; M r^\ Scot. t em w. m m m S If (lass frtt-qj Book '^L __ ^^g^^m^^^m Purchased for the use of the ARMY AT LARGE. MAP ) cLur^ciyr-cl^ Purchc CIjs Siurifio Consunuir, LIFE O F EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER, A SOLDIER IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. JEREMIAH TAYLOR, D. D. il Honor is the reward of action. \ BOSTON B HEISTRY HOYT, No. 9 Corn hill. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by HENRY HOYT, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. GEO. C. BAND & AVERT, STEREOTTPEES AND PRINTERS. To the Officers, Teachers, and Scholars of the Sabbath School of the First Congregational Church, J&iddletoTJcm, Conn., This Memoir of one of their number is affectionately inscribed. MM 3y TrannW- 39 \9tf PREFACE. >^< IRCUMSTANCES occurring in life often give prominence and importance to char- acters and individuals that might not otherwise have been brought to the public notice. Strength of purpose, finished beauty of char- acter, is an important part of the compensation derived from what is severe in trial and rigid in the discipline of earth. Hence, it is times of marked severity which not only create^ but v YI PREFACE. reveal for admiration the best features of man- hood. In nature, the rainbow is not photographed, except there be first the background of storm and cloud. "And darkness shows us worlds of light We never saw by day." The appalling scenes of civil war through which this nation is now drifting afford a rare opportunity for perfecting some of the divine forms of individual life, as well as for exhibit- ing to the world the wisdom and strength combined in our free institutions. By-gone ages, which we have been wont to view only through the hazy atmosphere of his- toric record, have rolled back upon us. And PREFACE. VII we are struggling in the midst of all that is heroic, grand, self-denying, enduring, to con- serve our priceless inheritance, as our fathers did to purchase and transmit it to us. And so the names and deeds of thousands are passing into materials for future history, which times of peace had left to a humbler sphere of light and influence. The life delineated in the following pages is chiefly valuable to intimate friends. If, outside of the circle of partial friendship, the volume shall seem to have merit, it will be due, in the main, to the fact, that it is the story of a Christian soldier, — one who found it sweet to die for his country. One whose example may stimulate others to VIII PREFACE feel that it is better to be sacrificed in the cause of the right in youth than to come to the grave of years through the hidden path of neglected duty and cowardly invirility. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. FTS PLAC/R OF P.TRTTT-. EARLY YFARS, .... ... 11 CHAPTER II. HIS GREAT BEREAVEMENT — THE DEATH OF FATHER, HIS ... 19 CHAPTER III. SCHOOL DAYS — ENTERS COLLEGE, . . .29 CHAPTER IV. BUSINESS LIFE, ... 31 IX X CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. TfP'T.TftTnTTS f.HARACTER .... .44 CHAPTER VI. "FTSTTTSTS AS A SOTjDTER . .59 CHAPTER VII. WOMAN AND DUTY — HIS MOTHER'S SACRIFICE, . 65 CHAPTER VIII • DEPARTURE FOR THE SEAT OF WAR — CAMP LIFE .80 CHAPTER IX. CLOSING SCENES OF LIFE, . . . .115 CHAPTER X. BURIAL .135 _ 1 LIFE AND CHARACTER EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. CHAPTER I. HIS PLACE OF BIRTH EARLY YEARS. ATURAL scenery has much to do in the formation of indi- vidual character. The grand and imposing in the outer world stimulate to the bold and elevated in thought ; while the beautiful and the tranquil serve to chasten the spirit, and adorn the life with the amiable and quiet virtues. The classic story informs us, that Her- 11 12 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF cules, the old prodigy of strength, engaged in his first successful battle for life, while the occupant of his cradle. It is no fable, to say, that ordinarily, the influences which wait upon the opening period of life are potent for good or ill, and serve not a little to give tone and color to the future. There is such a happy combina- tion of the grand and the less imposing in much of our American scenery as tends to produce the most favorable results upon the body and mind of the inhabitants. There is both strength and aspiration, and also the graceful and the pure. Among the more favored portions of New England, in these happy combinations, may be ranked the val- ley of the Connecticut ; and in this highly- favored section, few places will care to dis- pute the palm of precedence with the old EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 13 town of Middletown, in the centre of the State of Connecticut. The small city, which retains the name of the town, nestles closely upon the river, just where it makes its graceful sweep, and turns aside from the pleasant dales, where it has so long proudly borne its course, to make its way more directly through a garrison of hills for the waters of the great deep, and becomes the open channel of commerce to and from the national metropolis. Ascending from the river a few hundred yards in this city, we reach High Street, distinguished for its elegant residences, inviting lawns, gardens, and flowering shrubs. The street is so thickly set with shade and ornamental trees on either side, that when the foliage is in perfection, the rays of the sun strive in vain to impinge on the ground. These prem- 14 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ises, being guarded carefully from the intru- sion of the sportsman, have become the elysium of various kinds of birds, where, at certain seasons, they pour forth their full flow of song, and add the finish to a scene of such attractive beauty. Midway in this street, which runs north and south, just where the curve of the rolling surface rises highest, stands the massive stone man- sion erected by the late Nathan Starr, the maternal grandparent of Edward. Front- ing on College Street, which descends the hill, just south of the spacious grounds which belong to this edifice, at the lower extremity of the orchard, stands the house where he was born, April 15, 1842. Here his mother and two sisters still reside. His mother had been married to Hamilton Brew- er, a young physician just established in EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 15 his profession here, in the month of May of the previous year. The parents took this their first-born child to the sanctuary, where he received baptism, September first of the same year. Parental love of the most thoughtful and watchful kind guarded the child from the moment his being began. His infancy and childhood unfolded happily as a flower that enjoys continually the in- fluence of a healthful atmosphere, sunshine, and rain; and which is carefully protected from the sting of the hurtful insect. The most gratifying results of parental fidelity early appeared in the character and conduct of the child. He learned to shun the evil, and cleave firmly to the good. The defects and vices in character against which he had been warned at home, were quickly seen in others abroad, and received 16 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF. the earnest expressions of his disapproba- tion. It is told of him, that he had a com- panion whom he tenderly loved, and in whose society he found much of his pas- time in one of his early summers. His ear caught from his lips one day the wicked word. The sport was at an end in a mo- ment, as Eddie turned sorrowfully away, saying, "I shall not play with you, if you use such naughty words ! " At first, the transgressor was disposed to brave it out, and sacrifice his companion rather than to correct the vice in his conduct ; but better judgment ruled his final purpose, and he gave the pledge of reform, and cemented more firmly than ever their friendship. The young hero had that day the triumph of a double victory: he ruled his own spirit, and taught another how to conquer himself. EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 17 Life thus well begun can hardly fail to ex- pend itself in some broad field of usefulness. The home of Edward was ever a place of his cherished delights. The house was fashioned after an architectural model very common in the earlier periods of the coun- try, — double in front, with two stories sur- mounted with a gambrel roof. It holds an eligible position affording an extended view of the surrounding country. On the east, rise conspicuous in the distance the Cobalt Hills, at the foot of which, through the Narrows, the river forces its way, on the opposite bank of which are the silver mines, which were opened in the period previous to the Revolution. Thence, a little way south, stands prominent to view, White Rock, a favorite resort, and the Feld-Spar Quarries, from which have been gathered 18 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF several choice minerals, besides the large exports which are annually made of the feld-spar itself for manufacturing purposes. On the west, within a minute's walk, at the head of the street, is the Wesleyan Univer- sity ; while a short distance below, arise the spires and towers of the various churches. Hedges and fruit-trees, vines, flowering and sweet-scented shrubs fill the yard and climb upon the building, and extend to the birds an invitation to make their home and re- peat their songs there, which they freely accept. Here the boyhood of the child flowed on delightfully to himself, and free from any great sorrow, until he had just en- tered his fourteenth year; then there settled a cloud over the home circle, which would never be fully removed. The young heart had come to the scene of its first .great trial. EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 19 CHAPTER II HIS BEREAVEMENT DEATH OF HIS t/ ^) O FATHER. >HE Christian home ! What spot so choice on earth ? It is the fragment of a lost par- adise, which has come down to us through the ages. As the world now is, it seems impossible that any institution could be substituted in its place, fraught with so benign influences for individual man or society at large. It is virtue's gar- den ; the abode of purest love ; the sa A tuary of hallowed sentiments. Sweet har- 20 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF mony of soul is there. God is there in covenant with man. How well adapted, too, the parental rela- tion, which exists in such a connection, to the necessities of childhood and form- ing youth. A double love, a twofold guar- dianship is placed about the morning of life, that nothing may check its healthful growth. Father and mother are there, — one to nourish and train the plant at home, the other to guide and protect it when borne forth into the atmosphere of the busy world. Man never appears more de- praved in himself, more cruel to his fellow- men, than when attempting to obliterate the family, or to weaken its influence, and to break down the towers of its strength. Death never seems more cruel than when he stalks boldly into such a sacred enclos- EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 21 ure and lays his chosen victim low. Espe- cially is the scene one of gloom and mystery when the family is young. When " parents are leading forth their little ones like a flock," how agonizing the hour, when the de- stroyer comes and bears one away ! And the parent, — must he die? What will become of those who need his care ? A few morn- ings since, I stood by a bereaved one as he struggled with his great sorrow. His wife was sleeping her last sleep by his side. His children were motherless. The sweet babe had been but a few hours on her bosom when her heart became cold and dead, and her tender care was evermore denied it. There was a cloud on the divine throne that hour, overshadowing that dwelling, — one we have often seen elsewhere. We could only bow the head and weep, saying, 22 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP " Thy will be done," as the voice of speak- ing Love was heard through the gloom, "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." At the period to which our narrative had come in the previous chapter, Dr. Brewer's family consisted of three children, — Edward and two younger sisters ; and the picture of home-life there enjoyed was such as might challenge the admiration of the be- holder. The father was exerting a widen- ing influence in his profession, and eliciting the warm esteem of all whom he met in the other walks and business relations of life. When in vigorous health, he was pros- trated by a fatal disease which terminated life after a few hours of intense suffering. His wife was a widow, his children father- EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 23 less! Were not such scenes so common, we should say they could not be endured. What a change for a young, buoyant life to pass through ! Just when needing a father's hand most, to have it relinquish its hold evermore ! Life is made up of periods or chapters ; scenes of pleasure now and here j times of trial then and there. Many a poor child has come to his first great trial, and been crushed by it; the young heart had not strength to endure. It is not every sapling that bows gracefully before the sweeping tornado, and comes up erect again in the wake of the tempest. To most per- sons, great sorrows are eras from which marked changes in personal character be- gin. Life is set forward, henceforth, more vigorously in the right direction, or it then takes a sudden turn downward to ruin. If 24 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF the heart opens aright, as the barbed arrow enters it, truth leaves her healing balm there, and the blessing is sure. "I am fatherless; my mother a widow!" must have been the sorrowful reflection in the mind of Edward, as they returned from the grave to their desolate home, and sat musing in the evening twilight. These two facts were to him like two well-set eyes opening vivid visions of the future. His home, his heart, the world everywhere seemed sad, gloomy under the shadows they revealed. A child differently trained might have debated with himself whether he should not assume an air of independence, reject maternal advice and authority, and mark out for himself such a course for the future as would ac- knowledge no restraints but what might be self-imposed. How many a son has struck EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 25 the rock of his destruction by rejecting the counsels of his mother at such a turn in life ! but not so was the decision in the in- stance before us. The noble, right-spirited boy finds two grand, governing purposes formed within hi in in that serious hour. I will do all that I can to bless and comfort my sorrowing parent. I will reflect the virtues of my father in my own life. Those purposes were like two loving, powerful guardian angels, and they kept the lad henceforth in the way he should go. As daily he looked upon the face of his bereaved mother, struggling between the cheerfulness it would bear towards her children, and the shadows of her deep sorrow, which were continually gathering there, his heart became brave for her sake, and his bearing was manly, dignified, under 26 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF the thought that so holy a mission had been intrusted to him, — that he was to comfort the distressed, bear the burden of the heavy- laden. Sometimes there is a painful matu- rity created by these great changes in the outward circumstances of a young life. Childhood, with its imposed cares, its dis- turbed sources of joy, overleaps youth. Manhood goes down to embrace the child and aid in bearing its cares, and leaves its thoughtful impress on the plastic nature, and the child is no more young. Life thus forced to maturity by the discipline of ad- versity, does not ordinarily present the most pleasing picture for contemplation. The natural formation of a free, outgushing youth, with the healthy glow of innocent glee, is better, led, indeed, in wisdom's ways, and instructed by the counsels of unerring EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 27 truth. Dwarfs in body, or very marked precocity of mind, are sources of pain rather than enjoyment to one who delights in the harmonies of a beautiful creation. Edward was truly a thoughtful boy. He was not likely to do things rashly. No gross transgressions in conduct are regis- tered against him ; yet his life was cheerful, and the yoke he was bearing seemed not too heavy, but like that which the wise man says it is good for one to bear in his youth. While he remembered the joys that had been tasted and were gone, he did not forget that others, and perhaps more pre- cious, might return. The world was still bright, though the sun had once been eclipsed. Much of the grief that would otherwise have remained in the home circle passed away in the charm of his presence 28 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF and the promises of his life. And so the father slept; the grave was closed; and the family looked out upon the future with a new hand pointing onward ! The bow was in the cloud. EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 29 CHAPTER III SCHOOL DAYS ENTERS COLLEGE. NE who afterward became em- inent as a scholar is said to have been greatly incited in his purpose to obtain a liberal education by the sight of a school academy, and the daily ringing of the bell from its tower, in his hearing, as he was laboring, when a boy, in a neighboring field. Nothing was wanting to the educational surroundings of young Brewer's home to incite him in the same direction. The city high school was nearly opposite his 30 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF mother's door, where hundreds of children assembled daily for their studies. The stu- dents of the college, located hard by, he met in all his walks. The house and grounds of his maternal parent were now converted into a classical boarding-school; other schools and seminaries of a high order were but a little more removed; so that it would hardly be possible for him not to cherish the thought of pursuing a regular course of classical study. Add to these the fact that his father had been a gradu- ate of the university, and a member of one of the learned professions, and his course for life seemed plainly indicated. The spirit of the boy was certainly not wanting in that direction. He pursued the studies consti- tuting the course preparatory to college, at the high school, and at the boarding-school EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 31 of Rev. H. M. Colton, and entered the Fresh- man class in the Wesleyan University, in the autumn of 1859, when seventeen years old. After a few months of trial in the class- room, he became convinced that he could not pursue the prescribed course either with comfort or success. Distressing pains afflicted his head ; he was also at times troubled with discouraging weakness of the eyes. It was a terrible trial to abandon his cherished plans by taking up his connection with college. He was goaded to the quick when friends intimated that he was fickle, and lacked decision of purpose and energy in prosecution. He struggled long, before reaching a final conclusion as to what he ought to do ; but the disease still remained like a bitter foe, forbidding literary pursuits, 32 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP and he at length turned sorrowfully and finally away from the bright vision which had tempted him onward. Some one has saidj " The setting of a great hope is like the setting of the sun, — darkness comes on, and then the stars begin to shine." So serious a matter as the change of all his plans for life did not leave the young stu- dent devoid of a purpose to accomplish some- thing. He had no patrimony to tempt him to idleness and dissipation. He must toil somewhere, — make the world feel his influ- ence for good in some department of honor- able industry. Life was too precious to be wasted. Surely the Lord had need of him, and he would work. He derived much pleasure and strength, during all these days of his second * great trial, from the thought that his mother sane- EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 33 tioned his course by her counsel ; and he could but believe that prosperity would, in the end, follow the fortune of that child who acted in accordance with parental wis- dom. Too many eminent men had attributed their success in life to fidelity to maternal influence to leave a doubt in that matter. The teachings of the sacred Word were too plain for him to cherish a feeling of uncertainty on this point. He had learned the words. " Honor thy father and mother," — which is the first commandment with promise, — " that it may be well with thee, and that thou may est live long on the earth." 3 34 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CHAPTER IV. BUSINESS LIFE. N former years, Middletown was quite extensively engaged in the manufacture of fire-arms for government service. The various streams that flowed through the valleys offered, at limited expense, the requisite power for running machinery, and held out inducements for capitalists to erect capa- cious buildings, which were converted to other uses in later periods, but, now that war is upon the nation, are more or less devoted again to their original service. The EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 35 sound of the forge, the glare of the furnace, and the hum of the machinery do not cease now during the livelong week, telling the terrible haste there is in this work of death! It is our good fortune here in New Eng- land, to learn the magnitude of the national struggle through indirect channels, rather than under the immediate blighting influ- ence of marching and contending embattled hosts. The amount of laoor and capital employed in constructing the implements of war is no unmeaning witness on the subject. It makes the heart sicken when we pause to inquire, Where is flowing the strength of our young men, our arms and our treasures? If it were an enemy that had clone this, how easy, comparatively, to be borne ! but when our foes are those of our own house- hold, the sacrifice which we are called to LIFE AND CHARACTER OF make, by the fierce passions and unhallowed ambition of those who have taken the sword to destroy us, in defence of our sacred honor and blood-purchased rights, is greater than heaven is wont to claim of any people. " Oh, thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet ? " In this earlier government service, the maternal grand-parent of Edward was long and successfully employed ; and in later labors for furnishing the nation with arms, two brothers of his mother were extensively engaged. It seemed natural for the youth, now that his thought was turned to business pursuits, to look in the direction where so many of his friends and relatives had found their calling. An opportunity every way favorable was offered him by his uncles in their large factory in Binghamton, New EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 37 York. He acceded to their proposal, deter- mined to master the business in all its de- tails, so as to secure for himself the best possible position. To this end, believing that he who would ultimately be master must begin at the very lowest part and ascend, he entered the manufactory as a careful learner. It was a severe trial to leave his home for this new start ; but not more so to him than to those he left behind. How deeply he cherished the desire that all should go well with the family of his love, is revealed by a letter he sent his eldest sister while at Binghamton. Re- ferring to an invitation which had been extended to her by her aunt to pass some time with her in New Haven, and express- ing the hope that her visit would be every way agreeable and profitable; to her, he adds: 38 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF " But while you are at home, remember that you are mother's oldest daughter ; and that you ought to help her as much, as you can. I wish you to break yourself of the very bad habit you are indulging in, — of hugging the pillow in the morning, and thus robbing yourself of the best hours of the day for doing anything. As mother has taught us, and as I just begin to appreciate, remember the old and familiar maxim, — 1 Early to bed and early to rise is the way to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.' " So rouse up, and do all you can to help mother bear her already too heavy burdens. By pursuing such a course, you will not only have her warmest love, but what pre- sents a far better and stronger motive than any earthly love, however pure, — you will have the approval of God. With his love EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 39 in your heart, all will go well with you. Remember that this life is but a place of discipline, where we must all be tried, as silver is tried; and if we take a correct view of our trials, we shall not only, by them, be made better in this world, but under their influence ripen for our heavenly home." If in the change of pursuits he had ex- pected to find deliverance from his disease in the head, he was doomed to disappoint- ment. The trouble was aggravated rather than diminished, by the noise and confusion of the workshop; so that he felt obliged, after a few months' experiment, to return to his home to find rest. He came to us greatly depressed in spirit, sadly disappointed, ex- pecting to hear the old suggestion, want of stability. lie mingled but little in soci- ety ; and, contrary to his better judgment, 40 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP he determined to return to the trial at some day not far in the future. We recall with sadness these days, because his spirit was so overwhelmed within him ; and he did not care to have it known that he was again beneath the paternal roof. There was a voice which he heard even then, speaking to his secret soul, as the notes of the friendly bell sound on the ear of the doubtful mar- iner, through fog and tempest, guiding him in the course he should go : " Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. In all thy way acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Impor- tant changes in the business of his em- ployers caused his stay at home to be protracted beyond what had at first" been contemplated. In the mean time an open- ing occurred for the services of a young EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 41 man in one of tho banking-houses of the city. The position seemed so desirable, that a large number made application for it. Ed- ward came to me one morning, exhibiting more than usual excitement and solicitude in his words and manner. He would not divulge the important secret in full, but desired such testimonials to his personal merit as might aid him in securing a busi- ness position on which his heart was set. A few days afterward we met; he was clerk in the Middlesex County Bank. The joy of his heart was full. The limited business hours presented ample opportunities for open-air exercise. The little garden where he had strayed when a child would feel his hand of cultivation. He could again launch his boat on the river, where in boyhood he had whiled away so many leisure hours. 42 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP But the grand charm of the arrangement was found in being at home. Familiar skies were overhead ; the Lord's house, the home of his religious affections, was open there to receive him on the sacred day of rest j the social meeting, where his feet had been wont to go of an evening hour, invited his attendance. Here, too, he could be in the family, where his presence, counsel, and love to mother and sisters contributed more and more to their essential comfort. Be- yond the present, there opened to view an honorable and successful business, should he be faithful to his trust. Many, beside the youth and his relatives, thought they saw in all this the hand of Hirn who pities them that fear him, like as a father pitieth his son. It seemed to those who were familiar with his great personal merit, that EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 43 nowhere else could he be more useful, by his example and efforts, than where he had been brought up. He had no need to go among strangers to have honor, or to meas- ure the strength of his influence. We leave him now, to attend to the calls and the routine of daily duty in the banking-house, to turn back a little and delineate his char- acter as light falls upon it from another source. 44 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CHAPTER V. ©. EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 81 CHAPTER VIII. DEPARTURE FOR THE SEAT OF WAR LIFE IN CAMP. RIGHT decision in duty is a central power which brings into vigorous exer- cise and appropriate bear- ing all the energies of life in man. Hence a youth, often, no sooner settles the question of his future course of action than he seems to have a new existence imparted to him. His soul is all on fire to reach the appointed goal, so that ordinary discourage- ments are powerless to check his progress. One who long observed young men during 82 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF their college course remarked, that, when a student had decided to be a foreign mission- ary, everything he undertook in the routine of daily labors was prosecuted far more successfully than before. Let the goal be set aright and it gives speed to the race. Persons of eminent success in some one department are often decried, because they pursue a single idea. But is it not the single aim that always leads when grand results are reached ? The man who has de- termined to do one thing well has started on the road he must take to greatness if he ever gets there. It is truly refreshing, in this world of so much misdirected energy, to mark the course of one whose life flows on under the guidance of a single aim, whose very being says, " Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ? " " For EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 83 me to live is Christ." " The age in which I live must feel the elevating power of my in- fluence." These men of one idea are the sharpshooters who so skilfully disarm the foe and render useless their heavy artillery! God bless them ! Edward was at my door as he returned from this interview with his mother. I met him as his foot rested on the threshold. He declined to come in, but extended his hand, as he bade me good-by. There was an earnestness in his word and manner, which had not appeared before. A great thought was urging him on. He was dedi- cated to the service of his country. • He was to become an actor in the gloomy trag- edy. His courage was up, his arm was nerved. He might not be hindered. The word of benediction was spoken. We did 84 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF not exchange salutations again. The Four- teenth Regiment, into which his company was enrolled, as Company B, was encamped for a few days at Hartford, Col. D wight Morris, commanding. August 25th, they embarked for New York on board of one of the propellers that ply between the two cities, hastening on their way to the scene of strife. On that day, as they sailed down the river, many a son of Middletown took his final look of the delightful city of his home and cherished affection, where the sunny past seemed more bright, as it was fading so rapidly from view, and sunset hues in the horizon of joys that might never re- turn were whispering with the closing eye of day, — " Good-night, good-night." In the first letter received from young EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 85 Brewer after their departure, he says to his mother, " xVs we passed Middletown, I saw you on Fisk's Dock and took off my hat and waved it. I tried hard to have you see me." Had they mutually seen the near fu- ture, how their eyes would have flowed into each other, treasuring up more sacredly than ever, each, the loved features of the other ! At no time in our great national struggle has the excited state of public feeling been at a greater height than when this regiment was en route for the seat of war. Gen. Pope's campaign in Virginia had proved a most disastrous and humiliating failure. The second defeat of Bull Run had sent a panic not only through the army, but the entire North, as the forces of the enemy, em- boldened by success, were pressing their 86 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF way by rapid movements into territory deemed hitherto safe from their incursions. The dangers of the hour forced into ser- vice where battles raged hot and fierce those who had just enlisted from the field and workshop, store and bank, and who were totally unprepared by previous train- ing for the hard work in hand. We have reached now a period in our nar- rative when the letters of the soldier be- come the light of his life. As they were, with only two or three exceptions, ad- dressed to his mother, the substance will be taken by extracts without preserving the formal address. His first letter is dated "Fort Ethan Al- len, Va., August 3d.," and gives us a vivid insight into the intense earnestness of the business upon which they had been sent. EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 87 " We crossed Long Bridge, Washington, Thursday noon, and arrived at our camp- ground, near Fort Richardson, late in the afternoon. We went to bed early, and, at three o'clock, Friday morning, were hustled out, and made a forced march of twelve miles to Fort Ethan Allen. Last night we slept on our arms, expecting an attack; and now, while 1 am writing, the guns are boom- ing in the distance. I am well and in good spirits, awaiting the enemy in the rifle-pits of the fort." This letter was written the sixth day after the regiment sailed from Hartford, and yet there they are in the very den of death, awaiting his terrific approach ! It is no marvel that the son finds occasion to caution his mother not to indulge in anxi- ety on his account, with the assurance "I am right." Still his heart has undergone an 88 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP amazing change if he really supposes she can fail to be exceedingly anxious when he presents to her view such a picture of his own exposure. Her boy in the rifle-pits, awaiting the enemy, and the mother not anxious ! The division of the army to which his reg- iment belonged was moved forward as rap- idly as the operations of the enemy and their own circumstances would permit, to- ward the section of the State of Maryland to which the invasion was directed. On the 11th of September, he writes from Clarksburg, Md., " We have been put through so fast since leaving Fort Ethan Al- len that I could not write you at an earlier date. Last Saturday we were ordered to pack our duds and be ready to march at a moment's warning. But evening came and EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 89 found us still in our encampment. Orders were then given for us to sleep on our arms. Sunday morn the command was, to march as quickly as possible. At two o'clock we were under way. The section of country through which our line of march lay looked fresh and nice; for war had not desolated it. Our route was through sev- eral small towns ; and Saturday night we en- camped just outside of Frederick, where I expected to enjoy a quiet Sabbath, and re- fresh myself by going to church. But war allows no Sunday. At three o'clock we were ordered out, and told to be ready to march again as soon as possible. We were pretty tired, but that made no difference ; go we must. For several days we could hear the roar of the cannon of our advance, following up and harassing the retreating 90 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ranks of the enemy. Our division did not arrive in time to take part in the engage- ment at Middletown Heights, but we crossed the ground after it was over." Edward's superior officers early discov- ered that he was qualified for some other service than that of a mere private in the ranks. He might be more useful with the pen than the sword. While on their march from Virginia into Maryland, he was de- tailed as clerk to Gen. French's headquar- ters. His new office was by no means a sinecure. He gives us an outline of his work : — " The first thing in the morning is to get up and prepare my breakfast. Mind you, I do not sit down to a table all made ready at my hand, as when with you. But I have to get my own breakfast. Washing face and EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 91 hands is entirely superfluous; and I don't in- dulge in that operation except when I have a chance , which is not every day, by any means. Water is a precious article here, and I know how to prize it now, if never before. " About eight o'clock in the morning my duties as clerk begin. I first make out the countersign papers for the day, of which there are seven. Next are the orders de- tailing regiments for picket duty, and for the outer lines, and one for the inside picket reserves ; making in all ten orders to begin with. This I call my play work, and always have it off my hands at ten o'clock ; then commences the hard work, in the shape of orders, reports, &c., from different generals in the division, and from Gen. McClellan's headquarters, of each of which there must 92 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF be five copies, when I make any ; and sometimes one order occupies three pages, and sometimes an entire sheet of large size letter-paper." So much did his hands find to do in those wearisome days that he says, " Out of seventeen days we have been at Harper's Ferry, there have been but five when I could find time to cook my regular meals, and I have often been under the necessity of getting along with one meal, and several times have written until after eleven o'clock at night." He breathes this story of his over-work into the ear of his tender parent, not to complain of his lot, nor to intimate a single regret that he has gone forth to the toil and exposure, but simply as his apology for not having written her more frequently. It is not difficult to believe the tale of his complete exhaustion, when he EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 93 says, " I have been so tired of writing, that, when I had time to send you a few lines, my hand ached so, that I had not energy enough to make the attempt." The terrible battle of Antietam, Md., of the 17th of September, 1862, has already been enrolled in the bloody annals of his- tory. The earth has been far richer in human gore and precious dust since that gloomy though triumphant day. The Four- teenth Connecticut Regiment, undisciplined as it was in the art of war, and most of the men who composed it only a few days out of the home circle, was brought into the heat of that engagement. Edward, being in the clerk's department, was detained by his duties in the rear of the army, and was con- sequently not exposed to the raking fire of the enemy. Report came to his ears that 94 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF many of his companions were cut down. Two days after the battle, still uncertain of the actual facts in the case, he writes, " Our company lost a good many men, but here it is Friday, and I have not seen any one to inform me how the matter stands. I am in a perfect fever of anxiety to know who are killed, wounded, and missing." The startling report came to his home, that he himself was among the number of the slain. But the hour for him had not yet come. It proved subsequently that only one of Company B was killed in that en- gagement, — that a townsman of Edward's, a member of the same Sabbath congrega- tion and Sabbath school. Robert Hubbard was the shining mark at which the cruel, "insatiate archer' 7 aimed his fatal dart on that day. It would seem as if the fell de- EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 95 stroyer might have spared even him, for our own noble Mansfield had already fallen. Holding a commanding position upon an eminence overlooking the battle-field, as the fight went on, the general's clerk " had a full view of the thrilling scene, and heard the not very pleasant music of whizzing and bursting shells." Gen. Mansfield, who fell early in that day's work, had known the young soldier from Middletown from his early life. They met just before the en- gagement began. The youth was over- joyed to see the veteran, his own friend and his mother's friend. And the heart of the general was moved with tenderness as he grasped the hand of inexperienced youth and contemplated the fearful struggle that was opening immediately before them. " He looked well, but seemed sad, as he pro- 96 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF nounced his benediction, " God bless and keep you. Take good care of yourself. I hope in due time you will be restored to your home and friends." As the words flowed from his lips, he put spurs to his horse and was quickly at the head of his division, in the very jaws of death. The old and the young are now both alike at rest. Sweet spring-time has already shed her beauty and fragrance over the graves where we have laid them. The horrors of war, in the more aggravat- ed forms of its appalling features, come after the struggle is over, when the ploughed, gory field is left to the dead and dying. Our young friend embraced an op- portunity which offered, to survey the field of the slain. " The second day after the battle, I went over a part of the field, some EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 97 ways to the right of the position held by our division. Not that I really have a rel- ish for such scenes, but just to satisfy my curiosity for once, in the survey of such a scene. And I then saw enough to check all further desires of a like kind. The posi- tion held by the enemy, covering a distance as far as from the college to Main Street, about one-fourth of a mile, was strewn with their dead. In some instances, piled one upon another, with limbs broken, and doubled under the body of the slain, they were lying as they fell in the engagement, in every conceivable posture. Back of these lay scattered those who fell during the re- treat to a position behind the fence, while behind the fence the dead were piled up three or four deep. In a clover-field about two hundred feet wide, the entire space 98 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF was strewn with guns ; knapsacks, blankets, canteens, dead horses, men, belts, cart- ridge-boxes, &c. &c. Crossing this lot, I en- tered the woods to note the destruction caused there. Trees nine inches in diame- ter were cut completely off by the shells, and others of larger growth were so shiv- ered that a heavy wind would prostrate them. Shot and shell thickly covered the ground in all directions. In an open space, there stood a building which in days of peace must have been used "to teach the young ideas how to shoot" but judging from present appearances, it had just now been taken as a target for artillery practice. It was literally riddled from floor to ceiling, and here, too, stretched in death, were a lot more of those miserable fanatics, known as rebels. I went through the hospitals. The EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 99 view which met me there was revolting. To see the wounded, hear their groans, wit- ness the physicians at their duties, sur- geons amputating limbs, — here an arm, and there a leg, — it has made me sick at heart." As might naturally be expected, the sud- den transition from all the comfort and care of home to the exposures and personal neg- lect of the camp, together with the intense excitement of mind, and the close applica- tion to his appointed duties at headquar- ters, induced disease of body, followed ulti- mately by great prostration of strength, from which he was never afterward fully able to rally. The malaria of the camp gen- erally is more fatal to life than the weapons of war. Harper's Ferry, at the time the Fourteenth Regiment was there, seemed totally abandoned to pestilential influences, 100 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF and it was next to certain death for one to sicken there. The poor boy, who had never lacked a gentle and skilful hand to nurse him before, presents a discouraging picture of himself in a letter written September 30th. "I have had the diarrhoea almost ever since I came out, and I cannot get rid of it. It makes me so weak, that it is not pleasant, to say the least. I wish you would tell me what is good for it, — that is, what herbs or barks that I can get and administer to my- self." Still he is disposed to take a hopeful and even mirthful view of things though depressed and enfeebled. " Give my love to 1 Cretia/ and tell her I wish I were as fat as her rabbits, but assure her I am about as fat as the match Uncle H. tells about." A life so valuable ought to have been cared for at EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 101 this stage of wasting disease ; and if the young soldier could not get well in camp or hospital ; why not send him where the only chance of recovery presented itself, — to his home? Pleasant as Edward found it on many ac- counts to be clerk at headquarters rather than retain his place in the ranks, there were some considerations which rendered it more desirable to be with his company. His unselfish nature wished for no indul- gence denied his companions in arms. " I am hardly willing/' he says, " to stay here at headquarters, and take things so comparatively easy, when the boys in the company are having it tougher than my- self. I started out with them, expecting to share in their hardships and participate in their joys. But I was ordered here, and 102 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP here I have been. So that I have the satis- faction, at least, of knowing that I have obeyed orders, and I think it would have been just the same if I had been ordered to charge with the rest np to the cannon's mouth, because I made up my mind when I left home to forswear ease and comfort, and take up with the lot of a soldier, whatever it might be, and, i God helping me,' to go wherever ordered, and spill my blood, if need be, for my country's cause. But now that I am in a place of comparative safety, it seems as if I deserved little or no credit for coming, and what you say of the com- mendation of friends, on account of the step I have taken, makes me blush. But I am glad for your sake, dear mother, that I am so favorably situated. Were it not for you, I should leave for the company instanter." EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 103 A most serious part of the trial connected with the separation from his company was the loss of the society of his bosom friend, Fairchild, who had been his intimate associ- ate in all the pastime of home-life from early years. Those were precious hours of joy when they met in tent or camp. "Amos was here last evening and spent the night with me, and a pleasant time we had. He was not feeling very well. I do not see him very often, nowadays, as he is some distance from my quarters, and I am so busy writing that I cannot get away." When a dear friend has gone forever from sight, many little incidents are often recalled, which made no very deep impres- sion at the time of their occurrence, but which in review reveal the fact, that an in- visible hand of love was shaping things for 104 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP the final separation, in those delicate arrange- ments which might prevent the full force of the crushing blow in its final descent. We know not how it is, but when the terrible event is announced, we seem to see many an index which had pointed in that direc- tion and which whispered, " It may come." Mrs. Brewer remembers now that there came to her home from her son one day a letter, containing pictures, hair, a ring, &c. She. was startled when she broke the enve- lope and noted the contents. What ! is the dear one already gone, that these memen- tos are sent home ? No, not that ; still, they may be but the precursor of such a re- sult. She reads, " I sent my pictures home because I wanted to be rid of the trouble of taking care of them, that is all. You will also find a lock of Amos's and my hair. We EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 105 reserved the hair for you when we were barbered fighting style, but I forgot to send it until now. My finger has become so emaciated that my ring will not stay on ; so I return it to you for safe keeping." Was not God lifting the veil which conceals the future, little by little, to that parent's eye, so that the shadow of the hastening ill may fall across her path before all is night ? His division of the army was at Warren- ton, Va., when a change w T as made in the department of Commander-in-Chief. Gen. McClellan was removed from that position, and Gen. Burnside temporarily occupied the place. Nov. 10th was the day when the change took place, in presence of the army. The " soldier-son " embraces the op- portunity, " wdien the general and staff are away," to forward a letter home. The cold 106 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF season has now set in, and a winter in camp is the opening prospect. If he may not pass the season of cold and storm in the home circle, they must do something for his comfort abroad ; and so he sets down various articles that he wishes to have forwarded to him. He displays excellent judgment and a careful economy in all matters of this kind. The useful and the good alone had attractions for him. He is very favorably impressed with the appearance of Burnside when at the head of the army, because he detects in him a taste like his own in the matter of dress. " I have seen him a number of times before/' he writes, Nov. 14th, "but never had so good a view of him as to-day. He is a fine- looking man. Dresses very plain ; wears no insignia of rank whatever. Just the EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 107 kind of officer for me. I have had about enough of gold-lace officers, who seem to care more about their traps than for a faith- ful discharge of the duties assigned them." There is one day in the year, if no more, when every son of New England lays his plans, if possible, to be at home. What a social bond has been created \>y the careful observance of our time-honored Thanksgiv- ing ! How it holds the child, roam where he may, to the cot that gave him birth, — " Where blend the ties that strengthen Our hearts in hours of grief, The silver links that lengthen Joy's visits when most brief." " I was away from home," writes the ab- sent son, "on last Thanksgiving-day, and I then thought nothing would keep me away this year; but I little thought then that I 108 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF should be in my present business." We seem to see the tears gushing from his eyes as the old festive board, laden with its rich viands and surrounded by happy, smiling faces, passes in review, and he remembers it will be far, far away from him ; but he dashes them away and summons up his brave heart to* cheer one who needs words of comfort more than himself. " Never mind ; I hope I shall see home again sometime, when war is over and peace once more reigns. It does seem, in any view, that this state of things must ter- minate before long. But if you could be out here at the l seat of war/ where I am, and see the poor fellows around you dying, worn out by marches and disease, and thus measure the misery brought upon us by this awful war, then you would be yet more EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 109 anxious to have it ended, and the soldiers sent back to their own homes. I am very thankful that these scenes of war are so far removed from you, and that while fearful carnage devastates this part of the country, 'our home,' with its pleasant memories, is safe from destruction at the hands of sol- diers." Thanksgiving-day, as noted on the calen- dar, came, but not the visit home. Nor did the box of good things, the tokens of home- love, so much expected, so earnestly de- sired, reach the absent one in camp. The encampment of Edward's division was at Bell Plains, Va., on this day. If his hand could not partake of good cheer, his heart was as a sunny land when he pictured the scene in camp for the eyes at home. " Yesterday was Thanksgiving-day, and 110 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP the regiment was favored with speeches from several officers, songs were sung, and the governor's proclamation read. I made my dinner from ' salt-horse ' and ' hard-tack/ and it tasted first-rate. I was very hungry, and that is a pretty good sauce. I hope you at home had a pleasant time, but I flat- ter myself you would like to have seen the missing one in his place." At length, disease has so impaired his health and strength that he is disabled longer to discharge the duties of the clerk- ship, and he is released from his position at headquarters, under the expectation of be- ing sent to the army hospital at Washing- ton, to receive proper medical treatment and quiet. But his regiment being detailed from the regular service to guard supplies at Bell Plains, he joined his company there, EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. Ill and found his health so much improved, in connection with lighter labors and old com- panions, that he preferred the camp and friends to the hospital and strangers, and so remained at his post. The Army of the Potomac is at length in position for the winter, and we have a view of tent-life at Falmouth, where Edward passed the last months of his life. It is said by those familiar with the two cities, Middletown, Ct., and Fredericksburg, Va., that there is a striking similarity between them in many particulars, but especially in location. The latter lies delightfully upon the Rappahannock, with hill and dale, as the former docs on the peaceful waters of the Connecticut. It may have afforded some consolation to the soldiers from this place, to trace the resemblances to their "home 112 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF land " in that, as they lay in sight of it dur- ing the long days of winter inaction. Bet- ter thoughts than these may have come to the mind of one who was gradually, though unconsciously to himself, passing down to the grave. As he daily sent his vision across the river to the city whose towers and spires greeted the eye, and from which strains of music came floating on the night air, he may have wandered in imagination in the streets of that city built upon the river of divine pleasure, where shall be no "battle of the warrior with confused noise and garments rolled in blood/' but whose walls are salvation and whose gates praise. Early in February, 1863, he writes, " I lived in a Shelten tent part of November and all of December, but now occupy a Sibley tent, which is rather more comfortable, though EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 113 for the last two or three days it has been so cold that it is wellnigh impossible to keep warm anywhere. It has been snowing quite hard to-day and feels very wintry. I am quite comfortable just now, however, sitting in the hospital by the fire while writ- ing you. There is nothing of interest go- ing on here, and if there were, I am too feeble to be much excited by it. For some cause I cannot get strength, and find it very laborious to keep about. But I trust in God, and hope to be better soon." Oh, how hope leads on the captive of dis- ease, but only promises to deceive ! " Hopes, what are they ? Beads of morning Strung on slender blades of grass, Or a spider's web adorning In a straight and treacherous path." 8 114 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP CHAPTER IX CLOSING SCENES OF LIFE. HEN General Hooker took command of the Army of the Potomac, he awoke the fj^9 gratitude and inspired the confidence of the soldiery by his prompt and vigor- ous measures to improve the comfort and health of his men, Impor- tant changes were made in the quality and variety of the provisions. Edward cheered greatly the heart of his mother and friends when he wrote, March 8th, "I am beginning to improve under the influence of the good EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 115 rations provided since the advent of Gen. Hooker. To a certain degree, at least, the improvement is attributable to this source. Our food now is the best we have had since we left home. We have plenty of salt also, for the want of which we have really suf- ered. When I speak of improving in flesh, if you could see me, I guess you would think there was room for improvement in that direction. The calf of my leg is about the size of my arm when I left home. Tints I am rendered rather weak in the under- standing. Never mind ; if you can count my ribs now, I hope to be of some service yet to my country, and also live to see home and friends once more. But God rules and reigns, and he will do with me as secmeth to him good, and it is our wisdom to commit ourselves to his care. In his 116 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF own good time we shall meet again ; if not in this world, we trust it will be in a better, where wars and rumors of wars never come, and where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." His tender heart was pierced as it had not been since the death of his father, when the intelligence came into camp that Fair- child was dead. He had been sick in the hospital at Washington for a long time, but it was generally supposed his recovery was only a question of time, when his disease came suddenly to a fatal termination. He breathes his grief to his eldest sister : " I do not write in so cheerful a strain as I had been wont when addressing you. I was very sorry last night to hear of the death of Amos. He was as dear to me as a brother. In fact, I called him such. The news of his EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 117 death came so unexpectedly that I was not at all prepared for it. This, taken in con- nection with an unfeeling remark made by the physician, — ( that he knew he was very sick and he had sent him off to get rid of him/ — so affected me I could not stay in the tent, where I had gone to make inquiry. I went to my own lodgings and mused a while in quiet, and then read in my Testa- ment, and went to bed. But I could not sleep for a long, long time. Little did I think when he left the regiment that I should never see his face again on earth. But I trust we shall meet again in heaven." In the picture-gallery of their native city, there is a full-length likeness of these two youths, on the same card, in the full uniform of the soldier. We think of them now, as, in robes of light, — the righteousness of 118 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF saints, — they stand together in the great army of the blessed above ; the union re- stored for which the weary, lonely one lay sighing in his tent at Falmouth. His words again to Mary are, "I don't feel right in health yet; but as warm weather comes on, and genial breezes fan the brow and quicken the blood, I hope to be well again. Enclosed is a card, contain- ing the Lord's Prayer. It was written by Lieutenant Heath, under my own eye, and is about as fine a specimen of penmanship as I ever saw. Thinking it would please you, I bought it. Kiss Emma (his young- est sister), and tell her I am looking for that promised letter from her. When I next write home, I will try to send her a sort of a curiosity that T am going to make for her." EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 119 One of the last letters ever penned by him was addressed to his great-uncle, who had watched over him from childhood with the most tender interest and affection. His home was just across the fields from his mother's, and the two families are wont to flow together almost daily. It gives some glimpses of his tent-life not before imparted. The disease which has been upon him for so many months, requiring unwearied attention by night and day until it would seem that the strongest and most robust constitution must succumb to it, though in a measure checked, is still exceedingly troublesome, precluding all possibility of undisturbed re- pose at night To meet this insidious foe, he must be perpetually on the alert. He must be armed cap-a-jne at all hours. "You would laugh, I think, to see me go to bed, Lr l 120 LIFE AND CHAEACTER OP for I have to get in boots and all, which is not quite so comfortable a method of sleep- ing as I have been used to, but for the past two months 1 have not dared take them off. It does not strike me as the most healthy way of sleeping, and I would sacrifice a good deal to be able to take off my clothes and jump into a good bed. I hope sometime in the future to enjoy again the comforts of home and the society of friends. I feel almost alone here now, so far as 'old friends ' are concerned. One by one, those who enlisted in the company with me have gone. Some have been discharged, some sent to the hospital; out of the number only one has died, but he to me was more than a brother. Had I dreamed when we last met that I was looking upon his well- known features for the last time on earth,. EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 121 how different would have been the parting scene ! But a wise Providence closes the veil which conceals from us the future, and I thank God it is so; for how often would life itself be embittered if we knew before- hand what was going to happen to our friends. Why, it seems to me, of all tor- ture that would be the worst. During an intercourse of many years, Fairchild and I have never, to my knowledge, had an angry word pass between us. He was always the same even-tempered boy. I had hoped we should enjoy each other's society for years to come, but God wills it otherwise, and, hard as is the blow, I try to submit in patience, trusting that, in that better world to which 1 believe he has- gone, we, together with 1 loved ones ' gone before, shall walk the golden streets and never more be parted.'' 122 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF In paying this tribute to his friend, Ed- ward was unconsciously delineating some of the most amiable traits of his own character. If two youths associate together for a long term of years, and during that period when the young blood is quickest up, without "an angry word passing between them," it is quite evident that the amiability is not entirely on one side. Had Amos lived to speak of his deceased friend, his words would have been no less earnest, mournful, tender. It may be added, appropriately, in respect to him, that he too was the son of a widowed mother. He died in the hospital at Washington. His remains were sent on to Middletown for interment. The funeral was attended by a very large concourse from the Methodist church, of which he was a member, and then his body was fol- EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 123 lowed with military honors to the family burying-ground, commanding a view of his childhood's home and the flowing waters of the Connecticut. The sermon preached by his pastor, giving a brief sketch of his life and character, was published, and has been read with interest by many. One more communication closes the se- ries of letters from the absent son to his friends at home : — " Camp Fourteenth Regiment, Conn. Vols., March 22d, 1863. } " Dear Mother : — Yours of the 17th has just reached me, and I should think mine of the 8th was about long enough in reaching you. Enclosed is a tract for ' Cretin/ which I hope will suit her ; also please find enclosed a little ring for Emmie. I shall not tell you now of what it is made, because 124 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF I wish to have you guess and see if you can tell. I hope it will fit her. She is such a little body that I could not easily decide how large it ought to be. Tell her I re- ceived her letter. It was very interesting indeed to me. I hope she will write me many more. Kiss her and Mamie for me. I am growing fat, and begin to look like my- self again. I think I shall be quite well be- fore long. I am deeply thankful to our heavenly Father that it is so — that he is restoring me to health. I dread the idea of marching again, though. There was a skirmish up the Rappahannock a few days ago, and the troops here were all put under arms, with orders to be ready to march at a moment's warning, as a rebel raid was constantly expected. " The troops were not brought into ser- EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 125 vice, however. The next day we saw forty prisoners go by our camp, clothed in gar- ments of as many colors as the famous coat of Joseph. These were taken in the fight referred to. The weather here is becoming quite mild, and every morning as I awake my ears are greeted by quite an orchestra of the feathered songsters congregated in the neighboring bushes. The robins have been seen for about a month. Their pres- ence and their singing remind me quite for- cibly of the notes they have been wont to carol from the trees around my own pleas- ant home, and which home I shall hope to see next summer if I live. From all ac- counts, I judge the rebels themselves to be sick of this war and nearly starved out. They told our pickets, the other day, that they were subsisting on half-rations. 126 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF " I have not written the kind of letter which was intended when I began. But no time is left me for expressing regrets. The mail is abont closing. I shall write you again in a few days, however. With much love to all, I remain, " Your affectionate son, " Eddie." More than two months have already elapsed, and that pledge to " write again soon " has not been redeemed. The lone mother looks in vain for the letter ad- dressed in that familiar hand, breathing its words of thoughtful care and tender love. Other letters in the mean time have been received, which solve this problem of silence. In fact, this letter had hardly come under the eye of the one to whom it was ad- EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 127 dressed, when a telegram was handed in to the family, from the chaplain of the Four- teenth Regiment, bearing the astounding intelligence, that Edward would not proba- bly survive the day. New forms of disease had set in, and such as precluded all hope of recovery. The shock was terrible, even like the bolt of heaven which prostrates a friend lifeless at our feet. It was plain to be seen, however, that strength was given to the stricken parent from Him who says, " Cast thy burdens on the Lord and he shall sustain thee." The mother determines to hasten to her sick son the ensuing morning if the next message informs her he still lives. But with the evening hour came a letter saying all was over. April 2d, 1863, at half past one, noonday, the spirit of Ed- ward Hamilton Brewer, let loose from the 128 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF bonds of flesh, went home to God. Epilepsy of the severest kind was the immediate cause of his death. He was at his dinner, better in health, apparently, than he had been for many months, when the paralyzing blow fell upon him. Spasm after spasm fol- lowed in quick succession, throwing his body into terrible contortions, and painting fearful agony on the features of his benig- nant face until they reached the number of twenty-six. when the silver cord was loosed, and the golden bowl was broken. The evening previous to his death, he sat till midnight conversing with one who had nursed him during all his sickness most tenderly* In full confidence of returning health, he expressed the desire to remain in the army until the great questions at issue were honorably adjusted. Not for a mo- EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 129 ment would he indulge the thought that his country could be dismembered. The Union must be restored, at whatsoever expense of treasure and blood. In the converse of that night, religion, a theme ever so precious to him, became a familiar topic. He spoke of his hope of the future, and the prospect opening before him beyond the dark river, should his life be cut short, through the merit of a risen Saviour, in whom alone he trusted for life and salvation. Then, as there came floating by the cherished visions of other days and home-life, he told of his love for the Sabbath and the sanctuary where he had been wont to worship. The Sunday school also shares largely in his warm attachment, and then there comes up that brightest scene in all the week, when in the closing hours of the holy day his 130 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF mother was wont to sit with him and the other members of the family, making the Word of Life their study and the precepts of the gospel the lessons of the occasion. " Season of rest ! the tranquil soul Feels the sweet calm, and melts to love; And while these sacred moments roll, Faith sees a smiling heaven above." Had he been aware that the end of earth was so near to him, he could hardly have spent those hours more profitably to himself, or in a way more grateful to surviving friendship. He is found at his post of duty the ensu- ing morning, and passed the forenoon entire as usual. The blow which prostrated and killed was so powerful in its descent that he was thought to be unconscious of suffering after two or three of the earlier attacks. EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 131 He did not speak, or seem to observe what was passing about him, until a few moments before he breathed his last, "when he opened his large eyes, and, with a bright, pleasant smile, such as lights up the Chris- tian's waning life," as it reflects the visions of coming glories, looked his farewell greet- ings on those about him, then closed them in the long tranquil sleep of death, and so is " evermore with the Lord." " Oh ! 'tis a placid rest, Who should deplore it? Trance of the pure and blest, Angels watch o'er it! Sleep of his mortal night, Sorrow can't break it; Heaven's own morning light Alone shall wake it." The chaplain of the Fourteenth Regiment is a native of MiddlctoAvn. He had, from 132 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP his first connection with the army, evinced a lively interest in the condition both spirit- ual and temporal, of the men under his charge. With young Brewer he had been intimate ; drawn to him because he was sick, and because he was good. Immedi- ately upon his death, he wrote the afflicted parent a letter full of the details of the closing scene, and of tender consolation to her wounded heart, in which he says, — "I had the fullest confidence in his reli- gious hope. The nature of his brief illness precluded the possibility of obtaining an expression of his feelings in the trying scene of death. But a dying testimony was not needed from him. He undoubtedly loved his Saviour and abhorred impurity and wrong. He shuddered at the exhibi- tions of profanity- and sin which he was EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 133 compelled to witness daily, and grew more and more anxious to become spiritual- minded, and Christ-like. He conversed with me freely on religious topics as oppor- tunity presented, and evidently enjoyed such themes. " I looked upon him as one on whom I could rely for good example before the un- godly, and as a sympathizing, Christian brother. Last Sabbath evening, as he sat beside me, he gave an account of the method in which he was accustomed to spend the evening of the holy day when at home, and spoke with heightened emotion of the delight he should experience when the old privilege should be again renewed." The surgeon, too, who had long had him under his care, adds his testimony to the great worth of his character as lie offers 134 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP his sympathy to the sorrowing. He thus writes : — " While I deeply sympathize with you in your affliction, I can look back upon his ex- emplary life during the time I have known him, — and for a long period previous to his death he had been employed in my depart- ment as a clerk, — and see many things to praise, but nothing to censure or condemn. I believe he was a sincere and true Chris- tian, and our loss has been his immeasurable gain. " Many more must fall, smitten by disease and the bullets of the enemy ; many more mothers 7 hearts will be torn by the sad news of their fall, before this wicked war is ended ; but they die in a noble cause, and I hope their sufferings and death will not be EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 135 CHAPTER X. BURI AL . UR holy religion presents the doctrine of the resurrection as one of those animating truths which spread gleams of light and joy amid the darkness and gloom of the battle-field. Thousands have fallen who will never be gathered in burial to the sep- ulchres of their fathers, where affection can adorn and bedew with its tears the hallowed spot of their repose, yet they are safe under the eye of God. Home-love follows in vain the path of the warrior to gather up its slain on many a gloomy plain, whele the living have plucked the glor) - uf igh achievement. 136 LIFE AND CHARACTER OP It was as a precious balm to a broken heart that the friends of Edward were spared such a sequel. Death had no sooner fixed his features in that placid, happy ex- pression which they had been wont to bear when he slept calmly in his own room at home, than the embalmer set them firmly there for the eye of love to contemplate. Though the gem had been taken, the casket remained most precious. It was a beauti- ful afternoon on the first of April, that I was conducted to the room where the body of my young friend lay in this its last re- pose. There he was, surely, the only son once more in the endeared home of his childhood* Those that so fondly loved him were about him. We forgot for a moment that the scene was Death's own. It seemed rather a tableaux of one who had lain down EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. Vol for pleasant dreams. The sleeping soldier. The soft radiance of the setting sun flowed in through the window, playing about the pillowed head of the prostrate youth, as often the beams of the morning enter the room of the tired child, not to disturb, but to lull him yet longer to repose. His parted lips were just as when in childhood he slept well. The scene held us as by en- chantment. We saw the face which for months had been veiled from sight. We only needed now the look from the speaking eye, the warm grasp of the hand, and the word of salutation, and the scene of joy would have been complete. The night passed away, and another morning came, but alas ! he waked not. We bore him then to the house of God, just where, an infant, he was carried by his 138 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF parents, when in faith he was consecrated to Jehovah ; just where, a youth, he had made a public profession of his faith in Christ ; just where his measured steps had trod the hallowed floor as a devout wor- shipper. Our prayers were offered at the mercy-seat. Our words were spoken. Our requiem sung mid tears and sad regrets that one so good and true should die ere yet manhood had placed her crown of age and privilege fairly on his brow. But, while the heart was heavy and the head sunken low in grief, the trusting spirit said, " Thy will, Gocl, be done." Thence to the grave we bore him, pass- ing by the Bank where his form had so often been seen entering the door-way, or as he stood looking from the window or busily engaged with the daily duties at his EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. 139 desk. At the grave, we lowered him gently down, sorrowing not as others who have no hope, for there fell on the ear the words of the Lord Jesus: — " I am the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." With such light of immortal life flowing into the narrow house, we could not say farewell to him whom we must leave there, but only this, — " Good-night. We shall greet each other again in the morning." Wordsworth's hymn of the child, " We are seven," has melted many a heart. Often, as the summer-day comes to its de- cline, the mother and sisters of Edward re- sort to his grave, embowered beneath the evergreen tree in the old cemetery at the head of Washington Street. rchased for the use of the ARMY AT larpc 140 EDWARD HAMILTON BREWER. As they stand there weeping, or planting flowers, the simple thought of that child presents the picture of a united family, though the father, two sons, and a daughter are with the dead, and the mother and two daughters alone survive. The thought, too, is more than poetical. It is a divine truth. The family which on earth has been bound together in saving Christian love can never be permanently separated. The pious dead are not lost, but gone before. Let then the transient love of earth par- take of the holy and heavenly in its charac- ter; and though death cause grief in the present, the future restored joy to which it leads shall be everlasting. " The Christian dies to go home." X War Department Library Washington, D. C. Mo. It Losses or injuries must be promptly ad- justed. No books issued during the month of August. Time Limits : Old books, two weeks subject to renewal at the op- tion of the Librarian. New books, one week only. ACME LIBRARY CARD POCKET Made by LIBRARY BUREAU, Boston KEEP YOUR CARO IN THIS POCKET LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 709 092 2# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 709 092 2