires licebat, et acie duplice inter ignem ac antliam instructa ad aquam facilifis transferendam, ibi prsecipufe omnes nisus contuli fuit etiam alterum haud paulo oedificium incensum, quod sine dubio ex auditu noscis, nerapfe commune epistolarum diribitorium ; potest ita matris epistola si ullum mihi adhuc responsuni misit, potest forsitan incensaesse. Cum nuperrimfe apud Dominos Bayard ac Milligan prandimus, subito mihi dixit prior, haud verisimiliter ignoratis, quod pater tuus sibi aninio ducit ineunte vere niigrare in Missouri ; respondi statim, te de hac re me saepfe audivisse loquentem et me credere item te illud in mente habere, sed nescire tamen pro certo statuissc; dixit autem ; ' Imci vero, illud tandem sibi fixum natumque ha])et.' Die, quoeso, pater, mihi proximis litteris, anne pro- fect6 hoc verum est nccne, nam magis dubito. Vale, mi pater ac mihi statim rescribe, nam avidfe expecto tuas litteras, et memento me interdum Kumma impatientia arere audiendi quae domi geruntur. Meo loco oscula matrem fratresque duos ac sororem. Iterum tibi nunc, optimfe patrum, valedico, Julius Garesch^." Translation. "GEORGETOVrN CoLLEGE, PRESIDENCY OF JaCKSON, December 12th, 1836. "Julius Garesche salutes his dearest Father. " My dear Father, "I thank you very much for granting me the permission which I asked in my last letter. Be assured, that in bestowing so great a favor upon me, you have not sown in sterile or unfruitful soil. No misfortune will ever cause me to lose the lively remembrance of having received such a favor; but, on the contrary, the memory of it will remain forever locked up within my heart, unless, perchance, I should find an opportunity of 40 BIOGRAPIir OF makino; it public, and thus, if that Avere possible, of increasing my love and gratitude toward you. " I feel sure that my mother has returned to Wilmington, for I wrote to her five days ago and have as yet received no reply ; althougli I know that in Philadelphia, freed from all houschidd cares, she had sufficient leisure for writing. I>o write and tell me how my little sister Mary is; whether better or worse. It is so long since I have received a letter from my mother that I know not how you all are, or what you ai-e doing. As a proof of this I thought the cause of my receiving no letter lately was that my sister had grown worse and that you, overpowered by care and anxiety, had not time to write even a short epistle to Alexander or myself. Answer therefore, my dear father, as soon as you read this, that I may know at length the condition of little Mary's health ; for, in the meantime, I shall be in the greatest anxiety. "There was a great fire lately at the very doors of the college. You perhaps noticed two wooden buildings on the left, a short distance from the college gate. Of these tlie one nearest the college, by some wretched mishap, caught fire, and neither tiie power of the skies, — for it was rain- ing hard the whole time, — nor the exertions of men, whose efforts proved vain and useless, availed to subdue or check the fury of the flames, which did not abate in strength, but seemed to increase in violence, and to mock the efforts of those who sought to control them. Thus the fire went on increasing for some time, until it reached the roof and the house fell in ruins. I did all that my age and strength would allow me. A double line, formed between the fire and a pump, was the scene of my chief exer- tions. Not long afterwards the post office building was burned, as, doubt- less, you have heard. It may be that my mother's letter, if she has answered mine, was also burned. "Lately, when dining with Messrs. Bayard and Milligan, tlie former said to rae ; ' You are no doubt aware that your father intends, when Spring comes, to emigrate to Missouri.' I replied that I had often heard yon speak of the matter, and believed you intended to go, but did not know you had decided on doing so. He answered : ' Yes, the matter has been finally settled.' Tell me, my dear father, I beg of you, whether this be true or not: for I feel so very uncertain. "Farewell, my dear father. Write to me immediately, for I am eagerly waiting for your letter; and remember that I am most impatient to hear of what is going on at home. Kiss my mother for me, also my two brothers and sister. "Again, my dearest father, farewell, "Julius Garescu^." Not long after Julius had been at college, feeling convinced that the Catholic religion was the only true one and that as such it was his duty to become a full and practical member of it, he LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. G A RESCUE. 41 determined on becoming so. With him duty liad always been, as it always was afterwards, paramount over all other considera- tions. Knowing his Father's great partiality for the Classics he wrote his petition to him in the form of a long and beautiful Latin letter. His Mother knew that the letter had come, for she had been expecting it. When, therefore, some days passed, and her husband continued silent on the subject, though evi- dently much moved, she ventured to ask him what he intended answering. " What can I answer to a son who has raised my name so high and has never caused me one moment's sorrow? I can refuse him nothing." Julius' brother Alexander joined him at Georgetown in 1834. He, too, wished to become a practical Catholic and wrote to his father asking such permission, but it was only after long and repeated efforts on his part that the desired consent was given and then only reluctantly, his father firmly determining that it should be the last concession. He thereupon placed his two younger boys Frederick and Ferdinand as boarders with an Episcopalian clergyman, so that there should be no possibility of their becoming Catholics. But, on his return from a length- ened absence, he detected them in some escapade, which so in- censed him that turning them over to their mother he said she could make Catholics or any thing she wished of them, provided she made them truthful. Soon after becoming a practical Catholic by consent of his father Julius expressed the wish of joining the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was admitted as a member on the 12th of October 1834, Feast of the Maternity. On December the 8th 1834, Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the B. V. M., a solemn High Mass was offered with Father Grace, S. J., as celebrant and Fathers Lilly and Brogard S. J., as assistants, and the Sodalists all approached Holy Communion, to the edification of every body. On January the 27th, 1837, a meeting of the Sodalists was held, in order to elect some member to fill the position of Assistant, just vacated by the resignation of James Laphen. The election resulted in Julius being chosen by a very large majority of votes, and he continued to hold this position to the great satisfaction^of all up to the time he left for West Point. 42 BioaiiAPnr of During his wliole college course he won golden opinions from his Professors and Prefects for his close ajiplication to his studies, his great "talents, his ever gentlemanly deportment, goodness of heart, steadfastness and uprightness of character, and strict atten- tion to all his duties, both secular and religious. Nor were his classmates slow to appreciate his many noble qualities. As an instance of how he was regarded at Geory-etown Colleo;e I take the liberty of inserting the following testimony of some of those who knew him then. Mr. Jno. T. Doyle, now of San Francisco, Cal., and a college chum of Julius, says: " lie was a good and conscientious student. Did all his work fully and faithfully ; but that once done he enjoyed his leisure in conversation, or a walk, or a book. A very qiuet boy physically, thouj^h of a very even, ehoorful and sunny disposition, and a hearty lauany at Camargo. Part of the time, viz., from July 21 to Sept. 25, he was attached to Com- pany I of his Regiment, the 4th Artillery, at Pt. Isabel, Texas. He was thereafter detailed in charge of the escort, which was to protect the supply train from Camargo to jSIonterey, Mexico. After the performance of this duty he returned and served with his Company at Camargo. Herewith I insert a letter of Col. Jos. Stewart U.S.A., retired, regarding Julius. "WcAvcre cadets together for three years, and in 1843 Ave served to- gether at Fort Mcllenry, and then again in Mexico. He was a most up- right and conscientious man, courteous and considerate to every one, rather reserved, but with considerable latent humor, Avhich was occasionally be- trayed by a quiet smile at a good thing or a humorous renmrk made in his quiet manner. No one could be in his company long without being im- pressed with the perfect purity of his character. lie was always very deliberate in his gait and actions, yet as a boy but few could enter more heartily in a game of football than he. I do not think he ever had an enemy in the world. The fact of any one feeling enmity towards him would have stamped such a one as a bad man. "In 1847 he was stationed at Camargo whilst I was in Monterey. lie came to ^Monterey on a visit and I tried to make his visit as pleasant as possible. I told some friends — a ^lexican family that I visited — that I would be glad if they would allow me to bring Www to call on them. Mex- icans are very particular about introductions. They told me certainly — that they would be glad to see any of my friends. I then told them that whilst he was a most estimable young gentleman there was one objection to him that many would regard as most serious — that I thought nothing of it myself and that I hoped tiiey would overlook it. I saw that they felt uneasy and they asked what it was. I told them that he was a very de- vout Catholic. They were greatly relieved, saw the joke and said it certainly was a most serious objection, but that for my sake they would overlook it. "Ilis piety was of the truest but most unobtrusive kind, but it was as palpable as any feature of his Aice. The most careless could see that any indelicacy of language in his presence would be grossly improper." Julius was detailed as Acting Assistant Adjutant General to LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. QARESCHE. 71 Col. "Wm. Davenport, 1st Infantry, Commanding the District of the Eio Grande, Headquarters at Brazos, Tex., and served in that important position from July 12, 1848 till October 18, 1848, giving the utmost satisfaction to Col. Davenport, as evidenced in his Orders, No. 21, in which he pays a high compliment to Julius' readiness and ability. On November 16, 1848, he went North on Leave, and joined his family in St. Louis. It was at this period of Julius' life, during his service in the Mexican War, that his former scruple about the duello was to be tested, and he was to come forth from the trying ordeal glo- riously triumphant. A yotuig Officer of Virginia Volunteers had died and been buried at the post (where Julius was then stationed), and liis friends applied to Major H, the Commanding Officer, for permission to disinter the remains and send them home. The permission was granted, the hour named, and sol- diers were in attendance to do the work. Major H, Julius, and one or two more of the Regular Army Officers were present, as a mark of courtesy. The yolunteer Officers were late, and the Major at last gave orders to commence, without waiting for their arrival. Scarcely had they done so before the tardy ones ap- proached, but their loud conversation and the tones of their voices showed that they had sat rather too long at the table. One of their number, whom I shall call A, said rather boister- ously that he himself would dig up poor B, the deceased. But he soon proved that he was not in a fit state to do the work, for he had hardly taken the spade from the hands of the private than he stumbled and fell. Major H thereupon signed to the man to resume his work, and the friends of A tried to induce him to withdraw. But their effijrts were fruitless, for with an oath A flung them oif and endeavored to wrest the tool from the soldier. In so doing he again stumbled and fell prone in the already open grave. At this unbecoming conduct Major H indignantly ordered them " to remove that drunken fellow." Julius and his brother Officer were standing near, and, though pained and shocked, Julius had neither interfered nor spoken, but now he whispered aside to his companion, as though in ex- cuse, " the poor fellow has been drinking too much." After a 72 BIOGRAPHY OF few minutes, during which the Volunteers were taliving in low but decided tones to themselves, in a group apart, one of them advanced towards Julius, and, in a respectful tone, said, " Mr. A would like to speak with you." Thinking that some excuse or explanation was about to be made, for which he was chosen as intermediary, Julius at once walked over to the spot. To his astonishment, however, A in an angry voice asked him, "did you say that I was a drunken fellow?" Julius was about to answea' No, but recollecting the remark he had made to his brother Officer, and, in his scrupulous regard for truth, not wishing to give the categorical denial, which indeed he could liave done, replied, "I did make some such remark but " "Well sir," said A, interrupting him, "you are a liar." Julius was indignant and righteously, but, knowing that he was mistaken for Major H and that A in his present state was not prepared to hear reason, bowed and withdrew. He felt certain that under the circumstances a gentleman, and such he sujjposed A to be, on learning of his mistake after he had become sobered, would hasten to retract the insult. He accordingly kept his room the next day as much as jiossible, in readiness for the re- traction or apology which he expected and which was his due. When the long hours passed and none came he became very much worried and wrought up to a most painful degree. He had never had an occasion to show iiis courao;e on the field of battle, he had not volunteered in the War, he was a Regular Army Officer and a graduate of West Point, and the one who liad insulted him was a Volunteer, what therefore would be thought of him? His brother Officers had always loved and respected him, would they continue to do so, with their notions of honor? Many would, he knew, but would there not be many who would send him to Coventry and make life unbear- able? Long and long did he pace his room in an agony of mental strife. On the one hand all his better feelings pointed out the heinous crime towards God's justice and mercy he would be guilty of if he fought; on the other the Tempter showed all the j)oignant disgrace he would bring on himself, all the ignominy and scorn he would receive should he not. False honor said "fight;" conscience rebuking "thou may not." "Fight or re- LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 73 sign" said Honor; "Bear your cross" said Conscience. Pos- sessed of a naturally hasty and passionate temper the struggle was the more severe. Few were there who kuew of the fearful volcano of passion which sometimes raged in his breast, but which his manly, noble and true Christian spirit would never allow to break forth, nor to obtain the least sway over his will. All that day he struggled and waited, but no message came, no one came near him, so that he knew not how his conduct was regarded. He passed a sleepless and wretched night, no one but God knowing his inward agony of feeling. By morning he had come to a resolve. He would go to A's quarters and insist on an explanation and retraction. " He surely cannot refuse it, but should he do so, well then circumstances must decide ! He de- serves to be horsewhipped, but I will not fight a duel! Self defence, that is another thing." Major H met him as he was going on his errand, and seeing by his features and whole bearing what was in his mind stopped him. "Where are you going ?" " That, allow me to say, is my affair." " No, Garesche, it is mine also. You are going to have it out with A. Now the insult was to me and through you only by mistake. It is my duty to take it up, not yours, and I will not permit you." " But I will have to resign." " No, Garesche, you are a Catholic, and you know that you can not consistently do this thing. No one expects it of you, they all know your principles, and should you persist in your present intention I would have to order you under arrest." Julius thereupon retired to his quarters and all his brother Officers learning of his mental trouble and doubts, in the fra- ternal spirit and delicacy of feeling that characterizes the gentle- men of the Army, and with a spontaneity of feeling that did them justice, made it their duty and pleasure to drop in by twos and threes, and without alluding to the difficulty set his mind at rest by showing him that to them his conduct needed no explana- tion, his character no adventitious support. Some time subsequently, a convoy of wounded came to the post and the commander asked Julius if he could kindly make room for a young Volunteer Officer, who was just recovering from a severe wound and needed only rest and recreation. 74 BIOGRAPHY OF Julius readily assented and cheerfully shared his quarters with the wounded man, tending him with the greatest kindness and as though he were his own brother. Tlie young gentleman, who belonged to the same regiment as A, was grateful and became quite intimate with him. One day, apologizing for alluding to the subject, he said, " I wish you, Mr. Garesche, to know that the unfortunate incident was discussed among us, and, though we follow another code, tliere was but one sentiment and that was, that you had acted rightly and A shamefully. JNIoreover, he was a coward, and I have proved it; for though he acknowledges the code duello, and belongs to a noted fighting family, I pub- licly insulted him on one occasion and he dared not take it up." Julius now fulfilled a promise he had made some years pre- viously to his brother Frederick. When the latter, in 1845, had determined to embrace the religious life, he had some cor- respondence with Julius in regard to it. In a letter that Julius wrote to him occurred this expression: "1 wish that I had the courage to take the same step." Acting upon this text Fred- erick, with a neophyte's Jieadlong zeal, spoke, urging him to make a Retreat under the direction of a member of the Society (Society of Jesus.) Julius had some conversation on the subject at the time with his spiritual director who did not recognize in him the signs of an undoubted religious vocation. The step was therefore deferred, but a promise was passed that at the first convenient time he would make an eight days Retreat. This promise was now recalled to him. Accordingly, soon after his arrival in St. Louis, lie went out to Florissant, some eighteen miles nortlnvest from the city and the Novitiate of the Western Province of the Society of Jesus, and there, under the pious instruction of Father Gleizal, S. J., a most saintly priest, made a Retreat, resolved to enter the religious life should God call him. His assiduity and military punctuality at every one of the numerous exercises were the marvel and edification of the Fathers of the Colleece. At the end, instead of resiirninjr his commission and entering the Com|)any of Jesus, a step which his friends thought would be urged upon him by the zealous Father who gave him the exercises, Julius arrived at the calm decision that he should not only continue iu the Army but even LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 75 enter the state of matrimony. In these Retreats it is forbidden to tlie director to influence the subject in his choice, he must merely aid his reason and judgment in coming to a decision by himself. Julius' decision was fully approved by his director. And he then returned to his mother's house, and, announcing the result, asked her, after the French custom in such matters, to select for him a wife. Accordino: to habit long established in France and its Colo- nies marriages were always arranged and brought about by the parents of the contracting parties. To them was left the right of arbitration in such matters and hence marriage was more often de convenance than of love; there were always certain set- tlements necessary to be made before the ceremony could take place ; certain financial matters etc., that had to be attended to. Frequently marriages Avere arranged when the subjects were babes in the cradle. It did not follow, however, that such unions were productive of unhappiness. Julius, like his brothers, had the highest esteem and love for his good mother, even more so perhaps, and he thought that her selection Avould be all that he could desire for a partner in life. He was not mistaken, for her choice even exceeded his anticipa- tions, and the fair young French girl he was soon to meet was in every respect worthy of him, worthy of becoming his partner for life, the sharer of his joys and the partaker of his sorrows. In those days St. Louis was mainly French in its character- istics and inhabitants, who retained many of their customs and manners, and, being closely drawn together by the ties of nation- ality, mingled together a great deal. The French are proverbi- ally a gay, happy and vivacious race, fond of entertaining their friends and enjoying themselves and making those around them feel happy and contented, and it is not to be wondered at that at this epoch St. Louis should be the scene of many a pleasant gathering, many a happy meeting. Julius' mother some few months previously had made the acquaintance of the family of Monsieur Edward de Coudroy de Laureal, a French emigre from the Island of Guadeloupe, West Indies, and soon became very much attached to his eldest daughter, Mariquitta, a charming and very beautiful girl. She 76 BIOGRAPHY OF frequently invited her as well as her next younger sister, Nancy, to her house, and manifested great interest in these young Cre- oles. Her own eldest daughter, Mary, was but a few years younger than Mariquitta. Mrs. Garesche was very anxious that Julius should meet her young favorite, for slie knew no young girl she would rather see him marry, and wc may rest assured that she was not sorry that the occasion now presented itself of seeing her fondest and wildest aspirations realized. She had frequently spoken to Mariquitta of him in the most glowing terms, so much so as to excite Mariquitta's curiosity, who naturally felt a great desire to meet this wonderful young man, of whom she had so often heard but never seeing had com- menced to look upon as a mythical personage. 'Twas on the last evening of the Old Year when her curiosity was gratified and his Mother's dream realized. Mrs. Garesche had been lately a little indisposed and Mariquitta called with her sister Nancy to inquire after her health. They were ushered into the dindy lit library where to their astonishment they beheld her earnestly engaged in- conversation with a tall, handsome young man clad in military dress. Mrs. Garesche at once rose and coming eagerly forward proudly introduced her long looked for son. Lieutenant Garesche of the Army. The sisters were immediately struck with his fine looking appearance, polished manners and gentlemanly deportment as well as by the truly filial devotion he so tenderly and beautifully showed his beloved mother. Soon after this Mariquitta and her father accepted an invitation to dine with her. Julius was charmed with Mari- quitta'^ manner, modesty and whole bearing even more than by her fair grace of form and movement. She had been carefully educated under the watchful eye of a mother, superior in mind as in piety to most ladies of her society, and that of a father, of known piety, whose culture and accom- plishments were the admiration of the graduate of West Point. Julius was then a tall, handsome young man of twenty-seven years; erect and military, yet easy and graceful in his carriage; and possessed of an easy and elegant flow of language added to most charming and winning manners. Though naturally re- served, never pushing himself forward, there were few whose LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 77 conversational powers equalled his own. His inind was rich and highly cultivated ; his views broad and enlightened, sound and practical, yet free from all bigotry, all uncharitableness. His enunciation was clear and distinct, his voice sweet and melo- dious. His deep set gray eyes, covered with bushy eyebrows, though very near-sighted, were beautiful and full of expression ; his nose was large but well formed ; his mouth small, well shaped and filled with two rows of pearly white regular teeth ; a glossy black and silken moustache ciowned his upper lip; (in those days officers of the army were not allowed to wear beards, simply moustaches and goatees) ; and his high and broad white forehead surmounted by a mass of dark black hair crowned his toute-ensemble. Owing to his extreme near-sightedness his face generally wore a solemn look, but in conversation this solemnity disappeared. Before mentioning his love to Mariquitta he first asked her father's consent, knowing this to be the French custom, and, receiving a most favorable answer, then proposed and was accepted. It was Marlquitta's first winter in Society. Exceedingly beautiful, of a gay and happy disposition, and highly gifted in mind and heart as well as in personal attractions, she was receiv- ing a great deal of attention and was eagerly sought after by the young gentlemen of St. Louis. Warmly attached to her own family, she did not feel that same almost idolizing love for Julius as he from the very first felt for her and which remained the same through all his after life, even to the moment of his death. His was intense and absorbing love from the very beginning; hers love that increased only after marriage. And then it be- came more and more ardent until it, too, amounted almost to idolatry. Her children can best testify to her loyalty and devoted attachment to his memorv as her Parents and his brothers can to the beauty and devotedness of her married life. Pious and every way exemplary in her own conduct she was a fitting consort for the pious officer. Neither had ever to regret the step and their marriage tie formed a bond of union that even Death could not break. Their courtship was of short duration. Scarcely six weeks elapsed between their first acquaintance and 78 BIOGRAPHY OF the nuptial ceremony in the ohl St. Louis Cathedral, celebrated by Bishop, now Archbishop, Kenrick. On the 19th of Febru- ary, 1849, the tall, manly, handsome soldier clasped hands and joined souls with the lovely fair being, who stood by his side like a flower bending on its slender stalk. Before proceeding farther I will give a brief outline of her family. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCUE. 79 CHAPTER VI. Family of De Coudroy de Laureal — Mariquitta's parents — herself. The family of De Coudroy de Laureal, an old Catholic one, though living in the Island of Guadeloupe, West Indies, since the latter part of the Sev^enteenth Century, belonged to a very ancient and noble race from Aix in Provence, France. The first of the name who appears as living in Guadeloupe, and the progenitor of that branch of the family, Avas Armand de Coudroy, who came into that colony about 1690 with his wife, noble like himself and formerly a Demoiselle de Lamotte. The family continued always to hold a distinguished position among the nobles of this Island, which, like other French colonies, con- tained cadets as well as elder sons of the old noblesse of France. Many of the members of the family, as also their connections, were conspicuous in the annals of French history for their courage, daring and wisdom as military and naval commanders, as also for their statesmanship as magistrates and piety as Re- ligious, and lastly for great and even remarkable beauty of face and figure. Catholic and royalist in their sentiments, when the French Revolution broke out they espoused the cause of the Bourbons and suffered for their loyalty. Of Armand's two sons, Armand, the elder, died young and without ever marrying. Jean Charles de Coudroy, the younger, ' was Knight of the royal and military order of Saint Louis, and Lieut. Colonel Commandant of the Quartier du Moule, Guade- loupe. He married in 1732 Demoiselle Dorothee Victoire Boyvin, also of an old and noble race, located for a long time in the Colony. Of his five children by this marriage the eldest, Marie Victoire de Coudroy, was married in 1754 to Jean Bap- tiste Papin-Dupont, descended from a noble family of Brittany. Their grandson, L6on Papin-Dupont, who died at Tours, France, March 18, 1876, aged 79 years, was surnamed, in consequence of his great piety and sanctity of life, " The Holy Man of Tours." 80 BIOGRAPHY OF The tliird cliiltl ^nd second son, Nicolas Leon de Coudroy was given on the death of his father the surname of " De Laureal," and was thus called Nicolas Leon de Coudroy de Laureal. He married in 1761 Demoiselle Marie Madeleine de Bruny de Cha- teaubrun, of an ancient and noble family, originally from the South of France.* She was a woman possessed of most ex- quisite beauty and, too, of such a rare type and perfection, not only of face but also of figure, as to command universal homage, and was regarded as one of the greatest beauties of her day. She was first cousin to the Bailly de Suffren, a celebrated French Admiral, who, when quite young, joined the order of the Knights of Malta and afterwards engaged in the French Navy, where he distinguished himself by his courage and superior ability. Their children Avere eight in number. Her husband held the eminent "])osition of Commandant of the Militia of St. Anne; of St. Fran- cis ; and of the Moule. She died during the emigration to St. Christopher in 1799, and he at St. Anne, Guadeloupe, in 1787. They were common grandparents to Mariquitta's parents, who were thus first cousins, their fathers being sons of this couple. Of these eight children, I shall only make mention of two, as they are so intimately connected with Mariquitta's own imme- diate family, being respectively the fathers of her own parents. Nicolas David Remy de Coudroy de Laureal, the fifth child, was born at Moule, Guadeloupe, on the 23rd of December 1773. * Her father, Bruny de Chateaubrun, was an Italian nobleman who came to reside in Provence, France, where he purchased of the family of Mira- heau, the dominion and castle of La Tour de I'Aigle. About the year 1700 he went over tt) Guadeloupe and there espoused Demoiselle Marie Lecointe. Her younger sister married the Sieur de Yilliers, the oldest of three brothers, the youngest of whom married Demoiselle do Varicuurt, whose brother, called "Le Beau Varicourt," was massacred at the palace of Ver- sailles in 1789, while defending the door of Marie Antoinette's room against the assassins come to strangle her. His head was carried by these ruffians to a hair-dreiser of St. Cloud, who was compelled by them to curl and powder the hair, after which it was borne on the end of a lance by the ruffianly escort to the Koyal family alongside the very windows of the carriage that bore them as prisoners to the Tuillerics. One of the ladies of the Varicourt family, the Marchioness de Villette, was several times mentioned in Voltaire's verses under the title of '' La Belle et Bonne," LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. gl When quite young he was sent to France to be educated, and received his course of instruction at the College of Pont-levoy, after which he entered as a cadet into the royal navy serving under his relative, the Admiral de La Jaille. When the Revo- lution broke out, though still very young, following the ex- ample of his elder brothers, L6on and Jean Baj)tiste, he entered the Army of the Princes, serving with it until its dissolution when he went over to England and pursued the same fortune as his brother, Jean Baptiste, and like him received the commission of Major in one of the newly created regiments of negroes in the English Antilles. When by the peace of Amiens these regiments or troops' were disbanded, he remained at Trinidad, his last raili-. tary stopping place, and there married in 1800 Demoiselle Nancy de la Peyrouse, niece of the celebrated French navigator,* Count Jean Francis Galoup de la Peyrouse, of an ancient family of Provence. In 1818 he went over to France and there bought the beautiful estate and castle of Limours near Paris. He was for many years the Mayor of the Commune of Limours, but in 1830 handed in his resignation, not caring to hold office under any other but his legitimate King. He died at his property of Limours at the age of QQ, and his body rests in the cemetery of that ])arish, surrounded by the loving remains of his M'ife and four of his daughters. Of his eight children, Leon and David died at an early age; Adele married in France in 1825 Adolphe de Belmont, of an old and noble family; Marie Madeleine Oc- tavie, born in the United States, in the State of Rhode Island, in 1809, during a hunting visit of her father, was married to her first cousin, Edward de Coudroy de Laureal : Louis, born at Trinidad in 1812, was educated at the military school of St. Cyr and served for many years with his regiment, the First Zouaves, with great distinction in Algeria, under General Bourbahi. He was wounded at the capture of Abd-El-Kader's Smalah and afterwards distinguished himself at the storming of Laghouat, and with just enough strength left from a cureless attack of chol- * Joan Francis Galoup de la Peyrouse, born of a noble family at Albi, France, in 1741, died in 1788. Entering the Naval service at an early age he served under Count d'Estaing in the American War of Independence and commanded the ship '• I'Amazone" ut the siege of Savannah, Ga. 6 82 BIOGRAPHY OF era dragged himself as far as the Crimea where he fell mortally wounded at the battle of the Alma, while most gallantly leading on his men to the assault of the Telegraph tower. The cross of honor, which he had richly merited at Laghouat — for he and his Zouaves, with General Yusuf, are said to have been, really, the first who penetrated into the town, — together with the announce- ment of his promotion to be Major, were soon on their way from France to him; — but long before they could reach the Crimea, he was dead. A headstone was placed in the cemetery of Limours near his parents and sisters bearing the date of his death, the 17th of September 1854. Antoinette and Celeste entered the Convent of St. Clotilde in Paris as Religious, and after a holy and devout life lie interred in the family burying ground at Limours, where also reposes their youngest sister, L^ontine. Going back to the children of Nicolas Leon de Coudi'oy de Laureal and Marie Madeleine de Bruny de Chateaubrun I shall take up and speak of the sixth in age, Charles Evremond de Coudroy de Laureal, born at Moule, Guadeloupe, in 1783. He ■was not sent to France to be educated like his brothers, on ac- count of the Revolution. He fled with his mother to the An- tigues on the occasion of the uprising of the negroes in Guade- loupe: and entered, at the age of fifteen, the regiment of which his brother David was Major and served with it for many years. Upon his return to Guadeloupe he married in 1805 Demoiselle Marie Charlotte de Rochebrune, belono^ing to an ancient and noble family of the Limousin, France. He was appointed by the Governor of Guadeloupe Commandant of the Quartier du Moule, and afterwards Mayor of the Quartier, when in 1830 it was transformed into a Coinmune. The political events of 1848 decided him to repair with his family to the United States, where he died at Limours, in the jiarish of Carondelet, Mo., on the 18th of February 1852. He had six children : Edward, Mary, Celia, Angele, Alexis, and Amelia. Edward, the eldest, born in Guadeloupe in 1808, was educated in France, after which he studied law and was admitted to practice, but never made use of his profession. He was married on the 12th of October, 1829, to his beautiful first cousin, Marie Madeleine Octavie de Coudroy de Laureal, at her father's castle LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 83 of Limours near Paris. From this marriage there sprung seven children, viz : Mariquitta, Nancy, Madeleine, Octavie, Marie, Adele and Joseph. The year following he returned with his young wife to Guadeloupe and established a commercial house with his first cousin, Jean Baptiste de Coudroy de Laureal. The partnership continued for four years, after which Edward continued the business alone until 1848, when owing to financial reverses and the troubles then taking place in France he settled his affairs and with but scanty means came over to the United States and settled at first in St. Louis, Mo., and afterwards on a small property, which he bought in the vicinity, some ten miles south from St. Louis and four from Carondelet, Mo., and which, in respect to his wife, he called " Limours", after her father's castle. Though formerly in affluent circumstances and owning a handsome plantation in Guadeloupe, his family had by various mishaps and the unexpected disasters of 1848 lost the greater part of their possessions, so that when he came to the United States he had comparatively but little fortune. A man of fine intellect, he possessed in addition to other ac- complishments great talent as an artist, and several of his paint- ings ornament the walls of the little Catholic church in Caron- delet, Mo., his present home for many years. Aristocratic by birth and lineage, he and his wife possessed -all the polish and courtesy of the old French school and inherited the great and wonderful beauty of their grandmother, Marie Madeleine de Bruny de Chateaubrun, which legacy they in part transmitted to Mariquitta and several of her sisters. Pious and exemplary Catholics themselves, they endeavored to rear their children also in the fear and love of God, and spared no pains in giving them a finished and complete education.* * Of their children, Nancy, born in Guadeloupe, in 1832, was married in 1852 in St. Louis to Robert A. Balcewell, Esq. : Madeleine, born at the cas- tle of Limours, France, in 1835, was married to Dr. N. L. Hornsby of Caron- delet, Mo., and died in 1873 leaving a large family of children: Octavie, born in Guadeloupe in 1837, married Mr. Ilodolphe Dcsbonnes of St. Louis in 1865 and died two years subsequently, leaving an only child : Marie, born at Versailles, France, in 1842, was married to Jno. F. Slevin, Esq., of St. Louis, in 1861, and died in 1873, leaving live children: Adele, born at 84 BIOGRAPHY OF Marlquitta, (Marie Louise Charlotte) their eldest child, was born at Guadeloupe, July 6, 1830, on the De Laureal planta- tion, belonging to her paternal grandfather. She made two voyages with her Parents to France ; and on the occasion of her second voyage made her First Communion at the Convent of St. Clotilde in Paris, where two of her mother's sisters, Antoinette and Celeste, were at the time Religious. Good, modest and pious as a child, Mariquitta retained these characteristics throughout her whole life. An excellent dau";h- ter, she became a devoted wife and mother. Carefully educated and possessed of a fine mind, she was proficient in all her studies. Her manners were as winning and agreeable as her face was sweet and beautiful. A charming and brilliant conversationalist, she was always the centre of an admiring circle. Guadeloupe in 1844, married in 1875 her brother-in-law, Dr, N. L. Hornsby : Joseph died when a baby. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 85 CHAPTER yil. Departure of Julius with Mariquitta for his post in Texas — their early married life there — his appointment as A. A. Quartermaster and A. Com- missary of Subsistence of the Post — Mariquitta's return to the homestead of Limours — scourge of the Asiatic Cholera and Julius' tender devotion to the afflicted. On the 3rd of the following May Julius set out with his beautiful fair bride for his distant station in Texas. A long and wearisome journey down the Mississippi River and thence across the Gulf of Mexico brought them to his post, Point Isabel. It was a happy trip for him and he felt not the discomforts attendant thereon. It was unalloyed bliss to be alone with the being he loved so tenderly and so devotedly. He could in the nobleness of his heart appreciate her sorrow at leaving her family from whom she had never as yet been parted, and far from feel- ing jealous or discontented thereby he but strove the more by every possible and delicate attention to soften the sting of sepa- ration ; to make her sensible that henceforth his great love would be for her not husband alone but also father, mother and sisters, all in all, a sanctuary to which she could always have recourse to in grief as well as in joy; a love around which her own affectionate heart could gradually twine its tender tendrils till merging into his it would become irrevocably bound up in it, never to be destroyed even by the fell hand of Death. Shortly after rejoining his Company at Point Isabel, he was appointed Acting Assistant Quartermaster and Acting Commis- sary of Subsistence of the Post. These extra duties though flattering, were exceedingly burdensome and added to his neces- sary duties with his Company gave him but little rest and occa- sioned great fatigue; still he never murmured but complied to the letter with all their requirements. In the Fall Mariquitta's health ffiiled to such a degree as in- 86 BIOGRAPHY OF diieed him, painfully as he felt the separation, to send her back to her Parents, and she returned to the homestead of Limours. The following letters describe their life up to the time of her departure and delineate her growing and intensifying affection for him, Mariquitta to her Parents, " Dear, dear Parents, " It is just the hour I parted from you yesterday for perhaps an indefi- nite time. My heart is rent at the thought of our last Adieus, and I offer to God all my grief that He may soften yours, and give you complete rest of mind and body. If any thing could dissipate the bitterness of my thoughts, it is certainly the proofs of affection that jni/ Jules has given me from the moment of our separation. I feel deeply grateful to him, and I love him with all my heart. But can I ever forget you, my dear Parents 1 The recollection of your tender love and of all that you have done for me will never leave me! Oh I no, I feel that even now the thought of you will always be present to my mind, and that my most ardent desire will be to find myself once more among you. As I was telling Jules this morning I would give any thing on earth to possess the gift of seeing and knowing every thing that happens to you each hour of the day. " I fear that the long drive j'ou were compelled to make on leaving me must have tired you exceedingly, especially my little Sisters: but I so particularly recommended you to God at that moment, and I suffered so much that I hope my prayers and the offering of my grief have been granted through the motive that I had. my dear, very dear Parents, how can I ever console myself for our separation ! I feel my courage sinking when I think that every moment takes me farther and farther from you. "AYe are at Memphis since three o'clock this morning, and I fear that we will start before I have time to tell you all that my heart would say. I shall be very happy if in your first letter you can inform me that Papa's cold has left him, that he is less tormented by his business affairs, and that he hopes to terminate them successfully. You have both suffered so much this last year that I sincerely hope your trials are ended and your happy days are about to recommence. You know how unhappy I should be if I thought you were not happy. " Yesterday I said the office of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for you all. I shall say it every day for your intention. My next letter will be for my dear little Sisters. I close this one, but should the steamboat remain here a great while I shall continue it. "Adieu, dear Papa, dear Mamma, I embrace you both Avith all the affection of my heart as likewise my Sisters and little Brother. Jules also embraces you very affectionately. "Your loving daughter, "Mariquitta." LIEDT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 87 Mariquitta to her Parents. "Point Isabel, May 19th, 1849. "Dear Papa, dear Mamma, " Three months ago to-day I pronounced the terrible Yes which forces me now to be so far from you. On the 19th of February at this hour I was desolate and overwhelmed with grief. I had not as yet started for the church but I had already received your blessing, and 1 felt, my beloved Parents, that in this blessing you told me good-bye and confided me to God ; because only He can now console and help me to bear the cruel pains which our separation causes me. I wish no longer to speak of this, for I am not understood ; I concentrate in myself all my affections for you. I know that you are praying for nie; for I feel strong and altogether re- signed. I will draw from prayer, from correspondence, and from study the necessary helps to accept Point Isabel with patience, and I can there be almost happy when I shall know you are at your ease and in good health. Dear, dear Parents, if my loneliness and deep sorrow could count in heaven and gain for you the happiness which I so ardently desire; if you could enjoy all the happiness, which, without cessation, I beg of God, I could endure all, even our separation. I would saj' to myself, they are happy, and I would be consoled. "We are since the day of our arrival at Captain Hunt's. He and his wife are very kind to me, but I cannot get accustomed to their table. Bread is not known in this house •, it is replaced by a species of cake which I like beyond measure, but the first mouthful of which made me sick. When I am keeping house I can procure for almost nothing dif- ferent things from the West Indies, such as crabs, crawfish, little fish, good lemons, and even melons. I wish to become a gastronomist, to enjoy occupying myself in the kitchen, and above all never to be idle, otherwise melancholy would rapidly gain on me. Nevertheless, yesterday I was gay and I hope frequently to be so when I receive good news from you. "How is dear little Joseph, is he commencing to cut his teeth? Dear little child ! how delighted I would be to fondle and pet him as also Dole,* and Marie! Speak to them frequently of me, for it would be too cruel if on ray return they should no longer know me. "How is dearf Mrs. Nidelet, and her children? Remember me most affectionately to her. I will write very soon to her as also to Leonie % de Pombiray. I intend writing to Guadeloupe and France; for, not having any thing to do, letter-writing will make my time flow by agreeably. " I wish to do nothing, my own darling mother, without consulting you, and although a great distance separates us, yet by the medium of the pen you may still continue your advice and guidance; I long to become pious in order to become brave and strong. * Pet name of her youngest sister, Adele. f A friend of the family living in St. Louis. X A cousin of Mariquitta. 88 BIOGRAPHY OF "I do not yet know when we may be able to take possession of our lionie, Ave are very well pleased here, but I cannot cet accustomed to the table. This is the principal reason for which I desire my liome. I do hope it will be a lovely little home, for Catherine is an excellent servant and perfectly devoted to me, and so thoughtful of all my wants. Ilcr little boy has the appearance of beinii dreadfully spoilt, but I hope by training him well, to make him worth someth ng. The house of Captain Hunt without being pretty is agreeable and fre.sh, surrounded by latticed porches, I wish mine would be as convenient. You need not worry about sending me any tiling, dear Mamma, as Jules bought all I need in New Orleans, and promised should any thing be wanting to send there for it. ''I am really ashamed of the expenses I caused you and which I could have easily prevented had I not been so silly with Jules, but now the day of childiishness is passed, I am becoming an experienced woman, and all my fear of my husband is entirely gone." Julius to Mariquitta' s Mother. "Point Isabel, June 20th, 1S49. " Dear Mother, " I am very grateful for your two letters that caused me so much pleas- ure, and I thank God, who is, you say, so good to you now. We have been blessed, wo must acknowledge, in the two families, and we have good cause for thanking God that all our relatives have escaped not only the fire but also the cholera. " You did well, dear Mother, to recommend to us the devotion of this month, but we were in advance of your wishes and commenced from the first of the month. "We are still at Captain Hunt's and will probably remain here for three weeks more. They are very kind and attentive to us, but we long for our own little home. Catherine, although a little stubborn and tenacious of her own opinions, is an excellent woman and continues to give us much satisfac- tion. She is no doubt the best we could have had, and I thank you, dear Mother, daily for your choice and your thought of our bringing her. I now see that her little boy too will be of great assistance; he can already do many little things, and is of a very gentle character. Think that Captain Hunt pays$lo a month to a woman who does scarcely as much as Catlierine ! "The weather that was very stormy since our arrival, has I'eturned to its ordinary state, that is to say, bright heavens and afresh breeze, almost without interruption. "Mariquitta has made great improvement in English and everybody notices how correctly she is learning to speak it. I am in hopes that within four months she will speak it fluently. She will never forget you and she misses her dear family constantly — away from you her happiness will never be complete; but were it not for that I feel she would be very happy. She is gay, amiable, and loves me, I truly tiiink, a great deal. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 89 It is useless for me to add that I love her with all my heart, and yet I feel my love increasing daily. " She wishes to do a mass of things for each and every one of you, and has already finished a pair of cuffs, or, I think more likely, a collar, besides three-fourths of a large handkerchief; but I will acknowledge that I would prefer her working for you in some other manner than by embroidering. It is a work which alone is sufficient to ruin her eyes, when one works, as she does, all day long, day after day ; but worse than all when she con- tinues it, moreover, at twilight, you will agree with me that she will de- stroy her siglit. She frequently complains of her eyes and nearly every day is obliged to batlie them in rum ; but as she still now and then mis- trusts my judgment and my remonstrances she will not believe all I tell her on this subject. " She is losing her hair in such a manner as to worry both of us. I gave her some oil I had made use of on niy own, which did me much good ; I hope it will have the same effect on hers. "I am much obliged to David* for his good opinion of me, and with the exception of a little prejudice, I can frankly say I am very fond of him. "Embrace my Father and Sisters tenderly for me. " Your very devoted Son, "Jules." Mariqniila to her Parents. " Point Isabel, July 1st, 1849. " Dear Papa, dear Mamma, " It is this evening that we are awaiting the steamboat. I shall be very disappointed and very disheartened if I have no letters from you. I can- not inform you of the exact time of the departure of our two steamboats, but we always hope to see one of them arrive on Sunday. Consequently, they leave New Orleans every Thursday. Try, I beg of you, never to miss one, for otherwise I shall be so anxious, so unhappy. My only happiness here is receiving your letters. I think all through the week that Sunday appears too far off, and yet when it arrives I am worked up to an anxiety, impossible to describe, until I have read the first few lines of j'our letters and see that they contain no bad news. Oh I how sad I feel far from you ! If I had not such a good husband, I do not know what would become of me; but still I do not see much of him, as he is absent all the day, his occupations being so numerous and he is not yet thoroughly conversant 'with them. When my melancholy becomes too strong I lay down and go to sleep until he returns and awakens me. The rest of the time I work whilst thinking of you. * David de Coudroy de Laureal, a cousin of Mariquitta who had been very much in love with her. Julius here laughingly alludes to his love, pretend- ing to be jealous. 90 BIOGRAPHY OF " It is true that I have all by myself made the handkerchief which I had taken to embroider. It is finished and well finished. I shall send it to Nancy or to Toto* (I have really forgotten to whom I had promised it) in the box which I shall dispatch to you next week. I will send by the same means, my good Mother, the cuffs bearing a rosebud design. It is not at all true that these little pieces of work are ruining my eyes. That is a notion of Jules', who likes to do a good deal himself. He is just now plunged into a meditation which evidently does not inspire him a great deal, for unceasingly I am compelled to awaken him to prevent his fall- ing off his chair. " I have just received your letter of the 17th of June, dear Mamma, as also the letter of Nancy, David, and Aunt Celeste. f I do not know why, but I was thinking that I would not receive any to-day. I was feeling so desolate in advance that to prevent myself from crying I went over to Mrs. Abadie'sJ to have recourse to her piano. On entering she handed me my letters, and without asking her to excuse me, so excited was I, I returned home at once. If you often think of y^our child I can assure you that she does not forget you and that she loves you as much as it is possible to love one in this world. What you tell me of Toto has caused me great pain. Poor sister ! Since yesterday, the idea of her sickness returns again and again to my mind and makes me feel very sad. Nancy's letter greatly affected me. I am proud of her noble heart and I hope, my dear Parents, that no husband will come soon to carry her away from you. Jules is very much touched with the manner in which you always speak of him. lie told me last evening that he felt more for you than he could express and that the idea of seeing 3'ou again frequently occupied his mind. " How happy I would be if we could return to St. Louis for some months ! I am sure that when my Jules would know you perfectly, and you would know him better, you would both love each other dearly. You have not deceived yourselves in your first judgment of him. He is indeed worthy of esteem and affection. Now that I know him thoroughly I would have great difiiculty in finding many men as good as him." Julius to Mariquitta' s Parents. " Point Isabel, July '22nd, 1849. "Sunday is my day of rest, my dear Parents, and I avail myself of the pleasure of writing you a few lines of friendship and affection, for I have not had the opportunity for a long time to write you a word. Besides my ordinary occupations which give me little leisure, at the end of ever^' month I have a number of papers and reports to prepare to send to Washington, and at the end of every quarter an additional number. With the end of * A pet name of her sister Madeleine. ■j- Her maternal aunt, a Religious in the Convent of St. Clotilde at Paris. X Wife of Dr. Abadie, the U. S. Surgeon of the Post. LIEVT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 9X July I thus had these two series of papers to prepare, and although I did not wait until the end of the month to commence my papers, still I was not able to finish them before the middle of July. " Thus you understand my silence and will excuse it. Yesterday was the first day I could take since our return from Fort Brown. " I was invited to a large fishing party, being promised every success Avith my line, as every precaution had been taken, and that I could even antici- pate catching turtles. I allowed myself to be tempted, after having hesi- tated some time, and towards nine o'clock a.m., we started, a party of fourteen, in two small sailing boats. The wind was strong and favorable, so that we arrived in a short time at the first stopping place. AVe threw our nets to catch turtles, and in other parts of the river threw our lines ; but the fish must have been cognizant of the conspiracy drawn np against them, for they would not even bite at the bait, and the same fate awaited us all day. Only one poor, miserable fish was caught ; for I do not count the five or six wretched catfish that were willing to catch on to our lines because we did not Avish them, nor did their sea companions seem more enthusiastic over them when we used them as bait. "But in spite of ill-luck we amused ourselves immensely, we had wine, ice, and plenty to eat; several of these gentlemen sang passably well, and one of them, a great friend of Mariquitta's, even brouglit his favorite instrument, the jaw of a horse, so we even had music. We sailed up the lagoon for 12 miles above Point Isabel: we had our sail cut ofi" close by the wind and again, after we had cut it off and replaced it by a new sail, the head of this new one Avas smashed and we were carried aAvay by the tide, even in the very last place we had stopped. It is useless to tell you A?ve Avere compelled to jump into the ivater, as we had already amused our- selves in walking in the lagoon ; but we were obliged to Avork half an hour as hard as possible to push our boat into deep Avater. After we succeeded we had just time to enter our boat Avhen we saw an immense shark very near us, so that altogether our day was one full of adventures but I enjoyed mj^self as well as I could aAvay from my dear little wife. " In four or five days, I think, our house will be finished, and we are de- lighted, for it is rather trying to live Avith strangers, especially Avhen their tastes and manners are different. I do not like to be dependent on others, for at times one is obliged to be a slave to their habits when one lives, by favor, in their houses. " Mariquitta, no doubt, has informed you of her impressions of our trip to Fort Brown. AVe stopped at Mrs. Chapman's, a charming woman from the East, Avho made quite an impression on Mariquitta, and I was very well satisfied. Oh ! how I Avish that some of Mariquitta's dear relatives of Guadeloupe could come and live with her when Ave are in our own little home ; for I fear a husband, no matter how much loved, can scarcely suffice a young girl, educated as she has been, and she needs some companions of her own sex. 92 BIOGRAPHY OF " We had the misfortune not to hear from you last week, which nearly threw Mariquitta, poor little woman, into despair! I know it was not the fault of any of you, and I am prepared for this to happen every now and then; for, althouj^h you may write every week, your letters may miss the boats at New Orleans and tiiere will thus be a double mail the following week. But in order to prevent this I beg of my dear Sisters not to wait, as heretofore, till you are ready to write, so as to put their letters in the same envelope, but to write whenever they feel so disposed, and then send their letters immediately; because, if every week two letters or a packet of different letters start from your house, one will be sure always to come with the New Orleans boat. " Good-bye, I embrace you, as well as my dear Sisters, with all my heart. " Your affectionate son, "Jules." Mariquitta to her sister Madeleine. "Pt. Isabel, August 11, 1849. "Dear Toto, "From what you say of the progress you have made in English, I imagine that in spite of all eulogies I receive of the manner in which I speak this language, you are all the more proficient. "Jules is delighted with the idea of receiving a purse made by you all. My own darling husband bears you, as well as the other members of our family, a true and sincere affection. " All the charming and interesting things you tell me of dear little Joseph only increase my longing to see him. Dear little darling, how I will hug and smother him with my kisses when I return ! " Thank you, darling, for your wishes for my happiness ; I think it is secured for the rest of my life, and I permit myself to desire you to have a husband like my Jules, but not before five or six years. I can wish you nothing more advantageous to your future happiness. If you only knew how good he is, how he loves me, and does every thing in his power to render me happy ! I love hira with all my heart. "Jules also wished to write to you by the packet, but, as he is so dread- fully busy, it will be impossible. "Good-bye, my dear Sister, Jules and myself unite in kissing you most tenderly. " Your devoted Sister, " Mariquitta." Mariquitta to her Parents. " Pt. Isabel, September 10th, 1849. " Dear Papa, dear Mamma, " This morning I received yours of the 12th, 22nd, and 26th of August. On the impulse of the moment I take my pen to pour forth all the happi- ness they gave me. Jules was not as happy as I, for he, poor fellow, learnt of the death of a cousin in the East, and of the sickness of Alexander which preoccupies him a great deal, lie was so busy this morning that he had LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. G A RESCUE. 93 not time to read his letters till now, but indeed he is never as wildly anxious as I am. " I received this morning a long and lovely letter from Mamma* Didi, and an eight paged one from Davidf de Belmont, both of which I will keep till I reach you. When I think it is only fifteen more days before I leave my OAvn beloved Jules it almost breaks my heart and I ask myself again and again, will I ever have the courage. My husband is so good to me since the last three months, so attentive to all that can cause me pleasure, that I love him devotedly. His least indisposition sets mo almost crazy. If he ever became very sick I think my dread and uneasiness would set me ci'azy or kill me, but, thanks be to God, he is perfectly well and the climate of Point Isabel is very beneficial to him. He insists that with my pranks and gayety I throw him off his dignity and tliat he never was so guilty of nonsense in all his life; but I am very grateful for his taking part in all my childishness and sometimes we spend hours in amusing our- selves in a manner worthy of Dole and Joseph. Oh ! how I love my own darling Jules and how grateful I am that you made me marry him ! "For the last four days we have had dark, damp, and rainy weather, but this afternoon the sun is shining so gorgeously that I hope it foretells fine, bright, and sunny weather. I am delighted to hear that the Summer was 80 charming in St. Louis and hope it will be succeeded by a like Autumn and Winter. " I can see you in your little home living a quiet, gentle and loving life. " I despair of ever teaching Catherine to cook, she is full of conceit about her culinary abilities, and in spite of my instructing her again and again she makes no improvement. Poor Jules, if, during my absence, he is dependent on this girl, I fear he will starve 1 " Your own darling daughter, " Mariquitta." In the Winter of 1849, Captain Domingues' Spy Company, "svhich had been mustered out of service at New Orleans, arrived at Point Isabel bringing with it the Asiatic Cholera in a most malignant form. A large portion of the inhabitants, citizens and soldiers, were swept away by this fearful disease. During its terrible visitation Julius was indefatigable in his attentions to the sick, visiting at all hours the Hospitals, and by his cool and calm bravery did much towards allaying the universal dread and apprehension and inspiring confidence in the minds of all. * Augustine Lemercier de Pombiray, married to her Parents' first cousin, Jean Baptistc de Coudroy de Laureal. f Count David de Belmont, her first cousin, and a brilliant young Artil- lery Officer in the French Army. 94 BIOGRAPHY OF CHAPTER VIII. Removal of the troops to Fort Brown — remarks of an old lay Brother — Julius' great assistance to the Church and Mgr. Odin's testimony — forci- ble incident of Julius' humility of character — his letter to Mariquitta's mother on occasion of Octavie's First Communion — birth of Julio — Julius' wrongful arrest by his Commanding OflSccr — his ardent desire to sec his wife and little son. In February 1850 the troops at Point Isabel were removed to Fort Brown, Brownsville, Tex., and Julius repaired thither with his Company. Brownsville is situated on the left bank of the Rio Grande, immediately opposite the Mexican town of Matamoras, and about thirty-five miles from the Gulf of Mexico. During the Mexican War Col. Brown, commanding some of the American troops, constructed the fort bearing his name. Around this spot some French and American merchants settled down as well as a number of Mexican families and thus Brownsville was founded. In 1850 it was already a tolerably good sized town, containing a fair population, chiefly JNIexicans. The following are" Recollections of an old lay Brother who accompanied Father Telmon of the Oblate Fathers in 1850 from Canada to Brownsville. " If Mr. Garesch6 continued his life up to the moment of his death as I knew it in Brownsville, I can truly say he is a Saint. When Fathers Tehnon, Soulerin and myself landed at Point Isabel in 1850, Mr. Garesch6 received us with open arms and conducted us to his own quarters where every possible attention was shown us. Three or four days after our ar- rival the American Camp was transported from there to Brownsville. Thereupon he took us with him and conveyed us to Brownsville in his Government ambulance. He was so good to us, and as long as we had not the means of subsistence he personally provided for our wants. Mr. Garesch6 was such an excellent Catholic, that he served Mass every Sun- day, in full uniform, and never allowed a month to pass by without going to Communion. In a word there are few like him either in their conduct or in their deeds." LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. Q A RES CHE. 95 Julius greatly assisted Mgr. Odin, Bishop of Galveston, in building the little Catholic Church of Brownsville, it being erected almost entirely by his own exertions. Moreover, it was due to his earnest appeals that Catholic Chaplains were allowed in the Army. Some years afterwards Mgr. Odin recounted to one of Julius' relatives that he had given great edification to himself and ev'cry one else by his piety and regularity in his religious duties, and that when he would enter the Church to say his daily Mass he frequently found him there, kneeling in profound meditation before the Mass which he often serv^ed. The following incident forcibly illustrates Julius' touching humility of character. On a certain occasion while drilling his Company one of the men, whom I shall call Smith, was rather intoxicated and made several blunders. Julius immediately rushed up to him greatly excited and exclaimed " Smith, what in the devil do you mean ?" He had hardly spoken the words in the excitement of the mo- ment when he blushed like a girl at the strong language he had just used and repented it in his heart. AVhen the drill was over and the First Sergeant was about to dismiss the Company he stepped up and said " Wait a moment, Sergeant", and then walking up to Smith took off his cap and before all the men humbly said "Smith, I beg your pardon for having spoken as I did." Then replacing his cap he turned around and directed the First Sergeant to dismiss the men. Such an act of true lowliness of mind must certainly have found favor in the sight of God ; to humble one's self so in the presence of and to one's inferiors! The following extract from a letter of Julius' to Mariquitta's mother portrays his reverential love for the Adorable Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. It is on the occasion of his learning of her younger daughter Octavie's First Communion. "Fort Brown, May 11th, 1850. "Dear Mamma, ******* *» " I present you my hearty congratuLations on Octavie's First Commu- nion. I should have been most delighted to be present. It is always such a beautiful and touching ceremony to see a band of young girls ap- 96 BIOORAPHV OF proaching for the first time in all the purity and innocence of their young age the Communion Table ; what a satisfaction to their parents and those interested in their -welfare !" On May 30ih, 1850, while on a visit to some relatives in St. Louis Mariqiiitta gave birth to a beautiful little boy, Julio. He was baptized Marie Pierre Jules Garesche. From June 21st to November 21st, 1850, Julius was wrong- fully placed in arrest by his Commanding Officer, Maj, Giles Porter, on frivolous and unjust grounds. Naturally indignant and knowing his own utter innocence he determined to lav the whole matter before the proper military authorities, a rightful privilege that the military law accords, and ask that a Court of Inquiry investigate the causes of his arrest. To a sensitive and manly nature like his it was a severe trial to be thus unjustly deprived of the privileges of his rank. His feelings were inten- sified, his suffering increased by the absence of his darling little wife whose dear society was daily more and more missed. Re- ligion alone sustained him in this trying ordeal. Plis longing for Mariquitta increased and became unspeakable. He wished, moreover, to see his little Julio, his beautiful baby; to fondle it, caress it, and witness its charming little ways. He had willingly sent Mariquitta back to her parents, owing to her sick condi- tion, but the separation had caused his love a severe pang. He had voluntarily sacrificed his own pleasure for her good, know- ing; she would receive better nursino: from her mother than he could give. And now, as always subsequently, when compelled to be absent from her, he felt the separation most keenly ; still he did not now, nor ever afterwards, allow this sentiment to in- terfere with his duties either towards God or man ; did not per- mit his own unhappiness to interfere with his natural kindness and courtesy to all. In the latter part of Summer he wrote to Mariquitta a most touching letter, begging her to return, expatiating on his love for her, his longing to have her again and his ardent desire to see his dear little Julio. At the time the baby was a little unwell and Mariquitta dreaded under the circumstances making the long trip; but moved by her Julius' pathetic appeal, and knowing that he was LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 97 ignorant of the child's slight indisposition, which was after all but trivial, she tore herself away from Limours and her family and set forth to join him. The circumstances of their reunion and the death of Julio and Julius' tender devotion to his sick wife and dying child are beautifully described in the following letters. 98 BIOGRAPnV OF CHAPTER IX. Departure of Jrariqnittn with her baby to join Julius — their arrival at Fort Brown and its death and her own severe illness — Julius' perfect and most tender devotion to his dying child and herself. Mariquitta to her Parents. "Sept. 25th, 1850. " Dear, dear Parents, the boat will not leave this evenintf, and I am very vexed that we have been thus deceived, for otherwise I could have passed another good night with you. I am afraid that you did not arrive in time for the last omnil>us and tiuit in consequence you must have been compelled to make the whole trip on foot. Tbis tiiought torments me. " Sept. 2C)(h. — My very dear Parents, I did not start until late this morning. My son did not pass a bad night, although tliere was an im- mense quantity of mosquitoes and the lieat was intense. I cannot remem- ber ever having sud'ored as much from the heat and I have made amends for my wretched nigiit by sleeping to-da}' nearly two and a half hours. The boat goes exceedingly slowly and constantly stops. As for my boy, up to the present he is perfectly well. Being compelled to occupy myself with him is a real blessing for myself as it diverts my sad thoughts. Still, whilst passing before Carondelet, my heart became so full, so heavy, that but for him I could not have been consoled. Limours, dear Limours, Ah I when shall I see you again 1 Can Jules ever love me sufficiently for the immense sacrifice I am making for him? Dear Parents, I beg you to take good care of your health and do not overwork yourselves. It is for your children you are working, and as we look upon you as our dearest gift, it is with grief we see that too often you do more than j'ou ought. My little angel is well but seems homesick. lie now has only me to caress him and that does not seem to content him. Poor little one ! when will he be able to return to you? To-day I realized to the full my position and became 60 sad as to feel well-nigh discouraged. I trust God will give me the strength and patience, so necessary, and that in compensation for the wor- riments tliat I shall endure he will give good health to you, to Jules and to my dear little Julio. Whenever poor Julio cries every lady on board has some remedy to advise, one Whiskey, another Paregoric, another a Cordial ; but, as you may understand, 1 do not profit by tbeir charitable advice. " Sepfemhcr 28//j, Salurdai/. — We are still only thirty-five miles from St. Louis, caught on a sand-bank. I am commencing to hope that we will LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 99 bo obliged to rottirn to St. Louis. The Columbus passed us yesterday about tliree o'clock, and I am be<<;inninQth. — The mail has not yet arrived and, as I am stronger now, I hope to be able to give you some details of the terrible event that has deprived me of all my happiness. If I had remained at Limours I would still be happy and still possess my angel ; but fate has decreed otherwise, and I must bow to its decree. Oh ! my darling Mother, in saying good- bye to you. I knew I must also bid good-bye to my angel. "The evening of our arrival at New Orleans I determined to sleep aboard in spite of the entreaties of good Mr. Connelly. Alas! why did I not listen to his entreaties! I would then still be a happy Mother; and now I have no longer my son. The Captain of the Globe fearing I would be devoured b}'' the mosquitoes offered me his room on deck. Tliis room though small iiad seven openings. I did not pay attention to this, and as Mrs. MacDonald was constantly complaining of tlie heat and I was tired I was incapable of thought. During the night Julio had on only his cotton petticoat and dress, and I allowed Mrs. MacDonald to take them off with- out putting on others. A little while afterwards the breeze blew up and when I awoke my child was icy cold, but nevertheless did not appear to suffer, because he was laughing and playing near me. The following morning he commenced to have colics and to cough quite frequently, but always the same little cough timt used to amuse us so much. This was on Saturday. During Monday or Tuesday night he did nothing else but nurse and cry, and did not sleep at all. He coughed a great deal Tuesday night and I felt so uneasy that I called in a Doctor to see him. He came to my sorrow and gave Julio a strong emetic that the poor little fellow never vom- ited. The following morning he gave him two strong doses of Calomel. I recollected that Doctor Abadie gave it to Joseph and as the thought of my dear little Brother cruelly tormented me I let him do it. Towards noon my child was dying, he grew pale, blue, convulsions set in and I thought he was going to pass from me. In the evening he was a little better, but the night was terrible. The following morning we arrived at Brazos. Jules was not there, it was a moment of despair. The fever grew very high. The eyes of my darling assumed a terribly fi.xed appearance, and I expected every moment to see him die. On landing he became better till evening but he did not sleep that niglit. Major Chapman was a true friend to me, walking him a great part of the night, and helping me give him the remedies prescribed by Doctor Jarvis. At times the convulsions were so strong and the cries of my child so heart-rending that I was on the point of smothering him in my arms in order to end his horrible sufferings. The 106 BIOGRAPHY OF next morning Doctor Jarvis found him much better. lie told me not to despair as I did, that the doctor on the boat had 'really placed the life of the child in dani^er ; but that I had now nothin;: more to fear, that every thing was going on well and I could proceed to Fort Brown. "I entered the carriage only half satisfied and very, very anxious. Jules met me half way. He was so happy to see his child, that he would not believe all my sad presentiments. Immediately on arriving at Fort Brown he went for a young but talented Doctor from Brownsville. This Doctor on seeing my child considered him lost. lie ordered a hot bath and took Jules aside, to say he would attempt all in his power but there was nothing for him to do. I understood all and a terrible despair took possession of mo. Shortly after my arrival Miss Bennett, the Colonel's sister, and her old negress entered. They at once tried to warm my poor little angel, whose extremities were icy-cold. They succeeded and during the last four days of his life they nursed him night and day. My first thought on seeing my son die was the hope I would soon follow him ; but Jules' despair changed my sentiments. AVhen I saw him at my feet beg- ging my pardon and acknowledging his being the cause of the fearful misfortune that overwhelmed me, I could no longer blame him and I felt I was still needed on this earth. Sunday and Monday I had some hope, the physician seemed more confident, he followed the disease Avith so much care, and appeared to be so interested in Julio and besides during the six days in which my child had been so ill, I had so implored of God to take him from the first day of his sickness, if he were to continue his excruci- ating sufferings, that it appeared to me impossible to lose him. On Mon- day for a moment I thought him saved and before tiie picture of the Sacred Heart I wept tears of gratitude in thanking God for the immense favor I thought He had granted me. Those were the last tears I shed. " I was near my child in his agony, I held him in my arms in his last moments, yet I did not see him die, for I left the room but for a moment, and when I returned I found nothing but a little corpse. That sight did not bring forth a single tear. Jules was sobbing near me, but I no longer felt any thing. I dressed my child mj^self and then lay down by him. A moment afterwards I leant over to look at him ; he was so disfigured that I felt my strength failing and allowed myself to be carried into the adjoin- ing room. Since, I have not seen him! he is gone forever! They gave me a strong dose of laudanum and ether, and, in the evening w'hen I awoke, I learned that my child was no longer in the house, that he had been buried in the Church, at the foot of tiie Communion Table. I have no longer any courage, my life seems a terrible void. Jules has promised to take me to Limours to stay some weeks. Indeed, it ought to be a great comfort for me, and yet the idea of returning to the place so filled w^ith the memory of my child terrifies me. '* November 4lh, — " The mail has not yet arrived, my dear Parents. I long for it and yet LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 107 dread ifc, my heart is so filled with dark and sad presentiments that it appears to me impossible to hear any thing good. Jules does all he can to distract me; Miss Bennett and the Officers pay me every attention. Every day I take a drive or a horse-Vmck ride. At times I feel entirely well, but whenever the thought of my darling comes it brings back the nervous head-ache. Jules was frightened by my thinness the day of my arrival. lie thinks I have since improved a great deal, all that see me are of the same opinion. Therefore, my dear Parents, you need not worry yourselves about me. " Noveviher 9ih. — I fear that the delay of the mail has made you anxious, and this thought torments me. However, you must not get worried if some- times a month passes by without hearing from me. The North winds, Avhich we have every week, greatly delay the passage of the steamers, and, as the Globe was condemned after her last voyage, we have now only one boat to carry the mail. The weather has been very severe for the last three days. It must be intensely cold at St. Louis. "You have also been tried. Your two dear little boys have left you forever. Ah ! my God, have pity on us ! do not overwhelm us! I went to Communion on the morning I left St. Louis ; you, my dear Parents, blessed me and my child, Grandfather also, these benedictions made me feel strong and yet God did not listen to you. He has taken away my son, I have no longer a child. My beautiful little Julio is under ground, under that damp and cold ground. Ah ! if I knew he would have found Iiis death here who could have induced me to leave Limours! Ah! Limours, dear Limours, how my heart was broken in leaving you ! "Yesterday, dear Mamma, I received your letter of the 1st of October and one from Nancy dated the 28th of September, and the long twelve paged one you wrote to Jules. Dear, dear Mamma, forgive the pain he caused you. The passionate love he bears me is the cause. He could no longer reason, he was almost crazy ; would you believe, my dear Parents, he was so glad to have me that the death of his child does not afflict him ? He suffered only on account of my own sufferings ; he continually tells me that now he is perfectly happy, that he did not think he could have such great happiness; that he is intoxicated with delight. You can have no idea what effect his words produce on me. They cut me to the heart and at times render me indignant. Ah ! indeed it is not thus I loved my son ! The affec- tion that I bear you, my husband and my sisters is certainly strong, yet that which I bore my Julio was a hundred times stronger. It was adora- tion, worship. I loved him too dearly. God has punished me; but the punishment was too great, it has crushed me and has closed my heart against all that is sweet and consoling. I no longer know how to pray, in fact I had prayed so, so hard on my knees, holding my dying son in my arms, I cried to heaven to spare him. Anyhow he Avould have died in coming here ; for, in spite of every effort, Jules could not find a wet-nurse. God wished this beautiful little Angel, He did not find me worthy of keeping 108 BIOGRAPHY OF him, I was not capable and lie united him with Joseph •,* but how He made him sufiFer before death, what terrible sufferings that poor little angel endured, and that, too, during eight days, without interruption! How often I have regretted they prolonged his agony ! Wlien I recollect his smothered cries, and the contortions of his face, I feel as if they were going to commence again. Ah ! nevertheless, my child, if you have left me do not forget me; God must leave you the thought of your poor desolate Mother! One consolation for me is that he can now pray for you, and that he can now render you all you did for me. I never cease recom- mending you to him, I tell him to remember how you loved him, all you did for him. " November lO/h. — My poor Jules is sick in bed since yesterday with fever and cold. It is nothing up to the present, still it is always better to take precautions from the very beginning. 1 beg and implore of you to be prudent against the cold. Does Nancy intend going soon to St. Louis? I do not wish that the death of Julio should hinder her enjoying herself this winter. I know how much you all loved him, but he is now a per- fectly happy little angel, so it is only we who should deplore him. Far from blaming my sisters if they amuse themselves I hope they will on the contrary keep n'le posted about their pleasures. "Jules is feeling better, he is up and intends writing to you. I can assure you that he is very sorry for having caused you grief. "Good-bye, my dear Parents, do not worry yourselves concerning me, my husband loves me to distraction and does all in his power to make me happy. I embrace you most lovingly as also my Sisters. " Your Mariquitta." Mariqiiitta to her sister Madeleine. "November 14th. 1850. "Dear Toto, " I have not yet written to you and therefore I write this letter. My last one to Papa and Mamma was so sad that I am sorry I sent it. Whenever I speak of my son, and to you I cannot speak but of him, all my sorrow returns and I cannot find a single gay thought; and yet, will you believe it, you who have seen me with my Julio and who know whether I loved him, whether any thing else could occupy my mind, how my passionate love rendered me sometimes ridiculous; will you believe that since the death of this little idolized angel I laugh, I talk, I amuse myself just as if I never had known the happiness of being a mother and that this happi- ness has been taken away from me? I only feel about me an indefinable emptiness and I cannot find what is missing. '■'■ Nov. lGlh. — Jules has finally decided to make the trip to St. Louis. He wrote to-day to Gen. Brooke for Leave of absence and I hope that within two months we will be near you. Jules begs to be remembered to you and embraces you very tenderly. lie is suffering somewhat to-day and cannot write. " Your loving child, " Mariquitta." Mariquitta to her Sister Nancy. "December 13th, 1850. " Dear Sister, "Yesterday I received yours of the 15th November. If any thing could console me in my deep and untold grief it would certainly be the proofs of affection that my family have shown me. Your letter, as well as those of Mamma, Papa and Toto, made me cry a great deal, but at the same time relieved me. I feel if I could only find myself once more in your midst I would feel almost consoled. "I do not reproach you for not accompanying me on my journey, you could not nor ought not to leave our Parents, you are so necessary to them, and besides, dear Sister, you are so young, you would not have known any better than myself how to prevent the imprudence which killed my child. Ah! if my poor Mother could have seen how her Julio sufi"ered, what a sorrow it would have been for her! Before that fiital voyage I knew not what it was to suffer. The agony that lasted about five hours was so dreadful that beautiful as my boy was he became horrible, nay frightful. Exhausted, overwhelmed, I left the room for one moment ; when I returned I found him a disfigured corpse, with a repulsive expression. And think, dear Sister, I can no longer see him otherwise. Every night when I close my eyes I hear the last wail of my child, his smothered cries, and I see him in the embrace of death. How horrible this memory is, how I long to fly from it ! Joseph was not half as disfigured as Julio, and he did not suffer as much, besides his sufferings lasted only three days while Julio during eight days and eight nights knew no rest. At times I begged the Doctor to do nothing moi-e, to let him die, for he suffered too much, and 8 114 BIOGRAPHY OF then again I was full of hope, I felt so grateful to God who had spared my child that I wept tears of thanksgiving. And, nevertheless, lie had no pity for my affliction, He took from me my child without listening to my supplications and promises. When I. go to Cliurch I sec before me my poor little darling laid out, and then buried in the cold ground, all decom- posed, and worm-eaten, and then I say to myself what more can I ask of God. These sentiments afflict Jules; but he is not dependent upon me. Oh ! I assure you, the loss of my child was too great for me, I feel it more and more every day. " Good-bye, dear, dear Sister, I embrace you tenderly and Jules joins me. " Your affectionate Sister, " Mariquitta." Julius to Mariquitta' s Parents. " Fort Brown, Dec. 23, 1850. " My dear Parents, " The mail is about to leave and it is so dark that I can scarcely see, but I do not wish this mail to leave without a letter from me, to express the gratitude I felt in reading the proofs of your great affection and sympathy in this, our hour of need. I must also thank you for the §90 you had the kindness to send us as a present ; it will be very useful now if, as you say, you do not really need it. " Do not think I waited till the last moment to write you a hurried note. I had already prepared a little letter for you, but Mariquitta did not find it altogether to her taste, and although I had forbidden her reading it, the wicked little thing tore it up. Therefore, as you see, you must blame her. I would also have liked writing to you by the last boat, but I was sick that day, and lacked courage. " As Mariquitta has no doubt told you, I requested a Leave to take her to you, in hopes that the cold of a Limours winter and the pleasure of seeing you again, would be more beneficial to her health than all medicines. But do not base your hopes too much upon this Leave, I beg of you ; for, in the first place, it can be refused; and secondly, though granted, as I trust, it may be two months before I hear, and in two months who can foretell what may happen ; and thirdly, I frankly acknowledge that if Mariquitta is altogether convalescent during that period, I will be greatly tempted to remain where we are, until there is another change for our Company', and this may very probably occur within the next six months. Do not be wor- ried about Mariquitta, it is true she is not altogether over her nervousness, but thanks be to God, her health is constantly on the improvement. In the last juonth I, others, and even herself see the change and that she is recov- ering her strength, iiesh, and even her gayety, and all this mucli more decidedly than you would imagine. i " I am truly sorry to think of the long time that has expired since you last heard from us, the seven weeks must have appeared interminable. I hope God came to your assistance. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. G A RESCUE. US "Good-bye, dear Parents. Embrace most affectionately for me my Sis- ters, tender a thousand thanks to all the family, especially to Aunt Mary and Mr. Callard* fur all their kind and affectionate sympathy and be- lieve me, " Your devoted Son, "Jules." Mariquitta to her Parents. " December 25th, 1850. "My dear Parents, " My Christmas passed more gfij'ly than I would have imagined. I went to the midnight Mass and received Communion, About mid-day we had an elaborate Egg-nog which a dozen persons honored. Every one was gay and in the evening we attended a little supper at one of the young officers' quarters, and another about 9 or 10 o'clock at Miss Bennett's. Dancing was proposed and I was not sorry that they could find no violins, for I should have been compelled to join the others and I no longer care for dancing. How quickly one can change in this world! I, who as a young girl doted on balls, am afraid now to see a quadrille formed. " December 29l?i. — The thought that I shall soon be at Limours renders me so happy. Shortly after our arrival tliere Jules proposes making a Retreat at Florissant under Father Gleizal, so that I shall be alone with you ten days. Then he intends passing a few days with each member of his own family. I hope that he will spend the longest time with you, in order that you may become thoroughly acquainted with him. The idea of the trip commences to please him and I think it will do him good, for he has experienced so many annoj'ances during the past year from his supe- riors that I imagine a change will be very beneficial. He is a little indis- posed to-day, it is the fuurtli indisposition he has had since my return. I do not know whether it is my imagination, but it seems to me that his health is not as good as it was. ''Oh! my dear Parents, take good care of yourselves, liusband your strength, so that you may spend many more years with your children, who cherish you and who would have no more happiness were you to leave them ! The death of my child was indeed a cruel blow to me ; but I now deeply reproach myself with the little submission I showed ; for it was a blessing of God to choose my beautiful little angel rather than one of you, or my husband, or one of my sisters. I sincerely regret all the feelings of doubt and despair that I allowed myself to be carried away with ; since Christmas day all those feelings have disappeared, as if by enchantment, and I now feel ashamed of my want of courage when God is so merciful to me. Pardon me, my dear Parents, for the profound sorrow that my letters must have caused you; but truly up to Christmas day I was not mistress of myself; my sorrow overpowered me so that I allowed myself to be drawn * Monsieur Callard, married to Mariquitta's paternal Aunt Mary. 116 BIOGRAPHY OF away by all sorts of horrible thoughts which rendered me perfectly mis- erable, removing me every day fiirther and farther from God. Finiilly, on Christmas night, the infant Jesus blessed my Communion, and, though I did not yet experience a sensible fervor, I felt myself altogether changed. I love to imagine my Julio happy, for up to the present time I could not believe in his happiness; I see him beautiful, joyous Avith Joseph and L6ontine,* praying for his poor Mother, for you, and for all those who loved him so dearly. I do not wish any more to despair of being one day reunited to him and I am going to endeavor to become as pious, as fervent, as I have been impious since my misfortune. Ah ! truly I was not worthy of keeping my angel, he was too pure for nie and it is necessary that I should becouie good, so thiit God will no longer take away the angels that He may send me. I intend going to Communion again on New Year's day, so as to commence the year well : it seems sad to pass this day far from you ; but the hope of returning soon to Limours gives me a superb courage. Ah 1 what a happiness and how I long already to arrive ! "I think that you will have in Jules a great assistant for your poultry- yard, because he has a perfect passion for chickens. I think, also, that he will regale himself with pleasure on clabber, for we have been deprived of it for over a month. With two cows we have not had sufficient milk for our own consumption, without thinking of clabber. If Jules would listen to me he would sell these two wretched beasts that have among their faults the need of food, and that is a great item at Fort Brown ; but no, he imagines he cannot replace them advantageously and therefore continues to keep them. " I commenced on board the ' Atlantic' a long letter to Aunt Clementine ; I spoke a great deal about my Julio and recounted his pretty ways ; alas ! the last news I had to give her was the death of this pretty little darling. I commenced my letter so g.iylj', how terribly surprised therefore must she have been with its ending! Poor Aunt! you say that she is suffering very much from a sore knee. I certainly ought not to complain when I com- pare my position to hers. Like myself she has lost a dear child ; but then she has not like myself a father, a mother, and a good husband to console her and soften her grief." O' Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, Jan. 2lst, 1851. *' Dear Papa, dear Mamma, " I have so seldom the opportunity of writing to you that I am going to profit by the last few moments that the ' Globe' affords. I am a little tired by my last evening's Ball. I did not amuse myself as much as at Major Chapman's, every one had the appearance of being bored. Jules is de- * Leontine de Coudroy de Laureal, her mother's youngest sister, who died at the Convent of St. Clotilde in Paris in 1850, at the age of 18. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. WJ lighted with my piano. I play constantly and charm him to that degree that he falls asleep. Is he not a gallant husband? Father Telmon leaves us to-morrow. Six weeks ago I would have been delighted, for then I could not endure him ; but I have finished by liking him very much and it is Avith intense sorrow I now see him leave. We will then be without a priest. I accept this as a patent against all mortal sicknesses. The air is most delicious to-day, real spring weather. Would that you could enjoy it at Limours; but it is more than probable that the weather is fixr from being mild in St. Louis and its environs! The newspapers say that the cold is most intense in the North and this thought gives me great anxiety. May God protect you, my dear Parents, and preserve you for many, many years for your children's sake ! I am constantly thinking of you and of my sisters and my heart is relieved of a great load when I receive good news of you all. "Good-bye, my dear Parents, I embrace you a thousand and a thousand times as also your dear little children. " Your child who loves you, " Mariquitta." Extract from, a letter of lay Brother Roudet. "In 1851, while I was still in Marseilles, France, I knew of Mr. Gares- ch6. I heard even from the mouth of Rev. Father Telmon that this good Lieutenant had rendered the Church of Brownsville and himself, in par- ticular, every possible service ; and that when this good Priest was sick, a frequent occurrence, good Mr. Garesch6 conveyed him to his own house and nursed him himself. lie would be seen during the night walking in the chamber of the invalid in his bare feet for fear of awakening him. In recompense for all the signal services, rendered to hiaiself and his parishioners. Rev. Father Telmon, on the occasion of his visit to Rome, asked and obtained of his Holiness a Medal of Honor* for his benefactor, and for his wife a magnificent and exceedingly costly pair of beads." Mariquitta to her Parents. "Ft. Brown, January 29th, 1851. " Dear Papa, dear Mamjia, "I really went to the Ball yesterday and enjoyed myself a great deal. In starting, I expected to return at midnight, but I found myself unable to leave before three o'clock this morning. Then I was so tired I could hardly keep awake and was unable to rise before one o'clock this after- noon. Jules feared that the Ball would make me sick, but, aside from the fatigue I experienced then, I am perfectly well and feel entirely rested; but my poor husband ought to be worn out. In the first place, he could not enjoy himself much, as he does not dance, and then since eight o'clock * The Cross and Knighthood of St. Sylvester. 118 BIOGRAPHY OF this morning be has been on bis feet, and has not been able to take a mo- ment's repose. I truly spent a very agreeable evening. There was an attractive gathering of well-dressed ladies, the music was good and every- body had the appearance of enjoying themselves. I missed only the first quadrille, because I had not as yet arrived. I danced all the rest, and even the Mexican quadrille, which is very graceful and very gay. I will teach it to my sisters when I go to Limours. Tiie Mexican officers gave me three little perfumed flowers, which I am keeping for Nancy, Toto and Tavie. This Ball was given in honor of the election of President Arista. It is said that another will soon be given, on the occasion of the marriage of General Avalos. I enjoyed myself so much at the first that I am in hopes of going to the second. One can obtain at Brownsville every thing requisite to arrange a very pretty toilet and I am so spoilt that I have only to mention any thing that I desire and I have it immediately. Decidedly I was created and placed in the world to be nursed and spoilt. It is a vocation that is not at all disagreeable to me. I receive all I wish, I buy every thing that seems good to me, and yet, when I think of your strait- ened circumstances and of the sacrifices which you are obliged to make, I regret leading such a peaceful and such a happy life, and I say to myself that I am not worthy of the happiness I enjoy. ' "On my arrival here I could not at first forgive Jules for having caused me to make a voyage which had caused the death of my child. I re- proached him with it and we were both very unhappy : but he has done so much to prove his love for me tliat I feel no longer displeased and I feel certain now that we can live together in perfect harmony. '■'■ February 1th. — No boat as yet. It is feared that it was lost during the last Norther. I am enjoying good health as also Jules, and I wish I could be sure that you are all likewise. Unfortunately, I do not know when I shall have news of you, and, as I fear you must be anxious about me, I will endeavor to send this letter by a schooner. "Good-bye, dear Papa and Mamma, Jules joins me in embracing you tenderly, also Nancy, Toto, Tavie, Marie, Dole, Uncle Callard, Aunt Mary, and all our relatives in St. Louis." Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, February 14th, 1851. "Dear Papa, dear Mamma, "The Globe has not yet left Brazos, on account of a strong Southern wind which prevents her departure. This gives me pain, to tliink that you will still be so long without news of us. "There is at Brownsville a poor English family consisting of father, mother, and three little children, in whom we have greatly interested our- selves. But for Jules I do not know what would have become of them ; he has already rendered them great assistance and is even now on the point of lending them again forty dollars. My husband has a noble and LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. II9 generous heart and I hope that his charity will be blessed in our children if God will give us others. " Dear Mamma, I have just made a little bird pie ; but I doubt if it suc- ceeds as well as yours, for it is the first time that I have ever attempted it. Our poultry-yard succeeds marvelously. We have at this moment two broods of the most beautiful young chickens that one can imagine; our servant takes perfect care of them. I have really been very fortunate in finding such a woman at Brownsville. Her sole fault is she scarcely un- derstands any thing about the kitchen ; but then it gives me pleasure to teach her. I have shown her how to make an omelette to perfection, and this dish has formed our breakfast every day for the past week. " For an hour Jules has been eating up some bonbons which he bought for me, and I fear I shall not find a single one left when I have finished my letter. Please, therefore, excuse my shortening it. ''Adieu, dear Papa, dear Mamma, I tenderl}' embrace you as also my sisters, Aunt Mary and Uncle Callard. " Your cherished child, " Mariquitta. " Februar)/ Ibth. — I wrote yesterday to Grandfather in English. It is my first attempt and Jules was enchanted." Julius to Mariquitta' s Mother. "Fort Brown, Feb. 22, 1851. " Dear Mamma, " I have longed to write to you for sometime past, but I have been so busy with other writing, that I really am not always at liberty to do as I wish. " We have received many letters from you lately ; all good, bearing ex- cellent news about you. These letters do a great deal of good to my dar- ling little wife. We are charmed to learn you are all so well, that all is in a prosperous condition and that the refinery* is so successful. After so many dark, lowering clouds, so much sorrow, so many misfortunes, let us hope a brighter future is about to dawn for you. The good God is not inexorable, and when He sees we have learned to suffer with patience and that we are always submissive to His Holy AVill, lie no longer exercises us so rigorously ; for the lesson is no longer then necessary, it is only with an end to our spiritual advantage that He sends us crosses and trials. " Mariquitta has no doubt told you that she wrote to Mr. Rochereau to send you the $90 you had the kindness to destine for us. We do not really need it, and you have already done too much for her during her stay at Limours to permit our accepting that of which, you have so much more need than we. I would have told you so from the first, if I had not feared you would have attributed it to pride, and you would have thus been hurt. For this reason I have always abstained from speaking even * An enterprise Mariquitta's father had engaged in with his brother. 120 BIOGRAPHl' OF to Mariquit(a, tliiis it is on lier own responsibility she returns tliis money to you. Do not tliink, however, my dear Parents, that we are less j!;rate- ful ; we fully appreciate this new trait of goodness and generosity which seems never to tire of thinkinj; of us. " I am very urateful, dear Mother, for the tender exhortations you ad- dress to my Mariquitta that she may be more submissive to the Divine Will, and that she become humble and penitent, to the only source, from which she nmy hope to draw true consolation. She now feels much purer sentiments on this subject, and I think if we only had a priest she would again be very pious and approach the Sacraments much more regularh'. Formerly she would not hear of pious reading nor of the Beads ; now each day she regularly says with me, when there occurs nothing to iiinder us, two pairs of Beads and allows me also to read to her a chapter of the Imi- tation.* Moreover, she is gayer, more playful, and God blesses our house- hold ; I think there are few husbands and wives who love each other with as much tenderness as we ; we are devoted to one anotiier, and we never now have the slightest quarrel; I will acknowledge it was not always thus. She becomes much Aviser, more reasonable, and / less rigid, less difficult. You will be satisfied with us when we arrive at Limonrs. " As for this, I am not yet sure as to the time, I have not heard a word about my Leave; but as I am sure they will not refuse it, I prefer it as it is; for I prefer not leaving before May or the last part of Juno. Though Mariquitta is somewhat of the same opinion, still I feel positively sure, once the Leave is in my hands, I sliall no longer be able to restrain her impatience. I do not think she will ever become accustomed to live so far from you, — she loves you so truly, — she loves too much sometimes for her own happiness; but it is impossible to begrudge her, and if her exquisite sensibility causes her pain at times it also procures her moments of the most intense happiness, — happiness which is unknown to colder hearts and less refined temperaments. " My paper is at an end, and I have only space to say, dear Mother, that I love you and Father witli all my heart as also my little Sisters and I long almost as much as INLiriquitta to be with you all, when I hope we will learn to know and love each other more and more perfectly. " Kiss every one for me and believe me always, " Your devoted Son, '"Jules." Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, March 18th, 185L "Dear Papa, dear Mamma, "We have just received yours of tiie 13th and 21st of February. Your news about Tavie, dear Mamma, has done me good. I was very anxious about the poor child. * The Imitation of Christ by St. Thomas a Kenipis. Julius read a Chap- ter of it every day. LIEVT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 121 "Behold two boats, and yet Jules has not received a line from his fam- ily, he says nothing, but I know that he feels pained! If such a thing should occnr to me, I do not know what would become of me ; though I know well that I should not bear it as bravely as he does. " I have now to exhort you to practice a virtue which I have not myself. After the manner in which the matter has been arranged we shall not probably leave before the end of June or beginning of July, for which dose of patience it is necessary for me to provide. I was so happy in thinking that we should start next month ; but at least I shall be recom- pensed in another way for my submission to the will of my Savior and Master. In place of four months of Leave that he counted in the begin- ning on asking Jules applied for six months. Is not this delightful? From the tone of the letters he has lately received from San Antonio* he has decided on re-demandinfl; a militarv court and this is the cause of our voyage being delayed. He continues to entertain a strong hope of obtain- ing the reparation he desires. " The heat commences to be strongly felt. I see from your letters that it is not the same in St. Louis. If Jules obtains his furlough I can enjoy the next Avinter. I say enjoy, because I am thoroughly convinced that the cold weather agrees infinitely better with me than the hot. It is just the contrary with Jules, and it is truly unfortunate that there should exist so little sympathy in our temperaments. " Mrs. Chapman left last week for a two months' trip through Mexico, Miss Bennett will leave in the early part of next month, and I will there- fore be the only lady in the garrison, which will be passably annoying. The Captain of a boat offered to take me and Jules to go and pass fifteen days at Brazos, so as to eat oysters and crabs ; I do not think, however, I shall go, as I do not enjoy such parties. " I thank Marie for her good intention of writing and beg you to send me her first attempt. Dear little Dole appears to be very sagacious. I hope she, too, will not forget me. It seems to me that two months must have elapsed since I last heard from Toto and I think that she lias become charmingly lazy. Certainly a little boil ought not to prevent her writing, I will therefore accept no further excuses, " I am daily making cakes, I may say compelled to make them, because nearly every evening one or two officers, sometimes many, come to play cards with us, and it is the custom to ofier cakes and cordials. I wish to perfect myself in making pastry, during the three long months that still separate me from you, so that on my arrival at Limours I may be able to give a little feast to all the family. You will permit me, will you not? "I am now in excellent health, Jules also. I am gaining strength, my appetite is excellent, and I do not despair of arriving at Limours in a very plump condition. *Head Quarters of the Military Department of Texas. 122 BIOGRAPHY OF "Adieu, dear Papa and Mamma, I embrace you tenderly as also my Sis- ters. "Your cherished child, "Mariquitta." Julius to Mariquitta^ s Parents. "Fort Brown, April 9th, 1851. ** My dear Parents, "We received by the last mail yours of February 27th, but I have not had the time to answer it before this, being excessively busy with a Mili- tary Court of which I was constituted the Lawyer. "We know well how busy you are, my Father, and how little time yon have to write, so that we can always excuse your silence. Besides, be it you or Mother, it is one and the same, when the family write as regularly as they do; we have, therefore, no cause for complaint. I mj'self when I write, though my letter be addressed to the last one who wrote, intend it equally for all tlie family. " We were delighted to hear Octavie is rid of her cold, and that the rest of the family are well. The illness of poor little Celeste * considerably pre- occupied us, but we now have reason to hope she is much better. "I was so happy to know you Avere pleased with Mariquitta's last let- ters; it is not often she allows me to read them, but I had every reason to believe that the first she wrote from here were full of sadness. This sad- ness is now entirely passed, and, with the exception of bad dreams which she frequently has, she no longer looks upon the death of her son other than as a Christian Mother should. She is oirdinarily gay and laughing and rarely has the ' Blues', as she formerly had ; when after receiving excellent news from you, she would abandon herself to imaginary fears and foolish uneasiness, of which the foundation was probably a dream she had had the night previous, in which she saw one of lier Sisters sick, and again it would be a dark day or a clouded sky that would give coloring to her thoughts. It is true that seeing the effect this wccakness was having upon her health I Avas without pity for it; for these detestable Blues were always the cause of a dreadful nervous head-ache. But, happily, all that has passed away : I scarcely can remember when she last had a head- ache. Undoubtedly, her nerves were to blame, and, as she is now almost entirely recovered, I hope she will have no relapse. "As you observed, a perfect union now exists between us. I will acknowledge that in the beginning we had two or three very serious dis- putes. Mariquitta was in a dreadfully nervOus condition, and she ended by irritating my nerves so that I soon became as nervous as she. Thus when a difference arose between us it went far; but all that is buried in the past, and has been replaced by a solid affection and a perfect under- standing between us. "Since our marriage, with the exception of the last three and a half * Celeste de Coudroy de Lauroal, a cousin of Mariquitta's. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 123 months, in spite of much love on either side, our happiness and union seemed never to be realized, both having passionate and proud natures — she accustomed to be spoilt by every one — I accustomed to receive applause for all I did — we clashed together frequently and quarrels consequently arose and each believed him or herself in the right and thought that the other lacked love. Time was necessary to close the gap and make us un- derstand each other ; but I never despaired and now all fears on that sub- ject are forever hushed and at an end; and we can now frequently laugh together over our old disputes. "x\s to my Leave it is still uncertain, accordingly I wish to prevail upon Mariquitta to leave soon, so as to make the voyage with her Grandfather.* The season is now favorable for crossing the Gulf, tliefe is a new boat of the Line, and its Captain's wife^ Avho is on a visit in the garrison since the last two weeks, is very fond of Mariquitta and will take every care of her. If she waits till I can go, she will only die of enimi, as, at this moment, there is not a lady left in the garrison and I, full of this Court, preoccupied and worried, would have a bad influence upon her. Whereas to go to you, would do her good, and now that her affection for me is so fully proved, as I have already described, I am no longer determined to keep her so rigor- ously near me. "Good-bye, dear and loving Parents, I embrace you with all my heart as well as my Sisters and remain "Your devoted son, "Jules." Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, April 12th, 1851. " Dear Papa, dear Mamma, " I am awaiting a lady who is to remain with us two or throe days, and if she comes to-day I will probably have no more time to write to you by the Yarthf which starts Tuesday morning. I am a little annoyed at being obliged to receive this lady, whom I do not know from Adam or Eve; but these kind of services must be mutually rendered in the military life, and it would speak badly for Jules if he did not exercise hospitality like the other officers. I resign myself, therefore, with a good grace. " My poor Jules is always occupied ; I think it high time that he should have a Tittle vacation. He hopes to have some news to-day about his Court. He pretends that the moment he has some money he has a desire to spend it, and indeed this is only too true. He is so generous that I am obliged to check him. As I once wi'ote to you he gave a poor man at first eleven dollars, again forty-four, and again twenty-five, the whole sum amounting to eighty dollars. It is true that the last two sums were only * Her Grandfather was at the time in New Orleans, on a visit to his nephew David. t A steamer between Brazos and New Orleans. 12^ BIOGRAPHY OF loans, but I am perfectly sure that they will never be returned and we may accordingly consider tho whole as lost. Unfortunately, our assistance only gave but little succor to the poor Richards. Their position has not become more brilliant and on the last occasion that we visited them they painted their misery in such sad colors that Jules again wanted to loan them money, but this time I hardened my heart and did not allow him to follow the impulse of his too generous heart; for if he employs so great a part of his mone^^ in this manner, we would finish by ourselves becoming very poor. It is true that having no children and being in the Army our expenses are not great. I beg of you, dear Parents, never to speak in your letters of what I have just written, because Jules would be displeased ; he does not like his good deeds to be revealed. '^ April ISth. — As the lady I was expecting has not yet come I profit by the occasion to write to you again. Miss Marguerite Bennett left this morning. Our y)arting greatly affected her. I am now the only lady in the garrison. Many would be delighted with my position, but since my marriage I have cared so little for the society and the attentions of men that I value very little such a brilliant position. " We intend spending one or two days next week at IMatamoras so as to follow the exercises of Holy Week, — at least Friday and Sunday, provided Jules be not hindered by his duties. His increased occupations and the heat have taken away his appetite, but I hope it will be restored at Limours. "Adieu, dear Papa and Mamma, Jules joins me in embracing you tenderly, also Nancy, Toto, Tavie, Marie and Dole. " Your cherished child, " Mariquitta." Mariqiiitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, April 16th, 1851. "Dear Papa and Maaima, " I am all alone for a few hours and I am going to pass some of this time with j'ou. In answer to my solicitations Jules consented to go with the other Officers to Matamoras to visit General Avalos. " There was general excitement in the garrison to-day. The Inspector General arrived the night before last, and this morning inspected the two Companies. Jules' Company merited his admiration, and wiien the parade was finished, he expressed to Jules in the most flattering terms the satis- faction his had given him. Since my arrival here it was always a source of great annoyance to me to see all the trouble Jules took with his Company ; but to-day he was amply repaid, he looks as happy as possible. " I insisted upon his going to Matamoras with the Inspector General and the other Officers, for it pains me to see him refuse all distractions and amusements that I cannot enjoy with him. I do not believe in a wife rendering her husband a slave to herself, and if mine is lovely enough to desire never to leave me unless duty calls, I should now and then show my appreciation of his love and devotion. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 125 " AVliat I am about to tell you will greatly surprise you. We were very near leaving for California. The Governor of Texas. General Brooke, who has just died, was about to be sent to California as Commanding General of the Troops, and he was going to take Jules as his Aide-deCarap. It would have been a very brilliant and advantageous position, and yet if it had occurred I would have been very, very sorry ; for the distance that now separates me from you would have been nothing in comparison to what it would then be. "This resolution of General Brooke does honor to Jules and has gained for him renown, but at the same time the death of the poor General pre- vented his making Jules the formal offer, the acceptance of which would have made nie so unhappy. One of Jules' friends wrote to him by the last mail that an old* General, whose name I have forgotten, counts on asking Jules to become his Adjutant if he obtains command of the Regiment. AVith this I will be charmed, as it brings us East, and I will make the most sincere vows that the old General obtain this command. I tell you all this without the slightest fear of wearying you, fur I know how much you love my husband, and feel sure you will be always delighted to learn in what high esteem he is held in the Army. " April \Hh. — The days are very warm now, but from half past six the evenings are deliirhtful. " Our house is perfectly situated for summer, and if there be the slightest breeze we are sure to enjoy it, by leaving our doors and windows open, " April 20fh. — I am so happy to-day, Jules promised me this morning that if they do not give him his Court he will himself travel with me. What a difference in travelling with him from travelling alone ! "Dear Mother, I have just received yours of the 3rd of April, Tavie's of the 2nd, and Aunt Angele's of the 6th, and all the news is so sad, it is far from giving me bright and happy thoughts. "Jules no longer cares for his Court, for he now clearly sees what his Superior Officers think of his affair with Major Porter, and not wishing to overwhelm the old gentleman he prefers now that the Court should not assemble. I long to learn the decision about all this and to receive the Leave, for I am so anxious to go to St. Louis. " Last Saturday the Inspector General, Major Chapman and several other Officers took supper with us. " I cannot thank you enough, dear Mamma, for your regular cor- respondence. Not a single mail comes without one or two letters from you. They always do me much good and make our separation less painful. "Adieu, my dear Parents, Jules joins me in devoted love to you and our Sisters. " Your loving child, " Mariquitta." * Probably Gen. Walbach. 126 BIOGRAPHY OF CHAPTER XL Arrival of Abbe Domenech at Brownsville — his remarks — the Jubilee — Mnriquittn's description of Julius' intense love for herself — her dangerous illness and bii'lh of Louise — Julius' beautiful devotion to Mariquitta, his pious resignation and devout gratitude to God upon her recovery — her promise to God to invite Abbe Domenech to take his meals with them. Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, May 7th, 1851. " Dear Papa, dear Mamma, " What does it not cost me to live so far from you ! This separation prevents my being perfectly happy, especially when I learn that the * re- finery has miscarried. I think continually of your position, above all of my poor uncle's and I become very sad. " That lady of Avhom I spoke to you in my last letter is still here ; her child is very nearly the same age mine would be and the sight of it recalls so vividly my little darling. I cannot bear to see this child in the arms of Jules, for it seems to take a place it has no right to and I say to myself that it is only my Julio who ought to be there. He would now be so in- teresting. Ah ! why did he not die on that Sunday that he was suffering so muchl I had not yet learned to love him so devotedly and my sorrow would have been less painfully acute. " May \Zth. — Jules has a little fever since last evening; it is not much, still I long to see him on his feet. '• May \Ath. — I left my letter yesterday to receive a f priest who has just come to us. I am not particularly pleased with his manners, still the sight of him gives me great pleasure. "Jules had no more fever during the night, he has now risen. It is very ridiculous on my part to worry myself as I do, each time that he is a little sick; for all the officers of the garrison make fun of me and say that Jules pretends he is sick purposely to have me nurse him. " The Jubilee commences for us nest Aveek. It is so long since I have been to Confession that the idea of going soon costs me a great deal. " Adieu, my dearly beloved Parents. Jules sends you a thousand loving wishes. " Your cherished child, " Mariquitta.'" * An enterprise in which her Father and his brother Alexis had engaged, ■j- Abb6 Domenech. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCUE. 127 Abbe Domeuech, a young French priest, then recently or- dained, in liis subsequent description of" his " Missionary Ad- ventures in Texas and JNIexico," tells the following after his arrival as Parish priest of Brownsville. " The church of Brownsville rose opposite Brown's fort, in the midst of a wild, uncultivated, unenclosed country. The prcsb3'tery formed part of the building, which consisted of a square structure of four chambers, one being the sacristy; but there was not even a particle of furniture in it; and hence the first night I was happy to sleep on the boards. Next day a young officer of the garrison gave me a settee bed, bed linen, blankets and a few chairs, offering me also his table and his purse. I really had need of these kind offers, being almost penniless at the time, and I therefore gratefully accepted them. Without them I hardly know how I could have settled down in my destitution. This good officers name was Mr. Garesche, an excellent Catholic." He farther adds: " The news of my arrivivl soon spread among the riinchos around Browns- ville ; and reckoning upon a large auditory on the following Sunday, I got my letter of appointment translated into Spanish, adding a few words of invitation to my parishioners to come and see me, that I might thus the sooner learn the spiritual wants of their different localities. In reality the church was crowded with Mexicans, Europeans, and Americans, of every shade of religion. The reading of my letter gave them satisfaction, and from that day forth I had numerous visits. During the week, Monsieur and Madame Garesche were the only ones who visited the church. The fervour of the Catholics did not go quite so far ; but I rang the Mass bell, said the Mass and served it for the most p.art alone. To try how far re- ligious ceremonies might attract the people, I organized, in a hurried way, a kind of choir, and endeavored to celebrate the month of May with the ceremonies usual in France. May being nearly ended, my success Avas very poor; for out of a population containing about ten or twelve thou- sand, in the neighborhood of Brownsville, only twenty-five celebrated the Communion." Mariquiita to her Parents. "Fort Brown, June 2nd, 1851. "Dear Papa, dear Mamma, "Astonishing discovery, Jules Is suffering more than myself from the heatl He is becoming a little lazy and, I think, would like to excuse this imperfection under pretext of the heat. He gave me great anxiety for the space of eight days ; but his health is altogether restored and his appetite has returned. " We made our Jubilee yesterday. It is really shameful for the City 128 BIOORAPHY OF of Brownsville to see the small number of Catholics who followed our example. Out of 7,000 or 8,000 Catholics, there were but 10 wiio made the Jubilee. This is rather discouraging for the young missionary priest who has arrived, but as he is very zealous and has engaging manners I am in hopes that he will re-animate the fervor of the Brownsville people. "When I leave Texas I will leave behind me the remains of the being I loved so well. Far from forgetting him I think of him constantly ; but I do not like to speak of him. I do every thing in my power to drive away his image; for, although resigned, I cannot still rejoice at having an angel in Ileuven. I know that there he is perfectly beautiful and con- tented ; but then he would also have been happy here, I loved him so much. He has left behind him a void Avhich can never be replaced for me. Since his death I have become superstitious. It seems to me that I have produced in Jules that same absorbing and passionate love that I bore my child and this thought at times terrifies me. I fear that it was on account of tliat too passionate love God took him away and that lie will punish me through it again, but at the same time I say to myself that God is too good to punish so severely the feelings I endeavor so hard to subdue and I ask Ilim frequently to purify and sanctify what is dis- pleasing to llim in my affections. A great consolation for me is the thought that the tomb of my child was placed in the Church, for it will never be profaned. Though for some reasons I did not like Father Tclmon I can never forget that 1 owe to him such a great blessing. Adieu, dear Papa and Mamma, I embrace you most tenderly us also my dear little Sisters, Grandfather, and my Uncles and Aunts. "Your cherished child, "Mauiquitta." Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, June 13th, 1851. "Dear Papa, Dear Mamma, "I had the bines very strongly the other day whilst writing to you, and I am very sorry to have saddened you by my letter; but my heart Avas so heavy, on account of your painful position, that it was impossible for me on that day to hide from you how miserable I felt over your loss of fortune and the impossibility I found of being able to do any thing for you. It is, indeed, very painful to me to enjoy a comfort which you have not and to lead a life so sweet, whilst you are working so hard. I sometimes bear an ill will against Jules for not entering into all my ideas and I become enraged when he tells me that I exaggerate your embarrassed circum- stances, that you do not suffer as much as 1 imagine from your reverses of fortune; but, on reflection thereafter, I sec clearly that I am wrong in thus getting out of temper in such a case, for really I cannot ask my hus- band to love you as I love you and to sympathize with you as I, your child, should do. All that I have, all that I am, I owe to your tenderness and to your assiduous cares, whereas he has scarcely known you, and then LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 129 only in a time of confusion. Since my return I am convinced tliat he loves you, as well on account of what you have done for me and his child as on account of the affection which you evince towards him in all your letters, and I do not doubt but that when he will come to know you in your interior and your very inmost feelings he Avill experience that ad- miration and that filial love Avhich you merit from such just titles and which I desire so much for him to see. '■^ June 24. — Jules is altogether happy to-day. The Court, which is to judge him, is in session since yesterday. It is no longer a chimera; but, in truth, I would have preferred that it should not have become realized. Here has Jules been in arrest for possibly four months, and although he says that he has experienced many annoyances during this time, I fear that in all probability he will lose the command of his Company, which brings him ten dollars per month. May it happen that after all he may not have to regret having insisted so strongly on this affair. The officers here are the ones who are his judges, and as they are all horribly disgusted with the conduct of the old Major, I cannot believe that they will find any thing prejudicial to Jules, and so much the more since lately two of them en- deavored to bring forward other charges against Major Porter. In fine, it is to be hoped that every thing will turn out for the best and that once the Court has terminated we can go to find you. Jules desires it almost as much as myself and, really, he has experienced so many vexations within the past year that he needs a period of repose. "Adieu, dear Papa and dear Mamma, I embrace you very tenderly, as also my Sisters, Grandfather, Uncles and Aunts. "Your dear child, '* Mariquitta." Mariquiita to her Parents. "Fort Bro^tn, July 7th, 1851. "My Own Darling Parents, "My long silence is to be attributed to quite a dangerous illness I have had. But since the last ten days I am in a state of convalescence, though still very weak. First, I had a very high fever which lasted from Sunday night till Thursday morning. The Doctor was compelled to make use of very violent remedies, and, after a great deal of suffering, I gave birth on Saturdaj' morning, June 2Ist, at five o'clock, to a beautiful little girl who lived six hours. She was baptized under the name of Marie Louise Octa- vie by Father Domenech, who was kind enough to allow her to be buried in the Church next her little Brother. I have had two children, but both have flown far from me. I have not even a hair of my daughter, I did not even embrace her. Immediately after her birth, she was carried far from me, and I had not the courage to ask for her. I knew she could not live and I did not wish to see her, fur fear of loving her. I had hoped to go to Limours, but alas ! ' Man proposes and God disposes ;' but away with all murmurs, for He has preserved me to those who love me. 9 130 BIOGRAPHY OF " How can I paint to you the feelings of my heart when I learnt from the lips of Jules that there was no lonj^er any hope, that I must resijjn myself to quit this world. To express the emotions that tortured me, would be impossible. To die without seeing j-ou once more, without receivinir; your last farewell embrace, without asking your last pardon for all the trouble I caused you as a young girl! No, God was too gDod. He saw it was above my strength, that my death would not be calm, and He granted me life. I wish to prove to Ilim my gratitude and be resigned to my solitary life; but it is so hard, the murmur is ever ready; I miss my children so much and feel more intensely our separation than I ever did before. I have need of seeing you again, my own dear Parents. Oh! my darling Mother, how hard it was to suffer without you near my bed, to take care of and console me ! No one can replace a Mother near the sick bed of her child, and above all a Mother like mine ; and yet Jules was all devotion. During the ten days of danger, he never left me an instant ; taking no rest and no food worth speaking of. I do not understand how he endured all this without falling sick; but, with the exception of having grown very thin, he is Avell ; but all the violent emotions he has gone through have left him very nervous. Oh! how sweet to be loved as I ain ! I have a husband who is goodness itself for me; a Fatlier, Mother, and Sisters who love me more than I deserve to be loved. With so much to make life happy, how can one blame me for wishing to live! "1 have often heard you say, dear Mamma, that when you were so low, you thought of God and Judguient and not at all of those you would leave behind. AVith me it was just the contrary, so I do not tliink I could have been so ill. A\'ednesday morning when Jules told me I was lost and de- spaired in consequence, I became bathed in tears; I felt my heart break; and I thought only of him and you. I clung to his neck with all my strength and I felt it impossible to leave him. Oh ! my dear Parents, without knowing him you cannot imagine what a treasure I possess as a husband! Since my illness I can better appreciate his worth. During the little sicknesses I had on my arrival here the Doctor was always mak- ing fun of Jules' fears and uneasiness, but I clearly saw this time that the great proofs of my husband's deep love far from lowering only elevated him in the eyes of the Doctor. One of the three women who nursed me told me yesterday that she hud never seen a husband love his wife so dearly. Though surrounded by strangers, I was perfectly nursed during all my sickness. The Doctor * was devotion itself; he came six or seven times a day and slept two nights here, in order to watch me more closely. He now understands my constitution perfectly. He says my fever had all the characteristics of Yellow Fever, except that I did not have the vomitings, * Dr. "Watson of Brownsville, the same who was called in during the ill- ness of little Julio. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 131 ^^Jidy \Oth. — Jules' Court suffered by my sickness, which caused it an interruption of fifteen days, but now the Court is going on well, in fact much better than Jules hoped. Old Major Porter frequently becomes confused, contradicts himself at each question put to him and thus gives a great advantage to Jules. If the old gentleman is not considered suffi- ciently culpable for trial, Jules will know within two months whether he is himself acquitted or not. If acquitted he will put in his application for Leave immediately and we will spend the winter with you. If, however, Mnjor Porter is tried, it will probably be in New Orleans ; and then, as soon as I arrive in that City, I will take a boat and fly to St. Louis. "I am now much better. To-day I was able to dress my hair quite prettily and make my toilet slowly. Jules was so glad to see me thus, his emotion was so sti'ong, that I saAV big tears course down his cheeks, and, after holding me in his arms for a few moments, he threw himself on his knees to thank God, I suppose, for my recovery. " He is now for me what I remember you were to Papa, dear Mamma, after his shipwreck. When he is obliged to leave me for a while on his return you would imagine we had been separated for years ; he embraces me and smothers me so with kisses. Yesterday I was wicked enough to count the kisses I had received during the day. "Oh ! how charming it is to feel alive and feel I am still of this world, when I was so near leaving it ! And then the love of my Jules makes me so happy and proud. Many a time during my illness I would say to hira : ' Oh ! if my Mamma and Papa could see you now they would love you as much as their own children; you are so good, so devoted to your little wife, without you she would die.' ^'■July \bth. — For the last five days I have been studying diligently my Spanish, I wish to be persevering, to prove to my husband I can be so sometimes. He is convinced my ardor for study will not last more than eight da3's, and I wish to show him the contrary. I am making great im- provement in English, especially during the last month, in which I speak nothing but this language. But, in compensation, I am forgetting my French ; Jules likewise. "Good-bye, dear Papa and Mamma, I could write twenty more pages, but I suppose you have more than enough. I embrace you tenderly, as also my Sistei's and all my relatives. " Your own dear child, "Mariquitta." Julius to Mariquitta' s Parents. "Fort Brown, July 10th, 1851. " My DEAR Parents, "You cannot imagine to what anguish I have been a p:;ey for the last month, but, thanks be to God, for the last ten days or two weeks Mari- quitta is out of all danger and in a state of convalescence. To-day she played on her piano several times and can now walk about the house. 132 BIOGRAPHY OF "A little before five o'clock on Saturday, the 21st of June, she was de- livered of a beautiful little girl, that I vfished to baptize at once, as the Doctor thought she could not live long. But she lived six hours ; God vfho had preserved her so miraculously already upon this occasion, did not will that she should lose her baptism, and it appears since, that my baptizing her was not necessary. Father Domenech, whom I had immediately sent for, arrived very shortly, and baptized her under the names of Marie Louise Octavie. Mariquitta had alwaj's counted on calling her Octavie. In the afternoon our little darling was buried; four young Officers carried the bier to the Church, and she was placed beside her brother by the kind permission of Abbe Domenech. I do not think that I shall ever be able to forget how sweet to my heart was the first cry of that little darling, that I feel I should have loved so much ! with, at the same time, the cessation of the moans and cries of my dear Quiquitta, which had so long torn asunder my heart ! "On the day Mariquitta was suffering so much she made her Confession and the next day received the Iloly Viaticum. From the very moment of that Confession she commenced to feel better and her convalescence dates from that day. " The doctor who attended her during all this illness is the same one who attended our little Julio. He is a young Irishman in whom we have the fullest confidence, and who has always shown himself a very good friend to us. lie is just now the physician of the garrison, the attending Surgeon being on leave. " Oh I how I suffered ! how I suffered during that sickness ! My dear Parents, I did not see one ray of hope of saving my wife, her death sen- tence seemed pronounced, and I did all I could to resign myself to the will of God. But when I thought of you, saw your desolation on learning the death of your daughter, felt you would reproach me for that life so dear, my courage failed, I felt I never could look upon you again. I thought I had suffered before in my life, but I never experienced any thing comparable to the desolation and despair of that time and now that it is all over I can plainly see the hand of God and the signs of His ever vigilant goodness. *'My Court is progressing nicely; they had the kindness to adjourn dui'ing the dangerous part of Mariquitta's illness. I am almost sure that they are already thoroughly convinced of my innocence. I shall have a brilliant acquittal. "I am sorry to learn that Toto is still suffering, but I hope, as you say, that her sickness is not serious. I sympathize with you very sincerely in all your trials, all your disappointments, but I always hope, and I endeavor to persuade Mariquitta likewise, that a better time is reserved for you and that it will not be long before it will reveal itself. God loves to aid those who placing all their confidence in Ilim courageously do what they can to aid themselves ; but He loves also to try them, to exercise their patience, 60 that their reward may be greater hereafter. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. I33 " I must now bid you Adieu, my dear Parents, for my time is very limited. I embrace yo\x with all my heart as also my dear Sisters and Grandfiither. Give my loving regards to all the other members of the family and believe me ever "Your affectionate and devoted Son, "Jules." Extract from a Letter of Mariquitta to her sister Madeleine mentioning a promise she made God. " Fort Brown, July 16th, 1851. "Dear Toto, " Though I have received no letter from you for the last three months and though I owe answers to Nancy, Tavie, Mene* and Dole, still you shall receive the first letter, on account of your being just now an inter- esting invalid. " When I was very ill lately, I promised God that if lie would restore ray health I would in gratitude invite Father Domenech to take his meals with us. Thus he has been with us for more than two weeks." * Pet name of her sister Marie. 134 BIOGRAPHY OF CHAPTEE XII. Julius' sickness — his absorbing interest and occasional disbeartonmcnt about his Court IMartial — application of General Walbach to have liim detailed as his Adjutant — Mariquitta's sadness over the loss of her children and longings to return to Limours with Julius — her resignation — termina- tion of the Court and transfer of Major Porter — Julius' and Mariquitta's subsequent nobleness to him — her present from Pope Pius (he Ninth and Julius' decoration from him of Knight of St. Sylvester through Father Telmon — Julius' great joy thereat and intention rather to sacrifice his ofBcial position than give it up — his application for Sick Leave — Abbe Domenech's remarks — Julius' departure on Sick Leave for Limours with Mariquitta — additional remarks of Abbe Domenech. Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Bror'n, July 30th, 1S5L "Dear Papa, dear Mamma, " I received this morning your letter of the 13th, and the thought of all the anxiety you have been. suffering on my account causes me pain. You have now no reason to torment yourselves about me, I was never so well since my man-iage, I have the appetite of a wolf and eat nearly all through the day. "Jules is just now suffering with dysentery, but it is his own ftiult, because he will do nothing for himself; still it does not prevent his attend- ing to his duties, and he is altogether absorbed in the composition of his defense. The Court drags along in a disheartening manner and I find it necessary occasionally to encourage my poor husband ; yet he is surer than ever of having a brilliant reparation, and I think therefore he ought not to torment himself about these details. I believe that the excitement he has been in during the past six weeks in consequence of this Court has occasioned his present indisposition. Nevertheless he looks happy at the turn his affair is taking and I sincerely hope that he will be altogether satisfied with its conclusion. lie received a letter this morning from one of his friends which states that G en. Walbachjn ade an application to have him detailed as his Aide-de-Camp. Jules fears that the application will not be granted and I shall then be very sorry, for I would much rather live in Baltimore than in Texas. " August \st. — The dysentery of Jules has departed and I am delighted, because I was very worried. The prosecution of the Court is finally ter- minated, Jules will commence his defense to-day and he hopes that it will proceed rapidly. The venerable Porter renders himself every day more LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. J 35 despicable and all the officer;? here think that he will be tried in his turn. I have no reason to pity him, because for over a year his conduct has been intolerable. " August 5fh. — The Court of Jules is making rapid progress. He ex- pects to finisli this week vyith all his witnesses excepting Captain Hunt who is daily expected. If he, arrived yesterday by the Yarth then the Court's papers can bo sent to San Antonio next week, and as Jules will at the same time write for permission to deniand>his Leave of Gen. Twiggs, we can start liy the end of September, the best season to travel. If, never- theless, they do try the old Major, Jules would necessarily have to remain, as lie will be tlie strongest witness against iiini. Jules feared greatly that the Court would not allow him to set forth his too overwhelming proofs against the Major; but they have and have given Iiim full liberty and since his defense has commenced lie is in the seventh heaven, and I also, for it does me good to see him so liappy. " I do every thing in my power to drive away the Blues which so fre- quently will seize me. I study Spanish, I play on the piano many hours daily, in a word I try not to have an idle moment and I plainly perceive that it is the best means of dissipating the sad thoughts that will assail me, especially since my illness. The loss of my daughter was a cruel disappointment for me. I say disappointment rather than sorrow, because never having known her, scarcely seeing her, her death has not been a real sorrow. I regret her loss, and very sincerely, as I had hoped she would replace the void Julio left. However, let the Will of God be done ! " Forgive me, my dear Parents, for afflicting you with painful recollec- tions. I have done so almost thoughtlessly, but at least I can tell you that a great consolation in my last sickness was the knowledge that my dear little Octavie scai'cely suffered. She only remained in this world long enough to receive baptism and then went to enjoy an eternal happiness. During the time I shall still be far from you I am going to try and become sweet and patient and subdue my temper so well that I can rctilly prove to my Sisters I love them for ever. Nevertlieless, I think that since my return to Texas I have become a little better. The sorrows I have experi- enced have greatly changed my character and apparently for the best. I scarcely ever becouje angry with Jules and if a slight cloud should arise he dissipates it himself and almost instantly." Mariquitta to her Parents, "Fort Brown, August 15th, 1851. My dear Mother, 'To-day is your* feast-day, and I went to Communion for your inten- tion and also for that of my dear little Sisters, who are likewise Maries. "Yesterday I spent a part of the afternoon in arranging the Altar with * Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. 136 BIOGRAPHY OF Father Doinenech. In recompense for it I suppose he will bring me at dinner time a beautiful little picture. Jules would like to have the Irish priest, Father M. also take his meals with us. I have not as yet decided, though my conscience reproaches me with this want of generosity; but I trust I can soon resign myself, for I believe that the difference we m.ike between the two wounds poor Father M. Yet it is soiuewiiat annoying always to have strangers with you. It is true that my sacrifice will be a more meritorious one, still it will cost me dearly. "I have just received your letters of the 31st of July. Oli ! that I might go to you at once, my heart turns towards you, and yet I cannot leave my Jules! I can easily go now, as the departure of Capt. Hunt affords an excellent opportunity; but then I feel that I ought not to go, that I ought not to leave my husband. I am going to the Church to implore God to direct me. It would cruelly cost me not to go, and yet it would be even as great a sacrifice to go, even though I feel that Jules does not need me just now as you do, my dear Mother. He knows that my health is at present good and is therefore not anxious like yourself. His Court is progressing favorably. He is confident of being acquitted. Major Porter has received orders to leave the post and every thing is happening accord- ing to Jules' wishes. After suffering for some time his health has returned. It was his various annoyances which rendered him sick and the cause once passed the effects have also disappeared. Again, he might not receive his Leave. Moreover, I would not go to St. Louis but for two or three weeks. "I support the loss of my children much more philosophically than j-ou may imagine. It is true that sometimes the thought of them renders me for the moment sad, but ordinarily I am very gay. " A mother has so many sorrows, so many anxieties, that really when I consider the matter in a reasonable manner I feel that it would be better for me never to have children. You know how much I would love them, how anxious I would be about them, and how my anxiety would even render me sick. I know that my children are much happier in Heaven than they would ever be with me, they are ignorant there of the sufferings of this world. I am now altogether reconciled with my position, all the misgivings that overwhelmed me after the death of my Julio are gone; I can pray. I go every morning to Mass and try to become pious, and all this does me good. If I could but visit you with Jules I could wish for nothing morel Tliere are times when I really feel proud of having given two angels to Heaven. "August 2olh. — A night of rest and an afternoon of reflection have calmed me, and I think that it will be more prudent for me not to go with Capt. Hunt. The Court terminates to-morrow or the day after. Jules will then apply immediately for his Leave. We will have no objection to travelling in October or November. There is no danger to apprehend then, and besides with Jules I can have no fear. Courage then, m^- dear Mother, and do not worry yourself further about me. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. I37 "We are in raptures over the manner in which the affair of Major Porter has ended. Jules is so contented as to be almost crazy with joy. The officers of the t!;arrison are so delighted at the departure of Major Porter that in celebration of this great event they have been doing nothing all night but sing and drink. All the garrison is jubilant, " I am very glad tiiat Limours is commencing to yield you something. I have a great wish to see the improvements which have been made since my departure, but let us resign ourselves to the will of God." The Court-Martial convened at Fort Brown to investigate the causes of Julius' arrest found him innocent of all the Charges preferred, and his perfect innocence established the injustice and contemptuous behaviour of his Commanding Officer, Major Porter, were fully exposed. Julius was triumphantly acquitted, and the good news was hailed with joy by the entire garrison. The consequence of the matter was that Major Porter was trans- ferred by the Military Authorities to another Post, to the great joy of the officers and garrison of Fort Brown, who all detested him cordially for his many acts of tyranny. He was himself tried in Washington in 1852-53, for his unofficerlikeand wrong- ful treatment of Julius, and his old age alone saved him ; still he received a severe reprimand. Here is where Julius displayed so fully his unvarying charity, even towards this man who had made him suffer so grievously; for in speaking to his wife of the result of the Major's trial, to which he had been summoned as principal witness for the prosecution, seemingly forgetting all his own past injury and suffi^ring, he says, that he feels so very sorry for Porter, that after all he is an old man, and old men are sometimes very disagreeable, and that every one seems anxious to rid the Army of him, and it would be painful to himself to see this old gray-headed officer chased out of the Army, guilty even as he is. Moreover, when subse- quently the Major was sent to Fort Brown in charge of some troops and remained there a while in command of the Post, Julius and Mariquitta, seeing how lonesome he was in this garrison, where he was so universally detested, and that he appeared to be sorry for his past conduct and anxious to become friendly, made it a point whenever they met him on the streets of Brownsville always to speak courteously and never to allude to the past, and thus his forced stay in Fort Brown became a little brighter. 138 BIOORAPnV OF Mariquitta to her Parents. " Fort Brown, xYugust 29th, 1851. " My dear Papa and Mamma, "I had tlio liiippiness to go to Communion this morning, and I can assure you I prayed fervently for you and my little Sisters. "Captain Hunt must now be near New Orleans; and I grow sad when I tiiink I also could he so much nearer you ; and yet I applaud myself for having had the courage to have renounced so tempting an opportunity, for without me my poor Jules would be too lonely. You, dear Mamma, have Papa and my Sisters to console and distract you ; but during my absence who would take care of Jules if he were to fall sick-, and unhappily his heaUii is not as robust as it used to be? I can assure you, dear Mamma, it required very strong reasons to prevent my flying to you when I learnt by your letters of August 2nd and 4th how anxious you were for my return, and how worried you were about my health. "I would love to write to you every week, but that is impossible, for I never know when the Steamers sail. "Nancy was 19 lately and I am in my 22nd year. Are you aware that we are growing old? We are no longer children but grown up people, I especially, I feel as if I were thirty. "Father Domenech has given me a purse; and I take up the Church collection regularly. This morning at Mass I took up quite a good con- tribution. "I must stop till to-morrow, for Vespers time is drawing neai\ " Sept. \st. — I am much better, and if I could but spend the Avinter at Limours, I feel tliat I could regain the health and roundness of my girl- hood, still I am resigned to the Will of God. He knows better than our- selves what is good for us and when I speak seriously with Jules or to myself I think we ought to be delighted that the happiness of our children is insured, and not regret tliem any more. I feel that with them for our intercessors in Heaven, we can never be lost, for God always listens to the prayers of his little Angels, and would my Julio forget me? Oh no! it is impossible ! " Sept. 5th. — I commenced reading the poem of ' Roland the furious', but I do not think I shall continue it, for it is written in too exairgerated a style. Father Domenech has some vevy interesting books which he lends us. The otiier day he lent us ' Les Trois Mousquetaires.' Jules found it so beautiful he read it in one day, but I had tiie courage to return it with- out reading, fearing it would cause me to neglect my Spanish. " Sept. 6th. — Thanks to Father Telmon, Jules has been created by His Holiness a ' Knigiit of St. Sylvester'. lie is charmed with this great honor and intends doing all he can to obtain permission from Congress to accept it. He told me this morning that if as an Officer he could not wear this Cross he preferred resigning from the Army and undertaking some other profession or career; for as an American Officer he can receive no present LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. I39 from a foreign Court. Father Telmon is going to give me a handsome pair of beads which the Pope is to bless for me. " Adien, my dear Parents, I embrace you most tenderly as also my Sis- ters, Grandfatlier and Uncles and Aunts. " Your o^yn devoted child, " Mariquitta." Julius was the first and only American citizen who ever re- ceived tills Cross and Knighthood of St. Sylvester, and up to the present date, 1886, no other American has been thus honored. Beintx doubtful as to whether under the Constitution of the United States he could as an Officer of its Army receive and retain this Decoration of Pius the Ninth he wrote to his brother Alexander, a distinguished lawyer in St. Louis, now the Hon. Alexander J. P. Garcsche, LL.D., for his legal opinion. The answer was in substance that he could, since it did not denote a title of nobility but of religious honor. Julius had, however, made up his mind that he would rather resign than give it up, and from now to the moment of his death he alwavs felt the greatest pride in this Pontifical decoration. For explanation of the Cross and Knighthood of this illus- trious Order see Chapter XLV. Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, Sept. 24th, 1851. " My DARI.1NG Parents, *'For a while I thought that instead of writing to you I would have the pleasure of surprising you with a visit, but unhappily the reality has not justified my hopes. Jules continuing to be sick, always suffering with derangement of the stomach, Doctors Jarvis and AVatson had both given him a Sick-leave, thinking that a change of air would be beneficial ; but Captain* Phelps, the Commanding Officer of the Post since the departure of Major Porter, will not take the responsibility and says Jules is not sufficiently sick to require a Sick-leave, in short he refuses his approbation. ''Jules has written again to General Twiggs to ask for a Sick-leave and Doctor Jarvis has strongly endorsed his letter, so we will certainly leave very soon, either with this Leave or with the one we have wanted for so long. AYe may not be able to go before a month, but this time we will positively go, and this would amply satisfy me if I had not received this morning your letter in which you speak of the serious illness of my little * Capt. J. W. Phelps. 140 BIOGRAPHY OF Sisters. I partly reirret not having gone with Captain Hunt and }^et what would my poor Jules have done without me while he was sick ! Doctor Watson gave him yesterday powders that have been very beneficial. He is better to-day than he has been for some time. " Being almost sure that we will start by the next boat Jules wished me to pack my trunks, but I have been disappointed so often that I have not the courage to commence this work until I am sure of our going. " Poor Father Domenech, who has been sick for these last four days, received to-day very afflicting news about his ftxmilj-. He has lost his Grandfather, Father, and one of liis Sisters. I sympathize with him far more, knowing from Avhat you say how near I came to losing one of my little Sisters. "I must now close, for the carriage is at the door, and it is better for Jules to go carh' to his drive than late. ** Sept. 25th. — Jules says if after his Leave he be ordered back here he will leave me with you. What do you think of that, dear Mamma? You must excuse him for not writing, for since his Court is over, he has con- ceived a perfect horror for writing and spends much of his daj' in reading ligiit Literature, to rest his brain and help him forgot this affair of Porter. "Good-bye, dear Papa and Mamma, kiss most affectionately for me and Jules my little Sisters (especially Tavie and Dole who have been so sick), also Grandfather and all the fiimily. " Your affectionate daughter, "Mariquitta." Abb6 Domenech again says : — " One morning I was roused very early to administer the last Sacra- ments to one of the best Catholic ladies of Brownsville, Madame Mari- quitta Garesch6, wife of that good artillery officer who on my arrival had offered me his purse, his house, and his best services. I was attached by ties of devoted friendship to those two superior natures, who loved me as a brother. Madame IMariquitta, as I used to call her, had lived a long time in Paris, at the Convent of St. Clotilde. When at Brownsville, I usually sat at the table of my good friends, with whom I had many a conversation about my distant native land. On the occasion of my illness, Madame Garesch^ bestowed on me all the tender cares of a Sister of Charity; so that it was with the most profound emotions that I aduiinistered the last consolations of religion to this holy soul, full of resignation, who had so often aided me." Mariquitta to her Parents. " Fort Brown, October 7th, 1851. " Dear Papa and Mamma, "We were greatly disappointed this morning. Not a word about the Leave and not a line from any of you. Happily, your last letters were excellent and that thought assisted me to bear my disappointment. The LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. QARESCHE. 14I greater part of our packing is done and we firmly hope to be able to start by tliis boat. "The health of Jules ia not much improved. One day he is well, the next sick. Tiie medicines have done him no good and the doctor will give him no more ; for he assures Jules that it is his worry of mind which causes his present sickness and that he only needs a change of air to recuperate. My poor husband is so demoralized by these delays, that he told me this morning, if he only had something else to do he would tender his resigna- tion. To see him thus makes me dreadfully unhappy, still I know that his sickness is not dangerous, though it is very severe. Poor man ! he has during the past year experienced here so many vexations and trials that it is absolutely necessary for him to leave this place. "Jules has just returned from the doctor's and brings me good news. He is almost sure that we can start by the first steamer. The doctor has said that we must prepare ourselves, and I am in hopes that when you receive this letter we will be already at New Orleans. The Fannie will be here, I think, on Monday and we will have time to place every thing in order before our departure. I count on you, my darling Parents, and on my good little Sisters, to make my Jules forget all his miseries. " Since the hope of starting next week has returned I feel that my cour- age has also returned, and I am going to continue my packing. I trust we will find you all well. Grandpapa and Jules can mutually console them- selves. The temperature commences to be refreshing, an excellent thing were it not for the dampness of the atmosphere, which is very prejudicial to Jules. " I shall not write at greater length to-day. Since I think of my going I feel as if I could write no more, that I have nothing to put on paper, that only in talking I shall be able to satisfy myself. " Capt. Phelps has finally given the Leave and we will start by the first steamer. " Adieu, ray dear Parents, Jules joins me in tenderly embracing you as also our dear Sisters, Grandpapa, Uncles, Aunts and Cousins. "Your dear child, " Mariquitta." On October 16tli, 1851, Julius left with his dear Mariquitta for Limours, on Sick-leave. He was very ill with the Texas dysentery. Abbe Domenech herewith adds : — " Sorrow and sadness just at this moment fell to my lot. My cherished Jules (Mr. Garesche) left for the United States. In the friendship of this pious Christian, so full of lively faith, I found much encouragement and consolation. His conversation was full of unction, and engaging beyond expression. Solitude has always been to me a sombre veil, spreading 142 BIOGRAPHY OF darkness and bitterness over my thoughts. Often-tiraes the best constituted and most devoted natures require to attach themselves to something sensible, in order to shake off the lassitude of the soul. The mind cannot be always on the stretch, as it soon wears itself out. When you return from a long weary journey, the soul feels sad froni the suderings which it has aided to console, — the body is weighed down by privations that it cannot escape. At this moment the flower which you love, whose growth you watcii, and ■which you water with due care nioruing and evening — the bird that war- bles its joyous song on your gable — the faitliful dog that watches your return with plaintive whining, are not enougii to drive away this natural melancholy brought on by solitude. I was, therefore, deeply attached to this holy couple, tried so much by sickness. Twice was Madame Garesch6 brought to the brink of the grave; and twice did she escape, contrary to all tlie expectations of professional skill. " During our hours of freedom, Mr. Jules and his wife used to come and pass some time beneath the porch of my cottage. To tiie happiness of speaking my mother-tongue, while breathing the pure temperate air, em- balmed with the fragrance of tropical nights, was added the advantage of drawing from' the fountain head important information, regarding the countries which Mr. Jules had for a long time inhabited. At my age, these conversations had still for me the charm which the outpourings of friendship bestow upon tliose in whom years, evils, and experience have not weakened, and destroyed one by one their dearest illusions. My bur- then was often enough rather heavy for shoulders so young ; and some- times God allowed me to fall into faintheartedness, as if to sliow that He alone is the Consoler Supreme, the Master of all hearts, and that in Ilira alone I ought to place all my confidence, from llim draw all my strength. Unfortunately, in the midst of trials, my eyes were not always turned towards Heaven. Sometimes they sought the earth, to find there a sup- port. I found it in the pious hand of this friend, and seized it with all the energy of which I was capable. These evening entertainments were a kind of antidote against this singular lowness of spirit, the offspring of solitude, which I could not shake off. In the heart of my dear Jules I found strength and courage, which Providence seemed to deny me, to make my labor more meritorious. " I have never imagined that the priesthood was a mechanism which was to work coldly and regularly like a clock. Charity and love of human kind ougiit to be the moving springs of action with a priest. Such are often the tests of success in the apostolical ministry. St. Francis Xavier, St. Francis de Sales, St. Vincent de Paul, and so many other apostles of human nature, have converted whole nations, by pouring into their words and actions the treasures of charity, that glowed in the focus of their own ardent bosoms. A priest who would act differently from these illustrious models would preach to a desert, he would beat the air and his ministry would be void. But if charity of the heart is the principle of zeal, it is LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 143 also the source of a thousand miseries to him who attaches himself too much to the people whom he evangelizes. To keep up tliis sacred fire of charity, and direct it to the greater gloi'y of God and the profit of our fellow men, a strength is required which is found only at the foot of the crucifix. That encouragement is requii-ed, which is found chiefly in the perusal of the history of apostolical men, and in the devotedness of a pious affection. "Jules had been, then, to me one of those beings wliose parting leaves in the soul a void hard to be filled up. The day of his departure arrived. I embraced him in a flood of tears, and parted, never to see him more. His pious consort, yet hardly over the efiFects of her late illness, accom- panied him. She was anxious to go and pray over the tomb of her two children who died in the cradle, and were interred in the Church, but was prevented by unforeseen circumstances. At the moment of parting, she made me promise to discharge this pious duty for her by proxy. " Sadly did I enter my house, to be cheered no longer liy the visits of my friends. As night came I went to the Church, feebly lighted by the pale ray of the moon. The breeze was hushed ; the birds slept in their nests; all nature was plunged in profound silence; while I directed my steps towards the tomb of the two little angels to fulfill my promise. Alas ! It is only mothers who can weep over the bliss of their little ones, while their innocent souls enjoy an eternal happiness in heaven. Poor mother! she rifeed not visit those two tombs over which I knelt in prayer, and wiiich so often witnessed her prayers and moans. I could not pray for the angels whose bliss was secure; but I did pray for all mothers whose blind tenderness for their children is often cruel in its results — fatal tenderness, which fills the world with misery, and inundates it with vice. Thus did I discharge that debt of maternal piety. Tears bedewed my cheek ; for I remembered that in France, I too had cherished tombs, on which, perhaps, I should never leave the impress of my knee. I remained a good while, my head resting on my liand, my eyes turned towards the Altar, plunged in an al)yss of reflections, each sadder than the other. I had a friend, and God was pleased to take him from me. Thereby, no doubt. He wished to disengage me from all those earthly comforts on which I loved too much to lean. " Since, henceforth, God was to be my only guide and support, I prayed Him with fervour not to abandon me. When I returned to my room, though still dejected, I was, however, calm and resigned. I bethought me of that incalculable amount of suffering that is spread over the earth, and which a prayer, a look towards heaven, renders so light." 144 BIOGRAPHY OF CHAPTER XIII. Birth of Marie — Julius' summons to Washington as principal witness in Major Porter's trial — his visit to Mr. Bernoudy en route and narrow escape from death from a R. E. train — his arrival in AVashington, sick- ness and kind attentions of friends — visits Dentist — his description of his daily routine while in Washington— recommendation of last National Council of the U. S. — Julius' pity for Major Porter — postponement of the Court and his return to Limours. On arriving at Limours Doctors Boislini^re * and Reyburn, leading physicians of St. Louis, were called in, and though the Texas dysentery is said to be incurable, Julius' cure was never- theless effected. On May 2nd, 1852, Mariquitta gave birth at Limours to her third child, Marie, baptized after herself Marie Louise Char- lotte. In the latter part of the following September, while still on Sick Leave, and convalescing, Julius was unexpectedly called to Washington as principal witness in the Court- INIartial of Major Porter. The Order did not state why he was summoned and it was only at Baltimore, en route to Washington, he learned the reason, to give his testimony as witness. He arrived on the 2nd of October and wrote to Mariquitta that the Court would prob- ably last for some months, as it was necessary to summon wit- nesses from Texas. His own letters can best describe this period. Julius to Mariquitta. "Bellevue, near Louisville, Friday evening, Sept. 24tli, 1852. " Mv LITTLE DaRLIXO, "I arrived at Louisville this afternoon, after a journey of three days instead of two. Since the packet for Cincinnati does not leave before to- * Dr. Boisliniere was the cousin of Mariquitta and very intimate with her family, and Dr. Reyburn (Thos. Reyburn) was the family physician of the Garesche family. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. I45 morrow morning at ten o'clock, I profited by the delay to make a visit to the Bernoudys. " My trip from St. Louis was rather monotonous, knowing no one on board except the Captain, and, altliougli we had quite a number of pas- sengers, I in no way desired to strike up an acquaintanceship with them ; so I kept aloof, passing my time in reading, walking, or plunging myself into reveries of all kinds. Low water and fogs were the cause of our delay. The 'Fashion' is an excellent boat, perfectly commanded, and the Officers as well as servants were most polite and obliging. Up to the pres- ent I am perfectly well, not the slightest touch of fever, not the slightest indisposition. " It is late, all are asleep and I am growing sleepy. I have not yet said my Beads nor my prayers, and thus I fear my expressions will be far from choice. "Arrived in the city I tried to hire a carriage to go to Mr. "'^'Bernoudy's, but it Avas impossible to come to an understanding with the coachmen. They all objected, owing to the reparations of the road, except for the most fabulous sums. At last I decided to make the journe}' on foot. I started at half-past six and it was nearly dark when I reached the place of which the coachmen had spoken, an infamous place, compared to which fCaron- delet Avenue is a real 'Via Appia.' Picture to yourself a road descend- ing four, five, and sometimes six feet below the level of the road proper ; mud here, mud everywhere, and all this encumbered with wagons and carriages. Finally, I was beginning to lose myself when a darkey, driv- ing a brick-cart which had been carrying bricks all day, offered me a seat beside him till we had passed over the worst part, and I gratefully accepted. He took me about a hundred steps, he was going no farther. I dismounted and continued my way on foot. A little while after a coal- man offered me a place, but thinking I was nearly there I contented myself by thanking him for his kindness. I was always walking and was about to arrive when I heard a peculiar noise, somewhat like a mill. As I ad- vanced the noise became more and more distinct and I finally recognized it to be a train of cars. I then recollected that on my last visit to Mr. Bernoudy he showed me a llailroad they were building near him and, as I remembered, similar to this road. But what confused me was that the noise grew louder and louder and appeared to be coming directly on me. I looked in vai"n on every side, I could see no rails, neither could I see any cars coming: and yet the noise grew more and more formidalde, and Avith every appearance of coming on me that I asked myself, 'if that could be possible?' I looked on each side of the road, but neither side offered any security. I then saw a fence near the road and a little more elevated ; I thought it would be more prudent to climb it and see where the cars were and assure myself if I were in any danger. No sooner thought than done * A relative of Julius. f A street in St. Louis. 10 146 JBIOGRAPnr OF — scarcely had I climbed it when the cars whizzed over the veri/ spot I had just that instant left. Had I remained an instant more I certainly would have been crushed ; for, in tiie first place, where I stood there was an in- tersection of the railway with my road, and thus I would not have been able to see the cars until they would have been directly on me, and then it would have been too late to save myself; and secondly, owing to the darkness, my ignorance of the locality, not knowing which way to turn in the face of the terrible danger, I might have become confused and remained glued to the spot. This is the second service my Guardian Angel has rendered me within a short space of time. You see he watches over me, therefore do not worry about me ; remember that he loves me even more tenderly than you, and has much more power to protect me. "After all this I naturally did not arrive till late. But I received the warmest of welcomes, even my relatives of the East, who love me so dearly, could not have received me with more affection. " They immediately prepared for me an excellent supper. Mr. Ber- noudy gave me his grapes, his Catawba wine, which is of three years standing and is delicious ; he also gave me cotfee made with brandy which he also has nuvde at home. It is limpid as water and better than any Kirchwasser I ever drank. "I must now say good-night, kiss my little darling again and again for her papa, as also your sisters, parents, and all your family, and also mine when you see them. I think often of you, my darling, and would dearly love to kiss you. " Good-bye, dearest, "YourJcLES." Julius io Mariquitia. " Washington, D. C, Thursday, October 7, 1S52. "Dear little Wife, "Your first letter of the 23rd and 24th of September reached me and you do not know the pure happiness which I enjoyed in its perusal, and since, — in seeing your old tenderness revived, that tenderness which had remained so long slumbering, but which was to me so dear, and of which I felt so keenly the privation. Ah ! my little wife, you have given me a great pleasure. " Now, do not commence to torment yourself on account of my absence, and, especially, renounce your idea of coming to join me ; when even were you to come East, it is very doubtful if you could rejuain with me ; for at Old Point the Hotel is open only during the Summer, the season is nearly finished, and there is no other resource. As for myself, alone, I should have no difficulty, for I should live in the garrison with some one of the officers. Moreover, it is impossible that you could make this long voyage at this season of the year in the delicate state of your health. The Court, perhaps, will not last longer than one or two months, and, at the end of that time, I could return to j'ou. Every thing, therefore, opposes your LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 147 departure, added to which I am unable to pay your trip ; my own costs me but too much. It is necessary, accordingly, for yM\, dciir little one, to renounce it absolufeh/. You have nothing to (car for me, I am surrounded by old friends, who would not neglect me ; I can be taken in four and a lialf hours to Eden Park, where I am loved almost as much as Bauduy, who is, however, the darling of the family. There I would be nursed just as I would be at my own Mother's or at yours. So, then, do not worry your- self, my little one, for it would be useless. Moreover, I have already been sick, and can give the proof of what I assert. Traveling entire days in the cars, shattered as I was in health and with my disposition to intermittent fever, occasioned me a relapse. This seized me at Baltimore, and all night I had fever, and the next morning I felt very ill at ease; but, after having breakfasted, this feeling passed away. I then started for here and the fever returned: I experienced it, at moments, the entire day, but, not having as yet felt the least shivering, I attributed it to fatigue and did not give it any attention. The next day, Sunday, I felt worse than ever, and experienced a sort of interior cold ; this augmented in proportion, still I went to Mass, but found it impossible to remain there long. I felt that I was soon going to vomit and I was accordingly obliged to leave the Church. " J/oH (?«//, October 11.— rFinally, my own darling, I can return to chat with you. I was interrupted; the * Judge Advocate General returned to the City and came to see me, and I wished to place myself at work imme- diately. I had but little time to do this, because, in order that I migiit be tlioroughl}' cognizant of the whole aflair, it was necessary for me to read all the evidence of my own trial, and after that to compose the leading points of the accusation, which should be sheltered from all cavillings, and with the visits which have succeeded one anotiier Avitliout cessation, I have scarcely had a moment's time to myself for these past few days. But, for the time being, I am free. The Judge Advocate General came to see me again this morning; I delivered my work to him, and he appeared very well satisfied with it, and I ought not to see him again, until after to-morrow. "To return to where I was interrupted, — on leaving the'Church, Sun- day, I was forced to go to bed, after having sent iov the Doctor. lie is, so it is said, one of the best in the Army, the Physician of General Scott and of all the great ones of the Army, who are living in Wasliington. He was not long in placing me again upon my feet; although, at first, I was un- able to take any remedies, I had such a disposition to vomit. It seems I had a great deal of bile on the stomach, and, since I have gotten rid of it, I have felt infinitely better. Two of my friends nursed me with a great deal of affection and care, and one of them having found for me a Catholic boarding house, on the next morning, Monday, I caused myself to be * Major John F. Lee, who became a warm friend and ardent admirer of Julius. 148 BIOGRAPHY OF transported tliere. I have a fine room here, and a Church right opposite, also a Jesuit College, where I discovered one of ray old Professors. There are two Catholic families among the boarders, of whom one, relatives of my friend, tLay, has shown me a real friendship and had a great deal of consideration for me whilst I was sick. The chief of the other, is one of my old acquaintances at College. The mistress of the house also shows me many little attentions; every day, because the Doctor had on one occa- sion ordered me some oysters, and she believed, in consequence, that I liked them, she has sent them for my ^ lunch. ^ "On Tuesday night I had another attack of fever, but it has not ap- peared since ; the Doctor came to see me every day, as also many of my friends. Upon the whole, it is impossible to find oneself better placed than I am. Remember, that God always watches over those whom lie loves, and I have received too many signal graces from His paternal hand, not to feel assured of His protection : — may His Holy Name be forever blessed! Among those, who came to see me every da}^ was f Gibbon; he asked me, as you may believe, news of yourself. He indulged in quite a fit of laughter, when I related to him your fright about my Order, and your idea that they were about to subject me to another trial. He could find nothing l)etter, than to go and repeat it, the following morning, to the Adjutant General, who, as he afterwards told me, laughed most heartily. Yesterday evening, he returned, accompanied by McCown, who inquired after you. " This morning, I had my teeth arranged ; Doctor Wotherspoon had recommended to me an excellent Dentist by whom, he said, General Scott had just had an entire set made. He is not the one who has the greatest reputation, but the other asks most outi-ageous prices. Mine is not very moderate; will you believe that he charged me $10 for filling a single tooth 1 It is true, that the cavity was enormous ; he placed so much gold in it, that, to use his own expression, he finished by fatiguing himself. lie wanted me to allow him to extract it, but, as he acknowledged that it might last me still some seven or eight years, I preferred keeping it, even at the price of $10. For moi-e than eight years, I have kept one beside it, that the dentist twice filled, assuring me each time, that I would do well to have it taken out, and that it could not last more than three or four years at the farthest : — however, he found nothing to do to it. lie paid quite a compliment to Edgerl}' and to Dr. Plantou of Philadelphia, the only two dentists, Avho, prior to him, have touched my mouth since my infancy: 'their work,' said he, 'is perfect.' In fine, he filled three other teeth, I believe, and extracted one ; and did the whole very nicely. I had recounted to him the affair of Ferdinand, so that he took his precautions * Capt. Geo. W. Lay of the Army. •f First Lieut. John Gibbon of Julius' Company, his junior, now called in as a witness in Major Porter's trial. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. I49 and, althoiif^h the root was exceedingly deep, I scarcely felt any pain. My bill was $23. And your teeth, dear little one? What have you done re- garding them? As I do not want to have your little mouth disfigured I would like you to replace those which are failing you ; but, for this, I would prefer your going to Hale, I have not suflicient confidence in Mon- treville. I shall write to Alexander to sell my Land Warrant and to give you the money, for you must be in need, and I have not a single cent, myself, to give you. "As I think that my closet will be occupied, I beg of you, to gather all the objects you will find in it and put them away in one of your trunks; for I have left many little things there, to which I attach a value. All the old shirts, as I j;old you before, you can give to the poor. " How is my little darling? Give her thousands and thousands of tender sweet kisses for Papa, who would dearly love to give them himself. " On Saturday, day before yestei-day, I was finally able to go to George- town College: I found many changes. I dined there. " It appears that our house in Texas is not occupied by any family. Gibbon received a letter yesterday from *Dungan, which he came to read to me, and it appears that Dungan occupies the half of our house, f Saxton is on leave; we expect to see him arrive here, as also Holmes, fi-om day to day. "Good-bye, my own little darling. Embrace your dear little Sisters for me, as also your Aunts and Uncles, and all your Cousins. Many kind regards to Mr. Desbonnes. Remember me also to J Peggy and % Eliza. " Wholly yours, darling, " Your devoted husband, "Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, D. C, Thursday, October 14th, 1852. " My darling, "Your dear little countenance is constantly before my eyes and I am unceasingly thinking of you. Not hearing from you I became a little worried since yesterday, because twelve days have passed since I received your first letter. But I am just now in receipt of your second, which tells me that you are well, inasmuch as you can go to the City to arrange your teeth etc. But my poor little Marie has had chills and fever, how it would have pained me to see her suffer! Dear little darling, what would I not give to kiss her and her Mamma! You are so constantly in my thoughts, my JMariquitta, that I would love to write to you every day. Yesterday evening I was greatly tempted to do so, but I had other letters * Second Lieut. Hugh E. Dungan of Julius' Company. He died at Fort Brown November 11, 1853. f Second Lieut. Eufus Saxton of the 4th Artillery. X Peggy and Eliza were servants. 150 BIOGRAPHY OF to Avrite, and it was only tAvo days since I liad written to you, and besides I was feeling so tired that I finally renounced my wish, though much against my will. Kiss my little girl for me in thanks for the two phrases she wrote to me. " I rise every morning at half past six, so as to shave — the other day at seven. Though opposite a Church I have not yet been to Mass, for fear of the return of the fever in exposing myself to the damp air of the early morning. You see I am prudent; too prudent, I often think, and this prudence I sometimes reproach myself with as a weakness which deserves as punishment the return of that same fever I am so carefully warding off. " We breakfast at eight or half past seven. After breakfast I make my meditation, then pay a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, before which I say my Sacred Heart Beads : — then towards ten I go to the Office of the Judge Advocate General and stay with him all morning, discussing and arranging the accusations against Major Porter. This is a duty full of difficulties, but as you are not a law^-er I Avill not try to explain. * * * * '•To continue with my daily routine. Towards three, or half past, I return to mv boardinjr house, at four we dine: then, when the weather permits, I pay another visit to the Blessed Sacrament, I say my Beads and afterwards go to supper. I now take coffee every evening as a tonic as well as drink and until the present I have not noticed that it prevents me from sleeping. After supper I occasionally visit the Lays in their room, where I generally find every one that I know in the house ; sometimes I •write, at other times I read until half past ten when I retire. » * * * "Good-bye, my darling, I am well. Father de Blieck, formerly Pres- ident of the College at Cincinnati, told me the other day that the last National Council of the United States had recommended to His Holiness the abolition of four Feasts as also the Fast days of Advent, excepting Christmas Eve. There will thus remain in the whole United States but the four Feasts which the seven French Dioceses now observe. " Your devoted husband, "Jules." Julius to Mariqidtta. "Washington, Friday Evening, October 21, 1852. "Dear little wife, " I was exceedingly bus}' during the past week. I was required to pre- pare a sort of summary of all the necessary accusations against Major Porter, as also a treatise on the description of my defense. To do this I was compelled to read and re-read, or at least go over, portions of that long trial fully a dozen times. I wrote every night up to eleven o'clock, and even beyond. But, at last, thanks be to God, my task is finished this morning and I have nothing more to do. The Court-Martial is not to commence till the 25th of November, so as to give Capt. * Hunt time to arrive. *One of the witnesses for the prosecution. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 151 "At times I feel a profound pity for this poor Giles. For although he is given every possihle cliance to justify himself, nevertheless everybody seems anxious to rid the Army of him, and it is terrible to see an old gray- headed man tiius expelled! especially, as I am commencing to believe, when he must be a little crazy. Poor man, he has very little chance of escape ! " It is not yet decided whether the Court will sit here or at Baltimore. As the Judge Advocate General is determined not to allow Major Porter to suit himself in the matter, nor allow him to protract things as he did during my Court, I cati hope that I shall not be retained here as long as I at first thought. But i-emember that I do not want you to come, my Mari- quitta ; because at the period when I must return, namely, in the middle of winter, the season will be too severe for you to travel with our child; and moreover, as I have already told you, I am unable to bear tlie expense of your trip, for I am penniless. "Adieu, dear little one, take good care of yourself. Kiss my daughter for me, and kiss especially that dear little hand which has sent me such sweet little letters. Embrace all at the house, as also the rest of the fam- ily. Yours for life. " Your devoted husband and affectionate "Jules." As the Court was postponed till the 25th of November and he had finished writinj; all his Testiiuouv and had nothinoj fur- ther to do, Julius returned to Liraours for the brief interval, to his darling wife and belov^ed baby. 152 BIOGRAPHY OF CHAPTER XIV. Julius returns to Washington — his sorrow at being compelled to leave his Jlariquitta but noble sacrifice for the sake of duty — description of his trip — meets Father de Smet, the great Indian missionary — Father Fred's pleasure in seeing Mariqiiitta's daguerreotype and. promise to write to her — how an Oliicer on duty should travel. Julius to MariqnUta. " Xew Pike — near Cairo. Tuesday morning, November 16tli, 1852. " Mr POOR LITTLE WiFE, "If you felt as sad as I did yesterday evening, I pity you from the bot- tom of my heart. To leave you was like d,eath to me with the love I bear you, my darling; — what must it have been then after that unfortunate remark of * Ferdinand — seeing how you endeavored to make me postpone my departui-e — that you secretly accused me of lacking in affection. "The boat far from leaving in a half hour did not leave till sun down, in spite of ringing the bell every half hour and saying we were going to start immediately. Sad and discouraged I was beset by the temptation of postponing my departure till the following day, and nothing but the feel- ing of duty prevented me from doing so. This you do not understand, and yet if I have gained some reputation in the Army, it is due to the lidelity which I have always shown ; for I have done nothing brilliant during my career. As to what Ferdinand remai-ked. tiiat voyage was for- bidden ; in the tirst place, it would be only under the most favorable cir- cumstances that this trip can be taken in tive days ; secondly, as I am told that the upper Mississippi is already frozen over, it is very proba1)le the Lakes are also frozen ; and finalh', at this season on the Lakes, there is the double danger of encountering icebergs, or terrible storms. I would have risked too much in tempting this route ; if you understood better, my dearest, you would j-ourself be the first to forbid me. "Dear, dear little wife, I beg of you believe in my affection and my regret at leaving you ; I could not conscientiously remain any longer, otherwise I would njost assuredly have done so. "Kiss my dear, dear little daughter for me as well as all the family. "We are so near to Cairo that I must tell you good-bye. I embrace you tenderly, and I love you with all my heart. Write soon to give me good news about our own sweet child and to say you have pardoned " Your devoted husband, "Jules.'' * Ferdinand L., his youngest brother. * LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. I53 Julius to Mariquitta. " New Pike, Wednesday, November 17th, 1852. " My own dear little Wife, '' I love 3'ou, I love you, I love you with all the love of my heart. AYith you and our little daui^iitor I have passed lately the happiest moments of my life. But as happiness is but fleeting in this life; how sad I have been since ! Your sad, sweet face is constantly before my eyes, and the thought of the mental pain our separation causes _you. My own dearest, you thought I did not love you sufficiently, since I could leave you so soon, you would not believe it was necessary ; and nevertheless I have just cal- culated that in order to arrive in Washington on the 23rd I will have to give up the idea of making the trip from Cincinnati to Pittsburg by water, as I had hoped, and instead take the llailroad, .vhich is much more fatiguing and disagreeable. "This is an excellent boat, and as it is not 'insured,' the Captain is prudence itself. The table is very good, probably the best of all the boats of this line. The servants are verj"- attentive, the state-rooms are pleasant, the bed and table linen very clean, and I have the ]ileasure of being alone in my state-room — an advantage I, no doubt, owe to Alexander's influence with the agent of the line; for the boat is full. There are, I believe, as many as four in some of the state-rooms. I am charmed in having for travelling companions. Fathers Murphy and *de Smet. Although there is an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, and many Methodist Ministers on board, there reigns perfect concord among all these gentlemen. The amia- ble manners and the reputation of Father dc Smet make him universally liked wherever he goes. lie is nearly always surrounded by persons who eagerly listen to the narration of his travels among the Indians. "My darling little wife, I love you so dearly. Shall I not have a dear little letter from you? Ah! With what a delicious pleasure I read or rather devour your letters ! As it is now late I am going to sleep, and as we hope to be at Louisville to-morrow morning, I will now close my letter so as to give it to one of those gentlemen who stop there to mail for me. "Good night, darling, I press you to my heart and before going to bed will pray fervently to God and the Blessed Virgin whilst saying my Beads for you and my sweet and dear little girl. Tenderly embrace her for me and also embrace your Parents, Sisters, and all the family, and believe me always, "Your devoted and faithful husband, "Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. "Cincinnati, Friday, November 19, 1852. "Well! darling, here I am at Cincinnati, where I arrived yesterday at midday. As I had foreseen, there remains to me too short a time, to per- mit my going to Pittsburg by way of the river, so that I shall be obliged * Father de Smet, the great Indian Missionary. 154 BIOGRAPHY OF to take the railway. By leaving here to-morrow morning at 7 o'clock, I hope to arrive at Pittsburg towards 3 o'clock tlie following morning, Sun- day. I shall spend Sunday there, in order to hear 3Iass, which will de- cidedly give me a good rest. I had the good fortune to meet here Colonel AlexandtM', who is repairing, also, to Washington, as a mcml)er of the Court of Major Porter, and so I shall have an agreeable companion during the remainder of my journey. "I wrote to you from Cairo, and again from Louisville. I am feeling very well, and Father Carroll and Frederick were astonished on seeing me, 60 much better did they find my looks. And you, dear little wife, are you in good health, and how is our dear child ? I long to hear from you. You are constantly in my tiioughts, darling ; when I sec any of the men around me, accompanied by young wives, I feel saddened, I cannot refrain from regretting that you are not with me. The recollection of tlie jo3'ous week I have just passed near you, is very, very sweet to me : at the least, I do not leave you, this time, with my heart withering with despair, — I can console myself, in reflecting that you love me so tenderly, and that you are more than ever worthy of my love. " I showed your daguerreotype to Frederick, and your countenance pleased him very much. He promised me to write to you, for I told him how you had l)Pgged me to ask him to do so, that you desired it. " Dear little wife, how I would love to embrace you ! And yet, all pain- ful as it is to me to be separated from you, 1 have one consolation even greater than my sorrow, and I feel so happy in the thought that we are good friends and in the certainty, that I, this time, bear away with me, of your affection, tiiat sadness can scarcely wrestle with this feeling of happi- ness. Ah ! darling, may I not dare to hope that we have at length seen the termination of every species of disunion between us, and that we are going to enjoy, henceforth, so much the more happiness by a union of hearts that nothing can ever interrupt, — that ^ve have up to the present time been profoundly unhappy by the contrary. Ah ! yes, I have a sweet pre- sentiment that it will be thus. Console yourself, therefore, darling of my entire heart, console yourself with my absence, in thinking of all the felicity, with which our little housekeeping will henceforward be crowned. "Good night, darling, it is getting late, and I must rise early in the morning, so as not to miss the train. Embrace my little beloved, make her laugh in speaking to her of her father : — embrace your Father, Mother, Sisters, and all the family for me, and believe me wholl}', and with a sin- cere affection, " Your devoted husband, . "Jules." Julius to Mariqxntta. "Ci-EVELAXD, Ohio, Sunday evening, November 2Ist, 1852. " Darling, "On account of an accident which occurred on the railroad between Cincinnati and Columbus the night before we passed over it ourselves, we LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. G A RESCUE. I55 were not able to make connection here with the railroad to Pittshurj^, and, as it is forl)idden by law in this State for trains to travel on Sunday, Ave were compelled, in consequence, to slacken altogether, and we shall not be able to leave here until to-morroAV, Monday, morninc;. Tliis will hardly per- mit my arrivin;^; in Washington on the day I desired, even should I travel at night, wliich I am not very anxious to do. I send you from here a tele- grapliic dispatch, so that should you hear of the accident which delayed us you will feel no anxiety for me. "I went this morning to Mass at the Cathedral, — a Church just com- pleted, and wliich is the largest and the most beautiful one that I have yet seen in the United States. " What a sad, sad day did I pass ! Mud and ice in the streets ; a clouded and cold, rainy, dark sky ; and a profound melancholy in my mind ! ' Oh, if my little wife could be with me,' I could not refrain from s.aying, ' I should not feel so sad!' Our separation seemed very, very cruel, to-day, I can assure you, "my darling ; and yesterday almost equally so. In gazing at the country on both sides of the road I would recall Limours, in the garb of Autumn that it yet l)ore upon our return from Texas, and from Limours my thoughts turned immediately towards you, the darling of my heart. I pictured to myself the days we had passed there together, especially the first and the last, and it was with a real regret that I said to myself, per- haps we will spend no more days together there for a long while, and that after the Porter trial is over it will be necessary for mo then to determine on resuming my duty elsewhere. "There have lately been some terrible storms on the Lakes. * * " How is my little daughter? I reproach myself as thinking almost too little of her and too much of you, and yet I love her with all my heart. The thought of being her father is a never-failing happiness to me. There are times when I feel anxious on her account, I love her so much, T am so afraid of losing lier that I become foolishly worried. Hence I long to reach Washington and receive a letter from you. " This letter is not intended to make you sad about me, dear Mariquitta; but I am unal)le to write to you in a gayer tone. To be separated from you at the moment when all your affection was restored to me, and was be- come so dear and so indispensable ; after days, too, of such happiness passed near you, is indeed but too sad. My trip has, in consequence, be- come altogether distasteful. " I am going now to tell you good night, darling. Kiss our dear little treasure for me, also your Father, Mother, Sisters, and all the family, and believe in the love of him who holds your image always in his heart and before his eyes. " Always " Your Jules." 156 BIOGRAPHY OF Julius to Mariquitta. " Pittsburg, Monday evening, November 22iid, 1852. "Dear Mariquitta, " I think that my little wife ought to be very grateful to ine ; for I have written to her from each stopping place of my journey, — from Cairo, Louisville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, again this evening from Pittsburg, and day after to-morrow, I hope, from Wasliington. "I long to be at the end of my journey, the travel by rail tires and fatigues me to the last degree and I much prefer a voyage at sea. To be nailed to the same seat, and tossed about for twelve successive hours ex- hausts me in my weak state of health. On arriving here this evening I could have continued my route to AVashington without stopping, and it was the only means of arriving there on the day required, but I had not the strength ; for, having been indisposed all of yesterday and again this morning, I was forced to take care of myself. "Did not my darling little wife, on the day of my departure, say, 'my husband thinks a great deal more of the Porter affair than he does of his wife, he can just as well remain another day?' I even think I can recol- lect that you were not satisfied in thinking this, but you said it to me myself. As I am now going to justify myself in the eyes of the dear and charming little companion of ray life she must listen without feeling hurt, do you hear, little mutinous one? " When an Officer travels ])y order he should always endeavor to foresee the delays which he is sure to encounter and give himself sufficient time to arrive in spite of them. One can go from St. Louis to Washington by the same route that I followed in five days, if every thing goes along smoothly, but that is something which does not happen once in a hundred times. Knowing this I should have left St. Louis Saturday evening in- stead of Mond.ay, and even at the very moment that I decided to wait until Monday my conscience severely reproached me, as failing in my duty; but I was so happy near you and my little daughter, I had seen you so little, that I had not the courage to start so soon. I must add I feared a little .also that, should I arrive in Washington one or two days before my time, you would believe I was in too great haste to leave you. I thought then I should be giving myself j«.s'^ the time necessary, in taking eight days. You can now see, darling, how the matter stands. If 1 had started Saturday I could have ascended the river to Pittsburg on a good boat, a voyage that would have done me good and would have spared me 490 miles of railway — the distance I travelled between Cincinnati and this City. You will no longer now, darling, will you, be displeased that I should have left you on Monday instead of Tuesday? You pardon me, do you not? And when on any subsequent occasion I tell you that my duty requires me to leave you sooner than you deem necessary, you will believe me, will you not, my own darling? LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. I57 "Have you had any snow as yet? We saw it fall twice between St. Louis and Louisville. At Cleveland the ground was covered, and it Avas snowing hard Avhen we left there this morning. What I felt in that City was the commencement of a fever, due, I believe, to the dampness of the weather, and especially to the dampness of the room, in which I spent my first night; — a room which contained no fire and no means of making one. There I was chilled with a damp cold against which I could not protect myself. The next day I asked for a room with a fire. The mo- ment I felt that I was going to have fever I dieted myself and commenced to take quinine. I took six grains yesterday in three pills and five this morning in only one pill, always continuing my diet. This evening I feel altogether well, and as I am always journeying further and further south- ward, I do not fear again to fi\ll sick. " You dread so much the voyage to Texas ! If you could but know what kind of a journey this is, after you have once left the river, you would have good cause to look back with regret to our trip to Texas ! I dread for you, my darling, this journey ; you cannot understand how this travelling 800 miles over Railroads would fatigue .and exhaust you. "I have done nothing but think of you, my deai'ly beloved, all through my journey: each time that I see two persons who appear to be husband and wife, or see even but a young lady, my sorrow at being separated from you becomes stronger and stronger. You can be well, well assured that I love you, my Mariquitta! " But I must now say good night, my darling, for it behooves me to rest well this evening. I have an excellent room in the Monongahela House, one of the best hotels in the country. Kiss our little darling for her papa, also all the family, and receive a tender kiss from " Your Jules." 158 BIOGRAPHY OF CHAPTER XV. Major Porter's trial postponed, and his fright about his trial — Julius' accidental meeting with his sister Lily — signal protection of his Guardian Angel near Baltimore — anecdote of Col. Payne — anxiety of Julius about his wife and little daughter and his relief — his intense love for both — devotion to his own mother — shaves off his beard and change it makes — remark of a young lady — his present and future plans — objection to the Theatre — decision of the Pope in regard to recommendation of last National Council of the U. S. Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Thursday, November 25th, 1852. " MV OWN DARLTNO LITTLE WiFE, " You will be furious, when I tell you that Major Porter's case is laid over until January 23rd 5 for, had I kno\vn this in St. Louis, I could have stayed with you ; and now I must remain absent from you, as the waters are so low, that, I would be compelled to return by land, a mode of travelling which fatigues me too much ; each time I have tried it I have been rendered sick. They could not inform me of this postponement, as it was not known till the 20th and I was then nearly here. It was appar- ently impossible to forewarn any of the Officers called in for the case, judg- ing from the great number that are now in Washington. " The old Major is evidently frightened by the preparations made in his honor, and has no taste whatsoever for the affair. I was told that when he received the order for the case, he sent word that the state of his health would not allow him to be judged at present. Thereupon an Army physi- cian Avas ordered to examine him, which was done, and he was pronounced in perfect health, lie still protested, so then a consultation of Armj^ Phy- sicians was held, and he was examined, and the result was but a reitera- tion of the first physician's statement, namely, that there existed no physical disqualification to hinder his being tried. Being no longer able to feign any physical impediments he then solicited a delay for the arrival of his witnesses, jMajor Chapman, Colonel Bennett, Whiting, Captain Phelps and Doctor Jarvis. lie w.is made to swear that these witnesses were necessary, and also to state the reasons for tlieir being necessary — which he did in his own way — after which tlie Secretary of War wrote him that though his reasons Avere not well founded nor very clear, still as he, an Officer of tiie Army, had sworn they were necessary, it must be consid- ered true, and thus he lias been given till the 23rd of January to call them in. So here is how the case stands. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 159 " I wrote to you again from Pittsburg last Monday evening. On Tuesday morning I left that city and travelling the entire night and a good part of Wednesday arrived here last evening. I felt such an uncon- querable desire to go to sleep, that I could scarcely keep my eyes open, so that I retired at a very early hour, and, after passing a capital night, feel altogether rested to-day. I must tell you, in addition, that I am now feel- ing entirely well. Everybody here tliinks I have a better appearance. I wanted to telegraph to you to-day of my arrival, but, as it is Thanksgiv- ing Day, all the stores, shops, offices, &c., are closed, and amongst others that of the Telegraph, so that I was unable to carry out my wish, but I ■\^ill endeavor to do so to-morrow. "I reached Baltimore yesterday at midday, but the cars did not start for Washington before 4 o'clock. Tell Juliette, that if I did not call on her family, as I had promised her, it was because I was so overwhelmed w^ith sleep and fatigue, that I had not the courage to make any toilet, nor to go so far. "During all these four hours that I passed at the hotel Lily was there too, and yet 1 did not know of it. It was merely by chance that I saw her for a few moments. Just a little while before my departure, I went to the hotel office to pay for my dinner. The clerk asked my name and if I had registered, and he took the book whilst speaking to see. I gave him my name, and said that I had not registered it. ' But, then,' says he, ' some one else has registered it for you,' and he showed me the place on the book. Thinking that perliaps my travelling companion had registered it, I look and I see ' Miss Garshe.' Still thinking that it was intended to designate me, I was nevertheless astounded by the Miss, and I racked my mind endeavoring to imagine who could have done it, and why ; for I knew my companion too well to suspect him for a single moment. All of a sudden, the thought occurred to me that it was doubtless Lily, returning from the marriage of Mary Keating. I ask and learn that she had been there that very day, and that perhaps she was still in the house. I at once search for her and soon find her in the ladies' parlor. We did not recognize each other at all at first. Poor little one, the surprise was so great, that she could not refrain from shedding some tears. We were only able to spend three minutes together, I scarcely had the leisure to give her a good look. However, it appeared to me that she greatly resembled Mary, without, however, being as pretty, nor having as beau- tiful a complexion, — in return, she has a much sweeter and more affection- ate look. I promised soon to make her a visit. To be obliged to leave her so soon, rendered me very sad, I was even strongly tempted to defer my departure for Washington until to-day. Inasmuch as I already knew that the Court had been postponed till January, for we had learned this at Baltimore, there was really no necessity for my coming that evening, but there is in me a singular nature, which, when I have an affair on hand to undertake, whether it be good or wiiether it be bad, I am rendered miser- 160 BIOGRAPHY OF able, until I liave seen its termination. I fully comprehended, that I was failing in no duty by remainin*;, that no one could find any fault with me in doing so; — I bitterly reproached myself as being an unnatural brother; — but, the feeling was stronger than myself, and so T continued my jour- ney. Poor, dear little Lily, I fear that 1 loft her also very s;id. " I have passed the time since dinner reading four or five letters of yours, darling, Avliich arrived after my departure for Limours ; and amongst tiieiii I found those of your Uncle Louis and Nancy. I have written to-day, also, to obtain tiie one you addressed me at Old Point. Your letters did me good and rendered me also a little sad, when I reflected tiiat I was separated from that dear, little wife, wiio loves me so much. I had hoped also to find here a letter from you, written after m^' leaving you, giving me news of my little girl, but although the mail follows a difftn-ent route to tiie one I took, it appears that it lias encountered as many delays as myself, for I did not find any letter. "I do not as yet know wliere I shall spend my time of inactivity, whether here, or at Eden Park, at my Aunt Cora's ; I can make no decision till 1 liave seen the Adjutant General and the Judge Advocate. I cannot see them to-day, as all the Offices are closed ; — perhaps I shall know to-morrow, though I doubt it. "You may recollect the position of Assistant Judge Advocate General, of which I have spoken to you, as one of the staff positions I would like to hold: — well! they have been instituted, and are already filled; and Lay, the fi-iend who nursed me during my fever, has one. So you see, my darling, my Guardian Angel is not anxious for a staff position for me; but in return he protects mo in a most striking manner from every danger. Yesterday morning, the train, in which I arrived in Baltimore, was vio- lently diverted from the road, our car was overturned, and but for the ob- struction of a Telegraph 2>ole, which finally yielded, however, we should have been precipitated into a river, which flowed about 05 feet below us. ILippily, not one of us was wounded.* *The following is an account of the accident, which he clipped from a Baltimore newspaper and sent her in a following letter, "Anothkk Hailroad Accident. — Y'csterday morning, a frightful oc- currence transpired on the Susquehanna railroad, about 2i miles from the city, at the Eagle Factory. It appears that the express train was coming at a very rapid rate towards the city, wlien the locomotive came in contact with a cow which was on the track. The locomotive with the tender attached were thus suddenly disconnected with the cars, and passing over the animal escaped much injury, but the three largo passenger cars were not as fortunate. They were thrown violently off the track, and ran about twenty yards on the brink of a precipice about forty feet in depth to the Palls. At the time, the passengers gave themselves up for lost, but fortu- nately their destruction was prevented by the intervention of a telegraph pole, which prevented the foremost car fiom tilting over into the stream, in LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. G A RESCUE. 101 " I called this morning on my old Commandant, Colonel Payne, who is the actual Commandant of my Regiment, and is the 2nd Officer in rank on the Court of Major Porter, and who has always shown a great deal of affection for me. I had not seen him for seven years, lie clasped my hand between both of his and appeared very happy to see me again. 'And so you have married,' says he to me laughing, ' ah ! I had protected you from that, when you were with me, and I would never have suffered it, if you had remained with me.' lie is an old boy, whom you would greatly like. He was once in such distress, simply Vjecause he had dreamed that he was going to espouse a pretty young widow, who had lost her second husbatid, that I believed myself called upon to try and console him. "Darling, I love you, and you are always in my thoughts. It seems to me that for the last two months my affection for you has increased in the most extraordinary manner. Kiss our little darling lovingly for me, my own precious one. Embrace also your parents, sisters and family. Good- bye, dear Mariquitta, my own dear little wife, tell me you no longer doubt of my love, and be well assured that I am yours for life and afterward, I hope. " Your Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Monday, Nov. 29th, 1852, " Darling, " To-day is the 29th and consequently two weeks since we parted, and nearly five days since my arrival in Washington; and so far not a single line from you. It was not thus on the last occasion, for the day after my arrival in this city I received a letter from you. This silence discourages and saddens me. Until now I have continued writing, always hoping to hear from you soon; but my expectancy is constantly disappointed and my courage fails; for what will give me strength to bear our separation, if not your letters. 1 cannot amuse myself like other men, with other women or young girls in society — or at balls or otiier pleasures ; I have nothing to do, I am not occupied at present, so thus I can only think of you, in the morning on rising, at nigiit when retiring, and during all the waking' hours. Not only are your letters missed, not only does their absence sadden me, but this silence worries me, knowing nolking can prevent your writing but sickness, and though my little daughter was a which case, many must have been killed. The running gear of the cars is much damaged, otherwise they seem to have escaped serious injury. The conductor of the train, Mr. Pkhodes, was very active in endeavoring to re- store things in their proper places, and in getting a train from the city to convey the passengers and mails to Baltimore. One of the brakemen was thrown down the embankment, but not much hurt, and a dozen passengers were slightly bruised." 11 162 BIOQRAPIiy OF little indisposed -when I left, slie must indeed be now very ill to prevent yoii, my own darling, from writing; to your own Jules. " I am in the same house and same room I oooupied before leavinc;, ex- cept I have a companion. Captain *Ord, one of the two friends who nursed me durinji; my sickness on my first arrival. I liave nothing to do, and would like to go to Eden Park, among my relatives, to pass tlie time before the opening of the trial. Gibbon and Saxton are both here ; the first has been confined with a ])a(l cold but he is now perfectly well. Saxton is enjoying excellent health, so am I, in fact I am gaining flesh. News has at last arrived from Captain Phelps who is in Constantinople, where he is very much thought of and is perfectly well. Plummer and his wife were here the other day ; I called this mcirning but they had loft. lie has not yet recovered his iiealth, and came to Washington as a witness before the Court of INIajor Porter. " Tuesday evening, November SOth. — Dear little wife, my own darling, my Mariquitta, I love you tenderly, most dearly, — if I could but eml)race you, but press you to my heart! I was so unhappy j-esterday, that tlic transition, so to say, has caused my heart to overflow with joy ; for I have , received a letter from you this afternoon, a very little letter, but one suf- ficiently long enougli to tell me that you were only fatigued, that you Avere well, and that our little daughter was doing better. Not to have heard as yet from you, not only rendered me anxious, on account of the state of sickness, in which I had left our dear little one, but it had worried me most intensely and incapacitated me for all manner of occupation. I did nothing but groan and prol)al)ly annoyed Ord, for, after having in vain ]ireacliod me a sermon on patience, he finally proposed to me to go and spend the evening at the *Lays. I agreed to the proposition, and we repaired thither. We found so many people assembled there, especially young ones, that it was a very gay evening; they danced, played games, there was music, and all enjoyed themselves. As for me, I could not refrain from amusing myself, though I did not wish to play with the others, nor to dance, and was even thinking of a means of escape, the moment I perceived the company assembled. " This morning when j'our letter was handed me at the Post Ofiice and I saw how short it seemed, I feared, and returned to my room, and before opening it 1 knelt down to resign myself to the Will of God; for I felt that so short a letter from you could only be the bearer of bad news. You can imagine, darling, my happiness when I found my fears ill founded. My heart is relieved of a great weight, and instead of being a prey to dark and sombre ideas my imagination is carried away by delightful * Captain E. O. C. Ord, of the 3rd Artillery, subsequently Brigadier General. f Family of ]\[r. Richard Lay, living on 10th street, between F and G streets, near Mrs. Spalding's where Julius was boarding. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 103 thoughts of you, my own darling, ^Yholn I love with all my heart, more dearly every day. "Dear little wife, I embrace you tenderly, as I love you; I am con- stantly thinking of you, and at times I feel this separation unendurable. My cournge for enduring such separations does not seem as great as for- merly ; I do not know whether it is because I love you more, but I am sometimes astonished how cowardly this thought makes me, " Kiss very affectionately my little one for her dear papa. Embrace your parents, sisters, and all the family for me. " Good-bye, my darling, I embrace you again and press you in my arms. " Your devoted iiusband, "Jules. "P. S. I send you the extract of a Baltimore newspaper speaking of our accident near that city." Julius to Mariquitta. " Washington, D. C, Monday, December 0th, 1852. "My DEAR Mariquitta, " If you could only read into my heart and see the happiness caused by your letters! Intense happiness is my portion tliis morning, for I have just received your second letter, so full of affection and devotion. I had sore need of it. for I had just received one from my Mother which caused me intense sadness. Oh! I would dearly love to devote myself to that dear Mother, who loved me so much, to devote myself to her the remainder of her days, in order to soften as mucli as possible the pains and sorrows of old age! _She told me Juliette intends inviting you to spend some time with her, and then she counts upon seeing you often, as also our little daughter, whom she already loves and longs to see. " To return to your letter, my own dear one, your expressions of tender love made my heart leap with joy, rendered me (without exaggeration) nearly intoxicated with love and joy ! Oh ! the good you>- letters do me ! Dear little woman, beloved one, I love you and I will always love you I For I see clearly there is in me so profound a love for you and so inexhaust- ible, in spite of our love quarrels, in spite of my thinking myself severed from all deep affection for you, in spite of my thinking myself unworthily offended. You have but to whisper soft words of love in my ear, and let me feel they are sincere, and you immediately become my sovereign and much beloved Mistress, dearer even than ever. Since my last visit I find myself become more in love with you than ever: the idea of being so long absent from you grieves me. Ah ! Mariquitta, my loved one, I love you, yes! love me also always as you do now ! " I am perfectly well. Since the night of my arrival I have only once been indisposed. It was a dryness of the throat so disagreeable, that I passed a sleepless night. I found out the next day that there were several in the house who had like sore throats, and that it was only the beginning 164 BIOGRAPHY^ OF of an influenza that was an epidemic in the city. The others took syrups, etc., wliile I contented myself witii precautions and diet; for as it was a Friday and wo arc in Advent, I was fasting, but two days afterwards I was eniirehj well. '' I am taking rcf^ular exercise and together with the beginning of a cold spell I am feeling perfectly well. " What it is to be a father! All j'ou tell me about the badness and anger of our little girl, far from vexing me, appear charming, and only make me laugh! And yet how often liave 1 blamed other jiarents for this same weakness ! Oli ! I fear it is very difficult not to spoil one's child, and yet I would like to avoid spoiling my own. I am delighted she is bettor, for I easily become worried aliout you and her. " Thank your Mother for the delicious compliment she paid my little daughter, kiss her and your Father very affectionately for me, as also your little Sisters and all the family. Caress lovingly for me our darling little (I was going to say 'bad,' but reproach myself for it, for if she is cutting her teeth it Avould be unjust) girl, and for you, dear little companion of my life, queen of my heart and of my most tender thoughts, I hold you in my arms and kiss you a million of times and beg of you always to love me as you do now. " To you, my Mariquitta, for life, " Your Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, D. C, Friday, December 10th, 1852. *' My darling little Wife, " Yesterday evening I received yours of the 2Sth and 29th of November, which entirely quieted me with respect to the health of our little girl. I am made very proud by what you tell me. To have a little daughter with teeth, who can say 'No', when she positively means it, this is to be a Father truly ! How delighted I would be to see her shake her little head ! If it be really teeth that you see distend her gums this accounts for her little indisposition, her sleepless nights, and her tempers. As for you, dear Mariquitta, I am charmed to see you take your part so bravely, and it will merit for you God's benediction. Oh ! if I could only pass this Winter with you I I cannot explain to what an extent this thought pos- sesses me, nor how bitterly I feel our separation. It would be so lovely if at this very moment I could press you in my arms, my dear, dear wife! The pictures you place so vividly before my eyes, pictures so full of ineffable charm whicli thou, dearest, relishest as much as I, plunge me into delicious reveries, reveries probably too sAvcet. But to see what sweet sympathy now unites our two hearts, lills mine with unutterable happiness; and attests my love for thee, my Mariquitta, a love that only the lover enjoys during his honey-moon. " My darling, I beg of you to take care of your eye; let me know soon that you have consulted Dr. Keyburn about it, and that you are faithfully LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. J (J 5 following his directions. Arc you well? Are you growing fleshier? Do you feel stronger? Those are questions I would so love to have answered, and of which yon never speak. Do give me more details about your dear little self. ** My health continues good; — as I observed to you in my last letter, I have not felt as well for many months. Now, however, that my Iteard no longer hides my face, I cannot help noticing what seems to me the great change, which has taken place since my sickness. I seem to myself to have grown so old and disfigured, tiiat I acknowledge to you, that it even pains me, wlien I now look at myself in the glass. I cannot but believe that it must have struck you, during the little visit I lately paid you. Happily that my uniform, at the least, prevents my appearing ugly to the eyes of women ; and perhaps, if I were not such a good husl)and and my little wife so little ti'oubled with jealousy, for which I am truly thankful, I could still pretend to please. For, do you know what a young lady told me the other day? It was at a little reunion here, where all were amusin"- tiiemselves, and it fell to her lot to say to each one something agreeable, and, also, sometliing disagreeable. Well ! she told me, with all simplicity, 'Mr. Garesche, I like you very much — 'tis a pity that you are married.' What think you of this, my Mariquitta? "You ask mc, darling, what are my plans, what my projects? Being a husband and a father I do not wish to do otherwise than is e.Kpected of me. And besides I cannot judge beforehand what will be required of me. I am here, in Washington, until the termination of the Porter trial, and ifc will not be terminated, I think, till the end of March. After that I have only one choice, that of returning to my Company at Fort Brown. So you see, my plans are very simple. But if I were not married I would not think of returning to the dull monotony of a garrison life; for there is in this grand centre of action, — in this home of ideas and honors, a principle active and pressing, even to the most apathetic minds. And as for me, I feel my ambition rekindle as also my old tastes for travels and adventures. Without the all-powerful motive which withholds me, and which will always be sufficient to sul)due the like fancies, I should prob* ably already have started for Mexico. Otherwise, the expedition to Japan would please me greatly; otherwise again, I would do all that lay in my power to be admitted to some enterprise of the kind, or to be sent on some mission to a foreign country. But be not afraid, my own sweet darling, I love you too much and too dearly, to abandon you thus; I am too much in need of your caresses and of your sweet words of love, to be even capa- ble of separating myself for so long a time. It costs me already too much to be absent from y(ju now, to allow me to think, without shuddering, of a still longer separation. " It will be Avith the greatest pleasure, darling, that I will give you the moire dress, only wait a little while longer, until I can send you more money ; for you have scarcely enough at this moment to pay Eliza, to buy 166 BIOGRAPHY OF your Christmas presents, and to supply your necessary needs. But, as for tlie dressinii-iiown which you wish to present me with, I am compelled to refuse you this altosjether. It would be for me simply an object of luxury: I have no need of it now and I do not know that I should have any need for it in Texas. I cannot allow you an expense so useless, and I beg of you, tlierefore, my dear wife, to think no longer of it. "I shall leave here in three or four days, not to return until the 20th of January, so address all your letters till the 10th of January to Wil- mington, Delaware, care of *John P. Garcsche, Esq. Be sure to wi'ite under Wilmington the name of the State, in which tiiis city is, that is to say, Delaware, because, otherwise, as tliere are many other cities bearing the same name in the other States of the Union, your letters would run the chance of being lost. Although I count, in the first place, on making a little visit to fLily and perhaps passing two days in Baltimore, my sojourn shall be at my Uncle Garesche's. "You burn, you tell me, witli a desire of going to the theatre. Hum I is it to have the pleasure of confessing yourself afterward? I am not at all of your advice, Madame Mariquitta, and I wish you to be well dis- appointed. " It appears tliat the Holy Father has not wished to reduce the number of feast days and fast days in the English and Spanish dioceses of tiie United States, so as to assimilate them with the customs of the seven French dioceses. "I must now think of closing my letter. Embrace your Parents, Sis- ters, and all the family for me. Kiss my little daughter lovingly for her Papa, wlio would be so happy to see her, to play witli her, and to caress her himself; and not only iier, but also her dear little IMamma. I can only kiss you in imagination, my own Mariquitta, but believe in the sincere affection of "Your Jules," * His uncle. f His young sister, then a boarder at the Visitation Academy of Fred- erick, Md. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 167 CHAPTER XVI. Julius at Frederick City, Md., with his young sister Lily and aunt Lalito — his extreme sorrow at his long separation from Mariquitta — wretched teeth of prpsent generation and principal cause — visits his relatives at "dear old Eden Park" — their notice of his striking resemblance to his father — manner in which he wants Mariquitta to write her letters hence- forth — his ardent desire that his baby should be vaccinated — Sainte Marie family — returns to Washington — sorrow for Eliza's death — gratitude to Mariquitta for her kind offer about his mother — love for his relatives at Eden Park — good fortune in obtaining his former room in boarding-house — expectation of being extremely busy — ^liis own innocence will be more fully established — sorrow for Major Porter — willingness to call his baby MaTiquitta and objection to name of Quitta and that of Ned — Capt. Ord — Lieut. Saxton — Lieut. Gibbon's request to be transferred — Capt. Hunt — Mariquitta's scruple and his pious advice — dismay about being com- pelled to escort Capt. Ord's young sister to a Ball — his ardent love for Mariquitta and his baby — visits his young cousin Jerome at Georgetown College — his desire that Mariquitta should have her daguerreotype taken for him — Father Sestini's statement about his fasting all day so as not to lose his Communion. Julius to Mariquitta. "Frederick Citv, Saturday, December 18, 1852. " De-ar Mariquitta, "Here I am since Tuesday evening; I left Washington on the morning of the same day. It was a great pleasure for Lily to see me again, and for me, also, to find myself near her. She is so sweet and affectionate and has the appearance of loving me so sincerely, that I feel myself attached to her more than ever. She is very little, much smaller than Octavie ; she is not very pretty, perhaps, but has a very agreeable face. At her age, however, Mary was far from being pretty ; at the same age, Alexander, Ferdinand and myself were all very homely, so that it is very probable she will gain a great deal on this point. Dear little Lily, the last time we spent together, I was for her such a grumbling and disagreeable teacher, she had such an air of being afraid of me, that I dared not prom- ise myself she would remember me with a great deal of aflPection. But my * Aunt tells me, that it has been altogether otherwise. Lily is just at present making a pretty little Summer hat for her Goddaughter, which will be finished in time for me to take back with me. She was very con- *His Aunt Lalite, Mother Mary Joseph. 168 BIOQRAPHV OF tented, when I told her of the pleasure her three pairs of socks for Mari- quitta had given us, and assured nie that there had been no mistake about them, as I liad at first feared, and tliat the tliree pairs were all for her Goddaugbtcr ; only, she had finished the rosc-colorcd one before recollect- ing that Mariquitta could not wear tliem. " It was a great pleasure forme and my Aunt, also, to see one another again ; I was always her favorite nephew, and she, one of my dearest Aunts. I find no change in her, — she is just as gay, good, and natural, as I have known her in days of old. " I have been rising late since my arrival here, for we have had a great deal of rain, and I have not had the courage to go through' the cold, dampness, and darkness of the mornings to Mass. After having break- fasted, I make a little visit to the Blessed Sacrament, and, afterwards, I call on my Aunt; for Lily is ordinarily occupied in the morning and I have not wished to intrude upon her studies. I then take my dinner, and afterwards return and pass all the afternoon with Lily in jny Aunt's room. In the evening, I remain in my room, and read or say my Beads. The past two evenings I have had visits, which I must return this morn- ing. To-morrow, I am to dine with some friends of the family. Monday, I propose to depart; for I long to arrive at Eden Park, where, I feel almost sure, I shall find a letter from j-ou awaiting me. I should already have it, if I had remained in Washington, and this thought rendei's me a little impatient. "You will receive this letter, dear little one, at Christmas time, and I send you with it a thousand sweet caresses. I feel altogether discouraged when I think of what our separation costs me, and when I reflect, that it may not perhaps be the last, nor the least long one. If it were not for that, I feel confident that I could obtain some rank or employment, which would give me more advantageous returns, but which would force me to go to California, Oregon, or some other savage locality, where you could not follow me, witiiout exposing yourself to many inconvetiiences. It seems to me, that I find it even more diflieult to be separated from you, this time, than when j'ou left me in Texas. But I feel I am so much older, just now, I reflect that we have so little time to pass together upon this earth, — that I would wish to enjoy your society as much as possible, and it seems to me too precious to allow it to escape me, of my own free will, for a single instant. Yes, darling, you see that I love you more and more every day. It is only when endeavoring to resign myself to the Will of the good God, and thinking that He has the right to ask of me every sacri- fice, that I can console myself with my absence from you. But, we must always subject ourselves, without murmuring to His will ; for, not only do we owe Him this satisfaction for the sins that we have committed, but it ordinarily happens, also, that it is even for our temporal good, that it has been thus ordained, by Him, who is our Father, and who loves to see us happy, even on this Earth. Let us resign ourselves accordingly. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 169 "I did not wish to give you a direct answer in my last letter to your question concernini:; the moire dress of your Aunt Mary tliat j^ou wished to buy; but it was because I wished to procure a little surprise for you, and I wished that you should have it without having to pay for it yourself, and as a Christmas present. I, accordingly, wrote at once to Nancy to arrange it with her. As I am not often successful in making surprises, I hope I will in this case be as successful as in the one I wished to make you by returning last month to St. Louis. At least, I hope that you will have had your dress, dearest, and that you will be contented with it. " The more I see how wretched the teeth of the present generation are, the more I am convinced that one of the great causes of it is, the quantity of medicines, wiiich we take ourselves and give to our children. When I recall, therefore, how, almost each time that our little darling had a little attack of sickness,.! have pressed you to send for the Doctor at once, I repent of it. We are able to see, now, that there was, apparently, nothing dangerous therein and that the remedies of the Doctors did not have the appearance of benefiting her more than simple remedies. I would wish, therefore, dearest, tliat should it occur again, (as it is more than probable, now that she is commencing to cut her teeth,) to engage you not to hasten to give her drugs, but to try at first exterior remedies, and to content your- self Avith tiiose, so long as you see that her condition does not grow worse. " I see from a letter of Mary to Lily, that my Godson has already two teeth : how is the one of my little daughter? My Aunt tells me, that her children have always had teeth at the age of three months, or three months and a half. Eight months, that our little darling will soon reach, seems rather late in comparison. " And you, dearest, have you not given me a false alarm ? I am strongly disposed to think so, since my first fright has passed away, and I am able to reflect a little. All this gives me a great desire to hear about you and my little daughter, and I long, therefore, to have your letter. I had at first, on arriving, hesitated a little, whether I should not remain an entire week here ; but, owing to that reason, I am almost resolved to start Monday morning. "I shall now tell you good-bye, dearest; my letter is not as long as usual, but I am forced to mail it, for I shall be so much occupied from now till Monday evening, that I will not have time to add much. Em- brace, therefore, your Parents, Sisters, and all the family for me : I wish them all ' A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.' " Caress well for Papa his dear little girl, tell her he would dearly love to be near her, and that she must not forget him ; for that would be too great a sorrow for poor Papa. I embrace you, also, my dear little wife; I hope you will amuse yourself a great deal during this happy season. I will think constantly of you, darling, whom I love with all my heart. " Forever, " Your Jules." 170 BIOGRAPHY OF Julius to Mariquitta. "Eden Pakk, Thursday, December SOtli, 1852. " My own dear little One, " How did you puss Cliristmns time? Did you amuse your:?elf a j^reat deal? Are you well? And how is my little dauected summons to the Court-Martial had compelled him to forego doing so, and, as he did not wish to lose his Communion, he. had remained fasting all day, and would be glad now to receive it. All this was said in a modest and unobtrusive spirit, and the good Father, touched to the inmost heart, most willingly com- plied with his pious and exemplary desire. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OAR ESC HE. HO CHAPTER XVII. Major Porter's trial ended — Julius at New York — is to sail thence in com- mand of Eecruits for Texas — sorrow at this prolonged separation from Mariquitta but pious resignation — flattering compliment to himself from the Court and also from the War Dept. — on board the " Irene" — intense love for Mariquitta and necessity of his nature receiving love — what Kelisrion has done for him — his Officers and Eecruits- -great storm — res- cues a shipwrecked crew — intends applying for a position in Judge Advocate General's Corps — arrival at San Antonio. Julius to Mariquitta. "New York, Friday, February 25th, 1853. "I am about to cause you pain, my darling, and yet tlirougli no fault of mine. Instead of being permitted to return to St. Louis for you I am ordered to Texas with some Recruits. I have long kept this news from you, knowing all the sorrow it would cause you, judging from what I have felt myself. This I would not have done if I could have brought you with me ; but this was impossible for many reasons. First, you are not suffi- ciently strong to endure the journey from St. Louis to New York at this time: again, you will be compelled to make the voyage in a sailing vessel, thus we will be nearly a month at sea — where you will die of sea sickness. Arrived on Texas' coast, there will remain a long march of nearly 300 miles to make, all of which you are incapable of doing in your present delicate condition of health. I have thus kept my secret to myself as long as possible, so as to spai-e you. Many unhappy days have thus been spared you. As I have before said, the order pained me greatly ; and what caused me the most suffering wjis the thought of what you, my darling, would suffer. But you must not allow this to overwhelm you, my Mariquitta, for you must remember it is the will of God, to which we must implicitly submit — we above all, as you remarked lately yourself, who have so many reasons for blessing Ilim for the numberless graces and favors He has lav- ished upon us. Besides, we must reflect that though we cannot always see it nor feel convinced of it, still all that He does is for our good. Finally, if we examine Avell into the case, you will see that after all it is not such a misfortune. For you can come and meet me at New Orleans, and from there we will start together for Fort Brown, where we will enjoy the de- lights of a home more united than ever yet, and, above all, crowned by the charming presence of our little girl, and we will thus be junply repaid for all the sufiering experienced during the interval. Remember, darling, we 180 BIOGRAPHY OF did not expect to meet till May, and by this arranprement we will see each other no later than May. Our separation is not prolonged. The only difference is, you will be without lettei-s from me, once out at sea, where we will he for at least six weeks or probably two months, and besides you will be obliged to undertake the voyage from St. Louis to New Orleans without me. But this is absolutely all. Take courage, then, my darling, and console yourself, and do not get the idea, dearest, that this expedition is of itself disagreeable, that I shall suffer or be exposed. Not at all ! It is true, if I could honorably have withdrawn, I would most certainly have done so, so as to have been with you sooner. But if I had never known j^ou — that is, if I had never married, I would more probably have solicited this order, than tried to escape it. A like expedition would have been most agreealde four years ago. I love motion, change, action : my health is always much better thus. When in Mexico, if I felt the beginning of an indisposition, I had only to go on some expedition, and I was immedi- ately relieved. I am now in excellent health — the sea voyage and the march cannot but do me good. Moreover, I must tell you, I am about to have the command. Even though it were but a command of only a hundred men, it would still give me pleasure, for it will be about my first. But I am to have Whiting, Gibbon, a young Cavalry Officer, three young Infantry Officers, and a Surgeon, with 400 men under my orders. You see, it is a fine command. " Now let me tell you that IMajor Porter was acquitted — but though acquitted the Court added ' it was their duty, nevertheless, to declare that they considered the accusations of Major Porter against Lt. Garesche as '^ unnecessari/." ^ I know that several of them wished to make use of a stronger expression than this last, but they could not do so without ren- dering the Major's acquittal altogether ridiculous. But it is very honor- able and very flattering for me, that they thus put themselves out, to render me this mark of justice. They were in no way called upon to do so, they could have dispensed themselves ; especially, as I had already been acquitted once and they had not the right to continue my case, even if I had been found blamable. " As to what concerns Major Porter, I expected it; it is said, this is the first time that a like case has been judged in our Army ; and you under- stand that these old Officers (there was not one who was not gray-headed) were not anxious to furnish a precedent which could affect themselves. It was necessary that my innocence should be very striking, as it was, to be complimented as I was bj^ them. And, as you know, the old Major had ended by inspiring me with great pity, so you understand I have every reason to applaud myself for the successful issue. In one sense, this case has done me a world of good. It has made me known to the whole Army, and known, too, as an Officer exact in fulfilling all his duties, and as an upright and honorable character. This is shown by immediately after- LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. \^\ wards ijivinp: me so handsome a command, whereas it is almost certain the old Major will never have another, as long as he lives. "I do not know, darling, as to the state of your present health, and whether you will be able to undertake the journey to New Orleans to meet me and accompany me thence to Fort Brown. I cannot even advise you on this subject. I leave you at full liberty to decide as you think most prudent. If you are in doubt, consult your Parents and good Father* Damen, also Boislinifere; you could not have better counsellors. And be sure, I approve beforehand, no matter what may be the result, convinced as I am of your tender love for me, and that whatever you decide will be for the best. Anyhow you are not required to hurry yourself. Once arrived at Indianola, I will write to infoi-m you that I have commenced my march into the interior, and you must not think of leaving St. Louis before receiving that letter. " The thought of seeing yon again, my darling, also my little daughter, after this expedition is ended, gives me untold pleasure. Would it not be better for you to wean her? She would then have no difficulty in making the journey. Embrace and say Adieu for me to your Pai-ents, dear little Sisters, and all the family. Remember that if one of your Sisters would like to accompany you to Texas, and your Parents are willing, I shall be charmed. " Kiss our little treasure for me : — she will be one year old, when I see her; does she not begin to prattle and walk? I press you to my heart, my darling, and embrace you most tenderly, and remain always, " Your loving and devoted "Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. " New York Harbor, on board the three-master ' Irene,' Thursday evening, March 3rd, 1853. " My own darling little AVife, "I love you with all my heart, and your letter of the IGth of February, which I received this morning, did me an unspeakable amount of good. I send you thousands of sweet kisses. I was leaving sad, but that letter, so good, so affectionate, so reasonable, consoled me entirely. We are on board, and only await the Captain to set sail. I am writing to you in the midst of the disorder attendant on the embarkation of so large a number of undisciplined and consequently ignorant soldiers ; I am interrupted every moment, first to know where they shall go, again to give orders for their supper ; again for one thing, and then for another. I must catch my thoughts, as it were, on the wing. " My darling, let mo remind you that my address for the time being is Indianola ; send your letters there until I can tell you otherwise. I repeat, as to joining me, do as you think best and most prudent. I know you are * A Jesuit Father. 182 BIOGRAPHY OF sick, my poor darling, and in spite of my longing to see you, I do not wish yon to risk your life. But you need not worry over this until you receive a letter from me dated from Texas ; for arrived there a march of at least 300 miles will be necessary. I cannot, therefore, be at New Orleans before five or si.x weeks, probably two niontlis, after toucliing the coast of Texas. But if you decide that it is impossible to join me, let me know as soon as possi- ble ; for it will then not only be useless for me to make the trip to New Orleans but also an unnecessary expense. Whiting, who left Washington after me. says that (.Jeneral Scott and the Adjutant General still entertain the idea of calling back our two Companies from Texas. Ihey have not been able to obtain the consent of the Administration of President Fill- more, but they intend doing all that is possible to obtain it from that of Gen. Pierce. Probably I ought not to tell you this, dearest, as it may only raise your hopes uselessly ; for, really, I myself do not at all count on this hope. "We have a magnificent vessel, it would be impossible to find a finer one. It is entirely new, of 1185 tons, and under tiie command of a man who appears remarkably intelligent. The 3'oung Officers, who accompany me, are all that I could desire. The recruits themselves are the best, it is said, that have ever been sent to Texas, and really they appear to be ex- cellent men. Ordinarily the embarkation of recruits is accompanied by great disorder, but ours are so quiet and subdued, that they give us no trouble whatever. " IIow I should love to see our charming little daughter, and hear her say ' Papa' and 'Baba,' and see her 'clap hands' ! I feel I will be passion- ately fond of her, and the more I learn to love her, the more I will also love her already much loved little Mamma. " I love you, dearest, as words fail to express ; for I feel my love for you constantly increasing. Your letter did me so much good, and I now leave with a light heart. The expedition is in itself very agreeable, and if, as with God's grace I trust I can do so, I can acquit myself well it will not fail to give me honor. "Embrace affectionately for me your good Parents, your dear little Sis- ters, and all tlie family. Give a thousand kisses to Mariqui///(r,* and tell her that Papa loves her with all his heart and hoj^ies she will return his affection. "Now, I must leave you, my darling little wife; for we are in full sea, and the pilot, who is to receive my letter, is about to leave us. Farewell, dearest, I press you to my heart and lavish upon you the most tender caresses. "Always yours, "Your devoted husband, "Jules." * Pet name for his little daughter Marie. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 183 Julius to Mariquitta. "On Board the Three-Master Irene, March 22, 1853. "My darlini!;, how I miss you! How weak and destitute of courage I feel, at the thought of tiiese continual separations! At times it seems almost impossible to live thus, for my heart has need of her who has given it life — whose society, affection, and sweet caresses have become indispensa- ble. My heart has always been loving, and has always felt the need of being loved — has always found the greatest happiness in home ties, although dreaming of a greater happiness, which has since been realized in marriage. " I suffered, before knowing you, from the separation from my family ; but I had a thousand distractions, which rendered this suffering less keen, which even made me forget it. For then I was still young, ardent, I gained admiration, in a manner, which now astonishes me, when I. think of and recollect the character of some of those who deigned to speak of me in such flattering terms. The success of vanity, ambition, society, occupied my thoughts, and filled my mind. But now since religion has taught me the nothingness of all these frivolities, the dangers and temptations that are attached to them, I am a changed being. Society no longer possesses charms for me, my heart opens wider to the sweet affections that God blesses. Far from my wife and child, I am no longer myself; I am but tlie half of my- self, and even less than the half, — an unhappy and incomplete being. If God were not so good to me, and did not sustain me with so many graces, I do not really see how I could look upon this long separation from you. "But you are curious, my little wife, to know how my journey passed. We had scarcely gained the open sea when a terrible tempest hailed us, and with the exception of Whiting we were all sick, even the 2nd Officer of the ship included. I, who did not have my little wife to nurse; could allow myself to be sick with the others, and was sick for two days. But all are well now. Thanks to this storm, we made 700 miles in less than four days ; but we have had little wind since, and have, in consequence, not made much headway. The young Officers, who accompany me, are all excellent companions. The recruits are excellent men, and are already nearly as well disciplined as old Soldiers. " We had the good fortune to come to the assistance of the crew of a vessel which had the night of the storm struck against another, and ran the risk of soon sinking. " In the midst of our preparations for the march I find little time to write to you, dearest; a long letter is impossible. " Indianola, Texas, Holi/ Friday, March 25th. — We landed this morn- ing, my darling, and at first I was very sad on hearing there was no letter from my wife ; but afterwards yours of the 27th February was handed me, which you had addressed to Washington. AVhat consolation did it not 184 BIOGRAPHY OF afford me, it was so tender, so full of affection ! My Mariquitta, how you make me love you! too much even! is it not so, dear little one, since I have not the courage to live always separated from you, that I even at times take a dislike to my career. And yet, what can I do ? I am too indulgent, too much, I do not know why, in other words too little fitted for business matters. I would ruin myself in any other career. But still it is not on a Holy Day like this that I can permit myself to murmur. "I grieve to know that you are always suffering and that your health does not permit you to join me. Address your letters to care of the U. S. Quarter Master, Indianola, Texas. To-morrow, if possible, we begin the march, or at latest the day after. I am in perfect health, thanks be to God, and if it were not for the thought of you and my little daughter. I would be charmed with this expedition ; it is with a feeling of pleasure I find myself again in a climate that I like so much. " I am going to write to Major Lee, to ask him to consider me as a can- didate, in case his Staff is increased, — that of the Judge Advocates. There is but little chance, still I do not wish to neglect any means. "I have sent you to-day a telegrapliic dispatch, by a gentleman who is going to New Orleans, announcing my arrival. After this letter I do not know when you will have another from me, my darling; but be sure I will neglect no opportunity of sending you news. What you tell me of my little daugiiter renders me almost crazy; caress and kiss her for her Papa. I press you to my heart, my darling, my sweet and cherished little wife ; if you only knew how much I love you ! " Your husband, your "Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. " San AxTONio, Texas, April 4th, 1S53. " My darling, " I am writing to you in haste, to inform you that General Harney, whom I met here, has dispensed me from going further. I shall, in con- sequence, start in four or five days for New Orleans, if I do not receive any letter from you, announcing that you are incapable of coming to join me. If you can come, start immediately, or, at least, as soon as you can find a good boat for New Orleans. I send you this very day, through the medium of * David, a telegraphic dispatch, announcing this news." * Her cousin, David de Coudroy de Laureal, living in New Orleans. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 185 CHAPTER XVIII. Mariquitta's departure for Texas — Julius resumes commanrl of his Com- pany — is appointed to different responsible positions — his and Mariquitta's great sorrow about the death of her aunt Lily — little Marie — Julius' ap- plication to Col. Cooper for vacancy in liis Corps— arrival of troops at Fort Brown, also of Major Porter — Julius on Engineer duty — flattering letter from Col. Cooper — General P. Smith — Julius' and Mariquitta's kindness to Major Porter — Yellow Fever at Fort Brown and her dread of it — Father Olivier's remarks— Julius' devotion to the afflicted and seizure himself with the terrible Yellow Fever — lying at death's door, and Mari- quitta's fearful agony of heart, hor vow and his miraculous recovery — his great fondness for his child, and his and Mariquitta's willing sacrifice for its good. Ox the 27th of April Mariquitta left Limours with her little daughter and was met by Julius at New Orleans, and together they journeyed to Fort Brown, Texas. The reader can readily imagine Julius' intense delight in see- ing again these beloved beings from whom he had been sep- arated for so many long months, and his gratitude to his Maker who had vouchsafed him this untold blessing. How different was this reunion to that of the Fall of 1850! Then how sad ; now how joyful ! What a happiness it was to clasp agitin to his heart his darling little wife, that being whom he loved so ten- derly and devotedly and who repaid his love with a kindred affection, and to caress his sweet baby daughter, his Mariquitita! He again assumed command of his Company, and during this year, 1853, also served as Post Quarter Master and in various other duties of responsibility, for which his superiors deemed him so fully competent. Julius to Mariquitta's Mother. "Fort Brown, August 17, 1853. " My good axd dear Mother, "For many days I have been thinking of v?riting, and I fully expected to be able to chat with you on gay subjects, I hoped to amuse myself with you in speaking of our two Mariquittas : — I did not foresee this distress- 186 BIOGRAPnV OF fill news, that was already directing its steps towards you ; — I did not know of the fatal event, which had already thrown a numerous family into mournina; and grief, and wliich was also to sadden me, even to the very depths of my heart. My poor Mariquitta lias been most profoundly affected, and, all day, it has pained me to see her thus. Our little daugh- ter is a great resource to us, however, in a moment like this. Surmising notiiing, she naturally keeps up her cliildish prattle, and constantly attracts our attention to herself by some pretty little trick, to which it is impossible to refuse a smile; or by some little fit of temper, which it is necessary at once to correct. "I am so confounded by the unforeseen news of this great loss which we have just sustained, that I am almost stunned. Dear Aunt Lily! so sweet, so good, supporting with a patience so angelic, the incessant wor- riments which pursued her, — who could have expected that she would be 60 soon carried away from us, she, who gave such an example of charity, of resignation, and of all the most beautiful Christian virtues! All! how terrible Death becomes, in presence of such a victim ! And how those, who, like myself, admire, without being aljle ever to attain the practice of this sweetness, this humility, this charity; so perfect, — must shudder when they think of the different reception which awaits them before God, at the sight of their impatience, their pride, their hardness of heart, tlieir fits of passion, and their resistance, in the midst of the sorrows and trials that men must endure in this miserable life! " Those poor ladies, who were so much attached to her, what a thunder- bolt for them! With all my heart do I pity them, .and I would myself like to express my feelings to them. I asked Mariquitta a place in the letter she was writing to them, to do so ; — but she told me there was none, and it is perhaps, after all, for the best, for I scarcely feel capable of doing it. Will you tiien, my good Mother, be my interpreter to them and to my good Father. Assure them all of the very vivid and very sincere part that I take in their grief. I loved this good Aunt so nuieh, that their loss is also a very great one for me. It is, therefore, altogether natural, that I should sympatliize with them. " We have iuid a great deal of rain these past two or three days, which has occasioned colds and inconveniences to many people. Mariquitta suf- fered a little from a cold, but she is now better. Marie had already one, which lias passed away altogether since yesterda}\ My own health con- tinues excellent. " Marie develops every day ; she walks, all alone, and promenaded to- day throughout the house. Her intelligence is increasing very much. I notice that she has a very susceptible character, but, at the same time, an affectionate and even caressing one. As you say, violent proceedings will obtain nothing from her; and I even hope, when she will have attained more reason, tliat it will be very easy to lead her. "Goodbye, dear Mamma, embrace for me my Father, my dear little LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 187 Sisters, as also those ladies, and give my affectionate regards to my good friend and dear Cousin, Mr. Callard : I am writing to Mr. Michelon, " Your very devoted "Jules." Mariquitta to her Sister. "Fort Brown, August 19th, 1853. "Dear Sister, "I could not VFrite to you by the Yarth, I was so overwhelmed and so sad, that I could not write more than I did ; but I begin my letter to day, wishing to send it by the boat that brings tlie troops. Four Companies of Artillery are expected at any moment, without any one knowing the why. Jules thinks one of his old friends. Captain Wooster, will be among the Officers expected. "I cannot realize the death of Aunt Lily, it seems almost impossible. Limours appears to me so sad now, I cannot think of it without my heart growing' sad and heavy. This is what I find so dreadful in a separation. You never know whetiier you will ever again see those from whom you have parted. I had left Aunt Lily so well, could I for a moment dream I was kissing her for the last time ! "Jules has Avritten to * Colonel Cooper, asking for the position of Assistant Adjutant General, left vacant by the death of Colonel Bliss, but he has little hope of success. It is a position too much sought after not to have many aspirants, and those in Washington stand more chance, being near the authorities. " August 22>rd. — The troops arrived yesterday morning and would you believe it, the abominable Giles Porter is the Commander! There are 12 Officers, among whom is Captain Wooster, and 240 soldiers. They have taken up quarters in old Fort Brown, just back of us. Yesterday I visited their camp and saw tents for the first time. When they informed me that six soldiers can sleep in each tent, I thought they were taking advantage of my youth ; but it appears it is true, and I pity these poor men with all my heart. We are expecting General Suiith with his staff, besides several other Companies, so Fort Brown will bear quite a warlike aspect. "Yesterday news arrived that 19 more Companies are expected along the Rio Grande. The thought of war does not worry me in the least, it is the Yellow Fever 1 am constantly dreading. It is rumored that it has gained the watering places and that the number of deaths amounts to 1,500 per week. This is terrifying. I am dreadfully worried for Uncle Charles, David, and his family; and I fear that the first boat will bring the news that the epidemic is coming up the river. We have had no news from New Orleans for some time. AVhat a fearful calamity this Yellow Fever is ! The mortality must be much greater than that caused by the Cholera in St. Louis." * Adjutant General of the Army. 188 BIOGRAPHY OF Mariqxiitia to her Parents. " August— 1853. "Dear Papa and Dear Mamma, "There is thouglit jnsfc now of making us move, •wliich is to me any thing but agrceahle. Fortifications are to be placed around Fort Brown, and in the plan drawn up our house will have to be pulled down. Notiiing is yet decided, and anyhow the work does not commence for two months. Jules is charged with the direction of the work, and he will consequently be very busy. General Smith and Major Delafield (Chief Engineer) speak of giving us in compensation the house they now occupy at Brownsville and which they leave to-morrow. Jules says that in this case he would be charmed with the change, but he does not count too much on this great act of generosity on the part of the General. I do not worry much about the matter. Yesterday I received good news from you, and as long as I have this consolation I am pretty much indifferent to all else. * * *"' Mariqnitta to her Parents. " Fort Brown, September 13, 1853. "Dear Papa, Dear Mamma, " We had a fearful alarm last week. Orders came from San Antonio commanding three Companies to ascend the river; one for Ringgold Bar- racks, one for Laredo, and one for Eagle Pass. In the precipitation of the moment, the names of the Companies were badly read, and Jules came to tell me with a long face that Company * K w\as ordered to Ringgold. The worse was I could not go, for I could not have found any quarters. I was thereupon plunged into the saddest and most gloomy thoughts, when Capt. Van Vliet arrived and the good news he brought lightened my heart from so heavy a load. Company K stays at Fort Brown with two other Artillery Companies, and two Infantry Companies are expected. The Garrison is very full and yet we are not compelled to change our quarters. " Since this panic, each day I find some new charm in Fort Brown, and very willingly resign myself to staying here till Spring, provided that I continue to receive, in the interval, good news from St. Louis. "General Smith is expected at any moment. lie is coming to construct four Forts on the Rio Grande; one at Fort Brown, and one at Ringgold, at Laredo, and at Eagle Pass. The Officers are much dissatisfied with this, they insist that this work is useless, the banks of the Rio Grande being flat and every where accessible. * * *" Mariquitta to her Parents. " Fort Brown, September 18th, 1853. " Dear Papa, dear Mamma, "Jules received yesterday the announcement that the position of Asst. Adjutant General was given before the arrival of his application; but a * His own Company. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. Ig9 very flattering thing for him is that Colonel Cooper, of his own accord, has put his name on the list of the aspirants. "On the night of the 16th a large ball was given at Matamoras, and General Smith came himself, to engage me to go, and used all his endeav- ors to induce me to do so, but I was too sad, too worried, to take part in any parties of pleasure. Mrs. Webster and Mrs. Moore went for polite- ness, but against their will. General Smith goes to-day with all his Officers to Matamoras, to invite Colonel Cruz and his suite to a review and dinner to-morrow. I do not know Avhat Santa Anna will think of all this courteousness ; but I am delighted to see that General Smith desires a friendly feeling between the two nations. * * *" Mariqiiitta to her sister Madeleine. "Fort Brown, October 13th, 1853. " Poor old Major Porter does all he can to be on good terms with us. Last Tuesday he called for our letters at the Post Office and took the trouble to bring them- himself to our house. Poor man ! I do pity him, he is so detested in this Garrison ! Whenever I meet him I speak to him as if nothing had ever happened between him and Jules, and Jules does the same. * * *" Mariquitia to her Parents. "Fort Brown, October 30th, 1853. "Dear Papa and dear Mamma, "We received yesterday David's letter announcing the new misfortune which has overtaken the family. I had hoped till the last, and feel bit- terly this loss. Poor great Aunt! poor Vido ! The epidemic has even reached here, but, thanks be to God, it is drawing to a close. The Mexi- cans and the lower classes suffered greatly, but there were no victims among the higher classes. The deaths at Brownsville numbered from 150 to 200, a large number for so small a population. The epidemic commenced here by what they call break bones' fever but quickly turned into real Yellow Fever, with black vomitings and all the symptoms of that fearful disease. A number of persons were attacked, but many have recovered, in fact the gi-eater number. The Garrison was attacked two weeks after the City. Twelve soldiers died, but not an Officer ; though ours was the only house the epidemic did not touch. God was very merciful to us, owing, no doubt, to your prayers for us and to the charity Jules showed tiie dying soldiers. He received the last blessing of more than one, and I hope this will serve him at some future day. Our little earthly Angel was never better nor more beautiful than during that pestilential moment. During * Helen's sickness she was as good as possible, not giving me the * Marie's nurse. 190 BIOGRAPHY OF least trouble, but now that Helen is well she has recommenced all her mischief. But she is so beautiful and so Avell that I am disposed to pardon and overlook all. This is the first time I have ever been in an epidemic. It is a painful moment to pass, above all in a Garrison, where the funerals would affect even a roclc. That military music, that dull hollow roll of the drum, that slow and solemn procession, the mournful aspect of all, leaves me sad for several hours after each funeral. Jules pretends it makes him envious, but not me, I can assure you. I can never again be made to believe that fear brings on the disease; for if this were true, I should most certainly have died of the Yellow Fever. I had ended by becoming so nervous that the slightest noise made me shudder, I could not stay alone a moment at night, every thing gave me a longing to cry, I was continually imagining I was falling a prey to the Fever. I found the yellowness in Jules, I was constantly feeling his pulse, and I had but one fixed idea, — and that was the Yellow Fever. I was convinced Jules and myself were going to die, and I would sisk myself how w^as Marie ever going to find you. ^'' Nov. ?>rd. — I had two little attacks of intermittent fever this week, but I broke them up with a heavy dose of quinine. Yesterday was the day for the return of the fever, but I did not have it. But I had taken so much quinine that this morning I had fearful cramps, proving irritation. I took Paregoric and Laudanum and the}' passed away, and this evening I am perfectly well. I did not even send for the Doctor. " Marie appeared grieved to see me sufier and would say ' bobo. Mamma,' and caressed me in a thousand little loving Avays. Ilcr health continues excellent, she is growing fleshier and more beautiful every day. Jules has regained his appetite and partly his good looks. I think it is the use of wine that preserved us during the epidemic, and Jules has experienced so much good from it that I wish you would also try it. No doubt it will strengthen you all, especially Madeleine. * * *" Remarks of the Rev. Father R. H. Olivier, an exemplary Oblate Father, .stationed at Brownsville, subsequent to Father Telmon and Abbe Domeuech. "It was especially during the Y'^ellow Fever of 1853 that Mr. Garesch6 gave proofs of his faith, his zeal, his devotion, and also his love for his soldiers. " Nearly all his Company fell victims to that terrible epidemic, but I do not recollect that one of liis soldiers died Avithout receiving all the last Sacraments, and without receiving also all the honors of burial. "I was myself charged with visiting the Hospital of the Post. During this fearful malady I accompanied to their last resting place 72 soldiers. But this brave Officer did not fear even to expose his own life, when there was question of saving a soul. He was my Aide-de-Camp. One day, I LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 191 was grievously seized with the terrible Fever, I felt a violent pain in my spine, which would not allow me to stand upright, and I Avas all bent. However, before taking any remedy I wished to make a last visit to the Hospital. I accordingly proceeded to the steward's, to learn whether there was any Catholic soldier in danger. He informed me there was not one, but that there was a Protestant soldier who was not expected to live throughout the night. Seized with an inspiration from on high, I cannot believe it otherwise, I directed my steps, suffering myself excruciating pains, to the bedside of the sick man. I knew at once that his death was at hand and after having spoken some words of consolation I was about to retire, Avhen he grasped my hand and squeezed it hard. I understood then that he wished to say something to me. I asked him at once whether he wished to die as a Catholic. He answered in the affirmative. Immedi- ately I called in Mr. Garesch§, who came directly to prepare this poor dying soldier to receive baptism. Thereupon, as the disease was making rapid progress on myself, I returned home and requested another Father to go at once to complete what had been commenced. He, in company with Mr. Garesch^, baptized this soldier who died a few minutes afterwards. " This is how Mr. Garesche exposed his health and even his life, Avhen there was question of God's glory and the salvation of a soul ! These traits were not rare with him during that terrible epidemic. It is with good reason this brave Christian was called the Soldier ' without fear and without reproach.' He always acted without ostentation and as if he had no human respect. He was as simple as a child, and even when he would be speaking to you it seemed as if he had some timidity in his countenance ; but on the other hand, when he was discharging his duty, he was as, brave as his sword. Everybody in Brownsville appreciated him, esteemed him, loved him, and respected him. He was in every sense of the term, a model of virtue, of piety, and of zeal." In November 1853 Julius was seized with a virulent attack of the Yellow Fever, that terrible Scourge, which he caught whilst ministering to the wants of his poor soldiers, prostrated with this dread disease. He had given them his unremitting attention, day and night, visiting them at all hours and exhibit- ing all the tender solicitude of a true hearted Sister of Charity, and that, too, when the Protestant ministers of all denomina- tions had tied from the pestilential atmosphere and only the Catholic Pastor and his assistants remained at their post of duty beside the sick and dying. One third of the garrison, officers as well as enlisted men, fell victims. Julius was attacked in its most fatal form and all looked upon his death as certain. The physicians gave him up, declaring he 192 BIOGRAPHY OF was beyond human skill, that no power but God's could preserve his life. Then in her wild and bitter agony of feeling at the hopeless case of this beloved husband, — for she had hoped against hope even to the very last moment — Mariquitta had recourse to the Blessed Mother of God and put her trust alone in this powerful and clement "Help of Christians." It was a cruelly painful thought to poor JNIariquitta's fond, loving heart that her Jules was about to leave her; he who had so fully displayed through- out their married life such a perfect and truly christian love for her. All their past life together rose to her mind, and she saw pass before her, as in a panorama, every fond word, every affec- tionate look, every loving caress, till her heart felt as if it would break in the intensity of its suffering. Were they indeed to be separated, not for a few months or even a few years, harrowing as such a thought would be, but forever and ever in this world? Was she never again to welcome him in the evenings, after his fatigues of the day, and see his handsome eyes light up with pleasure, feel his manly arms folded around her, and hear his melodious voice calling her "his darling, his beloved little wife, his beautiful INIariquitta?" Was she indeed to live forever apart from him ? Was he to be placed in the cold, dark, hard ground, and his only companions to be the slimy worms that would feed on his beloved remains? The bare thought of all this was indescribable agony ! Bowed down by the weight of her woe she directed her sor- rowing steps to the little Church of Brownsville. There pros- trate before the altar of our Blessed Lady, with eyes blinded with agonizing tears, she poured forth her sorrow and invoked her aid in a most touching petition to preserve her darling Jules' life, promising if he were spared her to give to the Virgin Mother her beautiful Beads, of garnets and pearls strung on gold, that Father Telmon had given her, and which she valued most highly, not alone on account of their costliness and won- derful beauty, but because they were a souvenir of this good priest, and, still more precious remembrance, an offering of the holy Pontiff, Pius the Ninth. When she rose from her knees after her vow and returned to LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 193 Julius' bedside she found him in a gentle sleep, sure forerunner of approaching convalescence, and the physicians being at once summoned were overpowered with astonishment at the change and solemnly declared that it was due to no skill or medicines of theirs, that it could be traced only to the hand of an All Ifercifid Providence ; and indeed Julius' recovery dated from that moment. Mariquitta alone understanding the true meaning of this stu- pendous change, and feeling assured that her prayer had been heard, went aside and poured forth her exultant gratitude to the Comfortress of the Afflicted who had so signally granted her petition, and soon after, keeping to her vow, placed her exquisite Beads around the neck of our Blessed Lady's statue in the little Brownsville Church, and there they hung and, I believe, still hang, her votive oifering for the miraculous recovery of her darling husband's life. Mariquitta to her Parents. " Fort Brown, January 4th, 1854. " Dear Papa and dear Mamma, " Two Companies of Infantry left Fort Brown to-day to go to Fort Bel- knap, at the extreme end of Texas. The last news from Washington says an entire regiment is to be sent to California, another to the frontier of Canada, one I forget where, and the last is reserved for Texas, which proves that all thoughts of the intended war were but a myth. If, as they think here, another Regiment is to be formed, Jules is determined to apply for the position of Lieutenant Colonel in this new regiment. Do you not think my husband has become very ambitious? This change will be very agreeable, but I cannot say I am over anxious for it; I am so happy and thankful that God has spared my husband that I rejoice in my happiness Avithout looking to the Future, unless it be to return to Limours with him and my children, and to find you all in perfect health. We are very desir- ous for you to see our little beauty and feel sure you will admire her as much as we do. Jules is wild over his child, in fact I think he shows his admiration much too plainly, for Marie is becoming vei'y aflFected. As soon as a stranger speaks to her she lowers her head with a timid air and covers her eyes with her hands as if she were too disconcerted, and yet she expects attentit)n. I see it must be impossible to raise a little girl well in a garrison, so that, if you wish, I will leave her with you when we bid adieu to Limours. This is a sacrifice of which I am capable only for you. What does her little teacher say to this, also severe little God- mother, Toto ? " Though regaining his strength but slowly I no longer worry about Jules, for he is prudent. Yesterday he eat with a better appetite than he has enjoyed since his illness. 13 ly4 BIOGRAPHY OF "We speak frequently of you and our dear Sisters, and the desire to see you is becoming so strong that it often saddens me. Above all since Nancy is sick. "It is you, dear Mamma, whom we have chosen as the Godmother of the future little Garesche. Tlie name is not yet decided upon, but I wish it to be Edward de Laur6al Garesch6. " Ja«. bth. — I see with pain, dear Mamma, from your letter of the 27th November, that you were very worried about us. I fear you must have since suffered a great deal, for my letters during two months were very sad and probably they did you harm. I feel very unhappy about it, for several nights I have dreamed about you and I always see you sad and suffering. We sensibly feel, dear Parents, your blessings upon us and since we have all three escaped safe and sound from that terrible epidemic, it seems as if we should no longer fear danger. Try to be convinced of this, my dear Parents, and do not worry yourselves about us. We are per- fectly well, and God will, I feel sure, send us back to you in good health. *****" Julius adds the following to her letter. '' Dear Mamma, •' I embrace you tenderly, with all my heart. My head is still too Aveak to write, but I cannot refrain from telling you how sincerely I love you, how frequently you occupied my thoughts during my last illnesses, when I recalled the maternal cares you lavished upon me at Limours. I would love to send you Marie in recognition of your kindness ; for you I would have the courage to separate from her, but for you only ! She is charming lately ; beautiful, full of life, intelligent, and loving, and knowing how much you love her, I cannot refrain from often saying to Mariquitta whilst gazing at her : ' Ah ! how happy your Mother would be in seeing this little girl now!' " Mariqiiitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, January 11th, 1854. "Dear Papa and Mamma, ****** *-x-***** " I see by your letter, dear Mamma, of Dec. 3d, that you expect me soon to go to St. Louis ; but that is impossible, though I do hope that it Avill not be long before we will be able to make you a visit. Since I have seen my Jules twice so near death I feel as if I can never again be separated from him. His illnesses have left him very weak, he needs me and his daughter, to whom he is devoted, but our thoughts and hearts are always amongst you. We speak to Marie so frequently of you that we are in hopes she will learn to love you in spite of the great distance which separ- ates us. I am anxious she shall love you as much as do her Parents, and in this view, when we pay our longed for visit, if you desire, we will leave her with you. This is a sacrifice of which we are capable only for you. *****" LJEVT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. I95 CHAPTER XIX. Mariquitta's attempts to change Julius' ideas on domestic economy etc. — his delight with her housekeeping — birth of Octavie — Julius' great joy thereat, his witticism and Mariquitta's maternal pride — his departure for Mexico on official business — Remarks of General Jos. Roberts. Mariquitta to her Parents. " Fort Brown, January 20th, 1854. " Dear Papa and dear Mamma, "Jules and myself are making at this moment great efforts to diminish our expenses, and prevent their exceeding $70 a month. I am well pleased to see I have at last riiade him understand that a woman is more suited than a man for domestic economy. I hope he will keep to his good reso- lutions, and can soon assure himself that I am not as incapable as he thought of taking care of the purse. The first improvement I made was to keep an exact account of the market bill, and of other little things. I have now induced Jules not to make any more bills with all sorts of people. Such bills carry farther than one would imagine, and I induced him to keep his charities within bounds, they were altogether beyond our means. Little by little I hope to have enough influence over ray husband to change his ideas on many subjects. During his last two illnesses the deep and sincere love I have shown him, and of which he can no longer doubt, has done me good service. " Since the last four days he has regained a great deal and is looking well and has improved much. To-day he returned to his duties. I am overjoyed to see I no longer need worry about him, * * * *" Mariquitta to her Parents. " Fort Brown, February 23d, 1854. "Dear Papa and dear Mamma, "Since the day before yesterday Jules has been at Brazos. He has worked very hard lately and his health has suffered from it, and I was still very anxious about him. I hope this little trip may do him good, for the air at Brazos is much purer than here, and there he will have nothing to do. Marie is an excellent little companion, and helps me to while away the time, so as not to appear so long. She constantly calls for her Father and then comes to caress me, to console me, as it were, for Jules' absence. "Jules is delighted with the manner I attend to all the housekeeping. Last month all our expenses did not exceed $50, and this month with the 196 BIOGRAPHY OF linen wliich I was forced to buy I hope they will not surpass S65. It is a great improvement, these two months in comparison with the preceding 6 ones Mariquitta gave birth to her fourth child and third daughter, Octavie, ou the 25th of March, 1854, Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. She had been expecting a son ; for after Julio's death she hoped to have a boy whom she might call after her father, Edward de Laureal Garesche, and this accounts for her husband's witticism about " Pierre, Joseph, Raoul, Edward." Julius to Mariquitta' s Parents. " Fort Brown, Tuesday, March 2Sth, 1854. " Dear Parents, " Maria, Gabriela, Anna, Josefa, Magdalena, Octavia, salutes you, has the pleasure of informing you of her baptism yesterday, and begs of you to keep her a very warm spot in your hearts, promising, when she can, to love you tenderly in return. She asks as much from her dear little Aunts, as well as her little Cousin. Pierre, Joseph, Raoul, Edward, profits of the occasion to salute you also, and to send his excuses for having deceived you in your expectations. lie fully intended coming, he says, but catching a little cold a few days before he should have come, he feared the air of this lower world, which they represented to him as very unhealthy. So he sends us a very pretty little girl in his place, who easily consoles us by her grace, amiability, and tender affection. Besides it was not necessary for him to come at this time, he assures us, as he would have been compelled to start immediately for Europe, in order to establish order in all those nations overthi-own, and the aifairs of that Continent might have i-etained him for a long while. It appears the Czar and the Sultan have had a narrow escape, for he intended administering to each a famous thrashing: and as for the Red Republicans I do not know that a single one would have remained. Ah ! Mr. Raoul would have been a renowned hero, I can assui'e you ! "But I love my little girl dearly, and find her decidedly improved this morning. That which probably offended me at first, as it did not appear natural, is that she was born with her head covered with thick black hair, as black as Mariquitta's ; I send you a sample of it. Mariquitta finds her very pretty and says she is the image of Marie at the same age. Others insist she already looks like me, that she has the same form of head. Mrs. Van Vliet says that she must weigh 9 lbs ; Delphine, the monthly nurse, asserts 8 ; and Mariquitta, more modest, says at least 7 positively ; that she is decidedly the largest child she has ever yet had. She wishes me to have her weighed, but I have too much respect for my little girl, to treat her like a Christmas pig. " Mariquitta is very happy, very proud, and much in love with her little LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 197 girl, who on her part is very good. Do not imagine, dear Mother, that I exaggerate. You would be altogether surprised to see how well and strong Mariquitta is, suffering little, and looking happy and contented. I look upon it as due to the protection of St. Anne, and as two miracles were performed during the mission of our good Oblate Fathers, since the com- mencement of the Yellow Fever, I feel assured that the Blessed Virgin, in a special manner, watches over their parishioners. I hope this will make Mariquitta more confident in Divine Providence, and of the help we receive from God. Compare this birth with the others. Then she had you near her, the most tender and devoted of mothers, and also her much loved sisters, and dear Aunts. Thus she would always like to be sur- rounded. This time she had only me, who cannot do much ; her physician displeased her, every thing was against her, and yet see the result ! I am very grateful to God and Ilis Saints, — above all to the Sacred Heart, Saint Anne, and Saint Peter, my patron. "I wrote you, by another opportunity, the day before yesterday, and I will not repeat the details I then gave. " Marie is a little jealous of her little Sister. You are the Godmother, dear Mother, of our dear little girl; Ferdinand is the Godfather. You were both represented by Mr. Gonzales and Mrs. O'Donnell. " Good-bye, I embrace you all very tenderly, " Yours lovingly, "Jules." Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, April 11th, 1854, " Dear Papa, dear Mamma, "Jules received yesterday the order to go to Camargo, or rather to the Quarter Master General of General Woll. He goes as Quarter Master to buy 200 horses. To accompany him is impossible, and if Limours were not so far off I would go there to stay during his absence. At least, if I could but have Madeleine or Octavie during this separation ! Oh ! how happy Nancy must be to be so near you ! Pi'ay to God with me, that Jules can follow his good inspiration, and that he can enter the Engineer Corps as he desires, because then we will live in St. Louis. Jules expects to find General Woll at Camargo, but he may be compelled to go on to Monterey or Tampico. I Avarned him that should he remain aAvay more than fifteen days, and the Perseverance (a magnificent steamboat) ai'rive, I Avould start in it with my two babies ; but I do not think this idea wor- ries him much, for he is charmed with the trip he has to make. * * * " Remarks of General Joseph Roberts, U. S. A., retired : " I was well acquainted with Mr. Garesche for many years, having been in the same Regiment (the 4th Artillery) with him, and an Assistant Pi'O- fessor at West Point when he was a Cadet. I recollect him well at the 198 BIOGRAPHY OF Academy as a fine scholar and a model student, standing high in his Class. As an Officer he was one of the most correct and accomplished in the Army. His selection to be an Assistant Adjutant General when the Army was small and composed of so many choice Officers, Avas a high tes- timonial to his ability and standing in his profession. He was not only an accomplished Officer, but a devoted husband and fixther and a sincere Christian. On one occasion at Fort Brown, Texas, when I was his guest, one of his children was taken very sick, and I never Avitnessed greater devotion and care in nursing the child. " In consequence of his accomplishments as an Officer and linguist, he was selected by General Persifor Smith, commanding the Department of Texas, to go to Camargo on a mission to the Mexican General Woll, who was a great friend of President Santa Anna and Governor of the State of Tamaulipas, in regard to having a decree prohibiting the exportation of mules from Mexico to Texas, suspended temporarily to enable the Army to procure mules for transportation of Military supplies at a time when they were greatly needed by the Quarter Master. "His mission was completely successful. I accompanied him from Ringgold Barracks (now called Fort Ringgold) to General Woll's Head Quarters at Camargo. The General invited us to dine with him and his brilliant staff, all of whom, including the General, were in full uniform. I shall never forget the dinner party which was one of the most pleasant and agreeable I ever attended. Lieut. Garesche was the most conspicuous guest and was very entertaining and agreeable. He conversed fluently in French, Spanish and English with difiFerent persons at table. With Gen- eral Woll who was German and did not speak Spanish very fluently he conversed in French, with General WoU's Aides in Spanish, and with others, including myself, in English. General Woll appeared highly pleased and talked of the operations during the War between Mexico and the United States, and also of a former i-esidence in the United States when he became acquainted with General Scott and other Officers who were prominent in our War with England in 1812." Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, May 4th, 1854. * ******* -:r*** * " This trip to Camargo was very beneficial to Jules. Ilis health seems to be altogether re-established. * * *" LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. G A RES CHE. I99 CHAPTER XX. Julius' departure on an Indian scout and Mariquitta's sorrow and fears — he opens a wagon-road — little Marie and Tavie — his ambition about be- ing loved by them — additional remarks of Father Olivier — Julius' devo- tion to his Company, his pride therein and their splendid appearance and drill — Mariquitta's grief at his prolonged absence — his visit to her and accident to his watch — illness of his mother, his wish to soothe her dying moments and his sadness — his longing to visit again his Mariquitta and children, and his description of his internal strife of "Conscience" and " Love" — sets forth and meets Bishop Odin and Father Olivier — sacrifices his pleasure for the sake of his horse — his return to Fort Brown — death of Mariquitta's uncle Louis — her devoted love for her children and hus- band — Julius' final return to Fort Brown. Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, May 16th, 1854. " Dear Papa and dear Mamma, " It is with a heavy heart I take my pen to write, my Jules has just left for a campaign against the Indians. God alone knows how long he will be absent, and the thought of. the dangers that overshadow him makes me feel altogether unhappy. It cost him a great deal to leave us, though in his secret heart he was charmed with the expedition. Every one assures me that the-Indians have already gone and that the troops who are sent will not find them ; but still I cannot conquer my sadness and fears. Oh ! if after this expedition, God gives me back my Jules safe and sound, I will not give him a moment's peace till he leaves the Army! A man as near-sighted as he, runs too much danger in battles. I cannot explain to you how desolate I feel. " Mai/ 18th. — My children are well, Marie as mischievous as possible, Tavie a good little baby, who wakes only once during the night, and who scarcely ever cries. I miss Jules dreadfully in the cares necessary for these dear little creatures. He proposed my going to rejoin you, but in spite of the desire I have of seeing again Limours, I cannot leave Texas just now, I have too much need of news to move from here, and Jules' camp being only 60 miles off, I hope to hear frequently from him. * * *" On May 16th, 1854, Julius was ordered to proceed with his Company on a scout after Indians who were depredating in the vicinity, after which he opened with his men a wagon-road from 200 BIOGRAPHY OF the little Colorado to Las Animas, and engaged in various scouts up to November 23, 1854, when he returned to Fort Brown. Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, May 24, 1854. *** ********** "I have already heard tliree times from Jules since his departure, and I trust his absence will not be as long as I feared at first; for the Indians have already retraced their steps and there are no more to pursue." Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, June Ist, 1854. "Dear Pata and Mamma, "I have a little time which I wish to devote to giving you news about US. Jules is still at Las Animas; I hear quite frequently from him, ho assures me he is enjoying perfect health, and that there is not the shadow of an Indian in his neighborhood, but in spite of this I am very worried, and often feel overwhelmed. I try hard to accept patiently the cross God sends me, so that He may spare all my loved ones. But this is the first time I have found myself alone in the midst of strangers, and it seems very, very hard. "Happily my little girls keep me very busy from morning till night, and they are a great consolation. Marie begins to chatter like a little magpie. She is always calling for ' Papa Jules,' and expects always to meet him when we go out; I make her repeat all your names morning and night, it amuses her a great deal. "I am going to have my little Octavie vaccinated this week, because it is reported there is a great deal of small-pox at Matamoras. I think my baby still very little, but as she is perfectly well and the Doctor assures me there is no cause for worry in vaccinating her, I will let him do it, trusting to God to spare my child from the disease. "Dear Papa, Jules' greatest ambition is to be loved by his daughters as much as you are by yours. "Good-bye, my dear Parents, I must leave you to take my children out. They join me in sending a tender embrace to you and to all their little Aunts. " Your aflFectionate daughter, " Mariquitta."' Further Remarks of Father Olivier of the Oblate Fathers concerning Julius: — "The folloAving trait illustrates the great faith of this great Christian. " One day, I believe it was Saturday, a Mexican came to ask me to go and marry him at his ranche, 16 leagues from Brownsville. We started, LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 201 both on horseback. The weather was frightful, and the roads even more villainous. Towards ni<;ht-fall a heavy rain overtook us, and willing or not, we were compelled to keep on ; for there was no habitation in these parts. Towards nine o'clock we arrived at the entrance of an immense forest, and still the rain did not cease. We had scarcely ridden three or four miles when we perceived a light on the edge of the road, arid on my inquiring the meaning of this light in the forest the Mexican answered, that it was the camp fire of the soldiers of Lieutenant Garesche who were working at enlarging the road from Brownsville to Corpus Christi. Arrived near the camp we were asked, 'Who goes there?' On my requesting to speak to the Lieutenant I was at once conducted to his tent. You may judge of his surprise at seeing me at this hour, in the middle of the woods, on so terrific a night ; but with what goodness and affability did he receive me! Of course, he would not permit me to continue my journey. He said : ' Remain here, to-morrow morning you will say the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for us. and after breakfast you can continue your route.' I esteemed, appreciated, and loved him too much not to comply with his desire. However, one thing pained me in remaining; I foresaw that, as there was but one bed in his little tent, he would give it to me, and where would he then sleep ? When we were about to retire, after having conversed for a long time, there occurred between us a contest, rather animated, as to who should have the bed and who should not ; but the strength not being equal on both sides, he carried off the palm of victory. For I slept in the bed and he on the ground. Behold the Christian in every .s-ense of the term! Next morning I said Mass in his tent, at which all his soldiers assisted. I have a recollection that he then went to Confession and Com- Julius' Company was essentially a Catholic one, the majority of the men being Catholics, Under his careful and skilful management it attained the worthy and rightful appellation of being " one of the finest Companies, in every respect, in the service." He received many encomiums for the splendid ap- pearance, drill and discipline of his men. Entirely unselfish, he never spared himself when there was question of promoting their good, and the necessary consequence was that he was almost idolized by them. Some years afterwards, when the Company was transferred to Florida, immediately after a parade, in which it took part with the other Companies stationed at the same Post, it drew forth loud bursts of applause from all the officers who witnessed its evolutions. Its new Commander, who had just arrived to take the command of it, upon being complimented, declared that it was owing to no credit on his part, since he had 202 BIOGRAPHY OF just assumed its command, but solely and entirely to the care and dev^otion of his predecessor, Lieutenant, now Brevet Captain and Asst. Adjt. General, Julius P. Garesch^. Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, July 11th, 1854. " Dear Papa and dear Mamma, " Since I last wrote Jules came to pass a day here. lie arrived at midnight, and ratlier than wake rae preferred to sleep, all wet as he was, the rest of the night, on the porch in front of the door. "He was on horse-back for 15 hours, travelling over the most abom- inable roads, without drinking or eating. He had a little fever the fol- lowing morning, but took no heed of it, attending to his business, and two days after left at seven o'clock A. M., for Las Animas. " In returning he was forced to ford a ravine, which had been swollen by the continual rains, and he thought he had ruined his watch, as it would no longer run. He sent it back to me, and an excellent watch- maker at Matamoras mended it for S'2.50. saying there was very little to do and that he guaranteed that it would run as well as before the accident. I hope he speaks truly, for this little misfortune had pained Jules, and he will be agreeably surprised to find his watch in good condition. " He was charmed with my appearance and the plumpness of Octavie, and in his last letter he said that the day he spent at Fort Brown seemed the happiest of his life. " Poor dear husband ! I cannot say the same for him ; for I found him looking so thin, so burnt by the sun, and with such a tired look, that it wrung my heart to see him go, and I would have given any thing to have been able to keep him. Six weeks of fatigue, worry, and troubles are suflBcient to produce a great change in the looks of a man. I hope he will come this week to balance his Commissary Accounts; but there are some new rumors of Indians, so that I fear he will not be able now to leave his men. " This sepai'ation costs me so much, that at times I am completely over- whelmed, demoralized ; the sight of my children is the only thing which makes me bear up and sustains my courage. " I always send Jules your letters, it is a great pleasure for him to read them. Probably it is good for him to have these bodily fatigues. God in His goodness may have given him this campaign to destroy thoroughly the remains of his Yellow Fever : but it is very hard for us both to be thus separated for so long a time and without any idea as to when this separation will end. * * *" Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, July 20th, 1854. " Dear Papa and Mamma, " The sad news Jules received of his Mother by the last packet has in- duced him to apply for a Leave ; but I do not as yet know whether he will LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 203 receive it, and whether he will profit of it, even should he receive it. He thinks it would be better for ine to stay here with my children, as he will be away but a very short time, but I am far from willing to let him go alone. "The only thing that could prevail upon me to make this sacrifice would be if my children's health should suffer from the voyage. I under- stand perfectly that Jules wishes to soothe by his presence the last mo- ments of his poor Mother; he says he would reproach himself all his life if he neglected, through his fault, this last sacred duty, — and at the same time the thought of leaving me alone in the midst of strangers makes him hesitate. " Poor man ! his letter is very sad and shows me clearly the hard strug- gle his heart is enduring. * * *" Julius to Mariquitta. " Las Animas, Friday, August 25th, 1854. "My own precious little Wife, "Yesterday I experienced so cruel a disappointment as to be almost overcome. For several days I had been forming plans of going to Browns- ville on the 24th, (yesterday) to make you a visit, for my courage was at its lowest ebb. My mind was the prey of endless discussions, for my true motive was the burning desire to be near you and our dear children — this 1 could not disguise from myself. Here my conscience smote me, saying 'your duty claims you here.' Love could not deny this, and knowing I had to deal with an old grumbler, who did not conceal his scorn for the weaknesses of human passion, tried to discover a thousand excuses for his scheme, all founded also on ^ drdy,^ which, said he, also called me to Fort Brown. It is useless to tell you all that was said on both sides; suffice it to say, that one pleaded my cause with an ardor, courage, and zeal, worthy of every admiration ; — while the other, firm, or rather stubborn, and alto- gether inflexible, always found means to confound the most beautiful arguments of my dear defender ; at last it ended by nothing being decided. Nevertheless the night before last. Love always persistent, and seeing sud- denly his opponent apparently confounded, and not knowing for the mo- ment what to answer to a new course of reasoning that he had just found, profiting immediately of his advantage, quickly gave the order that I should be awakened the following morning, an hour before sunrise, that my horse should be saddled and every thing ready, so that I might go and make a visit to the ' road party,' ' and that probably I might go as far as Brownsville.' In short, the following morning, I was en route so early, I could scarcely discover my way in the darkness, and urging on my horse, I had already ridden over half way to Canicitos before sunrise. Arrived near this last ranche, my horse (who had been sick from an epidemic which exists among the horses of the neighborhood) commenced slack- ening his pace. Not understanding this I made use of my whip, and we 204 BIOORAPIIV OF thus arrived one half the distance to the Arroyo, or very nearly ; but my whip was broken, my horse looked as if he could no longer dran himself, and ' conscience,' who had pursued us, like a Fui-y, for some hours, over- took us and triumphantly overcame my poor Love, and commanded me to return. 1 stopped, said a ' Veni Creator," reHected seriously for a moment, and then feelinii God had spoken, I dismounted and returned on foot, leading my poor horse by the bridle, to the entrance of the thicket of Canicitos. Entorini; this ranche, I had the liappiness of meeting our good Bisliop* and the amiable Father Olivier. I spent three quarters of an hour in their agreeable society. After this they started for tlie .Vrroyo, and I was again tempted, I even had a struggle very, very painful and hard williin myself; because his Lordship offered me a seat in his buggy, and I louiTod so mucli. so verv nuioh to see vou, mv dearest! But I thought, my horse unable to follow us. what was I to do with him? I did not know. l)o might die, if not attended to; and all the old reasonings came to assail me in a troop, saying it would be wrong in me to go. I remained accordingly, but tlie temptation was so strong, that had mv horse been in his general good health, I feel sure I would have yielded. It was then with a heavy heart I saw his Lordship leave; the sadness that claimed me as its own was very great and did not pass away till this morn- ing, wlien Hope came to console me, promising me, if God did not oppose it. I would positively by the 15th of September be with my own dear, dear Mariquitta. and njy little darlings. Father Olivier says Marie is lovely. His Lordship told me seriously that I must not whip nor scold her severely, that passionate children, like her, always turn out the best, but they must be raised by love and reason. "They have come for my letter. Good-bye, dearest, kiss tenderly for me our two little Angels. A thousand kisses for yourself, my own sweet one, "Your loving husband, "Jules." Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Browx, September 5th, 1S54. ************* " My health continues good, but I have no longer as good color as when Jules came to see me on the 29th of June. I am expecting him at the end of next week and would like very much to regain before his arrival the good looks whit^h gave him so much pleasure. * * * * "My eye though better is still very weak, so that I am obliged to limit my correspondence for the present to you, my Sisters and Jules."' * Mgr. Odin, Bishop of Galveston. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. O A RESCUE. OQS Mariqiii//a to her Parents. "Fort Brown, September 28tl), 1854. "Dear Pata and Mamma, "Jules is with me since the last fourteen days ; ho intended leaving this morning, hut tlie had woatlier prov(Mit(Ml, to my grout joy. As another Ollicer has joined his Oompaiiy 1 hope that iiencelbrth he can come oftener, as unfortunately General Smith seems to be making no move to recall these Companies to their Garrisons. "I found Jules looking well. Tliis camp life seems to agive witli him, he is growing fleshier, and appears to have gotten over all the bad effects of his Yellow Fever. "lie finds his baby too charming and never tires of kissing her. Poor little Marie is so happy at her Father's return, that she has regained her animation and beautiful color. It is impossil)lo to find a n\orc affectionate child than she is. She is nuiking improvement in goodness. "Last Tuesday I received yours and Octavie's letters of August 27th, dear Mamma, and they reassured mo with regard to the health of my Sis- ters. Here we are all four well and I hope the new physician, whom wo are constantly expecting, will cure my eyes. * * *" Julius adds the following to her letter. " Dear Mother, "I found my thi-ee treasures in perfect health. Mariquitta is stronger than you would dare imagine, Marie is a little languid and pale, but is not sick. 3Iy baby is fat and fresh as a rose I She has greatly improved, and though her features are not as fine and delicate as IMarie's, she is more ad- mired ; she is a very pretty little girl. Slie is very white and her flesh is as solid as could be desired. It is impossible to see a finer child, and, plump as she is, she does not look cither licavy or stupid. She is well made, lively, strong, always nu)ving, while lier eyes sparkle witii animation, and a smile reigns constantly on her lips. " I embrace you most affectionately as well as Father and my Sisters. " Your loving son, "Jules." Mariquitta to her Parents. " Fort Brown, November 4th, 1854. "Dear Papa and Mamma, " I have i\ot heard from you since I learned of the death of Uncle * Louis, and I am so worried about you, dear Mamma, that I feel very disconso- late. I cannot think but of you, whom I see sick, ])lunged in the depths of grief, and I find it very cruel to be separated from you in this your hour of need. Dear, dear Mamma, Oh I I implore of you, do not be too * Her maternal uncle, consult Page 81. 206 BIOGRAPHY OF cast down by this cruel blow I What would become of poor Papa without you? and of my Sisters, myself, and my children? You are too much needed, you are our all. " I could not believe this horrible news until I had read it myself, above all, as Jules told me that during the Mexican War he twice heard of the death of an Officer who is still living, and yet his death was stated as a fact ; but all hope fled when I read those two names Coudroy which was spelled Coudroit and LanrM spelt Laureals. W^hen I first heard of this battle of the Alma I little dreamed of what it would cost us. " I fear this loss will be bitterly felt by Madeleine and I dread the effects upon her health as well as your own, dear Mamma. Oh ! what would I not give to go to you now. Marie is so lovely, so affectionate, that I feel her presence, her caresses would do you good. She is very sensible and intelligent. I have no more fears for lier education, for I see that taking her by her feelings we can do any thing with her. Tavie is very bad just now, she makes me pass miserable nights. Jules wishes me to wean her, but I prefer waiting till February if I can stand it. Iler health has been so good thus far that I do not wish to change her food. " We have had five Masses said for Uncle Louis. Jules wrote to you last week by the Corpus Christi mail. His Company has returned to Fort Brown, but we do not know for how long."' Mariquitta to her Sister Madeleine. "Fort Brown, November 21, 1854. " Dear Madeleine, " I wrote to all my other Sisters by the last boat, and I do not want you to think that I am hurt by your silence, for I comprehend perfectly the cause, and I shall be very sorry, on the contrary, if you should injure yourself by writing to me more frequently. " Marie speaks constantly of you, the name of Aunt Toto is always mentioned in her stories. '' I do not know whether my own motherly love blinds me or whether I see correctly, but I confess that according to my own opinion, I have never seen more beautiful children tlian my own. Generally, Tavie is the more admired, on account of her little sprightly air and her beautiful complexion, but really Marie is the more beautiful. " I am so impatient to see Jules appear that each moment I find myself looking at the gate of the garrison, and I tremble so with excitement that I can scarcely write. If he comes this evening and in good health, I shall write to you at greater length by next Friday's mail. "Good-bye, dear Sister, my daughters join me in embracing you vei-y tenderly. " Your very affectionate Sister, " Mariquitta." LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 207 The following are extracts from letters of Mariquitta to her Parents. " November 9th, 1854. " The exile of my poor husband (from Fort Brown) is not yet finished. It appears as long to him as it does to me, and that is saying a great deal." " November 15th, 1854. •' I have had no letter from Jules for many days. Mr. Best should have gone and relieved him since before yesterday, but I doubt very much now whether he will go at all." " November 21, 1854. "I am expecting Jules to-day. Mr. Best has finally decided to go and take his place, and, as Mr. Nimmo has arrived by the last boat, I hope that Jules will not be compelled any more to leave me. i received yester- day a long letter from him, he is as sad as one of the Penitential Psalms. With what joy must he have received Mr. Best!" 208 BIOGRAPHY OF CHAPTER XXI. Temporary detail of Julius as Quartermaster — Mariquitta's pride at the glorious soldierly death of her uncle Louis — Julius at the head of the list of First Lieutenants and the probability of his soon becoming Cap- tain — cost of living at Fort Brown as compared to the North — "Julius and her children are Mariquitta's world of happiness" — his devoted fond- ness for his little girls — his grief at his mother's death — his enthusiasm over the capture of Sebastopol — Father Fred's description of Alexander's noble advice and Julius' refusal to accept of it, viz., Father Fred's own small inheritance — further remarks of Brother Roudet — remarks of Mother Ste. Claire — Julius' translation of " lleminiscences of an Officer of Zouaves" and reference to certain notes of his in it — remarks of Mr. Francisco Gonzales. Additional extracts from letters of Mariquitta to her Parents. "February 11, 1855. "Jules is obliged to take the place of Capt. Van Vliet as Quartermaster, until the arrival of Major Chapman, who conies to relieve him." " March 8, 1855. " My poor Jules is overwhelmed with work and worn out with fatigue. " He subscribed for you for the Propagateur Catholique about a fortnight ago, so do not bo surprised, if you find this paper in your box at the Post Office. "As it speaks a great deal about France and the War in the East, he thought he would give you pleasure by presenting you with a year's sub- scription, lie has already paid for the year. It is only a trifle." Mariquitta to her Mother. " March 20, 1855. " Dear MAMArA, "I have just received by the Corpus Christi mail your letters of the 28th January, 11th and 25th February, as also Mr. d'Ormoy's, which you had the kindness to copy for me. We read this last with much emotion, and I feel the need of reading it again. Poor dear Uncle, what courage he showed, what a noble heart was his ! I am proud to call myself his niece and the name of De Laur6al is dearer to me than ever. " Lately we had a funeral in the Garrison, it was only a simple soldier's, and yet all the music, and all the preparation for the funeral procession had a solemnity and mournfulness that belong only to military obsequies. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 209 I thought of my dear Uncle during this funeral, and it was almost a con- solation to think that he had received all the last military honors. " Do not worry about my eyes, dear Mamma, they are almost well. To prove the truth of my words, this is the fifth letter I have written to-day. Octavie tires me a little, but as I positively intend weaning her this week, she will not fatigue me much longer. "Have you yet received the numbers of the Propagateur Catholique? Jules has subscribed for you for this paper, as I have already told you, and I hope you will find pleasure in its perusal. " Alexander has sent us as a present the ' Courrier des Etats Unis,^ which is full of news about the Eastern Army. I read it with much pleasure." Mariquitta to her Parents. "Fort Brown, March 27, 1855. "Dear Papa, dear Mamma, "Good news! * Captain Hunt has been appointed Paymaster, so that Jules is now at the head of the list of 1st Lieutenants and the first one who will become Captaiin. Moreover, if Captain Howe receives the place of Assistant Adjutant General, (which is probable) Lieutenant Garesch6 then becomes Captain of his (Captain Howe's) Company and his Post will be Leavenworth. The first mail will, undoubtedly, decide this question. Dear Parents, what a happiness, if I could soon find myself near you ! It would be so nice. "I received your letter this morning, dear Mamma, of March 6th, and that of Tavie, dated the 21st of February. Yours gave me great relief, for you tell me that you are all in good health, and I had been excessively anxious about Madeleine and Octavie, on account of what you had said in your letter of the 25th of February. I see that my fears were groundless, and that those colds, which had given me such a fright, had nothing alarming in them. " Tavie tells me that Robert was the cause of the stiff neck of Made- leine, whom he had caused to laugh so immoderately whilst he essayed the role of a Prima Donna. " The cost of living in the North frightens me. How does Nancy con- trive to get along? Compared to the prices of New York, I can assure you that living here is very reasonable. It is true that our three cows and our poultry help us a great deal. Though to-day be but Wednesday, already I have made three pounds of delicious butter. Yesterday, I had fourteen eggs, and nine on the preceding day. This is charming, con- sidering that we have but a dozen hens. We have also some pigeons, which sometimes produce us delicious dishes. At market we are able to * Capt. Franklin E. Hunt, 4th Artillery. Julius was Godfather of hi& son Fred. He is the Capt. Hunt whose name has already occurred in these pages. U 210 BIOGRAPHY OF get good chicory, almost white, and lettuce and magnificent cabbages at only a bit (12^ cents) apiece. "I mention all this, as I think it will give you pleasure to know what advantages we have here. If it were not that the sea separates us and so many thousands of miles intervene, I should not ask any thing better than to remain here ; for there is only you, my Sisters, Robert and Tavio* who are wanting. The pleasures of this world are no longer for me, since they force me to leave my little darlings. You all, Jules and my children com- pose my world of happiness and pleasure, and what 1 desire is to find our- selves all reunited again. It will be two years on the 26th of the next month since I left you, and it is probable that about that period the question of our departure vrill be decided. "We are all in good health. Adieu dear Papa, dear Mamma. Jules and my children join me in embracing you both very tenderly, as also my Sisters, ray Brother Robert and my little Niece. " Your cherished daughter, " Mariquitta." Mariquitta to her Parents. " Fort Brown, April 8th, 1855. " Octavie's letter made me laugh, when she said that judging from Jules' letters she feared he was too severe on his little girls. Her fears would soon cease if she could see him with Misses Marie and Tavie, who do with him exactly as they wish. Day and night he spoils them. These j^oo?- children never are wrong, he always finds some excellent excuse to explain their screams or their caprices. It is only in his letters he is a severe Father. He could not be more occupied by his children than he is nor be more tender. * * * *" Additional extracts from Mariquitta's letters to her Parents, " June 5, 1855. " Jules is harassed with work, which renders him lazy in corresponding." "August?, 1855. "Jules wishes to write to you, but having learned of the death of his Mother, I doubt whether he can do so, for he is altogether overwhelmed by such terrible news. " I do not believe that the Companies of this Post will be sent this year against the Indians. At any rate Jules as Quarter Master cannot leave, so that even should the other officers be compelled to go the order could not affect him." " October 25, 1855. " As you say, we heard of the capture of Sebastopol with a great deal of pleasure. On that day Jules was carried away with enthusiasm and joy. * Her little niece, Octavie Bakewell. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 211 There was no one, I believe, but old Major Porter, who read the news without emotion. He is sure even yet that Sebastopol is not taken, that it is only the outskirts of the town which are in possession of the Allies." About this time the following circumstance occurred. I shall describe it in the words of Frederick, Julius' younger brother and a member of the Society of Jesus. "It was in 1855, just after my Mother's death, Alexander wrote to me that considering the cii'cumstances of the other members of the family, our Mother being dead, who had hitherto enjoyed the interest of my patrimony, he advised and urged me when the time came to take my last vows and give up my small inheritance, that I should do so in favor of Julius and his wife and children. He showed me how Julius was by his state of life prevented from the hope of making a future for them, or even laying by money from his salary. " I had always hoped that I could have given what little I had to dis- pose of to the same cause to which I had consecrated my life, the glory of God and the good of my neighbor ; but after consulting my Confessor and having asked and received the permission of my superiors, I wrote to Julius to make the offer. I told him the reasons adduced by Alexander, and en- forced them as well as I knew how ; assured him that if he were single or without any one dependent on him, I would not, knowing him so well, have ventured the proposition. I pleaded only for his wife and children and wound up by saying that I would not accept his first thought or sen- timent, but required that he should take three days for consideration, and after prayer and conference with his Confessor, he should write me his conclusion. '• A beautiful and touching response came from him. After thanking me in the most affectionate manner he said, that I was right in anticipating what would be his first judgment — to make an indignant refusal. But he had taken the three diiys and would not accept for his wife and children what he thought belonged to God and the Church. He would be afraid that it would bring no blessing; he preferred to trust them to the Divine Providence, and he adjured me to think no more of it, and certainly never to renew the offer as it pained him. " I am convinced that he never made the offer known to Mariquitta. This I add, because when the final settlement was made in her behalf [after Julius' death], she did not allude to the former offer, which she cer- tainly would have done, knowing, as I do, that in all things she tried to be guided by wliat she deemed would have been Julius' wishes." Further remarks of Brother Eoudet. " This good Lieutenant Garesche was a perfect model of a brave soldier as well as a truly Christian man. Every morning he served Mass in his militai-y costume. If the roads were bad, he carried a pair of slippers 212 BIOGRAPHY OF which he put on at the door of the Church, out of respect for tlie holy place. lie went to Confession and Communion every Saturday. He would will- ingly have gone on Sunday, for he was above human respect, but when he proposed it to his Director, Rev. Father Yerdet, the latter decided in favor of Saturday. However, when he was unable to go to Communion on Saturday, he would then go on Sunday at the High Mass, and always in full uniform, to the great edification of every one. He always acted in a just, charitable and conscientious manner, and he was thus exposed to great calumnies. " One year, he obtained permission for us to buy our bread at the Gar- rison, and we were not the only ones, there were many from the city who did likewise, because this bread was cheaper. Moreover, it was a profit to the Quarter Master. But some among his brother Officers, as they were Protestants, made use of it to denounce him to the Government on the plea that he was furnishing the Catholics at its expense (and at this period this was a very serious charge). The thing went so far, that he was on the point of being put into prison, because he did not even try to justify him- self; but in all probability a friend spoke for him and his innocence was soon established ; and instead of descending he mounted in rank, and his accusers descended. It was then that he was appointed Quarter Master, and he continued always to have the full confidence of his superioi-s." Remarks of Mother St. Claire, Superior of the Convent of the Incarnate Word at Brownsville. " I have not forgotten Mr. Garesche. He was very good to us. It was he who in concert with his soldiers and the lamented Father Verdet organ- ized and carried through successfully a certain fiiir for our Convent and for the Church of Brownsville. It was he who also organized the beauti- ful celebration of the laying of the first stone of the Church of Brownsville and caused cannon to thunder forth all through the ceremony. Indeed the ceremony was splendid, surpassing any thing ever seen at Brownsville. He was pious, charitable and good. His name always figured at the head of the Subsci'iption lists gotten up for works of charity." Julius, who was an excellent Linguist, subsequently, in 1859 or 1860, ably translated from the French, during some of his spare moments, "The Reminiscences of an Officer of Zouaves." He was too modest, however, to inscribe his name as its Trans- lator, and there were but very few comparatively who knew of his connection with this perfect translation of an interesting work. In certain parts occur the following notes of his. On Page 7 of the Introduction, referring to the Zouave Offi- cer's solicitude in seeing that his men are properly fed, that the LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 213 " stomach's gratitude' ' is by no means an unmeaning expression, he says : "Were this ' stomach^ s gratitude' a little more thought of and attended to in our Army, we should not have one-third of the number of deserters which now annually exhausts its strength." • Ao'aiu, referrino; to the division of tlie Zouave soldiers into Privates of different classes, he adds: "Few things are more wanted in our Army, than this division of the privates of a company into two classes, drawing different pay. There exists now no distinction, either as to pay or privileges, between the old experienced soldier and the raw recruit — between those whose conduct is uniformly irreproachable, and those who never neglect any opportunity of making beasts of themselves. Such a division would hold out a standing inducement to good behavior, and a wide field of reward for it ; whilst, at the same time, providing a new means of punishment, of a simple and yet effective nature — that of degradation from this class. It would also con- tribute greatly to the formation of a more honorable and soldier-like feeling among the men. It has the advantage too, of creating, as it were a school for non-commissioned officers, in which the more promising pri- vates can undergo a certain probation for the office. And, finally, it sup- plies a much needed means of rewarding those good and valuable soldiers, of whom there are so many, who, from being destitute of that fire and commanding energy essential to the character of a good non-commissioned officer, are compelled to vegetate as privates amid the herd of those Avho are undistinguished by any particular good qualities. Every good com- pany officer has felt the want of some means by which he could prove to these men, that he appreciated their worth ; and there is not an officer in our Army, but would gladly hail the passage of an act, which should authorize a division of this kind to be made in our companies. Nor need this reform cost the U. S. any thing. For, if the number of those who may be mustered in the first class, be restricted to one-third of all the privates, actually belonging to the company — and their pay be increased $2 per month beyond what it is now, this amount can at once be supplied, by cutting down the pay of the remaining two-thirds otie dollar below what it is now ; so that the pay of a first-class private shall b^$13, and that of a second-qlass private $10 per month. And, so far from this reduction operating to discourage enlistments, it will, on the contrary, supply to a better class of men an additional incentive to enter the Army. For, instead of §11, it holds out to them the almost certain prospect of $13 a month." And in speaking further on of the 2d Zouaves suffering less from the effects of the Cholera in the East than the other regiments of their Division, owing to their care of their rations, he says : 214 BIOGRAPHY OF "How much a more generous diet contriljutes, not only to the content- ment, but to the health of the men, is a fact abundantly confirmed by the translator's own experience. He was, on one occasion, stationed at a post, garrisoned by five companies, and which was cruelly ravaged by an epi- demic of yellow fever. The men of the company to whieli he was attached, ■were no more acclimated than most of the others, their duty was tlie same, they were equally exposed, — yet, the proportion of deaths among them was relatively so small, as to excite genei-al remark. There was, naturally, a cause for this exemption ; — which could be ascribed to nothing else, how- ever, than to the superior manner in which — thanks to a large company fund — they were fed and cared for. The strength of their cofiFee was doubled, and it was served to them, the first thing in the morning, before they Avere permitted to go out into the morning dews ; a small cup of strong cofi'ee was again given to every man after dinner; and the men on guard were fortified against the damp vapors of the night, by the same powerful febrifuge. In addition to this, their fare was improved by many little extras ; and the sick and convalescent were supplied, from the same fund, •with broth, chickens, eggs, gruel, custards, &c. " At another time, the scurvy broke out, in the only other company then serving at the post ; there were some eight or ten cases of the disease in that company — there Avas but one in the translator's. — And this one man, a delicate youth, who had been for some time previously in the hospital — there, caught the disease from the others, as the doctor himself admitted. Here, again, the principal difference between the two companies, was, that whilst one had a company fund, from which many little extras were fur- nished to it, the other had no fund, and was, therefore, reduced to its ordinary rations ; w4iich, whatever may be asserted to the contrary, are not sufficient, in quantity, for a hard-working man, nor of suitable quality, for men exposed to such trying vicissitudes of climate, as are the soldiers of our Army." Mr. Francisco Gonzales, a Mexican gentleman residing in Brownsville, a great friend of Julins and who stood Godfather, as l)roxy, for his little daughter, Octavie, and now Mexican Consul to Galveston, Texas, here says : " My recollection of the noble Lieut. Garesch6 marks him, a man of high sense of honor, — most kindly disposed, but very retiring in his manners; of decidedly studious habits, and very much attached to his profession. A strict disciplinarian, but no stricter with his men, than with himself; and one Avho in case of any epidemic, or serious sickness, would have nursed and attended them witli the kindness of a father. Exemplary in his attendance at Cluirch, and in the fulfilment of all religious duties. In a word, a perfect Christian Catholic gentleman and preux Chevalier in its fullest sense!" LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 215 CHAPTER XXII. Julius' appointment to the Adjutant General's Corps, and correspondence of others in connection therewith, and his own acceptance of appointment. I HAVE already shown by Mariqiiitta's letters how Julius had applied to Colonel Cooper, the Adjutant General, for the appointment of Assistant Adjutant General in his Corps, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Col. Bliss, though he enter- tained but little hope of ol)taining it ; and of his receiving a very flattering reply from Col. Cooper, regretting that the position was filled before the arrival of his application, but that anyhow he liad himself placed Julius' name on the list of aspirants for the next vacancy. AVell, it seems that without Julius' knowl- edge there were others who also were working in his behalf, as part of the following correspondence illustrates. Moreover, Col. Cooper was exceedingly anxious to have hirn attached to himself, as he had seen and learned enough about Julius to be fully con- vinced that he would be a valuable addition to his Corps in every way, and a good and useful Aide to himself. " March 6, 1855. " Hon. Jeff Datis, " Secretary of War, " Dear Sir, "As the promotion of Capt. Canby opens an appointment in the Adju- tant General's Department, I take the liberty of suggesting to your con- sideration the name of Lieut. Garesch6 of the Artillery for filling it. My particular inducement for doing so is friendship for the very estimable family of his Uncle .John P. Garesche, Esq., of Wilmington, Del., with whom I became acquainted in his capacity of gunpowder contractor for the Ordnance Dept. But from what I have heard of Lt. Garesche's char- acter and qualifications, I feel confident that, in proposing him for this appointment, I am also consulting the interests of the service. He was educated at the Geoi-getown College, understands the French and Spanish languages and is highly esteemed in the Service ; has prepared himself also for the Bar. " The late appointments in the new Regiments, which give so much 216 BIOGRAPIIV OF satisfaction, by the evidence of appreciation of the claims of merit and services, may dispense with the mention of colhxteral recommendations, or I migiit add that the Uncle of Lt. Garesch6 could bring strong influence from leading Democrats in Philadelphia and Delaware: and it may not be an objection that the young man himsolf was born in Cuba. " Not being able to see you this morning I have taken this method of securing at least the consideration of his claims. " Yours respectfully, *''A. MORDECAI." " St. Louis, Mo., April 28, 1855. " Hon. J. Davis, " Secy, of War, "Dear Sir: " I have been informed that Lt. Julius P. Gai'esch6 of the 4th Artillery has been recommended for the post made vacant in the Adjutant General's Departmont by the promotion of Bvt. Major Canby. My intimate ac- quaintance with, and liigh regard for the family of Lt. Garesch^ prompt me to say that the appointment, if made, Avould be most worthily bestowed. The family, you are probably aware, has been Democratic and zealous in its support of the present administration. No gentlem^en stand higher, or are more entitled to esteem and confidence than the Messrs. Gareseh^. "It is proper for me to state that I write this note without the knowl- edge of Lt. Garesch6 : but solely for the purpose of bearing testimony to the worth of a deserving gentleman, whose pi-omotion would be gratifying to myself and the friends of the Administration. " Yours truly, t"SAMi' Treat." " St. Louis, Mo., April 28, 1855. " To TUE President OF the United States : " I have been informed that Lt. Julius P. Garesch6 of the Fourth Regi- ment of Artillery has been recommended to fill a vacancy caused in the Adjutant General's Department by the promotion of Bvt. JNIajor Oanby. " My intimate personal acquaintanoe witli tlie family of Mr. Garesch^, and my high regard for them, induce me to say that the appointment would be very gratifying and I doubt not would be worthily bestowed. * Major A. Mordecai of the Ordnance Corps. f Judge Treat of St. Louis, one of the most distinguished Jurists of the country, whose name has so far extended across the Atlantic that, in a recent visit to Europe, the unusual compliment was paid to hira by the English Judges of asking biui to be seated beside them on the Bench while the Court was in session. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. G A RESCUE. 217 The family of Mr. Garesch6 here are among youi- most devoted political friends, and I know of no persons more worthy of the highest esteem. " Yours truly, " Samuel Treat. " P. S. I address you on this subject without any knowledge on the part of Lt. Garesch6 that I had any intention of so doing ; or that I was even aware that his name had been mentioned in connexion with tlie post thus vacated. On hearing tiuit he had been recommended for the post, I de- sired to bear testimony to his worth and to the fact that his promotion would be very gratifying to your friends here." "Adjutant General's Office, "Washington, November 7, 1855. "Hon. Jefferson Davis, " Secretary of War, "Sir: " I have the honor to lay before you the applications (fourteen in num- ber) on file in this Office, for the appointment of Assistant Adjutant Gen- eral, to fill the vacancy occasioned by Captain (Brevet Lieut. Colonel) ■*Canby's promotion to the 10th Infantry. Tlie applicants, all of whom are 1st Lieutenajits in their several regiments, arc arranged according to regimental rank — the dates of their first Commissions being also given, as follows : 1. Julius P. Garesche. -X- Date. 18 June, 184G. llegiment. 4th Artillery. First Commission. 1 July, 1841. (Note. Then follow the other 13 Officers, among whose names appear those of James A. Hardie, Fitz-John Porter, Geo. W. llazzard, John Gibbon, Richard C. Drum, James B. Fry, Geo. W. Lay and Winfield S. Hancock.) " Of the Officers above named, I respectfully recommend that the ap- pointment be conferred on the Senior, 1st Lieutenant Julius P. Garesch6, of the 4th Artillery. Lieut. Garesch6 is a gentleman of great moral worth, a ripe scholar, speaks fluently the French and Spanish languages, and is a zealous, active and efficient Officer. He is now serving with his Company in Texas, where he has been on duty for several years past. " I am. Sir, with great respect, "Your Ob't. Servant, " S. Cooper, "Adjutant General." Secretary Davis' Endorsement. "Recommendation approved. Lieut. J. P. Garesche will be appointed. "Jeffn. Davis, " Sec. of War. "9th Nov. 1855." * Killed by the Modoc Indians at the Lava Beds in 1875. 218 BIOGRAPHY OF " Fort Browx, Texas, Nov. 20, 1855. " Col. S. Coopeu, U. S. A. " Adjutant General, "Sir, '.'I have the honor to report my grateful acceptance of the appointment of Asst. Adjutant General, conferred on mo by the President: and, here- with enclosed, I bog respectfully to return to your Office, as directed by the lion. Socrotary of War, (duly filled up, signed, and attested,) the form of oath, transmitted to me with iiis letter of the 9th inst. " I have the honor to be most respectfully, " Your Obedient Servant, " J. P. Garesch^, "A. A, G.' Herewith is Julius' oath of acceptance : "I, Julius P. Gareseho, appointed an Asst. Adjutant General and Brevet Captain, in the Army of the United States, do solemnly swear, that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of America, and tiiat I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies or opposers what- soever ; and observe and obey the ordei-s of the President of the United States, and the orders of the Officers appointed over me, according to the Rules and Articles for the government of the Armies of the United States. "J. P. Garesch^, "Bt. Capt. & A. A. G." '' Sworn to and subscribed before me, \ at Brownsville, Texas, >• this twenty-seventh day of November, 1855. J "BuDD II. Fry, '* Justice of the Peace, '' Cameron County, "Texas."' LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 219 CHAPTER XXIII. Julius' nnd Mariquitta's pleusuro iit liis appointment — their departure with their children for Limours and his own thence for Washington — his letter to Mariquitta's mother descriptive of his anguish at seeing his wife and Marie's sulferings on their voyage from Texas and his uncertainty as to his future destination — birth of Louis — Marie's suffering — incident of Julius' kindness to a Cadot-r-Julius' return to Limours and his resigna- tion at having to return thence to Washington alone. JuLTUs' appointment as Brevet Captain and Assistant Adju- tant General, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the appointment of Capt. Canby to the Majorship of the 10th U. S. Infantry, dated from November 9, 1855. One can readily imagine his pleasure in receiving this bril- liant position, so flattering in every respect. The Adjutant General's Corps ranked high in the Army, was one of its most important branches and was necessarily eagerly sought after. It was really the ranking Staff Corps, and only Officers of acknowledged talent and merit were admitted as members. Mariquitta, too, was delighted and beyond measure, though of late she had begun to grow a little attached to Fort Brown — which, it is true, had witnessed some of her saddest but also some of her happiest days, when surrounded by Jules and her little daughters and with good news from Limours. On December 13, 1855, they left Fort Brown with their little family, amid the lamentations and heartfelt regrets of all those who had known and been able to appreciate them. They crossed the Gulf of Mexico once more, but for the last time, and after a long and fatiguing journey were again in beloved Limours, sur- rounded by their loving relatives. There Julius remained for a few days, and then tearing himself away from his darling Mari- quitta and beloved children he hastened on to Washington, to report for duty in his new sphere of action, leaving his family at the Homestead until they were sufficiently recovered from the 220 BIOORAPHV OF effects of their long trip by water from Fort Brown to be able to make the more archicnis one by Rail to Washington. He arrived in Washington abont the IGth of January and was warndy welcomed by Col. Cooper and immediately assigned to his new post of duty, for which he soon showed himself every way litted and capable. Julius to Mariquitta s Mother. *' Washington, Sunday, Januai'y 27, 1S56. '' Dear !^^AMMA, "I roooived last evoninij; your letter of the l22nd, and thank you very affectionately for having so kindly wished tlius to give me news of my dear Mariquitta. And I am very contented to learn that, in spite of her wretched nights, and the slavery in which my poor little daughters keep her, she has the air of picking up and has a good appetite : — which, with her, is alwa^'s a good sign. From what she remarks, dear INIamma, I see that 3'^ou are also fotiguing yourself a great deal with those poor children ; and knowing you as well as I do, always so devoted, so ready to sacrifice yourself, even entirely to forget yourself, — I believe it. I keenly regret, I can assure you, regret with all my heart, that I am not able to be near the bedside of my little Marie, to spare you all this fatigue, and to partake of that of ray own beloved Mariquitta. I acknowledge that I was delighted with the necessity which forced me to go far away for some days ; because my nervous system had been so much exercised by the sight of the suffer- ings of njy wife, and my children, during that wretched voj'age ; the con- dition of Marie, and her tears produced on rae such an effect, — that, really, I needed to go far away for some days, to calm myself, and to revive my spirits. But, now, that I am entirely recovered, it costs me a great deal not to be able to return near 3mu. '" You ask me, when can I return ? I can really give you no information on the subject. My Chief has as yet breathed nothing to me in regard to Vl\\ future destination. I addressed the question, short, last evening to an Olfieer of the Corps, who has more intercourse with the Chief than myself, and he answered, that he knew absolutely nothing about it; — that he him- self had been called here, more than two years ago, in the same manner as myself, that is to say, in a provisional manner, and not expecting to remain here more than six weeks ; and yet, here he is, at the end of that time, witliout ever having received other more permanent orders. lie added, that he supposes, that in the Spring there will be many changes. But, as I am one of the youngest in the Corps, it is more than probable, that, if I am sent away fi-om here, it will be to go to Santa Fe or to California. But all this is only conjecture. I doubt ver^- much, whether any thing is yet determined, even in the mind of our Chief. "As the man is just coming to take my letter, I must bid you Adieu, dear Mamma. I embrace you with all my heart, as also my Father, LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. G A RESCUE. 221 Octavie, Dollette, and my other Sisters, when you see them, and remain, always, " AV'holly yours, " Your-son, "Jules." On the 30th of June, 1856, Mariquitta was delivered of a little boy at Limours, baptized Marie Joseph Louis. The baby's Godparents were its Aunt Octavie de Laureal and Uncle Alex- ander Garesche, who was represented by its Grandfather de Laureal. During this year little Marie commenced to be a great sufferer from her spine and the poor child's pain was at times most in- tense. Her trouble had all been brought about by the careless- Dcss of a nurse who allowed her to have a severe fall. It grieved the affectionate hearts of her Parents to see how she suffered. Physical aid seemed of hardly any use, and then they had recourse to the pious and clement Mother of God. The following incident occurred in the Summer of 1856, illustrating Julius' kindness and generosity of heart, even to strangers. A certain young Cadet, about to graduate on the 1st of July of that year, was exceedingly anxious to enter the Corps of Topographical Engineers and wrote to that effect to the Secre- tary of War; but through his inexperience in such matters he did not direct his communication through the proper military channels, and it was accordingly returned to him, with a very severe endorsement from the Adjutant General. The poor young man was at first not only intensely disappointed at the failure of his application but mortified beyond measure with the reproof. What then was his happiness when on looking at the bottom of the page containing the Adjutant General's endorsement he saw M'ritten in lead pencil and signed by Julius the following: " Your communication was sent to Congress upon the 10th of June for assignment to the Topographical Engineer Corps !" At once all the young man's anxious and mortified feelings dis- appeared like a flash and he felt deeply grateful to the kind- hearted Officer, who had thus indirectly given him to understand that his hopes would be realized. 222 BIOGRAPHY OF In the month of September Jnlins returned to Limours to bring on his beloved family, but fearing that his infant boy and ailing Mariquitita were not sufficiently able as yet to make tlie long and tiresome trip, he resigned himself to make the sacrifice and came back to Washington with a sad and heavv heart at the prolonged separation from all those he held so dear. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 223 CHAPTER XXIY. Julius' description of his return to Washington — his grief at leaving his little family — presents his father-in-law with a pair of eye-glasses — reason why it is not easy for himself to accept presents — visits his Cousin Amelia — her insisting upon his arranging for a Novena for Marie's cure — begs Mariquitta to obtain all necessary prayers, tells her what to do and says what he will himself do — about cure of Amelia's sister Mary — urges Mariquitta to a most devout preparation and submission to the Will of God should the cure not be effected — entreaty about the can of water on the stove — visits Gen. Walbach, Mr. McLane and Capt. Hazzard in Balti- more — CaptTPhelps' transfer — Julius' trust in God for Marie's cure — his liking for his present position and entire satisfaction therein — compli- mentary visit of the Secretary of War — Father Roccofort's description of Julius' wish to go to Communion daily without exciting unnecessary comment — return to his same Boarding House — Col. Cooper's warm greet- ing and kindly sympathy — Julius' wisli to visit Algiers and his fears of not realizing it — Capt. Hazzard's idea of Col. Cooper's intention of always keeping Julius in Washington — Julius consults with Majors Mordecai and Lee about his voyage, and their views — suffers from a severe cold — extreme sorrow for the sufferings of his little Marie and admiration of Mariquitta's firmness — loving advice to her about Marie and commiseration for her trials in Marie's sickness — longing to know whether !Na misses him and his great love for her — how fearfully he misses his little Louis — passion for his babies — attends a dancing soiree at Col. Cooper's — his liking for Col. Cooper — necessity of the Army being increased and his hope of one day writing ^' Col. Garesche'' upon his visiting cards — attends a Mission by the Redemptorist Fathers — Father Deshon — expatiates upon his great love for Mariquitta and his children, and that to God alone must they have recourse for Marie's cure, and that it is better to give Alms to His Poor than uselessly feeing physicians — Julius' Manuscript of the death and ascension of the Blessed Virgin — further remarks of Mr. John T. Doyle. Julius to Mariqiiitta. "Washington, Sunday, October 26, 1856. "Again must I begin a long series of letters, but I cherish the hope that it will not be as great as formerly. I arrived here, darling, this morning at six. I reached Baltimore yesterday at 2 P. M., and had in- tended to have come on by the 5 P. M. train ; but I lost so much time in searching for a Hotel, where I could procure a good bath, that I was com- pelled to renounce my intention. 224 BIOORAPHV OF " I succeeded on the very day of my arrival in St. Louis in completing all my businoss matters tlicro and left Ferdinand's house at GJ P. M., and this side of the llivcr at 8 P. M. JNIy heart was very full. My adieux to your Father also cost nie a great deal : I felt as if I were breaking the last link of the chain which bound nic to Iiinu)urs: — every thing within me sank ; — my heart was full of sadness. Your Father also appeared very sorrowful, I feel sure that he loves nui very much. "I was able to say farewell to Marie, DoUette,* Didi,t your Uncle Jean TJaptiste de Laur^al, the do Pombirays, J Juliette, § all of my own relatives, and the Tctanls || and Boislinitrcs. I could not resist the temptation of presenting your Father with a pair of eye-glasses. I fear he may object to accepting them from mo since I refused his great-coat; but you must not allow of this. I can repeat in perfect sincerity what I have already told him, that he is mistaken in his motive lor my refusal, for I experi- enced no dislike to the reception of a gift from him. Have I ever mado • any difliculty in placing myself under obligations to him? Does he not place me under a great obligation in doing so much for yourself and our children? No! 1 refused because the great-coat was of no use to me. Tliis w!is the simple and only reason. The truth of the matter is, that it is not easy to make mo presents: my tastes are so positive, my iiabits are so fixed, and 1 do not know how to oppose them. Your Father might have ofiered me the finest hat to be had, and no consideration could have induced me to wear it. lie might have given me a shawl, and I would no more have used it; and so with other things. Y'ct if he insists so strenuously on making me a gift, let him bestow it upon you — some trifling ha(ji(tdlc fur your simple toilet, and he could not ailbrd me greater pleasure. " I had a fine trip, the weather was not warm, and the route was free from dust. Notliing either extraordinary or interesting occurred. I pro- vitU-d myself before starting with some chocolate which I bought of Guen- audon but which I found detestable: and from St. Louis to Harrisburg, a * Dollctte and Dole, pet names of Adele. f Augustine, second daugiitcr of Charles de Coudroy do Laureal — tho first cousin of Mariquitla's parents — and Eliza Lemorcier de Pombiray. In Franco it is customary, as a mark of respect and afteetion, to address one's cousins, when they are elderly and nuirricd, as Uncle and Aunt. Hence Mariquitta always calls this Cousin Charles, as also his brother Jean Baptiste, Uncle and their wives Aunt. X Family of Lemorcier do Pombiraj' who had twice married into the Do Coudroy do Laureal family, viz., Augustine to Joan ]5aptiste in 1830 and Eliza to hia brother Charles later. Like Mariquitla's parents, their first cousins, these brothers and tho Lomercier do Pombirays left Guadeloupe in 1848, having lost their groat wealth by tho troubles. ^ Juliette IMeLane, wife of l?auduy P. Garesche. II Cousins of Mariquitta. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCIIE. 225 distance of about 900 miles, subsisted on a half pound of it, for Rail Road travel completely destroys my appetite. " At Baltimore I paid a loni^ visit to Amelia.* The Reverend Mother was present at our interview and was most gracious to me. She gave me a Scapular, an Agnus Dei, and a Gospel of St. John, and allowed me to assist at the Salve Regina, chanted by the whole Community accompanied with many evolutions by the Religious, Amelia made many queries about Marie and so insisted upon it, that I promised her I would reiiuest you to arrange for a Novena of Masses in honor of the Blessed Virgin to obtain Marie's cure. She related to me that her sister, 3Iary f Willcox, had thus been almost miraculously cured. I wish tlien that you would write to Father Emig at the College (a devoted friend of my family), to ask him to take charge of it and to enlist tlie whole Jesuit commun-ty to aid us by their prayers. Also mention it particularly to Father Damen, Father Gleizal, Brother De Meyer, and Brother Rcisselman (Dr. Henry) one of my good old friends. Try to obtain the prayers of the community of St. Joseph's Convent in Carondelet. Fix the day for its commencement so far ahead, that not only shall 1 be advised of it, but in time for me to notify the Rev. Mother of the Carmelites, who has promised me the prayers of her entire community; as also my Aunt Lalite, tliat she may obtain those of the Academy of the Visitation, I will obtain those of the Jesuits here and at New York, and perhai)8 those of the Redemptorists. Let the Novena, if possible, be in honor of the Immaculate Conception. Tliis would b(! my desire, but confer in respect to it with Father Emig, and write me in full and with the greatest particularity all the arrangements agreed upon. Of the former Novena, I received tlie lirst news only after it had begun. lu the Novena for Mary Willcox, it was ai-ranged that every day either two members of the family or two of their intimate friends should approach the Holy Communion Table. I do not see how you can do this at Liuiours: I will write to Alexander that at least one of the members of my family try to do this, and I will go to Communion myself as often as I may be permitted, "Do not fear! do not murmur! do not lose courage! During the Novena sliould Marie grow even much worse, that may indicate that a miracle is about t(j take place. In the case of Mary Willcox, she was at the moment of her cure so sick, that she said to Amelia : ' I feel so badly, that I believe God is about to vouchsafe me my recovery, you know tliat it always happens thus.' In the interval do as I intend to do: prepare yourself by tiie most fervent prayers, a greater patience, more sweetness, charity, love of God, and submission to llis Holy Will. Moreover, both before, during and after the Novena, make the sacrifice of your child to * His cousin, Amelia Bauduy, nee Keating, a Carmelite Religious in Baltimore. -j- Mary Keating znarried Mr. James "Willcox of Philadelpljiu. 10 226 BIOGRAPHY OF Illm fur Ilis greater glory. Consent in advance, with heartiness, that she sh(»iild consecrate herself to God, if it be His Will to call her to His ser- vice. I tell you frankly I have an innate conviction that this Novena, even though it should not obtain her entire cure, will nevertheless power- fully contribute to it; and that Ave will eventually o1)tain it, if we only continue to iin])lore it of God. Moreover, I feel convinced that Marie, pos- sessed of a heart which loves so tenderly, so deeply, can never be happy in the world and is called to love God alone 1 " I forgot to tell you, and I now earnestly beg of you, to keep, night and day, on your stove a large can full of water. Otherwise every stove, and especially an air-tight one, is very, very unhealthy. Ventilate your room also at least twice a day ; morning and evening, if you can, leaving for a few moments both door and windows open. Do not forget to toll me how you like your stove. "I called at Baltimore on old Gen.* Walbach, also on Mr. McLane, Juliette's father, and on Ilazzard.f The last appears but too happy, his wife is very pretty. "Capt. Phelps has received orders to leave Fort Brown with his com- pany, which has been assigned to Fort Leavenworth. He has been trans- ferred to an Artillery Commission, Avhich will bring him Eastward, or as lie expresses it, to a civilized country, for many months ; and behold iiim, in ilno, very happy I " At times I feel a little sad, but I am generally full of courage and hope. It comes to ray thoughts that God is ready to grant to the prayers of the Blessed Virgin the cure of our dear child, that she may give Him in return her heart, so loving, so tender, so sensitive. Then again I look out upon the fine career before me. I receive proof every day that I am more appreciated than even I deserve to be. Hazzard related several incidents in this regard which gave me real pleasure. Upon my arrival here I found the card of the Secretary of AVar awaiting me, which he had left in person. Admit that he knew I had loft, admit that he is just as attentive to others, — nevertheless I feel complimented by this attention, I know that he would not have done so for eoery one, and coming from a man iu his position it is a great deal. " .Send me soon good news of our dear Madeleine, I expect them. Em- brace her for me, also your Mother, Father, Sisters, and our darlings and believe me always, my dear little wife, " Your good and devoted "Jules." * His lato Commander, Colonel of the 4th Artillery, and the same who had been anxious to have him as his Adjutant. This OfBoer felt a sincere rcsi)eot, great admiration and warm friendship for Julius and was himself a most excellent Catholic. f Capt. Geo. AV. Hazzard, who gallantly lost his life subsequently during the War of the llebellion while defending the cause of the Union. LIEUT. COL.- JULIUS P. QARESCHE. 227 One morning, in the latter part of 1856, Julius visited his Confessor, Father Aioysius Roccofort of the Society of Jesus, a good and worthy French priest, iu his room at Gonzaga College (then situated on the North side of F Street near 9th and imme- diately opposite Mrs. Spalding's, where he was boarding), and stated that as he was a daily communicant, he feared that if he received the Holy Sacrament daily iu the one Church, St. Pat- rick's, he might thereby give rise to talk. He wished that no one should know of his action, and yet he did not want to forego it. He had thought to remove the difficulty by going every morning to a different Church, but there being but four in the City he begged the Rev. Father to give him Communion on the off mornings in the College Chapel. To this proposition, made with all humility and piety of heart, his Confessor willingly acceded, and Julius was thus able to continue his exemplary practice without ^royo/cin^/ unnecessary remark. Julius to Mariquitta. " Washington, D. C, Wednesday, October 29, 1856. " Dearest, " Constantly am I besot with the wish to chat with you. I wrote to you a line from Ilarrisburg, to let you know that I was safely so near the end of my journey ; and since my arrival here I have written to you a lonji; letter. I am now waiting with such eagerness for one from you, and to learn how my children have borne my absence. ''1 am installed in the same boarding house; but as my former little room was occupied, Mrs. Spalding gave me a larger one at the same price, $25 per month. It is an excellent room, airy and comfortable and quite as good as the one for which I was paying $40 on my first coming here. It has a Southern exposure, and has the sun all day, warming and lighting it up perfectly, so that I am quite comfortably ensconced. " Col. Cooper greeted me with much .amiability, and after having en- quired for news of yourself, expressed his sympathy that I should be separated from my family : and told me that at any time I should wish to bring you on, or even to visit you, because Marie was not in a condition as yet to travel, not to hesitate asking for a Leave of absence and he would cheerfully grant it. " I have not yet dared to mention to him my project of a voyage to France, through fear that he Avould object. The fact is, I begin to abandon hope of success in it. Twice I called on Major Lee, to broach it to him, but did not find him. Thus far I have spoken of it to but a single person, Major Mordecai, who is very intimate with the Secretary and is the same person who so warmly recommended me to him for my position as Asst. 228 BIOGRAPHY OF Acljt. General. He lias himself just returned from an extended European tour, the Crimea, &c., wliither he had heen sent by the Secretary. He gave me but little encouragement. lie said that lie saw no reason why I should not ask for the permission ; that my idea was a good one, my motive laudable; that my knowledge of the French was a great advantage; that he regretted I had not been assigned to their Commission, I would have proved so useful to them. But after all he doubted whether the Secretary would now send another officer to Europe. " Ilazzard has gotten tlie idea (tiiough I do not know how it originated) that Col. Cooper has already found me so useful, that so long as he lives he will keep me in AVashington. He can give me no reason for this im- pression, and I think it to be only one of his imagination. Yet there are several officers of the Corps who are looked upon as poor workers, and I think myself that Col. Cooper might raise objections against my taking such a voyage, which he would regard under the circumstances as only a caprice. At all events, I canndt at this moment ask permission, for I have a great deal of Avork before me, to prepare the annual reports for Congress, and it would be wanting in delicacy to leave behind me so much unfinished work, for it to be thrown on some one else. " Thursday, October 30. — I saw Maj. Lee to-day and mentioned my de- sire of visiting Algeria. The idea favorably impressed him, and when I observed that this project already seemed to be but a castle in the air [un Chateau en Espagne) he strongly shook his head and answered : ' Not at all, there is less of impossibility in it than you think.' Later he said that on the next day ho would mention it to Maj. Mordecai, that the latter might speak of it to the Secretary. " I have, therefore, done all I contemplated. I have a far better chance of success through the intervention of these two gentlemen, than if I my- self had directly conferred with the Secretary, or had resorted to the usual course, that is to say through Col. Cooper, who, I am sure, would but little favor the design. If, therefore, Maj. Lee, who warmly approved of it, should not succeed, I would not push the matter any further, and regard- ing it as a failure, would strive to forget it as soon as possible. In truth, I could easily console myself, for I must confess it, the thought of so long an absence from you already makes me tremble. From what Maj. Lee said I would infer, that should the Secretary send me, it would not be for less than a year — a long, very long perspective ! since it would be a year of exile, of separation from all I hold dear upon Earth ! " I had hoped to have received a letter from you to-day ; but perhaps it is yet too soon, although I long to have one. I trust that you are both coura- geous and patient, darling, and that yoii will write to me at great length about yourself and our children ; and more in detail than you have done in former letters. Ah ! if 3'ou could but know how much I miss you ! '• For two days past I have had a severe cold in the head, but thanks to the quinine and opium I took yesterday to relieve me I am to-day a great LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. ■ 229 deal better. I am full of courage, and though I frequently think of you with a little sadness and much regret, nevertheless I am not overcome by the ' blues.' "Every day I feel more contented with my position of Assistant Adju- tant General, and with my sojourn in Washington. "Embrace your dear Mother for me, your Fatlier, Sisters, dear little Cissey* Bakewell and say many affectionate things for me to Robert, for whom my affection and esteem daily increase ; also many to Dr. f Lewis. " Hug and kiss tenderly for me our dear children : a thousand endeai*- ing expressions from me to Marie and Na J, and give a tiiousand kisses to my beautiful little boy. I clasp you tenderly in my arms, darling, and remain always, "Your good "Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Saturday night, November 1st, 1856. " I received last evening, my dear wife, your letter of the 24th October ; it is very sad! Marie did not look so well! This pains me. The scene you describe, or rather the night you had just spent with her, watching her in her apparatus despite her tears, her piteous prayers, stirred my heart to its very depths. I realize how your poor heart must have been torn by the cries of that dear child; my own bled simply at your recital. And yet while admiring your courage and applauding your determination, and which m^ own judgment entirely approves, I cannot understand how your firmness resisted. I feel tliat my own would have melted ])efore the tears of that poor little afflicted one. But I realize also that from day to day in the matter of tenderness I grow weaker. " May you soon be able to tell me, that our dear little darling has finally resigned herself to remaining in her box! Children so quickly become reconciled, are so fertile in resources of amusement, and our little angel has so much sense, sweetness and patience, that I dare to hope it. As * His little niece. Nancy had married Mr. Kobert A. Bakewell of St, Louis, a rising young lawyer and a devout convert to the Catholic Faith and descended from Scott's Peveril of the Peak and remotely back to a Nor- man Count who came over to England with Williuin tlie Conqueror. One of his relatives, a Miss Bakewell, married Audubon, the great naturalist. In 1875, Kobert was appointed by the Governor of Missouri a Judge of the St. Louis Court of Appeals and later, by election, he held the same position. f His brother-in-law, Doctor N. Lewis Hornsby of Kentucky, then set- tled near Limours and a promising young physician practicing his profes- sion. A recent convert he became a most exemplary Catholic. He married Madeleine (Toto). X Julius' little Octavie. 230 BIOORAPHV OF stimulants will be more than ever necessary, don't fail constantly to keep in your room a bottle of wine, in order with a little of it to season every glass of water she will drink. During AVintor wine will readily keep two or three days, and if you think that perchance after the second day it miicht sour, you could send that bottle to the table and open a fresh one. We must run no risk with our little invalid, and this wine was purchased specially for her. Let me implore you, my own Mariquitta, to restrain yourself in her regard should she continue to make any resistance to enter- ing or remaining in her apparatus : I beg of you never to be impatient with her ! Not alone on her account do I make this request, for poor little thing, a moment afterwards she wonld, I know, forget it and would bear no resentment; but, dearest, on your own account; for should we chance to lose her, you would then, remembering it, suffer .so much. I know how you are suffering, how you at times are worn out and at others completely bereft of strength and fortitude, and if sometimes you are overcome with impatience, it seems to me that God would pardon you for it. Be assured then that in what I now say to you I wisli only to avoid for you in the future perhaps moments of bitterness. " Poor dear wife, how my heart grieves at the thought of the frightful nights, the painful and toilsome days, which aou are spending alone, ftTr away from me, and I unable to lend you any, even the least aid. I thank you for the promise you make me of sleeping as much as you can dui-ing the day, in order to recruit your strength worn out by so many sleepless nights. But will you keep to this promise? Alas, I know you too well to dare expect it ! And yet it would afford me such pleasure ! " Bear in mind, my dear wife, what I have before so strongly urged : to keep always on your stove a large basin full of water, so as to prevent the air of your room from becoming too dry. Do not forget this, and let the interdict lie absolute that Miss Na shall not approach the stove. To pre- vent her being burned this winter I think tliat it would be well to buy a fender of an oval shape and at least two feet in height. " You do not tell me if Na appeared to miss me ; I fear she did not. I dare not flatter myself that I made much inroad upon the heart of my little daughter, notwithstanding all my tender affection for her and my efforts to win her to me. ^^ Sundat/, November 2nd. — Do not think that I forget our handsome little boy. You may be surprised at it, and yet during my journey I missed him even more than my little girls. You know that my babies have always been my passion. An infant is something so pure, so inno- cent, so velvety, so attractive ! As I did not desire to see my daughters emerge from so charming an age, you can imagine what it costs me to think that my little boy now so sweet, so delightful, must one day become noisy, blustering, saucy, and an urchin, as the most of boys are. " I promise you that I will not forget him and that I love him dearly. I miss him a great deal and there are moments when I would love to wit- LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. QARESCHE. 231 ness one of his fits of temper. What would I not give to see his pretty little smile, hear his sweet coo, kiss his little satiny cheeks? "I am very much occupied at the office, and the days have become so short that on my return from dinner scarcely a half hour of daylight remains. Yesterday I met Major Lee, but he said nothing to me of my project of a voyage to France, so that I begin to regard it as about con- demned. " On Friday I attended a dancing soiree at Col. Cooper's. I did not see how I could refuse this the first invitation. And yet, just as I expected, it proved to be for me a real bore, as I knew none of the ladies, so that at the first opportunity I spirited myself away. " I like Col. Cooper very much, he is so truly amiable. In my regard he is every thing I could wish. I am very content with my position, it quite reconciles me to the Army, and the futui'e appears to smile upon me. For I believe that the increase of the Army will soon become an absolute necessity, without which it will be impossible to obtain officers. Every day our best officers abandon the service. Already this year have we announced 28 resignations and we have since received twenty more. The Army, moreover, must be increased, especially if we should acquire the Island of Cuba; hence I do not in the least despair of one day writing upon my visiting cards ''Col. Garesch^J' " Tenderly kiss my little childre)? for me. How did my little girls like the letters I wrote to them ? Very lovingly do I clasp you in my arms, my beloved Mariquitta, and always remain in all truthfulness. " Your good Jules." Jtdius to Mariqiiitta. "Washington, Sunday, November 2, 1856. " I forgot to tell you, darling, that Dr. Abadie instead of living in the city, as I supposed, stays at Jefferson* Barracks. It is useful for you to know this, should any sudden need of a physician occur, too urgent to send to St. Louis. "Do not forget when you meet Boislinifere, always to remember me afiectionately to him, for he is a man I dearly love. " In the Church of St. Patrick's, just opposite my lodgings, the Redemp- torist Fathers have begun a Mission which I shall regularly attend and from which I hope to reap great fruit. Onef of them is an old acquaint- ance of mine, a graduate of West Point, who was there at the same time as myself, later an officer of the Army. He was then a Protestant, but * Military post on the Mississippi Kiver six miles below Carondelet and about three from Limours. f Father Geo. Deshon, a graduate of West Point in 1843 and a universal favorite at the Academy, and a capital horseman. Upon his graduation he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps and promoted 1st Lieutenant of the same Corps July 10, 1851. 232 BIOGRAPHY OF immediately on his conversion, he renounced the world to consecrate himself entirely to God. I have just returned from a visit to Iiim. '• To-day, dear wife, I expect a letter from you and I hope that I may not be disappointed. I think so often of you and of our children, my dear Mariquitta, but without being sad or discouraged. Every day you become dearer to me, for I can no longer doubt that you too love me much more than formerly, and that your affection for me unceasingly grows; and very naturally this gives me pleasure and makes me love you so much the more. The affection I bear my children is also reflected upon yourself; the more I love tiiem the more necessarily do I love you, and I love them icith my u-hole heart! Dear little beings, how much I do miss them ! But notwith- standing I bear our separation this time with a courage which surprises me. But the fact is I am full of hope, — hope first for Marie and next that I shall see you in four or five months, and this interval seems so brief in comparison with the terrible nine months during which we have been sepa- rated. The promise of Col. Cooper, so frankly offered, that whenever I wish I may visit you, encourages and strengthens me, and makes the time appear shorter which must still separate us. " I have just this moment, my own dear wife, received your letter of the 26th and 28th ult., and it gave me untold pleasure. " The enjoyment you experience from my gift to your Father, and that he himself derives from its possession, enchants me. I had thought that in this I would gratify you, and am overjoyed to have succeeded so Avell. You cannot imagine the pleasure I experience from the manner in which you write of it, and of the pleasure which you say it afforded him. " I am glad to see my hope realized in Madeleine's improvement. After she has been so exhausted by suffering, it is to be expected that from time to time there will be trivial set backs, but which, most fortunately, will not arrest her perfect cure. " I am eager to learn that our little Marie is reconciled to her apparatus, sleeping tranquilly in it, and seeming to improve. " I am so pleased to know that Master Louis is becoming wiser, espe- cially at night. May this continue! " I begin to breathe more freely, to feel less uneasiness about you. It did worry me so much to see you doomed to such slavery, so painful, so wearisome, so much above your strength, my own dear wife, and yet not to be able to share the burden with you. But your letter has done me so much good ; to see you so nicely and comfortably installed with your Parents, and in better health ! If now your children would only let you sleep at night ! I beg and implore of you, dear Mariquitta, to do all in your power to give better habits to Louis. '• Friday, Kofember Ith. — Only a moment, dearest, is left me to close my letter, having been too much occupied the last few days to finish it. Your letter did me so much good that I am feeling splendidly and would love to have another like it soon. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 233 " I wrote to Father Olivier day before yesterday to ask of him a Novena of Masses for our intention, begging him also to ask of the Ladies of the Convent to join in our prayers. Don't forget to give generously for the Masses which are to be said by the Jesuit Fathers, and to give a good alms to the Sisters of St. Joseph. When asking their prayers remember that it is pleasing to God to see alms accompanying prayers, and that lie especially likes to see the Poor paid for their prayers. Bear in mind that we no longer hope for the cure of Marie through medical skill, and that we no longer even have recourse to it. We address ourselves to God alone: — but God, the Sovereign Pliysician, never does any thing for nothing. He always wants to be repaid, but repaid in the persons of his Poor. Do not forget this, but be guided by it in your actions. The money we would have fruitlessly spent on Doctors let us giwQ freely to the Poor, offering it to God with our ^:>;"a//ers, for the spiritual and temporal good of our child. Be assured that this money will not be idly spent. " Good-bye, darling, affectionately embrace for me all the family ; ten- derly kiss our dear children, and receive a thousand kisses from your husband and " Your Jules." The following description by Julius, of the death of the Blessed Virgin and her ascension into Heaven, comes in very appropriately here. " The last moments of a Napoleon, a Caesar, a Cato, a Washington, and even of a Jackson, a Webster and a Clay, .are familiar to you all. The great, the powerful, and the wise of this world have their chronicles ever. The piety of the faithful has also tenderly commemorated the lives and deaths of the heroes of Christianity. But there has occurred one Death, of the greatest, wisest, best, as well as the fairest and most perfect of all human kind, of which we know scarce any thing. History is silent, tradi- tion even has scarcely ventured to speak of it above a Avhisper. It occurred, near 1800 years ago, in a solitary grot, in a lonely forest of Judea. Trans- port ourselves thither in imagination, my beloved brethren ; for the glory of that death is above that of all others, save only one. The sun is shining brightly over our heads, but with a soft uncommon radiance ; the moon and all the stars that light up the blue firmament at night, are dimly seen looking on in solemn expectation ; no breeze sweeps across the vault of heaven, though all the winds have gathered to this spot, yet not a leaf is stirring upon the tall cedars, that overlook the spot; — wild animals, the fiercest of the savage kind, are seen here and there among the trees, and yet no sound of strife is heard, for they have assembled to weep the de- parture of her, who had tamed their savage hearts to love. All nature is hushed in silent awe, for the queen of this world, and the next, is dying I Enter we under that lonely shed, on which those mournful doves ai-e perching. No riches of this earth are there. Bare are those naked walls 234 BIOGRAPHY OF of ornament, hard is that pallet on the ground, on which lies stretched that noble and venerable form. Dim is the light, which streams in upon her wasted features. Of all mankind, but one. is kneeling by the bedside of that sweet Lady, Help of Christians, the mother of their God and Maker; one living incarnation o^ purity and love, is, alone, admitted to the privilege of representing his kind, on this great occasion. We hold our breath. "What deep toned bell resounds upon our ears? What soft yet dazzling light gleams upon our wondering eyes? The wall of flesh is broken down, our spirits mount in ecstasy with St. John's, for lo ! the hour has struck, and oh ! the brightness of those radiant spirits, who troop in joy unutterable around the throne, on which ascends their immaculate glorified Queen ! In wliat a flood of light, glory and henuty. is every thing bathed ! What balmy and delicious fragrance, what thrilliuir and exquisite music fills the air! 'Tis Heaven's own Jubilee, the coronation day of her own sweet queen ! See the radiant hosts, as they pour out to meet and welcome that hright procession! Joy! Joy is in every heart! See. our great Saviour, Himself, descends : — they meet ! With what love thrills that pure heart, with what new glorj"^ flames that Immaculate form, as, at length, she is reunited, and forever, to her own dear Son. Hand in hand, they kneel before the cloud capped Tlirone of the Triune God, and. for a moment, there is a pause of stillness before that awful throne, whilst Adonijah blesses his loving daughter, his tender Mother, his virgin spouse. Loud as the rolling thunder, low and deep as the murmur of Ocean in his inmost caves, it echoes along the vault of Heaven, 'Ave Maria Immacu- lata I Bcnedicta tu in Mulieribus !' — 'Ave Maria Immaoulata ! Ave ^laria, Kegina Nostra," the Clioirs of Heaven repeat, and louder, still louder swells that ravishing melody, as spirit after spirit joins in the holy Canticle, each striving with the other, to do honor to Her, whom Christ crowns Queen of Heaven and seats next to the Throne, itself, high above Heaven's highest. "And now, it is with the * Magnificat anima mea Dominum," tiiat the courts of Heaven resound, as choir by choir, and band by band, that mighty host defiles before its Queen, bending as they pass, in loving hom- age before Her glittering throne — Cherubim and Seraphim, Thrones and Pominations, Principalities and Powers, Archangels. Angels, Crowned Pontifis and glorious ^lartyrs. Patriarchs and Prophets, fair Virgins and white robed Innocents, and the twelve tribes of Israel, following after Peter and the eleven, the holy Baptist, the lofty Michael, Joachim and Anna, and blessed Joseph, prostrate themselves in turn before her. " Mary, our Mother, too, forget not thy frail children in this trium- phant hour I — Forget! oh ! Mary knows not how to forget aught but the injuries done her by her enemies. Scarce had the arm}' of Heaven passed by, and the last notes of the loud chorus, ' Te Peum Laudamus, te Dom- inum confitemur," died away upon the ravished ear, ere she is kneeling at the feet of her Divine Son, and even before she has time to open her sweet lips, her angels have winged their rapid way, for they know that her LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. G A RESCUE. 235 prayer is heard, and the gates of Purgatory are thrown wide open, and thousands of blessed souls conic pouring out, up to her feet, to thank and bless her for their deliverance ; whilst far over the wide spread earth, the banner of mercy is flying, and souls in their dreadful agony, have breathed a sudden hope, have felt a sudden strength, and calmly sink into the slum- ber of death, with her blessed name upon their lips : — others again, whose blood is coursing wildly through their heated veins, and who are even on the very point of yielding to some damning seduction of the foe, feel a sudden chill spreading through their bones, and striking to their hearts, whilst the scales of passion fall from their eyes, and murmuring, ' Mary, mother,' they sink on their knees, and beat their sorrowing breasts ; Avhilst the baffled demons fly — hell rages — serpents creep into their dens — storms die upon the sea — and peace is upon the earth and in the hearts of men. ' "Amen." Further remarks of Mr. John T. Doyle, one of Julius' boy- hood friends at Georgetown College. "After concluding his course at the Point and entering the army I can- not recollect where Julius was stationed, nor how frequently we met. In 1853 I came to California and lost sight of him till 1856, when I went East on a visit. Naturally I drifted to Georgetown and its old familiar scenes and there enquiring for old friends learned that Julius was in the Adju- tant General's Office, where I went next morning to hunt him up. " From that time I never lost him again until we all lost him. " His mind was imbued with a deep religious feeling, it was real piety, — not the sort that makes men grim, cold or censorious, — quite the con- trary, his disposition was merry and his laugh frequent and hearty, but never once did I know him to go in the least beyond ' the limits of becom- ing mirth.' '' There was a Church (St. Patrick's) around the corner from his house, which could be passed on his way to the War Department. His habit was to stop there and hear Mass, or if no Mass were celebrated at the hour, then to say his prayers, on the waj' from his house to the Office ; and going in there of an afternoon to look for the priest, on some errand or other, I have stumbled upon him kneeling at a bench, engaged in silent devotions after office hours. " He was a remarkably conscientious man and scrutinized his own con- duct with vigilant severity. To the faults of others, however, he was in- dulgent, always ready to find an excuse or palliation if any reasonable ground existed. I remember once when discussing his straightened cir- cumstances and the fact that he had been compelled by the smallness of his pay to encroach upon his modest patrimony, I suggested that he was by the Army Regulation entitled to the keep of a horse and that he did not draw that. His answer was, the horse must be actually kept to entitle 236 BIOORAPlir OF him to it. and that woiilJ merely add to his expenses. I suggested that, no doulit, a livery stable keeper would contract to hire him a horse and keep him ever at his disposal, for less than the ration, and the balance even if small would be of some service. He replied, that was no doubt true, but that the law (or the rule) required a certificate as to the keeping of the horse, in such terms, that he could not sign it unless he owned and kept the horse. I heard afterwards that other officers did draw a horse- keep ration, in virtue of an arrangement with some stable foi* the use of an animal, and mentioned it to him. He said he believed it was so and he was glad they saw their way clear to do it, but for his own part he could not. " That was all there was of it — no disposition to find fault with them, — but simply he could not see it." LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. O37 CHAPTER XXV. Julius' pleasure at the receipt of Mariquitta's last letters and his tender ex- hortations to her about her own health and the necessity of now turning Marie's attention to God and His Divine Mother — Father Tolmon's Cru- cifix — how good God is to them all, even in their separation — sudden death of a gentleman in his Boarding House and frantic grief of the wife and mother — his longing and yet fear for another letter — receipt thereof and his great joy at its contents — approval of day chosen for tlie termina- tion of the Novena — his gratification at the pleasure his little letters gave to his little girls and anxiety to know what Na thought of hers — abandons his voyage to Algiers for Mariquitta's sake — physical and spiritual good the ^Mission did him and wonderful eloquence of one of the Fathers — de- sire that his wife should speak only French to their children — about his renounced wish to visit France and Algiers — Capt. Ord's admiring criti- cism on his " Reminiscences of an Officer of Zouaves." Julius to Mariquitta. '* Washinqton, Friday, November 7, 1856. '' Mv DEAR LITTLE "WiFE, " Though but to-day I sent you a letter, I cannot restrain myself from repeating to you what pleasure and solace I derived from your letter of the 2Gth and 28th. What particularly gratified me was what you tell me of the little present I left for your Father and that it gave to yourself such pleasure. " Your whole letter, however, did me good in its partial dissipation of the painful idea I had brought away with me, of the crushing life you wei-e leading. '"Now that "^Madeleine is so much better, that your Mother without doubt is able to spend much more of her time at home, do, I beseech you, my Mariquitta, try and take a sleep every day, for you are so much in need of itl Another recommendation, dear Mariquitta, which vou must not fail to observe is this, that I have been surprised at our little Marie's degree of intelligence, lleflecting since upon it, I think that it is time that we began seriously to occupy ourselves with the precious soul God has committed to our charge. If we do not soon begin to direct her heart and mind to God, she might acquire evil tendencies, llang, tlierefore, in your room that large crucifix,! which Avas given to me by Father Telmou * Madeleine, after her marriage to Doctor Hornsby, was now residing on his property of " Wildwood,'' adjacent to Limours. t Julius always held this Crucitix in great veneration as a souvenir of 238 BIOGRAPHY OF and which I entrusted at the D6put to your Father. Explain it to Marie; relate to her the Passion of our Saviour; the Creation of the world ; the history of Adam and Eve ; of Cain and Abel ; of Abraham and Lot : of Joseph and his brother; of Moses; and of the march of the Israelites through the Desert. Tell her of the Manna, and of the partrid. — Your letter of the 7th, my dear little Mari- quitta, gave me unalloyed pleasure. I relished with delight the perfume of tenderness and affection with which it was so strongly imbued. For it is so sweet to find myself so loved by you. and nothing could compensate me for the loss of this afiection, or entirely console me for your absence. I acknowledge, therefore, that uotwithstanding all the pleasure of a trip to Algeria, as I pictured it to myself, nevertheless I quailed before the thought of a separation from you for an entire year. Happily, we are not obliged to endure such a trial. ''During the whole Mission, and in fact since my arrival, I have suSered from a dreadful cold in the head, which stupefied me and kept me contin- ually in a feverish state. I persisted, however, in following all the lectures, LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 243 rising before five in the morning and returning honae only at ten o'clock at night. But I have received my reward for it, not only by the spiritual benefit I have derived from it, but scarcely had the Mission ended, when my cold, which had grown so bad that it threatened to put me to bed, suddenly, entirely, and as if by enchantment, disappeared ! "You should have followed this Mission, it was wonderful to see the Power which God had conferred upon these preachers. One, in particular, completely swayed iiis auditors, reaching their hearts as if by a thunder- bolt: men and women, rich and poor, fell upon their knees, weeping, sobbing, stirred, penetrated to the very depths of their souls. Never in my life have T seen a man wield such a power, such an empire over the hearts of his fellow-creatures. " I am so glad to hear that Madeleine steadily improves. You see I was, from its outset, right in my appreciation of her case. "Again, dear Mariquitta, T beg of you to watch over yourself that you do not speak English to our childi-en. You know T never refuse you any thing: strive then to give me this pleasure by a compliance with this, the request I have so often made to you. If you do not now habituate them to the French, later you will find it impossible. I do not doubt but you earnestly wish to see your children acquii-e it, but you can form no idea of the enormous difticulty which we will find in obtaining it for them, even though we make every effort for it. What then will it be, if you yourself are in the habit of speaking English to them ? You have often made fun of the French of Alexander and Ferdinand, and yet they have improved so much in it since they have lived in St, Louis : and, espe- cially, since mine and their marriages,* by which they have been forced to speak it. Well ! I repeat that it is impossible to have given one's self more trouVjle than Mamma took to induce them to speak French. Had she done as you do with our children, to-day they would not know one word of it. " Afiectionately embrace all the family for me, caress very tenderly our dear little children : tell my little Marie that her Papa sorrows because he is away from her, and would be happy if he could be with her, to pet her, to amuse her, to serve her, and thoroughly to spoil her. Say to Na that her Papa loves her very much, and will she not love her dear Papa at least a little? Fondle my beautiful little Louis and tell him that Papa would so like to hold him in his arms, to kiss him, to enjoy his delicious little crow. " You did not tell me in your last letter whether my little Marie is more reconciled to her apparatus, whether she consents to sleep in it ; and, yet, I have great need of knowing all this, for your first letter announced that she rebelled against it. * Ferdinand was married to Miss Eosella Hicks of St. Louis, a pious Cath- olic of French descent. 244 BIOGRAPHY OF " Adieu ! dearest wife, I embrace you with all my heart, as I love you, and ever am '' Your good "Jules."' " P. S. Do not forget at the end of each month to make up your accounts and to inform me: lat, the amount of your expenses during the month: 2d, how much money you have lefty It .had long been the desire of Julius to visit France and Alge- ria, but his tender and devoted love for his Mariquitta and children was too strong to permit himself a voluntary separation from them. But during his sojourn in Washington in 1856 the desire returned, and upon his coming back from Limours in the Fall of the same year, seeing the hopeless impossibility of his darlings joining him for many months apparently, he thought during the interval he would carry out his intention and thus his separation would not be so poignant. The French were then extending their possessions in Algeria, and from the fact that he was an Army Officer and possessed of a thorough knowledge of the French language he thought he might be permitted to make a campaign with their Army. Such permissions during a time of War are constantly accorded to the Officers of friendly Powers, even though such Powers do not themselves participate. An additional advantage in his favor, as he imagined, was that his family were of French extraction and several of his wife's and his own relatives were then, or had been lately, in the French Army. He was almost sure of success, though doubtful at first, of receiving the desired permission from his Superiors. He had already received from his Father-in-law and Mariquitta's uncle, Jean Baptiste de Coudroy de Laureal, letters of introduction to Monsieur le Colonel and Marquis de Tanlay and Monsieur le Lieutenant General and Comte de MacMahon, and to other dis- tinguished French Officers when Mariquitta's earnest supplica- tions induced him to abandon his scheme, and he sacrificed for her sake all his wished for projects. This idea of visiting Algeria suggested to him shortly after- wards the Translation of the " Reminiscences of an Officer of Zouaves." LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 245 In 1860, when his TrausUition appeared before the public, General Ord, then Captain, in a letter to him dated September 29, 1860, speaking of it, says : — ' " I have I'ead a portion of your translation with great interest and think you hit upon one of the most stirring, soldierly Books I have ever read, and that you have preserved the ardor and enthusiasm with which the narrator tells his experience, as if you had been along. I sent a short account of the origin of the Zouaves to the Century four or five weeks since, and I was glad to see that my authority agreed with yours." 246 BIOGRAPHY OF CHAPTER XXVI. Julius' description to Mariquitta of all he has done and is doing regarding the Novena, and his earnest entreaty to turn Maries thoughts to our Saviour and Holy Religion — his heart's longings for Mariquitta and his children and his passionate love and yearning for her society — that it is their duty now and how they should turn their little girls' minds to God — love for his little Louis, Na and Marie — Mrs. Goddard — Julius' ever ready courtesy to women and his joke about one — a man's greatest human happiness — re-assembling of Congress and a resj)ite of work — commence- ment of the Novena — the little Orphans of the Asylum and their belief In the eflScacy of their own prayers — tender entreaties to Mariquitta to take more care of her health and to be less scrupulous — his confidence in the good result of the Novena, that God will surely grant their prayer, but if not then they must bear the cross patiently — entreats her not to despair about it — flattered by Na's refusal — his singular pleasure in know- ing that Mariquitta dotes so tenderly on their little Louis — daily cold water bath. Julius to Mariquitta. " W.\SHiNGTON, Thursday, November 20, 1856. " To-day there is a holiday in all of the departments and I greedily profit by it for my correspondence. For I have been so preoccupied since my return here, that I have not found time to write to any one save yourself, my dearly beloved. Hence I have written to Alexander, to ask of him to see Father Damen and Father Emig, to ask of each to say for our inten- tion a Novena of Masses. Then I wrote directly to those two Fathers, to expose to them the distressing condition of our child and to seek to inter- est them in her regard. In the same strain I have Avi-itten to Fatlier Gleizal, and have also asked of him during the Novena to offer the Holy Saci-ifiee for our intention and to persuade the Novices and the Brothers under liis charge to join us in prayer. I wrote to my Aunt Lalite, begging her to unite with us and to go to Communion for our intention, and to persuade the Keligious of her Convent, and tliose of that of Baltimore (where a great miracle has recently been obtained, by a Novena in honor of Blessed Marie de la Coque), also to associate themselves with us in the Novena. I also wrote to Frederick, to recommend our intention to him, and to beg of him to obtain as many Masses and prayers as he can for our intention. I wrote also to the Mother Superioress of the Carmelites at Baltimore, to inform her when the Novena would begin, what were the prayers to be said, and reminding her of her promise to make it with us. '■ Every thing is therefore arranged. Let us then begin at once to pre- LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARKSCHE. • 247 pare our soul.s to make tliiw Novena well, so that we may deserve that God slioiild vouclisafe to us so great a graci; aa the recovery of our dear eliihl. And liere let me repeat tlie injunction I liavo already so strenuously incul- cated, dear Mariquitta, regarding our duty of beginning at once, by every means within our power, suitable to a child of her years, of directing her soul to fJod — by placing before her eyes the (-rueifixion of our Lord ; by describing to her His Holy Passion; by r(dating to her the lile of our Saviour ; by explaining to her the Fall of Man, the expulsion of Adaia from Paradise, and that from Sin arise all of the sufferings and misery of this world ; and by making \nw familiar with tin; immimse goodness of our Saviour, who came Hims(!irup()n this Earth to atone for our sins &o., i^'c. "Seriously consider, my dear wife, what an immense responsibility would rest upon us if, in deference to our prayers, God should accord to us the life of our child. Think ! that perhaps God destined her for an early end, with an Etenu'l;/ o/' /f(ij)piness : and should wo Ity our prayers recall her to this life of Temptation, what (( Hell for us if by our negli- gence we permitted this child to be lost! Can you think of this and not at once use every means within your power to direct her thoughts to God I Therefore gently teach her to say her prayers, night and morning; but let them be; brief, so as not to w<.'ary her; and try to teach h(?r to love (iod and the Blessed Virgin. And what in this respect you do for her, you will soon be required to repeat for Octavie. " Good-bye, darling, einl)race all of the family for me ; lavish a thousand caresses upon our dear little (diildren, and for yourself receive as many kisses as you care to accept from your devoted husband "Jules." Julius to Mari({uUia. " WASiuNCiTON, Sunday, November 23, 1856. " Your letter, my dear wife, of the 1 1th is the last I have received, and I was disappointed this morning not to have had another. "For my own part 1 must write to you vle answer is, 'A'o.' unless He reads in the Future that the sal- vation of our child would be thus impei-illed." This, in my opinion, will be the only obstacle to the success of what we so intensely desire. The subject is deserving of serious thought. I do not think it is possible to love one's children more than we do ours; for we are devoted to them. It is impossible that any Mother, in this respect, can excel you, and you always have been so I Their health, their happiness, their tastes, their pleasures unceasingly preoccup}' us. But, my Mariquitta, do you think that we are LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 249 as eager about what is more than a million times moi'e important for them, — their Eternal welfare? "What efforts have we made to fashion their souls to Piety, to teach them to love God, to knoAV His Goodness, His Power, His Mercy? I know well that our children are in the habit of saying or omitting, according to their caprice, their little prayers. But of what value'are prayers like those, which they repeat like parrots, but which they do not understand, do not feel ? When jMarie was much younger, we succeeded perfectly in teaching her to love her Mamma* Tavie, whom she did not as yet know. Bat how did we effect this? In a very different way. We frequently showed her portrait to Marie, we made her kiss it, we constantly spoke to her of her Mamma Tavie, of her goodness, her tenderness for Marie; we went zealously to work, incurring real trouble, and did it not doubting, not feeling it — and we succeeded. And we should pursue the same method for cultivating in our children the love of God. It is hiirh time to begin. Indeed we should have begun with Marie even before we left Texas. We have both of us too long slept over this great duty, this dual duty to God and to these dear little beings whom He has confided to us. We have yielded to the illusion that they were still too young, that it was too soon to commence, itc. But this was not true, so now, darling, ponder, meditate, reflect, whether you are determined hence- forth seriously to devote j'ourself to this task, conscientiously to perform your duty in this respect? God, perhaps, awaits your decision in regard to this : and it is needless for me to say to you, that it must not be spoken thoughtlessly, but with a firm, sincere resolution of following it. " No doubt you reproach yourself that at times you cannot say as many prayers as at others. But I tell you that every word you will say to j'our children, for the purpose I have just stated, will be a real praya-, more acceptable in the sight of God than any long pi-ayers could be. Do not forget this ! "Adieu ! I have written at much greater length than I imagined pos- sible. Embrace all the family affectionately for me ; fondly caress our dear little children and speak to them tenderly in my name. Sweetly, dear Mariquitta, do I clasp you in my arms and bathe you in kisses. " Your Jules. Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Monday, November 24, 1856. " I am just in receipt, my beloved Mariquitta, of your letter of the 16th, and it gave me such pleasure. I am so happy to learn that my little Louis is better. These two attacks, following one upon the other, began some- what to worry me. You delight me by saying that you find him so sweet, * Mariquitta's mother. Little Marie could not then pronounce Octavie and called her grandmother " Maman Tee" and grandfather " Papa Dor," names which up to the present moment, 1886, they still bear among all their grandchildren. 250 BIOORAPHY OF and your Mother also by the message she directed to be given to me. It proves to nie that he cannot be so very mischievous and that he does not weary you too much : and then it presents a picture of liim before my eyes, that I love dearly to contemplate. Moreover, nn^ fatherly pride is much gratified to hear such praises of my son. Dear little being, how I would relish his sweet faint cooing! '* I am delighted to learn that my dear little ' Na" loves Papa Jules ' much." I dared not Hatter myself that she would, but am mure than content that she does. Papa Jules has certainly done his utmost to win the heart of his dear little girl ; but the dear little girl could not appreciate it. " In regard to the great affection in which you tell me I am held by my little and much loved Marie. I am deeply touched ; I derive from it both plesisure and pain. Pleasure, since it is so sweet to see myself thus greatly loved by my own child, a child so very dear to me: — pain, because a dis- position so full of love, can never be happy in this world, and my heart bleeds to think how often this poor little heart will be repelled and wounded in its contact with the world. "What you repeat to me of her sad assurance to you, that ' she would never be cured,' saddened me. The words of that child always make upon me so great an impression : for I cannot divert myself from the thought in her regard that she is possessed of striking, and, in a measure, spiritual characteristics. My dear angel, how my heart yearns to see her cured I "I thank you. darling, for your resolution of devoting yourself to the religious education of this dear child. I am sorrj', however, that you cannot find a place for the 'Crucifix.' and I beg of you to reconsider the matter; for it does seem to me, that with a little good-will, you could cer- tainly hang it in your room. I especialhf insist that you should teach her the history of the Passion of our Lord, of His Crucifixion, of all the sufferings, mental and bodily, all the humiliations and ingratitude which He endured for us. Let her think how the knowledge of what our Sav- iour underwent through llis love for her, will aid her to support her own affliction. And yet, without images, it is very difficult to make children understand such things. Often they appear to understand, but are not impressed, do not feel them, are not touched by them. " l>o not forget that if our child is condemned to remain as she is. a strong i-eligious fervor, a lively piety, a great love of the Cross, can alone procure for her resignation to her fivte and a little happiness even in this world. '' Tut'siJaii, Xovemher 25. — I am pleased at the news that Madeleine begins to raise herself. How is my little friend. Che-tolnicco? Is she as sweet as ever? " I have commenced my visits. Last evening I called on !Mrs. Goddard ;* but did not see her, because her children were too unwell. She has sent * Mrs. Madeleine Vinton Goddard. subsequently married to a distin- guished U. S. Naval OtScer, Rear Admiral Dahlgren. She became a warm friend of Julius and Mariquitta. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 251 me ail extract, which she culled from a European newspaper, upon the death of my great-uncle, and which is very complimentary hoth to himself and to his family. " To-day a lady living in the same house with me, stopped me to say, that she was about to leave, and wished before her departure ti) have a conversation with me. She appointed a rendezvous at the Church. What do you think of that? For I dared not refuse. And suppose she suggests that we should elope together? I do not like to wound a woman, it seems to me so mean to refuse them anything. What then must I do? I am nicely caught ! I certainly do every thing in my power to avoid the con- quests of women, particularly of those who live in the same house. I never go down to the parlor; never seek tlicm, and yet of what use? It was only the other day that the one who awoke to find her husband a corpse, immediately sent for me. Iler mother-in-law, her sister-in-law, were in the house, and yet despite all this I was her first thought! She herself later confessed this to Mrs. Spalding. On me, therefore, devolved the task of turning the corpse over on its l)ack, of watching it during half the night. In fact, I intend having a placard made, which I shall wear suspended around my neck, and on which I shall have written, ' Women leave me alone, I belong to Mariquitta." " Frida;/, Noveniber 28. — Lest you be too teased, my dear little wife, about my rendezvous, let me appease you by the announcement that it apparently has failed, and that anyhow there was no danger, as the lady was old and, moreover, was very ugly. ''Yours of the 19th and 20th has just reached me and it has filled me with transports of joy. It is very delightful to see myself so dearly loved by my little Mariquitta, and the praises of me falling from her lips are infin- itely sweet. You are mistaken in thinking that I entertain the slightest doubt of your love. It is long since I have ceased all doubt. It is impos- sible that I sliould ever again doubt it! You cannot realize how you fill the cup of my joy in loving and esteeming me as you now do, nor how much it formerly detracted from my happiness, that you did not. Dear, dear Mari((uitta, I too love you with my whole heart! " I am enchanted to know that our handsome little boy has cut a tooth, and that the limb of our dear little Marie looks bettei-. The Novena will gain her complete cure. I am soliciting prayers for her on all sides. "I am grateful to your good Mother, for the care she takes of and the aflfection she shows my children, at the same time that I sincerely pity your poor Father, whom for them she so abandons. I can perfectly sympathize witli him, as I told you in my last letter. " I am perfectly well and entirely rid of my cold, and since more than a week have resumed my cold baths,* or rather my shower baths, on rising * Juliu.s took a cold water bath every morning of the year, even breaking through the ice when impossible to take it otherwise. He found that he 252 BIOGRAPHY OF every morning. I feel that I am greatly invigorated by them. Constantly I am told, how very well 1 seem to be, and that I am getting tieshier ; and. in fact, I believe that I am as fat as I have ever been. "Good-bye. dear ohorishod little wife, atfoctionatoly embrace every body for me. TiMiderly caress our dear children. I press you to my heart and smother you with kisses. "Your Jules." Julius to ^TariquHta. •" AVas3inoton, Sunday, November 30, 1856. "' My good, sweet, dear, charming little wife, how happy I am to be able to express to you how much your letter of the 19th and I20th ravished and deliciously charmed me ! If you could have been here. I would have smothered you with kisses I Yes. indeed, have smothered, or wliat you would have found to be the same tiling. Such a letter renders nie but too happy, affords me even consolation in our separation, nuvkes me forget all the sorrows, all the fatigues, all the vexations which can beset me. For it is a great happiness to a man, to feel that he is so tenderly loved by a woman, a woman whom he loves. There is no happiness on this earth, no human happiness, that can. in my opinion, compare with it. Receive then, darling Maricpiitta, a thousand caresses in gratitude for your good letter. '• Yesterday, although I was not anticipating another letter, I received yours of the 21st, and I nearly^ died laughing at Marie's answer to you. Poor little darling! she loVes her Papa so much, tiiat she imagines she owes to him every thing good that occurs to her! '' Thanks be to Ood, last week is over, and Congress assembles to-mor- row. AVe have worked unceasingly for the last three weeks, and especially this last week ; not only to prepare and expedite our own Reports, but also to assist the Secretary of War in completing his. Kach day was I unexpected!}' interrupted to hunt up some information or prepare some memorandum for him. And the work one performs in this rushing man- ner, which is so important that not a single mistake must be made, I find, fatigues my mind more than any other kind. Tliank God ! I am in hopes that it is finished. I liavc discovered that even the best will of Col. Cooper and of the Secretary was also worn out, for I had a good share in these hunts. Thank God I I am feeling so well and that I experienced only weariness. •' My health is really excellent. I take a great deal more exercise and a cold water bath every morning on rising ; and not only am I growing fleshier and becoming much stronger, but I also feel that this good progress is not stopping but is continually developing. '* To-day commences tiie Xovena for our little child, and I have already gone to Communion for this intention. One of the Sisters of Wm. Mat- received great benetit therefrom. He was, in addition to his other accom- plishments, a very tine swimmer. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 253 tingly did the same. All the La3's unite with us, and went to Communion for the same intention. I yesterday visited with Miss Anna Lay the Or- phan Asylum, to ask the Superioress to join with us, together with her whole Oomm unity and all the Orphans, and she very graciously promised to do so. I explained the condition of our poor little child, and she said that she would mention it to the little Orphans and seek to interest them in her. It appears that these children think it is due to their prayers that the ' Army Appropriation Bill ' passed and Mr. Kuchanau was elected President ; they had begged these two things of Heaven. I trust they will be as successful in their prayers for us. "You do not tell me whether you have solicited the prayers of the Ladies of St. Joseph, nor Avhether yon have given them a good Alms. Do not forget, my darling, 1 beg, the strong recommendations I have made you upon this last subject. '' I have also asked the prayers of the Jesuits of Georgetown. My Con- fessor promised me to say a Mass for our intention, and I have recom- mended Marie to the prayers of the Arch-Confraternity of the chapel of the Jesuits as also to the Sodality. " I am pained to see, my darling, that you are weak and sufifering : do take care of yourself, I beg, as much as possible. Remember, I shall be afraid to bring you here in the Spring, if you continue to be so feeble. For I should fear that being then for from your Mother, who assists you 80 much now, and myself being unable to do so, on account of ray Office which keeps me busy all the day, you would succumb under the manage- ment of our children. I supplicate you. darling Mariquitta, to endeavor, as I have so often and in so many instances begged of you, to accustom our children to pass a less time with you, that they may not claim your attentions alone, that they may learn to allow themselves to be dressed and undressed by the servants, etc. You are too delicate and too weak to perform all these things for them, as you always wish to do. A day will come when you will not be able to do any thing for them, if you do not now take proper care of yourself. Your strength will become entirely exhausted. " Embrace every body affectionately forme. Caress well and say many tender things to our dear children. I send you a thousand kisses, my darling, and remain always, " Your good '•Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington-, Monday, December 1st, 1856. " I received to-day, my dear wife, your letter of the 24th, and it breathed so much sorrow at our separation, so much sadness, that it rendered me also a little melancholy. I feel so pained to see you already so poorly and exhausted, that I cannot contemplate without suffering your being still tried by so much sorrow. You must actjuire courage, darling, j'ou have 254 BIOGRAPHY OF still many enjoyments, you have all your fainily around you, you have two charming children in good health : and if our little loved one is sick, at least she is gay, she does not suffer, God gives her graces in her condi- tion. The fact is, dear Marir(uitta, that you ought to approach much oftener the Sacraments. Y'ou do wrong in listening to scruples inspired, without doubt, by the enemy of souls, and in continuing to abstain from Holy Communion — owing to inspirations so perverted and so baleful. I assure you, my darling, that you give me real pain in thus falling into snares, which the demon sets for your soul, lie thoroughly comprehends, wicked wretch ! that our only strength lies in the grace of God, which flows so copiously from the Holy Table ; he understands that we cannot live Avithout this sacred nourishment; that it is our strength, our courage, our consolation; he knows that the Blessed Virgin, through whom alone we can obtain the favors of God, is grieved, wounded to see us keep away fi'oin this great source of all blessings. Then he makes use of every arti- fice that he can find, to induce us to abandon this Divine Sacrament. How can you listen to him? Do you not see that if God can reasonably fear that we will not give a good example to our children, if He sees us relax- ing, searching for excuses so as not to practice our duties, that He will hesitate in reconfiding to us the child that Ave ask of Him and whom He had perhaps already marked out for Heaven? I beg of you, my Mari- quitta, to listen no longer to these fantastic reasons, these artificial scru- ples ; go to Communion as often as you can ; prepare yourself as well as your condition of mind will allow, and leave the rest to God. He will come to your aid and for your good intentions excuse the faults of your preparation. Remember, that eagerness is not a reason to withhold you, for the greatest Saints have been sufferers for want of it, have been tempted, but they knew the remedy and never failed to have recourse to it — that remedy that you, on the contrary, fly from. But you are going henceforth to do otherwise, are you not? You have need, I see, of per- forming every day some good spiritual reading : endeavor, therefore, to read regularly each day a chapter in The Spiritual Combat, or The Imita- tion, or 'A Devout Life,' or ' The Conferences.' " As I indicated in my last letter I have already commenced the Novena, and many good persons have commenced it with me. My mind feels tran- quil. I say to myself, that we are doing all that we can ; that if God does not accord to us the cure of our child, it is decidedly for good reasons. I saw, to-day on the street, a very small child, scarcely older than Marie, all hunch-bai'ked and deformed. I reflected, that there are many others who suffer and are afflicted in this world, much more so than our child, and who have not, as she has, kind parents, and an affectionate and devoted family, always ready to serve her, to amuse her, and to render her happy. It is, indeed, necessary that there should be among children some who are thus afflicted, and is it not better, that in place of selecting them from among a family, who are rude, selfish, harsh and cruel, God should place LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHK. 255 the poor little being in a family, \\\\o surround her with love, kind attentions and carefulness? " Thursday, December 4f/i. — My young cousin, Jei-ome Bauduy, dined with me to-day. He said lie had received a few days ago a letter from his Mother, begging him to announce to me that they had commenced the Novena for Marie in her convent. '' My mind feels calm, I have a great deal of hope: it seems to me that the Blessed Virgin never showed herself more propitious and kind than lately. If our child is not cured by the end of the Novena, I shall still not give up hope: — I shall look upon that as only another trial, to which God wishes to subject our Faith. T shall continue, T trust, to pray and to perfect myself, so that the Blessed Virgin may have no reason to fear con- tiding her child to my care. And if notwithstanding all, my hope is lost, I shall submit with the cei'tainty that God has disposed of the fate of our child for the best: that His name may be blessed in this, like in all other things. " If by chance, my Mariquitta, God has chosen to defer the grace we ask of Ilim, you will promise me, will you not, not to allow yourself to become disheartened, not to allow yourself to murmur against Him? If you love me, dear wife, you will endeavor to resign yourself to His will : you Avill not discontinue any of your prayers, any act of devotion. Think of the pain, the grief, you would cause me, if you should allow yourself to be carried away by the spirit of revolt. Oh ! you could give me no greater pain than that! Poor, darling wife, how happy would I be to see you make a good Retreat, under some judicious director; it would do you so much good, you must have such need of it! I feel myself that tlie Mis- sion, in which I lately had the happiness of assisting, has done me an immense amount of good, in penetrating me with that truth (which we hear so frequently, without however paying any attention to it) ' that we are created for another life, and that it is for fliat life we ought to work,' - — that life of eternal happiness which our two dear Jittle angels are already enjoying, whom we shall be so happy to find one day ; — that this mortal life is very short, very miserable, and hardly deserves that we should occupy ourselves (vainly) in rendering it happy ;— that, in fine, it is better for us to have it unhappy, since it is an additional chance of attaining happiness in the other. " My paper is so filled I must really tell you Adieu. Embrace all the family affectionately for me; say a thousand tender things to our dear children, cover them with kisses. Dear, dear beloved one, how dearly I would love to give you some, what would I not give to see you before me, to hold you in my arms, to give you a thousand sweet caresses ! Dear, dear wife, Adieu. " Your good Jules." 256 BIOGRAPHY OF Julius to Mariqttiila. "Washington, Friday, December 5, 1856. "I hoped, my beloved, to liave received a letter from you to-day, but I did not tind any at the Post Office. It will come, no doubt, to-morrow. I received one from Alexander. lie tells me that he has had Marie recom- mended to the prayers of those who are making the Public Novena at the Jesuits' Church in honor of St. Francis Xavier ; and believing that they are going to make the General Novena at the Immaculate Conception Church, he will not fail, in that case, to recommend her there. '^Sunday, December 7.^1 have just received, dear wife, your letter of the 30th November and am very happy to learn that you were able to go to Communion on the first day of the Novena. To-morrow it ends. I feel full of courage and hope, and at the same time full of resignation and calm, happen what may. Bear little Marie ! " It gives me great pleasure to know that your children allow you to sleep sometimes; you speak of it as if it were the rule, but I dare not think so ; hence I wish that you would have your wrapper made as soon as possible, and made thoroughly warm. "I am flattered by Na's refusal to dispense with my letters, when she saw one arrive for her sister. It proves that she has not altogether for- gotten me. As I could not trust myself to a thought so agreeable I did not write to her, the last time I wrote to Marie ; but next time I shall not fail. " You cannot imagine, my Mariquitta, the pleasure you cause me by the tenderness with which you dote on our son. Sureh* it is but natural that you should love him, and it should not surprise me ; yet none the less, in a most singular manner it pleases me. " I thank you for having given me at the end of the month an estimate, that I desire always to have, of the condition of your finances. •' It is not yet Winter here ; the weather is fresh but very beautiful. Nevertheless 1 find it very difficult to rise in the morning ; the bed seems so warm and the water of my bath so cold. However, I continue to take my cold water bath regularly, and I derive from it an immense benefit. "Adieu, dear little wife, take good care of your health if only to please me ! Embrace all the family aflcctionately. Caress a thousand times and say ten thousand tender things to our dear children, and receive a thou- sand even more tender caresses from "Your Jules." LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. O A RESCUE. 257 CHAPTER XXVII. End of Novena — Julius speaks to Mariquitta of resignation should it prove contrary to their hopes — Reading his sole pleasure, is averse to society — the kind of religious instruction he means for their children — letter from Father Fred — Julius' dread regarding result of Novena and great desire to know how Mariquitta beai's the disappointment — his consoling advice — true happiness is not of this world — his pang of heart about his renounced trip to Algiers — beautiful and simple little act of devotion for Mariquitta to practice — begs her not to be so sad and discouraged — her j)articular at- traction for him at first — his further reference to little act of devotion — his longings and yet dread to hear from her — receipt of her letter — pray- ers and acts of devotion he again recommends to her — Major Porter's second trial, and liow he makes it " black and blue for the witnesses," and his declaration that " Juliua was the only gentleman at Fort Brown" — receipt of two letters from Mariquitta — letters from Alexander and her father — Julius' joy to learn how piously Mariquitta bears her great dis- appointment — his reference to his children — " Christmas is approaching" and his entreaty to Mariquitta to purchase for herself some pretty things — his enthusiastic admiration for Beauty in all things. Julius to MariqidUa. '* Washington, Tuesday, December 9, 1856. " The Novena is finished, darling, and you already know its result, which I am so impatient to learn. It has done me a great deal of good, in teaching me to do justice to the goodness and the wisdom of God, who knows infinitely better than we do, what is for our true advantage. I ex- perience a resignation I did not previously possess, and my great solicitude now is, that with your heart of a Mother, you will not be able so readily to accommodate yourself to Ilis Supreme AVill, should the cure of our dear child have been denied to us, or at least delayed. But you will control- yourself, will you not, my dear wife ! You will have the courage to over- come the temptation of murmuring against Divine Providence, which the enemy of God and your own, will not fail to beset you. Oh ! if you will only reflect how wrong it would be for you, how ungrateful towards a God who has, save this one exception, so enriched you with blessings in your children ; how likely it would be to excite His wrath and thus destroy every chance which may yet remain for the cure of our child ; you would have good care not to listen to the deceitful suggestions of him who would ruin you if he could. And believe me, there is yet many a hope of the cure of our child. I believe that every one concurs in saying that in the 17 258 BIOGRAPHY OF case of a child so young, there ai'e maiu/ chances, especiaUy wliile her general health continues so good, and you must admit, that her iiealth is excellent. Trust me, then, dear wife, let us not despair, but putting our trust always in God and the Blessed A'irgin let us continue to pray and strive to become better, more resigned, more faithful to our duties, more detached from ourselves, and even more devoted to God; and to M'in suc- cess, to approach more frequently the Sacraments, so that we may inspire confidence in God, tluvt we will deserve that He should spare us this dear child, to rear her in His holy love. '' I have no news to give you. My life is a monotonous one and if I did not make a Rule to go out so much, I feel that I would succumb to the ' Blues.' The truth is, I have no real pleasure except that of Reading, of which I deprive myself to go out. While to visit, to go into society, are both of them real bores to me, to which I submit with great difficulty. But I force myself to do so, and thanks be to God, and to our Holy Reli- gion, I enjoy a great peace of mind, a great deal of calmness, of courage, and of resignation. "I think that you misunderstood me in regard to the i*eIigious instruc- tion with Avhich we should begin to imbue our children. You seem to think that I meant the Catechism, but I did not think of such a thing, for our two daughters are still too young for this, and I would even fear that it would weary Marie. What I did wish, was that under the guise of sim- ple stories you would frequently relate to them the chief incidents of the Creation of Man, the history of the Patriarchs and of the Jews, of the wickedness of Men, their ingratitude towards God, of the Incarnation of our Saviour, of His Passion, and of our Redemption. That you should try to make them also undei-stand the goodness of God, of our Saviour, of Mary, of their love for us, of their horror of Sin, the happiness of Heaven, the terrible pains of Hell, and thus, little by little, you siiould train their young hearts, through love of God, to love Good and to hate Evil. " Wednesday, December 10. — To-day, dearest, I received your letter of Dec. 3rd, together with one from Frederick of tlie 8th. Frederick had then just completed the Novena. He tells me that thrice he received Communion for our intention, and that he had obtained a number of Masses and Communions among the Fathers and the Bi-others, not only of those at Fordham* but also of those in New York City: also prayers and Communions in the Convent of the Ursulines, in the two Convents of the Sacred Heart, and in the two Houses of the Sisters of Mercy. He begs me to express to you how much he sympathizes with you, ' a Sister whom he has never seen, but whom nevertheless he loves so much.' And he adds, that it is particularly on your account that he joined his prayers to our own ; because, for himself, ' he would be more pleased to see his little niece enter Heaven, where she could pray for her parents, than that she * College of the Jesuit Fathers near New York City. LIEUT. COL. JULIVS P. GARESCHE. 259 should run the risk of losing her sonl and leading a life of misery in this world.' "I expected that should a miracle have been performed by the good God upon our child, that you Avould have announced the news to me by telegraph. And yet, although it is already the 10th of the month, I do not abandon all hope. And, moreover, I confess that I so little deserve so great and signal a favor, that I dare not expect it. Hence my great pre- occupation is, to learn how you bear the disappointment. You will give me, my Mariquitta, so much, so much pain, if you should not be able to resign yourself to the will of God. Remember also, I do beg of you. that the cure of our child is probably only deferred ; or if it is never to be, it is because it would prove to be ^;05/i'/wZy hurtful to her; and if so, cer- tainly you would not desire it. It was once revealed to a Saint that no prayer was ever lost — /io, never: that when God did not grant one's re- quest, He bounteously accorded other blessings which He knew to be more necessary. Think then of the quantity of pious prayers which have so tenderly rejoiced the heart of God, and implored His Pity and His Mercy in favor of our child and of ourselves: what graces these prayers will obtain for us! Ah ! my Mariquitta, do not let us reject them, but on the contrary let us respond to them, and make good use of them ! " I think the idea of my little Na, that you should not whip her, because you hurt her, is exquisite in its originality. " I am so glad to know that the first two teeth of Louis have been so easily cut. Kiss him tenderly for me, as well as my much loved Marie and my sweet little Na. Tell them a thousand honeyed things for me. I wished to write to my little Marie, as also to Na — since she likewise values my letters — but this evening I do not feel well enough. " Embrace all the family for me and thank them, and also all those who joined their prayers with ours, for their goodness. " Dear wife, I love you with all my heart, I wish that I could be at your side, to console you by ray affection and my caresses for the grief and sor- row in which, as I fear, you are plunged. But take courage, dear Mari- quitta, it Avill be but a short while before we are reunited, and then, as I hope, never again to be separated from each other. Until then I know not what to advise you, for I dare not ask of Col. Cooper the permission you suggest. Dear little one, I clasp you to my heart and send you a quantity of kisses. "Your Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. " Washington, Sunday, December 14, 1856. " I was very much disappointed this morning, my darling, in receiving no letter from you; so disappointed that I feel little impulse to write. Your last letter is of the 3rd, and five or six days have elapsed since its arrival. I recognize, however, that during the Novena you may not have had the courage to write ; that your thoughts were absorbed in the im- 260 BIOORAPHV OF pending crisis and your heart the sport of a whirlwind of anxiety and hope, chasing, warring and clashing each with the other, that you knew not how to write to me and therefore waited the outcome. "Courage, my Mariquitta, we dwell on this earth only to fulfill the will of God, a few fleeting moments, only to be all of us reunited in His Su- preme Happiness for an endless Eternity. Let us remember, that it is not here below that our happiness has been promised to us, hence we must expect trials, sufferings — that these are even a proof of our predestination to Eternal Happiness. We are surrounded by thousands of beings who have never been baptized, who do not think of God or of the next world, but who nevertheless are good neighbors, amiable, charitable, honest, &c. Their human virtues must necessarily be rewarded ; and since they have chosen for their part this world in preference to God, He gives them their reward here below. You would not wisli to be happy like them, would you, during this brief terrestrial life, to be unhappy forever hereafter: you would not desire such happiness for your children, would you ? Well ! we must choose, we cannot enjoy the happiness of both worlds ; we must suffer sorrow and affliction here or hereafter. Which shall we select? " A few days since, I read in the Courrier des Etats Unis,* that a num- ber of Bavarian and Wurtemberg Officers had obtained from their Govern- ments the permission to join the great expedition against the Kabyls in Algeria; and I am free to confess it to you, that my heart on reading it felt a slight pang that I could not also enjoy the same great privilege. " I think that I have already written to you that Lydiaf Johnston and her husband, as well as Dr. Abadie, and I presume his family, are at this moment garrisoned at Jefferson Barracks and will probably remain there a long while. "Of myself I have no news to communicate. My life runs along peace- fully, I am no longer overburthened with office work, I visit enough and am in good health. I am full of calm and courage. God has also deigned to inspire me Avith a great deal of resignation, which is always strength- ened by a great frequency of the Sacraments and the daily recitation of two pairs of the Beads of our Lady and of the Sacred Heart. I would like to hear that you too, my dear wife, regularly practiced this devotion. It would obtain for you such graces, such aid, such strengtli and courage. " There is another one which I would particularly enjoin upon you, it is so easy, and I should be so contented to have your promise of perform- ing it frequently. It is simply this. Often during the day (even in the midst of your occupations, but especially in your moments of despondency) * A newspaper published in New York City in the French language. f Lydia McLane, sister-in-law of Bauduy P. Garesche and married to Lieut. Colonel Joseph E. Johnston, U. S. A., who in 1861 resigned liis com- mission — then Brigadier General and Quartermaster General of the Army — and went South and became one of its leading Generals. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 261 tui-n your thoughts to Our Saviour Jesus, corporeally present on the Altar of some Church, neglected and deserted, where He dwells sad, solitary, abandoned, — He so full of love, who has suffered so much for us, who loves us so greatly ! It is unnecessai'y to pray, to make even a single ejacula- tion, especially if you must make an effort to do so. Let only your thoughts turn to Him, and dwell upon His state of destitution, of neglect and sad- ness, if only for an instant ; but accustom yourself to do this often during the day. Make this mental visit whenever you can, in company with Mary, the Mother of our good Jesus ; unite your heart to hers, so sad and dolorous before this spectacle of the ingratitude of men ! As you see, it is very simple, very easily done ; and yet I doubt whether you could perform any thing more agreeable to God, or which would procure for you greater graces. Will you not, my Mariquitta, make the trial ? " I cannot express to you, dear wife, how much affected I am by your discouragement, your sadness, and the decline of your health. It has of late become my chief preoccupation, my greatest grief. I beg of you, to seek by your devotions, by Spiritual Reading, greater resignation to the Will of God, greater detachment from human inclinations. And think that we will be reunited before long ! December i.s almost ended ; in two, perhaps three months, we will again be clasped in each other's arms, never again, I trust, to be separated. What a happiness, for me, dear Mari- quitta, again to possess you, my only treasure! But how that joy will be corroded by bitterness and uneasiness, if I find you weak, suffering, dis- couraged ! By your love for me, then, darling wife, learn to overcome the sadness which has such influence on your health. Try to do all that de- pends on yourself, so that I may find my Mariquitta, plump, gay, and in good health. Remember, that I am naturally of a sombre and unhappy character, that what particularly attracted me to you, was your gay and careless disposition ; that you have always buoyed me up, been able to rouse my courage, — that I depend entirely on you. For love of me then, dear Mariquitta, take care of yourself; be courageous, resigned, submis- sive and patient! Dear, dear wife, I love you so much, that you cannot imagine how painful it is to me to see you unhappy or suffering. "Embrace all the family for me: caress our dear little children; and receive for yourself a thousand tender marks of affection, a thousand sweet kisses "From your Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Sunday, December 14, 1856. " 1 wish again, dear wife, to recommend to you the little act of devotion, of which I spoke in my last letter. I call it little, because it is so easy, so well adapted to the busy life you lead, which is so little your own ; but I ought rather to have called it ' grand,' in view of the satisfaction it will give to Jesus and Mary, and of the abundance of graces it will procure 262 BIOGRAPHY OF for you. I allude to the Practice, of often during tlie day directing your thoughts to our Saviour, really present as lie is on so many Altars, where He dwells in solitude, abandoned and sad, — lie -vvho is so full of love for men, who so cruelly neglect him! I do not ask of you a single prayer; the emotion of pity which you cannot avoid experiencing at such a toucliing scene, and wliich will become the sti'onger as you persevere, is more dear to the hearts of Jesus and Mai-y than would be a whole Litany of prayers. And yet it is easily accomplished, is it not, dear wife, even in the midst of your cares ! And it will prove one of your greatest consolations in your moments of sadness. "• Thursday, December 18. — Vainly, day after day, have I looked for a letter from you, my IMariquitta. Appreciating how painfully your heart would be agitated during the Novena, I thought that during it you would not have the courage to write, and hence reconciled myself to your silence. But now I can no longer doubt l)Ut that some very serious cause lies be- neatli tliis delay, and I confess it, my courage began to wane and my patience was thoroughly tried when on my visit to the Post Office to-day I found my box again empty. Your last letter is dated the 3rd, therefore a fortniglit has elapsed since and nearly ten days since its receipt. Allow- ing six days for its transit I could to-day have received one dated the 12th, that is to say, four days after the end of the Novena. "Are you sick, my poor wife? It is what I fear. I am afraid the dis- appointment has been too much for you and that your system has been too long and too seriously tried, as has been the case with you since the com- mencement of the illness of our dear child. ' I am now almost afraid to receive a letter, so frightened am I lest my gloomy presentiments should be verified. My poor, dearly beloved Mariquitta! You, my dear, dear little wife, whom I so tenderly love ! 1 beg of you not to allow yourself to be overcome by your sorrow ! Think of the anguish you cause me, by your neglect of your health, which is so dear to me. and by exciting such anxieties, which I have so little courage to conquer I " Friday, December 19. — At last, dear Mariquitta, I am in receipt of your letter begun on the 7th and completed on the '.Hh, and it has given me great consolation. It is true, you tell me, that no favorable change is seen in the condition of Marie, and you, my poor little one, suffer in making this announcement. I too am greatly pained, but yet it is no news to me, because for ten days past I have not doul)ted it. I knew that were it other- wise you would not have failed to gladden my heart by at once telegraphing me the tidings. " At the same time, your silence began to disturb me ; at first, on your own account 1 was very uneasy, then lest Louis, attacked by scarlet fever, was dangerously ill. At last, thanks be to God, I see that there was no reason for my fears. Our two youngest are well, Marie does not suffer : and you, darling, bear your disapjiointment with patience and resignation. These are excellent news and I thank Hod for them. Let us continue to LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 263 ask of Ilim the cure of Marie, in the name and through the merits of our Saviour, through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin, and especially let us the more merit it, by our greatest fervor, by our greatest fidelity to our religious duties, by our absolute submission to the Will of the Omnip- otent. Say but few prayers, but say them well, in a recollected manner, meditating as much as possible upon the Passion of our Saviour. Observe what I here tell you ; for the Devil often tempts us to say many prayers, knowing that if we undertake too many, we will not fail to say them hastily, without devotion, etc. Do not say the entire Beads, but only a decade, until you have formed the habit of saying it with recollection. Then if you are so inclined, you may say a second decade and so on. But say the Beads always in serious meditation upon the mystery attached to each decade : otherwise it will be difficult to recite them with attention and fervor, and you will also gain less merit and confer less pleasure on the Blessed Virgin. But most especially do I urge upon you to adopt this very day the simple Practice, of which I spoke in my last letter and also in the beirinnin"- of this one. You can form no idea of the abundant graces, of the courage and resignation, it will procure for you. "Mussina from time to time pays me a call at the Office. The other day he told me that Capt. Shannon was in town, sick. I called, and Shan- non gave me news of Fort Brown, &c. He had recently seen Pelouze,* the Dr.,t Capt. Phelps, and Howard at New Orleans, some on their way to Florida and others to Leavenworth. He says that the Court-Martial % of Maj. Porter is interminable. The Major has for his lawyers Power and Bigelow, and it seems that he makes it black and blue for the witnesses. These gentlemen told him tlnxt instead of contenting himself with his own exculpation, as far as in his power, he subjects every witness to a public examination of conscience, particular and general. It seems that all the while he remained at Fort Brown the old fox took notes of every thing he saw or heard on the part of the witnesses ; and with his notes spread out before him, he begins, 'Were you not drinking on such and such a day with Webb and Miller? Were you not accidentally a little drunk on such and such another day &c?' Pelouze declared to Capt. Shannon that he did not believe that he had ever drunk a glass of wine, at any place, dur- ing his sojourn at Fort Brown, of which the old Major was not cognizant. '' Capt. Shannon told Mussina, and himself repeated it to me afterwards, that the old Major declares to every one who will listen to him, that I was the only gentleman among them all ; and it seems that he avows for me a great esteem and affection. What think you of all this, my Mariquitta? * Louis H. Pelouze, a young officer of the 4th Artillery and subsequently a member of the Adjutant General's Corps. t Probably Dr. Jarvis, U. S. A. + Major Porter was being tried on charges preferred against him by Capt. Phelps. 264 BIOGRAPHY OF '•But I must tell you good-bye, luy clearly beloved. Embrace all the family affectionately for me: give a thousand caresses and say ten thousand tender things to our dear children. I press you with love and tenderness to my heart and with many kisses remain always, my Mariquitta, "Your good Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. '•Washington, Sunday, December 21, 1856. " Dearly beloved, for two days past the weather has been so gloomy and disagreeable, that I have been unable entirely to cast off the feeling of sad- ness, with wiiich it inspired me. But I am greatly aided by the good God. These moments of sadness are but rare, and I am both morally and physically a great deal better than I was last year. " I received day before yesterday your letter of the 7th and 9th, and this morning that of the 12th. " I did not tell you in my last letter the painful impression caused by my first glimpse of your Father's. I had been ten days without any news from youi-self, and this silence began to worry me. To see then a letter from Alexander arrive simultaneously with one from your Father, who so seldom writes to me, made me tremble ; for I inferred the announcement of some bad news. I was afraid to open them, but after awhile, thanks be to God, I was able to assure myself that my fears were groundless. " Your Father writes very kindly, and affectionately alludes to our chil- dren. 'Louis,' he says, 'has improved a great deal, and improves from day to day in flesh, beauty, and goodness.' He speaks more favorably of Na than he usually does, and grovrs a little enthusiastic over what ' he sees of the good, the sensible, and the loving in the character of Marie.' " I was truly touched by the affectionate letter of our good and dear Nancy, and would wish to answer it at once ; I would also like very mucli to be able to write to your good Mother ; but since my return I have been too much engaged to devote as much time as formerly to my private correspondence. You will not fail, darling, to make my excuses to the family. " I infer from your last letter, to my great joy, that you are more re- signed to the will of God and bear your great disappointment with all the patience and resignation I could desire. You do well in this, dear Mari- quitta, giving thus a good example to your daughter, that she may learn from you to recognize the goodness of God in every act of Ilis, to love Him, to bless Him, to serve Him with her whole heart. This is her only resource of being happy on this Earth. Let us then do our utmost to increase it. by our best efforts to promote her piety. " I am happy to learn that my little Na bears me in tender remem- brance, and I hope she will preserve this good remembrance until we are reunited. Is she becoming less choleric and pouty ? •' I am also so glad to learn that our little Louis grows so pretty and so LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. QARESCHE. 265 good. How I would love to hear his little coo, to enjoy the kisses that I long so greatly to imprint on his little velvety cheek ! " And my Marie, my little beloved, does she reconcile herself to my absence? Dear child, she becomes every day dearer to me ! And it does me good, to see how your Father appreciates her fine qualities, her golden little heart, so afiectionate, that God has given to our treasure ! "Christmas is rapidly approaching; and as I am not there to give you, as I would wish, a beautiful present, do you, my darling, give it to your- self. Give me also the pleasure of not being sparing with your money in this festive season. You have so few pleasures, so do, at least, give your- self this one. And for yourself do, I beseech you, purchase pretty things. You know that I am an enthusiastic admirer of Beauty in every thing and everywhere, and that I cannot endure to see you wear any thing either ugly or common. It is truly money thrown away when you do so ; for it is your duty to please me by your nice dress and I confess that during my visit your toilet provoked both my shame and js/^y. " Adieu, my dai'ling, embrace your Father, Mother, Sisters, Robert, and Cissey for me. Wish them all ' A Merry Christmas' in my name, as also Dr. Lewis. Caress our dear, dear little children, and do not forget them on New Year's day. I press you to my heart, dearly beloved, and send you a thousand tender kisses. "Your Jules." 266 BIOGRAPHV OF CHAPTER XXVIII. Christmas — their terrible voyage on preceding one — severe "Winter — Sister Lucy— how did his Mariquitta and children spend their Christmas — his desire and her failing to give him little details about herself and the chil- dren in her letters — how he is spending his Christmas — is full of hope, love, and courage — his ardent desire that they should not allow their children ever to lose their precious little souls — fears he is to have two serious boils about the eye which will hinder his writing to her — enor- mous occupation at the Office — his love and devotion for her — pain her last letter has given him and entreaty for her forgiveness for his scolding and his sorrow at this scolding — his beautiful tribute to her loving heart — his repugnance to but still making New Year's calls — Capt. Phelps — Cassin's statement about Major Porter's trial — no need to worry about himself, and his pain in their separation — Congress to increase the pay of Officers of the Army and its absolute necessity — General Quitmart's strong language — necessity of Mariquitta preserving her health — Major Garnett's notice of her strong resemblance to the beautiful Rachel — Julius' recommendation for her father to remain in the U. S. — heavy snows — the "Army Bill' — his fond recollections of her, and her image ever present to his mind. Juliua to Mariquitta. "Washingtox, Thursday, December 25, 1856. ." To-day, my darling, is Holy Christmas. Do you remember what a sad time we had on its last anniversary ! AVhat a terrible voyage ! I shall never forget it ! I am very happy to think that you are to-day with our children in peace, in comfort, and in safety. To-day the weather is fine, as if on purpose. For three days past Winter attacked us like a thunder- bolt with squalls of icy winds, clouds of dust, snow, hoar frost, and an excessive cold. The River was at once frozen and they say that the ice on it is already a foot thick. I do not think that I ever suffered more from the cold, even last winter, as during this disagreeable tempest. "I have just paid a visit to the Superioress of the Sisters of Charity. She interests herself very much in Marie, and we have become great friends. She has the appearance of being a verj- saintly woman. " IIow are you, my Mariquitta, spending your Christmas? What pres- ents have you received ; what have you given? What have you pui-chased to please our dear childi'cn? Did you make them hang up their stockings last night, to find them this morning filled with candies? Did they seem to be happy ? Do relate all of these details. It will give me so much LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 267 pleasure, and unfortunately just such simple details are matters of which you never think, dear Mariquitta, of writing to me, notwithstanding I have so often asked you to do so. Your Mother or Nancy in only one of their letters give me more interesting incidents in regard to yourself and my children than are contained in half a dozen of yours. " As for myself, my Christmas is not i-emarkably gay. As you may perceive, I am in my room, quietly engaged in writing to you ; but I feel happy. I have heard my three Masses ; I had the pleasure of receiving Communion, and now my heart blesses God for all the blessings He has so bounteously showered upon us and turns with love to yourself, the beloved wife, and to those dear children, with whom He has crowned my happiness. " Dear Mariquitta, I feel full of hope, love and courage. I say to my- self, that I shall soon see you and, as I hope, never again to be separated from you. I do not in the least despair of the cure of our dear Marie ; I continue to pray for it and do not doubt but that eventually God will accord it to our perseverance ; particularly, if we seek to please Him, by leading a better life, by thinking more frequently of Him, and by proving ourselves to be more grateful for the graces and favors with which He has already favored us, and which He still so generously bestows every day upon us. " I hope, darling, that you have not wearied of relating to our little girls sacred stories: that you do your utmost to imbue them with a true and lively love for God, our Saviour, and for the Blessed Virgin. Let us do all we possibly can, dear Mariquitta, that our children may never lose their precious souls and may never curse us for having given them their existence, only that they should \)Q forever lost. " I fear, as happened last year, that I am about to have two large boils on my face. Already all around my eyes there is a swelling and I fear, that if this continues, it will happen, as last year, that I shall not be able to see to write to you ; and hence you will be deprived of my letters. Already I experience regret on account of it, judging you by myself, that it would be to you so serious a privation. But, at least, if it should so occur, being forewarned of the cause you would not, my darling, be un- easy. My health continues to be most excellent. I still take my cold bath every morning, never omitting it, however cold the weather has been, and I tiike an immense amount of exercise. I am constantly making new ac- quaintances, some of whom I anticipate will prove agreeable to yourself. " I hope you have not hesitated to gratify the various caprices of gifts which may have tempted you. Tell me all about this and about all the different gifts presented to each other by the members of the family. Kiss everybody for me ; tenderly fondle our dearly loved children, make them in my behalf many a little cajolery and receive for yourself, my dear, dear Mariquitta, a thousand sweet kisses. I love you with all my heart. "Your Jules." 268 BIOGRAPHY OF Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Saturday, December 27, 1856. " My sweet, dear, charming; darling, I love you, love you with all my heart. IIow I yearn to be with you ! How I miss your sweet caresses ! I dare not dwell on our separation, the thought would be too oppressive. I would become too unhappy. Indeed I do not know how I endure with so much courage our present separation. True, I feel that God aids me : that it is to Him I owe my courage. Besides, since my return, I have been enormously occupied. The most important and most laborious part of the work of the entire year is ever incident to the re-assembling of Congress. My mind has been so busied with my duties that I have had no time to indulge in love reveries. But soon, within a month, I shall have finished all that preoccupies and harasses me, and then I must look out for other sources of labor and preoccupation. " The weather is delicious to-day. Spring like, and the sunshine, in- spiring a good humor, has greatly assisted me — confined to my room, as I have been the whole day. For, as I had expected, I was compelled to re- commence treating my left eye with lotions and emollients &c., as it had again become inflamed. It is already a little better and my right eye is almost cured. It is not of much importance, and fortunately I suifer but little. If I must spend, as I anticipate, to-morrow also in my I'oora, I hope that I shall be regaled with a letter from my little Mariquitta to console me, — a letter in Avhich she will say that she is going to be reasonable and renounce, as I have begged, the nursing of her child. Will I be thus gratified ? "Sinidai/, December 28. — No letter to-day, my darling, from you : but. no doubt, it will come to-morrow ! My darling Mariquitta, what would I not give for some of your sweet kisses ! I do so miss you whenever, in a moment of rest and tranquillity, my heart is free to speak ! " I have no news to give you ; I shall not leave my room until my eye is entirely cured. For some days past the weather has been so mild as to render fires unnecessary. '■''Monday., December 29. — My eye was so very much improved this morn- ing that I was tempted to go to the office, but prudent counsels detei-red me, and I accordingly remain in my room. Without, the day is magnifi- cent and a fire is a disagreeable superfluity. " This beautiful weather leads me into sweet thoughts of you, little Mariquitta, into thoughts of love and dreams of happiness, in which 1 seem to be reunited with you and our dear children and as happy as it is possible to be on this earth. "I am just this moment handed your letter of the 21st, and I am almost angry with you, my Mariquitta ; first, for your want of submission to Almighty God; and next, for your want of obedience, of respect, of affection for myself. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 269 " In these respects, your letter gave me a great deal of pain and I do hope, iny poor little one, that you will — by dwelling oftener on the Passion of our Lord, by uniting yourself more frequently with His heart, made desolate by the neglect and ingratitude of men, by practicing more reg- ularly the simple devotion I urged upon you — do what you can to merit the great grace of a more perfect resignation to that Supreme and Merciful Will, which desires only your welfare and that of your child, but which foreseeing more clearly than you can, promotes it even now by methods that — to the blindness of your vision — appear to be harsh and even cruel. Dear Mariquitta, to see this spirit of insubordination in you causes me more pain than all the rest! Your letter, in this regard, greatly saddened me. •' As for the other subject, I had dared to pi-omise myself that you loved me sufficiently not to refuse the prayers, so fervent and so reasonable, as those I addressed you relative to taking a nurse. ■• I will not tell you all that my wounded and, I may even add, irritated heart tempts me to say on this subject. I regret; that I have to say even this much. The pain it will cause you is another pang for me which I suflFer from in advance. But nevertheless you must endure it, if you will persist in only following your own will in this regard. For my own part, your health and your life are to me objects too precious that I can see them sacrificed. I insist, therefore, and shall continue to insist, that you take a nurse for your child. Do not, my dear Mai'iquitta, drive me to extrem- ities, do not at last rouse me to anger, by your further refusal to listen to me ! We are already sufficiently tried without adding ourselves to our trials. Our mutual love is too great a good that we should in the least menace it. If I offend you, I ask your forgiveness ; for it is not my inten- tion to inflict pain. I anly wish you to understand, so that you may not ignore it, that my firm resolution is that you shall not kill yourself by con- tinuing to nurse your child. You must confess that I have spared neither prayers nor supplications to obtain this object, and that it is not my fault if I am forced to adopt a different tone. ""On reading again your letter I see that you do not allude to those letters, in which I so earnestly begged you to obtain a nurse. Perhaps, you had not yet received them ; and if so, I have been too hasty in scold- ing you, and you do not merit that I should write as I have just done. Ah ! my Mariquitta, forgive me, for you know not how uneasy I am on your account, how your state of health worries and saddens me ! If, my dearly loved wife, I have given you pain, refer it truly to the love I bear you. Can you not do this? Oh ! Mariquitta, if you love me, prove it to me by taking care of yourself! AVhat would I be, what would become of me without you ! " Embrace all the family for me : caress well our darling children, say to them a thousand tender things for me. I press you to my heart, that heart which loves you more than its life. " Your Jules." 270 BIOGRAPHY OF " P. S. Even should you liavo to pay ?4() a montli for a good nurse, do not hesitate to do so ; and do not on this account dismiss Lucy. My little Marie clings so to her, and depends so entirely on her for the only amuse- ments which remain to her. poor little one ! that I would wish to keep Lucy as long as she would be willing to remain. Hence I will be grieved if you send her away and beg of you, darling, not to do so." Julius to MariquiUa. " Washixgton, Tuesday, December 30th, 1856. *' Pardon me, my dear wife, if I caused you pain by the letter I addressed you yesterday. It was certainly not my intention to do so, but my love for you, my solicitude for your health carried nie away. I know perfectly well, that you have not been impelled, either through selfishness or ob- stinacy. That it was a tender maternal feeling for which you sacrificed your health, your will and my own, to the welfare of our children. I do, my own Mariquitta. even admire your devotion and self-denial. And the ti'uth told, I was far, very tar from being as angry as I permitted myself to appear : but it had become full time to put an end to your sacrifices, unless I was willing to see you succumb. And, therefore, I was forced to speak as T did. Any other style would have failed. Forgive me then, my Mariquitta, you know that I love you with my whole heart. And it was only, because of the interest I take in you, the love I bear you, that I saw mvself forced to address you thus. " Thursday, New Yearns Day, 1857. — I would love, my dear Mariquitta, to clasp you in my arms, to cover you with kisses, to make you forget every thing I had said that might have distressed you in regard to the nurse for Louis. I am always so unhappy, when I think that I have caused you pain. I so bitterly reproach myself for it, so cruel in me does it appear. Poor dear little thing, you are already so unhappy, so much are you tried I And it was very unjust, too. for me to accuse you of wil- fulness. If you have been so in the Past, I also have been : and if, as my love for you increased, I have learned to yield, you likewise have learned how to do the same : and you could not have given me a better proof of it, than by the baptism of our little Louis, as soon as you did. It was verj' wrong in me then to make you any reproach whatever, my darling wife, — you who bear with so much courage, devotion, self-denial and love, the diffi- cult burthen which devolves upon you. Again, do I beg of you to forgive me. my Mariquitta. Never. I assure you, could I have brought myself to speak to 30U thus, but that my love for you — anxious-;iud suflering on your account — roused me to the pitch of sharply rescuing you from the state of sacrifice to which you had abandoned yourself. Hence, my cherished wife, reprove only my excessive love for you, if I have wounded your feelings. " Have no anxiety about me, 1 deprive myself of nothing. I have one of the best rooms in the house, the table is one of the best in the city, and at night I am well wrapped up. Indeed I often reproach myself with being LIEUT. COL. JirLIVS P. QARESCHE. 271 too well, too luxuriously installed. My eye is well, and yesterday I went to the Office. ''I embrace you, dearest, with an ovcrtlowinc; love. Kiss all the family for me and wish them in my behalf A llapjjy New Year. Caress my little treasures, my dear children. I press you to my heart, my darling, and remain faithfully " Your Jules." Extract from a letter of Julius to ISIariquitta. " Washington, Friday, January 2nd, 1857. * * * -X- -X- * * -X- * -X- * * -X- " After a long hesitation, of several days, and despite a I'epugnance which you can easily appreciate, I at last decided to make the round of visits incident to New Years' day. Though it occupied me a good part of the day, yet it did not bore me as much as I anticipated. I went alone and paid fifteen. I would greatly have prefeiTcd, however, remaining home and writing to you, my dear Mariquitta. * * *" Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, AVednesday, January 7, 1857. " I wish, my darling Mariquitta, to write to you without further alluding to the nurse or to your health, which causes me so much anxiety: but as I cannot refrain from thinking of all this, I find it dillicult not to speak of it, so that I feel in no mood for writing to you aught that is interesting. "Yesterday I received a letter from Capt. Phelps, dated on the 5th and written from some town in Pennsylvania not very far from here. It was short and marked with so much restraint and reserve that it really gave me pain, lie did not say a ivonl about the Court or about himself, lie tells me that he had received a letter from me, together with one I had addressed to Father Olivier, which had reached Fort Brown only after he had left there, lie speaks much more than usual of Marie, and with the request to be remembered to you and to your family, begs me to say to you that you must not physic Marie too much. " 'Phis morning Cassin paid me a visit. He said that the Court-Martial of the Major still dragged along when he left Fort Brown on the 11th December : and the officers composing it had already had their fill of it. " Thursday, January 8. — I did hope, my dearly loved wife, to receive a letter from you to-day, and 1 keenly felt the disappointment. We are in the bad season and will therefore often be subjected to these disappoint- ments and annoyances, incident to the failure of the Mails. Bear this in mind, darling, and do not attribute these delays to any sickness of mine. I am, thanks be to God, in perfect health. I have gained flesh and have lost the sallow expression 1 acquired in Texas ; 1 may almost say that I have grown ruddy. 1 sleep like a log and eat like a wolf. My cold bath and daily exercise have changed me into a diS"erent person. Nor must 272 BIOGRAPHY OF you worry about luy comfort. I liave one of the best rooms in the house, just above the one I had at this time last year and facing the sunny side. It is warm, spacious, and well lit. I have more coverlids than I need, and am therefore never cold at niglit ; but on the contrary often am too warm. The table is excellent. Every day Ave have roast fowl, and turkey at least five times a week. Besides, we have regularly three or four other plates of meat ; in a word, the fare is abundant and altogether select. "I begin to breathe more freely about my work, in which, since my re- turn, I have been over head and oars plunged. "I have been, my dear, very desirous of writing to your Parents, but cannot find time to do so. '• Dear, dear Mariquitta. how my heart overflows with love for you ! How I languish when away from you ! AVhat would I not give again to see your dear face, again to clasp Avithin my arms your form which I think to be so graceful, and which I love so much ! Unceasingly, my darling, are you before my eyes and present to my thoughts ! I find it very hard to be separated from you, and that it is impossible for me to be happy without you. Ah! dearest, you cannot imagine Avhat a great love I bear you. I beseech you, do take care of yourself, if only on my account. Only think of the sufiering you cause me by sacrificing yourself as you do ; and if vou wish no lonirer to grieve me, cease to weiiih a few wretched Dollars in the scales with that health which is my most precious treasure. I assure you, that we would not ruin ourselves even if we engaged the costliest of nurses. Even should Congress reject the increase of our pay, we could still meet this expense ; but there is a very strong probability that this act of justice will be accorded to us. The number of valuable officers who, during the past year, have sent in their resignations has attracted general attention. The papers have spoken of it, especially those of Wash- ington : and all agree in attributing the cause to the insufficiency of our pay. Gen. Quitman, on introducing the Bill in the House, used this strong language, ' that it was a measure to keep the officers of the Army from starving.' "Hence, dear Mariquitta, set aside your economical ideas, which are in the present instance very much out of place, in a question so important as that of your health, — a health so necessary and so precious to your children, and still more so to their Father. " My old friend and comrade, Major Garnett,* to whom I introduced you at Cairo last year, was here this morning ; and in the course of our conversation, enquiring how you Avere, repeated to me Avhat he had then told me, that you Avei'e the living image of Mile. Rachel, — that he had never seen a more striking resemblance. I am at a loss to express to you how much this compliment pleased me : for Rachel is said to be one of the * A classmate at West Point. In 1861, he resigned his commission and went South and was killed in one of the Battles — Carrick's Ford, ^'a. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 273 most beautiful of women, especially when seen, as he saw her, upon the stage. '• I am sorry to hear of your Father's sadness, but I feel sure that he would feel even more gloomy, if he should leave St. Louis to establish himself in France, lie would make your Mother perfectly unhappy by her separation from three of her daughters. Octavie, too, would go most reluctantly, and your Father would likewise regret his children. Nor is this all ; setting aside the prophecy of Orval, every thing certainly proves that Europe, and especially France, within three years will be upturned by a horrible Revolution, more consonant with Hell than with mankind. I should, therefore, deeply regret to see your Father leave. As for the United States, I know not where he could locate to escape the cold, and yet not be sorry to have left' St. Louis. New Orleans and the Southern Cities are out of the question ; part of the family have already ti'ied this and were forced to fly from the Yellow Fever. In the interior, and here on the Coast, one always experiences cold. The other Cities of the South are subject to the same scourge as New Orleans. Here, at Washington, the Winters are milder than in St. Louis, but then there is no French circle of Society as there, and your Father having no occupation, would be unable to imagine how much this want of Society would affect him. Even my Father, raised in this country and speaking English perfectly, sighed for it. And so too Mr. Bernoudy at Louisville. In the interior of Louisiana, and where the Yellow Fever is never seen, there are superb lands to be had at very low prices, where he could settle himself in the midst of a French speaking Creole population. But your Father is too old to think of creating a new home, and yet this is what he would there have to do, I do not see, therefore, where else than at St. Louis he could locate. One must be patient. Last AVinter, in the severity of its cold, surpassed every other during the last forty years : soon the Winters will begin to grow milder, let your Father then have patience. " Adieu, my darling, embrace very affectionately for me all of the family. Give a thousand kisses and say a thousand tender things to my dearly loved Marie, to my little Na, and our dear baby. I press you, my dear wife, to my heart and send you a thousand sweet kisses. " Your Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Sunday, January 11, 1857. " Again, I must digest the same disappointment. These days pass away, my darling Mariquitta, without the letter I had hoped to receive from you. It is already more than a week since 1 heard from you. Your last letter was dated the 2yth December, and yet here are we already well advanced in January. But though this delay be painful to me, it excites no apprehension ; for I remember that we are in Winter, and that for some time past the Mails have been subjected to delays, and that heavy recent snows and the severe cold have thrown fresh obstacles in the way of the Post. 18 •_)74 BIOGRAPHY OF Hence, 1 aui not at all surprised tliat we shonUl bo several days without letters from 8t. Louis. Several times -already has it happened to me to Hnd myself, as now, for fourteen days without a letter, and yet almost invariably lias it htippened that later its explanation was in the delay of the Mails. •'I thank you for having told nie of all the presents given to our dear children and to yourself, mj' own dear wife. And I am nnu-h pleased with your Sisters' gift to you, which you need so greatly, namely, a pretty silk dress. If Congress should pass our 'Bill,' I too would contribute to your crying necessity, of a renewal of your poor wardrobe. I can now tell you of only rays of hope concerning this measure, so very desirable to us. A few days ago General Quitman (Chairman of the Military Committee of the House) sought to set aside the regular order of Bills, which had precedence over it. to reach an immodi;ito vote ujion our own. To efl'oct this an unanimous vote was necessary, which he did not obtain. But, as it seems, a great niajorify voted in its favor, and as simply a mqjoriti/ suffices for its passage, this is regarded as a good augury for its success when it is reached in its regular order. The universal opinion here is, that it will pass the House before their adjournment. And as for the Senate, there has never been a doubt but that there it would be sus- tained almost unanimously. Tlien it comes to the President, who will undoubtedly approve of it, as for two years past he has himself in his messages recommended it to Congress. "With this explanation,/darling, you are as thoroughly posted as myself regarding its status ; and, as you may perceive, you were led into error by the statement that it had already passed. According to all human appearances, — which 1 admit to be often very deceptive, but which nevertheless are the only l)asis on which we can build our expectations. — we may count with certainty- that before the -Ith of March we will be allowed an inci-ease of pa}'. "The weather is so maguiticent: cold, yet dry and invigorating, that I have just returned from a walk beyond the suburbs. Your image, my darling, accompanied me, and indeed very rarely does it desert me, save wiien I am in a mental abyss of papers and figures, for which, however, as I can assure you, yon need not feel the slightest jealousy. I seem very often to see you, living before nxy eyes. I see you walking in that woody promenade tiirough the woods at Fort Brown, for it is always there, or at Point Isabel, that my love locates you : — your society and the pleasure j'ou gave to me, while I dwelt in those two places, have forever consecrated them in my memory. Often, dear Mari((uitta, do I dwell on those two scenes and particularly on the occasion of those two first visits I paid you from Las Aniunis. wlion beautiful by your plumpness and health 1 felt so proud of yon. Ah ! wiiat would 1 not give then to seize you in my eager arms and cover you with kisses ! At other timeS, I picture you receiving me at Point Isabel, on my return from the office, dressed in my little blue vest, and my little cap of black cloth, and so gay, so unruly, so deliciously pretty, that 1 cannot withhold a sigh that you will no longer allow yourself LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 275 to look well, will no longer take care of your health, tha.t you no longer care enough for me to look pretty ! Again, my fancy loves to recall that day, — do you remember it? When for a moment I had returned to the house, and you would not allow me to return to the office : when throwing yourself upon me, you seized my hat and tossed it to the other extremity of the room and clasping me within your arms, clinging to me, you obliged me to take a seat upon the sofix beside you : for weak through the force of laughter and amusement, I had no longer the strength to resist you and vainl}'^ struggled within your embrace. Ah I these are indeed delicious memories ! You did not suspect that I so preciously preserved them, you naughty one, who are continually pi-etending that you doubt my love! There is many another besides these, of which I have never spoken to you. They are, when I am away from you, my very sweet treasure, my support and my only happiness. "Adieu, my darling. Embrace affectionately for me all the family. Caress for their dear Papa our darling children : say to them all sorts of tender expressions, with which your heart overflows in their regard. For yourself, accept a thousand sweet caresses and a thousand tender kisses from " Your Jui;ES.'' 276 BIOGRAPHV OF CHAPTER XXIX. Happiness Mariquitta's letter has just given him — advises her to read '• All for Jesus' — is sorry that her father received no Christmas present and advises her to induce her sisters to co-operate with her in giving him a nice pair of furs — joy at her consent to procure a nurse for Louis — Col. Cooper's pleasure at his report — attends several dancing soirees — his love for Catholic reunions like the Lays' — detestable ink she uses — misses intensely his little boy — his special fondness for his babies — her uncle Callard and Cousin David — diplomacy she must practice about the gift to her father — intense severity of Winter — Col. Freeman's perfect aston- ishment and exclamation — enormous press of work at the Office — point of honor with the President and his Cabinet — great snow storm — fondness for his position and confident it is what is best suited for him — Col. Cooper's satisfaction with him as also that of the Secretary of "War — his pleasure in completing a certain important Work and the aid he received therein from his friends in Heaven — his passionate love for Mariquitta and the great sacrifice of his Algerian expedition for her sake — abscess of Marie and his hopes thereof — the good and pleasure Mariquitta's recent letters have given him — her father's great suficring from the intense cold not surprising — his horror of the assassination of the Archbishop of Paris at the Altar — his gratitude to Jier mother for all her love and devotion to herself and their children — situation of the Army Bill — Capt. Phelps not angry — pride in his little girls and boy — hopes his wife does not sutler from the severity of the Winter — his painful longing for her — his sources of consolation so few and so ditferent to other men's. Julius to Mariquilla. ''Washington, Wednesday, January 14. 1S57. " My own darling, you nuvde me very happy by your letter of tlie 2nd and 5th: it was so afi'ectionate. so long, so full of details, that are to me so interesting. Your account of Marie's healtli also tills me with hope. I myself had thought that her recovery would be eflected by an abscess or something of the kind. Very surely, all of the physicians concur in say- ing, that so long as she sleeps well, eats well and does not seem to sutl'er, there is no reason to despair of her cure. Let us then be very good, very faithful to our dutie;*, think often of God. and constantly make acts of His presence and, especially, let us perform the devotion 1 recommended to you, in order that we may learn the better to love and to serve Ilim. lie will then have less hesitation in committing to us the care of our dear child's soul. I wish that you could read a pious English work just pub- LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 277 lished, ' All for Jesus.' It is so fine, so enticing, that it could not fail to improve you. T have recently derived great benefit from its perusal. AYithout a doubt, if 3'ou asked Robert, he could borrow a copy of it for 3'ou, either from the College or the Cathedral. I would be very glad if you could read a few pages every day. As I have already told you, do not overwhelm yourself with prayers. We are but too apt to think that we must recite a multitude of prayers, which we are but too apt to recite negligently, and hence derive no advantage from them. I believe that nothing increases piety more within our hearts than often, very often, as often as possible during the day, to turn our hearts to God. Not simply the mind, by words, by ejaculations, which are undoubtedlj'' good, l)ut which we too often, as in the case of our prayers, repeat with but little attention : but the very heart itself, by acts of interior love, of gratitude, of pity for the sufferings of our Saviour, of sympathy with His heart — so wounded by mankind — so afflicted by their ingratitude. The book I have recommended to you will teach you all this. Buy it, for I, indeed, would like to possess a copy. " My dear little darling, I thank you for the full account of all of the gifts which have been exchanged between yourselves ; the perusal gave me so much pleasure. I also thank you, my ' sweet,' for having gratified me by the purchase of the little veil you desired. I am so pleased that you allowed yourself this small gratification. I hope that Congress will not refuse us the increase of our pay, that I may have the pleasure of renewing your wardrobe. I was grieved that in all this your Father received no present, but we will remedy it. You say that the furs you gave to the Doctor cost $5. Now, invite the aid of all your Sisters to the extent of 25 cents apiece, no more, and then adding to it five or six dollars of your own (but mind, not less than five dollars) buy for him a good, warm, and pretty pair. Do this at once, that he may enjoy them before the end of Frost. You will, my dear Mariquitta, confer on me a real pleasure by doing this immediately. " I cannot understand how you manage to have a balance of $42 on hand at the end of December. Certainly I expected nothing of the kind and I envy, my dear, your economy, for proportionately I spend a great deal more. I am rejoiced that at last you have freely consented to procure a nurse, and I hope that at this very moment you are in the possession of an excellent one. Yet, to be candid, I doubt it. I do not think it possible to obtain a good one, Avho would go to the country, for less than $20 or even $30 per month. And I wish you to have « (/ood one, whatever be the cost. Dear little wife, you strive too much to economize in matters where none is to be exercised. And you give me pain in appearing to fear that I will scold you for your expenses. Have I ever yet done so ? It has indeed been an age since 1 have done so ! I must, moreover, tell you that I am distressed to think of your intention of sending Lucy away : and I do hope that my letter, in which I begged of you not to think of such a thing, will have reached you in time to prevent it. 278 BIOGRAPHY OF " I had quite a pleasure this morning at my Office. I had drawn up a report of no mean importance and thouglit I had very well succeeded with it : yet I feared that the Colonel miglit not approve of it. Nevertheless, he did seem to be very much pleased, and then read to me one of his own, as if to obtain my views in regard to it. He is always very amiable in my regard. " Last night I attended a dancing soir6e at the Lays, and I even danced once and altogether had a very pleasant time. 'L'o-nigiit, I go to another, given by an Officer; and to-morrow night, to a ball given by Col. Free- man. I must confess that I go to these last two as I would take a dose of medicine. IJut I love reunions like those of the Lays, where I met only good Catholics, wiioiii I knew, and where every thing passed off without ceremony. Tlicrc is hero a small Catholic coterie, which is very agreeaVjle, and in which I must tell you there is a lively desire to make your acquaintance. " Thursda;/, the I5t.h.—l hope that my sweet little Na did not have long to wait for her ' tiny letter.' For I sent it to you but two or three days after I sent you those for her and my dearly loved Marie. "What detestable ink you use! It blackens my hands and soils every thing which it touches. It sticks so to the envelope that it is difficult to extract the letter. May not Miss Tavie by chance be amusing herself by putting sugar in the inkstand ? "You will not believe how much T miss my little boy. I have always had a special fondness for my babies. They are so pretty, those pure little souls, so self-willed, and yet to me their lives seem so angelical. I con- fess that, when you repeat to me our boy is so sweet, I feel such a desire to hold him in my arms, to caress him, and to play with him. And it does me good, to see how much you love him, how charming you find him. Your last letter was to me of real utility, it somewhat allayed my fears in respect to yourself and my dear Marie, and gave me real pleasure by the perusal of the interesting details with which it was replete. " Ask of your Mother, when she will write to them, very affectionately to thank your uncle Callard for his invitation, also David for the greeting he was preparing for me, and esjyecidlli/ for his intention of accompanying me to Africa. They must already be informed that I have abandoned )ny expedition. But I wish that David should know that I was greatly de- lighted to think of him as a companion, at the same time that he would have been to me of great advantage. " Upon reflection, to avoid the semblance that the gift be only your own, I think it best to pursue tiio following course. Give in my behalf to eadi of your sisters $2, telling them that I desired also to make them a small Christmas gift. And then, as if a sudden thought of yours, propose to them on the following day to Imy these furs for your Father, who had received no Christmas gift. Then, even should you contribute no more than they, there would be still enough to buy a handsome set. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS F. GARESCHE. 279 " Embrace all the family very affectionately for me, my darling wife ; give a thousand fond caresses to our dear, dear children, ami receive a thousand sweet kisses from your "Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. " AVasiiington, Sunday, January 18th, 1857. " The river here is frozen to the depth of a foot, a most rare circum- stance and one which, excepting last year, has not happened for a long while. I have not found the Winter so severe. But Washington has a climate of mild temperature, and from what I am told by the citizens and read in the papers, I am inclined to think that this has been a severe Winter. That of last year was in every respect extraordinary. Your Father, therefore, has reason to complain of the cold, but not sufficient cause to blame it upon the country. If he will only be patient, there is no doubt but that the Winters will soon resume their ordinary temperature. "While I am writing, it is snowing heavily, a real tempest, and I am distressed to think that the Roads will be blocked and communication im- peded, and that we will thus be compelled to wait much longer than usual for each other's letters. " You no longer mention your nights, my dear wife. How do you spend them? Are you ever obliged to get up in the cold? Are you able to keep up the fire in your stove? And does it warm your room thor- oughly during the day? Do write to me on this subject. " During the past week I went to two balls and a dancing soiree. Y'^ou see I am becoming dissipated. And really were 1 not so blind, but cuuld only distinguish and recognize the ladies, I feel that I could greatly amuse myself. The last I attended was at Colonel Freeman's. He was perfectly astonished to see me arrive, and two or three times exclaimed, ' Well ! this is something truly complimentary !' I went only in acknowledgment of the civilities the Freemans had shown me and intended in a quarter of an hour to make my escape. But every thing was so ))eautiful and so glittering, the music so enchanting, the ladies so superbly di'essed, that 1 would willingly have remained the whole evening and, as it was, spent two hours. " I am occupied as much as ever. 1 had hoped that when I had finished the compilation of the Army Register for this year, I would have a little respite. But not at all. Not only is Congress in session, which always involves a very great increase of labor, but the present Administration is drawing to a close. And, as it is a point of honor with the President and his Secretaries to leave behind them, if possible, no unfinished work, we must necessarily share in the extraordinary activity which, at this moment. exists in allthe Government Bureaux. " Embrace all the family affectionately for me, my darling. Fondly caress our dear children, and tell them a thousand tender things in my behalf. 1 embrace you and clasp you tenderly to my heart. " Your Jules." 280 BIOOHArifV OF Julius lo Mgret that the latti-r will soon retire. But he will Ciller tli(! Senair, to heoonio tlmre very prohahly tho ('hairman of the (!ommittce on Military A Hairs, wliiidi would cause his ndations with the Army, and tho interests of which lu; has so much advanced, not to he entirely broken off. "This morning I coinplotod a work, in the execution of which it neemed to me that the nid I rocoivnd from my good friends in Ilcavon was pal- |tal)le. It was an opinidit of the If. S. Attorney rionoral, upon a Military liaw passed last year, which (-ol. (yOop(!r gave to me the* other day, pray- ing mo to read it attentively and, if possible, to unravel its meaning which ho himself, as he said, was unable to do. I took it, studied it, discovered in it a grav(! error and two or threo omissions scarcely h^ss serious, which, in my opinion, so vitiated it as to render it of no value. Noting these errors, I wrote a criticism of the argument, which to-day, just as ho was leaving his ollice. 1 handed to Col. Cooper. Of course, I (hi not know how h(( will ap|(r(M!iate it, but before \m\ left, pointing out one of the errors, whi(rh could not bo denied, 1 noticcul that his eyes gleamed somewhat in triumph. If, therefore, 1 havo correctly argu(!d, tho all'air must redound to my Ininor. And even if the Attorney Cleneral should feel wounded by it, it would trouble me but little, for ho onco played nu^ an ugly trick in Mexico, and hcnt;e deserved to reiM'ive at my Imnds this retaliation. For, during tin; War, he was a brigade Commander, and having received aji LIEUT. VOL. JULIUS I'. (iAUKHCllk. 281 order to join General Scott upon tin; grand lino of operationH, asked mo to accompany liim, (I (supposed uh Imh Adjutant fJoncral). F accepted on the spot, only too liappy to exchange our line, where it might he said that I'eace reigned, for one where they were still fiercely fighting. Well ! dar- ling, would you believe it, without a whisper to me of his intention, with- out riven a lirief note, to tell me he had changed his mind, or to (jxcuse himself, he left, taking another officer with him ! You can understand, that if really I liave gained over a statesman, and over a lawyer of his distinction, such a victory, as f think that I have, f would have every possible reason to derive from it very great satisfaction. ^'' Wednexdoi/, Janvfiiy 2\. — 'Yesterdjiy we received two Mails from St. Louis, one of which was due since last Saturday. And thus I received, my darling, together yf)ur two letters of the lOth and I'ith inst. You tell me, my Mari()uitta, that by my letter of the Ist I greatly pained you. I assure you that \ sincerely regret it, for already T had reproached myself for it, and still rej)roach myself. The pain I may have given to you by my letters on this subjcfct is absolutely noUdiuf as compared with what I suf- fered. Forgive me then, my dearly loved one ; if I loved you less, I could lie indifferent. I thank you with all my heart that you yourself took my |nirt, and attributed my fit of anger to its nsal cause, and hence excused it. f love you so passionately, my dear little Mariquitta, that you must pardon the unreasonableness of my love. " As for the African expedition, I thank you, my darling, for the permis- sion you give me ; and, very certainly, 1 will do all that you ask of m's, if I '■hould be able to go. IJut the sacrifice of it is not ' beyond my strength,' and I have entirely abandoned it. If God permits me, I will go on for you, just as soon as the health of our dear little Marie will permit her to travel ; and when I will have rejoined you, I will devote myself entirely to you and seek to i-ender you as hap[)y and as comfortable as possible. "You give me some hope in respect to our poor dear child. Kiss and caress her for nu-, as also my sweet little Na. Say to them, for mecome so great as to render my present situation intolerable. Have you ever thought of what you would suffer, if for a year you were wft 28G RIOORAPHY OF forced to bo fur from me, your children, and all of j-our family? Imagine then what it must be for me I I do not deny that a woman so situated, might suffer more than a man ; but, on the other hand, I am certain that very few men under such circumstances would suffer as much as I do. For I do not possess a single one of those different sources of consolation which serve so many other men as a means of distracting their thoughts and making them forget their troubles. I do not smoke, I do not play either cards or billiards, I care nothing for the Chase, nor for Fishing, nor for the society of other men or for that of Ladies. There remains but one recreation, — reading. "But I must close, my darling. Affectionately embrace all the family for me. Caress most tenderly my dear little children, and receive for yourself, little Mariquitta, my sweet, a thousand tender and loving kisses from " Your Jules."' ^ LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 287 CHAPTER XXX. His worriment over his own expenses — his reproaches to himself — better to give Alms to God's poor than to fee physicians uselessly for Marie — ^joy Mariqiiitta's last letter gave him — Lieut. Saxton — Major Garnett and his young bride and his notice of Mariquitta's strong resemblance to the beautiful liacbel, and Julius' own regret, for this reason, not to have seen Kachel — Louis — hopes the Winter is about to end — again advises Mari- quitta to buy "All for Jesus" — his anticipated joy at soon being reunited to her and his children — his pleasure at the contents of her last letter- Sister Lucy's story — his regret that Mariquitta's mother anticipated them in the gift to her father — his Criticism on argument of the Attorney Gen- eral — bus found his truii vocation — Alexander's letter and its good news about her and Marie — his duty to submit to little disappointments — his father's Translation — begs her, for her own and Marie's good, occasion- ally to visit the City — imprudence in her father's wish to return to France and better for him to act upon his own fJulius') suggestion — his longing for her but pious resignation. Julius to MariffLiUa. "Washington, Sunday, February J.st, 1857. "Yesterday, my darling, I received your letter of the 21st and 23rd, which arrived just in time to enable me to commence with you the Novena in honor of St. Joseph. You may rest assured, that I will not neglect it. You must know that ever since we began the former Novena, our little Marie is prayed for regularly every week at the Arch-Confraternity estab- lished in the Jesuits' Chapel here, to which 1 have been for some time affiliated. I have a great mind again to ask of the Sisters of Charity to join us with their Orphans. I feel tempted, also, to ask the Jesuit Fathers to say some Masses for our intention ; but I hesitate, because, since my return, I have spent so much money, (nearly $70 in December, $63 in January, and $08 in November) that it worries me to keep on at this rate. At times, I reproach myself that thus far I have not laid by one cent for my children, not a single cent of my earnings; and that if I should die to-morrow, all that would remain to them, would be what my poor Father and my good Mother accumulated with such a struggle and by dint of so many deprivations. And I say to myself, that this should not be the case. Then again I say to myself, that it is not my fault, if hitlierto my Pay has been so very small ; that, after all, I have incurred no extravagance ; — and to come down to the real state of facts, apparently God wishes that, instead of our feeing physicians, we should give something to Ilis Poor ; — and, 288 BIOGRAPHV OF after all, is it not better that it should be so? Do you not think so? And now that our I'ay is about to be increased and our expenses yet remain stationary, we may for the Future lay by something every month. Hence, I conclude upon reflection, to give what I have just mentioned. I hope, my dai'ling, that it will meet with your approval. " Your letter, dear Mariquitta, gave me real pleasure. It is such a con- solation to me, again to see you giving way to Hope, to feelings of gayety and courage, and to learn that of late your health shows signs of improve- ment. Then, too, you give me such encouraging news of my dear little Marie, and cause me so much pleasure, by saying that our little daughters, of their own volition, begin to speak French. You so sweetly make my heart thrill with all that you relate about my little Louis ; and, finally, I am so satisfied to learn of all the pleasure my late letters have given you. "Mr. Saxton, who always, whenever he meets me, so warmly enquires after you, begs to be kindly remembered. '' My friend, Major Garnett, the person who called upon us aboard the * Luther M. Kennett' at Cairo, is in town with his young bride, a pretty little woman. It is he, you may recollect, who recognized in you such a great resemblance to Rachel. The very first act of his, on meeting nie again, was to speak of this resemblance, which he thought so striking. And his little wife told me, that on his return to New York last Winter, he had mentioned it to her. This makes me regret still more, that I did not see Rachel, when she passed through this country. '• I am glad, my darling, to hear that you form Louis to good habits, that he learns to sit still and to amuse himself all alone. 1 learn, too, with pleasure, that you have begun to give him bread to eat, and I shall be well pleased to hear, also, that he can take a little soup and suck a morsel of meat. ''To-day is a beautiful Spring day, but at the same time there is a feai'ful thaw. "On account of the Poor, of yourself, darling, and of your Father, who have all sufiered so much from it, 1 do hope with all my heart that the Winter is about to end, and a more pleasant season about to be inaugurated. " Have you yet, dearest, bought the book, ' All for Jesus,' which I so strongly recommended to you? If you have not, do so at once. It is the finest work of devotion I have ever read, and so Aiscinated am I by it, that I cannot be without it. Though I have already read the book once, I am again reading it, and with just as much pleasure; and had I not told you to buy it in St. Louis, I would certainly buy it here for myself. " Y'^our last letter completed tiie first volume of your letters that I have received since my return. I trust there will not be suilicient time to com- plete a second one, before I shall have rejoined you, my love, never again to be separated. " Ah ! dear little wife, what a happiness for me again to see you and our dear children ! I begin to grow too impatient for this reunion. You must. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 289 therefore, show me a great, great deal of love, to repay me for all I have suffered by my absence from you. It is such a trial for one w^ho loves as I do, and who stands so much in need of affection, to live thus separated from every thing in the world that he loves most dearly. And but that we should always be content to do the Will of God and to suffer a little for His sake, I would not have the fortitude to endure such an existence. " Good-bye, my own sweet little Mariquitta. Embrace very affection- ately for me all the family. I will try soon to write to your Father and Mother. Tenderly caress our dear children for me, and receive for yourself, darling, a thousand kisses and endearments from " Your Jules." Julitis to Mariquitta. " Washington, Monday, February 2, 1857. "My dearly beloved, "As it is tnit two days since I received a letter from you, I could not expect another to-day, and yet I have received one, and oh ! what a good, good letter it is! Dear, dear Mariquitta, how much good you do mo and how happy you make me, when you give me such good news of yourself, of our dear Marie, and of our two other babes. The tone of gayety, of hope, of animation which pervades your letter so reacts upon me as to inspire me with the same dispositions. I am so happy to learn that our dear little Marie continues to iijiprove, and that you have secured a good nurse, as well as a good woman, who gives you so very little troul>le and so well suits you. I am unable to find words to express my delight at hearing that you feel so well, are growing fleshier, have a good appetite, and feel yourself so very much stronger. What you relate of Louis and Na adds to my pleasure. Dear little beings, how I love all three of them, how charming I find them ! And how ardently I love you too, Miss Mari- quitta! Even though the nurse be of no use to you at night, I will not, darling, scold you any more; I will be pained by it, but then I sec that you are disposed to do every thing that is reasonable. Hence, never mind what may happen, I promise you not again to trouble you on this subject. Yet you should not, in regard to the Past, forget that I was really, my dear Avife, very uneasy on your account; and I had good reason to be so, when you yourself told me that you felt worn out, were constantly suffering &c., and when your Mother wrote that your health was very delicate. "I have just returned from a visit to Sister Lucy, the Superioress of the Orpiian Asylum, to ask of her to continue the Orphans' prayers for our dear child, and to say that their prayers had availed much more tlian we had at first thought. I then recited to her the whole history of the abscess, etc. She said that it did not surprise her, that she had great confidence in Prayer, especially in that of children ; and that since she had seen me, a young lady from New York had called upon her. This young woman had a frightful cancer in the breast. The physicians had infoi-ined her that but a single chance remained to save her life — an operation. She trem- bled at the thought, and unable yet to decide, had wished first to visit her 19 290 BIOGRAPHY OF good friend, Sister Lucy, to obtain from her the necessary courage to yield. Sister Lucy told her, that for so slight a chance of cure, it really seemed too cruel to be subjected to such an operation ; still it was her duty to submit, since her physicians and family urged it. Tlie young girl there- upon returned to New York, resolved to yield. But, all of a sudden, the physicians announced to her that they had no hopes of success, even from the operation ; therefore, no longer to think of it, but to place all her trust in God. She then wrote to Sister Lucy, who answered that she would get her Orphans to pray for her. This she did, and but a short time ago she received a letter from her young friend (who is from lier description pretty as well as pious) announcing her perfect, jse^yec^ cure! " Tuesday, February ord. — Does not, my darling, what I iiave just re- lated to you fill you with hope? I feel my own heart grow full! '' So j)leased am I, my darling, with your letter, that I read and re-read it. It is so gratifying, to see you shake off your melancholy, to see you gay and animated, to know that you are gaining every day in strength and health ; and then, to have such good news of my children. I am so impatient to embrace my dear little Marie, to see my charming little Louis, and to tease my bright and engaging little Na ! The portrait you draw of her, trying to put your wardrobe in order (to your great dread), or sweeping your room, amused me very much. " I am sorry your Mother has anticipated us in the gift to your Father of the furs, of which I am certain he stood in great need. " Do you remember of my mentioning to you in one of my late letters a criticism I had made of an argument of the Attorney General of the United States? Well ! Colonel Cooper told me, day before yesterday, that he had read it to the Secretary; and the latter accepted it without reservation, and wanted at once to send it to the Attorney General. But Colonel Cooper opposed this, observing that it might cause the Attorney General too much mortification. I was, therefore, directed to write a letter, to be signed by the Secretary, in which the errors of the Attorney General should be in a delicate manner exposed. This I did to-day. "I love to relate to you this little triumph, which gave me a great deal of pleasure, not that I experienced from it any vanity ; for it was, in the first 2)lace, by a chance, purely Providential, tliat a person in the position of the Attorney General could have played into my hand by so gross an error ; and next, that I should have had the good fortune to discover this eri'or: — I recognize in the circumstance a palpable proof of the protection God wishes to afford me. But where I derive my greatest satisfaction, is from the thought, with which I am inspired, that I iiave at last found my true vocation, the position and the duties which suit me, and wherein God is the better disposed to aid me. This is all there is of it, for you must not imagine that such things will contribute to my advancement: — Oh! no; I will not, in consequence, receive one cent more, nor one day earlier the rank of Major. The only material benefit it may confer on me is that, if Colonel Cooper finds me to be useful to him, he will the longer retain me near him. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESGHE. 291 " Thursday, February 5th. — I have just received a letter from Alexander, dated the 31st of January. He says that on tlie previous day you had been in town and that Laura regretted very much, that through a mistake of her servant, she had not seen you when you called. He tells me that Julia* found you ' very pretty,' vi^hile ' others thought tiiey had never seen her looking better.' All this gives me suoh pleasure, by its proof of your really being much better; for this letter is five days later than the one I received from you. Dear little, sweet wife, I am so happy since ray receipt of such good news of yourself and Marie. May they continue to gladden my heart ! Then again I am greatly pleased that my little wife is consid- ered pretty, it makes me feel quite proud. " Tenderly kiss and caress for me our dear children, and tell them many endearing things in my behalf. I press you, my dtar Mariquitta, ten- derly to my heart and imprint a thousand kisses upon your lips. ''Your Julio, wholly yours." Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Sunday, February 8, 1857. " To-day, my dearest, is my regular day for writing to you, but to be candid, I feel but little inclination to do so, for I have nothing of interest to tell you, — a state of feeling occasioned by my disappointment this morn- ing, when I called at the Post Office and found there was no letter from you. Your last one is dated the 25th of January and it is but three days ago that I had one fi'oin Alexander of the 30th, that is to say, five days fresher than yours. Do not for a moment, my darling, interpret this as any reproach to yourself, for I know too well your regularity in writing to me, which is all I should exact of you. Nor am I uneasy, as Alexander tells me that you were in the City on the 29th, from which I infer that every thing was all right. I feel also that it is my duty to submit more patiently to these little disappointments, which, after all, are sent us by Almighty God. But, none the less, at the first blush we feel carried away, and though I shall try to accept it with resignation, this does not prevent me from feeling downcast and disappointed, without ideas, and unable to write. " I have nothing new to relate to you since my last letter. "I left lying about in our room, upon my departure from Limours, a translation by my Father into French verse of the ' Batrachomnomanie' of Homer, or, perhaps, I may have left it in Octavie's room. You would, my dear little wife, render me a very great service, if you would find it and preciously preserve it for me. You will at once attend to this, won't you ? " I am quite content, my dear Mariquitta, that at last you found your- self free enough and able to make a little trip to the City, and you would please me still more if you would oftener do so. For there is not a doubt * Julia Francis, nee Garesche, 1st Cousin of Julius and married to Mr. Alfred Francis of Phila. 292 BIOQRAPHV OF but that the forced seclusion, to wliich for a long time you have been con- signed, must have greatly affected your feelings, as well as your health, and that even the slight distraction of going to town, on a Visit to your relatives and friends; to enjoy some concerts, and to make your purchases for your toilet or what is required for \-our children ; to eat a few delicacies at Guenaudon's &c., cannot fail to do you much good, not only by the ex- ercise for the body, but by the delicious excitement it gives to the mind. By the love, therefore, you bear me, I beg of you, my dear little wife, from time to time, to visit the City ; and if you can summon enough cour- age, even to remain there a day or two. You would tlius amuse yourself, and would return gayer, and with a fresh stock of courage, to the side of your little Marie, upon whom your gayety and courage would react with good effect. For, it is important, that in her critical state, her courage should be maintained, and that she should not give way to despair, which might prove fatal to her. Do not forget this, for it is a serious matter, which should be watched. " During more than a week past we have had a bright sun, warm air — truly Spring weather. The snow has almost entirely disappeared, only a few scattering flakes remaining. "Alexander writes to me that apparently, or at least from what he hears, your Father is more than ever resolved to return to France. I do not, how- ever, believe it. I understand the nervous temperament of your Father and will readily concede that he thinks of doing so, but I cannot l>elieve that lie would ever determine upon a step, so fraught with anguish for your Mother, and which, in view of the condition of France and of Europe, would be of such rash imprudence. He would do a great deal better to act upon my suggestion, from which I always told him he would reap a fortune, and on which he can now embark, thanks to the Railroad which unites St. Louis with Carondelet. It is, to transform his farm on shares into a dairy farm, to rear cows, and every day to send the milk to St. Louis to some milk man, with whom he would have contracted. I am sure, that before two years, he would thus reap a $1000 a year, and the business once well established, he could augment his revenues by the increase of his cows. •'I am a little under the 'blues,' darling, and will therefore close. Ah! it is so painful to me, to be so long separated from you ! God, I confess, does powerfully aid me to bear this absence, and, despite my ingratitude, His goodness towards me is inexhaustible: but, yet, there are moments when I long for your presence, and cannot be consoled. And, to-night, I feel in tiiis disposition. "Affectionately embrace all the fiimily for me, dearest. Give a thousand caresses, say a thousand sweet little phrases for me to our dear children ; and for yourself, my Mariquitta, receive a nunil>er of affectionate kisses, which I would love dearly to bestow myself upon your sweet lips. Good- bye, sweet wife, love dearly your "Jules." LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 293 CHAPTER XXXI. How his happiness is bound up in Mariquitta and his agony of heart at their separation — success of the " Bill" — his intense joy thereat — his late painful perspective of his future — noble offer of Alexander — promise to his mother — idea of a partnership with some rich Capitalist or Company — great sacrifice it would have been to give up his Profession — his perfect fitness for his present position — advance of Spring — his great sorrow when he receives no letters from Mariquitta — her consolations in such moments — pleasure her letter of the 12th gave him — Father Fred's letter and his ear-ache — strangers flocking to Was-hington for the inauguration of President Buchanan and necessity of his purchasing a new uniform — sittings for his Dagueri-eotype that he intends presenting her — wins two prizes at the Orphans' Fair — Mrs. Buell — the "Cottage Furniture" and cost of their undertaking housekeeping — painful fears that Marie's sick condition will prevent their soon being reunited — wonderful influence Mariquitta's letters have over him — pleasure her latest news gives him — sea-baths for Marie — hopes for a respite of work through termination of present Congress — her mother's idea of a Novena to St. Joseph and his own to St. Eose of Lima — probable time he can start after her and his children — Piney Point a good bathing-place for Marie — shaves off his beard — his necessary oflicial calls upon new and old President and Secre- tary of "War and his sorrow at parting with the retiring ones — about the new President and Secretary — vexation about his Daguerreotype — Marie's excellent memory and his pleasure at Mariquitta's religious instructions to her — his endeavors to obtain for her uncle Jean Baptiste the Professor- ship of Spanish at West Point — intention of applying for his Leave to go after her and sorrow at thus separating her from her mother. Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Monday, February 16, 1857. " Dear wife, I feel a need of writing to you. Hence, I take my pen in hand, but find myself forestalled by a single thought, the only one in my mind, and I know no other of which to speak to you. My life is like an arid desert, in which appears only one single oasis, the thought of your- self; — a thought at once both my happiness and my torment. All things else procure for me no contentment, no satisfaction. Every thought of happiness for me is summed up in yourself; and yet, thus separated from you, what misery for myself! This season of Spring-time, of love, aug- ments my sufferings; for your image is vested in new charms. I feel more drawn towards you, it seems more impossible for me to live away 294 BIOGRAPHY OF from 3-011, and I feel less strength, less courage, to endure my fate. If I shut myself up in my room, I am oppressed ])y my loneliness. If I go out, every young and well dressed woman makes me think of you ; and the sight of one, more tlian ordinarily attractive, brings you so vividly to my eyes and to my memory, that I burn with the wish, a wish alas! but useless, to press you to my heart. If I permit myself to look, my eyes are fascinated, such is the eagerness with which I watch every motion of her dress, every movement of her foot, and always with you in my thoughts! But almost instantly I turn away my eyes, I cannot permit them this em])ty and feverish satisfaction, I suffer too much from it later. And, yet, though it be a happiness thus to entertain myself with you, and to open to you all my heart, I hesitate whether I should do so, and whether I do not do wrong, by awakening, perhaps, in you the same sentiments of sadness. Therefore, I am at a loss what to say, how to write to you. '"'• Thursday, February 19. — To-day, my darling, I can tell you some good, good news; — it is that our 'Bill' has passed the Senate, has been signed by the President, is therefore become a law ! My pay is increased $44 per month. At last, we can live without impairing our little Capital. B}"^ continuing to live economicallj-, we may be able every month to lay by something for our dear children after we are gone. We will have almost sufficient, when the time comes, to set up house here." I send you my De- cember Pay-roll foi* $114.10. It is the gift I promised you for the renewal of your Avardrobe in case the Bill became a Law. Remember, darling, that this sum is not for ordinary expenses, for which you must continue to ask money of xVlexander. But it is to be devoted exclusively to your toilet. As you will not need it all now, the surplus will aid me next Win- ter to procure for you the velvet cloak and furs I so ai-dently wish you to possess. My heart is a good deal lighter, since I realize the certainty of this happy event. I dared not speak of it to you, lest I should commu- nicate to you my own sorrow about it, for its fate for a long time was in doubt. We had bitter enemies in both Houses, unscrupulous men ; actu- ated by personal resentment towards some of the officers of the Army ; and they used all their eloquence, every effort, to defeat us. I had so often been disappointed, that I could no longer count on a successful issue ; hence my heart was very sad, for during the last three years, it has been plainly apparent to me that my pay was insufficient for our support. And if now it was so, when our children were so young, I enquired of myself how would it be, when our children would have increased, and our ex- penses have been augmented by their age and number, and when it would have become necessary to meet the expenses of their education? T fore- saw the entire extinguishment of our little Fortune, and then, should God call me away, what would have become of you all? Nothing but the Charity of their Uncles and Aunts! You can understand how painful to me was such a perspective. Now that I can speak of it to you, darling, you will the more readily excuse me, that during the last few weeks I LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 295 should have caused you pain, but these thoughts very much excited and saddened me. Although I concealed my thoughts from you, I could not from Alexander, and, at once, he replied to me, to send in my resignation and come and enter into partnership with him. That for the first year he ■would give me a fourth, and the next year, a third of what he would real- ize from his Profession of a lawyer; assuring me that last year he had made $5000, of which he had already collected S^400U, and that, but for his sickness, he would have gained $5500 ; and he anticipated that in the near Future he would much exceed these sums. Placing his receipts for this year at $6000, a figure I think he will likely reach, as for the first two months of last j-ear he made nothing, because all of his clients thought to see him in his former office and thus fell into the hands of Bauduy, and he made nothing during the first two months and scarcely any thing dur- ing the third. But putting it $0000, I should have realized $1500 for the first and about $2000, or more, for the second year. It was very generous on his part, as for the first year I could have been to him but of very little use. But, though I thanked him for it, I had promised my Mother never to be a partner of one of my brothers. Moreover, I feared that the gen- erosity of Alexander had led him to make me a rash offer, besides that I disliked somewhat to accept of what savored of Charity, and T feared that in the outset we might not have so well agreed together, and again I feared tliat I was too old to begin anew the study of the Law. In fine, I still cherished the hope of the passage of our Bill. Since then, when its fate seemed to be in doubt, I have seriously thought of leaving the Army. I did not recur to the offer of Alexander, but I had the idea of a partnership with some rich Capitalist, or Company in New York, in need of a reliable, upright, capable, and zealous man, to supervise and direct some great enterprise. Rich men eagerly seek to obtain the services of such men, and seldom find them, and it was just such an occupation that would have suited me. It would have cost me a great deal to have given up my Pro- fession, but no other recourse remained. Happily now, we have no longer cause of uneasiness about our Future. My pay will sufiice not only for our wants, but even permit us to lay aside a little. Every day, our lands increase in value, and we can lay aside the $200 a year that we receive from the 5tli street house* and the Levee* lot. I believe, without vanity, that there is not another officer of the Corps, who can better fill the posi- tion I now hold; hence I have the hope of keeping it for at least three years to come, possibly even much longer, and I believe that you will like Washington as much as I do. '"For the past two weeks we have had real Spring weather, and every one is so astonished that the enquiry is general, can it be that Winter is gone ? We no longer have fires, and the doors and windows are even * These properties were part of his father's small estate, and he had a \ interest in them. 296 BIOGRAPHY OF opened. The thermometer marks 70°. At this rate, we will soon see the grass green and the trees in leaf. But, for myself, I cannot believe that the Winter is entirely over. " I hope to-morrow to receive a letter from you ; shall I, my darling, be disappointed? Affectionately embrace all the family, and tenderly caress for me our dear children. I trust that I am not much longer to be sepa- rated from you and them. How I yearn, sweet wife, to clasp you within my arms ! Till then, I send you a thousand most tender kisses and am yours entirely. "Your Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Sunday, February 22nd, 1857. "For the last two days I have longed to write to you, my dear wife, but the disappointment of returning, day after day, from the Post Office with- out receiving a letter from you, affected me so painfully that I feared to write you another sad and sulky letter, like what you have already com- plained of once or twice. I no longer dared hope for a letter from you, and this morning I went to the Post Office, saying it was useless, but feel- ing if I were again to be disappointed it would be with difficulty I could resign myself. For you do not know the effect such a disappointment has upon mo, — the sadness, vexation, ill temper, that it excites in me, and in which I remain plunged for whole days. AVhen you are thus tried, you have the sweet smile, and delicious little countenance of our Louis; the gayety and caresses of our charming Na; the angelic tenderness of our darling Marie, to console and distract you ; but I, I have nothing of all this! "At last, I had the happiness to find your letter of the 12th, which took ten days to come, and it gave me pleasure and did me good. I thank you, dearest, for your description of Lily's* wedding, and I was so pleased to see you had enjoyed yourself so very much. You could not have lacked attention, since you danced the whole evening. You know how often I beg of 3'ou to give me more details in your letters, and which you never seemed to have fully understood, — this eagerness of mine for every thing, for the nothings, trifles etc. And yet those trifles, that concern you or our children, are for me the most interesting items in all your letters. For example, those few words, ' I danced all evening,' which you wrote with- out much attention, to me were worth your whole letter — worth at least a hundred of those I have received from you this month. Why? Because, they spoke of you, they showed me you had not lacked attention, as you made me fear they would, a thought that had worried and troubled me since, and of which you did not speak a word to reassure me, except indi- rectly in that last line. That has pictured to me my Mariquitta, prettily dressed, looking younger, beautiful, gay, happy, smiling, and naturally * His sister Lily — see Page 411, Note. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 297 admired. And all this gave me great pleasure, not only for the moment and each time I re-read your letter, and re-read it again, but for several days, that this agreeable picture presented itself to my eyes. And yet one thing is wanting, I would have liked to know the names of those with whom you danced. "I thank j^ou, darling, for the wedding gift you gave Lily. I approve of your selection, and am very happy to learn that it seemed to have given Lily pleasure. " What you tell me of the effects of the fever on our dear little Marie, preoccupies me ; though the fever came while we were making the Novena to St. Joseph, it may be a forerunner of an improvement in her case. " Her state of health does not cease to preoccupy me. I am constantly reflecting, whether she can endure the trip to Washington. You have not yet received the letters in which I speak of my anxiety on this subject, for you do not answer me, in the one I received this morning. I would have loved to have had your advice, my dear wife. "This beautiful Spring weather, so extraordinary at this season of the year, when we should. still be in the rigors of Winter, still remains. I am writing with my window opened, through which enters the warm and languishing breeze of Spring, and the heat of a magnificent sun. "This Aveather, which fosters thoughts of love, makes me feel more cruelly and more sensibly the sad and painful separation from you, my darling wife, and our children. I suffer so much at times that my courage completely deserts me. May God give me the patience and spirit of resig- nation, and allow us soon to be reunited ! " Embrace all the family affectionately for me and give a thousand kisses to our dear little ones. I cover you with the most loving kisses my darling little wife. Your Julks." Julius to Mariquitta. " Washington, Ash-Wednesday, February 25, 1857. " Again, just returned from the Post Office, but no letters ! You cannot realize, my darling wife, what a bitter disappointment it has been to me. I felt so very sure of receiving one to-day, because your last was of the 12th ; and how even w^ith their known irregularity the Mails can take five days from Washington to St. Louis at this season, is to me a mystery. " I am not able to portray to you an idea of the effect which this disap- pointment always produces on me. Leaving the office with ray mind en- gaged and wearied with from five to six hours of work, I reanimate myself by the consolation, 'Well! never mind, I shall surely have a letter from my Mariquitta to-day, it is so long since I heard from her, that to-day I cannot fail to have one.' Then, I enter into all sorts of calculations, to make sure that there will be no failure. I reach the Post Office, but no letter! Then, my poor wearied head feels overwhelmed. For several hours, I become a prey to despondency, bad humor, and a host of kindred 298 BIOGRAPHV OF ■ feelings, without the strength, scarcely even the desire to resist them. To-day, happily, I recollected in time, that I ought to commence my Lent with more submission to the Will of God and a greater mortification of spirit, so that my ill temper lasted but a very few moments. Still, this does not prevent me from finding it almost an impossibility to write to you. My life is too monotonous to give rise to incidents that could interest you. It is every day, the same unvarying routine. "I received a few days since a letter from Frederick, who is slowly re- covering from a paroxysmal ear-ache, whicli for a week past had caused him such agonizing pain, that, even as often as four times each day, he would be thrown into convulsions. He, however, very seriously thanks me for it, and with an apparent air of real gratitude; because, as I had informed him, when making our great Novena of eight days, I had, to- gether with the favor I asked in behalf of our dear child, joined the inten- tion that he receive the graces necessary for the Holy State upon which he is so soon to enter. lie, therefore, attributes to the prayers of the Novena, the martyrdom he has endured, and which, he says, God out of Ilis mercy had sent him, that he miglit reap from it a shower of graces, of whicli he stood in need. " Dear brother, T hope that he may profit by them 1 But, though he appreciates his illness in a truly religious spirit, I must confess, that I thougiit the view he took of it somewhat original, and, but for the thought of his sufferings, could even have been amused by it. " The City is filling up with strangers, flocking here from every quarter, to assist at Mr. Buchanan's inauguration on the 4th of next montli. It is in view of this ceremonial, that I could no longer defer the purchase of my new uniform, which will involve an expense of $70. But then, there was no escape from it. " The passage of our 'Bill' has permitted me to incur another expense, in the shape of a gift, which you have often asked of me and which will, I hope, therefore, please you. Can you guess it? "Will you be contented with it? For, I was eight years younger, when last I had my daguerreo- type taken. Since then. Time, care, sorrow and anxieties, so inseparable to the life of a father of a family, have made me much older. My forehead is more wrinkled, my complexion less fresh, my look more serious. However, to please you as far as I could, I have lately permitted my beard to grow much longer, and have combed it in the manner yon prefer, so that upon the whole I hope you will not be displeased with my Ambrotype. I can assure you, that you owe me no little thanks for the patience with whicli I bore the sittings. It seems that my expression has become so gloomy, that my air is dark and threatening enough to throw my artist into despair. Twice, I went to his studio, and four different attempts did he endeavor to take of me, without either he or I being satis- fied, so that I must again return. And, yet, both of us did our best. He, after having already exhorted ine on this chapter, would, at the critical moment, repeat; — 'Now, pay attention, this is the moment to assume an LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. QARESCHE. 299 agreeable expre.ision, quick !^ I, for my part, would make herculean efforts to assume an agreeable expression; I would exhaust my imagination in raising up laughing images, amusing ideas, and would curl my lips, to enthrone a smile upon them. But it appears, that smiles no longer know me; for, thus far, my eiforts have been unsuccessful. Once, I succeeded best, partly, by imagining that I saw the Blessed Virgin, young, teeming with beauty and grace, crowned with flowers, a miracle of beauty and sweetness, — partly, by thinking of the air of my little Tavie, coming out of your closet at Fort Brown, with a groat piece of sweetmeat in her hand, which she had just quietly stolen from you, and was as unconcernedly eating. "And, yet, do you remember, how i-eadily and how easily the man in St. Louis took me, and how, every time, I wore a smiling expression? But, at any rate, none of my late efforts resemble the caricature, taken of me in Mexico. '■''Thursday, Fehriiary 26. — No letter as yet! '\!\\ong\\ fourteen days have elapsed since the receipt of your last; never, even during the Winter, has there been such a delay ; hence, with such fine weather, it cannot be ascribed to the Mails. Some one of your family must be sick, this can alone be the reason you have so long neglected me. Now, I shall feel afraid to receive a letter, I shall so much dread it to be the hai-binger of bad news. This thought already makes me feel sad. At least, I hope that it will be nothing very serious. With all of my heart, I recommend you to God and to the Blessed Virgin. " Spring has decidedly come among us ; the grass in the Parks is green ; the trees begin to bud ; and, this morning, I heard a bird sing for a long while. " Something, for me, most extraordinary, and which, I believe, happens for the first time of my life ! I have won two prizes at the Orphans' Fair ; one is an egg-boiler in Britannia ware, the other, a little silver knife and fork. Having no use for the former, and not thinking the latter very pretty, I think I shall give them away to some persons, to whom I am here under some obligation. "Again, tliis morning, I returned to the Photographer's, and once more posed ; but, I think, with even less success than on former occasions, so that I do not think it worth while to make another trial. I shall, there- fore, content myself with the one taken before the last, ugly though it be. One cannot, at his own caprice, look young. " Very affectionately embrace all the family for me. Caress tenderly our dear children. How I would like to do it, and to kiss yourself too, dear, dear wife ! I press you with love to my heart, and ever am " Your Julio. " P.S. Major * Buell, who has just arrived, begs to be remembered to you." * Major Don Carlos Buell, Assistant Adjutant General, U. S. A., subse- quently Major General of Volunteers. 300 BIOQRAFHY OF Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Friday, February 27, 1857. "At length, to-day, my dear wife, 1 received your letter of the 19th and 20th, and, as I had anticipated, you tell me that your room has been turned into an Hospital, and that you were very much exhausted. Poor little one I I was pretty sure of this, I knew very well that but for some cogent reason, you would not have abstained so long from writing. Nat- urally, the news you give me cast me down, but I much prefer to know the truth, than to worry myself over imagining the worst, and I feared that it might be so. I observe that, at least, none of the children have been seriously ill, and that all exhausted as you are, still you are not in the least sick. I wish, indeed, my darling, that I were near you, to aid you in the nursing of our dear children, and I must confess that I feel quite discouraged, when I think that Marie may not be able to travel, and if so, this situation of affairs must be prolonged. You have not now the leisure to speak to me of this fear, but I hope you will soon give me your views about it. '■'■Sunday, March 1st. — The weather is magnificent, and the City wears a holiday air, due to the immense concourse of people who have come to participate in the inaugui'ation of the new President. It is difficult to find a lodging place. Mrs. Buell told me, that she and her husband had been able to procure only a single large room for themselves and their two daughters, who are grown young ladies, already in Society. They divide the room in two by linen partitions, and live thus. I called on them yes- terday, and Mrs. Buell was exceedingly gracious. " In another visit I made, after leaving her house, I was able to see the 'Cottage Furniture,' which I had been told Avould please you, because very pretty, and very cheap. I found it, in truth, both pretty and cheap, but I see, that to set up house will cost us much more than I had antici- pated. The gentleman wliom I visited, an old and intimate acquaintance of mine, assured me that to furnish two bedrooms like the one I saw, had cost him not less than $300. Hence, I calculate that we cannot undertake housekeeping under fSOO. It is to be hoped, therefore, that Col. Cooper will hold me in such favor, that we need not soon change our domicile, for one or two removals would work great injury to our little Capital. "But, can we even be reunited? This question of late preoccupies me incessantly, and I can see no certain solution to it. According to my limited ideas, the condition of our dear Marie seems to suggest an insur- mountable obstacle. And when I think so, I fall into dull and gloomy musings ; for I cannot bear the perspective of another year of separation from you, my darling, who are so absolutely necessary to my happiness. Within myself, I see no courage to bear this prolonged anguish. God, it is true, would aid me, but I prefer to cherish the thought that He will come to our assistance, sooner to reunite us ; and this is my only hope. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 301 "You must excuse me, darling, if I do not write to yoii a longer letter, but I am utterly unable to do so. Ordinarily, from your letters I take the subjects of my own, and the sources of my thoughts are yourself and our children. My own life is too monotonous and too indifferent to furnish themes for my letters. God is very good to me, a million times more than I deserve: He gives me excellent health and the coui'age necessary to en- able me to endure our separation. But then, this is all I have to say about myself. When you have good news to tell me ; when your letters are gay, affectionate, full of details about yourself and our dear children, then I feel inspired by them. At once I feel moved by a desire to write to you. I love to retrace all that yon have written, and I have a host of things to express to j'ou, — I can easily write. But all this depends upon the char- acter of your letters: when they are sad, meagre of details, brief, or like the last one, only speaking of illness, fatigues, exhaustion, then I become sombre, and it is with difEculty that I can write even a few short and sorrowful lines. "Good-bye, then, my darling, embrace affectionately all the family for me : tenderly fondle our dear children. I press you lovingly to my heart and send you the sweetest of kisses. " Your Jules." Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, D. C, Monday, March 2, 1857. " Dear, dear, sweet little wife ! I have just this moment received your two letters, one of the 15th, and the other of the 22nd February ; and the first, especially, transported me with happiness and love. And, it is this delicious letter, that Master Robert permitted himself to keep from me for so long a time! Truly, if I did not feel so happy, I would have good reason to be seriously put out with him. This negligence of our good brother-in-law, explains why I have not heard from you for so long a time. I cannot describe to you the sadness it occasioned me ; I had already been so carried away by this sentiment, that it finished me. But now I am altogether gay and contented, and oh ! so full of love ! You can see, as I have before intimated, what a wonderful influence your letters exercise over me : I am as sensible to them as the thermometer is to the heat. Last month, I only received about ten, all told, very short and dry, and my spirits sufi"ered in consequence. To-day, I am in receipt of two, and such good letters, especially one of them, and my clouds of melan- choly have dissipated themselves like the shadows of Night before the rising Sun. " One of your letters is so charming, my own dear wife ! When my Mariquitta speaks to me of love and poses herself in an alluring manner before my eyes, I am unable to give her the faintest idea of the passion of love into which I am thrown ! My own dearest, my heart burns with love for thee ; I love you above all others in this world, and every day, more passionately. And, when you reveal your inmost heart to me for a 302 BIOGRAPHY OF moment, us in this letter, and show that you bear me the same sentiment, I cannot express how happy you render me. You appear more beautiful, more charming than any one else, and I feel my heart overflowing with love for you. " I am so pleased to know that every one finds you looking so well, my little Mariquitta, may you long enjoy this splendid health and thus rejoice my heart and eyes ! " I am also delighted to learn from your letter of the 22nd, that you will be ready to return with me next month ; for, it relieves my heart of a weighty care; but are you sure, darling, and have you inquired of the physicians wiiether Marie can now make th^ trip? " You render ine very happy, by your recital of the tender affection our- beloved Mario ))e;vrs us both ; and very proud, by 3^our description of the beauty of our son. " Siiould the sea-baths do our dear child any good, we must not then regard the expense. The only diflSculty that I anticipate is, that I cannot absent myself with you ; and, as the greater part of these bathing-places are overrun with the multitudes that flock to them, you would not know how to live at one, all alone, with three children, one of whom is so inca- pable of making the slightest movement. However, the good God will aid lis, and I do not despair, therefore, of giving you this pleasure. " For some days, I have experienced the wish of writing to our good Mother, but I have not really found the time, for we have been so occu- pied at the Office. I hope that, as the two Houses of Congress will finish their sessions to-morrow, and the new Administi'ation cannot have much w^ork for us at first, we will be able to enjoy some respite. I have great need of it, so as to complete some memoirs I have in my mind, and to make some studies relative to my duties, which will greatly assist me in the sequel. In an Office, like the one I am in, one finds always, continu- ally, something to do, and one can never study too much, in the intent to perfect himself. " I thank our good Mother for her idea of making another Novena, in honor of St. Joseph, terminating on his Feast Day. It is an excellent thought, and I will join in it with a great deal of pleasure. I was myself about to propose another, but in honor of St. Rose of Lima, an American Saint. The idea came to me yesterdaj", in hearing the priest repeat her name at Mass. '' Thursday, March 5th, 1857, — My darling, j^ou are my '■sweet,'' and I love you with all my heart. I have great difficulty in restraining my im- patience to see you again. For, what you tell me of your certainty of being able to return with me, has raised my courage and so filled my mind ■with the thought of our reunion, that I can with difficulty think of any thing else. I hope, also, soon to hazard asking Colonel Cooper for a Leave. I am toiling without relaxation, so as to leave no unfinished work that might detain me. However, do not allow yourself to be too hopeful, LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 303 for every thing here is just now in a state of uncertainty. Althouo;h Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated yesterday, his Cabinet has not as yet been announced, and it is said that some dissensions have occnrred between him and those he h.ad chosen to compose it. Everybody is awaiting the issue, and I do not know what turn the affair will take in what concerns myself. Every thing considered, I hardly think I could start before the end of the month, and I even clearly see the iviposslbiUty of doing so before the 15th. The 20th is about as soon as I dare promise to be able to leave Washington. • "Regarding the sea-baths, of which I am continually thinking, I can inform you that, at the distance of a twelve hours' voyage by steamboat fi-om here, on the Potomac River (on which Washington is also situated), near to its junction with the Chesapeake Bay, there is a bathing-place, rather agreeable, called Piney Point, where one can be well enough lodged, and which is not over-crowded. You can spend the Summer there with our children, and I could visit you every Saturday, or, at least, every second Saturday, returning to Washington on the following Monday. The waters are not as. salty as those of the Sea, but what mattei-s that, if they will agree as well with our dear child. Moreover, there is this ad- vantage, that I shall be near you, and able to see you from time to time. The more I reflect on it, the more it seems to me the proper spot that will suit us. " I cut off my beard the other day, and see by my face, as I suspected before, that I have grown thin during the past six weeks. I am, however, feeling in excellent health. "The abscess of Marie greatly preoccupies me. Dear child, to do her good, I would willingly go to the expense you mention ; I Avould be only too happy, provided it benefited her. "Tell me (after receiving the information from your Father) in your next letter, at what house in Carondelet I could leave my trunk, — suppos- ing that I arrive by the Railroad, — so as to proceed, at once, on foot to Limours? " Embrace very affectionately all the family and tenderly caress my children for me. I lovingly press you to my heart, dear, dear Mariquitta, and send you a million of sweet kisses. "Your Julio." Julius to Mariquitta. "Washington, Saturday, March 7, 1857. " I regret, my own darling, to have said so much to you in my last let- ter of my approaching arrival, especially, in holding out to you the hope that I could leave so soon. For now I cannot expect to be able to leave Washington before the end of the month, and, perhaps, not even then ; because the Senate, unlike the House, has not closed its Sessions, but re- mains to discuss an important treaty with England, in respect to which public opinion is very much divided. It is impossible to say how long it 304 BIOGRAPHY OF will occupy them. Some say two weeks, othei's six ; but, be this as it may, until they go I see no chance for me to leave. This delay, this disap- pointment is a great trial for me, as my impatience to rejoin you increases from day to day. " To-day, Ave called to pay our respects to the new Secretaj-y and the new President, and then went to take our farewell of the former Secretary and President. The last had the goodness, in a special and most amiable manner, to thank me for the trifling services I had rendered him. I confess that I felt sorry to part with him and Col. Davis ; for, after all, tliough I have nothing to expect from them, yet for the first time in a long career, to be esteemed and singled out by persons of eminent position, could not fail to attach me to those who had paid me this justice, or this compli- ment. " The new President is a superior statesman and, in Society, displays distinguished manners. The new Secretary, Governor Floyd, is the same person I have mentioned to you, and belongs to a family of converts, so that he himself is more disposed to be Catholic than aught else. It is even reported that he is one ; but, though he attends our Churches, I doubt if he be. At all events, this is none of my business. " I have just received your brief letter of the 24th and 26th, and thank you, darling, for the information you gave me about our children. I am 80 glad to know that our little Marie, though slowly, nevertheless begins to improve, for I was somewhat uneasy about her. Poor dear child, how it afflicts me to see that she is so alive to her misfortune and is so powerless to accept it with resignation ! " Sundai/, March 8. — Darling, all my thoughts turn to you and to our dear children. I am preoccupied with the thought of our reunion and the disappointment of seeing this happy moment delayed. Let us hope that God will remedy this, and allow me to make my escape to you sooner than I expect. " My photograph is another little vexation for me. The other day I called for it, but the photographer is so displeased with it that he would not let me have it, remarking, * It is poor; to tell you the truth. Sir, damned poor, and we're ashamed of it;' and he wishes me to return for another sitting. But, unfortunately, in the belief that it was altogether finished, I have shaved ofiF my beard, and, without taking into considera- tion my dreadful disgust for another sitting, of which I have had such a surfeit, of what use to take my likeness now, when it is with my beard that you like to see me, and without it I look so thin and ugly. "I agree with you, that it is better to buy our own furniture. Besides, during the Summer, we would have no use for it, since we propose sea- bathing for our dear little Marie. And it may be that, on our return from the sea-shore, it would be better to board — at least, until the Spring. For, with a child as afflicted as Marie, and who requires so much of your attention, and, too, with a little baby, like Louis, I fear that housekeeping LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 305 ■n-ould be too much of a burthen for you. I am of the opinion, that it would be better at the outset to try boarding. It is cheaper, and woulil aid you in the cost of your toilet, here such a necessity, and would enable us to lay by something, so that in the Spring we could take a house with- out encroaching on our modest Capital. "I see with pleasure, from the happy instances you cite of Marie's memory, that you continue to instruct her in her Religion. Continue, darling, to do so ; for not only do you thereby fulfil a duty, but perform an Act most grateful in the sight of God, aside from the immense boon you confer on your child, by thus placing in her power for her whole life, the greatest of all consolations, in fact, the only one which, in her condi- tion, she can appreciate. "Very tenderly kiss this dear child for me, as also our sweet little Xa, and our littlq Louis, on whom you seem to dote so much. Give them a thousand caresses for me. Also affectionately embrace for me the wliole family, and receive for yourself, my dear little wife, a host of sweet little kisses which I would like so well to imprint myself on your lips. " Your Jules."' Julius to Maric[uitta. " Washington, D. C, Monday, March 9, 1857. '•'My dearest, I have just received your sweet letter of the 1st., which gave me such pleasure that I have since read and re-read it, and will re- read it again. " I am so happy that mine of the 10th and 22nd of Februai-y gave you so much pleasure. For, during the last six weeks, I have felt so low- spirited, that I feared my letters would, on the contrary, give you pain. "I am also pleased that you advise me not to leave before the 1st of April, for I dare not hope to be able to do so sooner, and dreaded telling you this, knowing it would be such a disappointment to you, since you would have expected me about the 20th of this month. As I remarked to you in my last letter, the Senate remains in session, and no one knows how long it may last. To which it may be added, that the new President and his Cabinet ai-e so very busy trying to seize the thread of the import- ant business, that the business of the bureau suflFers, and can but slowly progress. " Tuesday, March 10. — To explain a dispatch I have just sent Robert, I must inform you that Congress, at its last session, authorized the appoint- ment of a Professor of Spanish for the Military Academy. I only learned of it the other day, when joking with an Officer, an old comrade, and now an Aide to the Chief of our Engineer Corps (to which is attached the Academy) who mentioned it to me, I enquired, 'But why not give me this place?' He as quickly answered, 'but would you accept of it;' and he wore so much the appearance of thinking that I could have it for the ask- ing, that it set me to thinking. It is a permanent position, with fuel and dwelling, and my pay would be even better than what I now have. But, 20 306 BIOGRAPHY OF then, there -would be no promotion in prospect. Moreover, my present pluce, in point of distinction etc., is so much finer and more important; and, in addition, the climate of West Point is so cold, and might not always suit you, and then what would we do. I hesitated but a moment, and almost immediately thought of your uncles *Jean Baptiste and Charles. It occurred to me, that I had been told that both spoke fluently the Spanish, and I decided immediately at once to apply for the position for one of them, and this I did in writing yesterday. If I were certain that they could teach Spanish, I feel confident that I could obtain the ap- pointment for one of the two, and if your uncle Jean Baptiste were here to help me, I would feel almost assured of success. But in my uncertainty as to the extent of their familiarity Avith the language, I feel embarrassed, even by the step I have already taken. This morning, at the Engineer Bureau, it was observed to me, that I dwelt much more on their other qualities than on their knowledge of Spanish, and I was asked to be a little more explicit on this point. But this was just what I dared not do. I had, among other things, boasted of the part the old Bailli de SuiFren took in the success of the Revolutionary War, in soundly thrashing the Enredecessor in the Office, and of others had been rendered in tiie matter, but still the case came up, time and again, until finally it reached Julius' hands. He took up all the pai)ers relating to it, which were voluminous, examined them carefully and then made his report; and so masterly was it that Schaumberg was uever more heard of on the subject. He was perfectly satisfied with the decision of Julius. Ou Sunday, June 20th, 18-38, Mariquitta presented Julius with her third boy, Edgar Jean Daniel. The baby was bap- tized at St. Matthew's Church on the following Tuesday, its Godparents being its Aunt, Marie de Laiireal, and Mr. Jno. T, Doyle who was represented by Mr. llichard G. Lay, — both intimate friends of Julius. The beautiful boy did not live long, he only came to gladden his fond parents' hearts for a little while, and then returned to the bosom of his Maker, to join his little angel brother and sister in the angelic choir. He died at Washington on the night of the 25tli of November, 1858, an hour before midnight, LIEUT, col. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 313 and his little corpse was interred amid the sobs and tears of all who had known and learned to love his sweet little self, in the Catholic cemetery of Mt. Olivet, near the City. He received the third part of liis name — Daniel — after Kev. Daniel Lynch of the Society of Jesus, stationed at Gonzaga College, and a very intimate friend of his father and his most intimate one among the clergy of the City. They had formed a strong friendship for one another, — only broken, but not de- stroyed by Julius' subsequent death. Julius whilst busy all day at his official duties in the AVar Department, and devoted as he was to his family, nevertheless did not allow his time to pass by without also following the dic- tates of his charitable heart. Every evening after his dinner he would visit some poor family and minister to their wants. He was the principal founder in Washington of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, that admirable Association, originally founded by the sainted Frederick Ozanain in May 1833, and whose main object is the visiting of the jwor, the sick and un- fortunate, irrespective of religion, and assisting them tempo- rarily, and spiritually, likewise, if needs be. Julius had never forgotten the early lessons of charity his good and affectionate Mother had tried to instill into his youthful mind ; and now, as always before and subsequently, he loved to perform good and charitable deeds, through love of his Divine Redeemer, though feiv knew of them. For he never spoke of what he did, his deeds were known to but a very few, he was too humble in mind to wish to parade them ; and this is true Charity — to do good to^ our neighbor and then endeavor to forget our good action, lest it occasion pride in our hearts. The first Conference of the Society established in Washington was that of St. Matthew's Parish, in June 1859, and Julius was chosen its Vice President, and Mr. Richard H. Clarke, Presi- dent. The Conference was aggregated to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul throughout the world on the 25th of March 1860, feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when the members in a body attended Mass and received Holy Communion. Julius was seldom absent from any of the meetings, and then 314 BIOORAPllY OF only iiiinvoidiihly. lie was often appointed on Committees for charitable and varions other pnrposes. At the nsnal meeting on Snnday, Augnst 28, 1850, lie called attention to (he case of a poor colored in:in, (ico. llnnter, sick and in great distress, residing in an alley between 13th and 14th streets. The qnestion of caste then ran very high. At the next meeting he again called attention to this same case; whercnpon a qnestion of donbt arose as to the propriety of adopting it, Tinnier being a colored man and there being in existence a (col- ored So(;i('(y of St. Vincent de Panl. The Spiritual Director, llev. Chas. d. White, Pastor of St. INIatthew's Chnrch, sng- gested that it be taken np anyhow, as if no snch colored organ- ization existed, and on motion it was decided to adopt it, and a certain snm ont of the Society's fnnds was appropriated for the relief ol" Jlnn((>r, to be expendiul by Capt. (jiaresch6. This poor colored man was the first permanent beneficiary of the Conference. At fonr snbsetpient meetings money was appropriated out of the Society's fnnds and given to Jnlius to expend for Hunter's relief. On October 23d, 1850, ho announced the death of their col- ored beneficiary and, in accordance with the rules of the Society, the "X^t: J^roJ'niull.s^ was recited in Hunter's behalf. At a meeting held on February 12, 18G0, Julius moved that the Conference take the necessary steps to call a meeting of the Catholics ol' the City for the purpose of raising [)(>cuniary relii'f for His Holiness, I'ojie l*ius the Ninth, and expressing their sym])athy for him in his existing dinicnlties. In November of 18G0, the Conference of St. Patrick's Parish was organized, and Julius being unanimously chosen its Presi- dent and feelinix satisfied thai, he could be of more assistance in this new organization than in the already well established onc^ of St. Mattlu'w's, he resigncil from the latter, and his resignation was announceil by JNlr. Clarke, the President, at the following meeting on Sunday, December 2nd. Julius' manner of condueling all matters pertaining to the Society was so thorough and his charity so boundless, as to ex- cite the admiration and sincere respect of all his brother mem- LIEUT. COJj. JULIUS P. aARESCIIK. 31 5 bers, wlio fell inspired hy his example lo ])racti(;(! some of that zeal and fervor that inflamed his own heart. lOvcn when shortly afterwards the tei-rible Civil War broke; out and his official duties were; in consequence increased to the extent of scarcely giving him a moment's rejjose, he yet never forgot the poor and unfortunate. Jfe still busied himself about their needs. Not only did he preside at the meetings of the Society l)ut he also visited the poor and distressed, conversed with and consoled them, read to them, and in a thousand and one ways strove to alleviate their miseries. TFe became their counsellor and almost tiieir father. On one occasion, learning that a poor old colored man was very ill with the Small-})ox, and that he lay all alone in his little hovel in the alley back of his own house, every one of the old man's race having lied from his contagious disease, Julius went at once to the sick man's bedside and nursed him, with all the tenderness of a woman, all through his terrible illness — even overcoming his repugnance of flesh so far as to hold the basin while the dying man vomited. And he, the refiiuid and gentle- manly Officer, performed the most menial offices for this unfor- tunate creature. During the long and terrible agony preceding his death Julius held him in his arms, administering words of consolation and hope, and when the last exi)iring breath left the body he with his own hands laid it out reverentially. 'J'hen he went to an undertaker's, Iwught a coffim, in which he himself placed the remains, and thereafter ibl lowed tlu^m, the. only mourner, to their last resting place, paying all the funeral and other expenses out of his own pocket. When remonstrated by his wife as to the danger he thus exposed himself and his family, he answered, that he had not done all this for ])leaHinT!, but simply because he felt it to be his duty, illustrating his remark by men- tioning that he had himself held the basin while the sick man vomited. This was not the only instance where Julius nursed a sick colored man. During the i)eriod when the Small-pox was raging in Washington he went among the poorer classes stricken with this loathsome and terrible disease, colored as avcH as white, 316 BIOGRAPHY OF nursing and alleviating in every possible way their affliction. Not sparing himself he was indefatigable in their regard. Even at the present time such an instance of charity would be accounted as almost a wonder, how much greater then must it have been when the colored race were universally scorned, when the distinction of caste was so severe, that he could not perform in the eyes of the world a more humiliating act! In his charitable love Julius never questioned the uncertain Future, but always gave freely and abundantly when called upon ; never stinting his alms, but giving away all that was not absolutely necessary for the wants of his own family. Some years afterwards, while the members of St. Matthew's Conference w^ere assembled at one of their regular meetings and were speaking of different members who had belonged to their Conference but were now dead, one of the gentlemen present mentioned the following incident concerning Julius. Late one night, in the middle of Winter, possibly about 12 o'clock, he was wakened from a sound and refreshing sleep by hearing a knock at the front door. Partially dressing himself and feeling in no very pleasant mood w'ith being aroused at such an unseemly hour he went down stairs, opened the door, and to his intense amazement discovered his visitor to be no other than Capt. Garesch^. At once all his feelings of rising anger disap- peared, for, like all the other members of their Conference, he loved and admired the noble Captain, who now informed him that he had come to ask him to accompany himself to visit a sick man, whose name was on the relief book of the Conference, and whose family he did not think had any fuel to warm their poor bodies. 'Twas a most bitter night and these people lived at the ex- treme northern end of 14th street, which was then an almost impassable swamp and decidedly disagreeable in every way. He had decidedly no inclination to go out there on such a night, but then he had too much respect for Capt. Garesche to refuse him any thing, and moreover, as the Visiting Committee of their Conference, they went in company very often on such errands of mercy and charity. Accordingly excusing himself he went up stairs, finished his dressing and off they started. On their LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 317 way they stopped at Capt. Garesche's, and filling a large basket with coal and kindling, together carried it all the way, occasion- ally having to pause and rest themselves, and were nearly dead with fatigue when they reached the sick man's shanty. Their feet were sopping wet and he himself contracted a cold which lasted for some two weeks. He felt repaid, however, for his arduous labors on reaching their destination. Their coming indeed seemed providential and almost as if the Captain had felt a presentiment of the truth ; for they found the unfortunate family totally unprovided with any fuel, and shivering in their scanty garments. Remarks of Col. Richard F. O'Beirne, U. S. A. " My recollections of the revered and lamented Col. Garesch6 only go back to about 1856, at which time he was on duty in the War Department. Although we occasionally met, it was not until sometime in 1859 we came together as members of the first Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Avhich was established in St. Matthew's parish — of which he was elected Vice President. Shortly after this, however, a Conference of the Society was created in St. Patrick's parish, and as he was unanimously elected its President, he separated from that of St. Matthew's. " Although our Conferences were assigned to different portions of Wash- ington, I heard frequently of his zealous and efficient work among the poor. " I remember on one occasion he discovered a poor, forlorn negro who had been taken down with the Small-pos and who was left in a miserable hovel alone to die — being forsaken even by his wife and family. Col. Garesche at once took charge of him, nursed him and had the satisfaction of seeing him recover. "When his good wife accidentally learned of what he was doing — by noticing that he changed his clothing before coming into the house — and began to chide him for the risk he ran of not only taking the disease him- self but of bringing the fearful infliction into his own family, he gently replied that there was no one else to look after the poor man if he had not done so, and he also assured her that ' God would take care of her and her little ones.' " There was no member of the Conference more earnest in increasing its good works and who not only labored hard himself but encouraged others to do so. " I remember once telling him about a particularly sad case that I had charge of, and although my part in it was nothing compared with that which he was constantly doing, yet he praised me and made me feel I had done a good work." 318 BIOGRAPHY OF CHAPTER XXXIII. Julius' Articles on "Executive Power over the Army" and "Law of Divorce." In May 1858 Julius wrote the following able article to the Editor of the New York Freeman's Journal and it appeared in the columns of the first page of that paper of the succeeding Saturday, May 22, 1858. "EXECUTIVE rOWER OVER THE ARMY. "' I believe the ])()wer, hero declared, is a high one, and in some respects a dan- gerous one.' — Madison. — JJcbule on tlic J'renlilcnt'u mdv j>i>(i'cr i>j' removhuj j^rum office, "To THE Editoh 01' THE N. Y. Freeman's Jouknal: "I would fsiin say ii few words — and if you could spare me the room, should prefer doing so in your much esteemed JOURNAL — upon a sub- ject whicli I consider of no little importance to the future liberties of the country, and which, though mncii discussed, has certainly never yet been very satisfactorily settled. I refer to the question, ' Has the President a legal right to dismiss, without trial, an oflicer of the army?' "Those who have taken the allirmativo in the discussion, maintain their point on three grounds, viz: 1st. On the construction given by Congress to the President's constitutional power over the executive officers of gov- ernment, in the debate upon the bill to establish the 'Department of Foreign Affairs,' in the year 178U, June lOth, etc. 2d. On the words, found in every ollicer's commission, ' tliis commission to continue in force during the pleasure of the President of the United States for the time being.' 3d. On the clause at the end of the lltii Articli- of AVar, which says, 'nor shall a commissioned olliuer be discliargod the service but by order of the President of the United States, or by sentence of a General Court IMartial.' " 1st. Tlu)se who deny the power, reply to the first point that the ques- tion debated on that occasion was, exclusively, as to the President's power to displace a civil, executive oflicer; that there is a wide and essential difference between the cases of civil and military ollicers, in that the latter are subject to a distinct penal code, which minutely defines all the offenses of which they may be guilty in their official capacity, and prescribes the punishment which may be inflicted for each; and that the determination of the (juestiun, as regards the former, consequently settles nothing what- LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 319 ever in respect to the latter, since these were not more concerned in the discussion tlian were the judicial officers of the Government, and Avore, therefore, just as little affocted ])y its result. "Tills reply is undouljtedly good. The only question really settled, upon that occasion, if any, was one aflectin^i; a civil, executive officer. liut I will venture to assert, that no one can attentively study the reports of that debate, witiiout feeling convinced that the weight, both of precedent and argument, was EMOYAL OF MERITORIOUS OFFICERS WOULD SUBJECT IIDI TO IMPEACHMENT AND RExMOVAL FROM HIS OWN HIGH TRUST.' " Catholiccs." In the latter part of 1859, in September, Julius published the following most interesting article on the Law of Divorce, — a question then as now agitating the public mind — in the October number of Brownsou's Quarterly Review. It displays a great depth of theological as well as legal knowledge, though few would know who its gifted author was ; for it is simply signed with his initials "J. P. G." His humility of heart again would not permit him to write out his name. /'ART. IV.— DIVORCE AND OUR DIVORCE LAWS. " 'Let not man part what God hath joined.' "Although it is chiefly from the religious point of view, that we should consider the sulyect of divorce, since, if prohibited by God, there ought at once to be an end of the toleration accorded to it by human laws, — yet, we have not the slightest objection, for our own part, to seeing it tried and judged upon the single issue of its social effects, believing, as we do, that it is utterly indefensible in every aspect under which it can be viewed, whether human or divine. We propose, therefore, in the first place, to examine its effects upon the married, and adults generally, children and the parental relations, and society at large, and afterwards to glance at the Scriptural doctrine on tliis subject. •'If people would approach without prejudice this important question, and in a spirit of candor reflect on that wonderful disposition of our nature to make the best of what cannot be helped or remedied — that disposition, by which it is enabled to accommodate itself so cheerful!}- to all the vary- ing circumstances of clime and situtition, nay, even of pain, privation, and hardship, to which it may be exposed, they might easily find, it seems to us, a sufiicient ground for believing that, after all, no surer moans could possibly have been devised, for increasing the general sum of married happiness, than that of making marriage permanent and indissoluble. For, whatever the nonsense with which those, who defend divorce, delude themselves or beguile their dupes in relation to the so-called ' spiritual or passional affinities,' and other fanciful inventions of a like sort, there is yet one fact, which can never be gotten over ; one stubborn fact, rooted in the experience and confirmed by the testimony of six thousand years, and which is in irreconcilable contra- diction to all their theories, namely, that never from the days of the first radiant pair, who came forth fresh from the hand of God, down to our LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 327 own degenerate times, has there yet been united a couple, however perfect, congenial, or deeply enamored of each other, whose mutual imperfections have not in return called for as much mutual forbearance. In the face of this positive fact, of the known infirmity of human nature, what can be worse than to keep constantly before the eyes of all married people the tantalizing assurance, that, in order to be freed from a bond that occa- sionally will chafe, they have only to set up a plea of ' incompatibility of temper,' or other equally transparent and frivolous pretence? What can more eflPectually do away with the chief inducement to forbearance, that can have influence with our fallen nature, and place a temptation and a snare before even the best intentioned? And, while the one may be cloyed ■with possession, and the other faded, ailing, perhaps a little peevish withal, but all as a very consequence of marriage, what effort is likely to be made to bear vrith what may for the moment be trying, and to resist the temp- tation to sepai'ate? " And, yet, this is but one of the many evil consequences likely to follow from a policy favored by our legislation. Another, and even a worse con- sequence, is to destroy, little by little, the delicate flower of chastity in the heart of the married. It is a sad mistake, to suppose that the fires of con- cupiscence are quenched by marriage : the truth is, that the married have need to exercise almost as vigilant a guard over their eyes and thoughts as the single, in order to preserve their conjugal fidelity, perfect purity of feeling, and continence from lawless desire. If the married are permitted to feel that they are not in the least debarred from the hope of a future possession of the attractive and engaging among the other sex, into whose company they are daily and hourly thrown, it is but natural that they should occasionally seek to please them, and thus, that new loves and longings should insensibly grow up, laying the very foundation, perhaps, for all that pretended ' incompatibility of temper' which may afterwards be falsely pleaded, as no less the originally subsisting cause, than present motive, for dissolving a union, which, previously, may have been just as harmonious as any other. And, gradually, as the example spreads, the facilities for divorce are increased, and public opinion becomes more de- praved. May it not come, next, to pass, that even young girls, who should ever be the representatives of all that is most pure in society, and whom we now expect to see spurning the attentions of a married man as an out- rage upon their maiden dignity, will then, instead of repelling, be them- selves the first to encourage them? For, what should hinder them from seeking after a union with the men of their choice, when the world ap- plauds, and no more serious obstacle intervenes, than that, become so trifling, of only a wife to be first repudiated ? " But, as tendencies of such a nature, and so encouraged, can eventuate in nothing else, we must expect to see them result, at length, in a uni- versal corruption of morals, and no less appalling license of conduct. For, we may rest assured, that, if so far be weakened the only restraint 328 BIOGRAPHY OF which has ever yet proved cfFectiial to check the wild flood of human pas- sion, tlie hitter is, sooner or hiter, and with an irresistible force, certain to break down, and utterl}' swoop away, whatever else men may seek to op- pose to it, until, after purity in woman, continence in man, and the con- jugal virtues of Hiith and constancy shall have wholly disappeared before it, marriage itself, too, will have become a mere empty name! " The very right of possession, which every man is now acknowledged to have in his wife, a natural right everywhere as yet so carefully guarded by human laws, would, if we took no steps to arrest this inevitable pro- gression, soon cease to be respected, or even recognized. And as in our day we have heard proclaimed, ' que la propriiHc, vest an vol,' might our children live to hear some new Proudhon lay down the beastly maxim, that * marriage, too, is an outrage upon our kind, — a robbery by one, of that which should belong to all men in common.' For the more powerful, rich, and artful among men would then help themselves to any woman over whom thoy could prevail, regardless if she wore wife or maid ; or, as wife, how tenderly she might be loved. "Whence, savage broils, and ceaseless discord would be certain to ensue, such as no human measures could prevent or allay in the absence of that great natural and divine law. — in tlie very disuse, or attempted repeal of which by man, might be traced the fatal and abounding source of all this mischief — "'Xam fuit ante Ilelenaui (uiuliei) teteirima belli Causa,' the wise o\d Roman quaintly remarked, near nineteen hundred vears ago ; and as then, and before, so even yet. is there no other quarrel in which man will so fiercely, or so readily embark, as in one concerning woman, who, of all the gifts of Heaven bestowed on him, has been ever the one most dearly prized. " A\ e are alike admonished then by every thing known to us, either in regai'd to man's nature or his history, that it is a most slippery precipice that which on every side surrounds the eminence on which God had raised marriage; and that, as one downward step, if adventured upon, will surely betray us into another, so will each draw us nearer to those low and abject depths of humanity where marriage ceases to be, or, in the words of the same great poet, where "'Quos vcnerem incertam rapientes, more ferarum, Viribus edition cajdebat, ut in grege taurus.' "Another equally well-established fact is, that, where man has com- merce with many women, his posterity is apt to be enfeeltled and himself enervated by it: and that, where woman lends herself to many men, her fruitfulness is thereby much impaired. Hence, another of the bad effects of divorce is, that it will insensibly lead to a deterioration of the human race. Tiiis otfoot it may also produce in another way. by the greater neglect of their health aiid physical requirements, which children are sure to suffer, where deprived of the care of one of their parents, or committed LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 329 to the colder chivrities of a step-parent, wlio can scarcely be expected to feel any of tliat pitying sympathy for them, and could hardly hope for any of that tender return of love, which, occasionally, spring up on either side, where the child's natural parent, instead of having been supplanted by a rival, has been carried off by death. It is clear, that the development of their mental faculties will, in such cases, be even more neglected. " But, wherein the children of divorced parents are likely to suffer the most, is in the more defective moral training which they must receive. For, not to speak of the pernicious example so forcibly thrust before their eyes, nor of the improper feelings apt to be engendered in their minds against one of their parents, and even supposing the other to be all that a parent should be to tliem, it is none the less an acknowledged fact, that very few women are capable, by themselves, of governing unruly boy- hood ; and that there are still fewer men, who, even if their daily occupa- tions did not take them constantly from home, are sufficiently endowed with the delicate tact, so necessary even to a mother, who would acquire any effective influence over the wayward and susceptible heart of girlhood ; and to which even the mother must add such unceasing vigilance, would she preserve her tender charge from the contamination of improper asso- ciates. But, it is not often that we should be warranted in admitting so much as this, when one of the most ordinary effects of divorce is, undoubt- edly, to weaken that sentiment of duty towards their offspring, which God has implanted in the hearts of parents. For, the fact is so; nor will it appear too surprising for belief, if we will but consider, that it is no less an axiom founded in natural justice, than an essential even if implied con- dition of every marriage contract, that the trouble, anxiety, expense and responsibility, which attach to the possession of children, should be equally shared by botli their parents; each contributing that full part, which the difference in their sex has made respectively appropriate. And such being the case, there can be neither any thing singular nor unreasonable, in the repudiated children most keenly resenting the injustice of those human laws, which, not content with having interfered to part those whom nature at least, if not God, had joined, must needs lend their unauthorized aid besides, to cast on one of those the burthen which nature as well as God had assigned to the other. As much as we may condemn the feeling, even if prompted by this just resentment, Avhich could visit on one's own chil- dren the sins of their other parent, we, at least, cannot be surprised at it, when every day's experience shows it to be so frequently the case. "Not only the sentiment of duty, however, but also the parental affec- tions are diminished by this cause. For experience likewise teaclies us, that as well those who feel their children to be an impediment to the frui- tion of new loves and the formation of new alliances, as those who see growing up around them the favored offspring of a newer and more cher- ished bed, are alike apt to be warped occasionally from the feelings com- manded by nature and justice. And where this happens, children will 330 BIOGRAPHY OF never be slow to discern it; whilst the effect which we may look to see produced upon tliem, by their discovery of it, will be, almost invariably, that of so hardeninc;, and so embittering their dispositions, that all the good seeds of virtue, which might otlierwisc have been implanted in their young hearts, would be likely to fall then as idl}' as might natural seed on a stony or thorn-choked soil. " But, it may be asked, are not some of these last-mentioned consequences as likely to flow from any second marriage, whatever be the cause by which the former was terminated, bo it death or divorce? Perhaps so : but it is to be remarked, that under the state of things which we are now supposing, second marriages would be much less frequent in the former case ; since the very fact, that death alone was able to separate the parties, would, in itself, be proof of a strong mutual attachment between them; the very reverse of which is indicated by divorce. The inclination to re-marry must, therefore, be greatly less, when it is death with its hallowing influ- ences upon the memory, instead of divorce with its embittered recollec- tions, which has intervened to dissolve the first marriage. "And, even though this were not so, yet must we bear in mind, that, not only was the Divine permission to re-marry, given in this case, ' Quod, si non se continent, nubant,' (I Coi*. VII. 9), exclusively confined; but that the very ground on which that permission stands, — considered under the purely natural view of the subject, which we are now taking, as, in some sort, a necessity for it, — is, as well aa all excuse for it, absolutely wanting in tiie case of divorce. •'But then, if both those who take advantage of the liberty afforded them by the divorce laws and their children are equally, though in differ- ent ways, injuriously afiocted l)y them, it must be evident that the latter will be doubly so, if, after growing up, they likewise avail themselves of the same fatal privilege; and that with each succeeding generation, the evil must thus go on augmenting, in something like a compound propor- tion, until, of necessity, society shall iiave grown rotten to its coi*e. "Any elaborate attempt to prove the pernicious effect of these laws upon society at large, then, would seem to be almost superfluous, when so much has been already said of the mental, moral, and physical degeneracj- which their licentious nature is sure to bring about in the individual man. To avoid prolixity, tlierefore, we shall content ourselves with briefly pointing out, in a simple way, some of their most marked results of this kind. '' In the first place, will we but take notice, that if one of the most ordinary effects of divorce, as well as of the change occasioned by it in the parental feelings, is to lessen the natural reverence and aftection of children for their parents, wo must immediately perceive, that the injury thus done to the parental authority, is one that can hardly fail to react in a most sensible manner upon society, by diminishing tliat respect which men have been accustomed to entertain for all legitimate government. For, it is certain, that the principles of submission to constituted authority, LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 331 is one by no means inborn in the human heart. Taking its root, on the contrary, in the child's sense of inferiority, and aljsolute dependence upon its parents, — consecrated by its affection for them, and growing stronger only in proportion as it is properly cultivated, — it develops itself at first, in the single sentiment of filial submission. And it is from that stock only, that it afterwards branches out, — first, into a feeling of respect for the authority of ecclesiastics and teachers, and finally, into one of deference and obedi- ence towards all, who are clothed with the powers of civil government. "The family, moreover, is not only the primitive germ, but likewise, the great constituent element of society, as well as, in some sort, the hot- house, nursery, or preparatory school, in which the tender plant of human- ity is nurtured, tended, and trained for society. Whatever then tends to break up the family relations, must, necessarily, inflict the same injury upon society, as he who should gash or poison the roots of a tree, would inflict upon its trunk and branches. As society rests upon the family, even so does the family rest upon marriage, from which it derives, just as society from the family, not only the origin of its life, but the very con- tinuance of its existence. And, therefore, any thing done to lessen the marriage bond, must contribute as much, even though indirectly, to break up society in the end, as it does, directly, to undo and scatter the family itself. Since, then, the interests, well-being, even the very existence of society, are so intimately blended with those of the family, and, with them, bound up in the sacredness and permanency of marriage, it clearly follows, that the Avar Avaged by society upon marriage, by means of the divorce laws, is not only an unnatural and a sacrilegious, but at the same time a most suicidal war. " The history of mankind will be found to abound in illustrations of the above truths ; and even that of nature is not fiir behind it, in this respect. For, wherever in the lower creation, whether among the birds, the animals, or the fishes which compose it, we happen to meet with the most striking examples of a tender, conjugal affection, there also, as a general rule, may we almost rest assured of finding a proportionate exhibition of the pa- rental virtues, and, to some extent at least, a corresponding aptitude for, and inclination to, a fceljle imitation of the social state. " Observe, for instance, the birds of the air, which, mating for a whole season, and, for aught we know to the contrary, for life, are of all the inferior creation, those whose devotion to their offspring is the most unselfish and beautiful ; whose social disposition, too, is, pei'haps, among the most perfect. With what assiduity, what skill, and affectionate fore- sight, do they not provide a home for their expected young, — lining even with their own softest feathers the warm and downy nest they prepare for them. And, when their little brood is hatched, with what a total oblivion of self and of all the world beside, do they not immediately devote them- selves to it; the male bird even condescending to alternate, in many a maternal office, with his mate, or warbling his sweetest songs to beguile 332 BIOGRAPHY OF the tedium of those reserve! b}' iier. How inlustriously they will seai'ch for food; — when found, how easterly will tliey not urii;e tiieir swift-winged flight back, to bestow it upon their nestlings; liaving, apparently, lost all sense of their own natural wants in their absorbing, parental love. How inimitable, how truly wonderful, are the love-inspired artifices, with which, if danger threaten, they will confront, and usually succeed in con- juring it away ! And when, at length, their little ones approach maturity, ■with what tenderness and care may they not be seen teaching them to fly, and otherwise educating them for the miniature world of life, on which they soon must enter. Who has not been witness to some one of these charming exhibitions of parental love? Who, on the other hand, has ever Avitnessed, or even heard of an instance, of one of these tiny creatures aban- doning a chosen mate and helpless little brood, for the sake of some new love? No one, we undertake to reply ; for, divorce is unknown to the law of their nature, and that law, they know not how to violate. " If we turn to the brute tribes, addicted to a chance, or polygamous intercourse, how marked the contrast wliioh we observe in them ! Take even the horse, otherwise among the noblest and mi)st intelligent of the animal kind, and how unlike he is, in this respect! For with no such tender forbearance for his mate, with none of this mild, paternal sway, does the wild stallion rule; but rather, as an absolute lord over a herd of female slaves, — tolerating nothing like equality, exhibiting nothing like affection, — savage and cruel, even in his moods of passion for them, and evei- on the alert to punish the least, faint symptom, on their part, of any thing like defection. Equally jealous and suspicious of those of his own sex and kind, he can so little brook their society, that, should one dare to stray upon his secluded pasture grounds, he will fight him even to death : ■whilst to his own progeny, in fine, he is utterly indifferent. And there are other brutes, which, surpassing in ferocious instinct even the horse, are possessed of such a mortal, and well-nigh inconceivable aversion for their offspring, as, without distinction of sex, to mangle and kill them wherever met. "Yet, to which of these opposite natures will it be pretended that man's should assimilate the most, — to that of the grovelling beast, or of the bird Avhich soars towards lieaven? Surely no reader of the Sacred Book, at least, could hesitate for a reply, when reminded of what he must there have learned, that, of all the infinitely various forms of animated beings which God has created, there are only two under which lie has ever deigned to reveal himself to man: — that of man himself, ci-eated to His own imaije and likeness, and that of the dove, — the immemorial type of constancy, and symbol of a chaste, married love! Thus, God Himself has instructed us, that there are points of similarity between the nature of these two. as He fashioned them, and still would have them be, in respect to which He has set them apart from, an I exalted them above, all the rest of His vast creation. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 333 "We have also appealed to history, as practically enforcing all that reason teaches us on this point, but, in order to l)e brief, will content our- selves with citing to this effect, a single memorable illustration; taken, however, from that familiar and every-way finished picture, which histo- rians have left us of the rise and fall of the colossal Roman power. "For full five hundred years, we are told, even though their laws per- mitted it, did this remarkable people continue to set their faces resolutely against divorce : and it was precisely during the same period, as Ave know, that they so steadily advanced in power, dominion, and glory, — that they were so preeminently distinguished for sobriety, frugality, and patriotism, — and, in one word, gave to the world all those astounding examples of what, even to this day, men are accustomed to call 'Roman virtue.' For, Scaevola and the elder Brutus, Codes, Cincinnatus, Curtius, Camillus, Curius, Fabricius, and the almost superhuman Regulus, with Clelia, Lu- cretia, Virginia, and a host of others, equally illustrious, all lived and flourished within that period. Whilst it is from that of the Caesars, when divorce had come into general use, that we are compelled to date the wane of Roman power, the decadence of morals, and spread of a frightful sensu- ality ; as well as the long succession of the Neros, Caligulas, Domitians, — the Messalinas and Agrippinas, whose names are still by-words of infamy among men, and will be handed down, no doubt, to the very latest time, as tlie everlasting reproach and disgrace of their kind. So true is it, that divorce laws but pave the way for polygamy and the grossest sensuality ; and that these in their turn will bring sure ruin on even the most flourish- ing empires and best ordered societies which it is in the power of man to create. "And here we must pause to ask of the many who fancy that, within what they call ' reasonable limits,' the permission of divorce is rather con- ducive to morality, or that any bounds can afterwards be set to it, if once permitted, just to mark, if it so please them, how completely the subse- quent history of the Roman peuple has given the lie to these sensual fallacies. " We have seen that for 500, or, as others have it, 523 years, there had been no example of a divorce in Rome; we are also enabled to judge of the shock given to public opinion by the first one which occurred, that of Spurius Carvilius Ruga, from the very fact, of his name's having been transmitted down to our own remote times, coupled with such an un- enviable notoriety. But we know, too, that, once the fashion set, it quickly began to spread, and that simultaneously with it morals com- menced to decay, and patriotism also to diminish, until in the compara- tively short space of less than a century and a half, the masters of the world had become so changed, and fallen so lamentably low, that lower they could not fall, without sinking into the slaves they soon were made. " For, meanwhile, we behold in rapid succession the sedition of the Gracchi, the civil wars of Marius and Sylla, Sylla's absolute dictatorship, 334 BIOGRAPHY OF the conspiracy of Catiline, the struggle between Caesar and Pompej, — and finally the downfiill of the Republic! And what the state of morals had got to be at this last epoch, we may readily ascertain from the history of the Julian law, passed shortly afterward for the repression of adulttny, as well as of the crime against nature ; and which proved so wholly inef- fectual, as we find, in checking the spreading corruption of either. Foi', to speak only of the latter of these two criminal practices, so universal and shamelessl}' public did that soon become, notwithstanding and in de- fiance of the law^, that the great poets of the succeeding reign, even the courtiers and friends of Augustus, are known to have made matter of song of their own habitual indulgence in it; until Augustus himself Avas at length driven to make another impotent effort to crush it out, under cover of a law, compelling the Roman men — to marry women ! So soon had the carnal practice of divorce thus began to bear its legitimate fruits, even to the perversion of the sex, and the violation of nature.* "A little later, under the reign of Nero, Seneca, the philosopher, and friend of St. Paul, as some allege, but himself a Pagan, traces the follow- ing picture of the effects produced by it among the women of his day : ' Is there any longer one,' he exclaims, ' who blushes at being repudiated, now that even ladies of the highest distinction count their years, not, as formerly, by the number of Consuls, but by the number of their husbands? And when young girls show themselves in public, only that they may suc- ceed in getting married, and marry, only that they may afterwai'ds get divorced? They shrank from it indeed, so long as it was little practised, but now, that there is no record which is not full of divorces, they have also learned to do that, of which they had heard so much. And is not even the very shame of adultery gone, since things have reached that point, when all that women care for in marriage, is to secure a cover, under which tiiey may better excite and carry on a commerce with adulterers? The sign of some deformity, nothing else, is chastity now." f * Startling, and even incredible as may seem this assertion, 'tis none the less true; and there is, perhaps, no truth more susceptible of proof, than that excessive indulgence in women, whether under cover of divorce, or polygamy, will insensibly create in man a feeling of contempt for her so great, as to extend even to his carnal use of her. " Qui le croirait," exclaims Montesquieu, whom this truth has not escaped, " la pluralite des femmes mene h cet amour que la nature reprouve !" And Ferrand, a philosophic writer of the last century, adds, after quoting this passage, " C'est une vorito demontroe pas Ics faits ; ct cette dog'Hitante pas- sion n'est nulle part plus effrontomont repandue, que parmi les Turcs." But not to take up too much space with citations as to this point, we will content ourselves with referring the reader, for proof of the reality of the fact, at least as among the Romans, to the 6th Satire of Juvenal. (See V. 34, et passim.) f Sen. de benef. L. 3, ch. 6. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 335 "A little later still, Juvenal, satirizing the same practice, gives us reason to infer that there would have been no sort of impossibility in a Roman matron's then changing her husband, as many as eiglit times in the course of five autumns; nor, after divorcing each of the eight in turn, in her returning to her first spouse.* Whilst Martial, writing about the same time, furnishes a still stronger illusti'ation of the lengths to which the permission to divorce might be carried, adding his sarcastic commentary thereon. " ' Quae nubit toties, non nubit ; adultera lege est.'f A remark, which is most worthy of note ; as showing that not even the licentious Romans were blind to the true nature of this corrupting practice; but that even whilst grossly rioting iti it they well understood and even frankly admitted it to be, what it really is — mere licensed adultery ! " Finally, St. Jerome shows us, three hundred years later, that the Pagans of the empire practised it as extensively as ever ; even to the extent of the same woman's legally prostituting herself, under the name of wife, to no less than twenty-two different men in succession. Nor can we hear of any change, or discover the least improvement in this respect, until after the edifice of the Roman civil power had been laid in ruins by the Barbar-. ians, and God, at length, had firmly seated upon the throne of the CEesars that Church which by His command had interdicted divorce wholly and forever. So completely, thus, will both history and the nature of mankind invariably be found to contradict the assumption, either that it is practi- cable to restrain divorce within any bounds, or that there is any better, or surer way of serving the cause of good morals, than that of making mar- riage permanent and indissoluble. " But, as the Divine authority for. this dogma of the Church has been disputed by Protestants, let us now briefly examine the Scriptural evidences for it. "We find, in the first place, that, Avhen God made the first woman to be the spouse and help-mate of the first man, out of no difierent material did He create her, not even of the same of which He had already fashioned Adam ; but, as if expressly to symbolize the inseparable union which He meant to establish between them, taking one of Adam's ribs, that rib did He build into a woman, and give to Adam for a wife, thereby giving it to their posterity to understand, that man's wife is to be regarded as the very 'bone of man's bone, and flesh of his flesh.' And, that they might be in no doubt as to His intention. He even adds an express declaration to this effect, and lays upon them, at the same time. His everlasting com- mand, that 'For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be two, in one flesh. ^X 'Wherefore,' adds our Saviour, ' they are no more two, but one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.'! * Lat. 6, V. 223-9. f ^- 6, ep. 7. X Gen. ii, 24. Matt. xix. 5. g Matt. xix. 6-9. 336 BIOGRAPHV OF "And when asked, ' AVhy then, did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to pnt away?" His reply is, ' Because of the hardness of your hearts. Moses permitted you to put away your wives; but from the bejrin- ninji it was not so." And He from that ijoes on to lav down the law as it had originally stood, and as He thenceforth willed it to stand, forever: 'And I say to you. Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committoth adultery : and he that shall marry her wiio is put away committeth adultery.' ""Why any dispensation from the rigor of the original law should have been granted to the Jews, can be none of our business to explain : even if that be true, which we are not disposed to admit, that it was God. and not Moses, in his secondary capacity, and as a mere human legislator, who granted them such a dispensation. To explain such an apparent anomaly, if it existed, would, we repeat, be none of our business: since it would be simply folly in us, creatures whose limited intellect is confounded even by the wonders of Creation, to undertake to sound the depths of all the mys- tery and inscrutable counsels of the Alhvise and Great Creator. AVe know, however, from their own history, even as related by themselves, that the Jews were one of the most carnal races that have ever dwelt upon this earth ; that they were a people so grossly sensual, that not even the recol- lection of the intolerable servitude which they had undergone in Egypt could restrain them from sighing after the leeks, and onions, and liesh-pots of that land of bondage. "We know, too, that their very best and greatest characters, even the chosen progenitors of our pure Redeemer, the patri- arch Juda, the royal prophet David, and Solomon, the wisest of mankind, were so far possessed and carried away by the lust of the flesh, as through it to have committed incest, adultery, the basest murder, and even idol- atry ! And, knowing this, our human reason tells us that it would have been almost vain to expect that such a people would ever have kept the rigorous law imposed upon Adam's race before the Fall, unaided, as they yet were, by Sacramental grace. Moreover, the custom of divorce was already very prevalent, as well as very deeply rooted among them : which makes it still further questionable whether Moses, had he even made the attempt to do so, could by any possibility have succeeded in wholly sup- pressing it. We cannot blame him, therefore, if, as well to make a virtue of necessity, as to prevent greater violations of the law, he partly consented to this one, or rather abstained from combating it : nor can we doubt that, by bringing the practice under strict regulation, as he did. and restraining it within such bounds as he miglit reasonably hope the Jews would not transgress, he effected all that it was possible to effect under the circum- stances. Yet, it is worthy of remark that even in doing this he no lunger speaks in the name of the Lord, as he had done before, but in his own name, and apparently of his own sole authority. " Though, whether or not he had God's special sanction for what he did, is. after all, a matter of not the least consequence; since, if ever given, we LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 337 know that it must have been subsequently withdrawn, as the practice has been denounced by God himself. For, in regard to this point at least, we are left in no doubt : since, not only in the passage of St. Matthew, above cited, and in answer to the questioning of the Pharisees, but previously to that, in His sermon on the Mount, our Saviour most distinctly and em- phatically repudiated the legislation of Moses on this subject, in these words: 'It hatli also boon said. Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce. Rut I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting for the cause of fornication, causeth her to com- mit adultery : and whosoever shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery.' * "Before proceeding further, it becomes us to examine closely into the exception made, as to fornication, in these two passages of St. Matthew; since it recurs nowhere else. If, as has been generally maintained by Protestant divines, it is to be understood as an exception from the general prohibition to contract a second marriage after separation, and as there- fore authorizing, in the case of fornication, a divorce d vinculo matrimonii, then, not only is it in direct contradiction to the text of the other Evan- gelists, but even with that of St. Matthew himself; for if on this ground a divorce a vinculo be in fact lawful, it stands in reason that he who should ' marry her that is put away' on that account, would really not commit adultery, as our Saviour has so positively declared. To accept this con- struction would therefore be to make our Saviour falsify His own words, which of course we cannot do. But if, on the other hand, we understand with the Catholic Church, this exception as taken, not from the prohibition to marry another after divorce, but as only an exception from the recog- nized prohibition of any and every species of divorce, even of that milder form of it called by lawyers d mensd et ihoro, — which not assuming to dis- solve the bond of marriage consists merely in ' putting away,' or living apart from one's wife or husband, — then, not only will the whole difficulty be instantly cleared up, and the text of the different Evangelists be recon- ciled, but we shall, moreover, find the correctness of this interpretation fortified and confirmed in various other passages of the Sacred Scriptures. " What, for example, could be clearer than the following testimony of St. Paul to the fact of the general unlawfulness of such separation : ' But to them that are married, not I, but the Lord comraandeth, that the wife depart not from her husband ; And let not the husband put away his wife.' f He even explains the reason of this command; which, though fiowing necessarily from the Divine precept that man ' shall cleave to his wife,' and from the Divine declaration that ' they are no longer two, but one flesh,' is yet more distinctly enforced by him, as follows: 'The wife hath not power over her own body; but the husband. And in like man- ner, .the husband also hath not power over his own body ; but the wife.' * Matt. v. 31. t 1 Cor. vii. 10, 11. 22 338 BIOGRAPHY OF Wherefore, he bids ' the husband render the debt to his wife ; and the wife also in like manner to the husband ;' * and forbids them both to ' defraud one another."! Which not onW accords with, but makes beautifully clear, the last cited passages of St. Matthew : ' But I say to you. that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting for the cause of fornication, canseth her to commit adultery.' '' Passing on now to the other Evangelists, we shall find St. Mark's version of our Saviour's language to be as follows : ' Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adulteiy against her, — And if the wife shall put away her luisband, and h^ married to another, she committeth adultery.' J Whilst St. Luke's version runs thus: ^ Every one that puttetli away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery; and he that marrieth her that is put away from her husband, committeth adultery.''^. From this it is apparent : first, that in no case is permission to contract a new marriage, after divorce or separation, given to either of the parties ; and next, that the first contract is, notwithstanding their separation, affirmed to be subsisting yet in all its original force ; else why such strong and repeated use of the word ' adulter}'^,' which, if the first marriage be supposed dissolved, would certainly have been a misnomer as cruel as unjust? " To the same eS'ect as the Evangelists writes St. Paul, as follows : '■A woman is bonnd by the laic as long as her husband liveth: but if her hus- band die, she is at liberty : let her marry to whom she will.' || ' Where- fore, whilst her husband liveth, she shall be called an adultei'ess if she be loith another man:^ 'but if her husband be dead, she is free from the law of her husband : so that she is not an adulteress if she be with another man.' ^ " Now, faultless and incontrovertible as may seem to us this doctrine, it sounds, nevertheless, very strangely in the ears of Protestants ; and to their minds the pi'ecept appears a very hard one, to say the least, if not absolutely impossible to fulfil. But then the same doctrine, at first, sounded just as strangely in the ears of the disciples, as we know, since, as St. Mark relates, they privately questioned our Saviour further about it;** and to their as yet unregenerated hearts, the precept must have ap- peared no less difficult than it now does to those of Protestants, since on hearing it, they were driven to exclaim, ' if the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not good to marry !' ff Yet, for all this, does it appear that our Saviour abated an}- thing from the rigor of the law as first laid down by Him? Not one particle: and, perhaps, has lie nowhere else so explicitly, or so positively re-asserted it, as wlien lie condescended to ex- plain Ilis full meaning to the questioning disciples. Xt T'here is, then, no * 1 Cor. vii. 4, 5. fl Cor. vii. 3. + Mark x. 11. § Luke xvi. 18. || 1 Cor. v. 39. 1[ Rom. vii. 3. ** Mark x. 10. ff Matt. six. 10. jj Mark x. 10, 11. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 339 fact which tells more strongly against Protestants, than their A'cry incre- dulity on this point! If any thing is provable from the New Testament, it is that our Lord declares the marriage bond indissoluble. " But, difficult as may seem to carnal minds the due observance of this precept, the truth is, that our Saviour has made it very easy for tliose who will avail themselves of the means which He has provided to this end. For by raising marriage to the glorious dignity of a Sacrament, — and of ' a great Sacrament' too, — as well as by the institution of the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist, He has supplied us with such a rich, unfailing fount of supernatural grace, as no man can draw from without feeling himself sufficiently strengthened for the performance of every duty enjoined upon him by the Chi'istian law. This all good Catliolics know: tiiis the disciples afterwards found true, despite their first unfavor- able impressions upon the subject; this, too, might Protestants be certain of would they but try. But whether or not disposed to try the virtue of these supernatural graces, which the true Church would so gladly dispense to all mankind, at least is it certain, that they cannot possibly impugn her doctrine on this point, without, at the same time, rejecting the teaching of our Saviour and the Scriptures themselves. For, positively, no language can be clearer, no command more peremptory than those there found. Our Saviour will permit a divorce a viensd et thoro, that is to say, a sepai'ation between man and wife, in the case of the adultery of either; but even in that case will He admit of no sundering of the indissoluble bond, having declared, in words the most unmistakable anywhere to be found in the Scriptures, that either of the two, no matter what the cause of their sep- aration, — for He here makes no exception, — who should enter into new married relations with a third person, would, as well as that third party, be guilty of undoubted adultery. '' Before testimony so direct, so forcible, and so conclusive, as is that of the three Evangelists, and of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, as to these points, it seems to us that even sophisti-y itself should be reduced to silence ; and that they who could still cast about for an escape from the irresistible conclusions thus forced upon the mind must, unquestionably, be of the number of those, the ' stiff-necked and uncircumcised of heart,' who seeing, see not, and hearing, hear not, neither will they understand. Unless, therefore, we can bring ourselves to the point of denying the authority of the Supreme Legislator to impose a law, or lay a prohibition upon us, we cannot help but acknowledge marriage to be an irrevocable union, which makes of two one flesh, whom Death alone can part. Whilst before this stern injunction, ' Let not man part what God hath joined,' it must be equally clear to us that all the human divorce laws which ever were made, ai'e absolutely null, and positively criminal, and all they who have recourse to them declared adulterers ; for the Lord God, Himself, hath said it. " But if, already, quite enough should have been said to convince any 340 BIOGRAPHY OF reasonable mind that the long-continued, and general practice of divorce is eventually sure to result in injury to man individually, as well as to the human race, — that it is essentially destructive of the family relations, as hotwoen man and wife, parent and child, and therefore, in a measure, of all good and free government, by the way in which it weakens the princi- ple of authority among men, and even of society itself, — that it is injurious to the growth and prosperity of nations, and more or less fatal to any system, whether moral, pseudo-religious, or political, which adopts it; and if, in addition to all this, as we now see, it turns out to be banned and forbidden by the great God who made us, what more can be urged in its favor, or how can we tolerate it for an instant longer among us? For tolerated unfortunately it has been, until its sad first-fruits are becoming, each day, more visibly manifest among «s, in a looser private morality, in un almost total decay of public virtue, — and, may we not add, in no less patent a fact, than the rise and progress of the Mormon heresy? For that this sect originated, and is still recruited whore the custom of divorce is most prevalent, and that, lapsing almost immediately into polygamy, it has from the first been animated by a spirit of relentless hostility to the civilization and society in which we live, — is as certain as that, after a few vain attempts to abide among us, it went forth like a new Ishmael, into the wilderness of Utah, where its hand is even yet 'against all men, and all men's hands against it.' '' Now, though we may justly congratulate ourselves on finding that our bod}- politic is still of a constitution sound and healthy enough to have so successfully thrown off this first cancerous eruption, we should yet be guilty of inexcusable folly did we let our satisfi\ction blind us to the fact that the lurking seeds of the disease too must, every one of them, be thoi'- oughly extirpated, if we would hope for any radical cure. And as, among these, our divorce laws are of the very first in point of dangerous import- ance, it is almost needless to add, that they should, also, be among the first attacked. "We have by no means exhausted the subject, and we are well aware that it will take more than one essay in a review to arouse the American people to a sense of their own danger. Already is the physical man de- generating among us; and already' is chastity of person, to say nothing of chastity of thought, looked upon to a fearful extent as no sin, at best as simply an imprudence, or as a bad calculation. Already we h.ave a party more numerous than is commonly suspected, who have even gone bej'Ond divorce, and unblushingly advocate the abolition of marriage altogether, leaving the sexes to cohabit together when and where they please, and for a longer or shorter time as may^ seem to them good. The principal end of marriage, the procreation and roaring of children, is well-nigh lost sight of, aud the prevention of conception or the destruction of the offspring before birth, real child-murder, is prevailing even among married people to a most alarming extent. The family, in its old sense, is disappearing LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 341 from our land, and not only our free institutions are threatened, but the very existence of our society itself is endangered. It is time for every one of us to take the alarm, and try to arrest the evil before it is too late. To do this we must begin at the source, and protect the family by consecrating anew Christian marriage, recognizing its indissolubility, and i-epealing all laws which authorize divorce from the marriage bond. This must be done, but it can be done in this country only by correcting public opinion on the subject, and' bringing up the public conscience to silence the importunate demands of lawless passion. "J. P. G." 342 BIOGRAPHY OF CHAPTER XXXIV. Birth of Laureal ; his wonderful beauty, death, and the sorrow of all — death of Julius' uncle. John P. Garescho — Julius' letter about it as also about Laurcul's to his aunt Lalite — his desire to wear his Cross of St. Sylvester in defence of the Holy See — his ^Military Article to the Adjutant General — esteem in which he was held by all his superiors — his abilities, chari- ties, and kindness of heart — performing Mr. Hanson's work durinc; his absence on Leave — sacrificing his parental feelings for duty — near-sighted- ness, loss and finding of his gold eye-glass — his endeavor and success in obtaining an Artillerj' commission for the son of a bigoted Presbyterian minister. On Monday, the 30th of January, 1860, Julius' seventh child and fourth and last boy was born. It was baptized "Alexandre Edouard de Laureal" after its great-uncle and grandfother ; and at last its mother's ardent wish of namins; a bov of hers after her own father was permitted and carried into effect. Its God- parents were its maternal great-uncle, Alexander Callard, repre- sented by its little brother Loui.s, and its paternal aunt, Mrs. Mary Garesch6 Xorris, represented by its little sister Marie. It was an unexceptionally beautiful child and seemed to have been sent by its little angel brother, Edgar, to fill his place. Every one could not help loving the lovely Laureal, he was so good, so sweet, and so wonderfully beautiful. Even his little sisters and brother loved him tenderly and felt no jealousy at his being so universally admired and loved. But the little dar- ling was not destined to live an earthly life, he was called to a happier and more perfect state and he soon winged his way to Heaven. In the words of his sorrowing father " Dieu, qui nous avait prCt6 ce d^licieux enfant, a bien voulu I'appeler Ti lui, ce matin, 28 Fevrier, 1861, a 10 heures, 11 minutes A.M." " (God, who had lent us this delicious child, wished to call liim back to Himself this morning, February 28th, 1861, at 11 minutes after 10 o'clock.)" On this same morning Julius received from his brother Ferdi- LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 343 nand the news of the sudden and beautiful death at St. Louis of their attached uncle, John P. Garesche, who had reached the advanced age of 81 years. He was sick for only a week and in his last moments became a Catholic, saying that he had intended doing so for a long time and did not wish to put it oiFany longer. He died in a most edifying mauner, receiving all the last Sacra- ments. Ferdinand said that it was the desire of the family that Julius should announce tiie sad news to his Aunt Lalite (Re- ligious of the Visitation in Frederick, Md.,) and her daughter, Amelia (Religious of Mount Carmel in Baltimore). There- uj)on Julius sends his Aunt his brother's letter, to which he supplements the following words. ^'■Friday morning, March \st. — A few minutes aftei* 10 o'clock yesterday morning, dearest Aunt, after an illness of nearly two weeks, I lost my youngest child — the very flower of my little flock. He was my own and his mother's darling, the pet and plaything of his little brother and sisters, who loved him as much as it is in the nature of children to love. It has been a sad blow to me, though I am consoled in thinking of his happiness, and would not recall him, even by a vain -wish. But his poor Mother is nearly crazed by this new loss, the fourth of its kind, and moans and does every tiling but weep, refusing to listen to any consolation. "I had just kissed my child after his death, and shed a few tears over his sweet corpse, when, on stepping into the other room, I received this letter. I cannot, altogether, dismiss the fancy that my dear little LaureaPs sufferings have in part moved our God to have pity on my dear Uncle, and thus contributed to save that dear soul." In the year 1860, when General de Lamoriciere, an officer of high rank in the French Army and who had served with great distinction in its campaigns in Algeria, and a most fervent Cath- olic and knightly gentleman, was invited to take the command of the Papal forces and to organize a small army, to resist all im- pious attempts against the Pontifical Government, Julius inspired with the glorious thought of helping to defend the Holy See and of being able to wear his "golden spur" of St. Sylvester in the very face of the enemies of his Church, prepared a scheme, of organizing and disciplining volunteer troops and sent it to de Lamoriciere, hoping for an invitation to come over and receive a command. He had fully determined in such an event of re- signing his present commission and crossing the seas to fight the 344 BIOGRAPHY OF enemies of the staunch and noble hearted Pontiff, Pius the Ninth. But God in His All-wise Providence had decreed other- wise, he was not to perish, another de Pimodan at Castelfidardo, battling against the enemies of his Church, but he was to live a little while longer, succoring and protecting his own country in her dark hour of approaching trial, and then to fall gloriously on the victorious blood-stained field of jNIurfreesboro, defending her liberties to the last and pouring forth his heart's blood for her welfare. In the early part of ISGO he wrote the following excellent military article. •'Washington', D. C. February 14th, 1860. " Colonel S. Cooper, Adjutant General, U. S. A. '' Colonel, '' An expression which I have seen attributed to the Emperor Napoleon III, who, speaking of the Chasseurs ci pied, armed with the new rifles, re- marked that ' they constituted a veritable arfiUerie a main,' suggested to me what tollows. You will at once perceive that there is nothing new in the suggestion, — that it amounts to nothing more, in fact, than an adapta- tion of old ideas to the present state of things; and all that I claim for it, is that it is one among the many changes which recent iin[irovements in the weapons of war have made necessary. "I need not enter with you. Sir, into any recital of the long course of persistent efforts, which ever since the invention of tield artiller}', have been directed to the increase of its mobiliiy, nor of the very marked success with which these efforts have progressiveh' been crowned. I need but remind you of the fact; and in doing so, my object is no other than to illustrate more foi-cibly the starting point of these remarks, nameU-, that no such thing, a.s perfection, is possible, in any of the arts or inventions of man. — hence, that no improvement in them, however great or extraordi- nary, should ever deter us from looking for still greater improvement; — since, if not now, it is at least certain to be improved on at some future day. " For this reason, were it here the place to do so, I might urge, that we are, even now. far behind the spirit of the times, in not gradually turning all of our regiments of infantry into battalions of Chasseurs li pied. For, the Chasseurs are the product of French experience gained in many years" warfiire with the Arabs, and in our Indians we have an enemy of precisely the same kind to deal with. ''But, without entering into this branch of the subject, and considering LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 345 the Chaaseurs il pled only as a special corps of marksiuon, almost rivalling field artillery in the celerity of their movements, and the range and pre- cision of their firo, allow nie to suggest that they are capable of being developed into a much more formidable arm, — more really akin to artil- lery, — by a few very slight improvements, — and, in the first place, by increasing their mohilUy. For, the j^jas gi/mna.stique, if far superior to the ordinary rate of an infantry soldier's march, is yet by no means, the ne plus ultra of rapid locomotion, and is, itself, far surpassed by the speed of horses. AVhy then, should not horses be used for the purpose of mounting a corps cVdiie of first rate marksmen, the picked shots of the army, who would be enabled thus to arrive more rapidly at the points most requiring their presence, and in the critical moments of a battle, — and, in doing so, would be spared the necessity of first running themselves out of breath : — a point which is evidently of no little importance to the steadiness of their nerves and the subsequent accuracy of their fire? " Now, that. the two rank formation for infantry is everywhere adopted, and that the open, skirmishing order of fighting is so much more used than formerly, lines of battle must necessarily be much more extended, and hence the mobility of troops, — especially of special corps such as field artillery, with which we are only at liberty to garnish certain points of one line, but which may yet at anj' moment be required to act upon almost any otiier part of the field, — becomes, relatively of far greater importance than at any past time. "In large armies, then, like those of Europe, it appears to me, that the most signal benefits might be derived from the formation of mounted com- panies of picked marksmen, such as these, receiving a higher pay than other corps, and having attached to each company a certain number of grooms, who would attend to the horses in camp, and look after them during a battle. And the hope of being one day advanced into this priv- ileged corps, would perhaps be one of the strongest encouragements for learning to shoot well, which could be held out to the soldiers of the rest of the army. " The men of this corps should be armed with breech loading, repeating rifles; and each man should have an extra rifle strapped to his saddle or slung across his back, and carry with him an extra supply of ammunition for both. The objections which have been urged with so much force against intrusting to the common run of soldiers arms of such delicate mechanism and which require so much intelligence and skill on the part of those who use them, could, of course, have no sort of application to a chosen body of intelligent marksmen, who are presumed to be already perfectly familiar with the use of them. While, the objection, that these arms are liable to soil very quickly, or become too hot for use, in the rapid firing of which they admit, is obviated by the provision made for evei*y soldier's carrying with him an extra rifle. "Now, whether it be employed against cavalry, or whether against 316 BIOURAPIIY OF infiintry, 1 am of opinion tiiat, in (,>itIior caso, sneli a corps would do ox- collent service, iind prove itself of singular value. But it is, especially, a^rainst artillery, tliat I tliink it capable of rcmlerinL; the most inijinrtant services. Hy jirovidiiig tlie non-coniniissionod olBcers with explosive halls, with which it would he their business to endeavor to blow up the Caissons, while the conunon soldiers would be firing at the cannoneers and horses of a liattory, as much mischief could bo done to the enemy's artillery, as by artillery, itself. And perhnps more; for, if with bullets it be impossible, as with balls, to dismount the guns and carriages of a battery, yet, wilii bullets, wonlil it be, at least, much more easy to pick olF its cnnnonoers, drivers, and horses. AVhilst, on the other hand, those doing this execution, by availing themselves of the cover, afforded by the uneen able to infiict any sensible loss on their assailants. The whole power of their arm would be thus expended in vain — foiled by the very insignificance of their adversary, — and be of no more use to them, than would be to a naked num all his strength and overwhelming superiority, against a cl()ud of gnats or swarm of nu)squitoos. "Whence, would flow two consequences: — 1st tiiat, by thus diverting the attention of the enemy's artil!(;ry, one would have all onivs own artil- lery free to be employed, according to the a})propriate destination of that arm; — since artillery was never invented for the purpose of com})ating artillery, but for the suke of crushing the inl'iintry nnd cavalry of an enemy: 12iid that, in this way, even if we suppose the enemy to have adopted the same system, we could double the elVective strength of our artillery, at a comparatively trifling cost. For, what would be the cost of organizing and keeping up a comjiany of these mounted sharp-shooters, in comparison with tlie lica\Y outlays required by a battery of field artillery, with its guns and carriages, its ponderous and expensive munitions? Absolutely nothing! "Now, although, as 1 have before remarked, it is chiefly in large armies like those of Europe, that the practical development of these ideas would be attended with the most imuu'diate and profitable results, still that is no reason, why we should not, in a limited way, endeavor to keep pace with all of the modern improvements in the science of war. For, not only should our little army serve as an organized nucleus, around which may be gathered, and on which bo formed, in the event of war with any civil- ized foe, an indefinite number of the raw, but hardy and courageous yco- numry of our country ; — not only shiuild it be large enough to keep in subjection the wild and predatory tribes of Indians on the borders of our LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCII^J. 047 interior HottlonicnfcH ; — but it Hliould siIho Hcrvc iis 11 |i(;r|)ctij;il scImjoI (if inHtriiction for the boruifit and iinprovejncnt of our iiiilitia, — and it siiould also be large cnou<^h for this last, important purpose. " Now, the most prcsKing want, at this time, not only of the Militia, but of the Army, itself, is of a f^roat scliool for Kifle practice and instruction, sucli as that of Vincennos in France, and Ilythc in En;^land. Conj^ress could, in no other way, so profitably lay out the same amount of money, as in providin;^ for the estaldishment of such a school, to which the Militia should have free access ; and, in connection with it, mi^.dit be or^'anizrsd a small mod(d corps, such as that I have had tlu; honor to describe to you, the members of which mi;^ht be usefully cmfiloyed as a part of the personnel of the school, — as 8ul>instructors for the pupils adniitted into it. " I am, Coloind, " Very respectfully, " Your Obd't.' Servant. " Jui.ii.s P. Gahksch^. "Asst. Adj't. Gen'l," In the Office, as outside, Julius performed all his duties eoii- scientiously and with credit, and the proof of the high respect lie was held in by his superiors, was the fact of his being assigned to the charge of the most in)j)ortant branches of the Bureau ; and when subsequently the War broke out he was given charge of all the most difficult and important work, and lield the position of Senior Assistant to the Adjutant General. Quiet and methodical in his work he possessed the facidty of seeing through a complicated case or argument almost instanta- neously, or with but little effort of the mind. The Adjutant General, as also Secn.'tary of War, always considted him in ref- erence to any complex or dangerously minute matter, and were glad to receive the able and well put answers of liis logical and far seeing mind. Even the President frequently asked his advice, and Julius' conclusions always turned out right. Julius wrote a very beautiful but exceedingly fine hand ; was able to condense his tlioughts, if necessary, into very few words, sufficiently intelligent for any one to understand, and yet con- taining matter that others might liave devoted j)!iges to un- necessarily. He never turned away an applicant, but listened patiently with his sweet and engaging smile and, if able, would at once give the aasistance besought. He listened readily to those in distress, and 348 BIOGRAPHY OF no beggar ever left his office empty handed. He was a friend to all who applied for relief. As an illustration of liis kindness of heart and thorough un- selfishness I will mention the following incident. When his chief clerk, Mr. Richard Hanson, returned on a certain occasion from a Leave of Absence, he discovered to his amazement that all his work, which he expected to have accu- mulated during his absence, v/as done carefully and thorowjlily up to date and in Julius' own handwriting ; and the latter en- joying his astonishment only smiled pleasantly and refused all thanks, saying it was not much, a mere trifle. And this was not the only time he performed such extraordinary kindness for Mr. Hanson. On another occasion, when his little Laureal lay dead at home and his bleeding heart prompted him to remain near the beloved corpse he sacrificed his parental feelings and went to his Office, because there was very important and special work to be done, and there was no Officer there to fill his place. And he remained at the Office all day attending to the varied, complicated and arduous details of this work. And though earnestly besought by Mr. Hanson to return home, his characteristic but sad reply was : " No, my duty is paramount," and he remained hard at work all day, even though his fond fatherly heart was swelling and well-nigh bursting in the intensity of its grief. Only after his labors were finished did he return to his grief stricken family, to soothe their anguish and pay his own last sad tokens of love to the little corpse that lay cold and silent on its little bier, with its sweet and beautiful face upturned in its last sleep. Xo one but God understood the terrible agony that rent his bosom as gazing through blinding tears at his little Laureal the thought came again and again that whilst he might have remained he had nevertheless stayed away ; and none but God understood and could appreciate his great sacrifice to duty. Julius was very near-sighted, though otherwise his eyes were strong and of perfect use, and always used an eye-glass when he found it necessary to examine any minute object or any thing at a distance. This he carried suspended to a wide black watch guard. Pie once happened to lose it and only discovered his loss LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 349 after he had commenced his official duties for the day. Lookino- everywhere and yet unable to find it he started homewards and on the way prayed fervently to St. Anthony of Padua to assist him. His prayer was heard, for on reaching his house he dis- covered the lost object. On his return thereupon to his Office he smilingly said to Mr. Hanson: '' AVe Catholics have an advan- tage over you Protestants; for when we lose any thing, we go to a little Saint who assists us to recover it." When the War was already commenced in all its fury Julius was instrumental in procuring a commission in the Artillery branch of service for a young applicant, and was unceasing in his efforts until successful; and yet he did not know the young man, had never even seen him, and there was no reason why he should take any interest in him. He had been thus unsparing in his exertions, why? simply because the applicant's father was a bigoted Presbyterian minister, who held Catholics in abhor- rence, and Julius thus wished to do him good for evil, by heaping coals of fire on his head. 350 DJOORAPIIY OF CHAPTER XXXV. Commencement of the Civil War and Julius' appreciation of the coming crisis — his politics and true Union feelings and his sacriflcns for them — his fears of an abolition war and of meeting iiis brothers on the tield of battle — his letter and their answer — incident about his cousin Bauduy— letter of Ferdinand — incident about Montgomery Blair — revelation to a holy person of Julius' approaching death on the battlc-flold and his brother Fred's letter and staloiiient about it — Julius' own presentiment— his patriotic letter in the "National Intelligencer" — his manifold and arduous duties — his promotions and General Lorenzo Thomas' esteem for his abilities and objections to allowing him to go in the field— appreci- ation held in by his sujjeriors and the President — procures commissions for many persons — obtains Brigadier Generals' commissions for Ord and Kosecrans — remarks of Col. Alex. J. Dallas — Julius' De Imitatume Chriaii — his indignant objection to serving with Garibaldi — his indignation at the outcry against Gen. Chas. P. Stone — defends Gen. Sherman's repre- sentation regarding necessity of large forces for Kentucky — remarks of Gen. Henry J. Hunt. We now come to the period of that terrible Civil strife that (le.solatecl our country for so many years and swept away so many of her purest and best sons. Julius' appreciation of the coming crisis is exemplified in the following remarks to a friend, Capt. Richard G. Lay, U. S. A. "A happy New Year to you, my dear Dick, and may the clouds wiiich now hang over us bo soon succeeded by the sunshine of renewed pros- perity. Gov. Floyd lias resigned, at length. I wish Buchanan and Breckcnridgc would do so too, and give us a chance to have some man like Crittenden at the head of the government. The country is in an uwful state." Julius was a Democrat, (as was all his family), in politics, so far as an Officer of the Army of that day took notice of poli- tics; for, true to his profession, he never took an active part either in word or deed, as it was not considered the proper thing for an Officer to take a prominent position in party discussion or to pronounce any decided opinion on the subject. In the Presidential canvass of 18G0, however, he was a warm well- wisher to the success of Judge Douglas, a personal friend. LJEUT. COL. JULIUS P. G A RESCUE. 35 1 In the words of another regarding Julius: "In this terrible ordeal which an insane rebellion presented to the national mind, he emerged from it unstained by its treasonable doctrines, his honor untarnished, and his patriotism as unchallenged as his cour- age." He was a Union man in the truest sense of the term, he was opposed to Secession, for that could only work harm and ruin. He believed in standing up in defence of his country; if that became impossible, then of leaving the Army, but nevar of rais- ing his hand against his country in hostility, liut he was no Abolitionist. He did not concur in the extreme doctrine of those who insisted in at once freeing the slaves and forcing the poor, helpless, ignorant creatures upon the tender mercies of a cold, hard, unfeeling world. He believed in their being eman- cipated, but then in a proper manner, whereby no harin could accrue to the country or to themselves. He was no adherent of slavery, because from a Ciiristian point of view it was opposed to all ideas of true justice. When he had entered the Array from West Point he had sworn to serve his country truly and faithfully against all ene- mies, and he had rigidly carried out that promise, and now that the great question of the day arose — as to whether the South had a right to secede from the Union, he was ready to prove iiis loyalty ; for he had sacrifices and many and bitter ones to make in remaining true to his allegiance, faithful to his flag; for his interests, associations, ties and friendships were mostly among Southern people. He deplored the \\'ar, but he also condemned the criminal causes which precipitated it. When old and at- tached brother Officers were resigning or deserting the flag they had sworn to uphold ; when intimate friends and even near rela- tives were enrolling themselves under the banners of llebellion; when seductive offers of high rank, cf)mmand and emoluments came from those who hoped to have his influence and the pres- tige of his stainless name to give a brighter color and surer foun- dation to their unjustifiable cause, and angry and furious taunts assailed him for refusing, he never flinched but stood staunch and firm to his principles of loyalty and duty. He only felt he ;J52 BIOGRAPHY OF could not figlit, could not battle against his country's foes if the following chances occurred. He would then have to resign his Commission, leave his' country and go abroad until the cruel War Avas over. He greatly feared an abolition war and a rising of the colored population of the South, and family traditions of the massacres perpetrated during the French Revolution in San Domingo had even exaggerated, if possii)le, the horrors of such a state of affairs. A subject of satisfaction, when on his way to the front in November 18G2, was his belief that, owing to the recent Democratic victories at the polls, all fear of the abolition procla- mation being issued was gone ; for he felt that lie could not in conscience draw his sword in favor of a negro insurrection. An All Merciful God, however, preserved him from learning the truth, because he died the very day before the issuing of such a decree. Another subject of distress, was the fear that he might ])erchance meet his brothers on the field of battle. A fond, affectionate heart like his own recoiled with horror at such a frightful calam- ity. His brothers had all been reported in Washington as being Secessionists and when Ferdinand and Alexander were taken at Camp Jackson, St. Louis, by Capt. Lyons and his men it was thought to admit of no doubt. Still it was not entirelv true; for Alexander had resisted every persuasion to adopt those views, though all his intimate friends held them; and Ferdinand, though Southern in sympathy, was yet no partisan. At any rate Julius was informed that they were all rank Secessionists. Devoted as he was to his relatives he wrote a letter of real dis- tress to learn the truth ; that if they joined the South he could never do his duty, if he thought that possibly among those ranged against him in battle were his own brothers, his own flesh and blood. He would prefer resigning ; but not to enter the Southern Army, for he would never fight the flag he had sworn to defend. He would go to Europe and remain there till the War was over. Their answer was, not to resign on their account, for they had no intention of joining the Southern Array, and therefore it was impossible that they should ever meet on the battle-field. His LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 353 cousin Bauduy * P. Garegclie, one of his favorite cousins, and liis brother-in-law, Robert A. Bakewell (both of whom afterwards joined the South) united with them in saying that in honor and duty, with his political principles and conscientious ideas of right and wrong, he was obliged to retain his commission and fight for his flag. Alexander added they were not Secessionists but Democrats — opposed to the War, because they thought it Avould work more ruin than good, that he himself abhorred Secessionism, but deprecated the evils of the War. But their position was different from his. As an Officer of tlie Army he had only to obey lawful orders and stand by his flag, and they would be intensely sorry to see him resign. His answer was, that they had removed a load from his heart, that he did love his brothers so faithfully as to shrink from the thought of oppos- ing his sword to theirs — though he was satisfied the United States were right — and that he could now pursue his calling with a hVhtened heart. In a letter that Ferdinand wrote to Julius in July, 1862, he says : — *' You must not, dear Julius, grieve so much for us. Your heart is too good and too tender. "War is a hard thing and entails many miseries. We are men and must expect to meet our fate in whatever shape it comes. "\V'e have chosen our side and you know us well enough to know that we will stand or fall with it. They can invent no oath that conveys allegiance * Upon his arrival in the South Bauduy, who had under his father, in the Eden Park Gunpowder Mills, learned the art of making powder, was put in command of the South's Governmental Gunpowder Works in South Carolina, and for a long time its powder was far superior to that of the North. The following incident in this connection occurs. When Gen. Grant was encamped near Richmond, Va., a scout re- ported, was admitted into his tent and closetted with him for some time. When he left the General remarked to a friend : " 1 wish I could catch that Bauduy Garesche." This gentleman, who knew Bauduy intimately, re- plied : "Why, General, I know him and I can assure you that he was never a secessionist, but feeling compelled him to join one side or the other, and he went South ; for no one, even with Southern sympathies, can have any peace at St. Louis." " Oh !" said Grant, " I would not harm a hair of his head ; but on the other hand I would, if I caught him, keep him close and not exchange him for 10,000 men. The powder he manufactures for the South is so superior to ours." 23 354 BIOORAPHY OF to the Federal Government which I would take, because I think that feel- ing as I do I would poijiiro niysolf in so doing. I have given my parole not to take up anus nor to aid the South during the Civil AVar.'' One day, sliortly after the Camp Jackson affair, Mr. Mont- gomery Blair, tlien in the Cabinet, called on Julius in his Office and, after speaking- of his brothers' connection with that matter, said, rather officiously: "Garesche, why do you allow your brothers to be such rank secessionists, you ought to ciiange their sentiments?" Mr. Blair meant no offense, for he was friendly with Alexander, but his tone and manner aroused all Julius' brotherly indignation, who, misconstruing hii? motive in speak- ing thus and attributing it to personal spite against his relatives, answered back sharply and indignantly. For tiiis one unpremeditated sin of anger our Lord chose to reveal to a certain holy person that Julius would perish eighteen months after on the Field and in his first battle. In the words of his brother, Father Fred, dated Sept. 14, ]8G1, '' She told me that the sin was in the will alone, and that our Lord re- quired moi'e penance than you had yet done, and that you have His assur- ance that you may cast all your cares on Ilim in case any thing occur to you, with full conOdonco that lie Avill take care of those you love. If then you have to go into battle you can go with all trust and calmness. " Be assured that your family have not, and never will abate a jot of their love for you, however much some of them may differ from you in their war sentiments," His brother further, in reference to this prophecy of his sud- den death, states as follows. "One of my penitents'' [the same holy person just mentioned] "be- lieved tliat she had a communication from our Lord and one day came to see me and asked me to write to my brother in the Army and tell him that he would die a sudden death in the war, but that he would be well pre- pared. I consulted an older and more experienced, and a very spiritual priest, before I did so, and he was of the opinion that it could do no liarm and might be a means of keeping Julius in a state of preparation, viz., a state of grace. Julius wrote back that it did not aifect him, as it could not be true ; that the Confederates had lost their chance of attacking or taking Wasliington, and as he was on the general staff and consequently would not be scut to the field, the occasion of danger would not present itself. A few days after lie found his wife in a Hood of tears. She had found and read my letter and was for a time inconsolable. But he pacified LIEUT.'COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 355 her, partly by his reasons, and partly by laughing at the whole matter as sheer nonsense. She dried her eyes and, as he told me, berated me for having ' tir6 V horoscope de son frh'e.^ " Still Julius' mind formed the strange presentiment that he would soon die a sudden death. I have already shown in a preceding part of his life how he became convinced that his ending would be sudden. When he subsequently joined Gen. Kosecrans, he left Washington with the firm conviction (thougli he kept his darling Mariquitta in ignorance of it) that he would fall in his first battle. Many of his companions in arms, when he arrived in Tennessee, learning in some manner or other of this presentiment, curiously watched him, anxious to see how a man thus impressed would act in the face of danger. But how bravely and religiously he comported himself, notwithstanding, even up to the very moment of his death, will be described in its proper place. In the beginning of hostilities Julius wrote the following most patriotic letter in the " National Intelligencer" of Wash- izigton, that contained advice which, if followed, would have spared the country the dreadful evils it had afterwards to deplore. " To THE Editors of the National Intelligencer. "I have been so forcibly struck, while lately reading 'Russell's Diary in India,' with the singular applicability, to the present condition of our own affairs, of many of the remarks, made by tliis distinguisiied English- man, while commenting upon those of India, that I must really beg of you to oblige mc and the other friends of the Union, by republishing one pas- sage of the book herewith transmitted. "A perusal of this passage cannot fail to suggest to every reflecting mind the pregnant question ' how mean we to deal with our rebels, how pacify our distracted country?' " The question is, at this moment, one of vast importance. Do we intend to repeat the harshness and violence, which, practiced in Missouri, converted the most loyal of all the Slave States in the Union, into one vast secession, camp — for the period of one whole year arrested the great Mississippi expedition — and lost to us, during that time, the services of 100,000 of our troops, who ought to have been employed elsewhere — or shall we again make trial, of the wise and patient forbeai'ance, which preserved to us Kentucky ? 356 BIOGRAPHY OF • " Soon, our victorious armies may be expected to have overrun the South. What then? We cannot forever keep them there. Whether, even for another year, we could do so, is very doubtful. Let us not forget, that in levs than two years' time, we were sick to death of our paltry Avar with Mexico, and fairly begged and bribed the conquered Mexicans to give us peace, so eager were we for it. Now how do we liope to secure peace with these so proud, so enthusiastic Americans? ^Vill it be by acts of confiscation and violence, by a policy of vengeance — by let- ting loose on them the snarling curs of Abolition, the very same that wor- ried them into this madness: — shall we thus justify their leaders, and there})y make iruth of the very lie, with which they deluded their people into this rebellion ? " If so, then may all hopes of restoring the Union be at once dismissed now and forever. We cannot too soon, in that case, call off our armies and set about reducing our expenses ; for we should have to do it sooner or later, and had better do it now, when crowned with victory Ave can at least do it Avith honor. "Does any one doubt this inevitable result? Then must he be per- suaded of one of two things — either, that the tax-payers of the North and West, Avho have not yet digested the taxes of this war nor even accepted tliem as yet, mean to charge themselves for all time to come with the sup- port of a standing army of 200,000 or 300,000 men, — or that the Southern Leopard, when once our armies shall haA'e been disbanded, will tamely submit to all that the malice of- the Abolitionist can inflict upon him. "No statesman, no man of sense, none but an idiot or a fool could be- lieve either; and, therefore, Avhcn I see men, who call themselves states- men and who should, at least, be men of sense, advocating measures, of Avhich the certain effect must be to irritate the Southern mind to madness, to inflame it to desperation — measures which destroying every lingering remnant of Union feeling, must unite all parties at the South, and con- vince them that they have nothing to gain, but on the contrary CA'ery thing to lose, by submission — then, I cannot resist the conviction that these men, Avhom I Avill not accuse of being fools, are therefore enemies to the Union, enemies far more dangerous than the rebels in arms, because armed Avith far more power to do mischief, traitoi's as black, traitors with less excuse, than the Arch-traitor of all, William L. Yancey." AVhen tlie terrible Civil strife commenced Julius was kept coustantly busy. Day and night was he working at his post of duty, hardly having breathing time or opportunity to snatch a moment's repose. The country was in such a condition of afiairs that it required the utmost vigilance and attention to official duties for every man connected with the management of its interests. Departmental and Bureau occupation meant icork and LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 357 real, hard, solid worJc for its Officers and employes, and lie was not the one to falter or endeavor to escape from his share of the heavy burden. In addition to his regular duties at the Office he was also detailed in command of the entire War Dept. build- ing per order of Gen. Scott, Commander-in-chief of the Array. Many prominent Officers were thus given charge of all the principal public buildings in the City, there being apprehension that at any moment an attack might be made upon the Capitol. This, of course, entailed additional labor. Many a night, more- over, did he have to assume, like others, command of troops that l)atrolIed the Long Bridge (which communicates with the shores of Virginia) and the other surroundings of Wasliington. In the early part of 1861, the Adjutant General, Col. Cooper, resigned and went South to assume the same position in the rebel Army.. Julius was sorry to see him go, for he liked the genial, kind-hearted Officer. Others from the Corps, high in rank, also tendered their resignations to follow the fortunes of the Southern Confederacy. The result was, that Julius was, like others of his Corps, promoted to a higher grade to fill a vacancy, and on May 14th he was Commission.ed Brevet Major and on the 3rd of August, 1861, appointed full Major in the Adjutant General's Corps. On May 14, 1861, Brevet Major Irvin McDowell, of the same Corps, was appointed Brigadier General in the Regular Array and Julius thus became the Senior Assistant to Colonel (subse- quently, August 3, 1861, appointed Brigadier General) Lorenzo Thomas, the Adjutant General, successor to Colonel Cooper. Col. Thomas, who had been able, likewise, to appreciate Julius' worth as a man and abilities as an Officer, was not sorry to have such an able First Assistant, and he clung most tena- ciously to him, refusing all solicitations of his to entering upon an active sphere — for Julius felt it to be his duty to take the field — claiming that his services were invaluable in the War Dept., nor would he hearken to the numerous requests pressed by prominent Generals in the field for Julius' coming as their Chief of Staff. Plis answer invariably was, that Julius could not be spared. The duties of Julius now became of great magnitude and im- 358 BIOQRAPIIY OF j)ortanc('. Not only did he liave cliarge of the general business of tlio CXficc, l)ut lie was also overburdened with the immense jiiid (•()m])li('at('d machinery of the military eommissions. He was really the acting Adjutant General, because Col. Thomas deferred entirely to his superior judgment and business capabil- ities. It was a very toilsome though brilliant position, and Julius worked hard and faithfully to keep up to all its require- ments. It was really too much work for one man to do alcjue, because tiiough assisted by talented and worthy younger officers, still he had to guide and direct them, for they as yet lacked the experience — being nearly all, if not all, newly appointed to the Corps — and all this entailed additional labor. Yet he never hesitated, never shrunk from the path of duty; but directed all his mind, all his energies to the consummation of all that was expected of him : and as an evidence of their a})preciatiou of his sci'vices his Superiors always consulted him upon matters of im- jiortance. He was the means of procuring commissions for many worthy subjects. It was at his suggestion and by his advice that Capt. Edward O. C. Ord of the Artillery, a warm ])orsonal friend, then serving in the West, received his commission of ])rigadier General in the Volunteers, and, as Julius afterwards remarked to a relative, "I was thus the means of procuring the iirst success of the Army of the Potomac," referring to the affair at Draincsville, Va. He was instrumental in procuring for Gen. Rosecrans his posi- tion as Brigadier General in the liegular Ai'my, though he had only hoped to secure liim such a rank in the Vohuitecrs, and was cousc(piently very much elated when the appointment was made out in the Regular Army instead. He and Rosecrans had been together at West Point, he being the senior by a year, and had there and subsequent to their graduation formed a strong mutual friendship. It was a source of pleasure to him to be able now to assist this friend, when he had the power and could legiti- mately do so. The following remarks of Col. Alex. J. Dallas U. S. A., re- tired, show how Julius was looked up to in his office by his em- jtloi/rn and others, and demonstrate his perfect and unvarying conduct at his desk under any and all circumstances : — LIEUT. CDL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 359 "I made the acquaintance of Major Gare8ch6 under the following cir- cumstancesi. I had left New York and gone to Washington, where I had enlisted in a District Battalion, early in 18G1 — April. At that time Maj. C!arosch6 was the active working officfn- in tlic Adjt. Gcnl's Oflicc. Gen. Thomas was the Aor, where there was no danger of any infection, and thus give them, beside the pleasure of a walk with their dear Papa, an insight into the beauties of Christian charity. Often, too, he would ti\ke his little Louis on his visits to the Hospitals, and the child, young as he was, could not but notice the deep resj)ect and almost filial alFection shown by the poor wounded and sick soldiers, as also by their attendants, for his beloved Father, and how their wan, sutlering faces would light up when he came beside their couch of pain. The Authorities regarded his good and merciful works with such esteem that the following permit, — a great and wonderful one to be given at this time of war to any one, even to a Minis- ter of Relio-ion — was accorded him by the Sursjeon General of the Army. "Surgeon General's Office, " Washington, July 5, 1S62. *' The bearer, Major J. P, Garesch^, Asst. Adjt, Gen. U. S. A., has per- mission to visit any of the Hospitals in the Military Department of Wash- ington." Mariquitta would sometimes in a half joking, lialf serious manner complain to her Confessor, Father Maguire, that her hus- band was not treating his family right, that she hardly nowadays saw him excepting at night time, because he was absent all day at his Office and his evenings were spent with tiie sick, wounded and poor. The Rev. Father answered, that Julius must not be blamed, since he was so meritoriously performing his duty. It appeared to him, as it did to all who saw them together at home, that Julius and Mariquitta were more like two young innocent lovers than man and wife, they seemed so wrapt up in one another and yet with such a pure, modest and holy love, more akin to a divine than to a human affection. It was Julius who, in early part of 1862, drew up the })lan for the better organization of the Adjutant General's Dept. ; wrote the Letter describing the necessity of the same and its LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 373 accompanying draught of Bill giving the organization proposed ; and then was mainly instrumental, through his own endeavors, in iiaving the measure passed by Congress. Since the begiiniing of the War, it had become plainly appar- ent that the Adjutant General's Dept., needed to be reorganized. The work of this Bureau, the most important one in the Army, had increased to a manifold degree, but its Officers had received no increase of rank. There was no justice in this, as Julius' accompanying Letter will explain : it was injurious to the well- being and efficiency of the Corps. This Letter of his, which is signed by Adjutant General Thomas, embodies the history of the proposed reorganization and following it is the Bill passed by Congress and approved July 17, 1862, which contains the reor- ganization proposed by Julius. In the Senate, Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, of the Committee on Military Affiiirs and the Militia, to whom was referred the Bill for the better organization of the Adjutant Gen- eral's Dept., reported it without amendment. He was one of its staunchest supporters in the Senate as was Mr. Dunn, of the Committee on Military Affiiirs, in the House of Representatives. The proposed measure met a bitter opposition in the Senate from Senator Jas. W. Nesmith of Oregon who fought it most per- sistently and bitterly. It passed, however, the majority of both Houses seeing the full justice of it, and it became a law on the 17th of July, 1862. "War Department, " Washington City, April 29, 1862. " Chairman Military Committee, , "House of Representatives. "Sir: " The Adjutant General has submitted to me the letter addressed by him to you of this date, respecting a bill for the better organization of the Ad- jutant General's Office. " My own observation has satisfied me that thei'e are in the service no more diligent, faithful, and meritorious officers than those engaged in the Adjutant General's Office, and the proposed change is not only required by justice to them, but will contribute much to the advantage of the service. " Yours truly, "Edwin M. Stanton, " Secretary of War." 374 BIOGRAPHY OF "Apjutant General's Office, " WAsniNOTON, April 29, 1S62. "IIox. Francis P. Bi.air, Jr.. '' riiainiian of the House Committee on Military Aftairs. o 1 1\ : " 111 asking Congress, as I am about to do. to give increased rank to the oftioors of my corps, I shall not dwell on the part taken by them in raising and organizing the vast and efficient army now in the field. I shall not even refer to the immense proportions assumed by that army since the close of the last (or extra) session of Congress, and which liavc devolved siu'li an extraordinary amount of labor on this office, and on the officers of the corps generally, and so lai-gely added to the i-esponsibility and import- ance of the duties performed by these gentlenien. Tliere are other reasons than these for making the request, reasons vitally atlooting tlie well-being and efficiency of the corps, and which I will endeavor to state as briedy as possible. " 1. According to the regulations of our army, and to the theor\- and. customs of our service, the assistant adjutant general of every army, army corps, division, and brigade, is, by the very nature of his otBce. chief of the start' on Avhich he serves. Under the commanding officer, he directs the service of all the other departments of the staff, and of the whole command. His rank ought certainly to bear some proportion, then, to the paramount importance of his duties, as well as to tlie superior intelli- gence, knowledge, and ability, by aid of which alone can he hope to dis- charge them properly. But so very far is this from being the case now that the assistant adjutant general of General McClellan's arniy. tliough one of the highest oWicers of the corps, is but a major, and the assistant adjutant general of the armies of Generals Halleck and Buell, respectively, are but captain^'. Yet the armies cited are the largest in our service : and in European armies of the same size the one would have been a field marshal, the other two lieutenant generals. As a consequence, then, of the very inferior rank held by these officers, they are thrust aside from their rightful positions. Inspectors general, additional aides-de-camp, and officers of the line, are not only put over their heads, but actually put into their places. The whole corps suffers from this, and not only is unjustly disparaged in the estimation of the army, but even seriously damaged. So mucii so that, from having been a rorps d't'lUe, the corps above all others into which the clearest heads and most accomplished soldiers of the army were most eager to gain admittance, it is now becoming daily more difficult to find officers of that description who will even accept of an ap- pointment in it. '■'J. From the varieii and extensive information, and large experience required of an assistant adjutant general, the field of selection should be very wide. I'uder existing laws this field is now confined to lieutenants, and to this there was no objection when the period of service in that grade LIEUT. VOL. JULIUS P. QARESCHjf:. 375 avcraiied fourteen years. But mnv that, owing to tlio unexampled pro- inotion wliieli lias taken plaee in tlie lower ranks of the anny, scarcely half a dozen first lieutenants can be found in tlie whole army who have seen one year's serviee, unless permitted to select from the grade of cap- tain, it will be impossible for me to recruit tlie corps wilii oHioers of tho requisite knowledge and experience. "Whatever, then, may be decided as to the higher grades, I ask for the change of the captains into majors, as indispensably necessary. "3. I liave spoken of the injustice practiced on my assistants in tho field, but it is not on the officers of the corps serving in tho field that tho present state of things bears hardest. Those on duty in this office, selected out of the whole c be invaluable; and now in his fury he vehemently declared that had he been in Washington lie would have appealed to President Lincoln rather than sutler Julius to go. Rosecrans was overjoyed when Julius reported to him, for he was uncertain until then that he would be permitteil to come. In Special Orders, No. 3ilO, ot' the Adjutant General's Office, War Dept., dated November 5, 1802, " Lieut. Colonol <1 alius P. Garosoho. Assistaut Adjutaut Oonoral V. S. A., is hereby reliovod tVoin duty iu tho Adjutaut Goueral's! Otfice, and will report to ^lajor General ^Villiaul S. Koseorans, U. S. Volunteers, as Cliief of his Statr. " Uy Order of the Seeretary of AVar." Willino- enouirh as Julius was to sio into action, vet he could not leave his darling wife and beloved little children without a paiiiT : for lovino: them as tenderlv and devotedlv as he did, the separation was keenly painful, and then the terrible thought came, would he crer sec Oiein again/ His loyalty and wunige LIEVT. VOL. JULIUS P. OAIiESCHE. 395 did not flinch, howevor, and ho made this, as ho had made otlior sacriiiocs, for the jjood of liis country. On the evening before his departure from AVashington, he called at Gen. Halleek's residence on a brother officer, Gen. Geo. Thoin of the Engineer Corps, then attached to Ilaliock's Staff and at the time residing in the same liouse. After a few mo- ments of general conversation with Thorn in the crowded parlor ho asked permission to see him in private, as he had something to say. Struck by his manner Thorn immediately led him into the hall, the only retired spot, and there seated on the staircase Julius mentioned his gointr to the field the followinir day, that his wife and little ones would necessarily be left behind in Washington, and that he would feel so grateful to Thom if he would promise to keep a protecting and friendly eye over thom and their welfare during his absence ; and should he fall — his voice here became a little husky — as mioht bo the case, then to soften the blow and mitigate the anguisii of his poor, darling Mariquitta. lie added in explanation of his appealing thus to Thom, that he had always entertained for him the highest re- spect and esteem, begun when as a member of * Thom's Cadet Company at West Point, and a perfect stranger to him, he had nevertheless received at his hands such tokens of disinterested kindness and gentlemanly tact as had remained indelibly stamped on his memory, though his own natural reserve had prevented his ever before mentioniuir this. And now that ho was ooinir away, perhaps never to return, he could leave with a lighter heart, if he felt assured that his beloved family were loft under such protecting care. Gen. Thom was inexpressibly affected at this confiding trust in himself, so unexpected; for though, like all other Army Officers, he had always felt the greatest respect and admiration for Julius, and taken the warmest interest in his welfare; still he had but rarely met him since his own graduation at the Point, lie was greatly touched too, knowing that Julius' re- serve seldom made him confide in any but most intimate friends, * General Thom graduated at West Point, in the class of 1839, and was Cadet Captain of Julius' Company. 396 BIOGRAPHl" OF and that tlieir limited acquaintanceship did not justify him as being cUissed ainong this privileged few. With a full heart he gave his promise and Julius then bade him an affectionate farewell. Ijittle did he dream, as he saw him depart, that he would soon be called upon to fulfill the terrible part of his promise, of imparting to the beloved wife the dreadful tidings of this hus- band's death, and afterwards of officiating in the mournful capacity of pall-bearer at his last rites! He kept to his word nobly and faithfully, and during Julius' campaign with the 14th Army Corps often called to encourage Mariquitta with any good tidings he had learned of its move- ments, and after Julius' death did all he could to soothe her sorrow, and was indefatigable in his kind and delicate attentions to herself and her fatherless children. Shortly before going to join Gen. Rosecrans, Julius wrote to the Editor of the New York Freeman's Journal : — '' I cannot do without your paper. Every week, when I receive it. I feel cheered, and, for a while, think there is yet hope lor our poor coun- try — but, in a day or two, I lose the impression, and the dark bhmk future rises before me." Julius left "Washington for his new sphere of duty on the 6th of November. The parting was alike painful to himself and his poor wife. To be again separated from him, was heart-rend- ing to her, and doubly so when that separation called him to a dangerous post. They parted with saddened hearts — parted alas! to meet no more in this world! His fond, devoted heart Avas very full, as he bade adieu to his sweet little girls; to his little boy who, despite of his naughtiness, loved him dearlv ; and to his dear little babv. And then his heart crew even more full as he clasped liis darling Mariquitta to his bosom, and kissing her sweetly, gently wiped away tiie tears that dimmed her beautiful eyes, and told her in his tender and manly way not to be so broken-hearted, but to bear up courageously; to remem- ber that she was a soldier's wife, and for his sake not to allow her grief to overwhelm her so; that he would soon return to gladden her dear heart again. Then he spoke of their dear LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 397 little children, who would require her additional care and moth- erly solicitude after his departure. That she must not be so crushed with her sorrow, as she would thereby injure her health, and what then would become of them, and he far away ! But for their sakes, as well as for his own, to be brave, to make the sacrifice of her grief, and God would bless her and aid her to accept all with a resigned spirit. And thus gently and lov- ingly he strove to assuage her anguish, and though his own heart was lacerated, and duty at that moment seemed so, so diffi- cult to follow, and his very voice grew hoarse in the intensity of his feelings, he never flinched, but with a noble and Christian spirit courageously bore up to the end. 398 BIOGRAPHY' OF CHAPTER XL. Julius' letters to Mariquitta and his children after his departure for the field and Mariquitta's to him — incident of his going to Communion at the Sodalists' Mass in Cincinnati — Gen. Kosecrans' Staff — how Julius spent his last night on earth. Julius to Mariqidtta. "St. Xavier's College, Cincinnati, Saturday, "Novembers, 1862. " My pet, my darling little wife, "I cannot picture to you tlie grief which filled my heart on bidding you nxrewell. I feared to let you see it, but, after you had left the car, tears filled my eyes and I feared lest they would be perceived, and that I would not be able to check them. A woman who had observed us, witFi the tears almost filling her own eyes, remarked to me on my re-entrance into the car, 'Ah ! I know what that is — I had to go through that myself!' 'God bless you' Avas my only answer, I could not add another word. Ah ! dear wife, I pray God that we may soon be reunited and may never have to separate again ; for I am not made like other men, it costs me too much, it seems so much taken away from my life. Write to me often at least, and tell me every little thing about yourself and our dear little children. Their tears, and the tenderness shown me by our dear little baby most affected me. Dear little baby, delicious little being, I am obliged to leave her at the very moment when she becomes the most engaging. Unceas- ingly do I think of her, constantly during the day do I imagine that I am listening to her 'Eh I' as if- 'Eh, Papa, what is that, don't you see your little baby?' I detest these orders which have exiled me from you and from my little loved ones. My only consolation is that I did not seek them, therefore, I have only to submit like a good Christian with resigna- tion, and God will recompense us for it. "Let me tell you now, my Mariquitta, that I am worried about the teeth of our little girls and reproach myself for having postponed so long hav- ing them arranged. I do not like to ask you to do what I have myself neglected, but you would please me by promptly taking them to a dentist. " Being delayed four hours in Baltimore, awaiting the departure of the train, I paid a visit to one of my old Confessors, Father Coskery, who lives at the Archbishop's, and went to confession to him, and later supped with him and the Archbishop. After supper, I had a long conversation Avith Father Coskery, whom I found to be, despite a Marylander by birth, a very decided Unionist. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. OARESCHE. 399 " I left Baltimore at half past nine at night and arrived the next day at half past one P. M., at Pittsburgh, then, continuing my journey without interruption during the night, reached here this morning at 6 A. M., and came straight to the College, where Father Frederick (who is, temporarily, the President of the College) gave me a most afiectionate welcome. As I can do nothing to-morrow, Sunday, at Louisville, I will remain here to- night and will to-morrow, by invitation of the Archbishop, dine with him. " If you see Stone,* ascertain if he has loaned me or given me his field- glass, for I would not in my letter of thanks wish to make a mistake. "Good-bye, darling, with all my heart I embrace you and my children. Tell them how much Papa loves them, how much he would love to see them good and well behaved. Kiss my own dear sweet little baby 'for Papa'. Give many kind messages for me to all of our friends, to the Jesuit Fathers, to the Kerrs, the Lays, the Harrisons, to our neighbors, and to our two servants. Kiss Marief for me and remember me affectionately to John. '•I do not oppose your going to St. Louis, if you wish, but remember that it would be imprudent for you to do so. But now that I am no longer near you, you must decide for yourself. Witli all m}"^ heart, my darling, do I embrace you. " Your Jules." The morning after his arrival in Cincinnati, Sunday morning (he had gone to Confession the preceding evening) his brother inquired whether he would like to participate with the Sodalists in their Mass and Communion, it being a Sodality Sunday. His answer was, " of course, I too am a Sodalist." Thereupon Father Frederick sent for the Prefect and introducing Julius, the Prefect put around his neck the Sodality Officers' Medal and formally installed him in the Officers' pew. This little incident of Julius joining them produced a marked effect on the assembled Sodalists, as also on the congregation, for they were not a fashionable class of people, being composed of the middle and lower classes of society ; and to have an Army Officer of such high rank and commanding presence, and one, too, so universally respected and admired, clothed in his military uni- form, thus taking part in their devotional exercises, gave them * Gen. Chas. P. Stone, U. S. A. See Page 361, Note. f Mariquitta's sister, recently, in 18G1, married to Mr. John F. Slevin of St. Louis. They were now on a visit to her. Mr. Slevin became a devoted brother and friend to Mariquitta in her hour of tribulation, and was always a devout and most exemplary Catholic. 400 BIOGRAPHY OF great cilifioation. They did not forget it, and when two months later his remains came through Cincinnati, en route to Washing- ton, tlie Sodality insisted on honoring them, and a solemn Mass of Requiem was sung on that very Altar before which he now communicated. And not only the Catholics of the city, but those for miles around, came to pay their homage to his lifeless body, so well known was his Catholic record, and so great the impression made by his present Communion. Julius to Mariquitta. "■ Louisville, Monday, Nov. 10, 1862. " My o>vn darling wife, "It is only when away from you tliat I find how necessary you are to my liappiuess. Dear pet, I realize now, how abst)lutely I am wrapped up in you and our dear children, and liow blank and dull my life is without you. Oh ! if this cruel war could finish and permit that we might be re- united, never again to be separated ! You may feel certain that I love you as dearly as your fondest wish could suggest. I cannot give you an idea how much I suffer when thus away from you, Avith the perspective of an indefinite term of absence. But this thought seems to me to be too cruel to be believed, and I cannot believe it. I love to cherish the delusion that this absence will be but only for a brief period. Yet, the news this morn- ing that McClellan has again been removed, confirms me in my impression that it is better for me to be away from Washington this Winter. For, it leads me to believe that the Abolitionists are so enraged by their defeat, that tiicy will stop at nothing. IJut, did I not foresee correctly that this would happen to him, unless he made the conditions I suggested to him I As for himself, though, poor fellow, I sympathize with him, I feel that he almost deserved it. " Day before yesterday, my beloved, I wrote to you from Cincinnati. I left there yesterday at 1 r..M., and arrived here this morning before day- break. I have spent the whole day in the streets, going from the Quarter- blaster to the Commissary, and from the Commissary to the Paymaster, and to the stores, etc., so as to obtain what I had yet to purchase. I bought a saddle, bridle, etc., — a bed, mattress, pillow, chairs, woolen cov- erings, &o.,— and I tried this afternoon the two horses left here by Fry* for sale. I like them well enough, and will take one — would, in fact, buy both, if they were not so high. But he wants $150 for one, and $130, I believe, for the other. This would barely leave me enough to last for the month. Ah 1 I cannot tell you, my darling, how this question of money * Col. Jas. B. Fry, Major and A. A. G., junior of Julius in the Corps, and late Chief of Staft' to Gen. Don Carlos Buell and now recalled to Washington to occupy Julius' place. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 401 worries me, especially on your account. I cannot understand how you wiio, ordinarily, spend $300 a month, will manage to subsist on f 120. I will try to <:;ct aloni^ with !?S0, which would leave you $146. But then, even this, wiiat is it in comparison with what we have been in the habit of spendinj!;, and I do not see that my absence will make any dilTerence. Nevertheless, it will make some, and in such little things as the following must we watch even/ cent. For instance, in the coflee. As you do not touch it, it is useless to buy Java for the servants; buy, therefore, only llio. llegarding the tea, however, remember that you cannot make any difference, for cheap tea is only trasli. And, let mo suggest to you, that Mrs. l?uell told me that the Commissary would sell to the families of officers at Wasliington, in which case she would buy of it. If you would ask Major Vincent, he would enquire for you of the Oommissary; and thus, without a doubt, as I believe, you could buy sugar, coffee, hams, rice &c., much cheaper. "I found in my trunk my comforter, which T did not intend bringing along with me and for which I must thank you, because, since my depart- ure, I began to regret it, for it was so very cool in Cincinnati, there being still ice in the streets. Here the weather is very fine, while it is said to be warm at Nashville. "Address your letters to the ' cai-e of Major General William S. llose- crans. Head Qrs. Dcpt., of the Cumberland, Nashville, Tentiessee.' " Good-bye, my dearly beloved, my only love. Already I feel better, and my appetite is better. I really believe that my health Avill bo greatly benefited by the change. But my heart suffers. Good-bye, darling, kiss sweetly for me my little Marie, and Tavie, Louis and Adele. "Your Jules."' Julius to Mariquitta. "Louisville, Tuesday evening, "November 11, 18C2. "For some days now, my darling, you will be without any news from me, for I expect to start to-morrow for Nashville. Ilosecrans arrived there yesterday. And as it takes three days to go there, and one may be even longer on tiie way, at least a week must elapse, before you receive another letter, even if the trip be made in throe days. For it will take three days for the return, and at least one day must be added to write the letter, to mail it &c. Ilcnce, even under the most favorable circumstances, fully a week must intervene before you can have tidings from me. More- over, every thing in this quarter is irregular, especially the Mail Service. To-day, I completed my purchases. "I have engaged a most excellent servant, if I can trust to the good judgment of the General who recommended him to me. lie is a negro, of very fine appearance. "I think that I will really buy both of Fry's horses. They come high, it is true, but they suit me, and in the purchase of a saddle horse it is 26 402 BIOGRAPHY GF better to pay a little more than its real value to obtain what is to one's liking. I tried another this morning, much lower in price, but much in- ferior to those of Fry : so much so that though it be a good horse and cheap, it was nevertheless, in respect to its quality, dearer than those of Fry. I have now, therefore, my complete outfit. ^^ Night. — I have just received a dispatch from Rosecrans, inviting me to share his 'Mess,' and telling me that he would send a carriage and an escort for my accommodation, to await my arrival- at the terminus of the Rail Road, distant some thirty odd miles from Nashville. A very agree- able attention, as I expected to make this transit in a miserable stage, filled with companions of not the most pleasant kind. " Tell me, my darling, if the good God gives you courage to endure our separation. Be very pious, say regularly your Beads, and do not put them off till evening, but begin them at nightfall, just when it begins to grow too dark for you to read or to sew. From God have I drawn all the strength with which I have triumphed over my sadness and regrets. I had the happiness at Cincinnati to receive Holy Communion, and after it felt like a different man. It was at a Sodality Mass, and I felt as if once again I consecrated myself to the service of the Blessed Virgin, and once again placed myself under her sweet protection. " Do my little children speak of me, think of me, — and my sweet baby ? "Ah I you dear ones, what a happy man I shall be when once more reunited to you I " Dear Mamma must kiss for me my dear little Marie, my dear little Tavie, my dear Louis, and my sweet little Adele, and tell them to be good children, obedient to their dear Mamma, loving God, saying regularly their prayers, learning well their lessons, and doing all they can to please dear Papa who is away. Won't they, for Papa? "With all my heart I embrace you, my dear wife, and am always the one \yho loves you the best. "Your Jules." Julius to Mariquitia. "Nashville, November 14, 1862. "Darling, " I arrived here last night, after a two days journey from Louisville ; the first day by Railroad, and the second in an ambulance which Gen. Rose- crans sent to meet me. We had a beautiful day, and a delightful drive ; I had two very pleasant companions, and I enjoyed it extremely. Rose- crans received me with open arms. I share his quarters and he is full of attentions to me. All the officers of his Staff, and all the Regular oflicers, of whom tiiere are several here, expressed to me their pleasure in having me among them. To-day, I have done nothing but ride on horseback, and am delighted with my two horses. But, my darling, you must no longer expect lengthy letters from me. I will have a great deal to perform, and when not engaged at work, I will be on horseback, or occupied in the reception of oflicers, of citizens t&c. We occupy a magnificent dwelling. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 403 abandoned by its owner, and during the livelong day there is a crowd of persons seeking interviews. No king can have more numerous levees. Here I found your letter of the 7th and am happy, my pet, to learn tliat my baby is better — my dear, dear little baby, w^hom I so dearly love I Ah I I would wish to be even now on my return to you, my dearly loved ones. But it is not to be thought of, and in the meanwhile I am as well as I can wish. " Good-bye, my dearly loved one, I embrace you with all my heart. Dear Mamma must kiss for me my little Marie, my little Tavie, my little boy Louis, and our dear little baby. Good-bye, my own darling, and believe me ever " Your own devoted husband, "Julius." On the 30th of October, 1862, General Rosecrans had, per orders received from the War Department, relieved General Buell of the Army of the Ohio and assumed command of it — thenceforward, called the 14th Army Corps, or Army of the Cumberland. Shortly after Julius' arrival the following were announced as the permanent Staff of the General. Lieutenant Colonel Julius P. Garesch^, Assistant Adjutant General and Chief of Staff. Major W. H. Sidell, Fifteenth United States Infantry, Act- ing Assistant Adjutant General and Chief Mustering and Dis- bursing Officer. Major C. Goddard, Senior Aide-de-Camp, Acting Assistant Adjutant General. Captain J. Bates Dickson, Assistant Adjutant General. First Lieutenant Henry Stone, First Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, Acting Assistant Adjutant General. Major Ralston Skinner, Judge Advocate. Captain Charles R. Thompson, Aide-de-Camp. First Lieutenant Frank S. Bond, Tenth Connecticut Volun- teers, Aide-de-Camp. Second Lieutenant Byron Kirby, Sixth United States In- fantry, Aide-de-Camp. Captain Robert S. Thoms, Volunteer Aide-de-Camp. Captain William D. Bickham, Volunteer Aide-de-Camp. Lieutenant Colonel A. C. Ducat, of Illinois, Assistant In- spector General. 404 BIOGRAPHY OF Captain J. C. Peterson, Fifteenth United States Infantn', Acting Assistant Inspector General. Captain Jas. Curtis, Fifteenth United States Inftintry, Act- ing Assistant Inspector General. Lieutenant Colonel J. TV. Taylor, Quartermaster's Depart- ment, Chief Quartermaster. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Simmons, Commissary of Sub- sistence, Chief Commissary. Surgeon Eben Swift, United States Army, Medical Director. Surgeon Weed, Medical Inspector. Captain James St. Clair Morton, Corps of Engineers, Chief Eno-ineer. Second Lieutenant George Burroughs, Corps of Engineers. Second Lieutenant H. C. Wharton, Corps of Engineers. Captain N. Michler, of Topographical Engineers, Chief of Topographical Engineers. First Lieutenant T. Edson, Ordnance Corps, Ordnance Officer. Brigadier General D. S. Stanley, United States Volunteers, Chief of Cavalry. Colonel James Barnett, First Ohio Artillery, Chief of Artillery. Captain J. II. Gilman, Nineteenth United States Infantry, Inspector of Artillery. Lieutenant Colonel W. P. Hepburn, Second Iowa Cavalry, Inspector of Cavalry. Captain W. M. Wiles, Twenty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Provost Marshal General. Captain Elmer Otis, Fourth United States Cavalry, Chief of Courier Lines. Captain J. H. Young, Fifteenth United States Infantry, Assistant Mustering Officer. Captain Jesse JNIerrill, Volunteers, Signal Officer. Extracts from Mariquitfa's Letters to Julius. " Washington, November 7, 1862. " My Darling, "The weather has been so cold since your departure that my 'Blues' have augmented, because I cannot see how you will be -able to support your camp life. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 405 " Your dear baby is much better, though she contiuues to cough a little. She still searches for you in the room, when any one inquires of her as to where you are. " It snowed all day yesterdaj'. and the children are now on the pave- ment, making snowballs and throwing them at each other. " Mr. Sullivan* brought me your mail yesterday, and renewed his offers of service. On leaving he said: 'Mrs. Garesch6, you know that the Col- onel has been kind to me, so that I will be really happy to show him how much I feel what he has done for me, and I am ready to serve you at any hour of the day or niglit.' * * * * "I hardly know what I am writing, for I feel so overwhelmed, that my ideas are not clear. I wish that I could sleep from the present moment till that of your return. " Do not refuse, I implore you, to buy all that is necessary to render you warm and comfortable during the night! Take the utmost care of yourself, my own beloved. You would certainly do so, if you could only realize what you are to me and to your children. "Good-bye, darling, your children join me in embracing you with all the affection of our hearts. " Your Mariquitt.*.." "Washington, November 11, 1862. " My own beloved husband, " AVhere are you at the present moment? I learned that you had break- fasted witli the Archbishop of Baltimore, I do not understand the meaning of tills. Marie and John left yesterday morning. Marie's heart was very full on leaving me. A moment after their departure Willie Keating paid me a visit, but without his wife. lie made me many offers of service. He returned to Philadelphia to-day. I found him looking well. " Yesterday I received a letter from Mamma. She did not say much and is still stunned with your departure. "Father Maguire visited me yesterday and made me many offers of service. I did not dare to tell him that I was about to give up my pew in St. Aloysius' Church, but I am going this morning to see Father Wiget about it. "Adfele continues to cough a little, but otherwise she seems well, and has slept a great deal better of late, — as if expressly. " I am unable yet to realize that you have left me for a long time. I try not to think of it, not to understand it. " I carried the two tickets to the Watsons, and asked them to have their children pray for you. *Mr. Sullivan was a next door neighbor, a loyalist who had lost all his means, derived from his possessions in the South, by their confiscation by the Kebels. Through Julius' kind and generous efforts he was given a clerkship in his own office. 406 BIOGRAPHV OF ^^ Nov. I2fh. — I do so wish that I could go to sleep now and not awaken till your return, for it is ray one cry not to live away from you. I can control myself well enough up to the hour of dinner, but after that I am done for, until I retire to sleep. I sincerely hope that you do not miss me as I miss you, for it would render you incapable of fulfilling well your duties. " Mrs. Sullivan was very much put out that you did not call to bid her good-bye. Both she and her husband render me many little acts of kindness. " Adieu, my own dai-ling, I am going to try and do all in my power to render myself better and more worthy of you, for I feel more than ever that I do not merit having you for my husband. The children all join me in embracing you whom we love. "Your Mariquitta." "Washington, November 12, 1862. " My dearly loved one, "I have just received your letter dated from Cincinnati. Adfele kissed it and made me kiss it many times. She understands perfectly from whom it comes. Julio, your baby is the sweetest and the smartest baby that ever was. She remembers j-ou undoubtedly. " If it costs you so much to be separated from us, imagine what it must be then for me I A husband and wife who love each other as we do, ought never to be separated ! "I have paid *Blanchard and Mohun and have their receipt. " Your letter did me good, I feel much less unhappy since its receipt. I have read and re-read it, at least six times. " Mr. t Hanson has offered me his services, through Mr. Sullivan. It is very sweet to me to see how much you are loved and respected here, and what a good remembrance you have left in Washington, "The children were so sorry that you were not here this morning, to enjoy the buckwheat cakes which were very good. "Louis has just finished his prayers, asking of God to bring you back soon. The children are all asleep, and this would be such a good time for a little chat, if you were here. Oh ! how I do miss you, husband mine! " Mrs. Harrison on leaving this evening, said that she was going to write to you to explain why she was prevented from calling to bid you Adieu. " Last evening, I told Father Lynch that I was going to give up my pew in St. Aloysius'. lie answered, that he had intended asking me to do so. " I shall take the children to the dentist's Saturdav mornine. " The evenings seem to me to be of an indefinite length. Tell me in * Principal firm of Booksellers in Washington. I Mr. Kichard Hanson. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 407 your next letter if you sleep well and if your appetite has gained by the change of air. * * * * " My eyes burn so that I am forced to tell you good night. '' I am going to the Fair of your Society to spend some three or four dollars, knowing that I will thus please you. " Adieu, my darling, we all unite in embracing you with all the out- pouring of our hearts. "Your Mariquitta." Julius to Mariquitta. " Nashville, November 21, 1862. "Mv DARLING, "I am just in receipt of your letter of the 12th, which I read and re- read with so much pleasure. I began to be impatisnt at not receiving any from you, of which I stood in so great a need. I found here, awaiting my arrival, your first letter of the 7th, and then a whole week elapsed without further tidings from you. Ah I dearest, I do so love you, and my children, and my dear, dear, dear little baby ! Dear little thing, so she kissed her Papa's letter, did she? I am glad to see that you all enjoy good health — very happy to learn that you intend to take the children to the dentist. You must tell Marie when she goes, that I expect her to be very brave, and she must be so to please her dear Papa, who will be so happy to hear of it. "How are you off for money? I beg of you, darling, to answer me with precision, and especially, make out the account I asked of you and let me know the result. Alexander writes to me that you asked of him a remittance, and that he sent you §200. This somewhat surprised me, for I thought that what with the proceeds of the gold John was to have re- mitted to you you would have sufficient to carry you through the month, and then you could have drawn my pay for November. " I fear that my expenses will be very heavy, llosecrans receives a great deal. True, he pays twice as much as the rest of us, but this does not prevent the Mess-bills from being a very serious item. Then there is so much risk to run regarding the horses and the baggage. Misfortune can so easily overtake a horse, and there are so many thieves in this Army. You cannot leave a horse one moment unguarded without his being stolen. " For greater precaution, I have sent to Louisville for the purchase of a buffalo robe, every one telling me that it is worth 4 or 5 woollen coverings. I will, therefore, have no fear of the cold, though it is not cold here. " I get along perfectly with Rosecrans ; I was told that I would find him a crazy abolitionist: but, though his tendencies are somewhat in that direction, it is rather through a Catholic sentiment that he is so, and we will, therefore, thoroughly understand each other on this point. " My position is a very fine one, and very agreeable. I think that it was all the better for me to have left Washington. I am feeling very well, I eat •with an appetite, something for a long while past unknown to me. For instance, at breakfast I eat a quantity of meat, and again at supper. 408 BIOGRAPHV OF Then I drink a little whisky and brandy every day, and to sura up all, I hope soon to grow fleshier. "Good-bye, darling. I kiss you tenderly. Lovingly embrace for me our dear children. I clasp all five of you in my arms. "Before I forget it, let me tell you that we have with us a priest, who is to accompany Rosecrans everywhere. " Good-bye, darling, "Yours alone, " Your Jules. " P. S, I wish that if you could form a class for the purpose, you would give Marie and Tavie dancing lessons." Julius to his little daughter Tavie. "Nashville, November 26, 1862. " My dear little Tavie, " Papa received this morning your letter and was so glad to hear from you. Not long since Papa got a letter from Marie and answered it right away — and now Papa gets a letter from his little Tavie and answers it the same day. You must tell dear Mamma not to be an.xious about Papa. Papa is perfectly well and getting fat and strong, and there is no reason why dear Mamma should be anxious about Papa. Papa's dear little girls must try and cheer dear Mamma up, and not let her get sad and sick. And the best way to do that, is to be very good and do all that Mamma tells you, and study your lessons well, and behave at school and everywhere, like little ladies. Then, you see, Mamma's thoughts will be so full of the goodness and affection of her dear little girls, that she will not have so much time to think about Papa. "I want my little girls to study their Catechism* well, .and to ask Mamma to take them to Confession once every month. "I want my dear little girls, too, to brush their teeth every morning and evening. AVill Papa's dear little girls do all these things to please him? " The City of Nashville, where Papa is now, is the Capital of the State of Tennessee, and is situated on the Cumberland river. If you will look on the map of the United States, you and Marie will see exsictly where Papa is, and how he got hei'c. Papa went first to Baltimore, the principal city of Maryland, situated on the Chesapeake Bay — tlien to Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, situated on the Susquehanna River, then to Pittsburg, which is built at the point where two rivers, the Alleghany and Monongahela, unite and make the Ohio river — then from Pittsburg, which is in Pennsylvania, Papa went through Columbus, which is in Ohio, and * The principal requests of Julius to his little girls when he was absent were: always to be good, to study their Catechism well, and to brush their teeth carefully every morning and evening. < LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 409 down to Cincinnati, which is the largest city in the State of Ohio, and situated on the Ohio river. All of this distance, from Washington to Cincinnati, Papa travelled by rail. At Cincinnati, Papa stopped one day and a night with Uncle Frederick. Then Papa got on a steamboat, and came down the Ohio river to Louisville, which is the largest city in the State of Kentucky. From Louisville, Papa came down by railroad to a place called Mitchellsville, which is in Tennessee, just close to the line of Kentucky. Papa slept that night at Mitchellsville in an ambulance, and was pretty cold, for he had not his bedding with him. The next day. Papa got into an ambulance, and drove down to Nashville. And now. dear child, good night. Give Mamma a sweet kiss for Papa, and one to Marie, one to Louis, and one to dear little baby. And remember Papa to Lizzie and Mary, and tell them that Papa does not forget them and hopes they are good for Mamma and for you. "Good-bye, darling. Papa kisses you, and is " Your own dear good, " Papa." Mariquiita to Julius. "Washington, November 14, 1862. " My own darling, " The weather, here, for the last three or four days is delicious ; I sup- pose, the Indian Summer has commenced. * * * "You ought to see Adfele in one of her fits of anger, fighting with every one who approaches her. She walks in the footsteps of her brother, and promises to become worthy of him. She is as frolicsome as can be, and makes all sorts of grimaces and does all manner of ridiculous things to make us laugh. Louis is always the object of her admiration. "*Mrs. Atkinson does not wish her children to continue taking dancino; lessons, so that I have been unable to find the required number to form a Class. " I am pleased to know that General Ord has been able to return to his Division, for it proves that his foot is cured. Give him many kind mes- sages from me. " Father Lynch took tea with us last Friday, for the first time since your departure. He begged to be warmly remembered to you. "I cannot express the pleasure I experience in knowing that your health is improving and that your appetite is so good. Without this con- solation, which is immense, I do not believe I could support our separation. But I am so convinced that it is for your good, that you will be benefited in every way, that these thoughts give me a courage which astonishes my- self. In reality, I am less troubled about you now than I was the last year you spent in Washington. " Poor Burnside has been engaged with the enemy since before yester- * Mrs. Atkinson was a neighbor. 410 BIOGRAPHY OF day. I have but little hope for him, though he has all my sympathies. Should the victory remain his, he would astonish very many. * * * *'*Mrs. Talbot sends you her kindest regards. " Tavie is enchanted with her letter and will answer it to-morrow. I hear her even now reading it. " Adfeie has added to her vocabulary 'stop' and ' caracaca,' which she says with a great deal of emphasis. "Adieu, you dear, darling, precious, sweet one. Your children join me in embracing you with all the love we bear you. " I lovingly press you to my heart. " Your Mariquitta." "Washington, November 16th, 1862. " My dearly beloved, "I received day befoi'e yesterday ynur letter of the 10th, and yesterday that of the 11th. I thank you for having thus thought of your poor old wife, whose one thought turns towards you. I have not written to you since Thursday, because I had the blues so painfully that I feai-ed to com- municate them to you. Up to that day, I had deluded myself with the hope that Nashville was quiet and the rebels not in its vicinity ; but, on that evening, I learned that the case was quite different, that there were serious skirmishes even under the walls of that city, and then all my philosophy left me. I see you surrounded with dangers, Avhich I had not thought of; I think, with terror, now, of those horseback rides which I had been so ambitious of for you. Altogether, I feel perfectly miserable; and, to add to my bad spirits, Marie has just had a severe attack of fever, which lasted two days and three nights, and it is only this morning that she is freed from it. * * * * "Don't feel anxious about us, precious, we will get along very well, as long as we have some hope to see you again. " I am well pleased that you bought the horses of Colonel Fry, and your * Mrs. Talbot, a most excellent Catholic, was the widow of Senator Isham Talbot of Kentucky. Her son, Major Theodore Talbot, Assistant Adjutant General, U. S. A., who died at Washington in the preceding April, was a member of Fremont's expedition to the Kocky Mountains in 1845-6, and was appointed and acted as Adjutant of the Battalion of Mountaineers, Guides, etc., which co-operated with the Navy in the conquest of California. For his bravery and valuable services then he was commissioned in May, 1847, a 2nd Lieut, in the 1st Artillery. When the War broke out his Com- pany was one of those beleaguered in Fort Sumter, and he only missed being present at the bombardment by having been selected as the bearer of confi- dential dispatches from Major Anderson to the U. S. Government, and, on his return to Charleston, being refused permission by the State authorities to rejoin his Company. His mother, his sister Mary and himself were great friends of Julius and Mariquitta, and were all very much indebted to .Julius for many acts of generous friendship, especially during his own last illness. LIEVT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 411 mind ought to be at rest now, for you must have received my letter, in which I spoke of *Farish having $700 of yours in his hands. It is useless, therefore, to worry and depi'ive yourself of comforts of which you stand in need in your new life. Your health is too precious for you to neglect it. "I received a telegraphic dispatch yesterday from Papa, telling me to come on immediately, that he was awaiting us. I answered him yesterday in a lengthy letter, explaining the difficulties that existed to pi-event my going to St. Louis at the present moment. I fear Mamma will be hurt by my refusal. I do not know what to do. I want to do what is right, and I really do not know what it is. I do not believe that you will return here whilst a certain person is in power, and it remains to be seen how long his time will last. " I have not as yet called on General Stone, but I will endeavor to do so to-morrow. "The amiable attention of General Rosecrans has gained my heart, and I hope he will continue to do what depends on him to render your position agreeable, or, at least, supportable. " Adieu, my darling, we all unite in embracing you and informing you that we love you with all the tenderness of our hearts. " Your Mariquitta." Julius to Mariquitta. " Nashville, November 28, 1862. " My darling, " Day before yesterday, all at one time, I received three long letters from you, one from Tavie, one from my little boy, and you can imagine my happiness ! I think I must have received all of your letters, for I have those of the 7th, 11th, 12th, 16th, and two of the 18th. The reason of my being deprived of your letters at first, was that the Mail Agents forwarded them by way of Cairo, a useless journey of several hundred miles, which I have asked of the Postmaster at Washington to avoid for the Future. Perhaps you would do better to inscribe on your letters ' via Louisville.'' " I am perfectly well, eating like an ogre. You would not recognize me. Even at supper, I eat quantities of meat. I feel that I am gaining in strength and that I begin to grow fleshier. The other day, I accompanied Gen. Rosecrans in a ride on horseback of at least 16 miles. One of the Generals here told me that I should not so soon have taken so long a ride ; but so far from causing me the least fatigue, it really did me good. I get along most smoothly with Rosecrans, lie is at most but little in advance of me in his Abolitionist views. And in regard to the Secessionists, he is as good and humane as it is possible to be. For, truthfully, there are so many among them, even among the most respectable, and among those who should be esteemed as the most honorable, who break their faith with us and abuse * Edward T. Farish of St. Louis, married to Julius' sister Lily, a prom- ising young lawyer and later Counsellor of the City of St. Louis. He was related to the powerful family of Hamilton in Scotland. 412 BIOGRAPHY OF the privileges we accord tliciii, by giving information to the enemy, that there is no other way left for our protection than to refuse them every thing. Nevertheless, Rosecrans never tires in according them favors, which many of his officers condemn as impolitic. On tiie other hand, it must be acknowledged, that our soldiers commit many depredations and do a great deal of injury to the people of the country, and, too, without making any distinction between Unionists and Secessionists. It is impossible to restrain them, and it makes one's heart bleed to sec the ravages and hear the recital of the outrages which iiavo been committed. They have been so exceed- ingly numerous and it is such an utter impossibility to prevent them, that wearied of resistance one finishes by becoming accustomed to them. " Almost simultaneously with my arrival here I received a letter from your Mother and one from Octavie, both of which were very afTectionate. Your Mother was very much affected by the orders I had received, and by your loneliness, and inquired of me if I had any objection to your going with your children to St. Louis. She is very desirous that you should do so and promised me should I consent, that she would thereupon join you, and remain with you in St. Louis, to aid you with the children. I answered her immediately, in a very grateful and affectionate letter, and frankly told her the reason I had expressed to you to remain in Washington, but that I had, however, left you perfectly free to make your own choice. I also answered Octavie's letter. "Here, it is not very cold. But I have at last my buffalo rol)e, with which, and my three woollen coverings, I need have no fear of the cold. Since my arrival here no rain lias fallen, save a slight sprinkle, hence you can appreciate how little reliance is to be placed in what the Papers recite of us. The skirmishes which you read of are mere trifles, to which we pay no attention. Do not, my dear little darling, permit yourself to be worried about them, for really it would be too ridiculous. Besides, re- member this, that so perfectly am I out of danger, that, except in the case of a great battle, I would not be within sound even of the cannon. More- over, even in the case of a great battle, I would be but seldom under fire. At the battle of Perry ville Buell was not within three miles of the battle- field — so, too, with McClellan. And the reason of this is, that with armies so large, the line of battle occupies a front of from seven to eight miles. Hence, the Commander-in-Chief, to be of easy access to the different corps of his Army, must be at a certain distance in the rear. To sum up all, my darling, believe me, when I tell you, that 1 may go through several battles without even being exposed to fire. "Good-bye, my own dear darling, my own beloved wife. Kiss our dear little children for me, and believe in the affection which is felt for you by your own husband, "Julius. " Remember me to * Lizzie and * Mary." * Lizzie and Mary were Mariquitta's servants. LIEUT. COL. JULIUS P. GARESCHE. 413 Mariquitta to Julius. "Washington, November 21, 18G2. "My OWN SWEETEST, " Your letter of the 14th came yesterday, and it breathed such an air of satisfaction, that it satisfied me also, and I pi-omised myself no longer to become discouraged. "General Rosecrans has all my sympathies, owing to the friendship he shows you, and I am in hopes that you both are going to perform marvels. I desire peace more tlian ever, and yet, would you Ijelieve it, I am getting ain)»itious, and, for your sake, would like General Rosecrans to distinguish himself before the War is over. " I am very contented to see how satisfied you are with your horses, although I still dread those horseback rides, lest you make them too long; for, if what they say here be true, the rebels are very near Nash- ville. "You will doubtless ask why Alexander wrote to me. In reply, I will say that when I learned of his having funds of yours, and in my doubt as to whether I would go to St. Louis, I begged him to send me $100 to pay Maguire & Co., before my departure. In lieu of $100, he sent me .$200, saying that I might find myself in trouble for want of money, and that it was better to have more than less. "At the same time that I received his letter I also received one from Mamma and one from Octavie, be^ning me to come to St. Louis for the Winter. Poor Mamma seemed so sad and frightened at my loneliness that really last evening I was almost resolved to leave next week, renting my house all furnished to the first of April. I asked Lizzie if she would go with me, and she at once answered: ' Oli I yes mam,' and will you believe it, Mary is very jealous of this preference. I then went to sle((p with the perspective of going, to the great satisfaction of the cliildren ; ))ut this morning, when I considered the difficulties that presented themselves, I asked myself whether I ought not to remain, though my heart called me out there. Mr. Sullivan, whom I consulted this morning, assured me that he feared if I went to St. Louis, it would raise enemies against you, would cause you to be looked upon with suspicion, and that he thought it moi-e prnd(!nt on my part to stay. I take your position too much to heart, my own darling, to expose you to lose it through my fault and I will accord- ingly try to keep courage. " The cough of y