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 GLIMPSES 
 
 NATION'S Struggle. 
 
 A SERIES OF PAPERS READ BEFORE THE MIN- 
 NESOTA COMMANDERY OF THE MILITARY 
 ORDER OF THE LOYAL LEGION OF 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ST. PAUL, MINN..: 
 
 ST. PAUL BOOK AND STATIONEKY COMPANY. 
 
 1887.
 
 Copyright, 1887, St. Paul Book and Stationery Company.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Those who were in the cradle when the republic 
 was struggling to preserve its life are now voters and 
 active workers in every department which develops 
 the resources of the nation. That which seems an old 
 story to the soldiers who fought for the preservation of 
 the Union to them is fresh and full of interest. Chil- 
 dren naturally desire to know something of the fields 
 where their fathers were killed or wounded, and of the 
 causes which brought on so terrible a conflict. 
 
 The papers which form this volume were read at 
 the monthly meetings of the Minnesota Commandery 
 of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the 
 United States. They are not elaborate essays, but 
 glimpses from difierent points of what is known as 
 the Slaveholders' Kebellion. They are published in 
 the hope that the later generations who read them 
 will be impressed with the great sacrifices necessary 
 to prevent the division of the grand republic into 
 petty and jangling States, and be ready to teach all 
 under their influence that the path to prosperity is to 
 maintain the Union forever.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 rAOB 
 
 "War Memories. By Brigadier-General E. W. Johnson, 
 
 Brevet Major-General U. S. Army .... 7 
 
 Reminiscences of the Last Tear of President Lin- 
 coln's Life. By Chaplain Edward D. Neill, D.D. . 29 
 
 Some Account and Recollections op the Operations 
 against the City of Mobile and its Defences, 1864 
 and 1865. By Major Charles J. Allen, Corps of En- 
 gineers, United States Armj^ ..... 54 
 
 Reminiscences op General U. S. Grant. By Brevet 
 Brigadier-General W. R. Marshall, Colonel Seventh 
 Minnesota Infantry, IT. S. Volunteers .... 89 
 
 Some Experiences op an Enlisted Man. By Captain 
 Henry A. Castle, One Hundred and Thirty-Seventh 
 Illinois Infantry, U. S. Yolunteers . . . .107 
 
 Personal Observations and Experiences in the Pope 
 Campaign in Virginia. By Colonel Daniel Leasure, 
 One Hundredth (-'Roundheads") Pennsylvania In- 
 fantry. U. S. Volunteers 135 
 
 The Blessings of War. By Captain Eugene M. Wilson, 
 
 First Minnesota Mounted Rangers, U. S. Volunteers . 167 
 
 From Chancellorsville to Libby Prison. By Rev. 
 Clay MacCauley, late Lieutenant One Hundred and 
 Twenty-Sixth Pennsylvania Infantry. U. S. Volun- 
 teers 179 
 
 From Atlanta to Raleigh. By Colonel Charles D. Kerr, 
 
 Sixteenth Illinois Cavalry, U. S. Volunteers . . 202 
 
 Reminiscences op the War in the Department op the 
 Missouri. By Brigadier-General John B. Sanborn. 
 Brevet Major-General U. S. Volunteers . . . 224
 
 Q CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 How THE Day was Saved at the Battle op Cedar Creek. 
 By Brevet Brigadier-General A. Bayard Nettleton, 
 Colonel Second Ohio Cavalry, U. S. Volunteers . . 258 
 
 Keminiscences of an Army Surgeon. By Colonel Daniel 
 
 Hand, Surgeon U. S. Volunteers 276 
 
 Eeoollections op the Mine Eun Campaign. By Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Edwin C. Mason, Fourth U. S. In- 
 fantry, Brevet Brigadier-General U. S. Volunteers . 308 
 
 The Surrender of the Third Eegiment Minnesota Vol- 
 unteer Infantry. By Bi-igadier-General C. C. An- 
 drews, Brevet Major-General U. S. Volunteers , . 337 
 
 The Illusions op a Soldier. By Brevet Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral S. P. Jennison, Lieutenant-Colonel Tenth Minne- 
 sota Infantry, U. S. Volunteers 369 
 
 The Old Vermont Brigade at Petersburg. By Briga- 
 dier-General Lewis A. Grant, Brevet Major-General 
 U. S. Volunteers 381 
 
 Eemarks op Past Commander General John B. San- 
 born, TRANSFERRING THE CoMMANDERY TO COM- 
 MANDER General William E. Marshall, at the An- 
 nual Meeting held at St. Paul, June 1, 1887 . 404 
 
 Acceptance op Commander General William E. Mar- 
 shall 415
 
 WAR MEMORIES. 
 
 BY BEIGADIBE-GENEEAL R. W. JOHNSON, 
 
 BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL IT. S. ARMT. 
 
 Iif 1861, when the Southern people resolved on the 
 secession of their respective States, in no part of the 
 South, outside of the State of South Carolina, was the 
 feeling more intense, more bitter, than in the State of 
 Texas. And yet if any one State was bound to the 
 Federal government by ties stronger than another it 
 was that same State. Purchased by the general gov- 
 ernment at great cost, taken into the family of States, 
 leaving to her all the public lands within her limits, 
 there were many, very many reasons why her people 
 should have remained true and loyal. But the tempest 
 which swept over the South carried Texas out of the 
 Union, and this, too, in opposition to the earnest protest 
 of Sam Houston, who might have been called, with 
 some propriety, the father of the State. 
 
 At the time of which we write he was governor of 
 Texas, and was requested to take the oath of allegiance 
 to the Southern Confederacy, to call a convention, the 
 object of which was simply to declare the Union dis- 
 solved, and the withdrawal of the State. This Houston 
 refused to do, and a convention assembled at Austin, 
 declared the oflBce of governor vacant, and proceeded
 
 g GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 to fill the vacancy by the election of the lieutenant- 
 governor. 
 
 This high-handed measure could not be resisted. 
 Houston yielded, and retired to his farm on the Brazos, 
 where he soon died. 
 
 Twiggs, a soldier in our army for more than forty 
 years, abandoned the flag of his country — that country 
 which had honorably rewarded his every service — and 
 surrendered the Federal troops to the Confederate au- 
 thorities. His apology for such extraordinary conduct 
 was " that he would avoid the possibility of a collision 
 between the Federal and the State troops." 
 
 How imbecile, not to say idiotic, to think for a single 
 moment that the American people would submit to the 
 dismemberment of the Union without striking a blow 
 in its defence ! By the terms of the surrender, not more 
 than a regiment was to be concentrated at any point. 
 
 Indianola was designated as the place from w^hich the 
 troops were to sail for the North, and Major Fitz-John 
 Porter was charged with procuring transports for that 
 2)urpose. His efficient services secured the safe departure 
 of the greater portion of the troops in the Department of 
 Texas before the terms of the surrender were openly vio- 
 lated by General Earl Van Dorn, with the full sanction 
 of the Confederate authorities. The " Empire City," 
 upon which the writer embarked, had on board parts 
 of the Second Cavalry and of the Third Infantry. We 
 left Indianola a little before sundown, and on the follow- 
 ing morning Van Dorn with the " Star of the West," 
 an improvised gunboat, arrived in Matagorda Bay, and 
 arrested and paroled all of the officers and men who 
 ■ had not previously left the State.
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL R. W. JOHNSON. 9 
 
 On our voyage north the officers frequently assem- 
 bled in the cabin or on deck, and the future was freely 
 discussed; and when those discussions are recalled, it 
 seems strange how far we were from realizing the extent 
 of the terrible struggle upon which Ave were about to 
 enter. 
 
 The general opinion prevailed that the " speck of 
 war" would soon disappear, and that before we could 
 see our friends in " the States" we would be ordered 
 back to the Texas frontier, where many of us had 
 served for many years. Our vessel sailed by Havana, 
 and when in front of Moro Castle the stars and stripes 
 were raised and floated beautifully and majestically in 
 the breeze. A gun from Moro signified a welcome, 
 and we steamed into that beautiful harbor. Here we 
 learned of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, and it 
 was then that we began to reaUze the awful fact that 
 a bloody war must be the final outcome. On our ar- 
 rival in New York harbor many of our comrades left 
 us to join the troops of their respective States, and 
 when I recall the bitterness of their sorrow at severing 
 the ties which had bound us together, I realize fully 
 the fact that they were not the promoters of the war, 
 had no desire to engage in it, and only left us under 
 the mistaken notion that their allegiance was due first 
 to the States which gave them birth. 
 
 Many of the brave officers and men who were pas- 
 sengers on board of the " Empire City" lost their lives 
 in the great battles of the Kebellion, but the cause for 
 which they battled was successful, and we, the sur- 
 vivors, enjoy the blessings of a restored Union. On 
 our arrival in New York City we found great excite-
 
 XQ GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 ment occasioned by the bombardment of Sumter and 
 the firing upon the United States volunteers in the streets 
 of Baltimore. Southern sympathizers were numerous ; 
 in fact, a great want of confidence on the part of the 
 loyal people existed throughout tlie city. That each 
 person could show his loyalty by raising a national flag 
 over his residence or place of business was suggested. 
 At first only a few flags were raised, but from day to 
 day the number increased until finally from every house- 
 top, steeple, and dome the stars and stripes floated to the 
 breeze. By this demonstration a healthy public senti- 
 ment was established, and from that time onward New 
 York stood firmly for the Union. Mr. Davis was severely 
 criticised for the issuing of an order requiring all North- 
 ern sympathizers to leave the South *by a certain fixed 
 date. Such an order seemed cruel, but then it was de- 
 manded by the harsh rules of war. Mr. Lincoln would 
 have acted wisely had he issued a similar proclamation, 
 and thus rid the North of all those whose sympathies 
 were with the Southern people. 
 
 The object of greatest interest early in 1861 was the 
 safety of the national capital, and the first troops raised 
 were sent forward to that point as rapidly as possible. 
 When the capital was secure, another army was organ- 
 ized for service against General Joseph E. Johnston, 
 who, in command of a large force, had marched u]) to 
 and taken possession of Harper's Ferry. 
 
 This command was concentrated at Chambersburg, 
 and Mnjor-General Robert Patterson was assigned to 
 its command. The operations of this army have been 
 persistently misrepresented from its organization down 
 to the present time. Even the loyalty, patriotism, and
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL R. W. JOHNSON. \\ 
 
 ability of its gallant commander have been called into 
 question. 
 
 While at Chambersburg, General Patterson urged 
 upon the general-in-chief to allow him to cross into 
 Virginia at or near Leesburg, but his proposition was 
 overruled, and he was ordered to march his command 
 to Williamsport and enter Virginia at that point. I 
 shall always believe that Patterson's proposition should 
 have been followed out. In carrying out the plan of 
 the general-in-chief, McDowell and Patterson were 
 j^laced on exterior lines, while Beauregard and Johns- 
 ton occupied interior lines, and were thus enabled to 
 form a junction with each other, attack and defeat 
 McDowell, and with equal ease they might have turned 
 against Patterson, and " sent him whirling" out of the 
 Shenandoah Valley, thus defeating every organized 
 force and leaving Washington a matter of easy cap- 
 ture. The crossing of Patterson's army at either place 
 would have threatened Johnston's communications, and 
 his evacuation of Harper's Ferry and occupation of 
 Winchester would have surely followed in either 
 event. 
 
 Had Patterson, however, been at Leesburg he would 
 have been within supporting distance of McDowell, and 
 could have joined him sooner than Johnston could have 
 effected a junction with Beauregard. 
 
 Had Patterson's plan been adopted, does any one 
 doubt that instead of being defeated at Bull Run, the 
 Union troops would have secured a grand and glorious 
 victory ? 
 
 Soon after crossing into Virginia the advance arrived 
 at Falling Waters, where Stonewall Jackson, then not
 
 12 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 SO distinguished, was encountered and defeated. Our 
 column pushed on to Martinsburg. Here an order was 
 received from General Scott, directing General Patter- 
 son to press General Johnston so closely as to prevent 
 him from reinforcing Beauregard, and announcing the 
 fact that McDowell was to move against the enemy in 
 his front on the following Tuesday. Patterson was 
 instructed to occupy Johnston until after that day, when 
 he was authorized to transfer his troops and headquarters 
 to Charlestown. A forward movement was ordered, and 
 he marched to Bunker Hill. For several days recon- 
 noissances were made in the direction of Winchester. 
 On the Thursday following the Tuesday upon which the 
 battle of Bull Bun was to have been fought, the writer 
 was sent forward in command of a body of infantry 
 and cavalry to ascertain if Johnston was still at Win- 
 chester. Finding him there in force, on the following 
 morning Patterson moved his army to Charlestown, and 
 Johnston fell back, and joined Beauregard on Sunday 
 evening in time to participate in the closing battle of 
 that day. The Federal army was put to flight, the 
 country disappointed, and the heart of the enemy filled 
 with joy unspeakable at his apparent success. It is an 
 astounding fact that, notwithstanding Patterson's army 
 was within telegraphic communication with Washing- 
 ton, nothing was heard of the delay to offer battle on 
 Tuesday, nor of the result of the battle on Sunday, until 
 the arrival of the Philadelphia newspapers in our camp 
 on Monday morning. 
 
 Patterson's army was composed almost entirely of 
 three-months' men, whose terms of service expired about 
 the last of July, and when they were " mustered out"
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL R. W. JOHNSON. 13 
 
 General Patterson was honorably discharged, and re- 
 turned to his home in Philadelphia. 
 
 The battle of Bull Pun, terminating as it did, in- 
 spired the Southern people with hope and courage. 
 In all parts of the South the wildest enthusiasm was 
 manifested. Young and old flocked to the cities to en- 
 list under the Confederate banner and prepare for war. 
 About this time the Legislature of Kentucky called for 
 General Anderson, the hero of Fort Sumter, to take 
 charge of the Union troops in that State. President 
 Lincoln acceded to the request, and ordered Anderson 
 to the command of that department, designating General 
 W. T. Sherman as his associate. Anderson's health 
 failed him in a short time, and he was succeeded by 
 General W. T. Sherman, who was not long in infusing 
 his own energy and spirit into the troops under his 
 command. Mr. Lincoln was very anxious to let the 
 people of this, his native State, understand that it was 
 not his intention to interfere with slavery, and to con- 
 vince them of that fact he sent none but Southern and 
 Western officers to report to Sherman ; accordingly, 
 we find, in the first year of the war, the following Vir- 
 ginians and Kentuckians holding positions in the Fed- 
 eral army in that State, — viz., George H. Thomas, L. 
 H. Rousseau, J. T. Boyle, T. J. Wood, W. T. Ward, 
 William Nelson, R. W. Johnson, and possibly others. 
 This was a stroke of good policy, as it served to show 
 that the war was not waged against slavery, but for 
 the preservation of the Union. About the close of the 
 year 1861 Sherman was relieved from that command, 
 and General D. C. Buell was designated as his successor. 
 Buell was a great organizer and disciplinarian. His
 
 14 GLIMPSE f? OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 strictness with the volunteers turned them against him, 
 and he was withdrawn, thus estabhshing the fact in his 
 case that " the pen is mightier than the sword." 
 
 Buell's march to Nashville, and thence to the as- 
 sistance of Grant at Shiloh, was a masterly perform- 
 ance, and stamped him as a soldier of the highest, 
 broadest type. It is unnecessary to conjecture as to 
 the result had he failed to put in his appearance at 
 Sliiloh at the time he did. 
 
 Among the officers who joined Sherman in Ken- 
 tucky was one heretofore mentioned, General William 
 Nelson. He was educated at Annapolis, from which 
 he entered the navy, and long served in that arm of 
 the public service, being regarded as one of the very 
 best officers of his grade. At the beginning of the 
 war he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 
 and was assigned to duty in his native State. To one 
 not well acquainted with him his manner appeared 
 brusque, not to say rude, but within that rough exte- 
 rior which he affected was a heart as warm and gen- 
 erous as ever pulsated in the bosom of man. It will 
 be remembered that he lost his life in a personal diffi- 
 culty with General Jefferson C. Davis, on the 29th 
 day of September, 1862. Nelson was a man of energy 
 and nerve, whose loss was a severe blow to our army, 
 as true and tried men were scarce in the bleak, dark 
 days of the early war. Had he lived until peace was 
 restored he would have stood high among the nation's 
 great defenders. 
 
 Immediately after assuming command of the depart- 
 ment, General Sherman began the concentration of 
 troops on Nolin Creek, on tlie line of the Louisville
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL R. W. JOHNSON. 15 
 
 and Nashville Railroad. The camp was known as 
 Camp Neveu, and was commanded by General A. 
 McD. McCook. It became a grand school of instruc- 
 tion, in which the officers and men were instructed in 
 their duties. Camp Neven will long be remembered 
 by the troops stationed there. Here they learned for 
 the first time something of the hardships of a soldier's 
 life. Change of diet, wet, cold, and disagreeable 
 weather produced disease, and at one time the camp 
 was little more than one vast field-hospital. On De- 
 cember 9, McCook ordered the brigade of General R. 
 W. Johnson to move forward to Mumfordsville, on 
 Green River, and on the 17th the entire command 
 moved up, and here for long, weary weeks the troops 
 remained in a sea of mud, which for military purposes 
 was called Camp Wood. 
 
 On the 19th of January our drooping spirits were 
 greatly elated over the victory of General George H. 
 Thomas at Mill Springs, where the Confederate com- 
 mander. General Zoilicoffer, was killed. His remains 
 were forwarded under a flag of truce to Nashville. 
 
 Soon after this the army was put in motion in the 
 direction of Nashville, and General Grant notified the 
 commander at Fort Donelson that he proposed " to 
 move against his works without delay." He carried 
 his threat into execution, and captured the entire gar- 
 rison except Generals Pillow and Floyd and their 
 staffs. When it became evident that Grant would 
 compel a surrender. Pillow, who had no taste for 
 prison life within the walls of a " Northern bastile," 
 turned the command over to Floyd, and he, for a simi- 
 lar reason, relinquished in favor of General Buckner,
 
 IQ GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 who was too honorable to run away and abandon the 
 command to its fate, but like a true soldier remained to 
 share its fortunes. Pillow and Floyd escaped by boat 
 to Nashville, where they arrived on the Sabbath morn- 
 ing while the good people were in attendance upon 
 divine service. Congregations were dismissed without 
 the usual benediction, and all who could get away left 
 before the arrival of the dreaded Yankee. 
 
 Floyd remained in Nashville long enough to cut the 
 wires of the suspension bridge, and precipitate that grand 
 structure in a shapeless mass to the bottom of the river. 
 The rear of the column of fugitives was scarcely out of 
 the city when Buell, with his magnificent army, arrived 
 on the north side of the Cumberland Eiver. Boats 
 were procured, and the work of crossing began at once. 
 By nine o'clock at night the troops were all over, and 
 Nashville was in the possession of the Union army. 
 The Federal army found a very bitter feeling prevailing 
 in Nashville against the Yankees. From the breaking 
 out of the war, orators, poets, the press, and the pulpit 
 had united in instilling into the hearts of the masses 
 the most deadly hatred against the Federal government. 
 The soldiers were characterized as hirelings and scoun- 
 drels, worse than the old Norsemen, who had been the 
 terror and the shame of the world. The people had 
 been told that when the Sunny South was disgraced and 
 humiliated by the tread of mercenary soldiers, barbari- 
 ties, atrocities, and outrages worse than those ever per- 
 petrated in the deepest, darkest night of heathenism 
 would be heaped upon them by the Northern horde. 
 Buell tried conciliation, and we soon found that his 
 course had a happy effect upon those who had pre-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL R. W. JOHNSON. 17 
 
 viously been so bitterly opposed to the general govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Buell's army did not long remain in Nash'Tille. A 
 messenger arrived from General Grant, urging him to 
 move with all possible despatch to Pittsburg Landing. 
 Extra baggage was stored, and his transportation re- 
 duced to the very lowest limits, and by a forced march 
 he reached his destination in time to be of great service 
 to the army under General Grant. 
 
 After the battle of Shiloh, Halleck reorganized his 
 command, assigning General Grant to the jDOsition of 
 " second in command," and as soon as his preparations 
 were made a forward movement began. The roads were 
 in a wretched condition, and to make them passable for 
 our artillery and baggage- wagons, miles and miles of 
 "corduroy" had to be laid. In this way the army 
 arrived within artillery range of Corinth. Halleck 
 had about four hundred pieces of artillery, all pointed 
 at that fated city. Why he did not let loose those dogs 
 of war the writer never understood. Beauregard and 
 his entire army were completely at the mercy of the 
 Federals, and all that was necessary to secure their 
 capture was to open upon their works and give the 
 command "forward." 
 
 But Beauregard with his Quaker-guns deceived the 
 Federal commander and made good his escape. We 
 captured Corinth and the country breathed more freely. 
 Here the army was divided, a portion under Buell 
 marching to Huntsville, and thence along the railroad 
 from that point to Bridgej^ort on the Tennessee liiver. 
 This movement threatened the very vitals of the Con- 
 federacy, and it was necessary to compel Buell to fall
 
 X8 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 back. General Bragg, the Confederate commander, not 
 feeling strong enough to make a direct attack, resolved 
 to accomplish by strategy that which he was unable to 
 do by force of arms. For this reason the invasion of 
 Kentucky was planned. 
 
 Bragg crossed the Tennessee at or near Chattanooga, 
 ascended the Cumberland Mountains, thence down in 
 the Sequatchy Valley, from which position he could 
 strike for Nashville, or Louisville, as circumstances 
 might seem to direct. This movement Buell saw at once 
 threatened his entire line of communication. It was 
 evidently Bragg's intention to move on Nashville, but 
 by the rapid movement of Buell he kept his army at 
 all times between Bragg and his objective-point. 
 
 So soon as the Confederate commander saw that he 
 could not reach Nashville without a battle, he deflected 
 his course and marched upon Louisville. This move- 
 ment was promptly met, and for some days the question 
 seemed to be which army would reach the Ohio first. 
 Finally the tired and dusty veterans composing Buell's 
 army reached Louisville and took possession of the city. 
 Bragg had been fairly beaten in the race, and taking 
 position near Perryville awaited further action on Buell's 
 part. He did not have long to wait, for in a few days 
 the troops moved to meet him. This meeting took place 
 in the vicinity of Perryville, and resulted in one of the 
 fiercest battles of the war. For some unaccountable 
 reason all the troops were not engaged at any one time. 
 For this partial failure Buell was censured, yet the 
 writer is of the opinion that, under all the circum- 
 stances, no one could have managed the details of the 
 battle better than they were managed. However, the
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL R. W. JOHNSON. 19 
 
 government became dissatisfied with Buell, and he was 
 superseded by General W. S. Rosecrans, whose brilliant 
 ex])loits in Mississippi had brought him prominently 
 forward as a great leader. When Kosecrans took com- 
 mand Bragg's army was in full retreat, and did not stop 
 until it had reached Murfreesboro', Tennessee. Here he 
 fortified himself and threw out several outposts. Rose- 
 crans pushed his army forward to Nashville, which he 
 occupied as his headquarters, posting his troops in a 
 continuous line around the city, from the river above to 
 the river below. 
 
 A court of inquiry was ordered on Buell, and it sat 
 in Nashville for many months. Finally the record was 
 forwarded to Washington, where it was "pigeon-holed," 
 and never published. In fact, it is said that the origi- 
 nal proceedings were mysteriously withdrawn from the 
 files, and had it not been that the short-hand reporter 
 kept his notes nothing would have ever been definitely 
 known in regard to the action of the court. A dupli- 
 cate copy was obtained and published by order of Con- 
 gress, from which it appears that Buell was entirely 
 exonerated. Chafing under the great injustice which 
 he felt had been done him, he tendered his resignation, 
 and bade farewell to his noble army. Here he made, in 
 my opinion, a serious mistake. He should have sub- 
 mitted, like Sherman when relieved in Kentucky, and 
 Grant when he was placed as second in command after 
 the battle of Shiloh, trusting to the future for complete 
 vindication. 
 
 Bosecrans occupied Nashville on the 7th of November. 
 From this date to December 26 he was untiring in his 
 labors to prepare for a forward movement. When all
 
 20 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 things were ready the movement began by the different 
 roads leading to Murfreesboro'. On December 30 we 
 skirmished with the enemy all day, and by nightfall had 
 forced him to develop his entire position from right to 
 left. Both armies slept on their arms, in two parallel 
 lines, with McCook on the right, Crittenden on the left, 
 and Thomas in reserve. Early in the evening Rose- 
 crans issued an order in which it was stated that on the 
 following day a great battle was to be fought : " If our 
 right was attacked it was to fall back, disputing every 
 inch of ground, and simultaneously the left was to 
 move forward, cross Stone River, and take possession 
 of and occupy the enemy's works. If the enemy failed 
 to attack, our army was to assume the offensive on the 
 right, while our left was to accompUsh the crossing of 
 the river and the capture of Murfreesboro'." As before 
 stated, the left was under the immediate command of 
 General T. L. Crittenden, a brave and accomplished 
 officer, to whose energy and resolute courage the coun- 
 try at large owes a debt of gratitude. McCook's com- 
 mand, composed of the divisions of Johnson, Davis, 
 and vSheridan, was disposed as follows: Davis on the 
 right, Sheridan on the left, and Johnson in reserve. 
 Early on the evening of the 30th Davis became appre- 
 hensive in regard to the safety of his right flank, and 
 called for a brigade from the division in reserve to form 
 on his right, refusing its right. Soon the commander 
 of this brigade wanted troops on his right, and another 
 brigade was taken from the reserve and posted on the 
 right of the other, refusing its right flank. Pickets 
 were thrown forward in charge of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Fielding Jones, of the Thirty-ninth Indiana Volun-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL R. W. JOHNSON. 21 
 
 teers. During the night the troops were not permitted 
 to make fires, but to create the impression that we were 
 massing on the enemy's left Kosecrans had a great 
 many fires made away off to our right. Bragg, evi- 
 dently suspecting that where we j^rofessed to be strong 
 we were really weak, massed his forces on our right, 
 leaving Breckenridge's division to hold his works in 
 our immediate front. Colonel Jones on being satisfied 
 of the movement of the greater part of the Confederate 
 army to our right, reported the facts to General John- 
 son, who sent a staff ofiicer to General McCook's head- 
 quarters with the same report. McCook, who was 
 always prompt to act when duty required it, either went 
 or sent a staff officer to report the facts to Rosecrans. 
 
 A few moments before six o'clock, on the morning 
 of the 31st, the attack was made against Johnson's two 
 brigades. Wliat could they do against such heavy 
 odds? Bravely did these men fight, but by force of 
 numbers they were compelled to fall back, exposed to a 
 deadly fire. The battle on our right being so fierce, 
 Kosecrans thought it unwise to carry out his previous 
 orders, and hence our left was not ordered to cross 
 Stone Biver. The broken right fell back, exposing 
 Davis's division to a heavy fire, which gradually ex- 
 tended to Sheridan's division, where the contest was 
 indeed fierce and bloody. The broken right fell back, 
 and re-formed near the Nashville pike, and did good 
 service in repelling an attack later in the day. At this 
 stage of the battle Bragg reinforced his right, intending 
 to attack Crittenden on our left. From an eminence 
 Crittenden observed the movement, and seeing a good 
 opportunity to use artillery, turned to his chief. Colonel
 
 22 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Mendenliall, and said, "By heavens, here is the place 
 for your artillery." Quick as thought Mendenhall was 
 off, and within a few moments he had his brazen - 
 throated dogs of war belching forth fire, shot, and shell 
 upon Bragg's advancing columns. This was one of 
 the most terrific artillery fires of the war, conceived 
 by Crittenden and executed by Mendenhall, both as 
 modest as they are brave, and each too modest to ever 
 claim the credit which is his due. 
 
 On the 4th day of January Bragg evacuated Mur- 
 freesboro', and the main army took possession of the 
 town. It was in this battle that the Army of the Cum- 
 berland first baptized its name in blood. Who that was 
 there during that struggle shall ever forget it? We 
 fought a skilful and determined enemy upon the field 
 of his own clioice, and, after a desperate struggle, 
 defeated him while he was yet flushed with the excite- 
 ment of his supposed success, and wrenched the gar- 
 lands of victory, as it appeared, almost from the very 
 hands of fate itself Who shall ever tell the secrets of 
 those cedar fastnesses, or unveil the tender threads upon 
 which the fortunes of that desperate field revolved ? 
 
 Merging from those cedars, I saw a piece of artillery 
 drawn by hand. The horses had been lost, and Colonel 
 W. W. Berry, Captain Huston, and a few others of the 
 Louisville Legion, unwilling that it should fall into the 
 hands of the enemy, fought their way through the dense 
 forest and brought it with them. 
 
 As soon as Rosecrans occupied Murfreesboro' he went 
 to work to fortify the place. General Morton, his chief 
 engineer, an officer of ability in his profession, was 
 charged with this duty, and he performed it well.
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL R. W. JOHNSON. 23 
 
 Wlien the works were completed, the command under 
 General Rosecrans could have held them against the 
 attack of all the Confederate armies combined. The 
 work was done by the volunteers, many of whom had 
 never used a spade before, but before the close of the 
 war they learned that the pick and spade were as neces- 
 sary to successful warfare as the sword and the musket. 
 While the troops were strengthening our defences at 
 Murfreesboro', Rosecrans was busily occupied in ascer- 
 taining the location of Bragg's forces. Through his 
 efficient spies he learned that Polk's corps was at Shel- 
 by ville. Hardee joined him on the right, and occupied 
 Belle Buckle, Liberty Gap, and Hoover's Gap, and the 
 effective force combined numbered about forty thousand. 
 His base of supplies was at Chattanooga, with a tempo- 
 rary base at Tallahoma, in the rear of the centre of the 
 Confederate line. Bosecrans's second cam^jaign was to 
 drive the Confederates out of the State of Tennessee. 
 The plan of the campaign was to threaten the enemy's 
 left and centre with a large force of infantry and cav- 
 alry, and under cover of these demonstrations to turn 
 their right and force a battle on our own ground, or 
 compel a retreat over the mountains by a circuitous 
 and dangerous route. 
 
 On the 24th day of June our movement began. 
 McCook's corps was to march by Old Millersburg, and 
 drive the enemy from Liberty Gap ; this is a narrow 
 passage between two high ranges of mountains, which, 
 if resolutely defended by a thousand men, could be held 
 against ten times the number. Our troops moved gal- 
 lantly forward, and drove the enemy through and beyond 
 the Gap, and encamped therein during the night. On
 
 24 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STEUGGLE. 
 
 the following morning the enemy was reinforced by 
 Cleburne's division, and again offered battle, which was 
 accepted. The fighting the day before was by John- 
 son's division of McCook's corps, but on the second day 
 part of Davis's division was sent to support Johnson's. 
 For a short time the battle raged furiously, but finally 
 the enemy was repulsed. On the first day General John 
 F. Miller was shot in the eye while gallantly leading his 
 brigade. His commander visited him after dark, and 
 never expected to see him again alive, but was pleased 
 to renew his acquaintance recently in Washington. 
 Miller is now a senator from California, and one of the 
 wealthy men of the Pacific slope. 
 
 During the conflict at Liberty Gap, Thomas was 
 pushing the enemy at Hoover's Gap. Their defeat at 
 the former place caused a general retreat of the Con- 
 federate army to Tallahoma. For miles around this 
 place the country is level. The forests approached the 
 village on all sides. Bragg had the trees felled for a 
 distance of two miles in all directions, in order to give 
 his artillery an opportunity to do effective work upon 
 our advancing columns, but before we got within range 
 of his guns he and his army fell back. Chattanooga 
 was the next place occupied by Bragg, but when we 
 began to draw our lines around that place it was aban- 
 doned also. General Rosecrans then ordered his army 
 to cross the Tennessee River at four or five different 
 points, and the various columns moved so as to increase 
 the distance between them. On the 16th of September 
 the right and left were fully fifty miles apart. Bragg, 
 who had been reinforced by Longstreet and had his 
 army well in hand, could not liave known the position
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL R. W. JOHNSON. 25 
 
 of Rosecrans's forces, otlierwise he would have attacked 
 him before he coukl have concentrated. Rosecrans, learn- 
 ing the position of the enemy, ordered his army to close 
 to the left and prepare for battle. McCook, who was 
 in command of the extreme right, and always ready to 
 take a hand in battle, was not slow in moving his column, 
 but long before he could close in on our left the roar of 
 artillery and musketry told too plainly that Thomas had 
 been attacked. The firing was so heavy that the men, 
 forgetting fatigue, hastened to the conflict. Johnson's 
 division of McCook's corps was in advance, and at Craw- 
 fish Springs Rosecrans ordered him to move his division 
 at " double-quick" to Thomas, and report to him in per- 
 son. The other two divisions of McCook's corps were 
 attacked in flank before they could be brought in line, 
 and some confusion prevailed until the division com- 
 manders succeeded in rallying them, which was soon 
 done. At sundown on the 19th the Confederate lines 
 had been forced back at least a mile and a half. 
 
 Colonel J. B. Dodge, who commanded one of the 
 brigades in Johnson's division, got in advance of his 
 command and between the two lines. To move either 
 way would surely draw the fire of some sharpshooter. 
 Not knowing what to do he sat down at the root of a 
 tree, to calmly consider the uncertainty of life and pos- 
 sibly to pass in review his shortcomings from boyhood. 
 In this position he was in full view of a Confederate 
 battery. Three of the gunners observing him, and sup- 
 posing that he was badly wounded, came to his assist- 
 ance. The artillerymen had no arms, and, as their 
 mission was one of mercy, did not think they would 
 need any. As they raised Dodge up one of them
 
 26 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 remarked, " Let us see if the Yank has any arms." 
 Quick as thought Dodge observed that they were un- 
 armed, and drawing his pistol presented it and de- 
 manded their surrender. Seeing their helplessness 
 they surrendered, and Dodge marched his caj^tives into 
 the Federal camp. The writer does not know what 
 became of the prisoners, but has always hoped that 
 they fell into kind hands. 
 
 A short time after dark the enemy made a fierce 
 assault upon us, but were finally repulsed and driven 
 back. 
 
 Our lines were adjusted and preparations made for a 
 renewal of the battle on the following morning (Sep- 
 tember 20). 
 
 Bragg gave Polk instructions to attack at daylight 
 on the 20tli, but for some reason unknown he delayed 
 until about ten o'clock. From daylight until the attack 
 was made our army occuj)ied itself in throwing up 
 temporary breastworks, so by the time General Polk 
 — who, by the way, was Bishop of Tennessee — was 
 ready to make us a visitation we were also ready to give 
 him a warm and cordial reception. Pej^eatedly during 
 the day assaulting columns would move up to be each 
 time repulsed. 
 
 Chickamauga! How can I tell of its horrors or 
 paint in words its deeds of " high emprise" ? How can 
 I portray the wonderful story of that Sabbath-day's 
 work, when the Federal army held at bay the outnum- 
 bering columns of the foe with his encircled wall of 
 steel ? Then back through the bitter night we filed and 
 pitched our camp at Chattanooga, and there for long 
 woful weeks we held our jDosition in the face of a be-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL R. W. JOHNSON. 27 
 
 leaguering enemy without, and griping famine and 
 mortal disease, grim and unsparing, in our very midst. 
 
 This was Rosecrans's last battle, and he was succeeded 
 by General Grant. Soon after his arrival he perfected 
 his plans, and on the 23d day of November came the 
 battles of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. 
 The enemy was driven away and we had a brief breath- 
 ing spell, and then we pushed down into the very vitals 
 of the Confederacy. It might almost be said, during 
 those long months of combat which culminated in the 
 capture of Atlanta, that, like the Israelites of old, we 
 followed a cloud by day and a pillar of flame by night. 
 For in that time Dalton, Resaca, Kenesaw, New Hope 
 Church, Peach-tree Creek, Jonesboro', and Altoona, 
 and all those other crimson names of battle, had been 
 traced bloodily into the history of this devoted army. 
 Every day had the smoke-cloud of battle kissed the 
 heavens, and each night had flamed and flashed with 
 the lambent lights of our blazing guns, and we had 
 followed that smoke-cloud and those blazing guns over 
 a hundred fields of strife, until the old flag floated in 
 exultation over the great " Gate City" of the South. 
 Here our legions parted. A portion under Sherman 
 participated in that storied marcli to the sea. 
 
 As soon as his plans were developed, General Hood, 
 who commanded the Confederate army at that time, 
 started for Nashville. Sherman, anticipating such a 
 movement, left the Twenty-third Corps, commanded by 
 General Schofield, and the Fourth Corps, commanded 
 by General Stanley, the whole under the command of 
 General George H. Thomas, to watch his movements. 
 Hood marched to Florence, Alabama, and Thomas
 
 28 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 ordered Scliofield and Stanley, with the troops under 
 their command, to Pulaski, Tennessee. As Hood ap- 
 proached Pulaski the Federals fell back to Nashville. 
 At Franklin, a severe battle was fought, in which 
 Hood's forces suffered severely. Finally, all the avail- 
 able troops were concentrated at Nashville. Hood 
 moved up and formed his lines around the city. On 
 December 15, all of Thomas's arrangements having 
 been completed, our environed army swept out of its 
 fortifications and actually and utterly annihilated the 
 veteran ranks of the enemy. 
 
 The battle of Nashville was the last staggering blow 
 at the failing Confederacy, and contributed in a large 
 degree to the success of military operations in the East. 
 Had it terminated differently, other and bloody cam- 
 paigns would have been the legitimate consequences. 
 Kichmond would have been reinforced, and the success 
 of Sherman's march to the sea would have been endan- 
 gered. 
 
 The battle of Nashville was soon followed by a gen- 
 eral collapse of the Rebellion, and these massive armies, 
 which had made themselves felt through all the con- 
 fines of the republic, resolved once more into their 
 constituent parts and turned naturally and zealously to 
 the arts of peace.
 
 REMII^ISOENOES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LAST YEAR OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S LIFE. 
 
 EY CHAPLAIN EDWARD D. NBILL, D.D. 
 
 One of the most intelligent and extensive manufac- 
 turers of Dublin, whose father at the time was a rep- 
 resentative of that city in the British Parliament, after 
 the transaction of some business in the American con- 
 sulate, said to me, " Now tell me something about 
 President Lincoln." 
 
 The remark was not singular, but expressed the 
 desire which after the war prevailed in all the coun- 
 tries of Europe to know more of him who has left a 
 name which the world will not willingly let die. 
 
 The paper which has been prepared is not an elab- 
 orate essay, nor will it betray any confidence, nor will 
 it cherish partisanship, but will only give a few remi- 
 niscences of President Lincoln, who, in virtue of his 
 office, was commander-in-chief of that army and navy, 
 many of whose officers are now members of the Loyal 
 Legion of the United States. 
 
 On the 21st of June, 1861, the First Minnesota In- 
 fantry Kegiment, amid the cheers and tears of hun- 
 dreds, embarked in steamboats from Jackson Street, in 
 
 29
 
 30 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 the city of St. Paul, for the valley of the Potomac 
 River. The next week the regiment was encamped on 
 vacant squares east of the Caj^itol in Washington, and 
 one day, in the morning papers, it was announced that 
 in the afternoon the President would assist in raising a 
 flag on the grounds south of his residence ; and never 
 having seen Mr, Lincoln, I went there with some other 
 officers of the regiment. The crowd was very great. 
 On the balcony of the President's house sat General 
 Scott, in full uniform, looking as majestic as old Jupiter 
 of the ancient sculptors, while on a temporary platform 
 around the flag-staff stood the President, ready to pull 
 at a given signal. Among the spectators directly before 
 me stood a man, plainly dressed, with serious counte- 
 nance, with his wife by his side, who was then known 
 as Governor Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee. Several 
 years after, Mr. Johnson, referring to this occasion, said 
 an occurrence took place which the superstitious would 
 have considered an ill omen. He told me the Presi- 
 dent pulled the rope too long, so that the bunting of 
 the flag was split, and he could but think at the time 
 that he might be pained by the calamity of the great 
 republic rent in twain permanently. 
 
 President Lincoln was not again seen by me until 
 after the First Minnesota Regiment had the fiery trials 
 at Bull Run, Fair Oaks, and the Seven Days' battles 
 terminating on Malvern Hill. Early in July, 1862, 
 while the Army of the Potomac was resting around 
 Harrison's Landing, on the James River, impelled by 
 patriotism, and impressed by the gravity of the situa- 
 tion, he came down to look General McClellan in the 
 face, and aid him to the extent of his power.
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 31 
 
 Attracted by cheering, I looked in the direction from 
 which it came, and saw two horsemen. One had short 
 legs, but a fine body and presence above the hips, and 
 was on a large horse, in military dress. It was General 
 McClellan. The other, six feet four inches in height, 
 upon a smaller horse, so that his feet seemed very near 
 the ground, dressed as a civilian, with a tall silk hat, 
 was Abraham Lincoln. As he rode in front of the 
 army the shouts of thousands of weary men showed 
 that his presence had cheered them ; yet no soldier 
 who saw him that day, looking so much like the typical 
 Brother Jonathan of the caricatures, can ever forget 
 the scene. 
 
 Early in 1864 I was apjwinted to read and dispose 
 of all letters addressed to President Lincoln, and com- 
 missioned as secretary to sign land patents. A mail- 
 bag was brought to my room at the President's mansion 
 twice a day, well filled with letters upon various sub- 
 jects. 
 
 Every month my impression of the greatness of 
 President Lincoln increased. He was above a life of 
 mere routine. In his bearing there was nothing artifi- 
 cial or mechanical. While he desired to be appreciated, 
 and estimated the honors conferred upon him, he was 
 never puffed up, nor used great, swelling words. In 
 conversation I never knew him to speak of himself as 
 President, but when necessary to allude to his position, 
 he would use circumlocution, and say, " Before I came 
 here," or something equivalent. He was independent 
 of all cliques. Willing to be convinced, with a won- 
 derful patience he listened to the opinions and criticisms 
 of others. Those whose opinions were not accepted
 
 32 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 would sometimes charge that he was under the thumb 
 of this or that man, but the sequel always proved that 
 he was not a party tool. While he did not frown, nor 
 stamp his feet, while he eschewed the language of the 
 Janus-faced diplomat, and was slow to reach a conclu- 
 sion, yet when an opinion was deliberately formed he 
 was as firm as a rock. At critical periods he was prompt 
 to assume responsibility. 
 
 On the morning of the 2d of February, 1865, between 
 nine and ten o'clock, as I was ascending the stairs to the 
 second story, to reach my room, I met Forbes, an intel- 
 ligent servant, descending with a small valise in his 
 hand, and I asked, " Where are you going ?" Looking 
 up to see that no one was near, he whispered, " Fortress 
 Monroe," and hurried on. When I reached the upper 
 hall I met the President with his overcoat, and going to 
 my room, looked out of the window, and saw him quietly 
 walking around the curved pavement which leads to 
 Pennsylvania Avenue, while Forbes was following, at 
 a distance of two or three hundred feet, as his valet. 
 Waiting for some time, I then crossed the hall to the 
 room of the principal secretary, Mr. John G. Nicolay, 
 and quietly said, "The President has left the city." 
 "What do you mean?" he asked; and I replied, "Just 
 what I have said." Kising quickly, he opened the door 
 which communicated with the President's room, and was 
 astonished to find the chair of Mr. Lincoln vacant. The 
 Pj'csident had received a despatch which convinced him 
 that it was proper to go to Fortress Monroe and confer 
 with the rebel commissioners, Alexander Stephens, R. 
 M. T. Hunter, and J. A. Campbell, and at nine o'clock 
 that morning sent the following telegram to Secretary
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 33 
 
 Seward, already there: "Induced by a despatch from 
 General Grant, I join you at Fortress Monroe." 
 
 The failure of this conference to restore peace has be- 
 come a part of our history, and upon it it is unnecessary 
 to dwell. Upon the return of the President, Forbes told 
 me that the rebel commissioners seemed to be very 
 friendly, and that after they returned to the steamboat, 
 which was to take them back to the vicinity of Rich- 
 mond, a negro was sent in a row-boat by Mr. Seward 
 with a basket of champagne, to be presented with his 
 compliments. After the man reached the deck the 
 commissioners read the note, and waved their hand- 
 kerchiefs in acknowledgment, and then Mr. Seward, 
 speaking through a boatswain's trumpet, said, "Keep 
 the champagne, but return the negro." The status of 
 the negro, in case of cessation of hostilities, had been 
 one of the subjects discussed in the conference. 
 
 The President's capacity for work was wonderful. 
 While other men were taking recreation through the 
 sultry months of summer, he remained in his office 
 attending to the wants of the nation. He was never an 
 idler or a lounger. Each hour he was busy. At the 
 election in November, 1864, he was chosen President 
 for a second term. Anxious to know the returns from 
 the several States the morning after the election, I came 
 to the mansion earlier than usual. As I passed the 
 door of his office, which Avas ajar, I saw that he was 
 at his table and engaged in official work. Entering 
 the room, I took a seat by his side, extended my hand, 
 and congratulated him upon the vote, for my country's 
 sake and for his own sake. Turning away from the 
 papers which had been occupying his attention, he
 
 34 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 spoke kindly of his competitor, tlie calm, prudent gen- 
 eral and great organizer, whose remains this week have 
 been placed in the cold grave. He told me that General 
 Scott had recommended McClellan as an officer who 
 had studied the science of war, and had been in the 
 Crimea during the war against Russia, and that he told 
 Scott that he knew nothing about the science of war, 
 and it was very important to have just such a person 
 to organize the raw recruits of the republic around 
 Washington. 
 
 In June, 1864, he was persuaded to attend a great 
 fair in Philadelphia, under the auspices of the Sanitary 
 Commission, and returned one morning about ten o'clock. 
 As official business had accumulated during his absence, 
 as soon as he entered the house he went immediately to 
 his office. In less than an hour I went to see him, and 
 found him stretched out, his head on the back of one 
 chair, his legs resting on another, his collar and cravat 
 on the table, a mulatto barber lathering his face, while 
 the Attorney-General, Edward Bates, was quietly seated 
 by his side, talking to him upon some matter of state. 
 It was a striking illustration of his desire to be at work. 
 To the question whether his visit was pleasant, he re- 
 plied that it was, and the ladies, he believed, had made 
 several thousand dollars by |)lacing him on exhibition. 
 
 His memory was very retentive. During the last 
 year of the war a convalescent soldier at Elmira Hos- 
 pital, New York, while strolling with a fellow-soldier, 
 administered some drug to him and robbed him. From 
 the effect of the drugging the plundered man died, and 
 the robber was tried by court-martial and sentenced to 
 be hung. His friends obtained a suspension of sentence
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 35 
 
 on the ground that he was insane. The testimony in 
 the case was sent to a physician, the sujDerintendent of a 
 lunatic asylum, and his opinion requested. In due time 
 the doctor's report, covering several foolscap pages, was 
 received by mail, and, after being read and endorsed, 
 was sent to the President. 
 
 Some weeks after, General James A. Hardie, the as- 
 sistant adjutant-general at the War Department, came to 
 my room, and said it was very desirable that the Presi- 
 dent should take some action relative to the soldier 
 whose sentence had been suspended. Going to the 
 President, I told him General Hardie wanted to know 
 about this soldier's papers. Pointing to the top of his 
 desk he merely replied, "There they are; tell him 
 they are still in soak." Hardie, quite chagrined by the 
 unsatisfactory answer, hurried off. In about two weeks 
 he came again and said, " The soldier ought to be hung 
 or pardoned ; will you again see the President ?" I did 
 as asked, and then the President inquired if I had read 
 the report which came from the doctor. I answered 
 that I had. Then rising, he went to a case filled with 
 papers, and without the slightest difficulty found the 
 report and read its last sentence, which was to this effect : 
 " Although I cannot pronounce the person insane, he 
 certainly is peculiar." " Now," he said, " if these last 
 words had not been written I should have had no hesi- 
 tation in disposing of this case." Life to him was sacred, 
 and he never would sign a paper that would take away 
 life without deliberation. 
 
 As a writer he was fluent and forcible. His papers 
 l3ore few marks of revision, and while his style was not 
 Ciceronian, it was clear, pure, and easily comprehended.
 
 36 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 He composed letters amid distractions which would have 
 appalled other men. He kept no formal letter-book. 
 One morning in April, 1864, he came to me with a letter 
 in his hand and said, — 
 
 " Perhaps it is well to make a copy. Do so, and send 
 the copy or the original, as you prefer, to the person to 
 whom addressed." 
 
 It was his well-known letter to A. G. Hodges, of 
 Frankfort, Kentucky, in which he gave the substance 
 of his conversation with Governor Bramlette. The 
 opening sentences were : 
 
 " I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, 
 nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not 
 so think and feel, and yet I have never understood that 
 the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right 
 to act officially upon this judgment and feeling. It was 
 in the oath that I took that I would, to the best of my 
 ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution 
 of the United States. I could not take the office with- 
 out taking the oath. Nor was it in my view that I might 
 take an oath to get power, and break the oath in using 
 the power." 
 
 In February, 1865, he brought me several notes, and 
 said they were the correspondence growing out of the 
 visit of the senior Francis P. Blair to Richmond, and 
 asked if I would arrange and connect them with red 
 tape, so that he could show them to friends. The first 
 was simply a visiting-card, on which, directed to no 
 person, was this brief note : 
 
 •' Allow the bearer, F. P. Blair, Sr., to pass our lines, go 
 South and return. 
 
 "A. Lincoln."
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 37 
 
 There was also a letter from Mr. Jefferson Davis to 
 Mr. Blair. Mr. Davis in spelling the word negotiation 
 used a " c" in i3lace of the first " t," which is unusual. 
 
 President Lincoln's accessibility won the hearts of 
 the people. No one was too poor to be received. 
 When more important business was attended to, on 
 some days, between two and three o'clock in the after- 
 noon, he would have his door thrown open, and all in 
 the hall were allowed to enter and prefer their requests. 
 He playfully called it " the Beggars' Opera." 
 
 Mr. Cameron, his first Secretary of War, told me he 
 came once while a reception of this kind was being 
 held, and he wondered at the humor, patience, and 
 versatility of Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 One woman tried to obtain an order upon the com- 
 missary at Washington for provisions for her family on 
 the ground that her husband was a soldier, and was 
 with difiiculty convinced that the President could not 
 undertake to feed the families which soldiers had left 
 behind them. 
 
 A Gascon in spirit, with imperfect use of the Eng- 
 lish language, in turn approached the President with a 
 large bundle of papers and the pompous announcement 
 that he spoke six languages, and wished an appoint- 
 ment as consul to some foreign country. With infinite 
 tact he told the persistent man to take the papers to 
 the Secretary of State, and if he would send a com- 
 mission he would sign it. The sanguine fellow, not 
 dwelling upon the import of that little word " if," left, 
 blessing the President for his goodness and promptness. 
 
 At length, Mr. Cameron told me, when comjDaratively 
 few were left in the room, a young man, who evidently
 
 38 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STBUGGLE. 
 
 had never been far from the j^lace in which he was 
 born, stood before the President, and was greatly em- 
 barrassed. In search of a paj^er he wished to present 
 he put his hand into his side-pocket, but coukl not find 
 it ; then he began to feel his overcoat-pockets, and be- 
 came more confused. The President waited patiently, 
 and at last, with a pleasant look, remarked, " Friends, 
 you will remember that some time ago a man stood 
 here who told us he could speak six languages, and now 
 we have one who does not seem able to speak a word." 
 By this time the young man found his paper, and con- 
 sequently recovered his self-possession. His application 
 was within the power of the President to grant, and 
 the applicant left rejoicing. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln's manners were never repulsive. While 
 he could not grace a ball-room, nor comj^ete with the 
 perfumed and spangled representative of a foreign 
 court in a knowledge of the laws of fashion, yet in his 
 heart there was always kindly feeling for others ; and 
 thus, in the best sense, he was a gentleman. The late 
 Edward Everett, whose elegance and courtliness of 
 manner no one questioned, met Mr. Lincoln for the 
 first time at the dinner-table of a friend on the occa- 
 sion of the dedication of the national cemetery at Get- 
 tysburg, and he afterwards said that he was impressed 
 with his simple, easy bearing. Destitute of hauteur, 
 and conscious of wishing no man any harm, he had 
 from youth indulged in pleasantry, by telling to farmers 
 at the country store, and to fellow-lawyers while going 
 to court, amusing, if not always classic, stories, not to 
 raise a laugh, but to illustrate his views. This habit 
 remained through life, but no fair-minded man would
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 39 
 
 have called him a trifling jester or a coarse buffoon. 
 It was a relief to him, amid the cares of civil war, to 
 indulge in quaint expressions. One day an elderly 
 gentleman, who wished to give a house as a home for 
 soldiers' orphans, visited him and said "Secretary 
 Stanton was not kind, and would not listen to him." 
 A messenger came and said the President wished to see 
 me. When I entered, he wrote on a visiting-card, 
 "Will the Secretary of War please see the gentle- 
 man ?" and asked me if I would go with the note, and 
 person, to the War Department. General Hardie, when 
 I met him, seemed displeased as he looked at the gen- 
 tleman, but I told him I had been sent with a note 
 from the President. Hastily taking the card, he went 
 to the Secretary's room, but soon came out, and curtly 
 said, " The Secretary cannot see the gentleman." Per- 
 suading the person to go back to the hotel and leave 
 the city until the times were more propitious, I went to 
 the President, showed him the card, and said it had 
 failed to accomplish what was desired. With a look 
 full of humor, he said, " Well ! well ! the requests of 
 the commander-in-chief don't amount to much." 
 
 One morning he told his doorkeeper that he would 
 not be interrupted, as he was much engaged. Senator 
 Howard, of Michigan, came and said he must see him. 
 The doorkeeper could not disobey orders, and brought 
 him to me. As soon as he sat down, he showed that 
 he was in ill humor, and said, " If it were his own 
 son he would not act so." Never having seen the Sen- 
 ator, and supposing him to be some agent to procure 
 substitutes, I replied that if he continued to speak dis- 
 respectfully of the President, in his own house, I must
 
 40 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 request him to leave my room. He then said that he 
 was Senator Howard, and that he had come to request 
 suspension of sentence of a soldier who in a few hours 
 was to be executed. 
 
 Entering the President's room, I found him very 
 busy in writing, and apologetically said, " Would not 
 have interrupted you, but Senator Howard wants sus- 
 pension in a certain case." " Wants suspension ! Well, 
 that is a queer request." Afterwards he told me to 
 write a telegram, giving the soldier's name, ordering 
 suspension of sentence, sign his name, and send it 
 through the War Department. I told him I would 
 write the order, but preferred that he should sign it. 
 
 A drunken black man of a low grade of intellect 
 killed some one with an axe in the suburbs of Wash- 
 ington, and was sentenced to be hung. A question 
 arose as to whether it was the duty of the marshal of 
 the district or some one else to attend to the execution. 
 Early one morning I saw the President in Secretary 
 Nicolay's room, and, as he was not there, I asked if I 
 could do anything. He replied, " There is a dispute as 
 to the hanging of a black man, and I have determined 
 to settle the controversy by not having him hung, and 
 I would like to see Marshal Lamon." 
 
 A commutation of sentence to imprisonment for life 
 was prepared, and Marshal Lamon reached the scaffold 
 as the roj^e was being fastened around the culprit's neck, 
 and it took some time for the city authorities, and a 
 longer time for the dull-headed negro, to comprehend 
 that there was to be no hanging, and that the paper 
 read by the marshal was a comnmtation by President 
 Lincoln.
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 41 
 
 The President cultivated no animosities, and for the 
 public good would sometimes appoint those who criti- 
 cised his acts. Major John Hay, the unmarried secre- 
 tary, one day said to me, " What do you think Mr. 
 Lincoln has done ?" Then he told me that he had just 
 nominated Salmon P. Chase as the Chief Justice of the 
 Supreme Court. It was an act of magnanimity, as Mr. 
 Chase had been willing to see him defeated, and had 
 aided in the circulation of a pamphlet giving reasons 
 why he should not be nominated a second time for the 
 Presidency. While Mr. Lincoln was dead and yet 
 unburied, in examining his papers, I found a letter 
 from Mr. Simeon Draper, written as early as 1862, in 
 which he mentioned that Chief Justice Taney had 
 reached so great an age that his days on earth would 
 be few, and that when his death occurred he hoped Mr. 
 Chase would be his successor. 
 
 The President knew that there were those in his 
 Cabinet and in the army willing to take his seat. 
 Letters had been received mentioning that one of 
 General B. F. Butler's staff officers was visiting in the 
 West, and whispering that the general was willing to 
 be President. Mr. Chase was too willing to be his 
 successor. No wonder it was a relief to know that 
 General Grant had no aspirations in that direction. 
 
 About two o'clock in the afternoon of the 9th of 
 March, 1864, a messenger told me to look out of the 
 window of my room and I would see General Grant. 
 I went, and saw a plain, round-shouldered man in citi- 
 zen's dress, with a lad, his eldest son, by his side, 
 walking away from the house, where he had been to 
 pay his first visit to the President. To gratify the
 
 42 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 public and appease the reporters, the President wrote 
 the few words which he had spoken when he gave the 
 general his commission upon a piece of paper, partly 
 torn, and Grant penned a brief reply. 
 
 During the latter part of 1864, Grant sent a telegram 
 to this effect, indicating his pertinacity : " It seems to me 
 that a call should be issued for more men, but in any 
 event I shall continue and do the best with those I have 
 left." 
 
 Early in the spring of 1865 the President sent a tele- 
 gram to General Grant, as follows : " The financial 
 pressure is so great, I hope that you will make an early 
 move and close the war." 
 
 Full of anxiety, Mr. Lincoln went to the front during 
 the last days of JMarcli, and a movement was begun 
 under General Sheridan. On the 2d of April Kich- 
 mond was evacuated, and on the 9th General Lee 
 surrendered. 
 
 The President did not exult when there was a vic- 
 tory nor manifest depression when circumstances were 
 adverse. 
 
 After our arms had been successful guns were fired 
 in honor of the victory in the public square in front 
 of the mansion. Although the concussion would cause 
 the windows to rattle, he never made allusion to the 
 salutes. He felt that war in any aspect was deplorable, 
 and that one victory did not conquer a peace. Nor was 
 he disturbed when there was an a23pearance of danger. 
 
 During the summer of 1864 I lived in the country 
 thirteen miles from the city, near the junction of the 
 Baltimore and Washington turnpike with the railroad. 
 After breakfast, on Tuesday, July 12, I went, as usual,
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 43 
 
 ill a railway-car to the city, and before noon my house 
 was surrounded b}^ General Bradley Johnson's insur- 
 gent cavalry, who had made an attempt to cajDture the 
 New York express-train, and robbed the country store 
 near by of its contents. The presence of the enemy 
 stopped all travel by railroad, and Senator Ramsey, of 
 Minnesota, who happened to be in Washington, found 
 no way to the North except by descending the Potomac 
 to its mouth and then ascending Chesapeake Bay to the 
 city of Baltimore. While the cavalry were in the fields 
 around my house the enemy's infantry was marching 
 towards the capital, by what was called the Seventh 
 Street road, and they set fire to the residence of the 
 Hon. Montgomery Blair, who had been Postmaster- 
 General. As I sat in my room at the President's the 
 smoke of the burning mansion was visible, but business 
 was transacted with as much quietness as if the foe 
 were hundreds of miles distant. Mr. Fox, the Assistant 
 Secretary of the Navy, had, in a private note, informed 
 the President that if there was any necessity to leave 
 the city, he would find a steamer in readiness at the 
 wharf at the foot of Sixth Street. 
 
 About one o'clock of the afternoon of each day of 
 the skirmishing the President would enter his carriage 
 and drive to the forts in the suburbs and watch the 
 soldiers repulse the invaders. 
 
 The letters sent to the President from day to day 
 were of all descriptions, 
 
 " From grave to gay, from lively to severe." 
 
 A rude wag, the day after his election for a second 
 term, wrote: "Dear Old Abe, — Yesterday I worked
 
 44 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 hard for you all day, and wore out my boots. Please 
 send a new pair by mail." After the surrender of 
 General Lee, ropes began to arrive by express, with 
 humorous notes, requesting that they might be used in 
 hanging the late President of the insurgent States upon 
 *^ a sour apple-tree." 
 
 A cheery woman from distant Oregon wrote that the 
 health of her husband had failed, and that it would be 
 be a great assistance if he were made postmaster. She 
 continued : 
 
 " By the name I bear since my marriage you will 
 not know me, but you will when I tell you that I am 
 
 Deacon 's daughter, at whose house you used to 
 
 stop in going to court, and you may remember that 
 once, after sewing a button on your coat, you laugh- 
 ingly said, ' I will not forget you when I am Presi- 
 dent;' and on another occasion, when my father was 
 making preparation for his quite lengthy evening 
 family prayer, you whispered, ' Go up-stairs and bring 
 down a pillow for me, for I am afraid my knees will 
 become sore.' " 
 
 While some letters provoked a smile, others stirred 
 the higher emotions. A sister of the rebel general 
 called Stonewall Jackson told her joy at seeing the 
 Union troops around her farm in Virginia, and how 
 gladly she looked upon the flag of the republic, and 
 the blue uniforms of the officers. 
 
 A boy not twenty years of age unfolded a tale of 
 sorrow. He wrote that an elder brother had enlisted, 
 and for some reason had left his regiment, and was 
 marked as a deserter. His i)arents in consequence were 
 humiliated and heart-broken, and he feared that their
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 45 
 
 days on earth would be shortened in consequence of 
 tliat word affixed to their son's name. He then begged 
 that the government would take him and allow him to 
 serve the full term of his brother's enlistment, on con- 
 dition that his brother would be absolved. 
 
 A letter once came from Canada, every line of which 
 seemed to be the moan of a burdened conscience. The 
 writer told how he had been skulking for months as a 
 deserter, but that within a short time he had been 
 attending church, had repented and determined to lead 
 a new life. From the hour he had changed his course, 
 although friends dissuaded him, he felt impelled to 
 write to the President, and mention that on a certain 
 day, and at a certain hour, he would be seen walking 
 in the grounds around the mansion, clothed in a certain 
 manner. A messenger was told to be on the watch, 
 and at the time specified he came to my room and 
 said, "The man with the specified overcoat is there." 
 He was then brought up to my room. He had the 
 emaciated face of one who had experienced mental suf- 
 fering, and willing, if necessary, to die for his trans- 
 gression. While he waited his letter was sent and 
 explained to the President, who wrote on the back to 
 this effect : " Let this man be returned to his regiment 
 without penalty, except that he shall serve, after the 
 expiration of his term of enlistment, the number of 
 days he was absent by desertion." 
 
 Time fiiils me to relate all that I could, and I will 
 now confine myself to incidents in connection with the 
 last days of the earthly career of this remarkable man. 
 
 On Monday, the 9th of April, 1865, the citizens of 
 Washington were full of joy at the intelligence of the
 
 46 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 surrender of General Lee, and began to throng around 
 the Presidential mansion. On Tuesday morning a pro- 
 cession, with a band of music, arrived while I was con- 
 versing with the President, who told the messenger to 
 tell them that he would address them that evening. On 
 that night he delivered his last public address, " not in 
 sorrow, but in gladness of heart," as the opening sen- 
 tence indicated. At this time Chief Justice Chase was 
 holding court in Baltimore, and on Thursday a letter 
 from him passed through my hands, objecting to some 
 of the phraseology of the President in the address rela- 
 tive to the emancipation proclamation. 
 
 It was now evident that, while the war was ended, 
 the work of building up confidence in the government 
 in the late slave States would be herculean, requiring 
 the "wisdom of a serpent and the gentleness of a dove " 
 
 On Thursday, I think, he mentioned that he wished 
 to see Mr. John W. Forney, the secretary of the Senate, 
 and also editor of the Philadelphia Press and the Wash- 
 ington Chronicle. Mr. Forney afterwards told me that 
 he had conferred with him, and suggested that he should 
 make an informal visit to Pichmond and other cities of 
 the South, and urge upon editors and leading men the 
 desirableness of their giving a full support to the meas- 
 ures of government. By this method he hoped that 
 enough at least would be persuaded to rally around the 
 flag, so as to obviate the necessity of appointing as post- 
 masters, collectors of revenue, and judges of courts those 
 not natives of the South, with no jDcrmanent interest in 
 its welfare, who would leave as soon as the emoluments 
 of office ceased. By this time those persons always 
 ready to give advice began to call, and tell what they
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 47 
 
 thought should he done with Mr. Jefferson Davis. 
 AVearied and annoyed, he said to Slade, his mulatto 
 doorkeeper, — 
 
 "This talk about Mr. Davis tires me. I hope he will 
 mount a fleet horse, reach the shores of the Gulf of 
 Mexico, and drive so far into its waters that we shall 
 never see him again." 
 
 The last interview I had with him was between three 
 and four o'clock of the last afternoon of his earthly life. 
 A colonel of a Vermont regiment, who had been on a 
 furloudi durino' his absence from the Army of the Po- 
 tomac, had been made a brigadier-general. Upon his 
 return he stopped at the War Department for his com- 
 mission, and was told that it had been sent over to the 
 President for his signature. Coming to the President's 
 house, he told the doorkeeper of the office the occasion 
 of his visit, and he was brought to me. That afternoon 
 there had been a Cabinet meeting and an interview 
 with General Grant, and I went to see the President, 
 and found that he had retired to the private part of 
 the house for a lunch. While I was looking over 
 the papers on his table to see if I could find the de- 
 sired commission, he came back, eating an apple. I 
 told him for what I was looking, and as I talked he 
 placed his hand on the bell-pull, when I said, "For 
 whom are you going to ring ?" Placing his hand upon 
 my coat, he spoke but two words, — "Andrew John- 
 son." Then I said, " I will come in again." As I 
 was leaving the room the Vice-President had been 
 ushered, and the President advanced and took him by 
 the hand. 
 
 None but God knew then that an assassin was pre-
 
 48 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 paring plans by which the President in a few hours 
 would be mortally wounded. 
 
 After ten o'clock on Friday morning Mrs. Lincoln 
 sent a servant to my room to know whether any compli- 
 mentary tickets had been received by me, inviting the 
 President and family to attend that night the play of 
 "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre. I replied, 
 " No," and in less than an hour from that time a mes- 
 senger was sent to the theatre to say that the President's 
 family wished a box. It was not until after that hour 
 that the assassin began to form his plans for that night. 
 Just at dawn on Saturday morning I was aroused 
 from sleep by a loud pounding, and, going down to the 
 door of my country-house and opening it, found the 
 sergeant of the guard at the railroad crossing, who told 
 me that the President and his Cabinet had been shot, 
 that all travel on the road from Washington had been 
 stopped, and then he burst into tears. 
 
 To me the surprise was not as great as it was to this 
 loyal, tender-hearted soldier. Threatening letters had 
 come to the President through the mails, which did not, 
 however, except in one instance, seem worthy of notice 
 or preservation. That letter was postmarked Glovers- 
 ville. New York, about forty miles northwest of Albany, 
 during the latter part of February. The handwriting 
 was not at all disguised, but clear and bold. The sen- 
 tences were brief and those of a person terribly in 
 earnest, and to this effect : " God knows I have hated 
 you, but God knows I cannot be a murderer. Beware 
 of the ides of March. Do not, like Julius Caesar, go to 
 the Senate unarmed. If I did not love my life, I would 
 sign my name."
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 49 
 
 The words made such an impression that I consulted 
 with Major John Hay, the unmarried secretary, who 
 slept at the mansion, and whose chamber adjoined my 
 room. He remarked, " What can we do to prevent 
 assassination ? The President is so accessible that any 
 villain can feign business, and, while talking to him, 
 draw a razor and cut his throat, and some minutes 
 might elapse after the murderer's escape before we 
 could discover what had been done." 
 
 This letter I did not destroy, but some weeks after 
 Harold, Payne, and others had been executed, I gave 
 it to Judge-Advocate-General Holt, who subsequently 
 told me that he had no doubt that the writer had some 
 knowledge of Booth's desire to do evil. Who the writer 
 was will probably never be known. 
 
 As no cars were allowed to run, upon the tender of a 
 locomotive I rode to Washington, and reached the house 
 about an hour after the President's body had arrived. 
 A vast crowd was in the streets, a guard of soldiers at 
 each gate, the halls of the mansion, ordinarily filled 
 with visitors, were still, and everything seemed to weep. 
 My position was lonely. Mr. John G. Nicolay, the 
 principal secretary, was absent on a short sea-voyage ; 
 Major Hay, by the long watching through the night, 
 was worn out, and lay upon the sofa in his chamber, so 
 that the duty devolved upon me to read and dispose of 
 all the papers that had accumulated in the office since 
 Mr. Lincoln had been President, and make such dis- 
 position of them as my judgment suggested. Few 
 men's papers can be found in this world so free from 
 anything objectionable, or sentiments which it would be 
 desirable that the public should not know, as were these.
 
 50 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 In the mail received after the President was lying 
 cold with death, there were two which made some 
 impression. One was from General Burnside, resigning 
 his position, thanking the President for the considera- 
 tion he had always shown, and expressing his willing- 
 ness, should the nation's life be again endangered, once 
 more to buckle on his sword. The other was written 
 by Chief Justice Chase, at Barnum's Hotel, Baltimore, 
 on Friday night, not long before the fatal shot was 
 fired. Mr. Chase had written on Wednesday relative 
 to the emancipation proclamation, but this second letter 
 was on the position the government should assume 
 towards the late slave population, and in it was asked, 
 " Cannot you take the position of universal suffrage?" 
 
 Mr. Lincoln preferred intelligent, impartial suffrage, 
 without respect to color, but was willing to give the 
 right to vote to all colored men who had been soldiers 
 of the- United States, even if they could not read. 
 
 On Saturday, Slade, the messenger, came to me and 
 said he was very unhappy, and asked me if I had 
 noticed as I crossed the hall to the President's room on 
 Friday afternoon that he was listening to the Vice- 
 President, and nodding assent as he conversed. I told 
 him I had observed him. He then said, — 
 
 " It is what I said to Mr. Johnson that makes me 
 feel miserable." The Vice-President had expressed his 
 respect for Mr. Lincoln, but said he thought if he were 
 President he would not make it too easy for the rebels, 
 and that having African blood in his veins he had 
 nodded assent, and expressed the wish that at some 
 future day he might be President. 
 
 Assuring; him that there was no occasion for his
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 5I 
 
 unhappiness, he seemed to be in a measure relieved. 
 Slade was a faithful man, prudent and dignified. He 
 was an elder in the Presbyterian Church for colored 
 people on Fifteenth Street, near the President's mansion. 
 
 After the funeral he came to me in a different frame 
 of mind, and told me the ambition of his life was satis- 
 fied, that President Johnson had sent for him and made 
 him the steward of the house, which gave him a good 
 salary and some perquisites. He died before Mr. John- 
 son's term expired, and camellia japonicas were sent by 
 the President to be placed on his cofiin, and the Presi- 
 dent's daughters attended the burial services. 
 
 About ten o'clock on Saturday night Major Hay, 
 who had recovered, came to me and said that he thought 
 some one ought to suggest to acting President Johnson 
 that it would be well for him to inform the widow that 
 there was no need of undue haste in leaving the man- 
 sion. Going to the National Hotel, I found Senator 
 Ramsey, of Minnesota, in his private parlor, and asked 
 him if he would see Mr. Johnson, to which request he 
 consented. On Sunday morning, about eleven o'clock, 
 the cards of Senators Ramsey and Norton were brought 
 to me, and a messenger was sent to Robert, the elder 
 son of the dead President, who came and stood by the 
 table where his father had so lately transacted business. 
 After introducing the Senators, Senator Ramsey de- 
 livered the request of President Johnson, that his 
 mother should not feel constrained to leave the house 
 until she had made all proper arrangements. 
 
 This son had but a few months before graduated at 
 Harvard University, and his manly bearing on that 
 trying occasion made me feel that he was a worthy son
 
 52 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 of a worthy father. It is worthy of note that, in after- 
 years, he succeeded Senator Ramsey as Secretary of 
 War. 
 
 Just before the funeral. President Lincoln's first 
 Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, so long identified 
 with the politics of Pennsylvania, and still living, told 
 me that during his long public career he had never met 
 one who was more sagacious and far-seeing. 
 
 Not long after the surrender of Richmond, a native 
 of the South, now a professor in South Carolina, visited 
 me and passed a night. In the chamber where he 
 slept there were on the table some of the advance 
 sheets of Raymond's " Life of Lincoln," which he had 
 taken up and read. After taking his seat at the 
 breakfast-table, he said that he now believed the 
 caricatures and exaggerations of the peculiarities of 
 the President would soon be forgotten, and that his 
 name would be honored like that of Washington. 
 
 The surgeon on duty with the ship " Congress," in 
 the terrible fight with the rebel ram " Merrimac," in 
 Hampton Roads, upon his return from a cruise in the 
 Mediterranean, after the war, told me that he was not 
 only surprised, but gratified, to find in several restau- 
 rants in Italy the likeness of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 The words of Paterculus, the historian of the time 
 of one of the Caesars, relative to a distinguished man 
 of his century, can be aptly applied to him of whom 
 we have spoken : " His distinctive characteristic was 
 this, that he was preceded by none whom he imitated, 
 nor did any come after who could imitate him." 
 
 A poet, before Mr. Lincoln's death, well portrayed 
 his future reputation in the following lines :
 
 ADDRESS BY EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D. 53 
 
 No adulation shall the poet bring, 
 
 No o'erwrought picture of thy excellence ; 
 But taught by truthfulness shall simply sing 
 
 The passing worth of cheerful common sense ; 
 Shall call thy honesty a priceless gem, 
 
 Thy patience beautiful, thy faith sublime. 
 Thy gentle nature let the harsh condemn, 
 
 Just Heaven's reward is in the hand of Time. 
 Work on amidst the nation's wild turmoil. 
 
 The day of triumph brightens up the sky, 
 The tree of peace springs up from roots of toil, 
 
 Its leaves shall sweetly crown thee by and by. 
 Smile on amid thy cares, O Freedom's friend. 
 The people's heart is with thee to the end."
 
 SOME ACCOUNT AND RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 OP THE 
 
 OPERATIONS AGAINST THE CITY OF MOBILE AND ITS DE- 
 FENCES, 1864 AND 1865. 
 
 BY MAJOE CHAELES J. ALLEN, 
 
 CORPS OP ENGINEERS, UNITED STATES ARMY. 
 
 The operations against Mobile in 1864 were notice- 
 able for the capture of the ram " Tennessee" by the fleet 
 of Admiral Farragut, and for the effect of our artillery 
 fire against Fort Morgan. Those of the spring follow- 
 ing, by the land and naval forces, and in which Minne- 
 sota soldiers bore a distinguished part, though among 
 the most important and successful of our undertakings, 
 were largely overshadowed by the gigantic military 
 operations occurring at the same time in Virginia, as 
 well as by the surrender of Lee and the assassination of 
 Lincoln. 
 
 It is not possible, in the limits accorded this paper, to 
 attempt more than an outline account of the operations 
 about Mobile and the narration of a few incidents that 
 may serve to recall to some of my hearers memories of 
 events in which they took part more than twenty years 
 ago, if, indeed, they could ever have forgotten them. 
 
 My field-notes of 1864 and 1865 not all being acces- 
 
 54
 
 jOCRftTE OEFCv- 
 
 MOBILE. 
 1664.-18(1^.
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 55 
 
 sible, I have verified the important dates and figures by 
 reference to ofiicial and other accounts, and for the use 
 of which this general acknowledgment is made. 
 
 Mobile, the principal city of Alabama in population 
 and commercial importance, had, at the outbreak of the 
 Rebellion, a population of about thirty thousand. Orig- 
 inally settled by Spaniards, it contained, in 1814, per- 
 haps one hundred and fifty houses. The city is situated 
 at the northwest angle of Mobile Bay, which is about 
 thirty miles long by fifteen wide at its southern, and six 
 at its northern, extremity. The Mobile River, formed 
 by the union of the Alabama and Tombigbee, discharges 
 into the bay in front of the city. The Tombigbee and 
 the Alabama were important to the Confederacy ; the 
 latter especially, as it was navigated by large steamers 
 to Montgomery. Mobile was also connected with the 
 interior of the Confederacy by the Mobile and Ohio 
 Railroad, and the Mobile and Great Northern, the latter 
 connecting it with Montgomery, Columbus, and Atlanta, 
 and also with Pensacola. Selma, on the Alabama River, 
 was important to the Confederate government from its 
 shops, which eventually turned out war material but 
 little, if at all, inferior to that manufactured at Atlanta. 
 
 Mobile was one of the most advantageous of Southern 
 ports for blockade-runners, and the importance of wrest- 
 ing it from the rebels was early recognized by the United 
 States authorities ; on the other hand, the rebels pro- 
 ceeded to fortify it in a manner commensurate with its 
 importance to themselves. The more pressing necessity 
 to the Union of opening the Mississippi, however, led 
 first to the projecting of operations against New Orleans 
 by way of the passes of the Mississi^Dpi, operations which
 
 56 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 threatened Mobile and necessitated the retention, by the 
 Confederates, of a respectable force in its vicinity. 
 
 Upon the outbreak of the war the ports of the seced- 
 ing States were blockaded or observed by the United 
 States navy. After several changes in the composition 
 of the Gulf Squadron, Flag-officer Farragut was as- 
 signed to command, his district extending from the 
 Mexican border to some distance beyond Pensacola. 
 
 It was not practicable for Mobile to receive decided 
 attention from our forces until 1864. We find General 
 Sherman writing from Nashville on April 3 of that 
 year to General Banks, who was on the Red River: 
 " The thirty days for which I loaned you the command 
 of A. J. Smith will expire on the 10th instant. ... I 
 must have A. J. Smith's troops now as soon as possible. 
 . . . All is well in this quarter, and I hope by the time 
 you turn against Mobile our forces will again act to- 
 wards the same end, though from distant points. Gen- 
 eral Grant now having lawful control, will doubtless see 
 that all minor objects are disregarded, and that all the 
 armies act on a common plan." 
 
 The unfortunate outcome of the Red River expedition 
 interfered with the plan for an immediate advance upon 
 Mobile. 
 
 Major-General E. R. S. Canby, an accomplished 
 officer, was assigned to command of the military division 
 of West Mississippi, in which was included Banks's 
 department. A. J. Smith, with his command, was or- 
 dered to Canby, but the orders were recalled, and Smith 
 marched against Forrest, whom he defeated at Tupelo 
 in the early days of July. 
 
 Admiral Farragut had long been anxious to attack
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 57 
 
 the defences of Mobile, in order to prevent the com- 
 pletion of rebel ironclads under construction there, 
 one of which, the "Tennessee," was afterwards used 
 against his fleet with fearful effect. By the latter part 
 of July events justified a combined land and naval 
 attack upon the outer channel defences of the city. 
 The city itself was protected on its land-front by three 
 nearly parallel lines of massive works, connected by 
 strong infantry parapets, the left flanks resting on 
 Mobile Bay and the right on Mobile River. The main 
 entrance to the bay from the Gulf of Mexico was de- 
 fended by Forts Gaines and Morgan, works constructed 
 by the government long before the Rebellion, excellent 
 for their time, but not calculated to withstand the artil- 
 lery of 1864. Morgan, at the western extremity of 
 Mobile Point, a sandspit bordering the southerly part 
 of the bay, commanded the deepest channel, which lay 
 close to it. The fort was a masonry bastioned work, 
 pentagonal in plan, casemated, with wide and deep 
 ditch, and embrasured for flank casemate howitzers for 
 defence against escalade, and also partly protected by a 
 glacis. The heavy guns, about fifty in number, were 
 mounted en barbette, and included 8- and 10-inch Co- 
 lumbiads, 24- and 32-pounders, 6i-, 7-, and 8-inch 
 rifles, and one Whitworth rifle of about 3-inch calibre. 
 Before the northwest front was a water-battery of seven 
 heavy guns, including two 6i-inch rifles, and in the 
 northwest place of arms a battery of three 7- and 8-inch 
 rifles. There exists a good deal of discrepancy between 
 different statements as to the armament, but the fore- 
 going is not far from correct. Inside the fort was a 
 barrack intended to be bomb-proof. At least thirty-
 
 58 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 six guns bore upon the channel, and the land-ap- 
 proaches were swept by the guns of two fronts. On 
 the opposite side of the entrance, and three and one- 
 eighth miles distant, on the eastern end of Dauphin 
 Island, was Fort Gaines, also a masonry bastioned work, 
 mounting sixteen barbette guns ranging from the 10- 
 inch Columbiad down to the 18-pounder smooth-bore. 
 The fort* mounted, in addition, several siege and flank 
 casemate howitzers. It was too distant from Morgan 
 for its artillery to play any important part in resisting 
 a fleet passing close to the latter, it having been designed 
 to command the shoaler approaches to the bay to the 
 east of Dauphin Island. The entrance to Mobile Bay 
 through Grant's Pass from Mississippi Sound, — the 
 name given to the extent of sea bordering Mississippi 
 and Alabama from the Rigolets to the Bay of Mobile, 
 and protected from the storms of the Gulf of Mexico 
 by a chain of low sand-islands, — was defended by Fort 
 Powell, a small but strong earthwork, constructed by 
 the Confederates upon an oyster-bank between Little 
 Dauphin Island and Cedar Point on the mainland. 
 This work was provided with strong traverses and maga- 
 zines, and also with an exterior infantry parapet at the 
 water-edge, to serve as defence against attacks from 
 small boats, and mounted six heavy guns bearing upon 
 the pass, but none upon the bay. Grant's Pass was 
 only navigable for light-draught boats. 
 
 From the Fort Gaines wharf to the western border 
 of the Fort Morgan channel a strong row of piling 
 blocked the entrance. From the extremity of this row 
 of piling ran three rows of floating contact-torpedoes 
 planted in echelon, leaving, however, an open channel
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 59 
 
 about two hundred and twenty-five yards wide close to 
 Mobile Point. The Confederate engineers urged the 
 closing of the entire channel with torpedoes, but their 
 recommendations were disapproved, as it was deemed 
 essential by the district commander that a free passage 
 be left for Confederate vessels. The eastern extremity 
 of the line of torpedoes was marked by a red buoy. 
 Torpedoes were also planted in front of Powell. Float- 
 ing torpedoes only could be stationed in the Morgan 
 channel, on account of its depth, fifty feet and up- 
 wards. 
 
 In the upper bay and commanding the approaches 
 by water to the city were formidable batteries, — two or 
 three of them floating-batteries, also four shore-bat- 
 teries. The approaches to the channel batteries were 
 obstructed by rows of piling and groups and lines of 
 torpedoes. 
 
 The fortifications on the east side of the bay were 
 not completed until after the fall of Gaines and 
 Morgan. 
 
 In addition to the forts and batteries, the Confed- 
 erates had a small, though by no means insignificant, 
 naval force in the lower bay, composed of the ram 
 " Tennessee" and three smaller steamers, the " Gaines," 
 " Morgan," and " Selma," — the three steamers unar- 
 mored excepting some protection around the boilers, 
 carrying, altogether, sixteen guns of large calibre. 
 There were other gunboats in the upper bay, but they 
 did not appear on the scene of action in 1864 ; possibly 
 they were not in condition to do so. The " Tennessee" 
 was two hundred and nine feet long, forty-eight feet 
 beam, and of fourteen feet draught. Her deck was
 
 60 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 covered with wrought-iron plates two inches thick, and 
 the sides of the vessel were protected against ramming 
 by an overhang extending six feet below the water-line, 
 and backed so as to present eight feet of solid material 
 at the sides. She was provided with a strong iron- 
 plated prow to serve as a ram. The casemate was 
 strong, seventy-nine feet long by twenty-nine in 
 breadth, its sides and faces inclined at angles of forty- 
 five degrees with the horizontal, and covered forward 
 with six inches, and abaft and on the sides with five 
 inches, of wrought-iron plating, the armor plating 
 backed with twenty-two and one-half inches of solid 
 timber. Her armament consisted of two 7 i -inch 
 and four 6-inch Brooke rifles, throwing, respectively, 
 solid shot of one hundred and ten and ninety-five 
 pounds. Although moving at a low rate of speed, due 
 to inadequate machinery, and hampered by several me- 
 chanical drawbacks, she was a formidable engine for 
 destruction. She was moved from Mobile to Fort 
 Morgan about the middle of May, having to be assisted 
 over Dog River bar by means of camels. It was the 
 intention to move out with the ram and attack the 
 Union fleet, which had not up to that time been rein- 
 forced by the monitors, but the plan was not carried 
 out. 
 
 Farragut, in the latter part of February, bombarded 
 Fort Powell from Mississippi Sound with the guns of his 
 light-draught vessels, but made no impression upon it. 
 
 The troops that were to take part in the attack 
 upon Fort Gaines consisted of the Thirty-fourth Iowa, 
 Ninety-sixth Ohio, Seventy-seventh Illinois, Ninety- 
 sixth Colored Infantry, the Third Maryland Cavalry
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. Q,\ 
 
 (dismounted), and some artillery; in all about eigh- 
 teen hundred men, under command of General Gordon 
 Granger. They were trans^^orted by water from New 
 Orleans through Mississippi Sound, and landed on the 
 3d of August at the westerly extremity of Dauphin 
 Island, about nine miles from Fort Gaines. The woods 
 in the direction of the fort were shelled by a gunboat. 
 The following morning the command moved forward 
 and invested the fort. Batteries were established at 
 about two thousand two hundred yards from the enemy 
 and a line of intrenchment across the island commenced. 
 By the 6th two 30-pounder Parrots and four 3-inch 
 rifles were in position, and works had been constructed 
 for more, but further operations by the troops were ren- 
 dered unnecessary by those of the navy, to which we 
 must now refer. 
 
 The arrangement between Admiral Farragut and 
 General Granger was that the troops should be in posi- 
 tion before Fort Gaines on the 4th, and that the fleet 
 should pass Fort Morgan on the morning of the same 
 day. In spite, however, of all the efforts of the admi 
 ral and his ofiicers, the fleet was not ready at the time 
 appointed, one of the monitors, the "Tecumseh," having 
 been unavoidably delayed until the night of the 4th. 
 The next morning, the ever memorable 5th of August, 
 was to witness a naval battle which for stern, hard 
 fighting and for loftiness and tenacity of purpose on the 
 part of both Union and Confederate sailors has never 
 been excelled, if it has been equalled, in the world's 
 history. The admiral was fully informed, through 
 reconnoissances of his own officers, and from informa- 
 tion derived from other sources, of the character of the
 
 62 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 submarine mines bordering the narrow channel through 
 which he must force his way, the slightest deviation 
 from which would, in all probability, cause the destruc- 
 tion of the ship so deviating. He wished to avail him- 
 self of the flood-tide, which, in Mobile Bay, unless 
 affected by winds, generally attains a height of about 
 fifteen inches, and a westerly wind, for the attack. The 
 former to assist in taking his ships into the bay under 
 any adverse circumstances, and the latter to blow the 
 smoke away from his ships and towards the fort. Both 
 conspired in his favor. His plan was to keep as close 
 as possible to the fort and away from the torpedoes, 
 drive the gunners from their guns by showers of grape 
 and canister, engaging the fort on the way, but to reach 
 the bay with as little delay as possible, in order to destroy 
 the Confederate fleet. The reduction of the forts would 
 then be effected by both army and navy. 
 
 The Union fleet consisted of four monitors and four- 
 teen wooden ships. The " Tecumseh," the leading mon- 
 itor, and the monitor " Manhattan," had single turrets, 
 covered with ten inches of armor, each carrying two 
 15-inch guns ; while the monitors " Chickasaw" and 
 " Winnebago" were double-turreted, with armor eight 
 and one-half inches in thickness, each monitor carrying 
 four 11-inch guns. The wooden ships carried in all 
 one hundred and forty-seven guns, ranging from 11-inch 
 smooth-bores down to 20-pounder rifles. None of the 
 vessels were calculated for grappling with such an engine 
 of destruction as the " Tennessee" was. 
 
 About half-past five the fleet got fairly under way, 
 and steamed for the fort in two columns. The wooden 
 ships, lashed in couples, formed the port colunni, the
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 53 
 
 lighter vessels on the port side of the hirger ones, so as 
 to act, in case the latter were disabled, as tugs to move 
 them forward, while at the same time the larger vessels 
 protected the smaller. The monitors nearest the fort 
 formed the starboard column, the leading monitor nearly 
 abreast the head of the port column. As the fleet neared 
 the bay the Confederate vessels " Tennessee," " Gaines," 
 " Selma," and " Morgan" formed line of battle inside the 
 line of torpedoes, so that the Union fleet had guns in 
 front and to the right, and obstructions to the left. 
 
 About half-past six o'clock the " Tecumseh" fired two 
 shots at the fort, and about seven o'clock the action 
 became general. The *' Tecumseh," after firing the two 
 shots, moved steadily on, making for the " Tennessee," 
 which now shifted from her position near the fort to the 
 other side of the red buoy. The " Tecumseh," still point- 
 ing for her, was sunk by a torpedo. Plunging beneath 
 the waves, she carried down to death her heroic com- 
 mander. Craven, and about one hundred of her crew. 
 The columns moved on, however, and were soon in 
 danger of entanglement in the narrow channel; but 
 Farragut dashed ahead, over the torpedoes, hone of 
 which exploded. It is probable that many of the 
 torpedoes, having been in position a long time, were 
 water-soaked. 
 
 The fleet entered the bay, having sufiered consider- 
 ably in passing the fort, only to enter upon a more ter- 
 rible conflict. The ram " Tennessee," aided by the 
 other Confederate vessels, dashed at the Union fleet, 
 and a tremendous combat, ramming and cannonading 
 at short range, ensued. At times the guns were fired 
 within close pistol-shot at the " Tennessee," producing
 
 64 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 little effect upon her armor, and only after a protracted 
 and obstinate conflict did she surrender. One 15-inch 
 shot from the " Manhattan" penetrated her casemate 
 wall. Her steering-chains had been shot away, her 
 commander wounded, and a number of the crew killed 
 and disabled. The " Selma" was captured by the 
 " Metacomet," the " Gaines" so injured that she made 
 for Fort Morgan, where she was afterwards burned, and 
 the " Morgan" finally escaped to Mobile, to be employed 
 against the Union soldiers in the Spanish Fort campaign. 
 
 The cannonading sounded to us in the trenches on 
 Dauphin Island like one continuous roll of thunder. 
 
 The " Tennessee" was undoubtedly the most formid- 
 able vessel of war ever launched by the Confederacy. 
 
 In the afternoon of the 5th the monitor " Chicka- 
 saw," which had pounded at the ram in the morning, 
 shelled Fort Powell from the bay. As this fort was not 
 prepared for resistance on that side, it was abandoned 
 and blown up later in the day. 
 
 Fort Gaines still held out. Occasional shots were 
 exchanged between it and the besieger's batteries, and 
 more or less firing on the skirmish lines kept up. The 
 heavy shot from the fort were all, so far as I observed, 
 solid and without any particular effect. On the 6th the 
 " Chickasaw" threw shells at Gaines, which, on the 8th, 
 surrendered to the navy. The garrison, between eight 
 hundred and nine hundred in number, marched out and 
 stacked arms, while their officers, in line and in front of 
 the men, surrendered their swords to an officer of the 
 navy appointed to receive them. The Confederate flag 
 was hauled down, and the stars and stripes floated in its 
 stead. Longer defence of the fort would have been use-
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 65 
 
 less. While provided with casemates and some attempts 
 at bomb-proofs, it could not have withstood shelling 
 from the navy, added to the fire of guns that could 
 have been brought to bear by the investing forces. 
 The terre-plein of the fort was too narrow to admit of 
 parados; there were no traverses, and a great part of 
 the parapet could be seen in reverse by light and siege 
 guns. Among the garrison were many boys, whose 
 very youthful appearance justified the remark attributed 
 to the commander of the fort, that he felt responsible 
 for a number of children. 
 
 The bay now being clear of the Confederate fleet, 
 Granger's forces, increased by the Thirty-eighth Iowa, 
 Ninety-fourth Illinois, and Twentieth Wisconsin Infan- 
 try, crossed from Dauphin Island to Navy Cove, on the 
 opposite side of the bay and about four miles from Fort 
 Morgan. General Paige, formerly an ofiicer of the 
 navy, commanding this fort, committed the hospital and 
 other buildings outside it to the flames. The greater 
 part of the troops moved to within two miles of Morgan. 
 Reconnoissances by the engineers discovered a line of 
 earthworks distant about fourteen hundred yards from 
 the fort, which had evidently been thrown up a year or 
 two previously to serve as a first line of defence, and 
 then abandoned. This line was utilized as a first paral- 
 lel in part by cutting it down or filling in, as required. 
 A second parallel was soon established about eight hun- 
 dred yards in front of the first. Along the north or bay 
 side of Mobile Point was a range of sand-hills, forming 
 a sort of covered way for the transportation of our heavy 
 artillery from the landing at Navy Cove. By the even- 
 ing of August 21 there were in position in the batteries
 
 QQ GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 tweuty-five guns, mostly siege-pieces, but including in 
 the number a naval battery of 9-incli Dahlgrens, under 
 Lieutenant-Commander Tyson. In addition to the guns 
 were sixteen siege-mortars, manned by a company of 
 regular artillery under Lieutenant Rawles, and by de- 
 tachments from the Thirty-eighth Iowa. The engineer 
 officers had obtained the range for each battery. The 
 guns, excepting those of the naval battery, were mostly 
 manned by the First Indiana Heavy Artillery. The 
 chief of artillery was General Richard Arnold. 
 
 On the 22d of August, at break of day, a gun from 
 the fleet signalled the opening of the bombardment, 
 which was kept up by the army and the fleet through- 
 out the day, the guns of the captured " Tennessee" also 
 joining in the bombardment. The garrison had, pre- 
 viously to the 22d, vigorously shelled the besiegers at 
 times with its Brooke rifles and the Whitworth gun 
 especially, and had occasionally employed grape. On 
 one night in particular grape rapidly followed solid shot. 
 As the solid shot struck or passed over the parapet the 
 men in the trenches Avould rise to pursue their work, to 
 be caught by the grape a few seconds afterwards. Two 
 or three of these combination shots, however, taught 
 the men to lie low. But the garrison, after the open- 
 ins: of the general bombardment, remained inert. Our 
 skirmishers crawled up to the very crest of the glacis, 
 firing into the loop-holes and grazing the parapet with 
 bullets, so as to prevent the gunners from manning the 
 barbette guns. The garrison did not even attempt much 
 of an infantry fire. 
 
 About half-past nine at night a fire broke out in 
 the interior of the fort, and our firing was immediately
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 67 
 
 increased, in order to prevent the garrison from ex- 
 tinguishing the flames. The conflagration continued 
 throughout the night, threatening the magazines. The 
 next morning, about six o'clock, a white flag was dis- 
 played on the fort. The army and navy had been 
 watching for such a flag, and the moment it was seen 
 a race commenced between the little steamer " Laura," 
 General Granger's headquarters boat, and a small boat 
 from the navy. The " Laura" outstripped her competi- 
 tor and reached the fort first. 
 
 The Twentieth Wisconsin and Thirty-fourth Iowa 
 represented the army in receiving the surrender. 
 
 The losses of the garrison were between forty and 
 fifty in killed and wounded, and more than five hundred 
 in prisoners. 
 
 The masonry scarps of the fort were considerably 
 defaced by the projectiles of the 30-pounder Parrots, as 
 well as by those of the Dahlgrens, while the siege-mor- 
 tars of the troops and the heavy guns of the fleet exca- 
 vated deep holes, and ploughed long furrows in the glacis 
 and earth parapets. A 15-inch shell from a monitor 
 penetrated the wall of a casemate, making a hole that 
 required, as I was told, seven thousand brick in order 
 to fill it up. A number of the enemy's guns were 
 broken or otherwise rendered unserviceable by our 
 projectiles. 
 
 Fort Morgan sufiered in plan from about the same 
 defects that Fort Gaines did. 
 
 The first of the garrison whom I encountered was a 
 former classmate, who spoke in terms of disapprobation 
 of the conduct of his commander, Paige, in permitting 
 the destruction of munitions of war at the time the
 
 gg GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 white flag was displayed. Another officer referred 
 with pride to the Whitworth gun, saying it was a 
 present from some of their English friends. 
 
 General Paige's conduct in the matter of the de- 
 struction of war-material was made the subject of 
 inquiry by a court or commission, of which Generals 
 Hurlburt and J. H. Totten, and Commodore Franklin, 
 I think, were members. The commission proceeded 
 on the " Laura" from New Orleans to Fort Morgan, 
 taking with them General Paige and an officer of his 
 staffi I, with one or two other officers, accompanied 
 them to Fort Morgan, whence I immediately crossed 
 to Fort Gaines, in order to carry out certain instruc- 
 tions in regard to that fort. 
 
 I never heard what was the outcome of the Paige 
 inquiry, but he was undoubtedly exonerated. It is 
 most probable that danger to the magazines from the 
 still burning wood-work was the general's justification 
 for throwing the powder into cisterns. 
 
 During this trip of the " Laura," which took the 
 outside passage, a steamer was descried in the distance, 
 and some remark was made as to the possibility of its 
 being a Confederate cruiser. I remember the interest 
 manifested by Paige, and that a short discussion ensued 
 between him and some of the party upon a question 
 propounded by himself as to what his status would be 
 in case we were captured. Some of us thought that our 
 own status in such a contingency would be a matter of 
 considerable interest to us. 
 
 Great consternation ensued in Mobile in consequence 
 of the destruction of the Confederate fleet. Many of 
 its defenders had been drawn off to oppose A. J. Smith,
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. QQ 
 
 who was south of Memphis. If ten thousand Union 
 troops had been available at that moment they could 
 have marched up the west sliore of the bay into the 
 city. The Confederates, however, soon received rein- 
 forcements. By the next spring they were in readiness 
 to give the Union troops a warm reception. 
 
 Immediately after the surrender of Morgan a force 
 of several regiments was landed at Cedar Point, oppo- 
 site Fort Powell, to construct a landing and secure a 
 base for an advance upon Mobile. General George H. 
 Gordon commanded this force. General Granger went 
 to New Orleans to endeavor to obtain troops for an ad- 
 vance. The position at Cedar Point was intrenched. 
 The troops suffered severely from sickness. The pro- 
 jected movement against the city fell through, as troops 
 could not be spared for it. 
 
 General Granger fixed his headquarters at Dauphin 
 Island. Some of the men built a slight wharf, to which 
 was attached a sign-board bearing the words " Farra- 
 gut's Landing." The admiral made a number of visits 
 to the island, recreating by horseback-riding with Gen- 
 eral Granger, in which he appeared as much at home 
 as though aboard ship. 
 
 In the latter part of November General J. W. Da- 
 vidson, with a force of about four thousand men, set 
 out from Baton Bouge to cut rebel communications 
 with Mobile. He was compelled, however, by the 
 condition of the roads, to turn towards the Gulf, fol- 
 lowed by a force of the enemy. Beaching West Pasca- 
 goula December 12, he proceeded to embark his troops. 
 On the 13th our forces from Pensacola cut the Mobile 
 and Great Northern Bailroad. This raid and others
 
 70 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STBUGGLE. 
 
 left the Mobile and Ohio as the only unbroken road 
 leading from Mobile for any considerable distance 
 northward. About the same time General Granger, 
 with three thousand men, landed at East Pascagoula, 
 and threatened Mobile from that point. He covered 
 Davidson's embarkation, and finally, in February, re- 
 turned to Mobile Bay. 
 
 In February, 1865, preparations were in progress for 
 a decisive stroke at Mobile. The troops detailed for 
 this campaign were the Thirteenth Army Corps, to 
 rendezvous at Mobile Point ; a column to rendezvous 
 at Pensacola, under command of Major-General Fred- 
 erick Steele, an ofificer of ability ; and the Sixteenth 
 Army Corps, to assemble at Dauphin Island. The 
 Thirteenth Corps was commanded by Major-General 
 Gordon Granger, an ofiicer of courage and energy, who 
 had won distinction by opportunely marching his com- 
 mand to the assistance of Thomas at Chickamauga, 
 without waiting orders to do so. A. J. Smith's com- 
 mand, subsequently reorganized into the Sixteenth 
 Army Corps, fresh from the battle-field of Nashville 
 and pursuit of Hood, was at Eastport, Mississippi, in 
 February, unable to proceed farther south with heavy 
 trains on account of the condition of the roads. General 
 Grant ordered this command to report to Canby. The 
 command moved in steamboats down the Tennessee, 
 Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, a few of 
 the regiments encamping on Jackson's battle-ground ; 
 thence, reorganized, the Sixteenth proceeded to Dauphin 
 Island, whence it was shortly afterwards transported by 
 steamers across Mobile Bay to Danley's Ferry, on Fish 
 Biver, about twenty miles from Spanish Fort.
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 7I 
 
 Major-General A. J. Smith, commanding the Six- 
 teenth Cor23s, had won distinction for services on the 
 Red River expedition in addition to laurels won at 
 Tupelo and Nashville. 
 
 The divisions of the corps were commanded by Gen- 
 erals E. A. Carr, Kenner Garrard, and J. McArthur. 
 Some cavalry and artillery were also assigned to the 
 corps. To McArthur's division was attached an effi- 
 cient company of pioneers, commanded by Captain D. 
 W. Wellman, of Saint Paul, Minnesota. 
 
 Among the regiments in the Sixteenth Corps were 
 the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Minnesota. 
 
 Steele's column consisted of Hawkins's division of 
 colored troops, Lucas's cavalry brigade, and General C. 
 C. Andrews's division, detached from the Thirteenth 
 Army Corps. 
 
 A siege-train was organized at Fort Gaines, and a 
 pontoon-train was in readiness at Fort Morgan. 
 
 The total strength of the land forces under General 
 Canby was about forty-five thousand men. 
 
 A strong naval force, under Rear- Admiral H. K. 
 Thatcher, was to operate in the upper bay. 
 
 It was decided to attack the city by way of the east 
 shore of the bay by reducing Spanish Fort and Blakely, 
 thus avoiding the more formidable lines to the west of 
 the city. Blakely is on the Appalachee River, and di- 
 rectly opposite the head of the Tensas, a branch of the 
 Appalachee discharging into Mobile Bay. The Appala- 
 chee continues past Blakely for a couple of miles, where 
 it is divided by a triangular piece of marshy ground, 
 the western channel keeping the name Appalachee, and 
 the eastern taking the name of Blakely River. West
 
 72 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 of the Tensas, the Spanish E-iver discharges into the 
 bay, branching off from the Alabama about eight miles 
 above Mobile. The whole area through which these 
 streams debouch is a delta, and so configured that 
 steamers could maintain communication between Mobile 
 and the eastern shore under cover of the forts in the 
 upper bay. Spanish Fort, it is believed, took its name 
 from an old fort built by De Soto. The whole region 
 was historic ground. Andrew Jackson traversed it in 
 1814. Fort Morgan occupied the site of old Fort 
 Bowyer, which beat off a British land and naval attack 
 also, in 1814. 
 
 The fortifications of Blakely and Spanish Fort were 
 for the purpose of threatening hostile columns advancing 
 upon Mobile from Morgan, Pensacola, or from other 
 points to the east of them, as well as to protect Forts 
 Tracy and Huger, which guarded entrance to the Appa- 
 lachee, against bombardment from the east shore, though 
 neither fortification could, unaided, have prevented bom- 
 bardment at the hands of a powerful force. Fort Huger 
 mounted nine and Tracy five guns of large calibre. 
 The channels immediately under the guns of these forts 
 were closed by seven to ten rows of piling, and torpe- 
 does were closely planted in the channels. 
 
 Spanish Fort, on high ground, rested its right flank 
 on the Blakely River and its left on Minette Bay, 
 and mounted forty pieces of artillery, including Colum- 
 biads, rifles, siege- and field-pieces, and Coehorn mor- 
 tars. Its parapet had a development of two miles. The 
 fort was commanded by Brigadier-General K. L. Gib- 
 son, and garrisoned by two thousand eight hundred men. 
 
 The fortifications at Blakely were two and one-half
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 73 
 
 miles long, mounting between forty and fifty jDieces of 
 artillery, mostly field- and siege-guns, and garrisoned 
 by three thousand four hundred men, commanded by 
 Brigadier-General St. John Lidell. 
 
 The land-approaches to both were defended by abatis, 
 chevaux-de-frise, and land torpedoes, or sub-terra shells, 
 as the Confederates styled them. 
 
 I was directed to reconnoitre the country from Fort 
 Morgan towards Fish River. Knowles's (formerly 
 Earle's) scouts, a body of men selected from the Fourth 
 Wisconsin Cavalry, were also to go out in the same 
 direction, and I was armed with authority to call upon 
 their commander for any needed assistance. On my 
 way back I met the Thirteenth Army Corps en route 
 for Fish Kiver, General Granger in command, riding at 
 the head of his staff. I informed him as to the char- 
 acter of the country and the liability of the roads — good 
 when dry — to become impassable after heavy rain. 
 
 At Dauphin Island were Generals W. F. Smith, C. 
 B. Comstock of General Grant's staff, and General P. 
 J. Osterhaus, who served during the campaign about 
 to open as chief of staff to General Canby. General 
 Comstock accompanied the army to Spanish Fort and 
 Blakely. 
 
 About the 22d of March Canby and staff left Dau- 
 phin Island for Danley's Ferry, where the Sixteenth 
 Corps was intrenched. A brigade from the Sixteenth 
 about the same time moved up the west shore of Mobile 
 Bay to make a diversion towards Mobile. It rejoined 
 near Fish Biver. 
 
 The Thirteenth Corps, after a toilsome march around 
 Bon Secours Bay, reached Fish Biver, which it crossed
 
 74 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 on pontoons. Its route lay over roads rendered almost 
 bottomless by the rain, which set in shortly after the 
 corps had started. The artillery and wagons sank in 
 the mud to the axles. The train was annoyed by attacks 
 of a small body of rebel cavalry. 
 
 At Fish River I was ordered to report to General 
 A. J. Smith for duty as acting chief engineer of the 
 Sixteenth Army Corps. 
 
 The Thirteenth and Sixteenth Corps moved on the 
 25th for Spanish Fort, the former making for D'Olive's 
 Creek, the latter keeping roads which brought it to 
 Sibley's Mills, about four miles from Spanish Fort, 
 some time during the 26th. The advance was con- 
 stantly disputed by tlie enemy, generally with a small 
 force of cavalry. The enemy, knowing the country, 
 avoided close quarters, but from every advantageous 
 position poured in a fire, causing upon several occasions 
 the deployment of our leading regiments. During one 
 of the skirmishes my attention was attracted to a Union 
 officer sitting his horse unconcernedly in front of his 
 brig-ade. A minute or two afterwards I missed him, 
 and upon inquiry was told he had been hit in the neck 
 by a bullet. Thirteen years afterwards I met this 
 officer on Third Street in this city, and asked him if he 
 had not been wounded in the skirmish of Deer Park. 
 He replied that he did not recall the name of the 
 locality, but, pulling down his collar, showed the mark 
 of the bullet. The officer was W. R. Marshall, after- 
 wards Governor of Minnesota. 
 
 On the 27th the Thirteenth and two divisions of the 
 Sixteenth Cor^^s moved into position in front of Spanish 
 Fort, the Second Division of the Sixteenth, Garrard's,
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 75 
 
 being left at Sibley's Mills, where a tete-de-pont had 
 been erected at Bayou Minette to cover the rear and 
 guard the trains. 
 
 As Carr's division moved from Sibley's the advance 
 was saluted by a sharp fire from a regiment of infantry, 
 the Twenty-first Alabama, posted on the farther side 
 of the bayou, from which General Smith had a narrow 
 escape. Leaving a regiment at this point to engage 
 the Alabama men, the division proceeded on, the pio- 
 neers removing trees that had been felled across the 
 roads to delay the advance, until the woods in front of 
 Spanish Fort were reached. A countryman had been 
 pressed into service as a guide; mounted on the sorriest 
 of horses, he presented a most forlorn and, at the same 
 time, laughable spectacle, surrounded by the staffs and 
 orderlies of Smith and Carr. As the Sixteenth neared 
 the rebel works shells were thrown from the latter, 
 directed by the cheering of our soldiers. 
 
 Carr's division formed the right of the Sixteenth in 
 front of Spanish Fort, and McArthur's the left. This 
 latter formed opposite the Ked Fort, one of the rebel 
 salients. The Thirteenth Corps formed on the left of 
 the Sixteenth. 
 
 The Confederate General Lidell had determined 
 upon meeting the advance of the Thirteenth Corps in 
 the field, and had formed line on the high ground 
 north of D'Olive's Creek for that purpose. The creek 
 discharges into Blakely River just south of the point 
 where the right flank of Spanish Fort rested. The 
 approach of the Sixteenth, however, on the right 
 of Granger forced Lidell to abandon the plan, and 
 his troops accordingly fell back to Spanish Fort
 
 76 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 and Blakely, which they defended as became brave 
 
 men. 
 
 Shortly after arriving in front of the fort, and after 
 the works had been reconnoitred, General Smith di- 
 rected me to ride to General Canby's headquarters, 
 about a mile and a half distant, and request permission 
 for an immediate assault by the Sixteentli Corps upon 
 the rebel works. General Canby promptly refused 
 permission. I had proceeded but a short distance 
 upon my return when an orderly overtook me saying 
 that General Canby desired to go with me to General 
 Smith. I rode back therefore, and, meeting the gen- 
 eral, conducted him to General Smith's camp-fire, 
 around which some of the staff had gathered, for a cold 
 drizzling rain had fallen. 
 
 General Canby deciding upon siege operations, a 
 depot of supplies and engineer materials was es- 
 tablished at Stark's Landing, on the east side of Mo- 
 bile Bay, and about five miles below Spanish Fort, and 
 siege guns and mortars were hurried by water from 
 Gaines and Morgan. 
 
 Steele's column left Pensacola about the 20th of 
 March ; on the 26th a brigade of infantry entered Pol- 
 lard. Up to this time Steele's movements led to the 
 belief that Montgomery was his objective, but he now 
 made dispositions to move to join Canby. His com- 
 mand was poorly supplied with rations, with terrible 
 roads before it, and with no prospect of replenish- 
 ing stores by foraging. General Canby, however, de- 
 spatched a large train of supplies, guarded by Veatch's 
 division of the Thirteenth Corps, to relieve Steele's 
 wants; the supplies reached Steele about the 1st of
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 77 
 
 April. As Veatch's division moved off, Marshall's 
 brigade of McArtliur's division, Sixteenth Corps, was 
 detached to take its place in Granger's line, but the 
 brigade subsequently returned to McArthur. 
 
 Steele reached Blakely, having fought and skirmished 
 constantly on the march, and fairly invested it on the 
 2d of April. His line, as eventually formed, was as fol- 
 lows: Hawkins's division on the right; next, the bri- 
 gades of Spicely and Moore of General C. C. Andrews's 
 division. Thirteenth CorjDS, — Bertram's brigade of An- 
 drews's division forming the left of Granger's line in front 
 of Spanish Fort; next, Veatch's division, also of the 
 Thirteenth Corps ; all to the right of the Pensacola road. 
 
 About the 3d of April Garrard's division of the 
 Sixteenth Corps moved from Sibley's Mills and took 
 position on the left of Steele and opposite the right of 
 the Confederate works. 
 
 In front of Spanish Fort batteries for field- and siege- 
 guns, mortars, and howitzers were constructed, and 
 supplied with their armaments as rapidly as possible; 
 the advance batteries were generally connected by in- 
 fantry parapets, and beyond these were rifle trenches 
 approached by zigzags. The men carried with them 
 into the trenches wooden mortars, substitutes for Coe- 
 horns, of which many were made by Captain Well- 
 man's Pioneers. Constructed mostly of the wood of the 
 sweet-gum, hooped or strapped with iron, they served 
 very well to throw 12-pounder shells into the enemy's 
 trenches. Although soldiers do not take kindly to the 
 pick and shovel, the men worked diligently. General 
 L. F. Hubbard's brigade of McArthur's division worked 
 up to within sixty feet of the enemy's line.
 
 78 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 The garrison made several sorties, capturing a num- 
 ber of our men. Skirmishing was constantly going on 
 between the lines, with cannonading at intervals. A 
 heavy gun in Fort McDermett, on the right of Spanish 
 Fort, called by our men Dog Towser, was extremely 
 annoying by its fire. To enfilade the enemy's lines 
 8-inch howitzers were mounted on our extreme right, 
 and a number at other points along our front. Their 
 projectiles, spherical shells, were of service in dis- 
 mounting guns or in annoying the gunners serving 
 them. Siege-mortars, speedily placed in position, were 
 especially serviceable in reaching ground that could 
 not be touched by direct fire. The firing of heavy projec- 
 tiles from Huger and Tracy, and from some of the rebel 
 gunboats stationed near them, enfiladed a portion of 
 our right and with fatal results, one shell killing and 
 wounding eighteen men. To counter this fire batteries 
 were established on the high bank, or bluff, of Minette 
 Bay so as to command the forts. The batteries were 
 to mount four 30-pounder and two 100-pounder Par- 
 rots, and two lighter guns, one of them the Whit- 
 worth captured at Fort Morgan, and the other a small 
 steel rifle. It was the intention to keep these batteries 
 masked behind the young trees growing at the edge of 
 the bluff until the guns were all in position, and then 
 to open a crushing fire. But the works being discov- 
 ered, Huger and Tracy opened upon them, and the 
 enemy placed a light battery the following night on 
 ground across Bayou Minette, from which they opened 
 a vexatious enfilading fire upon the bluff batteries. 
 This battery was, however, met by a counter-battery 
 of light guns, located near the south bank of the bayou
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 79 
 
 by Colonel John M. Wilson of General Canby's 
 staff. 
 
 At anchor in Minette Bay, a little to the left of the 
 bluff batteries, was a small one-masted vessel with 
 hatches closed. This vessel was suspected to contain 
 some infernal machine, and was, accordingly, religiously 
 let alone by our men, unless it was boarded after the 
 close of operations. 
 
 A number of men in Carr's division had been hit by 
 bullets coming, apparently, from a group of trees within 
 Spanish Fort. One officer, a captain, belonging, I think, 
 to Carr's division, was shot through the heart. A bat- 
 tery of field-guns was placed, under cover of a growth 
 of saplings, on a high point across the ravine and to the 
 right of Carr. These guns opened upon the trees, after 
 which the fire of the sharpshooters ceased. In conver- 
 sation, some weeks later, with a Confederate field-officer 
 who had been one of the garrison, I learned that sharp- 
 shooters armed with Whitworth rifles were posted in the 
 group of trees referred to until driven down by the fire 
 of this battery. This officer added that the mortar fire 
 gave them more trouble than did that of all the other 
 guns put together. 
 
 We must now turn to the navy, which, after the fall 
 of Gaines, Morgan, and Powell, remained in the lower 
 bay. The light draught of water in the upper half of 
 the bay, and the presence of numerous torpedoes, ren- 
 dered it unadvisable for the fleet to act in that direction 
 until all the measures for a decisive stroke at Mobile 
 had been completed. In order to cut off supplies from 
 Spanish Fort it was necessary to intercept water com- 
 munication between it and Mobile. The fleet, com-
 
 go GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 manded by Kear- Admiral Thatcher, consisting of the 
 monitors "Winnebago" and "Chickasaw," and the 
 " Osage," " Milwaukee," " Kickapoo," and " Octorara," 
 the latter a double-ender, crossed Dog Eiver bar on the 
 27th of March, and opened on the enemy's works at 
 Spanish Fort at long range. The next day the "Win- 
 nebago" and " Milwaukee" succeeded in throwing shells 
 at a Confederate vessel, a transport, moored at the fort, 
 driving it off. The " Milwaukee," however, was sunk 
 by a torpedo, as was the " Osage" the next day ; and 
 the " Rodolph," a small steamer, was also sunk in the 
 same manner. Lieutenant-Commander Gilliss, after the 
 sinking of his ship, the " Milwaukee," took command of 
 a naval battery of 30-pounder Parrots near the centre 
 of the Sixteenth Corps, and did good service. I will 
 here remark that there were eight Union vessels, of all 
 classes, carrying in the aggregate twenty-three guns, 
 sunk by rebel torpedoes in 1864 and 1865 in Mobile 
 Bay and Blakely Hiver. 
 
 On the 8th of April there were in position against 
 Spanish Fort, Huger, and Tracy ninety pieces of artil- 
 lery, including siege- and field-pieces and mortars. The 
 Minette Bay battery, bearing on Huger and Tracy, 
 mounted by this time four 30-pounders, two 100- 
 pounders, and the Whitworth and steel rifles. At half- 
 past five o'clock of the afternoon of the 8th a general 
 bombardment from all the guns of the besiegers, those 
 of the bluff (Minette Bay) battery included, and from 
 the naval vessels within range, commenced, and was 
 continued for about two hours, the enemy replying with 
 vigor. About seven or eight o'clock the Eighth Iowa, 
 having gallantly worked its way around the extreme
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. gl 
 
 left of the rebel line, after a sharp conflict, during 
 which it captured several hundred of the enemy, a 
 lodgment was effected on the north side of a ridge 
 within the rebel line, and running at a right angle, or 
 nearly so, to it. On the slope of the ridge I came 
 across a wounded rebel officer, who said he was Captain 
 Clarke, of Mobile, that he had charged at the head of 
 the provost guard, and that he was shot through both 
 shoulders. I caused him to be carried off the field and 
 cared for. The charge of the provost guard and the 
 stubborn resistance of another force of the enemy gave 
 time for the greater part of the garrison, also pressed 
 by the men of the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Corps, to 
 escape over the narrow foot-path through the marsh to 
 Tracy, from which point most of them eventually 
 reached Mobile. Towards midnight another charge 
 across the ridge was made by our men, and at midnight 
 the fort was in our possession. About five hundred 
 prisoners fell into our hands. The heavy guns of 
 McDermett and old Spanish Fort were turned against 
 Huger and Tracy, the navy joining in the bombard- 
 ment, and details of men from both army and navy 
 now swept scores of torpedoes from the channel in 
 front of Spanish Fort. 
 
 General Steele, in the mean time, was pressing the 
 rebel works at Blakely. The approach was slow, on 
 account of the strong fire from the enemy's works, 
 aided by that of tlie Confederate gunboats, which, en- 
 tering the Appalachee by way of the Tensas, greatly 
 annoyed the besiegers. A battery of 30-pounders, 
 located on the extreme right of our line, finally forced 
 the boats to retire. By the 9th of April there were in 
 
 6
 
 g2 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 position against the Blakely fortifications eight bat- 
 teries, mounting twenty-eight guns, 30-pounders and 
 field-pieces. 
 
 Batteries had been commenced on the shore of Min- 
 ette Bay, about half a mile north of the bayou, for 
 two 100-pounder and eight 30-pounder Parrots to bear 
 upon Huger and Tracy. Four 30-pounders were in 
 place in these batteries on the 9th. 
 
 During the morning of April 9 General Garrard, 
 whose tent was near these Minette Bay batteries, ex- 
 plained to me his proposed assault for that afternoon 
 upon the enemy's lines in his front. He proposed to 
 move at five o'clock, the movement to be begun by the 
 left brigade of his division, and to be taken up suc- 
 cessively, by brigade, to the right, the men to feel the 
 elbow, and the division to be preceded by two lines of 
 skirmishers. He further said that he expected the 
 commanders of the troops on the right to co-operate. 
 While riding past his tent in the afternoon I was hailed 
 by the general, who asked if I were on my way to 
 General Smith's headquarters. Upon my replying in 
 the affirmative, he requested me to come into his tent, 
 where he reiterated the explanation of his proposed 
 assault, and desired me to convey the information to 
 General Smith. 
 
 In returning to General Smith's headquarters, which 
 were still in front of Spanish Fort, I was obliged to 
 take a corduroy road, across boggy ground, leading to 
 the pontoon bridge over Bayou Minette. To have 
 been pushed off this road into the black mud at its 
 sides would have been the last of horse and rider. A 
 stream of army wagons and other impedimenta of war
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 83 
 
 were pouring across the bridge and its approaches in 
 a direction contrary to that which I was endeavoring 
 to make. The scene was enlivened by an occasional 
 shell from Tracy. 
 
 Upon receiving Garrard's message, General Smith 
 called to his staff to mount. We had proceeded but a 
 short distance towards Blakely, when an orderly met 
 us and announced the capture of its defences. 
 
 That assault, according to all accounts, did not take 
 place until about half-past five o'clock, and was nearly 
 simultaneous along the whole of Steele's and Garrard's 
 fronts. Accounts vary, also, as to whom was due the 
 credit of initiating the assault. As Spanish Fort had 
 been captured the preceding night, leaving two divisions 
 of the Sixteenth Corps free to move for Blakely, it is 
 not unlikely that both Steele and Garrard thought it 
 time for them to go in, and that the time and manner 
 of the assault were arranged between them during the 
 day. 
 
 About sixteen thousand men took part in this as- 
 sault, sweeping everything before them, going over, 
 through, or around abatis, torpedoes, and rifle in- 
 trenchments into the main works, where, in some 
 portions, the fighting was hand-to-hand, our infantry 
 using the bayonet and clubbing muskets, and the rebel 
 artillerymen wielding sponge-staffs and handspikes. 
 The entire garrison, including three general officers 
 and over forty pieces of artillery, were captured. 
 
 Firing still continued between Tracy and Huger on 
 the one side, and our batteries and the navy, which had 
 now approached to within shelling distance, on the 
 other. On the afternoon of the 11th General Smith
 
 84 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 determined to take those forts by a night assault, and 
 designated the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois, 
 serving as pontoneers, for the undertaking. The officer 
 in command of the regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel John- 
 son, received the general's instructions in a business-like 
 manner, and proceeded to carry them out. About two 
 hours after dark General Smith and staff, accompanied 
 by a signal-officer, proceeded to a point on the north 
 of Minette Bay to get news of the assault, when a 
 flash lighted up the scene, and it was apparent that 
 Tracy was blown up by the rebels. It is claimed that 
 boats from the navy reached those forts before the men 
 of the One Hundred and Fourteenth did. 
 
 On the 12th, torpedoes having been pretty thoroughly 
 removed, several vessels of the fleet moved up Blakely 
 River into the Tensas, thence to within a mile of 
 Mobile. General Granger, about the same time, with 
 a strong force, moved across the bay, convoyed by a 
 number of vessels from the navy. The Confederate 
 General Maury, with about five thousand of his troops, 
 had evacuated the city. Mobile was again under the 
 stars and stripes. A large number of guns fell into 
 the hands of the Union troops. 
 
 The subsequent operations of the campaign consisted 
 in the march of the Sixteenth Corps to Montgomery, 
 the transportation of part of Steele's command by 
 steamers to the same point, and the occupation of 
 Selma. The Sixteenth had proceeded but a short dis- 
 tance when news overtook it of the surrender of Lee. 
 Our exultation, however, was soon changed to sorrow 
 by the report of the assassination of Lincoln. 
 
 Soon after our arrival at Montgomery soldiers from
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. 85 
 
 Joe Johnston's army began coming in. The men of 
 both armies fraternized, as a general rule, and one 
 would not have supposed, from simply observing them, 
 that they had ever been enemies. 
 
 Some of the streets were strewn with loose cotton, 
 destroyed by the Confederate General Adams, who had 
 been pressed through Montgomery by the cavalry of 
 the Union General J. H. Wilson. Wilson crossed the 
 Tennessee about the 18th of March, and on the 2d 
 of April captured Selma from Forrest. On the 12th 
 he entered Montgomery, and thence moved on into 
 Georgia. His brilliant campaign was of great service 
 to Canby, by breaking up the Confederate forces north 
 of Mobile. 
 
 By the middle of May the Confederate troops in the 
 Gulf States had, generally, surrendered, some of Kirby 
 Smith's men excepted. Early in June an expedition 
 was organized to sail from Mobile for the Kio Grande. 
 The city had barely begun to recover from the ejBPects 
 of the explosion of an immense quantity of powder and 
 fixed ammunition which had been surrendered by Dick 
 Taylor, an explosion which laid a number of squares in 
 ruins and killed and wounded scores of Union soldiers 
 and sailors, ex-Confederates, and citizens. I was relieved 
 from duty on the fortifications of Mobile, to which I had 
 been assigned after leaving the Sixteenth Corps at Mont- 
 gomery, and ordered to report to General Steele, com- 
 manding the expedition, for duty as chief engineer. 
 The expedition landed at Brazos Santiago, Texas, at the 
 mouth of the Bio Grande, where it was shortly after- 
 wards joined by the Twenty-fifth Army Corps from 
 Virginia. This expedition had in view two objects :
 
 36 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 one, to look after a remnant of Kirby Smith's soldiers ; 
 the other, to observe the Imperialists in Mexico. 
 
 The Confederates planted torpedoes on the land- as 
 well as the water-approaches around Mobile. The for- 
 mer, sub-terra shells, as they called them, were a source 
 of great annoyance to our men, who never knew when 
 to expect an explosion or where to go to avoid one. 
 These torpedoes were made of 12-pounder shells, and 
 provided with mechanism so contrived that a step upon 
 them caused an explosion. They were planted in ruts 
 of roads, and even in paths leading to pools of water 
 where our men would be likely to go to quench their 
 thirst. They were also thickly planted in front of 
 Spanish Fort and Blakely. After the capture of the 
 former I examined the works. The torpedoes in front 
 of that fort were located outside of the abatis and other 
 obstructions, under close musketry fire, their places being 
 marked by forked twigs. 
 
 The floating torpedoes were of two kinds. One con- 
 sisted of a keg generally rendered water-tight by a 
 coating of pitch inside and out, the ends capped by 
 wooden cones, which, with a weight slung underneath 
 the keg, kept it from turning over. The keg was filled 
 with powder and fired by any floating body colliding 
 with sensitive primers passing through its upper surface. 
 The other consisted of a tin cylinder, or of a frustum 
 of a cone, with air-chamber and magazine. On top was 
 a cast-iron cap, which, upon being knocked off", fell, pull- 
 ing a line, which in turn pulled a pin, thus releasing a 
 spring, which forced a needle or plunger against a per- 
 cussion-cap. The torpedoes were kept in place by lines 
 connecting them with anchors.
 
 ADDRESS BY MAJOR CHARLES J. ALLEN. §7 
 
 Campaigning is not without humorous incidents. 
 Volumes could be written of the fun and the quaint 
 sayings in which soldiers indulge even under the most 
 trying circumstances. The order governing foraging 
 did not, apparently, meet the approbation of all the 
 soldiers. General Canby had issued stringent orders 
 in this respect. No private foraging was to be tolerated. 
 The products of the country along the lines of march 
 were to be drawn upon for the use of the army as neces- 
 sity might require, but they were to be taken by regularly 
 organized foraging-parties under responsible oflScers, 
 who were to give receipts for everything appropriated, 
 the accounts to be afterwards adjusted by the proper 
 officers. Any violation of these orders would consign 
 the offender to the custody of the provost-marshal. On 
 the first day out from Fish Kiver, as I sat by the road- 
 side during one of the halts, a tall brawny soldier ap- 
 proached me ; he was barefoot, his shoes suspended from 
 his belt, probably being reserved for occasions of cere- 
 mony. " Lieutenant," he said, " what is this order 
 about no foraging ? Can't a man forage ?" " No," I 
 replied; "orders forbid private foraging." "Well, 
 lieutenant, can't I go into a house and help myself?" 
 " No." " Can't I even take a chicken ?" " No." " Can't 
 I take anything ?" " No." " Well, then," he exclaimed, 
 
 with an expression of intense disgust, " what in 
 
 is the use in being a soldier !" 
 
 The value of Confederate notes in 1865 can be appre- 
 ciated from the following. In passing through a town, 
 on the march to Montgomery, several of us rode up to 
 a tavern, where we procured a fair meal. Upon our 
 asking the price the landlord charged ten dollars apiece ;
 
 38 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 tlien, seeing our looks of astonishinent, lie added, " or 
 twenty-five cents in silver." He meant ten dollars in 
 Confederate notes. As we had neither silver nor Con- 
 federate money we each paid him fifty cents in United 
 States currency, which he considered valueless but was 
 willing to accept as a curiosity.
 
 EEMINISOENCES 
 
 OP 
 
 GENERAL U. S. GRANT. 
 
 BY BEBVET BBIGADIBE-GENEEAL W. E. MAESHALL, 
 
 COLONEL SEVENTH MINNESOTA INFANTRY, U. S. VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 In April, 1861 , at the breaking out of the war, I was 
 conducting the Press (now Pioneer Press) newspaper 
 of this city. I had occasion to note daily all occur- 
 rences of that stirring time. So many of the regular 
 army officers and educated military men not in the 
 army went with the South, that wherever there was a 
 retired officer or j^rofessional soldier, he was noted and 
 looked to as available for command in the volunteer 
 Union army. In Minnesota there were, I think, only 
 two such, — General Horatio P. Van Cleve and General 
 N. J. T. Dana. General Willis A. Gorman, Colonel 
 James George, and Colonel Alexander Wilkin had 
 served in the Mexican war, as did Hon. Edmund Rice 
 and others, but none of them were educated to the pro- 
 fession of arms. Colonel William Crooks had been at 
 West Point, but was not a graduate. Van Cleve, Dana, 
 Gorman, Wilkin, and George were all appointed to 
 commands in the First and Second Minnesota Regi- 
 ments, and Crooks to the Sixth. In our neighboring 
 
 89
 
 90 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 States I can only recall General Curtis and Colonel J, 
 J. Wood, of Iowa, and Generals Charles S. Hamilton 
 and T. H. Ruger, of Wisconsin, as professional soldiers, 
 who at once came to notice, and afterwards to high 
 command. In Illinois there was early mention of 
 General David Hunter. McClellan, then recently con- 
 nected with the Illinois Central Kailroad, had gone to 
 Cincinnati to take charge of the Ohio and Mississippi 
 Railroad, and was appointed from Ohio. Besides Gen- 
 eral Hunter in Illinois, I remember somewhat obscure 
 mention of a Captain Grant, of Galena, who had been 
 in the army, a graduate of West Point, and who served 
 through the Mexican war. Since reading Grant's 
 "Memoirs," in which he mentions that he presided 
 at the first war-meeting in Galena, after the attack on 
 Fort Sumter (on which occasion E. B. Washburne, who 
 came late, grumbled because a man whom nobody knew 
 had been made chairman), I dimly remember that it 
 was in this connection that I first heard of Captain 
 Grant. 
 
 Time passed rapidly in those days, and for months I 
 do not remember any further public mention of Captain 
 Grant. Bull Run came, shocking and staggering the 
 loyal North ; Ball's Bluff and Wilson Creek, Baker and 
 Lyon killed, and other disasters to the Union army. 
 Illinois had six regiments in the Mexican war, — the 
 numbering in the war of the Rebellion began with the 
 Seventh Regiment. Fifteen regiments were recruited 
 and officered in the imperial State of Illinois and 
 marched to the front before the government thought 
 it worth while to offer a command to the undistin- 
 guished-looking, modest Captain Grant. It seems now
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL W. R. MARSHALL. 21 
 
 very wonderful, when professional soldiers and vet- 
 erans of the war with Mexico were so rare, that forty- 
 five men in Illinois were appointed field ofiicers of 
 regiments, besides a large list from that State of gen- 
 eral officers, before there was any use for Captain 
 Grant, exce|)t a clerk's work, or something equivalent, 
 in the State adjutant-general's office. He had tried an 
 application directly to the adjutant-general at Wash- 
 ington, which did not receive the common courtesy of 
 an answer. He went to Cincinnati to get a j^laee on 
 McClellan's staff, but failed even to see McClellan. 
 Finally, the Twenty-first Illinois Infantry Kegiment 
 became insubordinate from having incompetent officers, 
 when it occurred to the governor that Grant knew 
 something of discipline, having been in the regular 
 army, and might be able to save the regiment from 
 utter demoralization. So Captain Grant was offered 
 and accepted the colonelcy of the regiment. But for 
 this unusual circumstance there is no assurance that 
 Grant would have been wanted till the One Hundred 
 and Twenty-first Illinois Regiment was recruited, if 
 ever. So slow are men in authority to recognize those 
 who do not push for advancement. 
 
 But the fruit slowest in rij^ening is always the best. 
 My daily avocation required me to note every event 
 and name of prominence in that memorable first year 
 of the war (I did not enter the service until the calls 
 after the retreat of McClellan from before Richmond, 
 in July, 1862). I do not think that there was any 
 noticeable mention of Colonel Grant or Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral Grant, as he came to be through the influence, I 
 have always supposed, of Congressman Washburne of
 
 92 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 the Galena district (who, doubtless, did not want to be 
 behind others in securing generals' commissions for his 
 constituents), until Belmont, in November, 1861, in 
 which affair it seemed to us newspaper critics " some 
 one had blundered." But now it is clear it was under 
 orders, and was an important diversion of the enemy 
 from sending reinforcements to a point where Colonel 
 Dick Oglesby would otherwise have met disaster. It 
 accomplished its object. But the man of heroic silence 
 and patience " gave no sign" in answer to unjust and 
 ignorant criticism on Belmont, no more than he did 
 afterwards at Shiloh when grievously wronged, both by 
 his superior, General Halleck, who should have known 
 better, and the misinformed public, that did not know 
 better. A few months later the long series of Union 
 disasters was first broken by General Thomas at Mill 
 Spring, where our Minnesota Second Begiment, under 
 Van Cleve, so honorably bore its part. Quickly fol- 
 lowed, in February, 1862, the glorious victory at Don- 
 elson, which flashed the name of Grant abroad over the 
 land and across the seas. Yet, wonderful to relate, he 
 was rewarded by Halleck with reproaches and removal 
 from command of the gallant army at whose head he 
 won that great victory. At Shiloh, seven weeks later, 
 he was subordinate in command to General C. F. Smith, 
 who was responsible for the location of the army, but 
 was restored to the command before the battle of April 
 6 and 7, 1862. The accounts which came to the North 
 of that first day's battle, the reports of the Cincinnati 
 papers, which were the first and the fullest, gave the 
 impression that it was a great disaster, that the Army 
 of the Tennessee was only saved by Buell and the Army
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL W. R. MARSHALL. 93 
 
 of the Cumberland. The newspaper correspondents, 
 who were as badly demoralized as those raw Ohio troops 
 who fled to the shelter of the blufis and the gunboats, — 
 troops that afterwards proved the bravest of the brave, — 
 saw only the fugitives and the dead and wounded, the 
 wreck and ruin of battle that always drifts to the rear. 
 The unquailing front of Sherman, W. H. L. Wallace, 
 Hurlburt, Prentiss, and others, steadily directed and 
 inspired by Grant, that withstood the most desperate 
 charges ever made in the war, — charges led in person by 
 the Confederate General A. S. Johnston, who was killed, 
 and of a force in actual fight almost double that of the 
 Union army, — this was not seen nor reported. The terri- 
 ble havoc made of the enemy was not seen nor reported. 
 General Prentiss, who, with his division, was captured 
 about sundown, after a long day's fight, was reported 
 surprised and taken about sunrise. So false were the 
 newspaper accounts. Shiloli was in truth a great Union 
 victory. An army superior in numbers was defeated and 
 broken, never to reappear as a victorious army, if we 
 except Chickamauga, which, all honor to Thomas, "the 
 rock of Chickamauga," was rather a drawn battle, so far as 
 the field and figliting were concerned. As Sherman has 
 well said, it was necessary that once for all the vaunted 
 prowess of the Southern soldier — his boast that he was 
 equal in battle to three of the men of the North — should 
 be put to the test ; that the two should close in deadly 
 embrace ; that the manhood, the courage, the endurance 
 of each should be put to the fullest test. This was done 
 at Shiloh. It was a death-grapple, and the Northern 
 man did not cry quits first. All honor and just credit 
 to Buell and his army on the second day ! But with
 
 94 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Lew Wallace with his veteran division, who blundered 
 in roads the first day, in position Sunday night, the 
 issue was not doubtful Monday mo~rning, even if Buell 
 had not gotten up. But Buell's presence was due; his 
 force was a legitimate part of Grant's army in the battle. 
 In a just military sense they were his reserves, and their 
 effective work the second day, rightly viewed, was a part 
 of Grant's honorable achievement, and should never 
 have been regarded to his disparagement any more than 
 Bliicher's decisive presence at Waterloo should disparage 
 Wellington. 
 
 Our companion, General Sanborn, tells me that he 
 journeyed with General Grant from Memphis to Cairo 
 on a steamer in October, 1863, when Grant was ordered 
 north to take command at Chattanooga. In conversing 
 about his campaigns and battles. Grant said he never 
 fought a battle, nor ever expected to command in one, 
 in which he should take the same personal satisfaction 
 of duty well done as at Shiloh. His great qualities as 
 a fighter of battles were never before nor afterwards so 
 severely tried, nor ever elsewhere proved so invaluable 
 to the nation as at Shiloh. The cause of freedom was 
 hardly elsewhere so poised in the balance as there. His 
 presence, his activity, his courage and faith did turn 
 the scale the right way. Shiloh, rightly regarded, was 
 one of the decisive battles of the war, in my judgment 
 as much so as Gettysburg. The defeat of Meade at 
 Gettysburg would have been repaired. It would have 
 been barren to Lee. It was too near the populous cen- 
 tres of the North, with illimitable resources. If the 
 scale of battle had turned the other way at Gettysburg 
 it would have been at worst a drawn battle, as, indeed,
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL W. R. MARSHALL. 95 
 
 it too nearly was, with Lee's successful retreat. Meade 
 would have retreated towards the defences of Washing- 
 ton, as that Army of the Potomac had so often done 
 after defeat. Witness Bull Kun, Chickahominy, Chan- 
 cellorsville, Fredericksburg, and second Bull Bun. The 
 scene of the battle being on one side of the Potomac 
 instead of the other would have made little difference. 
 Lee could no more have effectively pursued Meade than 
 Meade did Lee. Both armies were and would have been 
 exhausted. But at Shiloh, in those early spring days of 
 1862, for that Army of the Tennessee, if it had had a 
 feeble commander and had suffered defeat, there was no 
 line of retreat, no Washington and its defences near, no 
 vast resources of men and vast storehouses of material. 
 Confederate victory there would have changed the whole 
 aspect of the war. 
 
 I first met General Grant at St. Louis, Missouri, where 
 I was stationed with my regiment in the winter of 1863. 
 It was after the battle of Chattanooga, but before he 
 had been made lieutenant-general and given command 
 of all the armies. The great battle of Chattanooga 
 was fought on the 25th of November, 1863. The dis- 
 aster in September which Bosecrans met at Cliicka- 
 mauga, and which came so near being fatal to his 
 army, besieged as it was in Chattanooga, — cut off from 
 supplies and starving, — was now retrieved. The con- 
 fident army of Bragg was hurled back to Dalton, and 
 all was in good shape for the next spring's campaign. 
 General Grant for the first time, I think, during the 
 war visited his old home and friends in and near St. 
 Louis. General Bosecrans was then in command of 
 the Department of Missouri, assigned to it after he was
 
 96 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 superseded by Thomas at Chattanooga. I saw Gen- 
 eral Grant at the old Planter's House, at the theatre, 
 and at a magnificent banquet given to him at the great 
 Lindell Hotel. In observing him at that time, what 
 struck me as the most remarkable quality of the man 
 was his imperturbable calmness and unexcitability. At 
 the banquet there was a fine flow of social feeling. 
 General Rosecrans presided, and his face was all aglow 
 with pleasurable excitement. The supper was superb, 
 and there were fitting toasts and fine speeches. I sat 
 where I observed General Grant. His face never 
 changed its unmoved expression. It never lit up with 
 excitement. The world has come to know since then 
 his genius for silence. It was a native endowment, — 
 nothing studied, nothing acquired. I saw him with 
 his wife and children. His greatest enjoyment was 
 manifestly with them. Their presence and happiness 
 made his face to beam as nothing else would. I re- 
 member once in Washington to have gone to his head- 
 quarters on business connected with an application for 
 appointment of General Van Cleve to a vacancy ex- 
 isting, as store-keeper in the army. 
 
 General Grant came up a side street as I approached 
 the entrance of his headquarters. A little girl was on 
 the walk. Grant stopped and talked to her in a tender, 
 affectionate manner, his face lighting up with such feel- 
 ing as was rarely seen. He had, as we all now know, 
 the simplicity and tender-heartedness of a child. In 
 that matter of Van Cleve's General Grant took a lively 
 interest. I remember his unusually warm expression 
 of regard for General Van Cleve, an old West Pointer. 
 Unfortunately, he had little influence with President
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL W. R. MARSHALL. 97 
 
 Johnson, and the api^ointment was given to another 
 less worthy. 
 
 In October, 1874, I attended the annual meeting of 
 the Society of the Army of the Tennessee at Spring- 
 field, Illinois. It was made the occasion of dedicating 
 the monument over the grave of Lincoln, and was a 
 great occasion. Tens of thousands of people of Illi- 
 nois and large numbers from other States were there. 
 President Grant, Vice-President Wilson, and General 
 Sherman were there. General Grant delivered a feeling 
 address at the unveiling ceremonies. I was invited to 
 meet him and Mrs. Grant and other distinguished guests 
 at dinner at Governor Beveridge's. After dinner the 
 gentlemen were in the library, smoking and chatting. 
 Mr. Borie, of Philadelphia, first Secretary of the Navy 
 under Grant, was one of the guests. I mentioned to 
 him that just before leaving St. Paul I had met Judge 
 Porter, of Philadelphia, with whom, no doubt, Mr. Borie 
 was acquainted. He said he knew him quite well. Gen- 
 eral Grant also said he knew Judge Porter. Something 
 was said of his belonging to a distinguished family ; that 
 his father was a governor of Pennsylvania. General 
 Grant said General Porter, of his staff, was a brother of 
 Judge Porter. I remarked that Judge Porter was a 
 much older man than General Porter. I was somewhat 
 surprised to know that they were brothers. General 
 Grant said it reminded him of an incident at West 
 Point. There came to the academy a new cadet from 
 Western Pennsylvania named Grier. Upon his being 
 introduced to the professor of French in the academy, a 
 Frenchman, he repeated the name Grier, Grier, remark- 
 ing that he knew a Judge Grier of that part of the
 
 98 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 country. "Was the cadet related to Judge Grier?" 
 The young man answered carelessly, " Yes, they were 
 distantly related." "Ah," said the professor, "second 
 cousin, perhaps ?" (Grant quite successfully gave the 
 Frenchman's pronunciation, " cooseen.") "No," said 
 Grier, " he is the oldest of twelve children, and I am 
 the youngest; that is the distance of our relationship." 
 I had occasion to go to New York directly from 
 Springfield, and was in the same sleeper with Vice- 
 President Henry Wilson. During the impeachment 
 trial of President Johnson I was in Washington, having 
 the privilege of the floor of the Senate. I repeatedly 
 walked from the Capitol with Senator Wilson, discussing 
 the trial. He was anxious for the conviction of John- 
 son, and expressed the belief that if the Senate failed 
 to find him guilty the consequences would be disas- 
 trous to the country, I remember his asking what the 
 feeling upon the question was in the Northwest, from 
 whence I had just come. I told him there was no great 
 feeling ; no one feared any trouble in any event. If 
 President Johnson had really committed offences that 
 justified removal he should be judged accordingly. I 
 found my judgment inclining to the President's side. 
 While he had done perverse things, had been violent 
 in denouncing Congress, and wrong-headed in Stanton's 
 removal, yet there was no case of malfeasance in office 
 made out that justified the extreme measure of removal. 
 It would have been a dangerous precedent. So, in 
 meeting Vice-President Wilson six years after the trial, 
 I asked liim if he was not then thankful that Johnson 
 was not convicted. He answered that he was content 
 that Johnson had not been removed, but was glad he
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL W. R. MARSHALL. 99 
 
 had been put on his trial ; that it brought Johnson to 
 his senses, and secured the country from a great peril. 
 He then related much of what Chauncey M. Depew re- 
 cently gave to the public, as told him at a dinner by 
 General Grant. It was news to me and startling. I 
 could then understand the solicitude of Wilson and 
 other Kepublican Senators at tlie trial. They had 
 knowledge of things which were not in the charges, 
 and which General Butler, one of the House managers 
 of impeachment, has lately said could not be brought in 
 evidence on account of the confidential relations of the 
 general of the army and the President. I remember 
 distinctly Wilson's account of the interview in which 
 Johnson wanted Grant to go to Mexico. Grant told 
 him if it was a political appointment, he declined it ; if 
 it was a military order, he refused to obey. In time of 
 peace the President had no right to order him beyond 
 the limits of the United States. 
 
 I happened to be in Washington in May the first 
 year that Grant was President, when Mr. Welsh, of 
 Philadelphia, and other philanthropic gentlemen visited 
 Washington to confer with the Secretary of the Interior 
 and the President on a better method of appointing 
 Indian agents than the political one. That superior 
 man, Jacob D. Cox, of Ohio, was Secretary of the In- 
 terior. As Governor of Minnesota, which had a large 
 Indian population, I was invited to a breakfast and 
 conference on this subject, at which were present Secre- 
 tary Cox, the gentleman named, Hon. Henry M. Pice 
 of this State, and others. On that day the party called 
 at the White House by appointment and presented the 
 subject to President Grant. I remember that the Presi-
 
 IQQ GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 dent's remarks showed an earnest purpose to do some- 
 thing effective to reform the abuses of our Indian 
 system. This conference resuhed in the Indian Com- 
 mission, to which George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia, 
 who had become widely known as the president of 
 the Christian Commission during the war, was ap- 
 pointed ; also William E. Dodge, of New York, Felix 
 Brunot, of Pittsburg, and other like men. At this in- 
 terview was revealed to me an element in Grant's char- 
 acter of benevolence and tender regard for the rights 
 of the helpless. This measure of Grant's administration, 
 now in force, was the first step to reform Indian abuses 
 in almost a century. 
 
 An unhappy alienation between General Grant and 
 General Hancock took place in 1869. General Han- 
 cock, in command at New Orleans, displeased the 
 Union men, and was superseded by General Sheridan. 
 Hancock was ordered to report at Washington. He 
 did report to the adjutant-general, but did not call on 
 President Grant. It would have been an official 
 courtesy to call on the President. I believe it was not 
 an official duty. His failure to call was commented on 
 as a studied discourtesy, which doubtless it was not. In 
 a day or two after, Hancock was standing on the corner 
 opposite the east front of the Treasury building, when 
 the President, in crossing the street, approached near 
 him without Hancock greeting him. The gossips re- 
 ported that Hancock had cut Grant. Governor Flan- 
 ders, of Louisiana, who was with Hancock, afterwards 
 explained that Grant turned to enter Jay Cooke & 
 Co.'s bank before Hancock was aware. If Hancock 
 had seen this course of Grant he would have advanced
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL W. R. MARSHALL. IQl 
 
 to meet and salute the President. No explanations 
 were made, however, between the lorincipals. Hence- 
 forth there were only the most formal official relations 
 between these distinguished men. The death of Gen- 
 eral Halleck, in 1869, left vacant an important com- 
 mand in the South, to which Hancock felt entitled as 
 ranking major-general. But General Hancock was as- 
 signed to the Department of Dakota, a command in- 
 ferior in dignity. The next year General Thomas died, 
 leaving vacant the command of the Division of the 
 Pacific. General Hancock's claims to that command 
 were brought specially to the attention of the President 
 and General Sherman, but General Schofield was as- 
 signed to it. Some correspondence ensued between 
 Generals Hancock and Sherman, in which Sherman, 
 with his usual vigor of style, defended the action of the 
 President. In November, 1872, General Meade died 
 at Philadelphia, in command of the Division of the 
 Atlantic, a command of great dignity, but not of great 
 military importance. It embraces the cities of New 
 York, Philadelphia, etc. General Hancock's head- 
 quarters being at St. Paul, I met him occasionally, but 
 had no intimacy with him. I esteemed him for his 
 distinguished record as a soldier, and regretted the un- 
 pleasant relations between him and the President. On 
 the death of Meade it occurred to me that it would be 
 a magnanimous thing in President Grant to give Han- 
 cock that command. I felt it so deeply, and fearing 
 the nearer influences at Washington might overlook 
 Hancock's claims, that I made bold to write to General 
 Sherman on the subject, expecting the letter to be seen 
 by the President. I urged that this opportunity to
 
 102 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 heal the wounds of General Hancock should not be 
 allowed to pass. Grant, the same month of Meade's 
 death, had been re-elected by an overwhelming majority. 
 It would be a graceful act to give General Hancock 
 this command befitting his rank. I received promptly 
 from General Sherman the following letter, honorable 
 to his soldierly feelings : 
 
 " Headquarters Army of the United States. 
 " Washington, D. C, December 12, 1872. 
 " Gov. Wm. E. Marshall, St. Paul, Minn. 
 
 "Dear Sir, — I have just read your letter to the President, 
 and believe he was impressed w^ith it just as you wanted. I 
 surely have always been anxious to recognize General Han- 
 cock's claim, both on account of his rank and eminent services, 
 and told the President that this was a good chance to do so by 
 letting Hancock take Meade's place in Philadelphia. Eeally 
 and in truth there is no reason for keeping up the Division of 
 the Atlantic ; it was done out of respect for Meade, and the 
 same reason (which is a good one) will sanction the assignment 
 of General Hancock to it, and I will be glad if the President 
 will do it. I have never had the least difference with General 
 Hancock, but the President did refuse to let him have a com- 
 mand (Halleck's, at the South) because of his belief that Gen- 
 eral Hancock's opinions on vital questions differed from his 
 own. There were also special reasons for General Schofield 
 going to the Division of the Pacific, and to this General Han. 
 cock did take exception ; but the matter was clearly within the 
 province of the President, and once resolved on had to be sub- 
 mitted to gracefully. Now, if the President will assign Han- 
 cock to Philadelphia I will be perfectly satisfied, and have so 
 notified him. Probably the matter Avill be concluded and an- 
 nounced by telegraph before you get this. For your kind ex- 
 pressions of friendship and regard I am sure General Grant felt 
 pleased, and I knoAV that I bear in honor all the sentiments you 
 express of Meade, Thomas, and Mower, and all the really good
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL W. R. MARSHALL. 103 
 
 and great men who have preceded us a little to our common 
 destiny. 
 
 " With great respect, etc., 
 
 " W. T. Sherman." 
 
 The order assigning Hancock to the Division of the 
 Atlantic was made, in which command he still remains 
 (January 6, 1886). It re-established entire friendly 
 relations between him and President Grant. 
 
 Since first meeting General Grant, in 1863, his genius 
 and character have been to me an interesting study. 
 There is no great character in history, no one of my 
 own time, no other general of the war, whose sources of 
 power have seemed so difficult to discover as Grant's. 
 I met him in this city in 1865, in the leisurely tour he 
 was making of the country. I met him in Washington 
 repeatedly while general-in-chief and while President, 
 and often at the reunions of the Society of the Army 
 of the Tennessee. The last time I saw him was two 
 years ago last September, in this city and at Minne- 
 tonka, at the time of the Villard Northern Pacific cele- 
 bration. I was not under his immediate command in 
 the army, but I was familiar with his career, and had 
 met him often enough to have some means of knowing 
 the man. Yet until his long, death-ending illness, and 
 until reading his memoirs, I had never wholly satisfied 
 myself whether his name was 
 
 " One of the few, the immortal names 
 That were not born to die." 
 
 His opportunity was great. His achievements were 
 great. The means and resources at his command were 
 great. He became the chief of a great and noble cause. 
 He was consecrated by the sacredness of the principles
 
 IQ4, GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 of freedom, humanity, and national integrity, for which 
 he fought. How much of the honor and fame that 
 Grant won sprung from the nobleness of the cause and 
 the God-given triumph of that cause with which he was 
 identified? This question to me has not been easy to 
 answer. 
 
 My first impression of General Grant was that he 
 had good common qualities ; that he had prudence and 
 perseverance, and, with large means, had accomplished 
 creditable results. How would it be if he were limited 
 to inferior means, and by force of circumstances had all 
 the disadvantages that Frederick the Great and other 
 great captains of history had, and yet who grandly 
 triumphed? Would he by strokes of genius have ex- 
 tricated himself and been victorious ? He was hardly 
 so tried. The campaign of Vicksburg comes nearest 
 to answering this question, the credit of which cam- 
 paign, Sherman says, " in its conception and execution 
 belongs exclusively to General Grant, not only in the 
 great whole, but the thousands of its details ; for no 
 other commanding general of an army ever gave more 
 of his personal attention to details, or wrote so many of 
 his own orders, letters, and reports as General Grant." 
 Grant had numbers inferior to the enemy when he 
 swung around Vicksburg and fought the battles of 
 Raymond, Jackson, and Champion Hills. Without a 
 base of supplies or line of communication he attempted 
 and succeeded in doing a thing contrary to the maxims 
 of war. It was original in conception and brilliant in 
 execution, and would almost alone entitle him to rank 
 with the famous soldiers of all time. Taken in connec- 
 tion with what he achieved elsewhere, his claim to so
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL W. R. MARSHALL. 105 
 
 much, I think, is made clear. He who studies Grant's 
 character and genius will discover that while he did 
 not possess the lightning-like rapidity of thought and 
 plan and execution which characterized Napoleon, he 
 did possess that sagacity, that judgment, steadiness, and 
 tenacity which characterized Frederick the Great and 
 Wellington. But Grant's greatness, after all, was, like 
 Washington's, largely in his moral qualities. He could 
 never have risen as he did, to the highest command, 
 and enjoyed the loyal, devoted support of Sherman, 
 McPherson, Sheridan, and others, to whom he acknowl- 
 edged himself so much indebted, without the sincerity, 
 unselfishness, justice, and generosity, without the unal- 
 loyed patriotism and devotion to duty which I believe 
 was never surpassed in any other great character. 
 Where, in all history, is anything finer than the letter 
 to Sherman and McPherson when he accepted the 
 appointment of lieutenant-general ? He almost apolo- 
 gizes to them for accepting a promotion and an honor 
 in which they cannot in full measure share. Sherman's 
 letter in reply, in noble generosity rivals Grant's. No 
 finer, juster characterization of Grant than this of 
 Sherman has ever been written. 
 
 Some one of the ancients, speaking of another, said 
 that he was not only fortunate in his birth and life, but 
 equally so in the circumstances of his death. But for 
 the business misfortunes of General Grant, near the 
 close of life, and the long illness and combat with 
 death, his heroic patience and kindness and charity, 
 we should never have known the entire greatness of his 
 character. Mount McGregor becomes to his country- 
 men the mount of transfiguration. The almost divine
 
 X06 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 loveliness of the man shone about him as the vesture 
 of light did about the wholly divine Master to the dis- 
 ciples of old. The gentle heroism of those last days 
 on earth was tenderly pathetic. One thinks of Ten- 
 nyson's description of the death of King Arthur as 
 befitting Grant's : 
 
 " Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge, 
 Dark as a funeral scarf from stem to stern. 
 ******* 
 Then murmured Arthur, ' Place me in the barge.' 
 
 . . . There those three Queens 
 Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept. 
 But she, that rose the tallest of them all 
 And fairest, laid his head upon her lap. 
 And loosed the shattered casque, and chafed his hands, 
 And called him by his name, complaining loud. 
 And dropping bitter tears against his brow 
 Sir poll with dark blood. . . . 
 And slowly answered Arthur from the barge : 
 ******* 
 ' I have lived my life, and that which I have done 
 May He within himself make pure ! 
 ******* 
 But now farewell. I am going a long way 
 With these thou seost' — 
 
 * :h * * * * * 
 
 To tl e island-valley of Avilion ; 
 
 Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, 
 
 Nor ever wind blows loudly ; but it lies 
 
 Deep meadow'd, happy, ftiir with orchard lawns 
 
 And bowery hollows crowned with summer sea, 
 
 Where I will heal me of my grievous wound.' "
 
 SOME EXPERIENCES OF AN ENLISTED MAN. 
 
 BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE, 
 
 ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVENTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY, U. S. VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 It may be that in making up the ultimate totality 
 of the chronicles of the war many of the unconsidered 
 trifles of experience, even of the youngest and least 
 prominent in the ranks, will be of value as illustrating 
 the spirit of the epoch, and the motives, feelings, and 
 impulses of the great mass of the armies of the Union. 
 If so, my own somewhat imprudent attempt to comply 
 with an early request to furnish a " paper" may be 
 justified. If not, not; for one whose limited service 
 touched the great events and great actors of the strug- 
 gle at few points, and affected its grand strategies not at 
 all, can have little to communicate of more than per- 
 sonal interest, and can hope to add nothing to the known 
 facts of history. 
 
 It was my privilege to prelude the subsequent service 
 as a commissioned officer, which entitles me to a seat in 
 this honorable body, by a term as private and non- 
 commissioned ofiicer, from which I was mustered out 
 by wounds received in battle. And though I am glad 
 of the privilege of this comradeship, and by no means 
 ashamed of the fact that after I had recovered from my 
 wounds a full company of one hundred men unani- 
 
 107
 
 X08 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 mously elected me their captain and never accused me of 
 betraying their trust, yet, if the balance-sheet of pride 
 were struck, I would be obliged to admit, even in this 
 presence, that a considerable surplus remained on the 
 side of my first service. It is to what must be at best 
 but a desultory record of some of the episodes of that 
 earlier experience that I will confine myself upon this 
 occasion. I was but twenty years old when I enlisted, 
 in August, 1862, as a private in the Seventy-third Illi- 
 nois Infantry, Colonel James F. Jaquess commanding, 
 at Springfield. Hence it will be scarcely necessary to 
 call attention to the fact that the person speaking is, for 
 all practical purposes, an entirely distinct individual 
 from the person spoken of, in order to palliate any ap- 
 parent egotism which the inevitably frequent use of the 
 personal pronoun herein will involve. 
 
 So far as I can now remember and analyze my mo- 
 tives for enlisting, they were a combination of patriotism 
 and pride, — the latter perhaps predominating. I was 
 neither reckless nor adventuresome, and I had not a 
 particle of the strictly military spirit or ambition. But 
 I ardently desired to see the Rebellion suppressed and 
 slavery abolished,— and, above all, I felt that if it were 
 granted me to live to old age, I should always be pro- 
 foundly mortified by the reflection that I had passed 
 through such a momentous conflict without taking any 
 part in it. Restraining influences were, the objections 
 of anxious parents, who held me back more than a year 
 after I had fully determined to go, and an entire lack 
 of confidence in my own physical strength and personal 
 courage ; the former deepening my sense of the sacrifice 
 I was to make through the extra risks I should run, and
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE. 109 
 
 the latter constantly admonishing me to shun positions 
 where, in case of failure in the hour of trial, it would 
 be conspicuously disgraceful. I also dreaded responsi- 
 bility for human life, and if I had then any aspirations 
 at all for a commission, they would have been over- 
 whelmingly satisfied by the position of second lieuten- 
 ant on the staff of some trusted brigade commander. 
 Higher than that I never dreamed of climbing or desired 
 to climb. 
 
 Before the 1st of September, 1862, we were hurried 
 off, half organized and entirely unarmed, to Louisville, 
 Kentucky. How deficient we were in organization, and 
 even in the knowledge of elementary military rules, one 
 little incident will testify. At Springfield, having shown 
 some proficiency in making out muster-in rolls and con- 
 solidated returns, I was temporarily detailed as a clerk 
 in the office of the regimental adjutant- On our hasty 
 departure the adjutant remained behind. I, a private 
 soldier, acted as adjutant for twenty days, signing all 
 reports, countersigning all orders, and performing all 
 his functions. No one, not even the twenty lieutenants 
 eligible to promotion, questioned my right. At last a 
 martinet brigade commander who had spent a week 
 carefully instructing me, was so chagrined, when he 
 accidentally learned he had wasted his teachings on a 
 person but one grade in rank above an army mule, 
 that he at once ordered our colonel to detail a pair of 
 shoulder-straps to hold intercourse with him thereafter. 
 This, in turn, so offended my own eminently civilian 
 sense of dignity that I promptly " resigned" my clerk- 
 shijD, absolutely refused to tell Mr. First Lieutenant 
 what to do in the offi.ce, and left him to flounder until
 
 110 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 the adjutant returned. At Louisville we were to meet 
 Buell's army and confront Bragg's on their historic 
 free-for-all race from the Tennessee River to the Ohio. 
 Between that date, September 1, and the 1st of January 
 following I went through all the experiences of inaction 
 in camp, sickness in hospital, toilful marches through 
 Kentucky and Tennessee to Nashville and Murfrees- 
 boro', battle and wounds. It was the longest and 
 hardest four months of my life, and yet I think, upon 
 the whole, the most enjoyable. 
 
 Quickly armed and slightly drilled at Louisville, we 
 were rushed out to cover General Nelson's disorderly 
 retreat from Richmond, Kentucky ; then hustled off to 
 Cincinnati and Covington to help repel Kirby Smith's 
 threatened raid ; then, after a few days, whirled back to 
 Louisville, to form a part of Buell's force, soon mobilized 
 into the new Army of the Cumberland ; then forward 
 in pursuit of Bragg to Perry ville and Crab Orchard ; 
 and thence to Bowling Green and Nashville, which we 
 reached early in November. My premonitions as to 
 sickness were sjDcedily realized. I was left behind in 
 Cincinnati in a hospital, half delirious with the aches 
 and burnings of incipient typhoid fever. This was 
 happily averted, but not without two or three weeks of 
 illness and convalescence, during which I sounded all 
 the depths and shoals of hospital life in its worst phases, 
 — that is, far to the rear. For I found as a summing up 
 of this and subsequent experiences elsewhere, that the 
 sick and wounded received their best care on the battle- 
 field and in its immediate vicinity, where discipline was 
 strict, surgeons skilful, and battle-mate nurses tender ; 
 whereas, north of the Ohio, where there was every
 
 ADDBESS BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE. m 
 
 facility for better treatment, what with drunken and 
 brutal doctors, thieving ward-masters, and careless 
 nurses, the situation could too often only be described 
 in the muscular Saxon which the revised edition of the 
 Scriptures has prematurely discarded. 
 
 I wrestled with three Cincinnati hospitals, and w^as 
 finally hoisted out to a convalescent camp thirty miles 
 farther north. Here the tedium and little villanies of 
 the situation were seriously aggravated by the knowl- 
 edge that my regiment was marching into Kentucky ; 
 that a battle w^as imminent ; that there was danger of 
 the Kebellion being put down before I had succeeded 
 in shooting anybody, thus defeating the whole object of 
 my enlistment. 
 
 Accordingly I availed myself of the first dark night 
 to do a very reprehensible thing. With two or three 
 comrades I deserted ; rode to Cincinnati tramp-wise on 
 a freight-train, and to Louisville ditto on a steamboat ; 
 dodged the provost guards of both cities and several 
 guerrilla bands on Kentucky turnpikes ; performed feats 
 of strategy enough to have made a large military repu- 
 tation in a little affair like the Mexican war, and, after 
 tribulations unutterable, overtook the army, alas! too 
 late to help whip Bragg in the battle of Periyville, 
 where our regiment had its baptism of fire, and where 
 not to have been was, for the ensuing two months, a 
 reproach almost too bitter to be borne. 
 
 Having followed Bragg to Crab Orchard, and found 
 that his ragged but nimble hordes had vanished in the 
 lengthening perspective towards Cumberland Gap, Buell 
 changed his line of march to Nashville via Lebanon 
 and Bowling Green.
 
 112 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 This leisurely excursion was a perpetual picnic in the 
 glorious October weather. The only danger arose from 
 the squadrons of John Morgan's guerrillas, which hov- 
 ered on our flanks, ready to pick up any too venture- 
 some stragglers. And the principal drawback was the 
 dry weather, which not only filled the roads with dust 
 through the day, but shrunk the widely-separated horse- 
 ponds, which were our chief reliance for camp-water 
 at night, to such dimensions that by the time five hun- 
 dred mules had quenched their thirst from a slimy pool 
 forty feet in diameter, and five thousand men had done 
 their nocturnal bathing, cooking, and drinking from the 
 same, the stuff that was left therein to fill the canteens 
 for next day's march was just about the right consist- 
 ency for St. Paul and Minneapolis editors to throw at 
 each other with a keen relish. 
 
 On my return to the regiment my friends at head- 
 quarters, noting the continued effects of my recent ill- 
 ness, gave me a temporary detail to fill the place of 
 the absent quartermaster's sergeant. This secured me 
 a horse to ride on the march, and made me ex officio 
 regimental wagon-master. Here was a new field of 
 usefulness, and I was fully resolved to distinguish ray- 
 self. I succeeded speedily and beyond my most san- 
 guine expectations. Each regiment then marched luxuri- 
 ously with thirteen six-mule teams ; a year later three or 
 four amply sufficed. We were even obliged to conscript 
 three or four adtlitional teams every day from reluctant 
 farmers to carry our extra baggage and accumulations 
 of souvenirs. These were ox-teams with negro drivers. 
 Two days' steady travel on the limestone turnpikes of 
 Kentucky would wear out the feet of the oxen, when
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE. II3 
 
 another team would be seized, the load shifted, and the 
 negro, thirty miles from home, would, as a rule, drive 
 the lame oxen to the side of the road, turn them loose, 
 and, joining the throng of black cooks and hostlers pre- 
 viously accumulated, keep step thenceforth to the music 
 of the Union with a light and happy heart. 
 
 On the morning of the second or third day of my 
 service as ex officio teamster-in-chief, I found myself so 
 delayed by hunting fresh oxen and loading that we had 
 lost our proper place in the long wagon-train following 
 the army, were obliged to fall in at the extreme rear of 
 it, and plod along through the day at least six miles 
 behind the marching column, with no hope of gaining 
 space in the interim. Towards evening, as the chances 
 for overtaking the regiment, or even finding it if over- 
 taken in the fast-coming darkness, lessened, I began to 
 consider what I should do. A genteel-looking young 
 man in a semi-military dress rode up to me from the rear, 
 and fell easily into conversation. He said he was born 
 and bred in that region of the country, but now lived at 
 Peoria, Illinois ; that he was running a laundry for the 
 custom of army officers, and that his apparatus was in 
 a wagon to the rear, among forty or fifty others, the odds 
 and ends of the big train, which during the day had been 
 switched out by break-downs, etc., and had finally fallen 
 in behind my own fifteen. He was very agreeable, and 
 soon suggested that it was about time to go into camp. 
 He spoke of a fine place on a side road that branched 
 off a little way ahead, where there was a grove of beech- 
 trees and a large spring of excellent water. I accepted 
 his offer to conduct us thither, and when the junction 
 was reached filed off with my train, all those behind
 
 114 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 obediently following, like a flock of sheep. He marched 
 us about three miles from the forks of the road, with one 
 plausible excuse after another for the unexpected dis- 
 tance. But the camping-spot when reached amply ful- 
 filled his promises and compensated the trip. On arri- 
 val I found myself in command of about seventy teams 
 and fully three hundred men, — teamsters, sick, strag- 
 glers, and contrabands, who had blindly followed our 
 lead. All camped there, and, after drinking, washing, 
 and eating as each could, slept under the trees. My 
 guide, philosopher, and friend made no more allusions 
 to his laundry- wagon, but supped with me and sliared 
 my blanket on the hard ground. When I awoke in the 
 morning he was missing, but I thought little of that 
 circumstance until, a few days afterwards, John Morgan 
 captured two or three stragglers from our regiment, 
 paroled them, and sent them in, with the comi)liments 
 of his brother and adjutant to me, and the information 
 that he had gone out of the laundry business, and that 
 but for his failure to find his own men at their appointed 
 place that night he would have returned and gobbled us 
 all up, as he fully intended to do when he left me so un- 
 ceremoniously as soon as I fell into the deep sleep of in- 
 nocence. It was two o'clock in the afternoon before I 
 reached camp with the rations, tents, and cooking uten- 
 sils for which the regiment had waited, fasting, and the 
 varied assortment of cursing I had to endure made a 
 truly profound impression. But when I received Mor- 
 gan's message, and fully realized what a monumental 
 blunder I had made, I think my eyes were both perma- 
 nently opened to their full natural capacity. Leastwise, 
 in all my subsequent travels, through the highways and
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE. \l^ 
 
 byways of many cities, no long-lost cousin or other 
 variety of confidence man has ever tried to close them. 
 
 When next our march was resumed a few days after 
 this wellnigh tragic ej)isode, my immediate superior, the 
 regimental quartermaster, either from a desire to ease 
 my official burdens, or from a well-founded doubt of 
 my trustworthiness as superintendent of mule-whackers 
 in the enemy's country, kindly informed me that he 
 would manage the wagon-train himself for a few days, 
 and that I might march with the regiment, and per- 
 form whatever light duties would devolve uj)on him 
 were he present. No duties devolved during the first 
 day's march ; I had a pleasant ride, and was congratu- 
 lating myself on a surcease of vexation, when, as we 
 filed into camp about sunset, the colonel notified me 
 that it was my province to supjDly the daily ration of 
 fresh beef for the regiment. How or where it was to 
 be procured he did not know, and left me to find out. 
 Up to that time I had never chanced to see the then 
 brigade or division commanders. I had had no busi- 
 ness at their headquarters ; had felt no special curiosity 
 concerning them, and, strange to say, neither of them 
 had taken pains to hunt me out and cultivate my ac- 
 quaintance. Nevertheless, I naturally sought the bri- 
 gade quartermaster, which, as we marched by divisions, 
 was no difficult task. I found the ex-bartender from 
 St. Louis, who occupied this post, lolling against a tree 
 near at hand puffing his pipe, and soon learned, to my 
 consternation, that it was none of his duty to instruct 
 acting sergeants in theirs. Reporting this discour- 
 aging discovery to my colonel, he advised me to find 
 the division quartermaster and state my dilemma to
 
 IIQ GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 him, adding that the higher I went up in the army the 
 more courtesy I might expect in transacting legitimate 
 business. Accordingly, I galloped off to a row of 
 white tents pitched in an old orchard, which I was 
 told was the headquarters for the night of the division 
 general and staff. By mistake I came up to the tents 
 from the rear, and saw only one individual in sight, a 
 careless but keen-looking little man, about thirty years 
 old, with his pants tucked in his boots, no coat on, a 
 black hat canted on one side of his head, and a cigar 
 projecting upwards at an acute angle from his lips. 
 He was sitting on a stump, enjoying the sunset breezes, 
 in manifest comfort. I promj^tly sized him up for a 
 headquarters' clerk, and riding straight at him, asked 
 him which was the division quartermaster's tent. My 
 horse nearly ran into him, and as he drew back his 
 feet he said, pleasantly, " Who the hell are you, any- 
 how ?" " Oh," said I, bridling up a little, " I'm a 
 high private of respectable parentage, like yourself, I 
 suppose, but you seem to have a better detail than I 
 have, anyhow ; I am only an acting quartermaster ser- 
 geant, and I can't afford a white shirt like that." He 
 laughed and asked, "What do you want?" "The 
 quartermaster." " Yes ; but what do you want of 
 him ?" I was about to say it was none of his business 
 and ride on, but suspecting that he might be the clerk 
 in that oJBfice and that I would possibly have to come 
 back to him after all, I concluded to be reasonably 
 polite, and, throwing my tired leg over the horn of my 
 saddle, told him in a few words what I wanted. He 
 said he could tell me all about that, and proceeded to 
 give me minute instructions about detailing butchers,
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE. Hy 
 
 going to the division herd, selecting animals, slaugh- 
 tering, dividing, issuing, etc., all of which, under recent 
 arrangements, had to be done every night on going into 
 camp, to provide beef for next day's march. He 
 spent fifteen minutes in giving me explicit and valuable 
 instructions on that little, but really important, matter, 
 and I was surprised both at his interest in the subject 
 and his familiarity with it. Just as he finished, and I 
 was getting my foot back into its stirrup, a stiff, uni- 
 formed officer with the straps of a major came out 
 from between the tents, and with a formal salute to 
 my interlocutor held out a paper and said, " General 
 Sheridan, I want your instructions on this matter." 
 Before giving audience to him, the general turned to 
 me with a quizzical smile, as I briefly apologized for 
 the informalities of my address, and said that a general 
 with his coat off could exact no deference, that he 
 intended every officer and soldier in his command 
 should be thoroughly informed as to his duties, and he 
 wanted it generally understood that he was never too 
 busy to give any information he possessed to any of 
 them, from the highest to the lowest. This was my 
 first sight of and my first interview with General 
 Philip H. Sheridan, who remained in command of the 
 division to which our regiment was attached until he 
 went East with Grant in 1864, and who always ex- 
 hibited the same knowledge of, interest in, and atten- 
 tion to every detail of organization and equipment, 
 supply and discipline, connected with his command. 
 His subsequent splendid career was a surprise to every- 
 body in the country except the men who had served 
 under him.
 
 118 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 We reached Nashville early in November, relieving 
 the beleaguered garrison under Negley and Palmer, and 
 within a few days the Army of the Cumberland, now 
 commanded by General Kosecrans, was concentrated in 
 and around that city. Nashville was amply protected 
 by frowning fortifications on the surrounding heights. 
 Her beautiful white marble capitol, on so lofty an emi- 
 nence that sometimes seen from a distance it seemed to 
 swing in the clouds, was a sight ever to be remem- 
 bered. We were finally encamped south of the city, 
 and for the first time in our experience really settled 
 down to habitual camp routine, devoting six weeks 
 to the long-deferred requisites of organization, drill, 
 and discipline. All the lights and shadows of camp- 
 life there passed over us. Our veterans of one long 
 campaign and one bloody battle were yet raw recruits 
 in most that pertained to military life. They had 
 much to learn and more to suffer. They got up the 
 harmless, necessary mutiny against shelter-tents and 
 spoiled meats, and were suppressed with alacrity ; a 
 good many of them had the smallpox, and a consid- 
 erable majority of them had the measles, — the latter 
 epidemic causing more deaths and disabilities than 
 battle, march, and dysentery combined had been able 
 to effect. Drills almost incessant, grand guard duty at 
 least bi-weekly, scoutings, foraging raids, and sporadic 
 expeditions left little time for rusting or resting, but 
 soon made soldiers of the farmer boys and clerks and 
 students. We became hardened, roughened, and tough- 
 ened physically. As winter approached, as the hard- 
 ships increased and our comforts disappeared, a squad 
 of us would frequently refer to our luxurious entry into
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE. HQ 
 
 the service. We had spent the night before enlisting 
 at the Chenery House, the leading hotel at Springfield. 
 We at the time thought the transition sudden, from 
 the hair mattresses of the hotel to the bare plank of 
 a floored tent at Camp Butler. But now, alas ! even 
 a dry plank, or a tent larger than a chicken-coop, was 
 a dimly-recollected luxury. Mud and snow, occasionally 
 qualified by a rubber blanket and a few pine-boughs, 
 formed our nightly couch, and the weeping, cloud- 
 curtained heavens our most familiar canopy. 
 
 While thus encamped, I was honored by being ap- 
 pointed sergeant-major, the highest rank — if it be a 
 "rank" — which an "enlisted man" can hold, and a 
 position, I am free to maintain, as the result of my 
 observation and experience, which involves more ardu- 
 ous and unremitting toil than any commissioned ofiice 
 in the regiment. 
 
 On December 26, 1862, we marched from the picket- 
 lines five miles beyond Nashville, where we had spent 
 a Christmas made lively by frequent rebel fusillades 
 of artillery, to join the grand advance on Murfreesboro'. 
 Our corps, commanded by General A. McDowell Mc- 
 Cook, and consisting of Johnson's, Davis's, and Sheri- 
 dan's divisions, constituted the right wing of Bosecrans's 
 army. After five days of almost constant advance under 
 fire, through rain, snow, mud, and miscellaneous discom- 
 forts too familiar then to be noticeable, but remembered 
 now with wonder at human capacity for endurance, we 
 lay down in closed ranks, on Tuesday night, December 
 30, fully aware that one of the great battles of the war 
 would be fought on the morrow. Bosecrans and Bragg 
 confronted each other, with lines of battle three miles
 
 120 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 long, and nowhere more than a few hundred yards apart. 
 Both were ready for the fray and anxious only for the 
 hour of its opening. General K. W. Johnson com- 
 manded the division on the extreme right of the Union 
 line, and General H. P. Van Cleve that on the extreme 
 left. Between them were the divisions of Generals 
 Wood, Palmer, Eousseau, Negley, Sheridan, and Jeffer- 
 son C. Davis, in the order named, divided into three 
 corps, commanded by Crittenden, Thomas, and Mc- 
 Cook respectively. The plan of battle, as announced 
 by General Bosecrans to his corps and division com- 
 manders Tuesday evening, was for General Johnson 
 and his neighboring commanders on the right to stand 
 fast, hold their ground firmly, and resist the rebel onset 
 which was expected at daylight next morning, while 
 General Van Cleve should cross Stone Biver, on which 
 stream his left rested, and press on to Murfreesboro'. 
 Moving in concert with him, the whole left of the 
 army was expected to advance and engage the enemy, 
 swinging on the right as a pivot; thus, if successful, 
 crushing the foe, separating him from his base, and 
 capturing the latter by one simple and connected 
 movement. It was an admirable plan, but like too 
 many others was baffled in its execution by unforeseen 
 if not inexphcable contingencies. As the early disas- 
 ters were redeemed by a final and decisive triumph, 
 they have been generally forgotten except by those who 
 beheld them. 
 
 The history of the great battle of Stone Biver has 
 been written many times. I can add nothing new or 
 valuable to the record, and mere descriptions of scenes 
 of carnage would be trite to an auditory whose members
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE. 121 
 
 have commanded, marched, and fought in half the cam- 
 paigns and battles of the Rebellion. Within my limited 
 vision little passed on that eventful day out of the ordi- 
 nary experience in such conflicts. Yet after the lapse 
 of twenty-three years even its most trivial incidents 
 are burned indelibly upon my recollection. We were 
 warned to be ready for battle at daybreak on Wednesday 
 morning. An hour before daybreak General Sheridan, 
 on foot and alone, went the whole length of his division 
 line, visited each regimental commander, saw personally 
 that the men were aroused and under arms, posted his 
 artillery, and made everything ready well in advance of 
 the period named in his orders. Nearly an hour after 
 daybreak the attack came on Johnson's division, a few 
 hundred yards to our right. Driven by the overwhelm- 
 ing force of the onset, first Johnson and then Davis fell 
 back, throwing the augmented weight of the enemy on 
 Sheridan, who was now relied on to check him, until 
 new disposition could be made and the terrible disaster 
 retrieved. Sheridan held his ground until flanked and 
 pounded out of it, then stubbornly retreated across an 
 open cotton-field, where he left one- third of his men 
 killed and wounded and two of his three brigade com- 
 manders. When we reached the dense cedar thicket, our 
 regiment formed at its edge behind a mass of logs and 
 stumps, under orders from General Kousseau, who came 
 along raving with excitement or liquor, detached us from 
 Sheridan's command without the latter's knowledge, 
 placed us in an exposed but really efiective position, 
 and went off, leaving us to our fate. Here we repulsed 
 several desperate charges of the triumphant rebel hosts, 
 remaining until again flanked and nearly captured, when
 
 122 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 we fell back slowly through the thick cedars without 
 orders, purpose, or a ray of knowledge as to what was 
 transpiring outside the limits of our short line of sight. 
 Under us the surface was piled with rocks and rent with 
 caverns. Above us the thick green foliage intercepted 
 the sunlight. Around us, at every point of the com- 
 pass seemingly, the roar of battle was deafening, at an 
 unseen, though not great distance, while nearer, as far 
 as we could see, the woods were filled with disorgan- 
 ized masses of troops, flying they knew not whence or 
 whither, but utterly panic-stricken and uncontrollable. 
 Our regiment kept well in line as it fell slowly back, 
 but all around us, and often breaking through us, was 
 a yelling mob, officers weeping or swearing, soldiers 
 demoralized and shivering. If there was anything more 
 disgraceful at Bull Run than the scenes I witnessed in 
 those cedars, I have not seen it described, and yet half 
 an hour later, on emerging into the open field and the 
 sunshine, those same men gathered together and fell into 
 ranks so promptly, fought through the remainder of the 
 battle and the remainder of the war so heroically, that 
 this little episode, even to the few who ever heard of it, 
 was but a fly-speck upon the record of their achieve- 
 ments. When we had nearly passed through those cedar 
 woods we were found by an aide sent by Sheridan, who 
 had finally missed us, marched to our assigned place in 
 the reorganized and thenceforth impregnable line of 
 battle, where we resumed our bloody work under more 
 favorable auspices. It was now only ten o'clock in the 
 forenoon, so rapidly had events proceeded. 
 
 The battle raged with undiminished fury until night- 
 fall, and those who remember the honors won there by
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE. 123 
 
 our division commander will realize the active part his 
 soldiers bore in it. For myself, I soon found that the 
 position of sergeant-major in a battle is no sinecure. 
 You, who know how much of the fighting of the war 
 was done by soldiers lying flat on their stomachs, or 
 sheltered behind some slight protection, know the addi- 
 tional risks which extra exposure brought. The sol- 
 diers and line officers are lying down behind a low 
 crest of swelling ground, loading as rapidly as possible, 
 rising to their knees and firing at the enemy a quarter 
 of a mile distant behind a rail-fence. The noise is 
 incessant and impenetrable. A staff officer dashes up 
 with an order for the major commanding the regiment, 
 stationed behind a tree a little to the rear, to move his 
 command to another position. The major calls to the 
 adjutant behind a smaller tree on his right and com- 
 municates the order. The adjutant motions to the ser- 
 geant-major behind a stump far to the left. The latter 
 has no subordinate to fall back on, so he must leave his 
 sheltering stump, run to the adjutant while the rebel 
 bullets hum like a swarm of bees around and above 
 his head, get the order, then perhaps run to each com- 
 pany commander, shake him up and shout it into his 
 ear, before the line can be moved. I was the sergeant- 
 major ! I carried a gun only an hour or so ; I fired it 
 perhaps a score of times ; I do not know, for a cer- 
 tainty, that I killed a single one of Jeff Davis's myr- 
 midons, though I aimed directly at some of them at 
 exceedingly short range. But I am sure that if there 
 is any merit in posing for one whole, long day, as a 
 supremely extra-hazardous risk for a life insurance 
 company, I am entitled to a small chromo on that ac-
 
 124 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 count. At any rate, I was kept so busy tliat I had no 
 time to think of getting scared until late in the day 
 after I was wounded, when my courage collapsed en- 
 tirely, — but that is later on. About two o'clock in 
 the afternoon we got into a hotter place than even 
 the cotton-field of the morning. Sheridan placed his 
 division on the protruding front of the grand battle 
 line, and my regiment was sent into a railroad cut 
 which crossed that line at an oblique angle, our left 
 well advanced towards the enemy. I was at my place 
 on the extreme left, and while the men were firing 
 effectively from their protected position, I naturally 
 kept a weather eye out towards the foe on our exposed 
 flank. After a time I saw a rebel ofiicer ride up to a 
 point where a highway crossed our railroad, a few hun- 
 dred yards away, gaze at us a moment, and then gallop 
 off. I smelled a rat ! I watched the spot closely, and 
 soon saw a rebel battery come up to it. I started 
 promptly for the centre of the regiment to notify the 
 major, but heard that he had just been carried off 
 wounded. I then ran to the right to find the adjutant, 
 and learned that he too had retired for the same reason. 
 I assumed the responsibility of marching Company 
 " A" double-quick out of the defile, trusting the rest 
 to follow, which they did with alacrity, as just then the 
 shells came shrieking through the straight and narrow 
 gorge with a venom that would have left few unscathed 
 in five minutes more. I led the column under a very 
 hot fire to a position with the remainder of the brigade, 
 but neglected to bring it around by countermarch, or 
 on right by file into line. I simply " about faced" the 
 men towards the enemy, leaving the right of the line
 
 ADDEESS BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE. 125 
 
 where the left should have been, — a tactical blunder 
 which caused some confusion a little later, and which 
 was the only bitter drop in my brimming cup of self- 
 congratulation over a ten minutes' undisputed, because 
 unsuspected, command of the regiment. I then notified 
 the four remaining captains that they were without a 
 commander. Being all of equal rank, they sent me to 
 the brigade commander. Colonel Schaeffer, of St. Louis, 
 sitting on his horse two hundred yards in the rear, 
 with a request to come and settle the matter of prece- 
 dence. I started towards him, but before I had made 
 half the distance he, the last of Sheridan's brigade 
 commanders, was shot before my eyes, and fell to the 
 ground a corpse. Lieutenant-Colonel Liabold, also of 
 St. Louis, the sole remaining field ofiicer in the brigade, 
 at once assumed its command, and soon settled matters 
 in our regiment. More hard fighting and heavy losses 
 ensued. Finally, at four o'clock in the afternoon, 
 Sheridan's ammunition being entirely gone, and his 
 men exhausted by fatigue and thirst (for although it 
 was the last day of the year, the temperature was too 
 warm for comfortable exertion), Kosecrans sent another 
 division to our relief, and we were withdrawn a short 
 distance to the rear, having, as it turned out, finished 
 our fighting for that day. Very shortly after reaching 
 this comparatively safe position I met my fate. A 
 partially-spent ball, from the distant rebel line, crashed 
 into my left hand, lodging near the bones of the wrist. 
 My hand was at the time lying carelessly across my 
 stomach, and I distinctly felt that ball pass entirely 
 through my body and out near the spinal column. 
 This, I knew, was certain death, but I yielded without
 
 126 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 a murmur. I had been expecting it rather than other- 
 wise all day, and I was neither surprised nor shocked. 
 In a moment I raised my hand, saw that the ball had 
 not passed through, and realized that I still had a 
 chance for life. In another moment I would have sold 
 that chance for a shilling. The pain was intense and 
 the blood flowed freely, which was disheartening enough. 
 But when I reflected that in order to reach a hospital I 
 would be obliged to scud through the shower of shell 
 and grape which had been hooting over our heads and 
 falling behind us, I was paralyzed with fear. It was a 
 nervous collapse, caused, no doubt, by i\\Q reaction of 
 the sudden pain upon the state of unconscious excite- 
 ment and exaltation in which I had existed for several 
 hours. I managed, however, to conceal a good deal of 
 it from my kind and solicitous comrades, and slowly 
 worked my way, unaided, to the nearest surgeon's sta- 
 tion. Here the ball, weighing over an ounce, was im- 
 mediately extracted, the wound bandaged, and here, in 
 the midst of hundreds of dead and dying, I received 
 every care which skill and tenderness could bestow. 
 On the battle-field surrounded by the fighting we re- 
 mained until the final victory was won four days later. 
 The pains and privations endured, the scenes of misery, 
 of torture, and of hideous death passed through, were 
 enough to appall the stoutest and blunt the sensibilities 
 of the most refined. The rains descended, the cold 
 winds and frosts came next, and the five thousand 
 wounded, all collected in an unsheltered farm-yard of a 
 few acres' extent, furnished a combination of unspeaka- 
 ble agonies and unimaginable horrors such as no pencil 
 can paint. Relief came only when the rebels retreated
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE. 127 
 
 on Sunday. Then we were sent back to Nashville, 
 thirty miles distant, as rapidly as possible, and placed 
 in the large general hospitals provided for our recej)tion. 
 My own wound, so slight compared with hundreds of 
 others, was a serious matter to me. I was entitled to 
 an immediate discharge, as the disability was perma- 
 nent, and the surgeons then predicted what afterwards 
 proved true, that it woukl not even be healed for ten 
 months. But shortly after the battle I was appointed 
 adjutant of the regiment, and informed that on being 
 mustered in I could obtain a leave of absence until 
 able for duty again. I waited three long months in 
 hospitals at Nashville and Louisville for the commission 
 that never came. The former adjutant had been ap- 
 pointed major over the heads of the captains, who suc- 
 cessfully combined to prevent the issue of his commis- 
 sion. I then accepted a discharge, — and thus ended my 
 service as an " enlisted man." It may be mentioned as 
 one of the mysteries of fate, luck, or Providence, that 
 the adjutant resigned very soon after my discharge, and 
 that two of my dearest friends, Comrades of my own 
 age, successively appointed to succeed him, were both 
 killed in the next two battles in which the regiment 
 was engaged. 
 
 Having disclaimed in advance the idea that there was 
 anything remarkable in this record, I need not now 
 apologize for its tameness. My youthful alter ego was 
 no prodigy, but he was perhaps typical of a million 
 other ardent boys of that epoch, — earnest, ready, adapt- 
 able, and easily satisfied. At any rate, he offered him- 
 self freely, he shirked no duty, and he has never since 
 seen the day when he was ashamed of the cause he
 
 128 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 served, or wished to forget the events in which he par- 
 ticipated. For those events, httle as he affected them, 
 were of tremendous significance, and have exerted a 
 deathless influence upon the history of the whole 
 world. 
 
 When we were toiling on the march, tossing in the 
 camp, and struggling on the battle-field, we were occa- 
 sionally — though it must be confessed but faintly — 
 cheered by the recollection of how we had been told by 
 the silvery-sweet orators who persuaded us to enlist 
 that we would not only help to restore the imperilled 
 Union and unshackle the groaning slave, but would 
 fight the battles of liberty for the oppressed of every 
 land, and earn the gratitude of countless generations in 
 countries we should never see. Twenty years have 
 elapsed since the war's triumphant end, and it is 
 amazing with what fidelity the rhapsodies of the re- 
 cruiting orators have been fulfilled. We know that the 
 Union has been restored. We know that slavery has 
 been abolished, and that the bondsmen have become 
 citizens. We know that while the war settled forever 
 the principle that the nation is supreme, the processes 
 and perplexities of the reconstruction period proved 
 with equal conclusiveness that the States are indestruc- 
 tible. We know that the fair Southern land, which we 
 fought to retain in the Union, and which we thought 
 worth the sacrifice of half a million lives, will be ever- 
 more infinitely more precious, since it holds half a mil- 
 lion patriot graves,- each priceless sepulchre a shrine of 
 loyalty, which neither foreign foeman nor domestic 
 traitor will ever dare profane. We can all point with 
 pride, if not all with unmixed satisfaction, to the sig-
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN HENRY A. CASTLE. 129 
 
 nificant, the pregnant fact, that our victory for the 
 Union was so resplendent, so absolute, so unquestion- 
 able, so irreversible, that less than twenty years after 
 the close of the conflict a constitutional majority of the 
 American people felt it safe to restore the executive 
 control of their government largely to the very men 
 who had fought to destroy it. We know that our 
 country has marched with giant strides in material de- 
 velopment since the war, and largely in consequence of 
 it ; for who believes that four lines of railway would by 
 this time have spanned the continent if the war had 
 not been fought, or any line at all, if the EebelHon had 
 succeeded ? 
 
 We know all these facts and duly appreciate them, 
 but it is only on deeper reflection and a wider observa- 
 tion of the thronging events of contemporary history 
 that we realize what grand advancement has been made 
 by other nations during the past two decades, and how 
 potent the influence thereon of the victorious achieve- 
 ments on our Southern battle-fields. 
 
 The Dominion of Canada, our nearest neighbor and 
 our best, in 1865 a collection of isolated, weak, dis- 
 cordant provinces, now confederated and homogeneous, 
 ripening for an early independence and a speedy sub- 
 sequent merger into our expanding nation. Mexico, 
 then an empire, victim of the last dastardly outrage of 
 a bogas European absolutism, now rising by the force 
 of our example and contiguity from the wreck of her 
 dismal past. All South America shot through and 
 across with beams of enlightenment and progress, from 
 Brazil, where slavery's final fetters are being broken, to 
 the far borders of Patagonia, where the Argentine Re- 
 
 9
 
 130 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 public has placed her schools in the competent hands of 
 teachers trained in the normal schools of Minnesota. 
 
 England, for the first time in 1885 granting an ap- 
 proach to manhood suffrage, and if reluctantly, yet 
 inevitably, yielding tardy justice to unhappy Ireland 
 under the increasing pressure of the consummate poli- 
 tician of the nineteenth century, the half-American, 
 Charles Stewart Parnell. English colonies on the Med- 
 iterranean, in Africa, in Persia and India, in Australia, 
 in New Zealand, in every zone and in every sea, all 
 expanding and annexing, rising and brightening, all 
 centres of liberty, enlightenment, and Christian civil- 
 ization, and all j^i'eparing for confederation with the 
 mother-island into one mighty empire of freedom, or 
 for separation and elevation into a world-encircling 
 constellation of allied nationalities. 
 
 France, in 1865 an empire, born in fraud, and death- 
 struck but still imposing, now a republic, risen through 
 humiliations unutterable to a strength competent to en- 
 counter intrigues without and distractions within, which 
 cruelly test and amply vindicate the inherent vitality 
 of free institutions. 
 
 Spain, once within the interval a premature republic, 
 since a liberalized monarchy, advancing towards free- 
 dom as rapidly as an enervated people can endure the 
 transition. 
 
 Italy, in 1865 a geographical expression for half a 
 dozen petty and warring states, now a consolidated king- 
 dom, ruled by an enlightened monarch who, at the capi- 
 tal of the ancient world, calmly confronts the protesting 
 relics of bygone ecclesiastical dominion and points to 
 his own broad and deep fouYidations in education, peace,
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN EENRT A. CASTLE. 131 
 
 and industry for restoring the grandeur of imperial 
 Rome. 
 
 Germany, another consolidation of discordant though 
 progressive kingdoms into a splendid empire, now 
 awaiting only the death of its venerable head and his 
 iron counsellor to throw oiF the spangled robes of abso- 
 lutism and grasp the liberalized destiny to which the 
 thrift and culture of her people entitle her. 
 
 Austria, taught in the hard school of defeat, gives to 
 Hungary that for which Kossuth fought with sword of 
 valor and tongue of flame, seeking no longer to dam the 
 rising tide of freedom, which else had swept her dynasty 
 to dateless oblivion. 
 
 Russia, seething in the caldron of perpetual and 
 bloody revolt, which probably retards rather than ad- 
 vances the concessions which her increasingly liberal 
 rulers would grant, has nevertheless found opportunity 
 to abolish serfdom, to stimulate education, and to widely 
 extend those works of material improvement which are 
 everywhere the swift forerunners of an ampler recogni- 
 tion of human rights. 
 
 Turkey, losing piecemeal her outlying provinces, and 
 steadily preparing for the inevitable hour, not remote, 
 when even the assumed political necessities of the pro- 
 fessed guardians of civilization can no longer buttress 
 the infamies of a land where honesty is a reproach, de- 
 cency a jest, and liberty a stranger. Indeed, Eastern 
 Europe is coming to the fore, and there are those daring 
 enough to predict that the Slavonic races, in the near 
 future, will snatch the supremacy which has for two 
 thousand years been held successively by the Latin and 
 Teutonic tribes, and turn their tremendous physical en-
 
 X32 GLIMPSES OF TEE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 ergies, directed by awakened mental power, to the regen- 
 eration of the regions they ah-eady dominate, whereof 
 the narrowino; realm of the Sultan is the natural and 
 traditional focus. 
 
 Even the Asian peoples have been stirred by the events 
 of the past twenty years, and as our war's immortal hero, 
 in his wondrous tour of triumph around the globe, met 
 the princes and the people of these golden orient lands, 
 he found no man ignorant of his personal fame, or of 
 the spirit of the great cause he personified, and he found 
 all men eager to learn the story of our freedom's value 
 and its cost from his trusted lips, — until in China and 
 Japan he gave lessons in government and diplomacy to 
 the imperial descendants of the Sun, which have already 
 borne fruit in such astonishing progress as no previous 
 decade or century has witnessed. 
 
 All these long marches towards freedom by the lead- 
 ino- nations of the earth have been made since Lee sur- 
 rendered at Appomattox, all have been made, as it were, 
 under orders of the silent soldier, truly silent now, alas ! 
 and forever, the echoes of whose voice, to us, at least, are 
 still " heard in rolling drums that beat to battle where 
 he stands." For who can believe that all this progress 
 would have been made if our war had never been fought? 
 Who can believe that any of it would have been made 
 in the now unthinkable contingency that the Eebellion 
 had succeeded! Hence to have borne an honorable 
 though an individually unappreciable part on the win- 
 ning side and the right side of a contest that carried 
 with it such tremendous consequences is something of 
 which one may be justly proud. In this vast sum-total 
 of effort, of achievement and of sacrifice, no man other
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIX HENRY A. CASTLE. 133 
 
 than the favored and gifted two or three ultimate leaders 
 did more than an infinitesimal share. From the corps 
 commander to the man who bore the musket, no indi- 
 vidual can claim or expect more than a fragmentary- 
 fraction of the grand aggregate of honor. And the 
 differences in value of these fractions are so microscopic, 
 that the general or the captain or the corporal, who 
 claims more than his fellow, becomes a just object of 
 suspicion, of ridicule, and of contempt. " Comrades of 
 the Flag !" were we ; and those only rank in sacrifice 
 and in glory who went up on chariots of fire through 
 the crimson battle-clouds to a priority of honor in the 
 battalions of the blessed. But we may all, without dis- 
 tinction of rank, fairly congratulate ourselves that we 
 bore an honorable relation to the greatest events of the 
 nineteenth century, — perhaps of any century. And we 
 can all, without distinction of rank, freely rejoice that 
 Liberty and Christianity are marching faster and 
 stronger round and round this whirling planet from 
 the impulse we help to give them ; rejoice when we read 
 that in remote cabins of Liberia, in thatched huts on 
 the slimy banks of the Ganges, in the untrod fastnesses 
 of the dark African continent, the portraits of Lincoln 
 and Grant are found, — cherished, revered, almost wor- 
 shipped by their humble possessors; concealed some- 
 times from brutal taskmasters, as in the dark and dis- 
 mal prison-pens our own starving comrades hid the flag 
 of the Union in their bosoms, to be brought out only in 
 secret, and covered with kisses and tears. 
 
 "We have lived and moved and acted in a grand and awful time, 
 In an age on ages telling, when existence is sublime.
 
 134 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 For humanity sweeps onward ! Where to-day the martyr stands, 
 On the morrow crouches Judas with the silver in his hands. 
 Far in front the cross stands ready, and the crackling fagots 
 
 burn, 
 While the howling mobs of yesterday in speechless awe return, 
 To glean up the scattered fragments into history's marble urn.
 
 PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIENCES 
 
 IN THE 
 
 POPE OAMPAIGI^ IN" YIPGINIA. 
 
 BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASUEE, 
 
 ONE HUNDREDTH (" ROUNDHEADS") PENNSYLVANIA INFANTRY, U. S. VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 Immediately following the incidents I am about to 
 narrate as part of my experiences in the Pope campaign, 
 a train of circumstances occurred that precluded my 
 making any official report, and now, for the^rs^ time, 
 after the lapse of a quarter of a century, I call them 
 into the light of day from the recesses of memory, cor- 
 rected by such dates and papers as are at my command. 
 The circumstances alluded to are these : 
 
 At the battle of the second Bull E,un, on the 29th 
 of August, 1862, I was very severely wounded, and for 
 weeks was confined to my bed, utterly incapacitated for 
 any work. 
 
 Less than one hundred hours after the battle of the 
 29th Generals Stevens and Kearney were killed, and in 
 a fortnight General Peno was killed, and as all my ser- 
 vice in that campaign was in close connection with the 
 operations of those officers, and under their personal' 
 command and direction, and as my recovery from my 
 wound so as to be fit for duty occurred after General 
 
 135
 
 136 GLIMPSES OF TEE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Pope had been assigned to a distant command, and my 
 late command had been reorganized, I had no one to 
 ^vhom to report, and was never called on to report my 
 share in the operations and those of my late command, 
 so that what I have to say in this paper is, so far as I 
 am concerned, nearly entirely new matter, and it must 
 necessarily cover some of the operations of my late 
 chief. General Isaac I. Stevens, who was killed before 
 he had time or opportunity to make a detailed report of 
 the operations of his command, of which mine formed 
 a part. 
 
 I do this very reluctantly, at the special request of 
 our honored Commander of this Commandery, General 
 John B. Sanborn. Reluctantly, because the roll of a 
 raconteur is not congenial to my feelings, where I know 
 that, as in every such instance, the relator must, to some 
 extent, seem to be the hero of his own story. But there 
 is reason for believing that much of the inner history 
 of the smaller commands that constituted the great 
 armies of the Union will be lost for the very cause I 
 mention for my own reluctance ; and it has been rep- 
 resented to me that I owe it to the memory of the dead, 
 to their survivors, and to those still living who bore 
 honorable part in the events of that long ago, so full 
 of history and of pathos, to risk the charge of egotism 
 and speak for others in speaking for myself 
 
 The plans of campaigns, including the mobilization 
 of armies, tactics, strategy, and logistics, can only be 
 written by officers in high command, and their recitals 
 and descriptions are necessarily concerning corps and 
 divisions operating in concert to attain a desired result. 
 
 This seems now to be in a fair way of accomplish-
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. 137 
 
 ment through the able monographs of officers iu high 
 command in both armies, as published in the popular 
 journals of the day, and it is to be hoped that the men 
 who wielded minor commands may be induced to follow 
 my example. 
 
 Many of the commanders of small divisions, brigades, 
 and regiments are dead, and their testimony to the con- 
 duct of the men composing their commands is lost to 
 history ; and in attempting to speak in this paper of 
 events so long past, I shall endeavor to merit the ap- 
 proval of surviving comrades who participated in the 
 same operations, and the officers under whom I served, 
 as to justify my truth in the narrative, and I hope that 
 it will be said of me by them that I have rather fallen 
 under than above the merits of the services rendered. 
 There is also a certain fascination in the public mind 
 relative to the personal experiences of men who bore 
 even subordinate parts in the recent great events, be- 
 cause it brings nearer to the hearts of the people the 
 personal experiences and exploits of every soldier in 
 armies emphatically composed of the people themselves, 
 and the public will forgive a seeming egotism of an 
 officer whose descriptions are the recital of acts of 
 heroism or endurance participated in by the rank and 
 file of the great Union armies, where, if it was ever 
 true of the rank and file of any army, it was true of 
 these, that " the bayonets think." Tens of thousands 
 of estimable, upright, scholarly men carried muskets 
 and wielded sabres, or pointed the red-throated death- 
 dealing artillery. 
 
 It has been said that in armies in the field in time of 
 war "the brigade is the unit;" and it is mainly true, if
 
 138 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 we remember that, as ordinarily composed, it forms as 
 large a command as can be handled in battle by a single 
 commander, or influenced by his j^ersonal magnetism ; 
 such a command was mine in the Army of Virginia in 
 the Pope campaign. 
 
 My rank was something out of the ordinary, owing 
 to the method in which I entered the service for three 
 years. By direct authority of Secretary of War Cam- 
 eron, issued to me on mustering out of the three months' 
 service, I raised a regiment, consisting of twelve compa- 
 nies, in a few days, and was mustered into the service 
 with it as its colonel, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on 
 the 30th day of August, 1861, by direct order of the 
 Secretary of War, without a commission from the gov- 
 ernor of my State, thus being in the anomalous position 
 of a mustered officer holding no commission, and my 
 command an independent one. This was done on my 
 part through no disrespect to our great war governor, 
 but through a desire to escape the contemjotible trading 
 of men on the part of officers to obtain field or staff 
 positions for themselves. 
 
 When mustered in I had neither field nor staff officer 
 save a chaplain and an assistant surgeon, and the field 
 and staff I filled in from selections I myself made from 
 officers of the line. Not one of the officers of that regi- 
 ment held a commission, and we had been many months 
 in the field and had fought in two battles and some of 
 the officers were killed before, at the request of the 
 Secretary of War, the Governor of Pennsylvania sent 
 us our commissions, dated back to the 28th of August, 
 1861, the day of our rendezvous at Pittsburg, and we 
 received our numbe]* in the line of Pennsylvania troops,
 
 ADDEESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. 139 
 
 one hundredth, instead of twenty-ninth, our number by 
 date of muster ; up to that time the regiment bore the 
 name given to it by Secretary Cameron, tlie " Round- 
 head" Kegiment, by which name it is borne on all its 
 original rolls and in all official relations with the War 
 Department. By seniority of muster I ranked every 
 officer of my grade in the command with which I 
 served, and so was liable at any time to be assigned to 
 command of a division, and this seemed a sufficient 
 reason to those under whom I served to place many 
 secrets in my keeping that would be of use to me in 
 case of any sudden assumption of higher command 
 being thrust upon me by the exigencies of the service. 
 I mention these things now to explain something that 
 might seem incongruous between my rank and my com- 
 mand under certain circumstances. 
 
 In the Pope campaign my brigade consisted of two 
 regiments, the Forty-sixth New York, or the Fremont 
 E-egiment, which was a German regiment commanded 
 by Colonel Carl Rosa, and my own regiment. It formed 
 part of the division of General Isaac I. Stevens, which 
 was composed of troops brought up from South Caro- 
 lina, whither they had gone in 1861, in the Dupont- 
 Sherman expedition, and being joined to those brought 
 up from North Carolina that bad formed part of the 
 Burnside expedition, constituted Reno's command, 
 which afterwards, having received some additional 
 regiments, became the Ninth Army Corps, under Gen- 
 eral Burnside. General Stevens's troops left South 
 Carolina on the 12th and 13th of July, 1862, and 
 rendezvoused at Newport News, on the James River, 
 above Fortress Monroe, on the 20th of July, where
 
 X40 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 they remained till the 4th of August, when they went 
 by transport to Acquia Creek, on the Potomac River, 
 and thence by rail to Fredericksburg, where they were 
 united with the troops brought up from North Carolina, 
 constituting the command of General Reno. 
 
 Before leaving Newport News we stripped for march 
 and battle. 
 
 An order from the War Department had been re- 
 ceived to muster out all regimental bands, and, as the 
 instruments of my regimental band were regimental 
 property, we had them carefully boxed up and stored, 
 and they were finally shipped to Washington, and long 
 afterwards I had them forwarded to me at Vicksburg, 
 Mississippi, where I had organized a brigade band, 
 made up of details of musicians from my command. 
 All overcoats and redundant clothing excepting one 
 extra shirt and one pair of socks, and all private prop- 
 erty, the accumulations of our sojourn in the Hunting 
 Islands of South Carolina, were boxed up and stored. 
 Each man carried one blanket and one shelter-tent, in 
 addition to knapsack and haversack. One wagon was 
 allowed to brigade headquarters and one to each regi- 
 ment. Extra stores and ammunition were carried in 
 the quartermaster's train. 
 
 While at Newport News I received from Governor 
 Curtin my first stand of regimental colors, which the 
 governor sent to me by special messenger, with his ex- 
 planations for their tardy delivery, which were alike 
 honorable to him and satisfactory to the regiment. The 
 flag was presented to the regiment by General Stevens, 
 accompanied by a very flattering speech. Previous to 
 that time we had used one after another the company
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. 141 
 
 flags that we had brought out with us. During our 
 stay at NewjDort News, and afterwards at Fredericks- 
 burg, General Stevens had many private and confiden- 
 tial talks with me, as next in command, in relation to 
 the campaign on which we were about to enter. He 
 was a small, slight man, very careless as to dress and 
 personal appearance, but the very best organizer and 
 disciplinarian I ever met. A genial, outspoken man, 
 strong in his likes and dislikes, a warm friend and a 
 bitter, unrelenting hater. He freely gave me his opinion 
 of the prominent officers of both armies from his per- 
 sonal knowledge of them ; and as at that time we were 
 under the impression that General Joseph E. Johnston 
 was in command of the forces opposed to General Pope, 
 he stated that in his opinion Joe Johnston had not a 
 superior in either army as a capable and skilful officer, 
 and predicted that we would have some very hard fight- 
 ing, with odds heavily against us, owing to that officer's 
 superior knowledge of all that pertained to the art of 
 war. He spoke of " Bob Lee" in the highest terms, 
 but considered his strongest point the engineer depart- 
 ment, and that in the then pending struggle between 
 Lee and McClellan it would be hard to tell what might 
 be the result, for McClellan was also a most excellent 
 engineer, but it remained to be seen if he would prove a 
 good commander in the open field. He said that if 
 McClellan had men enough, and tools enough, and time 
 enough, he would dig througli under Kichmond and 
 come out at the other side if Lee did not countermine 
 him, but he thought that Johnston was without a peer 
 in command of an army in the field. 
 
 General Stevens and I had not been very good
 
 142 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 friends till after the battle on James Island in Soutli 
 Carolina, after which I never had a more ardent friend, 
 nor one in whose ability I had more implicit confidence. 
 He was a man of many resources, and was very thorough 
 in his knowledo;e of men and their individual fitness for 
 particular trusts, and of indomitable personal courage. 
 On our arrival at Acquia Creek it was discovered that 
 my German regiment, the Forty-sixth New York, had 
 brought with it the ofiicers' stores of wine; for the 
 officers of that regiment had formed what they called a 
 bank, and the stock consisted of light German wines, 
 from which from time to time the stockholders or de- 
 positors would check out such quantities as their neces- 
 sities required. General Stevens ordered his provost- 
 marshal to seize the whole stock, and pile up the cases 
 and put a guard over it, with orders not to permit a 
 single case of it to be taken away. A detail from the 
 Seventy-ninth New York was made to guard it over- 
 night, and the next morning the cases were all there, 
 and so were the bottles, but the wine was gone. There 
 was no time to inquire into the matter, but long after- 
 wards the guards explained that their orders were to 
 permit no one to move a single case to be carried away, 
 but did not forbid the use of the wine for domestic or 
 medicinal purposes. 
 
 We encamped at Fredericksburg, on the very spot 
 where afterwards the great battle was fought, and on the 
 evening of the 12th of August we broke camp, and, 
 passing up the west side of the Rappahannock, we 
 struck and crossed the Rapidan at Germania Ford, and, 
 passing up the east side of the river, took post at Rac- 
 coon Ford on the east bank. We lay three days at
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. 143 
 
 Raccoon Ford, and during that time made a reconnois- 
 sance in force across to the west side and encountered 
 J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry, and its renowned and gallant 
 leader only escaped capture by leaping out of the back 
 window of a farm-house, where he and his adjutant- 
 general were unsuspiciously waiting for a hot lunch. 
 The adjutant-general was captured, and a portion of the 
 general's appertainings, including his spurs. The recon- 
 noissance proved the enemy present in force and moving 
 up the river, apparently to find a crossing less strongly 
 guarded. 
 
 While lying at Raccoon Ford on Sunday, I rode out 
 to make observations on the topography of the neigh- 
 borhood, and on arriving at an old farm-house at the 
 ford I found it was the homestead of the Stringfellow 
 family, and the redoubtable Dr. Stringfellow, of Kansas 
 notoriety, was there enjoying an ignoble absence from 
 the dangers of the war he had been so very ofl&cious in 
 bringing on. I understood that he had scorned to accept 
 any office in the rebel army under a brigadier, and, as 
 the rebel authorities at their War Department did not 
 place a very great value upon untrained and inexperi- 
 enced officers in high command, he was overslaughed, 
 and remained sulkins; in the homestead. His brother 
 Lawrence, whose home was near at hand, was with the 
 rebel army. The doctor seemed inclined to be hospita- 
 ble, and invited me and staff to come in and have some 
 refreshment, but I respectfully declined, with thanks, 
 but accepted in lieu a crockful of nice cool buttermilk, 
 which an ancient auntie toted out of the spring-house 
 for our delectation. While drinking the buttermilk we 
 observed certain men in blue skirmishing across a field
 
 144 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 towards a flock of remarkably long-legged sheep, which 
 they corralled, and white and blue coats mixed up in 
 pairs of blue and white disappeared over the fence into 
 the woods. One of my staff remarked that the men in 
 blue were members of the Forty-sixth New York Regi- 
 ment, and part of my command, and Dr. Stringfellow 
 asked me if I permitted that kind of work, and in 
 answer I could only say that something of that kind 
 was involved in the vote of Virginia in favor of seces- 
 sion, and I was not disposed to interfere with the nat- 
 ural course of events. It was a melancholy sight to me, 
 who, but a short two years before, had seen this same 
 man stalking through the corridors of Willard's, in the 
 nation's capital, swinging a huge cane, and swelling 
 with a marked self-consciousness of his personal impor- 
 tance, and now he was obliged to stand tamely by while 
 his flocks were appropriated by a lot of " Yankee Dutch- 
 men." Well might he exclaim temipora mutantur. 
 
 At midnight of the 19th we broke camp and silently 
 stole away, leaving the ford strongly picketed, and pass- 
 ing up the river to Barnet's Ford, we were suddenly or- 
 dered to retrace our march and retire beyond the Rap- 
 pahannock. This we did by forced marches, lasting far 
 into the night, and often obliged to halt until the videttes 
 would feel the way and return to guide us on our march. 
 Marching thus, during those hours of darkness no word 
 was spoken, and when the head of the column halted 
 the whole column would sink as it were into the earth, 
 and in a moment the officers and men of the line would 
 be in a sound sleep ; and when the head of the column 
 moved, it seemed as though, without a word of command, 
 the whole line rose and silently moved on.
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. 145 
 
 On the night we reached Kelly's Ford, on the east 
 bank of the Rappahannock, it was a question whether 
 the enemy had crossed or whether we had anticipated 
 him ; and finding that we had arrived in time to stop 
 his crossing, we bivouacked partly in a cornfield and 
 partly in an old orchard. We had not had anything to 
 eat during the day, exce|)t what we could gnaw as we 
 marched, and having leave to make fires, the fences 
 formed themselves into piles among the corn, and in a 
 few minutes huge fires answered the double purpose of 
 affording facilities for making coffee, cooking roasting- 
 ears, and informing our anxious fellow-travellers on the 
 other bank of the river that they were too late for sup- 
 per, and would have to wait for the second table. Before 
 daylight the troops were in position and the batteries in 
 place commanding the ford and its approaches on the 
 other side, and we maintained that formidable front till 
 four o'clock in the afternoon, when orders came for us to 
 move from our position as rapidly as possible and move 
 up the river towards Kajipahannock Station, on the 
 Orange and Alexandria Railroad. While marching, 
 countermarching, and manoeuvring to cover the fords, 
 we halted on some high ground in an open field at noon 
 one day (I think it was Sunday, the 24th), and the chap- 
 lain of the One Hundredth took the opportunity to have 
 some religious exercises with his regiment while resting 
 in place in column, and had commenced a sermon and 
 was getting along very satisfactorily, when General 
 Stevens sent me word that a masked battery on the 
 heights on the opposite side of the river was about to 
 open fire on us, and through my glass I saw some small 
 bushy trees being cut down to unmask it. Quick as 
 
 10
 
 146 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 thouglit the order rang out, " Attention, battalions ! 
 Right face, forward, double-quick march by file right, 
 march !" and in a few moments the column was over the 
 heights and came "on right by file into line," leaving the 
 chaplain standing in " j)<^sis^^/' ^^^ congregation having 
 suddenly vanished; but before he had time to realize the 
 situation half a dozen shells came sputtering along sing- 
 ing till they " bust," and then he recognized one of the 
 exigencies of the service, and slowly and deliberately 
 retired also, and joined us under the shelter of the hill. 
 Long afterwards, in a distant field, when one-half of his 
 audience on that day slept the eternal sleep, he took up 
 the thread of that unfinished sermon and brought it to 
 a most eloquent and fitting conclusion. He was as brave 
 and cool a man as I ever saw, and was always well up 
 in the front when his regiment was under fire, and was 
 the last man to leave the ground if the command was 
 obliged to retire and leave its dead and wounded ; and I 
 may anticipate a little here to say that he remained on 
 the field with the wounded to care for, and pray for, 
 and receive last messages to distant friends from dying 
 sokhers, after the abandonment of position on the 29th 
 of August, and fell into the hands of the enemy, who, 
 respecting his person because of his mission, permitted 
 him to administer his last consolations and retui-n to us 
 without parole. 
 
 Chaplain Robert Audley Browne, of the " Round- 
 heads," was a man of men in a thousand in positions of 
 deadly peril, in the discharge of a sacred duty. 
 
 From the time we left Kelly's Ford we marched and 
 countermarched, sometimes going back over the line 
 of the previous day's march, sometimes to a point men-
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. I47 
 
 aced in one direction and sometimes in another, until it 
 seemed as if we were traversing the whole territory 
 embraced between the valley of tlie Eappahannock and 
 Centreville, along the line of the Orange and Alexan- 
 dria Railroad. Only twice did we fail to march far into 
 the night, and that was, first, when at dusk an awful 
 thunder-storm accompanied by a terrible rain stopped 
 us at Bealeton Station, and, second, when we lay over at 
 sundown at Greenwich, and nearly always we moved 
 before daylight in the morning. 
 
 We often moved in three columns by both day and 
 night, the artillery and transportation following the 
 main road, while a column of infantry moved along on 
 each side. Of course the troops were greatly exhausted, 
 and many were compelled to go to the rear, if we 
 had a rear, and so get to some station on the railroad 
 for transportation to the hospitals at Alexandria and 
 Georgetown. The horses, too, often suffered for forage 
 and water, and for days and nights successively were 
 neither unsaddled nor unharnessed. The battery horses 
 especially suffered greatly, for the weather was hot, and 
 the springs and small streams were nearly dried up. 
 On the 26th of August, while we were lying at rest for 
 a short time at noon, I was sent for by General Stevens, 
 and found him with Generals Pope, McDowell, Reno, 
 and Kearney, holding counsel over what seemed to be 
 a matter of much moment. I did not know till next 
 day that Stonewall Jackson was passing our rear and 
 menacing our communications, and threatening the 
 capital itself. At this meeting of the generals I was 
 struck with the earnestness with which General Kear- 
 ney was trying to impress upon General Pope the utter
 
 148 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 futility of hoping for any help from the Fifth Corps of 
 the Army of the Potomac. He was perfectly fierce in 
 his denunciation of what he called the spirit of Mc- 
 Clellanism pervading officers in high command in that 
 army. 
 
 I did not understand the meaning of the word at that 
 time, but later I had sad reasons for understanding its 
 sinister significance. General Kearney insisted that co- 
 operation on the part of the officer in command of the 
 Fifth Corps should not be looked for nor depended upon, 
 which I thought at the time was something too mon- 
 strous to believe, and I could see that the generals pres- 
 ent were also incredulous as to Kearney's predictions, 
 but the next three days convinced all that fighting Phil 
 Kearney was right. 
 
 We resumed our march, and continued far into 
 the night, and as we had no rear, we could not tell 
 when we might run into the enemy, or he might run 
 into us, so we had to move with much deliberation. 
 We were moving to intercept Jackson, but Lee was 
 moving behind us. Lee might catch up, or Jackson 
 might turn back, or both these contingencies might 
 happen, and we would be squeezed between them. We 
 were halted towards midnight by an aide from General 
 Pope, who informed us that we were on the wrong road. 
 I told him I had been solely moving according to the 
 instructions of the guide who had been sent to me, and 
 turnhig to appeal to the guide (a crippled native), I 
 found he had quietly slipped from his horse and van- 
 ished into th'e night. The aide ordered me to wait for 
 further orders, on which, after sending out pickets, I 
 ordered the connnand to give over to the left, so as to
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. 149 
 
 leave the road clear, and rest in place. Instantly the 
 line shifted and sunk down as if into the ground, and 
 all slept the sleep which only a wearied soldier knows. 
 In a few minutes we were joined by General Stevens, 
 who remained with us till the aide returned, and we 
 moved back left in front, till we arrived at our destined 
 position, and lay down literally in our tracks. 
 
 On the 27tli we had a fearful day's march, many men 
 falling out by the way, and just before sundown reached 
 Greenwich, where, alongside of Kearney's division, we 
 went into bivouac in a clover-field. The troops got 
 their cofiPee and slept beside their arms. After dark a 
 dense column of smoke and fire, that illuminated the 
 sky far and wide on our right, informed us that Jack- 
 son was at Manassas Junction, and burning our stores 
 and destroying the railroad rolling-stock. 
 
 The night was moonless, but clear and starry, but we 
 were ordered to stay as we were till further orders. 
 General Stevens came along after a while, and, sitting 
 down beside me, remarked that the comet which was 
 apparently over Manassas Junction would by supersti- 
 tious people be considered an evil omen. I said I hoped 
 it was an omen of trouble to Jackson, as it seemed 
 to hover over his nocturnal operations. He laughed a 
 kind of a sad foreboding laugh that I afterwards had 
 reason to remember, as it was, with one exception, the 
 last time I ever heard him laugh. 
 
 At daybreak of the 28th we moved, and by eleven 
 o'clock were at the point of Jackson's depredations at 
 Manassas Junction, but only found the debris of his 
 thorough last night's work, and pushing on towards 
 Centre ville, we took position at eleven o'clock at night
 
 150 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 on the battle-ground of the first Bull Run, and I tied 
 my horse to what I supposed to be a stake, but which, 
 in the dim light of the morning I found to be a horse's 
 leg sticking up through the grass, a landmark of one of 
 the positions of T. W. Sherman's (afterwards Hamil- 
 ton's) battery on the day of the first Bull Run battle. 
 My brigade wagon came up in a few minutes, and after 
 issuing rations and ammunition and sending out my 
 quota of pickets, I crept under the wagon, and slept 
 soundly till I was quietly roused up at four o'clock to 
 read orders which told me to let the command breakfast 
 and be in line in one hour ; that is, at five sharp. Ac- 
 cordingly, at five we were in line, and I received an 
 order to detail two hundred men under proper officers 
 to report to the division quartermaster as train guards. 
 Six companies of the Forty-sixth New York, under com- 
 mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Gerhart, were thus detailed, 
 leaving me only four companies of that regiment, under 
 command of Colonel Rosa, a brave and accomplished 
 officer, trained to arms under Frederick William, King 
 of Prussia. This left me with but four hundred and 
 fifty of the One Hundredth, and less than two hundred 
 of the Forty -sixth New York, making my effective force 
 not over six hundred and fifty muskets ; but they were 
 men of iron, for the weaker men had fallen out and gone 
 to hospitals, or straggled in the rear. We moved out 
 from our bivouac in the gray dusk of a foggy morning, 
 and striking into the bush, passed along blind paths, 
 and sometimes through the brush and rocks, till we 
 crossed Cub Run, the eastern branch of Bull Run, and 
 debouched upon the Warrenton Turnpike, about half 
 a mile east of the stone bridge over Bull Run proper.
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. I5I 
 
 The First Brigade of Stevens's division, under Colonel 
 Christ, of the Fiftieth Pennsylvania, was ordered to re- 
 port to Kearney, and the Second, under Colonel Farns- 
 worth, of the Seventy-ninth New York, to report to 
 Milroy, while my brigade was ordered to support Sigel. 
 
 General Sigel was on the left, and if Porter's corps 
 failed to make a diversion in his favor according to Gen- 
 eral Pope's orders, and our understanding of them, Sigel 
 would be outflanked and hurled back. This was about 
 eight o'clock in the morning. 
 
 General Stevens sent his staff officers with the other 
 brigades, and came to me accompanied by a single 
 mounted orderly, remarking as he joined me that mine 
 would be his fighting brigade that day and he should 
 go in with me. I need hardly say that nothing in the 
 wide world could have so conformed to my most ardent 
 wishes, and the eyes of the men lighted up with the 
 enthusiasm which soldiers feel in the presence of a 
 tried leader, for they had learned to love the little 
 smoky- visaged general, because his heart was with them, 
 and they had witnessed his cool conduct in battle and 
 knew his unflinching courage. 
 
 He told me that if Kearney's prediction came true, 
 and the Fifth Corps did not enter the fight, Sigel would 
 inevitably fall back, and he remarked that Sigel was 
 most dangerous to the enemy under such circumstances. 
 He explained to me what was our duty under such a 
 state of affairs, so that if anything happened to him I 
 might not be at a loss to know what to do. In return 
 I begged of him that if anything happened to me, he 
 would take my command himself and bring it safely 
 and honorably out. Looking me in the eyes as he rode
 
 152 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 on my right, lie reached over his hand and took mine, 
 and silently the compact was sealed. I thought he 
 foreboded harm to himself, but as events proved, he re- 
 deemed his promise to me before nightfall. It was to 
 me that something happened. 
 
 While thus marching to take position we met about 
 two hundred disarmed men in blue, who informed us 
 that Stonewall Jackson had captured them at Manassas 
 Junction, and that his provost-marshal had marched all 
 night through trying to pass them towards Richmond, 
 but everywhere they encountered Pope's pickets, and, 
 finally despairing of disposing of them in any other 
 way, he paroled them and sent them into our lines. 
 They were certain that Jackson's force was completely 
 surrounded and that before evening we would gather 
 him in. They told us we would know him by his 
 cream-colored horse, and so we did — at a dista7ice. Just 
 then a corporal with four privates from the Fourth In- 
 diana Cavalry reported to General Stevens as orderlies, 
 and he turned them over to me at once. As we moved 
 along the turnpike following Sigel, who was pushing 
 Jackson's right near the turnpike with his left at or 
 near Sudley Springs, almost at right angles with the 
 pike, we could hear the firing of the skirmishers on 
 both sides, and General Stevens explained to me that 
 King's division was on the turnpike a little to the left 
 of Sigel and w^ell advanced, and that the Fifth Corps 
 was at Bristoe Station, on the Orange and Alexandria 
 Kailroad, a little over a mile from King's left, a little to 
 his rear, and that if Porter, having a division of regu- 
 lars under Sykes, would hold Longstreet for a few 
 hours we would have Jackson sure enough.
 
 ADDEESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. 153 
 
 Ah, how much depended on that if ! 
 
 It was a cousoUition to know that Kearney was next 
 on our right, so we had no fears in that direction. 
 
 Moving along the pike at a brisk route step, we passed 
 the stone house in the Bull Run Valley and ascended 
 tlie slope of the hill towards the heights east of 
 Groveton. 
 
 At about ten o'clock, as we were passing the first 
 height, and about one-half my command had passed 
 over the top and were descending into the valley that 
 intervened between the first and second, or Groveton 
 Heights, we suddenly encountered the fire of the en- 
 emy's skirmishers, occupying the Groveton Heights in 
 our front, and we immediately turned and marched by 
 our left flank till we had regained the crest of the hill 
 we were passing over, where General Stevens instructed 
 me to take position to the left of the pike, my right 
 resting on that road, and as Dilger's battery of Sigel's 
 corps had a few minutes before retired from that posi- 
 tion, his ammunition being exhausted, General Stevens 
 replaced it by Benjamin's battery, consisting of four 
 20-pound Parrots. 
 
 Benjauiin had been on our front, a little to our left, and 
 was moving obliquely to the left across an open field, 
 when he encountered the fire of the enemy's skirmish- 
 ers, and as a battery opened on the Groveton Heights 
 at the same moment, he wheeled his battery, gaining the 
 pike, and passing to the right, took his position, and 
 unlimbered on the crest in front of my position ; but in 
 wheeling in the open space on the hill-side between us 
 and the enemy he overturned one of his caissons full 
 of ammunition, and was obliged to abandon it for the
 
 154 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 present, in order to get into position. Tlie horses were 
 detached and retired safely to our rear. By order 
 of General Stevens I sent Companies A, Captain Teni- 
 pleton ; F, Lieutenant Patton ; D, Lieutenant Calhoun ; 
 I, Captain Squires ; and M, Captain Campbell, of the 
 One Hundredth Kegiment, forward as skirmishers, 
 under charge of Caj^tain Templeton. They threw off 
 their knapsacks, blankets, and shelter-tents, and double- 
 quicked into the valley in front of us and well forward 
 towards the position of the enemy on the heights oppo- 
 site to us, and deploying as they ran, entered a large 
 field of standing corn, and passing carefully through it, 
 got jjosition at its farther boundary, where they took 
 the fence for their alignment and partial j^rotection, and 
 opened a withering fire upon the enemy. I had care- 
 fully trained my own regiment in marksmanship, and 
 as many of them had been accustomed to the use of 
 the squirrel-rifle before entering the service, they were 
 easily converted into very effective sharp-shooters. 
 
 I had also given them line upon line, and precept upon 
 precept, on the subject of firing aimlessly, and so wast- 
 ing ammunition uselessly, but, on the other hand, to 
 carefully see something to fire at before pulling a trig- 
 ger, and now these men showed their mettle. They 
 were sheltered from the enemy's batteries, because he 
 could not depress his guns to rake them nor shell them, 
 and though after a while they seemed very quiet, they 
 were watching. General Stevens grew impatient, and 
 asked why they were not firing rapidly. I explained 
 my instructions, and told him he would soon see what 
 they were about. Almost instantly a column of in- 
 fantry came into sight, and attempted to deploy into
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. 155 
 
 line to move on our position. Tlien the j^uffs of smoke 
 and the sharp crack of the Springfiehls showed that 
 the "Roundheads" had their eyes open, and the enemy's 
 column recoiled in confusion, to try it again with the 
 same result ; then four additional batteries came up and 
 incautiously took quite an advanced position, but before 
 they could fire a second round their gunners were 
 dropping to the fire of the skirmishers, and they retired 
 till only the tops of their gun-carriages were visible to 
 us above the level of their pieces. "Bravo!" cried Ben- 
 jamin ; " with those men in the cornfield this is a good 
 place to stay." Meanwhile, Benjamin was plying his 
 20-pounders as coolly as if he were practising for 
 fun, though the concentrated fire of five batteries, at 
 fifteen hundred yards, was telling upon his men and 
 horses, as well as upon the men of my command in 
 support. We did not fire a gun from our position in 
 support, but the men lay down, and only bursting shells 
 or dropping shots could reach them. The air seemed 
 hurtling with the missiles from the enemy's batteries, 
 and only General Stevens and myself, with my staff 
 and the orderlies, were visible to the enemy, besides 
 the men managing Benjamin's guns. Benjamin him- 
 self rode slowly about among his guns, and sometimes 
 dismounted to point a piece. He used a crutch, 
 owing to a wound received in a previous battle, and 
 his lieutenants ably seconded him. Observing through 
 my field-glass which one of the enemy's batteries had 
 got our range so perfectly, I handed the glass to Ben- 
 jamin, who carefully scanned its position, and dis- 
 mounting, still keeping the glass in his hand, and oc- 
 casionally looking through it while he pointed one of
 
 l^Q GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 his pieces, and ste23ping back, handed me my glass, and 
 turned to his man at the gun he had just pointed, and 
 quietly said, " Sergeant, you may fire." We watched 
 for the effect of the shot, and saw one gun disabled; and 
 so on, Benjamin aimed at one of the guns of that battery 
 after another until every gun was silenced or withdrawn. 
 But this was not done without loss on our side. One 
 shell exploded among the men serving one piece, and 
 killed two outright and wounded five. It created no 
 ripple of excitement ; the dead and wounded were car- 
 ried to the rear and buried or cared for. The fire of 
 the remaining four batteries was now redoubled, and 
 General Stevens said they were going to charge again, 
 and in a minute a column dei^loyed, to be hurled back 
 in confusion by the men in the cornfield, who had 
 been quite quiet, but watching for something to turn 
 up. I presume the enemy must have thought that they 
 had retired, but they were not that kind. Seeing the 
 effect of the fire of the skirmishers, Benjamin called 
 for three cheers, and his men gave it with a will, and 
 the artillery duel over the heads of the men in the corn 
 was resumed with fearful effect. All at once about two 
 feet of the muzzle of one of Benjamin's guns flew all 
 to pieces just as it was discharged. Benjamin said the 
 shell must have exploded before leaving the gun, but a 
 grim old sergeant remarked that it was a percussion- 
 shell, and must have struck its nose against something 
 to make it explode, and suggested that a solid shot of 
 less calibre, from one of the enemy's guns, had entered 
 the muzzle just as the shell was passing out, and so 
 burst the percussion and caused the explosion within 
 the gun. We all thought this too improbable for any-
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. I57 
 
 thing ; but while we were talking another of the guns 
 suddenly leaped up a foot or more, and wheeled half 
 round, and on looking, we found that a solid shot had 
 struck it fairly in the face, and indented it so that 
 the inner lip of the indentation encroached upon the 
 calibre nearly half an inch, and so ruled that gun out 
 too. Then we were not so incredulous regarding the 
 theory of the old sergeant as to the fate of the former 
 disabled gun. Here were now two guns hors du combat, 
 leaving only two to carry on the fight. 
 
 All the same, it went on as if nothing had happened. 
 The gun that had had its muzzle blown off still stood 
 grinning with its ragged jaws towards the enemy, and 
 the gunners withdrew it a few rods and buried it, placing 
 a head- and foot-stone to it, as if it were the grave of a 
 soldier left alone in his quiet rest. At last Benjamin 
 turned to us and told us his guns were ours, for he had 
 no more ammunition, except what was in the full caisson 
 overturned half-way down the hill in our front. Gen- 
 eral Stevens gave nie one look, — it needed but one, — and 
 passing over to the right of my own regiment, I ordered 
 Captain Simeon H. Brown, of Company G, to stack 
 arms and strip his men of all encumbrances, and take 
 them down and set that caisson on its feet and bring it 
 in. Galled by long inaction under a withering artillery 
 fire, the men sprung to it like wild-cats, and before the 
 enemy, or even we, could realize it the caisson was in its 
 place without the loss, or even the wounding, of a man. 
 General Stevens ran up and caught Captain Brown in 
 his arms, crying, " God bless you and your men !" Poor 
 Simeon Brown ! he performed one more gallant deed 
 later that day, but died in the performance. While
 
 X58 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Benjamin's new lot of ammunition lasted he held his 
 position, and had silenced fully half of the enemy's guns, 
 for those 20-pounders were very devils in such a duel. 
 Sometimes the fire on both sides would slacken to let the 
 guns cool, and at such quiet moments we listened to hear 
 the guns of the Fifth Corps off to our left and front, but 
 we did not hear them. 
 
 Along about four o'clock we saw off to our right and 
 front what seemed to be fresh troops coming on the field 
 on the other side, and deploying, formed into three lines 
 of battle, about fifty paces apart in the rear of each other, 
 and then they moved down on Milroy, who held a posi- 
 tion a quarter of a mile or more to our right and a 
 little to our front, in the hollow or depression that inter- 
 vened between the heights we were on and the Grove- 
 ton Heights. We plainly saw Milroy driven back, and 
 about forty men in blue were seen sent to the rear of the 
 enemy, prisoners of war. These troops of the enemy 
 held the position, and our lines on that side were pushed 
 back a short distance, but still kept up a bold front. 
 
 It was now five o'clock and Sigel was falling back, and 
 the enemy was again increasing his fire on our position, 
 and I asked General Stevens what we should do. "Stay 
 where we are," he replied, "till ordered away." Just 
 then General Blenker, of Sigel's corps, arrived on our 
 left, with his division slowly falling back in solid column 
 doubled on its centre. He advised Stevens to fall back; 
 but he refused unless ordered, and Blenker gave the 
 order. I was then requested to call in my five compa- 
 nies of skirmishers. It was a fearful task in the face 
 of the terrible fire now filling up the whole field on 
 our front, but it was magnificently done by Lieutenant
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. 159 
 
 Joseph H. Gilliland, of Company K, of the "Koimd- 
 heads," serving as aide on my staff. As soon as the skir- 
 mishers were in, I summoned the mounted corporal sent 
 to me in the morning, for, of all the orderlies, he alone 
 was left. One was killed, two were wounded, and one 
 had his horse cut nearly in two by a solid shot. The 
 corporal was on his horse at my side with his right hand 
 on the neck of my horse, while I was giving him an 
 order to deliver to Colonel Rosa, of the Forty-sixth 
 New York, when all at once he leaped to the ground 
 and seized one of his feet in his hands. It was torn up 
 by a piece of shell. How it could have happened was 
 one of the mysteries of battle, for it was the foot next 
 to me, on the inside between our horses. However, Gen- 
 eral Stevens kindly conveyed my order himself, and just 
 as we were starting to follow Blenker's command, Eoe- 
 mer's New York Battery thundered into position and 
 unlimbered on the right of our late position, and on the 
 right of the turnpike. We supported it for a few mhi- 
 utes, when an aide came from General Reno to General 
 Stevens ordering him to double-quick off to the right, 
 to the support of Kearney, and off we went. On ar- 
 riving at the desired place, just a little to the right of 
 Milroy's late position, we were met by Kearney, who 
 excitedly asked General Stevens where his troops were, 
 adding that that damned traitor had let Longstreet loose, 
 and he was in our front. General Stevens pointed to 
 my command, then numbering just five hundred and 
 seventy-seven muskets, as counted on the double-quick 
 march by my son. Adjutant S. George Leasure, acting 
 assistant adjutant-general on my staff. 
 
 "Will these men fight?" said Kearney. Stevens
 
 X(30 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 fairly yelled, with his eyes flashing, " By God, Greneral 
 Kearney, these are my Roundheads !" " Who com- 
 mands them ?" said Kearney. Stevens pointed to me, 
 and Kearney at once rode to my side, describing the 
 position of his own troops and also that of the enemy, 
 and, dropping his rein, made a gesture with his only arm 
 in the direction of the enemy's position, and exclaimed, 
 " That is your line of advance, and sweep everything 
 before you. Look out for your left ; I'll take care of 
 your right." Company A, of the One Hundredth, Cap- 
 tain Templeton, was ordered to strip for fight on the skir- 
 mish line, and I was about to send an order to Colonel 
 Eosa, of the Forty-sixth New York, to send a company 
 from his left, when General Stevens interrupted, saying, 
 " Send none but Roundheads." So I sent Company B, 
 Captain Oliver, and those two companies came rapidly 
 to the front and centre. I instructed them to move 
 very cautiously about fifty paces in front of my line of 
 battle, not firing as they went, but keeping a sharp look- 
 out till they unmasked the enemy, and then deliver 
 fire by volley, and fall back to their j)laces in line to 
 assist in the charge. I did it so as not to warn the 
 enemy of my approach till I was within striking dis- 
 tance. This took place in the presence of Kearney and 
 Stevens ; and then General Kearney turned to me, say- 
 ing, " Sixty pieces of artillery are on the heights behind 
 you, and as soon as you start they will open over your 
 heads and play through the trees upon the heights in 
 front of you, so as to prevent any reinforcements being 
 sent against you till you clear the whole damned thing 
 out." The ground in front of us had at first a gradual 
 descent through an open space hidden from the view of
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. IQl 
 
 the enemy, but after crossing that the ground ascended 
 slightly, and then became level in a rather dense piece 
 of forest, but not encumbered with underbrush. We 
 soon came under the enemy's fire, and then the artillery 
 in our rear opened its thunders, and the shot and shell 
 shrieked over our heads, while the enemy's batteries on 
 the Groveton Heights replied, also firing over our heads, 
 and the noise of the hurtling missiles, and the bursting 
 shells and the infantry fire in our front, gave grandeur 
 to a scene that was as dangerous as it was sublime. 
 Presently Captain Templeton, of Company A, was car- 
 ried back mortally wounded, and my men were dropping 
 down or out with fearful frequency, when all at once the 
 skirmishers halted till the line came up, and, after re- 
 porting the position of the enemy, took their places in 
 the line, and then, according to my teaching for such 
 occasions, the front rank poured in a volley, and in an 
 instant after the rear rank fired by volley, and then the 
 enemy knew where to find us if they wanted us. The 
 fire now became fearful through the whole extent of the 
 enemy's line, which far overlapped me on my left ; but, 
 finding that I was advancing with my left too fast, I 
 ordered a mounted officer on duty to swing my right 
 around till it rested on a large tree I pointed out. He 
 was sitting on his horse, deaf, dumb, and blind, to my 
 awful horror. Instantly General Stevens rode to my 
 side, saying, "Ob, my God, what a pity ! AVhat do you 
 want him to do?" I explained; and he said, "I will 
 swing around your right for you," and rode off; and, 
 true gentleman that he was, he gave no order, he simply 
 told the men that Colonel Leasure wanted them to 
 
 advance to the right to that big tree, and it was done. 
 
 11
 
 IQ2 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 A few minutes later lie and his orderly returned on foot, 
 both their horses having been killed and his orderly- 
 wounded. By this time the fire in our front slackened 
 from some cause, and a sergeant, wearing the Kearney 
 patch on his cap, came running to me and told me the 
 enemy were in a railroad cut not fifty paces in my front, 
 but hidden by the smoke and dust. At that instant the 
 fire reopened with great effect, and I ordered an advance; 
 but so great was the roar and crash of arms that I could 
 not be heard, till Captain James H. Vangorder, of Com- 
 pany K, of the One Hundredth, ran up to my side and 
 asked what I wanted. I explained, and springing in 
 front of his company, with blazing face yelled out, 
 " Company K, forward, double-quick, charge !" and 
 away they went, and the whole line moved forward 
 with them until the cut was reached, and pouring in all 
 the fire they had, the line charged and the cut was ours. 
 In a few minutes we could see new troops forming on 
 the heights in front of us, for all was clear in that direc- 
 tion, and down they came, three lines of battle deep, just 
 as we had seen them move on Milroy a little while before, 
 on nearly the same spot, and General Stevens told me 
 not to hold on much longer, and he would go back and 
 be in readiness to halt and re-form the line as it came 
 back. We now opened fire with all the force we could, 
 and the enemy halted and returned our fire. 
 
 At this time my son was wounded and my horse was 
 shot, and while he was plunging in pain I received a 
 shot in the leg, but finding my leg was not broken, I 
 dismounted, and ordered my son to take my horse to 
 the rear, and save the papers in my saddle-bags, for 
 orders, paroles, and countersigns were in them, and I
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. 1(53 
 
 did not wish them to fall into the enemy's hands. But 
 now our ammunition was nearly expended, and I gave 
 the order to fall back, but waited till nearly all had 
 gone, and then through the smoke and dust I saw the 
 enemy coming down, in the same order of three lines of 
 battle, and the front line was not over twenty-five yards 
 distant across the cut. 
 
 They were marching as quietly as if they were on 
 dress parade, with their hats pulled well down over their 
 faces and their eyes fixed on the ground ten paces in 
 front of them, every officer in his place, but only one 
 looking; ahead, and for an instant we looked into each 
 other's eyes, and the next I started to the rear with what 
 few men had lingered to expend their last cartridges. 
 The enemy looked to me, as I saw them marching up, 
 like men who expected every moment to meet their 
 death, who dreaded to go forward, and yet dreaded 
 worse to halt, and I could not but admire their wonderful 
 courage, enemies though they were. 
 
 As soon as I started back they reached the cut, no 
 doubt agreeably surprised to find only dead and wounded 
 men in it. A few of them crossed over the cut, and 
 some ran forward to capture me, but the few of my own 
 men near me now fixed bayonets and turned on them, 
 and just at that moment Lieutenant Gilliland, of my staff, 
 galloped in on one of my orderly's horses, and helping 
 me to mount, got me safely off the field. I found Gen- 
 erals Stevens, Kearney, and Reno awaiting me. Gen- 
 eral Stevens had posted the standard-bearer of each 
 regiment, and was forming the men in line of battle; 
 and, on counting the survivors, we found that out of 
 four hundred and fifty men of the " E-oundheads" that
 
 164 GLIMPSES OF TEE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 went into battle two hundred and fifty-two officers and 
 men were killed, wounded, or missing, leaving one hun- 
 dred and ninety-eight officers and men not stricken or 
 lost. Of the one hundred and sixty-seven officers and 
 men of the Forty-sixth New York, forty-nine officers 
 and men were killed, wounded, or missing, leaving one 
 hundred and eighteen officers and men unstruck or 
 present, making a loss of two hundred and fifty-six 
 officers and men in that small brigade to rej^ort for 
 duty. I was severely wounded, so was my son, adjutant 
 of his regiment and acting assistant adjutant-general on 
 my brigade staff. Of the " Roundheads," Major Dawson 
 was wounded, and Captain Templeton, who so splen- 
 didly commanded the two hundred skirmishers in our 
 first and second fights. Captain Simeon H. Brown, who 
 with his company so brilliantly brought in the over- 
 turned caisson, and Captain James H. Vangorder, who 
 led the last charge, were killed. Captain Oliver, of 
 Company B, was desperately wounded, Lieutenant 
 Spence, of Company K, was killed, and Lieutenant 
 John P. Blair, of Company I, and Lieutenants Philo P. 
 Rayen, of Company G, and Thomas H. Curt, of the 
 same com^Dany, were desperately wounded. This left 
 Company G without a single commissioned officer, Cap- 
 tain Brown being killed and Lieutenant Kayen and 
 Curt both wounded. 
 
 Colonel Bosa, of the Forty-sixth New York, was 
 desperately wounded, and disabled for service forever, 
 two of his captains were killed and three lieutenants 
 wounded, and that was the day on which some say there 
 was no fighting. 
 
 As soon as my line was re-formed by General Stevens
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL LEASURE. \Q^ 
 
 his other brigades came up in support. We waited an 
 attack, but the enemy did not advance, because, while 
 we were attracting the attention of Longstreet, Kearney, 
 now free on his left flank, doubled up Jackson's left till 
 it was bent back upon itself, and then Reno's command 
 hussed closely Jackson's front, while Kearney hugged 
 his doubled-up left flank, and night commg on, the 
 troops of both sides rested on their arms, and some time 
 during the night Jackson fell back to rectify his lines. 
 Just after these dispositions had been made by Kearney 
 and Reno, and when it had grown quite dark, we could 
 see from our position away off on our left, just where we^ 
 had held position all day, two lines of flashing infantry 
 fires approaching each other where King's division was 
 attacked by Longstreet's right, and it was a strange and 
 beautiful sight. 
 
 We could see Longstreet's fire increasing from the 
 arrival of reinforcements, and King's fire receding and 
 growing weaker, until finally he withdrew and the enemy 
 held the position we had occupied during the day, and 
 now I was ruled out of the fight ; but my adventures for 
 the day were not quite over, for as I rode on my orderly's 
 horse in the direction of the field hospital, as I supposed, 
 I found myself all at once in close proximity, on the 
 wrong side, too, of an officer putting out pickets, whose 
 dialect at once betrayed the land of his birth, — " away 
 down South in Dixie." Here was a fix. After a single 
 moment's thought of a rebel prison, I drew my revolver 
 out of my boot-leg, put it on the cock, and rode right up 
 to the party, and in a suppressed voice asked, "What 
 are you'ns doin' here?" "A-putting out pickets," said 
 the officer in charge. " Well," I replied, " you'ns make
 
 IQQ GLIMPSES OF TEE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 a hell of a noise about it, and the first thing we know 
 you'ns '11 track the 'tension of the Yanks. Wait here 
 half a niinit till I see where to put you'ns," and I rode 
 off" into the darkness, and if they waited till I came back 
 they are there yet. Finally I reached the hospital, and 
 as there were too many men worse hurt than I was, I 
 waived my turn on the dressing-table, and that being 
 Friday night, my turn never came, owing to the next 
 day's battle changing our hospital position, and, after 
 several very disagreeable adventures and much suffer- 
 ing, my wound was first dressed in Philadelphia by the 
 late Dr. Samuel D. Gross on the following Tuesday 
 evening, and for many days I knew little about armies, 
 marching, or battles. 
 
 And now I may say without presumption, that, 
 having participated in some of the hardest-fought fields 
 of the war, I never saw more earnest, thorough fighting 
 than I saw in Pope's Army of Virginia, and it deserved 
 a better fate than to be made a sacrifice to the envy or 
 jealousy of a disobedient and insubordinate officer in 
 place of trust.
 
 THE BLESSINGS OF WAR. 
 
 BY CAPTAIN EUGENE M. WILSON, 
 
 FIRST MINNESOTA MOUNTED RANGERS, U. S. VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 This may appear an incongruous subject. It may 
 seem strangely out of place to look for blessings amid 
 disasters. It is customary to picture the white- winged 
 angel of peace as the great monopolist of all that is 
 good or pleasant on earth : to portray the horrors of 
 war as surpassing all other imaginable calamities. But 
 the millennium has not yet arrived, and until it does, we 
 must look with practical eyes upon many unpleasant 
 necessities resulting from the disordered condition of 
 mind and matter. The history of the world, in its 
 religious, political, and physical characteristics, shows 
 that from when the sons of God sang together in the 
 morning of time to our own age of boasted civilization, 
 strange modes have been essential to accomplish great 
 and beneficial results. The destructive forces have 
 been incomprehensibly allied to the continued and 
 effective operation of the productive powers. The tor- 
 nado sweeps over the land, carrying ruin to the few, 
 but staying the pestilence that would bring death to 
 the many. The fire-fiend rages with irresistible terror 
 through a city, and the desolation of its track seems to 
 present naught but hopeless despair. Yet a few years 
 
 167
 
 168 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 show new streets, splendidly and comfortably built, in 
 place of the miserable rows of unsightly and unhealthy 
 houses destroyed. Except for the calamity of fire, a 
 century would not have produced the improvement. 
 And, as in medicine, diseases and injuries require pain- 
 ful treatment and severe surgery, so there occur at 
 intervals certain conditions of national life, certain 
 political diseases, that can only be cured by the rem- 
 edy of war. Why it should be so ordered is indeed 
 strange, but not more so than many other incontestable 
 facts; not more so than that the world cannot grow 
 without decay, and that the whole state of nature is but 
 feeding the process of life by the process of death. 
 
 I, of course, do not contend that war, in general or 
 in the aggregate, is beneficial, but only claim it is not 
 an unmixed evil; that, as in the language of Tupper, 
 " There is nothing so false that a sparkle of truth is 
 not in it," so many wars are a blessed necessity, and 
 productive of results cheap at all their cost. 
 
 By war have religions been proj)agated more than 
 by any other agent. The victories of Constantine did 
 more for the firm foundation of Christianity than the 
 preaching of the apostles. Mohammedanism spread 
 Unitarianism over Asia and Africa by the sword and 
 the spear, and for the time was practically better than 
 the religions it supplanted. The extension of Christi- 
 anity of to-day must look for success more to the arms 
 than the missionaries of the nations professing its tenets. 
 
 By war has the spirit of liberty been kept alive. We 
 never value that which costs us nothing. Intrinsic 
 value has less to do with an estimate than the labor and 
 trial of achievement. National independence obtained
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN EUGENE M. WILSON. 109 
 
 through revolutiou is generally more enduring tlian 
 when it is the mere result of quiet consent. 
 
 There is no more precious portion of a nation's 
 heritage than the remembrance of its warrior heroes. 
 No people can become or remain great without the ani- 
 mation of that enthusiastic patriotism that admires and 
 emulates noble deeds. The wealth and strength of a 
 government is not in its large revenues and overloaded 
 coffers. It is not in large standing armies and powerful 
 navies, eating up the people's substance and menacing 
 their liberties. It is in the common love of a con- 
 tented citizenship, ever ready to devote person and 
 property to its protection. 
 
 The human mind is so constituted that the greatest 
 results cannot be achieved by the mere operation of cold 
 intellectual direction. The affections, the imagination, 
 must join the combination to give force and power. In 
 the spring-time of youth, when impulses are warmest, 
 there must be planted, watered, and reared the ennobling 
 sentiments which make the patriot endure through man- 
 hood and old age. Thus do the recollections of patriotic 
 wars come down through long years of passing time, 
 moulding and ennobling national character. 
 
 While some wars have been destructive of learning, 
 others have restored arts and science, and carried knowl- 
 edge from people to people. The Crusades brought 
 back the light of Asia into the darkness of Europe. 
 They were the most senseless of enterprises. Millions 
 went to a purposeless death. Peter the Hermit, with 
 his crazy mob of strangely commingled fanatics and out- 
 laws ; the bands of children, pitiable in ignorance and 
 innocence ; and the mailed ranks of Europe's princes,
 
 170 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 alike pursued a chimerical idea. They alike perished 
 from starvation, disease, and battle. It would seem the 
 saddest exhibition of unmixed calamity, and yet it led 
 to the political and intellectual regeneration of Europe. 
 
 It was at the commencement of the Crusades over- 
 shadowed by dense ignorance. The barbaric had over- 
 run the enhghtened portion. Like an avalanche from 
 the mountains, desolating the peaceful valleys, the 
 strange hordes of the northern hive spread ruin over 
 the civilization and refinement of the south. The 
 gathered lore of ages perished from the torch of the 
 ignorant invader. Brute force usurped the place of 
 science. The sword swept away the achievements of 
 the pen. Arts fled affrighted from the realms of Chris- 
 tianity and took refuge in the halls of the infidel but 
 elegant Mohammedan. All of learning that remained 
 lay hidden in the cloisters of the monk. Even royalty 
 delighted in ignorance, and England's powerful king, 
 when about to sign the treaty, dipped his brawny hand 
 in the ink, and, smiting the parchment, declared such 
 to be the signature of Coeur de Lion. But the return- 
 ing Crusaders brought back new ideas, and their com- 
 munication with the more learned East enabled them 
 to sow again in Western Europe the seeds of a mental 
 revival that has continued unchecked to our own period. 
 
 At the commencement of the Crusades Europe was 
 likewise in the worst of political situations. Feudalism 
 had broken the nations into a thousand petty tyrannies. 
 A system once necessary as the first advance from the 
 savage tribal relation, it was antagonistic to tlie consoli- 
 dated governments demantled by advancing civilization, 
 but it had become so thoroughly intrenched that sover-
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN EUGENE M. WILSON, ly^ 
 
 eignty could not control it. The great nobles were too 
 powerful for the kings, and the petty ones were little 
 better than couiraon highwaymen. They were unwill- 
 ing to surrender any of their lawless and iniquitous 
 power ; but as the Lord sent Pharaoh into the Red Sea, 
 so he impelled these local tyrants by the power of 
 fanaticism to the plains of Asia, there to waste their 
 health, wealth, and power, until over their weakness 
 general governments could be firmly established. 
 
 The first French Revolution was marked with ex- 
 cesses of the most horrible kind. Thousands who 
 ranged themselves under the banner of liberty did 
 nothing but commit crimes and demonstrate their utter 
 incapacity for self-government. The popular excesses 
 led by natural reflex sequence to the empire. But after 
 all is added up and compared, the balance of result 
 must be struck in favor of good. The hold of a tyran- 
 nical sovereignty and a wicked nobility was loosened, 
 never again to be grasped with a firm hand. Ideas 
 entered the popular mind which, though then, from the 
 ill-ordered condition of the soil, producing a rank and 
 noxious growth, were yet never rooted out, and under 
 the mellowing sunshine of time and experience grew 
 into " trees for the healing of the nations." Monarchy 
 was never again easy in France, and after various un- 
 successful attempts it presents a republican government, 
 with fair promise of beneficent permanency. 
 
 No peoi^le have ever extracted more blessings from 
 war than the United States. The early conflicts of the 
 Colonies with the Indians, though attended with much 
 injustice and cruelty, yet opened a continent to the 
 progress of civilization. They took from barbarism that
 
 172 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 which it could not enjoy in accordance with the economy 
 of human life. There is no just principle requiring 
 the maintenance of vast areas of land in wilderness and 
 solitude for the support and amusement of a few. 
 
 Next was the change from foreign dependence to the 
 newer theory of independent popular government, — 
 the change from tlie subject to the citizen ; the change 
 from enforced obedience to full trust and confidence in 
 the people. This could never have been accomplished 
 except through the purifying fires of the Kevolution. 
 Peaceful separation would have left the old roots, and 
 the growth would have been similar. It required seven 
 years of struggle and the shedding of patriotic blood to 
 make us appreciate the priceless value of liberty. It re- 
 quired the lustre of such names as Washington, Greene, 
 Gates, Putnam, Sumter, Warren, and La Fayette to gar- 
 nish the heritage of a nation's weal. It required suffer- 
 ing and sacrifice to lay deep the foundations of our 
 government and make it endure, until the ship of state, 
 strengthened by time, could outride all storms, whether 
 blown from kind or blown from sea; and as in earlier 
 years it was furiously rocked in the billows of popular 
 excitement, local discontent, and State jealousy, so it 
 would undoubtedly have been shattered into fragments 
 but for the sacred bonds that bound it together in such 
 hallowed recollections as Yorktown, Saratoga, Valley 
 Forge, Trenton, and Bunker Hill. 
 
 And again : the Napoleonic wars gave us Louisiana 
 and the great Northwest. Had this remained then 
 with the Spaniard, it would have remained so to-day. 
 Spanish pride always holds on, if possible, to its landed 
 possessions. Its tenacity in retention of realty is in
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN EUGENE M. WILSON 173 
 
 direct ratio to its weakening power. It is the one 
 emblem of departed greatness. We could not have 
 acquired it by force. The jealousy of European na- 
 tions would have prevented our making in this manner 
 so large an acquisition of territory. From the middle 
 of the Mississippi westward would still have been 
 Spanish. We could not go to the Gulf except through 
 the land of a stranger. All west of the great Father 
 of Waters would have been the home of the Indian or 
 the neglected ranch of some dignified Don. There 
 might possibly have been an American settlement here 
 to-night, but we could have adjourned to a cock-fight 
 in West St. Paul and made appointment to attend a 
 "bull-fight" in Minneapolis next Sunday. 
 
 But when Napoleon gathered in Spain as part of his 
 European plantation, he gave himself Louisiana as part 
 of a premeditated scheme of French foreign aggran- 
 dizement. But further reflection convinced him of the 
 futility of such policy. All-powerful on land, he had 
 never been successful at sea. He was forced to ac- 
 knowledge the water as England's domain. In contem- 
 plation of unavoidable hostilities with that nation, he 
 knew the first result would be the conquest of his 
 foreign possessions. Louisiana would remain to the 
 French no longer than Ens-land could send a fleet to 
 take possession. Thus we were enabled to buy what he 
 could not keep, — what was worthless to him, but price- 
 less to us. The possession of Louisiana forced Florida 
 to follow. The undefined and unsettled boundary be- 
 tween the two rendered national dispute inevitable, and 
 Spain was compelled to sell, because the loss of Louisi- 
 ana rendered Florida untenable.
 
 174 GLIMPSES OF THE KATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 And next came Texas and the Californias. When 
 the small band of Texans revolted against the authority 
 of Mexico it seemed a wild, chimerical undertaking, 
 with no probable result but bloodshed and misery ; but 
 Crockett and Bowie and their compatriot^, than whom 
 braver men never lived, f\iced inevitable death at the 
 Alamo and stayed the Mexican army until Houston 
 could prepare for victory. The great land became ours. 
 A disputed boundary brought on the Mexican war of 
 1847, and the result rounded out our territory to the 
 Pacific, and opened to civilization and commerce a vast 
 land unoccupied for centuries past, and then likely to 
 remain in the same condition for centuries to come. 
 
 But it may be objected that though the result of this 
 war may have been a blessing to us, it was far other- 
 wise to the Mexicans. Very true ; but in estimating 
 the results, I am but summing up the good and evil 
 and striking the balance for humanity in general. 
 With this view we must look to the progress of the two 
 nations, see the advancement made upon the American 
 part of the Pacific coast, and compare the part remain- 
 ing with the Mexican. See San Francisco, a municipal 
 child of but half a century, surpassing in every par- 
 ticular the chief city of our neighbor, whose birth is 
 back in the mythical era of history, and which since 
 the days of Cortez has commanded the wealth and com- 
 merce of the whole Mexican land. See our mines, in 
 a few years furnishing as much bullion as Mexico in 
 three hundred years. See the thousands of miles of 
 railroad, over which pours not only continental but 
 terrestrial commerce. Mexico still transports with the 
 pack-mule over almost impassable highways, excepting
 
 ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN EUGENE M. WILSON 175 
 
 the few late and brief railroads built by the energy and 
 capital of our citizens. Our acquisition of the Mexican 
 territory is now of real benefit to Mexico. She did not 
 need land, she needed development. She needed the 
 aid and close example of a more ^progressive people. 
 By the acquisition of her territory our improvements 
 were brought nearer the centre of Mexico ; and since 
 the era of good feeling has arrived, she is improving at 
 a rate not dreamed of a few years before. 
 
 But in following this argument we may come down 
 to a later period ; to a greater war ; to a conflict where 
 blood and treasure were poured out like water ; to the 
 sad circumstance of fratricidal strife. No witnesses are 
 needed in this assembly, — none to prove the enormity 
 of suffering and sacrifice ever attendant through the 
 three years of that calamitous struggle. Its victims are 
 all over the land. They lie beneath the battle-fiehls 
 that cost them their life. They sleep in the national 
 cemeteries. Their graves look down from Arlington 
 Heights upon the historic Potomac. They lie in every 
 part of that " human slaughter-house," the wilderness 
 of Virginia. Upon the banks of the fatal James for 
 them " the earth heaves in many a mouldering heap.'' 
 They are where the fever-cursed trenches of Vicksburg 
 for so many months demanded their victims. They are 
 upon the mountains of Tennessee, which in silence wit- 
 nessed the human carnage, and in towering grandeur 
 milked the clouds with their streams, and sent blood 
 and water commingled down to the astonished valleys 
 below. Through the fertile meadows of Kentucky, by 
 the black waters of Arkansas, under the beautiful mag- 
 nolias of Louisiana, on the savannas of Alabama and
 
 I^JQ GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Georgia, they sleep their last sleep ; many in spots un- 
 marked and unknown, with none but the birds to sing 
 their requiem, and some deep down in the caverns of 
 
 old ocean, — 
 
 " With naught but the sea-star 
 To light up their tomb." 
 
 But had this loss no compensation ? Did it not prove 
 our government strong in the one point where it was 
 vulnerable ? Did it not show that secession was impos- 
 sible, and disunion a thought that could never reach 
 fruition ? And was not that most splendid exhibition of 
 entlmsiastic patriotism a safe harbinger of the nation's 
 integrity ? When the demon of domestic discord raised 
 its liead, when it was sought to divide the land of 
 Washington, the heroes of the Revolution arose in 
 silent grandeur in the memories of their descendants, 
 and animated the souls of new heroes to new deeds of 
 glory. No year ever saw a more splendid uprising. 
 The spirit flashed like electric fluid through the land. 
 From the forests and seaports of Maine; from the 
 granite hills and Green Mountains of New Hampsliire 
 and Vermont ; from staid Massachusetts, little Rhode 
 Island, and thrifty Connecticut, there was heard the 
 universal roll of the drum. They came marching from 
 every avocation of life, all animated by a common im- 
 pulse. And as they came southward they found in line 
 the many sons of the great Empire State ; and then the 
 regiments of industrious New Jersey; and next the 
 legions of the old Keystone Commonwealth, swearing 
 by the Constitution of their fathers that the grand 
 arch in which they held the crowning-place should 
 remain in its strength and its beauty though the land
 
 ADDRESS BV CAPTAIN EUGENE M. WILSON I77 
 
 of Pemi should be decimated to maintain it. And then 
 they heard on their right flank the tramp of a mighty 
 host, and saw the great West moving to their support. 
 From the thriving towns, rich woodlands, and fertile 
 plains of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, from oif the 
 Great Lakes and beyond the mighty Mississij^pi, came 
 thousands upon thousands, shoulder to shoulder, all 
 prompted by a common patriotic thought. It was a 
 grand uprising of intelligent 2:»atriotism, and made our 
 nation great in showing its great strength. 
 
 But the chief benefit of the war was, of course, the 
 abolition of negro slavery. Our country was divided 
 in the middle on that question and questions naturally 
 connected with it. This conflict was an unavoidable 
 inheritance. Looking back with calmness, I am con- 
 vinced that nothing but such a war could have wiped 
 out this national curse. The necessary sacrifices for an 
 amicable adjustment would never have been consented 
 to by either side. The South, from social considera- 
 tions, would not have accepted compensation, and the 
 North would not have consented to pay. A trial of 
 sectional strength was inevitable, and tried it was. The 
 result was emancipation. The question, the right of 
 secession, was settled, and is now peacefully and cor- 
 dially accepted. Greater harmony than ever has been 
 produced between the contending sections, because they 
 have been taught the mutual respect that always results 
 from well-fought fields. Brave people honor each other. 
 War does not make a savage, but often begets some of 
 the highest types of honor and chivalry. It is well 
 known that in the last war there was much more sec- 
 tional bitterness with those who stayed at home than 
 
 12
 
 278 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 with those who went out to battle. The removal of 
 these sectional barriers has started our country upon 
 new paths of progress, and as we view its unparalleled 
 career, and think of the few years passed since the 
 bloody fratricidal strife, we can but pause and say, 
 " God maketh the wrath of man to praise him." 
 
 But I must not forget one of the blessings of war, — 
 its friendships and memories that come down for en- 
 joyment in such gatherings as this. If there had not 
 been the trials and glories of conflict, there would have 
 been no Loyal Legion. If your lives had been passed 
 in the continued luxury of peace, your present would 
 have been less enjoyable. The world is dull to him 
 who has seen nothing but its treeless plains. You must 
 view the mountains and their torrents to appreciate the 
 beauties of valleys and meandering brooks. The com- 
 forts of your homes, the ease and luxury of your pres- 
 ent lives, are much enhanced by the comparison with 
 the trials, labors, and achievements of your youth. It 
 is no light pleasure to be quartered amid the ease of 
 this elegant hostelry, surrounded by friends in social 
 converse, recounting the storms of war, the conflicts 
 that gave a nation new birth, the imposing events that 
 preserved a national heritage for yourselves, your chil- 
 dren, and your children's children, and to be enabled 
 to say with the great Trojan, " Quorum pars fuV 
 
 History is full to repletion of incidents sustaining 
 my argument. Time only permits reference to the few 
 familiar ones cited. But, after all, there stands forth 
 the prominent fact that war only hath its blessings in 
 promoting the greater blessings of peace.
 
 FROM CHANCELLORSVILLE TO LIBBY 
 PRISON. 
 
 BY EET. CLAT MacCATILET, 
 
 LATB LnSDTENANT ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIXTH PENNSYLVANIA INFANTBT, 
 U. S. VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 To-MOEROW evening it will be just twenty-three 
 years since I took a train on the Richmond and Fred- 
 ericksburg Railway for a trip to the city of Richmond, 
 Virginia. As the causes which led me to make the 
 journey and the experiences which followed it have 
 possibly more than a mere personal interest, I venture 
 to respond to the invitation to read a paper before you, 
 with some memories of that eventful episode in my 
 career. I do not pretend to offer instruction as a mili- 
 tary scientist, or, indeed, to put upon record very valu- 
 able historical information. But the episode was some- 
 what unique, and may claim general interest, although, 
 perforce, in recounting it I shall have to repeat the 
 first personal pronoun frequently, and make myself the 
 central figure in the story. Whether or not what I 
 have to say will excuse the personal element can be 
 answered when the tale is told. 
 
 I did not take that train for Richmond voluntarily. 
 There was nothing attractive about it. Certainly it 
 was not composed of palace-sleepers with dining-car 
 
 179
 
 130 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 attachment. The simple fact is, I was a prisoner of 
 war, captured the j^receding Sunday in the battle of 
 Chancellorsville, and was on the way to Richmond in 
 far different manner from that which I had had in 
 prospect when, ten days before, the Army of the Poto- 
 mac quit camp on Falmouth Heights. 
 
 You remember how disastrous a battle that of Chan- 
 cellorsville was. Military critics have thoroughly an- 
 alyzed it, and have laid the responsibility for the defeat 
 on whom it belongs. With the battle as a whole, how- 
 ever, I have nothing to do. I know only that the cul- 
 mination of the calamity came Sunday morning between 
 eight and ten o'clock. General Abner Doubleday, in 
 his graphic description of the engagement, tells of a 
 part of this crisis in these words: "The struggle in- 
 creased in violence. The rebels were determined to 
 break through the lines, and our men equally deter- 
 mined not to give way. Well might De Trobriand 
 style it * a mad and desperate battle.' Again E-hodes's 
 and Hill's divisions renewed the attempt and were tem- 
 jwrarily successful, and again was the bleeding remnant 
 of their forces flung back in disorder." The moment- 
 ous event for me occurred during that temporary suc- 
 cess of Generals Kliodes and Hill. 
 
 But let me say a few words of what happened prior 
 to this occurrence. I was a lieutenant in a Pennsylva- 
 nia regiment, in Humphreys's divisioi;, the Tliird of the 
 Fifth Corps. This division had had hard marching 
 and excessive labor for its share ever since we broke 
 camp on Monday, April 27. We had made a long, 
 raj)i(l detour towards our objective-point by way of 
 Kelly's and Ely's Fords on the Pappahannock and
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. CLAY MacCAULEY. 181 
 
 Rapidan Rivers. At Kelly's Ford we were detailed to 
 serve as the rear-guard of tlie Eleventh and Twelfth 
 Corps. Our work was to take up pontoons from streams 
 swollen by heavy rains, and to move by night and by 
 forced marches. A brief journal, kept at the time, has 
 this record of April 30: "An awful, terrible march. 
 My feet are very sore and blistered. Had to cut open 
 my boots." 
 
 Looking back on the campaign, it now appears that 
 it was not the original intention of General Hooker to 
 use us for fighting. Our term of enlistment was to 
 expire in a short time, and he apparently had decided 
 to make of our division a sort of factotum for the army 
 in his preparations for the conflict. In this duty Friday 
 became a day for our division which none of us will 
 ever forget. Already we had been pretty well used up 
 by our night marching and hard work. But on that 
 day was a grand climax. We made a quick-time re- 
 connoissance to Banks's Ford, five miles away on the 
 rebel right. Reaching that, we were suddenly about- 
 faced, and returned on a double-quick to our starting- 
 place. It seemed at times in that movement that 
 human endurance could last no longer. Upon our 
 return fierce skirmishing on our centre at Slocum's 
 corps, of which we had some leaden tokens, was not at 
 all cheerins: under the circumstances. At last, how- 
 ever, our tribulations seemed to have passed. Before 
 nightfall we were in position on the extreme left, on a 
 high bluff in a beautiful wood, our own left resting on 
 the river-bank, covering our army's important line of 
 retreat and supply, the United States Ford on the Rap- 
 pahannock. Then we concluded that our army was
 
 182 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 finally in position, and that our division had been as- 
 signed to a place wholly free from peril of balls or 
 assault. Nothing of the enemy could be seen or heard 
 at our front. We threw up intrenchments and began 
 to "take things easy." We were a comfortable crowd 
 that 1st of May evening, tired though we were. We 
 could hear distant skirmishing. We were nearly three 
 miles away from the ]3oint of rebel resistance to 
 Hooker's advance, and on impregnable heights. Over 
 our pipes we talked of the day's events. There was, 
 first, our commander's great boast in General Order No. 
 47, which had been read to us that morning, to the 
 effect that we had " completely surrounded the rebels," 
 and that they would "either have to fly ingloriously or 
 come out from their breastworks, where destruction was 
 certain," and that "the operations of the Fifth, Eleventh, 
 and Twelfth Corps were a series of splendid achieve- 
 ments." This was very flattering and reassuring. Then 
 we had considerable fun over an incident which fell to us 
 in our swift reconnoissance on the river road to Banks's 
 Ford. We had passed through a rebel camp, apparently 
 hastily deserted at our approach. Tents had been left 
 standing, fires burning, clothing, food, and utensils scat- 
 tered about on the ground, two caissons broken down 
 and deserted in the road, and ammunition upset and 
 left by men too much in a hurry to gather it up. I am 
 saying only what we thought. I do not know that we 
 had frightened anybody, but the supposition that our 
 coming had set them to going made us feel comfortable. 
 In this cheerful mood at length we fell into a well- 
 earned sleej:) on the soft leaves under the great trees 
 that bright and perfect May-day night.
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. CLAY MacCAULEY. 183 
 
 Just a word in passing of the kind of country in 
 which the Chancellorsville fight took place. Very 
 little of that region was open space. For the most 
 part it was heavily wooded, the woods densely under- 
 grown, and almost impassable. The famous plank 
 roads and a turnpike were the only continuous clear 
 stretches through the wilderness, excepting two or three 
 quite obscure and primitive woodways. Add to these 
 characteristics a few houses with small clearings about 
 them, some low heights, several wide marshes and small 
 streams, and you have an idea of the Chancellorsville 
 t0230graphy in general. These peculiarities made the 
 disposition and movement of troops exceedingly difii- 
 cult. And to these peculiarities, in large part, may be 
 attributed the success of Stonewall Jackson's terrible 
 and decisive descent upon our extreme right Saturday 
 evening. 
 
 To continue : Friday night passed for us in almost 
 unbroken sleep. We woke that fateful Saturday morn- 
 ing well rested, and confident that before the day should 
 close our centre and right would break the rebel oppo- 
 sition to Hooker's advance and clear the road for our 
 long-desired movement towards the rebel capital. Sat- 
 urday was very quiet on the left. We lay lazily about 
 doing nothing. The distant fighting at the centre con- 
 tinued through most of the day. The sound of the 
 musketry firing and of the cannonading rose and fell 
 like that of a passing thunder-storm. At times it 
 seemed like the booming and dash from a wave- beaten 
 shore, carried to the ear on the gusts of a fitful wind. 
 Nothing eventful took place for us except the mild ex- 
 citement of seeing a small battery drag into place at
 
 134 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 our left. We ate, slept, smoked, and talked. Towards 
 evening an accidental shot by one of our pickets brought 
 us to arms, but we soon broke ranks. We did not know 
 that the great genius of the Southern armies was just 
 then executing one of his boldest and most masterly 
 movements, — the movement so fraught with doom to 
 Hooker's army. He had taken his twenty-six thousand 
 men, cut himself free from Lee, and by an obscure 
 road was speeding towards the listless Eleventh Corps. 
 We heard a violent outburst of battle towards sundown, 
 but did not know then that Jackson's forces, like a 
 mighty torrent, had swept down on our extreme right, 
 and that that, almost like a sand-heap, had been trailed 
 out into the wilderness and left there unguarded. It was 
 this decisive event of the battle that brought about the 
 disaster which befell us of Humphreys's division, so com- 
 fortable then in our ease and safety on the left. It is 
 said that so ill-guarded was the extreme right of our 
 army that Jackson's attack upon it was almost a com- 
 plete surprise, that " the front rank of the rebels came 
 in almost simultaneously with our pickets." The result 
 was that Jackson fairly put the Eleventh Corps to rout, 
 and left it for the rest of the battle hors du combat. 
 Though ignorant of its purport, I heard the crash of 
 the far-off conflict. It was midnight before I fell asleep. 
 The next morning, Sunday, we were awakened at 
 daybreak by a heavy, irregular trampling at our rear. 
 Looking around, I saw trailing along among the trees 
 a broken and most demoralized-looking hue of soldiers. 
 I instantly felt what it meant. Our time had come. 
 We must go into action. We soon learned that this 
 was the remnant of the Eleventh Corps, and that it
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. CLAY MacCAULEY. 185 
 
 liad been sent to occupy our safe place. Then in our 
 division all was bustle and jDreparation. Coffee and 
 liard-tack were soon swallowed. With the risen sun 
 we were off, going at a double-quick, towards the right, 
 where desperate fighting had already been renewed. In 
 a short time we were under shell fire. Near the Chan- 
 cellorsville House we were halted. Our three miles' run 
 had been a pretty severe beginning for the day. We 
 lay there under fire for near an hour. Then in column 
 we moved on past the ^famous house, past the forty 
 guns which had been massed in the open space beyond 
 the house, and towards the woods, where, at the right, 
 a sharp crashing whirr of musketry rose above all the 
 other dreadful sounds which filled the air. There the 
 horrors of war began to appear. In our way numbers 
 from the regiments which had preceded us had met 
 with wounds and death. We made a short halt where 
 these dead and wounded were lying. This was a most 
 trying experience. Had the stop continued long it 
 might have been demoralizing. Witli nothing to do 
 and with mutilation and death visible at our very feet, 
 and with peril to ourselves increasing, rather large 
 drafts were made on our moral forces. Fortunately, 
 the halt was but for a moment. Then, by the right 
 flank, we advanced in line of battle. What an ad- 
 vance ! Leaving the open field we entered the wilder- 
 ness. Our progress was, for the most part, a mere 
 scramble over logs, through dense underbrush, briers, 
 and in mud. We were scratched and bruised, and our 
 clothing was torn. We pushed on, for perhaps a hun- 
 dred yards, into the thicket. There in a somewdiat 
 thinner woods we halted, and, when in line, lay down
 
 186 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 and began to load and fire at will. It was an ugly 
 give and take. We could not see the enemy, but the 
 whizz and ting of bullets i^roved that they were not 
 far away. How long this aimless firing continued I 
 do not know. As the excitement grew several of the 
 men rose to their feet, fired, and remained standing to 
 load and fire. By a little experience just then I real- 
 ized how much support numbers may be to each in a 
 common danger. One of my men in his haste had 
 fired off his ramrod ; he held up the musket that I 
 might see what he had done. Without thinking I 
 started to the rear, where, a short distance away, lay a 
 musket. No sooner had I left touching distance of 
 my company when an irresistible sense of loneliness 
 and dread seized me. Each step away made the sen- 
 sation more acute. Soon I was practically panic- 
 stricken. Somehow, however, I got the ramrod of the 
 useless musket. I went back to the line on the run. 
 With the return came assurance and courage. I never 
 felt more alone or helpless than in those few moments 
 of isolation from my comrades. The air seemed full 
 of hissing, shrieking demons. I was sure that each 
 next moment would bring death. 
 
 The fight went on. So continuous had been the 
 firing, that the underbrush at our front was literally 
 cut down at about waist height. Gradually I saw one 
 after another of our men cease firing. Ammunition 
 was exhausted. We called for supplies. None were 
 to be had. Something had gone wrong. The men 
 began to feel it. As our firing slackened I noticed a 
 foreboding disorder on our right. Then a feeling of 
 suspense and doubt seemed to thrill along the line.
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. CLAY MacCAULEY. I87 
 
 About that time I felt a blow on my right side, as if I 
 had been struck by a heavy hammer. A spent ball 
 had hit me, the effects of which I feh for a year there- 
 after. The disorder, changing into tumult, came near 
 and nearer. At last it swept in upon the company 
 next to mine. Then it struck my own company's 
 right. The companies, rising in successive ranks from 
 the ground, the men with questioning looks at one 
 another, started at first slowly and then rapidly back- 
 ward. It was not a panic. It was a rather disorderly 
 falling back of ahnost helpless men, from a coming 
 danger they felt themselves powerless to resist. They 
 were good soldiers. They had led in the boldest and 
 forthest charge made by the Union forces up Marye's 
 Heights at Fredericksburg, the preceding December. 
 I did not happen to be with them then, but I read that 
 that charge was characterized by the rebel General 
 Hansom as " a last desperate and maddened attack." 
 The division, in that assault, had had more than a 
 thousand men killed and wounded in its two brigades. 
 But what can men do when without ammunition they 
 see the line of which they form part steadily backing 
 away from some oncoming force ? A wave rolling 
 backward on a curving beach does not more steadily 
 sweep broken on its way than did the retreat of our 
 battle line from right to left that Sunday morning. 
 The rebels, discovering that our ammunition was ex- 
 hausted, had charged upon us, striking our extreme 
 right much as one arm of the letter A meets the other. 
 What then happened to me a letter written not long 
 afterwards describes in these words : " Soon I found 
 myself alone. I saw that I must run or be killed. I
 
 Igg GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 started to run, but after a few steps my scabbard cauglit 
 between my legs and threw me down upon my face. 
 Up again, I tried to break through the bushes, but the 
 bullets were whizzing around at a terrible rate. I fell 
 again, and was so exhausted I could go no farther. I 
 crawled alongside one of the wounded. In a moment 
 the rebels were on me." I remember well, now, that 
 poor mangled fellow, at whose side I was. Seeing me 
 he had begged for water. I was about to give him my 
 canteen, when, looking up, I discovered the rebels 
 rapidly coming through the brush. Those moments 
 are now more Uke the memory of some dreadful dream. 
 Instinctively I started to rise. But, as I rose, I saw a 
 rebel skirmisher take a sudden and not very agreeable 
 interest in me. AVith a jerk he brought his musket to 
 a direct aim. I was his mark. Probably you under- 
 stand just what it is to look into a loaded gun, whose 
 hammer is up and whose trigger is under the finger of 
 a man who would just as soon pull as not. Under the 
 circumstances, naturally, I remained just where I was, 
 in a half-risen posture. For several seconds I looked 
 into the muzzle of that advancing musket. I saw, as 
 in a mist, many moving men, and heard the noise of 
 their rush. But my brain was concentrated on that 
 one advancing figure. He came upon me swifter than 
 I can write of him. When within a few paces, down 
 came the gun to a charge, and with the bayonet at my 
 
 breast he yelled out, " You of a , 
 
 give me that sword." While he spoke the rebel line 
 came up. It passed with a rush. Two regiments deep 
 they were. I afterwards learned that the Sixth and 
 Fifth xVlabamas were at our immediate front. My cap-
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. CLAY MacCAULEY. 189 
 
 tor, a big, tawny-bearded fellow, noticing that I was but 
 a boy, changed his manner at once as I gave him my 
 sword. Seeing that I did not rise, he asked me if I 
 was hurt. "I do not know," I replied. I added, 
 " Get me out of this as quick as you can." I suddenly 
 remembered that just beyond where we had entered 
 the tangle, in the open space, were batteries, about 
 forty guns, planted in a crescent and bearing on the 
 woods. I thought that our line would fall back to 
 those batteries and rally there. I was sure, too, that, as 
 soon as the rebels should appear at the edge of the 
 woods, something would happen. I had no desire to be 
 killed by grape, canister, shell, or anything else from 
 our own guns. I therefore urged our retreat into the 
 rebel lines as quickly as possible. My new acquaint- 
 ance from Alabama agreed with me. He put a strong 
 arm under my shoulders and, half carrying me, started 
 for the rear. I cannot tell how far we had gone— per- 
 haps it was a hundred yards — when the expected some- 
 thing happened. It seemed as if a tornado out of a 
 clear sky had, all at once, burst upon that forest. We 
 had just reached a breastwork and where there was 
 quite a deep hole. With the first crash, into that hole 
 we fell. For about ten minutes a roaring torrent of 
 iron plunged through the air above us. We were 
 almost covered by fallen tree-hmbs and branches. The 
 noise was horrible. Gradually the devastating stream 
 ceased, but as it slackened back came the rebel crowd 
 all in disorder, really a " bleeding remnant," as Gen- 
 eral Doubleday writes of it. Back with the retreat- 
 ino- rebels we two scrambled towards the farther rear. 
 Soon the rebels halted under the shouts of their
 
 190 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 officers. I was carried on to where I at lengtli met 
 General Rhodes, to whom I surrendered and by whom 
 I was sent still farther back. Oar way lay over one 
 of the plank roads so much spoken of in connection 
 with the fight. On this the struggle of the day and 
 nidit before had been severest. Our own and the 
 rebel dead by the score lay side by side there. Twice 
 batteries plunged by us, the hoofs of the horses and 
 the carriage-wheels crushing and mutilating the dead 
 bodies of friend and foe. Along the roadside were 
 gathered hundreds of wounded of both armies. Their 
 only shelter from the blazing sun was blankets stretched 
 over them and held in place by the c>osed hammers 
 of four muskets, the muskets reversed and stuck up- 
 right by their bayonets into the ground. It was a 
 sickening march. Rebel reserves passed us, hurrying 
 to the front on double-quick. Supplies of ammuni- 
 tion were being carried forward. Farther on, we 
 reached what I was told had been the front line of 
 the " Yankee" breastworks. At that point was a 
 house filled with and surrounded by wounded and 
 dying from the hapless Eleventh Corps. Many evi- 
 dences of a fearful struggle were visible there. Leav- 
 ing these, we soon were inside the original rebel posi- 
 tion. I was delivered over to an officer and made 
 oue more of a large crowd of our own men already 
 gathered there. At last, then, the morning's horror 
 was past. I threw myself upon the ground, physically 
 exhausted, a discouraged, miserable prisoner of war. 
 Let me take this place to acknowledge, however, that 
 from the rebels who dealt with us on the battle-field 
 we received nothing except kind words and treatment.
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. CLAY MacCAULEY. \(^\ 
 
 From the moment of surrender neither abuse nor in- 
 jury was offered. And so far as I could see much had 
 been done by the rebels for our wounded. A number 
 of our own surgeons had been left within the rebel 
 lines, while rebel surgeons were dividing their time 
 between the injured of both armies. 
 
 After a short rest I began to take observations of my 
 new situation and surroundings. One of the things 
 most to attract attention was the generally miserable 
 appearance of the soldiers of Jackson's corps. Dirt 
 and tatters seemed to be the rule in their clothing, and 
 a used-up, emaciated look in their physique. They 
 were what one would call a hard-looking crowd. Kor 
 could one style them 'wearers of the gray. Dusty 
 brown, rather, were they, from their rusty slouch hats, 
 sandy beards, sallow skins, butternut coats, and panta- 
 loons down to their mud-stained shoes. I thought them 
 emaciated I said, but perhaps I would better say that 
 they were lank and lean. Certainly they had shown 
 remarkable endurance, and they were yet able to do 
 exhausting and desperate work. I suppose the facts 
 were that already the Confederacy was beginning to 
 suffer from poverty in its quartermaster's department, 
 and that, accustomed to the round, well-fed look of the 
 soldiers of the North, I could not judge correctly of 
 men who had become chiefly sinew and bone by such 
 work as Stonewall Jackson demanded of them. Never- 
 theless, as we soon found out, the rebel commissariat 
 was neither well filled nor luxurious. One of our 
 guards gave me a small piece of his hard-tack for 
 luncheon. He said that they were all on short rations. 
 We officers, as it proved, were unfortunate in having
 
 192 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 put our haversacks on pack-mules that morning be- 
 fore going into action. Consequently we had become 
 in every sense of the word dependents on our cap- 
 tors' bounty. How generous that was the sequel will 
 show. 
 
 Towards noon the prisoners were formed into a sort 
 of column, the members of numerous Union regiments 
 ranked side by side as chance ordered, and were started 
 off southward on a road towards Spottsylvania Court- 
 House. We were guarded by a South Carolina regi- 
 ment. As we marched, it was about fifteen miles to 
 the court-house, which, at nightfall, we reached. The 
 officers were driven into the court-house yard, where 
 we spent the night on the grass under the shelter of 
 the overspreading trees. As I lay there, looking up 
 at the quiet stars and sky, I realized fully for the first 
 time what the events of the day meant. I was a pris- 
 oner and doomed to — I could not tell what. I dreaded 
 the fate of the unknown future, but, worse than all, 
 I suffered from thinking of the suspense of the father 
 and mother at home, who would not know what had 
 become of the boy they had expected so soon to see. 
 At last I went to sleep under a miserable dei^ression of 
 brain and heart. 
 
 We were on the road early the next morning. We 
 had no coffee or food to start the day with. Already 
 some of us had begun to suffer from our unusual fast. 
 Spottsylvania Court-House was a beautiful place. It 
 was not a town. It was comj^osed of just the county 
 building, the tavern, a house or two, and one or two 
 country churches. But there were open and green 
 fields there and beautiful trees. That Monday's march
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. CLAY MacCAULEY. 193 
 
 was silent and dreary. We saw but few people and 
 passed but few houses. No signs of war were apparent. 
 Our column must have seemed more like a doleful gang 
 of condemned criminals than a body of honorably de- 
 feated soldiers. Most of us were in a sorry condition 
 from bruises and scratches inflicted in that scramble in 
 the wilderness. The clothing of some was so torn that 
 arms, legs, and even breasts were laid bare. Only the 
 following incidents of that day are fresh in memory. 
 During one of our halts near a good-looking house, a 
 woman gave to the major commanding our guard a 
 small rebel flag, which, to please her, he flaunted over 
 us as he rode along, with the declaration that now we 
 would have " to march under that flag for a while." 
 This was the first real insult ofiered us. At another 
 place a pretty little woman came down a path, running 
 from her house to the roadside, fairly wild with re- 
 vengeful rage. She clasped her little fists and shook 
 them at us, her black eyes sparkling. With a sort of 
 scream she cried out, " Kill 'em all, colonel ! Kill 'em 
 all right here for me !" Colored people at times came 
 out from their cabins to look at us, but never a word 
 said they. This gloomy march lasted for about thirteen 
 miles. Late in the afternoon we crossed the Ny River, 
 reached Guiney's Station on the Eichmond and Freder- 
 icksburg Railway, and were halted in a low meadow, 
 which, as I have learned, was but a continuation of 
 what is called Stannard's Marsh. We were near a mile 
 northwest of the depot. Guiney's was at that time the 
 base of supplies for Lee's army. Monday night we 
 slept miserably, those who slept at all. The ground 
 was soft and wet. We had been without food all the 
 
 13
 
 194 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 day. We did not have even the comfort of fires. The 
 strain began to tell. But we had reached a railroad. 
 That fact had some cheer in it, and we were only about 
 forty-five miles from Richmond. 
 
 Tuesday morning dawned. A noticeable stir at the 
 station aroused our interest. The rumor spread among 
 us that the rebels had, after all, been whijDped. Trains 
 of baggage-wagons came in from Fredericksburg, their 
 borses on the gallop. We heard a report that the rebels 
 were making preparations for a wholesale removal of 
 their supplies towards Richmond. Hope of recapture 
 by our own men sprang up, but it soon fell. Then we 
 made a demand for food. We were answered that there 
 was none. We asked for Avood. " None to be had," 
 was the reply. The day dragged along. In the after- 
 noon a wagon was driven into our camp with " rations," 
 as we were told. It brought a half-barrel of salt beef 
 and a barrel of flour. These rations were distributed, 
 but this was the style of the distribution : the barrel of 
 flour was tumbled from the wagon onto the ground ; it 
 burst open where it fell. At the side of the flour the 
 beef was dropped. Now, hungry as we were, what 
 could we do with either flour or beef, having neither 
 kettle nor fire ? So there lay the two generous gifts of 
 food, and continued to lie. Gradually the flour absorbed 
 moisture from the ground and became a dirty brown 
 paste. The beef took on an ironical red, white, and 
 blue tint from exposure to the air, sun, and water. 
 Some of us tried to eat of the pasty flour ; we soon had 
 to give over the effort. Then we began to long for 
 transportation to Richmond. We felt sure that there 
 we should get both shelter and something to eat. Tues-
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. CLAY MagCAULEY. I95 
 
 day night came, and again we lay down for a night in 
 the marshy meadow. 
 
 Wednesday morning arose a chilling northeast wind 
 with clouding skies. We did not seem to have any- 
 thing to wake up for. That camp of Union soldiers 
 was almost as unhappy a looking set of men as you 
 could bear to see. Our clothing was wet through and 
 through and our stomachs still empty. A few of us 
 determined that if possible something would be done. 
 What others did I do not know. This story, as I said 
 at the outset, centres around myself Therefore what 
 three others did with me to solve the problem I can 
 recount. We begged permission to go to a house about 
 a quarter of a mile away to try to find food. Our 
 request was granted, and a kind-hearted fellow haj^- 
 pened to be detailed as our guard. With some renewed 
 hope we began our foraging. At that house lay Gen- 
 eral Stonewall Jackson, dying. From our guard we 
 learned that he was in a critical condition. We did 
 not get quite to the house, but at a cabin near by we 
 found an old colored woman. She had but little. We 
 returned to the camp, however, with an old hen, for 
 which we paid five dollars in greenbacks, and with 
 about a quart of cornmeal, which cost us one dollar. 
 On the way back our soft-hearted guard led us by a tent 
 near the railroad and allowed us to pick up an old iron 
 tea-kettle lying there. Then came the question of how 
 to cook our dinner. Our good rebel helped us to gather 
 a quantity of small sticks on the banks of the Ny. In 
 the little river there was water, more than we needed. 
 The fire problem, however, was difficult to solve. A 
 knife had taken off the hen's head and anatomized her,
 
 196 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 and hen, cornmeal, and water had been well mixed to- 
 gether in the kettle. But the wood was damp and the 
 ground was wet. After all our efforts we could not get 
 quite as much fire as smoke, and it was hard work hold- 
 ing the kettle over the smoke. Not a stone to rest the 
 kettle upon could be found. Suddenly in the midst of 
 our proceedings came a crisis and catastrophe. The 
 novel soup was not even quite lukewarm, when all at 
 once the officers were ordered to " fall in." We obeyed 
 the order of course, but each of us four took place in the 
 ranks with a handful of dripping chicken and warm 
 cornmeal to carry with him. One of our number still 
 held on to the precious kettle. " To Richmond" was the 
 cry. With this prospect to stimulate us, we started for 
 the station. On the way we disposed of our chicken. It 
 was almost nightfall when we reached the railroad. By 
 that time the sky was densely clouded. Already a thick 
 mist was driving by on the chill wind. " Hoj)e de- 
 ferred maketh the heart sick," it is written. So as night 
 closed in it was with increasing heaviness of heart that 
 in vain we strained our eyes to find the cars which were 
 to take us away from that place of torture. All was in 
 confusion about the station. Trains and cars were shunt- 
 ing from place to place ; wagons coming and going ; 
 men hurrying to and fro. The hours passed, but 
 nothing came for us. Eight, nine o'clock were gone. 
 Kain began to fall and a fierce, colder wind to blow. 
 Still no cars for us. Instead, when it was near ten 
 o'clock, we were, to our dismay, dragged back to the 
 meadow. Reaching that, we found it changing into a 
 veritable swamp. Water seemed to ooze up out of the 
 ground as well as to j^our down from the clouds. No
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. CLAY MacCAULEY. I97 
 
 one bettered himself in trying to get out of it. Water 
 covered everything. However, we cared but little for 
 what happened then. My brain was giving way to a 
 sort of a torpor. I now can remember only that with 
 a kind of instinct at self-preservation I groped about in 
 the blackness of darkness, and found a small hummock; 
 on that I laid my canteen, my elbow on the canteen, 
 my head on my elbow, and that there, with hundreds 
 of comrades, just twenty-three years ago to-night I lay 
 down in water to pass the doleful hours. 
 
 I wish I had memory clear enough or pen powerful 
 enough to describe the appearance of the Union prison- 
 ers' camp at Guiney's Station that next morning. How 
 those rebel officers ever alloAved it to become a possi- 
 bility, even under the stress of the events following the 
 battle, which had been as severe to them as it had been 
 to their enemy, I have never been able to explain. To 
 their everlasting shame they did permit it. Having 
 practically had no food for days, with no shelter in 
 prospect, without even fires to protect us, lying in water 
 inches deep, and exposed to a terrible northeast storm, 
 we saw Thursday morning come. Possibly the officers 
 in command could have bettered our condition but 
 little, if any. Possibly with prospect of removal to 
 Kichmond at any time they saw no necessity for 
 making a change of our camp. Possibly, probably, 
 they did not care. Yet our guard seemed almost as 
 forlorn and famished as we were. How that Thursday 
 went I do not remember. There was no pause in the 
 storm, I know. Only as evening approached came re 
 newal of hope. We were again ordered over to the 
 railroad. That walk was but a cheerless struggle
 
 198 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 through deep, soft mud. I fell from exhaustion two or 
 three times on the way. At the station some sank down 
 at the halt. They swore they would not move again. 
 This time, however, we had not been brought to the 
 railroad on a fool's errand. At about nine o'clock, 
 with seventy-three other officers of our army, I took a 
 train for a trip to Richmond. I do not remember just 
 how many of us were in the one car, but the car, I shall 
 always recollect, was a rickety freight-box, seatless and 
 windowless. Its roof gave no real protection from the 
 beating rain. The floor was covered with near an inch 
 of filth, mud and corn mixed. To say we were crowded 
 is not to tell the truth. We could not all have sat down 
 at once had we tried. We disposed of ourselves in many 
 sorts of postures as best we could. Some of us would 
 then have given up wholly, had we not been supported 
 by the confidence that before morning we should have 
 release, and should reach shelter and food in Richmond. 
 In truth, companions, hardly as much consideration was 
 shown us there as we see every day given here to car- 
 loads of cattle. Well, within an hour after we had 
 been jammed into that freight-car the train started and 
 we nerved ourselves for the night. But a tired horse 
 could have gone as fast as we went. Of course much 
 must be considered as accounting for this. The track 
 was single. I suppose many obstacles were in the way. 
 We were stopped often, and, to our great discomfort, 
 jerked backwards and forwards in that loosely-coupled 
 car. Yet we felt that the agony could not last much 
 longer ; at least so felt those of us who were not too 
 benumbed to feel. So slow was our progress, however, 
 that towards midnight we had not gone farther on our
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. CLAY MacCAULEY. 199 
 
 way than six miles. At that point we came to a long 
 stop. Again we began to move. I did not know what 
 was being done. Doubled up in as small a space as I 
 could take at a side of the car, I knew only that we 
 were moved and stopped. Finally came another stop. 
 A long silence. Dawn came slowly through the con- 
 tinuing storm. Soon I heard some one say, " it, 
 
 boys, we are still at Guiney's !" Of a truth we were. 
 We were side-tracked just at the place we had started 
 from at ten o'clock the night before. There is no use in 
 my trying to give you here any notion of how we felt. 
 I can state merely the fact. 
 
 Well, Friday morning had come. As all things else, 
 that, too, at length passed. Not a mouthful of food 
 was given us. Some of the men were allowed to get 
 out of the car. They lay beside it in the mud for 
 hours. The others of us stretched our benumbed 
 bodies out where we were. Gradually the rain ceased 
 and the skies brightened. About noon a second time 
 we were packed into our box. What proved to be the 
 real start for Richmond was then made. Of course I 
 cannot tell what justification the rebel authorities might 
 plead for this brutal manner in transporting us south- 
 ward. I know that everything inside General Lee's 
 lines was badly demoralized by the battle of Chancel- 
 lorsville. Probably, too, the rebels had hardly enough 
 food at command then to supply their own troops. All 
 their means of railway carriage at Guiney's were in bad 
 shape. But we felt by far the worst effects of their 
 troubles. Moreover, I often think that the authorities 
 at Guiney's were willing to see us as badly crippled, 
 even by our misfortunes as captives in their hands, as
 
 200 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 by the damage they might inflict uj^on us in a fair 
 fight. About five o'clock that Friday evening, May 8, 
 18G3, threescore and more of thoroughly used-up 
 Union oflScers were actually tumbled out of a freight 
 car into one of the streets of the Confederate ca^iital. 
 The once dreaded city had by force of events become to 
 them in imagination a welcome place of refuge. Fam- 
 ished, filthy, and many of us ragged, we slowly moved 
 down a main street, followed by many men and women 
 and a crowd of jeering, hooting boys. 
 
 How is it within human possibility for those who 
 endured those six days ever to forget or ever to for- 
 give the men whose acts had brought about the suffering 
 and humiliation? Our experience at Guiney's and the 
 manner in which we had been transported to Richmond 
 had been as cruel as cruel could be, under this nineteenth 
 century civilization, were there any possibility of pre- 
 venting it. I noticed but little in our walk. Only two 
 things impressed themselves distinctly upon my mem- 
 ory, excepting the taunting of the crowd. We passed 
 the Capitol building. There stood the handsome eques- 
 trian statue of Washington in the Capitol grounds, the 
 great commander a lifeless and consequently impassive 
 spectator of the degradation of children of men who 
 had fought and died under his leadership, that this 
 country might become the home of a free and inde- 
 pendent nation. And there too, stood, on the Capitol 
 steps, the arch-traitor to the Union, the rebel Presi- 
 dent, — not a statue but a living man, he also an impas- 
 sive spectator of our degradation, the degradation of 
 many fellow- Americans, whose only crime had been 
 that they had done what they* could to save from
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. CLAY MacCAULEY. 201 
 
 traitors' hands the Union which Washington and our 
 patriot fathers had bequeathed to posterity as a sacred 
 trust for the service of mankind. Who of us, in his 
 wiklest imagining, could have thought that within but 
 twenty-three years from that day the man who then 
 so coklly looked at that miserable crowd of captive 
 Union officers, on their way to prison, could start on a 
 tour through any part of this land to vent, in the pres- 
 ence of the " Stars and Stripes," his cherished treason, 
 and to receive for it, unforbidden, the applauding cheers 
 of thousands ? Can human history anywhere repro- 
 duce a spectacle like it ? I have no feeling of revenge 
 in saying this. But there is an instinct in man for 
 what we call justice, and to Jefferson Davis I believe 
 justice has not been done. 
 
 Our little band kept on its way followed by the hoot- 
 ing crowd. Then came the last moment in the tale of 
 the war I have been trying to tell to you, companions 
 in the great struggle. We were halted in front of a 
 large three-storied brick building. Looking up, we saw 
 a great white sign extended across the sidewalk, from 
 the west wall to a column. On it were painted these 
 memorable words, " Libby & Son, Ship Chandlers and 
 Grocers." By " file right" we then passed by that and 
 entered a broad, low-ceiled hall-way. We halted. Our 
 journey was ended. We had come from " Chancellors- 
 ville to Libby Prison."
 
 FROM ATLANTA TO RALEIGH. 
 
 BY COLONEL OHAELES D. KERE, 
 
 SIXTEENTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY, U. S. VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 The estimate here given of certain leading charac- 
 ters in the Atlanta campaign is purely matter of private 
 opinion, expressed in postulate form for brevity's sake. 
 I am aware that the estimate in some cases is not the 
 popular one ; it is simply the result of such means and 
 opportunities for judging as I have possessed. 
 
 There were few more competent or successful divis- 
 ion commanders in the Confederate army than J. B. 
 Hood. Naturally quick, with keen perceptive facul- 
 ties, and brave even to rashness ; taught by such a mas- 
 ter as Jackson, and in such a school as the Virginia 
 campaign, he became, perhaps, the most brilliant and 
 accomplished tactician in the corps of that great leader. 
 Beyond this he never advanced, but remained a tac- 
 tician merely to the end of his career. It was unfor- 
 tunate both for the Army of North Virginia and the 
 Army of Mississippi when he was raised from his legiti- 
 mate position of division commander to the head of an 
 independent army. 
 
 General Joseph E. Johnston was, I think, the ablest 
 strategist in the Southern army south of Virginia, if 
 not, indeed, in that army without geographical distinc- 
 tion. Wary, far-seeing, prudent to a degree, and cau- 
 
 202
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL CHARLES D. KERR. 203 
 
 tious almost to the verge of timidity, he was peculiarly 
 adapted to defensive warftire. An army in almost any 
 predicament was safe in his hands from overwhelming 
 disaster. 
 
 The retreat of Johnston from Dalton to Atlanta was 
 a series of strategic moves, always to the rear, but with- 
 out the loss of a gun or a wagon, or, as it seemed to us, 
 even a cartridge-box. The consummate skill of these 
 movements challenged the admiration of his foes, and 
 at the same time excited their gratitude for escape from 
 telling blows, which certainly, in more than one in- 
 stance, seemed to have been overlooked by Johnston in 
 the supreme effort to safely withdraw his army. 
 
 I shall always believe that it was a fortunate thing 
 for the army of General Sherman that the strategy 
 of Johnston and the tactical efficiency of Hood were 
 not united in one commander at Cassville and New 
 Hope Church. 
 
 Hood was lamentably wanting in strategy. Johns- 
 ton was just as deficient in that prompt and vigorous 
 aggressiveness which dares to put its fortune to the 
 touch to win or lose it all. 
 
 Johnston was always a devotee of the breastwork. 
 Hood despised and eschewed it altogether. Johnston 
 affirmed that it prevented the useless sacrifice of life 
 and supplemented deficiency in numbers. Hood con- 
 tended that it impaired the morale of the men, and in- 
 sidiously instilled into them the idea that they could 
 hold their ground only by the aid of such material 
 assistance. 
 
 There will always be difference of opinion as to the 
 proper use of intrenchments. They are legitimate, cer-
 
 204 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 taiiily, when the object is simply to hold the opposing 
 force in check. They are oftentimes invaluable where 
 the purpose is to hold a part of the line with a small 
 force while the enemy is assailed by the rest of the 
 army. But I am satisfied that the constant and sys- 
 tematic use of intrenchments is not the school from 
 which the highest type of the soldier graduates. 
 
 In the situation of Johnston's army the preparing of 
 strongly fortified works in the rear in advance of each 
 retrograde movement was almost equivalent to a pre- 
 determination to fall back to them, which was invari- 
 ably done until the army reached Atlanta and Johnston 
 was superseded by Hood. 
 
 So critical a situation would have paralyzed a greater 
 mind than Hood's. The night of August 25, 1864, 
 was a dark and sultry one. My regiment was occupy- 
 ing a portion of the first line, close to the works of the 
 enemy on the southwestern side of Atlanta. Shortly 
 after dark we quietly packed the few dog-tents and 
 equipments allowed to the soldiers at that stage of the 
 war, and, leaving a vigorous skirmish-line to keep up 
 appearances, silently stole away with a portion of the 
 army on a swift march to Jonesboro', while the rest of 
 the troops retired behind the Chattahoochie, as though 
 in abandonment of the siege. 
 
 Hood was completely deceived. Jonesboro' was cap- 
 tured at the point of the bayonet, and Atlanta fell from 
 force of circumstances which Hood failed to control. I 
 consider this the most brilliant strategic move of the 
 campaign. It took brains to conceive it and nerve to 
 carry it out. 
 
 In all probability, if Johnston had remained in com-
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL CHARLES D. KERR. 205 
 
 mand at Atlanta this move would not have succeeded, 
 possibly would not have been made, but Atlanta would 
 have fallen just the same, and probably just as quickly 
 and with as little loss of life. 
 
 The movement around to Jonesboro' was simply 
 adapting means to changed conditions, which is also a 
 test of fitness to lead. 
 
 At the commencement of the campaign of 1864 the 
 objective of Sherman was not necessarily Atlanta, but 
 rather tlie army of Johnston in the field. Had that 
 general seen fit to fall back by way of Rome to Central 
 Alabama or Mississippi doubtless Sherman would have 
 followed, and Atlanta would have remained, for the 
 time at least, and perhaps altogether, like Augusta, the 
 object of feints rather than direct investment. The 
 capture of the city, with its manufactories and muni- 
 tions of war, doubtless empliasized the sentiment which 
 had been growing in the Northern army, that the de- 
 struction of the means of supply would as effectu- 
 ally end the Rebellion as the destruction of the rebel 
 armies. In this view alone did the capture of Atlanta 
 justify its cost. Its destruction was an immense injury 
 to the South. Its occupation by the North, for strategic 
 or other purposes, was entirely impracticable. 
 
 The inexorable logic of the situation justified measures 
 which otherwise might have seemed harsh. It would 
 have been incongruous and absurd for Sherman to have 
 used his single line of road, already taxed to its utmost 
 to feed his own army, in bringing supplies four hun- 
 dred miles, to feed the wives and children of the men 
 who were fighting him and his country. 
 
 There was no difference of 023inion as to what should
 
 206 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 be done with Atlanta ; what to do with the army was 
 the problem to be solved. Hood had left our front and 
 was menacing our communications. These must be 
 preserved at all hazards, for the present at least, and 
 the work of their preservation is matter of history. 
 The turning-point came when Hood abandoned the 
 attempt to cut off our supplies, and struck out for new 
 fields of conquest with his base of supplies at Decatur. 
 
 Nowhere in his history do the qualities of Sherman, 
 as a military leader, shine so brightly as at this crisis. 
 The soldier, like the poet, is born not made. Genius is 
 always self-reliant, and, as Schiller says of Gustavus 
 Adolphus, self-reliance in such a man is the parent of 
 success. Military science, caution, and the advice of 
 superiors as well as subordinates, still pointed to the 
 army of Hood as the true objective-point. General 
 Grant says, "On the 1st of November I suggested 
 to Sherman the propriety of destroying Hood before 
 he started on his campaign." Thomas wrote from 
 Nashville, "I hope you will adopt Grant's idea of 
 turning Wilson loose, rather than undertake the plan 
 of a march with the whole force through Georgia to 
 the sea." But Sherman knowing Hood as he did, and 
 knowing Thomas also as he did, with that intuitive 
 forecast which is born of genius, was quite content to 
 let Hood invite his own destruction at the hands of the 
 hero of Chickamauga, while the main army sought a 
 new base for both supplies and operations. 
 
 The policy of all great minds is to a certain extent con- 
 trolled by events, but it would be unjust to Sherman and 
 to history to say that his great campaign of 1864-65 
 was the result of any fortuitous circumstances ; it was
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL CHARLES D. KERR. 207 
 
 rather the product of his superior mind which con- 
 trolled circumstances. The correspondence of Sherman 
 and Grant upon the subject of this campaign is itself 
 a higher tribute of praise than the words of another 
 could convey. Great, simple-minded soldiers, both of 
 them; they may have been rivals in a certain sense, 
 yet neither was jealous of the other's fame, or hesitated 
 to share the laurels of a campaign for fear that the 
 splendor of his rival's achievements might dim the 
 lustre of his own. Sherman's plan being approved, 
 there was no hesitancy and no backward step. Light 
 rations and ammunition were hurried to the front, and 
 the trains returning were loaded to their capacity with 
 surplus guns and impedimenta, and with the sick and 
 all unfit for duty. 
 
 It was not Sherman's intention that any post on the 
 railroad south of Chattanooga should be held by either 
 the Union or Confederate forces. On the 12th of No- 
 vember, then, at the little village of Cartersville, the 
 last train of cars sped on its way to the North, carrying 
 letters innumerable to our friends at home. The last 
 messages by wire were sent and received, and the work 
 ■of destruction began. We were not as expert then in 
 the unbuilding of railroads as we afterwards became. 
 It was up to this point, for the most part, that we fes- 
 tooned the trees and telegraph-poles with the heated 
 rails. At Atlanta some genius in the blacksmith de- 
 partment invented a wrench, with long iron handles, 
 that fitted on to the end of the rail, and after that, with 
 one of these at either end, we were accustomed to twist 
 the rails into corkscrews at the centre in much less 
 time than it took to carry them to a tree.
 
 208 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 The soldier is ever mercurial ; nothing delights him 
 so much as change spiced with adventure. Here was 
 a move such as we had never experienced or expected, 
 and the spirits of the command ran correspondingly 
 high. We knew that we had burned our ships and 
 abandoned our supplies, and were henceforth to take 
 care of ourselves. It was well understood that our 
 principal mission was to cripple the resources of the 
 Confederacy, but just whither we were going, or how or 
 when we would get there, none knew, not even the great 
 leader of the army himself. 
 
 There was of course much discussion, as there always 
 is among intelligent soldiers, but upon two points there 
 was never a question or a lingering doubt : they were, 
 first, the ability of the army to do anything it under- 
 took ; and, second, its absolute unwavering confidence in 
 Sherman. 
 
 I shall never forget the scene as we marched out 
 from Atlanta. The air was resonant with explosions, 
 while flames were mounting to the sky from burning 
 depots and factories all over the city. Meanwhile 
 the men were cheering and singing patriotic songs, 
 and fairly revelling in the excitement and novelty 
 of the situation. All believed we would meet resist- 
 ance; that supplies would be destroyed, and bridges 
 burned, and roads obstructed, but all, at the same time, 
 were rejoicing as though they knew we were starting 
 upon the holiday excursion that the march to Savannah 
 turned out to be. In point of fact, the brilliancy of the 
 move lay alone in its conception. Its execution was 
 simple and easy as a pleasure trip. I do not think 
 there was a general officer in the West, besides Sherman,
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL CHARLES D. KERR. 209 
 
 who would have undertaken it. I do not believe there 
 was a division commander in his army who could not 
 have executed it. 
 
 From the time of breaking communication at Carters- 
 ville until we reached Goldsboro', in March, 1865, 1 kept 
 a diary, written up every day at the noon hour and at 
 the camp-fire ; from this I have drawn largely in my 
 story of the march. From Atlanta to Savannah, and 
 from thence to Raleigh, my post of duty was with the 
 left wing, consisting of the Fourteenth and Twentieth 
 Army Corps, and to the march of this wing my story 
 will be principally confined. 
 
 The invading army consisted of about six^y-t^vo 
 thousand infantry, five thousand cavalry under Kil- 
 patrick, sixty guns, and two thousand five hundred 
 wagons, with six mules to each wagon and eight horses 
 to each gun and caisson. The troops were commanded 
 by excellent officers, trained by the experience of many 
 campaigns, and proud of a long series of victories. The 
 amount of food and forage required each day to support 
 this host of men and animals is beyond ready compu- 
 tation. The question of supplies was the unknown 
 quantity in the problem of the march. It was known 
 that the militia of Joe Brown had been disbanded for 
 the purpose of gathering the season's crop for the sus- 
 tenance of non-combatants and the support of the 
 Southern army. It was also known that the most 
 strenuous and frantic appeals had been made by the 
 Southern leaders to the people to destroy these supplies 
 in advance of Sherman's army. No one knew the full 
 extent of the harvest, and it was still more doubtful 
 how far the spirit of self-sacrifice would lead the people 
 
 14
 
 210 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 of Georgia in the destruction of their stores. That 
 there would be hunger and hardship somewhere on the 
 route no one was sanguine enous-h to doubt. 
 
 The unexpected, as usual, occurred. From the day 
 we left Atlanta to the day we reached Savannah, a 
 period of four full weeks, there was an unceasing abun- 
 dance of all that could be desired of food, and forage 
 was a drug in the market. In point of ftict, the most 
 of the inhabitants along the route were heartily tired 
 of the war ; they had sacrificed all they cared to offer 
 upon the altar of Southern independence. There is 
 rarely great self-sacrifice without the stimulus of enthu- 
 siasni and hope. 
 
 The method of securing supplies was reduced to a 
 system which served a double purpose. About twenty 
 men from each regiment were detailed daily. They 
 started out generally before daybreak in the morning, 
 and scoured the country for miles in advance and on 
 either flank. They were the skirmishers as well as the 
 providers of the army, and no army ever had a more 
 daring and efficient skirmish-line. There was no force 
 to opj)ose them but Wheeler's cavalry and a small com- 
 mand of Georgia home-guards, who were invariably 
 brushed aside by these reckless foragers without dis- 
 turbing the line of march of the principal column. 
 
 It has been said by some writers that the system of 
 issuing rations through the brigade commissary was 
 preserved in its integrity throughout this march. I 
 failed to observe anything of the kind. Practically, so 
 far as supplies were concerned, each regiment was a law 
 unto itself. One wagon followed each regiment, and 
 about an hour or two before reaching camp we could
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL CHARLES D. KERR. 2ll 
 
 count with almost absolute certainty upon meeting our 
 detail near the roadside, ready to load on to this wagon 
 all it would carry of the legitimate suj^plies gathered for 
 the regiment. As for the illegitimate plunder, perhaps 
 the less said the better. I have read in the published 
 stories of this march that while all that could sustain a 
 h(3stile army, both animate and inanimate, was freely 
 taken, there was but little lawless appropriation of other 
 property. I would simply reflect upon your intelli- 
 o-ence if I made such a claim before this audience. 
 Every officer who has commanded men in the field 
 knows how difficult it is, even under the most rigid 
 discipline, to check the inclination of the soldiers to 
 plunder. Here were thousands of men sent forth each 
 morning with absolutely no restraint but their own will, 
 with no chance of discovery and no fear of punishment. 
 If the men who have told the story of this march with 
 so much ability really believe that under such circum- 
 stances the foragers took nothing but food, it would 
 have been amusing to have opened to their inspection 
 the knapsacks of Sherman's army when it reached 
 Savannah. I have seen a hundred men, in full view 
 of half as many general and line officers, prodding the 
 ground around some deserted mansion with bayonets, 
 and swords, and ramrods, and spades, in search for 
 hidden treasure, until some darky would be brought, 
 who, emancipated from the fear of his mistress, would 
 say, "Well, you all's sure enough Mars' Lincoln's men; 
 if you'll tote me 'long wid you, so I'll never come back 
 here no mo', sure, I'll show you whar dey's hide it 
 away." The skill acquired by the men in unearthing 
 hidden treasures was matter of comment and marvel to
 
 212 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 the entire army. It never occurred to me till I saw it 
 in print that it was food and forage they were search- 
 ing for. 
 
 The ludicrous features of this branch of the service 
 were comical beyond expression. Many a weary mile 
 was shortened by the thought of the fun we would have 
 when the foragers came in. A familiar scene lingers in 
 memory yet, — an opening by the roadside, a score of 
 men dressed beyond the possibility of recognition, with 
 head-gear from the skull-cap to the bell-crowned stove- 
 pipe, with white pants, swallow-tail coats, and satin 
 vests, all mounted, one on a blooded stallion, one on an 
 unbroken filly, and the rest on mules and horses of 
 every color and condition ; in the midst of the troop an 
 old-fashioned family carriage, with a gorgeously-attired 
 darky mounted on the step behind as footman, the 
 vehicle loaded to the guards with butter and eggs, and 
 sweet-potatoes, and honey, and flour and meal, and 
 vegetables of every grade, from the pumpkin to the 
 gruber-pea, and drawn by a jackass about the size of a 
 sheep, and a horse as big as a small elephant on the 
 pole, and mayhap a cow in the lead, or a rawboned 
 plantation mule flapping his patient ears as he munched 
 his stripped corn fodder. 
 
 Speaking of the gruber-pea, or as we call it the 
 peanut, it seemed to me to be one of the principal 
 products of the soil in Georgia. It was used to feed 
 the hogs, and I have seen cribs of it containing hun- 
 dreds of bushels, suggestive of the corn-cribs we left 
 behind in Illinois. And sweet-potatoes! their memory 
 lingers yet. The larger varieties were called yams ; 
 we had read of these so large that you might sit on one
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL CHARLES D. KERR. 213 
 
 end while the other roasted in the fire. I can testify to 
 having verified the story, for a brief moment, with a 
 monster specimen about three feet long. 
 
 It would be tedious to follow the route of the left 
 wing, with all the towns and villages passed through, 
 as indicated in my diary, but I cannot forbear to men- 
 tion the city of Milledgeville, the beautiful capital of 
 Georgia. One feature of the place was unique, and it 
 seemed to me not inappropriate. The churches of the 
 city were all collected in one inclosure, as large per- 
 haps as two or three of the blocks of St. Paul proper. 
 This inclosure was tastefully laid out with trees and 
 shrubbery and walks : a beautiful park, consecrated to 
 the worship of the God of nature as well as of revela- 
 tion. 
 
 The Legislature of Georgia had hurriedly escaped 
 from one end of the city as we marched in at the other. 
 We thought it meet to su^Dplement their labors, evi- 
 dences of which were scattered all over the State-house. 
 For the first and only time in my life I sat in the halls 
 of legislation as a member. After a heated and some- 
 what acrimonious debate we passed an act, entitled " An 
 act to repeal an ordinance entitled 'An ordinance to dis- 
 solve the union between the State of Georgia and other 
 States united with her in the compact of government 
 entitled the Constitution of the United States.' " After 
 the same had been duly approved by our provisional 
 governor and published to the patriotic citizens of the 
 community, we adjourned sine die, and took uj) our 
 line of march for Savannah. 
 
 When we reached the vicinity of Andersonville, 
 through which, however, we did not pass, a number of
 
 214 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 escaped Union prisoners were brought in by our for- 
 agers. Emaciated by starvation ; their fleshless bones 
 in some cases protruding through their skin, and with 
 eyes which in their gaunt and liungry glare suggested 
 some wild animal, the sight of them might have moved 
 the very stones to pity. Yet in such a land, where the 
 church-bells still invited to the worship of the Saviour 
 of the poor : in a land so overflowing with abundance 
 that it would have supported an army of twice sixty 
 thousand men for months, these prisoners of war, taken 
 in honorable combat, were brought by lack of food to 
 such a plight as this. I am not inclined to be impla- 
 cable, for the most part I have forgiven, if I have not 
 forgotten, but this thing I never can and I never will 
 either forget or forgive. 
 
 I cannot agree with the historians of this campaign 
 upon the negro question. It has been stated that or- 
 ders were given prohibiting any camp-following by 
 this race. If such were the case it did not come to my 
 knowledge. The assistance and information which they 
 always freely gave filled them with dread, not so much 
 of their master's household as of the marauding bands 
 of Wheeler's cavalry, that followed our column like an 
 avenging Nemesis, scourging and killing all negroes 
 who were suspected of giving comfort to the enemy. 
 The terror in which these horsemen were held by the 
 colored people was simply beyond expression, and their 
 pleadings for the protection which they believed they 
 could find nowhere but under the wings of our army 
 was irresistible. Sherman was to them a veritable 
 Moses. His strength covered their weakness, and with 
 a faith that never faltered, and a devotion and loyalty
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL CHARLES D. KERR. 215 
 
 that nothing could shake, they followed the army in 
 multitudes, without regard to age or sex. This was 
 not only permitted, but to my knowledge it was encour- 
 aged ; they were led to believe that the government 
 would make some provision for their self-sujDport when 
 we reached the sea-coast, as indeed it did immediately 
 upon our entry into Savannah. 
 
 Under date of Thursday, December 8, I find the 
 following in my diary : " Eleven o'clock : road ob- 
 structed ahead. Bridge burned over Ebenezer Creek. 
 Ebenezer a dilapidated little town one hundred and 
 thirty-one years old. Antiquated, tumble-down church, 
 same age as town. Laid pontoons. Shelled by rebel 
 gunboat in river quarter of mile distant : no one hurt. 
 Camped at six o'clock S. S. AY. seven miles. Eighteen 
 miles from city heard heavy cannonading all day on 
 right and in direction of city : rear of Baird attacked 
 by Wheeler. Marched back six miles, and camped for 
 the night at ten o'clock p.m. Plenty to eat. No pro- 
 visions destroyed by the rebels yet.'' The "yet" covered 
 the entire distance from Atlanta. 
 
 Ebenezer Creek, where we crossed next day, was a 
 swollen stream about ten rods wide and eight or ten 
 feet deep. Wheeler's cavalry was closely pressing our 
 rear. On the pretence that there was likely to be 
 fighting in front, the negroes were told not to go upon 
 the pontoon-bridge until all the troops and wagons were 
 over : a guard was detailed to enforce the order ; but, 
 patient and docile as the negroes always were, the 
 guard was really unnecessary. My regiment was in 
 the rear of everything in the Fourteenth Corps that day. 
 As soon as we were over the creek, orders were given
 
 216 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 to the engineers to take up the pontoons, and not let a 
 negro cross. The order was obeyed to the letter. I 
 sat upon my horse then and witnessed a scene the like 
 of which I pray my eyes may never see again. 
 
 Already the shots from Wheeler's carbines were be- 
 ginning to tell upon the dense mass upon the farther 
 shore. Rushing to the water's brink, they raised their 
 hands and implored from the corps commander the 
 protection they had been promised. Sherman was 
 many miles away, the prayer was in vain, and with 
 cries of anguish and despair, men, women, and chil- 
 dren rushed by hundreds into the turbid stream, and 
 many were drowned before our eyes. From what we 
 learned afterwards of those who remained upon the 
 land, their fate at the hands of Wheeler's troopers was 
 scarcely to be preferred. I speak of what I saw with 
 my own eyes, not those of another, and no writer who 
 was not upon the ground can gloss the matter over for 
 me. It is claimed that this was done because rations 
 were becoming scarce ; in short, that it was a military 
 necessity. There was no necessity about it. Not only 
 the dictates of humanity, but the call of duty as well, 
 demanded that we should aiford these helpless creatures 
 the protection within our power. There was not a 
 soldier who would not have gladly come much nearer 
 starvation than was at all likely rather than have 
 sanctioned such a measure. It was unjustifiable and 
 perfidious, and across the stretch of twenty years my 
 soul burns with indignation to-night as I recall it. To 
 set over against this act, I wish to record my testimony 
 here, that in the four years and three months of my 
 service in the army, most of it in the field, I never
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL CHARLES D. KERR. 217 
 
 knew a case, and I never heard of an instance, of a 
 negro slave proving faithless to the Union cause, or 
 false to its defenders. 
 
 Savannah was speedily occupied and communication 
 established with the fleet and home, and camp was 
 flooded with letters from our loved ones. 
 
 Our month's stay in the vicinity of Savannah was 
 simply delightful. The rides down the beautiful shore 
 of Ossabaw Sound to Fort Thunderbolt ; the grand old 
 cemetery of Bonaventure, festooned with the moss from 
 its giant live-oaks; the succulent oysters brought to 
 each regiment by wagon-loads from their bed in the 
 sound, where they had lain undisturbed for years, will 
 never be forgotten. 
 
 Listen to the menu from my diary of Sunday, Janu- 
 ary 1, 1865, and pity the poor soldier: "Dinner for 
 headquarters' mess. Oyster soup, oysters on the half 
 shell, roast goose, fried oysters, roasted oysters, rice, 
 raisins, and cofi'ee, with condensed milk, of course. A 
 little top-heavy as to oysters, but we don't complain." 
 
 We found in Savannah more intelligence, wider 
 knowledge of the world, and more enlightened views gen- 
 erally than we had seen in any other city of the South. 
 
 The pleasant episode of our sojourn there was of short 
 duration. It was well understood that our next move 
 would be against the army of Lee in Virginia. It was 
 not known whether it would be by sea or through the 
 Carolinas. This was soon determined in accordance 
 with Sherman's plan, and the work of preparation 
 began. The army remained about the same in num- 
 bers and efiiciency. Very many, especially among the 
 line officers, were discharged, but their places were sup-
 
 218 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 plied by the return of those who were not present to 
 start with us from Atlanta. Logan, the " Dessaix" of 
 the army, and Osterhaus, and many others among the 
 best and bravest officers, rejoined us at Savannah and 
 resumed their proper commands. 
 
 To my mind, from a military point of view, the 
 march through Georgia was almost insignificant in com- 
 parison with the campaign through the Carolinas. The 
 former was simple and easy. The latter in difficulty 
 and hardship will compare favorably with the marches 
 of Hannibal and Gustavus Adolphus. The route 
 through Georgia was on parallel lines with the rivers 
 and principal streams. The weather was delightful, 
 and there was scarcely any possibility of any armed op- 
 position worthy the name. The sick-call was forgotten, 
 and the medical department was a sinecure. 
 
 Now the rainy season of the South had set in. The 
 topography of the country to be traversed was low and 
 swampy. We must cross the Salkahatchie, the Edisto, 
 the Saluda, the Broad, the Great and Little Pedee, and 
 the Cape Fear Rivers, most of them navigable, and 
 some of them reached by causeways through impass- 
 able swamps, where a few determined men could almost 
 indefinitely retard the crossing. 
 
 About twelve or fifteen thousand of Hood's scattered 
 forces had reached Augusta. Hardee had moved over 
 the river at Savannah with at least twelve thousand 
 infantry, and as many more could be gathered from 
 Charleston and other points as far north as Wilming- 
 ton. These forces, united with the cavalry of Wheeler 
 and Wade Hampton, ought to have made our march 
 through such a country at that season of the year well-
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL CHARLES D. KERR. 219 
 
 nigli impracticable. But Sherman knew his army, and 
 the army knew and believed in Sherman. He saw all 
 the obstacles and dangers which opposed his under- 
 taking, but he knew also the means by which, as he 
 hoped, they might be conquered. An army has a soul 
 as well as the individual man, and nothing is impos- 
 sible to the unconquerable spirit of such a host as 
 marched with Sherman into South Carolina. 
 
 We had noted through Georgia a strong feeling of 
 dislike towards South Carolina. Among the common 
 people especially the idea was prevalent that the woes 
 and miseries of the South were largely attributable to 
 that cradle of secession. The expression was almost 
 general that if we would only march through South 
 Carolina, and give her a touch of the same discipline 
 we were administering to Georgia, they would bear 
 their suffering with more resignation. It is needless to 
 say that this sentiment met a ready response among our 
 men, and when we reached the Savannah Kiver and 
 looked across to the original soil of secession there was 
 many an imprecation and threat, which afterwards bore 
 fearful fruit. It was universally understood that the 
 little finger of the army in South Carolina was to be 
 thicker than its loins in Georgia. 
 
 The Fourteenth Army Corps crossed the Savannah 
 Kiver at Sister's Ferry, about thirty miles above Savan- 
 nah, on the 5th da}^ of February, 1865. Our experi- 
 ence that day was simply a foretaste of what was to 
 come. It had been raining for several days, and we 
 marched waist-deep in water for a hundred rods after 
 reaching the Carolina shore. My diary for Monday, 
 February 6, reads as follows : " In camp. Rained all
 
 220 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 night. First and Third Division trains loading from 
 boats. Men dug up piano, books, and many costly ar- 
 ticles of furniture in camp; everybody digging. Also 
 dug up land-turtle, which made excellent soup." You 
 will please not infer from this that turtle-soup was an 
 ordinary episode of the campaign of the Carolinas. 
 
 From this on my diary tells an unvarying story of 
 rain, mud, corduroying, forced marches, short rations, 
 and hardships almost beyond endurance. It tells, also, 
 day by day, of houses burned, property destroyed, and 
 the country laid waste as if by the spirit of desolation. 
 An army marching through a land is a fearful scourge, 
 even when the most rigid discipline is maintained ; but 
 when let loose, as our army was in South Carolina, it is 
 simply indescribable. 
 
 Of the forty -five days consumed by the march from 
 the Savannah Eiver to Goldsboro', no less than twenty- 
 eight were rainy, and yet it was not uncommon to make 
 as high as twenty-four miles in a day. The march was 
 not only more difficult but more interesting and ex- 
 citing than that through Georgia. A volume would 
 hardly suffice to relate the incidents noted in my diary. 
 I cannot but regret that my limited time this evening 
 compels so cursory a review of a campaign so full of 
 interest to the soldier. 
 
 A Confederate army never had so many lost oppor- 
 tunities as that which confronted us in the Carolinas. 
 Of course the strategy of Sherman, which always kept 
 it doubtful what points we would strike, had much to 
 do with our success, but I think it was owing largely 
 also to the imbecility of Beauregard, Hardee, and Wade 
 Hampton. The path of the army through South Caro-
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL CHARLES D. KERR. 221 
 
 lina was from forty to fifty miles wide, embracing in 
 its destructive scope every railroad in the State. Not 
 only this, but if Sherman should reach Raleigh it 
 meant death to the Confederacy, unless Lee could es- 
 cape from Grant and crush the army of Sherman 
 before being overtaken. 
 
 Jefferson Davis could no longer conceal the gravity 
 of the situation from his people or their army. In the 
 desperation of the crisis he gave to Lee the supreme 
 command of all the armies. That sagacious leader 
 again placed Joe Johnston at the head of the forces 
 opposed to Sherman. But even the cautious Johnston 
 could not stem our victorious march. Not only a gen- 
 eral was to be found for the army but an army must 
 also be found for the general. The Confederate troops 
 in the Carolinas, weakened by desertion, demoralized 
 by defeat, and dispirited by continued misfortune, had 
 unlearned, under incompetent generals, that warlike 
 impetuosity, which as it is the consequence so it is the 
 guarantee of success. 
 
 The length of this article admonishes me that I 
 must pass quickly over the stirring events of a cam- 
 paign by far the most interesting to me of the war. 
 Of Fayetteville, Columbia, Cheraw, and many points 
 made historic by conflicts of the Revolutionary war, I 
 find in my diary sufficient material for a separate 
 article. My recollection of the battles of Averysboro' 
 and Bentonville is saddened by the thought of the 
 many brave men of my regiment who fell there, so 
 near the end of the war. The true history of the 
 battle of Bentonville remains yet to be told. We 
 formed a junction at last at Goldsboro' with Schofield
 
 222 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 and Terry. An army more indomitable as to spirit 
 and more tatterdemalion as to attire than Sherman's 
 when it reached Goldsboro' can scarcely be imagined. 
 A gunboat had visited us at Fayetteville, but no cloth- 
 ing or equipments came, and the men went through 
 in the same clothes in which they started from Savan- 
 nah, except where supplemented from rebel wardrobes. 
 Officers as well as men were ragged, half shod or 
 shoeless, and smeared from head to foot with the 
 pitch of the North Carolina pine. They were footsore 
 also, and worn out with fighting the elements and the 
 enemy. In this condition the attempt was made to 
 force a grand review at Goldsboro' before General 
 Schofield and his army, who were in exceptionally 
 clean and comfortable attire. This was a little too 
 much, and mutterings were heard on every hand. The 
 men declared if they must pass in review it should be 
 done with everything in harmony, and this feeling was 
 openly countenanced or winked at by the officers. 
 
 The review commenced, but it did not last very long. 
 I don't know who stopped it. Perhaps the one or two 
 regiments that did pass by the reviewing officers were 
 considered a sufficient sample of the whole. At all 
 events we were all ordered back to our camps, and the 
 review was the joke of the army for a season. Proba- 
 bly in all the wars of the world there never was seen 
 so bizarre and comical a sight as the leading regiments 
 of this column which commenced that review. Nearly 
 every soldier had some token of the march on his 
 bayonet from a pig to a potato. It was no doubt con- 
 sidered the sooner the show was ended the better for 
 the discipline of the army.
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL CHARLES D. KERR. 223 
 
 The history of the march from Goldsboro' to Raleigh 
 and the surrender of the last great army of the Rebel- 
 lion is familiar to all. In his pro|)Osed treaty with 
 Johnston, Sherman displayed the rare qualities which 
 distinguished his career. He had been as inexorable 
 as fate and severe enough to suit the most exacting 
 while Rebellion yet held arms in its hands, but when 
 the cause was abandoned and the arms laid down, he 
 did not forget moderation in the intoxication of success, 
 or justice in the plenitude of power. I shall perhaps 
 differ in this also from many of my comrades who 
 listen to this paper, but to my mind Sherman bright- 
 ened the lustre of his triumphal march by the brighter 
 splendor of moderation and clemency at its close.
 
 REMINISCENCES OF THE WAR 
 
 IN THE 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI. 
 
 BY BEIGADIEK-GENERAL JOHN B. SANBOEN, 
 
 BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL U. S. VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 Companions: — The attractions of war are its un- 
 fading laurels, its imperishable glories. For these men 
 aim, and strive to win them as priceless gems or im- 
 mortal crowns. The dazzling lustre of these laurels 
 hides from view the weary march, the exposed bivouac, 
 the suffering, the wounds, the death on the battle-field. 
 In a few months of actual service the illusion vanishes, 
 and all soldiers soon learn that while toil, labor, ex- 
 posure, wounds, and death in war are for the many, the 
 glory and the renown are for the few. 
 
 It is very agreeable and pleasant for us to write, 
 speak of, and contemplate the pleasant and glorious 
 things of the war and of our army life ; it may, how- 
 ever, be not less profitable to ourselves and to future 
 generations for us to dwell awhile, and write somewhat 
 of the unpleasant and destructive phases of war, of its 
 effect upon peaceful and orderly communities ; the bit- 
 terness and wrath that in civil war is engendered be- 
 
 224
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 225 
 
 tween man and man, and neighborhood and neighbor- 
 hood ; of those deep-seated and hidden passions that 
 lie concealed in the breasts of civilized and Christian- 
 ized people, which break forth when kindled and 
 aroused by war and civil strife, and lead to more hor- 
 rible and cruel deeds than have ever been practised by 
 the most savage of our aboriginal tribes upon the most 
 hated of their fallen enemies ; how at such times 
 
 '•Religion, blushing, veils her sacred fires, 
 And, unawares, morality expires." 
 
 Vicksburg had fallen. The rebel armies had been 
 hurled back in disorder from the bloody heights of 
 Gettysburg ; the Army of the Cumberland was tempo- 
 rarily at bay near the well-contested field of Chicka- 
 mauga, waiting for the Army of the Tennessee, from 
 which it had separated a little more than a year before, 
 after the surrender of Corinth, to again join hands with 
 her, and, by a combined movement and effort, over- 
 whelm the only remaining well-organized army in the 
 Confederacy. It was now October, 1863. My old com- 
 mand, First Brigade, Seventh Division, Seventeenth 
 Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, had reached 
 luka, leaving the Mississippi Kiver at Memphis on its 
 march to Chattanooga to join the Army of the Cum- 
 berland. Thirty or forty general officers, who were to 
 join their commands by the Memphis and Charleston 
 Railroad in a day or two, were in the room occupied by 
 General Grant at the Gayoso House at Memphis. The 
 general was at his table writing as rapidly as he could 
 move his pen, when an orderly handed him a telegram. 
 He opened it and read it aloud. It was from General 
 
 15
 
 226 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Halleck at Wasliington, tlien general-in-chief of the 
 armies, and directed General Grant to send one, or, if 
 he could possibly spare them, two general officers to 
 General Schofield at St. Louis to aid him in driving 
 the rebel forces under General Shelby from Missouri. 
 The explosion of a bomb-shell would not have produced 
 a more marked effect. The more nervous of these 
 officers jumped from their seats and left the room. 
 Those who remained looked at General Grant and then 
 at each other, as if expecting a dire calamity to befall 
 them. 
 
 All had been with him through his campaigns of 
 1862 and 1863, knew their own commands and all 
 other commands and commanders in that army, and 
 for one to leave was like the breaking up of a family 
 and leaving home. Whatever of rank or fame or 
 military reputation each had acquired had been won 
 in that army, and to leave was to leave home and 
 friends, honor and fame, civilized and honorable war- 
 fare, and go among strangers, into a dark and bloody 
 region, where the war was carried on with a barbarity 
 and cruelty that would have been disapproved by the 
 Comanche or Sioux Indians. 
 
 General Grant saw, in an instant, how repulsive the 
 idea was to every one of his officers, and remarked, 
 " The service will be but temporary ; whoever goes I 
 will see that he is back to his command before I 
 am ready to advance from Chattanooga;" and turning 
 towards me, said, " General, no brigade in the absence 
 of its commander has as good a commander as yours." 
 (This was a compliment to Colonel Jesse I. Alexandei-, 
 Fifty-ninth Indiana Volunteers, who was with him in
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 227 
 
 Mexico.) " I wish you would go willingly and help 
 Schofield out in his department." To me these words 
 were words of doom. 
 
 The next morning I was on a boat, steaming towards 
 St. Louis. General Grant and his staff officers were 
 on board en route to Louisville and Chattanooga, pur- 
 suant to orders from the Secretary of War for him to 
 proceed thither and take command of the troops at 
 that point. The trip to Cairo was delightful. At the 
 separation at Cairo I was again assured of my speedy 
 return to my command, but the separation was forever. 
 I am glad to know, through General Schofield, that it 
 was not the failure of General Grant to request my 
 return, as he had stated, but of General Schofield's 
 disapproval of this request, and the action of the au- 
 thorities at Washington, based upon the disapproval 
 of General Schofield. 
 
 Reporting at department headquarters in St. Louis, 
 I was at once advised of where the rebel forces were 
 that were operating in the State of Missouri, and as- 
 sio-ned to the command of the District of Southwest 
 Missouri and given the full authority of a separate 
 commander. The state of affairs, military and civil, 
 in the State of Missouri at this time was deplorable 
 beyond description. It has always been and alw^ays 
 will be a subject of discussion as to what errors or 
 blunders of the early commanders brought about the 
 serious condition of affairs that then existed. At the 
 beginning of the war the State was in what was known 
 as the Western Department, and the department was 
 under the command of General W. S. Harney, with 
 his headquarters at St. Louis. On the 21st of April,
 
 228 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 1861, he had relinquished his command, by a general 
 order dated that day ; on the 11th day of May, 1861, 
 in pursuance, as he says in his order, of instructions 
 received from the adjutant-general's office, he resumed 
 command of the Department of the West,. and retained 
 it for the short space of nineteen days, when he again 
 relinquished the command ; and, on the 3d day of 
 July of that year. General Fremont was assigned to 
 the command by the President of the United States, 
 and assumed command of the Western Department on 
 the 25th day of July, 1861. 
 
 The first army, entitled to the name, that was organ- 
 ized in the West in the War of the Kebellion, was 
 organized under General Fremont's command, and 
 during that period some questions were considered and 
 were agitated which set in motion that intense bitter- 
 ness which existed in the department in 1863. On the 
 30tli of August, 1861, five days after he assumed com- 
 mand of the department. General Fremont issued his 
 famous order, dated St. Louis, August 30, 1861, in the 
 following words : 
 
 " Circumstances, in my judgment of sufficient urgency, render 
 it necessary that the commanding general of this department 
 should assume the administrative powers of the State. Its dis- 
 organized condition ; the helplessness of the civil authority; the 
 total insecurity of life ; and the devastation of property by 
 bands of murderers and marauders, who infest nearly every 
 county of the State, and avail themselves of the public misfor- 
 tunes, and the presence of a hostile force, to gratify private 
 and neighborhood vengeance, and who find an enemy wherever 
 they find plunder, plainly demand the severest measures to re- 
 press the daily increasing crimes and outrages which are driving 
 off the inhabitants and ruiniiio; the State. «
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 229 
 
 " In this condition the public safety and the success of our 
 armies require unity of purpose, without let or hindrance, to 
 the prompt administration of affairs. In order, therefore, to 
 suppress disorder, maintain, as far as now practicable, the 
 public peace, and to give security and protection to the per- 
 sons and propert}^ of loyal citizens, I do hereby extend and 
 declare established martial law throughout the State of Mis- 
 souri. 
 
 " The lines of the army of occupation in this State are for 
 the present declared to extend from Leavenworth, via posts of 
 Jefferson City, Eolla, and Ironton, to Cape Girardeau on the 
 Mississippi Eiver. All persons who shall he taken with arms in 
 their hands loithin these lines shall be tried by court-martial, and if 
 found guilty will be shot. 
 
 " The property, real and personal, of all persons in the State 
 of Missouri who shall take up arms against the United States, 
 or who shall be directly proven to have taken an active part 
 with their enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to 
 the public use, and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby 
 declared fi'ee men. All persons who shall be proven to have 
 destroyed, after the publication of this order, railroad tracks, 
 bridges, or telegraphs, shall suffer the extreme penalty of the 
 law. Ail persons engaged in treasonable correspondence, in 
 giving or procuring aid to the enemies of the United States, in 
 fomenting tumults, in disturbing the public tranquillity by 
 creating and circulating false reports or incendiary documents, 
 are in their own interests warned that they are exposing them- 
 selves to sudden and severe punishment. All persons who have 
 been led away from their allegiance are required to return to 
 their homes forthwith. Any such absence without sufficient 
 cause shall be held to be presumptive evidence against them. 
 
 " The object of this declaration is to place in the hands of 
 the military authorities the power to give instantaneous effect 
 to existing laws and to supply such deficiencies as the con- 
 ditions of war demand ; but this is not intended to suspend the 
 ordinary tribunals of the country, where the law will be ad- 
 ministered by the civil officers in the usual manner and with 
 their customary authority while the same can be peaceably ex-
 
 230 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 ereised. The commanding general will labor vigilantly for the 
 public welfare, and in his efforts for their safety hopes to obtain 
 not only the acquiescence but the active support of the loyal 
 people of the countiy." 
 
 This order has been called " Fremont's Proclamation 
 of Confiscation and Emancipation." That portion of 
 Missouri which he claimed to be within the Federal 
 lines was filled with two classes of people, — those who 
 were the most intensely loyal of any people in the 
 United States, and those who were the most disloyal of 
 any people in the United States, not even excepting 
 those living in and around Charleston in South Caro- 
 lina. 
 
 The order was followed on the following day by a 
 retaliatory order from General M. Jeff. Thompson, com- 
 manding the State forces under Governor Jackson, in 
 which, among other language, he used the following : 
 
 " I do most solemnly promise that for every member of the 
 Missouri State Guard or soldier of our allies, the armies of the 
 Confederate States, who shall be put to death in pursuance of 
 the said order of General Fremont, I will hang, draw, and 
 quarter a minion of said Abraham Lincoln." 
 
 Two days after the date of the order, Mr. Lincoln, 
 with that wisdom and foresight with which he seemed 
 to have been gifted, and which seemed almost super- 
 natural, wrote as follows to General Fremont : 
 
 " My dear Sir, — Two points in your proclamation of August 
 30 give me some anxiety : First, should you shoot a man ac- 
 cording to the proclamation, the Confederates would very cer- 
 tainly shoot our best man in their hands, and so man for man 
 indefinitely. It is therefore my order that you allow no man to 
 be shot under the proclamation without first having my appro-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 231 
 
 bation or consent. Second, I think there is great danger that 
 the closing paragraph, in relation to the confiscation of prop- 
 erty and the liberation of slaves of traders and owners, will 
 alarm our Southern Union friends and turn them against us, 
 perhaps ruin our rather fair prospects for Kentucky. Allow 
 me, therefore, to ask that you, as of your own motion, modify 
 that paragraph so as to conform to the first and fourth sections 
 of the act of Congress entitled ' An act to confiscate property 
 used for insurrectionary purposes,' approved August 6, 1861, a 
 copy of which act I herewith send you. This letter is written 
 in a spirit of caution and not of censure. I send it by a special 
 messenger in order that it may more certainly and speedily 
 reach you. 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 " A. Lincoln." 
 
 On the 8tli of September General Fremont declined 
 to modify liis order, and requested the President to 
 modify it as he shotdd see best, and the President on 
 the lltli of September modified it as follows: 
 
 "It is therefore ordered that the said clause of said proclama- 
 tion be so modified, held, and construed as to conform to and not 
 to transcend the provisions on the same subject contained in the 
 act of Congress entitled 'An act to confiscate property used for 
 insurrectionary purposes,' approved August 6, 1861, and that 
 said act be published at length with this order." 
 
 The clause referred to was the clause relating to the 
 confiscation of property and the liberation of slaves. 
 That portion of the order which provided for shooting 
 all persons who should be taken with arms in their 
 hands north of the line designated in the order, though 
 formally modified by the President, practically still 
 remained in force, and the bitterness was so intense 
 that it was not found difficult to find officers who exe- 
 cuted that portion of the order with the greatest alac-
 
 232 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 rity, and the destruction of life and property proceeded, 
 on both sides, with the utmost vigor ; and on the 25th 
 of September, 1862, under the orders of General Merrill, 
 ten Confederate prisoners were executed at Macon in 
 retaliation for the capture and killing of a Union citi- 
 zen, and on the 18th of October of the same year ten 
 Confederate prisoners at Palmyra were executed by 
 order of General John McNeill for a like offence. 
 These prisoners thus put to death were citizens of the 
 State, who had committed no offence against the laws 
 beyond expressing their sympathy for the Southern 
 cause, or who had taken their arms and started to join 
 the Confederate armies. They were all sympathizers 
 with the Rebellion, and their offence was political more 
 than civil. 
 
 It seemed to me then, and has always seemed to me, 
 upon reflection, since, that taking the condition of so- 
 ciety in the State of Missouri into account, the fact 
 that loyalists and disloyalists were mingling together in 
 every community, the putting to death of such citizen 
 prisoners in retaliation for the capture and destruction 
 of Union people by the lawless men who made their 
 sympathy with the Confederacy their pretext for so 
 doing, resulted in endless harm, and precipitated that 
 condition of affairs in Missouri which we are to con- 
 sider hereafter, and which, in all my observation and 
 all my reading, I have never found equalled in any 
 country or in any age. The fact that a young unmar- 
 ried man voluntarily substituted himself for a man 
 having a family who had drawn his lot to be shot at 
 Palmyra incited both sympathy and indignation. 
 
 It was the current rumor in the army that the De-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 233 
 
 partment of the Missouri was the graveyard of military 
 reputations and generals. General Harney was re- 
 lieved of command under no cloud, so far as military 
 services were concerned, but the whole North enter- 
 tained feelings of distrust in regard to his loyalty. 
 General Fremont relinquished his command of the 
 department November 2, 1861. When he assumed 
 command he had the confidence of the whole country 
 and was held in the highest estimation by all. When 
 he relinquished the command, the country had lost 
 confidence in him as a general, and he achieved noth- 
 ing which has since added anything to his reputation 
 and fame. On the 19th day of November, 1861, Gen- 
 eral Henry W. Halleck assumed command of the De- 
 partment of the Missouri, and designated the States of 
 Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Arkan- 
 sas, and that portion of Kentucky west of the Cumber- 
 land River as the territory that was included in that 
 department, and required all reports and returns to be 
 made to the headquarters of that department in the 
 city of St. Louis. 
 
 During Fremont's command in this department and 
 State, no battles had been fought save that at Wilson's 
 Creek, under the command of General Lyon ; and his 
 failure to send any reinforcements or to afford any 
 support to General Lyon when he was about to attack 
 a largely superior force, led to a loss of all confidence 
 in General Fremont by the thoughtful men of the 
 country. While General Lyon was a soldier of the 
 highest type, he was in full accord in sentiment with 
 Mr. Lincoln and the Republican party ; he was one of 
 those officers of the regular army who if anything was
 
 234 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 in advance of the public sentiment of the North in 
 regard to the question of slavery. He seemed to have 
 yearned and burned for the day to come when the 
 Republican party should be in power, and when he 
 could show his attachment to the cause of freedom by 
 his services on the field. He had left Fort Riley, in 
 Kansas, in March, 1861, and been ordered to St. Louis, 
 and was on duty in the arsenal in the spring of that 
 year. He wrote a letter while there to an old friend 
 of his at Fort Riley, who was afterwards a quartermas- 
 ter on my staff" and who gave me several of the original 
 letters of General Lyon, written while he was on duty 
 at the arsenal. At the risk of wearying your patience 
 somewhat I will read one of these original letters, 
 simply to show the character, principles, and feelings 
 of this officer at that time. It is a letter written to a 
 confidential friend, and contains the utterances of one 
 of the most zealous and loyal hearts of the regular 
 army, and shows some of the difficulties with which 
 he was surrounded. It is dated " St. Louis Arsenal, 
 March 7, 1861," but the stamp on the envelope shows 
 clearly that it should have been April 7, 1861. The 
 letter is as follows : 
 
 " Dr. Scott, — Your note of the 2d inst. was received last even- 
 ing and I am much obliged for your kind attention. I go up 
 to town often and have just returned. I always find myself 
 busy there, and to hurry back to attend drills, etc. I met 
 Mrs. Mclntyre and Miss Atkinson some days ago there, but 
 have not been down to call on them. "Went down and spent 
 one day at the barracks with Robinson and wife, and famil}' of 
 Major Macrae. Have met Mrs. Wilson and her daughter, Mrs. 
 Thompson. Thompson was here on duty but has gone to 
 Leavenworth; shall call on these ladies soon. Captain Steele 
 of the dragoons is in town, having been deprived of bis com-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHX B. SANBORN. 235 
 
 mand at Leavenworth by old Scott with his characteristic 
 tyrannj^. He feels badly. I saw O'Connell in town to-day, but 
 did not give him McLean's message. I will do so soon. He is 
 often down here. Please thank McLean for his kind sentiments 
 and eiforts. 
 
 "I get very mad in thinking over the villainy of old Scott's 
 character and the outrage done me and the line of the army. 
 I have expected the necessity for a correction of this would 
 force the new administration to do it. I cannot say that it 
 will, as Lincoln seems to have put himself in this man's hands. 
 I should not fret mj-self so much if Hagner had any capacity 
 for command and zeal for the service, but his persistent refusal 
 to take any precautions for defence, and his orders that we are 
 not to repel an attacking force till he has taken possession of 
 our walls and securely lodged himself behind them and so en- 
 tered our grounds that we are measurably in the enemj^'s power, 
 convince me of covert treachery or unaccountable imbecility. 
 In case of an attack I suspect we shall have traitors inside as 
 well as outside, and you ma}' rely upon it, so far as in ni}- power, 
 both will be dealt with as effectually as circumstances will per- 
 mit. If, as I suspect, old Scott wants this place given up, and 
 oui'selves disgraced and our country still further degraded, he 
 had better get me and some others of the officers now here out 
 of the place before the attempt is made. By proper precau- 
 tions we can hold this place easily with less force than we now 
 have, and though, as it is, I hope we shall hold it, Ave must do 
 so, if attacked, at great sacrifice. I should like old Scott to know 
 that I see in this matter confirmatory evidence of what I have 
 always regarded him, as an unqualified scoundrel, and if the 
 present impending danger subsides I shall do what I can to put 
 this matter in a proper light and bring it to its legal beai'ing. 
 
 " Soon after I ari-ived here I was able to see that purposes of 
 an attempt on this place were entertained, but the matter sub- 
 sided and the secessionists have laid their plans for an extr^oi'- 
 dinary effort, to be stimulated upon the indignation at Lincoln's 
 address. At that time a secession flag was raised in the city 
 and riot threatened. I cannot sa}'' that a.i\j purposes were en- 
 tertained concerning this place. The convention is in session
 
 236 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 here, and so far is doing very well, but a popular hobby with 
 the secessionists is to cry out against coercion, and in connection 
 with this to put the policy of Lincoln, as properly set forth in 
 his address, in such an attitude of coercion as shall appeal to 
 the coercion opposition, and place Missouri in an attitude of 
 hostility to the government. This policy or that of determin- 
 ing upon a convention of the border slave States seems likely 
 to succeed. Of course I like the purpose declared by Mr. Lin- 
 coln, to hold, occupy, and possess public places, etc. Let him 
 do this, save poor Anderson and other victims of Buchanan's 
 treachery, with discretion and firmness, and though it may cost 
 us much lead, it is the only way to effect anj^thing and save us 
 from entire anarchy and destruction. 
 
 '' Tell our Eepiiblican friends that Major Anderson should 
 have the brigadier-generalship ; Sumner does not deserve it ; he 
 is now as high as he ought to be, and let this signal heroism, 
 which is the delight of our countrymen, be duly rewarded. We 
 cannot do too much for Major Anderson and his heroic party. I 
 regret to see thus early a spirit of partisan policy that would ad- 
 vance party and personal favors at the expense of justice and 
 the interests of the service, and this party from which I had 
 hoped so much, whose advent to power 1 had so much longed 
 and labored for, at once demoralized by that odious feature of 
 Democracy. If Mr. Lincoln cannot upon the avowed purpose 
 of his party rise above party tricks and sordid aims, we are 
 indeed most miserable, and I can see nothing before us but dis- 
 affection in his own party and general misrule and disaster. I 
 would apply these remarks to the question of this generalship 
 and other appointments to the army in which we are interested, 
 —that case of old W. B. Montgomery, dismissed for his villainy 
 at Fort Eiley. I presume Mr. Lincoln and his party will be 
 favorable to his restoration. I wish you would speak to such of 
 them as you know and to Senator Foster of my State, and say 
 that his reappointment will be a great outrage, and that I will, 
 if made, so expose it over my own name. I would Hke you to 
 inform me if this matter is in contemplation. Tell me who of 
 our Kansas people are in Washington,— Delahay, Vinaldi, Dr. 
 Woodward, etc. If any of them whom I know are there, say 
 my regards.
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 237 
 
 " Do you know Miss Julia Lee, daughter of Major Lee of tlie 
 commissar}' department ? These Julias seem to possess a pecu- 
 liar charm, and there must be something in the name. Please 
 go to her and say my regards, and that I hope she is right 
 on the question of the Union, both national and domestic, but 
 that if opposed to the former I hope she may never realize the 
 latter, but live on an old maid forever, — a sad fate, indeed, but 
 less so than that which ultimately awaits secessionists. If any 
 of my Eepublican friends in Washington can do anything for 
 you, tell them they have my orders to do it. 1 intend going 
 up-town, and will try and see O'Conuell and show him your 
 letter before closing this. 
 
 "Just returned from town, but did not see O'Connell. Will 
 do so soon, and see that he gets yours and McLean's message. 
 Please say to Major Hunter that I wrote to him and also en- 
 closed a letter for Mr. F. P. Biair, in which I pointed out the 
 wants of the service here. Please ask the major if he received 
 them. Sweeney sends you his regards, and I remain 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 '■ N. Lyon." 
 
 When General Fremont assumed command of the 
 department, Lyon was in Southwest Missouri in com- 
 mand of a small force that he had gathered together of 
 regulars and volunteers from Kansas and Iowa, and 
 was confronted by a rebel army larger than any that 
 the Federals had been able up to that time to get to- 
 gether in the West. The rebel force numbered from 
 twenty to twenty-five thousand men. The force under 
 Lyon from four to five thousand. There can be no 
 doubt that General Fremont was kept in a constant 
 state of alarm by the reports of a contemplated advance 
 upon St. Louis and Missouri by the Mississippi River 
 and from Northeastern Arkansas and Southeastern 
 Missouri. These reports were all without foundation. 
 General Lyon made the most urgent appeals for rein-
 
 238 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 forcements on and prior to August 1, 1861, and at last 
 sent an old member of Congress from Southwest Mis- 
 souri, Colonel John S. Phelps, who had been a member 
 of Congress for eighteen years when the war com- 
 menced, and was at that time chairman of the Com- 
 mittee of Ways and Means, to urge upon General Fre- 
 mont the necessity of reinforcements to General Lyon. 
 All tliese applications failed to induce General Fremont 
 to forward any reinforcements. 
 
 On the 9th of August, 1861, General Lyon received a 
 despatch by courier from General Fremont to the effect 
 that he (Lyon) had no doubt over-estimated the force in 
 his front ; that he ought not to fall back without good 
 cause, and assured him that no reinforcements could be 
 sent, and that he must report his future movements as 
 promptly as possible and do the best he could. To this 
 despatch General Lyon made the following reply : 
 
 "Springfield, Missouki, August 9, 1861. 
 "General, — I have just received your note of the 6th inst. 
 by special messenger. I retired to this place, as I have before 
 informed you, reaching here on the 5th. The enemy followed 
 to within ten miles of here. He has taken a strong position 
 and is recruiting his supplies, the horses, mules, and provisions, 
 by forages into the surrounding country. His large force of 
 mounted men enables him to do this without much annoyance 
 from me. I find my position extremely embarrassing, and am at 
 present unable to determine whether 1 shall be able to maintain 
 my ground or forced to retire. I shall hold my ground as long 
 as possible, though I may, without knowing how far, endanger 
 the safety of my force, with its valuable material, being induced 
 by the important consideration involved to take this step. The 
 enemy yesterday made a show of force about five miles distant, 
 and has doubtless a full purpose of making an attack on us. 
 " Yery truly your obedient servant, 
 
 "N. Lyon."
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 239 
 
 On the night of this same day General Lyon moved 
 out his force of four thousand five hundred men from 
 Springfield to the vicinity of the camp of the enemy, 
 and on the morning of the 10th at daylight commenced 
 an attack upon their camp and line of battle. While 
 he lived to command the line he made constant ad- 
 vances. He fell a little after noon at a point more than 
 half a mile in front of where his first line of battle was 
 formed, and almost immediately after his fall the Fed- 
 eral army commenced to retreat. A death more heroic 
 than his is not recorded in the annals of war. While 
 reconnoitring his line he had received three wounds, 
 and stepped to the rear and had a conversation with 
 Major Sweeney, looking faint and exhausted, and the 
 blood trickling down his face. He sat down upon a 
 stone and seemed to be in deep contemplation, when a 
 force of Iowa and Kansas troops that had been engaged 
 and been driven back and had re-formed came forward, 
 saying, "We have no one to lead us." He immediately 
 called to one of his orderlies for a horse, and mounted, 
 saying, " Boys, I will lead you," and led them forward 
 in a charge, which received no check until he fell mor- 
 tally wounded. The spot where he fell is now marked 
 by a vast pile of common cobble-stones, which have 
 been thrown up by the patriotic hands of his country- 
 men as they have passed by in the common highway. 
 Tlie same position where this battle was fought was 
 occupied by about fifteen hundred Confederates when 
 Fremont advanced on the same in the autumn follow- 
 ing. He manoeuvred towards this position slowly with 
 twenty-five thousand men, but no other battle of equal 
 magnitude was ever fought in Missouri, while every
 
 240 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 county and almost every town was the scene of conflict 
 and bloodshed during the four succeeding years, and 
 many quite respectable battles and affairs were fought. 
 
 The glory of Lyon is imperishable, but the path 
 which led to it led also to the grave. Fremont left the 
 department with his reputation dimmed and clouded, 
 but he was not disgraced. General Halleck succeeded 
 him in command, and brought to the department zeal 
 and a wealth of military knowledge that none of his 
 predecessors possessed, and which proved to be of in- 
 estimable value to the country. He speedily organized 
 and put in motion armies that never knew defeat, and 
 that proved to be the instruments in the hands of able 
 commanders that suppressed the Kebellion. Halleck 
 made the whole department a military school, and 
 every subordinate officer was his pupil. His orders 
 were terse, vigorous, and pointed ; even the men who 
 heard them read on dress parade could remember them. 
 For our amusement more than our instruction I will 
 read one at this time. It is as follows : 
 
 "Headquarters Department of the Missoxtri. 
 "St. Louis, Mo., December 10, 1861. 
 " General Orders No. 23. 
 
 " I. — At a regimental court-martial, which convened at Padu- 
 cah, Kentucky, pursuant to order of November 27, 1861, from 
 W. L. Sanderson, colonel commanding the Twenty-third Eegi- 
 ment of Indiana United States Volunteers, and of which Cap- 
 tain D. G. Ka}^ of Company C of the same regiment, is presi- 
 dent, was arraigned and tried Private Thomas L. Wooldridge, 
 of Company K, Twenty-third Indiana Eegiment, on the follow- 
 ing charges and specifications : 
 
 " Charges. — 'Absent from his quarters at night without leave 
 from his superior oflScers.' 'Abusive and threatening language 
 towards superior officers.' ' Drunkenness.' ' Stealing chickens.'
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 241 
 
 'Running away from camp when detailed for duty.' 'Declaring 
 that he did not mean to do duty, but would be about pay-day 
 to receive hi8 pay.' 
 
 " Specifications. — ' Said Wooldridge absented himself from his 
 quarters on the night of November 25, 1861, without the con- 
 sent of his superior officers, contrar}'- to Article 42 of the Arti- 
 cles of War. Not long since — time not definitely known — he 
 threatened to kill his superior officers the first opportunity he 
 could get, and at the same time used abusive and disrespectful 
 language in regard to them. On the night of Monday, Novem- 
 ber 5, he came into his quarters in a state of beastly intoxica- 
 tion, and made himself veiy disagreeable to the whole camp. 
 On the morning of the 25th of November he was detailed for 
 guard duty at roll-call in the morning ; but as soon as he got 
 his breakfast he went out of camp, and a file of men hunted 
 him all day without being able to find him. He has not done 
 one day's duty in a month, and he has declared he would not 
 do duty, but would take good care to be present on pay-day. 
 About four weeks ago, as near as can be remembered, in con- 
 nection with some others, he stole from one Mr. Schafer, of 
 Paducah, one dozen chickens, which he sold in town, four of 
 them to a negro belonging to a Mrs. Petty, living on Market 
 Street in said city ; the remaining eight to a man named Mc- 
 Coy, living in the lower part of said city.' 
 
 " To which charges and specifications the accused pleaded 
 as follows : Guilty of absenting himself from camp without 
 leave. Guilty of stealing chickens. Not guilty of being drunk 
 on the time specified. Guilty of leaving camp when he was 
 detailed for duty. 
 
 " The court having fully advised itself in the premises, find 
 the said Thomas L. Wooldridge guilty of the charges specified 
 (in full); and, therefore, we, the court, do adjudge and affix the 
 penalty as follows : 1st. That all his pay be retained, and that 
 it be applied to the regimental fund. 2d. That one-half of his 
 face and head be shaved closely. 3d. That he be drummed out 
 of the service at the point of the bayonet to the tune of the 
 Rogue's March, bare feet and head, and without coat. 
 
 " II. — These proceedings are in almost every sense irregular, 
 
 16
 
 242 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 and show on the part of the court a total ignorance or neglect 
 of its duty. There ai'e no less than six charges with but a 
 single specification applying to them all. These charges and 
 specifications should have been reformed by the judge-advocate 
 before the trial. The sentence is most extraordinary, and in 
 direct violation of the 67th Article of War, limiting the powers 
 of regimental courts. It is therefore disapproved. The pris- 
 oner, however, having acknowledged in open court that he was 
 guilty of disgraceful conduct, it is directed, under the authority 
 conferred by the 11th Article of War, that he be dishonorably 
 discharged from the service of the United States. 
 
 "III. — The attention of the commanding general has been 
 called to the character of proceedings of courts-martial generally 
 in this department ; many of them are disgraceful to the officers 
 composing the courts, as exhibiting on their part an utter igno- 
 rance or disregard of the Eules and Articles of War and of the 
 army regulations. It will be useless to assemble courts for 
 the trial of prisoners unless greater attention be given to this 
 matter; for no reviewing officer, no matter how desirous to 
 promote discipline by punishing the guilty, can confirm such 
 proceedings. 
 
 " By order of Major-General Halleck. 
 
 " Jno. C. Kelton, 
 ^'■Assistant Adjutant-General.'" 
 
 When General Halleck was relieved of command he 
 had won no laurels ; he had won the confidence of the 
 people and officers of the government as an organizer 
 of armies and a superior strategist, and hence was as- 
 signed the command of the armies and ordered to 
 Washington. The enthusiasm of the people ran 
 wholly towards those officers who commanded in the 
 field and won victories. 
 
 General Schofield, before or soon after his assignment 
 to the command of the department, had been promoted 
 to the rank of major-general of volunteers, and his ap-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 243 
 
 pointment had stood unconfirmed for more than a year, 
 and by an arrangement with the President of the United 
 States he was removed from this command and assigned 
 to the command of a division in the field to enable 
 him to win his stars, which he assured the President 
 he could do if he would but give him a command in the 
 field, and which he accomplished early after assuming 
 such command. 
 
 Kosecrans succeeded him, and the lustre of his stars 
 was dimmed rather than brightened by the laborious 
 and difficult command of this tumultuous department. 
 
 Of General Dodge, who succeeded Kosecrans, it is 
 proper to say that he neither lost nor gained reputation 
 while in this wretched command. No future officers 
 nor future age can have the least proper conception of 
 the labors, difficulties, and trials of the department and 
 district commanders of the Department of the Mis- 
 souri, and the historian who writes after the generation 
 which precipitated and conducted that struggle has 
 passed away, and all the animosities engendered by the 
 strife have passed away with them, will alone be able 
 to point out accurately what steps were right and what 
 were wrong during that dismal and destructive strife. 
 
 My command of the Southwest District of Missouri 
 commenced about the 20th of October, 1863. The 
 district extended over a territory approximately two 
 hundred miles square. It seemed at the time I as- 
 sumed command that there was scarcely a township 
 in which there was not a squad of bushwhackers or 
 Confederate soldiers " carrying on war," as they termed 
 it, in violation of all the rules of civilized warfare. At 
 the time of my assumption of command the parties
 
 244 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 bearing despatches were off in various directions,^^ — one, 
 composed of five soldiers, bearing despatches to Cass- 
 ville, a town fifty-five miles southwest of S2:>ringfield ; on 
 their return to Springfield, three days afterwards, they 
 were captured by a body of eight bushwhackers near 
 the place where the battle of Wilson's Creek was fought, 
 and all hung to the limb of a tree, with the exception 
 of one, a boy among them, who was but fifteen years 
 of age. The leader of this gang wrote me a note, which 
 I retained for a long time, but have now lost, in which 
 he stated in substance that he had learned I had re- 
 cently come to that section of country from the Army 
 of the Tennessee ; that he supposed I was not accus- 
 tomed to the manner in which war was carried on in 
 this section. " You may as well understand, first as 
 last, that we will not give any quarter, and we ask no 
 quarter from you ; if we capture you we will put you 
 to death at once, and you have the j^i'ivilege to do the 
 same by us ; we will not carry on war in any other 
 way." 
 
 This was my first experience in that kind of warfare. 
 Of course wrath and indignation were aroused. It was 
 dark when this boy arrived at my headquarters with 
 the despatch. He answered all questions in regard to 
 the appearance of these parties, gave their number and 
 the name of one or two who had been citizens in that 
 section of the country before the war. An aide-de- 
 camp was sent at once to the camp for one of the 
 cavalry regiments, with orders for the colonel to detail 
 a detachment of four companies, under the command 
 of the major, to report forthwith with three days' 
 rations and fortv rounds of ammunition each to head-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 245 
 
 quarters. The major received his orders, which were 
 in effect to pursue and capture this party and bring 
 them to Springfield, and he left within an hour from the 
 time the boy had brought me this despatch. This de- 
 tachment came back and reported at the expiration of 
 four days or less (the precise time I do not remember), 
 but at the time it reported only one of the party of 
 eight bushwhackers was living. 
 
 But all my subsequent experience demonstrated that 
 the statement made by the commander of this bush- 
 whacking party was true, and that there was no possi- 
 bility of carrying on the war in that section of country 
 in any other way than by the absolute destruction of 
 the entire Confederate force. The destruction and suf- 
 fering that this method of warfare occasioned is in- 
 describable. Property was destroyed without limit. 
 During one week a Confederate force would pass 
 through the country for a hundred miles or more, and 
 burn the houses and destroy the property of every loyal 
 man, and before my arrival the Federal forces would 
 soon go over the same section of country and destroy 
 the houses and property of all the disloyal. 
 
 The result was that the population of the tier of 
 counties bordering upon the State of Kansas, namely, 
 McDonald, Newton, Jasper, Barton, and Mount Ver- 
 non, each of which, according to the census of 1860, 
 contained from five thousand to eight thousand ^eo- 
 ple, was reduced by the autumn of 1864 to less than 
 three hundred in any county, and in two or three of 
 the counties there were not one hundred residents left. 
 Women were left without shelter, children of tender 
 years, from four to eight years old, were frequently
 
 246 GLIMPSES OF TEE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 found in the roads or crying in the forests, with no 
 grown people near them, and were brought into Spring- 
 field by the troops, till a society of the ladies there had 
 gathered from fifty to one hundred who knew nothing 
 about their parentage or names or homes. 
 
 All the dead Federal soldiers or Union citizens that 
 fell into the hands of these bands were mutilated in 
 the most horrible manner in every instance. Hands 
 were cut off, tongues cut out, ears were cut off, and 
 nameless parts of the body mutilated ; citizens and sol- 
 diers captured were hung, shot, stoned to death, and sub- 
 jected to indignities worse than death. There seemed 
 no way to remedy this state of affairs but by the most 
 vigorous and determined prosecution of the war in the 
 manner designated by the bushwhacker who sent me 
 the first communication. 
 
 It was determined at the commencement of the year 
 1865 to put an end to this condition of things by or- 
 dering and compelling all disloyal persons of every 
 grade and class to leave the country, and if they would 
 not so in obedience to the orders, to take them out by ' 
 force and ship them below the Arkansas Kiver. So I 
 find that General Order No. 1, dated January 1, 1865, 
 recites among other things that "The persons here- 
 inafter named have fed, harbored, and favored these 
 roving murderous bands, and have thereby become 
 accessory to all their lawless deeds, and that to termi- 
 nate this unhappy, unnatural, and ruinous condition of 
 society, it has become necessary to remove the follow- 
 ing-named persons from this district," and then follow 
 the names of more than one hundred and fifty married 
 women, the heads of families, who are ordered to re-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 247 
 
 move from the district to some point " at least fifty- 
 miles beyond its limits on or before the 10th day of 
 February next." 
 
 The feeling of hostility had increased to such a 
 point that in one single instance at least, if official 
 reports were true, a Union woman, the mother of a 
 family, who was ploughing in the field, all the males 
 of the family having gone off to the war, was shot 
 down by these bushwhackers in the spring of 1864; 
 and the Federal troops were hunting them and destroy- 
 ing them in the same manner as they hunted and 
 destroyed wild beasts. They had been declared in 
 general orders to be enemies of the human race, and it 
 was understood throughout the army operating in that 
 section of the country that it was lawful to destroy any 
 of these persons as a necessity to the restoration of order. 
 They were driven into rivers and shot in crossing ; and 
 driven in one instance, at least, into a cave, and smoked 
 out as wild beasts, and shot as they came out. 
 
 After these vigorous measures and those adopted in 
 the winter of 1865, order was quite generally restored, 
 although the military power was the only authority and 
 the only power known in that section of the country. 
 So timid had the people become that they neither de- 
 sired nor were they willing to recognize any other gov- 
 ernment. The remark was often made by the old 
 citizens who were left living that it was the best gov- 
 ernment and the best condition of things that they ever 
 had, and they should be glad if no change was ever 
 required to be made. It verified the saying that in 
 their estimation that government is best which is best 
 administered.
 
 248 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 There was one feature connected with the carrying 
 on of the war against these lawless bands which was 
 peculiar : it was found by experiment that they would 
 sustain about tlie same proportion of loss before aban- 
 doning a country or section which they infested that 
 a line of battle will sustain when engaged in actual 
 combat. Ten per cent, of the number reported to be 
 infesting any county would be killed, and no impres- 
 sion seemed to be made. This would be so when 
 twenty per cent., upon our best estimates, had been 
 killed, and sometimes they would show very little trepi- 
 dation at thirty per cent. ; but whenever, from the in- 
 formation received, their losses had reached forty per 
 cent, of their entire number, it was almost universally 
 the result that the remaining portion would depart from 
 that country and no more trouble from them occur 
 therein. 
 
 The losses of the parties carrying on the war this 
 way were enormous. According to the official reports, 
 during the time I remained in command they had lost 
 more than four thousand men killed. The loss to the 
 Federals was less tlian five hundred. But the conflict 
 was weekly ; it seems upon reflection to have been 
 almost daily ; sometimes it was between parties of five, 
 ten, or twenty on a side ; sometimes between parties 
 that would number one hundred or more. In one or 
 two instances the entire party of Federals engaged were 
 killed, with the exception of a single man. In several 
 instances the entire force of the Confederates, number- 
 ing in one instance, as I recollect, about fifty men, were 
 all killed with the exception of one or two. Sometimes 
 there were results that would make a person feel super-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 249 
 
 stitious, that were sometimes favorable to the Federals 
 and sometimes to the Confederates. On one occasion a 
 party of despatch-bearers under a lieutenant, number- 
 ing twenty-five men, were attacked near Yellville, 
 Arkansas, and the entire party killed with the excep- 
 tion of one man. 
 
 Late in the war, under the general orders from head- 
 quarters of the district, which required all parties coming 
 upon the trail of bushwhackers to immediately pursue, 
 and if they deemed their force inadequate, to commu- 
 nicate at once with headquarters, by telegraph if pos- 
 sible, if not by messenger, asking for reinforcements, a 
 party composed of a lieutenant and five men pursued a 
 baud of bushwhackers composed of a captain and eleven 
 men. As they came in sight of them they were across 
 the Pomme de Terre Eiver, then raised by a freshet to 
 full banks, drawn up in line. The lieutenant and five 
 men rode directly forward and directly into the stream, 
 swimming their horses under a fire from the entire 
 twelve bushwhackers, and, reaching the other shore, 
 killed five of the men and captured their leader, who 
 had a scalp wound, and captured six horses, twelve 
 Colt's revolvers, and five repeating rifles, and brought 
 all safely to Springfield. Neither the lieutenant nor 
 any man lost a drop of blood, while the clothes of each 
 one were pierced by from one to four bullets. The 
 balance of the party was captured the same day a few 
 miles farther on. Upon the communication of this 
 result to the headquarters of the department, orders 
 came back immediately to distribute the trophies 
 equally among the men engaged in the capture, which 
 was done.
 
 250 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 The captain, whose name was Brownlee, had been 
 tried by a military commission in the first year of tlie 
 war, sentenced to death, and his sentence had been 
 approved by the President of the United States. It 
 was at once ordered from the department headquarters 
 that the sentence be carried into effect, and this was 
 one of the most trying and sad duties that I ever had 
 to perform. He was a bright young man, a lawyer 
 when the war commenced, a native of Pennsylvania 
 and a graduate of her institutions of learning, and 
 seemed completely broken down when he found that 
 the sentence he was under would be executed; but, 
 being a subordinate, I could not even suggest a modifi- 
 cation of the sentence to the President of the United 
 States. Mr. Lincoln, who always scrutinized in person 
 all sentences of this kind, modified them in the first 
 instance if they were to be modified at all. 
 
 Comparative order and peace had been restored in 
 the Southwest in the spring of 1865. The farmers 
 ploughed and planted as they did before the war, and 
 the country was infested less with roving bands than it 
 had been after 1861, and a feeling of confidence seemed 
 to prevail among all classes. At last news of the sur- 
 render of the rebel armies at Richmond came, and the 
 rejoicing of all classes was inexpressible. The long 
 night of chaos through which this section had passed 
 was coming to a close, the morning of the day of peace 
 at last dawned, and again for these people " the morn- 
 ing stars sang together," and all the sons of liberty 
 rejoiced. 
 
 But the work of restoration — and it was a great 
 work — remained to be performed. Nothing but mar-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN 251 
 
 tial law had been known in this section of country for 
 nearly three years. The provost-marshals had even 
 collected debts and remitted the money, exercising 
 nearly all the functions of the civil tribunals. No 
 magistrate dared to issue process, no peace officer dared 
 to execute the process if once issued, and the question 
 now for consideration was what steps to take to restore 
 civil government, and to induce these people to take the 
 affairs of government into their own hands. On the 
 8th day of May, 1865, I issued the following order 
 from the headquarters of the district : 
 
 " General Orders No. 35. 
 
 "I. — The progress and success of the national arms for the 
 last ninety days has been such as to modify and reduce the 
 conflict in which we have been engaged from one of vast pro- 
 portions, as between two independent and contending powers, 
 to a simple effort on the part of the government to establish 
 order, restore the functions of the civil law, and fully protect 
 the I'ights of persons and property, in which effort it does, and 
 for some time probably will, in this section, meet the resistance 
 of many disloyal and disorderly persons, banded together as 
 robbers and murderers, as well as an opposition more difficult 
 to control and overcome, — of strong passions, and the most 
 bitter animosities, engendered by, and a most legitimate out- 
 growth of, the Eebellion. 
 
 '< II. — It is therefore specially ordered and enjoined upon all 
 officers and soldiers in the service, and all citizens are requested 
 to abstain from all exciting and heated discussions upon ques- 
 tions that have been settled by the war, and from all epithets, 
 thi-eats, and language which tend to excite passion and ill- 
 feeling, and each do all in his power to promote peace, confi- 
 dence, and good feelings between all members of society, and 
 between citizens and soldiers. 
 
 "HI. — That the functions of the civil courts and officers may 
 be fully restored at the earliest possible day it is ordered that
 
 252 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 the provost-marshal and assistant provost-marshals on duty in 
 this district shall not hear nor determine any more cases or 
 questions in regard to the ownership or right of possession of 
 any property, real, personal, or mixed, except cases where the 
 government of the United States is an interested party, or 
 where property has been stolen ; but all such cases will be left 
 to the civil courts, to be heard and determined in the same 
 manner as if there was no military occupation of the coun- 
 try. 
 
 '' lY. — All cases of crimes and misdemeanors alleged to have 
 been committed by any citizen, coming to the knowledge of 
 any provost-marshal or assistant provost-marshals or other 
 military officer in this district, will be reported by such provost- 
 marshal or officer to the sheriff of the county in which such 
 offence is committed, and also to the nearest judge or justice 
 of the peace ; and if such sheriff, justice of the peace, or judge 
 does not proceed with the arrest, investigation, and trial of 
 said party or parties within ten days thereafter, the names of 
 such sheriff, justice of the peace, or judge will be sent to these 
 headquarters, to be forwarded to the governor of the State, 
 with a notice of their delinquency ; and in such case the pro- 
 vost-marshal will cause such party or parties to be arrested, if 
 not already in arrest, and will investigate the case, and if suffi- 
 cient evidence exist, hold the party or parties for trial before a 
 military commission in the same manner as heretofore. In 
 those counties where the county government is not organized 
 the same proceedings will be had hereafter as before this 
 order. 
 
 '< V. — Commanders of regiments, detachments, and posts, in 
 this district, are authorized and directed to furnish the sheriff 
 of any county a detachment of troops sufficient to enable him 
 to execute any capias, or other criminal process, within this 
 district. These detachments will be furnished whenever appli- 
 cation is made by any sheriff who exhibits the process that he 
 is directed to serve, and also a certificate of the justice of the 
 peace or judge issuing the same that he believes a detachment 
 of troops necessary to enable the sheriff to execute said pro- 
 cess.
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 253 
 
 "Vr. — As the jails in many counties have been destroyed 
 daring the war, it is recommended that the county court, or 
 other proper authority, of Greene County fix upon a rate of 
 compensation that will be charged, per da}' or week, by said 
 county for boarding criminals. In counties where no suitable 
 jails are provided, prisoners shall be confined in the jail of 
 Greene County. And it is most earnestly recommended that 
 all judges, justices of the peace, sheriff's, and all civil officers, as 
 well as citizens generally, make every eff'ort and use all means 
 in their power to punish, speedily and adequatel}^, all guilty of 
 crime, that, the criminal laws of the State, as administered in and 
 through the State courts, be made a terror to evil-doers, and a 
 praise to them that do well, instead of a by-word and scoffing 
 to the formei*, and a shame and scandal to the latter, as during 
 the last two years. 
 
 •' VII. — As the attempt and effort to intimidate, by threats, 
 hostile demonstrations, or otherwise, the judges, jurors, and 
 other members of courts, justices of the peace, or other civil 
 officers, with the view to prevent them from discharging their 
 duties impartially, constitutes a peculiarly dangerous and hein- 
 ous offence, tending, as it does, to subvert entirely the civil 
 government and substitute a despotism in its place, the military 
 authorities will, until further orders, take into custody, and 
 manage, try, and punish all persons charged with this crime; 
 and any officer upon whom any such attempt is made will re- 
 port the case immediately to the nearest provost-marshal, or to 
 these headquarters. 
 
 " VIII. — It is respectfully requested of the citizens of the 
 city of Springfield that the}^ organize the municipal govern- 
 ment of the city without unnecessary delay. To this end, John 
 S. Bigley, Esq., justice of the peace, is requested to issue his 
 warrant, or notice, pursuant to the provisions of the city char- 
 ter, designating the third Tuesday of May, 1865, as the day 
 upon which an election will be held for all municipal officers 
 authorized to be elected by the city charter. When such gov- 
 ernment is organized the provost guard will enforce ail military 
 orders in regard to soldiers in the city, and will aid the mar- 
 shal, at any time, when called upon, to enforce any ordinance
 
 254 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 or laws of the city government, as well as to make all ar- 
 rests. 
 
 " By order of Brigadier-General John B. Sanborn. 
 "William T. Kittredge, 
 
 " Ass't. Adjutant- General." 
 
 Under this order the officers of the county and city 
 immediately commenced to exercise their functions, 
 protected by the military forces about the city, and 
 but a short time elapsed before the functions of the 
 city, county, and State government were fully restored. 
 
 During the entire period of my command in Spring- 
 field it was customary to send all orders, as a matter of 
 courtesy, to the governor of the State. I received a letter 
 from the governor, of date the 1st day of June, 1865, 
 in relation to General Orders No. 35, as follows : 
 
 "State of Missouri, Executive Department, 
 "City of Jefferson, June 1, 1865. 
 " General, — I have been for some days intending to write 
 you, expressing my thanks to you for the appropriateness, 
 timeliness, and perspicuity of your General Orders No. 35. The 
 disruption of society and the general demoralization of civil 
 affairs caused by the Eebellion in every Southern State, but 
 most especially in Missouri, have rendered the restoration of 
 the civil law a task the severity and onerousness of which can 
 only be appreciated by those who have to contribute towards 
 its performance, as you have done and are doing. The order is 
 most admirably conceived, clearly expressed, and has through- 
 out the right tone, and in it I recognize and gratefully acknowl- 
 ed<'-e the most effective assistance I have yet received towards 
 the reinstatement of order in Missouri. Eest assured that when 
 peace and the arts of industry shall once more have assumed 
 their legitimate sway in the State for which you have done so 
 much to save, your name will be cherished with increasing rev- 
 erence as our prosperity flows along in an uninterrupted tide. 
 " I am, general, with great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Thomas C. Fletcher."
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 255 
 
 General Orders No. 35 was the last order issued by 
 me to my command in Missouri. The prisoners of 
 war that surrendered at that point numbered about ten 
 thousand, and were paroled under the direction of our 
 companion, W. W. Braden. Orders were received by 
 me to proceed at once to St. Louis to take command of 
 a force that was to operate against the Indians of the 
 Southwest ; and on the 12th of July following I find 
 myself in command of the District of the Upper Ar- 
 kansas, organizing a command with which to move 
 against the Comanche, Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Arrapa- 
 hoe Indians, and the Apaches of the Upper Arkansas. 
 
 At this date, looking over the general orders issued 
 to the troops on July 20, when about to move against 
 the Indians, I am amused at the reference made therein 
 to civilized warfare. The first words of the general 
 order are as follows : 
 
 "All troops will observe and closely adhere to the rules of 
 civilized warfare, and not allow themselves to become barba- 
 rians because they are fighting barbarians. No women, chil- 
 dren, or non-combatants will be killed or injured, nor any 
 Indian who duly surrenders as a prisoner of war, unless it 
 should happen in the casualties of battle. All hostile Indians 
 of both sexes and all ages will be captured and brought to 
 headquarters, whenever and wherever possible, and prisoners 
 will be fed and clothed by the government." 
 
 This seems to be the first time in two years that I 
 had been able to make any reference to the rules of 
 civilized warfare ; and when it is considered that I had 
 been fighting our own people, a civilized, educated, and 
 Christianized race, and had gone from that sort of a 
 field to carry on war against the Comanche and other
 
 256 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Indians, it seems passing strange that I was induced 
 thoughtlessly to refer to the rules of civilized warfare, 
 and for the first time in almost two years order that 
 they be adhered to and rigidly enforced. 
 
 If there is anything of value to a future age to be 
 learned from the events of the civil war in the Depart- 
 ment of the Missouri, and more especially in the State 
 of Missouri, it is that there exist in the breasts of the 
 peo]3le of educated and Christian communities wild and 
 ferocious passions, which in a day of peace are dormant 
 and slumbering, but which may be aroused and kindled 
 by civil disturbance, war, and injustice, and become 
 more cruel and destructive than any that live in the 
 breasts of savage and barbarous nations. That there 
 is an element of justice implanted in the bosoms of all 
 men which revolts at injustice and cruelty, and in our 
 age will not tolerate the putting to death of innocent 
 men for the offence of another man, even when the 
 offence has been authorized by his government against 
 a citizen of a government with which it is carrying on 
 war, where it may with propriety be looked upon and 
 treated as the act of an hostile nation ; and that when 
 innocent men are put to death for the lawless and cruel 
 act of another individual which no government au- 
 thorized or approved, then every natural principle of 
 humanity and justice is violated, and human nature 
 itself rises in open opposition to such an exercise of 
 tyranny ; and that such acts are and must ever be the 
 prelude to anarchy and the direct introduction of the 
 reign of chaos ; and that above the confusion, tumult, 
 and din of disorganized and contending communities, 
 rent with civil feuds and drenched with fraternal blood,
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 257 
 
 may always be heard the voice of divine wisdom speak- 
 ing into the ears of all magistrates, rulers, and officers 
 clothed with authority over their fellow-men those 
 words uttered more than three thousand years ago by 
 the Rock of Israel to the most illustrious ruler of that 
 people, " He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling 
 in the fear of God." 
 
 17
 
 HOW THE DAY WAS SAVED 
 AT THE BATTLE OF CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 BY BVX. BEIG.-GENBRAL A. BAYAED NETTLETON, 
 
 COLONEL SECOND OHIO CAVALRY, U. S. VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 When, in 1864, witli Grant and Meade and Sheri- 
 dan in the East, and Sherman and Thomas in the 
 West, the National army closed with the Confederate, 
 it was in a struggle which all regarded as the final one. 
 In June, after Grant with all his available force had 
 besieged Richmond and Petersburg, Lee, feeling secure 
 behind his fortifications, detached an army of twenty- 
 five thousand picked troops under General Jubal A. 
 Early, including the flower of his Virginia cavalry, to 
 invade the North by way of the Shenandoah Valley, 
 threaten Washington from the rear, and, if possible, 
 compel Grant to retreat from the James, as McClellan 
 had been forced to do two years before. Hunter's 
 failure at Lynchburg and his painful retreat through 
 the wilderness of West Virginia had left a virtually 
 open road for Early's force to the boundary of Penn- 
 sylvania, if not to Washington, and this open road 
 Early was not slow to travel. The defeat of the Union 
 provisional force at Monocacy, the appearance of the 
 rebel infantry before the western defences of the na- 
 
 258
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL A. BAYARD NETTLETON. 259 
 
 tioiial capital on the 1 2th of July, and the subsequent 
 burning of Charabersburg by Early's cavalry, under 
 McCausland, had produced a very considerable civilian 
 panic, attracted the anxious attention of the whole 
 country, and convinced Grant, before Petersburg, that 
 decisive measures were required in the neighborhood 
 of the Potomac if he was to retain his grip on the 
 rebel capital. Accordingly, two small-sized infantry 
 corps (Wright's Sixth and Emory's Nineteenth) were 
 despatched to Washington via Fortress Monroe, and 
 were soon followed by two divisions (the First and 
 Third) of the already famous cavalry corps of the 
 Army of the Potomac. A new Middle Department 
 was erected, and General P. H. Sheridan, as its com- 
 mander, was given his first opportunity to earn his 
 spurs in control of a separate army and an independent 
 campaign. 
 
 By the middle of August, the armies of Sheridan 
 and Early confronted each other in the valley north 
 of Winchester. Then ensued that brilUant campaign 
 of the Shenandoah which, through a score of minor 
 engagements, resulted in the thorough defeat of Early's 
 army in the battle of Winchester, or the Opequan, 
 on September 19, followed on the 22d by its disas- 
 trous rout at Fisher's Hill, and its confused retreat 
 beyond Staunton, where the pursuit was discontinued. 
 At this time Sheridan and his whole victorious army 
 considered the enemy in the Shenandoah Valley as 
 thoroughly and permanently broken, dispirited, and 
 disposed of. The question asked about our camp-fires 
 was, Where shall we be sent next? Our success in 
 the valley, coupled with Sherman's victories in the
 
 260 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 West, had lighted up the whole horizon and given 
 the nation the first real glimpse of its final triumph 
 and the coming peace. But such troops as Sheri- 
 dan could spare were needed before Richmond, and 
 our army began falling back towards the Potomac, 
 preparatory to such a transfer. During our return 
 march the rear of our several columns was persistently 
 harassed by a large force of surprisingly active cavalry, 
 under General T. L. Rosser, who provokingly refused 
 to consider himself or his command as Jwrs de combat. 
 Among many memories of hard service, those who 
 were among Custer's troopers in the valley will not 
 soon forget their arduous task of protecting the rear of 
 a victorious army against the onslaughts of the crushed 
 enemy's horsemen. 
 
 After several days of this annoyance, and on the 
 night of October 8, near Fisher's Hill, Sheridan no- 
 tified General Torbert, chief of cavalry, that he would 
 halt the army there for twenty-four hours, and that on 
 the following day he (Torbert) must face about and 
 " whip the enemy or get whipped himself" Rosser's 
 saucy cavalry numbered about three thousand effectives, 
 and was supported by some fifteen hundred infantry 
 and two batteries, under Generals Lomax and Bradley 
 Johnson. With Merritt's First Division deployed to 
 the right of the valley pike, and Custer's Third extend- 
 ing from Merritt's right westward, across the back road, 
 towards the North Mountain, the bugles sounded the 
 advance early on the morning of the ninth. The two 
 lines of battle met at Tom's Creek, and one of the most 
 spirited cavalry engagements of the war speedily ended 
 in the capture of eleven Confederate cannon, being all
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL A. BAYARD NETTLETON. 261 
 
 the enemy's artillery save one piece, and a galloping 
 pursuit of the defeated force, continuing twenty miles 
 beyond the battle-field. The army then resumed its 
 northward march unmolested, and crossed to the north 
 side of Cedar Creek, where it faced about towards the 
 hypothetical enemy, and went into camp, the centre of 
 the infantry resting on the valley pike. The Sixth 
 Corps continued on to Front Royal, on its way to join 
 Grant at Petersburg. The three cavalry divisions took 
 their positions as follows : Merritt's on the left (east) 
 of the infantry, picketing the line of the North Fork 
 of the Shenandoah River ; Custer's on the right of the 
 infantry, picketing a line five or six miles in length, 
 and extending to the western boundary of the valley ; 
 Powell's West Virginia Division in the vicinity of 
 Front Royal, at the foot of the Blue Ridge, and con- 
 necting with Merritt's left. 
 
 On the 12th our scouts reported that Early's reor- 
 ganized infantry force had advanced to Fisher's Hill, 
 their old Gibraltar, six miles south of our position at 
 Cedar Creek, which unexpected intelligence caused 
 Sheridan to halt the Sixth Corps near Front Royal 
 to await developments. At this juncture Lieutenant- 
 General Grant recommended that a part of Sheridan's 
 force should establish a strong position in the vicin- 
 ity of Manassas Gap, from which a fresh camj^aign 
 against Gordonsville and Charlottesville could be exe- 
 cuted. To this Sheridan demurred, and on the 13th of 
 October he was summoned to Washington by Secre- 
 tary Stanton for a conference about future operations. 
 Having decided not to attack Early immediately in his 
 strong position at Fisher's Hill, and having no appre-
 
 262 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 hension of his taking the offensive, Sheridan started 
 for Washington on the 16th, and in order to improve 
 the time during his absence he took the bulk of the 
 cavalry force with him to Front Royal, designing to 
 send it on a raid against the Virginia Central Kailroad 
 at Charlottesville. General H. G. Wright, as the se- 
 nior officer, was left in command of the main army, 
 which had been rejoined by the Sixth Corps. On ar- 
 riving at Front Royal, on the evening of the 16th, 
 Sheridan received the following despatch from Wright : 
 
 "Headquarters Middle Military Division, 
 " October 16, 1864. 
 " Major-General p. H. Sheridan, 
 
 "Commanding Middle Military Division. 
 " General, — I enclose you despatch which explains itself. 
 (See copy following.) If the enemy should be strongly rein- 
 forced by cavalry he might, by turning our right, give us a 
 great deal of trouble. I shall hold on here until the enemy's 
 movements are developed, and shall only fear an attack on my 
 right, which I shall make every preparation for guarding 
 against and resisting. 
 
 " Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
 
 " H. G. Wright, 
 " Major- General Commanding." 
 
 (Enclosure.) 
 " To Lieutenant-General Early, — Be ready to move as 
 soon as my forces join you, and we will crush Sheridan. 
 
 " Longstreet, 
 " Lieutenant-General." 
 
 This despatch, translated by our signal-officers from 
 the rebel signal-flag on Three-Top Mountain, whether 
 genuine or a ruse, seemed to betoken activity of some 
 sort on the part of the Confederates, Sheridan at-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL A. BAYARD NETTLETON. 263 
 
 tached to it sufficient significance to induce him to 
 abandon the raid on Charlottesviile and to order all 
 the cavalry back to the army at Cedar Creek, with the 
 following message to General Wright, dated the even- 
 ing of the 16th : 
 
 " The cavalry is all ordered back to you ; make your position 
 strong. If Longstreet's despatch is true, he is under the im- 
 pression that we have largely detached, I will go over to 
 Augur, and may get additional news. Close in Colonel Powell, 
 who will be at this point (Front Eoyal). If the enemy should 
 •make an advance I know you will defeat him. Look well to 
 your ground, and be well prepared. Get up everything that 
 can be spared. I will bring up all I can, and will be up on 
 Tuesday, if not sooner." 
 
 In the same night, after having thus provided for the 
 safety of his army, Sheridan himself, escorted by the 
 Second Ohio Cavalry, from Custer's division, passed on 
 to Piedmont, east of the Blue Ridge, whence he took 
 cars for Washington. 
 
 On the return of the cavalry to the army, instead 
 of being placed in its former position, the divisions of 
 Merritt and Custer, aggregating nearly eight thousand 
 of the finest mounted troops in the world, were both 
 ordered to the right of the infiintry, where Wright an- 
 ticipated attack, should any be made, while Powell's 
 division, instead of being " closed in," as directed in 
 Sheridan's last message, was left in the neighborhood 
 of Front Royal, near the eastern margin of the valley, 
 its attenuated line of pickets only connecting with the 
 left of the infantry along the river front. 
 
 It was no longer a matter of indifference where the 
 cavalry was placed. For the first time during the war
 
 264 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 the Federal cavalry was really raised to the dignity of 
 a third arm of the service, and given its full share in 
 the hard fighting, heavy losses, and great victories under 
 the leadership and discipline of Sheridan. With their 
 Spencer repeating-carbines, their expertness in trans- 
 forming themselves on occasion from troopers to foot 
 soldiers, not infrequently fighting rebel infantry behind 
 breastworks, added to the celerity of movement and 
 audacity of spirit, without which cavalry is wellnigh 
 useless, Sheridan's mounted force was at once the eye 
 and the right arm of his fighting column. 
 
 Cedar Creek, flowing from the west and north, joins 
 the North Fork of the Shenandoah near Strasburg on 
 the valley j^ike. About the same point the North 
 Fork turns sharply eastward towards the Blue Ridge, 
 the two streams thus forming a partial line of defence 
 nearly across the valley. In the bend of the river 
 rises the bold front of Massanutten Mountain, the 
 northern extremity of a subordinate range extending 
 southward from this point parallel to the Blue Ridge, 
 and dividing the Shenandoah Valley lengthwise. The 
 valley pike, the race-track of armies, and formerly one 
 of the noblest highways of the continent, leads south- 
 ward to Staunton and beyond, and northward through 
 Winchester to the Potomac. 
 
 After the ceaseless activity, watchfulness, and fight- 
 ing of the valley campaign, then considered at an end, 
 our troops found the quiet of camp-life a luxury to be 
 appreciated. Arrears of sleep were to be made up, 
 neglected correspondence revived, wardrobes renovated, 
 and toilets attended to. Since the 10th of October this 
 quiet of the main army had only been varied and
 
 ADDRESS BT GENERAL A. BAYARD NETTLETON. 2Q>b 
 
 amused by the invariable daybreak skirmish between 
 our pickets and tlie enemy's scouting-parties; the usual 
 grapevine telegrams announcing the wholesale surren- 
 der of the Confederacy to Grant ; the customary pleas- 
 antries at the expense of the hundred-day troops, who 
 were so eager to get to the front and smell powder 
 before their term expired ; the prevalent wicked offers 
 to bet that " Old Jubal" was still on the retreat towards 
 the Gulf, and the perennial grumbling about rations, 
 with a corresponding alacrity in consuming them. 
 
 The 18th of October in the Shenandoah Valley was 
 such a day as few have seen who have not spent an 
 autumn in Virginia, — crisp and bright and still in the 
 morning ; mellow and golden and still at noon ; crim- 
 son and glorious and still at the sunsetting; just blue 
 enough in the distance to soften without obscuring the 
 outline of the mountains ; just hazy enough to render 
 the atmosphere visible without limiting the range of 
 sight. As evening closed above the valley the soft 
 j^leadings of some homesick soldier's flute floated out 
 through the quiet camp, while around a blazing camp- 
 fire an impromptu glee-club of Ohio boys lightened 
 the hour and their own hearts by singing the songs of 
 home. An unusually large letter-mail arrived that 
 evening and was distributed to the men, which reminds 
 me that the First Connecticut Cavalry, belonging to 
 Custer's division, had a unique and pleasant manner 
 of announcing the arrival of a mail : the regimental 
 trumpeters, constituting a sort of cornet band, would 
 form in front of the colonel's tent and play " Home, 
 Sweet Home," sometimes following that immediately 
 with " The Girl I Left Behind Me."
 
 266 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 The letters were all read and their contents dis- 
 cussed; the flute had ceased its complaining; the eight 
 o'clock roll-call was over; taps had sounded; lights 
 were out in the tents ; cook-fires flickered low ; the 
 mists of the autumn night gathered gray and chill; 
 the sentinels paced back and forth in front of the vari- 
 ous headquarters; the camp was still; that many-headed 
 monster, a great army, was asleep. Midnight came, 
 and with it no sound but the tramp of the relief-guard 
 as the sergeant replaced the tired sentinels. One 
 o'clock, and all was tranquil as a peace convention; 
 two, three o'clock, and yet the soldiers slept. At four 
 the silence was broken by sharp firing in the direction 
 of our cavalry pickets, towards the western side of the 
 valley. The firing increased in volume, suggesting an 
 attack in force by cavalry. General Custer (than 
 whom, by the way, the wars of the century probably 
 have not developed an abler leader of a cavalry divis- 
 ion) quietly despatched a regiment to support our out- 
 posts, and awaited developments, which speedily came. 
 Fifteen minutes later heavy skirmish-firing was heard 
 on the left of the infantry, two miles from where our 
 cavalry division was encamped. The firing on our ex- 
 treme right gradually died away, and that in front of 
 the infantry line rapidly increased, showing that the 
 movement on our right had been a feint, while the real 
 attack had now begun against the centre and left. 
 
 " Boots and saddles !" was blown from division, bri- 
 gade, and regimental headquarters. Tlie darkness rang 
 with the blare of bugles and the shouts of officers hur- 
 rying the troopers from their dreams to their horses. 
 The rattle of musketry in front of the infantry in-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL A. BAYARD NETTLETON. 267 
 
 creased to heavy volleys, the volleys thickened into a 
 continuous roar ; and now, as day began to dawn, the 
 deep bass of the artillery came in to complete the grand 
 but terrible chorus of battle. The cavalry were speedily 
 mounted and in line by regiments, awaiting orders. 
 Awaiting: orders! That is the time that tries the cour- 
 age of the bravest. Once in the heat and hurry and in- 
 spiration of the battle, the average soldier forgets fear in 
 the excitement of the hour ; but to stand at a safe dis- 
 tance, though within easy sight and hearing of the con- 
 flict, ready, expectant, every nerve strung, awaiting the 
 word of command to march into a hailstorm of death, 
 that is the crucial test. It is at such a time that all 
 the mental struggle involved in a soldier's death is un- 
 dergone, leaving nothing but the mere physical pang 
 of sudden dying to complete the sacrifice. 
 
 " Custer's division to the centre !" was the laconic 
 command from General Wright ; and as the sun was 
 rising our four thousand troopers, with accompanying 
 batteries, marched into the fight. As we came into full 
 view of the field the whole sickening truth flashed upon 
 us, — the infantry had been surprised in their beds by 
 Early's reinforced army ; our best artillery was already 
 in the hands of the Confederates and turned against us ; 
 thousands of our men had been killed, wounded, or 
 captured before they could even oficr resistance ; Sheri- 
 dan's victorious and hitherto invincible army was routed, 
 and in disorderly retreat before a confident, yelling, and 
 pursuing enemy. The roads were crowded with wagons 
 and ambulances hurrying to the rear, while the fields 
 were alive with wounded stragglers, camp-followers, and 
 disorganized troops, without officers, without arms, and
 
 268 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 without courage, all bent on being the first to carry the 
 news of the disaster back to Winchester. A brave nu- 
 cleus of the army, which had not shared in the surprise 
 and the consequent demoralization, was fighting with de- 
 termined pluck to prevent disaster from becoming dis- 
 grace. The timely arrival and the spirited onset of the 
 cavalry soon checked the pursuit by the Confederates, 
 and gave time for our infantry to begin re-forming their 
 lines ; but the battle and the retreat continued. Two 
 regiments of cavalry were speedily deployed across the 
 country, well to the rear, for the purpose of checking 
 the stampede and turning back the flying mob of panic- 
 stricken infantrymen ; but the attempt was fruitless, 
 and was soon abandoned. Our two divisions of cavalry 
 deployed in heavy lines to the right and left of the 
 valley pike, and began their hot day's work against 
 rebel infantry and artillery. 
 
 At nine o'clock a portion of the enemy's troops oc- 
 cupied, and were plainly seen plundering, the camps 
 where the Sixth Corps had slept the night before ; our 
 left was being pressed with great vigor by a flanking 
 force which seemed determined to reach the pike, and 
 thus strike our wagon-trains. General Wright had 
 unquestionably resolved on a retreat to a new line near 
 Winchester, and the best we hoped for was that our 
 mounted troops could so protect the retreat and retard 
 the pursuit as to prevent the annihilation of the broken 
 army and the exposure of Washington. The universal 
 thought, and, in varying phrase, the spontaneous utter- 
 ance was, "Oh for one hour of Sheridan!" The un- 
 var3nng success that had attended our leader in all his 
 campaigns ; the instinctive promptness with which he
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL A. BAYARD NETTLETON. 269 
 
 seemed to seize the key of every situation, however 
 difficult ; the amazing quickness and precision with 
 which he formed new plans on the field, and his thun- 
 derbolt method of executing each design ; his success 
 in imparting to his infantry much of the mobility and 
 dash of cavalry, and to his cavalry much of the cohe- 
 rency and steadiness of infantry ; — all these had com- 
 bined, in spite of not a few unheroic personal traits, to 
 give his army unbounded faith in his leadership and 
 enthusiasm for the man. But Sheridan was twenty 
 miles away, at Winchester, where he had arrived the 
 day before from Washington. Meantime, the battle and 
 the day wore on together. The sulphurous cloud that 
 overhung the field, and the dense volumes of dust that 
 rose behind the wheeling batteries and the charging 
 troops, contrasted grimly with the sweet light of that 
 perfect October day as it could be seen beyond the 
 limits of the battle-field. At noon, and for some time 
 previously, the enemy was opposed only by Merritt's 
 and Custer's cavalry and Getty's division of infantry, 
 with their accompanying batteries, while the main por- 
 tion of the Sixth Corps was more than two miles to the 
 right and rear of Getty, engaged in reorganizing, and 
 the Nineteenth Corps was, in turn, to the right and 
 rear of the Sixth. 
 
 At this juncture, those of us who were stationed near 
 the Winchester pike heard, far to the rear of us, a faint 
 cheer go up, as a hurrying horseman passed a group of 
 wounded soldiers, and dashed down that historic road 
 towards our line of battle. As lie drew nearer we could 
 see that the coal-black horse was flecked with foam, 
 both horse and rider grimed with dust, and the dilated
 
 270 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 nostrils and laboring breath of the former told of a race 
 both long and swift. A moment more and a deafening 
 cheer broke from the troops in that part of the field, as 
 they recognized in the coming horseman their longed-for 
 Sheridau. Above the roar of musketry and artillery 
 that shout arose like a cry of victory. The news flashed 
 from brigade to brigade along our front with tele- 
 graphic speed, and then, as Sheridan, cap in hand, 
 dashed along the rear of the struggling line, thus con- 
 firming to all eyes the fact of his arrival, a continuous 
 cheer burst from the whole army. Hope took the place 
 of fear, courage the place of despondency, cheerfulness 
 the place of gloom. The entire aspect of things seemed 
 changed in a moment. Further retreat was no longer 
 thought of. At all points to the rear stragglers could 
 be seen by hundreds voluntarily rejoining their regi- 
 ments with such arms as they could hastily find ; order 
 seemed to have come spontaneously out of chaos, an 
 army out of a rabble. 
 
 The cannonade of the early morning, when the battle 
 opened, had been attributed by Sheridan, at Winchester, 
 to a reconnoissance, which he knew had been ordered 
 from our lines, and it was only when the head of the 
 column of fugitive troops and baggage-wagons were 
 seen, between nine and ten o'clock a.m., approaching 
 Winchester "with appalling rapidity" that a concep- 
 tion of the real situation dawned on the astounded gen- 
 eral, and promptly started him on his now famous "ride" 
 to the front. 
 
 The enemy, believing the continued cheers announced 
 the arrival of Federal reinforcements, became more 
 cautious, and even, like ourselves, threw up temporary
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL A. BAYARD NETTLETON. 271 
 
 breastworks. Our commander instantly decided to hold 
 the line we were then fighting on, and sent galloping 
 orders to the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps to hasten up 
 to our support before the enemy should attack. By two 
 o'clock our lines were fully re-formed, the various in- 
 fantry divisions, greatly strengthened by the return of 
 stragglers, were in position, and the cavalry had been 
 sent to the flanks, — Custer to the right and Merritt to 
 the left. Everything now indicated that we should be 
 able to hold our ground without further retreat. By 
 this time Early, apparently satisfied that we had re- 
 ceived no reinforcements, made a confident and per- 
 sistent assault upon our lines, obviously determined to 
 close the day with our final rout, and, returning the 
 courtesy of thirty days before, send the remnant of 
 Sheridan's army " whirling through Winchester." The 
 attack was repulsed at every point. This defensive 
 success under Sheridan's leadership perfectly restored 
 the courage and spirit of the army. It had got over its 
 panic and was again ready for business. 
 
 Shortly after this attack and repulse, report came 
 from the Front Royal pike, which was held by Powell's 
 cavalry, that a strong column of rebel infantry was 
 marching past our left and towards Winchester, — a re- 
 port which, although proving erroneous, delayed the 
 execution of Sheridan's quickly-formed intention to 
 attack the enemy and save the day. At four p.m. the 
 command was sent along the line to prepare for a gen- 
 eral forward movement. Everything was soon ready ; 
 two hundred bugles sounded the advance ; all our artil- 
 lery opened on the enemy with shot and shell, and the 
 long line of cavah-y and infantry moved steadily for-
 
 272 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 ward across the open plain, under a heavy fire, towards 
 the rebel position, with a coolness and order I never 
 saw surpassed during four years of service. To one 
 who had seen the rout and panic and loss of the morn- 
 ing, it seemed impossible that this was the same army. 
 The enemy was evidently astonished at our taking the 
 offensive, but met our attack with confident coolness, 
 and then with determined fury. As soon as the Con- 
 federate infantry was fully engaged with ours in the 
 centre, the order was given for the cavalry divisions to 
 charge both flanks of the enemy's line. The bugles 
 sounded, the horses caught the spirit of the hour, and 
 pressed forward with steady but resistless speed ; seven 
 thousand troopers, with drawn sabres, sent up a battle 
 yell wild enough to wake the slain over whom we gal- 
 loped, and we were in the midst of that grandest of 
 martial movements, — a genuine cavalry charge. 
 
 The effect was magical. The enemy's mounted troops 
 first made a stout resistance, then scattered like sheep 
 to the hills, and his infantry line, having both flanks 
 turned back upon itself by our cavalry, and its centre 
 crushed by a final magnificent charge of our infantry, 
 broke in confusion, and started southward in confused 
 retreat. Panic seized every part of the rebel force; 
 infantry vied with artillery, and both with the wagon- 
 trains, in a harum-scarum race from the Cedar Creek 
 Ford, and, as the sun went down, the army which 
 at daybreak had gained one of the most dramatic 
 and overwhelming victories of the war was a frantic 
 rabble, decimated in numbers, and flying before the 
 same army it had twelve hours before so completely 
 surprised and routed. Our cavalry pressed the pursuit
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL A. BAYARD NETTLETON. 273 
 
 with a vehemence and success that astonished even the 
 much-expecting Sheridan. Merritt on the left of the 
 pike, and Custer on the right, met with no opposition 
 from the scared and fugitive mob of mingled " horse, 
 foot, and dragoons." The pike was blockaded for miles 
 with cannon, caissons, ambulances, and baggage-wagons, 
 which our troopers easily captured and turned back- 
 ward towards our lines. The chase continued, with con- 
 stant captures of prisoners and war material, until, 
 near the foot of Fisher's Hill, the dense darkness en- 
 forced a truce between pursuers and pursued. Both 
 infantry and cavalry returned to sleep in their camps 
 of the night before, hungry and half dead with fatigue, 
 but happy, and having about them, as trophies of the 
 day's work, forty-five pieces of captured and recaptured 
 artillery, and a field full of wagons, ambulances, and 
 prisoners of war. This ended the career of Early's 
 army. As an army it never fought another battle, — its 
 commander never again attempted to redeem the Shen- 
 andoah Valley, nor to invade the North. 
 
 This free-hand sketch of an historical military epi- 
 sode, taken from the point of view of a participant 
 with the Union cavalry, and making no pretensions to 
 microscopic accuracy of detail, suggests one or two ob- 
 vious commentaries : 
 
 First. The skill, the courage, and the self-command 
 with which the initial part of Early's movement of 
 October 19 was planned and executed could not well 
 be surpassed. To move a fully-equipped army of in- 
 fantry and artillery on a still night along the front of a 
 powerful and presumably watchful enemy, twice ford a 
 considerable stream, noiselessly capture or " relieve" the 
 
 18
 
 274 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 hostile pickets on the river-bank, place a turning force 
 on the enemy's flank, surprise the bulk of the hostile 
 army in bed, and, after reducing it one-sixth in num- 
 bers, drive it in a pell-mell retreat, shelled by its own 
 artillery, requires, it need not be said, some of the very 
 highest military qualities in both commander and troops. 
 Whether the chief credit for the achievement is due to 
 General Early or to his subordinate, General Gordon, is 
 a question of personal rather than public interest. 
 
 Second. The negligence which could expose Sheri- 
 dan's victorious army to the possibility of such a sur- 
 prise, humiliation, and rout, especially after the distinct 
 warning of three days before, stands without explana- 
 tion and without excuse. Four thousand one hundred 
 men killed and wounded are a heavy price to pay for 
 the failure to keep one's eyes open and make a timely 
 reconnoissance. 
 
 Third. Early's neglect to relentlessly press his ad- 
 vantage during the forenoon of the 19th, before Sheri- 
 dan reached the field, and while there was in his imme- 
 diate front, for much of the time, only one battered 
 division of infantry and two divisions of cavalry, indi- 
 cates that he was overcome with causeless timidity in 
 the hour of his greatest triumph, — an experience not 
 uncommon to commanders whose persistent courage 
 (not personal bravery) in the open field does not equal 
 their genius for unusual strategic enterprises. Several 
 of Early's most intelligent subordinates attribute the 
 fatal delay to three things, — their commander's willing- 
 ness to let well enough alone, the profound respect of 
 Early's army for Sheridan's cavalry, which had never 
 been surprised and never known defeat, and the impos-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL A. BAYARD NETTLETON. 275 
 
 sibility of preserving discipline among the destitute 
 Confederate soldiers so long as there was anything to 
 plunder in the captured Federal camps. The last- 
 named cause received grim confirmation from the fact 
 that on repossessing the battle-field of the morning, we 
 found that hundreds of the Union slain had been 
 stripped to entire nudity. I counted sixty-three in- 
 stances of this in riding hurriedly across a single sec- 
 tion of the plain. 
 
 Fourth. Stripped of all poetic glosses, and analyzed 
 after twenty-two years of peace, when nil admirari 
 seems to have become the motto of all, the result 
 achieved by Sheridan's matchless generalship, after he 
 reached his scattered army on the field of Cedar Creek, 
 — as an illustration of the wonderful influence of one 
 man over many, and an example of snatching a great 
 victory from an appalling defeat, — still stands without 
 a parallel in history.
 
 REMINISCENCES OF AN ARMY SURGEON. 
 
 BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND, 
 
 SURGEON V, S. VOLDNTBERS. 
 
 When Adjutant-General Sanborn and the newly- 
 appointed assistant surgeon of the First Minnesota Vol- 
 unteers joined that regiment at Washington on the 27th 
 of July, 1861, it is not an exaggeration to say the 
 men who afterwards made that regiment famous were 
 badly demoralized, and, so far as we could observe, their 
 condition was that of the whole army of General 
 McDowell. 
 
 They were tired, disheartened, and homesick, and 
 my first experience at sick-call was in listening to the 
 sorrowful tales of those who wanted to go home. They 
 found many reasons why they were not fit for soldiers, 
 — weak back, lame knees, sore feet, palpitation of 
 heart, rupture, night-blindness, etc. It took most of 
 my time to convince them they were not total wrecks. 
 
 Some, indeed, were unfit for service and were given 
 certificates of disability, on which they were discharged, 
 but most of them gradually forgot their ills and became 
 true soldiers. 
 
 When the regiment was ordered up the Potomac 
 River we were all glad to get away from Washington ; 
 but here began my troubles. I had no horse, and no 
 
 276
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 277 
 
 money to buy one, and above all things disliked to 
 walk. However, in getting hospital supplies, ambu- 
 lances, etc., for the regiment, I had learned about how 
 things were being done, and that only those who asked 
 secured anything, so I went straight to headquarters 
 and called on General Scott. This was the only time 
 I ever saw that illustrious soldier, and the impression 
 then given me was one of sadness. 
 
 He was alone in a contracted office on Pennsylvania 
 Avenue, and even to my young eyes it was plain he was 
 losing his grasp on affairs. Instead of resenting my 
 intrusion, he received me kindly, and on hearing my 
 statement gave me a card to the quartermaster. Major 
 Kucker. That usually irascible individual merely 
 groaned, and then gave me an order for a horse, sad- 
 dle, and bridle. I took it to the government corral 
 near by, and then from a herd just arrived from the 
 North I selected a fine trotting mare, on which I joined 
 the regiment, then on the march to Edwards Ferry, 
 Maryland. 
 
 Soon after we went into camp, one hot afternoon, 
 while on this march, a comical thing happened. A 
 violent rain-storm came up, and while most of us were 
 holding our tent-flaps a wild yell arose, and looking out 
 we saw nearly the whole regiment turned out in a state 
 of nature and in double file, running up and down the 
 parade-ground in the rain. Colonel Gorman was scan- 
 dalized, and from the front of his tent shook his fist 
 and shouted to them to go back. It was some time 
 before the clothing and peace were restored. 
 
 While near Rockville, Maryland, we were joined by 
 Dr. Murphy, who from that time shared with me the
 
 278 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 responsibility of caring for the hospital department. I 
 think the first surgical case we had to treat was a face 
 burned with creasote in an awkward attempt to cure the 
 toothache. At Camp Stone, near Edwards Ferry, we 
 spent six months of very comfortable training. The 
 men were drilling, watching on picket, and playing 
 jokes on each other. We were all learning the duties 
 of military life. Of course, with so many men han- 
 dling firearms, there were some accidents, and we doc- 
 tors had ojjportunity to study many wounds. I remem- 
 ber well one poor fellow who was thus shot through the 
 body, being watched with much anxiety by all of us. 
 One day he said, " Doctor, will you stop those fellows 
 from playing that tune ?" and then I learned that our 
 band, which had a shady nook back of the hospital, 
 where they went for j)ractice, had been tooting away on 
 the " Dead March" ever since the man was wounded. 
 They thought it was to be their first chance for a 
 military funeral. 
 
 At this time the large fund sent by the generous 
 people of Minnesota for the use of the First Regiment 
 was in the hands of our good Chaplain Neill, and by 
 the judicious use we made of it much good was done. 
 The real wants of the soldiers, however, were well cared 
 for by the government, and it was only now and then 
 a legitimate call could be made on that fund. 
 
 An amusing scene that occurred about this time was 
 the whipping of a negro for stealing, by order of Colonel 
 Gorman. The whole thing was a farce, but the New 
 York Tribune made some unpleasant remarks about it. 
 
 As the medical department of the First Minnesota 
 was left in rather an anomalous position by the capture
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 279 
 
 at Bull Run and subsequent parole of its first medical 
 officers, neither Dr. Murphy nor I felt satisfied to re- 
 main. He went back to Minnesota to act as surgeon of 
 the Fourth Regiment, and I went before the Medical 
 Examining Board in Washington, and was appointed 
 brigade surgeon United States Volunteers. 
 
 Being assigned, however, to General Gorman's bri- 
 gade, my connection with the First Minnesota was kept 
 up for nearly a year longer, and I learned to appre- 
 ciate the sturdy character of its men and peculiarities 
 of its officers. 
 
 One officer in particular I much admired, — Captain 
 H. C. Lester, of Winona. He was a gentle, scholarly 
 man, thoroughly conscientious in performing his duty, 
 and withal not ambitious. When news came of his 
 appointment as colonel of the Third Regiment he was 
 surprised and stunned. He hesitated what to do, and 
 it was only on my urgent advice that he decided to 
 accept. I have been sorry since that I gave it. He 
 knew himself better than I did, — -knew the fatal inde- 
 cision that was his, and so came disaster. He was never 
 a coward, but when the supreme moment of his life 
 came was not prepared for it. 
 
 My first extensive experience with wounded men was 
 after the battle of Ball's Bluff. As General Gorman's 
 brigade was put across the Potomac some two miles 
 below the bluff, and we had no order to hurry forward, 
 we missed the chance of taking our place in that 
 slaughter. A few skirmishes on our front brought a 
 number of wounded men, among them the noted Gen- 
 eral Lander, who rode up to me a few minutes after he 
 had received a bullet in the calf of his leg. An aide
 
 280 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STEUGGLE. 
 
 asked me to examine the general's wound, and I was 
 about to do so, when, as I pulled his boot-strap out of 
 the hole where it had been carried by the ball, he swore 
 a blue streak, and vowed he would go on to the ferry 
 before having anything done. I was rather glad to get 
 him off my hands. He was restless and intractable at 
 all times, and by his independent conduct after this 
 wound brought on a septic fever from which he died. 
 
 As soon as we were recalled to the east side of the 
 river most of our medical officers were busy caring for 
 the wounded saved from Ball's Bluff. We carried them 
 in ambulances to Poolsville, and there in a church and 
 large hospital-tents most of them did well. Coming 
 from the hospital one day I met our commander, Gen- 
 eral Charles P. Stone, and, after answering his ques- 
 tions about the wounded, I said, "General, this is a 
 most unfortunate affair." He stopped instantly, and 
 said, " How so ?" I had to explain that to my eyes we 
 had met with a heavy loss and had nothing to show for 
 it. He appeared much depressed, and merely said, 
 " Time will tell." I have always believed this officer 
 was badly treated. Soon after this time deprived of 
 his command and imprisoned in Fort Lafayette, he has 
 never yet been fully acquainted with the charge made 
 against him. 
 
 While in our winter quarters we had many cases of 
 measles, and the whole division suffered from the same 
 epidemic. It was astonishing to find so many grown-up 
 men who had never had measles, and by comparing 
 notes we found the number of such candidates was 
 much greater in the country regiments than in those 
 raised in cities.
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 281 
 
 In many other ways we found the city-raised soldiers 
 had an early advantage over their country comrades. 
 They had caught everything that was going while chil- 
 dren, they were used to being up and out late at night, 
 and they were prompt to take care of themselves, while 
 the lads from the country had been coddled by their 
 mothers, kept out of harm's way, and were slow to act. 
 
 To General John Sedgwick, who succeeded General 
 Stone in the command of our division, we all became 
 strongly attached. He was a noble man in every way, 
 and as a soldier we believed he had no superior. 
 
 Under his lead, on February 22, 1862, we finally 
 broke camp and marched to Harper's Ferry. There 
 we witnessed the laying of the much-talked-of pontoon- 
 bridge, and were among the first to cross into the de- 
 serted town. A large army accompanied us, and after 
 a few days we all moved on Charlestown, and finally 
 made a grand demonstration on Berryville, Virginia. 
 I well remember how the First Minnesota on this day 
 threw down their knapsacks and came down double- 
 quick to the support of a battery which General Gor- 
 man had ordered to shell a hill where a hostile move- 
 ment was being made. After firing several rounds we 
 cautiously advanced, and lo! the whole thing was a 
 horse-power threshing-machine, with a few frightened 
 natives collected about it. I doubt if there was a Con- 
 federate soldier within five miles. 
 
 After marching and countermarching we were or- 
 dered back to Harper's Ferry, where we took cars for 
 Washington. 
 
 We know now that this futile movement was a part 
 of the plan Mr. Lincoln desired carried out, for the
 
 282 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Army of the Potomac to march on Richmond without 
 uncovering Washington, and our signal faihire and re- 
 turn was because General McClellan had determined 
 the army should move by a different route, — that of the 
 Peninsula. 
 
 From Washington we marched to Alexandria, and 
 then took steamboats down the Potomac to Fortress 
 Monroe. We reached that place not long after the 
 famous fight between the " Monitor" and the " Merri- 
 mac," and the sight was one long to be remembered, of 
 that beautiful harbor crowded with vessels of all sizes 
 and characters, from the busy little tug and graceful 
 two-masted schooner to the big steamer loaded with 
 troops, tlie grand man-of-war, and, above all, the vic- 
 torious " Monitor," then anchored off the " Rip-Raps." 
 Soon after we were landed at Hampton our troubles 
 began. Many men were sick, and when we began the 
 march on Yorktown there were not half enough hos- 
 pitals for those we had to leave behind. 
 
 With what high hopes we started on that campaign ! 
 I think no one except our commander doubted our 
 ability to march straight to Richmond. I remember, 
 as though it were yesterday, the feeling of despair that 
 came over me one day when on a narrow bridge an ob- 
 streperous mule crushed my knee against the side of 
 my horse, and I felt I should not be able to go into 
 Richmond with the advance. My lame knee was long 
 forgotten before we did get there. 
 
 The life before Yorktown was not pleasant. We 
 were annoyed by the delay, and the daily firing on the 
 picket-line, the frequent long-roll in the night, and the 
 sight of comrades falling fruitlessly, made us heart-
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 283 
 
 sick. Just at this time Captain William J. Bartlett, 
 of the Twentieth Massachusetts, in our division, lost 
 his leg, and the sight of his thigh being amputated 
 for an insignificant-looking bullet-wound in the knee 
 made me study over again the literature of joint 
 wounds. As we then looked at it, the question was 
 between saving the life or the limb. Now I believe 
 such a limb can be saved. 
 
 At last we moved on and found no enemy in front. 
 General Sedgwick's division, with most of Sumner's 
 corps, camped the first night near the earthworks of 
 Yorktown. All through the afternoon we had heard 
 the roar of cannon in the direction of AVilliamsburg, 
 but we took no part in that battle. 
 
 Transports on the York River were waiting for us, 
 and we hurried on board. As we marched down to the 
 wharf at Yorktown the Hon. H. M. Rice and other 
 members of the famous War Committee of the Senate 
 met us and gave us good cheer. Mr. Rice, as usual, 
 was especially solicitous about the welfare of the First 
 Minnesota. When we were landed that noon at West 
 Point a battle was already raging there. We were too 
 late to take any active part, but large numbers of 
 wounded were brought in, and all of us surgeons were 
 kept busy. Here for the only time during the war I 
 saw some dead bodies of our men with bayonet holes in 
 them, — thrusts evidently made after death. We moved 
 rapidly now, and the march to White House on the 
 Pamunkey River and then to Chickahominy was most 
 exciting. Here again we stopped for several days. We 
 lay idle, and the ofiicers of our corps (Sumner) got up 
 a hurdle-race to kill time. It made much fun, especially
 
 284 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 as about the end of it there came up a fierce hail-storm 
 that drove us all to our tents. My active comrade, Lieu- 
 tenant Samuel Kaguet, gathered basins full of hail, and 
 very soon, with the aid of lemons and commissary 
 whiskey, we had concocted quite a fair punch. Ice was 
 something we had not seen since leaving Washington. 
 The men of the First Minnesota were busy at work on a 
 low bridge across the Chickahominy, afterwards known 
 as the " Grapevine Bridge." Heavy rains came every 
 day, and the miserable stream had grown to a mighty 
 torrent. When, on the afternoon of May 31, 1862, we 
 received orders to cross that bridge it was all afloat, and 
 the logs would bob up and down under the horses' feet 
 in a startling manner. General Gorman stood by the 
 bridge and hurried us over, and then led his brigade to 
 a hill near by. By this time rapid firing was heard in 
 the distance, and almost before the men were in line an 
 aide from General Sumner dashed up and directed us to 
 hurry forward on a road he designated. A mile down 
 this road we came to a shallow stream, where many of 
 the men tried to get across with dry feet by going up- 
 or down-stream, but General Sumner was there himself, 
 and kept crying out, " Dash right through, boys ; don't 
 go round," and then I knew he had work for us close at 
 hand. 
 
 It must have been five o'clock in the afternoon before 
 our brigade was drawn up in line of battle on the field 
 at Fair Oaks. 
 
 Almost before the men realized what was coming 
 bullets were whistling about us, horses were excited and 
 some running away, and all around smoke and flying 
 splinters. General Gorman had advanced his brigade
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 285 
 
 behind the fences and out-buildings of a large farm- 
 house, and the splinters from the picket-fence flew in 
 every direction. I was never more excited in my life, 
 for it was really my first battle. I forgot all about the 
 wounded and the hospitals, and with the rest of the staff 
 went in to encourage the men and keep them well up. 
 As we pushed through the garden and beyond the farm- 
 house we could see the smoke rolling out from hundreds 
 of muskets in a thick grove of young oaks, and they 
 seemed to be coming fearfully fast towards us. Just 
 then General Sedgwick ordered Kirby's (formerly Rick- 
 ett's) battery into position between the house and barn, 
 and the way the two young lieutenants, Kirby and 
 Woodruff, handled their pieces was beautiful. They 
 fired grape and shrapnel into that grove so fast the 
 advance was stopped, and even before darkness came 
 the enemy fell back. While this was going on I re- 
 ceived the only wound that came to me during the war, 
 but as the bullet hit me in the rear I said little about it. 
 A round ball passed through the crupper of my saddle 
 and lodged against the end of my spine. It was easily 
 extracted, and I kept it as a souvenir. The wound did 
 not disable me, and soon after I joined the other sur- 
 geons in caring for the wounded in and about the farm- 
 house before mentioned. That night has ever since 
 been a blank to me, and I don't know whether I lay 
 down or not. 
 
 The early morning found me busy with the wounded, 
 but without a head, each surgeon taking his own course. 
 Soon, however, the medical director of the corps. Sur- 
 geon J. F. Hammond, appeared, and informed me that 
 Surgeon Liddell of General Sedgwick's division was in
 
 286 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 charge of a hospital about one-fourth of a mile to the 
 rear, — the Adams house, — and I must take charge of 
 this one on the field,— Courtney's house. Immediately 
 I set about organizing our forces. Surgeon Sherman, 
 of tlie Thirty-fourth New York, was designated as 
 chief operator and given such assistants as he desired 
 Another surgeon was put in charge of the stretcher- 
 bearers, another to provide shelter, and so on. The 
 hospital stewards with their supplies were brought up 
 and all were busy. All this time the roar of battle 
 was going on around us, and men were falling even in 
 the yard about our hospital, but unlike the day before, 
 when I forgot the wounded in watching the fight, I can 
 truly say that this day in caring for the wounded I 
 forgot all about the battle. The enemy had attempted 
 at daylight to again advance through the woods before 
 mentioned, and was only driven back after a bitter fight. 
 We now know that it was in this woods General Joe 
 Johnston received the wounds that disabled him. 
 
 The wounded were constantly being brought in and 
 laid on the grass about the yard. My place was to see 
 they received proper attention. Our surgeons worked 
 faithfully, and the wounded were rapidly cared for and 
 laid away in the shade. By eleven a.m. the noise of 
 battle appeared to fall away from us and it was com- 
 paratively quiet. 
 
 About noon Chaplain Neill, who was helping every- 
 where, came to me and said there was a rebel ofiicer 
 confined in the smoke-house, whose fiice was bloody 
 and who looked as though he required attention. I 
 directed the guard to open the door, and when the 
 ofiicer came out he looked as if he expected us to exe-
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 287 
 
 cute him. On getting him washed up, it was found to 
 be General Pettigrew, C. S. A., with a wound on the 
 side of his head and his shoulder hurt. He was able 
 to walk to the rear, and I never saw him again. 
 
 About this time a barrel of commissary whiskey was 
 brought up and placed in my charge for the wounded. 
 I set a guard over it, a trusty man, with a tin cup to 
 serve it out only by direction of the medical officer, 
 but it o-ave me much trouble. All that afternoon the 
 surgeon's knife flashed lively, and arms and legs and 
 thighs were sacrificed, but not without thoughtful care. 
 Whenever there was a possible chance to save a limb a 
 council of all of us was called to decide ; and as sur- 
 geon in charge of the hospital I was held responsible 
 for what was done. This was the most anxious part of 
 my duty. By night all was quiet in front and we were 
 tired out. All tried to get some sleep. It was late in 
 the night before my own cares allowed me to rest, and 
 then, where should I lie down ? A cold wind was blow- 
 ing, and we shivered in our scanty clothing. Every 
 foot of sheltered ground was covered with sleeping men, 
 but near the operating-table, which was under a tree in 
 the house-yard, there lay a long row of dead soldiers. 
 My faithful steward, Cyrus Brooks, a detailed man 
 from the First Minnesota, suggested we make a wind- 
 break by piling them up against the remnants of a 
 fence. "We did so, and then lying down behind them, 
 we slept soundly until morning. 
 
 Soon after sunrise I rode over the field in front of us 
 to make sure no wounded man had been overlooked, 
 and only those who have visited a battle-field on a hot 
 summer day can imagine the horrors then presented.
 
 288 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 E-ubens must have seen this, for he painted the colors 
 of the dead just as I saw them that day. 
 
 By this time our scanty supply of food was ex- 
 hausted, and while trying to hurry up the commissary, 
 Medical Director Hammond called me to one side, and 
 said the bridge across the Chickahominy had been 
 washed away and we could get no provisions that day. 
 He suggested that I have some horses quietly killed. 
 At once General Sedgwick gave me two cavalry horses 
 and allowed a detail of two butcher-boys from the First 
 Minnesota. We led the horses into a grove near the 
 hospital, and in a very short time some beautiful beef 
 was lying on the skins with the edges carefully turned 
 under. Another detail of men carried it to the hos- 
 pitals, and the cooks were soon making soup and broth. 
 This was served out to the wounded, and no doubt 
 helped many of them to tide over that critical time. 
 
 Meanwhile burial-parties were clearing the field. A 
 pit was dug some one hundred feet long by twelve feet 
 wide about half-way between Courtney's house and 
 the woods out of which the enemy came, and at a 
 depth of four or five feet they came to water. Into 
 this wet hole our dead were laid in two rows, and one 
 above the other, until they were within a foot of the 
 surface. Then the dirt was piled on them, and I doubt 
 if any record can now be found of who was laid there. 
 
 In the afternoon a train of flat and box-cars was 
 backed up to Fair Oaks Station, and as fast as possible 
 our wounded were carried to it. Several captured Con- 
 federate surgeons here rendered us good service, and 
 were sent with the wounded down to White House. 
 Within a few hours the wounded were all gone and
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 289 
 
 the hospital broken up. The singular hesitation of our 
 commander having prevented us at this time from 
 marcliino; into Richmond, it was decided that Sumner's 
 corps should remain just where it was ; but why it was 
 necessary to put men into camp on a battle-field, and 
 subject them to the risks not only of the fearful swamp 
 fever, but also to be poisoned by the emanations from 
 their fallen comrades, I never could understand. 
 
 General Gorman's brigade was not moved at all, and 
 my own tent, which was next to that of the general, 
 was just in the edge of the woods so often mentioned, 
 and within one hundred yards of tlie horrible pit where 
 our men were buried. Of the numerous horses killed 
 at Fair Oaks and Seven Pines some were burned and 
 some buried in shallow holes, and with the hot June sun 
 pouring down, the smells engendered were overpowering. 
 Our field hospitals were soon filled with the sick, and 
 ambulances were kept constantly busy hauling the worst 
 cases back to the general hospital at the White Hjouse. 
 
 After three weeks of this life I came down with a fever 
 myself, and the large doses of quinine that were given 
 me prevented my hearing anything for days. General 
 Gorman was also taken sick, and had to be sent to the 
 rear, leaving Colonel Sully, of the First Minnesota, in 
 command of our brigade. Finally, on the evening of 
 June 28, a friend came to the tent where I lay, sick 
 and listless, and said the army was going to retreat, 
 and I must 2:0 on ahead with the ambulances. That 
 roused me, and in a few minutes I was on my horse 
 and re2:)orting at the division headquarters. All was 
 bustle and confusion then, but General Sedgwick sat 
 silent and sad in a corner. As I went up to him he 
 
 19
 
 290 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 said, "Why, doctor, I thought you were sick," and 
 when I said, " General, this is no time to be sick," he 
 took my hand and said, " You are right there ; it is 
 serious work we now have to do." 
 
 I think that was the saddest night I passed during 
 the war. All night we were quietly starting the regi- 
 ments on their march, and about daylight we as silently 
 followed them. Before noon we could hear the enemy 
 coming down the railroad, and we had to march lively 
 to get to Savage Station to get ahead of them. That 
 29th of June was one of the hottest days of the season, 
 and when we reached the station, about five o'clock, 
 many of the men were exhausted and fell down with 
 sunstroke. While we were dragging them into the 
 shade and pouring cold water over them an order came 
 to form in line of battle, and we were just in time to 
 meet and check the advancing and exultant rebels. 
 The fight was short but bloody, and many wounded 
 from the First Minnesota then came on my hands. It 
 seemed as though we might here hold our ground ; but 
 the burning piles of stores and the explosion of a train- 
 load of ammunition which had been run out on the 
 railroad bridge showed us we were in full retreat. Our 
 sick and wounded in large numbers — I believe two 
 thousand five hundred — were collected in tents about 
 Savage Station, and a number of surgeons being detailed 
 to remain with them, they were abandoned to the enemy. 
 All night we marched over the narrow, muddy road, 
 the sombre quiet of the men being in marked contrast 
 to the hilarity that prevailed as we marched up the 
 Peninsula. At daylight we crossed White-Oak Creek, 
 and were then halted for a short rest. We were near
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 291 
 
 enough to see, two hours after, the crossing of one of 
 our rear guard and the destruction of the bridge just 
 before the enemy reached it. This 30th day of June 
 was another hot day, and our men suffered much as we 
 hurried forward. Soon after noon our division was or- 
 dered to take position on the right of Frazier's farm to 
 meet the Confederates coming down the Charles City 
 road. They were already making the attempt to cut 
 through the division ahead of us. 
 
 General Sumner here commanded, and held them 
 back until about four o'clock, when a most determined 
 attack was made, and it looked as though we were going 
 to be beaten. Colonel Sully's brigade had been held in 
 reserve ; and seeing him considerably in advance of his 
 men, sitting alone and watching the fight, I rode up 
 alongside and asked him how it was going. Shells 
 were tearing up the dirt all about him, and the zip of 
 flying bullets was incessant, but he turned and said, 
 
 "This is getting hot, and I am dry." I pulled out 
 
 a flask which had been retained for extra occasions, and 
 he took a long drink. Then he said, "We will ride 
 up to the general for orders." As we reached General 
 Sumner he was, in his usual way, swinging his spec- 
 tacles in his hand, and just then a bullet broke one of 
 the glasses. He was much annoyed, but quickly told 
 Colonel Sully to bring up all the reserves. We barely 
 held our ground until darkness came. Before sunset I 
 found among the wounded coming to the rear Captain 
 Colville, of the First Minnesota. Finding a quiet fence 
 corner for him near Frazier's house, I slipped off his 
 coat and found a ball had entered his chest two inches 
 below the left collar-bone. It was a dangerous wound,
 
 292 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 and I told him he must keep quiet. Other wounded 
 men occupied my attention, and it was near midnight 
 when Colonel Sully sent me word he was on the Quaker 
 road, moving towards Malvern Hill, and for me to 
 follow. I had left my horse hitched near Captain Col- 
 ville, and when I went back and told him we were re- 
 treating, and he must be left behind, he just pulled his 
 tall form from under the fence and said, "No, he would 
 not be left." I did not think he could make the march, 
 and we had no sort of a conveyance; but Major Morgan, 
 of the First Minnesota, came round hunting for his men, 
 and offered to let the captain ride his horse. Captain 
 Colville would not accept that, but took a firm grip 
 of the horse's tail, and off they started. Three days 
 after I found the captain on a transport at Harrison's 
 Landing. 
 
 When I got started that night I was wholly sepa- 
 rated from my command, and just followed the weary 
 crowd. Towards morning I met some heavy artillery 
 coming back, and in the faint light saw it was being 
 placed on a hill to the left of the road. I knew then 
 that this was to be our next stand ; so going a little way 
 in the woods, I tied my horse to a tree and lay down 
 to sleep, the first time for three days. When I woke it 
 was long after sunrise, and the road was thronged with 
 men who, like myself, appeared to be lost. I could 
 find no one who could tell me where to find my brigade, 
 but finally was directed to Haxhall's Landing, where I 
 found General Gorman, Surgeon Morton, of the First 
 Minnesota, our ambulance train, and my own servant. 
 They soon prepared me a good meal, and after it I 
 again went off to sleep. Here Chaplain Neill found
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 293 
 
 me early in the afternoon, and said a dreadful battle 
 was about to be fought, and the men of the First Min- 
 nesota were complaining that no medical officer was 
 with them. I mounted my horse at once, and he 
 piloted me to the position of our brigade. As he and 
 I rode up the hill at Malvern, about four or five o'clock, 
 an exciting scene was before us. Our artillery was 
 pouring one mass of flame out on the plain beyond, and 
 the smoke was so thick over there we could see nothing ; 
 only the rattle of musketry was heard, and stretcher- 
 bearers were bringing the wounded from out the smoke. 
 
 Even here a ludicrous thing occurred that made us 
 laugh. While we stopped to watch the battle we saw 
 Private Sproat, who acted as aide to General Gorman, 
 coming up the hill on horseback. A bursting shell 
 fi-i^htened the horse so it threw him, and the saddle 
 coming round under the horse's belly, he began kick- 
 ing and racing, and then ran frantically into a swamp, 
 where he stuck fast. When we reached our division we 
 found it was not engaged in the fight, but the men 
 were drawn up in line as a reserve and were protected 
 by the hill. Chaplain Neill and I rode along the line 
 and spoke to our own men, and while we were with them 
 General McClellan with his staff came along. It was 
 the first time I had seen him since we left Fair Oaks. 
 
 When darkness stopped the battle our men were 
 allowed to lie down for a few hours' rest. That time I 
 spent with Colonel Sully at General Sumner's head- 
 quarters, under a tree, where had collected Generals 
 Sedgwick, Eichardson, Meagher, Burns, with a bullet- 
 hole through his hat, and others. They were discussing 
 the situation, and I gathered that they thought we
 
 294 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 should hold that position ; but while they talked a per- 
 emptory order came to continue the retreat to Harri- 
 son's Landing. 
 
 As usual we got started about ten o'clock, but had to 
 move slowly on account of the darkness and the crowded 
 road. Towards morning it came on to rain, and for hours 
 it just poured down. Somewhere near noon, on July 2, 
 we reached Harrison's Landing, wet and hungry. All 
 the buildings at Harrison's had already been taken 
 as hospitals, so going to one of them I found a kind 
 surgeon, who gave me food and a chance to dry my 
 clothes. 
 
 The men were not so much depressed by this retreat 
 as might have been expected, and very soon they were 
 fixed comfortably and enjoying a rest. After a few days 
 Mr. Lincoln paid us a visit, and we all remember the 
 kindly face he turned towards us as he rode along the 
 lines with General McClellan. 
 
 Towards the end of July I was ordered to take charge 
 of a general hospital at Newport News, and prepare 
 it for the reception of a large number of men. By the 
 1st of August I had two thousand beds ready, and these 
 were all filled by the sick and wounded left behind 
 when the Army of the Potomac went back to support 
 General Pope. Among my patients here was Quarter- 
 master Le Due, of Hastings, and no medicine I gave 
 did him half as much good as his kindly stories and 
 cheerful disposition did me. It was a gloomy time. 
 
 By the 1st of October my patients were well cleared 
 out, and I was ordered to close the hospital and report 
 to Major-General Peck, at Suffolk, Virginia, as medical 
 director of the forces there.
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 295 
 
 This outlying post was designed, I suppose, as a 
 menace to Petersburg. It was strongly fortified and 
 garrisoned by from fifteen thousand to thirty -five thou- 
 sand troops. These made frequent raids into the coun- 
 try south of the James River, and held a large force 
 of the enemy to watch them. All through that winter 
 we had many wounded men, and as each regiment had 
 a good hospital, we kept them there and watched the 
 result of different kinds of wounds and of treatment. 
 The corps of medical officers was most excellent, and as 
 there was much rivalry as to who should have the best 
 success, we learned much that has since been useful. 
 At night there was much poker-playing going on among 
 the officers, and to keep the doctors away from that we 
 established a dissecting-room, and had no trouble to 
 provide enough defunct negroes to keep them interested. 
 From April 17, 1863, to May 4, we were besieged in 
 Suffolk by the force under General Longstreet. Our 
 loss during that time was sixty killed and two hundred 
 and forty wounded. 
 
 On May 18, while out with General Michael Cor- 
 coran on an expedition up the Petersburg Railroad, I 
 was with another officer and two orderlies drawn into an 
 ambush, and captured by a party of Mississippi riflemen. 
 When ordered to halt I tried to get away, but my horse 
 had not run two rods before he fell, shot through the 
 neck, and I went sprawling over his head. As I tried 
 to rise one of the men knocked me down with a musket, 
 and I knew nothing until I found myself being dragged 
 in great haste into a swamp. As soon as I came to my 
 senses the men holding me told me to keep still, and 
 asked me if I could ride. I said yes, and they put me
 
 296 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 on one of the orderly's horses, and then rapidly fol- 
 lowed a by-path through the woods. A whole North 
 Carolina regiment w^as encamped within a few hundred 
 yards of where w^e were captured. We wandered 
 through the bushes most of the night, and at daylight 
 crossed the Black Water River at Zuni and were in 
 a Confederate camp. That day we were taken some 
 miles down the river to General Jenkins's headquarters. 
 He received us pleasantly, and invited the other officer 
 and myself to accept the hospitality of his table until 
 such time as he could send us to Richmond. We 
 remained there about twenty-four hours and received 
 much kindly attention from General Jenkins and his 
 officers. From the time I came to my senses in the 
 swamp I had no cause to complain of any ill treatment. 
 All were pleasant and sociable. We were taken to 
 Weldon, North Carolina, and then put on a train for 
 Petersburg. Reached that city in the night, and were 
 put in a tobacco warehouse with negroes, deserters, and 
 all sorts of prisoners. It was a tough place, and we 
 were olad enough that afternoon to be marched to the 
 depot and put on a Richmond train. Here my good 
 luck came in, for there were some ladies in the car, 
 and their curiosity being excited by seeing two Yankee 
 officers, they sent a young artillery officer who was with 
 them to ask who we were. When I told him I was 
 from Minnesota, he said, " Do you know my uncle, 
 Colonel Sully ?" When he found the relation I had 
 held to Colonel Sully he was very gracious, and prom- 
 ised to see that we were sent out by the first exchange 
 boat that came up. I supposed that was all talk, but 
 the next day after we were lodged in Libby Prison a
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 297 
 
 guard called out that I was wanted at General Winder's 
 office. On being conducted there I found the nephew 
 of Colonel Sully, Lieutenant Wheeler, of South Caro- 
 lina, had brought me a towel, tooth-brush, and comb, 
 and a bottle of applejack ; and he said he had seen 
 Colonel Ould, the commissioner of exchange, and my 
 name and that of my friend were down for the first 
 boat. 
 
 Our life in the prison was not hard. I was in a 
 room on the second floor with one hundred and seventy- 
 six other officers, and we were so crowded we all had 
 to go to bed at once, as we covered the floor completely. 
 We had two meals a day, such as they were, and were 
 divided up in squads so each could have a chance at 
 the stove and table. Each squad appointed its cooks 
 and dishwashers. I was a dishwasher. In one corner 
 of the room was a hydrant and a sort of bath-tub, and 
 some one was in that bath about all the time. 
 
 After two weeks of this life I was getting pretty 
 tired, when one evening the guard announced that an 
 exchange boat was at City Point, and soon after Gen- 
 eral Winder's adjutant read out the names of those who 
 were to go on there. IVIy friend and I had not been 
 forgotten, and the next morning we were called up at 
 four o'clock and marched to the depot. After much 
 delay we got off on a long line of flat cars. Reached 
 Petersburg about eight o'clock, and after another long 
 wait there were finally delivered at City Point. It was 
 late in the afternoon before we reached the steamer, 
 and I was taken by the hand by that noble man. Major 
 John E. Mulford, the United States commissioner of 
 exchange. Getting back to Suffolk in June, every-
 
 298 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 tiling was quiet, and, as the forced trip had rather 
 broken me down, I took a leave of absence and went 
 North. While lying sick in New Jersey the battle of 
 Gettysburg was fought, and I chafed at being idle when 
 the old First Minnesota was so severely handled. Two 
 weeks later I visited many of the maimed heroes of that 
 regiment in the Baltimore hospitals. 
 
 Returning South, I found Suffolk abandoned, and 
 General Peck's command at Norfolk, Virginia. On 
 August 11 General Peck was transferred to Newborn, 
 North Carolina, to relieve Major-General Foster in tlie 
 command of the District of North Carolina. As a 
 member of his staff I accompanied him, and for over 
 two years following had charge of the medical depart- 
 ment in that State. The troops were largely scattered, 
 and I was compelled to travel a great deal, but the 
 large hospitals were concentrated at Newbern. We had 
 two large convalescent hospitals at the sea-shore, on 
 Beaufort harbor, and in summer sent them most of the 
 sick who could travel. This no doubt saved the lives 
 of many poor fellows broken down by malarial poison. 
 This poison in many districts was almost certainly fatal 
 to those exposed to it after nightfall. Again and again, 
 both at Newbern and Washington, North Carolina, we 
 had sentinels struck down insensible and dying while 
 on duty. So often did this hajopen in 1863, we pro- 
 vided for it by having surgeons sit up all night and 
 keep hot water ready, so as to put such men immedi- 
 ately in a hot bath. This course saved many lives; 
 but so powerful an effect did these congestive chills 
 have on the brain, we could for weeks after such an 
 attack recognize a man who had it by the peculiar ap-
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 299 
 
 pearance of his eyes, and I doubt if these men ever fully 
 recovered. 
 
 A perplexing matter at Newbern was the care of the 
 negroes and white refugees who had congregated there 
 for protection. We had to provide quarters and rations 
 for them, as well as medical attendance. Here I saw 
 many of the noted dirt-eaters, people who ate a sort of 
 blue clay, and became thin, wan, and dropsical. These 
 people had little idea of civilized life. They refused 
 the ox-tail soup and the fresh beef we provided for 
 them, and clamored all the time for meat, meaning 
 bacon, or ''siding,'' as it is called down there. They 
 knew no other kind of meat. 
 
 Of course smallpox followed us, and soon broke out 
 among those wretched people. We built pest-houses 
 for them, and at one time I had under my care two 
 hundred negroes with smallpox. Brave young doctors 
 who came to us from the North volunteered for this 
 service, and the poor creatures were not neglected. 
 
 At first we had great difficulty to get vaccine virus, 
 but finally the surgeon-general sent me from Washing- 
 ton a large invoice. I had it all ground up in a mor- 
 tar and mixed with glycerin, and then collecting all the 
 medical officers who could be spared, — some twenty or 
 more, — we had the provost-guard one Sunday morning 
 drive all the negroes in town out on a long bridge over 
 the Trent River. The doctors then vaccinated each one 
 as he or she was let offi Many of them kicked and 
 screamed, and the whole garrison turned out to see the 
 performance. Altogether we vaccinated six thousand 
 that day, and following this up we very soon checked 
 the spread of smallpox.
 
 300 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Early in 1864 many of our regiments were sent to the 
 James Kiver, and the Confederates took advantage of 
 their absence to attack us. Under the lead of General 
 Pickett they laid siege to Newbern, captured some out- 
 posts, and blew up a gunboat that was stationed above 
 the town, but did us little damage. They did, however, 
 capture Plymouth, North Carolina, with General Wes- 
 sels and all the troops under him. Before we heard of 
 this disaster General Peck sent a steamer loaded with 
 ammunition for General Wessels. As we were very 
 anxious about them, I decided to go along, and, as it 
 happened, was the only commissioned officer on board. 
 When we reached Roanoke Island the wildest stories 
 were flying. General Hoke had besieged Plymouth, 
 and the terrible ram " Albemarle" was prowling about 
 the mouth of Roanoke River ready to pick off any at- 
 tempted succor. The steamboat captain was panic- 
 stricken, and refused to go any farther. Knowing the 
 importance of getting the ammunition through, I or- 
 dered him to go on. He begged to be let off, and said 
 he was a deserter from the enemy, and if the ram took 
 us he would be hung. I told him I would see that he 
 was not captured, for if the ram came alongside I would 
 blow up the boat. He was afraid of me after that, and 
 did as I told him, but when half-way up Albemarle 
 Sound a gunboat met us and said Plymouth had fallen. 
 
 As the hot weather came on in 1864 all were more or 
 less sick ; but as everything was going along quietly I 
 allowed a number of our medical officers to go North 
 on leave. While at Norfolk the summer before, I re- 
 membered the fearful epidemic of 1854, and was much 
 exercised about yellow fever. It did not, however, ap-
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 301 
 
 pear, and now in Newbern, where there had been no 
 epidemic of that disease since 1779, I did not think 
 about it at alL Suddenly, on September 6, different 
 surgeons reported to me three cases of some peculiar 
 fever. I went to see one that had just died. The body- 
 was yellow, and there had been persistent vomiting. 
 Neither I nor any of the medical officers in Newbern 
 had ever seen a case of yellow fever, but this startled 
 us. I slept none that night. The next day more 
 cases appeared, and Ordnance-Officer Johnson, at our 
 headquarters, who had been sick some days, turned yel- 
 low and died. Then we were scared. We knew yellow 
 fever had come. The disease spread rapidly, the epi- 
 demic influence apjDcaring at first to be in greatest force 
 in vicinity of the water on both river-banks, but it ex- 
 tended soon over the whole town, and by November 1 
 nearly every person in the place had gone through with 
 an attack of the fever. The negroes generally had it 
 mildly, as did also the children, while with the aged 
 and persons recently arrived from the North it was very 
 fatal. The population of Newbern at that time was esti- 
 mated at nine thousand, over half of that number being 
 negroes. Of the white citizens and soldiers twelve 
 hundred died between September 6 and November 1, 
 and of the negroes about one hundred and fifty. There 
 were no native physicians in Newbern, so all the sick 
 had to be cared for by the army surgeons. The fatality 
 among them was very great. In all, during the epi- 
 demic, we had on duty in Newbern twenty-three medi- 
 cal officers, surgeons, assistant surgeons, and contract 
 physicians who came from the North ; of this number 
 twenty-one had the fever and eleven died. Only those
 
 302 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 who have gone through a grave epidemic can under- 
 stand the condition of that town. The very air seemed 
 stagnant, and hung like a pall about us. To stir this 
 up hundreds of cords of pine wood and of barrels of 
 rosin and tar were burned on street corners. All busi- 
 ness was suspended, and every one who could went 
 away. The place was shunned by all. So powerful 
 was the poison that officers and soldiers arriving from 
 the North by steamer, and riding rapidly from the 
 wharf to their camps out in the woods, would in a few 
 days sicken and die. Yet the disease was not conta- 
 gious, and it did not in a single instance spread to those 
 in the camp who had avoided the town. 
 
 Brave men at first organized a burial corps and went 
 everywhere caring for the dead, but one by one they 
 died from the disease until finally only Mr. Polk, an 
 auctioneer, was left. He bravely held on, and daily on 
 the street could be seen a singular procession, — a negro 
 driving a wagon containing a rough coffin, and followed 
 only by Polk, on a yellow horse, with an umbrella over 
 his head, a prayer-book in his hand, and a bottle of 
 whiskey protruding from his pocket. Another proces- 
 sion also frequently seen was a negro boy carrying a 
 child's coffin on his head, and followed by the weeping 
 mother. 
 
 My own cares were increasing, and as my friends 
 daily died about me I envied the rest that had come to 
 them. Strange to say, I went through the whole epi- 
 demic unscathed, and it was late in November, after the 
 whole affair was over, that I came down. I turned very 
 yellow, but had the fever mildly. When convalescent 
 from this attack of the fever I received leave of absence.
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 303 
 
 Stopping at Fortress Monroe to report to General 
 Butler, our department commander, I found he was at 
 Bermuda Hundred, and so went up there. At General 
 Butler's headquarters I first saw General Grant, and was 
 impressed by his quiet yet confident manner. Spend- 
 ing several days with ray old friends in the different 
 divisions about Petersburg, I found, however, that the 
 troops did not share in General Grant's confidence. 
 Everywhere I heard the same story about fruitless 
 movements where their comrades had been sacrificed ; 
 and it appeared to me the Army of the Potomac was 
 sullenly awaiting to be slaughtered. I am sure those 
 troops were more discouraged and disheartened then 
 than they were after the Seven Days' Retreat to Har- 
 rison's Landing. 
 
 Returning to Fortress Monroe with General Butler, 
 I was kindly entertained at his quarters there, and he 
 appeared to be more interested in the boring of an 
 artesian well on the fort grounds than about the ad- 
 vance of the army. 
 
 As I left there to go North, Medical Director Mc- 
 Cormick told me to come back as quick as I could, as 
 there was an important expedition on foot, and he 
 wanted me to go with it. I was too sick to get back 
 soon, and thus lost the opportunity of accompanying 
 the two expeditions against Fort Fisher, North Caro- 
 lina. When at last I did get back, the steamer I was 
 on reached Beaufort harbor the very day General 
 Terry made his successful assault on that fort. Most 
 of his wounded were brought to Beaufort and placed 
 in our hospitals there. We were all quite surprised by 
 the rapid recoveries made by these men, and we at-
 
 304 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 tributed it largely to the exultation they felt over their 
 victory. 
 
 Soon after General Terry captured Wilmington, 
 North Carolina, I went down there to inspect the 
 medical department. Some eight thousand released 
 prisoners from Salisbury and Andersonville -had just 
 been brought down the Cape Fear Kiver; and over 
 two thousand of them being too sick to go on board the 
 ordinary transports, had to be cared for in this town. 
 We provided shelter for them in the churches, halls, 
 etc., and all the doctors had their hands full. Hun- 
 dreds of the poor 2^i"isoners, dirty and ragged, had lost 
 all semblance of humanity. Sickness and starvation 
 had brought them to a perfect state of idiocy. They 
 could not comprehend what was said to them, and often, 
 when washed and clothed and put on a hosjjital cot, 
 they would roll under it on the approach of a stranger, 
 and glare out at him like some wild beast. The care 
 of these men required the greatest firmness and gentle- 
 ness. Fortunately, we had an abundance of medical 
 officers to take charge of them. After two days there 
 General Schofield, who had arrived and assumed com- 
 mand of the department of North Carolina, directed 
 me to return to Newbern to prepare for the advance to 
 be made from that point. The Twenty-third Corps 
 had arrived there, and early in February our whole 
 force advanced up the south side of the Neuse E-iver. 
 At Kingston a fierce but short battle was fought ; and 
 from it all our hospitals at Newbern were filled with 
 wounded. 
 
 Under a law which passed Congress early in Febru- 
 ary, 1865, regulating the rank of medical directors of
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 305 
 
 department and corps, I had now become a full colonel, 
 and drew the pay of that rank until the close of the 
 war, although I received no commission. 
 
 It was my duty to rapidly extend the hospital accom- 
 modations at Newbern and Beaufort to accommodate 
 the sick and wounded we expected General Sherman 
 to have when he reached Goldsboro'. 
 
 While thus kept busy, alarming reports began to 
 come from Wilmington. A low form of fever was 
 carrying off" hundreds of our men, the citizens were 
 dying, and some of our best surgeons had fallen. As 
 soon as possible I went down there, accompanied by 
 Medical Inspector John M. Cuyler, who was a host in 
 himself. 
 
 The condition of affairs was worse than had been 
 reported. The number of deaths daily was frightful, 
 and every house in town had crape on the windows. 
 The fever was violently contagious and was typhus. 
 It had been engendered in the filthy prison-pen at 
 Salisbury, was brought down by the released prisoners, 
 and by them communicated to nearly every man on the 
 steamboats that brought them, and then to the hospital 
 attendants and the citizens of Wilmington. 
 
 Hundreds of negroes had fled to Wilmington after 
 its capture. This fever frightened them, and they went 
 back to their old masters, carrying disease and death 
 through all that region. 
 
 General, now Senator, Hawley was in command at 
 Wilmington, and took every possible precaution to pre- 
 vent the spread of the disease. All troops were en- 
 camped outside of the town ; and as soon as we could 
 establish a large hospital at Smithville, at the mouth of 
 
 20
 
 306 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Cape Fear River, all the sick that could not be sent 
 North were taken there. 
 
 About three hundred Union soldiers died during the 
 four weeks of this epidemic, and among them nine of 
 our bravest medical officers. They never shrank from 
 duty, and freely laid down their lives. 
 
 I returned to Newbern in time to accompany Gen- 
 eral Schofield to Goldsboro', and there witnessed the 
 famous entry of General Sherman and his army, about 
 which Colonel Kerr lately told us. It was a rough- 
 looking party, bummers, mules, and all, even to the 
 general himself, who had a red beard nearly half an 
 inch long sticking out all over his face, and the skin 
 of his nose peeling off from the effect of the sun, as 
 usual. All, however, were in the best of spirits, and 
 we went into camp there feeling very jolly. 
 
 During the advance on Kaleigh I was at the coast, 
 looking after the hospitals and transports. 
 
 When General Sherman proposed the terms to Gen- 
 eral Joe Johnston which caused so much ill-feeling in 
 Washington, General Grant was sent down to arrange 
 matters. He had a rough voyage around Cape Hat- 
 teras, and, landing at Morehead City, was brought up 
 to Newbern. Here, while an extra train was being 
 made ready, he was brought to my quarters to rest. 
 He had been dreadfully sea-sick, and he looked sad 
 and careworn. I accompanied him to Raleigh, and 
 thought he might well be called "The Silent Man." 
 He scarcely spoke to any one about him. 
 
 After the grand army had gone on its final march to 
 Washington there was much yet to do in North Caro- 
 lina. Large numbers of sick and wounded were left
 
 ADDRESS BY COLONEL DANIEL HAND. 307 
 
 on our hands, and while working with them during the 
 hot weather in June I was prostrated by an attack of 
 pleurisy, and was sent North on a hospital steamer, as 
 my friends thought, to die. Somehow that fate was not 
 to be mine, and early in September I was again on duty 
 at Raleigh. General Schofield remained for a time in 
 command there, but was soon succeeded by General 
 Terry. He, in turn, was relieved, and General Kuger 
 assigned to the command of the department. With 
 this thorough officer I had always the most pleasant re- 
 lations, and it was finally by his order, in November, 
 1865, that I was mustered out of service.
 
 RECOLLEOTIOI^JS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE MINE RUN CAMPAIGN. 
 
 BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL EDWIN 0. MASON, 
 
 FOURTH U. S. INFANTRY, BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL V. S. VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 Gentlemen ; Companions, — I speak witli diffidence 
 upon a military subject, for I have before me those who 
 took an active and distinguished part in the mighty 
 conflict that covered our land from the Susquehanna to 
 the Gulf, from the shores of the Atlantic to the plains 
 of Texas, with battle-fields, leaving on cities, towns, and 
 villages, on mountain and plain, on plantation and farm, 
 over an empire in extent of territory, scars from the 
 iron heel of war which time has not yet efikced. 
 
 From the five thousand six hundred and seventy- 
 eight (5678) battles, skirmishes, and affairs borne upon 
 the records of our War Department, and which go to 
 make up the grand aggregate of the war of the Re- 
 bellion, I have selected as the subject of this paper 
 one brief campaign of the Army of the Potomac, — that 
 of Mine Run, November, 1863, — an operation that, as 
 one writer justly observes, " deserved better success 
 than it met," for the campaign was carefully planned, 
 and especially in preparation for the attack on Decem- 
 
 308
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.-COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 309 
 
 ber 30, the details were elaborated with a minuteness 
 rarely observed in our armies. 
 
 I trust I may be able to interest you for a few mo- 
 ments as I briefly tell the story, and incidentally show 
 how important events are made to hinge on trifles. A 
 few remarks by way of preface : In midsummer of the 
 year 1863 the Confederate government resolved upon 
 an invasion of the Northern States. This resolution 
 was born, doubtless, of that well-recognized military 
 principle that to seize the opportune moment and take 
 the offensive, carrying the war into your enemy's coun- 
 try, is at times the highest wisdom ; for every success 
 increases the confidence of the troops in themselves and 
 their leaders, while the hope of rich spoil and abundant 
 supplies is in itself a powerful incentive to the most 
 vigorous action. 
 
 In the case of General Lee, his defensive attitude, 
 maintained for almost a year, had grown very distaste- 
 ful to the Southern people, who longed to see the war 
 transferred to the " Yankee States," as they pleased to 
 term them. 
 
 The experiment of invasion was tried and Gettys- 
 burg was the result. The close of that engagement 
 found the Army of the Potomac in fine spirits, confi- 
 dent of its ability to strike a finishing blow to Lee's de- 
 moralized forces. This confidence was thoroughly felt 
 and expressed in the Sixth Corps, in which I served, 
 and when it was known that the swelling of the Potomac 
 from recent storms had rendered the fords impracticable, 
 and that Lee had been obliged to halt at Williamsport, 
 pending the construction of a pontoon bridge, it seemed 
 as though the fate of his army was sealed.
 
 310 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Being on duty as general officer of the day for the 
 Sixth Corps on the 12th of July, immediately upon our 
 arrival before the enemy's position I made a careful re- 
 connoissance of his lines in our front in anticipation of 
 the order to attack. It was apparent that considerable 
 confusion existed in the enemy's corps, and that vigor- 
 ous ejfforts were being made to increase the natural 
 advantages of the ground for defence. The spade and 
 pick were applied unceasingly during the 12th and 
 13th, and during those two days of inaction on our 
 part redoubts and rifle-pits grew before our eyes. I 
 have always thought that an attack on the 12th would 
 have been successful. 
 
 It was one of the occasions, in my judgment, when it 
 would have been well to have taken counsel, as Napo- 
 leon often did, of the enthusiasm and spirit of the sol- 
 diers in the ranks and lower grades of commissioned 
 officers, for when the soldiers are anxious to attack and 
 are confident of success the battle is half w^on. The bayo- 
 nets in our army, above any other known to history, 
 thought. A movement undertaken against the sober 
 judgment of the soldiers generally miscarried ; it was 
 rare that one undertaken with their hearty approval 
 did not in the end succeed. Cold Harbor on June 2, 
 1864, is an instance in point. For weeks the army 
 had been hurled against formidable defences, and the 
 awful aggregate of sixty thousand killed, wounded, and 
 missing, in the series of engagements from the crossing 
 of the Rapidan on the 5tli of May to the passage of the 
 James on the 12th of June, had almost been completed. 
 There was no demoralization in the ranks, but the sol- 
 diers felt it was a useless waste of life to attempt again
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.-COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 311 
 
 to storm the works before wliicli thousands of their com- 
 rades had gone down to death without seeing the foe or 
 inflicting upon him ai^preciable loss. That morning, in 
 less than forty minutes, thirteen thousand men had been 
 killed and wounded in a fruitless assault on works 
 rudely constructed but giving complete protection to the 
 enemy, who, from under the " peep-log," as it was called, 
 could deliver, with safety to himself, a deadly fire. So, 
 when General Meade issued orders to renew the attack 
 at a later hour that day, they were silently disobeyed. 
 The appointed hour came but no man stirred, and, as a 
 military writer of that period says, " The lines pro- 
 nounced a silent but emphatic protest against further 
 slaughter." This verdict was wisely accepted by Gen- 
 eral Grant, and his plans were changed. The high 
 spirit with which the subsequent operations were carried 
 on before Petersburg and Richmond, though scarcely 
 less arduous than the Wilderness campaign, showed that 
 Grant and his soldiers were in accord. 
 
 As the world knows, we did not fight at Williams- 
 port, and Lee escaped. The subsequent operations 
 during the remainder of July and the months of 
 August, September, October, and November, I will 
 not refer to, although the series of manoeuvres between 
 the two armies, the numerous affairs between outposts 
 during Lee's retreat to Culpeper, the attempt on the 
 part of the Confederate commander to place himself 
 between Meade and the Capital, foiled by Meade's gen- 
 eralship, and the return to the lines on the Rappahan- 
 nock, are full of striking incidents. These movements 
 were conducted through the most beautiful part of Vir- 
 ginia, the gentle undulations of the land giving opportu-
 
 312 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 nity from time to time for the eye to sweep over a vast 
 range of cultivated country dotted with farm-houses and 
 laced with roads over which the several corps of the 
 army stretched for miles, the sinuous line marked by 
 the bright sparkle of the polished muskets. In some 
 cases the columns moved in parallel lines, with the 
 wagon-trains between, and, as in the case of the march 
 on Centreville to defeat Lee's plans, the rapid move- 
 ment was enlivened by a continuous and running cav- 
 alry and horse-artillery skirmish on the left flank. At 
 no other period of its history did the Army of the Po- 
 tomac see in such rapid succession the alternate lights 
 and shades of army life in the field ; the change within 
 an hour from the comforts and amusements of a well- 
 established camp to the rapid and stirring march ; the 
 bivouac beneath bright autumn skies ; the engagements 
 between corps ; the skirmishes between regiments and 
 detached brigades ; the rush through a day or a night 
 to secure an important position ; the foraging beyond 
 the lines or route of march, with its resultant affairs 
 with the enemy's parties intent on the same errand ; 
 and last (not least by any means), the pleasant sojourn, 
 all too short, in Warrenton, and other towns filled with 
 bright, if saucy, Virginia girls. It was a period of ideal 
 soldiering, and is all the brighter in retrospect, coming 
 between the swampy peninsula and the stern work that 
 filled the days the following summer in the Wilderness 
 and on the James. 
 
 An incident in our sojourn at Warrenton comes 
 back to mind. Warrenton had, in its palmy days be- 
 fore the "wah," been a favorite resort for the Virginia 
 aristocracy. At the time I refer to it was filled with
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.-COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 313 
 
 the wives and daughters of those who wore the Confed- 
 erate gray. You all know how freely the dear creatures 
 expressed their rebel sentiments, safe in the immunity 
 universally granted the gentler sex. The young ladies 
 of Warrenton indulged themselves in their favorite pas- 
 time of abusing the "Yankees," without in the least 
 impairing the cordial relations that seemed to exist be- 
 tween them and the host of gentlemen — young, and 
 some not so young — who were always ready to play 
 "squire of dames." Riding parties by day and dancing 
 and singing by night made the old town alive again. 
 Near my headquarters was a fine old mansion, filled 
 every evening with pretty girls, who were always ready 
 to sing "My Maryland," "'Way down South in Dixie," 
 and other rebel songs. One evening it was evident 
 there was something unusual astir. We were at last 
 told a new song was to be sung, and in due time the fol- 
 lowing expressions of fraternal love were warbled forth 
 by a melting blonde : 
 
 " You can never win us back ; never ! never ! 
 Though we perish in the track of your endeavor; 
 Though our corpses strew the earth 
 That smiled upon our birth, 
 And blood pollutes each hearthstone forever ! 
 
 " We have risen to a man, stern and fearless ; 
 Of your curses and your taunts we are careless. 
 
 Every hand is on its knife, 
 
 Every gun is primed for strife, 
 Every palm contains a life high and peerless. 
 
 " You have no such blood as ours for the shedding ; 
 In the veins of cavaliers it had its heading ;
 
 314 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 You have no such stately men 
 In your abolition den, 
 "Who march through death and danger, nothing dreading. 
 
 " Though we fall beneath the fire of your legions 
 Paid with gold, — raurd'rous hire ! base allegiance ! — 
 
 For ever}^ drop you shed 
 
 We shall have a mound of dead, 
 And the vultures shall be fed in our regions ! 
 
 " The battle to the strong is not given 
 While the Judge of right and wrong is in heaven ; 
 
 While the God of David still 
 
 Guides the people with His will, 
 There are giants yet to kill, wrongs unshriven !" 
 
 The above breathed such a sweet spirit of peace and 
 good will, and there was such an absence of that tone 
 of braggadocio of which our Southern brothers have 
 sometimes been accused, that we thought it deserved an 
 answer. The combined efforts of our corps produced 
 
 the following, which was sung the next evening by 
 
 of the Fourth Cavalry : 
 
 " Oh ! yes, we'll win you back, rebel beauties. 
 With " sugar and hard tack" to your duties ; 
 Even now you greatly prize the glance of Yankee eyes. 
 And, for lovers, Yankee soldiers well they'd suit ye's ! 
 
 " Our camps are thronged with ladies and with lasses, 
 For Salem and White Plains seeking passes ; 
 Every one desires a guard, and thinks it's mighty hard 
 Tf she can't get lots of sugar and molasses. 
 
 "No, we've no such men as yours for the showing, — 
 Of * cavalier' descent always blowing ; 
 Of convicts' seedy scions transformed to Southern lions: 
 Forsooth, you have great cause for j^our crowing!
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.-COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 315 
 
 " The back-bone of tbe ' so-called' has been shattered, 
 And the hordes of the unholy have been scattered ; 
 And you tremble lest the walls of Sumter on you fall, 
 By 'monitors' and 'swamp angels' battered. 
 
 " 'Twould be hard to feed your vultures in these regions, 
 After having been traversed by your legions : 
 Every cussed thing to eat they stole on their retreat, 
 
 And there's nothing left but chestnuts and persimmons." 
 
 Our doggerel stemmed somewhat the flow of rebel 
 song during the remainder of our stay. 
 
 But, to return to my subject : 
 
 The engagement, Saturday afternoon, November 7, 
 closed about half-past five o'clock with the brilliant 
 charge of Russell's division of the Sixth Corps upon 
 the enemy's works, and early the next morning the 
 army crossed the Rappahannock and moved forward in 
 line of battle, anticipating an engagement. The coun- 
 try between the river and Culpeper was open, only 
 broken by clumps of trees scattered here and there 
 over the plain. 
 
 The advance of the Third and Sixth Corps, some 
 thirty thousand strong in far-extending lines, was an 
 imposing sight. From my position in the advance 
 the dark masses of the enemy could be seen between 
 Brandy Station and Culpeper, and it was first thought 
 that Lee would offer battle ; but we were not long in 
 discovering that behind the veil of cavalry he was 
 withdrawing beyond the Rapidan. Between Brandy 
 Station and Culpeper we found the evidences that 
 Lee had prepared his winter quarters in that vicinity. 
 My note-book of that year says, " Standing at Brandy 
 Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, one
 
 316 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 can trace for miles substantial huts, ranged in regi- 
 mental and brigade lines. These huts are well built 
 and furnished roughly but comfortably with tables, 
 chairs, and bunks." It was evident that the ' Rebs' 
 had not anticipated our advance beyond the Rappahan- 
 nock, and expected to enjoy undisturbed through the 
 winter months these excellent quarters. They must 
 have been evacuated in great haste, for dough was 
 found in the bread-troughs and fresh meat in the bri- 
 gade shambles. I noticed, also, that the prisoners 
 taken at the time were all well clothed, and shod with 
 the English army shoe, — a shoe made of the best 
 material, shod with iron on the heel and fastened with 
 copper rivets ; so vastly superior to those in use in our 
 army as to excite most uncomplimentary remarks on 
 our contract system. 
 
 In the excellent huts referred to, and in those our 
 men speedily constructed, the army settled itself for the 
 winter, as many supposed; but I knew better, for 
 through friends high in rank in the army, sources of 
 information were open to me not generally accessible. 
 It was reported the President had said to General 
 Meade, after Lee's successful passage of the Potomac 
 at Williamsport, at the close of the Gettysburg cam- 
 paign, " The fruit seemed so ripe, so ready for plucking, 
 that it was hard to lose it." It is a matter of history 
 that Halleck had expressed himself so sharply at the 
 failure to press the pursuit from Gettysburg that Gen- 
 eral Meade tendered his resignation, which was not ac- 
 cepted, Halleck at the same time softening his harsh 
 expressions. The recollection of those events, together 
 with the failure to bring Lee to a decisive engagement
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.- COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 317 
 
 during the march to Centreville and back, and the 
 pressure of public opinion in the North for what Crom- 
 well was wont to call a " crowning victory," for the 
 failure to attack at Williamsport for a time cast a 
 shadow on Gettysburg, and the Northern people did 
 not realize that the fall of Vicksburg and the battle of 
 Gettysburg marked the highest flow of the wave of re- 
 bellion, and from that hour the cause of secession was 
 steadily on the wane ; the draft-riots in New York in 
 July also — although promptly suppressed — had left a 
 grand swell of discontent, fomented and encouraged by 
 copperhead speakers and papers. Inconclusive opera- 
 tions East, West, and South made loyal men anxious 
 and impatient. All these, I say, combined to make 
 General Meade eager to strike a blow before the storms 
 of winter set in. 
 
 The weather invited a movement, for during October 
 and November it was exceptionally good. Occasional 
 rains, but in the main bright, calm, stormless autumn 
 days, — " Golden days for a campaign," I find I call 
 them in my journal. 
 
 With Lee's best lieutenant — Longstreet — away with 
 Bragg in Tennessee, and with his army scattered over 
 some forty miles of country, a movement to turn his 
 right flank and interjDOse between Ewell — stretching 
 from Morton's Ford, on the Kapidan, to Orange Court- 
 House — and Hill, scattered in cantonments along the 
 railroad from that place to Charlottesville, with the bulk 
 of his force near that village, and with a gap of several 
 miles between the corjDs, seemed to promise success. To 
 pierce the enemy's centre and overwhelm him in detail 
 was a movement frequently practised by the great mas-
 
 318 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 ter in the art of war, and with him it rarely failed, be- 
 cause Napoleon treated blunders in matters of detail as 
 crimes, and the offender rarely escajDcd due punishment. 
 So far as I know, the omissions and negligences by which 
 this most promising movement was wrecked were never 
 so much as noticed. General Meade and the weather 
 bore the blame. 
 
 The series of operations known as the " Mine Run" 
 campaign were decided upon, and orders issued at four 
 o'clock A.M., the 15th of November, to be ready to 
 move at a moment's notice with ten days' rations and 
 no wagons except the artillery trains. But the weather, 
 which for days had been delightful, broke that morning 
 soon after daylight, and a furious storm of wind and 
 rain swept down from the Bhie Ridge Mountains upon 
 our camps. The order was suspended, and, although a 
 succession of pleasant days followed the storm of the 
 15th, no movement was made, and it was not until mid- 
 night of the 24th that marching orders were again 
 issued. We were to start at four a.m. By that time 
 another storm had set in, and the order to move was 
 suspended. Thanksgiving morning, the 26th, broke 
 clear and cool, and the troops finally left their camps 
 in high spirits at the prospect of an active campaign. 
 The plan of the campaign was as follows : Lee having 
 left the lower fords of the river at Ely's, Culpeper 
 Mine, Germanna, and Jacob's Mill uncovered, Meade 
 proposed to cross the Rapidan in three columns, — the 
 Fifth Corj)s, followed by the First, at Culpeper Mine; 
 the Second Corps at Germanna ; the Third Corps, fol- 
 lowed by the Sixth, at Jacob's Mill ; and to concentrate 
 his army across the turnpike and plank roads leading
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.-COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 319 
 
 from Fredericksburg to Orange Court-House. Our left 
 was to rest at Parker's Store and the right at Robert- 
 son's Tavern ; the distance between tliese places was 
 three and a half miles. Then, by advancing westward 
 to Orange Court-House, twenty-one miles distant over 
 the parallel roads named, Meade would turn the enemy's 
 right, flank his defensive line on Mine Hun, and, by 
 making a lodgment at Orange Court-House and Gor- 
 donsville, interpose between the wings of Lee's army, 
 and be able to strike them in detail. 
 
 General Lee depended for the protection of his right 
 flank on the natural advantages for defence afforded by 
 the broken ground bordering on Mine Run, a small 
 stream emptying into the Rapidan about two and a 
 half miles above Jacob's Mill. It was rumored this 
 line was partially intrenched. If such was the case 
 above, it was known that the works did not extend as 
 far south as the plank road and turnpike. The dis- 
 tance from Brandy Station, which was about the centre 
 of our line of encampment, to Robertson's Tavern, was 
 about fifteen and one-half miles in an air-line, and 
 nineteen and one-half miles by the Stevensburg road, 
 crossing at Germanna Ford. None of the corps had 
 over twenty miles to march to the point of concentra- 
 tion. Of the four elements in this problem three were 
 time, space, and weather. Assuming the last to be 
 favorable, the other two were matters of mathematical 
 calculation. The fourth element was always prominent 
 in our rather loosely disciplined armies, — viz., the pre- 
 cise, prompt, and vigorous execution of orders. The 
 scrupulous observance of not only the letter but tlie 
 spirit of the instructions governing a movement which
 
 320 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 leaves nothing undone that thoughtfulness, skill, and 
 energy can compass to secure success. 
 
 The First and Fifth Corps crossed the Rapidan at 
 Culpeper Mine Ford ; the Second Corps some four 
 miles above at German na Ford ; and the Third and 
 Sixth Corps one and one-half miles farther up the 
 river at Jacob's Mill Ford. When the head of our 
 column (the Third Corps) arrived at the Kapidan it 
 was found "some one had blundered;" the pontoon 
 bridge was too short to span the stream. Hours were 
 lost from this cause, and it was after midnight before 
 the passage was effected. This delay was exceedingly 
 tedious to the men, for after advancing a few yards the 
 line would halt and in a few minutes move forward to 
 be again checked before a dozen stej)s were taken. 
 Besides their clothing and sixty rounds of ammunition, 
 each man carried ten days' coffee, hard bread, and pork. 
 Since six o'clock in the morning they had been on 
 their feet with their heavy packs on their backs, and, as 
 there seemed to the men to be no prospect of relief from 
 the snail-like march the shout of "Coffee" ! " Coffee" ! 
 began about ten o'clock to run up and down the line. 
 Soon after eleven General Sedgwick gave the order, — 
 " Ten minutes' rest for coffee." This order was passed 
 with shouts down the column stretching for miles along 
 the forest road, and in a few moments thousands of little 
 fires were illuminating the woods and the men were busy 
 making the grateful beverage. Soon after crossing the 
 river the Sixth Corps was closed in mass and bivouacked. 
 It was thirteen hours after the time appointed for the 
 crossing of the river, and the Third Corps, the advance 
 of our column, was five miles short of its objective.
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.-COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 321 
 
 111 the morning the columns began their march 
 through the narrow tracks, misnamed roads, threading 
 the dense forest called the " Wiklerness." " The Wil- 
 derness" will always have an ominous sound in North- 
 ern ears, for its gloomy thickets have been drenched 
 with some of the best blood of the Union. It is a 
 region lying south of the Rapidan, west of Fi-edericks- 
 burg, and east of Gordonsville. In the Colonial days, 
 and later, the veins of iron ore found here and there 
 had been worked, the furnaces to smelt the ore being 
 fired by fuel cut from the forests thickly covering the 
 land. The soil in places had also been found adapted 
 to the cultivation of tobacco. As the mines became 
 unproductive and the soil unfit for the profitable raising 
 of the tobacco-plant, the territory was abandoned to 
 nature. In time the entire tract of many miles in ex- 
 tent became so thickly overgrown with pine and scrub- 
 oak, interlaced with brambles and trailing vines, that a 
 dog could scarce force his way through. A few made 
 roads traversed the region, and many cart-tracks could 
 be found tempting the unwary to follow them, to find 
 at last that, as they began anywhere they as certainly 
 led nowhere. 
 
 It goes without question that an officer charged with 
 the conduct of a column through such a labyrinth 
 should have a clear idea of where his objective lay and 
 sood reliable ojuides to take him there. The Third 
 Corps got on to the wrong road soon after crossing the 
 river, and striking Johnston's division of Ewell's corps 
 brought on a hot fight. The Second Division of the 
 Sixth Corps was pushed forward to French's assistance, 
 and the battle of Locust Grove closed only with night- 
 
 21
 
 322 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 fall when the enemy retired. The delay in crossing 
 the river and the inopportune encounter with Ewell 
 had lost us the twelve hours on which the success of 
 the first part of the plan depended. The rebel army 
 was awake and fast closing its scattered divisions. The 
 next day, Saturday, the 28th, the Sixth Corps, under 
 General Sedgwick, passed French and the Third Corps, 
 and took the lead in the day's march. Our advance 
 was retarded by the enemy contesting every foot of 
 ground. I was in command of the skirmishers, and 
 found it difficult to cover the head of the right column 
 in a country so broken by ravines and hills, swampy 
 streams and dense underbrush. The dark clouds that 
 covered the sky in the morning soon dissolved in heavy 
 rain. Our movements were necessarily slow, not only 
 on account of the nature of the country, but in order 
 to give time for the centre and left columns (the Second, 
 First, and Fifth Corps) to swing into position. 
 
 Sunday morning, the 29th, broke cold and dark, and 
 although not raining it was so misty that it was difficult 
 to see in the dense forest. As we advanced the woods 
 became thinner, patches of open country and cultivated 
 fields here and there showed we were approaching the 
 western verge of the Wilderness. About 3 p.m. my 
 force debouched from the woods, and we could see the 
 lines of the enemy on the hills overhanging the valley 
 and stream of Mine Kun. The covering force with 
 which we had all day been fighting fell back into the 
 strong works fringing and crowning the hills on the 
 opposite side of a narrow valley. There was just time 
 enough before night closed in to make disposition of 
 the pickets and to closely reconnoitre the position in
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.-COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 323 
 
 our front. We were now confronting the enemy in his 
 strong lines on Mine Kun, lines of which we had 
 heard through our spies, and which General Meade had 
 hoped to avoid by his well-planned strategic movement. 
 A writer on the war says, " The Confederate line was 
 drawn along a prominent ridge or series of heights ex- 
 tending north and south for six or eight miles. This 
 series of hills formed all the angles of a complete forti- 
 fication, and comprised the essential elements of a fort- 
 ress. The centre of the line presented four or five 
 well-defined facings of unequal length, occupying a 
 space of more than three thousand yards, with such 
 angles of defence that the fire of the enemy was able 
 to enfilade every avenue of approach, while his right 
 and left flanks were not less strongly 2)rotected. Stretch- 
 ing immediately in the rear and on the flanks of this 
 position was a dense forest of heavy timber, while some 
 twelve hundred yards in front was Mine Run, a 
 stream of no great width, but difiicult for infantry to 
 cross from the marshy ground and dense undergrowth 
 of stunted timber with which it was frequently flanked 
 on either side, as well as from the abrupt nature of its 
 banks. In addition to these natural defences the enemy 
 quickly felled in front of a large extent of his position 
 a thick growth of jiine as an abatis, and hastily con- 
 structed trenches and breastworks for infantry. The 
 position was, in fact, exceedingly formidable." 
 
 This admirable description by Swinton is strictly cor- 
 rect, except that in front of the position of the Sixth 
 Corps on our right the valley was much less than one 
 thousand yards in width, and comparatively free from 
 underbrush, and the heavy timber covered the heights
 
 324 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 occupied by the enemy, from their crown to their 
 base. 
 
 Sunday evening, the 29th, found the army in posi- 
 tion : Sedgwick on the right, Warren some six miles 
 away on the left; French held the centre. As the 
 result of his reconnoissance and flank march on the 
 28th and 29th, Warren reported he had found the ex- 
 treme right of the enemy's defences, and was confident 
 he could take them in reverse. I knew General War- 
 ren well. He was as gallant a soldier as the army con- 
 tained. A man of decided military talent, fertile in 
 resources, and always sanguine of the success of any 
 plan he might mature. I think if he had followed his 
 impulses and attacked on the evening of the 29tli he 
 might have been successful ; but the hours of the long 
 winter's night enabled Lee to make such new disposi- 
 tions of his troops as to entirely change the aspect of 
 affairs. Acting on Warren's report and Sedgwick's 
 suo-o-estions, General Meade resolved to attack on both 
 wings early the following morning. Two divisions were 
 detached from the Third Corps, under French, in the 
 centre, and one division, the Third, from the Sixth 
 Corps, on the right, and sent to reinforce Warren, 
 giving him about twenty-six thousand men. Sedgwick 
 was to attack on the right with the Sixth Corps sup- 
 ported by the Fifth. 
 
 The winter night closed in with a clear sky, a bright 
 moon, and keen frosty air. It was about eleven o'clock 
 when I was summoned to report at the headquarters of 
 the division. A brisk ride of a mile brought me to a 
 spot where the regimental and brigade commanders of 
 the corps were assembled, standing in groups around a
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.-COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 325 
 
 log fire. General Howe, our division commander, was 
 walking back and fortli before this fire with folded arms 
 and thoughtful countenance. The scene was most pic- 
 turesque : the bright firelight, the crowd of uniformed 
 figures, the dark shade of the surrounding evergreens 
 through which came the tramp of restless horses and 
 the occasional gleam of the accoutrements of the 
 mounted orderlies of the officers assembled ; while 
 above in the clear sky sailed the full moon, tipping 
 with silvery light the frosted tree-tops. A hush of ex- 
 pectation hung over the assembly ; a few words of greet- 
 ins: to each arrival was almost all the conversation heard. 
 It was an extraordinary thing to thus assemble the offi- 
 cers. Any disclosure of the plans of an attack or a 
 movement to be made was unprecedented. Therefore 
 each one waited with some curiosity the revelations to 
 be made. At length a staff officer informed the gen- 
 eral that all those summoned were present. Pausing in 
 his walk, and with a movement of his hand calling the 
 officers around him, he said, " Gentlemen, General 
 Meade has determined to attack the enemy early to- 
 morrow morning upon both flanks at the same time, 
 and to attempt the capture of his works uj^on this flank 
 by assault. This attack is to be made by the Fifth and 
 Sixth Corps, closed in mass." After a few more words 
 of instruction relative to the point of assembly, the plan 
 of attack, etc., the assemblage was dismissed. I was 
 requested to remain. When we w^ere alone the general 
 said, " You have commanded the advance for two days 
 and know the ground well ; I wish you to lead this 
 assault;" and then added a few words regarding the 
 importance of my force making a successful lodgment
 
 326 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 in the enemy's first line in order to give the massed 
 corps an opportunity to pass the marshy " Kun" suc- 
 cessfully. After further conversation regarding the 
 regiments to be detailed, the signal for attack, etc., I 
 mounted and rode away. 
 
 The next three hours were busy ones. Two regi- 
 ments of well-established reputation were selected, both 
 "Yankee" of the bluest blood, tried New England men, 
 one from Maine, the other from the Vermont brigade 
 commanded by General Grant (a member of this com- 
 mandery), men hardened and keen-edged as the trusty 
 blade of tempered steel wrought into shape by the fire 
 and hammer of war. These regiments were to be placed 
 in position so close to the enemy's pickets that in a 
 moment after the advance was sounded they would be 
 on them and capture or dis^Derse them at a blow. There 
 must be no halt, no hesitation, no stop nor check to the 
 on-rush. The intelligence that characterized the mass 
 of our army was specially marked in these veteran 
 soldiers. The brief instructions were understood by the 
 officers, and the details of a military movement rarely 
 practised on the drill-ground were so carefully exe- 
 cuted that the line was deployed and placed in position 
 within two hundred yards of the stream upon whose 
 farther bank the pickets of the enemy were posted. 
 All this was accomplished under the bright rays of the 
 moon, and on the edge of the timber that at this point 
 on our side came to the brow of the slope. The woods 
 to the right and left were here and there broken either 
 by meadow or cultivated fields. 
 
 From our position the hill sloped abruptly with a 
 descent of about fifty feet to the ground below. From
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.- COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 327 
 
 the foot of the slope the land is level to the creek, which 
 winds with many a turn through the valley. Its banks 
 are high and broken. The stream has cut its way 
 through the soft meadow, until its bed is in many 
 places from six to eight feet below the general surface. 
 It is known that the banks are overhanging, only held 
 in place by the thick sod, and are ready to crumble 
 and fall with a touch. Beyond the stream the ground 
 is level for some hundred yards; then the hill rises 
 sharply for full five hundred feet, sloping back for 
 three hundred more less steeply. Three lines of in- 
 trenchments can be plainly traced by the light of 
 flickering camp-fires. The first line is at the foot of 
 the heights, skilfully placed to sweep the level ground 
 in front with artillery and infimtry fire. The hum of 
 voices can be heard in the still night, and the occa- 
 sional rumble of artillery wheels on the frozen ground 
 tells that movements are afoot. Half-way up the hill 
 sparkles of light through the trees mark a second po- 
 sition, while the flash of bivouac-fires beyond and higher 
 shows that the hill is covered with men to its very 
 crown. Following the summit of the ridge, the eye can 
 trace the rebel line to its left until it is lost in the dis- 
 tance. The military problem to be solved in the morn- 
 ing is to get down the slope into the creek, up its 
 muddy, slippery banks on the other side, disperse the 
 rebel pickets, cross the open ground beyond and make 
 a lodgment in the enemy's first line, and so occupy his 
 attention as to permit the passage by the massed corjDS 
 of the stream and narrow valley without check. It was 
 a fortunate circumstance that we were so close to the 
 enemy that his guns could be counted, and the diffi-
 
 328 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 culties to be encountered fully estimated before we were 
 called upon to meet them. 
 
 A short distance back from the crest of the hill, and 
 under the friendly shelter of the pine-woods and dense 
 thicket, the Sixth and Fifth Corps, some twenty-five or 
 twenty-eight thousand men in all, were about two a.m. 
 massed in column by division. This mighty force was 
 so closely packed that one could almost have walked 
 from the front to the rear on the heads and shoulders 
 of the men. My instructions were that the attack was 
 to be made early in the morning, Warren to open the 
 ball, and when his success seemed secured a signal from 
 the siege-guns at army headquarters would put Sedg- 
 wick in motion. I was to dash forward at the signal 
 without further orders, — one gun ; then, after an in- 
 terval of five in quick time, two in quick succession. 
 
 The hours pass on, and the night grows colder each 
 moment. My men were lying without blankets or 
 cover; not a word could be spoken, much less could 
 they exercise themselves for warmth, for the enemy's 
 pickets were in plain sight, and an incautious movement 
 might betray us to the wakeful foe. More than one 
 man froze to death that night at his post. The gra}^ 
 light of the morning began to show in the east, and as 
 it broadened the hour for Warren's attack was at hand. 
 My recollection is that he was to open at the first gleam 
 of dawn. As the light grows brighter each moment, the 
 imj)atience increases that no sounds come from the left. 
 The enemy can be seen stirring in his camp, and each 
 moment increases the danger of discovery. It is fully an 
 hour beyond the appointed time, when suddenly the signal 
 guns are heard and the artillery opens from the centre.
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.- COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 329 
 
 With the first boom of the signal-gun the boy bugler 
 crouching by my side jumps to his feet, and, with his 
 bugle at his lips, waits for permission to sound the ad- 
 vance. The notes ring out with startling distinctness 
 on the frosty air, and the call is not ended before the 
 brave fellows who have for hours lain on the frozen 
 ground spring to their feet, and without a word rush 
 down the slope over the few yards that measure the 
 meadow's width into the creek and over the startled 
 pickets lining the farther bank. The line is a deployed 
 one, but with closed intervals, and the rush of that fif- 
 teen hundred men has been made with so much im- 
 petuosity that it has been irresistible. Scarce a shot 
 has been fired, and it seems certain that the allotted 
 task of these brave fellows will succeed, when from the 
 woods in rear rushes a mounted aide, swinging his hat, 
 and calling, " Come back ! Come back !" The retreat 
 is sounded, and that seems to call the startled enemy to 
 his senses, and he begins to send destruction into the 
 gallant ranks now retiring. I have never seen a com- 
 mand to attack obeyed more instantly nor an advance 
 made with more impetuosity and evident determination 
 to win. 
 
 I am a Western man by birth, and can say this much 
 for those sons of New England without fear of the 
 charge of egotism. Events might cause the shipwreck 
 of many a fair scheme of skilful general, defeat might 
 come in place of victory, but fidelity to duty, courage 
 in the hour of battle, and patience and hopefulness ever 
 characterized the mass of our soldiers. 
 
 Why had the well-arranged plans miscarried ? Why 
 had Warren not attacked ? Many reasons have since the
 
 330 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 event been given. What I heard that day was that Lee, 
 evidently confident of the strength of his left and centre, 
 during the night reinforced his right ; and whereas it 
 had before rested " in air," he prolonged and refused it, 
 at the same time covering his new position with breast- 
 works and abatis. We all know how accomplished in 
 that sort of defensive work the men on both sides after- 
 wards became, and how strong they could make a posi- 
 tion when the material and the time were at their com- 
 mand. But elaborate field-works were a new thing in 
 those days, for, if my memory serves me right, it was 
 not until the following year — 1864 — that the habit of 
 fortifying every position and even every line of battle 
 came into general use on both sides. A few rails has- 
 tily thrown together, or a shallow trench, to give part 
 protection to the body and to outline a position, was all 
 that was thought necessary for the infantry. The pick, 
 the shovel, and the axe did not really come into general 
 use on the Union side until it was forced upon us by 
 seeing what a few hours' work by every man in the 
 enemy's ranks could do towards converting slight natu- 
 ral advantages into wellnigh impregnable positions. 
 Those who fought from the Kapidan to Petersburg 
 know how the Confederate forces always covered them- 
 selves with rough but massive breastworks, so that there 
 was no more fighting in the open, but every attack was 
 an assault with the odds largely against the assailant. 
 
 When Warren approached the enemy's right, on the 
 afternoon of the 29th, he saw a strong natural position, 
 well prepared for defence, but a reconnoissance devel- 
 oped the fact that it was the end of the *' Mine Kun" 
 works, and that no troops lay beyond or far to the rear.
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.- COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 33 1 
 
 To demonstrate strongly to the front, and at the same 
 time with another force take the position in reverse 
 without so extending our line of battle as to invite a 
 counter-attack, with the possible separation of Warren 
 from the troops on his right, seemed practicable. 
 
 With three hours more of daylight on the 29th, and 
 the reinforcements he afterwards received at his com- 
 mand, his plan would have won success ; but the dawn- 
 ing light of Monday morning showed an entirely differ- 
 ent condition of affairs. Where the night before had 
 been wooded slopes and long reaches of country, with- 
 out a sign of life, were now seen lines of breastworks, 
 rifle-pits, and other defences, including the never-absent 
 abatis or " slashing," as we generally called the entan- 
 glement of fallen trees and bushes. Lunettes here 
 and there broke the line of intrenchments ; in one 
 fourteen pieces could be counted, and every salient 
 showed its section of artillery. 
 
 General Walker, in his recent history of the Second 
 Corps, gives an instance of how the men felt as they 
 looked in the dim morning light at the changes wrought 
 during the long winter night. General Alexander 
 Hays says, " While on the picket-line reconnoitring, 
 my uniform concealed by a soldier's overcoat, I asked 
 an old veteran of the noble First Minnesota, on picket, 
 what he thought of the prospect. Not recognizing me 
 as an officer he expressed himself very freely, declaring 
 it "a d — d sight worse than Fredericksburg," and 
 adding, "I am going as far as I can travel, but we 
 can't get more than two-thirds of the way up that 
 hill." 
 
 How far to the right and rear Lee had carried these
 
 332 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 works Warren could not tell; but certainly beyond 
 where it would be safe to extend his lines without en- 
 dangering our centre. I know that Warren had set 
 his heart on this attack, and it was a bitter disappoint- 
 ment to him to find in the morning the prospect of 
 success so doubtful that he must make up his mind to 
 sacrifice himself or his men. He magnanimously chose 
 the former, and General Meade could not but approve 
 when later in the day he rode along the lines. 
 
 If a change afterwards came over General Warren 
 so great as to lead to his suspension from command for 
 seeming dilatoriness, certainly at the time I speak of 
 his instincts were to fight whenever opportunity served. 
 
 Before noon I was informed the question was to con- 
 tinue the campaign by moving to the left far enough to 
 force Lee from his works, or to return to the north 
 bank of the Rapidan. There is little doubt that had 
 General Meade been at liberty to change his base from 
 the Orange and Alexandria Railroad to Fredericks- 
 burg he would have done so, and continued the cam- 
 paign by moving around the enemy's right ; but the 
 leading-strings which were ever around our commanders 
 in the field, until Grant shook them off, were pulled by 
 the bureau ofiicers in Washington, and he was left no 
 option but to return. 
 
 All day we lay in position. It was about eight p.m. 
 when the orders to march came and the army began to 
 retire. The general impression was that a movement 
 on Fredericksburg was contemplated. The disap- 
 pointment throughout the army was profound when 
 the Rapidan was again crossed and the evening of 
 Wednesday, the 2d of December, found us once more
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.-COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 333 
 
 in our camps of the week before. So ended the " Mine 
 Kun" campaign ; a movement, as I have said before, 
 well conceived and deserving of success. 
 
 In a campaign, when it was vital that there should 
 be promptness and celerity of movement, and the most 
 careful prevision in matters of detail, it is inconceivable 
 how the delay in the Third Corps in moving (from 
 sunrise to eleven o'clock a.m.) and the failure to know 
 the length of bridge required to span the Rapidan could 
 have occurred. These two things lost General Meade 
 about sixteen hours. The head of the Sixth Corps 
 halted in the midst of the camps of the Third Corps 
 soon after sunrise on the 26th of November. Accord- 
 ing to the order of march the Third was to precede the 
 Sixth, and should have been far on its road before the 
 time noted ; but no preparations to march were visible 
 when we halted, and it was not until eleven o'clock — an 
 hour later than the time fixed for the crossing of the 
 river — that our impatient men, who had been standing 
 for hours wearily in the mud, were able to move on. 
 General French afterwards claimed that he had not 
 received the previous night the marching orders issued 
 to the other corps. 
 
 A second delay was occasioned by the failure to pro- 
 vide a sufficient bridge-train for the several crossings. 
 The pontoon-bridge over which we finally crossed the 
 Rapidan was patched out with an improvised structure 
 of logs and trestles which it took time to make. The 
 river was crossed after midnight. . This should have 
 been accomplished between ten and eleven o'clock of the 
 day before. 
 
 The third misfortune was the mishap that befell Gen-
 
 334 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 eral French in taking the wrong road and coming into 
 collision with part of Ewell's corps, and thus precipi- 
 tating an engagement that delayed our march and gave 
 the enemy the precious time he so urgently needed to 
 concentrate his forces. The campaign as originally 
 planned was doomed from that hour. The subsequent 
 operations were but an attempt to win success in 
 another direction in spite of adverse circumstances. 
 
 I have hastily and imperfectly sketched an episode 
 in the history of that army whose province it was for 
 four years to confront the ablest leader and choicest 
 troops the Confederate government could put into the 
 field. In a war of less magnitude the campaign would 
 have occupied in history no inconspicuous page; but it 
 now serves at best but as a text for the military critic. 
 
 With the suppression of the Rebellion the grand 
 army of volunteers ceased to exist, and the men who 
 had filled its ranks or connnanded its subdivisions re- 
 turned to enjoy in their homes the honors they had won 
 in the field; but the organization of this and kindred 
 orders and associations proves that the soldiers of the 
 republic have not lost interest in the operations in which 
 they took part, and in the discussion of the questions 
 they naturally give rise to. The game of war is, after 
 all, largely one of chance. The infirmities and passions 
 of men ; the mental, moral, and physical peculiarities of 
 those intrusted with power and responsibilities; the play 
 of the elements ; the skill or enterprise, or both com- 
 bined, of the foe ; all these and many other things that 
 mis:ht be mentioned, must be taken into account in esti- 
 mating the probabilities of failure or success. The re- 
 view of a campaign or series of operations is therefore
 
 ADDRESS BY LIEUT.- COL. EDWIN C. MASON. 335 
 
 interesting to military men chiefly as showing how the 
 known chances of a faihire or disarrangement of his 
 plans have been provided for by the general and his 
 subordinates, and it becomes valuable to us as we note 
 the points on which success or failure hinge. I say 
 valuable, for there is no certainty that at least the 
 younger members of our order may not be called upon 
 again to buckle on the harness. 
 
 It is true we are not a warlike people, — that is, a 
 nation bent on conquest or the pursuit of military glory, 
 — but the war of the Revolution, the heights of Queens- 
 town, the plains of Chippewa and Niagara, Lundy's 
 Lane and Fort Erie, Tippecanoe and Okee-clio-bu, and 
 twoscore more of bloody engagements in the gloomy 
 forests and cypress swamps of Florida, Palo Alta, Resaca 
 de la Palma, Monterey, Buena Vista, Contreras, Cheru- 
 busco, Chapultepec, Molino del Rey, the City of Mexico, 
 a hundred fields from Bull Run to Appomattox, cam- 
 paigns, scouts, skirmishes, and other engagements with- 
 out number, in all that vast region stretching from the 
 slopes of the Alleghanies to the Pacific Ocean, and 
 ranging in point of time from the beginning of the cen- 
 tury to the death of the gallant Crawford on Mexican 
 soil a few months ago, and the more recent capture of 
 Geronimo, all prove that the American citizen will fight 
 when duty or patriotism calls. 
 
 Gentlemen, our order will not fulfil its highest mis- 
 sion unless, above the preservation and transmission to 
 our children of the memories of the dnys when loyalty 
 and treason fought for the mastery, we inculcate the 
 principle that the man who serves under the American 
 flag should be the epitome of all those qualities the
 
 336 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 common verdict of mankind ascribes to the ideal soldier: 
 courage to do liis duty, not only when his acts will 
 receive popular applause, but under those more trying 
 circumstances when he may be called upon to aid the 
 magistrate in maintaining the good order of society ; 
 fidelity that stands to duty, even to the death ; and 
 honor, bringing in her train truth and virtue; the 
 honor that can stand the light of noonday without 
 showing a stain to tarnish its brightness. In such men 
 as Sedgwick, Hancock, McPherson, the peerless Logan, 
 and scores of others held in grateful remembrance by 
 our people, these principles ran together like warp and 
 woof, weaving in each the web of a noble life.
 
 THE SURRENDER OF THE THIRD REGIMENT 
 
 MINNESOTA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.* 
 BY BEIGADIEE-GENEEAL C. C. ANDEEWS, 
 
 BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL U. S. VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 The several papers which it has been my fortune to 
 hear read before this society have not only been un- 
 commonly graphic and interesting, but they have delin- 
 eated scenes in great campaigns. In contrast with them 
 it is with real diffidence that I now ask attention to the 
 story of a single regiment, the Tliird Minnesota. What 
 Sfives general interest to this reo'iment is the influence 
 which its unfortunate surrender had in an important 
 chapter of the war, the failure of General Buell to make 
 the campaign into East Tennessee. 
 
 Like all of our Minnesota regiments, the Third was 
 recruited from all portions of the State. I was residing 
 
 * Among the Companions present at the reading of this paper 
 were General and ex-Governor H. H. Sibley ; General and ex- 
 Governor W. E. Marshall, formerly colonel of Seventh Minne- 
 sota; General and ex-Governor L. F. Hubbard, formerly colonel 
 Fifth Minnesota; Chief-.Justice James Gilfillan, foi-merly colonel 
 Eleventh Minnesota ; General J. B. Sanborn, formerly colonel 
 Fourth Minnesota; Colonel H. Mattson, Third Minnesota; Gen- 
 eral J. T. Averill, formerly colonel Sixth Minnesota; General 
 J. H. Baker, formex'ly colonel Tenth Minnesota ; Eev. Dr. E. D. 
 Neill, ex-chaplain First Minnesota, etc., etc. 
 
 22 337
 
 338 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 before the war at St. Cloud, in a then sparsely-settled 
 region, and the recruiting for the little nucleus of my 
 company involved travel by carriage over territory 
 about a hundred miles in extent. In the early autumn 
 of 1861, generally accompanied by some one, I can- 
 vassed for recruits a good part of the upper country, 
 and especially Sauk Valley, a lovely region of undu- 
 lating prairie, wood, and stream, forming a natural park 
 sixty miles in length. I went as fiir northwest as the 
 shores of Lake Osakis. At that time tlie earlier frost 
 had thrown a scarlet tinge over the thickets of maple 
 and poplar, and on the scattered farms the threshing- 
 machine and autumn plough were already in motion. 
 
 Among each nationality of the settlers we found a 
 few young men who were eager to go to the war, but it 
 was often too great a pang for their parents to give 
 their consent. I distinctly recall instances wliere after 
 a full talk and consideration of the matter a husband 
 agreed to enlist ; but the wife, on hearing the decision, 
 burst into tears, and seemed unable to consent to spare 
 him. In every such case, of course, the man was 
 promptly released from his promise. I remember two 
 such cases wliere husbands subsequently went in other 
 regiments and returned after the war safely to their 
 families. If one had dreamed that in course of a year 
 that peaceful frontier would have been swept by Indian 
 war, our success in recruiting would probably have been 
 much less than it was. 
 
 Although without military experience before the war, 
 I had, however, some years previously, as a civilian, 
 spent six months at a large military post, where by 
 frequently seeing drills and occasionally an inspection
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 339 
 
 in each arm of the regular army service I acquired 
 some idea of military discipline. Also, after inscribing 
 my name as a volunteer under the first call for troops, 
 I spent a week at Fort Ripley, drilling in the manual 
 of arms and observing that model officer. Captain 
 Nelson H. Davis (afterwards inspector-general United 
 States Army), handle his infantry company. 
 
 The thinness of our population and distance from 
 Fort Snelling caused my company to be the last but 
 one organized. The men with me came from St. Cloud 
 to St. Paul by stage ; we lodged at the old Winslow 
 House near Seven Corners, and the next day went to 
 Fort Snelling. But we were not enough for a company 
 organization. The first night at Fort Snelling I retired 
 feeling about the bluest I ever did in my life, for I was 
 contemplating what sort of an enlisted man I would 
 make. I knew I was going to the war even if I had to 
 serve through it as an enlisted man. The next day the 
 skies brightened. Our men of the upper country united 
 with about an equal number from the Minnesota Valley, 
 with Mr. J. H. Swan, and Company I was formed, 
 the writer being elected captain. We were sworn into 
 the service October 11, but it was not till about the 1st 
 of November that the company was filled. 
 
 On a bright Indian-summer day, November, 1861, 
 the Third Hegiment, eight hundred or more strong, 
 embarked at Fort Snelling for the South. What greet- 
 ings and benedictions from the awakened people saluted 
 it on its progress to Louisville ! What a bountiful 
 repast the Wisconsin ladies spread before us at Portage ! 
 What throngs of old and young gathered around us at 
 La Fayette, Indiana ! I will not say that patriotic
 
 340 GLIMPSES OF TEE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 emotion took away our appetites, but it stirred our feel- 
 ings on reaching the soil of Kentucky to be treated as 
 the regiment was to a bountiful collation served in 
 person by some of Louisville's sturdy Unionists and 
 most prominent citizens. Nor was it a compliment paid 
 only to the Third Minnesota. All volunteers as they 
 arrived were treated in the same hospitable manner. 
 It was just there that Prentiss, the Demosthenes of the 
 Union cause in the Southwest, had thundered against 
 secession. 
 
 What was the training of the Third Regiment up to 
 the hour of Murfreesboro' ? Assigned to the brigade 
 of Genera] Mitchell, the regiment, under the command 
 of Lieutenant-Colonel B. F. Smith, remained a short 
 time in camp a few miles out from Louisville, where it 
 procured teams and Belgian muskets, also exercised in 
 battalion drill ; then marched to Shepherdsville, Ken- 
 tucky, and entered upon the duty of guarding an ex- 
 tensive stretch of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, 
 beinof brigaded with the Thirteenth and Fifteenth 
 Kentucky and Ninth Michigan Regiments as the Six- 
 teenth Brigade of the Army of the Ohio. At this 
 time General Buell had just relieved General Sherman 
 of the command of the Department of the Ohio, head- 
 quarters at Louisville. General George H. Thomas 
 with a small force was at Peach Orchard, Lincoln 
 County, eighty miles southeast of Shepherdsville ; 
 while the principal Union force was on Nolin Creek 
 (near Abraham Lincoln's native spot) , sixty miles south 
 of Shepherdsville, under General McCook. In his front 
 at Bowling Green was General Albert Sidney Johns- 
 ton with nineteen thousand Confederates. The Con-
 
 ADBEESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDliEWS. 34I 
 
 federates also held Columbus, Kentucky. The armies 
 in the field on both sides were constantly being rein- 
 forced, and a battle seemed impending. 
 
 At Shepherdsville our Colonel Henry C. Lester, who 
 had been a captain in the First Minnesota, an-ived 
 from the Army of the Potomac and took command of 
 the regiment. He proved to be an intelligent, modest, 
 and hospitable gentleman. He at once started an even- 
 in"- school of tactics and the manual of arms for the 
 commissioned officers, and organized that instruction 
 and drill which, rigidly adhered to for many months, 
 gradually brought the regiment to an unusually high 
 degree of discipline and efficiency. This, with his uni- 
 formly just and dignified conduct, won for him the 
 admiration of officers and enlisted men alike, so that 
 probably the very misfortune of the 13th of July fol- 
 lowing was partly owing to such an extreme confidence 
 of some of the company commanders in him as to de- 
 prive them of independent judgment in that crisis. 
 Headquarters were shortly moved to Belmont, a de- 
 serted iron-producing village, whose abundant buildings 
 afforded ample shelter. It was a hilly, brush-wooded, 
 and lean region ; but it had this charm : it afforded 
 enough level ground for knaj^sack battalion drill. Four 
 companies were detached a week at a time guarding 
 railroad bridges at Elizabeth town, Colesburg, Lebanon 
 Junction, and Shepherdsville. There were thus always 
 six companies at the main camp being habitually exer- 
 cised two hours every afternoon in battalion drill. 
 Each company likewise, wherever stationed, spent two 
 hours every forenoon in squad and company drill. In 
 very wet weather the manual of arms and marking
 
 342 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 time were practised under cover. One of the first 
 things the colonel did at Belmont was to establish a 
 bakery, by which the regiment was supplied with ex- 
 cellent bread. The bugle band which he organized, 
 and compared with which the ordinary brass band is 
 but parlor music, was a novel and attractive feature. 
 Company commanders will remember that at Belmont 
 they, every morning immediately after roll-call at day- 
 light, were required to report, in person, the result at 
 headquarters, which was frequently done to a recum- 
 bent adjutant. 
 
 Who can forget the luxurious pies that were brought 
 into camp and sold by poor country people ! I think, 
 however, those of us have the pleasantest recollection 
 of the pies who enjoyed them solely by the exquisite 
 sense of sight. At the different outposts we had a 
 variety of experiences. The stream, often swollen and 
 rapid, which flows through Shepherds ville is the original 
 Salt River. A tremendous jam of logs had formed in 
 that river so as to endanger a railroad bridge, and as 
 our men were ever ready for any sort of work to ad- 
 vance the cause, a company with its officers after vol- 
 untarily toiling a whole day succeeded in removing the 
 jam. I state as a fact that the work was wholly to save 
 the bridge, and not at all to improve the navigation of 
 Salt River ! 
 
 Once as I was about to make a trip to Louisville I 
 was authorized by the colonel to call at the headquarters 
 of the commanding general to see if better muskets 
 could be obtained. I was kindly received by General 
 Buell at his rooms in the Gait House, where, though it 
 was evening, he was at work in his shirt-sleeves. He
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 343 
 
 was a large and fine-looking man, in the prime of life, 
 and his simplicity and evident ability filled my idea of 
 a great general. He asked a number of questions about 
 the Third Kegiment, the answers to which appeared to 
 gratify him. A few days afterwards the regiment re- 
 ceived a supply of rifle-muskets that were satisfactory. 
 
 Even before quitting Belmont the Third Regiment 
 could well have been taken for a regular army regiment 
 for the precision of its movements, general appearance, 
 and adherence to the regulations. Even the leather 
 neck-stock was not disdained, though finally it had a pe- 
 culiar tendency for getting lost. The plates on the belts 
 and equipments, the bugles and eagles on the hats, also 
 the shoulder-scales, were as bright as gold. An enlisted 
 man of the Third in full uniform, and especially with 
 his shoulder-scales, was more striking than a commis- 
 sioned officer, and was sometimes taken by the citizens 
 for an officer of very high rank. It was partly the 
 effect of those gleaming shoulder-scales upon the plain 
 people, I suppose, that caused our men to be so fre- 
 quently invited out to tea. At the colonel's request all 
 the men at their own expense provided themselves with 
 white cotton gloves to wear on parade, on guard duty, 
 and at inspections. Here and there would be a few so 
 averse to everything like style that they were slow to 
 adopt the jDractice, and to see just these very men, after 
 some weeks, washing their gloves, suggested that willing 
 spirit which is the source of good discipline. 
 
 The flank operations of the Union forces up the 
 Tennessee and Cumberland Kivers, crowned with the 
 victory of Fort Donelson, caused the retreat of the Con- 
 federate armies from Kentucky and even to the south-
 
 344 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 ern borders of Tennessee. The general forward move- 
 ments consequent took our regiment to Nashville, where, 
 March 24, 1862, it went into camp on the Ewing place, 
 two miles out of the city, near the Murfreesboro' pike. 
 It performed guard duty in the city and watched the 
 railroad bridge at Mill Creek. It made a very good 
 impression at Nashville, was visited and reviewed at its 
 camp by Andrew Johnson, then military Governor of 
 Tennessee, and by him addressed in an elaborate oration 
 on the great theme of the Union. At his invitation the 
 regiment visited Nasliville, was there welcomed by him 
 as governor, and conducted by him in person around 
 the spacious marble-paved veranda of Tennessee's beau- 
 tiful Cai^itol. 
 
 April 27, twenty days after the battle of Shiloh, and 
 the same day our armies under Halleck began a cautious 
 movement against Beauregard's lines at Corinth, we 
 marched for Murfreesboro', a town in the heart of Ten- 
 nessee, whence radiate eleven highways, some of which 
 were good macadamized pikes. It was a place requiring 
 much picket duty. There were frequent rumors of ex- 
 pected attacks. Sometimes one company, sometimes two 
 companies, would be posted out on a road all night as 
 the picket reserve. One night when the whole regiment 
 in perfect silence took position out on one of the roads, 
 an attack was regarded as certain. We had a good 
 position and some field guns, and thought, as we waited 
 there in the darkness, we had a sure thing on the enemy, 
 but he did not come. It was at Murfreesboro' that we 
 drilled in street firing. With Kentucky regiments, we 
 also practised brigade drill in a field where Jefferson 
 Davis afterwards reviewed a Confederate army. In
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 345 
 
 May we were a short time at Columbia, Tennessee, in 
 the centre of a garden region. In June w^e marched 
 with the column under General Dumont over the Cum- 
 berland Mouutains to Pikeville, making the first part of 
 the march from Murfreesboro' to McMinnville, forty 
 miles, in excessive heat and dust in twenty-four hours. 
 Soon after its return to Murfreesboro' the Third Regi- 
 ment went into camp on the Stone River upwards of a 
 mile from town. 
 
 The government deemed it of very great importance 
 to redeem East Tennessee, and after our forces gained 
 possession of Corinth, the last of May, General Buell, 
 who had gained brilliant laurels at Shiloh, was selected 
 to conduct an army to Chattanooga. He acted under 
 instructions from General Halleck, who was at Corinth 
 till July 16. General Buell was also at Corinth till 
 June 11, but towards the last of that month fixed his 
 headquarters at Huntsville, in Northern Alabama, on 
 the railroad from Memphis to Chattanooga. He con- 
 tinued busy preparing for his campaign. It took sixty 
 wag(3ns for oue day's supply of provisions and forage 
 for his army of ninety thousand, of whom sixty-seven 
 thousand, though not in one body, were present for 
 duty. It was of vital importance that he should have 
 the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad {via Murfrees- 
 boro' and Stevenson) in operation, but in addition to that 
 he undertook the repair of the railroad I'unning from 
 Memphis to Chattanooga. He was told by Halleck, 
 July 10, that the President was not satisfied Avith his 
 progress and that he ought to move more rapidly. He 
 replied that his arrangements were being pushed as 
 rapidly as possible; that the reports of General Mitchell,
 
 346 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 who had charge of some of the railroad repairs, had led 
 him to expect that the Chattanooga road would be com- 
 pleted by the 1st of July ; that he had doubled the force 
 on it, and it could not be finished before July 14. By 
 July 12, however, preparations were so advanced that 
 he appears to have been on the eve of moving. On that 
 date Wood's division was ordered to march the follow- 
 ing day to Stevenson ; the quartermaster and commis- 
 sary at Nashville were ordered to send through supplies 
 to Stevenson the following day. But, alas ! though now 
 apparently on the eve of moving, his campaign never 
 was accomplished. The Confederates knew his plans. 
 They had possession of East Tennessee, but their force 
 at Chattanooga was inferior to his, and as Bragg's rein- 
 forcements could not begin to arrive there for two weeks, 
 or before July 27, they sent Morgan into Kentucky and 
 Forrest against Murfreesboro' to cut Buell's lines of com- 
 munication and delay his movement. The Confederate 
 General E. Kirby Smith, writing near Knoxville, July 
 14, says, "Colonel Forrest, with three regiments, was 
 sent into Middle Tennessee to delay Buell's movement 
 till Bragg's columns make their appearance." Unhap- 
 pily, Buell's army was so held in check by this and 
 succeeding raids (for Forrest, encouraged by his capture 
 of Murfreesboro', made another raid a week afterwards, 
 destroying three bridges nine miles from Nashville) 
 that the Confederates not only gained all the time they 
 wanted to throw reinforcements into Chattanooga, but 
 actually to take the offensive and strike out boldly for 
 Louisville. Then began that race towards the Ohio of 
 the armies under Buell and Bragg, culminating, Octo- 
 ber 9, in the battle of Perryville.
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 347 
 
 Turning now to the attack of July 13 on our forces 
 at Murfreesboro' and the part which the Third Minne- 
 sota phiyed in that affair, it is to be noticed tliat the 
 regiment at that time formed a part of the Twenty-third 
 Brigade, commanded by Colonel W. W. Duffield, of 
 the Ninth Michigan, and which was under orders to 
 march to McMinnville about July 18. The other regi- 
 ments of the brigade were the Ninth Michigan and the 
 Eighth and Twenty-third Kentucky, the two last being 
 respectively at Wartrace and Pulaski. For two months 
 Colonel Duffield had been absent on leave, during which 
 time Colonel Lester had been in command of the bri- 
 gade and other forces at Murfreesboro', leaving Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Griggs in command of the Third. But 
 a day or two before the loth Duffield had returned and 
 resumed the brigade command, and Colonel Lester had 
 resumed command of the Third Begiment. Likewise 
 General T. T. Crittenden, of Indiana, who had been 
 promoted for gallantry at Shiloh, had arrived at Mur- 
 freesboro' July 11, and taken command of the post July 
 12. The force of enlisted men fit for duty at Murfrees- 
 boro' was fully oije thousand. Forrest reported that 
 the whole number of enlisted men captured, taken to 
 McMinnville and paroled, was between eleven and 
 twelve hundred. Our forces, however, were separated. 
 There were five companies, two hundred and fifty 
 strong, of the Ninth Michigan, in camp three-fourths 
 of a mile east of the town on the Liberty turnpike (an- 
 other company of the Ninth Michigan, forty-two strong, 
 occupied the court-house as provost guard). Near the 
 camp of the Ninth Michigan were eighty men of the 
 Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Major Seibert;
 
 348 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 also eighty-one men of the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry, 
 under Captain Chilson. More than a mile distant, on 
 the other side of the town, on undulating rocky and 
 wooded ground near Stone Kiver, were nine companies 
 of the Third Minnesota, five hundred strong; near 'it, 
 also, two sections — four guns — of Hewitt's Kentucky 
 field artillery, with sixty-four men for duty. Company 
 "C," one of the largest companies of the Third Regi- 
 ment, was absent some distance below Murfreesboro'. 
 
 Murfreesboro', as we have seen, was on the Nashville 
 and Chattanooga Railroad. Its principal business build- 
 ings were in a large square, in the centre of which was 
 the court-house. We had at Murfreesboro' valuable 
 military stores, and it is somewhat remarkable that 
 none of the commanding generals had directed the 
 construction of any fortifications, or even a stockade, 
 although about that time General Buell began to issue 
 orders for building stockades at railroad bridges, and 
 after he had regained possession of Murfreesboro' caused 
 some fortifications to be built there. 
 
 July 12, the day before Forrest's attack, General 
 Buell from Huntsville telegraphed Halleck : " Infor- 
 mation from various quarters leaves but little room to 
 doubt that a heavy cavalry force is being thrown across 
 from Chattanooga to operate in Middle Tennessee and 
 Kentucky." The same date Captain O. D. Greene, 
 Buell's adjutant at Nashville, telegraphed from there 
 to General Buell's headquarters at Huntsville as fol- 
 lows: "A heavy movement is taking place upon Mur- 
 freesboro' via McMinnville from Chattanooga. Over 
 two thousand cavalry under General Forrest had already 
 crossed the river at Chattanooga when my informant
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 349 
 
 left to-day week." Why was tins information not sent 
 promptly to Murfreesboro' ? There were nimors that 
 some such information was sent there before July 13. 
 Anyhow, we all got notice of the movement at daybreak 
 Sunday morning, July 13. Forrest having come on a 
 forced march from Woodbury, captured our picket guard 
 without resistance, and dashed into Murfreesboro' that 
 morning with a mounted force of about fifteen hundred 
 men, a part of which charged first upon the camp of 
 the Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, then re-formed and 
 charged upon the Ninth Michigan Infantry, which 
 made a very gallant defence in line of battle, and re- 
 pulsed repeated charges. Many of the Ninth Michi- 
 gan fell by the enemy's first charge, and its loss during 
 the day, including that of the company at the court- 
 house, was eleven killed and eighty-nine wounded. 
 The enemy suffered considerable loss in that part of 
 the town, including a colonel killed, up to about noon, 
 when the Ninth Michigan surrendered. General Crit- 
 tenden was captured at his headquarters at a house in 
 town at about eight o'clock. Almost simultaneous with 
 the first attack a part of Forrest's force moved towards 
 the Third Minnesota, which, however, had sprung up 
 at the first sound of the firing, formed into line, and 
 with two guns of Hewitt's battery on each flank, 
 marched in the direction of Murfreesboro' for the en- 
 counter. It had gone but a few hundred yards when 
 the enemy appeared in sight in front of our left, but 
 fell back in a confused mass at sight of the Third's 
 well-formed and advancing line. The artillery with us 
 then opened fire. Our comrades of Company C, dis- 
 tant at a bridge, related that they were thrilled with
 
 350 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 joy at hearing this artillery, for they then knew that 
 the enemy was in the vicinity of the Third Regiment, 
 and they were confident of his thorough defeat. The 
 Third Kegiment, in the course of half an hour, ad- 
 vanced about six hundred yards farther over the open 
 ground in front of Murfree's house, to a moderate ridge 
 at the edge of a large piece of brush and open timber, 
 our right resting near the Nashville pike. A Parrot 
 gun was placed so as to have complete range for nearly 
 a mile down this pike towards Murfreesboro'. The 
 other guns were six-pounders, and continued to fire 
 wherever the enemy was supposed to be. During the 
 forenoon the four guns of Hewitt's battery fired about 
 three hundred rounds, the greater part of them appear- 
 ing to be at random. Some, however, did good execu- 
 tion, killing or wounding the enemy when he dared to 
 come in sight, worrying and dispersing him when he 
 attempted to form in the woods, also making him desist 
 from an attempt to tear up the railroad. 
 
 While we were there in line of battle, impatiently 
 waiting for the enemy to approach, or, what was better, 
 to be led against him, he was assailing a distant inferior 
 force of our comrades and wantonly destroying valuable 
 United States commissary and quartermaster stores, in 
 town, which we all were bound in honor to protect. 
 We were kept standing or lying motionless, even while 
 plainly seeing the smoke rising from our burning depot 
 of supplies. Being on friendly terms with our colonel, 
 I, though a junior captain, went to him as he sat upon 
 his horse at his proper post in rear of the line, and 
 asked him in tone of entreaty if we were not going down 
 into the town. He replied, " We will see." Having
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 351 
 
 drilled my company a great deal in target practice 
 (though probably not more than other companies had 
 been drilled), and having great confidence in it, I offered 
 in good faith to take it alone into the town. I am satis- 
 fied that other ofiicers expressed to the colonel a wish 
 to advance. Only once did the enemy venture within 
 musket range of our main line. About eight o'clock 
 the Georgia regiment formed down in the woods to 
 charge us, but only two of its companies persevered in 
 the charge ; and they, finding they could not move a 
 man in our line, galloped off as rapidly as possible to 
 our left, suffering some loss. The effect of this was to 
 greatly increase the ardor and confidence of our men. 
 The only casualties that occurred to this main body of 
 the regiment were in having three men wounded, two 
 in Company E while dei^loyed as skirmishers, and one 
 in Company H while standing in line of battle. About 
 the time of the charge just mentioned of the Georgia 
 regiment a considerable force, which, as we shall see, was 
 under Forresfs immediate coimnand, 7tiade three as- 
 saults upon our camp, now out of sight and half a 7m le 
 distant, and which was defended by a small camp guar'd, 
 the convalescents, and teamsters. In that struggle, the 
 firing in which the regiment plainly heard, several fell 
 on both sides. The camp was finally taken, the ofiicers' 
 tents and property burned, and the ground hastily 
 abandoned by the enemy. About noon the Third 
 Kegiment and Hewitt's battery deliberately retired a 
 short distance to the enclosed ground at and in front 
 of Murfree's house. Our surgeons, Butler and Wedge, 
 had previously established a hospital-tent at a quiet 
 place near Stone River, and there treated the wounded
 
 352 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 on both sides. Wliile waiting there in Murfree's large 
 shrubbery-skirted front yard I remember that Com- 
 pany I sent and got from its kitchen-tent a large supply 
 of blackberries, which, with coffee and hard bread, 
 made a refreshing lunch ; and I think that up to this 
 time the men thought they had not been having much 
 more than a picnic. 
 
 At about half-past two o'clock, when we had present 
 in the Third Regiment some five hundred effective men, 
 well armed, in good spirits, and eager for a fight, also 
 with us four pieces of field-artillery, well manned, and 
 with a fair supply of ammunition, a wliite flag appeared 
 over the brow of the rising ground nearly a quarter of 
 a mile front of us, which proved to be a request for our 
 colonel to go into Murfreesboro' for a consultation with 
 Colonel Duffield. Forrest, as is stated in his carefully- 
 prepared and published memoirs of his campaigns, on 
 that occasion " ostentatiously displayed his several com- 
 mands along the path Colonel Lester was led in going 
 to and returning from the interview with Duffield, so 
 as to make an appearance of greater numbers than 
 were really present." Forrest at the time was generally 
 credited with having had a force of twenty-five hun- 
 dred. But a force of even two thousand mounted men 
 in one body was very uncommon. Nothing is easier 
 than to overestimate the numbers of a cavalry column. 
 After deducting Forrest's loss in killed and wounded, 
 and the different detachments he had sent off to guard 
 prisoners and transportation, it is doubtful if he had 
 over a thousand effective men with whom to engage us 
 at three o'clock that afternoon. His failure throughout 
 the day to make a.ny serious attack on the main body
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 353 
 
 of our regiment satisfied the most of us, I am sure, that 
 we had no cause to fear him. It is very doubtful if he 
 would have made any further attack. Indeed, it is 
 stated in his *' Campaigns," just referred to, that about 
 noon, and previous to the capture of the Ninth Michi- 
 gan, " among many of his officers there was manifest a 
 perilous want of confidence in the ability of the com- 
 mand to triumph. So far did this spirit reach that 
 some of the officers urged Forrest to rest content with 
 what had been accomplished and quit the field without 
 further and, as they were satisfied fruitless, yet costly, 
 efforts to carry the Federal position." 
 
 Unfortunately, however, the result of Colonel Les- 
 ter's visit was that he became strongly inclined to sur- 
 render the regiment, which he finally did between three 
 and four o'clock, and utterly to its amazement, indig- 
 nation, and grief At McMinnville the enlisted men 
 were paroled and the commissioned officers were taken 
 to Madison, Georgia, and there held in a Confederate 
 prison three months. 
 
 Colonel Lester, in his report addressed to Lieuten- 
 ant H. M. Duffield, acting assistant adjutant-general 
 Twenty-third Brigade (and brother of Colonel Duf- 
 field, commander of the brigade) , says, " While taking 
 ^up our new position a flag of truce appeared, borne by 
 yourself, and sent at the request of Colonel Duffield, 
 commanding Twenty-third Brigade, for the purpose of 
 ])rocuriug an interview with me. I returned to town 
 with the flag, had an interview with the colonel com- 
 manding, in which I learned that we were attacked by 
 the rebel General Forrest with a brigade of cavalry. 
 Learning from the colonel that the enemy were in 
 
 23
 
 354 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 overwhelming force, and that even should the road be 
 uninjured the forces at Nashville were absent upon an 
 expedition, and that there was no hope of reinforce- 
 ments, at his suggestion I agreed to refer the matter of 
 surrender to my officers. Accordingly, the matter was 
 represented to them as derived from Colonel Duffield, 
 and the great majority, looking upon further resistance 
 as involving the certainty of an ultimate defeat with 
 great loss, and with no possibility of an escape or as- 
 sistance, it was decided to surrender, which was done 
 at 3.30 P.M." 
 
 Colonel Duffield, though regarded as an able man, 
 was at the time of this interview a prisoner, and suffer- 
 ing from a painful wound, and his views were not en- 
 titled to great weight. But Colonel Lester's represen- 
 tation of his views is confirmed by the fact that Colonel 
 Duffield's brother. Lieutenant Duffield, who came to 
 our regiment with the flag, earnestly expressed himself 
 in favor of our being surrendered. Captain Hewitt, 
 commanding the two sections Kentucky artillery, also 
 earnestly advocated a surrender. Tlie statement of 
 General T. T. Crittenden, in his report, is also true, that 
 on the first vote of our company commanders and lieuten- 
 ant-colonel, which Avas open, a majority voted to fight ; 
 that one or more left the council and returned to their 
 companies ; that Colonel Lester afterwards reopened 
 and reargued the matter ; that a vote by ballot was then 
 taken, resulting in a majority for surrender. But it is 
 well known that the lieutenant-colonel, C. W. Griggs, 
 and two company commanders in that ballot voted, 
 as they had strongly counselled throughout, to fight. 
 Major Mattson was absent on detached duty. The
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 355 
 
 council was public, in the front yard of Murfree's house, 
 and the commanders of all companies in tlie regiment 
 were present except First Lieutenant Vanstrum, of Com- 
 pany D. The first vote was by raising hands, and those 
 who voted against surrender were Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Griggs and Captains Foster, Andrews, and Hoyt, and 
 Lieutenant Taylor, commanding Company H. Two 
 captains did not vote, and the result was four for sur- 
 render and five against. A request was made that all 
 should vote. Thereupon the colonel reopened the 
 discussion, stating the reasons which induced him to 
 favor a surrender. Other oflScers spoke, some earnestly 
 against, others for, surrender, and among the latter some 
 lieutenants who had no vote. The colonel j^roposed 
 there should be a final vote by ballot, but meantime 
 Captain Foster and Lieutenant Taylor had gone to 
 their respective companies, and there were only three 
 officers who voted against surrender, — namely, Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Griggs, Captain Andrews, and Captain 
 Hoyt. Six voted to surrender. 
 
 Some of the stories that were circulated in Minne- 
 sota after the surrender, sucli, for example, as that 
 one of the officers who opposed surrender broke his 
 sword, and that the colonel was actuated by corrupt or 
 disloyal motives, were without foundation. General 
 Buell, however, characterized the surrender in general 
 orders as one of the most disgraceful examj^les in the 
 history of wars. In December, 1862, the commanding 
 general of the Department of the Northwest trans- 
 mitted to the War Department a statement of the con- 
 dition the regiment was then in, and the facts in regard 
 to the surrender, but without making any recoramen-
 
 356 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 dation. Thereupon tlie President issued an order sum- 
 marily dismissing all the officers who voted for or 
 counselled the surrender. The Governor of Minnesota 
 then promoted C. W. Griggs to be colonel, and C. C. 
 Andrews to be lieutenant-colonel, H. Mattson remain- 
 ing as major. After the fall of Vicksburg, Colonel 
 Griggs, who had proved a valuable officer, resigned, 
 and w^as succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews, 
 and on the promotion of the latter to be brigadier- 
 general, May, 1864, he was succeeded by Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Mattson. 
 
 Let us now notice the Confederate account of this 
 affair, given in the work before referred to, Generals 
 Jordan and Prior's " History of General Forrest's Cam- 
 paigns," a narrative which General Forrest himself 
 pronounced authentic. It is there stated that Forrest, 
 who at that time, it seems, had not received his com- 
 mission as brigadier-general, on July 6 began to cross 
 the Tennessee River at Chattanooga with about one 
 thousand cavalry, — Eighth Texas, four hundred ; Sec- 
 ond Georgia, four hundred and fifty; battalion of Ten- 
 nesseeans, under Major Baxter Smith, one hundred 
 and twenty ; and two companies of Kentuckians. He 
 reached Altamont, near the summit of the Cumber- 
 lands, the lOtli ; formed junction with Colonel Morri- 
 son and his battalion, some three hundred strong, the 
 evening of the 11th, at a point ten miles northeast of 
 Sparta, and reached Woodbury, eighteen miles from 
 Murfreesboro', " with somewhat above thirteen hundred 
 men," at eleven o'clock the night of the 12th. That 
 on the morning of the 13th, after the combat with the 
 Ninth Michigan, "Forrest made his dispositions imme-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 357 
 
 diately to attack the Third Minnesota, reported to be 
 encamped on the east bank of the Stone River, about 
 one mile and a half from the town. On reachins: the 
 encampment it was found comparatively evacuated, the 
 Federals having just moved out in the direction of Mur- 
 freesboro' to join their comrades in that quarter. For- 
 rest's force assembled for this affair consisted of the Geor- 
 gians, Major Smith's Tennesseeans, the Kentucky squad- 
 ron, and some twenty men under Paul F. Anderson. 
 Seeing the Confederates approach, the Federals, then 
 about six hundred yards southward of their camp, 
 halted and formed in line of battle, some nine com- 
 ]3anies of infantry and four pieces of artillery. Direct- 
 ing the Georgians to confront and menace the enemy 
 and engage with skirmishers, taking Major Smith with 
 his men, including the Kentuckians and three compa- 
 nies of Morrison's Georgians, under Major Harper, 
 Forrest pushed rapidly around to the right and rear 
 of the encampment, which proved to be still occupied 
 by about one hundred men, posted behind a strong 
 barricade of wagons and some large limestone ledges, 
 which afforded excellent cover, difficult to carry. He 
 thereupon ordered a charge. Majors Smith and Harper 
 leading their men. They were met, however, with a 
 stubborn, brave defence. Twice, indeed, the Confeder- 
 ates were repulsed. But Forrest, drawing his men u]) 
 for a third effort, made a brief appeal to their man- 
 hood, and, putting himself at the head of the column, 
 the charge was again ordered, this time with success." 
 
 We thus see from Forrest's own account of the com- 
 bat, written soon after the war, that the little camp- 
 guard of the Third Minnesota, with convalescents and
 
 358 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 teamsters, gallantly repulsed two separate charges of 
 fully four times their number, led by two field officers, 
 and were only defeated after a third charge, led by 
 Forrest in person. That combat, in which we lost two 
 killed and nine wounded, was a fair sample of the fight- 
 ing qualities of the Third Minnesota ; and no one well 
 acquainted with the regiment has ever doubted that, 
 had an ojDj^ortunity been afforded, it would have en- 
 gaged Forrest's whole force with the same heroic valor. 
 The brave corporal, Charles H. Greene, of Company 
 I, who rallied our little force at the camp, did not 
 yield till he had received a severe sabre-cut on his head 
 and two bullet wounds. From his dying lips as he lay 
 at our camp I received an account of the combat similar 
 to that given by General Forrest. Corporal Greene's 
 home was in Morrison County, where, in honor of his 
 memory, a township and prairie have been named after 
 him. 
 
 After the surrender several of our officers, with Gen- 
 eral Forrest, went through our camp and observed the 
 burned remnants of the officers' tents and personal 
 property. The aggregate loss must have been consid- 
 erable. After getting settled in our prison quarters 
 at Madison, Georgia, I figured up my own loss of 
 clothing and other effects, which amounted to upwards 
 of three hundred dollars (I do not include in this a 
 bugle which I would now give a hundred dollars to 
 have back) ; but, so far as I know, none of our officers 
 ever made a claim or received any compensation for any 
 loss of property on that occasion. I myself suffered 
 additional loss. The preceding afternoon I went with 
 some officer horseback to brigade headquarters in town.
 
 ADDBESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 359 
 
 A short distance from camp we met a colored man with 
 a pair of live chickens to sell. I bought them of him 
 and paid in silver (not very common coin in those 
 days), and directed him where to deliver them. Ho 
 delivered them to my servant and collected pay of him 
 likewise. The next morning the chickens fell into the 
 hands of the Confederates. 
 
 All my baggage having been destroyed, I had, when 
 caj3tured, only the every-day clothes I had on. When 
 we had about reached the southern boundary of Ten- 
 nessee I began, therefore, to negotiate for another shirt. 
 A kind Southerner at a place where we stopped for 
 dinner gave me one. Farther along, among a party of 
 Confederates whom we met was an officer, who came and 
 voluntarily gave me ten dollars in Confederate money, 
 — as good there as greenbacks, — though I never saw 
 him before or since. I will say that the Confederate 
 officers who conducted us to Knoxville always treated 
 us in a courteous manner. 
 
 It will be of peculiar interest here to refer to the 
 criticism which General Grant in his " Memoirs" has 
 made of General Buell's failure to march into East 
 Tennessee. We have seen that Buell, to prepare for 
 his movement, had undertaken not only to rebuild the 
 Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, which was ready 
 July 12, but also the railroad from Memphis to Chatta- 
 nooga, which was not yet quite ready. General Grant 
 thought that his waiting to repair the latter railroad 
 was a great mistake, and that the road from Nashville 
 to Chattanooga {via Murfreesboro') was sufficient for 
 his purpose. He says, if General Buell " had been sent 
 directly to Chattanooga as rapidly as he could march,
 
 360 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 leaving two or three divisions along the line of the 
 railroad from Nashville forward, he could have arrived 
 with but little fighting, and would have saved much of 
 the loss of life which was afterwards incurred in gain- 
 ing Chattanooga. Bragg would then not have had time 
 to raise an army to contest the possession of Middle and 
 East Tennessee and Kentucky ; the battles of Stone 
 River and Chickamauga would not necessarily have 
 been fought ; Burnside would not have been besieged 
 in Kuoxville without the power of helping himself or 
 escaping. The battle of Chattanooga would not have 
 been fought. . . . The positive results might have been 
 a bloodless advance to Atlanta, to Vicksburg, or to any 
 other desired point south of Corinth in the interior of 
 Mississippi." 
 
 If the consequences of Buell's failure to take Chat- 
 tanooga were so momentous, then a deep interest will 
 always attach to whatever retarded his movement, and 
 especially to the reverse at Murfreesboro'. It may be 
 saying too much to attribute Buell's failure solely to 
 that disaster. One of its immediate effects, however, 
 was to put his army on half rations. It compelled 
 him to send a division under Nelson to re-occupy Mur- 
 freesboro', and two brigades of Wood's division, by 
 forced marches, from Decatur to Shelbyville. The use 
 of the railroad was set back two weeks. If the forces 
 under Forrest July 13 had been thoroughly whipped 
 and routed as they ought to have been, and as they 
 would have been had the Third Minnesota had a 
 chance to engage them, I cannot but think that Gen- 
 eral Buell would have seasonably put his army in mo- 
 tion, and that it would have accomplished its object.
 
 ABDEESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 3gl 
 
 The parole of the enlisted men did not prevent their 
 taking part in the Indian war, and the frontier settlers 
 were glad of their presence. In the decisive battle of 
 Wood Lake, where their casualties were forty in killed 
 and wounded, they displayed almost an excess of cour- 
 age, as if eager to wipe out the recollection of Mur- 
 freesboro'. General Sibley, in his official report of 
 that battle, says, " Major Welsh, of the Third Regi- 
 ment (tem23orarily in command), was instantly in line 
 with his command, by whom the savages were gallantly 
 met, and after a conflict of a serious nature repulsed." 
 After the reorganization of the regiment with C. W. 
 Griggs as colonel it performed in the first part of 1863 
 valuable scouting duty on the line of the Lower Ten- 
 nessee. At Vicksburg it formed a part of the covering- 
 army which watched and prepared for an expected at- 
 tack of the forces under General Joseph E. Johnston. 
 There, in the hot malarial climate of the Yazoo, it 
 toiled for weeks in defensive works, felling the heavy 
 hard timber that covered the rich ravines and con- 
 structing field fortifications ; performing likewise its 
 share of outpost duty. Yet, when after the fall of 
 Vicksburg it arrived at Helena, Arkansas, to take j^art 
 in General's Steele's movement upon Little Rock, it 
 had four hundred efiective men, and formed about the 
 largest regiment in his column. 
 
 My first interview with General Grant was at his 
 headquarters during the siege, and a couple of weeks 
 before the fall of Vicksburg, while our regiment was 
 at Snyder's Bluff. Before leaving Columbus, Ken- 
 tucky, I had received from Major Rowley, provost- 
 marshal on General Grant's staff, and one of his old
 
 362 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Galena friends, a letter of introduction to General Kaw- 
 lins, chief of staff. Major Rowley at the same time 
 gave me as a curiosity a five-cent pasteboard check 
 issued by the Grant business house at Galena, such as 
 everywhere in our country, in that era, formed a part 
 of the dreadful local currency. In this visit to Gen- 
 eral Grant I was accompanied by Major Mattson of 
 our regiment. It was in the forenoon of a clear hot 
 day, and the road leading up to headquarters was mealy 
 with dust. General Rawlins was standing at a desk at 
 work, and seemed to be overworked. We were promptly 
 admitted to the presence of General Grant, who was 
 sitting in a cam23-chair under an awning out in front 
 of his and the staff tents, smoking a cigar and talking 
 with a civilian. He received us in a friendly yet busi- 
 ness-like manner, and as soon as his conversation with 
 the civilian was over turned his whole attention to us. 
 He was clad in a simple suit of army flannel, looked 
 rather thin in flesh, yet in excellent health, and his 
 face indicated strictly temperate habits, — a fact that 
 struck me particularly, because the air was then full of 
 rumors about his excessive drinking. The tents were 
 all open ; everything was visible, and the most strictly 
 abstemious camp could not have furnished surer signs 
 of temperance. As we had called solely to pay our 
 respects General Grant talked without reserve, and 
 principally about the liability of an attack from the 
 rear by General Johnston, saying among other things 
 that he could spare so many (perliaj^s forty thousand) 
 men in support of the forces at Snyder's Bluff and still 
 hold Vicksburg, to use his own words, "as tight as 
 wax."
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. 3^3 
 
 The impression I acquired of General Grant from 
 that brief interview was most favorable. He appeared 
 to me to be a man entirely devoid of everything like 
 humbug, — in a word, to be the right man in the right 
 place. 
 
 It was now over a year since the regiment was sur- 
 rendered, all of which time it had been without a flag. 
 When, therefore, General Steele reviewed the regiment 
 at Helena the day before starting for Little Kock and 
 exclaimed, " Your colors, colonel !" I was taken by sur- 
 prise. I had about forgotten that a regiment carried 
 colors. My mind had been more occupied in getting a 
 medical wagon and the usual antidotes against malaria. 
 
 [General Frederick Steele was an amiable and able 
 man, a thorough gentleman and patriot, and much liked 
 by his command.] 
 
 Our march to Little Rock was very slow and trying. 
 We were called up as early as two or three o'clock in 
 the morning, and sometimes after our regiment had 
 got breakfast and was in line ready to move we were 
 kept waiting a full hour for others to get ready. Be- 
 tween the Mississippi and AVhite River we crossed a 
 magnificent forest, and in the clearings were a few peach 
 orchards. One could not fail to admire the rich Ar- 
 kansas vegetation, both in forest and field, but I think 
 our principal " collections" were made from a plant 
 having a creeping vine and called the sweet-potato. 
 
 At daybreak, September 10, when Steele's army 
 moved upon Price's works, a few miles below Little 
 Rock, the Third Regiment was accorded the infantry 
 advance, and was for some time under artillery fire 
 while protecting the laying of a pontoon-bridge.
 
 364 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 As we were entering the city the next forenoon, 
 Colonel Manter, General Steele's chief of staff, rode up 
 to me, and, much to my surprise, said that General 
 Steele directed that I should take command of the post 
 of Little Rock and put my regiment on guard duty in 
 the city. We then repaired to the State-house, raised 
 the United States flag from its dome, where, without a 
 single day's interruption, it has ever since floated. The 
 Third Regiment was quartered several months in the 
 State-house. As I had been suflering from intermit- 
 tent fever for some time, my first duties at Little Rock 
 were performed while lying on my back. Besides visits 
 I received many letters from various citizens. I re- 
 member one from a school-mistress, who wrote to in- 
 quire whether her school would be disturbed. She 
 added, that ever since the arrival of the Federal troops 
 she had felt more rebellious than ever. I replied that 
 her school would not be disturbed; on the contrary, 
 that schools were just the things we would protect. 
 
 In the battle of Fitzhugh's AVoods, near Augusta, 
 Arkansas, April 1, 1864, a detachment of the Third 
 Minnesota, under immediate command of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Foster, with Captain Matthews's company of 
 the Eighth Missouri Cavalry, successfully repulsed an 
 attack of a largely suj)erior force under General Dan- 
 bridge McRea. Our force, scarcely two hundred, was 
 returning from a scouting march, and when we had 
 about six miles yet to march to reach our boat at Au- 
 gusta, we were nearly surrounded and attacked by the 
 mounted and dismounted forces of General McRea, 
 on ground of his own choosing, near a large swamp. 
 His force consisted of a regiment of four hundred men
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. A2WREWS. 3^5 
 
 under Colonel Thomas Freeman, of Missouri, three 
 companies under Major George Rutherford, and an in- 
 dependent company. A Confederate colonel j^reseut in 
 McRea's command, and who was afterwards captured, 
 related that on this imposing demonstration of their 
 forces, and seeing our relative weakness, they fully ex- 
 pected to see us put up a white flag. Instead of doing 
 that the detachment of the Third immediately, and as 
 if by instinct, threw itself into line and commenced 
 firing at will. During the combat, which lasted over 
 two hours, an impetuous and tumultuous charge of the 
 enemy, led by a number of their chiefs, was met by a 
 very resolute counter-charge by the Third, which seemed 
 to prove decisive, though firing continued for some time 
 afterwards. The loss which the detachment of the 
 Third Minnesota sustained in that combat was seven 
 killed and twenty wounded, and the Confederates, whose 
 loss was severe, always accorded it the credit of having 
 made an uncommonly stubborn, gallant, and effective 
 resistance. We finally resumed our march of six 
 miles, which was made in good order, to our boat at 
 Augusta. 
 
 When, after Banks's defeat on the Red River, Gen- 
 eral Steele, who had hoped to join him, was at Camden, 
 Arkansas, on his way back to Little Rock, and pursued 
 by a superior army under E. Kirby Smith, a heavy su2> 
 ply-train for his hungry army, with a column of three 
 thousand of all arms as escort, was about being started 
 to him from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Having then just 
 received my commission as a general officer, the duty 
 of conducting this train and escort was assigned to me. 
 An empty train, with brigade escort, coming from Cam-
 
 366 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 den to Pine Bluff, on the road I was to take, after hard 
 fighting, had just been captured. The road lay through 
 woods swarming with the enemy, and the duty before 
 me seemed extremely perilous. The Third Regiment 
 (then commanded by Colonel H. Mattson, who remained 
 its colonel till its muster-out) was still on duty as pro- 
 vost guard in Little Rock, and knowing as I did that 
 I could depend on the skill and bravery of that regi- 
 ment in a hard fight, at my request a regiment with 
 which I was not well acquainted, and which was march- 
 ing to Pine Bluff to take part in the movement, was 
 sent back to Little Rock, and the Third Minnesota 
 taken in its place. The Third went to Pine Bluff, the 
 train got lengthened out, our advance had gone twenty 
 miles, and we w^ere waiting orders for the whole to 
 march, when orders were received not to go, because 
 General Steele, having fought a hard battle at Jenkins's 
 Ferry, was rapidly returning to Little Rock. The 
 Third Regiment's discipline and good fighting qualities 
 thus brought it to the then unhealthy locality of Pine 
 Bluff, where, on account of that place being threatened, 
 it was detained several months, and suffered excessive 
 mortality from malarial poison. Under the circum- 
 stances its loss there was as creditable as if it had 
 occurred in battle. 
 
 The Third had re-enlisted as a veteran regiment for 
 another three years, or during the war, in tlie begin- 
 ning of 1864. At that time, and even later, many 
 Union officers obstructed rather than facilitated the en- 
 listment of colored troops. Our regiment held different 
 views. Instead of leaving able-bodied freedmen to cul- 
 tivate plantations of men who were absent in rebel
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL C. C. ANDREWS. ^Q'J 
 
 armies, it preferred to make Union soldiers of them. 
 Details from our regiment recruited in all nearly men 
 enough to fill a colored regiment ; and while we were 
 in Arkansas over twenty members of the Third Min- 
 nesota, mostly enlisted men, on my recommendation 
 received commissions in colored regiments. 
 
 Governor Andrew Johnson, April 24, 1862, tele- 
 graphed from Nashville to the government at Wash- 
 ington as follows : "I have this moment been advised 
 that the Third Minnesota Regiment, stationed here, 
 and forces at Murfreesboro' and Lebanon, have been 
 ordered south by Buell. These forces ought to be de- 
 tained where they are." It was no fault of the Third 
 Regiment or its officers that it was not oftener in the 
 front. When our forces entered Little Rock, General 
 Steele selected it for permanent guard duty to maintain 
 order in that city, because of its good discipline and 
 reliability, and not at the suggestion or request of any 
 one connected with the regiment. That accounts for 
 its not having been with him in his severe battle at 
 Jenkins's Ferry, where he gained a victory over the 
 forces of Kir by Smith. Taken as a whole, its record 
 in Arkansas was distinguished. Its good behavior at 
 the capital exerted an important moral influence for 
 the Union cause; and whenever it was employed in the 
 field, as it was ultimately in numerous scouting expe- 
 ditions, it uniformly returned with some prisoners of 
 war. At the close of the war it was employed three 
 months preserving order and aiding reconstruction in 
 Northeastern Arkansas, headquarters at Jacksonport. 
 It left Arkansas in the early part of September, 1865, 
 having served constantly in that State a little over two
 
 368 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 years, and, returning to Fort Snelling, it there, on Sep- 
 tember 16, fell into line for the last time. 
 
 Isaac Murphy, who was the only man in the seces- 
 sion convention of Arkansas who voted " no," and who, 
 like a sturdy patriot worthy of the best days of repub- 
 lican Rome, steadfastly adhered to the Union cause, 
 and was finally installed as the first free State Gov- 
 ernor of Arkansas, — this incorruptible and enlightened 
 patriot, in a voluntary communication which he sent to 
 the Governor of Minnesota, in token of his admiration 
 of the Third Regiment, said, " While they have been 
 on duty in our capital good order has prevailed, and 
 they have won the respect and esteem of the citizens. 
 When called to meet the enemy, they have proved 
 ready for any undertaking and reliable in every emer- 
 gency. Such men are an honor to the government and 
 the cause they serve. Their State may justly be proud 
 of them, as they will do her credit wherever duty calls 
 them."
 
 THE ILLUSIONS OF A SOLDIER. 
 
 BY BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL S. P. JENNISON, 
 
 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL, TENTH MINNESOTA. INFANTRY, U. S. TOLUNTEERS. 
 
 It is possible the title just read may mislead your 
 expectations. PerliajDs it would have been better to 
 present the following under the alternative title " Re- 
 marks Appropriate to the First of April." 
 
 Every volunteer soldier will probably admit that he 
 had, at the time and during the period of his enlist- 
 ment, misconceptions of many things in regard to war 
 and battles ; that he found a great many things quite 
 different from his anticipations. But he will now speak 
 with the utmost positiveness of things past, especially of 
 those in the doing of which he was a participant. There 
 can be no mistake in what he then saw and has held in 
 vivid and often recurring remembrance ever since. 
 
 The recent reading of my own letters written from 
 the army in the field during the civil war, and in which 
 nothing was said which was not then believed to be 
 true, has impressed me that we are yet the victims of 
 illusions. Have any of yon ever compared your pres- 
 ent recollection of some considerable event of the war 
 with your written account of the same given in some 
 private letter at the time, and which you have seldom 
 seen since to refresh, as lawyers say, your recollection ? 
 When you do you will be surprised at the variance. 
 
 24 S69
 
 370 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 Not only will incidents be found in one that are want- 
 ing in the other, which would be natural enough, since 
 in no one account would probably all the incidents be 
 contained, but you will find that you have transferred 
 incidents from some other occasion, and that your trust- 
 worthy memory has adopted as personally known facta 
 the inferential conclusions which have seemed to you 
 reasonable to fill out and complete the account as your 
 remembrance now renders it. 
 
 A variety of considerations have induced many of 
 the commanders of armies in the Rebellion on both 
 sides to write their memoirs or accounts of their cam- 
 paigns. There is hardly an instance in which the 
 writer does not betray some present illusion, commit 
 some error, by trusting to his so vivid recollection. In 
 some cases the kindly judgment of comrades expressed 
 at the time has been clearly colored by subsequent 
 companionship with enemies of those comrades. In 
 other cases recollection has been warped in the other 
 direction. Every article in the magazine is followed 
 by notes of correction in subsequent numbers, or by 
 extended articles of refutation in other magazines. 
 This holds equally of Federal and of Confederate ac- 
 counts, and the corrections of each come, as a rule, not 
 from the other side, but from the mistaken writer's 
 comrades. Thus General Grant's recollection was cor- 
 rected from his official reports by General W. F. Smith, 
 and a Confederate commander having published as of 
 his own knowledge that a reconnoissance of the field 
 of Longstreet's battle on the second day at Gettysburg 
 was made on the afternoon of the first day and Long- 
 street's attack ordered for daylight which was not
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL S. P. JENNISON. 37 1 
 
 begun till half- past three in the afternoon, General 
 Longstreet shows from the oflScial reports of the ac- 
 cusing officer and all others that the field of the pre- 
 tended reconnoissance was far within the Federal lines 
 all the first day and the night following. 
 
 The late Colonel Scott, who had charge of the war 
 records, said that the calls on him from officers on both 
 sides were innumerable. Yet a good many should 
 have called on him sooner than they did. After twice 
 hearing an officer of his acquaintance describe the battle 
 of the "Monitor" and the "Merriraac" as an eye-witness, 
 telling about his field-glass and his point of observa- 
 tion, Scott looked up the official reports made by the 
 officer himself, and found that he had reported that he 
 was at Falls Church on the day of the battle. 
 
 " One day," said Scott, " an old officer came in here 
 and excitedly exclaimed, ' Have you said I was not in 
 the second battle of Bull Run ?' ' No ; not exactly 
 that,' said Scott. ' Well, Bob Scott,' resumed the other, 
 * I was told you said so, and I came in to put daylight 
 through you if you stuck to it.' ' Oh, no,' replied 
 Scott, ' I never said you were not in that battle. What 
 I said was that you yourself, in an official report dated 
 the day of the battle, had said you were in the Cum- 
 berland Valley, a hundred miles from Centreville and 
 Bull Run !' " Scott called a clerk and had the report 
 brought, which the officer read twice through in solid 
 silence, then rose, took his hat and left without a word. 
 Evidently our recollections, both of volunteers and 
 regulars, are full of illusions. Or perhaps the official 
 reports were written too soon. 
 
 But marvellous as are the performances of our mem-
 
 372 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 ories, they are not equal to the refinement of detail re- 
 quired of them by some of our comrades. Is there a 
 redmental officer amono; vou who has not been asked 
 to remember that on a certain day's march he found 
 Stanislaus Olaffson, an enlisted man of his command, 
 lying exhausted by the roadside, having set out before 
 the regiment because he was sick, but resolved to go, 
 and that you yourself then put him into an ambulance, 
 with a remark flattering to his soldierly qualities, or 
 commiserative of his disability, or both, which remark 
 is repeated to you verbatim? I have been recently 
 asked to remember the men composing a certain detail 
 which my correspondent remembered that I made as 
 adjutant of the Second Minnesota in 1863. That 
 would not have been so hard if I had not ceased to 
 belong to that regiment in 1862. One man, to estab- 
 lish his identity in my mind and excite my recollec- 
 tion of his disability by alleging a superfluous ability, 
 sent me the additional particular that he was the man 
 who stole the horse for me in Alabama. On my denying 
 that anybody stole a horse for me, and saying that it was 
 Johnny Burns who conveyed me my Alabama horse, — 
 " Convey the wise it call,"— he said. " Yes, Johnny 
 took it of him ; he guessed I did not know all about it." 
 This activity of reminiscence seems to be peculiar, 
 perhaps, to war times, but by no means to the war of 
 the Rebellion. Most of you have known veterans of 
 the Mexican war. It was my good fortune to know 
 two who had been officers in that war, and who held 
 high command among the earliest Minnesota troops, 
 and many times have I been interested and astonished 
 at their remembrances, and become the pleased partici-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL S. P. JENNISON. 373 
 
 pant of their illusions, for I have learned to consider 
 them such, though it must be confessed that an incred- 
 ulous and especially an unmilitary hearer would mis- 
 take them for downright and voluntary misstatements. 
 There was a robustness about their illusions that I 
 have never found in those of their successors, though 
 of these I fear I have not heard the best. One of my 
 Mexican war friends told me, nearly thirty years ago, 
 with much particularity, the details of a two-days' 
 battle, at the end of which, for various reasons which 
 he enumerated, " when I looked in my glass," said he, 
 " my hair was as white as snow." I was then inex- 
 perienced in military illusions and an unbeliever. I 
 was surprised, for not one hair of his head or face was 
 then anything but of the deepest natural black. Both 
 these Mexican veterans were black-haired men. I re- 
 marked on the surprising fact that the narrator, a dozen 
 years after the battle, had not a single wdiite hair. " It 
 turned back again, sir," said he; "it turned back again : 
 in a month my hair was as black as ever." 
 
 " Why," said I, " that is more singular still. What 
 was the manner of the second change ? Did your hair 
 change to black again as a whole as it had turned 
 white; did it grow out its original color from the roots, 
 as when hair has been dyed, or did the w^hite hair fall 
 out, as sometimes after sickness, and black hair replace 
 it ?" " Some of it one way and some another, sir," 
 answered the veteran. 
 
 But it is time to confess to some of the illusions of 
 the writer as a volunteer. They seem now mostly 
 quite absurd, and I hope no one else shared them all. 
 The first was that there was some special natural gift
 
 374 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 requisite to success even as a company officer of in- 
 fantry, and that the possession of that gift was mani- 
 fested always and only by a fondness for joining 
 uniformed military companies, or for following and 
 admiring them on parade. Having never possessed 
 nor comprehended the taste for such things, I feared 
 to be so destitute of the military mind as to be unable 
 to hold even the lowest commission. Another bugaboo 
 in my mind was the dread of horseback-riding, and the 
 greater dread, which my comrades afterwards thought 
 quite excusable, of being seen trying to ride horseback. 
 These illusions were then so real to me that they led to 
 the declining of Governor Kamsey's kind proposition 
 to take a staff aj^pointment. A few weeks' marching 
 in the winter in Kentucky made riding appear less 
 dreadful, and put an end forever to that volunteer's 
 declining anything worth having. 
 
 Another delusion helped me to take the risk of 
 attempting to hold a second lieutenancy without the 
 military mind. That was an absurd belief in much of 
 the rebel vaunting that the war would be a desperate 
 hand-to-hand struggle, much like the Kansas border- 
 ruffian war, except on a broader scale. For that rough 
 and tumble work no excess of military gifts would be 
 required in a second lieutenant. 
 
 Partly from this belief, perhaps, and perhaps from 
 ultra freshness, came a misjudgment or want of judg- 
 ment about what would decide a battle, what state or 
 condition of mind would be reached by one side when it 
 would feel that it had had enough and would retire. I 
 suppose it was a sort of likening of a battle to the fights 
 of which I had some knowledge among boys, an expec-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL S. P. JENNISON. 375 
 
 tation that the j)romised hand-to-hand, bowie-knife, 
 clubbed-musket, knock-down-and-drag-out method of 
 warfare would decide the event, which left always a 
 little disappointment when our friends, the enemy, re- 
 tired so soon. Thus the battle of Mill Springs, in 
 which the Second Minnesota was first engaged, was over 
 in about thirty minutes after the boys opened fire, and 
 I was surjDrised at it, though not offended. 
 
 These illusions may not have been shared, may not 
 be understood by any other volunteer, but another one 
 was shared by hundreds,' though, perhaps, they will not 
 now remember it. In fact, I did not, and could not 
 now, believe it, if it was not found in dozens of letters 
 written home. ' This was the notion that the war, at 
 least at the West, would soon be over after each of our 
 small successes. It appeared after Mill Springs, again 
 after the capture of Fort Donelson and Fort Henry, and 
 broke out afresh after the retreat of the Confederates 
 from Corinth before that general who became after- 
 wards chief of staff', but served in that campaign as the 
 chief of sticks. This was about the time, remember, 
 when General W. T. Sherman, one of the few who 
 appreciated the magnitude of the opened struggle, had 
 been thought insane for maintaining that an army of a 
 hundred thousand men would be required to secure the 
 success of the Union arms between the Alleo-hanies and 
 the Mississippi. 
 
 The battle of Mill Springs was a small affair, as we 
 now look at battles, but the Confederate forces so melted 
 away after it that hopeful Union soldiers may have been 
 excused for cherishing the illusion of an early peace. 
 Ten Confederate regiments of infantry with some inde-
 
 376 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 peuclent companies, six pieces of artillery, and two bat- 
 talions of cavalry moved from their intrencliraents on 
 the Cumberland about midnight between January 18 
 and 19, 1862, to attack and defeat the approaching 
 forces of General Thomas before they could concen- 
 trate. It was intended to be a surprise, but although 
 Crittenden at daylight brushed away Wolford's cavalry 
 advance without checking his elan, the firing aroused 
 the two infantry regiments of the advanced brigade, the 
 Fourth Kentucky and Tenth Indiana, and gave them 
 time for hurried preparation. ' General Zollicoffer had 
 been recently superseded in the command of the rebel 
 troops by Crittenden, but he accompanied their advance, 
 and it was he who appears to have endeavored to gain 
 that advantage for his troops of near approach to the 
 Federals under the guise of friends before delivering 
 fire, which was so often sought and won by the rebels 
 in the beginning of the war. Whatever his purpose in 
 riding up to Colonel Fry, of the Fourth Kentucky 
 Kegiment, and apj)ealing to him not to fire upon his 
 friends, pointing to the rebels, he lost his life for his 
 temerity. Fry's regiment resisted stoutly on the 
 ground where they had been formed; the other regi- 
 ment having been put in piecemeal Avas considerably 
 broken up, and fought with such formation as it main- 
 tained, on both flanks, and even, it seems, in the ranks 
 of the Fourth Kentucky. To their support General 
 Thomas sent the Second Minnesota and the Ninth Ohio 
 Kegiments. This was the beginning of the com2:)an- 
 ionship of those organizations which lasted to the end 
 of the war, and which from the first developed genuine 
 mutual respect and an affectionate regard which made
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL S. P. JENNISON. 377 
 
 them even willing to forage and steal subsistence in 
 each other's name. 
 
 The camp of the Second was nearest, and they got 
 into action some time first. They arrived in good 
 shape at a rail-fence on the edge of a wood, the Ken- 
 tuckians retiring and the Confederates coming to it at 
 about the same moment, and their fire had a strength 
 and effect unlike anything which the rebels had met 
 before. The day was drizzly and damp, and guns soon 
 became foul. The smoke did not lift at all, but after 
 two discharges hid the ■ combatants almost fi'om each 
 other. The Twelfth Kentucky and two loyal Tennessee 
 regiments had been ordered up from the rear at the 
 beginning of the firing, and, presently appearing at 
 some distance on our left, began to threaten the Con- 
 federate right. Lieutenant Capon, of the Second, an 
 old French soldier, at length saw signs of rebel waver- 
 ing, and called out, " Captain Markbara, it is 'bout 
 time to sharge bayonet." But Colonel Van Cleve was 
 satisfied with the effect of his rifle practice, and let his 
 men continue it. However, the Ninth Ohio having 
 now arrived on our right, it was not long before its 
 commander, Colonel Kammerling, saw that it was 
 facing the unstable left flank of a disheartened and 
 yielding centre, and, putting his Germans upon the 
 charge, added the last argument in favor of a retreat. 
 The appearance of a full regiment in three-rank for- 
 mation, coming on at the double-quick with levelled 
 bayonets, has something logically persuasive about it. 
 
 Seven regiments and two batteries, at the most, sent 
 the Confederates back to their intrenchments, fired 
 with enthusiasm to get across the river ; and there have
 
 378 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 always been differences of opinion — illusions, in some 
 degree — as to what frustrated the rebel design. The 
 Kentuckians believe that the killing of Zollicoffer by 
 their colonel discouraged the assailants. The Minne- 
 sotians think it was their own terribly destructive fire. 
 The Tennessee troops hold that they flanked them out, 
 and the Ninth Ohio claim that it was their charge that 
 did it. The Tenth Indiana reports that it fought from 
 first to last,— fought all over the field, and was every- 
 where successful. 
 
 Letters from rebel soldiers engaged in the affair, 
 published in Nashville papers, represented that all was 
 going prosperously with them till they were hurled and 
 broken against a log fort in which Thomas had massed 
 a brigade. This log fort was the " Virginny fence" 
 upon a slight ridge through and over which the Second 
 Minnesota gave and received fire. On the right of the 
 regiment the opposing lines were so near together, as I 
 then wrote, that "the fire of the nearest rebel guns 
 crossed the blaze of our foremost men. One man was 
 so burned by the powder from the rebel gun which 
 killed him that he could not be recognized for a long 
 time." Lieutenant Baillie Peyton, a Tennesseean, fell 
 with his head reaching the fence over which he was 
 shot. At the left the ridge was a little forward of the 
 fence, and the Johnnies did not come beyond the ridge. 
 A rough fellow from Company F, nicknamed "the 
 meek and lowly" lumberman from the St. Croix, got 
 over the fence to have a better chance. Called back by 
 his captain, he came over grumbling that it was d — d 
 hard if a man couldn't choose his own ground. A 
 comrade told him to hush up, for the colonel was right
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL S. P. JENNISON. 379 
 
 behind him. " Yes," said he ; " I suppose he's watch- 
 ing to see that we don't steal these rails." Here fought 
 the Minnesota men for twenty-five or thirty minutes, 
 and, as they lost more men than any other regiment, 
 and gave not an inch of ground for a moment, they 
 claim Mill Springs as largely their fight. 
 
 The fact that an Indiana colonel, commanding the 
 advanced brigade, left it at the approach of the enemy 
 to go in person to General Thomas's headquarters, some 
 mile or more distant, to ask reinforcements, was the 
 occasion of misconception or illusion at the time. The 
 explanation is that the acting brigadier, an active poli- 
 tician at home, was very efficient on the stump, and 
 perfectly overwhelming on a grand rally. He went to 
 use his personal eloquence to arouse General Thomas 
 to get out the full party strength. 
 
 After the rebels fell back, or, to speak without the 
 hallucination of compliment, after they ran. General 
 Thomas pursued in line of battle. This formation 
 made the pursuit safe but slow ; and as no attempt at 
 an ambuscade on the part of the rebels was observed, 
 where no chance was given for any to succeed, the 
 commander's cautious procedure was considerably crit- 
 icised. Indeed, I think among the very ablest or 
 most voluble critics of military affairs at that time it 
 was very generally condemned. Those ablest critics, 
 so far as they were in the army at all, were mostly in 
 the ranks. It was remarkable how few officers at the 
 outset, at least above the grade of second lieutenant, 
 had any ideas of strategy or any useful, practical grasp 
 of grand tactics. Most of the men who ought to have 
 been at the head of armies were at the head of news-
 
 380 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 papers. All the rest of such, and thousands nearly as 
 good as they, were in service with very low commis- 
 sions or none at all. 
 
 We reached the rebel intrenchments about dusk, 
 and as tlie fighting and marching had all been done 
 fasting, without breakfast or dinner, General Thomas 
 bivouacked his troops and allowed them to get meals. 
 The rebels during the night crossed the river, and in 
 the morning, as soon as the last were over, burned their 
 one small steamboat. They removed no stores, left 
 even their personal effects, clothing, money, watches, 
 arms, letters, daguerreotypes, etc. Fourteen cannon 
 and two hundred thousand dollars' worth of quarter- 
 masters' and commissary stores were captured. 
 
 In this, the first of General Thomas's battles, as in 
 his last at Nashville, the opposing army was completely 
 beaten and dissolved ; dissipated, if not annihilated. 
 Criticism of General Thomas still continued. But it 
 tells his merit, and gives him his unique position among 
 our great generals, to say that no enemy, no general 
 opposed to him, ever had anything to boast of in the 
 results of his opposition. No one ever surprised him. 
 No one whom he went after ever slipped away from 
 him. No one ever attacked him who did not repent 
 it. No one was ever attacked by him and lived to fight 
 another battle. No one ever worsted him or deluded 
 him. No successes cost so few lives as those he won. 
 No service was so unquestioningly and loyally done as 
 that he rendered. No honors were so modestly borne 
 as those he earned. No greater soul ever dwelt in 
 human breast than that we loved in him.
 
 THE 
 
 OLD VERMONT BRIGADE AT PETERSBURG. 
 
 BY BEIGADIEE-GENEEAL LEWIS A. GEANT, 
 
 BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL U. S. VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 The three great events of the war were Gettysburg, 
 Vicksburg, and Petersburg. 
 
 The first two made Petersburg possible. They were 
 the great parallel events which led us past the turning- 
 point ; they were the colossal hinges upon which turned 
 back the Confederate success, opening the way to Pe- 
 tersburg and final victory. The other battles and cam- 
 paigns, important and brilliant as they were, all con- 
 tributed to the same grand result, — as the streams 
 flowing into our system of great lakes, and the lakes 
 above the falls, clear and magnificent, all contribute to 
 the mighty Niagara. 
 
 The final battle of Petersburg was fought April 2, 
 1865. It was the crowning victory of the war, and 
 resulted in the total defeat of the rebel army, the down- 
 fall of the Rebellion, and the collapse of the Confeder- 
 acy. In that triumphant engagement the Old Vermont 
 Bri<rade led the attack which carried the Confederate 
 stronghold, broke the lines, and opened the gates to 
 Petersburg and Richmond. 
 
 381
 
 382 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 How that Old Brigade did it it is my purpose to tell 
 you. 
 
 But, first, who and what was the Old Brigade ? It 
 Wiis a brigade of infantry, and it constituted the Second 
 Brigade of the Second Division of the Sixth Corps. 
 It was called the Vermont Brigade because it was 
 composed distinctly of Vermont troops. It was called 
 the Old Vermont Brigade because it was the oldest or 
 First Vermont Brigade. There was another Vermont 
 brigade that won immortal honors on the field of Gettys- 
 burg. 
 
 The Old Vermont Brigade sprang into existence on 
 the Potomac near Chain Bridge in October, 1861. It 
 was then composed of the Second, Third, Fourth, and 
 Fifth Vermont Regiments of Infantry, and was first 
 commanded by General W. F. Smith, a regular army 
 ofiicer from Vermont. He was the first colonel of the 
 Third Vermont, and succeeded to the command of the 
 brigade, the division, and the corps. 
 
 Later in the fall of 1861 the brigade was increased 
 by the addition of the Sixth Vermont Regiment, and 
 General W. T. H. Brooks, who traced his pedigree 
 back to Vermont, succeeded to the command. 
 
 He retained the command until late in the fall of 
 1862. During the next three months there were sev- 
 eral changes; the last was in February, 1863, when 
 the command fell to the colonel of the Fifth Regi- 
 ment as the ranking ofiicer of the brigade. It need 
 only be said that he was a Vermonter; that he entered 
 the service from civil life in September, 1861, with the 
 rank of major ; that by successive promotions he became 
 colonel of his regiment in September, 1862, and took
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL LEWIS A. GRANT. 333 
 
 command of the brigade when five months old as a 
 colonel, retaining it to the end of the war. 
 
 The sons of Vermont, wherever found, possess an 
 ardent love for their maternal home. There is some- 
 thing about the good old State and its history, about its 
 mountains and its valleys, its rivers and its rills, its 
 rocks and its hills, its maple-sugar camps and speckled- 
 trout brooks, that binds the heart of the Vermonter to 
 the State of his birth. And the Vermont soldier is 
 proud of the military history of his State. 
 
 The valor of its Revolutionary troops was recognized 
 in the distinctive title of the " Green Mountain Boys," 
 and was evidenced at the battles of Hubbardston and 
 Bennington, and at the taking of Fort Ticonderoga, 
 " In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental 
 Congress." 
 
 The State also took great pride in its soldiers and 
 watched over them with a father's care. Probably no 
 State troops were put into the field better clothed and 
 equipped. Not only did the State first clothe and 
 equip its enlisted men, but it gave the officers their first 
 uniform and side-arms, and gave horses to the mounted 
 officers of the first two or three regiments. And all 
 during the war Vermont paid its common soldiers 
 seven dollars per month in addition to the pay of the 
 general government. Regularly the State paymaster 
 appeared in the field or camp ; trusted agents of the 
 State came and carried to homes and families and sav- 
 ings-banks such surplus funds as the soldiers desired 
 to send ; eminent physicians came to administer to the 
 sick and look after the sanitary condition of the camps ; 
 ministers of the gospel brought the glad tidings of
 
 384 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 peace and labored in hospitals; the Legislature sus- 
 pended the collection of debts against soldiers in the 
 field, and provided for their right to vote at general 
 elections ; and the Vermont soldier felt that the loved 
 ones at home were cared for. 
 
 The policy of the State was to keep its regiments 
 well filled by recruits instead of multiplying organiza- 
 tions. Under this policy the regiments of the Old 
 Brigade received frequent reinforcements. Much was 
 given and much was required. The brigade bore the 
 severest part of the service, and was actively engaged 
 in nearly every battle of the Armies of the Potomac 
 and Shenandoah, and its losses were heavy. 
 
 Having said this much of the history and personnel 
 of the brigade, let us proceed to Petersburg. 
 
 The spring of 1864 found the Army of the Potomac 
 in fine condition, and ready for the terrible work which 
 awaited it. A separate army under Burnside was sent 
 to co-operate ; Grant came in person ; and everything 
 indicated a campaign of unusual vigor and interest. 
 
 We broke camp near Brandy Station May 4, crossed 
 the Bapidan, and fought the battle of the Wilderness, 
 the 5th, 6th, and 7th days of May. It was a terrible 
 conflict in the midst of brush and a thick growth of 
 small timber so dense that the contending forces ap- 
 proached within a few yards of each other, and but 
 little artillery could be used. In the first day's engage- 
 ment the Vermont Brigade fought and held its position 
 against three or four times its own number. Some idea 
 of the fierceness of the struggle can be had by a state- 
 ment of the losses. The brigade went into the engage- 
 ment with a little less than three thousand men and
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL LEWIS A. GRANT. 335 
 
 lost twelve hundred and thirty-two ; nearly all killed 
 and wounded ; there were but few missing. Of the 
 regimental commanders two were killed, two were 
 severely wounded, and one only was unhurt, and there 
 remained but one officer of the brigade staff. We often 
 speak of commands being decimated, using this lan- 
 guage to express great loss, but here was a command 
 that lost more than one-third of its number in a single 
 but protracted battle of three days. 
 
 During the night of May 7 and the next day the 
 Vermont Brigade was the rear guard of the army. It 
 arrived on the field of Spottsylvania just before dark 
 on the 8th, and received the cheers of its comrades as 
 it passed along the rear of the line from the right to 
 its position towards the left. 
 
 On the 9th there was severe skirmishing. It was a 
 sad day for the survivors of the Sixth Corps, for then 
 and there the gallant Sedgwick fell. 
 
 On the 10th three regiments of the Vermont Brigade 
 took part in the charge led by General Upton. 
 
 On the 11th there was skirmishing and artillery. 
 The losses of the brigade to this date were thirteen 
 hundred and sixty-three. 
 
 On the morning of the 12th Hancock made his cele- 
 brated charge, capturing the most of Johnson's division. 
 When the Sixth Corps marched in to his relief the 
 enemy was making a desperate attempt to recover lost 
 ground. The Vermont Brigade soon found itself with 
 other trooi)s at that world-renowned bloody angle, 
 where it fought for eight successive hours, in an almost 
 hand-to-hand fight. 
 
 There was other severe fighting at Spottsylvania in 
 
 25
 
 386 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 which the Vermont Brigade took an active part, and 
 before leaving there on May 21 the loss of the brigade 
 was sixteen hundred and fifty, considerably more than 
 half of the command. 
 
 But it was at Spottsylvania that the brigade was 
 strengthened and cheered by the addition of the 
 Eleventh Kegiment, and quite a number of conscripts 
 and recruits, in all about seventeen hundred officers 
 and men, bringing the numerical standard up to about 
 what it was when it went into the battle of the Wilder- 
 ness. The Eleventh Vermont was a heavy artillery 
 regiment, recruited to its maximum, and was in itself 
 equal to a brigade of depleted veterans. 
 
 The conscripts and recruits were put into gaps in the 
 veteran regiments, while the Eleventh was divided into 
 three battalions, each battalion numbering more than 
 either of the other regiments. After this let it be borne 
 in mind that the brigade consisted of eight battalions, 
 and was in size and effective force equal to many, and 
 probably to a majority, of the divisions of the Army 
 of the Potomac. 
 
 From Spottsylvania we marched to the North Anna, 
 and took part in the skirmishes there. 
 
 On the 27th we crossed the Pamunkey and moved 
 up towards Hanover Court-House, and then to a posi- 
 tion on the Tolopotamoy. On the 1st of June we 
 marched to Cold Harbor, and took an active part in the 
 severe engagements there, lasting twelve days. There 
 were fighting and losses every day, and the loss of the 
 brigade was over three hundred. 
 
 On the night of June 12 the brigade was left alone 
 to watch the enemy. It quietly withdrew from the
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL LEWIS A. GRANT. 337 
 
 works before light the next morning, and again became 
 the rear guard of the army on its march to Petersburg. 
 That night we slept on the other side of the Chieka- 
 hominy. On the 14th we marched past Charles City 
 Court-House, crossed the James River on the 16th, and 
 on the afternoon of June 17 we arrived near Petersburg, 
 and relieved General Brook's division of the Eighteenth 
 Corps, 
 
 On the morning of June 18, 1864, the Old Vermont 
 Brigade stood on the heights overlooking the valley and 
 surrounding country. We had started out for Rich- 
 mond, but had halted in front of Petersburg. From 
 our elevated position the lines of both armies could be 
 traced. Beyond the lines, the spires and turrets of 
 Petersburg reflected in the morning sun. To our right 
 were green fields and fertile meadows where the Appo- 
 mattox wended its way to the James. All nature smiled 
 on us that lovely June morning. Later in the day a 
 general attack was made, which resulted in driving the 
 enemy back into his strongholds and defining his posi- 
 tion. In this attack the Vermont Brigade took no part. 
 We were permitted to rest on the hill-side and see others 
 do the fighting. It was a novel scene, a new experience 
 to us. For the six weeks preceding we had taken active 
 part in every principal engagement, had marched into 
 the jaws of death, held important positions, and made 
 repeated assaults upon strong lines of trained infantry. 
 We had been fighting almost every day, except while 
 marching, and much of our marching had been done in 
 the night-time. The losses of the brigade from the 
 time it crossed the Rapidan to the time it stood on the 
 heights of Petersburg were nineteen hundred and
 
 388 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 ninety-one, in round numbers two thousand, more 
 than two-thirds of the original command ; and of that 
 number of fearful losses those who had been captured 
 by the enemy could be counted on the fingers of your 
 hands. 
 
 Grand Old Vermont Brigade ! Noble band of vet- 
 erans ! Heroes of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and 
 Cold Harbor! Survivors of the bloody trail from the 
 Kapidan to Petersburg! Well may you rest on the 
 heights overlooking the field of your future triumph! 
 
 June 19 the brigade relieved two other brigades of 
 the division, and held the front line until the evening 
 of the 20th. There was severe skirmishing during the 
 day, and much artillery practice. Our right rested on 
 the river below Petersburg, and our line was very near 
 the city. Our position seemed to annoy the enemy, as 
 he opened upon us a heavy artillery fire from the 
 front, and also from several batteries across the Appo- 
 mattox to our right and rear, inflicting but small loss. 
 On the evening of the 20th we moved to the left and 
 relieved General Gibbon's division of the Second 
 Corps, and held the position during the next day, the 
 front lines being engaged most of the time. 
 
 On the evening of the 21st the Sixth Corps marched 
 six miles to the left, to near what was then known as 
 the Williams House. The next day there was a gen- 
 eral advance, in which the Vermont Brigade occupied 
 the extreme left and protected the flank, and halted 
 near the Southside Bailroad about eleven o'clock that 
 night. 
 
 On the morning of June 23 a picked company of 
 sharp-shooters from the Vermont Brigade was sent to
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL LEWIS A. GRANT. 339 
 
 the front across the railroad, and pioneers from the 
 brigade commenced the destruction of the track. Two 
 hundred men, properly oflScered, were called for and 
 sent to report to the corps officer of the day. Another 
 detail was furnished, and reported to an officer of the 
 division staff, and by him placed in support of the 
 skirmish line. These details were taken from the 
 Eleventh Regiment. The Fourth Kegiment, which 
 was on picket duty, w^as also ordered forward to 
 strengthen the skirmish-line on the left of these de- 
 tachments. The enemy appeared in force. The sharp- 
 shooters and pioneers retired and joined the brigade. 
 The officer in command of the skirmish-line and sup- 
 port received instructions from the division or corps 
 commander. He occupied a position half to three- 
 fourths of a mile to the front, in an open field, on the 
 right of which was a dense forest, and on the left a 
 skirt of woods wide enough to hide from view the field 
 beyond. He checked the advance in front, but the 
 enemy sent a force round the skirt of w^oods to the left 
 and appeared full half a mile in the rear. At this time 
 the main line of the corps was partly on the skirt of 
 timber and partly lost to view in the timber. The Ver- 
 mont Brigade formed the angle or turning-point in the 
 line, where the left receded and turned back to protect 
 the flank. Immediately in front was a crest or swell 
 of ground which commanded the open field in front. 
 From this swell of ground our outpost, the position of 
 the enemy, and the ground between were plainly vis- 
 ible. Artillery planted there would completely com- 
 mand the field; infantry stationed there could command 
 the most of the field and check the enemy's advance on
 
 390 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 the left. (By your permission I will, in speaking of 
 the commander of the brigade, drop the use of the third 
 person and adopt the first.) Watching the movements, 
 and fearing for the safety of the force in front, I moved 
 the brigade forward on to this crest, and asked the 
 division commander to advance the troops on my right 
 so as to preserve this commanding position as a part of 
 the line. But he declined to do it. I then went to the 
 commander of the regiment on my left, and asked him 
 to advance his right so as to connect with my left. He 
 did so, but soon fell back again, and I received positive 
 orders from the division commander to withdraw my 
 command to its former position and to connect with the 
 troops on my right and left. I then went to the com- 
 mander of the corps and induced him to go with me 
 upon the crest. I pointed out to him the position of 
 our advanced forces, and called his attention to the fact 
 that the force coming in to the left would completely 
 cut them off. Even then the enemy was attacking our 
 skirmish-line on the left, and stray bullets whistled past 
 us. I also called his attention to the fact that if our 
 line was advanced to that crest we would command the 
 situation. My efforts were unavailing, and we rode 
 back to our position of safety behind the hill. The hill 
 or swell in front entirely hid the scene from view, but 
 we could distinctly hear the sharp fighting on the skir- 
 mish-line and the rebel cheer as they broke through. 
 Bullets whistled over us, but we were safe. The ad- 
 vance of the rebel forces as they turned to the left and 
 bore down upon the rear of our men was plainly heard, 
 and after a while there was another rebel cheer and all 
 was over. Night came on, and the blackness of dark-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL LEWIS A. GRANT. 39I 
 
 ness settled down upon us. There we remained crouched 
 behind the hill, while our comrades in front were being 
 slaughtered or led off to Libby and Andersonville. 
 
 The most of both detachments from the Eleventh 
 and some of the Fourth were killed, wounded, or cap- 
 tured. Part of the Fourth Regiment escaped, bringing 
 their colors with them. No colors of the Old Brigade 
 were ever captured or lost ; and this was the only time 
 when any considerable number of the brigade was 
 ever captured. 
 
 This was my saddest experience of the war. The 
 Old Vermont Brigade never turned its back to the foe 
 or forsook its friends. It was hard to stand by and 
 make no effort to save when so many were needlessly 
 sacrificed. Why it was that this small force was kept 
 to the front did not appear clear then, and it does not 
 now. Had it been ordered in when our sharp-shootei-s 
 and pioneers came in, our line was sufficiently strong 
 to repel and punish any attack made upon it. And if 
 there was need of a force being kept out there, why it 
 was not protected and cared for I never could under- 
 stand. The corps commander told me when we stood 
 on the crest together, overlooking and discussing the 
 situation, that the officer in command had his instruc- 
 tions and knew what to do. He also told me if the 
 rebel force then threatening our left should break 
 through and come into the rear of our men, they could 
 retire through the forest to our right. He afterwards 
 told me that he did not understand the situation. The 
 longer I live the more am I convinced that some one, 
 either the officer in command of the outpost, the officer 
 of the day, or the brigade commander, should have
 
 392 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 assumed the responsibility and brought those men in, 
 or protected them while there. We have the highest 
 military authority to the doctrine that disobedience of 
 orders is sometimes justifiable. It is, perhaps, proper 
 to say that General Getty was absent, wounded, and 
 that General Sedgwick was killed six weeks before. 
 
 July 24 we moved back to the Williams House, and 
 remained near there about two weeks. The usual mo- 
 notony of watching and skirmishing was not inter- 
 rupted except by a hurried march to Reams Station, 
 June 29, to assist General Wilson in his return from 
 an extended raid. 
 
 July 8 we received marching orders, and went to 
 City Point that night, where transportation awaited us. 
 Early was threatening Baltimore and Washington. 
 One division of the Sixth Corps had gone some time 
 before and been defeated on the Monocacy, — the rest 
 of the corps was now ordered to Washington. 
 
 This was not the first time the Vermont Brigade 
 was ordered from the Army of the Potomac to special 
 duty. Once before, soon after Gettysburg, we received 
 orders to march to Warrenton Junction and to proceed 
 by rail to Alexandria and report to the commander-in- 
 chief. This done, we were ordered to New York during 
 the draft riot. This was known as the New York 
 Campaign, where we took our rations on the half-shell. 
 
 But now there was work for us, and the danger to 
 Washington was imminent. Benedict, in his " Military 
 History of Vermont," says that one day when Early 
 was approaching the Capital, the President and Secre- 
 tary of War went down to the Potomac Landing looking 
 for expected troops. Seeing a steamer near, the Presi-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL LEWIS A. GRANT. 393 
 
 dent anxiously inquired what troops it brought. Upon 
 being told that it brought a major-general and his staff, 
 he replied, " I did not come to see any major-generals ; 
 I came here to see the Vermont Brigade." 
 
 Our arrival was opportune. Early had appeared 
 with a large force, and his skirmishers were within 
 musket-shot of the main line of defences. We marched 
 up Seventh Street, and were greeted by rebel bullets 
 while taking our position in the line. The Third 
 Brigade of our division drove back the rebel skirmish- 
 ers. Early finding something besides invalids and mi- 
 litia fell back, and made his retreat up the Potomac 
 and back into the Shenandoah Valley. Then followed 
 the remarkable campaign of the Shenandoah under 
 Sheridan, and the battles of Charlestown, Winchester, 
 Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek, in all of which the 
 Vermont Brigade bore an honorable and prominent 
 part. 
 
 I will say a word only of Cedar Creek, and I do this 
 because it has been said that the infantry were routed, 
 and that the day was saved by the cavalry. I know 
 of one division of infantry, to wit, the Second Division 
 of the Sixth Corps, that was not routed. It consisted 
 of three brigades, in the centre of which was the Ver- 
 mont Brigade. That division confronted the enemy 
 soon after light on the ridge near the cemetery, and 
 held him in check for more than two hours, and re- 
 tired only when completely flanked, and then it retired 
 in line, and took another position, from which it did not 
 retire. It was while holding this second position, with 
 the left resting on the pike, that Sheridan came riding 
 down. He turned and rode down the rear of a few
 
 394 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 regiments, and dashing through the line brought up in 
 front, and inquired, " What troojis are these ?" " The 
 Sixth Corps," " The Vermont Brigade," were simulta- 
 neously shouted from the ranks. " We are all right," 
 cried Sheridan, as he rode to the right, amidst the 
 cheers of the men. It is said Sheridan reported that 
 Getty's division of infantry and Merritt's division of 
 cavalry were the only forces he found fighting. From 
 this position the advance was made which drove Early 
 from the field. At the ford of the creek the cavalry 
 passed the infantry, and continued the pursuit until 
 after dark, and made most of the captures of the day. 
 I do know that at least one division of infantry was not 
 routed at Cedar Creek. 
 
 Late in the fall of 1864 the Sixth Corps returned to 
 the Army of the Potomac, in front of Petersburg. 
 Afiairs had somewhat changed in our absence. The 
 left of our line had been considerably advanced and 
 extended and fortified. The Vermont Brigade was as- 
 signed a position in the line well to the left, near Patrick 
 Station, which was the terminus of the military rail- 
 road which brought our supplies from City Point. Our 
 right rested on what was known as the Squirrel Level 
 Road, and our left extended to the angle or turn in the 
 line. At this angle was an earthwork of considerable 
 strength, known as Fort Fisher. From Fort Fisher 
 our line receded and turned back and protected our 
 flank. Half a mile or more to the left of Fort Fisher 
 was Fort Welch. From Fort Welch our line ran back 
 to the rear about at right angles with the line held by 
 the Vermont Brigade. The rebel line seemed to keep 
 nearly parallel to ours, and when it came opposite our
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL LEWIS A. GRANT. 395 
 
 turn or angle it did not turn back like ours, but it bent 
 forward and kept between our line and the railroad. 
 The enemy's line was strongly fortified. It consisted 
 of heavy and formidable breastworks made of logs and 
 earth, with a deep broad ditch in front, and outside the 
 ditch was an abatis, with limbs cut sharp, and so inter- 
 twined and fastened down that it was difficult to over- 
 come or remove. At intervals along the line were 
 earthworks well supplied with artillery. Between the 
 two lines there was dense timber, chiefly pine, with here 
 and there an irregular clearing. The timber disap- 
 peared as the winter advanced, each army drawing from 
 it its supply of wood. Large tracts of timber became 
 narrow strips, and the men who went for wood when it 
 was becoming scarce had to strictly observe the laws of 
 war as laid down by the axemen and teamsters. When 
 a tree fell the wrong way it was divided by military 
 rule. Along this narrow and dissolving line of timber 
 there were but few rash acts of hostility, except such as 
 trading Washington for Richmond papers, and sugar 
 for tobacco. Occasionally a few "Johnny Rebs" would 
 come in with our men and go no more out forever. As 
 spring approached the men harvested stumps as a sort 
 of second crop or aftermath. 
 
 On the 26th day of March, 1865, Lee made a des- 
 perate assault upon the Federal line near Fort Sedg- 
 wick, considerably to our right. So sudden and vig- 
 orous was the attack that he broke the line and pushed 
 quite a large force through. Troops were called for to 
 drive back the enemy and re-establish the line. The 
 Vermont Brigade was taken from its position in the line 
 and held in readiness to go at a moment's notice. Late
 
 396 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 in the afternoon I received orders to move to the left 
 and pass out between Fort Fisher and Fort Welch and 
 make a demonstration. We drove in the rebel picket- 
 line, and forced it back much nearer the main line, and 
 our pickets were advanced quite near the enemy's. 
 
 During this demonstration I discovered, or thought 
 I discovered, an opening in the enemy's breastworks, 
 but the frequent use of artillery and musketry made 
 the examination quite unsatisfactory. The next morn- 
 ing I went out and examined the enemy's line, and 
 found that there was an opening almost in front, but a 
 little to the right of Fort Welch, which consisted of a 
 ravine three or four rods wide. It was evident that in 
 the construction of the fortifications the enemy did not 
 deem it important to construct across the ravine, as it 
 was swampy and filled with trees so that it was almost 
 impassable for an organized force. The trees had been 
 cut, but the stumps were there, except at the right of 
 the ravine, where the stumps had been cut. A little to 
 the right of the ravine the abatis had been cut away 
 for teams to pass out and back, and that opening still 
 remained. It seemed to me that there was a weak point 
 in the enemy's line, and I called General Getty's atten- 
 tion to it, and went out again with him and examined it 
 further. The matter was freely talked of, and several 
 officers from corps headquarters came down and exam- 
 ined the line. In a day or two General Meade and 
 General Wright, with officers of their staff, came to 
 General Getty's headquarters ; Getty sent for me, and 
 we all went out to examine the line. It was decided to 
 make the attack there. The Sixth Corps was selected 
 to make it ; the Second Division was selected to lead
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL LEWIS A. GRANT. 397 
 
 the corps, and the Vermont Brigade was selected to lead 
 the division. In the mean time Sheridan commenced 
 his operations on our left near Hatcher's Run, and the 
 attack was deferred a few days. It was finally decided 
 to make it at four o'clock on the morning of April 2. I 
 was informed that the attack would be made by the corps 
 en echelon, massed in columns of regiments, and that 
 the Vermont Brigade would form the point or enter- 
 ing wedge of the echelon. I was directed to quietly 
 move my command out at twelve o'clock on the night 
 of April 1 and select my position, and that the other 
 two brigades of the division would respectively form on 
 my right and left and rear, and that the other two divi- 
 sions of the corps would respectively form on the right 
 and left and rear of our division. On the afternoon of 
 April 1 I went out and again examined the situation, 
 and selected my position so as to be able to take it in 
 the night-time. Keturning to the brigade, I called to- 
 gether the regimental and company commanders and 
 explained to them what was intended and what was 
 expected of us. I also directed that each company 
 should be called out and the men fully informed and 
 instructed what was expected of them. This was un- 
 military, especially when compared to the proceedings 
 in the early part of the war when the men were not in- 
 formed, and when no officer inferior in rank to that 
 of a brigadier-general was intrusted with the mighty 
 secrets and consummate plans of the commanding gen- 
 eral. It was then enough for the men and inferior 
 officers to know that their superiors were wise, and had 
 in view some gigantic plan which would end the war 
 and rebellion.
 
 398 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 If there were ever an instance when bayonets did 
 think, it was when in the hands of the Old Vermont 
 Brigade. It was composed of men from nearly every 
 walk in life, — farmers and mechanics, manufacturers 
 and the professional men were there, — nearly all had a 
 common school education, and some were students and 
 graduates of colleges. Many of them I had known in 
 civil life. Some were old schoolmates and companions. 
 I knew they could be trusted, and felt that success 
 would be more certain if every man knew what was 
 expected of him and felt a personal responsibility. In 
 every desperate charge organization becomes confused, 
 and much depends on the individuals. With officers 
 and men fully informed I felt as sure of going through 
 the enemy's lines the next morning as I could of any 
 future event. 
 
 Not only did I know the officers and men individ- 
 ually, but I knew the fighting qualities of the brigade. 
 I had been with it in nearly every engagement of the 
 Army of the Potomac. It first frightened the enemy 
 and broke his lines at Lee's Mills, on the Warwick ; it 
 was at Williamsburg, Golding's Farm, and Malvern 
 Hill ; at Savage Station it turned back the rebel flank 
 attack and permitted the army to pursue its change of 
 base ; it withstood the sudden attack at White Oak 
 Swamp and rallied into line under tremendous fire; it 
 crossed the South Mountain at Burketsville and cap- 
 tured most of the opposing forces ; it captured and held 
 a thrice-fought field at Sharpsburg ; it advanced with 
 the only advance on the left at first Fredericksburg ; at 
 second Fredericksburg it carried the principal heights, 
 captured a portion of the artillery, and pursued the re-
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL LEWIS A. GRANT. 399 
 
 treating foe ; it repulsed Lee's attack at Salem Heights 
 and captured much of the attacking force, and held the 
 front while the rest of the corps recrossed the river ; at 
 Gettysburg it held the extreme left of the army ; at 
 Funkstown, while extended as skirmishers along a line 
 nearly three miles in extent, it repulsed attacks of 
 strong lines of infantry ; it fought alone the battle of 
 Charlestown ; at Winchester it assisted in sending 
 " Early whirling up the valley ;" at Fisher's Hill it 
 assaulted and carried an unusually strong position ; at 
 Cedar Creek it helped turn defeat into victory ; and 
 along the march from the Rapidan to Petersburg, and 
 at Petersburg, it had shown unexam23led valor and 
 devotion to duty. 
 
 Officers and men received the information and ac- 
 cepted the responsibility with evident satisfaction. All 
 seemed glad of the opportunity of thus bringing the 
 war to a speedy end. All knew that bloody work was 
 before us, and that some would fall, yet there was ac- 
 tivity and hilarity in the cam^:). Knapsacks and rations 
 were packed, cartridges were distributed, muskets were 
 loaded, and everything was made ready for the attack. 
 
 In the evening I rode over to General Getty's head- 
 quarters to receive final instructions and to discuss the 
 prospects and movements of the hour. While there 
 news came of Sheridan's success on our left; and while 
 riding back to the brigade the heavens were lighted uj) 
 and the air filled with the noise of belching cannon all 
 along the line, celebrating the victory and throwing 
 missiles of death and destruction into Petersburg. The 
 sight was magnificent and terrible, — terrible indeed to 
 the fated city.
 
 400 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 There was no sleep in camp. It was a night of 
 preparation, of rejoicing and great expectation. The 
 experiences of that hour come only to a few, and to 
 those once only in a lifetime. 
 
 Precisely at midnight the Old Vermont Brigade 
 commenced its movement. It passed out of camp be- 
 tween Fort Fisher and Fort Welch, and quietly took 
 its selected position on the right of the ravine and close 
 up to the picket-line. The formation was made in 
 close column of battalions. At the head of the column 
 I purposely placed my old regiment, the Fifth Ver- 
 mont. It was battle-scarred and war-worn, and did not 
 present a long line, but it was composed of veterans 
 from many a well-fought field. Then came the other 
 regiments, each in line, and all presenting a close 
 column of eight battalions, with the largest in the rear. 
 Other brigades and divisions came and took positions 
 on our right and left and rear, and long before day- 
 light the Sixth Corps was ready and awaiting the 
 assault. 
 
 The order was for the Vermont Brigade to move at 
 a signal-gun from Fort Fisher. But the firing which 
 commenced in the evening had continued irregularly 
 during the night, and it was difficult to tell what was 
 the signal-gun. In the excitement some one had sent 
 along the picket -line the order to commence firing, and 
 there was some irregular and destructive picket-firing, 
 and the enemy was as fully advertised of our move- 
 ments as it was possible for him to be. Just as the day 
 began to dawn in the east a gun from Fort Fisher was 
 accepted as the signal, and the Vermont Brigade moved 
 silently and resolutely forward. Our pickets were soon
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL LEWIS A. GRANT. 401 
 
 passed and the enemy's approached. They fired one 
 volley and fled. The column moved steadily forward 
 and gained about half the distance before the enemy 
 opened fire. Then the opening came, sudden and ter- 
 rific, from both artillery and infantry, and from both 
 sides of the ravine. For an instant the column hesi- 
 tated, but only for an instant. It was evident that the 
 most destructive fire had been delivered and that a 
 quick movement was the efiective response. Almost as 
 one man the brigade bounded forward upon the double- 
 quick, and raised the shout which had so many times 
 carried terror to the enemy. The entire corps took up 
 the movement and the cheer, and the Sixth Corps was 
 on a charge. The left of the column became some- 
 what entangled in the stumps, but the right of the 
 advance regiments gained the opening in the abatis, 
 leaped into the ditch, and up the embankment. The 
 first to mount the rebel works was Captain Charles A. 
 Gould, of the Fifth Vermont. He was met by a 
 bayonet, which entered his mouth, passed down under 
 the cheek, and out at the neck. The next was Captain 
 Edson M. Eaymond, also of the Fifth Vermont, who 
 was knocked back into the ditch with a broken arm. 
 Then came men with muskets in their hands, gleaming 
 with bayonets that think. The pioneers selected for 
 the purpose soon widened the breach in the abatis, and 
 the Vermont Brigade stormed over the defences, brush- 
 ing from its front every resistance. Turning to the 
 right and left, it drove the enemy from the works, and 
 captured four guns on the right and two on the left of 
 the ravine. Seeing others of the corps gaining the 
 works on the right and left, the Vermont Brigade 
 
 26
 
 402 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 moved forward on to the crest of the hill beyond, and 
 halted to organize into line. As soon as the necessary 
 formation could be made the corps moved to the left 
 about four miles to Hatcher's Eun, driving and cap- 
 turing as it went. In this advance nearly all organiza- 
 tion was lost, and many were the feats and captures 
 made by companies and squads. Artillery, colors, and 
 prisoners were captured all along the advance. 
 
 Near Hatcher's Run the corps was again re-formed 
 and marched back to our right towards Petersburg. 
 Passing the point of attack in the morning, the enemy 
 was met among the hills of that irregular country. 
 Lee had succeeded in re-forming the lines broken by 
 General Parke to our right in the morning, and was 
 striving by new disposition of troops to further dispute 
 our advance upon Petersburg. Again were our lines 
 formed and skirmishers sent to the front. Again the 
 brigade advanced and drove the enemy before it. There 
 seemed no effective resistance until the brigade ap- 
 proached the Turnbull House, where Lee had his bead- 
 quarters. Here was a battery supported by straggling 
 infantry. The infantry were not inclined to contest 
 our advance, but the artillery showed determined re- 
 sistance. The commander of the battery stood by his 
 guns to the last, and served them with destructive 
 effect. When all was apparently lost he succeeded in 
 getting away with two guns. The rest were captured, 
 and the most of the men and horses lay dead and 
 wounded by the side of them. 
 
 This was the last conflict of the day, but after this 
 our line was considerably advanced and extended. 
 Night came on, and the army halted for rations and
 
 ADDRESS BY GENERAL LEWIS A. GRANT. 403 
 
 rest. That night the victorious brigade rested its left 
 on the Appomattox above Petersburg. 
 
 I seriously regret my inability to tell more of the 
 incidents of that eventful day. Wounded early in the 
 morning on the picket-line, and weak from the loss of 
 blood, I was absent without leave most of the time, but 
 having completed my toilet and my engagement with 
 the surgeon, and disliking the movements of an ambu- 
 lance over corduroy roads, I abandoned the hospital, 
 and went to the front, arriving there just in season to 
 take possession of Lee's headquarters for the headquar- 
 ters of the Vermont Brigade. 
 
 How Lee fled under cover of night; how he was 
 pursued, overtaken, and compelled to surrender, is 
 familiar to all and need not be repeated here. 
 
 The war was at an end. The army was disbanded. 
 The oft-tried veteran volunteers left the fields of vic- 
 tory and carnage for the peaceful pursuits of civil life. 
 
 Twenty years and more have passed. Many have 
 been mustered into the army of heaven, and the sur- 
 vivors are scattered throughout the Union. I meet 
 them wherever I go. The old organization seems to 
 exist in ties of fraternal regard. It is with proud 
 satisfaction these meeting veterans can say, "I too 
 belonged to the Old Brigade."
 
 REMARKS 
 
 OP 
 
 PAST COMMANDER GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN, 
 
 TRANSFERRING THE COMMANDERY TO COMMANDER GEN- 
 ERAL WILLIAM R. MARSHALL, 
 
 AT THE ANNUAL MEETING HELD AT ST. PAUL, 
 JUNE 1, 1887. 
 
 Companions, Ladies, and Gentlemen: — The re- 
 volving wheels of time have again brought us to the 
 point that marks the second anniversary of our organi- 
 zation. It commences its third year under the most 
 favorable auspices. The commencement of its existence, 
 although not wholly inauspicious, was attended with 
 weakness and uncertainties. At this time strength, 
 vigor, and prosperity are manifested in every feature. 
 Two years ago its membership was twenty ; to-day it is 
 one hundred and fifty. As it has increased in numbers 
 and strength its usefulness has been more clearly and 
 fully manifested. It has been a constant source of in- 
 struction, pleasure, and satisfaction to every one of its 
 members. In and by its meetings we live over again 
 the exciting scenes of the past, and the high purposes 
 and firm resolves that attended in those direful days of 
 
 404
 
 REMARKS OF GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 405 
 
 disaster and gloom again take possession of our hearts 
 and niinds, and we are at every meeting rebaptized 
 with that spirit of patriotism and devotion to the 
 country that characterized our people in the early days 
 of the war. We feel and know that in this organiza- 
 tion and in its meetings we discharge a duty to those 
 whose lives were sacrificed for the public welfare in the 
 war of the Rebellion, and in our attempts and endeavors 
 to preserve the memory of their deeds and devotion we 
 perform a sacred duty to the coming generations of 
 men. 
 
 No generation and no class of men can perform a 
 higher service for their country and race than to trans- 
 mit to the succeeding generations a correct history of 
 their best deeds and achievements. It is in this way 
 that patriotism is perpetuated and that national ex- 
 istence is preserved. Can we contemplate or form any 
 just conception of the condition of this nation without 
 the Declaration of Independence and without the Fourth 
 of July ? It is indeed true that the principles enunci- 
 ated in the Declaration are articulated and emphasized 
 by the battles fought by. our forefathers for their estab- 
 lishment. They are inseparably connected with Bunker 
 Hill, Trenton, the sufferings of Valley Forge, and the 
 surrender at Yorktown, and without the battles the 
 Declaration loses half its meaning, and the battles 
 without the declaration of principles would be almost 
 unmeaning events in the history of the nation ; but the 
 two in combination kindle the fires of patriotism in 
 every breast, and make the hearts of sixty millions of 
 people beat as one on each recurring anniversary. 
 
 So, in the war of the Rebellion, in which it was our
 
 406 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 duty and privilege to participate, the battles, indepen- 
 dent of the principles involved, would be but records of 
 barbarian cruelty and human sacrifice, but when con- 
 sidered in connection with the constitutional principles 
 involved, and with the Proclamation of Emancipa- 
 tion which made every human being within the limits 
 of the territory of the United States equal and free 
 before the law, pride is kindled in every heart, joy 
 lights up every countenance, hope beams from every 
 eye, and all feel that the principles of the Declaration 
 of Independence, which before the war were abstract 
 truths, declared to be the principles on which a nation 
 should be founded, have become for the first time the 
 legal governing principles of the greatest nation on 
 earth, and that a new era in government has at last" 
 dawned upon mankind. We come to the conclusion 
 that the Declaration, which was a governing principle 
 in the Revolution, was but the dawning of the day of 
 freedom, and that not till the Fourth of July, 1863, did 
 her rising sun break in full effulgence over the length 
 and breadth of the whole land. 
 
 Nations, like individuals, are, in a large measure, 
 governed during the whole period of their existence 
 by the circumstances and the princi^^les which surround 
 their birth. As it is true of every individual that 
 during all his life his thoughts, mind, and memory 
 almost daily, and sometimes hourly, turn to the spot 
 where he was born and where his youth was passed, 
 and draws from hence inspiration and motives to action 
 that direct his course to a greater or less extent in all 
 the future emergencies of his life, so it is true of a 
 nation, that the principles promulgated when it is
 
 REMARKS OF GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 407 
 
 brought into life, and the principles which govern in 
 the early generations of its existence, become the law 
 of its being and the rule of its action through all 
 future periods. Who can measure the influence of the 
 principles announced and the action of our fathers in 
 1776 upon the people of this nation in 1860 ? From 
 the grave of every one of the heroes who fell in the 
 battles of the Revolution there was extended an irre- 
 sistible influence to the heart of every citizen and every 
 patriot living in this land at that period, and this influ- 
 ence gave direction to his action, became the law of 
 his life, and the combined action of all these citizens 
 became the rule of action for the nation. And no 
 service that we can render to future generations will be 
 of such advantage to them and achieve so much for 
 this nation as to preserve a correct record of the prin- 
 ciples involved and maintained in the war of the 
 Rebellion, of the heroic deeds and achievements of 
 the patriots and soldiers of this age. It is a duty 
 which we owe to the dead, although it in no way affects 
 them in their repose; it is the highest duty that we owe 
 to the present and to the future. From the grave of 
 every one who fell in the war of the Rebellion there 
 will be extended an influence that will kindle the fires 
 of patriotism and inspire hope and confidence, amid 
 disaster and gloom, in all the future periods of this 
 government's history : and it should be made, as it is, 
 one of the chief objects of this organization to preserve a 
 correct record of those events, of the names of those who 
 fell in the great struggle for the preservation of this 
 Union, and for the establishment of universal liberty 
 as the law of this nation's life, in the war of 1861.
 
 408 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 We consider it demonstrated by the experience of 
 a hundred years that our form of organization is the 
 best that can be adopted to meet the demands and 
 accomplish the high purposes of the order. 
 
 Some carping souls, in their zeal to abolish all social 
 distinction, oppose more than one class of military so- 
 cieties. They seem to be so constituted that the mere 
 sight of elevations and summits produces feelings of 
 agony and despair. They seem to forget that it re- 
 quires both officers and citizens to make a state ; and 
 officers and enlisted men to make an army and carry 
 on war. " Useless each without the other." Office and 
 rank do not in themselves confer honor, and rarely 
 confer distinction. Noble deeds and achievements 
 alone confer honor and fame, and these are never so 
 attractive as when worn by modest worth without office 
 or rank. 
 
 The Loyal Legion of the United States should co- 
 operate with the Grand Army of the Kepublic, and 
 the Grand Army of the Republic should co-operate 
 with the Loyal Legion, to secure to this nation and 
 mankind all the legitimate fruits of the sufferings 
 and sacrifices of five years of gigantic, horrible war. 
 The chief pride and glory of the officers must ever be 
 the achievements and heroism of enlisted men, and that 
 of the enlisted men, the bravery and skill of their 
 officers. Each, as citizens of a common country, re- 
 flecting the glories of the other, who, by their united 
 services and sacrifices, saved the life of their imperilled 
 land. 
 
 The form of organization had its origin with Wash- 
 ington and his compatriots of the Revolution. By ac-
 
 REMARKS OF GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 409 
 
 cepting the position of the first President of the Order 
 of the Cincinnati, after which our order is formed, tlie 
 Father of his Country left the stamp of his approval 
 upon that organization, and through that, upon this as 
 its offspring. 
 
 Not in any spirit of fault-finding, but in a spirit of 
 doing justice to the dead and discharging a duty to the 
 living and to future generations, it seems proper to 
 refer to the great neglect of the State of Minnesota to 
 make any proper record of the achievements of her 
 sons and of her own sacrifices in the war of the Rebel- 
 lion. She has raised no monument to the memory of 
 those who fell in battle. She has prepared no history 
 of their struggles and achievements. She has not 
 brought together in any form tlie names of those who 
 fell upon the field in their struggle to maintain the su- 
 premacy of the Constitution and laws. She has made 
 it appear of record that some of her sons were out of ser- 
 vice, while, in fact, they were holding high commissions 
 and carrying on campaigns and fighting successful bat- 
 tles, in which many thousands of troops were engaged. 
 She has made no proper record of, and claimed no pre- 
 eminence from, the fact that the first offer of volunteers 
 to the President of the United States for the war was 
 from her governor, and the first volunteer enrolled his 
 name at St. Paul, and the first regiment of volunteers 
 for three years was organized by the State and early 
 sent to the East to defend Washington, and lost more 
 ofiicers and men killed and wounded in battle during 
 the war than any other regiment of volunteers or regu- 
 lars in the service. 
 
 This is a neglect for which, if continued, she ought
 
 410 GLIMFSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 not to be, and will not be, forgiven by future genera- 
 tions. It is a duty which this organization owes to itself 
 and the future to at least prepare a roll of the names 
 of those who fell in battle or died of wounds there re- 
 ceived and have them inscribed upon some tablet in the 
 Capitol of the State, and have such a printed record 
 made of them as may conveniently be placed upon the 
 table of every household within the borders of Minne- 
 sota. How, in all the days of the future, will the heart 
 of every citizen of Minnesota glow and burn as he 
 looks upon the name of Messick, the first in the long 
 list of heroes from this State to lay down his life for 
 his country ; of Moore, falling while vainly attempting 
 with a thin line of skirmishers to perform in battle the 
 work for which a whole brigade was hardly adequate, 
 protecting the right flank of the army ; of Wilkin, 
 closing his eyes at the moment when his well-directed 
 attack had brought to their gladsome sight the backs 
 of the gallant, stubborn, but defeated foe ; of Acker, 
 falling in front of his sturdy regulars, amid the dark- 
 ness and gloom that overhung the army in the early 
 morning of the second day of the battle of Shiloh ; of 
 Farrell, who, coming out of the wholesale slaughter of 
 the glorious First Minnesota on the first day of Gettys- 
 burg unharmed, and on the third day assigned with the 
 small remnant of his command to the comparatively un- 
 exposed duty of forming and commanding a line of skir- 
 mishers in the rear of the centre of the line of battle, 
 charged with the sole duty of arresting and returning 
 stragglers from the front, seeing the centre give way 
 before the impetuous assault of the heavy columns of 
 the enemy, without orders from any superior, rallied
 
 REMARKS OF GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 411 
 
 his skirmishers, and with Spartan devotion and more 
 than Spartan courage hurled them against vastly su- 
 perior numbers of advancing and temporarily victori- 
 ous troops of the enemy, laying down in an instant his 
 young and promising life in his individual effort to save 
 the field where defeat and victory seemed for the mo- 
 ment to hang evenly in the balances, treating his own 
 life as worthy of no consideration when his country 
 called for its sacrifice ; of Cook and Welsh, and hun- 
 dreds of others who rise up with their manly forms 
 and pass in review before us on occasions like the pres- 
 ent. Their .names should every one become household 
 words in Minnesota, and never be forgotten. They 
 sacrificed their lives in the cause of constitutional gov- 
 ernment and human freedom, and every one of them, 
 without regard to the place that he occupied in the 
 service, should have his name inscribed in gold in the 
 highest places of the State. 
 
 Meeting, as we do, monthly for nine months in the 
 year, it is our privilege and duty to discuss all the great 
 questions which involve the growth and prosperity of 
 the country and the permanent welfare of our people, 
 to consider intelligently and in an unimpassioned way 
 those questions which must of necessity affect the per- 
 petuity of our institutions and the happiness of all 
 classes of men. More than any others do we know and 
 appreciate the cost of constitutional government. More 
 than others we ought to consider those questions which 
 we know tend to the building up or to the disintegra- 
 tion and decay of states. None of us can ever be blind 
 to those policies which tend to discourage and dishearten 
 that great class of our citizens who are the independent
 
 412 GLIMPSES OF THE l^ATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 laborers and producers of the land. Every blow at this 
 class is a blow at the nation's life. Everything that 
 tends to discourage or dishearten those belonging to it, 
 and induce those now in it to leave for other pursuits 
 and other classes, tends to weaken our institutions and 
 to abbreviate the days of the nation's existence. It is 
 a class which knows no master and no superior but the 
 Creator, and although receiving the least protection and 
 advantage from organized government, has in all time 
 and in all nations been the class most patriotic and most 
 devoted to the public interests, and upon which all 
 states have been able to rely in periods of emergency 
 for their support, protection, and maintenance. The 
 continuance of this class in all the freshness and vigor 
 of the early days of the republic is more important to 
 this nation than the maintenance of armies and navies 
 or any other power connected with the administration 
 of its affairs. 
 
 While it is not an alarming, it certainly is not an 
 encouraging feature that at a time when the capital and 
 w^ealth of the nation has extended the domain and oper- 
 ation of independent labor over vast areas of new ter- 
 ritory in a single decade, to find that it has failed, even 
 under such conditions, to maintain its relative strength 
 numerically to the wage-earning and other classes of 
 our peoj^le. What can be expected of it when the agri- 
 cultural lands of the nation are absorbed, and when 
 its capital and wealth, which for the last twenty years 
 has been largely devoted to opening those unoccupied 
 regions to this class of labor for its advantage, shall 
 be compelled to seek other channels and be devoted to 
 other ends ? This is a question that must receive the
 
 REMARKS OF GENERAL JOHN B. SANBORN. 413 
 
 attention of all publicists and statesmen, and be so 
 solved, if possible, that the prosperity of those pro- 
 ducers will be made so great that those so engaged, 
 instead of seeking to exchange their lot for others, will 
 be satisfied to remain therein. While this class con- 
 tinues in freshness and vigor our republican institu- 
 tions are safe ; when it declines and falls, all is insecure. 
 
 " Princes and lords may flourish or may fade : 
 A breath can make them, as a breath hath made ; 
 But a bold peasantry, their country's pride. 
 When once destroyed, can never be supplied." 
 
 The preservation of the middle class in the Roman 
 republic would have saved that people from walking 
 under the yoke of imperialism for three hundred years 
 under the oppressive institutions established by Csesar ; 
 the horrors of the Decline and Fall, the four hundred 
 years of the impenetrable night of the Dark Ages 
 which followed. 
 
 We should never be unmindful of the fact that all 
 this misery, desolation, and ruin extending through a 
 thousand years would have been avoided by the success 
 of the efforts of Tiberius Gracchus to restore to the 
 republic this middle class in the strength and vigor of 
 its early days. By his failure all was lost. 
 
 Now I bespeak for this Commandery a career of 
 great prosperity and great usefulness. It should in- 
 clude in its membership all the worthy surviving 
 officers of the late war of the Kebellion in this State. 
 Its membership should labor with an upright, earnest 
 purpose to transmit to future generations that pure 
 spirit of patriotism and independent devotion to the
 
 414 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 public welfare so essential to the future prosperity of 
 the country. It should become a channel through 
 which that pure patriotism which burst forth in such 
 volume in 1861 may flow on and down to distant gen- 
 erations. 
 
 With these expressions pertaining to our organiza- 
 tion, its purposes, its advantages, and its duties, and 
 with an expression of the highest regard for every 
 member of the order, and an earnest wish for the con- 
 tinued life and prosperity of every one of its members, 
 I step, with satisfaction and a feeling of the utmost 
 gratification that I have had the honor of being your 
 first Commander, from the position of present to that of 
 past Commander. 
 
 Your present Commander needs no introduction.
 
 AOOEPTAISrOE 
 
 OP 
 
 COMMANDER GENERAL WM. R. MARSHALL. 
 
 Companions, Ladies, and Gentlemen : — I am duly 
 gratified for the honor conferred by the ofiice just com- 
 mitted to my hands. In accepting it I think it my 
 first duty to thank our retiring Commander and the 
 officers associated with him during the two years of the 
 existence of the Commandery for their able and suc- 
 cessful administration of its affairs. I congratulate him 
 and them on the remarkable success it has attained. I 
 am sure it will not be invidious, but will command 
 unanimous approval, if I name our worthy Recorder, 
 Major White, as the one on whom the chief labor has 
 fallen, and to whose judicious and efficient services we 
 are most indebted for the prosperity we enjoy. 
 
 My predecessor has spoken fittingly of the objects 
 and uses of the order of the Loyal Legion. I may add 
 that it is pre-eminently a social order, — a social club, 
 if you please, — where men of common experiences and 
 congenial tastes may enjoy at stated times agreeable 
 intercourse and fellowship, and where, mingled with 
 flow of friendly sentiment, there may be something of 
 intellectual pleasure and instruction, by way of personal 
 memoirs from participants in the great actions of one of 
 the most remarkable periods of the world's history. 
 
 We have our different army societies. The great 
 
 415
 
 416 GLIMPSES OF THE NATION'S STRUGGLE. 
 
 national ones of the Armies of the Potomac, of the 
 Tennessee, and the Cumberland, they have their uses. 
 The annual reunions of these are to their members oc- 
 casions of rare enjoyment. We have our State regi- 
 mental and other local military associations, with their 
 reunions, which are sources of great pleasure to the 
 veterans who compose them. We have the larger, all- 
 embracing organization of veterans, the Grand Army 
 of the Kepublic, as its name implies, the grandest of 
 all. It has its subsidiary societies, Sons and Daughters 
 of Veterans, Woman's Kelief Corps, etc. 
 
 No one of these organizations is inimical to the 
 others. Each and all contribute in different ways to 
 the enjoyment of the old soldiers ; each in its way 
 heljDS to keep aglow the fraternal flame, kindled in the 
 furnace heat of the great war for the life of the nation. 
 
 We are growing older, older by a quarter of a cen- 
 tury than we were in the heat of the conflict. Our 
 ranks are growing thinner year by year. Shall we not 
 draw closer together and meet oftener ? Shall we not 
 multiply, if possible, the means and the occasions of 
 brotherly greetings ? This order of the Loyal Legion 
 is one of the means to this end. It owes no one any 
 apology for its existence. 
 
 I will not detain you with these thoughts. There are 
 distinguished gentlemen who will contribute to your en- 
 tertainment to-night: I must not delay you that pleasure. 
 
 Responses to toasts were made by Junior Vice-Com- 
 mander Major John P. Pea, Colonel Gilbert A. Pierce, 
 Hon. Alexander Ramsey, Right Rev. Bishop John 
 Ireland, and General E. C. Mason, U.S.A.
 
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