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 MEMORIAL 
 
 JAMES S. WADSWORTH 
 
MEMORIAL 
 
 OP THE LATE 
 
 GEN. JAMES S. WADSWORTE 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 |lm gorli §hie Jigrirultural ^ocietg, 
 
 AT THE CLOSE OF ITS 
 
 ANNUAL EXHIBITION AT ROCHESTER, 
 
 SEPTEMBER 23d, 1864, 
 
 HON. LEWIS F. ALLEN, 
 
 !• BUFFALO, (EX-PRKBIDKNT OF THE SOCIETY.) 
 
 BUFFALO : 
 FRANKLIN" STEAM PRINTING HOUSE, 
 
 THOMAS, TYPOGRAPHER. 
 
 1864. 
 
• / 
 
 J/l//5/^4 
 
 61505 
 '05 
 
4 
 
 MEMORIAL 
 
 Mr. President, Officers and Gentlemen of the New York 
 Slate Agricultural Society: 
 
 When good and great men die, it is the im- 
 pulse of generous hearts, in unavaihng regrets for 
 their loss, to pay a fitting tribute to their private 
 worth and public services. From time immemo- 
 rial. States, communities and societies Avith which 
 they have been connected, or to which they had 
 rendered eminent benefits, have borne prompt and 
 honorable testimony to their virtues and actions, 
 not only as the expression of gratitude and respect 
 to their memories, but to inspire posterity as well 
 as their co temporaries with an admiration of good 
 deeds and beneficent labors. All worthy societies 
 and associations have had inscribed on their mem- 
 
ber rolls names of distinguislied men and benefac- 
 tors — and this Society, although humble in its 
 pretensions, unambitious of worldly renown, and 
 cultivating only the arts of peaceful life, may 
 claim, not boastfully, but with heartfelt satisfaction, 
 names most honorable in their efforts for human 
 welfare, and deeply lamented in their too early 
 departure from the field of their labors. 
 
 At a meeting of the Executive Committee' of 
 your Society in May last it was '' Resolved, That 
 a memorial of the late James S. Wadsworth, of his 
 connections with this Society, with the agriculture 
 of his county, and of the State, and his devotion 
 to his country, be prepared and read before the 
 Society at its annual exhibition in September next 
 at Rochester." 
 
 In obedience to that resolution I appear before 
 you to speak of that lamented man, late a Presi- 
 dent of this Society. This rich and populous 
 Valley of the Genesee was his home, and in and 
 around it was the principal theatre of his action. 
 His name was almost a household word throughout 
 Western New York, and he was loved and hon- 
 ored by all who knew him. This is the place to 
 speak of him, and of his connection with the agri- 
 
cultural interests of Ins county, of his vicinity, 
 and of the State, — of his labors in their behalf, and 
 his influence on their welfare. Most gladly, yet 
 respectfully, would I have preferred that this task 
 should be discharged by one who more intimately 
 knew, and better appreciated the life of this 
 excellent man, than myself; but the duty placed 
 upon me by the Committee seemed imperative, - 
 and I respond to their command with great diffi- 
 dence in my ability to do justice to the occasion. 
 You will pardon what may, perhaps, seem a digres- 
 sion from the immediate subject of this memorial, 
 but the scope of the "resolution" demands a more 
 discursive notice of the agricultural events and 
 progress of this vicinity than what have passed 
 under our own immediate observation. 
 
 Seventy-four years ago, the spot on which we 
 stand — this opulent and thriving city, ringing with 
 the sounds of human industry — this broad and 
 magnificent valley, reaching from the lake almost 
 within our sight to the distant hills on the southern 
 border of our State, was a wild, unbroken wilder- 
 ness. The victorious army of General SuUivan, 
 under the direction of our recently formed na- 
 tional government, had just driven the predatory 
 
Indian bands from their forays on the border 
 settlements of the Chemung, and Tioga, to their 
 distant forest homes, and they gladly consented 
 to bury their enmities, and live in peaceful inter- 
 course with our people. The broad and fertile 
 lands of Western New York had been purchased 
 by various individuals and companies, both in 
 the Eastern States and Europe, and were about 
 to be laid open for settlement. In the year 1790 
 two young men, entrusted with agencies for 
 the disposition of large tracts of these lands, left 
 their homes in Connecticut, and after a journey 
 of several weeks through formidable difficulties, 
 a portion of the way clearing their forest road 
 with axes, they gained the banks of the Genesee 
 at Big Tree, thirty miles south of what is now 
 Rochester. The name of these two young men 
 was Wadsworth. William, six years the elder, 
 was a man of bold, determined temperament, vig- 
 orous, indomitable will, skilled in the stern and 
 rugged arts of life, possessing the power to reduce 
 the forest to culture, and imbued withal, with a 
 military spirit, eminently fitting him as a pioneer in 
 the great work which invited him to its achieve- 
 ment. James, the younger, was of a milder 
 
quality. He had been liberally educated. His 
 mind, penetrating and expansive, had been highly 
 cultivated, and his habits trained to business. 
 System, order, and perseverance, were the rules 
 of his action. Thus, with the extraordinary op- 
 portunities laid out before the brothers, success 
 was sure to follow their undertakings. 
 
 In the discharge of their agencies they di- 
 vided and sold extensive tracts of land, and 
 invited a multitude of settlers into the Genesee 
 Valley, and throughout its immediate borders. 
 Industrious and thriving communities grew up, 
 and teeming fields with bounteous harvests opened 
 and ripened all round them. Possessing the love 
 of domain, inherent in their English ancestry, the 
 Wadsworths, as they progressed, invested their 
 earnings in choice tracts of the rich valley, until 
 their acres were counted by thousands, and in 
 process of years " the Wads worth farms " became 
 famous, not only in the country round about, but 
 in the old settlements of Eastern New York and 
 New Ensfland. William was the out-door man 
 and farmer; the forests fell, and the fields were 
 cleared under his sturdy perseverance : while 
 James was the office-man and financier; and it 
 
8 
 
 was mainly his fine rural taste and wise fore- 
 cast, aided by tlie vigorous thought and industry 
 of his brother, which gave outline to their estates 
 and system to their agriculture. Great herds 
 of cattle fattened in their meadows; numerous 
 flocks of sheep ranged their pastures ; and over 
 their wide uplands, the richest wheat ripened 
 for the sickle, and the reaper. Even in those 
 early years they sought improved varieties of 
 horses, cattle, sheep and swine, and introduced 
 them to their farms, and by their example gave 
 tone and impulse to a style of husbandry among 
 the farmers around them which has been con- 
 tinued to the present day. 
 
 Time wore on. The pioneers of the Genesee 
 country, one after another were gathered to their 
 fathers, and William Wadsworth, a bachelor, in the 
 year 1833, at the age of seventy-one years, bearing 
 an honorable record as a general officer in the 
 militia of his county, at the memorable battle 
 of Queenstou, on the Niagara frontier, in the war 
 of 1812, and of a life marked by useful labors 
 at home, went down to his grave, bequeathing 
 his share of the Wadsworth estates to his brother 
 and his children. 
 
James Wadsworth had married at middle age, 
 and established his family home on the spot of 
 his first settlement, then become a neat and thriv- 
 ing village, called Geneseo. Here were born and 
 reared his children, two sons and three daughters 
 — not one of whom is now livino^. Thrivino; in 
 his fortunes, cultivated in his tastes, an,d accom- 
 plished with the advantages of foreign travel 
 during some years' residence in Europe, where the 
 business of his agencies had early called him, he 
 became widely known for his genial hospitality, 
 his dignified manners, and his elevated intercourse 
 with society. Few country gentlemen in the Uni- 
 ted States — none, certainly, in the State of New 
 York — through their wide business correspond- 
 ence abroad, and at home, Avere better or more 
 favorably known. His plans of improvement were 
 broad, comprehensive and thoroughly practical. 
 Much of the grand beauty and park-like scenery of 
 the Genesee Valley owe their effect to his refined 
 taste and testhetic judgment. He patronized edu- 
 cation by donations for the improvement of our 
 Common School system, and gave liberally for 
 school and town libraries in his county. He main- 
 tained the systematic plans of agricultural routine 
 
10 
 
 adopted by liis brother and himself at an early 
 day, and as circumstances required, improved them. 
 After a life of temperance, frugality and useful- 
 ness, in the year 1844, at the age of seventy-six 
 years, he died, leaving his family, probably the 
 finest agricultural estate in the country. 
 
 James Samuel Wads worth, whose recent sudden 
 and melancholy death we now mourn, was the 
 eldest son of James Wadsworth, and born in the 
 town of Geneseo, in the county of Livingston, in 
 the year 1807. Endowed with a robust physical 
 constitution, coupled with a bright and vigorous 
 intellect, he was educated, not in the pent up 
 
 schools of a crowded city, but as all country boys 
 should be, in the best schools of a country village. 
 His collegiate course was completed at Harvard 
 University. He afterwards acquired the profes- 
 sion of the law, partially in the office of Daniel 
 Webster, in Boston, and finished his course of 
 law reading in Albany. Born to the inheritance 
 of great wealth, accomplished in education, pro- 
 fessional knowledge, and the advantages of eleva- 
 ted society, on arriving at his majority the most 
 flattering allurements to personal ambition, to 
 luxury, and worldly enjoyment so dazzling to the 
 
11 
 
 imagination of a spirited young man, were spread 
 before him. But young Wadswortli was both 
 thoughtful, and considerate. Though loving, and 
 reasonably indulging in the pleasures of society, 
 he calmly surveyed his position at the outset of 
 what might become an important life. His uncle 
 William, the out- door manager of the landed 
 property of the family, was in the sere and yellow 
 leaf of declining age. His father, bowed with 
 forty years of toil and responsibility, had looked 
 hopefully to a time of repose, and James, with a 
 manly resolution, and thorough appreciation of 
 his duty, threw aside the blandishments of fortune, 
 turned his attention to business, and gradually 
 assumed the chief supervision of the family 
 estates. 
 
 Probably no agricultural property in the coun- 
 try, so extensive in domain, had been arranged 
 into a better division of individual farms, and their 
 husbandry directed with more systematic econ- 
 omy on the part of the landlords, than those of 
 the Wadsworths. The soils were applied to those 
 crops most congenial to their natures, and which 
 yielded the most profit on their outlay ; and as 
 a proof that the mutual interests of landlord and 
 
12 
 
 tenant were thoroughly studied, I understand 
 that quite three-fourths in number of the tenants 
 now on the farms are those, and the descendants 
 of those who occupied them in the hfetime of 
 the elder Wadsworths. 
 
 In noticing the management of an overshad- 
 owing agricultural estate like this, a remark 
 might be expected upon the tendency of such 
 extraordinary holdings, and their influence upon 
 the welfare of those who rely on them for sup- 
 port. Such discussion is hardly germain to this 
 occasion ; yet I frankly admit, that the system 
 of aggregating land in large bodies by individual 
 proprietors, and holding it under a tenant culti- 
 vation, has not generally proved favorable to the 
 highest prosperity of the communities connected 
 with them. The system is scarcely in accord- 
 ance with the spirit of our Republican institutions. 
 In this instance, however, it is a gratifying fact 
 that the moral and pecuniary condition of the 
 inhabitants dwelling on the Wadsworth farms is 
 as high, and the line of husbandry has been as* 
 good, in the average, as among the smaller farm- 
 ers who hold their lands in fee — and the i^eneral 
 agriculture of Livingston county is of no mean 
 
13 
 
 order. Nor can any sensible man throw merited 
 censure upon the conduct of the elder Wads- 
 worths in thus amassing, and holding with tena- 
 cious grip, such a noble domain. In the vigor 
 of their young manhood they went into a Avild 
 country, and grappled with all the hardships and 
 diseases incident to a reduction of the broad 
 wilderness to life and civilization. Improving 
 their fortunate advantage, they won their posses- 
 sions fairly. God had made the land beautiful 
 in its undulating surface, and blessed it with 
 surpassing fertility. Magnificent landscapes of 
 wood, and meadow, and swelling upland ; of 
 crystal lakes, and leaping streams, and flowing 
 river stretched far and wide around them — a 
 land most goodly to behold — and with ready 
 eye and sagacious plan they saw, possessed, and 
 enjoyed it. And they used it well. 
 
 In the year 1841, by an act of our Legislature, 
 the State Agricultural Society was re-organized. 
 Through an appropriation from the State Treasury 
 its funds were augmented, and an exhibition of 
 farm products, and mechanical implements was 
 ventured. Under the new administration of its 
 affairs, the first exhibition was held at Syracuse 
 
14 
 
 in September of that year, and with such degree 
 of success, that its annual repetition was demand- 
 ed. In January, 1842, James S. Wadsworth, of 
 Geneseo, was unanimously elected President of 
 the Society. For several years he had pursued 
 the business of a farmer on his own account, as 
 well as supervised the chief agricultural affairs of 
 his father's estate, and in his own vicinity was 
 known and esteemed as a thrifty, intelligent hus- 
 bandman. It was fit and proper that such an 
 one as he should receive the honor, and take the 
 responsibility of the office. The Society, although 
 successful, so far as its imperfect organization in 
 a new field of exertion had proved, was yet to 
 be further systematized, and put in working 
 order. With characteristic energy, Mr. Wads- 
 worth entered upon the discharge of his duties, 
 and the good conduct and well-doing of the Soci- 
 ety enlisted his heartiest attention. He became, 
 at the same time, with his father, and' brother, a 
 life member, and with the aid of his spirited asso- 
 ciates in office, placed it on a sure basis of success. 
 The next exhibition was at Albany, and a most 
 gratifying display of improved husbandry, house- 
 hold art, and mechanical skill was offered to the 
 
15 
 
 congregated and expectant friends of our agri- 
 cultural advancement. The degree of tact, apti- 
 tude, and readiness in the discharge of his duties 
 evinced by the young President, determined the 
 Society to re-elect him, and appoint the exhibition 
 for the year 1843 in the City of Rochester, the 
 vicinity of his home, where his attention could be 
 readily given to its preparation. And most amply 
 was that preparation made. His personal services 
 and ready purse were both yielded for the occa- 
 sion. The Genesee Valley poured forth the 
 choicest of its agricultural abundance, and the 
 skill and handicraft of the young and active city 
 joined in their rival display, while the more 
 distant country, East and West, met each other 
 with their mutual oiferings. This, the third exhi- 
 bition of the Society, larger in material, and 
 more numerous in attendance than either of the 
 two which preceded it, was but the growth of 
 well directed effort on the part of its managers, 
 and the increasing spirit of the people. The 
 career of the Society was no longer a probation ; 
 and assured of its success, Mr. Wadsworth, at the 
 close of his official term, with well won honors, 
 gracefully retired to give room to his successor. 
 
16 
 
 The death of his father during the succeeding 
 year threw the management of three-fourths of 
 the Wadsworth estates — that portion belonging 
 to himself and sisters — upon James, the other 
 fourth being owned and managed by his younger 
 brother, William. Not only the lands in the 
 Genesee Valley, but other extensive real and per- 
 sonal properties had come to his charge, and he 
 addressed himself to their care with an industry, 
 an ability, and a knowledge of their multifarious 
 interests, quite equal to the necessity. He main- 
 tained the system of management which had been 
 long adopted, and had only to extend it over 
 such routine and details as became necessary by 
 changes or aggregations incident to such extended 
 affairs. He continued his labors, both in the 
 councils, and at the annual exhibitions of the 
 Society, and for many years his farm stock formed 
 a prominent feature in the prize lists. On all occa- 
 sions he evinced the liveliest interest in its welfare, 
 and as soon as he had a son old enough — and 
 his second one he trained to be a farmer — the strip- 
 ling appeared among us with his fatted bullocks, 
 and blooded horses, in honest competition with 
 the hardest-handed farmer in the show grounds. 
 
17 
 
 Nor were the agricultural efforts of Mr. Wads- 
 worth coufined to the State Society. He took an 
 active interest in his own County Association, and 
 vigorously assisted its efforts in improving the 
 husbandry of his vicinity. He imported from 
 abroad choice breeds of farm stock, and in vari- 
 ous manner promoted the welfare of the farmers 
 of Livingston by his own example, as well as 
 by his aid in the encouragement of new and 
 economical inventions in labor-saving implements. 
 His influence, always active, was persistent and 
 beneficial throughout. 
 
 More intimate with the varied interests which 
 build up the prosperity of the community outside 
 of agriculture than the elder Wadsworths had 
 been, James became engaged in several of the 
 active enterprises with which the business men of 
 Western New York were identified. He embarked 
 a share of his capital in them, and gave to these 
 different investments a portion of his attention. 
 He was emphatically, a man of the times — a 
 part and parcel of the entire community in what 
 concerned their material welfare, and no man 
 among them all was more alive to the prosperity 
 of the people, aside from purely selfish motives, 
 
18 
 
 than himself. Enjoying the well earned returns 
 of intelligent enterprise, and improving by a 
 liberal participation with others the fortunes of 
 himself, and his family, his action redounded 
 largely to the public good. 
 
 An incident may here be recited testifying to 
 the esteem and affection in which Mr. Wadsworth 
 was held in the community where he lived, and 
 was best known. In December, 1851, business 
 having called him to Europe, he took passage 
 in the steamship Atlantic on his homeward voy- 
 age. The vessel did not arrive in New York 
 at the expected time. Some days afterward a 
 report came that she had met with an accident 
 at sea which might prove fiital to her safety, and 
 so long was further intelligence delayed, that by 
 many the ship was given up for lost. It was 
 known that he was on board, and during twenty- 
 eight days of weary suspense, thousands of sub- 
 dued voices and anxious hearts outside the agon- 
 ized circle of his own fireside, testified their 
 sorrow at his probable fate. His loss would have 
 been felt as a public calamity. But a joyous 
 day ere long shone out on both kindred and 
 friends. Intelligence of his arrival in New York 
 
19 
 
 was speeded over the wires, and a day or two 
 later he was welcomed to his home in Geneseo 
 by the sound of bells and the congratulations of 
 his assembled friends and neighbors. 
 
 In public affairs the opinions and action of Mr. 
 Wadsworth were decided. He took a lively 
 interest in the leading questions of the day — 
 not the lower issues affecting mere party politics 
 — but questions involving grave principles, and 
 policies worthy the attention of statesmen, and 
 philanthropists, in which his views were thor- 
 oughly defined, and inflexibly determined. Had 
 he sought civil promotion, it was always open to 
 his acceptance ; but the tranquil paths of private 
 life were more congenial to his tastes and feelings. 
 
 But a new and untried field of action was 
 suddenly destined to open before him. Early in 
 the year 1861 the atrocious rebellion in the slave 
 States of the Union against the general govern- 
 ment, found him at his temporary residence in 
 the city of New York. The President of the 
 United States had called for troops to defend the 
 seat of government from spoliation, and possible 
 capture at the hands of the rebels. The national 
 treasury robbed ; the navy sent abroad, and scat- 
 
20 
 
 tered in distant seas; the army — what there was 
 of it — dispersed along our wide-spread frontier, 
 and the ma.teriel of defence squandered or carried 
 away by the parricidal hands of an administra- 
 tion who had sworn in all solemnity to support 
 the Constitution of their country ; in this hour of 
 its extremity, Mr. Wadsworth, in the impulsive 
 patriotism of his nature, rushed to that country's 
 rescue. With his own purse and credit he fur- 
 nished a vessel with a cargo of army supplies, 
 went with it to Annapolis, and gave his personal 
 attention to its distribution among the troops 
 which had been hastily called to protect the city 
 of Washington. This assistance on the part of 
 Mr, Wadsworth, so timely rendered in the impov- 
 erished condition of the public treasury, although 
 afterwards repaid to him, was none the less cred- 
 itable to both his patriotism and liberality. He 
 then offered his services to the Government in 
 any capacity where they could become useful, or 
 important, and from that time forward abandoned 
 his private affairs to the care of his agents, and 
 devoted his entire energies to his country. As a 
 volunteer Aid to General McDowell, he engaged 
 in the first battle of Bull Run, and by his courage 
 
21 
 
 and energy, retrieved much of the disaster of 
 that ill-fated engagement. In July, 1861, appoint- 
 ed a Brigadier General, he was assigned to a 
 command in the Army of the Potomac. In the 
 succeeding month of March, he was ordered to 
 Washington, as Military Governor of the city, 
 and for nine months discharged with distinguished 
 ability the duties of that difficult and important 
 post. In December, 1862, at his own request, he 
 was ordered to the field. He reported to Major 
 General Reynolds, commanding the First Corps, 
 and was assigned by that distinguished officer to 
 the command of his First Division, and afterwards 
 led that division in the battles of Fredericksburg, 
 and Chancellorsville. At the battle of Gettys- 
 burg his was the first division engaged, going 
 into action at nine o'clock in the morning, and 
 fighting until four in the afternoon, encountering 
 the severest part of the action, and suffering the 
 heaviest loss of any portion of the army. Our 
 troops winning the battle, and routing the enemy 
 from the field, General Wadsworth, comprehend- 
 ing the vast consequences depending on the 
 immediate subjugation, or capture of the rebel 
 forces, urged the commanding General, Meade, 
 
22 
 
 to their pursuit. But in vain. Other and more 
 timid counsels prevailed, and that invading host 
 of rebels was suffered to escape with the mild 
 punishment of a simple defeat. The daring cour- 
 age and stern energy of General Wadsworth, on 
 this decisive field, placed him, in all the high 
 qualities of a soldier, second to no other General 
 officer of the army. 
 
 Nor was he, of his family, alone in his devo- 
 tion to the public service. Two sons followed 
 him into the army. The elder one, Charles, was 
 attached to the Department of the Gulf — served 
 as Captain under General Banks, and participated 
 in the attack on Port Hudson. With a year of 
 active service, at the call of imperative duties at 
 home, he resigned his command. The younger 
 son, Craig, was attached to General Wadsworth's 
 staff for a time, and afterwards held responsible 
 and hazardous positions with other General officers 
 in various departments, until May last, when 
 important domestic duties called him home. The 
 son-in-law of General Wadsworth, Captain Ritchie, 
 also joined the army early in the war. He was 
 engaged in General Burnside's first expedition, 
 afterwards served in the several battles at Port 
 
23 
 
 Hudson, and continued in active service until the 
 melancholy event of the Wilderness compelled his 
 resignation. If, in the annals all time, an instance 
 of higher patriotism, and intenser devotion to the 
 honor of their country has been shown by a father 
 and three sons, possessing millions of wealth, and 
 beckoned by all the allurements of ease and lux- 
 ury from personal danger, that instance has yet to 
 be written ; and would that the narrative of hard 
 fought battles, and bloody sacrifice could stop 
 here. 
 
 General Wadsworth took an active part in the 
 arrangements and preparations of the campaign 
 of General Grant in the spring of 1864 against 
 the rebel army in Virginia. His judgment in 
 council, and energy in action had placed him in 
 such estimation with the military authorities, that, 
 at the outset of the campaign he was charged 
 with a leading command. A decisive work was 
 before the Army of the Potomac. The country 
 had become impatient of delay in its long antici- 
 pated advance, and anxiously expectant of better 
 results than had, in the past, marked its checkered 
 fortunes. This feeling was known to no one 
 better than to Wadsworth. He responded to 
 
24 
 
 it with all the fervor of his unfaltering nature, 
 and with a determination, on his own part, that it 
 should not be disappointed. The incidents attend- 
 ing the opening of the campaign, and its first 
 battle of the Wilderness, so melancholy in its 
 results, are of such interest that I shall be excused 
 for laying some of them before you, which I 
 obtained from Captain Craig W. Wadsworth, a son 
 of the General, who was in a part of the battle : 
 
 "When the Army of the Potomac was re-organ- 
 ized last spring, my father was placed in command 
 of the Fourth Division, Fifth Corps. This division 
 was made up of his old division of the First Corps, 
 with the addition of another, the Third Brigade. 
 He crossed the Rapidan on the 4th of May. On 
 the evening of the 5th, his command was engaged 
 for several hours, and lost heavily. On the morn- 
 ing of the 6th he was ordered to report to General 
 Hancock, commanding the Second Corps, and by 
 him was ordered into action on the right of that 
 corps. My father made several charges with his 
 division, and finally carried quite an important 
 position, but was unable to hold it, the enemy 
 coming down in superior numbers. This was 
 about eight o'clock A. M., the fighting having 
 
25 
 
 comniericed at daylight. About this time, Gen- 
 eral Hancock sent lor my father, and told him he 
 had ordered three brigades, Generals Ward's, 
 Webb's, and one from General Burnside's Corps, 
 to report to him, and he wished him, if possible, 
 with the six brigades under his command, to carry 
 a certain position. Three or four assaults were 
 made without success, the fighting being terrific. 
 My father had two horses killed under him. Gen- 
 eral Hancock then sent word to my father not to 
 make any further attempts to dislodge the enemy 
 at present. This was about eleven o'clock A, M. 
 The enemy did not show any further disposition 
 to attack. It was Hill's Corps which my father 
 had been fighting. Everything rernained quiet 
 until about twelve o'clock, when Longstreet pre- 
 cipitated his corps on my father's left, and hurled 
 back Ward's Brigade at that point, in some confu- 
 sion. My father, seeing this, immediately threw 
 his second line, composed of his own division, 
 forward, and formed it on the plank road, at right 
 angles to his original line, the ditch at the side of 
 the road affording his men some protection. It 
 was in trying to hold this line, with his own gal- 
 lant division, then reduced to about sixteen hun- 
 
26 
 
 dred men, that he fell. His tMrd horse was killed 
 that morning, about the time he was wounded. 
 The enemy was charging at the time, and got 
 possession of the ground before my father could 
 be removed. He was carried back to one of the 
 rebel hospitals that Friday afternoon, and lived 
 until Sunday morning." 
 
 To illustrate somewhat the carnage of war, and 
 its uncertainties, I may relate the whereabouts of 
 the son. Captain Craig Wadsworth, at " The Wil- 
 derness" battle: "During the 5th and 6th of May, 
 the division of cavalry to which I was attached, 
 was guarding the wagon train. On the morning 
 of the 6th, I obtained permission from my Gen- 
 eral, Torbert, to go up to the front, and remain 
 two or three hours with my father. I reached 
 him between eight and nine o'clock, and remained 
 with him until he received the order from General 
 Hancock not to make any further attempt to dis- 
 lodge the enemy. I got word about this time 
 that General Torbert was moving, so I rejoined 
 my command. We started out with General Sher- 
 idan on his raid, the next morning, and I never 
 knew positively of my father's death, until we 
 reached the White House." 
 
27 
 
 This narrative will scarcely be complete with- 
 out the letter of Patrick McCracken, to the widow 
 of General Waclsworth, a copy of which has been 
 kindly furnished me. It reads as follows: 
 
 Spotsylvania Court House, Va., 
 May 9th, 1864. 
 
 Mrs. General Wadsworth, New York : 
 
 Dear Afadam, — You have heard, before this reaches 
 you, of the death of your brave husband, General Wads- 
 worth, I saw him in the hospital, near the battle-field, on 
 Saturday last, about ten o'clock ; he could not speak or 
 take any notice to anything ; he held a paper in his hand 
 with his name and address written on it ; he was surround- 
 ed with the most eminent surgeons in the Confederacy, 
 who done everything for him that could be done ; one of 
 them took the paper out of his hand, and when he laid 
 the paper back against his hand, he opened his hand and 
 took it back again ; he did not seem to suffer much, the 
 ball had entered the top, or rather the back of his head. 
 I saw him again on Sunday, about nine o'clock. I had 
 carried some sweet milk to the hospital, and wet his lips 
 several times, and let a little go down his mouth. But 
 when the surgeon raised him up, he could not get him to 
 let any go down. When I returned to the hospital, about 
 three o'clock, he was dead and in a box, ready for inter- 
 ment. I told the surgeon in charge that I was a prisoner 
 nine weeks in the Old Capitol, while the General was 
 Military Governor of Washington, and that I would have 
 a coffin made for him, and bury him in a family burying 
 ground ; he cheerfully consented. After much trouble, I 
 had a coffin made for him, as good as any could be made 
 
28 
 
 in the country. When I went for his remains with tlie 
 coffin, General Lee had given special orders, (not knowing 
 I was going to take charge of his remains.) that he should 
 be buried by a large tree, the tree to be cut low, and his 
 name marked on it. I had given the surgeon satisfactory 
 evidence that I would take care of the body, and with the 
 advice of Captain Z. B. Adams, Co. F., 66th Mass. Eegt., 
 they gave me the body. I removed it from the box to the 
 coffin, and brought it home last night, and buried it this 
 morning in the family burying ground at my house ; he is 
 buried with all his clothing, as he fell on the battle-field. 
 The grave is dug with a vault or chamber, the coffin cov- 
 ered with jDlunk, and then dirt. When arrangements are 
 made by our government for his removal I will take 
 pleasure in having him moved through our lines to his 
 friends. I live about a mile to the left of the plank road, 
 as you go from Fredericksburg to Orange Court House, 
 near New Hope Meeting House, on the plank road, twenty 
 miles from Fredericksburg and eigliteen from Orange 
 Court House. 
 
 I had a large plank planed and marked for a headstone, 
 and placed it at the head of the grave. He received all the 
 attention and kindness at the hands of the Confederate 
 authorities that could be bestowed upon him, as will be 
 attested by Captain Z. B. Adams, Co. R, 56 th Mass. 
 Regiment. 
 
 With great respect, I remain yours, 
 
 PATRICK Mccracken. 
 
 Thus, on the soil of his country's foe, far from 
 the soothing hand of sympathy, or the loved em- 
 braces of those lie held most dear — his brain 
 
29 
 
 shattered — his mind unconscious — but a glorious 
 memory awaiting him — died, and was temporarily 
 buried, this noble, generous soldier. Though 
 slaughtered on a distant battle-field, his remains 
 now rest in the burial ground of his native village. 
 The hand of filial affection rescued them from a 
 profaned grave. They were tenderly removed, 
 and, under the escort of a detachment of Invalid 
 Corps, from Washington, arrived at Geneseo on 
 the morning of the 21st of May, after a lapse of 
 fifteen days from the time he fell, and were depos- 
 ited within the walls, and amid the heart-stricken 
 circle of his now desolated home. A multitude 
 from the surrounding, and even distant country, 
 had come to meet the arrival of the Dead Soldier, 
 and pay their last tribute of respect at his grave. 
 His burial was simple, as was fitting to his 
 grand and simple life. In the afternoon of the 
 day, the remains were removed to the Episcopal 
 church of the village. The solemn ritual of his 
 own Christian faith was said, and then, preceded 
 by a veteran corps of the 21st Volunteer Regi- 
 ment, from Buffalo — one of the earliest which 
 entered the war, and himself had led to battle — 
 and followed by a great concourse of those who had 
 
30 
 
 long loved, and now mourned him, his body was 
 borne to its final rest. 
 
 And there he sleeps till at the Trump divine, 
 The Earth and Ocean render up their dead. 
 
 It may appear superfluous to speak further of 
 General Wadsworth, or to delineate his character 
 to those who knew him so well as you ; but to 
 those who did not know him — and his fame is 
 the property of his country — it is but just to 
 speak of him as he deserved. An allusion might 
 be made to the more matured policy, and opin- 
 ions which influenced him, beyond mere impulse, 
 to enter into the military service of his country ; 
 but this is not the time, nor is it the place, for such 
 allusion. The graver, and more leisurely pen of 
 History will do justice to both, when it shall write 
 the full measure of his intentions, and contemplated 
 action, had his life been spared to disclose them. 
 That they were wise, and beneficent, as they were 
 entirely unselfish — reaching far beyond any aspi- 
 ration to mere military fame, or the applause 
 accorded to temporary success — is known to those 
 who were intimate with his thoughts. That he 
 was not ambitious of political distinction is proved 
 by his declining the oflice of Governor of the 
 
31 
 
 State, some years ago, when his simple assent to 
 the wishes of his party friends, then in a powerful 
 majority, would have elected him. At the break- 
 ing out of the rebellion, he magnanimously urged 
 upon the President of the United States, the 
 appointment of General Dix, to the office of Major 
 General, on account of his greater military expe- 
 rience, and fitness, although a political opponent, 
 when they had both been named by the Executive 
 of New York for that position, and under the rule 
 of the War Department, at Washington, but one 
 of them could be accepted. 
 
 To an intimate friend of General Wadsworth, 
 (the Hon. Daniel H. Fitzhugh, of Geneseo,) I am 
 indebted for some relations of his private life 
 which I have given you, and, in addition, I repeat 
 some of his words: 
 
 " I have known General Wadsworth since he 
 was a boy of ten years old, and his early years 
 gave promise of what his manhood would be. 
 Although never quarrelsome, he was always ready 
 to resent insult, or resist oppression. His friend- 
 ships were fixed and unwavering, and to serve a 
 friend, he would risk to any extent, either person 
 or proj)erty. His domestic relations were most 
 
32 
 
 happy. A more kind, indulgent, or affectionate 
 husband, and father, I have never known. His 
 hospitality was unbounded, and, as a host, I have 
 met with few who possessed so happy a faculty 
 of entertaining their guests ; his conversation 
 always animated, amusing, and instructive. He 
 lived a truly Christian life, although not a professor 
 of religion. He loved his fellow men, and was 
 always foremost when any charity was to be dis- 
 pensed, or any project was on foot for enlightening, 
 elevating, or benefiting, in any way, the human 
 family. He was liberal to his tenants, in the abate- 
 ment of rents, when their crops had been destroyed, 
 or injured by insects, floods, or droughts. Brave 
 to rashness, he was generous, liberal, humane. 
 Highly intelligent and well educated, he possessed 
 all the qualities which make men good and great. 
 In short, I have seldom known an instance where 
 so many high qualities have been combined in 
 one individual, and would to God we had more 
 like him in this trying crisis of our country !" 
 
 Such is the testimony of one who knew him for 
 nearly fifty years. In a personal acquaintance 
 with General Wadsworth for more than thirty 
 years, I have, seldom or never, known one for 
 
33 
 
 whom I had a greater respect. His bearing was 
 manly, his words sincere, his sentiments outspoken. 
 He was direct and cordial in manner, genial in his 
 associations, affable to all with whom he had inter- 
 course, irrespective of rank, or condition in life, 
 yet decided in opinion, and frank in its expression. 
 If any quality of his mind stood out conspicuously 
 beyond another, it was that of a vigorous common 
 sense, coupled with a ready judgment, applied to 
 all matters which arrested his attention. This was 
 manifested in various public questions which agi- 
 tated the community, as well as in the manage- 
 ment of the large estates, both real and personal, 
 under his control, not only to the benefit of the 
 estates themselves, but to the welfare of the com- 
 munities with which they were connected. In all 
 his business relations, I have never heard of an act 
 of injustice or oppression at his hands. 
 
 His faithfulness to the duties of any kind which 
 he had undertaken, was a striking feature of his 
 character. In the three years of his connection 
 with the war, he did not, altogether, spend six 
 weeks of time at his family home. His soul was 
 in his country's service. Nor was his attention 
 alone absorbed in the simple official duties of the 
 
34 
 
 Commander. In camp, he was among liis soldiers, 
 in tent, or in liospital, looking after their v^ants, 
 ministering to their comfort, promoting their wel- 
 fare, and correcting abuses where they existed — 
 thus adding to the efficiency of his corps by every 
 exercise of humanity, as well as by the sterner de- 
 mands of the field. No General was ever more 
 ]:)eloved by his troops than he. 
 
 Those who recollect the Irish dearth, of the year 
 1847, when the famished cry of millions of down- 
 trodden sufferers reached America, will not forget 
 the merciful bounty with which he contributed to 
 freight a ship with corn, and gratuitously sent it 
 out for distribution to the hunger-stricken people. 
 Nor was he vaunting in his charities, timely and 
 liberal as they were. It was characteristic of his 
 benevolence to do good by stealth, rather than to 
 be seen of men. He demeaned himself as one of 
 the great human brotherhood, and I might even 
 speak of his expression of indignant commisera- 
 tion over the victims of a boasted "domestic in- 
 stitution," as in their crouching helplessness, side 
 by side, he and myself, some years ago, stood over 
 them at a human chattel market in one of the 
 "chivalrous" Southern States. 
 
35 
 
 His tastes were elevated, and liberal. He 
 esteemed his wealth less for his own pleasure, than 
 for the benefit and happiness of others. He indul- 
 ged in no idle display of luxury, yet the elegancies 
 of life, and the adornments of art found in him an 
 appreciating admirer and patron. He loved lands 
 in all their wealth of vegetable, or mineral pro- 
 duction. He loved to talk of agriculture, and its 
 advancement, of crops, and their improved modes 
 of cultivation, of horses, and of cattle. He loved 
 the grand old trees in his ancestral meadows, and 
 every natural, and artificial thing which beautified 
 the earth, and ministered to the benefit of man. 
 
 In remarking upon the wealth of General Wads- 
 worth, it may possibly be inferred that undue merit 
 has been given him for the accident of its possession. 
 Not so. It was not because he had wealth, but 
 because he knew how to use his wealth, that I 
 speak of him in terms of approbation. I strive to 
 measure him the man he was. In this age of lax 
 education, irregular habits, and impulsive action — 
 an age in which money is the God of most men's 
 adoration — he had wealth enough to spoil twenty 
 common men, and it was a rare merit in him that 
 with all the tempting opportunities at his hanc], 
 
36 
 
 he withstood their fascinations. The wonder is 
 that he was not a profligate, or — a miser. 
 
 But the last great labor of his life — his devo- 
 tion to a country which he loved beyond all else 
 
 — proved the virtue that was in him. Surrounded 
 with all that could render life enjoyable • — friends, 
 fortune, domestic love, and the consciousness of 
 duty well discharged — he abandoned them all at 
 the coming of his country's danger, went forth to 
 its rescue — and, if might be, to die for its deliv- 
 erance. He could equally well, as men would say, 
 have served his country in contributing of his 
 treasure to its necessities, instead of leading its 
 soldiers to battle, and his valuable life been spared 
 to his family, to the community, and to the State. 
 But such was not his own sense of duty, and his 
 blood has paid the sacrifice of his devotion. In 
 his death we, as a Society, mourn a friend and 
 associate ; the community in which he lived, a 
 useful citizen; the State an enlightened patriot; 
 the army, a heroic soldier ; and the Nation, a Man 
 worthy of its noblest honors. A life of active 
 duty, crowned with achievements of loftiest intent, 
 has written him high in the roll of illustrious men 
 
 — the peer of any other in the annals of his time. 
 
37 
 
 Sleep! hero — patriot — benefactor! Peacefully 
 sleep in your honored grave! And may that 
 Almighty Power who holds the destiny of nations 
 in His hand, lift your beloved country from its 
 present calamity, and redeemed from all servile 
 oppression and bloodguiltiness, establish it a mon- 
 ument of righteousness to the world ! 
 
 On the conclusion of the memorial, the Honora- 
 ble Ex-Gov. John A. King, offered the following 
 resolution : 
 
 Resolved, As the sense of the members of the 
 Society, that the death of our lamented associate 
 and friend, James S. Wadsworth, fills our hearts 
 with unfeigned regret and sorrow — that his ab- 
 sence from our deliberations and exhibitions is felt 
 and acknowledged by all who knew his worth and 
 intelligence. He was no common man. Liberally 
 educated, with a sound, firm, and discriminating 
 mind ; inheriting the broad lands of an honored 
 father, the cultivation and management of which 
 
38 
 
 was his delight and occupation, he stood forth a 
 noble example of an American citizen in all his 
 relations. Foremost in the cutivation of the arts 
 of peace, he gave his life in the defense of the 
 Union and the Constitution of his country, when 
 rebel hands were raised against them. Honored, 
 therefore, be the memory of such a man, whose 
 life and death were alike distinguished and glori- 
 ous, and whose name must ever be a house- 
 hold word among the free homes of his native 
 State. 
 
 The resolution was unanimously adopted. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
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