ilitary Qrder 
 
 of tlje 
 
 Joyal egorj 
 
 of 
 
 COMMANDERY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 
 WAR PAPER 8. 
 
Military O rder 
 
 tates. 
 
 COMMANDERY OF T0E DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 WAR PAPER 8. 
 
fder of f^ bo^al k>e|i0n 
 
 OF THE 
 
 United States. 
 
 (JOMHAJlDEIpf OF THE DlgTIJdT OF COLUW[BIA. 
 
 WAR PAPERS. 
 
 8 
 
 oQrbraham (mcoln and x dwin jyl. W 
 
 PREPARED BY COMPANION 
 
 Brevet Brigadier General 
 
 THOMAS M. VINCENT, 
 
 
 
 U. S. Army, 
 
 AND 
 
 READ AT THE STATED MEETING OF JANUARY 6, 1892. 
 
 

 Abraham pnrottt and &vnn |RL Canton, 
 
 1861-1865. 
 
 COMMANDER AND COMPANIONS : What I may say on this oc 
 casion, I fear, will not prove more than an echo. The remark 
 is applicable to many utterances, when thirty years removed 
 from a time when great men were found necessary to perform 
 a part within a theatre of war, which, in 1861, was opened 
 to the gaze of the world. 
 
 Truly are men known by the parts they play their works 
 and, therefore, in giving some attention this evening to events 
 connected with Abraham Lincoln and Edwin M. Stanton, it 
 will not be out of place to refer to some of their great labors 
 from 1 86 1 to 1865. 
 
 Their labors were not in the field, for, as Commander-in-Chief 
 and War Minister, in the great general struggle, they could not 
 appear in person upon the fields of minor engagements. But 
 they accomplished more than did the minor commanders. 
 Through their efforts battles were made successful, and dis 
 tinction was made to crown generals and others. Their efforts, 
 by day and by night, gave lustre to the armies of the Union. 
 
 Through their inspiration they were present on every field, 
 and organized victory ! 
 
 George Bancroft, on a most memorable occasion, after refer 
 ring to the prediction of a West Jersey Quaker, 120 years 
 before, that the consequence of importing slaves would "be 
 grievous to posterity," and the language of Patrick Henry, in 
 1773, that a serious view of the subject " gives a gloomy pros 
 pect to future times," continued by quoting, in connection with 
 
 v 
 
efforts for emancipation and abolition, words of despair from 
 Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and others, and recited how 
 the enslavement of the African resulted in a storm, adding: 
 
 " The storm rose to a whirlwind ; who should allay its wrath? 
 The most experienced statesman of the country had failed ; there 
 was no hope from those who were great in the flesh ; could relief 
 come from one whose wisdom was like the wisdom of little 
 children? 
 
 " The choice of America fell on a man born west of the Alle- 
 ghenies, in the cabin of poor people of Hardin county, Ken 
 tucky Abraham Lincoln." 
 
 Yes, fortunately, the choice fell to the man who, in the year 
 1831, when an obscure flat-boatman, after having witnessed the 
 flogging of a slave-w r oman, said : " If ever I get a chance at that 
 institution, I will hit it hard ! " Years thereafter, upon leaving 
 his neighbors in order to take the oath of office as President of 
 the United States, he added: "I leave you on an errand of 
 national importance, attended, as you are aware, with some 
 difficulties." It was not long afterward, at a time when the 
 North did not seem to be ready, when the calmness of the 
 people was so great that it led to discouragement, that he 
 remarked : "I begin to believe there is no North ! " 
 
 On one occasion, when written to relative to the resources 
 of a man with whom a business firm had some dealings, he 
 replied : 
 
 "I am well acquainted with Mr. Brown, and know his 
 circumstances. First of all, he has a wife and baby ; together 
 they ought to be worth $50,000 to any man. Secondly, he has 
 an office, in which there is a table worth $1.50, and three chairs 
 worth, say, $i. Last of all, there is in one corner a large rat- 
 hole, which will bear looking into." 
 
 That letter, at the anniversary celebration of Lincoln s eighty- 
 second birth-day, led to the following by the orator of the 
 occasion : 
 
 4t At last, when he took the oath, what did he find? * * * 
 When he came to take the inventory of the National assets, he 
 
found in many a home mothers, children, affections, hopes, not 
 to be counted by dollars. He found in the National Treasury a 
 table worth $1.50, and three chairs worth $i * # "* . 
 and he found on the south side of the National premises a 
 large rat-hole, which, indeed, would bear looking into, for down 
 it had vanished prosperity * *, and the National 
 
 existence itself was just disappearing when Abraham Lincoln 
 rescued it, though, strange to say, he was criticised because he 
 grasped it by the hair of its head." 
 
 As Cominancler-in-Chief of the Army and Nav.y he was soon 
 confronted with civil war, and recognized the aphorism : 
 
 " The sole object of a just war is to make the enemy feel the 
 evils of his injustice, and, by his sufferings, amend his ways; he 
 must, therefore, be attacked in the most accessible quarter." 
 
 But in April, 1861, the Government of the United States was, 
 for the purpose of war, paralyzed. It had not, practically, an 
 army to maintain its authority, and was far from being able to 
 attack the "accessible quarter " of an internal enemy, in con 
 spiracy over an area of 733,144 square miles, connected with a 
 shore line of 25,144 miles, a coast line of 3,523 miles, and an 
 interior boundary of 7,031 miles. This was the most important 
 of the considerable difficulties, or obstacles. 
 
 Had the people of the United States, through Congress, been 
 more thoughtful concerning the object of, and necessity for, the 
 military arm, paralysis would have been avoided through the 
 availability of a suitable force to crush the initial movement of 
 the rebellion, and the State, in combat with its own children, 
 would have been spared a great sacrifice of human life including 
 that of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy. 
 
 The magnitude attained by the rebellion is most instructive, 
 for the public debt and money paid to pensioners $3^963,159,- 
 751.15 would support our present military establishment, cost 
 ing, say, $30,000,000 yearly, for one hundred and thirty-two 
 years. Now, however, as the result of temporary expedients, 
 coupled with shameful neglect, the people have to pay the 
 
debt, expend millions for pensions, and support an army costing 
 yearly $30,000,000. That is to say, we have lost by not 
 having an available force to prevent rebellion $3,963,159,- 
 
 75*- I 5- 
 
 Early in the struggle the question was not : What will it 
 cost? but, Can the Government be saved, at any cost? The 
 patient was very ill ! Commendable and essential economy was 
 forced to disappear from the grasp of the people. 
 
 The life of the patient was saved, but the doctor s bill has not 
 yet been paid ! Moreover, it will never be practicable to ex 
 tend adequate compensation, for the services and attendant 
 sufferings of the soldiers who have made it possible, in 
 the government of 65,000,000 of people, for a President to hold 
 his office and a Congress to enact the necessary laws. 
 
 Powerless, however, as the Government then was to overcome 
 the gigantic attack on its life, there was, fortunately, a grand 
 latent power, awaiting for its development only the demand 
 of the National heart, and the regular army to educate it and 
 prepare it for service. After about seven months of prepa 
 ration that power was manifested under an organization 
 numbering 640,637 officers and enlisted men the volunteer 
 army of the United States, with its elements of patriotism, 
 wisdom, courage , and moderation. 
 
 During its organization Simon Cameron was at the head 
 of the Department of War, and it cannot be denied that 
 he achieved grand and valuable results at a time when his 
 department had to encounter great embarrassments. He has 
 said: "How difficult it was to fill. the position of Secre 
 tary of War none but myself can ever know. * * * 
 It was a terrible time." 
 
 The difficulty was to restrain the volunteers from exceed 
 ing the actual force required ; and while men were tendered 
 so generously, we were unprepared for the brewing con- 
 
7 
 
 flict and absolutely without the essentials to engage in war 
 
 without guns, powder, saltpetre, bullets, and other needed 
 stores. 
 
 In the recruitment of that powerful force, and its sub 
 sequent great increase, the people made great sacrifices. 
 "The President was led along by the greatness of their 
 self-sacrificing example, and as a child, in a dark night on 
 a rugged way, catches hold of the hand of its father for 
 guidance and support, he clung fast to the hand of the people 
 and moved calmly through the gloom." 
 
 MOBILIZATION. 
 
 In connection with the mobilization, it must be remembered 
 that January i, 1861, the authorized army of the United 
 States consisted of two regiments of dragoons, two regiments 
 of cavalry, one regiment of mounted riflemen, four regiments 
 of artillery, and ten regiments of infantry aggregating, pres 
 ent and absent, 16,402 commissioned officers and enlisted men, 
 inclusive of the general officers and general staff. 
 
 April 15 of that year it was officially promulgated by the 
 President that revolutionary combinations existed in certain 
 States, and 75,000 militia, for three months service, were 
 called to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws 
 to be duly executed. In addition, all loyal citizens were ap 
 pealed to, that they might favor, facilitate, and aid the effort 
 to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our 
 National Union and the perpetuity of our popular government, 
 and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. The Pres 
 ident deemed it proper to add that the first service of the forces 
 would, probably, be to repossess the forts, places, and property 
 which had been seized from the Union, and directed that in 
 every event, consistently with the objects he had referred to, 
 care should be taken to avoid any devastation, any destruction 
 
8 
 
 of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peace 
 ful citizens in any part of the country. 
 
 When the President took this first decided action against 
 the rebellion, the danger threatening the seat of Government 
 will be indicated by the following : 
 
 HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, 
 
 WASHINGTON, April 26, 1861. 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS, ) 
 
 No. 4. } 
 
 I. From the known assemblage near this city of numerous 
 hostile bodies of troops, it is evident that an attack upon it may 
 soon be expected. In such an event, to meet and repel the 
 enemy, it is necessary that some plan of harmonious co-operation 
 should be adopted on the part of all the forces, regular or vol 
 unteer, present for the defence of the Capital that is, for the de 
 fence of the Government, the peaceful inhabitants of the city, their 
 property, the public buildings and public archives. 
 
 II. At the first moment of an attack every regiment, battalion, 
 squadron and independent company will promptly assemble at its 
 established rendezvous (in or out of the public buildings), ready 
 for battle, and wait for orders. 
 
 III. The pickets (or advance guards) will stand fast till driven 
 in by overwhelming forces ; but it is expected that those stationed 
 to defend bridges having every advantage of position will not 
 give way until actually pushed by the bayonet. Such obstinacy 
 on the part of pickets so stationed is absolutely necessary to give 
 time for the troops in the rear to assemble at their places of ren 
 dezvous. 
 
 IV. All advance guards and pickets driven in will fall back 
 slowly to delay the advance of the enemy as much as possible, 
 before repairing to their proper rendezvous. 
 
 V. On the happening of an attack, the troops lodged in the 
 public buildings and in the Navy Yard will remain for their de 
 fence, respectively, unless specially ordered elsewhere, with the 
 exceptions that the jth New York regiment and the Massachu 
 setts regiment will march rapidly towards the President s Square 
 for its defence : and the Rhode Island regiment (in the Depart 
 ment of the Interior), when full, will make a diversion, by 
 detachment, to assist in the defence of the General Post-Office 
 building, if necessary. 
 
 WINFIELD SCOTT. 
 
May 3, the President deemed it indispensably necessary to 
 further augment the forces by 42,034 three-year volunteers (39 
 regiments of infantry and i of cavalry), and 22,714 officers and 
 enlisted men, regulars (8 regiments of infantry, i of cavalry, and 
 i of artillery), thus making the forces, exclusive of the Navy, 
 authorized for the protection of the National Constitution and 
 the preservation of the National Union by the suppression of the 
 insurrectionary combinations then existing, as follows : 
 
 Regular army (January i, 1861), 16,402 
 
 Militia (April 15, 1861), ... . 75,000 
 
 Regulars and volunteers (May 3, 1861), . 64,748 
 
 Total, ... ^6,150 
 
 The call for militia was more than met; 91,816 men were 
 furnished, and the call for 40 regiments of volunteers was 
 exceeded 71 regiments of infantry, i of heavy artillery, and 
 10 batteries of light artillery were accepted and mustered into 
 service before July i . 
 
 In Julv the magnitude of the unlawful violence had fully 
 dawned, and it was clearly apparent that the measures author 
 ized for the impartial enforcement of constitutional laws, and 
 for the speedy restoration of peace and order, had failed. Con 
 gress assembled and authorized the President to accept 500,000 
 volunteers, for three years or the war. Subsequently extended 
 latitude, as to the acceptance, was conferred, in that " previous 
 proclamation " was done away with, and the volunteers were 
 authorized to be accepted in such numbers, from any State or 
 States, as in his (the President s) discretion the public service 
 might require. 
 
 January 15, 1862, Edwin M. Stanton became Secretary of 
 War, and through his stimulus the % recruitment was so energet 
 ically pressed by the people that April 3, 1862, the forces were 
 deemed sufficient to overcome the rebellion. At this time, had 
 
10 
 
 any one said it would require 2,678,697 ^nlistme nts from first to 
 last, and an increase of the volunteer forces, in service at one 
 time, to 1,034,064, in order that armed resistance to the Govern 
 ment might be overthrown, the assertion would have been con- 
 sidered as marking 1 insanity. It will be recalled that early in 
 1861 an officer, with fame now world-wide, urged the calling 
 out of 300,000 men, and more than one person alleged him to be 
 under a visitation of insanity a subject fit for the institution 
 having for its object " the most humane care and enlightened 
 curative treatment of the insane of the army." And when 
 Simon Cameron advised that 500,000 men should be raised, the 
 people laughed and thought he was mad. 
 
 June 28, the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Ver 
 mont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
 Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, Tennessee. Missouri, Indiana, 
 Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin also the President of 
 the Military Board of Kentucky requested the President to 
 call upon the several States for such number of men as might 
 be required to fill up all organizations in the field and to add 
 to the armies then organized. The request was based on a 
 desire that the recent successes of the Federal armies might be 
 followed by measures which would secure the speedy restoration 
 of the Union, and the belief, in view of the important military 
 movements then in progress, that the time had arrived for 
 prompt and vigorous measures, thus to speedily crush the 
 rebellion. The decisive moment seemed near at hand, and the 
 people were desirous to aid promptly in furnishing all needful 
 reinforcements to sustain the Government. 
 
 The President concurred in the wisdom of the views expressed 
 in the request, and, July 2, called for 300,000 men for three 
 years. This calt for volunteers was, August 4, supplemented 
 by one through a draft for 300,000 militia for nine months 
 service. 
 
II 
 
 January i, 1863, the volunteer forces numbered 892,728; 
 January i, 1864, that number had been reduced to 836,101 ; but 
 on January i, 1865, it had been increased to 937,441, and on 
 May i to 1,034,064. 
 
 February 24, 1864, by act of Congress approved that date, the 
 President was authorized, whenever he deemed it necessary 
 during the war, to call for such number of men for the military- 
 service of the United States as the public exigencies might 
 require. It established the will of the President as the authority 
 for raising troops, and conferred a delicate and mighty power. 
 That expressed confidence in the President was a sound rebuke 
 to those who, not much more than one year before, had in con 
 templation to impeach and remove him from office. 
 
 From first to last 2,678,967 men were furnished, and organ 
 ized into 1,668 regiments. 21 battalions and 504 independent 
 companies of infantry; 232 regiments, 9 battalions, and 122 
 independent companies of cavalry ; and 52 regiments, 6 bat 
 talions, and 274 companies of artillery. 
 
 The constant addition to the forces of new regiments proved 
 a great element of weakness to the armies. As a great evil, it 
 may here be referred to. 
 
 Under every call, the first act of Governors of States was to 
 ask for authority to raise new regiments. The desire of the 
 War Department was to secure recruits for old regiments, and 
 thus maintain their organizations. The Secretary of War, in 
 order to a determined stand, secured in December, 1864, the 
 views of the General-in-Chief and army commanders. All were 
 in support of the opinion of the Secretary relative to the necessity 
 of recruits for old regiments, but the pressure of the States 
 caused all, as on former occasions, to yield, and 56 new regi 
 ments and 129 new independent companies, under the call of 
 December 18, 1864, were added to the list of organizations in 
 service, in addition to 77 new regiments and 98 companies under 
 
12 
 
 the call of July 18, 1864. All this at a time when the Army of 
 the Potomac, alone, required So.ooo recruits to fill its organiza 
 tions to the maximum some 400,000 would have been necessary 
 for all the armies and when experienced and gallant lieutenant- 
 colonels and other regimental officers, bearing the wounds of 
 many battles, could not receive promotion owing to the depleted 
 state of their commands. The subject was pointedly referred to 
 by the commander of one of the armies as follows : 
 
 The raising of new regiments is a means desired to fill the 
 quota and avoid the draft. 
 
 "There is no intention, I suppose, that these new regiments 
 should serve the United States, and their colonels will hardly 
 come into contact with the army. Still, if it be the intention to 
 put these new regiments into the field, where their colonels 
 would have command of older and better regimental command 
 ers, it is a question for the War Department to determine, and 
 not mine. I must take troops as they come to me, and respect 
 the commissions they hold." 
 
 There is a record of the increase, on one occasion, of the 
 army of France from 200,000 to 400,000 in two months time, 
 and had it been thought proper to inaugurate a vast system of 
 defence, the number, it has been said, could have been raised to 
 700.000 in four months this under the influence of extra 
 ordinary expedients ; and the exertion was considered an evi 
 dence of the great energy and geniu ^ of Napoleon, as well as the 
 military spirit of the French nation. 
 
 Marvellous results have been achieved by the United States 
 as exemplified by what has been recorded in the foregoing, in 
 connection with the following summary : 
 
 In 2^ months in 1861 we find an average of almost 100,000 
 men per month placed in service ; and during five months the 
 average was 94,061 this without the aid of extraordinary ex 
 pedients and in the face of great difficulties in army clothing, 
 and equipping. 
 
 At this early period of the war the difficulties in arming, 
 
13 
 
 clothing, and equipping were so great that the services of thou 
 sands were declined. Could arms, clothing, and equipage have 
 been secured, it is safe to say that 1,000,000 of men could have 
 been placed in service within five months. 
 
 Lincoln s adopted State, Illinois, under the calls of July 
 2, and August 4, 1862, placed in service 58,689 men. Of 
 that number over 50,000 from the farmers and mechanics 
 of the vState were furnished within eleven days. 
 
 " Animated by a common purpose, and firmly resolved on 
 rescuing the Government, * * * (they) left their harvests 
 ungathered, their tools on their benches, the plows in 
 the furrows;" thus making a proud record, without a parallel 
 in the history of the war. 
 
 Under the calls of July 2, and August 4, 1862, there were, 
 prior to November 21, of that year, sent into the field : 
 
 289 regiments of infantry for 3 years; 
 58 regiments of infantry for 9 months ; 
 34 batteries of artillery for 3 years ; 
 42 companies of cavalry for 3 years; and 
 36 companies of cavalry for 9 months. 
 
 Also 50,000 recruits for old three-years regiments a grand 
 aggregate of 370,349 men; an average of about 82,211 per 
 month. 
 
 Under the proposition (accepted by the President April 23, 
 1864) of the Governors of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and 
 Wisconsin, to furnish 85,000 one-hundred-day troops, the Gov 
 ernor of Stanton s native State, Ohio, in response to the 
 War Department call of May i, ordered the contribution of 
 the State to rendezvous in the various counties, at the most 
 eligible places, on the second day of May. Seven and one-half 
 o clock P. M., the same date, reports recited 38,000 men in 
 camp. In twelve days 36,254 men were organized into 41 
 
14 
 
 regiments and i battalion, mustered, clothed, armed, equipped, 
 and ready for transportation to the field. On May 24, 22 days 
 from the date of rendezvous, the 42 regiments embracing the 
 force were in active service. 
 
 Here it will be of interest to remember that from April 15, 
 1861, to April 28, 1865, a period of about 48 consecutive 
 months, there was supplied a monthly average, for the Union 
 and Confederate armies, of 75,000 men a large army in itself. 
 Considering the increase in the population of the United States 
 since the rebellion, a sound and instructive deduction can be 
 made relative to the present military power of our now united 
 country. 
 
 DlSBANDMENT. 
 
 The orders for musters-out, issued on and subsequent to April 
 29, 1865, brought gladness to many hearts, and the gallant 
 men who had, after a vast sacrifice of life and health, caused 
 peace to dawn, were anxious to pass from the army to civil 
 life, which they did " so quietly that it was scarcely known 
 save by the welcome to their homes." 
 
 The soldiers and the people were tired of war. For with 
 truth has it been said that " in six hundred and twenty-five bat 
 tles and severe skirmishes blood flowed like water. It streamed 
 over the grassy plains ; it stained the rocks ; the undergrowth 
 of the forest was red with it ; and the armies marched on with 
 majestic courage from one conflict to another, knowing that 
 they were fighting for GOD and Liberty." 
 
 I cannot think of that terrific struggle, a battle in which 
 Lincoln was, for four long years, the Commander-in-Chief, 
 without attaching to it the historic words used in connection 
 with Waterloo, that culmination which terminated a period 
 of unrestful and destructive energy - - "a period- throughout 
 which the wealth of nations was scattered like sand, and the 
 blood of nations lavished like water :" 
 
t4 A battle fought for the interests of the human race, felt 
 even, where they were not understood ; so that the tutelary 
 angel of man, when he traverses such a dreadful field, when 
 he reads the distorted features, counts the ghastly ruins, sums 
 the hidden anguish in the harvests 
 
 of horror breathing from the silent ground, 
 
 nevertheless, speaking as God s messenger, c blesses it and 
 calls it very good. 
 
 The rapidity with which the work of disbandment was 
 executed will be apparent from the fact that, to August 7, 
 640,806 troops had been mustered out; August 22, 719,338; 
 September 14, 741,107; October 15, 785,205; November 15, 
 800.963 ; January 20, 1866, 918,733 ; February 15, 952,452 ; 
 March 10, 967,887 ; May i, 986,782 ; June 30, 1,010,670; No 
 vember i, 1,023,021 leaving then in service 11,043 volunteers, 
 colored and white. 
 
 The command of Sherman (Army of the Tennessee and Army 
 of Georgia) and the Army of the Potomac, were the first to 
 complete their musters-out entirely. Regiments commenced 
 leaving Sherman s command, then numbering, present and 
 absent, 116,183 officers and men, from the rendezvous, near 
 Washington, on May 29, and on August i the last one 
 of the regiments mustered out left Louisville, Kentucky, to 
 which point the command (after the musters-out therefrom were 
 partly completed) was transferred, and the armies composing it 
 merged into one the Army of the Tennessee. The work of 
 mustering out the troops was not continuous it was inter 
 rupted and delayed by the transfer of the two armies from 
 Washington to Louisville, and their subsequent consolidation. 
 
 Regiments commenced leaving the Army of the Potomac 
 numbering, including the 9th Corps, 161,851 officers and men, 
 
i6 
 
 present and absent) from the rendezvous, near Washington, 
 on May 29, and about six weeks thereafter (July 19) the 
 last regiment started for home. During the interval the work, 
 like that of Sherman s command, was not continuous. It was 
 interrupted and delayed by the movement of the 6th Corps from 
 Danville, Virginia, to Washington, and the consolidation, by 
 orders of June 28, of the remaining portion of the army into 
 a provisional corps, numbering, present and absent, 22,699 
 officers and men. 
 
 Thus, for the two commands in question, and between 
 May 29 and August i (two months), 279,034 officers and men, 
 present and absent, were mustered out and placed en route to 
 their homes. 
 
 Including the other armies and departments, the number 
 was increased by August 7 (two months and seven days) to 
 640,806 officers and men. 
 
 Had it been possible to spare all the volunteers, the entire 
 number, 1,034,064, could easily have been disbanded and 
 returned to their homes within three months from the date 
 (May 29, 1865) the movement homeward commenced. 
 
 In Macaulay s England we find the following relative to the 
 disbandment of Cromwell s army : 
 
 " The troops were now to be disbanded. Fifty thousand men 
 accustomed to the profession of arms were at once thrown on 
 the world ; and experience seemed to warrant the belief that 
 this change would produce much misery and crime, that the 
 discharged veterans would be seen begging in every street, or 
 would be driven by hunger to pillage. But no such result fol 
 lowed. In a few months there remained not a trac.- indicating 
 that the most formidable army in the world had just been ab 
 sorbed into the mass of the community. The royalists them 
 selves confessed that in every department of honest industry the 
 discharged warriors prospered beyond other men, and that none 
 was charged with any theft or robbery, that none was heard to 
 ask an alms, and that if a baker, a mason, or a wagoner attracted 
 notice by his diligence and sobriety, he was in all probability 
 one of Oliver s old soldiers." 
 
I? 
 
 A greater eulogy was won by the magnificent volunteer army 
 of the United States, aggregating more than 1,000,000 men a 
 force more than twenty times the size of that referred to by the 
 English historian. 
 
 When the time for disband ment had arrived, Governors of 
 States and other distinguished men all having deeply at heart 
 the good of the country were apprehensive that so great a 
 force suddenly released from military restraint and employment 
 would create disturbance throughout the country. The Sec 
 retary of War was requested to provide troops to maintain 
 order. He did not view the fears of others as well founded, 
 and made replv, in substance, that if we could not trust the 
 soldiers who had subdued the rebellion, we might as well vield 
 the life of the republic. He acted in accordance with his views, 
 and beyond sending troops to take care of the depots wherein 
 was stored the public property, turned over by the volunteers to 
 the respective supply departments, precautions against disturb 
 ance were not taken . 
 
 MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS LONG DISTANCES WITHIN SHORT 
 PERIODS OF TIME. 
 
 1. The transfer in 1863, by rail, of the i2th Army Corps, 
 the command aggregating 23,000 men accompanied by its 
 artillery, trains, animals, and baggage from the Rapidan, in 
 Virginia, to Stevenson, in Alabama, a distance of 1,192 miles in 
 seven days, crossing the Ohio river twice. 
 
 2. The transfer of the 23d Army Corps, 15,000 strong, with 
 its artillery, trains, animals, and baggage, from Clifton, Tennes 
 see, via the Tennessee and Ohio rivers and the Baltimore and 
 Ohio Railroad, to the Potomac, in eleven days distance 1,400 
 miles. This movement commenced January 15, 1865, within 
 five days after the movement had been determined upon in 
 Washington. It was continued, by water, to North Carolina, 
 
i8 
 
 where, early in February, Wilmington was captured. March 
 22, when the right wing of Sherman s army reached Golds- 
 boro, it found there the corps, which a short time prior had 
 been encamped on the Tennessee. 
 
 The movement was much impeded by severe weather rivers 
 were blocked with ice, and railroads rendered hazardous by 
 frost and snow. 
 
 3. The transfer, by water, of the i6th Army Corps from 
 Eastport, Tennessee, to New Orleans. The entire command, 
 including a brigade of artillery and a division of cavalry, 
 consisted of 17,314 men, 1,038 horses, 2,731 mules, 351 wagons, 
 and 83 ambulances. Three days were required to embark it 
 on 40 steamers. The fleet sailed February 9, 1865, and the com 
 mand arrived at New Orleans February 23 a distance of 1,330 
 miles in 13 days. 
 
 4. The transfer, by sea, from City Point, Virginia, to Texas, 
 of thjp 25th Army Corps, 25,000 strong, with its artillery, am 
 munition, ambulances, wagons, harness, subsistence, and 2,000 
 horses and mules. 
 
 The embarkation took place between May 26 and June 
 17, 1865, and the debarkation, at Brazos Santiago, between 
 June 13 and 26. The movement required a fleet of 57 
 ocean steamers; entire tonnage, 56,9871.0118. All of the vessels 
 were provided for a 12 days voyage; 947 tons of coal and 
 50,000 gallons of water were consumed daily. 
 
 While this expedition was afloat, other movements by sea, 
 in steam transports, aggregated more than 10,000 men, inclu 
 sive of 3,000 Confederate prisoners sent from Point Lookout 
 to Mobile. Therefore there were more than 35,000 troops and 
 prisoners afloat on the ocean at the same time. 
 
 5. From November i, 1863, to October 31, 1864 one 
 year 626,126 men were forwarded to the field, and 268,114 
 were returned to their homes on furlough and for discharge ; 
 
19 
 
 making the aggregate of the movements 887,240 embracing 
 independently of recruits 495 regiments and 119 batteries and 
 companies. The following year the aggregate was 1,064,080, 
 distributed to 1,126 regiments, 241 batteries, and 369 companies. 
 
 SUPPLYING THE ARMIES. 
 
 The army of Sherman, embracing 100,000 men and 60,000 
 animals, was furnished with supplies from a base three hun 
 dred and sixty (360) miles distant, by one single-track railroad, 
 located mainly in the country of an active enemy. The effort 
 taxed and measured forethought, energy, patience, and watch 
 fulness, and is a most instructive lesson. THe line was main 
 tained for months, until Atlanta was secured, and supplies for 
 a new campaign had been placed there. 
 
 The army then moved southeast, through Georgia, accom 
 panied by thousands of beef cattle, and trains embracing 3,000 
 wagons filled with war supplies and material. 
 
 After the capture of Savannah, the command was promptly 
 met at that place by a great fleet, conveying clothing, tent- 
 age, subsistence for soldiers and animals, wagons, harness, 
 ammunition, and all else necessary for the march or in camp. 
 
 The necessary supplies were again in readiness at Kinston 
 and Goldsboro, through the agency of railroads constructed 
 to those places from Wilmington and Morehead City, each 
 of the two roads being 95 miles in length. 
 
 While the foregoing was being accomplished, other larger 
 armies in the east and west were as promptly and energetically 
 supplied in 1 " all their wants. 
 
 During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1865, the demands 
 for water transportation alone required a fleet of 719 vessels 
 (351 steamers, in steam tugs, 89 sail vessels, 168 barges). 
 
20 
 
 MILITARY RAILROADS. 
 
 The President, by the act of January i, 1862 (General 
 Order No. 10, Adjutant-General s Office of that year), was 
 authorized to take military possession of all the railroads in 
 the United States ; but it was not found necessary to exer 
 cise the authority over any of the roads outside the limits of 
 the insurgent States. 
 
 " The military railroad organization (under a director and 
 general manager funds for its support being supplied by the 
 Quartermaster s Department) was designed to be a great con 
 struction and transportation machine for carrying out the objects 
 of the commanding generals, so far as it was adapted to the pur 
 pose, and it was managed solely with a view to efficacy in that 
 direction. It was the duty of the Quartermaster s Department to 
 load all the material upon the cars, to direct where such material 
 should be taken, and to whom delivered. It then became the 
 province of the railroad department to comply with said order in 
 the shortest practicable time, and to perfect such arrangements 
 as would enable it to keep the lines in repair under any and all 
 circumstances." 
 
 Among the wonders connected with military railroad con 
 struction were : 
 
 The Chattahoochee bridge, seven hundred and eighty (780) 
 feet long and ninety-two (92) feet high, which was completely 
 built in 4^ days by 600 men. 
 
 The Etowah bridge, six hundred and twenty-five (62^) feet 
 long, seventy-five (75) feet high, was burned, and rebuilt by 
 the labor of six hundred (600) men of the construction corps in 
 six (6) days. 
 
 In October, 1864, Hood s army reached the rear of Sherman s 
 forces, first at Big Shanty, afterwards north of Resaca, destroy 
 ing, in the aggregate, 35! miles of track and 455 lineal feet of 
 bridges ; 25 miles of track and 230 feet of bridges were recon 
 structed and trains were run over the distance in 7^ days. In 13 
 
21 
 
 days after Hood left the line trains were running over the entire 
 length. 
 
 Numerous other wonderful efforts are of record, but the fore 
 going are sufficient to illustrate the speed with -which the con 
 struction corps operated. Commanders had such confidence in 
 it that, in advancing, they were confident that the railroads in 
 their rear would not fail to meet the wants of their commands. 
 This confidence was most important in connection with lines of 
 operations lengthened in depth, and resulted from the knowl 
 edge that u none of the humanly possible precautions for bas 
 ing" an army had been neglected. 
 
 OTHER LOGISTICAL MEASURES INDICATING THE SCIENCE 
 OF THE STAFF. 
 
 The Adjutant-General s Department and the Bureau of the 
 Provost Marshal-General had to do with supplying men for the 
 armies ; the results, in part, involving the personnel, have been 
 made apparent from what has been recited. The former, in 
 addition, was charged, during the entire war, with the organiza 
 tion and disbandment of the forces. 
 
 The recruitment of white volunteers was under the exclusive 
 control of the Adjutant-General s Department from the first call 
 for troops until May, 1863, when it was placed under the Pro 
 vost Marshal-General, to whom, by law, was confided the en 
 rollment and draft, and thereby the entire recruiting service for 
 white troops was placed under one head, and a great reduction 
 made in the expenses of recruitment, through the more rigid 
 control secured by the enrollment act. 
 
 The Adjutant-General s Department had charge of the recruit 
 ment of colored troops and the re-enlistment of the veteran 
 volunteers in the field. The plan for the recruitment of the 
 126,000 veterans, who received the thanks of Congress, was 
 devised and prepared by the Provost Marshal-General, and rela- 
 
22 
 
 tive thereto Stanton has said : "I know of no operation con 
 nected with the recruitment of the army which has resulted in 
 more advantage to the service than the one referred to." 
 
 The departments of the Adjutant-General and Provost Mar 
 shal-General recruited, respectively, 1,515,264 and 1,120,621 
 men. 
 
 The want of a carefully organized inspection department was 
 felt during the war. Yet, so far as the personnel for inspection 
 service extended, it fully performed its various important duties. 
 
 Involving the material, through the supply departments, we 
 find that, during the whole war, there was no failure of opera 
 tions through lack of transportation or the supplies required of 
 the Quartermaster s Department. Its vast and varied stores had 
 not only to be ready at numerous and widely extended points, 
 when needed, but it had to transport to all points, there to be in 
 readiness at the proper time, the extensive quantities of pro 
 visions, medical and hospital stores, arms and ammunition 
 provided by the other supply departments. 
 
 The Army mule, for the purposes of the draft, behaved nobly, 
 and bore the conscription without being able to express a desire 
 to furnish a substitute. On his roll of honor we find 450,000 
 serving in the various armies. Six hundred and fifty thousand 
 (650,000) horses joined the ranks; and the third year of the war 
 the field armies required for the cavalry, artillery, and trains one- 
 half as many animals as there were soldiers. 
 
 As the mules and horses had, as a general thing, to labor 
 away from water and rail lines, they gave but little attention to 
 the mechanical manoeuvres of 719 steam and sail vessels in 
 service at one time during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1865, 
 and the 419 engines and 6,330 cars employed during the war. 
 
 The soldier necessarily preferred the mail for his correspond 
 ence ; he did not confine himself to a single line, and, as a 
 result, the 1,000,000,000 telegrams transmitted by the military 
 telegraph were mostly on official business. 
 
23 
 
 Good and wholesome rations were uniformly supplied by the 
 Subsistence Department, and there was not a campaign, expe 
 dition, or movement that failed on account of the inability of the 
 department to meet all proper requirements. It is true that, 
 generally, the bread was rather hard, yet, nevertheless, it was 
 tackled and freely consumed. 
 
 The Medical Department made ample provisions for the sick 
 and wounded from the first. Aside from the vast accommoda 
 tions elsewhere, Sherman s army found at Savannah four first- 
 class sea steamers, complete in all respects as hospital transports, 
 with extra supplies for 5,000 beds, had it been necessary to 
 establish large hospitals on his line of operations. Complaint 
 was never made as to a shortage of medicine ; generally it was 
 found that the supply exceeded any demand based on the sol 
 diers taste. 
 
 The Government had an abundance of money wherewith to 
 meet its sacred obligations, and the Pay Department kept its 
 pledge "to make prompt payments in the shortest practicable . 
 time." 
 
 When the war commenced the Government was forced to 
 
 obtain from foreign countries almost the entire supply of arms 
 
 and ammunition, but in 1863 the Ordnance Department became 
 
 independent through home resources, both for the manufactured 
 
 articles and the material composing them. 
 
 Aside from contributing to the command of armies, the officers 
 of the Corps of Engineers were charged with important labors 
 in connection with the defences of Washington and other places, 
 the reconnoissance of positions held by the enemy, the invest 
 ment of cities and towns, the fortifying of important points on 
 railroads, the construction of offensive and defensive fortifica 
 tions necessary to the march of large armies, the manreuvring 
 of pontoon trains, surveys for the armies in the field, and the 
 sea-coast and lake defences. 
 
24 
 
 The ability and efficiency of its officers were notably illus 
 t rated in the construction of the pontoon bridge (exclusive of 200 
 feet of trestle-work) over 2.000 feet long the main part in deep 
 water, in some places 85 feet across the James river above 
 Fort Powhatan, by 4^0 men in five hours, between 5 and 10 
 o clock P.M. June 1=5, 1864. Over this single frail structure 
 passed mainly in forty hours the army, about 100,000 men 
 under Grant, with cavalry, artillery and infantry, and trains 
 embracing about 5,000 wagons, besides 3,000 beef cattle, with 
 out an accident to an individual, man or animal. This move 
 ment, one of the most important on record, took place during 
 the fifth epoch of the grand campaign, from the Rapidan to the 
 James, which opened May 4, 1864. 
 
 The passage, in all its attending circumstances, may well 
 stand forth brilliantly. If it does not surpass, it will compare 
 favorably with the passage of the Danube, before Wagram, by 
 150,000 of Napoleon s forces, through the agency of three 
 bridges- in all 1,360 feet thrown over an arm of that river 140 
 vards wide. 
 
 The Signal Service was particularly valuable in observing 
 and reporting the changes and movements of the enemy, and 
 connecting the army and navy when employed in combined 
 operations, thus enabling the two branches of the service to 
 act as a unit. Oftentimes the services were of vital importance 
 by furnishing information that could not have been had other 
 wise, notably as referred to by Sherman, as follows: 
 
 " When the enemy had cut our wires and actually made lodg 
 ment on our railroad about Big Shanty, the signal officers on 
 Vining s Hill, Kenesaw r , and Altoona sent my orders to General 
 Corse, at Rome, whereby General Corse was enabled to reach 
 Altoona just in time to defend it. Had it not been for the services 
 of this corps on that occasion, I am satisfied we should have lost 
 the garrison at Altoona, and a most valuable depository of pro 
 visions there, which was worth to us more than the aggregate ex 
 pense of the whole signal corps for one year." 
 
25 
 
 Again, the late Brigadier-General Myer, as Chief Signal 
 Officer, has said : 
 
 " The officers of the Signal Corps opened the first direct com 
 munication from the Upper to the Lower Mississippi, when 
 Rear-Admiral Farragut, running past the batteries of Port Hud 
 son, found himself, after the perilous passage, cut off above that 
 fortress from the vessels of his fleet, which could not follow him 
 and were lying in the stream below. 
 
 " There is^ not, perhaps, on record a feat of aerial telegraphy 
 such as that thus and then performed, when from the topmast of 
 the flag-ship of the Admiral, lying above the fort, messages were 
 regularly transmitted past the guns of the fortress to a station on 
 the mast-top of the war vessel Richmond, five or six mi es 
 below." 
 
 STANTON. 
 
 It has been said that Stanton dominated the President to 
 the extent of disregarding orders and instructions. While he 
 ever readily considered Stanton s advice, I had frequent op 
 portunities of observing that the President was the controlling 
 power the master, as was his wont to say. I well remem 
 ber an order given at one time which the Secretary deemed 
 based upon misconception. I was instructed to take the case 
 to the President and invite his consideration to- its prominent 
 points. On reaching the Executive Mansion I found the Presi 
 dent in the reception-room, surrounded by a large number of 
 persons. He immediately recognized me, stepped forward and 
 conducted me into the most retired corner of the room. After 
 I had stated the object of my visit, he said : Stanton is care 
 ful and may be right. I was very busy when I examined the 
 case, but I will take the papers, re-examine, and by four 
 o clock this afternoon send them by messenger to your office. 
 Before the hour indicated, the papers were in my hands. The 
 President had revoked his order and affirmed the decision of 
 the Secretary. The case is illustrative of the official relations 
 between the two great men. 
 
26 
 
 It will be pertinent here to recall the episode connected with 
 the Sherman- Johnson convention, of April 18, 1865. 
 
 Prior to that convention, or agreement, President Lincoln 
 said April 3 to General Grant that he did not wish any 
 conference with General Lee unless it should be for " the 
 capitulation of Lee s army, or on solely minor or purely 
 military matters," and that he was not to " decide, discuss, or 
 confer on any political question," as such questions were held 
 in the President s own hands. 
 
 Upon the receipt (April 21) by Grant of the Convention, 
 and prior to his submitting it to President Johnson with a 
 suggestion that it should be considered by the entire Cabinet, 
 he felt satisfied that the President would not approve, and 
 when he (April 21) disapproved, the reasons were given by 
 Stanton, as the representative of the Executive, in the tele^ 
 gram to General Dix. 
 
 After the disapproval became known to Sherman he, in writ 
 ing to Stanton, on April 25, said: " I admit my folly in 
 embracing in a military convention any civic matters." 
 
 We all know that Sherman was embittered as to Stanton, 
 and that many of his friends were equally so ; but among 
 his very best friends were found men of the highest eminence 
 who, through emphatic letters to Stanton, condemned the con 
 vention, and supported the announcement to the country as 
 made through the Dix telegram. 
 
 The allegation that Stanton s death was the result of a self- 
 inflicted wound is refuted abundantly by the letter from Surgeon 
 General Barnes, dated April 16, 1879, to the editor of the 
 Philadelphia Press ; but I may here state that after Stanton s 
 death I often saw his body, and frequently was very near it, 
 and I remained at the house for the main portion of the 
 night preceding the interment of the remains ; consequently I 
 was in a position to have noticed self-inflicted injury, had there 
 been any. 
 
27 
 
 To a private soldier I have known him to give audience 
 when his leisure was so pressed as to cause an interview 
 with officers of high rank to be refused, and yet the warmth 
 of his heart, as attested by the War Department records, was 
 found going out at all times, through measures calculated to 
 enhance the comfort and protect the interests of the members 
 officers and men of the armies of the Union. 
 
 His devotion to the public welfare was such as to find 
 him at his desk, not only during the day, but at night, until 
 near the dawn not satisfied to go to his home for needed 
 rest until the most that could be had been accomplished. And 
 when really ill, during many nights of prolonged labor, a de 
 voted and entreating wife, who had come in the hours of 
 morning to accompany him from his office, often failed to break 
 the vigil devoted to the public interest. 
 
 Often, at midnight, I. have found myself with important 
 papers before him for consideration, the labors of the day hav 
 ing so pressed him as to prevent his necessary action during 
 the usual hours of duty ; and on more than one occasion did 
 he fall asleep before I had finished, so great was his fatigue. 
 
 The great strain eventually did its work, and at times he 
 had, from illness, to remain at his house. On one of these 
 occasions his old-time friend, Governor Brough, of Ohio, tele 
 graphed to me to know Mr. Stanton s condition. I went to 
 his house, and, after reading the telegram, he said he would 
 answer it himself, and attempted to do so ; but his great strength 
 had so far weakened that he could not wield the pen, and, 
 with tremulous voice and tearful eyes, he bade me make the 
 necessary reply. 
 
 Endowed with greatness of intellect, coupled with super 
 human energy and industry, he was eminently gifted in dis 
 patching public affairs. While strictly honest, he was so 
 blindly devoted to the cause of the Union, and so rigid in 
 
28 
 
 the view that self-preservation was paramount to all other 
 considerations, that before him justice, at times, seemed power 
 less, and personal rights passed for trifles. 
 
 As to the trials of his high position, we have his own fer 
 vent words in a letter to a friend, in May, 1862, as follows: 
 
 " I hold my present post at the request of the President, 
 who knew me personally, but to whom I had not spoken 
 from the 4th of March, 1861, until the day he handed me my 
 commission. I knew that everything I cherish and hold dear 
 would be sacrificed by accepting office. But I thought I 
 might help to save the country, and for that I was willing 
 to perish. If I wanted to be a politician or a candidate for 
 any office, would I stand between the Treasury and the robbers 
 who are howling around me? 
 
 ******** 
 
 " I was never taken for a fool, but there could be no greater 
 madness than for a man to encounter what I do for anything else 
 
 thaw motives that overleap time and look forward to eternity. 
 
 ******** 
 
 " The confidence of yourself and men like you is a full equiva 
 lent for all the railing that has been or can be expended against 
 me ; and in the magnitude of the cause all merely individual 
 questions are swallowed up." 
 
 I believe that the public vision has had removed from it the 
 mote which, for a time, caused certain elements of his character 
 to stand not approved. But, passing that, he certainly stood well 
 forward as to "that impersonal life which is the fullest definition, 
 as well as the truest test, alike of goodness and greatness," and 
 his great ability and the force of his will made him eminently 
 successful in the high office of War Minister when treason 
 and rebellion were abroad. It has been well said that his 
 training as an advocate so strengthened his devotion to a cause 
 when adopted that, even if he had not loved the cause of the 
 Union, he would have labored for it intensely because he was 
 retained in it. With his qualifications and the delegation of 
 almost unbounded military authority, he was the right arm of 
 the Executive of the Nation " in smiting treason and rebellion 
 
 o 
 
 and re-establishing the foundation of the Government." 
 
2 9 
 
 Cameron said of Stanton in June, 1878: " He was a great, 
 big, brave, loyal man ; perhaps too harsh and quick-tempered 
 in his treatment of those around him, but, nevertheless, a 
 thoroughly good and well-meaning man. He had terrible re 
 sponsibilities, which at times caused him to be exacting almost 
 to the very verge of injustice, but I am sure that he always 
 intended to do right, and there is no doubt he was in every way 
 the man best fitted for the place in the Government which he 
 was called upon to fill. He was a man of wonderful strength, 
 not only of mind but of body, yet even he gave way under the 
 constant, the never-ending strain which was put upon all his 
 faculties. His death was hastened by, if not the direct result 
 of, overwork in the War Department." 
 
 Sherman said in February, 1876: tk I have the highest opin 
 ion of Stanton s administrative qualities, and freely accord him 
 all honor for marshalling to the defence of the Nation its max 
 imum strength." 
 
 Had Stanton been spared to enjoy the full fruition resulting 
 from his great labors, 1 believe that Sherman, through an im 
 pulse natural to his magnanimity, would have admitted more 
 than his folly in embracing civic matters in the military conven 
 tion. 
 
 It is true that, at times. " l The lover and the hero reason not. 
 * * * But they believe in what they love and do." 
 
 Stanton and Sherman were heroes, and devoted lovers of their 
 
 * 
 country and its glorious flag! Stanton, at times, reasoned not, 
 
 else the sharp words adverse to Sherman, as uttered at the Cab 
 inet meeting during the consideration of the terms of the con 
 vention, would not havTe passed his lips. Sherman would have 
 recognized that fact, and, through a union of his and Stanton s 
 love of country, there would have resulted a full reconciliation 
 of their regretted differences. The mote would have been en 
 tirely removed from Sherman s eye, and his cheeks would have 
 been wetted with Stanton s joyful tear. 
 
30 
 
 Stanton s genius as a ruler and organizer, and ability to reach 
 grand results with vigor and masterly skill, are found in the 
 public archives, endurably recorded. 
 
 LINCOLN. 
 
 It was a frequent thing for the President to visit my office, 
 thus to obtain direct information. He was particularly inter 
 ested in the success of the recruitment, and for his own conve 
 nience he personally tabulated the daily telegraphic reports on 
 a slip of paper. After he had made the necessary record, he 
 would roll the slip around a short lead-pencil and place it in his 
 vest-pocket, from which he would take it during the ensuing 
 visit. If the number of men obtained was satisfactory he would 
 sit for a brief time, conversing brightly ; but if otherwise, the 
 enlarged furrows of care on his face would indicate the sadness 
 of his disappointment, and, without a word, he would depart. 
 
 These interviews indicated his sublime simplicity of character ; 
 but, withal, there was ever with him the marked dignity of a 
 noble manhood. 
 
 Soon after the act of July 17, 1862, authorizing persons of 
 African descent to be received into the service of the United 
 States, and before the President had decided fully what he 
 would do under it, but at a date when the good results that 
 would follow the enactment were obvious to him, he received 
 an application it may have been from a Mr. Black or a Mr. 
 Brown to raise a regiment. In his characteristic way he 
 endorsed the application: "Referred to the Secretary of War. 
 This gentleman wishes to engage in the ebony trade. A. 
 Lincoln." 
 
 His interest manifested in the recruitment of colored troops is 
 apparent from his letter, dated April i, 1863, to Major-General 
 Hunter, in which he said : 
 
 " I am glad to see the account of your colored force at Jack- 
 
sonville, Florida. I see the enemy are driving at them fiercely, 
 as is to be expected. 
 
 " It is important to the enemy that such a force shall not take 
 shape, and grow and thrive in the South ; and, in precisely the 
 same proportion, it is important to us that it shall. Hence the 
 utmost caution and vigilance is necessary on our part. The 
 enemy will make extra efforts to destroy them ; and we should 
 do the same to preserve and increase them." 
 
 After the colored troops had won their reputation when it 
 was recognized that their colors were guarded with as much 
 patriotic care as though talismanic virtues clustered around 
 them he said that their employment was one of the greatest 
 blows dealt to the rebellion, and, in hoping that peace would 
 soon be permanent, added : "Then will there be some black 
 men who can remember that they have helped to this great con 
 summation." Commencing with Milliken s Bend, June 7, 
 1863, General Grant frequently complimented the colored 
 troops, much to the President s gratification. 
 
 The President, on one occasion, in defining the franchise, said 
 that some of the colored people - might be let in ; * * * 
 "they would probably help, in some trying time to come, to 
 keep the jewel of liberty in the family of freedom." 
 
 In the humble cabin with its three-legged stool ; bedstead of 
 poles, supported by crotched sticks ; log table ; pot, kettle and 
 skillet, and a few tin and pewter dishes, his boyhood s ascent 
 in life began as he " climbed at night to his bed of leaves in the 
 loft, by a ladder of wooden pegs driven into the logs." In latter 
 years his ascent was onward and upward, by the ladder of fame, 
 gaining at each round the esteem and honor of his countrymen. 
 
 It could not have been otherwise, when we consider his emi 
 nent endowment with the gifts and virtues of charity, humility, 
 meekness, patience, diligence, wisdom, prudence, justice, and 
 fortitude. 
 
 The beautiful devotion of the son to the memory of his 
 mother, through the services over her grave several months 
 
32 
 
 after her interment, has pointed to Lincoln s " faith in the un 
 seen, hope in immortality, and love of the beauty of holiness." 
 
 Hallam, when writting of Charlemagne, and the epoch made 
 by that great emperor in the history of the world, by advancing 
 civilization and regenerating Western Europe, used words which 
 may be applied to Lincoln : kfc His sceptre was as the bow of 
 Ulysses, which could not be drawn by a weaker hand. He 
 stood alone, like a beacon upon a waste, or a rock in the 
 broad ocean. His deeds have cast a lustre around his head 
 and testify the greatness that has embodied itself in his name." 
 
 THE CLOSING HOURS. 
 
 April 14, 1865, I had, about ten o clock P. M., returned from 
 the War Department to my house, and very soon thereafter was 
 informed by a cousin of Mrs. Lincoln Dr. Lyman Beecher 
 Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky that the President had been 
 assassinated, and the members of his Cabinet attacked. I at once 
 hurried to the house of the Secretary of War, and there found 
 the family greatly alarmed and excited ; but the Secretary, 
 just prior to my arrival, had started for Mr. Seward s resi 
 dence. I followed, and there learned that he had gone to the 
 scene of the tragedy, on loth street; on reaching the locality 
 I found him at the house to which the President had been 
 taken from Ford s Theatre. I remained there, near the Sec 
 retary, and at his request, during the night. He was greatly 
 saddened, and referred to the change of scene from that at 
 the Cabinet meeting, a few hours before, at which General 
 Grant was present, when the state of the country and the 
 prospect of a speedy peace were discussed. He stated that 
 the President during the meeting was hopeful and very cheer 
 ful, and had spoken kindly of General Lee and other officers 
 of the Confederacy. Particularly had his kindly feelings gone 
 out to the enlisted men of the Confederacy, and during the 
 
33 
 
 entire session of the Cabinet his manner and words mani 
 fested, emphatically, a desire to restore a satisfactory peace 
 to the South, through all due regard for her vanquished citi 
 zens. Yet, whilst he was buoyant, on that Good Friday, in his 
 advocacy of " Peace on earth to men of good will," he 
 seemed depressed, at times, in consequence of his dream of 
 the previous night, which had recurred several times on the 
 eve of some important event " a vague sense of floating float 
 ing away, on some vast and indistinct expanse, toward an 
 unknown shore ! " 
 
 About 1.30 A. M. it was determined that the wound was 
 mortal, that the President was then dying, and that it was not 
 probable that he would live through the night. The Secretary 
 then informed me that it would be necessary to stand prepared to 
 communicate the President s death to the Vice-President, and 
 soon thereafter handed me the rough draft of the formal notifica 
 tion, from which I prepared a fair copy, and held it until after 
 the President s death, which was officially announced at 7.55 
 A. M., April 15, by a telegram from the Secretary to Major- 
 General Dix, as follows : 
 
 u Abraham Lincoln died this morning at twenty-two minutes 
 after seven o clock." 
 
 The notification to the Vice-President was duly signed and 
 communicated, as recited in a subsequent telegram, as follows: 
 
 kt Official notice of the death of the late President, Abraham 
 Lincoln, was given by the heads of Departments this morning 
 to Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, upon whom the Constitu 
 tion devolved the office of President. Mr. Johnson, upon 
 receiving this notice, appeared before the Honorable Salmon P. 
 Chase, Chief Justice of the United States, and took the oath of 
 office as President of the United States, and assumed its duties 
 and functions." 
 
 The death-bed scenes were harrowing in the extreme. Sur 
 rounding; and near the illustrious one, who was insensible from 
 
34 
 
 the first in consequence of his mortal wound, from which his 
 life s blood was oozing, were the sobbing, grief-stricken wife, all 
 the members of the Cabinet save Mr. Seward, and others in 
 civil and military circles. As the sure approach of death was 
 noticed, the deep sad gloom increased, and. at the solemn 
 moment, it seemed that it had extended to Heaven to be from 
 there promulgated back to earth through the agency of deep 
 sable clouds. The attendant drops of rain seemed to have been 
 sent to mingle, sorrowfully, with the tears of the Nation. 
 
 Soon after eight o clock the devoted War Minister had ordered 
 all to .be arranged for the removal of the body to the Executive 
 Mansion, and then left me, as his representative, until after the 
 transfer should take place. It was about this time that, after 
 pressing and smoothing the eyes of the dead President, I placed 
 coins on them to close them for a last long slumber. 
 
 u Softly heroic the life had been all through ; " and he who 
 had loved and served his country so well was, at the final 
 instant, sealed for preservation in that repository of abundance 
 the love of his countrymen. 
 
 To quote again from Bancroft s fitting words : 
 
 14 Where in the history of nations had a chief magistrate pos 
 sessed more sources of consolation and joy than Lincoln? His 
 countrymen had shown their love by choosing him to a second 
 term of service. The raging war that had divided the country 
 had lulled, and private grief was hushed by the grandeur of the 
 result. The Nation had its new birth of freedom, soon to be se 
 cured forever by an amendment to the Constitution. His persist 
 ent gentleness had conquered for him a kindlier feeling on the 
 part of the South. His scoffers among the grandees of Europe 
 began to do him honor. The laboring classes everywhere saw 
 in his advancement their own. All peoples sent him their bene 
 dictions. And at this moment of the height of his fame, to 
 which his humility and modesty added charms, he fell by the 
 hand of an assassin ; and the only triumph awarded him was the 
 march to the grave. * * * Not in vain has LINCOLN 
 lived, for he has helped to make this republic an example of 
 justice, with no caste but the caste of humanity. * * * The 
 heroes who led our armies and ships into battle and fell in the 
 
35 
 
 service * * * did not die in vain ; they, and the myriads of 
 nameless martyrs, and he, the chief martyr, gave up their lives 
 willingly that government of the people, by the people, and for 
 the people shall not perish from the earth. " . 
 
 Commander and Companions, may I not, in closing, borrow 
 other well-known words as fittingly applicable to our beloved 
 Chief Martyr: 
 
 " He spoke among you, and the man who spoke ; * 
 
 Who never sold the truth to serve the hour, 
 Nor paltered with Eternal God for power; 
 
 ******* 
 Great in council and great in war, * * * 
 Rich in saving common sense, 
 And, as the greatest only are, 
 In his simplicity sublime, * * * 
 Whose life was work, whose language rife 
 With rugged maxims hewn from life ; 
 Who never spoke against a foe ; " * * * 
 
 To him : 
 
 ; The path of duty was the way to glory; 
 He that walks it, only thirsting 
 For the right, and learns to deaden 
 Love of self, before his journey closes, 
 He shall find the stubborn thistle bursting 
 Into glossy purples, which outredden 
 All voluptuous garden roses. * * * 
 
 Let his great example stand 
 
 Colossal, seen of every land, 
 
 And keep the soldier firm, the statesman pure : 
 
 Till in all lands, and through all human story 
 
 The path of duty be the way to glory; 
 
 And let the land whose hearths he saved from shame, 
 
 For many and many an age, 
 
 At civic revel, and pomp, and game, 
 
 Attest their great Commander s claim. * * * 
 
 Witli honor, honor, honor, honor to him, 
 
 Eternal honor to his name." * * * 
 
 Yea! 
 
 " Let the sound of those he wrought for, 
 And the feet of those he fought for, 
 Echo round his bones for evermore."