Carleton"

James A. Garfield.

JAMES H.^iAHLE, BOSTON.

THE LIFE

OF

JAMES A. GARFIELD

BY

CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN,
( War Correspondent, " Cakleton.")
AUTHOB OP " MT DATS AND NIGHTS ON THE BATTLE -FIELD," " FOLLOWING THE
FLAG," "POUE TEAES OP FIGHTING," "NEW WAT BOmiD
THE WOHUO " "BOTS OF "76," " STOHT
OP LiaERTT," ETC.

WITH A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

ILLUSTRATKD.

BOSTON:
JAMES H. EARLE, PUBLISHER,
20 HAWLEY STREET.
1880.

Copyright 1880,
By James H. Eablm.

CA\5.SS:^\

Stereotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundiy,
No 4 Pearl Street.

PREFACE.

This volume is a sketch of the life, character, and
public service of James A. Garfield and Chester A.
Arthur, nominees of the Republican party for Presi
dent and Vice-President, for a period of four years,
beginning March 4, 1881. No one can be more sen
sible than myself of its incompleteness. It has been
prepared since their nomination in June last, at the
earnest solicitation of friends, and under the pressure
of other engagements.
Soon after the adjournment of the Convention at
Chicago, I visited "Lawnfield," the home of General
Garfield, at Mentor, to obtain data for this work.
During its preparation a second visit was made, and I
desire to express my appreciation of the courtesy
and kind attentions received within that hospitable
mansion, and the privilege freely accorded of exam
ining the personal papers kept by General Garfield
during the war.
I desire especially to make acknowledgment to
Mrs. Eliza Ballou Garfield for information relating
5

6 PREFACE.
to her own life, and for her vivid portrayal of pioneer
life in Ohio during the first quarter of the century ;
and I am especially indebted to her for many facts
of the boyhood of her illustrious son.
I wish also to express my appreciation of the
delicate and refined courtesy of Mrs. Lucretia Ru
dolph Garfield, whose critical eye and appreciative
judgment selected the portrait adorning the frontis
piece, — one of six taken by General Garfield's inti
mate artist friend, J. F. Ryder, of Cleveland, two days
after the adjournment of the Chicago Convention.
I may further say in this connection, that Mr. Ryder
is the artist gracefully alluded to by General Garfield
in his address on the " Elements of Success," page 271,
and that the artist's judgment coincides with that of
Mrs. Garfield ; and it is regarded as the most satis
factory portrait ever taken of General Garfield, repre
senting him, as he is to-day, in the full vigor of a
noble manhood.
The readers of this volume will be pleased to know
that a portion of the proof-sheets have been read by
General Garfield ; the incidents of his early years may
therefore be accepted as truthful representations of
his struggles with, and triumphs over, the adverse
circumstances that surrounded him.
With pleasure I also acknowledge my indebtedness

PREFACE. -
to Capt. C. E. Henry, of Cleveland, pupil of Gen
eral Garfield at Hiram, captain under him ih the 42d
Ohio Regiment, a life-long friend, who has supphed
me with many facts relating to General Garfield as
teacher, president at Hiram, commander, and the ex
periences of his later years.
To Mr. J. H. Rhodes, of Cleveland, successor of
General Garfield as president of Hiram ; to Rev. S. D.
Bates, the enthusiastic teacher, who did so much for
General Garfield (see pp. 57, 348) ; to Dr. Alonzo
Harlow, of Detroit ; and to many other gentlemen, I
desire to express my obligations for information kindly
and freely proffered.
An appreciative public, I am confident, will acknowl
edge its indebtedness to the pubHsher, Mr. James H.
Earle, as I do, for the fair page, neat typography, and
the excellence of the illustrations, which he has given
with a liberal hand, to adorn the text and add to the
attractions of the volume.
Before leaving this prefatory notice, I desire to call
attention to a few points :
I. It is a sketch of the life of a man, who, against
adverse circumstances, has rendered great service to
his country, and made himself one of the foremost
statesmen of the Republic. His life has not been
attended by any fortuitous circumstances ; it has been

8 PREFACE.
an arduous struggle. At the outset, all the odds were
against him ; but by indomitable perseverance, by un
swerving determination, and invincible courage, he has
conquered them all.
II. It is the sketch of a man, who, by his self-
reliance, his triumphs, his pure life, his scholarly
attainments, his noble manhood, is an example of what
is possible to the young men of our country.
Men may differ from James A. Garfield in political
matters, but they will rejoice in his triumphs ; they
will recognize his intellectual force, his far-reaching
views, and the nobility of his manhood.
"We say," remarks Carlyle, "that men are the
architects of their own fortunes ; but it would be more
true to say that they are the architects of their circum
stances'.' Tbe builder uses the bricks, stone, marble, and lum
ber, and the edifice rises in its glory and grandeur.
So is it with the lives of men ; they must take the
circumstances ; and by perseverance, determination,
courage, and a noble end ever in view, build up their
lives into something grand and glorious. The possi
bilities are before the young men of to-day, as they
were before James A. Garfield a third of a century
ago. He took the circumstances of life as they came,
and now his name is honored throughout the land ;

PREFACE. g
and should he be elected to the great office for which
he has been nominated, the whole world will do him
reverence. III. It is a sketch of a man of the people. General
Garfield has come up from the people. From his boy
hood he has been a laborer, — in his early years putting
his muscle, and in later years his brain to their utmost
tension. His sympathies are with those who are hav
ing hard struggles in life, and his hand is ever open to
help them.
IV. It is the sketch of a man whose life has been
one of victories, never of defeats.
I made General Garfield's acquaintance in the woods
of Tennessee, just after the battle of Pittsburg Land
ing ; then he was a school-teacher commanding a
brigade, wearing a single star for the victory of Middle
Creek ; then the country knew little of him, but to-day-
he compels the attention of the nation, and stands
before the world as a shining example of what it is
possible for men to accomplish under the genius of
American institutions.
Charles Carleton Coffin.
Boston, July 26, 1880.

CONTENTS.

FAOB

I. Ancestry,  13
II. Parents,  20
III. Surroundings,  30
r
IV. Self-Reliance  38
V. Life's Great Turning-Point  54
VI. Student at Hikam,  63
VII. Student at Williams College, . . . .76
VIII. President op Hiram College, .... 83
IX. Heart and Soul for Liberty, . . • .93
X. Beginning of Public Life, .... 104
XI. Breaking out of the War,  no
XII. First Campaign,  119
XIII. Middle Creek,  130
XIV. Union Victories,  151
XV. Corinth Campaign,  159
XVI. Tullahoma Campaign,  168
XVII. To Chickamauga,  183
II

12 CONTENTS.
XVIII. First Day at Chickamauga, .... 195
XIX. Second Day at Chickamauga, . . • 204
XX. Election to Congress, . . ... • 220
XXI. Speeches in Congress  226
XXII. Tribute to General Rosecrans, . . . 247
XXIII. Remarks on Abraham Lincoln, . . • 256
XXIV. Addresses,  262
XXV. Address on the Finances  289
XXVI. The Credit Mobilier,  317
XXVII. Home and Family  33a
XXVIII. The Man,  341
XXIX. Anecdotes and Incidents, .... 348
XXX. The Convention at Chicago, .... 356
XXXI. Chester A. Arthur,  365
XXXII. The Republican Party,  374

JAMES A. GARFIELD.

I.
ANCESTRY.

FIFTEEN miles east of Cleveland, Ohio, in Cuya
hoga County, lies the rural township of Orange,
where, on November 19, 183 1, the very humble home
of Abraham and Eliza Ballou Garfield was brightened
by the birth of a son, now known to the world as James
Abram Garfield.
To go back a little. What of this boy's parents ?
What of his grandparents .? What of the ancestral
tree ? What the history of his fathers ? What their
bone, muscle, nerve, and soul force .'
The name of Garfield will not be found in any book
of peerage. No Garfield has ever borne the title of
duke, earl, marquis, or lord. They have been plain
men. Just two hundred and one years before the birth of
this boy in Ohio, Edward Garfield, of England, holding
13

14 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Liberty, Justice and Right as the dearest things on
earth, bade farewell to his home, became one in the
great exodus, with John Winthrop, John Endicott,
Francis Higginson, Isaac Johnson, and the great mul
titude of Puritans, who crossed the Atlantic to escape
the tyranny of Charles I. and Archbishop Laud. Ed
ward Garfield's ancestors were Anglo-Saxons. The
Garfields had their coat-of-arms — a shield with a gold
ground, crossed by three horizontal crimson bars ; in
one corner a cross, above it a helmet with a raised
visor, a heart, and above all an arm wielding a drawn
sword, with the motto, " Ifi cruce vinco " — Through
Faith I conquer.
We can trace the motto far down the ages. That
man of the distant East, the first Abraham, born in the
Euphrates valley, — the man of flocks and herds, —
who heard the calling of a voice Divine, by faith,
when he was called to go out unto a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance — obeyed ; and
he went out not knowing whither.
What a list of worthies! — those who have come
down through the ages, who have conquered adversity,
and made their mark on the historic page, and bene
fited their fellow- men, stimulated by that divine ideal
— " Through faith I conquer ! " Prophets, apostles,
saints, the martyrs of all ages — men and women, who
have stood by Justice, Liberty, and Truth, have marched
to victory under banners bearing that inscription. The
Garfields of Old England away back in the centuries
adopted it as a sentiment to guide them through
life.

ANCESTRT. jc
The emigrants, who were tearing up by the roots all
the dear old things; who were leaving kindred and
country, bidding farewell to the. roof-tree hallowe'd and
endeared by a thousand associations ; who were being
harassed by the catchpolls and beadles of Laud, who
took far more pleasure in putting Puritans in jail than
in enabling them to depart peacefully from the country,
— these people, so persecuted, had little time to give
any attention to genealogical records, and very little is
known of their families.
Tradition has it that Edward Garfield was unmarried,
but that he found a German girl on the vessel that
brought him to America, and that the two were married
not long after their arrival. It is only a tradition, and
it hardly has the bare ground of probability. The inter
course between Germany and England at that time was
circumscribed, and not many Germans found their way
to Great Britain, but Englishmen were beginning to
visit Germany. The Protestant faith, common to both
countries, was calling many Englishmen to the Father
land beyond the Rhine, and it is more probable that an
ancestor of Edward married a German wife than that
he himself fell in love with a German girl during his
passage to America. It is almost certain that some
where in the ancestral line a maiden with mild eyes,
and countenance fresh and fair, from the land of Lu
ther, Melancthon and Goethe, was grafted upon the
English stock, and that the outcome of it is seen in the
physiognomy of the son born in the humble home of
Abram and Eliza Ballou Garfield, in Ohio, 1831.
Edward Garfield, the Puritan, who could not put up

1 6 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
with the absolutism of Charles I., and the high-church-
ism of Laud, crossed the Atlantic in 1630, sailed into
Massachusetts Bay, settled at Watertown to do what
he could toward laying the foundation of a Christian
state in the wilderness of the Western World.
Visitors to Boston who ride out to Mount Auburn,
the city of the dead, amid the leafy groves of Cam
bridge, may see the spot where Edward Garfield reared
his home in 1630. The country was a wilderness.
The Indians were his neighbors. He did not take
their land without returning an equivalent. John Win-
throp's' colony dealt justly. White men who defrauded
the Indians were severely dealt with by the early
Puritans. Edward Garfield's son, Edward, was a church-mem
ber and a freeman in 1635. He was selectman of
Watertown in 1638 and in subsequent years.
Capt. Benjamin Garfield was a respected, honored
citizen, captain of the militia, and often a representa
tive. He held numerous offices all through the years
from 1689 to 1717. That was the period of Indian
wars — of frequent alarms — the period of James II.
and of Edmund Andros. It was the period of the last
effort of absolutism in English history. We may be
lieve that Capt. Benjamin Garfield was as staunch and
true to liberty as his ancestor the first Edward had
been. We come down to that 19th of April, 1775, to the
scene at Concord bridge. On the south side of the
winding stream are the soldiers of George III., carry
ing in their knapsacks, as it were, the inherited pre-

ANCESTRT. 1 7
rogatives of all past ages — the assumed divine rights
of kings. On the north bank are the farmers of Mid
dlesex, clad in homespun, and armed with guns, which
some of them carried in the struggle at Ticonderoga,
and on the plains of Abraham at Quebec, where
the lilies of France gave place to the cross of St.
George. In the powder-horns of the farmers are, as it were,
grains of eternal truth — the rights of men as individ
uals to have a voice in the affairs of government. They
stand there confronting kingly prerogative. It is the
old question of Runnymede and Marston Moor. The
farmers bear no animosity to the red-coated soldiers as
individuals. All are Englishmen, alike glorying in the
name. Theirs is a common inheritance. The strug
gle is not between man and man, but it is to be a
conflict of ideas between individual liberty and kingly
power. Colonel James Barrett, Major John Buttrick,
Captain Isaac Davis, Solomon Garfield, Samuel Hoar,
and their fellow-citizens, stand there in self-imposed
martial array. No one clothed with authority has sum
moned them. They heard the midnight bell ringing
Liberty's alarm ; Paul Revere has been riding as he
never rode before.
"A hurry of hoofs in the village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark.
And beneath from the pebbles, in passing, a spark,
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! and yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed in his flight
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
2

1 8 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
He had left the village and mounted the steep.
And beneath him, tranquil, and broad and deep.
Is the Mystic meeting the ocean tide;
And under the alders that skirt its edge.
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the bridge.
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.
It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town ;
He heard the crowing of the cock
And the barking of the farmer's dog.
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down."
Horsemen are riding everywhere with the news
that the soldiers of the king are on the march. The
rights of men are in danger. Abraham Garfield, great-
uncle of the boy born in the log cabin in the woods of
Ohio in 183 1, stands there with his fellow-citizens to
defend their rights. From their muskets streamed the
flame which to-day illumines all the world !
Four days after the fight, Abraham Garfield and his
fellow-citizens signed their names to this justification
of the act in firing upon the troops of the king — an
act which made them rebels : "Lexington, April 23, 1775.
" We, John Hoar, John Whithead, Abraham Garfield,
Benjamin Munroe, Isaac Parker, William Hosmer,
John Adams, Gregory Stone, all , of Lincoln, in the
county of Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay, all of lawful
age, do testify and say, that, on Wednesday last, we
were assembled at Concord, in the morning of said day,
in consequence of information received that a brigade
of regular troops were on their march to the said town

ANCESTRY. ig
of Concord, who had killed six men at the town of Lex
ington. About an hour afterwards we saw them approach
ing, to the number, as we apprehended, of about 1200, on
which we retreated to a hill about 80 rods back, and
the said troops then took possession of the hill where
we were first posted. Presently after this, we saw the
troops moving toward the north bridge, about one
mile from the said Concord meeting house ; we then
immediately went before them and passed the bridge,
just before a party of them, to the number of about
200, arrived ; they there left about one-half of their
200 at the bridge, and proceeded, with the rest, toward
Col. Barrett's, about two miles from the said bridge ;
and the troops that were stationed there, observing our
approach, marched back over the bridge and then took
up some of the planks ; we then hastened our march
toward the bridge, and when we had got near the
bridge they fired on our men, first three guns, one after
the other, and then a considerable number more ; and
then, and not before (having orders from our command
ing officer not to fire till we were fired upon), we fired
upon the regulars and they retreated. On their re
treat through the town of Lexington to Charlestown
they ravaged and destroyed private property and burnt
three houses, one barn, and one shop."
King George called Abraham Garfield a rebel ; but
the world has written him down a patriot ; and the
world has been made better for what he and his fellow-i
patriots did on that ever memorable day.

20 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

II,
THE PARENTS.
THE Revolutionary war was ended. The colonies
had attained their independence. They were
increasing in population ; and now that there was a
prospect of a future better than the past, the tide of
emigration began. Central New York was an inviting
section, and Solomon Garfield, brother of him who had
confronted the British troops at Concord bridge, resid
ing in Weston, Massachusetts, moved to Worcester,
Otsego County, N. Y., where he had a son born in
1799, to whom he gave the name of Abram.
How strange that the bigotry of Madam de Mainte-
non and of the Jesuits, the two powers behind the
throne of Louis XIV., directing affairs of state in
France, should have anything to do with the political
affairs in this Republic in the year 1880 ! This is the
Way it came about :
Under the Edict of Nantes, issued by Henry IV. of
France, in 1598, the Huguenots were to have equal
toleration with those who accepted the Church of
Rome. Under that edict the terrible religious wars
which had raged in France came to an end. But paci-

THE PARENTS. 21
fication and toleration did not suit the Jesuits. Hugue
nots were heretics, enemies of God, to be exterminatea.
Heresy was pestilential and must be rooted out. But
the edict of Henry IV. was in their way. Under it
the Huguenots were prospering. They were wealth-
producing. They were weavers, spinners, hatters, lace-
workers, industrious, thrifty, sober-minded, and God
fearing. To put them down there must be a revoca
tion of the Edict of Nantes.
The Jesuits laid their plans. They knew very well
that Madam de Maintenon could wind Louis XIV.
round her little finger. His life was burning out. He
was satiated with sensuous pleasure. Madam de Main-
tenon charmed him by the strength of her intellect,
and her calm, quiet, methodical ways. She under
stood affairs of state better than the secretaries who
came into the king's bed-chamber, while he was dress
ing, to lay before him the contents of their portfolios.
Madam de Maintenon, intent on securing her eternal
salvation through her services to the church, was ready
to aid in rooting out heresy, and persuaded Louis XIV.
to sign the order of revocation. Consternation seized
the Huguenots. The great exodus began. They fled
to England, Switzerland, Germany, and America —
eight hundred thousand, the bone and sinew, the best
blood, the heart and soul of France.
Among the Huguenots who sought refuge in Amer
ica was Maturin Ballou, who settled in Cumberland,
R. I. Coming down to the sixth generation, we see
his descendant, James Ballou, about the time Wolfe
was wresting Canada from France on the plains of

22 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Abraham, moving from Cumberland to Richmond,
N. H., and marrying Mehitabel Ingalls.
This Huguenot descendant, making his homewith his
young wife among the Granite Hills, had four chil
dren, — James, Henry, Eliza, and Alpha. The eldest
daughter, Eliza, was born May 21, 1801. James Ballou
died in 1809, when Eliza was eight years old. The
widow moved with her family to Worcester, Otsego
County, N. Y., and became neighbor to Solomon Gar
field. So it came about that Abram Garfield and Eliza
Ballou were playmates. We may think of them as
running barefooted and bareheaded about their homes,
with no superfluous clothing, — for the parents of both
have quite as much as they can do to make both ends
of the year meet. The boy drives the cows, looks
after the pigs : the girl feeds the chickens, runs on
errands, — for all must do what they can. Besides, it
is a cardinal point with these New-England emigrants
to work ; it is ingrained into their nature.
The boy and girl have not much schooling ; a few
weeks in summer, a few in winter. They learn to read,
spell, and write, and make a little progress in arith
metic ; , but the people of Worcester are too poor to
spend much money for schools.
On Sundays the families attend meeting on horse
back ; wives riding behind their husbands on pillions,
carrying the baby ; children of larger growth behind
the mother, holding on by the crupper.
They listen to long-winded sermons. At noon, old
friends shake hands and talk of what is going on in

THE PARENTS. 23
the world. Some of them have been to Schenectady
or Albany during the week, and have heard the latest
news from New York, — of what Napoleon Bonaparte
and Wellington are doing across the Atlantic ; of the
outrages which England is committing on American
vessels, impressing American seamen. Later, war with
England breaks out, and soldiers are on the march to
Niagara and Sackett's Harbor. Then come the battles
at Queenstown and Chippewa, and Perry's victory on
Lake Erie.
Amid such surroundings, the boyhood of Abram
Garfield and the girlhood of Eliza Ballou were passed.
It was a period of great business depression. The
war with England had left the country in a sad con
dition. Internal improvement had not begun. De
Witt Chnton was urging the construction of the Erie
Canal. The roads of the country were in a wretched
condition. On the great thoroughfares were stages,
but only the well-to-do could afford to travel in them.
The era for manufactories had not come. There was
little that a young man could turn his hand to in such
an out-of-the-way place as Worcester, in central New
York, and Abram Garfield turned his face toward
the wonderful country which everybody was talking
about — Ohio.
A great tide of emigration from New England was
setting westward. People from New Hampshire, Mas
sachusetts, and Connecticut had been moving into
New York ; and now they were pushing on from New
York to the more fertile lands farther west, enduring

24 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
terrible hardships, animated by the idea that there was
a good time for them in the future.
James Ballou caught the " Ohio fever," as it was
called, and persuaded his mother to sell out her small
possessions in Worcester. She packed her goods in a
wagon — beds, boxes, pots and pans, — and with her
children started for the West.
What a journey it was ! The roads through New
York were wretched, but far worse through Pennsyl
vania. There were rivers to cross, swamps to pass,
quagmires to fall into. It was a journey of six weeks
— now accomplished in twelve hours.
The wagon was the home of the family. Eliza
Ballou, the maiden of fourteen, endured all the hard
ships — the jolting over corduroy roads in a wagon
destitute of springs, the body bolted to the axle.
Many times the wheels sank to the hub in the yield
ing mud. Then came the prying with levers, the wor
rying of the jaded horses, and finally the unloading of
the wagon, the re-loading ; and thus day after day,
through rain and sun, through mud and mire, the reso
lute emigrant family made its way.
There were no thickly-settled towns, scarcely a vil
lage. Buffalo had been burned by the British in 1814,
and was just rising from its ashes — a cluster of houses.
Cleveland was a collection of log huts on the shore of
the lake at the outlet of the Cuyahoga River, wilh
perhaps one hundred inhabitants.
Muskingum County, whither Mr. Ballou was bound,
was an old settled section. Ebenezer Zane had made
a settlement there in 1 799 — the year of Abram Gar-

THE PARENTS.

25

field's birth. He kept a tavern, ¦ — a log house with two
rooms. Boats could ascend the Muskingum from the
Ohio to that locality, transporting goods for the set
tlers, who were pouring in to occupy the fertile lands.
Those were the days when the settlers were depen
dent on their rifles for their meat and clothing. Men
wore caps made from the skins of the raccoon or
muskrat, with deerskin jacket and pantaloons, which a
sfjaking rain and the subsequent drying made as stiff
and ridged as corrugated iron.
Those were the days of cabin-raisings, chopping-
matches, log-rollings, and huskings for the men, and of
quiltings, sewing-bees, and peach parings for the wo
men ; the rude, unlettered days of the frontier ; of a
community that was putting forth tremendous physical
strength ; clearing the land, cutting down the forest,
building roads, rearing houses, preparing the founda
tions of the Republic.
The young man Abram Garfield, the while, lived at
Worcester till he was fifteen, when he went to Madrid,
St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., where he remained several
years. From there he made his way to Newburg, near
Cleveland. Hearing that his old neighbors, Mrs. Ballou
and her family, were at Zanesville, he went down to see
them. He was twenty years of age. His former play
mate, Eliza Ballou, was a comely maiden of eighteen.
Is it a wonder that he, far from home, alone in the
world, should find his heart going out toward the girl
whom he had known so intimately through by-gone
years ; or that she should think hinri the one man in all
the world who could make her happy through life t

26 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
They were married by Justice of the Peace Hogan,
February 3, 1821.
The only home he could offer her was a log cabin,
eighteen by twenty feet, containing one room. It had
two doors and three windows. They were too far from
civilization, and too poor in pocket, to obtain a sash or
purchase glass ; but the young wife stretched greased
paper across the holes in the side of the house, waiting
till the coming of better times.
" We were quite stylish ; better off than some of
our neighbors," said Mrs. Garfield, laughingly, to the
writer. The fireplace was made of stones, surmounted by a
chimney of sticks and mud. The floor was of hewn
puncheons ; the roof of slabs and bark.
In such a house the young, couple began life, the
wife cooking their corn bread in a " Dutch oven," — a
kettle with a rimmed cover, on which live coals were
heaped. The oven, a frying-pan, an iron pot, wooden
plates, and knives and forks for the husband and wife ;
a bed in one corner ; stools made by the husband with
an ax and auger — this the outfit.
Children came to bless them, four in number ; the
last, the subject of this sketch, born, as already stated,
November 19th, 1831.
It was the canal-constructing period. Ohio was
building the Pennsylvania Canal, running from Cleve
land to Beaver, Penn., below Pittsburgh ; and the Penn
sylvania and Ohio Canal, extendin'i; from Cleveland,
south, to the Ohio River. Abram Garfield, full of
pluck and energy, put in a bid for the construction of a

THE PARENTS. 29
section of one of the canals. Only a single scrap of
his handwriting is preserved, and that is in relation to
the bid for the contract — the closing sentence — "If
any of it is struck to us, we will begin at once." He
secured the contract, reahzing a good profit ; but a
second contract, owing to a sudden rise in the price of
labor, proved disastrous, sweeping away all former
earnings. When his debts were paid, nothing re
mained except the humble home and the small farm,
partially paid for.

30 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

IIL
SURROUNDINGS.
IT will be instructive just here to pass in rapid review
the condition of the country at the time when James
Abram Garfield wa§ born. The census had just been
taken, showing a population of about thirteen millions.
Cleveland contained one thousand and seventy-five in
habitants. Chicago was a cluster of houses around
Fort Dearborn. Sylvester Marsh, who has recently
constructed a railroad to the summit of Mount Wash
ington, was supplying the fort and the few people in
Chicago with fresh beef, hanging them up for dressing
on the branches of an oak upon tbe site now occupied
by the city hall of that metropolis of nearly half a
million people.
A few settlers had made their way into Wisconsin
as Indian traders. Not till James A. Garfield was
three years of age, was there a furrow turned in the
State of Iowa.
James Monroe, the last of the statesmen of the
Revolutionary period, was passing away. The states
men of the second period — Webster, Clay, Calhoun,
and their compeers — were in the thick of the fight. It
was the period of the great forensic contest between

SURE a UN DINGS. , I
Webster and Hayne, the period when South Carolina
was asserting the doctrine of nullification.
In 1 83 1, engineers were laying out lines of railroad
from Boston to Lowell, Worcester and Providence,
and from Albany to Schenectady. In 1835, when James
A. Garfield was nearly four years old, the directors of
the Boston and Worcester Railroad were building a
freight depot in Boston, forty by sixty feet, which they
declared would give ample freight accommodations for
a decade of years !
A great change was taking place in this western
world. The Erie Canal, begun in 1817, through much
opposition, had been triumphantly carried through by
De Witt Clinton. It was completed in 1825. The
Dutch farmers around Albany called it Clinton's big
ditch. The penny-a-liners of the press had composed
lampoons on Clinton. I give a specimen :
" Oh, a ditch he would dig, from the lakes to the sea,
The eighth of the world's matchless wonders to be !
Good land! how absurd ! But why should you grin?
It will do to bury its mad author in ! "
The construction of the canal facilitated emigration
to the West, and the people of New England began
their great exodus, pouring into northern Ohio, plant
ing schoolhouses and churches side by side.
The great period of cotton-manufacturing had al
ready begun, and Lowell was sending out its fabrics to
compete with England in the trade which that country
had exclusively engaged up to 1823. Though the cot
ton manufactures had commenced, the farmers were still

32 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
swingling their crops of flax, and their wives and
daughters were making merry music with the spin
ning-wheels. Eliza Ballou Garfield, in her humble
home in the wilderness of Ohio, found it needful to
keep the spinning-wheel ever humming to furnish her
self and children with clothes.
Invention was just beginning to produce labor-saving
machinery. Obed Hussey was contriving a machine
which should supersede the sickle and cradle in har
vest — a machine to be drawn by horses, with swiftly
flying knives. His first patent was applied for in
1833, when James A. Garfield, eighteen months old,
was a prattler in his mother's arms. Joseph Henry,
student, inquiring into the phenomena of electrical
science, was just having a glimmering idea of utilizing
the electrical forces for conveying intelligence. Men
were coming to understand that it- was possible to
set to work what we call natural forces for the benefit
of the human race ; that machines could be made to do
the work of human hands.
The year 183 1 was the birth-time of great moral
ideas. From that day in 1619, when a Dutch ship
master sailed up James River, and sold sixteen negro
slaves to the planters of Virginia to work in the tobacco-
fields, negro slavery had been increasing in the south
ern States of the Republic. From the days of the
Revolution it had been dying out in the northern
States. The great irrepressible conflict between free
and slave labor was just beginning. A few months be--
fore the birth of James A. Garfield, a young man in
Boston, William Lloyd Garrison, issued his first hum-

SURROUNDINGS. 33
ber of the Liberator, pronouncing eternal hostility to
slavery, and demanding immediate emancipation. He
had visited a portion of the South, and had seen the
enormity of slavery, but the apathy in the North to its
iniquity and aggressions appalled him. He said :
" During my recent tour for the purpose of exciting
the minds of the people by a series of discourses on the
subject of slavery, every place that I visited gave fresh
evidence of the fact that a greater revolution in public
sentiment was to be effected in the free States, and
particularly in New England, than at the South. I
found contempt more bitter, detraction more relentless,
prejudice more stubborn, and apathy more frozen than
among slave-owners themselves. Of course, there were
individual exceptions to the contrary. This state of
things afflicted, but did not dishearten me. I deter
mined at every hazard to lift up the standard of eman
cipation in the eyes of the nation, within sight of
Bunker Hill, and in the birthplace of Liberty. That
standard is now unfurled ; and long may it float, un
hurt by the spoliations of time, or the missiles of a des
perate foe, — yea, till every chain be broken, and every
bondman set free ! Let Southern oppressors tremble,
— let their secret abetters tremble, — let their North
ern apologists tremble, — let all the enemies of the
persecuted blacks tremble !
" I am aware that many object to the severity of my
language ; but is there not cause for severity ? I will
be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice!
On this subject I do not wish to think or speak or
3

34 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
write with moderation. No ! no ! Tell a man whose
house is on fire to give a moderate^alarm ; tell him to
moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the
ravisher ; tell the mother to moderately extricate her
babe from the fire into which it has fallen ; but urge
me not to use moderation in a cause like the present.
I am in earnest, — I will not equivocate, — I will not
excuse, — I will not retreat a single inch, — and / will
be heard! The apathy of the people is enough to
make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten
the resurrection of the dead ! "
It was the period when conscience began to make
itself felt as never before in the history of our country ;
when Duty, Obligation, Fidelity to Truth, Liberty, and
Right began to stir men's hearts as in those days
when William Bradford, William Brewster, came over
in the "Mayflower," — when John Winthrop, John
Endicott, Edward Garfield, and thousands of men and
women of England, crossed the Atlantic in obedience
to their convictions of right. Not only was there an
awakening of conscience in regard to the individual
rights of man of whatever race, color, or lineage, but
throughout the northern States men began to see the
need of reforming their own lives. It was the period
of the beginning of the great temperance reformation.
Up to that time men everywhere drank intoxicating
liquors in the household; — upon rising in the morn
ing, to clear the cobwebs from their throats ; during
the forenoon to give them an appetite for dinner ;
after dinner, to settle their food ; after supper, to make

SURROUNDINGS. ,e
them sleep. Also, to prevent them from taking cold ;
to cure a cold ; because they were wet ; because
they were dry. Rum at weddings, at raisings, upon
the meetings of friends, at huskings, and at funerals.
Judge, physician, minister, — all drank! Rum and
whiskey were to be found everywhere! It is narrated
that a minister out West, during the political campaign
of 1832, — an ardent friend of General Jackson, — was
accustomed to electioneer with a Bible in one pocket
and a bottle of whiskey in the other, preaching to one
set of men, and drinking with another, making himself
the same to all that he might win their votes !
Whiskey and rum were indispensable factors in elec
tions at that period. In many counties the candidates
made arrangements with the groggeries at the country
seats and principal towns, to supply the voters with all
the liquors they might wish a few weeks before election.
Saturdays were Saturnalias — the people riding in to
the villages to hear, the stump-speakers, and drink
themselves drunk at the expense of the candidates.
The temperance reformation beginning in 1830 was
changing all this. T'nroughout the eastern States, and
northeastern Ohio settled largely by New Englanders,
men were reforming their drinking habits in obedi
ence to their conviction of duty, and obhgation to
themselves and God.
It was a period of religious awakening. Among the
earnest religious men of the period was Alexander
Campbell, who, dissatisfied with creeds as he found
them, made the Bible his creed, and became the
founder of the Disciples' Church. Among those who

36 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
were inclined to a religious life, and who became
members of that church, were Abram and Eliza Gar
field. Theirs was a humble home, but it was dedi
cated to God. Morning and evening, the children
beneath that roof heard the voice of their parents in
prayer. The Sabbath was honored.
There came a day in July when forest fires were
raging. There had been a drought. The fields were
parched. Woody fibre was like tinder. The wind was
sweeping the flames towards Abram Garfield's field of
wheat. Unless arrested, starvation would stare the
family in the face during the approaching winter. He
put forth the utmost energy that God had given him
and stopped it. His children would not want for
bread. But his blood, through contact with the fire
and his tremendous activity, was at fever heat. The
perspiration oozed from every pore. He sat down to
rest, to feel the cool breeze fanning his brow. How
delightful ! Little did he dream of what would come
of it. Morning dawned, and he was suffering from con
gestion of the throat. The nearest physician was miles
away, but a man who pretended to have some medical
knowledge applied a blister, aggravating the disease.
A few hours later the strong man felt that the powers
of life were going swiftly out.
Tenderly he gazed upon his children and upon the
loving-hearted wife. " You must take care of them,"
he said to her. As Daniel Webster in his last hours
desired to gaze once more upon his herd of cattle, so
AlDram Garfield cast one look upon the faithful oxen
.in the pasture near at hand, and called them by name.

SURROUNDINGS. 37
It was the end of earthly things to him. So a great,
stunning blow fell suddenly upon that Christian house
hold. The husband and father, in the vigor of man
hood, was stricken down, and the wife and mother, with
four children, the oldest ten years and the youngest
eighteen months, was left t > fight alone the tremendous
battle of life.

38 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

IV.
SELF-RELIANCE.
ALL the odds were against Eliza Ballou Garfield
on that heart-sinking day, when she stood be
side the open grave and saw her husband laid down to
his last sleep, and returned to that home from which
the Hght of his life had gone forever. But one with
God is more than all else beside.
There were her four children. God had given them
to her, and she would train them for him. But what
a struggle I The wheatfield was partially fenced ; the
cattle roaming the woods would be destroying the
grain. It must be fenced ; but how .? She had no
money to pay for hired help. She could not call upon
the neighbors ; they had enough work to do to keep
their heads above water. She had braved many hard
ships ; gone through many trials ; she was not the
woman to falter now.
Leaving the oldest child to care for the other three,
she went into the woods, found some trees already
felled, and split them into rails. Her arms were wear}' ;
blisters appeared upon her palms ; but what of that ?
Duty nerved her ; affection for her children, the pro
viding of bread for them, sustained her. Day by day

SELF-RELIANCE. 30
the pile of rails increased, and the work went on till the
field was securely fenced. Henceforth we need not
turn to Athens or Rome for models of devotion, but to
that log cabin of Ohio.
" How we got along I don't know," said Mrs. Gar
field ; " but we did it somehow."
They not only got on, but Mrs. Garfield, besides car
rying on her spinning, splitting rails, chopping wood,
doing out-door work, found time to teach her chil
dren. We are not to think of the family as being exception
ally poor, for in many respects Mrs. Garfield, even in
her widowhood, was quite as well off as many of her
neighbors. The country was new ; the settlers were
poor ; the forest was dense ; and there must be many
sturdy blows of the ax before even a small clearing
could be made. A few acres of cleared land would
suffice to raise bread for the settlers ; but there must
be a great putting forth of energy to make any head
way in the world. Those who could raise more than
enough for their own subsistence had no markets for
their surplus produce. All were poor together — not
from any lack of thrift or enterprise, but from stress of
circumstances, which time alone would remove.
The farm was not fully paid for, and there was the
interest on the mortgage to look after, and the extinc
tion of the debt. , Resolutely this woman, whose birth
place was amid the Granite Hills, with true New Eng
land grit, faced all the obstacles and conquered them.
There are sublimer victories in life than those won
amid the roar of cannon, and the uproar and turmoil

40 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
and bloodshed of battle — the victories where the con
flict goes on month after month, year after year,
through summer and winter. Eliza Ballou Garfield
fought such a battle, and came off conqueror.
Of her children, the oldest and youngest were boys,
the other two daughters. From the outset they
helped. There were chores which they could do —
care for the cows, gather wood for the fire, and run on
errands. The youngest of the family, at a very early
age, understood that he must help. He learned to
read when he was quite young, and devoured every
thing of a literary character within reach. He loved
stories of adventure.
The literature of forty years ago on the frontier con
sisted largely of narration of adventures, of encounters of
huntsmen with bears and panthers, of fights with the In
dians. The almanacs of the period which were found in
every chimney-corner of the West, and in many Easterrt
homes, were illustrated with rude woodcuts of huntsmen
shooting bears and wildcats, of fights with rattlesnakes,
of scenes on the Mississippi — steamboats running races,
huge columns of black smoke rolling out from the chim
neys — one of the boats going up into the air — boilers,
smoke-stacks, splinters, passengers raining down over
all the surrounding country. After the Revolution in
Texas — the fight at San Jacinto, and the fall of the
Alamo — the almanacs were illustrated by war scenes.
David Crockett's almanac had an immense circulation.
One of the most popular books on the frontier was
about battles with the Indians, illustrated by rude and
highly colored plates — the Indians being decked in

SELF-RELIANCE. 4 1
blue, orange, and vermilion. Among the books read
by James A. Garfield was a volume entitled "The
Pirate's Own Book," containing an account of Captain
Kidd and his chests of money ; stories of the bucca
neers of the Caribbean seas plundering a Spanish gal
leon, and other stories of adventure upon the ocean.
This volume made a great impression upon the young
boy, who read it by fire-light in that Ohio log-cabin.
"Jack Halyard" was another book of the sea that
charmed him. In his boyish enthusiasm he resolved to
be a sailor when he became a man. " Robinson Crusoe,"
and "Alonzo and Melissa," were delightful volumes
to that boy of the Ohio woods. But this mental food
of the week-days was supplemented by something bet
ter on Sunday, — the stories of the Bible ; attendance
at the meetings of the Disciples ; and the abiding ex
ample of a Christian mother.
The boy was keenly alive to fun, and engaged with
great zest in the sports of boyhood. He was quick to
resent wrong, and ever ready to stand in defense of his
own rights, or the rights of others. His kindness of
heart extended to the brute creation, and no ox, horse,
or mule suffered maltreatment at his hands. He at
tended the public school the few weeks of the winter
and summer terms — learning to read and write, get
ting an acquaintance with grammar, and arithmetic.
Tl e period of James A. Garfield's early boyhood was
one of great activity in the business world, — the
period of inflation — of speculation. Everybody was
getting rich on paper in Eastern and Western lands.
The tide of emigration was sweeping on as never be-

42 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
fore. Thousands of people in the Eastern States, who
never intended to settle in the West, purchased gov
ernment lands in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and lUinois,
expecting to see them double or quadruple in a few
months. They not only invested their surplus earn
ings, but obtained money at the banks. There was a
great increase of banks, and the issuing of a vast vol
ume of notes with no specie basis.
The United States government was not only out of
debt, but had a large surplus from customs revenue
which was given to the States, thus swelUng the infla
tion. At last the crash came. Banks failed ; people who
had hired money could not pay notes ; their earnings
were gone ; the lands which they had valued so highly
were sold for taxes ; the corner lots in paper cities
were not worth the paper on which they had been
drawn. Those were hard times. The mother toiling for her
children on the little Ohio farm had no surplus earn
ings, but the hard times were felt in that home never
theless. There was need for more pinching — more
struggling to keep the wolf from the door.
Money ! how could her youngest boy earn money .'
Orange was a farming- town, and the farmers did not
need his help. Their own boys could do all their
chores. There were no manufactures of any kind in
town ; the day for manufactures had not come. There
was a joiner and carpenter who perhaps might have
something for him to do. The boy thought that he
could push a jack-plane. The joiner had some boards

SELF-RELIANCE. 4-
which needed planing ; they were twelve feet long ;
he was willing to pay a cent a board for the work !
The bargain was completed.
Picture the scene : The barefoot boy, in his blue
jean trowsers, — coat and vest laid aside, — hardly tall
enough to use the carpenter's bench, the sweat upon
his forehead, pushing the plane, making the shavings fly
from morning till night, planing one hundred boards,
receiving one hundred cents, — the first money he ever
earned I Give him millions to-day and he would not
be so rich as he was that night when he was the pos
sessor of only one dollar. It was his first success in
the great life-struggle.
During the first years of the century the farmers
throughout the country saved their wood-ashes, which
they sold for the manufacture of " black salts." In
every town in New England, New York, and Ohio,
there were " pot-asheries," — as they were called, — es
tablishments containing vats for the leeching of wood-
ashes ; and caldron-kettles for boiling the lye, reduc
ing it to potash, which in its crude state was termed
" black ^Its." When still further refined, it became
pearl-ash. In the early years of the century, when settlers were
clearing their land, they were accustomed to roll the
logs into huge piles and burn them, for the purpose of
saving the ashes, which in New England commanded
ten cents a bushel.
There was an ashery in Orange ; and the boy who
was ready to turn his hand to any honest toil, found
employment in shovehng ashes into tho leech-tubs.

46 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
wetting them down, keeping the fires roaring under
the kettles, which required constant care.
It was not a kind of labor that he particularly fan
cied ; but labor was a duty, and when duty called, he
was not the one to flinch.
From planing boards and boiling black salts he made
another step, — learning how to take the " wind " out
of timber before framing it by the " square rule." He
bored holes, made mortises and tenons, and at fifteen,
in the years of 1847 and 1848, earned a little money
in that way, learning at the same time the rudiments
of a carpenter's calling.
Making his way to Newburg, which is now a part of
Cleveland, he- took a job at cutting one hundred cords
of wood for twenty-five dollars ! No one who has not
swung the ax day after day can understand the amount
of muscular effort required to cut one hundred cords
of wood. He cut two cords a day.
Probably his wages did not exceed thirty-seven cents
a day, after paying his board. This work was done in
full view of Lake Erie, where he could see —
" The stately ships go by
To the haven under the hill."
Day after day he beheld the steamers arrive from Buf
falo and depart for Sandusky, Detroit, and Chicago.
Schooners spread their white wings, and disappeared
in the distance. The glamour of " Jack Halyard " was
on him, and the longing to be a sailor increased rather
than diminished.
Finishing his wood-chopping, he engaged to assist a

SELF-RELIANCE. .y
Mr. Treat through haying and harvesting, and with his
earnings in his pocket, announced to his mother that
he could no longer restrain his desire for the life on the
wave, and that he had decided to immediately depart.
Amid prayers and forebodings she bade him good-bye,
and he found his way on foot to Cleveland.
Seeking the harbor, he boarded the only ship that
lay in port, and inquired for the captain. His ideas of
a captain were formed from the stories he had read,
and he irflagined a dashing, brave, and gallant gentle
man, capable, when the occasion required, of perform
ing desperate deeds, but disposed to be, as a general
thing, generous to a failing.
To the youth's question, a hand replied that the cap
tain would soon come up from the hold.
The prophecy proved true. First the captain was
heard, then seen, clearing his way with volley after
volley of oaths.
The bashful youth approached, and diffidently asked
if he wanted a hand .¦'
An increased flood of oaths, turned wholly in his
direction, was the only answer received. A suppressed
titter came from the men, and the boy retired in con
fusion. Walking about the docks and looking at the scanty
indications of commerce at that early day, he began to
collect his thoughts, and finally reasoned, that as the
lake was to the ocean, so was the canal to the lake, and
his failure in securing a situation arose from the fact
that he was not sufficiently posted in the ways of
sailors. To the canal he would go and learn.

48 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
He stepped on board canal-boat " Evening Star," and
accosted Captain Amos Letcher, who is still living in
Bryan, Ohio, asking for employment. Captain Letcher
was in want of a boy to drive the mules along the tow-
path, and engaged him.
The canal at that time was a great thoroughfare be
tween Lake Erie and the Ohio River.
Copper-mining on Lake Superior had begun, and
was having a great development. The ore was brought
down in schooners to Cleveland, and from thence taken
to Pittsburgh by canal. The " Evening Star," on its
first trip, after young Garfield became one of its hands,
took a cargo of ore to Pittsburgh, and returned with a
cargo of coal.
The canal had its fascinations. " It was imagination
that took me upon the canal," said General Garfield to
«-he writer.
By accepting such employment, he would see some
thing of the world. The books he had read, the stories
that had come to him, fired his imagination. The
smoke that curled above his home was not the center
of the universe. He must see what there was beyond
the horizon that closed around him. It was the long
ing to know what there was beyond his sight — the
cravings of a brave spirit for knowledge and adventure
that impelled him — the same spirit that has led him
through life. The young mule-driver, by engaging in
such occupation, would see other places.
There was little to stir one's blood in the quiet of
his native town ; but on the canal he would come in
contact with new things, and though he had been dis-

SELF-RELIANCE. _ j
appointed in being a sailor, he looked forward to his
future occupation with much pleasure. True, the driv
ing of a span of mules would be monotonous ; but he
would see the world, and be earning a living at the
same time.
The canal-men were hard-working, burly fellows,
¦w ho were knocking about the world in a free and res
olute way. They were generally regarded as a "hard
set," ready to drink whiskey on all occasions, accus
tomed to roll out a torrent of oaths, and ready to
engage in a fight upon the slightest provocation.
The young mule-driver received his share of curses,
but he was so wide awake, so good-natured, that the
boatmen liked him. He was ever on the look-out to
get ahead of another boat, especially in approaching a
lock, and in his eagerness he sometimes violated what
were regarded as the rules of the canal, and came neai
getting thrashings from other boatmen.
By being a good mule-driver, he was promoted to a
steersman and deck-hand — his first stepping up in
life. He had frequent mishaps, — falling into the canal
not less than fourteen times. He could not swim, but
somehow always managed to get out. When he fell
overboard the fourteenth time, he grasped a rope that
was dragging in the water, and undertook to pull him
self in, hand over hand, but the rope was running
free, and he made no headway, till a knot caught in
a ciack and stopped its further paying out.
He crawled into his bunk, and as he lay there shiv
ering, his mind was going over the incident that had

52 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
saved him, — the knotting of the rope and its catch
ing in the crack. He thought of the narrow margin
that had come to him between life and death. He
thought of the old home — his mother — that he had
not informed her of his whereabouts ; that she, with
out doubt, supposed him to be upon the lake, and
he resolved to go home as soon as his trip was ended.
The roustabouts of a Mississippi steamer and the
boatmen on a canal are ever ready for a fight. To
be knocked down, to get a black eye, to have their
scalps peeled, are matters of frequent occurrence. One
of the hands on Captain Letcher's boat, " Dave," as he
was familiarly called, was a stout, burly, hard-handed
fellow, in the prime of life. Garfield was sixteen ;
lithe, agile, and muscular. One day Garfield's setting-
pole was wrenched suddenly from his grasp by coming
in contact with the tow-lines of a passing boat. It
flew toward Dave.
" Look out, Dave ! " shouted Garfield.
The warning was too late ; the pole struck Dave in
the back, not injuring him in the least, but rousing his
anger. " It was an accident. I didn't mean it, Dave."
" You did, you rascal ! " shouted Dave, dropping his
pole, and with clenched fists aiming a blow at Gar
field, who warded it, and the next moment planted a
blow under Dave's ear, which sent him reeling upon
the deck. In an instant Garfield was upon him.
" If he don't know any better than to get mad for an
accident, smash his smellers ! " shouted the captain.
The boy of sixteen raised his arm to bring his

SELF-RELIANCE.

S3

clenched fist down upon the face of Dave. All the
energy that comes from success, all the stimulus that
comes from the captain's praise, is in that arm. He
will blacken the fellow's eyes, knock his nose about
as if it were the bung of a barrel. He will conquer a
peace. He is a boy, his enemy a full-grown man, in
the vigor of life, hero of many fights. What an op
portunity for fame !
" Hold on, Jim ! "
The arm drops. The muscles relax, the fingers
unclasp, and the boy helps Dave to his feet. No re
venge, no malice — generosity only. From that time
on, Dave is his best friend.

54 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

LIFE'S GREAT TURNING-POINT.
THE months go by. James Abram Garfield, the
while, is enduring the hardships of life on the
canal. Summer passes away.
The golden dust of autumn is falling on the field.
The red moon of October spreads out its ruddy shield ;
The russet and the yellow are on the distant wood.
And all the lovely flowers which in their fragrance stood,
The lily and the violet, the white rose and the red.
Have with the summer faded and all their perfume shed.
The golden-yellow c.orn-ears are ripened for the store,
And purple grapes are hanging on the trellis by the door.
The hardships, the work from early morning till late
at night, the exposure to sun and storm, the drenchings
from , rain, the wettings in the canal, the sleeping at
night in malarious atmospheres, lying down' with his
threadbare clothes, limp and damp, clinging to his
skin, — all together have had their effect upon the
boy of sixteen.
He reaches Cleveland, settles with the captain, re
ceiving his small pittance of wages, turns his steps
towards his home, seventeen miles away. Nerveless,

LIFE'S GREAT TURNING-POINT.

55

weary, fever in his blood, thin, spare, haggard, he
makes his way to Orange.
During the months he has been gone he has not
written to his mother ; there has been little time to
write. He went away against her wishes, but now
that the fever is burning him up, he comes back to the
humble home, to feel cooling hands upon his brow.
Night is falling as with faltering steps he approaches
the door. His foot is upon the threshold, his hand
upon the latch. He hears a voice within, — a voice that
is music to his ears, — soft and low. It is the hour of
evening prayer :
" God bless my.absent boy ! "
Not till we have traveled well along life's journey do
we discover where the great turning-points of our lives
have been. The weary youth, burning with fever, did
not know then that the past was all behind him, — that
a far different future was before him, and that his foot
was upon its threshold.
It was the dividing-line — the supreme moment be
tween what he had been and what he was to be ; and
the crowning glory, which hung over him like a heav
enly Shekinah, was a mother's love, which, morning and
evening, went up to heaven for a blessing on her boy 1
Through the autumn months he tossed and tumbled
on his bed, shaking with ague, too languid from the
effects of the malaria to undertake any labor, taking
mercury prescribed by the local physician till salivation
set in. It was the medical treatment of the period.-
How hard to lie there helpless upon his bed when
the great world was opening before him ! He was

56 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
thinking the while, not perhaps of the canal, but of the
lake or the sea. The imagination which had led him
to become a boatman was still portraying the pleasure
of a life upon the ocean. The influence of " Jack Hal
yard " was still upon him, and though a third of a century
has passed since James A. Garfield read the fascinating
story, its influence has not wholly faded out. Even in
mature life he experiences no pleasure like that which
thrills him when upon the deck of a steamship in
mid-ocean. Not long since he gave utterance to the
following words : " The sight of a ship fills me with a
strange fascination. When upon the water, when my
fellow-men are suffering sea-sickness, I am as tranquil
as when walking the land in serenest weather."
Helpless in body but strong in purpose, he passed
the hours of the closing year. He did not then com
prehend how the mother's gentle hand, how her sweet
voice was leading him in another direction. There
was never a reproach uttered in regard to his expe
rience upon the canal, but these were the words that
fell from her lips :
" Working on the canal, or going as a sailor upon the
lake, will only give you employment for half the year,
and you will not be able to get much to do in the win
ter. Would it not be much better for you to go to
school and fit yourself to be a teacher ? Then you
will have a chance to earn money in the winter."
We are not to think of this youth, who has come
from his summer's work on the tow-path, as having
made no progress in intellectual culture. On the con
trary, he has made the most of his opportunities, and

LIFE'S GREAT TURNING-POINT. 57
has worried more than one teacher in the district
school with his questions, answers, and problems.
He has some keen-witted cousins by the name of
Boynton, who also have put teachers to their trump.
They have formed an intellectual circle, and have been
studying the meaning of words. " We mastered Web
ster's Spelling-book," said General Garfield to the
writer. The boy of sixteen, who has mastered even so small
a volume as the SpeUing-book of Noah Webster, has a
good and solid foundation for future intellectual culture.
The juvenile circle not only spelled the words, but
hunted out their meaning. From definitions they went
on to construct sentences, employing the words that
would be most forcible. It was self-culture which has
been of infinite value to General Garfield through life.
It is manifest in all his writings, his speeches, and es^
pecially in his military despatches. The best word
seems to be ever at hand.
Winter came. The district school began. The teacher
was a young, enthusiastic man, — Samuel D. Bates, —
who had attended the " Geauga Seminary," as the
academy in the neighboring town of Chester was
called. The young schoolmaster was deeply religious,
and afterward became a devoted minister.
No balances have yet been constructed to measure
the power of moral forces. An influence for good
once started goes on forever. Little did that young
schoolmaster know, when he brought the influence of
his sublime enthusiasm for education, for religion, for
everything that is good, pure, high and holy, upon that

58 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
boy of seventeen, of what would come of it. The
world does not yet know. The seed then sown is only
now putting forth its flower. All mankind may yet
breathe its fragrance. That winter school was the di
viding-line between James A. Garfield's past and his
eventful future.
How wide apart the influences of that winter from
those of the preceding summer! The quiet of the
school-room, the Scripture lesson, the morning prayer,
the enthusiasm pf the young teacher, the coming in of
new thoughts, new aspirations and desires, — the little
glimpses of the great ocean of truth, — the first inhaling
of the fragrance of that limitless sea, — the thoughts of
a better life beyond the present, of God, of heaven, —
this in contrast to life on the canal-boat I
That prayer of the mother was still haunting his
memory. Conscience, Obligation, Duty, confronted
him, pointing him toward the Right. The boy heard
voices divine winning him to a better, nobler, purer life.
With resolute purpose he turned his back upon all the
past, resolving to follow the white-winged spirits
wherever they might lead him.
" Go with me to the Seminary," said his teacher.
How could he go ? He had no money, no clothes ex
cept the suit of country jeans, worn threadbare at
the knees. But the mother, whose resolute will had
conquered greater difficulties in the past, was behind
him, urging him on. She had prayed for him ; she
was ready to work for him. She had a little money, a
friend had a little, — together amounting to eleven dol-

LIFE'S GREAT TURNING-POINT. 55
lars. They gave it cheerfully. It was the widow's mite,
— all she had.
In March, 1849, the son, in company with a cousin
and another schoolmate, with their packs on their
backs containing their few books, tin dippers, knives
and forks, a frying-pan and plates, bade farewell to
friends, and trudged along the highway to Chester.
They found an empty room in an old unpainted build
ing near the school, which they hired for a pittance,
unpacked their tin cups, plates, knives, forks, and frying-
pan, bought potatoes and bacon, and began housekeep
ing, boarding themselves for a few cents a day.
Young Garfield's studies were English grammar,
natural philosophy, arithmetic, and algebra. He had
never seen an algebra but once, before purchasing the
one which he used during the term.
The eleven dollars were dwindling ; so much had
gone for books that the cash on hand for the table was
getting low. How replenish it .? It was March ; too
early for farm-work. Chester was a small place, but
the two or three carpenters in the town were ever
having odd jobs, and the boy who was feeling the tides
of a new purpose bearing him on, was ready to do
anything. He could push a plane. The days of
planing-machines had not come, and the carpenters
were ready to pay small pittances for the bone and
muscle of the young student. Before breakfast, be
fore the bell called him at nine in the morning, he was
making the shavings fly in a neighboring shop When
four o'clock came in the afternoon, he rushed from the
school-room to the bench. On Saturday he could

6o JAMES A. GARFIELD.
work from morning till night. While his muscle was
driving the plane, his brain was intent on the value of
X in an equation. When recitation came he was
always fresh. The play-ground had its attractions.
No boy ever pitched the quoits with keener zest than
he ; but behind the plane was something for the frying-
pan or another suit of clothes, and behind them was
the hunger of the soul — the thirst for knowledge.
When the term closed, he had money enough to pay
all his bills. The eleven dollars was all the money he
ever received from others ; from that day on he paid
his own way.
During the summer vacation he worked as carpenter
or farmer in the haying or harvest field. With a
schoolmate he called one day upon a farmer, who
employed a large number of men. "Do you want
some help ? " they asked. The farmer looked at the
striplings as if doubtful of their ability to do much.
" Can you mow 1 "
" Yes, sir."
" How much wages do you want .-• ".
"Just what you think is right."
" Very well, you may go to work."
Was there ever a boy that swung a scythe, that did
not feel that he was a man ? that he could do a man's
work ? James Garfield and his companion determined
not only to be men in the haying field, but to surpass
the other laborers in the amount and quahty of their
work. It required muscle, a wide reaching out of their
arms — but they did it.
"See here, you lubbers," said the old farmer, ad-

LIFE'S GREAT TURNING-POINT. 6 1
dressing the other hands ; " those boys are beating
you all hollow. Their swathes are wider, and they
mow better than you do. Aren't you ashamed of
yourselves ? "
Not unnaturally, the boys were fond of the farmer's
praise, and remembered it. SettHng-day came.
" Well, boys, how much must I pay ? "
" What you think is right," they replied.
" Well, I don't know. You see you are only boys — •
of course you can't expect men's wages."
" But have you not told the men that we mowed
wider swathes, and did our work better than they .¦•
You have held us up as an example. True, we are
boys, but if we have done the work of men, are we not
entitled to men's pay .>""
The farmer could not eat his own words. He had
used the boys to shame the men, and so paid them full
wages. Back to the Academy went the boy, -cooking his
bacon in the frying-pan, working morning and night
and Saturdays, yet making such intellectual progress,
that when the fall term closed, he was deemed qualified
to teach school. He found one near by.
The morning came on which he was to begin. He
was not the only teacher who has looked with forebod
ing upon the future, when about to begin a first school.
"I dare say you will see me home before ten
o'clock," he said to his mother as he started for school.
Ten o'clock came, but he did not come. He was
getting interested in his school, and the school in him.
He was entering upon a new career, feeling the stimulus

62 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
that comes from the putting forth of intellectual powers.
It was no longer mule-driving, but training the human
intellect. He experienced an enthusiasm all unknown
before, and at once became a popular teacher.
He was eighteen years old. Twelve months before
he was on the tow-path, with grand imaginings of a
life on the sea ; but now he was sailing on a wider
ocean than the Atlantic or Pacific, the great ocean on
whose shore Isaac Newton, with all his attainments,
said that he had picked only a few pebbles. The new
life opened wide before him. The vision was so en
trancing that he determined to strike out boldly and
with a definite purpose, — the obtaining of a collegiate
education. " It is a great point gained," he afterwards wrote,
"when a young man makes up his mind to devote
himself to the accomplishment of a definite work."
Through the summer vacation of 1850 he worked
as carpenter. He had got beyond the plane, and was
using the square and scratch-awl — setting other men
to work. When the work was done for the day, he
took up his Latin grammar.
By the spring of 185 1 he emancipated himself from
the frying-pan and became a boarder in a family,
paying for food and clothes and washing, ;^i.o6 per
week. The next winter he taught school again ; studying
hard the while, with his eye fixed on his definite
purpose. He was taking a long look ahead. He could
see something worth having far away, and bent all his
energies to make it his own.

STUDENT AT HIRAM. 63

VI.
STUDENT AT HIRAM.
THE settlers of north-eastern Ohio were, as a
whole, a remarkable body of men. Many of
them were deeply religious, and emigrated from the
eastern States, not merely to improve their worldly
condition, but to aid in establishing society on solid
foundations. They were animated by a sentiment like
that which brought John Winthrop and his associates
to America. The glory of God was behind the move
ment ; the planting of religious institutions in the
wilderness ; the doing of something to make the Re
public of the future, christian. It was a grand mis
sionary ideal. The sentiment was stimulated by the
various missionary societies organized from 18 16 and
at later dates.
The years 1830-31 were remarkable not only for
the beginning of the great temperance reformation
and the agitation of the anti-slavery question, but for
a great revival of religious convictions, and nowhere
was the awakening deeper than in the towns of the
Western Reserve in Ohio.
It was a period of religious inquiry. Old theol
ogies and old creeds were questioned. Earnest, warm-

64 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
hearted men were no longer satisfied with antiquated
ecclesiastical ideas of belief or of church polity.
This spirit of inquiry, as has already been stated,
resulted in the formation of a new religious organiza
tion, the members of which called themselves Disci
ples. Their creed was very brief It included : —
I. A belief in God the Father.
2. That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living
God, the only Saviour.
3. That Christ is a Divine Being.
4. That the Holy Spirit is the Divine agent in
the conversion of sinners, and in guidance and direc
tion. 5. That the Old and New Testament Scriptures are
inspired of God.
6. That there is future punishment for the wicked,
and reward for the righteous.
7. That God hears and answers prayer.
8. That the Bible is the only creed.
Abram and Eliza Garfield were members of the
Disciples' Church. Their son, during his attendance at
Geauga Seminary, also became an active member,
taking part in the prayer-meetings, and honoring his
profession by an exemplary life.
To those earnest settlers of the Western Reserve,
life was more than meat, and the body than raiment.
They were anxious for the welfare of their children.
They wished them to have a good education. The
grand idea not only dotted the country with common-
schoolhouses, but with academies, institutes, serni-
naries, colleges, and " universities," — schools with

STUDENT AT HIRAM. 6S
high-sounding names, but slenderly endowed, and with
a limited curriculum.
One of the institutions thus established was the
Eclectic Institute at Hiram, Portage County, about
eighteen miles south-east of Orange. Its course of
study was in advance of that at Chester, and in the
spring of 185 1, with the " definite purpose' strictly in
view, James A. Garfield made his appearance, bundle
in hand, at Hiram.
The board of trustees of the Eclectic Institute were
in session.
" Gentlemen," said the janitor, putting his head into
the room, " there is a young man at the door who
wishes to see you."
" Who is he .? " " What does he want V'
" He wants to see you."
" Show him in."
The young man, twenty years of age, entered.
" Gentlemen, my mother is a widow, with very little
money. I want to obtain an education, and would like
the privilege of making the fires and sweeping the
floors of the building to pay part of my expenses."
" How do you know, young man, that the work will
be done to suit us .? " asked one of the members.
" Try me two weeks, and if it is not done to your
satisfaction, I will retire."
" Gentlemen, I think we had better try him," said
Frederick Williams, one of the board ; and he was
duly installed master of the broom and dust-brush.
In the march of life, not one alone, but many of our
comrades lend us helping hands. They help us by
S

66 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
manly acts in our hours of need ; when we are just
ready to halt through weariness, a word of encourage
ment stimulates us to a new effort. No one marches
by himself alone. They who have had a struggle with
adverse circumstances, and conquered them, can look
over the battlefield and see how, just at the right time,
friends unsolicited, and out of the kindness of their
natures, gave them needed assistance. Possibly at the
time they did not know that they were receiving help,
and only came to a sense of it in after years.
We have already seen how the young schoolmaster
gave a helping hand to James A. Garfield when he
most needed it, by his enthusiasm and counsel, sup
plementing that of the mother, turning him from the
canal to the college.
We see him now at Hiram, with a definite purpose,
bending all his energies to attain it. Among the stu
dents is a lady, nine years older than himself, Almeda
A. Booth, who is to be, as it were, a white-winged
spirit to lead him on.
"I am, perhaps, more indebted to her than to any
other person,'' said General Garfield to the writer.
With this estimation of her character and service,
this sketch would be incomplete, without some notice
of Miss Booth.
Her parents were of sturdy New England stock ;
her father from Connecticut, her mother from Massa
chusetts. Both were swept westward in childhood by
the great tide of emigration which settled western
Ohio. "Her father," says General Garfield, " was a man of

STUDENT AT HIRAM.

67

more than ordinary powers of mind ; gentle, affection
ate, impressible, and deeply religious. His early intel
lectual training did not go beyond the rudiments
taught in the common schools of Connecticut. But
'he was an inveterate reader of books, and the armful
of choice volumes that lay on the shelves of his little
library was, probably, a greater number than could
have been found in one house out of every thousand
on the Reserve. He adopted a profession which ren
dered the acquirement of wealth well-nigh impossible.
He entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and was assigned to a circuit of nearly a thou
sand miles.
"Soon after entering the ministry, he sent eleven
silver dollars to England to purchase a Greek lexicon ;
and he so far mastered the language as to read the
Greek Testament with ease. He used to say that in
the early days of his ministry, he and a Mr. Charles
Elliott were the only Methodist preachers west of the
Alleghanies who were able to read Greek."
This was about 1820. It presents in brief the cul
ture of the people of Ohio at that period. Mr. Booth
married Dorcas Taylor, 18 19. Their only child, who
was to be of such service to the young man at Hiram,
was born August 15, 1823.
" When she was twelve years of age," says General
Garfield, " she used to puzzle her teachers with ques
tions, and distress them by correcting their mistakes.
One of these, a male teacher, who was too proud to
acknowledge the corrections of a child, called upon the ;
most learned man in the town for help and advice in

68 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
regard to a point of dispute between them. He was
told that he was in error, and that he must acknowl
edge his mistake. The teacher was manly enough to
follow this wise advice, and thereafter made this Httle
girl his friend and helper. It was like her to help him
quietly and without boasting. During her whole life,
none of her friends ever heard an intimation from her
that she had ever achieved an intellectual triumph over
anybody in the world."
This incident reveals the character of Miss Booth.
When she was twelve, she was reading Rollin's An
cient History, and Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire. She began as a teacher in a log
schoolhouse when she was seventeen. Till she was
twenty-four years of age, her life was devoted to home
duties, study, and teaching.
An engagement of marriage with a young man of
great promise was terminated by his sudden death.
With the shadow of a great sorrow upon her, the first
period of her life closed ; but a Christian faith sus
tained her, and by slow degrees her grief gave place
to a desire for a larger culture.
The Eclectic Institute was founded in 1849, and in
the spring of 185 1 she accepted the position of teacher
in the English department, carrying on at the same
time her studies in the classics.
James A. Garfield became a student in the fall of
that year. He says :
" I saw a class of three reciting in Mathematics —
geometry, I think. I had never seen a geometry, and
I regarded teacher and class with reverential awe.''

STUDENT AT HIRAM.

69

The first was William B. Hazen, during the Rebel
lion a major-general, serving with distinction through
the war, and now on the Indian frontier. The second
was George A. Baker, at present a prominent business
man in Cleveland ; the third. Miss Booth.
General Garfield contrasts her with Margaret Fuller.
The two were alike in intellectual force. He says :
" Highly as I appreciate the character of Margaret
Fuller, greatly as I admire her remarkable abilities, I do
not hesitate to say ihat in no four years of her life did
her achievements, brilliant as they were, equal the work
accomplished by Miss Booth during the four years
that followed her coming to Hiram."
Miss Booth had the general charge of the ladies' de
partment, besides teaching several classes. Her duties
were arduous. One would have supposed that she
would have little physical or mental strength for other
work, but she saw that so long as she taught only
English studies her pupils would soon be beyond her
immediate influence. She must herself have a higher
scholarship, and began classical studies, keeping in ad
vance of her own pupils and abreast with the foremost
students of the Institution. This brings us to the
time when she began to be a help to the young student
who had come from Geauga to obtain a wider culture.
They studied together and recited together.
" Our studies," says General Garfield, " were the
same." At that time the text-books were kept for sale
by the librarian, and from his memoranda we can see
how they got on in the classics.
"January, 1852. Latin grammar and Caesar.

70 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
March, 1852. Greek grammar.
April, 1852. French grammar.
August, 1852. German grammar and reader.
November, 1852. Zenophon's Memorabilies and
Greek Testament.
November, 1853. Homer's Iliad.
August, 1853. Sophocles and Herodotus."
Near the close of the term 1852, James A. Garfield
also began to teach in the Institute, and could only
keep up his studies outside class-hours. " I was," he
says, "far behind Miss Booth in mathematics and the
physical sciences ; but we were nearly at the same
place in Greek and Latin."
During the summer vacation of 1853, twelve of the
advanced students — James A. Garfield and Miss Booth
among them — formed a literary society, and gave
themselves to study, reciting to one of the professors
whom they engaged. They read during those four
weeks the Pastorals of Virgil, the first six books of the
Iliad, accompanied by a thorough drill in the Latin and
Greek grammars at each recitation.
During the fall term of 1853, Miss Booth and Gen
eral Garfield read about one hundred pages of Herodo
tus, and the same amount of Livy. Two evenings of
each week they met two of the professors to make a
joint translation of the book of Romans. In General
Garfield's diary is this entry :
" 1853 — December 15. Translation Society sat
three hours at Miss Booth's room and agreed upon the
translation of nine verses." It was not rapid, but
thorough work.

STUDENT AT HIRAM. 7 1
" The few spare hours," says General Garfield,
" which school-work left us, were devoted to such pur
suits as each preferred, but much study was done in
common. I can name twenty or thirty books, which
will be doubly precious to me because they were read
and discussed in company with her. I can still read
between the lines, the memories of her first impressions
of the page, and her judgment of its merits. She was
always ready to aid any friend with her best efforts."
They were two congenial spirits, animated by the
same ideal, both with definite objects in view ; hers
the wider experience — the wisdom of maturer years ;
the hallowed influence- of a woman who is living to
make the world better, to lift the human soul to a
higher plane of civilization and Christian culture. The
influence for good of such a woman is incalculable.
"It is quite probable," says General Garfield, "that
John Stuart Mill has exaggerated the extent to which
his own mind and works were influenced by Harriet
Mills. I should reject his opinion on that subject as a
delusion, did I not know from my own experience, as
well as that of hundreds of Hiram students, how great
a power Miss Booth exercised over the culture and
opinions of her friends."
Miss Booth died in 1875. General Garfield gave an
address in memoriam. of her at Hiram the following
year, in which he tenderly and affectionately acknowl
edges his great indebtedness to her. To him she was
ever an angel of light. How great her transforming
powers ! He had been three years at Chester, two at
Hiram ; how far behind him were those months upon

72 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
the canal ! How vast the sea on which he was spread
ing his sail !
There was no let-up in. the struggle, but rather in
creased activity. He pushed the plane and worked as
carpenter, shingled houses, — doing anything in that
line that he could turn his hand to. Many of the
houses in the village of Hiram were covered with
boards, which were planed and nailed upon the joists
by this student, with a great purpose in view. When
he was making the shavings fly in the early morning
before breakfast, he was going over his lessons for the
day. When making the welkin ring with his pounding,
he was at the same time hammering away at Cicero or
Sallust. On Saturdays he could use his muscles all
day and earn nearly enough to carry him through the
next week. Yet somehow he found time to play, and
there was not a young man in the Institute who was
his superior at pitching quoits, or at other games re
quiring skill and the exercise of judgment. He wanted
everybody to take part in the games and enjoy the fun.
As he took up the bat one day for a game of ball, he
chanced to see some small boys in a corner looking
wistfully on. The principals had chosen sides, and left
the little ones out.
" Are not those boys in the game .' " he asked.
" What ! those little chaps .? Of course not ; they
would spoil the game."
" But they want to play just as much as we do. Let
them come in ! "
" No ! We don't want the game spoiled. They can't
play ! "

STUDENT AT HIRAM. 73
" Neither shall I, if they cannot."
He threw the bat on the ground. His decision was
made instantly.
Of course the game would not be quite so sharp with
those inexperienced little fellows in it ; but what was
the game for .' Was it not for all to have a good time }
His kind heart and democratic instinct took in every
body, and he carried the day. The play could not well
go on without him. The little boys came in, and every
body had part in the fun.
The Eclectic Institute, though without endowment,
was a good preparatory school. Its character is best
portrayed by General Garfield himself, in a speech
made within its walls on the nth of June last, at
an annual reunion of the alumni. He spoke of its
founders :
" They were pioneers to this Western Reserve. They
were all men of energy, great force of character, and
nearly all of them men of small means ; but they planted
this institution. In 1850 it was a green field, with a
solid, plain brick building in the center of it, and al
most all the rest has been done by the institution itself.
This is the second chapter. Without a dollar of en
dowment, without a powerful friend anywhere, but
with a corps of teachers who were told to go on the
ground and see what they could make out of it, and to
find their pay out of the tuitions that should be re
ceived, who invited students of their own spirit to come
here on the ground and find out by trial what they
could make out of it, and the response has been their

74 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
chapter of work, and the chief part of the response I
see in the faces gathered before me to-day. It was a
simple question, of sinking or swimming. I know that
we are all inclined to be a little clannish for our own,
— perhaps we have a right to be, -;— but I do not know
of any place, I do not know of any institution that has
accomplished more with so little means than this school
on Hiram hill.
" I know of no place where the doctrine of self-help
has had a fuller development, by necessity as well as by
favor, as here on this hill. The doctrine of the survival
of the fittest found its place amongst these men and
women gathered here. As I said a great many years
ago about them — the theory of Hiram was to throw
its young men and women overboard and let them
try it for themselves, and all that were fit to get ashore
got there, and* I think we had few cases of drowning
anywhere. Now, when I look over these faces, and I
mark the seveJral geologic ages, and note the curious
fact why the geological analogy does not hold, I find no
fossils — no fossils at all. Some are dead and glorified
in our memories, but those who are alive are alive, —
, I think all. The teachers and the students of this
school built it up in every sense ; they made the corn
field into that handsome campus. These evergreens
you see across the road they planted. I well remember
the day they turned out and went into the woods to
find beautiful maples, and brought them in ; when they
purchased those evergreens ; when each young man for
himself, and perhaps a second for some young lady that
he loved, planted one or two trees on the campus, and

STUDENT AT HIRAM.

75

named them after himself. There are many here with
moist eyes to-day that can point out the tree that Bolar
planted. Bolar was shot through the heart at Win
chester battle. Many of you can point out trees — big
trees now — called after you many years ago. I believe,
outside of the physical features of the place, that there
was a stronger pressure of work to the square inch in
the boilers that ran this establishment than any other
I know of. Young men and women, rough, crude, un
tutored farmer boys and farmer girls, came here to try
themselves and find what manner of people they were.
They came here to go on a voyage of discovery to dis
cover themselves. In many cases I hope the discovery
was fortunate in all that was worthy of trying, and the
friendships that were formed out of that struggle have
followed this group of people longer and farther than
almost any I have ever known in life. They are
scattered all over the United States, in every field of
activity, and if I had the time to name them the sun
would go down before I had finished."
James A. Garfield remained at Hiram till the sum
mer of 1854, teaching in winter, working as carpenter,
in the haying or harvest field, in summer and autumn,
keeping up with his studies.
" Before he left the Institute," says Whitelaw Reid,
in " Ohio in the War," " he was the best Latin and
Greek scholar that school ever saw."

76 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

VII.
STUDENT AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE.
HOW strangely little things give direction to the
affairs of life ! Insignificant events are not un-
frequently followed by momentous results. One school
of philosophy regards the unfolding of events as only
a series of coincidences ; but there is another school
which recognizes an overruling Providence, working by
law, as giving direction to human affairs. Very won
derfully some things come to pass in this world of ours.
The hand of Ursula Cotta beckoning to the poor, shiv
ering boy, Martin Luther, on a cold winter morning,
and her motherly voice calling him to a place by her
kitchen fire and to a warm breakfast, are inseparable
from his life : they are a part of the Reformation.
How happened it that behind the passion of Henry
VIII. for Anne Boleyn, should be the separation of Eng
land from the Church of Rome and all the mighty re
sults to civilization and Christianity that came from that
event }
What is true of nations is true of individuals. There
are turning-points in life — places where we take new
departures. It was a turning-point in James A. Gar
field's life when he stood upon the threshold of his

STUDENT AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE. yn
humble home in the evening gloaming, and felt the hot
tears upon his cheeks while listening to the voice of
his mother pleading with God to bless her absent boy.
The turning at that hour was to the right about and
the starting on a new path. It was a new impulse, or a
.quickening of his steps along the same road, when he
started with his tin dipper, plate, frying-pan, algebra,
and arithmetic for the academy at Chester. It was the
stepping into a wider field when he became a student
at the Eclectic Institute. He had prepared for college.
What college should he enter 1
" You will go to Bethany, of course," said his friends.
" Why Bethany .-' " he asked.
" It is the Disciples' CoHege."
That was the narrow view ; but the young man ot
twenty-one was looking beyond sect. There are men
who complacently regard the place where they live
as the center of the world. The young man who had
spent two years at Hiram, saw that, excellent as the
institution at Bethany was supposed to be, there were
other colleges more generously endowed and able to
give a wider culture.
A book fresh from the press came to his hands one
day. He had read many books. " Jack Halyard "
had fascinated him once, and out of that fascina
tion came his experience on the canal. This book
which now came to his hands was a book of philoso
phy, as charming in its way as that with yellow cover
years before. Its author was one of America's great
thinkers, Mark Hopkins, President of Williams Col
lege, Mass., who was getting at the bottom of things.

78 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
by making inquiries into their why and wherefore.
After the "Jack Halyard" of his boyhood, no other
book, aside from the Bible, ever made so deep and abiding
an impression on James A. Garfield as this work on
moral philosophy, by President Hopkins. It set him
to thinking and guided his thoughts in a new direc
tion. It was another turning-point in life.
The outcome of his thinking was the writing of a
letter to President Hopkins, another to the President
of Brown University of Providence, and a third to the
President of Yale, stating his attainments, his pecun
iary position, and making inquiries as to the probable
time of his graduation. He received replies from each,
and decided to connect himself with the institution that
had for its president the man whose philosophical lec
tures had so deeply impressed him. In a letter written
at the time, Mr. Garfield states his reasons for making
this decision.
" There are three reasons why I have decided not to
go to Bethany : First, the course of study is not so
extensive as that in Eastern colleges ; second, Beth
any leans too heavily toward slavery ; third, I am the
son of Disciple parents, am one myself, and have had
but little acquaintance with people of other views ; and
having always lived in the West, I think it will make
me more liberal, both in my religion and general views
and sentiments, to go into a new circle where I shall
be under new influences.
" These considerations lead me to conclude to go to
some New England college. I therefore wrote to
the Presidents of Brown University, Yale, and Williams,

STUDENT AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 70
setting forth the amount of study I had done, and
asking them how long it would take me to finish the
course. The answers are now before me. All tell me
I can graduate in two years. They are all brief busi
ness notes, but President Hopkins concluded with this
sentence : ' If you come here, we shall be glad to do
what we can for you.'
" Other things being so nearly equal, this sentence,
which seems to be a kind of friendly grasp of the hand,
has settled the question for me. I shall start for Wil
liams next week."
Having decided to go to Williams, the next question
was one of ways and means. The college would be
more expensive than the institute had been. He could
not expect to rely upon bell-ringing, sweeping and
dusting, or the plane or square, for subsistence. He
could do something in winter at teaching, but if he
was going through college he must mortgage the future.
He must rely on credit. He had brains, muscles, and
vigorous health, and confidence in himself. His uncle
had confidence in him and loaned him money. James
A. Garfield was not the man to take it without giving
some security ; he would give all he had, his life if need
be. He insured his life, and had the policy made out in
his uncle's favor without any desire or suggestion of
such a procedure from the uncle. If he were to die,
the uncle would be paid ; if he got through college, he
would also be paid in time.
He entered Williams in 1854, tall, gaunt, wearing
ill-fitting clothes. He did not come as a Freshman,
but entered upon the Junior course. There was some-

8o JAMES A. GARFIELD.
thing about him that commanded the respect of his
fellow-students at the outset. He had convictions of
his own, and maintained them fearlessly. He took
high rank in his class, was foremost in the games for
recreation. He took high rank as a debater. He
sometimes wrote poetry. The following, from his pen,
was printed in the Williams Quarterly, 1854.
AUTUMN.
Old Autumn, thou art here! Upon the earth
And in the heavens the signs of death are hung;
For o'er the earth's brown breast stalks pale decay.
And 'mong the lowering clouds the wild winds wail.
And sighing sadly, shout the solemn dirge
O'er Summer's fairest flowers, all faded now.
The winter god, descending from the skies.
Has reached the mountain tops, and decked their brows
With glittering frosty crowns, and breathed his breath
Among the trumpet pines, that herald forth
His coming. Before the driving blast
The mountain oak bows down his hoary head.
And flings his withered locks to the rough gales
That fiercely roar among his branches bare.
Uplifted to the dark, unpitying heavens.
The skies have put their mourning garments on.
And hung their funeral drapery on the clouds.
Dead nature soon will wear her shroud of snow,
And lie entombed in Winter's icy grave.
Thus passes life. As heavy age comes on.
The joys of youth — bright beauties of the Spring —
Grow dim and faded, and the long dark night
Of death's chill winter comes. But as th.e Spring
Rebuilds the ruined wrecks of Winter's waste.
And cheers the gloomy earth with joyous light
So o'er the tomb the star of hope shall rise
And usher in an ever-during day.

STUDENT AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 8 1
While General Garfield was in college the anti-
slavery excitement was running high, and was greatly
intensified by the speeches of Charles Sumner in
Congress, and the attack upon him by Preston Brooks,
member of Congress from South Carolina, beating him
over the head with a cane till he was senseless. In
dignation meetings were held throughout the North.
One was held in Williamstown, at which James A.
Garfield made a speech, which made a deep impression
on the audience for its earnest reasoning, eloquence,
and force.
During the winter he taught school at Pownal, Ver
mont. A tailor, at Troy, furnished him with a ten-
dollar suit of clothes on credit, a debt which the
student cancelled from his first earnings.
He graduated in 1856, giving, on commencement
day, the " Metaphysical " oration. He had accom
plished his " definite purpose," but he was five hundred
dollars in debt.
All through the years, since the deliberate formation
of that purpose, he had struggled on, never swerving
from his plan.
Professor Chadbourne, now President of Williams
College, was exercising his duties as professor during
Mr. Garfield's connection with the college. He thus
speaks of him :
" One day a tall, staid fellow, with a modest bearing,
visited the college and announced his intention of
attending. He entered the college and went through
the college course. When the time for graduation
arrived he was invited to and did deliver the meta-
6

82 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
physical oration, which is an honor. It is an honor
conferred upon a student to be invited to deliver the
metaphysical oration, as it shows the improvement he
has made, and the opinion of the teachers with regard
to his powers of analysis. And just here let me say
that the same characteristic marked him all the way
through. He was a clear, thorough logician, as it has
been said. He went out from college bearing with him
the good will of all- those men left upon the ground.
" The college life of General Garfield was so perfect,
so rounded, so pure, so in accordance with what it
ought to be in all respects, that I can add nothing to it
by eulogizing him. It was a noble college life ; there
are no stories to be told of General Garfield as a college
student. On the contrary, everything about him was
high and noble and manly. The man in college gave
promise of what the man is to-day. And so, when
some charges were made against him some years ago,
I wrote to General Garfield, and have said in speeches
since that time, that when a young man goes through
a college course without exhibiting a mean or dishonest
trait, and then goes out and lives so as to impress
upon other men the idea that he has been true at all
times and in all places, it will take a great deal of
proof to convince me that that man has forsaken the
path he trod so long. And I have seen nothing to
shake my confidence in General Garfield from the day
he entered college until to-day, as he stands up before
the people as candidate for President of the United
States. He commenced life aright, and he has lived
aright all the way through."

PRESIDENT OF HIRAM COLLEGE.

83

VIII.
PRESIDENT OF HIRAM COLLEGE.
THE " definite object," the grand ideal which James
A. Garfield had in mind for eight years, was to
be a teacher. It was a star in the east that had led
him on.
" You will confer," said Epictetus of old, " the great
est benefit on your city, not by raising roofs, but by
exalting the souls of your fellow-citizens."
This young man had raised roofs upon the dwellings
of his fellow-citizens ; but now he was to be an exalter
of souls.
He had been doing it in the public schools, and now
he was to enter upon a wider career. He had left such
an impress at Hiram while a student, had attained such
wealth of knowledge at Williams, together with an
ever-increasing enthusiasm, that he was at once em
ployed as teacher of the ancient languages, and soon
after was elected President of Hiram Institute.
He was twenty-five years of age. In eight years he
had advanced from the tow-path on the canal to the
position of director of an institution whose annual
catalogue showed from four to five hundred pupils in
attendance.

84 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
A letter to an acquaintance who was fighting the
battle of life under discouraging circumstances was
written at this time, and is worthy of insertion in this
biography, as showing his wise counsel.
" Brother mine : It is not a question to be dis
cussed in the spirit of debate, but to be thought over and
prayed over as a question ' out of which are the issues
of life.' You will agree with me that every one must
decide and direct his own course in life, and the only
service friends can afford is to give us the data from
which we must draw our own conclusion and decide
our course. Allow me, then, to sit beside you and
look over the field of life and see what are its aspects.
I am not one of those who advise every one to under
take the work of a liberal education ; indeed, I believe
that in two-thirds of the cases such advice would be
unwise. The great body of the people will be, and
ought to be, (inteUigent) farmers and mechanics, and
in many respects these pass the most independent and
happy lives. But God has endowed some of his chil
dren with desires and capabilities for a more extended
field of labor and influence, and so every life should be
shaped according to ' what the man hath.' Now, in
reference to yourself, I know you have capabilities for
occupying positions of high and important trust in the
scenes of active life ; and I am sure you will not call
it flattery in me, nor egotism in yourself, to say so.
Tell me, do you not feel a spirit stirring within you
that longs to know, to do, and to dare to hold converse
with the great world of thought, and hold before you

PRESIDENT OF HIRAM COLLEGE.

85

some high and noble object to which the vigor of youi
mind and the strength of your arm may be given .? Do
you not have longings like these, which you breathe to
no one, and which you feel must be heeded, or you will
pass through life unsatisfied and regretful ^ I am sure
you have them, and they will forever cling round your
heart till you obey their mandate. They are the voice
of that nature which God has given you, and which,
when obeyed, will bless you and your fellow-men. Now
all this might be true, and yet it might be your duty
not to follow that course. If your duty to your father
or your mother demands that you take another, I shall
rejoice to see you taking that other course. The path
of duty is where we all ought to walk, be that where it
may. But I sincerely hope you will not, without an
earnest struggle, give up a course of liberal study.
Suppose you could not begin your study again till after
your majority. It will not be too late then, but you
will gain in many respects ; you will have more maturity
of mind to appreciate whatever you may study. Yon
may say you will be too old to begin the course, but
how could you better spend the earlier days of life .'
We should not measure life by the days and moments
that we pass on earth.
" ' The life is measured by the soul's advance ;
The enlargement of its powers ; the expanded field
Wherein it ranges, till it burns and glows
With heavenly joy, with high and heavenly hope.'
" It need be no discouragement that you be obliged to
hew your own way, and pay your own charges. You

86 JA.MES A. GARFIELD.
can go to school two terms every year, and pay your
own way. I know this, for I did so when teacher's
wages were much lower than they are now. It is a
great truth that ' where there is a will there is a way.'
It may be that by and by your father could assist you.
It may be that even now he could let you commence
on your resources so that you could begin immediately.
Of this you know and I do not. I need not tell you
how glad I should be to assist you in your work, but if
you cannot come to Hiram while I am here I shall
still hope to hear that you are determined to go on as
soon as the time will permit."
His success as an instructor was marked. The In
stitute was overrun with pupils. One of his students.
Rev. J. L. Darsie, of Danbury, Conn., thus writes of
his methods and ways :
" I recall vividly his method of teaching. He took
very kindly to me, and assisted me in various ways, be
cause I was poor and was janitor of the buildings, and
swept them out in the morning and built the fires, as
he had done only six years before, when he was a pupil
at the same school. He was full of animal spirits, and
he used to run out on the green almost every day and
play cricket with us. He was a tall, strong man, but
dreadfully awkward. Every now and then he would
get a hit on the nose, and he muffed his ball and lost
his hat as a regular thing. He was left-handed, too,
and that made him seem all the clumsier. But he was
most powerful and very quick, and it was easy for us to
understand how it was that he had acquired the repu-

PRESIDENT OF HIRAM COLLEGE.

87

tation of whipping all the other mule-drivers on the
canal, and of making himself the hero of that thorough
fare when he followed its tow-path ten years earlier.
" No matter how old the pupils were, Garfield always
called us by our first names, and kept himself on the
most familiar terms with all. He played with us freely,
scuffled with us sometimes, walked with us in walking
to and fro, and we treated him out of the class-room
just about as we did one another. Yet he was a most
strict disciplinarian, and enforced the rules like a mar
tinet He combined an affectionate and confiding
manner with respect for order in a most successful
manner. If he wanted to speak to a pupil, either for
reproof or approbation, he would generally manage to
get one arm around him and draw him close up to him.
He had a peculiar way of shaking hands, too, giving a
twist to your arm and drawing you right up to him.
This sympathetic manner has helped him to advance
ment. When I was janitor he used sometimes to stop
me and ask my opinion about this and that, as if seri
ously advising with me. I can see now that my opinion
could not have been of any value, and that he probably
asked me partly to increase my self-respect, and partly
to show me that he felt an interest in me. I certainly
was his friend all the firmer for it
" I remember once asking him what was the best
way to pursue a certain study, and he said : 'Use sev
eral text-books. Get the views of different authors as
you advance. In that way you can plow a broader
furrow. I always study in that way.' He tried hard
to teach us to observe carefully and accurately. He

88 -JAMES A. GARFIELD.
broke out one day in the midst of a lesson with,
' Henry, how many posts are there under the building
down-stairs.'' Henry expressed his opinion, and the
question went around the class, hardly one getting it
right Then it was : ' How many boot-scrapers are
there at the door 1 ' ' How many windows in the build
ing .' ' ' How many trees in the field ? ' ' What were
the colors of different rooms, and the peculiarities of any
familiar objects ? ' He was the keenest observer I ever
saw. I think he noticed and numbered every button
on our coats. A friend of mine was walking with him
through Cleveland one day, when Garfield stopped and
darted down a cellar-way, asking his companion to fol-
fow, and briefly pausing to explain himself. The sign,
' Saws and Files,' was over the door, and in the depths
was heard a regular clicking sound. ' I think this fel
low is cutting files,' said he, ' and I have never seen a
file cut.' Down they went, and sure enough, there was
a man recutting an old file, and they stayed there ten
minutes and found out all about the process. Garfield
would never go by anything without understanding it
" Mr. Garfield was very fond of lecturing to the school.
He spoke two or three times a week on all manner of
topics, generally scientific, though sometimes literary
or historical. He spoke with great freedom, never
writing out what he had to say ; and I now think that
his lectures were a rapid compilation of his current
reading, and that he threw it into this form partly for
the purpose of impressing it on his own mind. His
facility of speech was learned when he was a pupil
there. The societies had a rule that every student

PRESIDENT OF HIRAM COLLEGE.

89

should take his stand on the platform and speak for
five minutes on any topic suggested at the moment by
the audience. It was a very trying ordeal. Garfield
broke down badly the two first times he tried to speak,
but persisted, and was at last, when he went to Wil
liams, one of the best of the five-minute speakers.
When he returned as Principal, his readiness was strik
ing and remarkable.
" At the time 1 was at school at Hiram, Principal Gar
field was a great reader, not omnivorous, but method
ical and in certain lines. He was the most industrious
man I ever knew or heard of At one time he delivered
lectures on geology, held public debates on spiritualism,
preached on Sunday, conducted the recitations of five
or six classes every day, attended to all the financial
affairs of the school, was an active member of the legis
lature, and studied law to be admitted to the bar. He
has often said that he never could have performed this
labor if it had not been for the assistance of two gifted
and earnest women, — Mrs. Garfield herself, his early
schoolmate, who had followed her husband in his
studies ; and Miss Almeda A. Booth, a member of the
Faculty. The latter was a graduate of Oberlin, and
had been a teacher of young Garfield when he was a
pupil, and now that he had returned as head of the
Faculty, she continued to serve him in a sort of moth
erly way as tutor and guide. When Garfield had
speeches to make in the legislature or on the stump, or
lectures to deliver, these two ladies ransacked the
library by day, and collected facts and marked books
for his digestion and use in the preparation of the dis-

90 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
courses at night Mr. Garfield always acknowledged
his great obligation to Miss Almeda Booth, and at her
death, recently, he delivered one of the most touching
and eloquent addresses of his life."
From the beginning of his religious life, Mr. Garfield
had taken part in prayer and conference meetings.
The Disciple Church allows great liberty to laymen.
Any one who is moved to preach may do so. While a
teacher at Hiram, he began preaching. He was not
ordained, but was simply a layman using whatever
ability God had given him. He was as efficient in
that line as when conducting the recitations of the
classes. He had a wider culture than many of the
preachers of the order of the Disciples, and those who
l.stened to his sermons looked forward to the time
when he would be a great light in the church. The
influence of President Hopkins of Williams College
was showing itself in his mental training. The ability
to get at the bottom of things, the fertility of illus
tration, the easy flow of language, his wide reading
and familiarity with the best authors, — gave him rare
power as teacher and preacher.
He had started out to be a teacher, but was not
content with that alone. The philosophy which he
had learned at Williams based everything on law.
There was a divine order in things. There must be
order in everything. Law was at the foundation of
government. Society could not exist without law.
He determined to enter upon a course of law studies,
not so much with the intention of becoming a lawyer
as to acquaint himself with the principles of law. He

PRESIDENT OF HIRAM COLLEGE. gi
had no idea of abandoning his chosen profession to
spend his energies in law practice, but the principles
of law were needed to round his knowledge and in
crease his power.
While attending to his multifarious duties as teacher,
giving lectures on a great variety of subjects, preaching
on Sundays, he began, in 1857, the study of law. A
gentleman who studied with him says :
" He had a wonderful power of synopsizing. He
could give a book from, beginning to end. He had the
faculty of picking out the kernel and rejecting the
shell." He was in no lawyer's office — read under no attor
ney's tuition — but carried on his reading in connection
with his other duties. He was admitted to practice,
but he could not spend his time over the petty cases
in the county court What came of this preparation
we shall see further on.
While he was attending echool at Geauga Institute,
boarding himself, cooking his meat in a frying-pan,
wearing his blue jean pants, he made the acquaintance
of a young girl — Lucretia Rudolph. There was this
in common between them, they were both poor. The
parents of the young lady were struggling to make
both ends of the year meet, and denying themselves
that their daughter might obtain an education. The
acquaintance between the boy from the tow path of
the canal and the farmer's daughter ripened in'o
friendship. The years went on. The boy came from
Williams to Hiram to be installed as president of the
institution in which the farmer's daughter was an

92 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
honored teacher. They both had struggled with ad
verse circumstances, — both had conquered.
Through the years they had corresponded — the
woman sustaining him by her cheerful words, her
sympathy and prayers — friendship ripened into ten
der affection. They had helped each other on ; they
would be helpmeets for life, and were joined in
wedlock. Their struggles had been so great, their friendship
so helpful, their love so tender, their lives so beautiful,
that a friend, knowing the facts, made them the thread
of a story which attained great popularity in northern
Ohio.

HEART AND SOUL FOR LIBERTT. 93

IX.
HEART AND SOUL FOR LIBERTY.
I HAVE already said that at the time of Garfield's
birth, the subject of slavery was beginning to oc
cupy public attention.' The week before he was born,
— on November 13, 1831, — fifteen persons met at the
office of Samuel E. Sewell, a young lawyer in Boston,
to see if anything could be done toward arousing the
attention of the public to the aggressions of slavery.
They decided that if twelve persons could be found
who would agree that slavery ought to be instantly
abolished, an anti-slavery society should be formed, but
upon an expression of opinion, only nine were ready
to adopt that basis of action.
A week later, on December 16, another conference
was held at Mr. Sewell's office. Other persons h*ad
been found who were ready to act on that basis. A
committee was appointed to prepare a preamble and
constitution, and on June 6, 1832, when James A.
Garfield was seven weeks old, the New England Anti-
Slavery Society was organized. Its first public meeting
was held in Essex Street Church, Boston, January 29.
In an address issued at that time, it was declared that

94 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
the whole American people ought to be an anti-slavery
society ; that the spirit of civil and religious liberty,
the Declaration of Independence, the spirit and letter
of the Constitution, the spirit of the Gospel of Christ,
imperiously demanded the immediate emancipation of
the slave.
The organization of this society elicited responses
from many sections of the North, especially from mem
bers of churches, who regarded it as a religious rather
than a political work, which they had in hand. An
anti-slavery society was formed in New York, and the
"Emancipator" established, to aid the Liberator in
arousing attention.
The appearance of the Emancipator created a pro
found sensation in New York, arousing resentment and
hostility. Those who were engaged in the enterprise
were denounced as fanatics, and much vile abuse
was heaped upon them. There was great prejudice
throughout the North to color. A negro was regarded
as of another race — hardly human. The Abolitionists
from the outset planted themselves on solid ground —
that he was a man ; that he had inalienable rights.
Then came the period of riots, the disturbance of
ariti-slavery meetings by mobs, the breaking up of
schools in which education was given to colored pupils,
the imprisoning of Miss Prudence Crandall, of Canter
bury, Connecticut for teaching colored girls, the seiz
ure of ministers by sheriffs while praying for the abo
lition of slavery, the mobbing of Garrison in Boston,
the burning of Pennsylvania Hall in Philadelphia, the
shooting of Rev. E. P. Lovejoy at Alton, in Illinois, and

HEART AND SOUL FOR LIBERTT. 05
Other high-handed deeds by the enemies of the Aboli
tionists. The spirit of slavery had permeated the nation. The
churches of all denominations were pro-slavery and in
tensely prejudiced against the colored race. In the
writer's native town a colored famdy moved into an
unoccupied house. The parents sent their children to
the district school. On the following Sunday evening,
after a conference and prayer-meeting for the conver
sion of the world, the legal voters of the school dis
trict were asked to tarry a moment The case was
stated by the minister, that the colored children were
attending school. A vote was taken, and it was then
and there decided that they should not be allowed
the privilege ! The incident illustrates the universal
attitude of the community at the time.
Northern Ohio, at an early period in the history of
the anti-slavery struggle, took its stand on the side of
liberty. The representative in Congress from the
Ashtabula district was Joshua R. Giddings, elected in
1838, — an uncompromising opponent of slavery, a
clear, logical thinker, of tremendous energy. He
was bold and fearless, a man well calculated to arouse
the enthusiasm of any liberty-loving community.
Like President Hopkins, Joshua R. Giddings has left
the impress of his great personality on James A. Gar
field, and this volume would be incomplete without a
presentation of the circumstances.
Mr. Giddings began his attacks upon slavery from a
political standpoint, as a legislator, in a speech deliv
ered in Congress, February 9, 1841, when Garfield was

q6 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
ten years of age. In 1838 the House of Representatives
had passed resolutions prohibiting debate on the sub
ject of slavery. This prohibition created much feeling
throughout the North.
John Quincy Adams, Mr. Slade, Mr. Giddings, and
a few other members of Congress who believed that in
freedom of speech lay the safety of the country, deeply
felt the tyranny of that prohibition. Their lips were
sealed. But Mr. Giddings was not born to be a slave.
He announced to Mr. Adams and Mr. Slade, in private,
that he was going to speak on the subject of slavery.
But how .''
He found a way. The war against the Seminole In
dians in Florida had been carried on for five years at a
great cost of men and money. Officers and soldiers
sank under the malaria. It was well known that the
war had its origin in the attempt of slaveholders to
catch slaves who had run away from their masters and
joined the Indians.
The Seminoles had been conquered. Their chief,
Osceola, relying upon the good faith of the United
States officers, had come in from the everglades for a
conference, and had been treacherously seized. It was
a violation of good faith, mean and dastardly. The
blood rushes to our face even now as we think of it.
The chief's heart was broken ; his people were humil
iated, and surrendered. The question came as to what
should be done with them. A bill had been intro
duced appropriating one hundred thousand dollars for
their removal west of the Mississippi. It was upon
this bill that Mr. Giddings made his first assault He

HEART AND SOUL FOR LIBERTT. g/
first spoke of the erroneous impression of the public
in regard to the value of the lands occupied by the
Seminoles in Florida, and quoted General Jessup, who
said that the lands would not pay for the medicine used
by the troops while employed against the Indians. He
was correct Forty years have passed since then and
the lands to-day are without value. Gradually he ap
proached the subject of slavery.
" I hold," he said, " that if the slaves of Georgia or
of any other State leave their masters to go among the
Indians, the Federal government has no right, no con
stitutional power, to employ the army for their recap
ture, or to expend the national treasure to purchase
them from the Indians. It is a matter solely between
the masters and slaves."
" I call the gentleman to order for irrelevancy,"
shouted Warren of Georgia.
The Speaker said that Mr. Giddings was in order.
Mr. Giddings went on : " This interposition of the
Federal power to sustain slavery is unwarranted by the
Constitution. The war therefore is unconstitutional,
unjust, and an outrage upon the rights of the people
of the free States."
He was called to order again, but went on delivering
a speech which created a great commotion north and
south. It was read by the firesides of Ohio, espe
cially throughout Mr. Giddings' district arousing the
people to the aggression of the South. After this be
ginning Mr. Giddings lost no opportunity to assail
slavery, becoming more bold and aggressive. -In his
speech delivered in 1844, he said:
7

98 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
" Oui motto is. Hands off ! We will not be contami
nated by slavery. We will purify ourselves from its
corruptions, its crimes, and leave it where the Consti
tution left it, — confined strictly to the States where it
exists." " I wish to put a question to the gentleman," said
Mr. Raynor of South Carolina.
" Certainly."
" Does the gentleman from Ohio believe the deca
logue to be of Divine origin } "
" I do ; but I would not if it sanctioned slavery."
" The tenth commandment says," responded Raynor,
" ' Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's man-servant,
nor his maid-servant ' What does the gentleman un
derstand by that t "
" I have servants at home — hired servants, not slaves.
I hope the gentleman does not covet them. God forbid
that I should covet his slaves ! "
Mr. Giddings' speeches on the celebrated Amistad
case, on the annexation of Texas in 1845, on the occu
pation of Oregon in 1846, on the Wilmot proviso in
1847, were read everywhere. The people of his dis
trict were alive to the great question. The Ashtabula
district was regarded as the hottest of all abolition hot
beds. In such an atmosphere Mr. Garfield grew to
manhood and became a voter.
In 1852, when he cast his first vote, the country was
agitated as never before on the passage of the fugitive
slave law. It was such sentences as the following from
the lips of Giddings that enlisted Garfield's heart and
soul for liberty : —

HEART AND SOUL FOR LIBERTY. qq
" Mr. Chairman," said Mr. Giddings, " for sixty years
this construction of the Constitution has been acknowl
edged and observed. During that period no statesman
advanced the revolting doctrine of subjecting the labor
ing men of the North to the disgrace of catching
slaves. The history of our government shows this
fact, and coming ages will read it This law, which
takes from the laboring men of the North a portion of
their earnings to pay for catching and returning fugi
tive slaves, is a thousand times more repugnant to their
feelings than was the Stamp Act or the tax on tea.
Under this law they are involved in supporting an in
stitution which they detest ; compelled to contribute to
the commission of crimes abhorrent to humanity. This
oppression, this violation of conscience and of their con
stitutional rights, this tyranny they feel and deprecate.
It is impossible that an intelligent, a patriotic people
can long be subjected to such violations of their rights
and the rights of humanity.
" The conscience of the nation cannot be long sep
arated from its government. It will be in vain for navy-
yard chaplains to deliver lectures and write essays to
convince our people that it is their duty to uphold the
slave-trade and the fugitive slave law. It will be in vain
for ' ministers of the lower law' to preach up the duty
of Christians to commit crimes against God and hu
manity, at the contemplation of which our very natures
revolt The voice of reason and of conscience will
find utterance. The escape of Shadrach at Boston,
the just and holy manifestation of the popular mind at
Syracuse, the merited death of Garsuch at Christiana,

lOo JAMES A. GARFIELD.
should teach the advocates of the fugitive slave law, and
of the compromise, that the ' higher law ' of our natures,
dictated by God and imprinted upon the hearts of a
Christian people, will eventually set these barbarous
enactments at defiance. The shooting of slaves in the
mountains of Pennsylvania, the inhuman murder of a
fugitive in Indiana, as stated in the public papers, could
not fail to be followed by the resistance to which I have
referred. " The slaves, as already stated, are to increase ; the
number of fugitives will of course increase more rap
idly. Our railroads, steamboats, and the vast increase
of intercommunication between our free and slave
States cannot fail to carry knowledge and intelligence
to the whole colored population, north and south.
With them there must be hostility and hatred toward
their oppressors, whether they be slaveholders or the
allies of slavery. It is a law of the human mind. All
honest men must unite in the acknowledgment of their
rights. It is our duty to carry intelligence to every
being who bears the image of our Creator. Thousands
of agencies are at work bearing information to the op
pressed and down-trodden of our land.
"By an inscrutable law which pervades the moral
world, our very efforts to sustain slavery are converted
into the means of its overthrow. The slave-trade in
this district is upheld for the purpose of sustaining slav
ery in our Southern States. But where is the reflect
ing man who does not see that every slave sold from
this city carries with him intelligence of his rights, and
becomes a missionary of freedom when transferred

HEART AND SOUL FOR LIBERTY. iqi
south "i Why, sir, in that mournful procession of fifty-
two victims of this infamous commerce, taken from this
city in 1848, was an individual of unusual intellect.
His name was Edmonson. He called on me at differ
ent times to aid him in raising money to redeem his
sisters. They were, however, sold, and subsequently
repurchased by some benevolent people at the East,
and are now free. I am told that his whole family
were endowed with intellects of the highest order.
He was himself, so far as propriety of language, gen
tlemanly deportment, and intelligence are concerned,
not the inferior of gentlemen here, or of the President
of the United States. But he was a victim to this slave-
trade ; and unless he now sleeps in a servile grave, he
is preparing the minds of Southern slaves for that work
which lies before them, — a work which, if not accom
plished by the voice of truth and justice, will be per
fected in blood. That, too, is the case with every fu
gitive slave who is returned to bondage. The whole
northern slave population are becoming intelligent
They read or hear read the discussions of our northern
press. They learn what is said in this hall. The re
marks I am now making will reach the ears of many
thousands who are borne down by oppression. To
them I say, ' All men are created equal.' ' You are
endowed by your Creator with an inalienable right to
liberty ; ' and I add the words of one of Virginia's
noblest sons, ' Give me liberty or give me death!
" Mr. Chairman : the day of redemption for this
people must come. No human power can prevent it.

I02 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
All reason, philosophy, and history demonstrate the
approach of that day."
Mr. Garfield sat at the feet of Joshua R. Giddings, as
Paul at the feet of the great expounder of Jewish law.
From the time he was a voter he took part in the great
political questions of the hour, speaking with great
effect during the campaign of 1856. He was in con
stant demand. The issues involved, the high stand
taken by the newly-formed Republican party, aroused
all his enthusiasm. A gentleman who was a pupil at
Hiram at the time says of that campaign :
" He would attend to his duties at the Institute
through the day, jump into a buggy at night, taking me
or some other student to keep him company, put his
arm around me, talk all the way to the place where the
meeting was to be held, be it ten or twenty miles. It
would not be a conversation on politics, but on history,
general literature, or some great principle. He was
always welcomed upon the platform, and after speaking
would return, taking up the theme we had dropped,
getting home in the small hours of the morning.
" At nine o'clock the next day he would be in the
school as fresh as ever. When Sunday came he would
have a sermon as fresh and vigorous as if it had been
the study of the week. All the while he was carrying
on the study of law and attending to the duties incum
bent on him as the president of the Institute, keeping
up a course of general reading, and his acquaintance
with the classics."
By such speeches, made by one whom he reverenced,
Mr. Garfield came to have a profound conviction of the

HEART AND SOUL FOR LIBERTT.

103

rights of man and of the domain of law. Joshua R.
Giddings had been his instructor in regard to human
rights, while President Hopkins had led him with rev
erent steps to a comprehension of the majesty of law.
His studies were in the direct line of preparation for
the stormy future, — the discussion of questions involv
ing the welfare of the Republic, the rights of States, the
power of the nation, the scope of the Constitution.

I04 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

BEGINNING PUBLIC LIFE.
TPIE people of the Western Reserve were getting
acquainted with the young teacher of the Eclectic
Institute. Their sons and daughters who were under
his instruction came home at vacations to speak their
enthusiastic praise of him.
The people of Hiram were well acquainted with him
as teacher and citizen. Those of the surrounding
towns always attended a political meeting when he was
announced as a speaker.
The time had come for him to enter upon a new
course. He did not set himself to work to bring it
about ; it came in the natural sequence of things.
By the year 1859 his strength of mind and character,
and his ability as an orator, were so well known, that
when the anti-slavery people of Portage and Summit
counties looked for some one to represent them and
their cause in the State senate, it seemed a very nat
ural thing that they should select him.
Mr. Garfield's start in political life was in this way :
Some of his friends asked him to let them use his name
as a candidate for nomination for State senator from
this district Mr. Williams, finding he had consented,

BEGINNING PUBLIC LIFE. jqc
canvassed every township in Portage County in his in
terest. Under the rule governing the nomination,
Portage County was entitled to the nominee, and was
allowed to select in caucus — Summit simply uniting
in confirming the nomination afterward. The con
vention met. Portage had three candidates.
Mr. Williams was made vice-president of the con
vention. By virtue of this office he was chairman of
the Portage caucus. A few ballots were taken without
a nomination. The manager of Garfield's leading rival,
discovering that it was dangerous to risk his man fur
ther in the caucus, called on his supporters to leave
the room, and report to the convention that the caucus
could not agree. Mr. Williams called out that they
could leave or remain as they chose ; the caucus would
agree all the same, and that soon. They remained,
and Garfield was soon chosen. They repaired to the
convention-room, and Mr. Williams proudly announced
the name of James A. Garfield, who was at once de
clared the nominee.
A former Ravennian, seeing his youthful appearance,
inquired of Mr. Williams, if he was sure he had not
made a mistake .''
Mr. Williams asked him to wait a minute and see.
Mr. Garfield was called out for a speech of accept
ance ; and before he had finished, the man of appre
hensions turned, and said " he was satisfied."
He was elected by a large majority ; and the earnest
speeches which he made during the canvass added to
his reputation and popularity. He immediately took
high rank in the legislature as a well-informed speaker

I06 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
and an effective debater ; and he was one of a radical
group of three in the senate who did much to place
Ohio well in line for the war.
I have spoken in another place of the character of
the men who settled in north-eastern Ohio ; and it is
worth one's while, just here, to notice how the influ
ence of those men was felt in the war for the preserva
tion of the Union. They had finished their life-work
and had gone on to the better life ; it is of their in
fluence through their sons to which I refer.
The three leading Republican senators in the Ohio
legislature at the outbreak of the war, were James A.
Garfield, J. D. Cox, and Professor Monroe, of Oberlin
College, — all born in the W^estern Reserve.
They acted in concert They were animated by the
same ideas. All these were ardent lovers of Liberty ;
all possessed of intense convictions ; all had sat at the
feet of Joshua R. Giddings.
Oberlin College, of which Mr. Monroe was professor,
was founded on Anti-Slavery. It was founded as a
protest to the pro-slavery spirit in the churches. The
underground railroad ran through it The whole spirit
of the institution was in the greatest antagonism to
slavery, and Professor Monroe was sent to the State
senate as the exponent of that principle.
Senator Cox was a lawyer with a large practice ;
son-in-law to one of the Oberhn professors. He was
a man of force and character, uncompromising in his
hostility to slavery, and an ardent patriot.
James A. Garfield — we have clearly obtained an
insight into his character — was the youngest of the

BEGINNING PUBLIC LIFE. 107
three, but he had no superiors in debate. Not a mem
ber in that body was taking longer looks ahead than
he ; not one was more radical in his views ; yet radical
as he was, his plans were laid with wisdom. He never
was afraid of being on the unpopular side in obedience
to his convictions.
The outbreak of the war brought questions affecting
the nation before the legislature. One of these was
the " Constitutional Amendment," as it was called ;
an amendment proposed by Congress, by which Con
gress was to be prohibited from ever legislating upon
slavery in the States. It was one of the "peace"
measures brought forward to placate the Secessionists,
its authors and friends not seeing that the time had
come in the world's history, and in the progress of
civilization, when slavery could only be got rid of by
the sword.
It was brought forward for ratification in the spring
of 1861, when the Southern States were trembling like
a row of bricks, one after another out of the Union,
and joining in a confederacy.
Of what use to try to conciliate the seceding States
by any such means t The idea was preposterous.
Why throw a peppermint to a spoiled child, who was
determined, come what would, to have its own way }
" The events now transpiring make it clear that
there is no time for any such amendment," said Gar
field, and with six others recorded his vote in the neg
ative. He had detested Horace Greeley's doctrine, " Way
ward sisters, go in peace." He believed in coercion.

I08 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
This country was a nation. Secession meant war ; and
the nation must maintain its integrity.
" Would you give up the forts and other government
property, or would you fight to maintain your right to
them ? " was his way of putting the question to timid
men. He took the lead in revising the Statutes in regard
to treason, and in adapting them to the emergencies of
the hour.
The State of Ohio must have money ; and a bill was
brought forward known as the " Million War Bill."
A Democratic senator, Judge Key, of Cincinnati,
afterward a well-known member of General McClel-
lan's staff, whose heart never was in war, opposed the
bill. Garfield repHed to him. He regretted that the hon
orable senator should have turned -from honoring his
country, to pay his highest tribute of praise, at a time
like this, to party. The senator approved a defense of
national property, but denounced any effort to retake
it, if only it were once captured. Did he mean that if
Washington were taken possession of by the Rebels,
he would oppose attempts to regain possession of the
national capital t Where was this doctrine of non-
resistance to stop.? He had hoped that the senator
would not in this hour of the nation's peril, open the
books of party to re-read records that ought now at
least, to be forgotten. But since the senator had
thought this a fitting time to declare his distrust of the
President and Cabinet and particularly of Ohio's hon
ored representative in that Cabinet, he had only to

BEGINNING PUBLIC LIFE. jog
say in reply, that it would be well for that senator, amid
his partisan recollections, to remember whose Cabinet
it was that had embraced traitors among its most dis
tinguished members, and sent them forth from its most
secret sessions to betray their knowledge to their
country's ruin!"

IIO JAMES A. GARFIELD.

XL
BREAKING OUT OF THE WAR.
WHEN Fort Sumter was fired upon in April, 1861,
the legislature of Ohio was in session. The
outbreak of civil war necessitated much legislation, and
Senator Garfield having occupied a leading position,
was called upon to take an active part in devising and
carrying through the many measures. He was tireless
in his activity, and was in frequent consultation with
the governor in regard to the public interests.
When the session was over, he was employed by the
governor to obtain arms and equipments, and in fitting
out the first troops.
Up to the battle of Bull Run in July, the people of
the North had not looked far enough into the nature of
the struggle to understand that it was to be of gigantic
proportions, and long continued. Mr. Seward had pre
dicted that the war would be over in ninety days.
Great hopes were entertained that the Union element
in the Southern States would assert itself Northern
men did not see that the spirit of slavery was so aggres
sive, tyrannical, and overbearing, that the Unionists in
the Southern States would be crushed by it. Nor did
they see the eternal antagonism between the two sys-

BREAKING OUT OF THE WAR. m
tems of civilization that had taken root on this conti
nent, — one planted on the fertile banks of the James,
the other on the hard, forbidding soil of New England.
People even who were familiar with the lessons of
history failed to see that it was the old contest of
Naseby, Edge Hill, and Marston Moor, of Bunker Hill,
Bennington, and Yorktown ; that it was the question
of individual liberty of the many against the few.
The proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln after
the firing upon Fort Sumter, called for troops to main
tain the authority of the United States, and to preserve
the Union. The presei-vatiou of the Uiiion was the
question uppermost in the minds of the soldiers, who
responded to the call during the months of April, May,
and June, 1861. But behind that question was another
of vastly greater moment the question of the rights of
men. It was in 1578, three hundred and two years ago,
that George Buchanan, tutor to Mary, Queen of Scot
land, and to her son, James II. , — profound thinker,
philosopher, and poet, — published a pamphlet entitled
De Jure Regni — " The Right to Rule," in which he
enunciated a new doctrine, never before promulgated
by any human being — that superior power emanates
from the people, who have the right to choose their own
rulers, and manage their own affairs in government ;
that this right is based on the equality of all men ; that
it is natural and inalienable.
This doctrine was in direct antagonism to the idea
which had prevailed from the beginning of history to
that hour, — that kings are appointed by God to

112 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
govern, and that all others are to be governed. Louis
XIV, of France, summed up the whole history of ab
solute personal government in four words : " I am the
State!' The doctrine of George Buchanan was so monstrous,
that the Parliament of England interdicted the pam
phlet, and Prime Minister Clarendon ordered that all
copies be gathered up and burned by the hangman.
Nevertheless, the seed took root. It was a mighty
force in the great Puritan uprising which swept Charles
I. from the throne to the executioner's block. It was
the force which elevated Cromwell to become Lord-
Protector of England.
The hangman of England, at the order of Clarendon,
could burn Buchanan's pamphlet, but no fire ever yet
was kindled that can consume an eternal Truth ! That
pamphlet set in motion lines of action that led up to
Bunker Hill, the Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution of the United States, the establishment
of the Republic.
How slow the growth of an idea ! Not till the out
break of the Revolution of 1775, was the idea of the
rights of the people formulated as the basis for govern
ment. The Revolutionary fathers had arrived at an
understanding of what their own rights were, but they
did not recognize men of another race and color as
being men. Not till the year of James A. Garfield's
birth was that idea put squarely before the nation.
The North scouted it at the outset. It required thirty
years more of the aggression of slavery to get that idea

BREAKING OUT OF TIIE WAR.

113

into the hearts of the great majority of the people of
the North. The South utterly ignored it.
" African slavery is the corner-stone of confederacy,"
said Alexander H. Stephens, vice-president of the Con
federacy. Not till McDowell's defeated army was rushing pell-
mell to Washington did the North begin to compre
hend that the war was to be a life-and-death struggle.
James A. Garfield, educated and trained by Joshua
R. Giddings, saw from the outset what the issue must
be, and gave himself heart and soul to his country.
The students of the institute at Hiram were fired
with military ardor. They had laid aside base-ball and
quoits, and were marching and countermarching on the
campus, going through the fanciful Zouave drill, then
all the rage, but which a few months later was lost
sight of in the stern realities of war. Some of them
enlisted at the outset but most of them remained to
the close of the summer term. Mr. Garfield had been
so absorbed in his legislative duties, and in fitting out
the troops, that he had had little time to attend to
matters at Hiram. He never thought of advancing
his own personal interests. He was working for his
country. On the 27th of July Governor Dennison addressed
Mr. Garfield as follows : •

" Thb State of Ohio Executive Department,
Columbus, July 27th,

TMENT, i
1S61. 5
" Dear Sir : I am organizing some new regiments.
Can you take a lieutenant-colonelcy ^ I am anxious
vou should do so. Reply by telegraph.

8

114 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
"Cox has entered Charleston and is doing nobly.
I have sent him my congratulations. "Yours truly,
" W. Dennison."
This letter, which reached Hiram during a two-
weeks' absence of Mr. Garfield, was finally received by
him on the 7th of August He immediately replied
that if the proffered position were still vacant and the
colonelcy of the regiment filled by a graduate of West
Point, he would accept. The reply was favorable.
On the 15th, Mr. Garfield reached Columbus, and
on the following morning was commissioned as lieu
tenant-colonel. He was immediately assigned to duty
at Camp Chase, near Columbus, under an order from
Adjutant-General Buckingham, to "report in person
to Brigadier-General Hill, for such duty as he may
assign to j^ou in connection with a temporary com
mand for purposes of instruction in camp-duty and
discipline." With his arrival at Camp Chase on the i6th of Au
gust the military career of the future major-general
of volunteers may be said to have fairly commenced.
Colonel Garfield returned to Hiram a few days later
and called a public meeting of the citizens. It was va
cation ; but the students residing at Hiram and in the
adjoining towns came to meet their beloved teacher.
The church was crowded. Lieutenant-Colonel Garfield
addressed the audience upon the momentous issues in
volved. No report of his speech is preserved ; but it
was so powerful and convincing, their hearts were so

BREAKING OUT OF THE WAR.

"5

Stirred, that, at its close, sixty of the students enrolled
their names as soldiers for three years, or during the
continuance of the war. Within a week the company
was full and on its way to Camp Chase, at Columbus,
the great central rendezvous of the Ohio volunteers.
The company was numbered A, and took the right of
the line in the regiment.
After a few weeks of general service at Camp Chase,
he was detailed on recruiting duty, and aided in raising
six of the ten companies which formed the Forty-
second O. V. I. No colonel having yet been appointed
on the 5th of September, he was commissioned by
the governor of Ohio as colonel of the 42d Reg
iment. He established a school of instruction for
the officers of the regiment, requiring two hours of
recitation and examination in the morning of each day,
and continued the work of drilling, arming, and equip
ping the regiment, during the months of October, No
vember, and the first half of December.
On Saturday, December 14th, a telegram came from
General D. C. Buell, commanding the Department of
the Ohio, at Louisville, Ky., ordering the regiment to
proceed with all possible dispatch to Prestonburgh,
Floyd County, Ky. At nine o'clock Sunday morning,
December iSth, the regiment left Camp Chase for the
railroad depot at Columbus; and before three o'clock
p. M. that day was on the way to Cincinnati, where it
arrived at nine in the evening. There Colonel Garfield
received a telegram from General Buell, directing him
to send the regiment by steamer to Catletsburg, Ky.,

Il6 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
at the mouth of the Big Sandy, and to report in person
at headquarters at Louisville.
On the evening of the i6th. Colonel Garfield reached
Louisville and sought General Buell at his headquar
ters. He found a cold, silent, austere man, who asked
a few questions, revealed nothing, and eyed the new
comer with a curious, searching expression, as though
trying to look into the untried colonel, and divine
whether he would succeed or fail in an undertaking.
Taking a map. General Buell pointed out the position
of Humphrey Marshall's forces in East Kentucky,
marked the locations at which the Union troops in that
district were posted, explained the nature of the coun
try and its supplies, and then dismissed the visitor
with the remark : " If you were in command of the
sub-department of Eastern Kentucky, what would you
do } Come here at nine o'clock to-morrow morning
and tell me."
Colonel Garfield returned to his hotel, procured a
map of Kentucky, the last census report, paper, pen,
and ink, and sat down to his task. He studied the
roads, resources, and population of every county in
eastern Kentucky. At daylight he was still at work,
but at nine o'clock he was at General Buell's headquar
ters with a sketch of his plans. Buell read it and made
it the basis of his special order No. 35, Army of the
Ohio, December i7t!i, 1 861, by which the i8th Brigade,
Army of the Ohio, was organized, consisting of the 42d
O V. I., Colonel J. A. Garfield commanding brigade ;
40th O. V. I., Colonel J. Cranor ; 14th Kentucky V. I.,
Colonel L. D. F. Moore ; 22d Kentucky V. I., Colonel

BREAKING OUT OF THE WAR. ny
D. W. Lindsay-; a squadron of Ohio cavalry, two com
panies under Major McLaughlin, and three squadrons
(six companies) of the ist Kentucky Cavalry, Lieuten
ant-Colonel Lechter commanding. The following au
tograph letter of instructions was issued to him on the
evening of the 17th :

" Headcjuarters Department of the Ohio,
Louisville, Ky., Dec. 17, 1861.

\
" Sir : The brigade organized under your command
is intended to operate against the Rebel force threaten
ing, and, indeed, actually committing depredations in
Kentucky, through the valley of the Big Sandy. The
actual force of the enemy, from the best information I
can gather, does not probably exceed two thousand, or
twenty-five hundred, though rumors place it as high
as seven thousand. I can better ascertain the true
state of the case when you get on the ground.
"You are apprised of the condition of the troops
under your command. Go first to Lexington and
Paris, and place the 40th Ohio Regiment in such a po
sition as will best give a moral support to the people
in the counties on the route to Prestonburgh and
Piketon, and oppose any further advance of the
enemy on the route. Then proceed with the least pos
sible delay to the mouth of the Sandy, and move with
the force in that vicinity up that river and drive the
enemy back or cut him off. Having done that Pike
ton will probably be in the best position for you to
occupy to guard against future incursions. Artillery
will be of little, if any, service to you in that country.

Il8 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
If the enemy have any it will incumber and weaken
rather than strengthen them.
" Your supplies must mainly be taken up the river,
and it ought to be done as soon as possible, while navi
gation is open. Purchase what you can in the country
through which you operate. Send your requisitions to
these headquarters for funds and ordnance stores, and
to the quartermasters and commissary at Cincinnati for
other supplies.
" The conversation I have had with you will suggest
more details than can be given here. Report frequently
on all matters concerning your command.
"Very respectfully,"Your obedient servant,
" D. C. Buell,
" Brimdier-General commanding"
The untried soldier, commander of a brigade, com
mander of a sub-department, had received his instruc
tions ; his next business was to execute them. The
regiment went up the Ohio on steamers, and landed at
Catletsburg, where it was joined by its commander.

FIRST CAMPAIGN. ug

XIL
FIRST CAMPAIGN.
THE Big Sandy River rises in the Cumberland
mountain range, runs north, and empties into
the Ohio. The main branch of the stream forms
the boundary between West Virginia and Kentucky.
Twenty-five miles from the Ohio, the western branch
comes in which has its rise in Pound Gap, due north
of Abingdon, the largest town on the line of the Ten
nessee and Virginia Railroad. The Confederate author
ities had sent Humphrey Marshall with several thou
sand men through Pound Gap to hold eastern Ken
tucky, procure enlistments for the Confederate service,
and threaten southern Ohio. It was General Garfield's
mission to drive Marshall out and to aid the Unionists.
On the evening of the 17th, a strong detachment
of companies A and F was detailed for a recon-
noissance to Louisa, thirty miles up the Big Sandy. It
was first intended that the party should go as mounted
infantry, but as only twenty-five horses could be pro
cured, that number of men were mounted and started
overland under command of Major Pardee, on the
afternoon of the i8th. The remainder of the detach
ment, numbering one hundred, was sent to make the

J20 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
journey by water, a small steamer being detailed for
that purpose. After bumping along for several hours,
running aground two or three times in the course of a
mile, the crazy craft ran hopelessly into the mud,
broke her rudder, and stuck fast. The troops on board
clambered ashore, shouldered their knapsacks, and set
out to march to LcJuisa. Eight miles of tugging and
toiling over the hills consumed the rest of the day,
and at night the detachment encamped comfortably
in a barn. Early next morning the march was re
sumed, and about noon the party, footsore and weary,
reached Louisa. The mounted party had arrived and
taken quiet possession of the town. Here, says the
historian of the 42d Ohio, " was their first experience
of the decayed and sluggish village life that prevailed
through the Southern towns during the war. Louisa
was at best a straggling, unpainted hamlet, but the hos
tilities of six months had greatly increased its thrift
less, untidy aspect. The men were nearly all in the
army, on one side or the other ; the court-house had
been used as a barrack by the half barbarous volunteers
of the mountain region ; and a shabby brick tavern,
with its kitchen dismantled and its windows broken,
still struggled against extinction as a public-house by
keeping a red-nosed ex-hostler and a jug of new apple
jack behind the bar ! "
Early in the war, as it then was, Louisa had been
occupied and reoccupied by Federals and Confeder
ates, until its women no longer stared at the passing
soldier as an object of interest, but charged him fifty
cents for a dried-peach pie, and as promptly besought

FIRST CAMPAIGN. 12 1
the commanding officers to post sentries around their
potato bins and hen-roosts.
The troops took possession of the tavern, and a
picket was posted on the road leading up the river to
watch for Jenkins' Cavalry, a small Confederate force
that had been prowling in the vicinity. During the
night a battalion of cavalry, numbering about two hun
dred, arrived and joined the command. They were
Virginia troops, and had seen several months of service
in the Kanawha Valley.
During the morning following, the remaining ten
companies of the 42d began arriving in squads from
two to twenty. The men were footsore, weary, and
hungry. They had not supposed that thirty miles of
travel could involve so much hard work and deep wad
ing. The winter rains had fully set in, and the roads, at
the best hardly more than bridle-paths, were at their
worst. The country which the expedition had traversed
was a succession of hills and valleys, and as bridge-build
ing and road-making had not been even thought of in
that barbarous region, the wagon-trains of Colonel Gar
field's command had only to follow the rude paths that
wound along the valleys, and at intervals of a few
miles crossed some rugged hill or " divide " into a new
gorge. Travel over such roads in the rainy season
involves the frequent crossing of swollen streams, and
the march of the 42d with its train from Catletsburg
to Louisa was little, better than a wading through mud
and water.
In crossing some of the hills, the roads were found
so steep and uneven that men were detailed to walk

122 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
beside the wagons to hold them from capsizing. Slowly
as the main body of the regiment had marched, it
reached Louisa many hours in advance of the train.
Early in the march it had become necessary to relieve
the wagons of every possible pound of burden, and the
road was strewn with debris of luxurious mess-chests,
which the men had hoped to keep through the war.
How little they knew what war was !
It may be doubted whether any regiment was sea
soned to the hard work and discomfort of campaigning
more abruptly than the 42d. In five days they had
come from the comfort of barrack life to the hardships
of a winter campaign in a wilderness.
As the remainder of the regiment continued to ar
rive at Louisa, preparations were made for a temporary
camp. Companies A, F, and K were sent to camp
out on the hills, a mile and a half from the town,
in a position commanding the junction of two roads
leading eastward from the interior of Kentucky. It
was here the first formal essay was made in the high
art of foraging. The boats from the mouth of the
river had been detained by shoal water. The rations
brought overland in the wagon-train had grown scant,
and the soldiers, convinced that the Confederacy owed
them a living, turned upon the lean poultry and spectral
swine of the mountaineers. For two whole days and
nights — the 2ist and 22d — the rain fell incessantly.
Colonel Garfield had arrived meantime, and notwith
standing the unfavorable weather the work of organi
zation went on. On the night of the 22d the rain
turned to snow, and the morning of the 23d brought

FIRST CAMPAIGN. 1 23
an icy wind from the north, which froze the mud in
the roads and made the hills slippery with ice. The
night had been so cold that the men could not sleep,
but had crawled out of their tents and sat until morn
ing huddled around their fires.
On the morning of the 23d, marching orders were
issued, and by noon the regiment, preceded by the
cavalry, was on the way to Paintville, a small town on
Paint Creek, a mile from the junction of the latter
with the Big Sandy, and thirty-three miles from Louisa.
Paintville was at that time the advanced post of Hum
phrey Marshall, commanding a force from two to four
thousand Rebel cavalry, infantry, and artillery.
Marshall had descended the valley as far as Paint
ville, and had commenced permanent fortifications at
that point. It was against this force that Garfield had
been sent. The force placed at his command for this
purpose consisted of the 40th and 42d Ohio Infantry,
— both new regiments, — the remnant of the 14th Ken
tucky, a wild, half organized regiment, which had been
driven before Marshall as he descended the valley, and
the battalion of Virginia cavalry already mentioned.
This command was designated the Eighteenth Bri
gade, Army of the Ohio. The advanced and exposed
position of Marshall offered at that time one of the
few opportunities open to the Union army to strike a
direct and effective blow ; and General Buell, who had
accomplished little or nothing since taking command
of the Department, attached no small importance to
the favorable result of the expedition up the Big
Sandy.

124 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
It was important that the Rebel communication be
tween Virginia and Kentucky should be cut off, and
the drain of men and supplies from the latter State
stopped ; but it was still more essential that somewhere
along the line from Chesapeake Bay to the Mississippi
a Federal force should win a victory to encourage
enlistments and show that the right cause could some
times win.
Just at the moment of Marshall's irruption into
eastern Kentucky, the 40th and 42d Ohio regiments
had been reported to General Buell for assignment to
duty ; and acting upon a suggestion of Colonel Hazen,
of the 41st Ohio, Buell made the two regiments the
nucleus of the brigade, placed Colonel Garfield in com
mand, and sent the untried commander with his untried
men to conduct an independent campaign.
The first day's march accomplished but ten miles,
and ended after nightfall at a stone house, where, amid
the dreary discomfort of a cold winter rain, the men
encamped, wet and hungry, in a muddy CiDrnfield. The
road over which the march had beenx made was
wretched beyond description, one stream having been
forded by the column not less than twenty-six times
within a distance of five miles ! The wagons were left
far behind, and the camp, in the freezing mud of the
cornfield, was without tents or provision.
The necessities of the case outweighed all scruples
about foraging, and the poultry ahd pigs of the neigh
boring farm were all devoured. Before starting the
next morning. Colonel Garfield ordered the troops into
Hne and gave them a brief lecture on the sin of con-

FIRST CAMPAIGN. 125
fiscation, then paid the disconsolate farmer for his
losses out of his own pocket I
On the 27th, a soldier of Marshall's command was
captured a few miles from camp, while home on a fur
lough. He reported Marshall's headquarters with his
main force at Prestonburgh, fifteen miles beyond Paint
ville, and on the eastern bank of the river. These and
other reports made it apparent that there was no time
to be lost. If the enemy were retreating, he should be
promptly followed ; if he were fortifying, it was im
portant to strike him before his preparations were com
plete. On the following morning a small squad of cavalry
scouting in the direction of Paintville encountered a
detachment of the enemy, and after a slight skirmish
retired with the loss of three troopers and a citizen
guide, who were captured. Part of the squad had left
their horses and gone into a house for breakfast The
Rebels came suddenly upon them, drove off those wait
ing outside, and captured those in the house.
The news of this little affair set the camp in com
motion. A squadron of cavalry was sent after the ma
rauders, but returned unsuccessful.
Shortly after noon, the column, crossing a hill, de
scended into a valley running obliquely toward the Big
Sandy, and in the south-easterly direction. But the
teams found the hills impracticable, and after marching
three miles the column was halted and detachments were
sent back to help the wagons out of their difficulties.
It was long after dark before this was even partially

126 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
accomplished, and the command bivouacked barely
three miles from the camp of the previous night.
The next day it rained incessantly, and the regiments
— many not having tents — spent a cheerless, un
comfortable day. Those who had no shelter were
chilled and soaked to the skin.
On the following day. Company F was sent for
ward as an advance guard, and encountered a picket
of tbe enemy on the crest of a hill two miles from
camp. There was a momentary skirmish, and the
Rebels retired. Company A was sent forward to
reinforce the advance. The two companies in front
spent a comfortable night in a barn. The next morn
ing. Company A returned to camp, and the day was
devoted to foraging and getting forward the wagon-
train. Parties of the enemy were hovering round, and
several skirmishes occurred. In one of these little
encounters a detachment of the 14th Kentucky killed
one Rebel cavalry-man and captured another. The
latter was brought to camp, and on being questioned,
described the party to which he belonged as part of a
reconnoitering force sent out by Marshall to gain some
idea of the strength and purpose of the invaders. He
also gave an account of Marshall's strength, and rep
resented him as preparing to take the offensive.
From the point at which Colonel Garfield's column
was now established, three roads lead to Paintville.
On all these three roads the enemy had posted strong
pickets, three-quarters of a mile from town, supported
by an infantry regiment and a battery, which were held
in reserve in the village, ready to move to the support

FIRST CAMPAIGN. 127
of whichever picket should be threatened in force. In
those days of amateur generalship it had not occurred
to General Marshall that his enemy might turn the
uncertainty of the Confederate position to his own ad
vantage. This, however, was just what the Ohio colonel did.
By dividing his cavalry, moving it rapidly, and sup
porting it with small detachments of infantry, he man
aged to strike the three pickets one after the other in
such a way as to entirely mask his own intentions, and
give Marshall the impression that a large force was
bearing down upon him from three directions. The
regiment and battery were frantically hurried from one
road to another, as the point of attack seemed to be
changed, and in the midst of the panic, the straggling
troops in the town retreated across the river. The pick
ets which had been drawn in on the center road came
in pell-mell, and finding the town deserted, fled in
haste across Paint Creek. The regiment and battery
likewise retreated to the intrenched position three
miles south of the town, and Colonel Garfield's forces
occupied Paintville without firing a shot
Having learned from the inhabitants the size of the
Confederate force and direction of the retreat. Colonel
Garfield determined to immediately cross Paint Creek,
and continue the pursuit The heavy rains of the pre
vious fortnight had filled the streams, and Paint Creek,
whose waters were backed up by a mill-dam, was im
passable. Near the dam stood a saw-mill, and around
this were saw-logs. To roll them into the stream, lash
them together, and lay a roadway across, was the work

128 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
of an hour, and by five in the afternoon a thousand
picked infantry were across the river, and heading
southward in pursuit of whatever enemy had been oc
cupying Paintville. A mile further up Paint Creek, at
the mouth of Jenny's Creek, was a ford passable for
horses. From this ford a road led southward, parallel
with the one which the infantry was following Colonel
Garfield was marching to attack a large earthwork,
about whose size and strength dire stories had been
told by prisoners captured from Marshall's command.
It was said to include acres of ground, to be defended
by cannon.
At the forks of a small creek was a large, straggling
log-house, which had been used as headquarters by the
commander of the post. From the women in this
house it was learned that the garrison and working
force had numbered about nine hundred men, and that
they had decamped less than an hour before. The for
tification which the Rebels had abandoned had an area
of two acres, crowning a hill three or four hundred feet
high, between the two branches of the creek already
described. The parapet was heavily reveted with logs
and hewn timber, and traverses for several guns had
been finished. The excavation was nearly complete,
but no guns were in position, and no buildings erected
within the redoubt. It commanded the road for a mile
down the main valley, and for a nearly equal distance
up the left fork of the stream which came down from
the west at right angles with its subsequent course.
The abandoned huts of the Rebel soldiers exhibited
indication of sudden and precipitate retreat Meat

FIRST CAMPAIGN.

T29

and bread were found cooking before the fire, and
everything in confusion. It was learned that the Rebels
had spies watching the movements of the Federals in
the village, and when the column had begun to cross
the pontoon-bridge,, had fl.ed to the fort, giving the
alarm which had resulted in a hasty stampede.
9

130 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

XIII.
MIDDLE CREEK.
WAS Marshall intending to leave the country with
out a battle ? Colonel Garfield did not think
so ; but that somewhere amid the mountains, Marshall
would select a strong position and make a stand. Every
step of Garfield's advance would increase the difficulty
of subsisting his troops, while Marshall the while would
be nearer his base of supplies.
Colonel Garfield, on the morning of the 9th, set out
with fifteen hundred picked men in pursuit of Mar
shall's retreating force. Two days' rations were taken
in haversacks, and further supplies were ordered to be
sent up in boats to Prestonburgh. The remainder of
the brigade was left in command of Colonel Cranor,
with orders to follow Colonel Garfield's column as soon
as sufficient provisions arrived to furnish three days'
rations, in addition to those already sent forward.
The advance column marched all day, but the roads
were so wretched that it was night before it had
reached the foot of a high hill, north of the mouth of
Abbott's Creek, three miles below Prestonburgh, and
on the west side of the Big Sandy. Ascending the hiU
soon after dark. Colonel Garfield's advance encountered

MIDDLE CREEK.

131

at the summit a cavalry picket, which fired a volley
and retreated. Being evidently in the immediate pres
ence of a large force of the enemy. Colonel Garfield
brought his command to the top of the hill, and, with
strong guards thrown out to the front and rear, rested
until morning.
It was a bitter January night The rain which had
fallen all day turned to sleet, and a keen, biting gale
from the north whistled through the mountain pines,
and stiffened the wet clothing of the soldiers with ice.
No fire could be permitted in such a situation, and the
men shivered and waited through the long, dreary night
as best they could. When morning dawned they found
themselves on a high hill, from which the road de
scended by a steep zigzag course to the valley of
Abbott's Creek.
Immediately after encountering the cavalry the even
ing before. Colonel Garfield had sent back a message
directing Colonel Cranor to put all the available men
at Paintville in motion at once, and march to his sup
port. The order reached Cranor before daylight, and
within an hour twelve hundred men, made up from all
the regiments in the brigade, were on the march.
The advance column meanwhile descended, early on
the morning of the loth, to the valley of Abbott's
Creek, and found that the enemy had retired up the
stream and across the dividing ridge into the valley of
Middle Creek, which comes down from the mountains,
parallel with Abbott's Creek, and flows into the Big
Sandy about a mile farther up than the mouth of the
latter.

132 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
It was at once apparent that Colonel Garfield was in
the immediate presence of Marshall's entire force, and
that the latter was disposed to fight. Marshall was
known to have about thirty-five hundred men of all
arms — infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and had come
into the Sandy Valley to spend the winter, and, by
occupying the country, promote enlistments into the
Confederate service. This purpose he could not, of
course, relinquish without a fight, and he chose his
ground for the encounter deliberately and well.
Proceeding cautiously in order to allow the reinforce
ments under Lieutenant-Colonel Shelden to come up.
Colonel Garfield passed up the valley of Abbott's Creek,
forded the stream, crossed the ridge, and descended
into the valley of Middle Creek. Here he found Mar
shall's cavalry drawn up in line across the valley, but a
few shots from the advance drove them back. One
cavalry-man was cut off from the main body, and in
attempting to swim the creek was captured, the first
prisoner of war taken by the 42d Ohio on a battlefield.
A heavy line of skirmishers was thrown across the val
ley, and the advance began. The enemy's cavalry
made a formidable show in the broad meadows, but
kept at a discreet distance.- Once they formed behind
a small spur of hill that ran out into the valley, and
from behind that cover charged down upon the ad
vancing column. Throwing his troops into a hollow
square. Colonel Garfield awaited the attack, and when
the cavalry came within range, sent them a voHey
which broke and turned them back. The skirmish-
line, under command of Adjutant Olds, advanced

MIDDLE CREEK. 1 33
again, and drove the cavalry from a spur, behind
which it was attempting to rally. This little spur of
high ground, upon which stood a log church, sur
rounded by a few graves, was then occupied by the
Federal force as a base from which to attack or to de
fend, as circumstances might require.
Drawing up his little force on the slope. Colonel
Garfield saw that Marshall had come to a stand.
Across the valley half a mile distant was the Confed
erate cavalry, and on the same line near the foot of the
hills, to the right of the creek, a battery was in position,
which, as the skirmishers advanced, opened fire and
gave the line a momentary check. A few shells were
also fired at the main force on Graveyard Point but
the guns were badly trained and the shells buried them
selves harmlessly in the mud. The enemy's cavalry
and artillery being thus accounted for, it remained for
Colonel Garfield to discover the location of his infantry.
On the south side of the creek to the right of the bat
tery rose a high hill, heavily timbered and crowned with
a ledge of rock. Around the foot of the hill wound
the creek, and close 'beside this, but on the opposite
side of the stream, lay the road. It was at once con
jectured that Marshall's infantry had pccupied the hill,
and that the Federal column, if it advanced round the
curve, would be caught by an ambush fire from the oppo
site bank. To verify this theory, Garfield sent his
escort, a handful of Kentucky cavalry, to charge up the
road and draw the fire of the main body. The ruse
was boldly performed and was completely successful.
As the Httle group of horsemen galloped up the creek

134 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
and round the curve in the road, the battery opened,
and the whole infantry force, with the trepidation of
new troops, fired at long range and completely un
masked their position. They occupied the wooded hill
from its base half-way to its summit. It was now time
for real work.
About four hundred men of the 40th and 42d Ohio
were sent to ford the creek, climb the mountain, and
attack the Rebel position in front. Major Pardee, of
the 42d, who was practically in command of the fight
ing in that part of the field, threw forward as skirmish
ers detachments of companies A and F, of the 42d.
Two companies of the 14th Kentucky, under Lieuten
ant-Colonel Monroe of that regiment, were sent to cross
the creek lower down, gain a narrow ledge or crest of a
ridge that ran up to the main hill, and by advancing along
the ridge attack the enemy in flank and save the little
force from being overpowered. As the line advanced up
the hill it soon encountered heavy opposition. A sharp
fire came from behind the trees, logs, and rocks, and
the Rebels swarmed down the hill, shouting and firing.
Half the remaining reserve on -Graveyard Point was
sent to Pardee's support, and thus strengthened he
pushed forward. The skirmishers were well advanced.
The time had come for the battle to begin.
The column moved at the word, came within range,
and opened fire. They were in the valley, the enemy
high up on the side of a steep hill, sheltering them
selves behind the trees, firing wildly.
Troops firing down hill, unless accustomed to accu
rate firing, almost always overshoot the mark. Israel

BATTLE OF MIBDLE CKBEK.

a-Garfleld-s First Position. J^-Garfleld's Second Position. (7-Confederate Infantry. i)-Confederate ArtiUery.
£— Koad by which Marshall retreated.

MIDDLE CREEK. 1 37
Putnam and John Stark, old hunters, understood this
at Bunker Hill, and issued those orders famous in his
tory : " Aim at their waistbands, boys ; " but the raw
troops under MarshaU did not understand it and their
bullets did great execution among the trees over the
heads of Garfield's men, but not much in the ranks.
Marshall's men were wholly undisciplined, and fought
without unity of action. On the other hand, the five
months' drilling at Camp Chase had brought the student
regiment to considerable discipline.
The Rebels began to retire before the steady ad
vance of Garfield, but Marshall hurried down rein
forcements.. The Rebel cannon thundered more furi
ously. It was evident that Marshall, taking advantage
of his superiority in numbers and position, was
preparing to charge with his whole force down the hill
and overwhelm the Union troops. It was a critical
moment. But reinforcements were at hand. Lieu
tenant-Colonel Shelden, who had been ordered from
Paintville the night before with twelve hundred men,
had been making a forced march. They had come
twenty miles since daylight The soldiers had heard
the roar of Marshall's cannon and were pressing on.
The surgeon of the 42d Ohio had descried them in
the distance. Without orders from Garfield or any
one else, he rode down the valley in hot haste. " For
God's sake, hurry up ! " he shouted. The troop gave a
cheer, broke into a run, and came out in full view of
the Rebels, who, from the commotion in their ranks,
were evidently greatly surprised at this sudden appear
ance of Union reinforcements.

138 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
The uproar of the battle increased. The Rebels
fired rapidly and wildly. Volley after volley rolled out
from the Union ranks. The Rebel cannon thundered,
but Garfield had not a single piece of artillery to give
an answering shot Night was closing in. The Union
troops had steadily advanced, and the time had come
to decide the battle.
Colonel Garfield stepped in front of the line, tossed
his overcoat into a tree, and turned to his men.
" Come on, boys, give them Hail Columbia ! " he
shouted. The line moved up the hill with a hurrah. A panic
seized the Rebels ; they fled from the ledge, and
from the shelter of the trees, in wild confusion.
The sun had set ; the midwinter night was closing
in. The soldiers were eager to pursue ; but though the
enemy had been driven, though they had fled in con
fusion from the position they had held with so much
pertinacity, no one knew what Marshall might have
in reserve, and the troops were placed in position for
anything that might happen.
Suddenly the sky was bright in the direction of Mar
shall's line of retreat Reconnoissance showed that
he had abandoned everything ; had set his wagons,
supplies, baggage of all kinds, on fire ; that his army
was a mob fleeing in hot haste through the moun
tain passes. He made his escape through Pound
Gap, his troops scattering in every direction, never to
be brought together again as an opposing force.
Colonel Garfield had obeyed orders, accomplished

)SJ» i»"^- ,;

MIDDLE CREEK. I4I
what he was directed to do, and was master of eastern
Kentucky. It was not a battle attended by great loss of life, but
it had one important bearing on the grand campaign
about beginning along the Ohio ; it was the first break
in the Rebel line. It relieved eastern Kentucky ; it
quieted Buell's apprehensions of an attack on the left
flank. A few days later General Thomas made the second
break at Millspring, in the overthrow and death of
Zollicoffer. Then came Fort Henry, Donelson, the
evacuation of Bowling Green by Sidney Johnson, and
the advance of the Union army to the Hne of the Ten
nessee. In the east, the Union troops had suffered disaster at
Big Bethel, Bull Run, and Ball's Bluff. This was the
first victory after the slight affairs of Rosecrans and
McClellan in Western Virginia, and it was refreshing to
the country.
It was during the brief season of rest and prepara
tion at Paintville, that an incident occurred which is
worthy of record, because it illustrates the quahty of
Colonel Garfield's energy, and the kind of pluck that
was demanded to insure success in the Sandy Valley.
The river was full, the current swift, and the troops at
Paintville were living upon less than half rations.
Colonel Garfield went down to the mouth of the Big
Sandy to see what made the supply steamers so slow
and uncertain. He found there the " Sandy Valley," a
small, rickety, stern-wheel steamer, tied up to the
wharf at Catletsburg. He ordered the captain to take

142 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
on a load of supplies, and start up the river. The captain.
said the water was too high, and the trip impossible.
Efforts to get other steamers having failed, Garfield
took command, had the vessel loaded, stationed a sol-
diei on deck to keep the captain to his duty, and him
self took the wheel. His canal-boat experience stood
him in good stead now, and notwithstanding the pro
tests of the captain that no boat could stem such a
current, the wheezing craft crept slowly up the stream.
The water was sixty feet deep in the channel ; the
trees along the bank, submerged nearly to their tops,
rocked and swayed in the rushing current, and the
rickety steamer, doing- her utmost, could only make
three miles an hour.
Night came. The captain insisted that the boat
must be tied up. To continue such a voyage as that
by night was, he said, " simple madness." But the
man at the wheel was captain then, and he had come
from a country where boats did not usually tie up at
night. He ordered the fires freshened, and still kept
the bow up the stream. Finally, in rounding an ab
rupt bend in the river, the boat was caught by the cur
rent and swung round, hard and heavy, on a bar of
quicksand. Every effort to back and spar her off
failed. Tools were brought and excavations dug
around the imbedded bow, but in vaiji.
"Get a line to the opposite shore!" ordered Garfield.
" The boatman protested, and swore that it could not
be done. The Colonel himself leaped into the yawl
and steered it across. The current swept them down,
but finally they reached the shore, made fast a Hne,

MIDDLE CREEK. 1 45
twisted it with a grail until the strain drew the steamer
from her bed in the mud, and once more she headed up
the river.
All Saturday afternoon and night, Sunday, and Sun
day night, Colonel Garfield kept his place at the wheel,
with only a brief interval on Sunday, when the captain,
thoroughly conquered, could be trusted to run the boat
At nine o'clock Monday morning, the " Sandy Vahey "
reached Paintville, and the brigade, almost down to
their last cracker, obtained fresh supplies.
General Buell issued the following congratulatory
order, upon receipt of the intelligence of Marshall's
defeat :

" HEADqUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OhIO,
Louisville, Ky., Jan. 20, 1862.
"General Order No. 40.
" The General commanding takes occasion to thank
General Garfield and his troops for their succesful cam
paign against the Rebel force under General Marshall,
on the Big Sandy, and their gallant conduct in battle.
They have overcome formidable obstacles in the char
acter of the country, the condition of the roads, and
the inclemency of the season ; and without artillery
have been successful in several engagements termi
nating in the battle on Middle Creek, on the loth inst,
driven the enemy from his intrenched position, and
forced him back into the mountains with the loss of a
large amount of baggage and stores, and many of his
men killed or captured.
" These services have called into action the highest
10

146 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
qualities of a soldier's fortitude, perseverance, and
courage. D. C. Buell,
"General commanding."
It will be interesting just here to note the difference
we sometimes see in men.
The Army of the Potomac had done nothing since
the defeat at Bull Run. General McClellan had been
its commander the while. He had laid his plans be
fore the President on the 4th of August after the bat
tle. He thought twenty thousand men would be suf
ficient in Kentucky and Tennessee, but that the Army
of the Potomac ought to be increased to two hundred
and seventy-three thousand men.
In October, he had one hundred and sixty-eight
thousand, but he was not ready to advance. He in
formed the Secretary of War that he could not possi
bly advance with less than two hundred and eight
thousand ! This was the reason :
" The enemy have a force on the Potomac not less
than one hundred and fifty thousand strong, well
drifled and equipped, ably commanded and strongly
intrenched." That was his estimate, from negroes, from men reach
ing Washington from inside the Rebel lines. Other
people estimated the Confederate forces under Johnson
at less than half that number. We now know that his
force, October 31, 1861, was sixty-six thousand two
hundred and forty.
The days were bright and beautiful, the roads of
Virginia in excellent condition. The Army of the Po-

MIDDLE CREEK.

147

tomac had abundant transportation, mules and horses
by the ten thousand, wagon-trains in order. The army
was well organized, but McClellan said that his troops
were raw, while the Confederates were well drilled and
disciplined. In a letter to the Secretary of War, he
stated that he thought he might be able to move on
the 25th of November. He held grand reviews for the
gratification .of the senators and representatives, and
their families, at Washington. Wherever the com
mander rode, he was accompanied by a brilliant staff.
His division, and many of his brigade commanders,
were West Point men — supposed to know the art of
war. November passed away. There was no sign of any
movement The Rebels, on the contrary, had moved
forward, and the smoke of their cannon could be seen
from the dome of the Capitol.
The public was getting impatient The commander
had been called at the outset " the young Napoleon,"
but such inaction did not bear much resemblance to
Austerlitz or Wagram.
The Confederate troops held daily skirmishes along
the line as if inviting him to advance. The Indian
summer passed, and the army was motionless through
all the glorious season ; its farthest advance was scarcely
three miles from the Potomac.
The public was getting more impatient The Presi
dent was in distress. He urged McCleUan to move.
He consulted with other officers.
" If General McCleHan does not want to use the
Army of the Potomac, I should like to borrow it of

r48 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
him, for if something is not done soon the bottom will
drop out of the whole affair," he said in sadness.
He asked McClellan if he had any plans. McCleHan
did not wish to reveal his plans to anybody, not even
to the President, but he gave one at last — to leave a
few raw troops to hold the forts around Washington,
and move the army by water down the Potomac and
up the Rappahannock.
The New Year came ; nothing had been done, and
the troops were building log huts for winter-quarters.
On the 1 2th of January, a despatch informed the
President and Secretary of War that Colonel Garfield
had won the battle of Middle Creek, and driven Hum
phrey Marshall, commanding a force twice as large as
Garfield's, out of eastern Kentucky.
Colonel Garfield ! Who was he .¦• Nobody had ever
heard of him. The Rebel line had been broken. If
Colonel Garfield could force his way through mud and
mire, through sleet, rain, and snow, into a mountain
region where the roads were only bridle-paths, where
the soldiers had to pack their provisions on their backs,
sleep in the open air without tents, why could not the
Army of the Potomac move .¦• If the raw troops from
Ohio without cannon could defeat double their number,
why could not the Army of the Potomac hope for suc
cess .'
Two days after the receipt of Garfield's victory, the
President called a meeting of the Cabinet and army
officers of high rank for consultation.
President Lincoln asked General McClellan as to
his plans. He protested against laying them before

MIDDLE CREEK. j^g
the President and Cabinet, unless under peremptory
orders. He was maturing his plans and would lay
them before the President in a short time.
Two weeks passed. No word came from McClellan,
and the President losing all patience, issued a per
emptory order, fixing a date on which, about a month
later, all the armies were to advance. Only under
stress of peremptory orders did the general of the
Army of the Potomac make preparations for moving.
His plan was to go by water to Fortress Monroe.
But the Rebels had batteries along the Potomac, and
must be driven out before that could be done.
The President would not consent to have Wash
ington exposed, and ordered him to move upon Manas
sas. McClellan objected, and the President finally
yielded to his wishes and ordered water transportation.
January, February, March passed before McClellan
was ready. Meanwhile the Rebels quietly evacuated
Manassas and the Potomac, and feU back to meet him
on the Peninsula.
I turn once more to Middle Creek. Colonel Gar
field was just thirty years old. He knew literally
nothing of war ; never had seen men in line except
at Camp Chase. He had been called upon by Buell
to plan a campaign against a country of which he
knew nothing except that it was a region of mountains,
narrow valleys, deep ravines, and sparsely settled. He
had formed his plan between sunset and sunrise — in
formed himself of the character of the country, of the
difficulties of the enterprise. The enemy outnumbered
him two to one. Every step of his march was through

150 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
deep mud or pelting storms. He never hesitated one
instant He marched straight on, won the victory, and
electrified the country at a time when general gloom
had settled upon the nation.
Surely there is a difference in men.

UNION VICTORIES.

iSi

XIV.
UNION VICTORIES.
VICTORIES are not great on account of numbers
engaged in battle, but greatness is to be estimated
by results. The whole of the Russian army and all of
Napoleon's, with the exception of the Imperial guard,
were engaged in the battle of Borodino. There was a
terrible slaughter of human beings, the ground was
drenched with blood ; the Russians were defeated, but
the battle decided nothing. Napoleon marched on to
Moscow ; the Russians gave the city to the flames,
compelling the retreat of the French : that was all.
We turn to the Plains of Abraham, where Wolfe and
Montcalm faced each other. The troops engaged in
that contest were not greater than those under Gar
field and Marshall at Middle Creek ; the battle lasted
scarcely twenty minutes, yet it was the wresting of an
empire from France, the coming in of another lan
guage, another literature, another religion, another
civilization !
The victory of Middle Creek, contrasted with other
battles of the Civil War, seems insignificant, and yet its
influence was far-reaching. At the breaking out of the
war, a number of civilians — men who had had no mill-

152 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
tary training — were appointed as generals. They were
appointed from political rather than military considera
tion ; but the disaster at Big Bethel, in Virginia, at the
outset had put civilians as commanders at a discount
in the estimation of the public. Rosecrans and Mc-
Clellan's successes in West Virginia had increased the
feeling against civilian commanders, and had brought
officers educated at West Point to the front
McDowell's defeat at Bull Run did not change mat
ters in public estimation. The belief was still upper
most that only those who had been educated at West
Point could be successful commanders.
Those who had thus been educated were appointed
to responsible positions, and it is very certain that those
gentlemen took no pains to disabuse the public of their
ideas in relation to the worthiness of West Point gradu
ates. Every division commander, and many of the brigade
commanders, in the Army of the Potomac, at that
period, and many in more subordinate positions, had
been educated at West Point. But a West Point offi
cer, commander in the Army of the Potomac, as we
have seen, had nearly exhausted the patience of Presi
dent Lincoln, by his inaction, indecision and extrava
gant demands, and the patience of the public was fast
going, when the news of Garfield's victory was flashed
over the country.
At first it was hardly credited. It was not thought
possible that a school-teacher only thirty years of
age could make such a march through a country as
mountainous as Switzerland, along bridle-paths, amid

UNION VICTORIES. 1 53
ice and snow, with a brigade of raw troops, without
artillery, and attack a force double his own, in a strong
position, win a notable victory, driving the Rebels out
of eastern Kentucky.
When the news was confirmed, people saw that men
without military education could make successful cam
paigns, and the public began to revise its opinions.
Garfield's success stimulated their hopes and gave
them renewed confidence of ultimately putting down
the rebellion.
The victory was more than this : it inaugurated a
series of brilliant victories. To understand its far-
reaching influence, let us glance at the state of affairs.
At the beginning of the war, Kentucky, through the
influence of secession sympathizers, and the action of
Governor McGoffin, endeavored to take the impractica
ble position of a neutral State, but the sweep of events
carried it from that position in a very short time — the
Confederates taking possession of the southern section
and the Union army of the northern.
Albert Sidney Johnston was commander of the Con
federate forces in the State. He selected Bowling
Green, on the railroad leading southwest from Lexing
ton, as the ceriter of his line — his right wing extend
ing first to Mill Springs on the Cumberland, at the
head of navigation, where General Zollicoffer was sta
tioned with a large force. Humphrey Marshall, in
eastern Kentucky, was at the extreme point of his right.
His left wing extended to Fort Donelson on the Cum
berland, and Fort Henry ten miles farther west, on the
Tennessee.

154 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
Humphrey MarshaU was to sweep down the Big
Sandy to the Ohio, while Zollicoffer at the same time
would advance into the rich country south of Lexing
ton. His cavalry made several successful raids, return
ing with rich supplies, taken from Kentucky Unionists
and General Buell's wagon-trains. Zollicoffer had eight
thousand troops. He erected strong fortifications on
both sides of the Cumberland, as a base from which
to operate. He was not there merely to hold the posi
tion, but to make a movement in conjunction with
Marshall, which should turn Buell's left flank and
force him back to Louisville.
General Buell's extreme left, as we have seen, was
the force under Garfield. The next troops in the line
going west was a brigade under General Schoepf, and
not far from it, another brigade under George H.
Thomas, born in Virginia, but loyal to the Stars and
Stripes. Zollicoffer, through spies and pretended Unionists,
knowing all that was going on in the Union armies,
learning that Schoepf and Thomas were intending to
unite, resolved to crush first one and then the other.
He advanced suddenly from Mill Springs toward
Somerset, marching through the night, striking four
Union regiments at daylight, attacking with great im
petuosity, driving all before him. The Union troops
were badly cut up, but reinforcements came, and the
battle was renewed with great vigor, resulting in the
death of Zollicoffer, — the utter routing of his troops,
who fled in consternation across the Cumberland, aban
doning their cannon and a large amount of supplies.

UNION VICTORIES.

ISS

twelve hundred horses, one hundred wagons. The
whole Confederate force melted away on January 19th,
nine days after the victory of Garfield. Johnston's en
tire right wing had been annihUated.
The time had come for crushing the Confederate left
wing. A great fleet of river steamers, carrying a force
under General Grant, escorted by the gunboats under
Commander Foote, sailed from Cairo up the Tennessee
to atack Fort Henry.
The troops were landed, the gunboats moved to the
attack, steering steadily up-stream, pouring in a fire
which dismounted the Confederate guns, tore up the
breastwork, — in one hour and ten minutes compelling
a surrender. The taking of this fortification opened a back door
to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland.
General Grant moved upon Fort Donelson. The Con
federates, under Floyd, and Pillow, and Buckner, on
February 14th, marched out to attack him, but were
driven back. The next day (Saturday) Grant renewed
the conflict, compelling a surrender on the sixteenth —
Sunday. Thirteen thousand prisoners, three thousand horses,
forty-eight pieces of field artillery, seventeen heavy
guns, twenty thousand small arms, and an immense
amount of stores, were the fruits of the victory.
On Saturday noon. General PiUow sent this despatch
to Johnson:
" All is going well. On the honor of a soldier, the
day is ours."
Sunday morning at daylight, he and Floyd were flee-

156 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
ing from the fort, leaving Buckner to make the surren
der. Johnston's entire left wing had been crushed, as
one might crush a paper box. There was a quick mov-
'ng of Johnston's troops from Bowling Green on that
Sunday morning, trains bearing regiments and brigades
southward past NashviHe.
The newspapers at Nashville on that same morning
appeared with flaming head-lines —
" Enemy retreating ! " " Glorious Results ! "
" Our Boys follo'wing, and peppering their Rear! "
" A Complete Victory ! "
The bells rang out their jubilant peals, and the citi
zens shook hands over the good news as they went to
church. An hour later there was weeping and waiHng.
Fort Donelson had surrendered. People poured out
from the churches. Those who sympathized with the
rebellion packed their goods. Every team in Nash
ville was engaged ; carts, wagons, carriages, drays — all
were loaded. Strong men were pale, women wrung
their hands and mourned. In a few hours the gun
boats would be there.
Down came the trains from Bowling Green, bear
ing the troops southward. All Sunday afternoon,
through the night, through Monday, they rumbled.
What could not be carried away was destroyed, or
given to the poor. When the last of Johnston's teams
was across the Cumberland, the abutments of the
bridge, which had cost two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars, were blown up, and the structure fell with a
crash into the stream.

UNION VICTORIES.

157

Property which had cost the Confederacy miUions of
dollars was destroyed. Johnston was hastening south
west, never halting till he had reached Corinth, in
northern Mississippi.
Garfield crushed the extreme right of the Confeder
ate line on the loth of January, and the victories had
foUowed like a row of bricks, one after the other, in
four weeks, clearing Kentucky and Tennessee of every
Confederate soldier !
Through the South there was gloom and despond
ency ; throughout the North, rejoicing.
We should not be warranted in saying that these
victories were wholly due to the first breaking of the
Confederate line at Middle Creek. Probably Thomas
would have defeated Zollicoffer in any event. Foote
and Grant in all probability would have taken Fort
Henry and Donelson, if Garfield had not made that
movement ; but Middle Creek was the inauguration of
the series of victories ; it was the first upsetting of
Confederate plans ; it stimulated the Union soldiers,
it gave encouragement and hope to loyal men every
where. Middle Creek was like a refreshing breeze after a
sultry summer's day.
From the moment that the news of the victory of
Middle Creek was flashed over the wires to Washing
ton, President Lincoln had his eye on the young Ohio
colonel who had set such a glorious example. From
that time on he kept him in view, and sent him a com
mission as brigadier-general.
While these victories were in progress along the

158 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Union Hues, Garfield, having done what he set out to
do, was descending the Big Sandy and the Ohio to
LouisvUle, hastening on and reporting personally to
General Buell south of NashvUle. His brigade was
detained at Louisville, but he was appointed to the
command of the 20th Brigade of Buell's army in the
division commanded by General T. J. Woods.
The army was on its march toward Pittsburg Land
ing. It was a toilsome movement. The roads were
badly cut up, and there were frequent rains. Wood's
command was in the rear. It arrived at Pittsburg
Landing during the forenoon of the second day's fight

CORINTH CAMPAIGN. 150

XV.
CORINTH CAMPAIGN.
AFTER the victory at Donelson, the troops which
had taken part in that engagement went up the
Tennessee River on steamers, and took position at Pitts
burg Landing, about ten miles from the Mississippi
line. General BueU at the same time was slowly mak
ing his way from Nashville south-west toward the same
point Johnston chose Corinth, the railroad junction twenty
miles from Pittsburg Landing, as the place where he
would rally his troops. It was necessary for him to
make such a movement to prevent Grant and BueU
from moving across the country and attacking Mem
phis in the rear.
When Grant's troops pitched their tents in the woods
at Pittsburg Landing, Johnston resolved to steal upon
them unaware and defeat them before Buell arrived.
AU the troops that could be gathered up from the
south-west were sent to him by railroad.
General Grant had no expectation of being attacked.
The infantry pickets, instead of being out three or four
miles, were not half a mile beyond camp. His army was
in a bad position. General Grant did not dream that

l6o JAMES A. GARFIELD.
fifty thousand men were ready to strike him ; that the
Confederates, with five days' rations, on Friday night
started from Corinth ; that orders were issued forbid
ding the soldiers kindling a fire, or making the least
noise. Not a drum beat ; not a bugle sounded its
note. Johnston approached in four lines. General Hardee
was in front. A quarter of a mile in his rear was Bragg,
behind him Polk, with Breckenridge in reserve. There
were from ten to twelve thousand men in each line.
Grant's force was much smaUer.
At eleven o'clock Saturday evening Hardee was
close upon the Union pickets. Johnston called his offi
cers and gave them this order. They were to attack
at daylight.
" We sleep to-morrow night in the enemy's camp,"
said Beauregard.
At three o'clock Sunday morning the Confederates
were awake, their breakfasts eaten, their blankets folded,
their knapsacks laid aside. The morning brightened,
and the long lines wound through the forest. The
Union army was asleep. The pickets were keeping
guard, all others in slumber. There was nothing to
indicate that a hostUe army was scarcely a mUe from
the picket lines, ready to swoop down like an eagle
upon its prey.
The Union army consisted of seven divisions : Hurl-
burt's, W. H. L. Wallace's, near Pittsburg Landing ;
McClernand's, Sherman's, and Prentiss's, nearly three
miles farther out ; and Lewis Wallace's, at Cramps
Landing, seven miles down the river. General Grant

CORINTH CAMPAIGN. x6\
was at Savannah, ten mUes distant on the east side of
the river.
Suddenly the Union pickets saw a long line of men
moving upon them. The muskets rattled, couriers
hastened to give the alarm to Prentiss and Sherman.
The drums beat, but before the men were awake, Hardee
was upon them, sweeping all before him, and taking
possession of Sherman's camp at ShUoh Church, and
of Prentiss's, near the river.
It is not necessary in this sketch of General Gar
field's life to follow out the details of the battle through
Sunday — how the Union troops rallied ; how, after the
first confusion, they contested every inch of ground,
falling back slowly and stubbornly ; how, at nightfall,
massing his artUlery, and concentrating his lines along
a ravine, with the aid of the gunboats, the progress of
the Confederates was checked ; how Buell's first divis
ion arrived, ascended the hill, and came into position ;
how the Confederates rested on their arms, intending
to resume the fight in the morning ; how, on Monday
morning, Buell's troops were in line.
Grant turned the tables, and began the attack, and
pressed on his columns. Beauregard, who succeeded to
the command after Johnston's death, was driven back
over all the ground won the day before, and at night
was fleeing to Corinth.
Garfield's brigade was in Woods' division — the last
to cross the river. Garfield was in position to take
part in the struggle at noon, but the battle was dying
away, and he was not called upon. The Confederates
II

l62 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
had been foUed and defeated with great loss, yet
Beauregard claimed a great victory.
On the last week in April, 1862, in the woods of
Tennessee, near Shiloh Church, I saw the commander
of a brigade exercising it upon the double-quick. The
troops were marching in column, moving with precis
ion at the word of command, charging bayonets, wheel
ing to the right and left, in admirable order.
" It is Colonel Garfield who won the battle of Middle
Creek," said my fellow-correspondent, Whitelaw Reid,
then of the Cincinnati Gazette, now of the New York
Tribune. Courteous and hearty our reception. We were upon
the ground where Albert Sidney Johnston bivouacked
his troops on that Saturday night — two miles from
Shiloh Church. In this connection I reproduce words
written on the 28th of April, 1 862 :
"This out-of-the-way place has become historic.
Beauregard has named the late battlefield the Field of
Shiloh. Our right wing on Sunday morning rested on
Shiloh grounds. There the contest was waged with
terrible fierceness all through that bloody day. There
the next morning it was renewed, and there the enemy
was put to rout. There, to use the Hebrew term Shiloh,
was our ' deliverance! Let us accept this name as that
by which the victory shall be known in history.
" It is not a costly edifice. No white spire points
heavenward. The aisles are not carpeted. There is no
sweet-toned organ with triple rows of keys. Through
the windows streams no ' dim, religious light' It has

CORINTH CAMPAIGN.

163

no silver-toned bell, no fluted columns supporting a
fretted roof. It is of modest dimensions, about twenty
feet square, built of logs. The chinking is gone, washed
out by the rains. It would make a very good corn-crib.
It has no pulpit or pews — never had. The people
worshiped on benches. The logs bear the marks of
the leaden rain, which swept around it during the con
test. After the fight it was used as a hospital, but the
floor has been torn up, and it is now suitable for a
southern cow-house ; but in the North it would be an
unsightly object, fit for firewood or fence-rails.
" Shiloh has been a place for camp-meetings. A few
rods south a clear running brook meanders through
the forest fed by limpid springs, furnishing excellent
water for the worshipful assemblies. Three miles dis
tant is the Tennessee, where the baptismal rites could
be performed. All around is a grand old forest, fur
nishing grateful shade. There is a clearing across the
ravine, — an old house in the last stages of decay, rid
dled now by cannon-shot. This is ShUoh Field.
" There are other fields — little patches of cleared
land, which have been under the plow for fifty years,
while the surrounding forests have stood in all their
majesty, with undeveloped, virgin richness of uncounted
centuries beneath the mold. This place has stood still
whUe the rest of the world has moved on.
" The place is no further advanced than it was when
the first settlers came over the mountains. Civilization
came, made a beginning, but there has been no ad
vance. No elevation, no aspiration after a better state

164 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
of being. How the tUth and culture of old Worcester
would crown these swells of land with sheaves of
golden grain ! What corn and clover-fields, redolent
with sweets ; pastures of honeysuckle ; gardens of
roses ! What white cottages, with green bowers ; what
churches and schoolhouses, towns and villages ! Here,
within three miles of one of the most beautiful rivers in
the world, within fourteen miles of raUroad communi
cation, the forest remains undisturbed. The mourning
dove fills the sylvan scene with its plaintive melody,
and the people plod on, in the old-time paths, just
ignorant enough to fight against their own interests.
Why .? Slavery reigns ! "
After the battle of Pittsburg Landing, General Hal-
leck came from St. Louis, and took command of the
army in person, shelving General Grant, who, though
he remained with the army, was wholly ignored by
Halleck, who commenced a snail-like movement to
ward Corinth, fully believing that Beauregard was
going to make a stand at that point, and that he had
an army nearly or quite as large as his own. Halleck
constructed a geries of lines of breastworks, nearly one
hundred miles in all, dug large and deep wells, creeping
on a mUe or two a day, his advance having frequent
skirmishes with the Rebels.
In all of these labors the brigade under Garfield took
part There were frequent rains, the mud was deep,
and many of the soldiers, owing to want of proper
vigilance on the part of the brigade and regimental
commanders, were down with sickness. General Gar-

CORINTH CAMPAIGN. 165
field's troops were an exception. The discipline, firm,
steady, constant ; the sanitary regulations, rigidly en
forced, kept the health-rate at a high average.
The brigade which General Garfield had first com
manded held him in high esteem ; the brigade then
under his command soon came to hold him in equal
respect and admiration.
General Halleck was a month in moving twenty
miles. The last week in May his siege-guns were in
position to open fire upon Beauregard's lines, but the
Confederates were not there. Beauregard had hood
winked him, and silently departed, destroying the
railroad, and burning bridges along the entire line from
Memphis to Huntsville.
To the commander who had triumphed over the
difficulties of a campaign in eastern Kentucky in mid
winter, who had shown an energy not surpassed by any
other officers, was assigned the task of reconstructing
the lines. It was work about which there could be no
dilly-dallying ; it must be done with expedition. The
army must have its supplies.
" An army is dependent on its belly," said Napoleon,
meaning that it could do nothing without its rations.
General Garfield executed the task with expedition.
He was everywhere along the lines, personaUy direct
ing, putting forth his utmost energy, accomplishing the
work to the great satisfaction of Major-General Hal
leck, and the department at Washington.
". I can see now," said Mrs. Garfield to her husband,
after hearing of his steering the steamboat up the Big
Sandy, — "I can see now why you was led to go upon

i66 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
the canal — that the experience might be of value to
you when your country needed it"
So Christian faith and recognition of a Divine hand
guiding and directing the affairs of life, interpreted the
meaning. Was it that he might be of further use to
his country in the great struggle that he became a car
penter ? Certain it is that his knowledge of that occu
pation was of value in the bridge-building. The man
who had made mortises and tenons, who could use the
square and scratch-awl, had a practical knowledge that
gave him great advantage. His practiced eye could
decide in an instant what shape the structure should
have. The man who, when a boy of sixteen, could cut
two cords of wood a day, knew what men could do
with axes. The man who bought the second algebra
he had ever seen, who had mastered the problems of
geometry, who supplemented the practical by the the
oretical, who, in his early student days, had " a defi
nite object in view " and had attained it ; who made it
a rule of life to accomplish whatever he undertook to
do, — is it any wonder that he quickly accomplished
the task assigned him }
The hardships of the campaign were beginning to
tell upon him. He was exposed day and night to the
malarious influences of the swamps, and, though en
dowed by nature with a grand physique, his health
gave way ; he was placed upon the sick-list and allowed
leave of absence.
He left the army August ist, but soon after coming
home orders reached him from the War Department to
proceed to Cumberland Gap and relieve General G,

CORINTH CAMPAIGN.

167

W. Morgan, who was in command at that important
post, but he was too ill to comply with the order. In
October he was ordered to Washington, having been
selected as one of the court-martial for the trial of
Fitz-John Porter, upon the conclusion of which he was
appointed chief of staff to General Rosecrans, then in
command of the Army of the Cumberland.

1 68 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.

XVI.
TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN.
AFTER the battle of Stone River, or Murfrees-
boro', the Army of the Cumberland, under
Rosecrans, went into position, January 5, 1863, at
Murfreesboro'. Rosecrans's chief of staff, Garesch^,
having been killed, General Garfield, as has been stated,
was appointed to the position.
Soon after the occupation of Murfreesboro', elaborate
fortifications were projected, and then construction
began, the whole army doing nothing except to erect
earthworks and mount cannon. AU through the win
ter and spring the army of Rosecrans remained at
Murfreesboro'. '¦'^ ' ~ "
General Bragg was a few miles south with a large
army. He had a force of cavalry unde.r Forrest and
Morgan, who, taking advantage of Rosecrans's inactiv
ity, went pretty much where they^ pk'ased. On the
last of January they cut round. R^ecrans to his rear.
There were numerous reconnoissances and affairs of
outposts, but no determined movement on the part
of Rosecrans. General Halleck urged him to ad
vance. After General Grant had commenced his cam
paign against Vicksburg, Halleck became more urgent.

TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN.

169

maintaining that Rosecrans's inactivity would enable
Bragg to send a portion of his command to Pemberton,
who was defending Vicksburg.
Rosecrans maintained that the roads were in such
condition that there was no time during the spring
when he could advance ; that he had not sufficient cav
alry or transportation ; that he could not move till the
cornfields were in condition to support his mules. He
also maintained that military considerations forbade
his advance while Grant was in progress.
It was, to say the least, strange reasoning that if he
should compel Bragg to retreat it would enable that
officer to send reinforcements to the West. He also
advanced the idea that if Grant should chance to fail
at Vicksburg, all the Confederates of that section and
those under General Joseph E. Johnston in Mississippi
would be hurled against him.
Possibly General Rosecrans did not know that
Bragg had dispatched a portion of his force to rein
force Pemberton ; but such was the fact. He was too
late, however, for Grant had already executed the move
ment which had shut Pemberton into Vicksburg, —
the movement which had more genius in it than any
other in all his successful career, — that of sending the
steamboats past the batteries at Vicksburg by night,
protected by barges pUed with bales of hay ; marching
his troops down the west bank of the Mississippi, cross
ing to the east bank, striking eastward to Jackson, de
feating Johnson, taking possession of the town of Jack
son, turning to the right-about marching west, closing
in on Vicksburg, opening communication with his fleet

I70 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
above the town, — the movement ending in the surren
der of the place, opening the Mississippi through its
entire length.
General Bragg occupied a strong position, but Gen
eral Garfield believed that he could be moved out of
it In this connection we are to behold him as a
strategist. There are two raUroads leading southward from
Nashville, — one, the Nashville and Chattanooga run
ning southeast through Murfreesboro', Wartrace, Tulla
homa, Dechard, on to Stevenson, on the north bank
of the Tennessee. The other runs southwest through
Columbia. Both of these roads cross Duck River ; the
first near Wartrace, the second at Columbia. The river
is a small stream with steep banks, has its rise
just east of Wartrace, runs west, and empties into the
Tennessee. Ten miles west of Wartrace is Shelbyville, the
county seat of Bedford, connected with Wartrace by a
railroad. ShelbyviUe was Bragg's headquarters and the center
of his lines. His infantry was posted along the rail
way, on the north side of the river, while one division
of cavalry was posted at McMinniviUe, twenty-five
miles east of Wartrace — the town being the county
seat of Warren. Another division of cavalry was at
Columbia. Bragg's line therefore was sixty miles long,
with his two wings slightly advanced.
Duck River was a strong natural defense. Twenty
miles farther south was Elk River, another natural

TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN.

171

defense ; behind that were the Cumberland Mountains.
How dislodge him ? — that was the question.
From 4th January to June 24th, General Rosecrans
lay at Murfreesboro'. Through five months of this delay
General Garfield was with him. The War Department
demanded an advance, and, when spring opened, urged
it with unusual vehemence. General Rosecrans de
layed, waiting for cavalry, for reinforcements, for Grant's
movements before Vicksburg, for the movements of the
enemy, for the opinion of his generals. The Chief of
Staff at first approved of the delays till the army should
be strengthened and massed ; but long before the de
laying officers were ready, he was urging movements
with all his power. He had established a secret-ser
vice system, then perhaps the most perfect of any in
the Union armies. From the inteUigence it furnished
he felt sure that Bragg's force had been considerably
reduced, and was now greatly inferior to that of Rose
crans. As he subsequently said, he refused to believe
that this army, which defeated a superior foe at Stone
River, could not now move upon an inferior one, with
reasonable prospects of success.
Finally General Rosecrans formally asked his corps,
division, and cavalry generals as to the propriety of
a movement With singular unanimity, though for
diverse reasons, they opposed it. Out of seventeen gen
erals not one was in favor of an immediate advance, and
not one was even wiUing to put himself upon the rec
ord as in favor of an early advance.
General Garfield collated the seventeen letters sent
in from the generals in reply to the question of their

172 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
commander, and reported their substance, coupled with
a cogent argument against them and in favor of an im
mediate movement This report we venture to pro
nounce the ablest military document known to have
been submitted by a chief of staff to his superior dur
ing the war. General Garfield stood absolutely alone,
every general commanding troops having, as we have
seen, either openly opposed or failed to approve an
advance. But his statements were so clear and his
arguments so forcible that he carried conviction. As an
interesting feature in the history of a notable campaign,
I give copious extracts from this remarkable paper: —
" Headc^uarters Department of the Cumberland,)
Murfreesboro', June 12, 1863. I
General : In your confidential letter of the 8th
inst., to the corps and division commanders and gen
erals of cavalry of this army, there were substantially
five questions propounded for their consideration and
answer, viz. :
I. Has the enemy in our front been materially weak
ened by detachments to Johnston, or elsewhere .¦'
2. Can this army advance on him at this time with
strong reasonable chances of fighting a great and suc
cessful battle .'
3. Do you think an advance of our army at present
likely to prevent additional reinforcements being sent
against General Grant by the enemy in our front .-'
4. Do you think an immediate advance of this array
advisable .''
5. Do you think an early advance advisable ?

TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN.

173

Many of the answers to these questions are not cate
gorical, and cannot be clearly set down as affirmative
or negative. Especially in answer to the first question
there is much indefiniteness, resulting in the difference
of judgment as to how great a detachment could be a
' material reduction ' of Bragg's strength. For exam
ple : One officer thinks it has been reduced ten thou
sand, but not ' materially weakened.'
The answers to the second question are modified in
some instances by the opinions that the Rebels will fall
back behind the Tennessee River, and thus no battle
can be fought successful or unsuccessful.
So far as these opinions can be stated in tabular
form, they will stand thus :
Answer to first question.
Answer to second question,
Answer to third question.
Answer to fourth question.
Answer to fifth question
On the fifth question, three gave it as their opinion
that this army ought to advance as soon as Vicksburg
falls, should that event happen.
The following is a summary of the reasons assigned
why we should not, at this time, advance upon the
enemy :
I. With Hooker's army defeated, and Grant's bend
ing all its energies in a yet undecided struggle, it is
bad policy to risk our only reserve army to the chances
of a general engagement. A faUure here would have

Yes.

No

6

II

2

II

4

ID

IS-

2

174 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
most disastrous effects on our lines of communication,
and on politics in the loyal States.
2. We should be compeUed to fight the enemy on
his own ground, or follow him in a fruitless stern chase ;
or if we attempted to outflank him and turn his posi
tion, we should expose our line of communication and
run the risk of being pushed back into a country well
known to the enemy and little to ourselves.
3. In case the enemy should fall back without ac
cepting battle, he could make our advance very slow,
and with a comparatively small force posted in the
gaps of the mountains could hold us back while he
crossed the Tennessee River, where he would be meas
urably secure, and free to send reinforcements to John
ston. His forces in East Tennessee could seriously
harass our left flank, and constantly disturb our com
munications. 4. The withdrawal of Burnside's Ninth Army Corps
deprives us of an important reserve and flank pro
tection, thus increasing the difficulty of an advance.
5. General Hurlburt has sent the most of his forces
away to General Grant, thus leaving West Tennessee
uncovered, and laying our .right flank and rear open to
raids of the enemy."
The following incidental opinions are expressed :
" I. One officer thinks it probable that the enemy
has been strengthened rather than weakened, and that
he (the enemy) would have a reasonable prospect of
victory in a.general battle.
2. One officer believes that the results of a general

TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN.

1 75

battle would be doubtful, a victory barren, and a defeat
most disastrous.
3. Three officers believe that an advance would bring
on a general engagement. Three others believe it
would not.
4. Two officers express the opinion that the chances
of success in general are nearly equal.
5. One officer expresses the belief that our army
has reached its maximum strength and efficiency, and
that inactivity will generally impair its effectiveness.
6. Two officers say that an increase of our cavalry
by six thousand men would materially change the
aspect of affairs, and give us a decided advantage."
General Garfield then gave a carefully prepared esti
mate of Bragg's forces, based on information obtained
by his secret-service bureau. He maintained that it
was inferior to Rosecrans's army, and brought forward
such an array of facts, and supported them by such
cogent arguments, that Rosecrans finally became con
vinced of the correctness of his views.
He submitted the following considerations :
" I. Bragg's army is now weaker than it has been
since the battle at Stone River, or is likely to be again
for the present, while our army has reached its maxi
mum strength, and we have no right to expect rein
forcements for several months, if at aU.
2. Whatever be the result at Vicksburg, the deter
mination of its fate wiU give large reinforcements to
Bragg. If Grant is successful, his army wUl require
many weeks to recover from the shock and strain of

176 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
his late campaign, whUe Johnston wiU send back to
Bragg a force sufficient to insure the safety of Ten
nessee. If Grant faUs, the same result wUl inevitably
foUow, so far as Bragg's army is concerned.
3. No man can predict with certainty the result of
any battle, however great the disparity in numbers.
Such results are in the hand of God. But, viewing
the question in the light of human calculation, I refuse
to entertain a doubt that this army, which in January
last defeated Bragg's superior numbers, cannot over
whelm his present greatly inferior forces.
4. The most unfavorable course for us that Bragg
could take would be to fall back without giving us bat
tle, but this would be very disastrous to him. Besides
the loss of material of war, and the abandonment of
the rich and abundant harvest now nearly ripe in
Central Tennessee, he would lose heavily by desertion.
It is well known that a wide-spread dissatisfaction ex
ists among his Kentucky and Tennessee troops. They
are already deserting in large numbers. A retreat
would greatly increase both the desire and the oppor
tunity for desertion, and would very materially reduce
his physical and moral strength. While it would
lengthen our communications, it would give us posses
sion of McMinniviUe, and enable us to threaten Chat
tanooga and East Tennessee ; and it would not be un
reasonable to expect an early occupation of the former
place. 5. But the chances are more than even that a sud
den and rapid movement would compel t general

TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN.

177

engagement, and the defeat of Bragg would be in the
highest degree disastrous to the rebeUion.
6. The turbulent aspects of politics in the loyal States
renders a decisive blow against the enemy at this time
of the highest importance to the success of the Gov
ernment at the polls, and in the enforcement of the
Conscription Act
7. The Government and War Department believe that
this army ought to move upon the enemy ; the army
desires it, and the country is anxiously hoping for it
8. Our true objective point is the Rebel army, whose
last reserves are substantially in the field, and an effec
tive blow will crush the shell, and soon be followed by
the collapse of the Rebel government.
9. You have, in my judgment wisely delayed a gen
eral movement hitherto, till your army could be massed
and your cavalry could be mounted. Your mobile
force can now be concentrated in twenty-four hours,
and your cavalry, if not equal in numerical strength to
that of the enemy, is greatly superior in efficiency and
morals. For these reasons I believe an immediate advance
of all our available forces is advisable, and under the
providence of God will be successful."
Twelve days after the reception of this report the
army moved, to the great dissatisfaction of the leading
generals. One of the three corps commanders, Major-
General Thomas L. Crittenden, approached the Chief
of Staff" at the headquarters on the morning of ad
vance. 12

178 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
" It is understood, sir," he said, " by the general offi
cers of the army, that this movement is your work. I
wish you to understand that it is a rash and fatal move,
for which you will be held responsible."
This " rash and fatal move " was the TuUahoma cam
paign ; a campaign perfect in its conception, excellent
in its general execution, and only hindered from result
ing in the complete destruction of the opposing army
by the delays which had too long postponed its com
mencement It might even yet have destroyed Bragg,
but for the terrible season of rain which set in on the
morning of advance, and continued uninterruptedly for
the greater part of a month. With a week's earher
start it would have ended the career of Bragg's army
in the war.
On June 23d General Granger's corps and a part of
General Thomas's men started southeast, and on the
foUowing morning the entire force, except the garrison
left to hold Murfreesboro', marched in the same direc
tion. Instead of striking for McMinniviUe, General Thomas
marched down the Manchester turnpike. The cavalry
and infantry in advance encountered the Confederate
outposts and drove them.
General Garfield believed that under cover of a feint
of attacking at ShelbyvUle, by one or two divisions,
the army might sweep round to the left, drive in the
cavalry at McMinniviUe, or separate it from the cen
ter, turn Bragg's right flank, and force him to retreat,
or else accept battle on ground of Rosecrans's choos-

^NASHV/LLE MURFK^BOM
>; .ig'..-w-W-.... "\

>

\COLUMBIA

BELLE BUCKLE\ \ •¦•

movement on TULLAHOMA.
Union Troops. CH Confederate Troops.

TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN. i8i
ing. The movement would threaten his communication
with Chattanooga. He must fight or retreat.
The outline of operations as given by Garfield was
accepted ; a division of cavalry taking possession of
the gap in the hills. In one engagement General John
son's division of Bragg's army lost two hundred and
thirty-one kUled and wounded.
General Bragg seems not to have understood the
meaning of the movement till Rosecrans was abreast
of Wartrace, nearly east of that place, having not only
turned his flank, but having crossed Duck River, which
was but a rivulet on Rosecrans's line of march.
While Rosecrans was moving on Manchester and
Dechard with the main body of the army, the force
which had been detailed to make the feint at Shelby
ville was vigorously at work.
Bragg having discovered the meaning of the move
ment, began to move southeast to counteract it ; but
he was too late, and there was the spectacle of both
armies marching south on nearly parallel lines. Bragg
along the railway to Dechard ; Rosecrans farther east.
The Union cavalry under Mitchell and the brigades
of infantry under Colonel Minty, boldly attacked the
Confederate troops under Wheeler, whom Bragg had
detailed to hold Shelbyville, pushing on with such im
petuosity that the Confederates suffered a total defeat,
losing more than five hundred men, several pieces of
artUlery, and a large amount of supplies.
From McMinniviUe, Wilder's brigade was sent to tear
up the railroad. north of Dechard. The troops started
in the early morning, struck the railroad at eight in the

1 82 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
evening, tore up one thousand feet of the track, and
burned the rest, but were obliged to fall back before a
superior force, avoiding a division of Rebel cavalry, re
joining the main body, which all the while was advanc
ing, reaching Manchester at noon, June 30th.
" Bragg has fled," said a farmer to General Rosecrans
as his army advanced to within two miles of Tulla
homa on the morning of June 30th.
The army pressed on, overtaking Bragg's rear-guard,
pressing it all the way southward to the Tennessee.
It was a nine days' campaign, in which Rosecrans
had lost 85 killed, 413 wounded, and 13 captured.
!Bragg's loss in killed and wounded was far greater,
50 being officers; 1575 prisoners were captured, to
gether with 8 field-pieces, and 3 rifled siege-guns, be
side a vast amount of material abandoned in the retreat.
Bragg had been forced south of the Tennessee ; and
with the movement of Burnside to East KnoxvUle, the
State of Tennessee was brought once more under the
dominion of the old flag.
It was the genius of James A. Garfield that had
brought it about ; the courage to set forth his own con
victions in opposition to every other commander ; and
his persuasive power over his commander-in-chief. He
planned the campaign, and aided in carrying it out.

TO CHICKAMAUGA.

183

XVII.
TO CHICKAMAUGA.
THE Tennessee River, flowing from the east for a
long distance, has a general southwestern course.
The village of Chattanooga, on its southern bank, in
1863 contained about fifteen hundred inhabitants. It
is situated in a mountain gate-way. Lookout Moun
tain, a long ridge lying parallel to the river, rising
twenty-four hundred feet above the level of the sea,
presents on its northern face an almost perpendicular
bluff. Its eastern and western sides are more sloping
and partially wooded.
Between Lookout and the Tennessee is a lower
ridge, the northern portion of which is called Raccoon
Mountain, and the southern portion Sand Mountain.
Eastward of Lookout is Missionary Ridge, an ele
vation much lower than Lookout. It is about twenty-
five miles long, and West Chickamauga Creek flows
along its eastern base, and empties into tha Tennessee
at Chattanooga. East of the creek is stUl another
ridge called Pigeon Mountain.
The railroad from Chattanooga to Atlanta runs due
east from Chattanooga almost five miles, bends south-
v/est, crosses the Georgia line just above the town ol

184 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Ringold, and then runs on to Dalton, where it forms a
junction with the railroad coming down from Kno.x-
ville. Eastern Tennessee.
The whole country is one of long mountain ranges
lying parallel to each other, with streams flowing north
ward to the Tennessee and southward to the Coosa,
which empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
The movement of Rosecrans upon TuUahoma had
forced Bragg across the Tennessee. He held Chatta
nooga, and his army was posted along the southern
bank of the stream, holding every important position
for a long distance. It was of the utmost importance
to the Confederacy to prevent the Union army from
crossing the stream and moving up the Chickamauga
valley, or advancing by any other route to central
Georgia and Alabama, from which the Confederates
were receiving their supplies.
General Burnside had moved into Eastern Tennes
see, and was in possession of KnoxvUle. Bragg could
therefore have no communication with Lee in Virginia
by that route, but only through Georgia. Rosecrans's
front from East Tennessee extended west far beyond
Chattanooga, making a line of positions fully one hun
dred and fifty miles long. The problem before him
was a movement which should compel Bragg to retire
from Chattanooga. How could that be done .'' Cer
tainly not by attempting to cross the Tennessee at
Chattanooga, with all of Bragg's cannon ready to hurl a
storm of shot sheU, and canister upon the engineer
corps if they attempted to lay their pontoons.
To General Garfield was assigned the task of devising

TO CHICKAMAUGA.

185

a movement which would compel Bragg to evacuate
Chattanooga. Rosecrans did not wish to fight a battle
except upon grounds of his own chOosing. It may
seem an easy matter to plan a campaign, but he who
undertakes must atudy all the factors in the problem, —
by what routes the army can march ; what obstacles it
will encounter, of rivers, mountains, forests ; how fast
it can move, how it can subsist, how it can be concen
trated ; what the probable movements of the enemy will
be, which routes it will take, where it wUl make a stand,
whether it can be reinforced. It is a problem of vast
proportions. General Garfield saw that the only movement which
could be made would be by the right flank crossing the
Tennessee, Raccoon and Sand Mountains, Lookout
Range, gain the valley of the Coosa, and threaten Bragg's
communi-cations with Atlanta. This would involve on
the part of Rosecrans a cutting loose from his base of
supplies, the crossing of the mountain by gaps wide
apart separating his corps, hazarding an attack upon
one of the three by Bragg's whole force, and its possi
ble annihilation before either of the others could join it.
Bragg's army numbered fifty-nine thousand ; Rose
crans's, after deducting those necessary to guard the
railroad and his supplies, was several thousand less.
Could Rosecrans hope to make such a movement and
concentrate his force before being overwhelmed in de
tail by Bragg .¦• What could Bragg do ? Generals
must see what the enemy will be likely to do. Would
not such a movement threatening Bragg's communica
tions with Atlanta compel him to retreat .••

1 86 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
General Halleck, sitting at his desk in the War De
partment at Washington, was telegraphing Rosecrans
to move at once upon Bragg. Early in August Hal
leck had issued peremptory orders for him to move.
On August 5, Halleck sent this despatch : " The orders
for the advance of your army are peremptory."
There was nothing for Rosecrans to do but to move
on. Subordinates must obey orders. Halleck had set
it down that Bragg would at once retreat from Chatta
nooga and fall back toward Atlanta. He even thought
it possible that Bragg was depleting his army by send
ing troops to Lee in Virginia. On August 1 1, Halleck
asked Rosecrans to ascertain, if Bragg was sending
troops to Virginia.
Rosecrans having moved Bragg out of Tullahoma by
following the plan laid before him by General Garfield,
thought that Bragg would retreat In this he and
Halleck agreed, and the idea was so firmly fixed in his
mind that it could only be changed by the stern logic
of events.
General Garfield perfected his plans. The army
was to cross the river at different points below Chatta
nooga. Crittenden's corps, after crossing, was to advance
up the southern bank of the river upon Chattanooga,
while Thomas and McCook were to cross Raccoon and
Sand ridges by different routes, descend into Look
out Valley, climb Lookout Ridge, pass through gaps,
and descend the other side, — Thomas upon the little
town of Lafayette, and McCook upon SummervUle,
twenty miles farther south. Bragg probably would re
treat Crittenden would take possession of Chatta-

TO CHICKAMAUGA.

187

nooga and move down and join them. The gap
through which Thomas would cross Lookout Ridge
was twenty-six miles south of Chattanooga, while the
gap which McCook would utilize was twenty-five miles
south of Thomas, thus making it fifty-two miles from
Crittenden to McCook. Everything was ready.
On August 21 the whole army was across the Cum
berland mountains and on the bank of the Tennessee,
but it was stretched out more than one hundred miles.
Preparations were made for crossing. The pontoons
were brought forward, timber prepared and materials
obtained for the construction of two bridges. This
was done with great secrecy, for Bragg's signal corps
on the summit of Lookout with their field-glasses
could see every movement in Rosecrans's army for a
long distance.
The crossing began on the 29th, and by the 4th of
September all were across except the troops left to
guard the raUroad, until relieved by General Gordon,
Granger's reserve corps.
The crossing was made at three points — Shell
Mount, twenty-five miles below Chattanooga ; Bridge
port ten miles farther down ; and Caperton's Ferry,
opposite Stevenson, ten miles farther.
Crittenden turned northeast and began to move up
the river. Thomas crossed Raccoon Mountain to the
little village of Trenton, in Lookout Valley, turned
south ten miles, then east, climbed Lookout Ridge
through Stevens' and Cooper's Gap.
McCook with Stanley*s Division crossed at Caperton's
Ferry, marched southeast, crossed Sand Mountain,

l88 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
and descended into Lookout Valley, climbed Lookout
Ridge, heading directly for SummervUle, which is near
ly sixty mUes south of Chattanooga.
While Rosecrans's troops are on the march, let us step
into Chattanooga and see what Bragg is doing. He
knows every movement of Rosecrans, sees him sepa
rating his corps.
Instead of retreating toward Atlanta, in accordance
with Halleck's and Rosecrans's reasoning, Bragg with
draws all his troops from Chattanooga except one bri
gade, marches south about thirty miles, and takes posi
tion, facing west, toward Lookout Ridge.
General Bragg thus writes of his movements :
" On the 9th of September it was ascertained that a
column, estimated at from four to eight thousand, had
crossed Lookout Mountain by way of Stevens' and
Cooper's Gap. Thrown off his guard by our rapid
movements, — apparently in retreat, when in reality we
had concentrated opposite his center, and deceived by
the information from deserters and others sent into his
lines, — the enemy pressed on his columns to intercept
us, and thus exposed himself in detail."
Bragg has asked for reinforcements. Lee is send
ing Longstreet's veteran corps, which has been in aU
the fights around Richmond, Manassas, ChanceUor-
viUe, and Gettysburg. Buckner's command from east
ern Tennessee is ordered to join him. Joseph E. John
ston dispatches some of his troops from Mississippi,
and there are militia regiments from Georgia.
Bragg outnumbers Rosecrans by several thousand.
He is concentrated, while Rosecrans is divided. Bragg

TO CHICKAMAUGA.

189

is close to his supplies, whUe Rosecrans is moving away
from his.
The movement of Rosecrans had compelled Bragg
to withdraw nearly all his troops from Chattanooga.
Wilder's brigade of mounted infantry appeared upon
the northern bank, opened fire from a battery of light
artillery, drove Bragg's force out ; and Crittenden
marched in, pushed out over Missionary Ridge to Lee
and Gordon's MUl, on West Chickamauga Creek, fif
teen miles, bringing him that much nearer to Thomas.
From Rossville, situated near the northern end of
Missionary Ridge, ten miles from Cchickamauga, two
roads run south, — one, the Dry Valley road, along the
western slope of the ridges, and the other the Lafay
ette road along the east side. Ten miles due south
from Rossville, the Lafayette road crosses Chicka
mauga Creek at Lee and Gordon's Mill. The road
after crossing the creek keeps straight on to Lafay
ette, fifteen mUes distant.
There are several roads leading eastward from Mis
sionary Ridge to bridges and fords across the Chicka
mauga, so that Bragg could move his troops rapidly
from Chattanooga across the creek to positions between
the miU and Lafayette, or back again, when the proper
time came.
WhUe Rosecrans was moving across the mountains.
General Burnside with a large force was taking posses
sion of KnoxvUle, driving out Buckner, who retreated
to join Bragg. If Burnside had pushed on, if Halleck
had ordered him to hasten to Chattanooga, he would
have brought twenty thousand men to Rosecrans, but

igo JAMES A. GARFIELD.
he was not so ordered tUl it was too late. HaUeck had
made several mistakes, one in ordering Rosecrans per
emptorily to move on, another in maintaining that Bragg*
was in full retreat ; a third in concluding that Bragg was
sending men to the aid of Lee, while on the contrary
Lee was sending Longstreet to Bragg ; and now he
made a fourth in not ordering Burnside to hasten after
Buckner and join Rosecrans.
The features of the country are such that by the
time the last division of Rosecrans was across the Ten
nessee, the foremost was far on its way over Lookout
Valley and on Lookout Mountain.
On the 9th of September, Crittenden took posses
sion of Chattanooga.
" It is ours without a struggle," was the despatch
sent by Rosecrans to Halleck.
Ah 1 he did not know that almost at that moment
Bragg was issuing orders to two of his division com
manders to move on Negley's division of Thomas's
corps which was descending the east side of Lookout
Ridge from Stevens' Gap, that Cleburne and Hindman
together outnumbered Negley two to one.
Negley is on the east side of the ridge with five
thousand men. His nearest support Baird's division
of six thousand, four miles distant ; while the other two
divisions of Thomas's corps are on the west side of
Lookout, at Trenton.
Bragg, to make all sure, ordered up Cheatham's and
Walker's divisions to support Hindman and Cleburne,
making twenty-five thousand, with a large force of cav-

TO CHICKAMAUGA.

191

alr5' in addition, to fall upon Negley and Baird with
only eleven thousand.
Rosecrans was in utter ignorance of the state of
affairs. Bragg's spies sent in purposely had done their
work well.
"All the information I have received," wrote Rose
crans to Thomas on the evening of the 9'-h, "induces
the belief that there is no considerable Rebel force this
side of Dalton."
General Negley's scouts had a different tale to tell,
— so different, that that officer, with wise precaution,
started his train back toward Baird's position, and
moved his troops in the same direction two miles.
Bragg ordered Hindman to begin the attack early
in the morning. Cleburne was to advance as soon as
he heard ffindman's guns. The morning came and
passed, none of Hindman's cannon were thundering ;
forenoon passed, sti41 no artillery. Courier after courier
was sent to know the reason of the silence. Not till
three o'clock was Hindman ready to advance.
It is not known why Hindman was not ready.
Bragg does not inform us in his report ; but at three
o'clock Hindman's guns began to play, and Cleburne
advanced. Two companies of the 19th Illinois Infantry were
behind a wall biding their time. Cleburne's line was
coming on. Suddenly the stone wall was all aflame,
and thirty of Cleburne's men went down. The next
moment two of Negley's guns on a hill in the rear, be
gan to hurl shells into the advancing column, which
came to a stand-still. The golden moment had sUpped

192 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
away. Negley and Baird could not be successfully
assaUed, and Cleburne withdrew his troops. He had
failed in his design.
What next should Bragg do .? He resolved to leave
Thomas and McCook, recross Pigeon Mountain at
Lafayette, turn north, and annihilate Crittenden before
Thomas and Crittenden could join their forces. Then
he would attend to McCook. Major-General Polk, who
had laid aside a bishop's gown to wear the stars of a
major-general, had command of Bragg's right He was
only three miles east of Lee and Gordon's MiUs, and
opposite a part of Crittenden's "corps which had ad
vanced to that point
" You have a fine opportunity of crushing Crittenden
in detail, and I hope you will avail yourself of it to
morrow morning," was Bragg's message to Polk, at 6
p. m. September 12.
" Attack at daylight" said Bragg's second despatch.
The morning of the 13th dawned. Bragg rode in
haste northward from Lafayette to see Polk crush first
one, and then another of Crittenden's divisions, which
were then three miles apart, when, lo and behold ! Ma
jor-General Polk was quietly eating his breakfast, and
his troops were showing no sign of advancing ! Gen
eral Bragg made use of many words, which were more
forcible than elegant.
Another golden opportunity had slipped through
Bragg's fingers by no fault of his own. How shall we
account for it .¦' Was it that a Divine hand was direct
ing affairs .'' General Rosecrans saw that himself, and
Halleck had been mistaken in the supposition of what

TO CHICKAMAUGA. 1 53
Bragg would do. He began to see that all the pleasant
stories told him by men who had come into his camp,
informing him of Bragg's retreat, were lies. Bragg,
instead of retreating, was preparing to cut him up
piecemeal. Now was the time for action.
General Garfield instantly comprehended the situa
tion of affairs. The army must be concentrated. There
must be quick marching. Crittenden was at Lee and
Gordon's Mill, McCook was fifty miles south of him,
and Thomas twenty-five miles from Crittenden, who
must hold the roads leading across Missionary Ridge
to Chattanooga till Thomas and McCook could join
him. The salvation of the army depended upon the carry
ing out of this plan. Couriers rode at break-neck
speed, carrying orders. Bragg was hastening his troops
north. Bragg had the shortest distance to march, but
he must cross Pigeon Mountain, cross Chickamauga
Creek, and seize the roads in the rear of Crittenden,
which would compel Rosecrans to fight on ground of
Bragg's choosing. It was on the morning of the 13th
that he abandoned his effort to annihilate Negley. On
that day he decided to move north.
" Go over the Pigeon Mountain, and make a demon
stration against the Union left," were Bragg's orders to
Wheeler's cavalry. At the same time he ordered
Forrest to proceed north and threaten Crittenden's
connections with Chattanooga. He had decided under
cover of these demonstrations to move his army north,
cross Chickamauga, and get possession of Missionary
Ridge. He decided to go, but did not start. For four
13

194 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
days he remained inactive ! Why .¦" Possibly for this
reason : Longstreet was on his way, and he would
wait. The golden thread dropped from his grasp once
more. Well for our country that it was so, for, had he
moved on the 13th, there can be little doubt that
Rosecrans's army would have been swept from the face
of the earth — cut up, a division at a time. He did
not move till the night of the 17th, and all through
those hours, Thomas and McCook were marching.
Who can measure the value to the country, of that
unaccountable delay of Bragg .' Not till Rosecrans's
three corps were almost in supporting distance of each
other, did Bragg give the order to advance.
There are several roads leading eastward from the
Lafayette road along the east side of Missionary Ridge
to fords and bridges across the creek. The first ford
north of Lee's mill, a mile distant, is called Dalton's ;
a half mile farther is Smith's ; a half mile beyond that
is Alexander's bridge ; a little farther is another ford ;
beyond that is Reed's bridge ; and beyond that is
Dyer's bridge. The distance in a straight line from
the mUl to Dyer's bridge is about five miles. On the
Dry-Gulf road, leading along the west side of Mission
ary Ridge, about a mile and a half from the miU, is the
house of Wisdom Glen, where Rosecrans established
his headquarters.

FIRST DAY AT CHICKAMAUGA.

19s

XVIII.
FIRST DAY AT CHICKAMAUGA.
THUS far we have been dealing with movements.
We come to the morning of the 19th of Septem
ber. Bragg has a well-defined plan to cross the Chick
amauga at the different bridges and fords, move
rapidly by his right flank, seize the road leading from
Rossville to Lafayette, push across Missionary Ridge
to Rossville, cutting off Rosecrans from Chattanooga.
Having done that, he will close in upon the Union
troops and overwhelm them by his superior numbers.
Rosecrans has made his movements over Lookout
Ridge to compel Bragg to evacuate Chattanooga, and
he has succeeded. Crittenden holds it Rosecrans
does not wish to fight a superior force, but sees that a
battle is inevitable. If he can meet Bragg and hold on
to Chattanooga, even though he may be compelled to
fall back from Missionary Ridge, he wUl have attained
the primary object of the campaign. If Bragg does
not drive Rosecrans out of Chattanooga and across the
Tennessee, his attack will be a failure, even though he
may drive Rosecrans from Missionary Ridge.
Rosecrans and his chief of staff General Garfield,

196 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
though neither of them had ever been to Rossville
or up the Lafayette road, saw the necessity of holding
that highway. They fully comprehended the move
which Bragg was making, or saw rather what he would
be likely to do.
Fortunate the selection of troops ; fortunate the se
lection of a- commander to hold the right — George H.
Thomas, the imperturbable, well-poised, clear-headed,
self-reliant general, who had won the battle of MiU
Springs, who at Pittsburg Landing on the second day,
and at Stone River, had shown sterling qualities as a
general, greatly beloved by his troops for his strict,
firm discipline ; not that of a martinet, but of a judi
cious commander, who had only the welfare of his men
in view. " Papa Thomas " they called him. They
would do anything for him.
The enthusiasm which he had inspired in them was
not that which manifests itself in hurrahs, the swing
ing of caps, but it was the holding-on quality, endur
ance, pluck, the never-giving-in determination which
transforms a line of men into a wall of adamant !
The 1 8th was a day of great anxiety to Rosecrans
and Garfield. They could see clouds of dust east of
the creek extending far to the north ; but not till the
head of McCook's column reached Crawfish Spring,
a mUe and a half south of Lee & Gordon's mUl, did
Rosecrans dare to put Thomas in motion toward Ross
ville, along the Lafayette road.
All night long Thomas's men were on the march past
Rosecrans's headquarters at widow Glenn's house.
When daylight dawned on the morning of the 19th,

FIRST DAT AT CHICKAMAUGA.

197

Thomas was wheeling into position east of Kelley's
house, his troops facing eastward.
The men threw themselves on the ground, ate their
hardtack and cold meat, and drank their coffee. Long
and wearisome had been the rapid marchings. They
had been on a race with Bragg, and had distanced him.
They were planted on the spot which he had hoped
to secure, and to obtain it now he must fight for it.
At sunrise then on the morning of the 19th, Rose
crans's infantry are extended from Crawfish Spring on
the right to Kelley's farm on the left, with the cavalry
beyond, holding the road leading from Dyer's bridge to
Rossville. Rosecrans's cavalry had been doing great service dur
ing the night At every bridge and ford across the
Chickamauga they had confronted Bragg's divisions,
holding them in check. " The resistance," says Bragg
in his report " offered by the enemy's cavalry, and the
difficulties arising from the bad and narrow country
roads, caused unexpected delays."
When General Walker's division of Bragg's army
reached Alexander's bridge, they found Wilder's mount
ed infantry on the opposite bank. WUder set his light
artUlery to work, and threw such a shower of shells
across the stream that Walker's troops recoiled ; and
under cover of the flre of the small arms, a squad of
Wilder's command rushed down to the bridge and set
it on fire, compeUing Walker to retrace his steps and
cross at one of the fords.
From daylight till nine o'clock, Thomas's wearied men
had a chance to rest, but at that hour the turmoil of
battle began.

198 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Bragg's troops were getting into position with For
rest's cavalry in advance. Walker's division foUowing.
General Thomas sent Croxton's brigade of Bran-
nan's division against Forrest. Croxton drove him half
a mile, but was stopped by Ector's brigade sent in by
Walker ; whereupon Thomas sent" in the whole of
Baird's division, driving Walker.
This was not heavy fighting, but an advance on the
part of Bragg to discover what there was between
his right wing and Rossville. He had hoped to find at
least only a small force blocking it, which he would
sweep away as if it were only a cobweb. If he had
been there hours earlier, he would have had little op
position ; but he was too late.
Noon. Bragg settled himself for serious work on
his right. He must obtain possession of the Lafayette
road. He orders up Cheatham's division to Walker's
aid. Cheatham advances on Baird, striking his left
flank, throws two of Baird's brigades into confusion,
capturing his artillery, driving him back toward Kel
ley's house.
Thomas calmly beholds the discomfiture. A mes
senger rides to Reynolds and Johnson, who are south
of Kelley's house, and where Cheatham's men in their
exultation with wild yells are proclaiming their success,
but they find themselves whirled back in confusion by
Reynolds and Johnson, and forced to leave behind the
cannon which they had captured from Baird.
Stewart's division of Bragg's army hastens to take part
in the melee. Palmer's of Rosecrans's comes, Clay
ton's, Brown's, and Bates's brigade of Stewart's advance.

BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA. FIRST DAY.

1— Brannan, 1st Position.
2— Baird. 3— Johnson.
4 — Palmer.
5 — Reynolds.

.4— Forrest.
.S— Walker.
C?— Breckenridge.

Union Troops.
6— Brannan, 2d Pcsitinn. 10 — Davis.
7— Van Cleave, 1st Position. 11— Wood.
8— Nepley, 2d Pnsitioji. 12— Sheridan,
9— Van Cleave, 2d Position. 13— McCook.
Confederate Troops.
.Z>— Cleburne. ff— Hood.
JF—Cheatham. H—B. R. Johnson.
J"— Stewart. /—Preston. /—Anderson

FIRST DAT AT CHICKAMAUGA. 201
one after the other, and are all driven back before the
tremendous fire of Reynolds, Palmer, and Johnson.
In a few minutes, four hundred of Clayton's men
fell. Brown and Bates advanced close upon Thomas's
lines, but were turned back with great loss.
Two o'clock. The battle began to roll up the creek.
Hood and Johnson advancing against Van Cleve and
Davis. Bragg sent in part of Preston's division against
Wood. From two till four the contest was sharp. Van
Cleve was driven, and Negley was brought down from
the right to take his place. That was at half-past
four. Plood, Johnson, and Preston were driving on with so
much vigor, that Rosecrans's line was pushed back
nearly to widow Glen's house, around which the Rebel
shells were constantly exploding.
But Sheridan came down from the extreme right,
and stopped the onward movement of the Rebels.
In the center, where Van Cleve was pushed back,
Palmer's flank had been left exposed, but Hazen moved
in and made the line good once more. He planted
twenty cannon on a knoll, which poured a murderous
fire upon Cheatham, who was moving up to fall upon
Reynolds. The sun sinking behind Lookout threw its departing
beams over the murky field. The Union troops sup
posed that the conflict for the day was over, when
Cleburne and Preston made a sudden attack upon
Johnson's ahd Baird's divisions, but without avail ;
they were driven, and night closed in — both armies

202 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
lying down upon the field to renew the struggle in the
morning. Bragg had not accomplished what he had set out to
do — to crush Rosecrans's left, and gain the Lafayette
road. Every division sent against Thomas had been rolled
back as the billows of the ocean are hurled from the
rocky ledges along the shore.
The battle began on KeUey's farm, and there the
last shots were fired as night set in.
How should the battle be fought on the morrow }
What would Bragg attempt — what could he do .¦'
How could the Union position be strengthened. These
were the questions which were considered in Rose
crans's headquarters, by officers in consultation dur
ing the evening of the 19th. From the nature of
the ground, it was plain that Bragg could not change
his attack to the other flank ; he would therefore aim
to get possession of the Lafayette road. It was plain
that Rosecrans's line was too long, that it must be con
tracted. Orders were issued, therefore, for the drawing
in of the right to widow Glenn's house, thus shortening
the line more than a mile. Just north of the widow's
cottage there is a hill, and the line was formed around
the southern side, with Sheridan facing west, Davis
south. Wood east. Then came Brannan, Reynolds,
Palmer, Johnson, and Baird. The line was much like
a fish-hook in its contour — Sheridan being the barbed
point Such a line would have its advantages, and
also its disadvantages.
Among the disadvantages was that of the possi-

FIRST DAI' AT CHICKAMAUGA. 203
bility of being subjected to an enfilading fire, and
if anything should happen to break the center, the
driving in of a wedge by Bragg at that point would be
doubly disastrous, dividing the army at its center. To
make the trains secure, they were sent along the Dry
Valley road, on the west side of the ridge toward
Chattanooga. All of the Union troops have been engaged — all
have suffered ; but, owing to Bragg's superior force,
all must be ready to take part in the struggle on the
morrow. Bragg also was holding a consultation with his offi
cers. He gave a hearty grip of the hand to General
Longstreet who arrived during the evening. His
troops had preceded him. Bragg handed him a map,
showed him the roads, bridges, hUlocks, and line of
battle. " The battle will begin at daylight," said Bragg, " on
the right, and wUl be taken up successively all along
the line to the left. The general movement wUl be a
wheel upon your extreme left as a pivot. You are
assigned to the command of the left wing."
Longstreet had Hood, Hindman, Johnson, Stewart,
and Preston, with a large number of batteries. Mc-
Lawes' division had not yet arrived, but when it came,
would be put in line.
At midnight the Confederate officers retired to their
commands, to get a few hours sleep before the begin
ning of the final struggle, which was, as they confi
dently expected, to crush the Union army, and drive
its shattered battahons across the Tennessee.

204 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

XIX.
SECOND DAY AT CHICKAMAUGA.
FOR the battle of September soth, Bragg had no
plan except to pound away at Rosecrans's left,
drive Thomas from Kelley's farm, and gain possession
of the road leading to RossvUle. If he could carry out
this plan, he could annihUate the Union army.
Bragg's right wing, under Polk, was composed of
Breckenridge's, Cheatham's, Cleburne's, and Walker's
divisions. They were to begin the attack, and when
Breckenridge, who held the extreme right, gained pos
session of the road in rear of Thomas, Longstreet was
to push on.
It will be interesting just here to note the difference
we sometimes see in men — between the stately, digni
fied, kind-hearted, slow and easy general, who before
the outbreak of the war had been preaching sermons
— Lieutenant-General Polk, and the bold, resolute,
energetic West Point graduate, Longstreet
Polk was to attack at daylight As the sun began
to light up the summit of Lookout, Bragg and his
staff leaped into their saddles, expecting to hear Polk's
guns breaking the stillness of the morning ; but they
heard nothing save the rumbling of distant wagons,

SECOND DAY AT CHICKAMAUGA.

205

and the hum that rises from the bivouac of a great
army. A half hour passed. Bragg was restless. An
hour, he was chafing with impatience. Another half
hour, patience was exhausted. He turned to Major
Lee for aid.
" Ride, sir, to Lieutenant-General Polk, ascertain the
reason for his delay, and urge him to attack at once."
Major Lee disappeared down the road. It took him
nearly half an hour to reach Polk, who was leisurely
partaking of a sumptuous breakfast with his staff.
The clerical general was fond of display. His staff
was a brilliant one, and wherever he rode, they followed.
Like the peacock, he was fond of displaying his tail.
Major Lee saluted the lieutenant-general, and gave
his message. Polite and courtly the reply :
" Please inform the general commanding that I have
already ordered General Hill to open the action ; that
I am waiting for him to begin ; and do please say to
General Bragg that my heart is overflowing with anxi
ety for the attack — with anxiety, sir."
Major Lee returned to General Bragg, reporting the
reply literally.
The Southern historian of the war. Pollard, has not
recorded the exact words that fell from Bragg's lips,
but he says that the preacher-general and all his divis
ion officers and everybody else were consigned to per
dition by Bragg, who was ready to burst with anger.
" Ride," he shouted, " all along the line ; tell every
captain to take his men instantly into action !"
The aids departed, and a few minutes later Polk's
troops were moving to the attack.

2o6 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
Are events coincidences, or is there a hand unseen
directing human affairs, — taking control in battle,
marshaUing events, — to bring about results affecting
ultimate human destiny ^
How happened it that the same easy-going Polk was
in command of Bragg's right, and the resolute, ener
getic Longstreet, noted for persistence as a hammerer,
was in command of the left .'* Bragg assigned them
their separate positions ; he might have reversed them.
Why didn't he .'' The right was the place where thun
derbolts should be hurled upon the Union line ; the
left was to press on with all its force ; but the key could
only be seized by the right.
Passing over to the Union lines we see Thomas just
where he ought to be. Was it obtuseness on the part
of Bragg, and far-sightedness on the part of Rosecrans,
that placed Polk on one side, and Thomas on the other,
where they were ? Whether it was a happening, or
the evolution of law, or the directing power of a Divine
Providence, it is certain that the assignment of those
commanders to their several positions had much to do
with the issue of the battle.
The three hours' delay by Polk, till after his elabo
rate breakfast, were of inestimable value to Rosecrans,
who from sunrise till ten o'clock was strengthening
his lines, and preparing for the tremendous struggle.
Rosecrans, at the beginning of the battle on the
19th, had not far from sixty thousand men, including
cavalry. Bragg, with the reinforcements that came,
had fully seventy thousand. Bragg, in his report of
the battle, says that his loss amounted to two-fifths of

SECOND DAT AT CHICKAMAUGA. 20J
his entire army. The most reliable data of his losses
places them at eighteen thousand. If that is a true
statement, it would swell his army to ninety thousand.
From aU evidences attainable, it is clear that Rose
crans's army as it stood in line at ten o'clock on the
morning of September 20th, was confronted by an
army outnumbering it at least ten thousand.
When General Thomas returned from Rosecrans's
headquarters at two o'clock in the morning, he in
spected his lines, set all his ax-men at work cutting
down trees and strengthening his position. He saw
that Bragg would make a desperate effort to turn his
flank, and asked for more troops. Rosecrans ordered
Negley's division to move over to the left, but at seven
o'clock in the morning it had not arrived, for Bragg's
skirmishers were advancing upon Negley, and Rose
crans did not dare to withdraw him from his position.
Beatty's brigade only was sent The brigade took
position on the extreme left, beyond Baird's division.
Fifteen minutes later, Baird and Beatty were assailed
by Breckenridge and Cleburne so furiously that they
were driven back toward Missionary Ridge, and Breck
enridge was in possession of the Rossville road, but
only for a few moments, for Thomas ordered up one of
Brannan's, and one of Wood's brigades, who drove
Breckenridge back over the ground he had gained.
While Breckenridge and Cleburne were thus attempt
ing to get in Thomas's rear, Bragg hurled Stewart, B.
R. Johnson, and Walker against Palmer and Reynolds.
" The first attempt," says Thomas in his report, " was
continued at least two hours, making assault after as-

2o8 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
sault with fresh troops, which were met by my troops
with a most determined coolness and deliberation.
Having exhausted his utmost energies to dislodge us,
he apparently fell back entirely from our front, and we
were not disturbed again until toward night."
Polk was pushing on his divisions with renewed en
ergy. Breckenridge was facing south. Walker south
west, Cheatham west, forming a semicircle around
Thomas, but not one inch could they move him. The
stubbornness of his soldiers in refusing to be moved
was upsetting all of Bragg's calculations. Polk was to
have been the moving column and Longstreet the pivot ;
in other words, the Confederate line was to swing like
a door, Longstreet being its hinge. The door could not
swing because Thomas blocked the way. Longstreet
was getting impatient, and so was Bragg. Polk was
making no progress, accomplishing nothing except to
have divisions cut in pieces.
" Let every officer advance his command at once,"
was the order sent by Bragg all along his lines. Long-
street had, beginning on the right, Stewart, B. R.
Johnson, Hood, McLawes, and Preston, — five divis
ions. Stewart was first engaged. His troops ad
vanced, but were driven back with great loss.
It is past eleven o'clock in the forenoon. The
pressure on Thomas is so tremendous that he calls on
Rosecrans for more troops. The aid whom he sends
to General Rosecrans with the request gallops past
Reynolds's division. Reynolds's troops are standing in
such a way that this officer thinks they are not in line
and so informs General Rosecrans. He does not see

\/

^ROSSVILLE

BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA. SECOND DAY.

Union Troops.

I— Beatty.
2— Baird.
3--Jolinson.

4— Palmer.
5 — Reynolds.
6— Hazen.

7— -W^ood.
8— Brannan.
9— Steedman

A — Breckenridge.
£— Wailter.
C— Oheatliam.

Confederate Troops.
i>— Cleburne.
£— Stewart.
F—B. It. Johnson.
(r— Preston.

B-Hood. /— McLowea.
/—Hindman.

SECOND DAY AT CHICKAMAUGA. 211
that Reynolds has formed his brigade in echelon, that
is, one brigade behind and overlapping the one in front.
The troops are really in line ; the officer has jumped
at a conclusion. Reynolds has formed them as they
stand purposely, and his troops are in position to take
part the moment he gives the order.
General Garfield is with Rosecrans, receiving mes
sages, reading them to him, and writing responses. All
of his orders are clear and explicit, brief and to the
point. The mastery of Webster's speUing-book in his
youthful years is of service to him now. He knows
the meaning of words, and no officer is at loss to un
derstand General Garfield's despatches.
For the moment General Garfield has other duty in
hand, and an aid writes an order to General Wood.
An officer rides in hot haste down to Wood and delivers
it : "The general commanding directs that you close tip
on Reynolds as far as possible, and support him.'' I
have italicized the important words.
General McCook is talking with Wood at the mo
ment. What is the meaning of the order .'' Brannan
is between Wood and Reynolds. Thus stands the di
vision : Davis, Wood, Brannait, Reynolds. How can
he close up on Reynolds while Brannan stands be
tween .-" How can he support Reynolds 1 Only by
marching in rear of Brannan and forming behind
Reynolds. Such a movement will leave a wide gap
between Brannan and Davis. But there is the order.
" His not to reason -why."
" Would it not be well for you to move up and close
the gap 1 " is Wood's suggestion to McCook.

212 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
" I will do so," McCook repHed.
Wood's division faces left, moves out in column in
rear of Brannan on the double-quick. Down in yonder
woods Hood's division of Longstreet's corps is just
ready to move, under Bragg's order for aU to advance.
Hood beholds with glee Wood's division take its depart
ure. His time has come. He wUl drive his division
into that gap and cut the Union army in two at its
center. Strange the happenings ! Bragg issuing an order
for the advance and the voluntary opening of that gap
in the Union lines at the same time ! If there had
been a consultation and agreement, it could not have
been any better for Bragg.
There are only two divisions of Rosecrans west of
the gap — Davis and Sheridan. Longstreet outnum
bers them four to one. Hood moves out from the
forest, sweeps over the cleared field, his men in lines
of brigades. Brannan opens upon him from the right,
but there are no Union troops in front With a wUd
exultant yell the Confederates rush on, enterijig the
gap, striking Brannan on one side and Davis on the
other. The hurly-burly begins. There is terrific fight
ing. Lytte's Brigade of Ohio troops are moving at
the moment to close the gap made by Wood's with
drawal. They force once more to the front " If we
are to die we will die here," says the brave man to his
men. A bullet pierces his spine, but he still sits in
his saddle.
" Charge ! " he shouts, and his men obey. They
have a tender love for him. At Murfreesboro' they

SECOND DAY AT CHICKAMAUGA. 213
made him a present of a Maltese cross studded with
emeralds and diamonds. They will die for him if need
be. They are few, the oncoming Confederates many,
and they are swept back. Three Confederate bullets
almost at the same instant strike General Lytle. Cap
tain Green and an aid catch him in their arms. Others
come — two to fall dead, whUe a third is wounded in
the terrible storm.
" Lay me down and save yourselves." The words
do not fall from his lips, but they read them in his elo
quent eyes. They lay him beneath a tree. He hands
them his sword ; he would not have it fall into the
hands of his country's enemies. Years ago he wrote
of death as if in prophecy of what his own might be :
"On some lone spot, -where, far from home and friends.
The ¦way--worn pilgrim on the turf reclining.
This life and much of grief together ends."
His troops retreat, and the enemy come upon his
lifeless body, beholding him lying there in the beauty
and glory of a vigorous manhood, with a smiling face.
He has given his Hfe for his country, and he has left
behind him one single poem worthy almost to give hira
a place among the immortals : —
" I am dying, Egypt dying.
Ebbs tiie crimson life-tide fast.
And the dark Plutonian shadows
Gather on the evening blast.
Let thine arms, O Queen, enfold me;
Hush thy sobs and bend thine ear.
Listen to the great heart secrets
Thou and thou alone must hear.

214 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Though my scarred and veteran legions
Bear their eagles high no more.
And my wrecked and scattered galleys
Strew dark Actium's fatal shore.
Though no glittering guards surround me
Brought to do thy Master's -will, —
I must perish like a Roman,
Die, the great Triumvir still."
It is Antony's death.
Nobler than the great Triumvir's death was his —
for Liberty, Justice, Right
The Confederate divisions sweep on. Vain the ef
forts of the officers of Rosecrans, Garfield, McCook,
and Sheridan to stay the panic-stricken soldiers. Ap
peals and commands alike are unheeded. Rosecrans
leaves Garfield with instructions to do what he can
toward rallying the troops at Rossville. There is
work for him to do at Chattanooga. He must secure
his bridges across the Tennessee, or all will be
lost Garfield hears Thomas's cannon still thundering, and
roUs of musketry like the surge of the ocean-bUlows.
He rides in that direction in front of Hood's advanc
ing lines. Cannon-shot plow the ground beneath his
horse's feet, shells burst around him. He rides through
a shower of leaden rain — runs a gauntlet of fire, and
comes out upon a knoll where he can overlook the bat
tlefield. He sees Thomas standing where he has stood
through all the tremendous struggle. More than this,
he sees Gordon Granger moving down with the re
serve corps. Steedman's division in advance. Granger
had heard the roar of battle coming nearer. Pie has

SECOND DAY AT CHICKAMAUGA.

217

had no orders to advance, but has moved of his own
accord. Granger's muskets flash in the faces of Longstreet's
advancing divisions. The front of Hood's line melts
away as a straw in a candle's flame. Granger's action
is like the shutting of a gate in a sluice-way, rolling back
the tide.
The exultant barbaric yell born of slavery, which a
moment ago was echoing over the wooded knolls of
Missionary Ridge, suddenly ceases. Whole ranks go
down before the awful fire flaming from Granger's and
Thomas's lines.
General Garfield beholds the scene. It is the one
supreme moment of his life. The battle is not lost
after all.
" Our flag is stUl there ! "
Never such sweet music to his ear as the answering
roll and roar from Thomas's and Granger's lines. Agaii>
and again the Confederate troops are driven back and
the sun goes down behind Lookout, leaving Thomas
still master of the situation. He holds the road to
RossvUle, — the one thing for which Bragg has been
fighting !
Rosecrans's has reached Chattanooga and has estab
lished a line behind which his troops can rally, and
which they can hold against Bragg. He sends a de
spatch to Washington, with the information that his
right wing has been driven. Abraham Lincoln reads
it with a sad heart Another defeat ; thousands of
lives sacrificed ; the army in retreat ; to-morrow it will
be across the Tennessee.

2i8 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
But the battle is not lost. Longstreet has been
driving on his divisions one after another, only to see
them rolled back again by Granger and Thomas. He
has pushed Rosecrans's right along the Dry Valley road,
has captured cannon, small arms, and prisoners ; but
Sheridan, Davis, and Wood still block his way, while
Granger is thundering upon him from the center.
An officer dashes into Chattanooga with a despatch
from Garfield. "Thomas is holding the right. Granger
the left. Soldiers are rallying. Bragg cannot drive
them from their position ! " The news electrifies the
country. The sun goes down behind Lookout, with Granger
and Garfield in person directing a battery that defiantly
hurls shot and shells into the ranks of the Confeder
ates. Two-fifths of Bragg's army have been killed or
wounded during the two days' struggles [Bragg's Re
port]. He has lost his aggressive power. He has
not routed the Union army ; he has only pushed back
its right wing. He has been fighting to gain posses
sion of the Rossville road and has been foUed in all his
efforts. The battle is not lost ; the campaign is won. Gen
eral Garfield planned it to gain possession of Chatta
nooga, and Rosecrans has succeeded. Never again
wUl the stars and bars be planted on the banks of
the Tennessee.
The battle has been fought and the campaign won
on the slope of Missionary Ridge ; but neither there
nor at Rossville is the proper place for holding what
has been gained, and General Rosecrans withdraws

SECOND DAY AT CHICKAMAUGA.

219

his army without molestation to Chattanooga, builds
defenses, and waits the arrival of reinforcements and
supplies. The President recognizes the value of General Gar
field's services in the campaign and on the field of bat
tle, by appointing him a major-general.

220 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

XX.
ELECTION TO CONGRESS.
THE lives of some men seemingly shape them
selves. Events sweep them on. Their own vo
lition is not called into exercise. As the Gulf Stream
bears the sea-weed grown on the reefs of Florida far
away to northern seas, so some men are, as it were,
caught up by the current of events and borne on to
their destiny. But that is the superficial view. There
is a law which governs the tides of the ocean, and
which sets the Gulf Stream — that great river of the
Atlantic — in motion ; the turning of the earth on its
axis is the final cause, so far as we know ; and so long
as the sun shall rise and set, that mighty current wUl
continue to run. There is a law, equally immutable,
governing the lives of men. If a man is swept on in
any particular course, there is a reason for it. It does
not come by chance.
" All successful men," says Ralph Waldo Emerson,
" have agreed in one thing — they were causationists.
They believed that things went not by luck, but by
law ; that there was not a weak or a cracked link in
the chain that joins the first and last of things."
We have seen the boy who planed boards, who

ELECTION TO CONGRESS. 221
chopped wood, who drove mules on the tow-path, who
made mortises and tenons, leaving physical and taking
up intellectual labor. He begins brain-work. He finds
that mind is more powerful than muscle. He makes
the acquaintance of the old mind-masters, whose brain
force was so great that their names, and their thoughts,
have come down to us over the ages, and are still
potent to move men to action. As the sailor in mid-
ocean gazes steadUy upon the compass and guides his
ship by it, so James A. Garfield fixed his eye " upon a
definite object," and bent all his energies to attain it.
"All great captains," said Bonaparte, "have per
formed vast achievements by adjusting efforts to ob
stacles." When a man summons his resolution — when he
determines, and brings all his powers to bear upon the
determination, he is acting in accordance with law —
and success will come of it. James A. Garfield never
would have been a teacher if he had not determined
to be one. The training of his powers to that end
fitted him to command, men ; to be a strategist, a gen
eral. When he sat in the lecture-room at Williams,
listening to President Mark Hopkins on the domain
of law, he was beginning his training as a statesman.
When the time came — when his country needed him
as a military commander, as a chief-of-staff — he was
fitted for it ; he filled the place. Such a man makes
events. Events do not merely come along and pick
men — such men — up. Bonaparte made Austerlitz
and Eylau. James A. Garfield did his share in mak
ing Middle Creek, Tullahoma, and Chickamauga.

222 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
The law of progress that carried him from the tow-
path to Hiram, brought him the award for meritorious
conduct on that last field of battle. The time had
come when it was to carry him farther, and in a new
direction. The death of Joshua R. Giddings, representative in
Congress from Ashtabula, necessitated the selection of
a new man to fill the vacancy. Who should it be ?
Two men, Whittlesey and Giddings, had represented
the district for a long period. They were men of
energy, character, animated by profound convictions
of Justice, Right, and Liberty. They were honored
and respected by their constituents, as few members
of Congress have been ; they never were in doubt
about their re-election. Their unswerving devotion to
their principles was their guarantee, and it never failed
them. Whom should the citizens of Ashtabula select to
succeed such men .' There was one man whom they
could trust — James A. Garfield. They knew him; he
had proved himself — as teacher at Hiram, as legislator
at Columbus. He was serving his country — maintain
ing his convictions on the battlefield. With one voice
they selected him to succeed Mr. Giddings. He was
nominated and elected, withput any action on his part,
and while he was with the army. Seemingly his life
was shaping itself, but the shaping had been done long
before. Though elected in 1862, he remained in the army
tUl after the battle of Chickamauga in 1863. Nor did
he leave it of his own volition, but at the solicitation
of President Lincoln, who had become greatly im-

ELECTION TO CONGRESS.

223

pressed with General Garfield's ability. The Demo
cratic party was making strenuous efforts to stop the
war, by getting control of the House of Representa
tives and withholding supplies ; and President Lincoln
and the leaders of the Republican party saw the neces
sity of bringing in congressmen of ability, whose loyalty
to the Constitution and the Union was as changeless
as the stars in the heavens. More than that. General
Garfield had been elected by a constituency which in
its vital statistics is almost without a parallel. It is a
district which perhaps, relatively, has less crime and
illiteracy than any other in the country. It is a con
stituency true to Liberty.
From the very beginning G&neral Garfield repre
sented the higher phase of American politics. During
his first term he served in the Committee of Military
Affairs ; during the second term in the Ways and Means
Committee; in the fortieth Congress he was chairman
of the Committee on MUitary Affairs ; in the forty-first,
chairman of the Banking and Currency Committee ;
in the forty-second and afterwards he occupied the
chairmanship of the Appropriation Committee, until
the Democrats came to power in 1875.
He began with his arrival at Washington a regular
course of solid readings on all topics with which he
was called upon to deal as a legislator, particularly con
stitutional law, finance, the tariff, taxation, and the
public service.
The Index of the Congressional Record shows that
General Garfield has participated in the discussion of

224 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
almost every important question brought before Con
gress since 1863.
On June 28, 1864, he made a speech upon the con
fiscation of certain Rebel estates. In February follow
ing he spoke against a draft law, and opposed the ap
pointment of a lieutenant-general, and favored the sale
of gold by the Treasury for the relief of the market.
To give a list of his speeches would be to copy many
pages of the Index of the Congressional Record. They
were not speeches made at random, but with prepara
tion and research.
His acquaintance with the French and German lan
guage, his wide reading of history, biography, phUoso-
phy, his love of belle-lettres, and acquaintance with
general literature, based on a thorough classical educa
tion, gives him great facility in debate, and his speeches
have always commanded the attention of the House.
His sentences are smooth, terse, and often epigram
matic ; his periods rounded and impressed. A listener
is never at a loss to understand his meaning.
William Pitt the younger used words to cover up his
ideas ; and Lord Palmerston, when he chose, could em
ploy them to mask his opinion. It has been said that
Talleyrand never made a sincere and honest speech ;
but there never is any subterfuge in the speeches of
General Garfield. No one need be in the fog as to
his meaning.
The mastery of Webster's SpeUing-book in his early
boyhood, as well as his more extended phUological
studies, gave him facility in the use of language.
Having honest and decided convictions, his speeches

ELECTION TO CONGRESS.

225

are as clear-cut as diamonds. They are never dry
reading. " There is nothing," said Daniel Webster, " so dry
as statistics."
To most statistical speeches the remark would be
applicable ; but the writer has seen General Garfield
the center of an eager group of members of both po
litical parties, while delivering a speech full of statis
tics upon the sugar qustion — the amount consumed,
and the best method of determining the value of the
article, for the collection of revenue.
AU of his nominations to Congress came spontane
ously from his constituents, who have unbounded faith
in him. IS

226 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

XXL
SPEECHES IN CONGRESS.
ON April 8th, 1864, the House of Representatives
went into committee of the whole on the con
sideration of the President's message. Mr. Long of
Ohio, a prominent leader of the Bourbon democracy,
made a speech to which Mr. Garfield replied. To un
derstand the force of Mr. Garfield's speech, it is need
ful to take a view of the state of affairs at the time.
To go back a few months. The year 1863 opened
gloomily for the Union armies. In December, 1862,
the army of the Potomac had been defeated at Freder
icksburg. It had remained inactive through the win
ter, and had again been defeated at ChanceUorsviUe.
The attempt of the navy at Charleston had failed.
Then came the invasion of Pennsylvania, followed by
the first great decisive victory for the Army of the Po
tomac, at Gettysburg, in July, 1863. The tide of vic
tory rolled down the Mississippi, sweeping in Vicks
burg and Port Hudson, opening the river the entire
length to the flag of the Union.
Then came a luU. Through the winter of '63 and
'64 the Army of the Potomac was on the north bank
of the Rapidan, Lee on the south bank, with the lar-

SPEECHES IN CONGRESS.

227

gest and most effective army that the Confederacy had
put into the field. Sherman had spent the winter at
Chattanooga, confronted by a large army. The war
had been going on three years, at a great expense of
men and money. The Democracy were clamoring for
peace. There were some men in the Democratic party
who doubtless were sincere in their belief that war
was infinitely worse than any evils that could come
from secession ; but there was in the Democratic party
an element in sympathy and league with the Confed
eracy. They raised the cry of '' Peace on any terms."
In Indiana were the " Knights of the Golden Circle,"
— a secret organization, formed to aid the Confed
eracy. One of the most prominent of the Northern
sympathizers was Vallandigham, member of Congress
from Ohio, who after the adjournment of the 37th Con
gress, made speeches through Ohio, counseUingresist-
ance to the draft which the administration had ordered.
He charged the government with aiming, under the
pretext of restoring the Union, to crush out Liberty,
and establish a despotism, and of deliberately rejecting
the propositions made by which the Southern States
could have been brought back.
General Burnside, commanding the military depart
ment of Ohio, had issued an order — No. 38, forbidding
certain disloyal practices. Vallandigham defiantly an
nounced that he intended to disobey it, and called upon
his party to sustain him, for which he was arrested, tried
by court-martial, and sentenced to be confined in some
fortress of the United States.
President Lincoln was wiser than the court. To

228 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
hold him as a prisoner in confinement would beget sym
pathy for him, but no one could find fault if he was
sent South ; and with grim humor the President sent
him inside the Rebel lines, forbidding his return whUe
hostilities lasted.
VaUandigham, after passing some weeks in Rich
mond, escaped in a blockade runner and made his way
to Canada, to lay plots with English, Canadian, and
American sympathizers to raise a rebellion in the
Northern States.
President Lincoln had wisely judged that his arrest
would be regarded as an arbitrary act, and that the
Democracy would make the most of it. The Demo
cratic party organized meetings in nearly every State
to protest against the action of the government and
the party in Ohio carried their folly to a climax by
nominating him governor. The Republican party of
that State showed its wisdom by nominating John
Brough, a former Democrat, but who was giving heart,
soul and money to the support of the government
He was elected by more than one hundred thousand
majority. Strenuous efforts had been made by the
Democracy to secure the House of Representatives.
If they could accomplish that, they could withhold
supplies, cripple the administration, and put an end to
the war, — the Southern States establishing the Con
federacy. The Republicans obtained a majority of
twenty. Under such circumstances the spring of 1864
opened. It was the year for the election of President.
The Republicans had no thought of any other candi-

SPEECHES IN CONGRESS.

229

date than Abraham Lincoln, whUe the Democrats were
thinking of McClellan, who had been removed from
the command of the Army of the Potomac.
The peace party, notwithstanding its defeat the pre
ceding autumn, was fully organized, and hoped, with
McClellan as candidate, to divide the soldiers' vote, to
secure enough from disaffected Repubhcans to insure
his election.
The speech of Mr. Long was the first bugle-blast of
the Democracy for the approaching campaign. It was
carefully prepared, the sentences studied, and the whole
worked up with consummate art.
He said at the beginnnig : "Mr. Chairman, I speak
to-day for the preservation of the government, and, al
though for the first time within these walls, I propose
to indulge in that freedom and latitude so freely exer
cised by other gentlemen for the past four months ; but
for what I may say, and the position I shaU occupy
upon this floor and before the country, I alone wUl
be responsible, and in the independence of a represen
tative of the people, I intend to proclaim the deliberate
conviction of my judgment in this fearful hour of our
country's peril."
The speech is too long for insertion here ; its tenor
and boldness wiU be sufficiently seen by quoting a few
paragraphs. Mr. Long said :
" The brief period of three short years has produced
a fearful change in this free, happy, and prosperous
govei nment — so pure in its restraints upon personal
liberty, and so gentle in its demands upon the resources

230 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
of the people, that the celebrated Humboldt, after trav
eling through the country on his return to Europe,
said, 'That the American people have a government
which you neither see nor feel.' So different is it now,
and so great the change, that the inquiry might weU be
made to-day, whether we are not in Constantinople, St.
Petersburg, Vienna, Rome, or Paris.
" Military governors and their provost marshals over
ride the laws, and the echo of the armed heel rings
forth as clearly now in America as in France or Au.s-
tria ; and the President sits to-day guarded by armed
soldiers at every approach leading to the Executive
Mansion. So far from crushing the rebellion, '¦hree
years have passed away, and from the day on whlrh
the conflict began, up to the present hour, the Confed
erate army has not been forced beyond the sound of
their guns from the dome of the Capitol, in which we
are assembled 
" Can the Union be restored by war .'' I answer most
unhesitatingly and deliberately : No, never. War is final
and eternal separation. My first and highest ground
against its further prosecution is that it is wrong. It is
a violating of the Constitution and of the fundamental
principles on which this Union was founded.
"My second o'ojection is, that, as a policy, it is
not reconstructive, but destructive, and will if contin
ued result speedily in the destruction of the govern
ment and the loss of civil liberty, to both the North
and the South, and it ought therefore to immediately
close 
" The words Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg, Murfrees

SPEECHES IN CONGRESS.

231

boro', Richmond, Vicksburg, and Fort Donelson, are
words of division, disunion, and wiU serve to bring
emotions of eternal hate."
Mr. Long's hour having expired, the hammer feU.
Mr. Washburn of lUinois said, that as the speech was
to be the key-note in the approaching campaign, he
hoped there would be no objection to the finishing of
the speech. No objection was given, and the speech
was finished in all its bitterness.
Mr. Garfield arose as Mr. Long sat down. He had
premeditated no reply, but had listened attentively.
What came from his lips was the outburst of a loyal
heart on fire for the welfare of his country. Rising to
his full stature, he said :
" Mr. Chairman, I should be obUged to you if you
would direct the sergeant-at-arms to bring a white
flag and plant it in the aisle between myself and my
colleague who has just addressed you.
" I recollect on one occasion when two great armies
stood face to face, that under a white flag just planted
I approached a company of men dressed in the uniform
of the rebel Confederacy, and reached out my hand to
one of the number and told him I respected him as a
brave man. Though he wore the emblems of disloy
alty and treason, still underneath his vestments I be
held a brave and honest soul.
" I would produce that scene here this afternoon. I
say, were there such a flag of truce — but God forbid me
if I should do it under any other circumstances 1 I

232 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
would reach out this right hand and ask that gentle
man to take it ; because I honor his bravery and his
honesty. I believe what has just fallen from his lips are
the honest sentiments of his heart and in uttering it
he has made a new epoch in the history of this war ;
he has done a new thing under the sun ; he has done
a brave thing. It is braver than to face cannon and
musketry, and I honor him for his candor and frank
ness. " But now I ask you to take away the flag of truce ;
and I wiU go back inside the Union lines and speak of
what he has done. I am reminded by it of a distin
guished character in ' Paradise Lost' When he had
rebelled against the glory of God, and 'led away a
third part of heaven's sons, conjured against the High
est;' when, after terrible battles in which mountains
and hills were hurled down ' nine times the space that
measures day and night,' and after the terrible fall lay
stretched prone on the burning lake, — Satan lifted up
his shattered bulk, crossed the abyss, looked down into
Paradise, and, soliloquizing, said :
' Which way I fly Is hell, myself am hell ; '
it seems to me in that utterance he expressed the
very sentiment to which you have just listened ;
uttered by one not less brave, malign, and fallen. This
man gathers up the meaning of this great contest, the
philosophy of the moment, the prophecies of the hour,
and, in sight of the paradise of victory and peace,
utters them all in this wail of terrible despair, ' Which
way I fly is hell.' He ought to add, ' Myself am heU.'

SPEECHES IN CONGRESS. 233
" Mr. Chairman, I am reminded of two characters in
the War of the Revolution as compared with two
others in the war of to-day.
" The first was Lord Fairfax, who dwelt near the
Potomac, a few miles from us. .When the great con
test was opened between the mother-country and the
colonies. Lord Fairfax, after a protracted struggle with
his own heart, decided that he must go with the mother-
country. He gathered his mantle around him and
went over grandly, solemnly, impressively, and joined
the fortunes of Great Britain, against the home of his
adoption. " But there was another man who cast in his lot with
the struggling colonies, and continued with them tUl
the war was weU-nigh ended. But in a day of dark
ness, which just preceded the glory of the dawn, that
other man, deep down in the damned pits of a black
heart, hatched the treason to surrender forever all that
had been gained, to the enemies of his country. Bene
dict Arnold was that man.
"Fairfax and Arnold find their parallel in the strug
gle of to-day.
" When this war began, many good men stood doubt
ing what they ought to do. Their doctrine of State
rights, their sympathies, all they had ever loved and
longed for, were in the South, and after long and pain
ful hesitation went with the enemies of the nation.
" At that time Robert E. Lee sat in his home across
the river here, doubting and delaying, and going off at
last, almost tearfully, to join the enemies of his coun-

234 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
try. He reminds me in some respects of Lord Fair
fax, the stately royalist of the Revolution.
"But now, when hundreds of thousands of brave souls
have gone up to God under the shadow of the flag,
and when thousands more, maimed and shattered in
the contest, are sadly awaiting the deliverance of
death ; now, when three years of terrific warfare have
raged over us, when our armies have pushed the Re
bellion back over mountains and rivers, and crowded
it back into narrow limits, until a wall of fire girds it ;
now, when the uplifted hand of a majestic people is
about to let fall the lightning of its conquering power
upon the RebeUion ; now, in the quiet of this haU,
hatched in the lowest depths of a similar dark treason,
there arises a Benedict Arnold and proposes to sur
render us all up, body and spirit, the nation and
its flag, its genius and its honor, now and forever, to
the accursed traitors to our country. And that pro
position comes — God forgive and pity my beloved
State — it comes from a citizen of the honored and
loyal commonwealth of Ohio.
" I implore you, brethren in this House, n^s^ to believe
that many such births ever gave pangs to my mother-
State such as she suffered when that traitcir was born.
[Suppressed applause and sensation.] I t)eg you not
to believe that on the soil of that State another such
growth has ever deformed the face of nature and dark
ened the light of God's day. [An audible whisper, Val
landigham.] But ah, I am reminded there are other
such. My zeal and love for Ohio have carried me too
far. I retract I remember that only a few days since

SPEECHES IN CONGRESS.

235

a political convention met at the capital of my State,
and almost decided to select from just such material
a representative for the Democratic pa.rty in the com
ing contest ; and to-day, what claim to be a Democracy
of that State, say that they have been cheated or they
would have made that choice. I therefore sadly take
back that boast I first uttered in behalf of my native
State. " But, sir, I will forget States. We have something
greater than States and State pride to talk of here to
day. All personal or State feeling aside, I ask you,
what is the proposition the enemy of his country has
just made .' What is it .¦'
" For the first time in the history of this contest, it is
proposed in this hall to give up the struggle, to aban
don the war, and let treason run riot through the land !
I will, if I can, dismiss feeling from my heart and try
to consider only what bears upon the logic of the
speech to which we have just listened.
" First of all, the gentleman teUs us that the right of
secession is a constitutional right. I do not propose
to enter into the argument I have hitherto expressed
myself on State sovereignty and State rights, of which
this proposition of his is the legitimate child.
"But the gentleman takes higher ground — and in
that I agree with him, namely, that five million or
eight miUion people possess the right of revolution.
Grant it : we agree there. If fifty-nine men can make
revolution successful, they have the right of revolution.
If one State wishes to break its connection with the
Federal government, and does it by force maintaining

236 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
itself, it is an independent State. If the eleven South
ern States are resolved and determined to leave the
Union, to secede, to revolutionize, and can maintain
that revolution by force, they have revolutionary right
to do so. Grant it. I stand on that platform with the
gentleman. " And now the question comes, is it our constitutional
duty to let them do it .? That is the question. And
in order to reach it, I beg to call your attention, not to
argument, but to the condition of affairs that would
result from such action — the mere statement of which
becomes the strongest possible argument What dges
this gentleman propose .'' Where will he draw the line
of division ? If the Rebels carry into secession what
they desire to carry, if their revolution envelops as
many States as they intend it shall envelop, if they draw
the line where Isham G. Harris, the Rebel governor of
Tennessee, in the Rebel camp near our lines, told Mr.
Vallandigham they would draw it, — along the line of
the Ohio and Potomac, — if they make good their state
ment to him, that they will never consent to any other
line, then I ask, what is the thing the gentleman pro
poses to do .'
" He proposes to leave to the United States a territory
reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and one hun
dred mUes wide in the center ! From WeUsvUle on
the Ohio to Cleveland on the lakes is one hundred
miles. I ask you, Mr. Chairman, if there be a man
here so insane as to suppose that the American people
wiU allow their magnificent, national proportions to be
shorn to so deformed a shape as this ?

SPEECHES IN CONGRESS.

237

" I teU you, and I confess it here, that whUe I hope I
have something of human courage, I have not enough
to contemplate such a result. I am not brave enough
to go to the precipice of successful secession and look
down into its damned abyss. If my vision was keen
enough to pierce to its bottom, I would not dare to
look. If there is a man here who dare contemplate
such a scene, I look upon him either as the bravest of
the sons of women, or as a downright madman. Secesr
sion to gain peace ! Secession is the tocsin of eternal
war. There can be no end to such a war as wUl be in
augurated, if this thing be done.
" Suppose the policy of the gentleman were adopted
to-day. Let the order go forth ; sound the ' recall ' on
your bugles, and let it ring from Texas to the far At
lantic, and tell the armies to come back. Call the vic
torious legions bick over the battlefield of blood for
ever now disgraced. Call them back over the territory
which they have conquered. Call them back, and let
the minions of secession chase them with derision and
jeers as they come. And then tell them that the man
across the aisle, from the free State of Ohio, gave birth
to the monstrous proposition.
" Mr. Chairman, if such a word should be sent forth
through the annies of the Union, the wave of terrible
vengeance that would sweep back over this land could
never find a parallel in the records of history. Almost
in the moment of final victory, the ' recall' is sounded
by a craven people not desiring freedom. We ought
every man to be made a slave should we sanction such
a sentiment.

238 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
¦" The gentleman has told us there is no such thing as
coercion justifiable under the Constitution. I ask him
for one moment to reflect, that no statute ever was en
forced without coercion. It is the basis of every law
in the universe, — God's law as well as man's. A law
is no law without coercion behind it. When a man has
murdered his brother, coercion takes the murderer,
tries him, and hangs him. When you levy your taxes,
coercion secures their collection ; it follows the shadow
of the thief and brings him to justice ; it accompanies
your diplomacy to foreign courts, and backs a declara
tion of the nation's right by a pledge of the nation's
power. Again, he tells us that oaths taken under the
amnesty proclamation are good for nothing. The oath
of Galileo was not binding Upon him. I am reminded
of another oath that was taken ; but perhaps it was an
oath on the Hps alone to which the heart made no re
sponse. " I remember to have stood in a line of nineteen men
on that carpet yonder on the first day- of the session,
and I remember that another oath was passed round
and each member signed it as provided by law, utterly
repudiating the rebellion and its pretenses. Does that
gentleman not blush to speak of Galileo's oath .' Was
not his own its counterpart ?
" He says that the Union can never be restored be
cause of the terrible hatred engendered by the war.
To prove it he quotes what some Southern man said a
few years ago, that he knew no hatred between people
in the world like that between the North and the South.

SPEECHES IN CONGRESS.

239

And yet that North and South have been one nation
for eighty-eight years !
" Have we seen in this contest anything more bitter
than the wars of the Scottish border 1 Have we seen
anything more bitter than those terrible feuds in the
days of Edward when England and Scotland were the
deadliest foes on earth ? And yet for centuries those
countries have been cemented in an indissoluble union
that has made the British nation one of the proudest
of the earth 1
" I said a little whUe ago that I accepted the propo
sition of the gentleman that rebels had the right of
revolution ; and the decisive issue between us and the
rebellion is, whether they shall revolutionize and de
stroy, or we shall subdue and preserve. We take the lat
ter ground. We take the common weapons of war to
meet them ; and if these be not sufficient I would take
any element which will overwhelm and destroy ; I would
sacrifice the dearest and best beloved ; I would take all
the old sanctions of law and the Constitution and fling
them to the winds, if necessary, rather than let the na
tion be broken in pieces and its people destroyed with
endless ruin.
" What is the Constitution that these gentlemen are
perpetually flinging in our faces whenever we desire
to strike hard blows against the rebeUion .' It is the
production of the American people. They made it ; and
the creator is mightier than the creature. The power
which made the Constitution can also make other in
struments to do its great work in the day of dire
necessity."

240 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Mr. Eldridge. "I desire to ask the gentleman a
question. I want to know if he did not just say that
with nineteen others he stepped forward to the speak
er's desk and swore to support the Constitution .¦' "
Mr. Garfield. " I did ; and I am very happy the gen
tleman has reminded me of it at this time ; and I remem
ber in the very preamble of that Constitution, it is de
clared to be ordained for the purpose of promoting the
general welfare and providing for the common defense ;
and on that very ground, based on that very statement
of its declared object I not only lifted up my hand to
swear to support that Constitution before God, but it
makes me now sorry that there had not been a sword
in it when I lifted it up, against any and all who would
oppose the use of aU the means God has placed in our
power for overthrowing the rebellion for ever.
" I am reminded here of a fact which I had well-nigh
forgotten. Last summer I remember a Union spy
came to camp bringing letters addressed to 'Major-
General John C. Breckenridge, C. S. A.' They were let
ters of introduction, stating that the bearer desired to
obtain a position in the Rebel army, and commending
him as a gallant and reliable man whom Breckenridge
could trust. One of these letters was signed by a man
who lately held a seat in this House." [Cries of ' Name
him ! ' from the Democratic side of the house.]
Mr. Garfield. " I wiU produce the letter in due
time. It is not here with me. The other letter was
from an associate of his, prominent in the local Demo
cratic politics of Indiana. I am responsible for pro
ducing those letters." [Cries of ' Name.']

SPEECHES IN CONGRESS. 241
Mr. Holman. '' I hope the gentleman wUl give the
names now."
Mr. Garfield. "When I produce the letters, any
further testimony that may be caUed for can be had at
my hands.
" Mr. Chairman : Let me mention another class of
facts in this same connection. We were compelled last
year to send our secret-service men to ferret out the
insidious work of that organization known as the
' Knights of the Golden Circle,' which was attempt
ing to corrupt the army and destroy its efficiency ; and
it was found, by the most subtle and secret means, the
signs and passwords of that order were being made
known to such men in the army as were disaffected, or
could be corrupted. Witness also the riots and mur
ders their agents are committing throughout the loyal
North, under the lead and guidance of the party, whose
representatives sit yonder across the aisle ; and now,
just as the time is coming on when we are to select a
President for the next four years, one rises among
them and fires the beacon, throws up the blue-light
which will be seen and rejoiced over at the Rebel capi
tol in Richmond, as the signal that the traitors in our
camp are organized and ready for their hellish work.
I believe that the utterance of to-day is the uplifted
banner of revolt. I ask you to mark the signal that
blazes here, and see if there will not soon appear the
answering signals of traitors all over the land.. If I am
wrong in this prediction I shall be thankful, but I
am only too fearful of its truth.
" Let me say, in conclusion, if these men do mean to
16

242 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
light the torch of war in all our homes ; if they have
resolved to begin the fearful work which wUl redden
our streets and this capitol with blood, the American
people should know it at once, and prepare to meet it"
Reply to Fernando. Wood.
When the war closed, the great question of recon
struction came before the country. What should be
the status of the freedmen .' Upon this question
General Garfield took strong ground in favor of giving
them all the rights of citizenship. Along with this
question was the Constitutional amendment prohibit
ing slavery in the domain of the United States for aU
coming time. It seems strange to us, and it will be a
marvel to coming generations in turning over the his
tory of our own times, to learn that the leader of the
Democratic party — a citizen of New York — Fer
nando Wood, made a speech in defense of the institu
tion of slavery ; that a great political party, of which
he was the exponent, would have ignored the logic of
events, turned back the hands upon Time's dial, and
restored the Southern States as they were before the
war, with slavery and all its iniquities. How the fol
lowing sentences go through such a speech as that of
Fernando Wood, like shot from a rifled cannon through
a worm-eaten hulk !
" AU along the coast of our political sea these victims
of slavery lie like stranded wrecks, broken on the head
lands of freedom. How lately did its advocates, with
impious boldness, maintain it as God's own, to be ven-

SPEECHES IN CONGRESS. 243
erated and cherished as divine. It was another and
higher form of civilization. In its mad arrogance it
lifted its hand to strike down the fabric of the Union,
and since that fatal day it has been a fugitive and vag
abond upon the earth. It has sought in all the cor
ners of the Republic to find some hiding-place in which
to shelter itself from the death it so richly deserves. It
sought an asylum in the untrodden Territories of the
West, but, with a whip of scorpions, indignant freemen
drove it thence. I do not believe that a loyal man can
now be found who would consent that it should again
enter them. It has no hopes of harbor there. It found
no protection or favor in the hearts or consciences of
the freemen of the Republic, and has fled for its last
hope of safety behind the shield of the Constitution.
We propose to follow it there, and drive it thence as
Satan was exUed from heaven."
The Freedmen.
How vivid Gen. Garfield's convictions of Liberty,
Justice, and the Rights of Man ! The diamond does
not reflect a clearer light than the words which illumine
¦the accompanying paragraph in regard to the -rights
of the freedmen :
" In the extremity of our distress we called upon the
black man to help us" save the Republic, and amid the
very thunder of battle we made a covenant with him,
sealed both with his blood and ours, and witnessed by
Jehovah, that when the nation .was redeemed he shoiild
be free and share with us the glories and blessings of
freedom. In the solemn words of the great Proclama-

244 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
tion of Emancipation, we not only declared the slaves
forever free, but we pledged the faith of the nation to
maintain their freedom — mark the words, ' to maintain
their freedom.' The Omniscient witness will appear in
judgment against us if we do not fulfil that covenant
Have we done it .'' Have we given freedom to the black
man .' What is freedom .' Is it a mere negation .¦'
The bare privilege of not being chained, bought and
sold, branded and scourged 1 If this be all, then free
dom is a bitter mockery, a cruel delusion, and it may
well be questioned whether, slavery were not better.
But liberty is no negation It is a substantial, tangi
ble reality. It is the realization of those imperisha
ble truths of the declaration, that all men are created
equal ; that the sanction of all just government is
the consent of the governed. Can these truths be
realized till each man has a right to be heard on all
matters relating to himself? We have passed the Red
Sea of .slaughter ; our garments are yet wet with its
crimson spray. We have crossed the fearful wilderness
of war, and have left our four hundred thousand he
roes to sleep beside the dead enemies of the Republic.
We have heard the voice of God amid the thunders of
battle, commanding us to wash our hands of iniquity,
to proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the
inhabitants thereof When we spurned His counsels
we were defeated, and the gulfs of ruin yawned before
us. . When we obeyed His voice He gave us victory.
And now at last we have reached the confines of the
wilderness. Before us is the land of promise, the land
of hope, the land of peace, filled with possibilities of

SPEECHES IN CONGRESS.

245

greatness and glory too vast for the grasp of the imagi
nation. Are we worthy to enter it .¦• On what con
dition may it be ours to enjoy and transmit to our
children's children .' Let us pause and make delib
erate and solemn preparation. Let us, as representa
tives of the people whose servants we are, bear in
advance the sacred ark of republican Hberty, with its
tables of the law inscribed with the ' irreversible guar
antees ' of liberty. Let us here buUd a monument on
which shall be written not only the curses of the law
against treason, disloyalty, and oppression, but also an
everlasting covenant of peace and blessing with loy
alty, liberty, and obedience, and all the people wUl say
Amen." State Sovereignty.
When secession lighted the flames of civU war, the
loyal States entered upon the conflict for the preser
vation of the Union ; and they accept the result as
demonstrating to the world that the United States is
a Nation. Not so the Southern States ; not so the
Democratic party. Ever since the beginning of the
conflict of ideas, ever since the formation of the
Republican party, the South and the Democratic party
have exalted State sovereignty and ignored the idea of
nationality. There is no mistaking the position of
General Garfield upon this question. He fought for
the nation, and these are his burning words in a speech
on Federal Authority :
" Do these elements belong to any State of this re
public ^ Sovereignty has the right to declare war.

246 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Can New Jersey declare war .'' It has the right to
conclude peace. Can New Jersey conclude peace .¦'
Sovereignty has the right to coin money. If the
legislature of New Jersey should authorize and com
mand one of its citizens to coin a half dollar, that man
if he made it, though it should be of solid sUver, would
be locked up in a'felon's cell for the crime of counter
feiting the coin of the real sovereign. A sovereign
has the right to make treaties with foreign nations.
Has New Jersey the right to make treaties .' Sover
eignty is clothed with the right to regulate commerce
with foreign states. New Jersey has no such right
Sovereignty has the right to put ships in commission
upon the high seas. Should a ship set sail under the
authority of New Jersey it would be seized as a smug
gler, forfeited and sold. Sovereignty has a flag. But,
thank God, New Jersey has no flag ; Ohio has no flag.
No loyal State fights under the ' lone star,' ' the rattle
snake,' or the ' palmetto tree.' No loyal State of this
Union has any flag but the banner of beauty and of
glory, the flag of tha Union. These are the indispen
sable elements of sovereignty. New Jersey has not one
of them. The term cannot be applied to the separate
States save in a very limited and restricted sense, re
ferring mainly to municipal and police regulations.
The rights of the States should be jealousy guarded
and defended. But to claim that sovereignty, in its full
sense and meaning, belongs to the States, is nothing
better than rankest treason."

TRIBUTE TO GENERAL ROSECRANS.

247

XXII.
TRIBUTE TO GENERAL ROSECRANS.
THERE is an unwritten law in Congress that a new
member must not take part in debates ; that he
must wait awhile before allowing his voice to be heard.
It is the same feeling that manifests itself on the
college campus — the question of hats and canes be
tween Freshmen and Sophomores ; but there are
individuals on the campus and in legislatures who are
endowed with sufficient power to break over unwritten
laws. General Garfield from the first made his influ
ence felt in the Representatives' Hall. He at once
entered the arena of debate and became the compeer
of Thaddeus, Stevens, E. B. Washburn, James G. Blaine,
Nathaniel P. Banks, Roscoe Conkling, and the old lead
ers of the Republican party in Congress.
In February, 1864, a joint resolution of thanks to
Major-General George H. Thomas and the officers
under his command at the battle of Chickamauga, was
introduced. General Garfield regarded it as invidious.
To pass such a resolution would be a slight upon his
old chief. General Rosecrans. Possibly it was not in
tended to be so regarded, but such would be its effect
in the estimation of the public. Possibly the War

248 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
department intended it to be a reflection upon Rose
crans, who was not liked by Halleck. There had been
many passages at arms between them before and dur
ing the Chickamauga campaign. General Garfield, as
chief of staff, had done much to soften asperities ;
but after Chickamauga, Rosecrans had been deprived
of his command, and Grant, fresh from Vicksburg, was
appointed to succeed him. Rosecrans turned over his
command gracefully, but keenly felt his displacement
nevertheless. The public demanded another commander,
and the exigencies of the service made it imperative
that to a general of greater energy and force should
be given the task of driving Bragg from the Tennessee
back upon Atlanta.
General Garfield saw that exigency as clearly as any
body else ; but to pass a vote of thanks to General
Thomas and the officers of his command was in fact
to censure Rosecrans, Sheridan, Davis, and all the
other division commanders who did their duty nobly
and effectively in that struggle. To leave out Granger
and Steedman would have been especially invidious ;
for had it not been for their arrival, Thomas would have
unquestionably been driven from his position, and the
battle would have resulted in disaster.
The public had been misled in regard to the battle ;
it was regarded as a defeat. Rosecrans's own despatch
had given a wrong impression at the outset, which the
later inteUigence never removed. Quite likely most
people to-day, if asked in regard to Chickamauga,
would say that Rosecrans was defeated, not distin
guishing between the battle and the campaign.

TRIBUTE TO GENERAL ROSECRANS. 249
General Garfield had received the commendation of
the President — the appointment of Major-General-
The public did not know that he had planned the
campaign «and was entitled to double honor ; it only
knew that he had done his whole duty gallantly and
bravely. But General Garfield had too high a sense
of honor to sit sUent in the House of Representatives
and permit the passage of a resolution which, while
rightly doing honor to General Thomas and his com
mand, by implication would be a censure upon Rose
crans and all the other division and brigade command
ers and their men. The time had come for him to
speak. He would stand by his old comniander, by
the Division and Brigade commanders.
The resolution was read a first and second time.
General Garfield addressed the chair. " Mr. Speaker :
Is it in order to move an amendment to that resolu
tion .? "
" It is."
" Then I move to amend by inserting the name of
Major-General W. S. Rosecrans before that of General
Thomas, so that it will read ' To Major-General W. S.
Rosecrans and Major-General George H. Thomas, and
to the officers and men under them.' "
Mr. Wilson. I believe that this house has already
passed a joint resolution of thanks to General Rose
crans. Mr. Garfield. The gentleman is mistaken.
Mr. Stevens. We had better wait and have a sepa
rate resolution for General Rosecrans.
Mr. Farnsworth. So I think. I beheve that these

250 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
resolutions ought to stand each by itself This is a
special resolution of thanks to the officers and men
who fought the battle of Chickamauga, and I am not
prepared, with the information I have in regard to that
battle, to vote for or against a resolution of thanks to
Major-General Rosecrans. At all events it seems to me
that each resolution should be acted upon separately.
Mr. Garfield. " Mr. Speaker, I regret that this res
olution has come before the House of Representatives
as it is now presented. I had hoped I should not be
compelled to refer publicly to the matters involved in
it ; and before I speak to the merits of the resolution
itself, I must be indulged in the expression of my
opinion in regard to the custom which is growing up
in this body in reference to this class of resolutions.
The practice of this House during the brief period in
which I have been a member led me to fear that the
thanks of the Congress of the United States were be
coming too cheap an article in the eulogistic literature
of the world. Time was when a man must stand
grandly pre-eminent in the estimation and affection
of the American people to receive through the solemn
forms of law the thanks of the nation through its
representatives in Congress assembled. To merit
that was worth a lifetime of sacrifice and heroism.
We have changed this worthy custom. Since this
session began many resolutions of thanks have been
passed without being referred to the appropriate com
mittees, without remarks, and almost without notice.
They have been passed tacitly by a kind of common
consent We have not only thanked officers who were

TRIBUTE TO GENERAL ROSECRANS. 25 1
chiefs of armies, but also those who held subordinate
positions in the various armies of the republic. No
question has been asked whether the officer was en
titled to this distinction, or whether by thanking one,
another was not robbed of his merited honor. I repeat
that I have seen these things with a feeling that we
are cheapening the thanks of Congress by distributing
them without discrimination, without question. I have
been so willing to thank any man who has served the
country in this war, that I have not felt to interpose
objection. " In many of the instances referred to, I have had no
knowledge of the merits of the case. But when it
comes so close to my own experience and knowledge
of the history of the war, I cannot permit a resolution
of this kind to pass without my protest against this
hasty and thoughtless style of legislation. I have been
surprised that the honorable members of this House
should treat so lightly the matters involved in thanking
the public servants of the nation. I now appeal to
your sense of justice, whether it be right to single out
a subordinate officer, give him the thanks of Congress,
and pass his chief in sUence. On what ground are
you now ready to ignore the man who has won so
many of the proudest victories .¦' I do not believe that
such is the purpose or wish of this House.
" This resolution proposes to thank Major-General
Thomas and the officers and men under his command
for gallant service in the battle of Chickamauga. It
meets my hearty approval for what it contains, but my
protest for what it does not contain. I should be

2 c; 2 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
recreant to my own sense of justice did I allow thisi
omission to pass without notice. No man here is ready
to say — and if there be such a man I am ready to-
meet him — that the thanks of this Congress are not
due to Major-General W. S. Rosecrans for the cam
paign which culminated in the battle of Chickamauga.
It is not uncommon throughout the press of the
countrjf, and among many people, to speak of that
battle as a disaster to the army of the United States,
and to treat of it as a defeat. If that battle was a
defeat, we may welcome a hundred such defeats. I
should be glad if each of our armies would repeat
Chickamauga. Twenty such would destroy the Rebel
army and the Confederacy forever.
" What was that battle, terminating as it did a great
campaign whose object was to drive the Rebel army
beyond the Tennessee, and to obtain a foothold on the
south bank of that river, which should form the basis
of future operations in the Gulf States ? We had
never yet crossed that river, except far below in the
neighborhood of Corinth. Chattanooga was the gate
way of the Cumberland Mountains, and until we
crossed that river and held the gateway, we could
not commence operations in Georgia. The army was
ordered to cross the river, to grasp and hold the key
of the Cumberland Mountains. It did cross, in the
face of superior numbers ; and after two days of fight
ing, more terrible, I believe, than any since this war
began, the Army of the Cumberland hurled back, dis
comfited and repulsed, the combined power of three
Rebel armies, gained the key to the Cumberland Moun-

TRIBUTE TO GENERAL ROSECRANS. 253
tains, gained Chattanooga, and held it against every
assault If there has been a more substantial success
against overwhelming odds, since this war began, I
have not heard of it.
" We have had victories — God be thanked — all along
the line, but in the history of this war I know of no
such battle against such numbers : forty thousand
against an army of not less by a man than seventy-five
thousand. After the disaster to the right wing in the
last bloody afternoon of September 20, twenty-five
thousand men of the Army of the Cumberland stood
and met seventy-five thousand hurled against them.
And they stood in their bloody tracks immovable and
victorious when night threw its mantle around them.
They had repelled the last assault of the Rebel army.
Who commanded the Army of the Cumberland ? Who
organized, disciplined, and led it .' Who planned its
campaigns .' The general whose name is omitted in
this resolution, — Major-General W. S. Rosecrans.
"And who is this General Rosecrans 1 The history
of your country tells you, and your children know it
by heart. It is he who fought battles and won victo
ries in Western Virginia under the shadow of another's
name. When the poetic pretender claimed the honor
and received the reward as the author of Virgil's stanzas
in praise of Caesar, the great Mantuan wrote on the
walls of the imperial palace :
' Has ego versiculos feci, tulit alter honores.'
" So might the hero of Rich Mountain say, ' I won
this battle, but another has worn the laurels.'

254 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
" From Western Virginia he went to Mississippi,
and there won the battles of luka and Corinth, which
has aided materially to exalt the fame of that general
upon whom this House has been in such haste to con
fer the proud rank of Lieutenant-General of the Army
of the United States, but who was not upon either of
these battlefields.
" Who took command of the Army of the Cumberland,
found the army at Bowling Green, in November, 1862,
as it lay disorganized, disheartened, driven back from
Alabama and Tennessee, and led it across the Cumber
land, planted it in Nashville, and thence, on the first
day of the New Year, planted his banners at Mur
freesboro', in torren.ts of blood, and in the moment of
our extremest peril, throwing himself into the breach,
saved by his personal valor the Army of the Cumber
land and the hopes of the Republic .'' It was General
Rosecrans. From the day he assumed the command
at Bowling Green, the history of that army may- be
written in one sentence, — it advanced and maintained
its advanced position, — and its last campaign under
the general it loved was the bloodiest and most bril
liant The fruits of Chickamauga were gathered in
November, on the heights of Mission Ridge and among
the clouds of Lookout Mountain. That battle at Chat
tanooga was a glorious one, and every loyal heart was
proud of it But, sir, it was won when we had nearly
three times the number of the enemy. It ought to have
been won. Thank God it was won ! I would take no
laurel from the brow of the man who won it, but I
would remind gentlemen here, that whUe the battle of

TRIBUTE TO GENERAL ROSECRANS. 255
Chattanooga was fought with vastly superior numbers
on our part, the battle of Chickamauga was fought with
still vaster superiority against us.
" If there is any man upon earth whom I honor, it is
the man who is named in this resolution — General
George H. Thomas. I had occasion, in my remarks on
the conscription bill a few days ago, to refer to him in
such terms as I delighted to use ; and I say to gentle
men here that if there is any man whose heart would be
hurt by the passage of this resolution as it now stands,
that man is General George H. Thomas. I know, and
all know, that he deserves well of his country, and his
name ought to be recorded in letters of gold ; but I
know equally well that General Rosecrans deserves
well of his country. I ask you then, not to pain the
heart of a noble man, who will be burdened with the
weight of these thanks that wrong his brother officer
and superior in command. All I ask is that you will
put both names into the resolution, and let them stand
side by side."

256 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.

XXIII.
REMARKS ON ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
THE young man who, in this year, 1880, is about
to cast his first vote, knows nothing of the two
greatest griefs ever experienced by the people of the
United States, — the surrender of Fort Sumter, and
the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The grief
over the humiliation of the flag of the nation became a
mighty transforming power. The world never saw a
grander flaming up of patriotism than that of the spring
of 1861.
It was a grief, however, that did not reach beyond
the loyal States. The aristocracy of England could
hardly conceal its satisfaction at the prospect of the
crumbling of the edifice reared by Democracy. Shop-
keeping England rubbed its hands in glee over the
prospect of large gains in trade with the Unionists and
Confederates. " The Great Republic is gone," wrote W. H. RusseU,
in one of his first letters to the London Times, and the
English people accepting it as gospel truth, acted ac
cordingly. Not all the English public, however, for
Lancashire never faltered in its faith in the Republic.
By instinct the cotton spinners of Rochdale and Old-

REMARKS ON ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

257

ham knew that the struggle of the Northern States was
not only for the Union but for human rights, and even
the cotton famine and starvation could not swerve
them from the idea. Their grief over the surrender of
Sumter was genuine, but beyond Lancashire, beyond
the laboring classes of England and Germany, there
was little sorrowing over the lowering of the Stars and
Stripes in Charleston harbor, in 1861.
Far different the sorrow of 1865 : then the whole
world put on mourning. There was scarcely a gov
ernment on the face of the earth that did not make for
mal expression of its sympathy — from Great Britain
and China, down to Tunis, down to the petty duchies
of Baden and Saxe-Meiningen. Legislative bodies, gov
ernmental departments, municipalities, gatherings of
citizens, civic associations, religious assemblies, lodges,
schools, societies, newspapers of every country, sent
tributes in memory of the martyred President.
The London Punch, which had delighted in cari
caturing Abraham Lincoln, pictured Britannia laying
immortelles upon his bier with humble confession of
past wrong :
" You lay a wreath on murdered Lincoln's bier.
You, who with mocking pencil wont to trace.
Broad for the self-complacent British sneer.
His length of shambling limbs, his furrowed face.
His gaunt, gnarled hands, his unkempt, bristling hair,
His gait uncouth, his bearing ill at ease,
His lack of all we prize as debonair
Of power, or will to shine or art to please.
17

258 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
The Old World and the New, from sea to sea.
Utters one voice of sympathy and shame!
Sore heart, so stopped when it at last beat high,
Sad life, cut short just as its triumph came."
Pulpit and press throughout the Northern. States
voiced the nation's grief.
A year passed and the anniversary of President Lin
coln's death came round. Congress met as usual, but
before any business was transacted General Garfield
rose in his seat and moved to adjourn, supporting his
motion by the following remarks :
" Mr. Speaker : I desire to move that this House do
now adjourn ; and before the vote upon that motion is
taken, I desire to say a few words.
" This day, Mr. Speaker, will be sadly memorable so
long as this nation shall endure, which, God grant, may
be ' till the last syllable of recorded time,' when the
volume of human history shall be sealed up and deliv
ered to the Omnipotent -Judge.
" In all future time, on the recurrence of this day, I
doubt not that the citizens of this Republic will meet in
solemn assembly to reflect on the life and character of
Abraham Lincoln, and the awful tragic event of April
14, 1865, — an event unparalleled in the history of
nations, certainly unparalleled in our own. It is emi
nently proper that this House should this day place
upon its records a memorial of that event
" The last five years have been marked by wonder
ful developments of human character. Thousands of
our people before unknown to fame, have taken their

REMARKS ON ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

259

places in history, crowned with immortal honors. In
thousands of humble homes are dwelling heroes and
patriots, whose names shall never die. But greatest
among all these developments were the character and
fame of Abraham Lincoln, whose loss the nation stUl
deplores. His character is aptly described in the
words of England's great laureate — written thirty
years ago — in which he traces the upward steps of
some — " ' Divinely gifted man.
Whose life in low estate began,
And on a simple village green ;
Who breaks his birth's invidious bar,
And grasps the skirts of happy chance.
And breasts the blow of circumstance.
And grapples with his evil star:
Who makes by force his merit known.
And lives to clutch the golden keys
To mold a mighty State's decrees,
And shape the whisper of the throne :
And moving up from high to higher,
Becomes on Fortune's crowning slope,
The pillar of a people's hope,
The center of a world's desire.'
" Such a life and character will be treasured forever
as the sacred possession of the American people and
of mankind. In the great drama of the rebeUion, there
were two acts. The first was the war, with its battles
and sieges, victories and defeats, its sufferings and
tears. That act was closing one year ago to-night and
just as the curtain was lifting on the second and final
act, the restoration of peace and Hberty, — just as the

26o JAMES A. GARFIELD:
curtain was rising upon new events and new charac
ters, — the evil spirit of the Rebellion, in the fury of
despair, nerved and directed the hand of the assassin
to strike down the chief character in both.
" It was no one man who kUled Abraham Lincoln ; it
was the embodied spirit of treason and slavery, inspired
with fearful and despairing hate, that struck him down
in the moment of the nation's supremest joy.
" Ah, sir, there are times in the history of men and
nations when they stand so near the veil that separates
mortals from immortals, time from eternity, and men
from their God, that they can almost hear the beatings
and feel the pulsations of the heart of the Infinite !
Through such a time has this nation passed. When
two hundred and fifty thousand brave spirits passed
from the field of honor through that thin veil to the
presence of God, and when at last its parting folds ad
mitted the martyr President to the company of the
dead heroes of the Republic, the nation stood so near
the veil that the whispers of God were heard by the
children of men.
"Awe-stricken by His voice, the American people
knelt in tearful reverence and made a solemn covenant
with Him and with each other that this nation should
be saved from its enemies, that all its glories should be
restored, and on the ruins of treason and slavery the
temples of freedom and justice should be buUt, and
should survive forever. It remains for us, consecrated
by that great event, and under a covenant with God, to
keep that faith, to go forward in the great work until it
shall be completed.

REMARKS ON ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 26 1
" Following the lead of that great man, and obeying
the high behests of God, let us remember that —
" ' He has sounded forth a trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat.
Be swift my soul to answer him, be jubilant my feet;
For God is marching on.'"
Upon the conclusion of General Garfield's remarks,
the motion was adopted, and the House adjourned.

262 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

XXIV.
ADDRESSES.
THE world worships success. In i860 General
Grant was unknown beyond the streets of Ga
lena ; but in 1880 the whole world turns out to honor
him. The great names of history are of men who
have succeeded in what they have undertaken. Peace
hath victories mightier than those of the sword. Men
are beginning to estimate victories by the benefits
which they confer upon the human race. Not in the
future, as in the past wiU they be estimated by the
number of soldiers slain, the cannon taken, or the rout
of a defeated army, but by what men can do for their
fellow-men. Bernard PaUissy, a poor potter in France, saw an
enameled cup that had been brought from Italy. How
was the glazing put on } He would find out. It is this
determination to accomplish things which is the start
ing-point on the road to success. PaUissy built a fur
nace, made experiments, but the enamel would not
fuse. Six nights in succession, with scarcely a wink of
sleep, he sat beside the furnace. His fuel was gone.
He had not time to go for more, nor had he money to
buy it. He broke up the chairs and hurled them in,

ADDERSSES.

263

split the table into kindling-wood. More wood ! More
wood ! He rips up the floor and feeds the flame. His
weeping wife thinks him a lunatic. Victory ! The
enamel melts, and he becomes the world's benefactor.
The walks of life are illumined by such successes.
James A. Garfield determined to be a teacher. It was
a "definite object." He succeeded; and aU that has
followed is the natural outgrowth of his determination.
What are the elements of success .'' " You must select
your work," says Emerson ; " you shall take what your
brain can and drop all the rest" No one is so compe
tent to tell us how to succeed as he who has succeeded,
and so we turn to an address given by General Gar
field before the Consolidated Business College in
Washington in 1869, on the Elements of Success.
" Ladies and gentlemen," he said, " I have consented
to address you this evening chiefly for two reasons, — ¦
one of them personal to myself, the other public. The
personal reason is, that I have a deep and peculiar
sympathy with young people .who are engaged in any
department of education. Their pursuits are to me not
only matters of deep interest, but of profound mystery.
It will not perhaps, flatter you older people when I say
I have less interest in you than in these young people.
With us, the great questions of life are measurably set
tled. Our days go on, their shadows lengthening as we
approach nearer to that evening which will soon deepen
into the night of life ; but before these young people
are the dawn, the sunrise, the coming noon — all the
wonders and mysteries of life. For ourselves, much

264 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
of aU that belongs to the possibUities of life is .ended,
and the very angels look down upon us with less curi
osity than these, whose Hves are just opening. Pardon
me, then, if I feel more interest in them than in you.
" I feel a profounder reverence for a boy than a man.
I never meet a ragged boy on the street without feeling
that I owe him a salute, for I know not what possibUi
ties may be buttoned up under his shabby coat. When
I meet you in the full flush of mature life, I see nearly
all there is of you ; but among these boys are the great
men of the future, — the heroes of the next generation,
the philosophers, the statesmen, the phUanthropists,
the great reformers and molders of the next age.
Therefore, I say, there is a peculiar charm to me in the
exhibitions of young people engaged in the business
of education.
" The people are making a grave charge against our
system of higher education when they complain that it
is disconnected from the active business of life. It is a
charge to which our colleges cannot plead guUty and
live. They must rectify the fault or miserably fail of
their great purpose. There is scarcely a more pitiable
sight than to see here and there learned men, so called,
who have graduated in our own and the universities of
Europe with high honors, — men who know the whole
gamut of classical learning, who have sounded the
depths of mathematical and speculative philosophy, —
and yet who could not harness a horse or make out a
bill of sale if the world depended upon it
" The fact is that our curriculum of college studies
was not based on modern ideas and has not grown up

ADDRESSES.

265

to our modern necessities. The prevailing system was
established at a time when the learning of the world
was in Latin and Greek ; when, if a man would learn
arithmetic, he must first learn Latin ; and if he would
learn the history and geography of his own country, he
could acquire that knowledge only through the Latin
language. Of course, in those days it was necessary
to lay the foundation of learning in a knowledge of
the learned languages. The universities of Europe,
from which our colleges were copied, were founded be
fore the modern languages were born. The leading lan
guages of Europe are scarcely six hundred years old.
The reasons for a course of study then are not good
now. The old necessities have passed away. We now
have strong and noble living languages, rich in litera
ture, replete with high and earnest thought, — the lan
guage of science, religion, and liberty, — and yet we bid
our children feed their spirits on the life of dead ages,
instead of the inspiring life and vigor of our own times.
I do not object to classical learning ; far from it ; but
I would not have it exclude the living present. There
fore I welcome the Business College in the form it has
taken in the United States, because it meets an ac
knowledged want by aft'ording to young people of only
common scholastic attainments, and even to the classes
that graduate from Harvard and Yale, an opportunity
to learn important and indispensable lessons before
they go out into the business of life.
" The present chanceUor of the British Exchequer,
the Right Honorable Robert Lowe, one of the bright
est minds in that kingdom, said in a recent address be-

266 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
fore the venerable University of Edinburgh : ' I was a
few months ago in Paris, and two graduates of Oxford
went with me to get our dinner at a restaurant and if
the white-aproned waiter had not been better educated
than aU three of us, we might have starved to death.
We could not ask for our dinner in his language, but
fortunately he could ask us in our own language what
we wanted.' There was one test of the insufficiency
of modern education.
" There is another reason why I am glad that these
Business Colleges have been established in this coun
try, and particularly in the city of Washington. If
there be any city on this continent where such institu
tions are needed more than in any other, it is here in
this city, for the benefit of the employes of the United
States. " Allow me, young ladies and gentlemen, to turn aside
for one moment to speak of what relates to your busi
ness life. If I could speak one sentence which would be
echoed through every department of the government,
addressing myself not to those in middle life whose
plans for the future are fixed, but to those who are be
ginning life, I would say to every young man and woman
in the civil service of the government, ' Hasten by the
most rapid steps to get out of these departments into
active, independent business life.' Do not misunderstand
me. Your work is honorable — honorable to yourselves
and necessary to the government. I make no charge
on that score ; but to a young man, who has in himself
the magnificent possibilities of Hfe, it is not fitting that
he should be permanently commanded ; he should be

ADDRESSES.

267

a convnander. You must not continue to be the em
ployed ; you must be an employer. You must be pro
moted from the ranks to a command. There is some
thing, young men, which you can command — go and
find it, and command it. You can at least command a
horse and dray, can be generalissimo of them, and
may carve out a fortune with them. And I did not fall
on that illustration by accident, young gentlemen. Do
you know the fact .'' If you do not, let me tell it you :
that more fortunes have been won and fewer failures
known in the dray business than in wholesale mer
chandising. " Now, young gentlemen, let me for a moment ad
dress you, touching your success in life ; and I hope
the very brevity of my remarks will increase the chance
of their making a lodgment in your minds. Let me
beg you, in the outset of your career, to dismiss from
your minds all idea of succeeding by luck. There is no
more common thought among young people than that
foolish one that by-and-by something will turn up by
which they will suddenly achieve fame or fortune. No,
young gentlemen ; things don't turn up in this world
unless somebody turns them up. Inertia is one of the
indispensable laws of matter, and things lie flat where
they are until by some intelligent spirit (for nothing but
spirit makes motion in this world) they are endowed
with activity and life. Do not dream that some good
luck is going to happen to you and give you for
tune. Luck is an ignis fatuus. You may follow it to
ruin, but not to success. The great Napoleon, who be
lieved in his destiny, foUowed it until he saw his star go

268 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
down in blackest night, when the Old Guard perished
round him, and Waterloo was lost A pound of pluck
is worth a ton of luck.
" Young men talking of trusting to the spur of the
occasion ! That trust is vain. Occasion cannot make
spurs, young gentlemen. If you expect to wear spurs,
you must win them. If you wish to use them, you
must buckle them to your own heels before you go into
the fight. Any success you may achieve is not worth
having, unless you fight for it. Whatever you win in
life you must conquer by your own efforts, and then it
is yours — a part of yourself.
" Again : in order to have any success in life, or any
worthy success, you must resolve to carry into your
work a fullness of knowledge — not merely a sufficiency,
but more than a sufficiency. In this respect, follow the
rule of the machinists. If they want a machine to do
the work of six horses, they give it a nine-horse power,
so that they may have a reserve of three. To carry on
the business of life you must have surplus power. Be
fit for more than, the thing you are now doing. Let
every one know that you have a reserve in yourself ;
that you have more power than you are now using. If
you are not too large for the place you occupy, you are
too small for it. How full our country is of bright ex
amples ! not only those who occupy some proud emi
nence in public life, but in every place you find men
going on with steady nerve, attracting the attention of
their fellow-citizens, and carving out for themselves
names and fortunes from small and humble beginnings,
and in face of formidable obstacles. Let me cite an

ADDRESSES.

269

example of a man I recently saw in the little vUlage of
Norwich, N. Y. If you wish to know his name, go
into any hardware store and ask for the best hammer
in the world, and if the salesman be an intelligent man,
he will bring you a hammer bearing the name of D.
Maydole. Young gentlemen, take that hammer in your
hand, drive naUs with it, and draw inspiration from it.
"Thirty years ago a boy was struggling through the
snows of the Chenango Valley, trying to hire himself
to a blacksmith. He succeeded, and learned his trade ;
but he did more. He took it into his head that he
could make a better hammer than any other man had
made. He devoted himself to the task for more than
a quarter of a century. He studied the chemistry of
metals, the strength of materials, the philosophy of
form. He studied failures. Each broken hammer
taught him a lesson. There was no part of the process
that he did not master. He taxed his wit to invent
machines to perfect and cheapen his processes. No
improvement in working steel or iron escaped his no
tice. What may not twenty-five years of effort accom-
pHsh when concentrated on a single object 1 He earned
success ; and now, when his name is stamped on a
steel hammer, it is his note, his bond, his integrity
embodied in steel. The spirit of the man is in each
hammer, and the work, like the workman, is unrivaled.
Mr. Maydole is now acknowledged to have made the
best hammer in the world. Even the sons of Thor,
across the sea, admit it
" WhUe I was there, looking through his shop, with
all its admirable arrangement of tools and machinery,

270 JAMES A. GARFIELD
there came to him a large order from China. The
merchants of the Celestial Kingdom had sent down to
the little town, where the persistent blacksmith now
lives in affiuence, to get the best that Anglo-Saxon
skill had accomplished in the hammer business. It is
no small achievement to do one thing better than any
other man in the world has done it.
" Let me call your attention to something nearer your
own work in this college. About forty years ago, a
young lad who had come from the Catskill Mountains,
where he had learned the rudiments of penmanship by
scribbling on the sole leather of a good old Quaker
shoemaker (for he was too poor to buy paper) till be
could write better than his neighbors, commenced to
teach in that part of Ohio which has been called ' be
nighted Ashtabula' — (I suggest 'beknighted' as the
proper spelling of the word). He set up a little writ
ing-school in a rude log cabin, and threw into the work
the fervor of a poetic soul and a strength of heart and
spirit that few men possess. He caught his ideals of
beauty from the waves of the lake, and the curves they
made upon the white sand beach, and from the tracery
of the spider's web ; studying the lines of beauty as
drawn by the hand of Nature, he wrought out the sys
tem of penmanship which is now the pride of our
country, and the models of our schools. It is the sys
tem you have been learning in this college, and which
is so worthily represented by the son of its author —
my friend. Professor Spencer, your able instructor. This
is an example of what a man may do by putting his
whole heart into whatever he undertakes.

ADDRESSES.

271

" Only yesterday, on my way here, I learned a fact
which I will give, to show how by attending to things,
and putting your mind to the work, you may reach
success. A few days ago, in the city of Boston, there
was held an exhibition of photography ; and to the
great surprise of New England, it turned out that Mr.
Ryder, a photographer from Cleveland, Ohio, took the
prize for the best photography in America. But how
did this thing happen .¦¦ I will tell you. This Cleve
land photographer happened to read in a German pa
per of a process practiced by the artists of Bohemia —
a process of touching-up the negative with the finest
instruments, thus removing all chemical imperfections
from the negative itself. Reading this, he sent for one
of these artists, and at length succeeded in bringing
the art of Bohemia into the service of his own pro
fession. "The patient German sat down with his lenses, and
bringing a strong clear light upon these negatives,
working with the finest instruments, rounding and
strengthening the outlines, was able at last to print
from the negative a photograph more perfect than any
I have seen made with the help of an India-ink finish.
And so Mr. Ryder took the prize. Why not .'' It was
no mystery ; it was simply taking time by the forelock,
securing the best aid in the business, and bringing to
bear the force of an energetic mind to attain the best
possible results.
" That is the only way, young ladies and gentlemen,
in which success is gained. These men succeed, be
cause they deserve success. Their results are wrought

272 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
out ; they do not come to hand already made. Poets
may be born, but success is made.
" Young gentlemen, let not poverty stand as an ob
stacle in your way. Poverty is uncomfortable, as I can
testify ; but nine times out of ten the best thing that
can happen to a young man is to be tossed overboard,
and compelled to sink or swim for himself In all my
acquaintance I have never known one to be drowned
who was worth saving. This would not be wholly true
in any country but one of political equality like ours.
The editor of one of the leading magazines of Eng
land told me, not many months ago, a fact startling
enough in itself, but of great significance to a poor
man. He told me that he had never yet known, in aU
his experience, a single boy of the class of farm-labor
ers (not those who own farms, but mere farm-laborers),
who had ever risen above his class. Boys from the
manufacturing and commercial classes had risen fre
quently, but from the farm-labor class he had never
known one.
" The reason is this : in the aristocracies of the Old
World, wealth and society are built up like the strata
of rock which compose the crust of the earth. If a
boy be born in the lowest stratum of life, it is almost
impossible for him to rise through this hard crust into
the higher ranks ; but in this country it is not so. The
strata of our society resemble rather the ocean, where
every drop, even the lowest, is free to mingle with all
others, and may shine at last on the crest of the high
est wave. This is the glory of our country, young
gentlemen, and you need not fear that there are any

ADDRESSZ:b.

273

obstacles which will prove too great for any brave
heart. You will remember what Burns, who knew all
meanings of poverty and struggle, has said in homely
verse : ' Though losses and crosses
Be lessons right severe.
There's wit there, you'll get there.
You'll find no otherwhere.'
" One thought more and I will close. This is almost
a sermon, but I cannot help it, for the occasion itself
has given rise to the thoughts I am offering you. Let
me suggest, that in giving you being, God locked up
in your nature certain forces and capabUities. What
will you do with them } Look at the mechanism of a
clock. Take off the pendulum and ratchet and the
wheels go rattling down, and all its force is expended in
a moment ; but properly balanced and regulated it wiU
go on, letting out its force tick by tick, measuring hours
and days, and doing faithfully the service for which it
was designed. I implore you to cherish and guard and
use well the forces that God has given to you. You may
let them run down in a year, if you will. Take off the
strong curb of discipline and morality, and you wUl be
an old man before your twenties are passed. Preserve
these forces. Do not burn them out with brandy, or
waste them in idleness and crime. Do not destroy
them. Do not use them unworthily. Save and pro
tect them that they may save for you fortune and fame.
Plonestly resolve to do this, and you will be an honor
to yourself and to your country."
18

274 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Future of the Republic.
General Garfield was invited to address the Literary
Societies of Hudson College at its commencement in
1873. He chose for his theme on that occasion, " The
Future of the RepubHc : its Dangers and its Hopes," —
a theme which is of vital interest to every American
citizen. It is the one question of all others, to-day,
demanding the attention of thinking men.
Seven years have passed since the delivery of the
address, and the subjects taken up by the orator are
still before the American people.
After a brief introduction, he entered directly upon
the subject, inquiring if we may rationally hope that
its Hfe and success wiU be permanent, or whether it
has entered upon a career of briUiant and brief im
mortality. "What do men mean," he asked, "when
they predict the immortality of anything earthly .¦'
" The first Napoleon was one day walking through
the galleries of thfe Louvre, filled with the wonders of
art which he had stolen from the conquered capitals of
Europe. As he passed the marvelous picture of Peter
Martyr, one of the seven masterpieces of the world,
he overheard an enthusiastic artist exclaim, ' Immortal
work ! ' Turning quickly upon his heel, the Emperor
asked, ' What is the average life of an oil-painting } '
' Five hundred years,' answered the artist ' Immortal I '
the Corsican scornfully repeated as he passed on,
thinking doubtless of Austerlitz and Marengo. Six
years ago, the wonderful picture of Peter Martyr was
dissolved in the flames of a burning church at Venice,

A DDRBSSES. 275
and, like Austerlitz, is now only a memory and a
dream. "When the great lyric poet of Rome ventured to
predict immortality for his works, he could think of no
higher human symbol of immortality than the Eternal
City and her institutions, crowded with seven centuries
of glorious growth ; and so Horace declared that his
verses would be remembered, as long as the high-
priest of Apollo and the silent vestal virgin should
climb the steps of the Capitol. Fifteen centuries ago,
the sacred fires of Vesta went out, never to be re
kindled. For a thousand years, Apollo has had no
shrine, no priest no worshiper on the earth. The
steps of the Capitol, and the temples that crowned it,
live only in dreams, and to-day the antiquary digs and
disputes among the ruins, and is unable to tell us where
on the Capitoline hill the great citadel of Rome stood.
" There is much in the history of dead empires to
sadden and discourage our hope for the permanence
of any human institution. But a deeper study reveals
the fact that nations have perished, only when their
institutions have ceased to be serviceable to the human
race ; when their faith has become an empty form,
and the destruction of the old is indispensable to the
growth of the new. Growth is better than perma
nence ; and permanent growth is better than all. Our
faith is large in time ; and we
' Doubt not through the ages, an increasing purpose runs.
And the thoughts of men are widened by the process of the suns.'
" It matters little what may be the forms of national

276 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
institutions, if the life, freedom, and growth of society
are secured. To save the life of a nation it is some
times necessary to discard the old form and make room
for the new growth ; for
' Old decays but foster new creations;
Bones and ashes feed the golden corn;
Fresh elixirs wander every -moment
Down the veins through which the live part feeds its child, the
life unborn.'
"There are two classes of forces whose action and
reaction determine the condition of a nation, — the
forces of repression and expression. The one acts
from without ; limits, curbs, restrains. The other acts
from within ; expands, enlarges, propels. Constitu
tional forms, statutory limitations, conservative customs
belong to the first The free play of individual life,
the opinion and action, belong to the second. If these
forces be happily balanced, if there be a wise con
servation and correlation of both, a nation may enjoy
the double blessing of progress and permanence.
" How are these forces acting upon our nation at the
present time .¦•
" Our success has been so great hitherto, we have
passed safely through so many perils, which at the
time seemed almost fatal, that we may assume that the
Republic wiU continue to live and prosper unless it
shall be assailed by dangers which outnumber and out
weigh the elements of its strength. It is idle to boast
of what we are, and what we are to be, unless at the
same time we compare our strength with the magni
tude of our dangers.

ADDRESSES. 277
" What, then, are our dangers ; and how can they be
conquered 1 . . .
" In the first place, our great dangers are not from
without We do not live by the consent of any other
nation. We must look within, to find the elements of
danger. The first and most obvious of these is terri
torial expansion, overgrowth, — the danger that we shall
break in pieces by our own weight. This has been the
commonplace of historians and publicists for many cen
turies ; and its truth has found many striking iUustra-
tions in the experience of mankind. But we have fair
ground for believing that new conditions and new forces
have nearly if not wholly removed the ground of this
danger. Distance, estrangement isolation have been
overcome by the recent amazing growth in the means
of intercommunication. For political and industrial
purposes, California and Massachusetts are nearer neigh
bors to-day, than were Philadelphia and Boston in the
days of the Revolution. The people of all our thirty-
seven States know more of each other's affairs than the
Vermonter knew of his Virginia neighbors fifty years
ago. It was distance, isolation, ignorance of separate
parts, that broke the cohesive force of the great em
pires of antiquity. Public affairs are now more pub
lic, and private less private, than in former ages. The
Railroad, the Telegraph and the Press have virtuaUy
brought our citizens, with their opinions and industries,
face to face ; and they live almost in each other's sight.
The leading political, social, and industrial events of
this day wUl be reported and discussed at more than
two mUlions of American breakfast-tables to-morrow

278 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
morning. Public opinion is kept in constant exercise
and training. It keeps itself constantly in hand —
ready to approve, condemn, and command. It may be
wrong — it may be tyrannical ; but it is all-pervading,
and constitutes, more than ever before, a strong band
of nationality."
General Garfield set forth the absorbing power of
the Republic and its territorial extent, and maintained
that we had little to fear in that direction. He con
tinued :
" After all, territory is but the body of a nation. The
people who inhabit its hills and its valleys are its soul,
its spirit, its life. In them dwells its hope of immor
tality. Among them, if anywhere, are to be found its
chief elements of destruction.
" And this leads me to consider an alleged danger to
our institutions, which, if well founded, would be radi
cal and fatal. I refer to the allegation that universal
suffrage as the supreme source of political authority, is
a fatal mistake. When I hear this proposition urged,
I feel, as most Americans doubtless do, that it is a kind
of moral treason to listen to it, and that to entertain it
would be political atheism. That the consent of the
governed is the only true source of national author
ity, and is the safest and firmest foundation on which
to buUd a government is the most fundamental axiom
of our political faith. But we must not forget that a
majority — perhaps a large majority — of the thinkers,
writers, and statesmen of Christendom declare that our
axiom is no axiom ; indeed is not true, but is a delu
sion and a snare — a fatal heresy."

ADDRESSES. 279.
General Garfield reviewed a letter written by Lord
Macaulay in 1857, to a gentleman in New York, — the
great English historian maintaining that purely Demo
cratic institutions would sooner or later destroy Hberty
or civilization, or both. The letter is well known to
students of history. In reviewing it General Garfield
said :
" Certainly this letter contains food for serious
thought ; and it would be idle to deny that the writer
has pointed out what may become serious dangers in
our future. But the evils he complains of are by no
means confined to Democratic governments, nor do
they, in the main, grow out of popular suffrage. If
they do, England herself has taken a dangerous step
since Macaulay wrote. Ten years after the date of
this letter she extended the suffrage to 800,000 of her
working-men, a class hitherto ignored in politics. And
still later we have extended it to an ignorant and
lately enslaved population of more than four millions.-
Wh ether for weal or for woe, enlarged suffrage is the
tendency of all modern nations. I venture the decla
ration that this opinion of Macaulay is vulnerable on
several grounds :
" In the first place, it is based upon a belief from
which few if any British writers have been able to
emancipate themselves, viz. : the belief that mankind
are born into permanent classes, and that, in the main,
they must live, work, and die in the fixed class or con
dition in which they were born. It is hardly possible
for a man reared in an aristocracy like that of England

28o JAMES A. GARFIELD.
to eliminate this conviction from his mind, for the
British empire is built upon it. Their theory of na
tional stability is that there must be a permanent class
which shall hold in their own hands so much of the
wealth, the privUege, and the political power of the
kingdom, that they can compel the admiration and
obedience of all other classes.
" At several periods of English history there have
been serious encroachments upon this doctrine. But
on the whole, British phlegm has held to it sturdily,
and still maintains it The great . voiceless class of
day-laborers have made but little headway against the
doctrine. The editor of a leading British magazine
told me, a few years ago, that in twenty-five years of
observation he had never known a mere farm-laborer
in England to rise above his class. Some, he said, had
done so in manufactures, some in trade, but in mere
farm labor not one. The government of a country,
where such a fact is possible, has much to answer for.
"We deny the justice or the necessity of keeping
ninety-nine of the population in perpetual poverty and
obscurity, in order that the hundredth may be rich and
powerful enough to hold the ninety-nine in subjection.
Where such permanent classes exist, the conflict of
which Macaulay speaks is inevitable. And why .? Not
that men are inclined to fight the class above them,
but they fight against any artificial barrier, which makes
it impossible for them to enter that higher class, and
become a part of it. We point to the fact that in this
country there are no classes, in the -British sense of
the word — no impassable barriers of caste. Now that

ADDRESSES. 28 1
slavery is abolished, we can truly say that through our
political society there run no fixed horizontal strata
through which none can pass upward. Our society
resembles rather the waves of the ocean, whose every
drop may move freely among its fellows, and may rise
toward the light, until it flashes on the crest of the
highest wave.
" Again, in depicting the dangers of universal suffrage,
Macaulay leaves wholly out of the account the great
counterbalancing force of universal education. He
contemplates the government delivered over to a vast
multitude of ignorant, vicious men, who have learned
no self-control, who have never comprehended the na
tional life, and who will wield the ballot solely for per
sonal and selfish ends. If this were indeed the neces
sary condition of democratic communities, it would 'oe
difficult, perhaps impossible, to escape the logic of
Macaulay's letter. And here is a real peril — the
danger that we shall rely upon the mere extent of the
suffrage as a national safeguard. We cannot safely,
even for a moment, lose sight of the quality of the suf
frage, which is more important than its quantity. . . .
" Our faith in the democratic principle rests upon the
belief that intelligent men will see that their highest
political good is in liberty, regulated by just and equal
laws ; and that in the distribution of political power it
is safe to follow the maxim, ' Each for all, and all for
each.' We confront the dangers of the suffrage by
the blessings of universal education. We believe that
the strength of the State is the aggregate strength of
its individual citizens, and that the suffrage is the link

282 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
that binds in a bond of mutual interest and responsi
bility the fortunes of the citizens to the fortunes of the
State. Hence, as popular suffrage is the broadest base,
so when coupled with intelligence and virtue it becomes
the strongest — the most enduring base on which to
build the superstructure of government.
" There is another class of dangers, unlike any we
have yet considered — dangers engendered by civiliza
tion itself, and made formidable by the very forces
which man is employing as the most effective means
of bettering his condition and advancing civilization.
" The railway problem is an example of this class."
General Garfield proceeded to set forth the develop
ment of the railway system and its powers, discussing
the question of vested rights, Stafe control, the powers
of private corporations, under the famous Dartmouth
College law, as presented by Daniel Webster, and the
decision of the Supreme Court thereon.
To present the address in full would be beyond the
scope of this volume ; but for clearness and cogent
reasoning, and far-reaching views, it will take rank with
the ablest addresses upon the future of the Republic.
In conclusion. General Garfield said:
" The intelligence and national spirit of our people
exhibit their capacity for dealing with difficult prob
lems. Those who saw the terrible elements of destruc
tion that burst upon us twelve years ago, in the fury of
civil war, would have been called dreamers and enthu
siasts had they predicted that 1873 would witness the
conflict ended, its cause annihilated, the bitterness and
hatred it had occasioned nearly gone, and the nation,

ADDRESSES.

283

with union and unity restored, smiHng again over the
turf of half a million soldiers' graves.
" Finally, our great hope for the future — our great
safeguard against danger • — is to be found in the general
and thorough education of our people, and in the virtue
which accompanies such education. And all these
elements depend in a large measure upon the intellect
ual and moral culture of the young men who go out
from our higher institutions of learning. From the
standpoint of this general culture we may trustfully en
counter the perils that assail us. Secure against dan
gers from abroad ; united at home by the strongest
ties of common interest and patriotic pride ; holding
and unifying our vast territory by the most potent
forces of civilization ; relying upon the intelligent
strength and responsibUity of each citizen, and most of
all upon the power of truth, — without undue arrogance,
we may hope that in the centuries to come our Repub
lic will continue to live and hold its high place among
the nations as
' The heir of all the ages in the foremost files of time ! ' "
Advice to Young Men.
On the Saturday night before the Ohio State elec
tion in 1879, General Garfield addressed the young men
of Cleveland upon the issues of the hour, eliciting at
almost every sentence great applause. The following
extract wUl show its spirit :
" Now, fellow-citizens, a word before I leave you on
the very verge of the holy day of God — a fit moment

284 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
to consecrate ourselves finally to the great work of next
Tuesday morning. I see in this great audience to
night a great many young men, young men who are
about to cast their first vote. I want to give you a
word of suggestion and advice. I heard a very brilliant
thing said by a boy the other day up in one of our
northwestern counties. He said to me, 'General, I
have a great mind to vote the Democratic ticket'
" That was not the brilliant thing. I said to him,
' Why t ' ' Why,' said he, ' my father is a Republican,
and my brothers are Republicans, and I am a Repub
lican all over ; but I want to be an independent man,
and I don't want anybody to say, " That fellow votes the
Republican ticket just because his dad does ; " and I
have half a mind to vote the Democratic ticket just to
prove my independence.'
" I did not like the thing the boy suggested, but I did
admire the spirit of the. boy that wanted to have some
independence of his own.
" Now, I tell you, young man, don't vote the Re
publican ticket just because your father votes it Don't
vote t.he Demociatie ticket, even if he does vote it.
But k't me give you this one word of advice, as you
are about to pitch your tem \ in one <5f the great politi
cal, camps : Your life i.s -full and buoyant with hope
n6w, and I beg you i^en you pitch your tent, pitch it
among the living and not among the dead.
"If you are at aU incHned to pitch it among the
Democratic people, and with that party, let me go with
you for a moment while we survey the ground where
I hope you will not shortly lie. It is a sad place, young

ADDRESSES.

285

man, for you to put your young life into. It is to me far
more like a graveyard than like a camp for the living.
" Look at it ! It is billowed all over with the graves
of dead issues, of buried opinions, of exploded theories,
of disgraced doctrines. You cannot live in comfort
in such a place. Why, look here ! Here is a little
double mound. I look down on it and I read, ' Sacred
to the Memory of Squatter Sovereignty and the Dred
Scott Decision.' A mUlion and a half of Democrats
voted for that, but it has been dead fifteen years — died
by the hand of Abraham Lincoln ; and here it lies.
Young man, that is not the place for you.
" But look a little further. Here is another monu
ment a black tomb, and beside it as our distinguished
friend said, there towers to the sky. a monument of
4,000,000 pairs of human fetters taken from the arms
of slaves, and I read on its little headstone this : ' Sa
cred to the Memory of Human Slavery.'
" For forty years of its infamous life the Democratic
party taught that it was divine — God's institution.
They defended it ; they stood around it ; they followed
it to its grave as a mourner. But here it lies, dead by
the hand of Abraham Lincoln ; dead by the power of
the Republican party ; dead by the justice of Almighty
God. Don't camp there, young man.
"But here is another — a little brimstone tomb,
and I read across its yellow face in lurid, bloody lines
these words : ' Sacred to the Memory of State Sover
eignty and Secession.' Twelve miUions of Democrats
mustered round it in arms to keep it alive ; but here it
lies, shot to death by the million guns of the Republic.

286 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Here it lies, its shrine burned to ashes under the blaz
ing rafters of the burning Confederacy. It is dead 1 I
would not have you stay in there a minute, even in this
balmy night air, to look at such a place.
'' But just before I leave it I discover a new-made
grave, a little mound — short. The grass has hardly
sprouted over it, and all around it I see torn pieces of
paper with the word ' fiat ' on them, and I look down
in curiosity, wondering what the little grave is, and I
read on it : ' Sacred to the Memory of the Rag Baby ;
nursed in the brain of all the Fanaticism of the World ;
rocked by Thomas Ewing, George H. Pendleton, Sam
uel Cary, and a few others throughout the land. But
it died on the ist of January, 1879, and the 140,000,000
dollars of gold,,_^at God made, and not fiat power, lie
upon its little carcass to keep it down forever.'
" Oh, young man, come out of that I That is no
place in which to put your young life. Come out, and
come over into this camp of liberty, of order, of law,
of justice, of freedom, of all that is glorious under
these night stars.
" Is there any death here in our camp .¦" Yes ! yes !
Three hundred and fifty thousand soldiers, the noblest
band that ever trod the earth, died to make this camp
a camp of glory and of liberty forever.
" But there are no dead issues here. There are no
dead ideas here. Hang out our banners from under
the blue sky this night until it shall sweep the green
tnirf under your feet ! It hangs over our camp. Read
away up under the stars the inscription we have written
on it, lo! these twenty-five years.

ADDRESSES.

287

" Twenty-five years ago the Republican party was
married to Liberty, and this is our silver wedding, fel
low-citizens. A worthily married pair love each other
better on the day of their silver wedding than on the
day of their first espousals ; and we are truer to Hberty
to-day and dearer to God than we were when we spoke
our first word of liberty. Read away up under the sky
across our starry banner the first word we uttered
twenty-five years ago 1 What was it 1 ' Slavery shall
never extend over another foot of the territory of the
Great West.' Is that dead or alive .'' Alive, thank
God, for evermore ! And truer to-night than it was the
hour it was written ! Then it was a hope, a promise, a
purpose. To-night it is equal with the stars — immor
tal history and immortal truth.
"Come down the glorious steps of our banner. Every
great record we have made we have vindicated with
our blood and with our truth. It sweeps the ground
and it touches the stars. Come there, young man, and
put in your young life where all is living, and where
nothing is dead but the heroes who defended it. I
think these young men wUl do that.
" Gentlemen, we are closing this memorable cam
paign. We have got our enemies on the run every
where. And all you need to do in this noble old city,
this capital of the Western Reserve, is to follow them
up and finish it by snowing the rebellion under once
more. We stand on an isthmus. This year and next
is the narrow isthmus between us and perpetual vic
tory. If you can win now and win in 1880, then the
very stars in their courses wUl fight for us. The census

288 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
will do the work, and will give us thirty more free men
of the North in our Congress that will make up for the
rebellion of the South. We are posted here as the
Greeks were posted at Thermopylae to meet this one
great Barbarian Xerxes of the Isthmus. Stand in your
places, men of Ohio ! Fight this battle, win this
victory, and then one more puts you in safety forever ! "

ADDRESS ON THE FINANCES. 28c

XXV.
ADDRESS ON THE FINANCES.
NO nation can go to war without money. It has
been called the " sinews of war."
"Which wiU conquer, the North or the South.?"
asked a gentleman of one of the Rothschilds at the
breaking out of the Rebellion.
"The North."
"Why.?"
" She has the most money."
It was the statement of a great financier who under
stood the power of money, and that the South would
be soonest exhausted. A war disturbs financial rela
tions, and all governments sooner or later, during a
long-continued war, must issue promises to pay. In
every country there is always trouble about such prom
ises, as to how and when they shall be paid. Upon no
subject have men been so much at sea as upon the
finances since the close of the RebeUion. General Gar
field is one of the few members of Congress whose
views have been clear from the outset He has given
expression to them many times, in Congress and upon
the platform. It is conceded by his friends that no abler
speech has been made upon the financial question than
19

2gO JAMES A. GARFIELD.
one delivered in Faneuil Hall, Boston, September loth,
1878, on Honest Money. It is a speech which the
historian will turn to in the future, for it goes to
the bottom of things.
" To-day," said General Garfield, " in the foreground,
is the financial question. To this I invite your con
sideration. And this great question has its two faces.
One of them looks back to the war out of which it
sprung ; the other looks forward to the future of the
people and to their interests, and the system of finance
that settles the issue rightly will respect aU the past
and provide for the future. The finances of the war,
feUow -citizens, can be summed up in a sentence.
WhUe the nation went out into all our homes and laid
its strong hand upon our bravest and best, and took
them into the field to die, if need be, it went out to all
the people, and laid the heavy hand of taxation upon
them to support and maintain the war. It went to all,
rich and poor alike, and asked for contributions to
maintain the war. At that time the man who helped
the Government with his means was regarded almost
equal in honor to those who helped with their lives. If
you wiU read the record of that legislation, if you will
read the record of events in the messages of our Presi
dent you will find them everywhere praising the patriot
ism of the citizens that came forward with their money
and helped the Government. In 1864, President Lin
coln said in one of his messages : ' It is a most grati
fying fact that of eighteen hundred millions loaned to
the Government of the United States, almost every

ADDRESS ON THE FINANCES. 29 1
dollar has been loaned by citizens.' And he congratu
lated himself that so many comparatively poor people
had put their mite into the loan to help the Govern
ment ; and he went so far as to suggest in the message
to which I refer, that there should be a law in the
States for the exemption of a certain amount of bonds
in the hands of poor people from seizure for debt, in
order that the patriotism they have exhibited in these
loans shall not be lost by the hard hand of suffering
that may be laid upon them. I recall these facts, be
cause we are so apt to forget the events of fourteen
years ago. But taxes and loans, great as they were,
were insufficient to supply the enormous demands of war.
" When the officers of the Government found they
could not borrow money fast enough, in their extremity
and distress they took a step the American nation had
never taken before since the Constitution was formed.
They took the step of forcing a loan upon the people,
to meet the immediate emergencies of the war. I
want to call your attention to the remarkable fact,
that when they took that step in 1862, there are not
now known to have been ten men on this continent
who did not believe that paper money should be re
deemable in coin at the will of the holder. That was a
nation of thirty-one millions of Americans. Whatever
has occurred since to change the minds of men has
occurred within sixteen years. Now let us take that
as the basis of the discussion to-night. No man ever
understood better than they thought they understood
the danger that step led to. The President of the
United States — that glorious man, so filled with love

292 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
for aU that is good and true and patriotic — deplored
this issue of paper money.
" Every senator and representative in Congress de
plored the necessity that compelled them to abandon,
for the time being, the ground of acknowledged safety,
and issue a paper that could not be at all times ex
changeable for coin. Both President and Congress
sought earnestly to avoid the known dangers of such a
step. " In the first act that authorized the issue of green
backs, they limited the amount and provided for fund
ing them in a coin bond. Later, when an additional
issue was unavoidable, they made it a fundamental con
dition that the volume should never exceed four hun
dred millions, and fifty millions additional, for redeem
ing a temporary loan.
" That Pledge stands in our Law to-day — as yet un
broken, and covers, with its high sanctions, every out
standing greenback. That was not all. They firmly
anchored themselves to coin by providing in the same
.biU that created the greenbacks that all our reve
nues from customs should be received in coin and
laid away, to be held for paying the interest on our
debt, and the bonds issued in connection with that,
to redeem and take up the greenback currency as
soon as possible. Let it not be forgotten that this was
the basis on which the men of 1862 started out.
" But another element was added. The men of 1862
saw that the two thousand State banks were bound by
no tie of immediate interest to aid the nation ; and they
sought to bring them to the help of the Government,

ADDRESS ON THE FINANCES.

293

and at the same time to preserve those instrumentali
ties by which the supply of currency should be deter
mined by the law of supply and demand. To meet
both these objects. President Lincoln, in his message
of December, 1862, recommended the organization of
national banks. He declared that such banks would
greatly aid the public credit, and ' would at once pro
tect labor against the evils of a vicious currency.'
These were Lincoln's words in recommending the
National Banking System.
" Great as were the tasks undertaken by him and his
associates, they did not claim wisdom enough to regu
late the inexorable laws of value and of trade.
" And here, fellow-citizens, let me pause long enough
to consider a phrase much used in the political discus
sion of the day — a statement that we want a currency
large enough to meet the wants of trade. We do. I
concur in that statement. But will any man here tell
me what the wants of trade are ? Is there any man in
America wise enough to measure the wants of trade
and tell just how much currency is needed ^ Who for
gets the infinite difficulty to find a man with brain
enough and resource enough to feed an army and to
clothe it and to house it } Its house is of the rudest
— only a piece of cloth ; its clothing is of the simplest,
and its food is a definitely prescribed ration. But it is
considered worthy of the glory of one glorious life to
be able to feed and clothe and house an army of a hun
dred thousand men. Now, fellow-citizens, suppose
somebody should offer to take the contract of feeding,
clothing, and housing Boston and its suburbs, includ-

294 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
ing half a million of men. Remember that all nations
are placed under contribution to supply the city of
Boston : every clime sends its supplies : every portion
of our own land, all our roads of transportation are
looked to to supply the tables, houses, and the clothing
of this community. Do you suppose any man in the
world is wise enough, is skUful enough, to supply the
wants of this population, in a circle of twenty mUes
around Boston .? Now multiply that by a hundred, and
get the population of the United States. Is there any
man in this world wise enough, is there any congress
in the world wise enough to measure the wants of
45,000,000 of people and tell just what is needed
for their supplies ? No, fellow-citizens. But there is
something behind legislation that does — does all so
quietly and so perfectly. Every man seeking his own
interest, 'mUlions of men acting for themselves, acting
under the great law of supply and demand, the laws of
trade, feed Boston, feed the United States, clothe,
house, and transport the nation, and carry on all its
mighty works in perfect harmony and with ease, be
cause the higher law above legislation — the law of
demand and supply — pervading and covering all, set
tles that great question far above the wisdom of one
man, or a thousand men to determine it.
" And now, one of the great means by which all
these mighty transactions are carried on is the cur
rency that circulates and exchanges values among all
these people. Every transaction, abroad or at home,
of the eleven hundred million dollars' worth of trade
wc have with Europe and Asia, of the ten times greater

ADDRESS ON THB FINANCES.

295

value of our home trade, is carried on and regulated
by that great pervading law, higher than legislation and
wiser than the wisdom of men. To that law we must
conform our currency system, or it will perish. Any
congress, or any party that tells you they are going to
vote a sufficient supply of currency for the wants of
trade, tells you they are going to do an impossibility.
It cannot be. And it was for that reason that the
men of 1862 and 1864 established a system of banking
to be diffused throughout the Republic, which was held
to the strictest accountability for the character of its
securities to the depositors and billholders ; but the
volume of its circulation was to depend, not upon the
uncertain will and more uncertain wisdom of Congress,
but upon the law of demand and supply. Bound al
ways to redeem their notes in greenbacks or coin, their
own interests and safety would lead them to enlarge or
contract that volume, as the tide of business should ebb
or flow.
" Such was the origin, and such the character of the
financial system established by the men who guided the
war for the Union.
" That system is to-day attacked with a vehemence
and fury hardly parallel in the annals of political war
fare. The wisdom of Lincoln and Chase is denounced
as folly. Their patriotism is branded as crime. We
are told that the system they established and the ob
ligations they incurred are intolerable oppression, and
must be overthrown.
" Especially we are told that all our subsequent efforts

296 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
to honor these pledges, and maintain the system thus
established, are unpatriotic and unjust
"Let us go deeper into the heart of this question.
Let us consider the relation of the national govern
ment to the great commercial and financial distress
from which our people have been suffering during the
last five years.
" Doubtless it is in great part due to the vast eco
nomic disturbance caused by the war ; though it must
be remembered that once in about twenty years such
periods of distress have occurred, not here alone, but
throughout the civUized world, and have often sprung
from causes wholly beyond the reach of human legis
lation. " What can the Government do to help a people in
distress .'' That question you have a right to ask ; and
whatever legislation can do it ought to do. What it
cannot do we are unwise to demand of it and it is
futUe to demand. Now, let me tell you some of the
things that Government can do ; and, first of aU, the
best thing Government can do, the first great thing that
Government can do, is to get out of the way and not
be an obstruction to the return of prosperity.
'' No one will deny that the heavy burden imposed
by the war has been and is a hindrance to the business
prosperity of our people. Let us try to ftieasure the
vastness of that burden. In 1865, the funded debt
alone, imposed upon us by the war, amounted to two
billions seven hundred and fifty-seven miUions of dol
lars. Upon that debt we were compelled to pay inter
est to the sum of ^151,000,000 in coin, a dreadful

ADDRESS ON THB FINANCES. 297
annual burden. During the year after the war, we paid
over the national counter ^520,000,000 to meet cur
rent demands upon the Treasury, including interest on
the public debt. .These tremendous burdens it seemed
for a time we could not carry ; and there were wicked
men who said we ought not to try to carry them, and
despairing men who said we could not ; but the brave
nation said, this burden is the price of our country's
life, 'the price of blood and the price of liberty ; and
therefore we will bow ourselves and take up the bur
den. We will carry it upon the stalwart shoulders of
the RepubHc. . . .
" There has arisen among us, within the last few
years, a body of men who claim to have made a dis
covery of the greatest possible importance ; and I want
to say for them, if their discovery is what they believe
it to be, it is the most important discovery ever an
nounced to man on the subject of finance. I wish to
treat them with all the fairness of getting their own
problem, their own proposition, from themselves. They
claim to have discovered that there is no longer any
room for the old notion which the United States has
believed in for a hundred years, that everybody believed
in in 1862 and 1865, — the notion that there ought to
be value behind paper money.
" They claim that money being itself a creature of
law, that law alone can create it, and can create it out
of whatever it pleases, and make that money which it
declares to be money. Let us give them the full bene
fit of this proposition. They declare that as the Cre
ator said, ' Let there be light, and there was light,' so a

298 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
sovereign government may say, ' Let this piece of paper
be money, and it will be money.' Let the Republic
pronounce its fiat over a piece of paper and that be
comes money, and hence they call it ' fiat money.' As
to what they wUl do with the fiat money, as to how
much they will have of it, they are not agreed.
" There were three things our fathers put into the
Constitution which they evidently believed Congress
could do. They said Congress shall have the power to
fix the standard of weights and measures, and to coin
money, and declare the value of coins. Let us try to
get down to these fundamental ideas.
" What can Congress do about a standard of meas
ures .' Can it create measures .? What is a standard
of measure .'' It is something which measures what
we call extension, length, breadth, or height. Who
made extension .? Did Congress create it .¦• Did human
law invent it .¦• Extension is a quality of the elements
which pervade the universe, and is independent of hu
man laws as the stars above the earth are independent
of it. Can you conceive of such a thing as a legis
lature creating length } Unless, indeed, of session.
"This is what the law can do. It can take something
that has length, and name it a yard ; it can separate
that into three equal parts, and call each part a foot ;
it can separate that into twelve equal parts, and caU
each part an inch ; but it can no more create length
than it could create the universe. It can subdivide and
name the standard, but it can create none of the ele
ments which go to make up extension. Try to con
ceive of a standard of length which has no length in

ADDRESS ON THE FINANCES.

299

itself. The thing is inconceivable. I challenge the
intelHgence of any man who hears me to think of such
a thing as a measure of length which has no length in
itself Suppose you were to say that the Hght which
gleams from this burner shall be caUed a foot. Sup
pose a lady to say, ' I will call the fragVance of a moss-
rose the standard of a foot' does that mean anything.'
" It is inconceivable. No ; by laws higher than hu
man legislation, length, depth, height were created ;
men can only name and declare a definite length as the
standard. And so with weight. When Congress came
to fix a standard of weight, it could not create weight,
but it could take a piece of metal — that has weight
in itself — and name it a pound ; could subdivide it
into sixteen parts, and call each one an ounce ; but it
could not create a standard of weight unless the weight
was there.
'' Now let us consider the idea of value. It is more
complicated and abstract than the notion of length or
weight, but it is no less real. What you and I call
value, what the business world calls vdue, is real and
tangible. Your merchandise has value for the qualities
which are in it ; your grain, your products, all that go
to make up wealth, have value for the exchangeable
qualities in them. And in seeking a measure for that
value, I ask any man who hears me to-night if it be
conceivable that you can measure value by that which
has no value in itself, any more than you can measure
length by that which has no length, or weight by that
which has no weight .^
" I defy any man to describe that operation of mind

300 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
by which you can conceive a measure of value that in
itself has no value. I recoUect once to have read a sin
gular sentence from Horace Greeley, in his book on
'Political Economy,' in which he said he did not know
but it was possible to get a standard of values that was
not so costly as coin. ' For instance,' said he, ' I sup
pose a gold yardstick would be a very nice thing to
have, but it would be a costly yardstick. I think we
might have one of paper, or of wood, or of iron, that
would answer just as well, if it would measure just as
exact.' Certainly, we could ; but can you have a yard
stick that has no length .' If not, can you find a meas
ure of values that has no value } It is inconceivable,
and the fiat of the law cannot create it
" When our fathers established the measure of value,
they took a fixed quantity of the precious metals,
coined them by stamping upon them the certificate of
the Government that the weight and fineness of the
coin was precisely what it professed to be. They
sought not to create, but to ascertain and declare the
value of their coins as determined in the markets of the
world. " The supreme test of real money is this : Cast a
hundred dollars of real money into the smelting-pot,
and the blackened melted mass will sell in the market
for just one hundred dollars less the waste of melting.
"But at this point some one says, 'That is aU very
well as a matter of phUosophy, but Mr. Garfield, you
probably have a dollar-bill in your pocket, and with it
you can go out and buy a shovel, can you not .'' Do
you say that you buy it with something that has no

ADDRESS ON TIIE FINANCES. 30I
value .' Does not every dollar-bill refute the theory
you have offered .¦• ' Not in the least, if you wUl follow
me a moment further.
" What is paper money, so called .'' Is it money .' It
is a title to money, a deed for money, but it is not
money. Your farmer has his deed for a hundred acres
of land ; is that the land ? It is paper, but it is his
evidence that he owns the farm. Suppose you want to
buy his farm ; you look at his deed ; the first question
you raise is, is it genuine or counterfeit ? If you find
that it is genuine, that it has been issued by the requi
site authority, you still have another question. You
see it calls for one hundred acres of land, but you sent
a surveyor out, he traces the line ; he takes the angles ;
he makes the measurements, and when he has come
back with his measurement and declared there are in the
within boundaries described one hundred acres of land,
then the deed is the evidence of all it pretends to be.
" If he finds no land at all behind the deed, he must
be content with a 'fiat' farm. But suppose the sur
veyor finds land behind the deed, but on measuring it
declares that there are but ninety-nine acres of land,
what do the figures or the deed amount to in the face
of the fact .¦" Suppose the farmers in your agricultural
districts should say, ' We are in distress ; our great
need is more land ; if we had more land we would get
en better with our affairs ; and now let us get a law
through the General Court that every man may sur
render up his deed and have a new one written, with
two acres for every one.' When you can enlarge your
farm by changing the figures in your deeds ; when

302 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
your dairy-maid can make more butter and cheese by
watering her milk ; when you can have more cloth by
decreasing your yardstick one half; when you can sell
more tons of merchandise by shortening your pound
one half, — then, and not until then, you can increase
the value of your property or labor by decreasing your
standard of values.
" But some one meets me with this : After all, what
ever you may say about the fact, your paper dollar will
pay a debt, no matter how much depreciation may have
smitten it ; and what we want is a money that will pay
debts. There is an element of truth in this sugges
tion, and it touches the very core of the evil of a depre
ciated paper currency. A currency that is not at par
and is a legal tender, has these two qualities in it :
One, its debt-paying power ; the other, its purchasing
power ; and wherever these two values disagree, you
notice the utmost confusion and injustice in ihe busi
ness of life, from the highest to the lowest
" If the debt paying power and the purchasing power
of your money are not alike, you are in a confusion
which can never be healed except by making them
equal. They have been made unequal by the opera
tions of the law ; by the law alone their equality can
be restored. I suppose, if by the brute force of Con
gressional vote and Presidential approval we should be
wicked enough to do it, probably Congress might wipe
out all debts by a universal law of bankruptcy that de
clared on a certain day all debts should be counted as
cancelled ; but the man who would counsel that, or
would counsel the making of a paper dollar that would

ADDRESS ON THE FINANCES.

303

accomplish the same thing, would be denounced by
every fair-minded man in the world as a villain ; and if
that is what the Greenback movement means, we dare
our enemies to face it."
Specie Resumption.
" Now, feUow-citizens, we go back to the primary
question in this fight. I affirm, against all opposers,
that the highest and foremost present duty of the
American people is to complete the resumption of
specie payments ; and first of all, because the sacred
faith of this republic is pledged to resumption ; and if
it were never so hard to do it, if the burdens were ten
times greater than they are, this nation dare not look
in the face of God and men, and break its plighted
word. "It is a fearful thing for one man to stand up in the
face of his brother man and refuse to keep his pledge ;
but it is a forty-five million times worse thing for a
nation to do it. It breaks the main-spring of faith. It
unsettles all security, it disturbs all values, and it puts
the Hfe of the nation in peril for all time to come. If
we should break our faith now, who would trust the
Republic again in the hour of danger .' If we break
our faith now, we should not deserve to be saved when
we are again in peril.
"I am almost ashamed to give any other reason for
resumption than this one I have given. It is so com
plete that no other is needed ; but there is another
almost as strong. If there were no moral obligations
resting upon the nation, if there were no public faith

304 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
pledged to it I affirm that the resumption of specie
payment is demanded by every interest of business in
this country, and so imperatively demanded that it can
be demonstrated that every honest interest in America
will be strengthened and bettered by the resumption of
specie payment 
" Several years ago it was said in Congress, in praise
of our irredeemable greenbacks, that we had a dollar
that would stay by us, a dollar that was not a coward,
like gold and silver, which went away from us during
the war, a patriotic dollar that would stay with us.
You want a non-exportable dollar, you Greenback men !
You want all its blessings confined to us, like that
citizen of a German town who moved that a gibbet be
erected in the town, and resolved that all the blessings,
privileges, and benefits thereof be restricted to the
citizens of the town. Do you know where that idea of
a non-exportable dollar came from .? I can read you
that very sentence from a book written by John Law
two hundred years ago, when he started the Mississippi
scheme, that blasted France for a quarter of a century.
There are other things that are non-exportable — dam
aged flour, spoiled cotton, rancid butter, addled eggs —
they are all non-exportable. But I have never heard a
tradesman thank God for the putrescence that made
them so. Our currency has been non-exportable for
the same reason. It is so bad, and so uncertain, that
no nation would take it except by law. We want a
currency that can walk like an American all over the
world  Many leading Democrats of the West
have confined themselves chiefly to the abolition of the

ADDRESS ON THE FINANCES.

305

national banks, and the issue of ;^3 24,000,000 of green
backs to take the place of their notes. Now, that is a
debatable question, and as you are reasonable men, let
us debate it. If it were jus't as good, I would be in
favor of it ; if it were better, I would be stiU more
strongly in favor of it What are the objections .' My
first objection to that proposition is, that it is a flat
violation of the pledge, promise, and faith of this nation
that it would never increase the greenbacks above
^400,000,000. If you make this change, you will
exceed that volume. (A voice — ' Too thin.') Is good
faith too thin for you } Then you are too thin for an
able-bodied honest man. Suppose that trouble be got
over ; suppose there were no obstacle in the way of the
public faith ; I have another objection to it If you
issue $324,000,000 more of greenbacks on top of the
$346,000,000 now o,j.it, you make redemption impossi
ble ; and all who believe in the resumption of specie
payments ought to oppose it for that reason. Why do
I say that .'' The United States Treasury can now
resume specie payments on the promised day. It could
do it sooner In 1875 we were told we could not
resume ; that we could not get the gold to resume ;
that the moment we tried to accumulate the coin, it
would increase the value of the coin, and decrease the
value of the currency ; but in the face of all such
Cassandra prophecies, we have accumulated and have
to-day in the Treasury, unappropriated for any other
purpose, $135,000,000 of coin waiting. (A voice —
vVe lose the interest of it.') Certainly we lose the
interest but it costs something to be honest In the
20

3o6 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
next place, while that has been accumulating, the value
of our greenback has been going up constantly, from
thirteen per cent discount when the law was passed,
until to-day, in the market of America, our greenback
was worth ggf cents on the dollar. What coin we
have will certainly be enough to complete that work ;
but if it were not, we can readily accumulate, under
the law, $5,000,000 a month more, on top of that, untU
the day of resumption comes ; so that we are perfectly
able to resume, under the law as it now stands. There
are the national bank notes, $324,000,000 of them
out They are compelled to march abreast of us in
the work of resumption of specie payments. The
two thousand national banks are all harnessed to the
car of resumption, and when we resume they must
resume. If you abolish them, you take away their
help — you put the whole weight of the $670,000,000
on the Treasury, and break it down.
" There is another objection I have to abolishing the
national banks and substituting greenbacks for their
no;es. Now we have the national banks in a shape
where they pay a good round share of the taxes, and I
am glad of it. They ought to pay it. Since their
organization they have paid over $200,000,000 of taxes
to the States and the nation. Last year they paid
$i6,coo,ooo of tax; $9,000,000 to the States, and
$7,000,000 to the nation. Their stock is taxed by the
States, their circulation is taxed by the nation; their
deposits arc taxed by the nation, and a man who holds
national bank notes on the day of assessment is taxed
upon them. How about the greenbacks .' There are

ADDRESS ON THE FINANCES.

307

$346,000,000 of greenbacks that escape taxation. A
rich man can gather them in on the day of assessment
and escape taxation. The substitution you talk of
would lose $17,000,000 of taxes a year to the States
and the nation, and put $324,000,000 out of the reach
of taxation, — a thing fairly to be complained of, and
I object to it for that reason.
" I object to the substitution for stUl another reason.
The national bank notes as they now stand are the
only portion of our financial machinery that gears the
supply of currency to the laws of supply and demand.
Abolish them and put out $324,000,000 of greenbacks,
and the volume of your currency depends upon the
votes of Congress. You might as well hope to regulate
the movements of the solar system by acts of Congress,
as to regulate the necessary volume of currency by
votes of partisans in Congress. No men are wise
enough to do it, and if they were, dare you trust so
delicate a thing as that to partisan votes in Senate
and House .¦¦ If you have so much faith as that in
Congress, your faith exceeds mine. There is another
thing about it, fellow-citizens. If you abolish the
national banking system, you leave it a mere group of
brokers' shops, nothing more than that The banking
business of America, besides the circulation of notes,
is as necessary to the trade of the United States as the
railroads to transportation. Do you know, fellow-
citizens, that the modern device for avoiding the use of
a large amount of money, is the bank .¦¦ What propor
tion of business is carried on in actual money 1 In
England, they tell us, only five per cent of the trade is

3o8 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
carried on by the actual use of money ; ninety-five per
cent by drafts and checks and commercial bUls, and
these are handled by the banks. In this country not
less than ninety per cent, of our business is carried on in
that way. Would you have shaving-shops, irresponsible
and independent, or the present system, that holds
them all in the grip and control of the law }
" I do not hesitate to affirm that whUe it may not be
a perfect system, the present national banking system
is the most perfect this country ever knew, and to
abolish it is to go back to the wretched old system that
prevailed before the war.
" Now the third point I want to make is, that resump
tion is so nearly come that it would be a crime to stop
it. Whatever evils anybody has prophesied as coming
from resumption, whatever hardship resumption was
supposed to have brought, have been endured already ;
the agony is in fact over. We are almost in reach of
shore. We have been tossed these many long years
upon the stormy and uncertain sea of irredeemable
paper money. It has crippled our industries, shaken
our confidence, robbed our poor men, blasted our hopes,
it has made it possible that $1,000,000,000 has been in
vested for years in the miserable, wretched business of
gambling in gold. Now the resumption ends the busi
ness of gold gambling forever, for it existed only in the
difference in value between paper and gold. After all
we have suffered, we are now like a bold and sturdy
swimmer almost ashore. Out of the tempest, out of
the night, out of the storm and danger of the deep, the
republic is just within a stroke of the shore. One

ADDRESS ON THE FINANCES. 309
more stroke and her feet will stand upon the rock.
And the enemies of resumption would come now and
plunge her back into the uncertainty of night, upon a
shoreless, bottomless sea, wretched and forlorn ! In
the name of sweet peace, in the name of returning
prosperity, in the name of the sufferings we have en
dured, I demand, the Republican party demands, all
lovers of honest money demand, that the progress of
resumption shall not be hindered. Nothing can now
hinder it but the brute force of hostile legislation."
General Garfield glanced at the future of the Repub
lic, of the prediction of its downfall by Macaulay, as
given in a previous chapter. In conclusion he said :
" For myself, with all my soul I repel the prophecy as
false. I reject it as a Cassandra prophecy that cannot
be fulfilled. But why.? I will detain you only a mo
ment to give you my reason. A few years ago I sought
to answer this indictment. My first answer is this :
No man who has not lived among us can understand
one thing about our institutions ; no man who has
been born and reared under monarchical governments
can understand the vast difference between theirs and
ours. How is it in monarchical governments .¦' Their
society is one series of caste upon caste. Down at the
bottom, like the granite rocks in the crust of the earth,
lie the great body of laboring men. An EngUshman
told me not long ago that in twenty-five years of care
ful study of the agricultural class of England, he had
never known one who was born and reared in the ranks
of farm-laborers that rose above his class and became a
well-to-do citizen. That is a most terrible sentence,

310 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
that three mUlions of people should lie at the bottom
of society, with no power to rise. Above them the gen
try, the hereditary capitalists ; above them, the nobility ;
above them, the royalty ; and, crowning all, the sover
eign, — all impassable barriers of caste.
" No man born under such institutions can understand
the mighty difference between them and us in this
country. Thank God, and thank the fathers of the
republic who made, and the men who carried out the
promises of the Declaration, that in this country there
are no classes, fixed and impassable. Here society is
not fixed in horizontal layers, like the crust of the
earth, but, as a great New England man said, years
ago, it is rather like the ocean, broad, deep, grand,
open, and so free in all its parts that every drop that
mingles with the yellow sand at the bottom may rise
through all the waters, till it gleams in the sunshine
on the crest of the highest wave. So it is here in our
free societ}', permeated with the light of American
freedom. There is no American boy, however poor,
however humble, orphan though he may be, that, if he
have a clear head, a true heart, a strong arm, he may
not rise through all the grades of society, and become
the crown, the glory, the pillar of the State.
" Here, there is no need for the old-world war between
capital and labor. Here is no need of the explosion of
social order predicted by Macaulay. All we need is
the protection of just and equal laws — just alike to
labor and to capital. Every poor man hopes to lay by
something for a rainy day — hopes to become a capi
talist, for capital is only accumulated labor. When-

ADDRESS ON THE FINANCES. 311
ever a laborer has earned one hundred dollars more
than he needs for daily expenses, he becomes to that
extent a capitalist, and needs to be safe in its enjoy
ment. " There is another answer to Macaulay. He could
not understand — no man could understand until he
had seen it — the almost omnipotent power of our sys
tem of education, that teaches our people how to be
free by teaching them to be intelligent. But, fellow-
citizens, who has read the letter of Macaulay that did
not remember it a year ago last July, when in ten great
States of the Union millions of American citizens and
millions of American property were in peril of de
struction .'' when the spirit of mob ran riot ; when Pitts
burgh flamed in ruin and smoked in blood, and many of
our great cities were in peril of destruction, — who
did not remember the doctrine of Macaulay then, and
did not anew resolve that the bloody track of the Com
mune should have no pathway on our shore 1 "
Election as Senator.
On the 14th of January, 1880, General Garfield was
elected by the legislature of Ohio as United States
senator, to succeed Senator Thurman, whose term of
office expired March 4, 1880. During the evening
after the election an informal reception was held in the
capitol at Columbus. Many of his political opponents
were present.
A speech was called for and General Garfield made
a brief address. " I should," he said, " be a great deal
more than a man, or a great deal less than a man, if I

312 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
were not extremely gratified by this mark of your
kindness you have shown me in recent days. I did
not expect any such a meeting as this. I knew there
was a greeting waiting me, but did not expect so cor
dial, generous, and general a greeting, without distinc
tion of party, without distinction of interests, as I have
received here to-night. And you will allow me, in a
moment or two, to speak of the memories this cham
ber awakens.
" Twenty years ago this last week I first stood in this
chamber and entered upon the duties of public life,
in which I have been every hour since that time in
some capacity or other. I left this chamber eighteen
years ago, and I believel have never entered it since
that time. The place is familiar, though it was not
peopled alone with faces that I see before me here to
night, but with the faces of hundreds of people that I
knew here twenty years ago, a large number of whom
are gone from earth.
" It was here in this chamber that the word was first
brought of the firing on Fort Sumter. I remember
distinctly a gentleman from Lancaster, the late Sena
tor Schleigh — General Schleigh, who died not very
long ago, — I remember distinctly as he came down
this aisle with all the look of anxiety and agony in his
face, informing us that the guns had opened upon Sum
ter. I remember that one week after that time, on
motion of a leading Democratic senator who occupied
a seat not far from that position (pointing to the Dem
ocratic side of the chamber), that we surrendered this
chamber to several companies of soldiers, who had

ADDRESS ON THE FINANCES. 313
come to Columbus to tender their services to the im
periled Government. They slept on its carpets and
on these sofas, and quartered for two or three nights
in this chamber while waiting for other quarters out
side of the capitol.
"All the early scenes of the war are associated with this
place in my mind. Here were the musterings — here
was the center, the nerve-center, of anxiety and agony.
Here over 80,000 Ohio citizens tendered their services
in the course of three weeks to the imperiled nation.
Here, where we had been fighting our political batteries
with sharp and severe partisanship, there disappeared,
almost as if by magic, all party lines ; and from both
sides of the chamber men ^yent out to take their
places on the field of battle. I can see now, as I look
out over the various seats, where sat men who after
ward became distinguished in the service in high rank,
and nobly served their constituencies, and honored
themselves. " I came here, fellow-citizens, to receive an expres
sion of your confidence and compliments, to me. I
do not undervalue the office that you have tendered
to me yesterday and to-day: but I say, I think,
without any mental reservation, that the manner in
which it was tendered to me is far higher to me, far
more desirable, than the thing itself That it has
been a voluntary gift of the General Assembly of Ohio,
without solicitation, tendered to me because of their
confidence, is as touching and high a tribute as one
man can receive from his fellow-citizens, and in the

314 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
name of all my friends, for myself, I give you my
thanks. " We now come to this place, whUe so many are
gone ; but we meet here to-night with the war so far
back in the distance that it is an almost half forgotten
memory. We meet here to-night with a nation re
deemed. We meet here to-night under the flag we
fought for. We meet with a glorious, a great and
growing republic, made greater and more glorious by
the sacrifices through which the country has passed.
And coming here as I do to-night brings the two ends
of twenty years together, with all the visions of the
terrible and glorious, the touching and cheerful, that
have occurred during that time.
" I recognize the importance of the place to which
you have elected me ; and I should be base if I did not
also recognize the great man whom you have elected
me to succeed. I say for him, Ohio has had few larger-
minded, broader-minded men in the records of our his
tory than that of Allen G. Thurman. Differing widely
from him as I have done in politics, and do, I recognize
him as a man high in character and great in intellect ;
and I take this occasion to refer to what I have never
before referred to in public — that many years ago, in
the storm of party fighting, when the air was filled with
all sorts of missiles aimed at the character and reputa
tion of public men, when it was even for his party in
terest to join the general clamor against me and my
associates. Senator Thurman said in public, in the cam
paign, on the stump, — where men are as likely to say
unkind things as at any place in the world, — a most

ADDRESS ON TIIE FINANCES.

315

generous and earnest word of defense and kindness for
me, which I shall never forget as long as I live. I say,
moreover, that the flowers that bloom over the garden
wall of party politics are the sweetest and most fragrant
that bloom in the gardens of this world ; and where
we can early pluck them and enjoy their fragrance,
it is manly and delightful to do so.
"And now, gentlemen of the General Assembly,
without distinction of party, I recognize this tribute
and compliment made to me to-night. Whatever my
own course may be in the future,- a large share of the
inspiration of my future public life will be drawn from
this occasion and these surroundings, and I shall feel
anew the sense of obligation that I feel to the State of
Ohio. Let me venture to point a single sentence in
regard to that work. During the twenty years that I
have been in public life, almost eighteen of it in the
Congress of the United States, I have tried to do one
thing. Whether I was mistaken or otherwise, it has
been the plan of my life to follow my conviction at
whatever personal cost to myself. I have represented
for many years a district in Congress whose approba
tion I greatly desired ; but though it may seem, per
haps, a little egotistical to say it, I yet desired still
more the approbation of one person, and his name was
Garfield. He is the only man that I am compelled to
sleep with, and eat with, and Hve with, and die with ;
and if I could not have his approbation, I should have
bad companionship. And in this larger (constituency
which has called me to represent them now, I can only do
what is true to my best self, applying the same rules.

3i6 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
And if I should be so unfortunate as to lose the con
fidence of this larger constituency, I must do what
every other fair-minded man has to do — carry his
political life in his hand and take the consequences.
But I must follow what seems to me to be the only safe
rule of my life ; and with that view of the case, and
with that much personal reference, I leave that subject
" Thanking you again, fellow-citizens, members of
the General Assembly, Republicans and Democrats —
all, party-man as I am, — thanking you both for what
you have done and for this cordial and manly greeting,
I bid you good-night"

THE CREDIT MOBILIER.

317

XXVI.
THE CREDIT MOBILIER.
DID ever a noble ship plow the deep without encoun
tering a storm .'' Did ever an individual come be
fore the public, especially for official position, who was
not pecked at .'' The propensity to pick flaws in a per
son's character seems to be ingrained in human nature.
Lord Hamlet of Denmark understood this trait of the
race when he said to the pure Ophelia :
" Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow.
Thou shalt not escape calumny."
No great man has ever escaped it. The greatest
statesman that ever lived — Moses, the leader of Israel
— was pecked at and sorely tried by the rebellious
and fault-finding rabble whom he was leading from
slavery to freedom. John the Baptist would not make
himself a glutton nor a sot, and his calumniators said
that he had a devil. The purest Being that ever walked
the earth accepted hospitality, and was accused of
being a drunkard. He entered the homes of the poor
and lowly, and the fault-finders insinuated that his
character was not what it should be, if he consorted
with tax-gatherers and sinners.

3i8 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Calumniators are lynx-eyed for the discovery of im
perfections, but blind to virtue and goodness. The
partisan detractor is an assassin. He premeditates
murder, and stabs a man's reputation without remorse,
and with fiendish delight.
The man who enters public life must expect to have
his acts criticised, his motives maligned, his character
picked to pieces. A man who has been before the
public twenty years, who has had positive opinions,
who has taken part in the discussion of all the great
questions growing out of the war, must expect to have
the calumniator on his track when he comes before the
people as a candidate for President. General Garfield
is charged with having been concerned in the Credit
Mobilier, and of having voted himself extra pay for ser
vices as member of Congress.
The Credit Mobilier.
In 1859, a company was chartered under the law of
Pennsylvania for the purpose of building houses, buying
land, loaning money, and various other things. It took
the name of " Credit Mobilier," a term borrowed from
the French.
The coming on of the war put a stop to any plans
which the projectors may have had in view. Nothing
was heard of it till 1866, when the Pacific Railroad was
under construction. Whether it was George Francis
Train, or some other person, who first brought it to the
attention of Mr. Oakes Ames, who was pushing that
great enterprise, is not known, hut Mr. Ames and his
aosociaies saw an opportunuy to make money, by using

THE CREDIT MOBILIER.

319

the charter of the Credit Mobilier. He and his par
ticular associates obtained control, not only of the
Credit MobUier, but of a majority of the stock of the
railroad ; this was done by obtaining proxies of
the other stockholders, who knew nothing of their
intended plan. They elected themselves directors.
The self-constituted board of directors made a con
tract with the Credit Mobilier, in other words, with
itself and associates, to build the road at an enormous
profit, — in fact, a swindling profit, — which was di
vided among themselves and the stockholders who
furnished the proxies, ignoring entirely the rights and
interest of the minority stockholders, who did not loan
their proxies, and also that of the United States, which
had donated millions of acres of land to aid in building
the road, and which also indorsed $60,000,000 of its
bonds, taking as security therefor a second mortgage.
For the purpose of guarding against Congressional
scrutiny into this gigantic swindle, it was stated that
Mr. Ames was distributing some of the Credit MobUier
stock among certain members of Congress, by which
to purchase their influence. The real character of the
operations of the Credit Mobilier at that time was not
known outside of the ring.
The first that General Garfield ever heard of the
Credit Mobilier was in 1866 or 1867, when Mr. Train
called upon him, soliciting a subscription to the stock.
" The object of the company," said Mr. Train, " is to
buy land where cities and viUages are to spring up.
You can double and treble your investment in a year."
General Garfield informed Mr. Train that he had no

320 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
money, and that if he had, he should not go into any
such enterprise without making a thorough investiga
tion of its affairs.
Mr. Train referred Mr. Garfield to Mr. Oakes Ames.
It was natural that Mr. Ames should think weU of the
project ; but Mr. Garfield did not pursue his inquiries,
and the matter dropped.
A year passed. The railroad was under rapid con
struction. Towns were springing up. It was an open
secret that Mr. Ames and his associates were making
a great deal of money in the construction of the road.
There came a day when Mr. Ames, who was member
of Congress, asked Mr. Garfield if he would not like to
invest. " If you have not the money to spare, I will hold the
stock till you can find it convenient to pay for it," said
Mr. Ames.
General Garfield said that he would consider the
proposition. A few days later they met, and General
Garfield informed Mr. Ames that he had decided not to
invest In July, 1867, General Garfield sailed for England,
He traveled in Scotland and on the Continent, return
ing in November the same year.
In order to obtain funds for the trip, before going he
assigned several months' advance-pay of his congres
sional salary to a banker, who furnished him with
money. When he returned, he was in want of $300,
which he obtained from Oak Ames, and which he re
paid in money in 1869.
During the winter of '69, '70, Jeremiah Black, a

THE CREDIT MOBILIER. 321
leading Democrat lawyer, with a large practice before
the Supreme Court, who, though differing politically
from General Garfield, has a great admiration for him,
informed him that his name was upon Oak Ames's book
as holding ten shares of the Credit Mobilier.
It was the first intimation that General Garfield ever
received that he was a stockholder in that company.
He had never subscribed for it, nor had he ever author
ized Mr. Ames to hold it for him. No transaction had
ever passed between them, except as already men
tioned. In 1872 Henry McComb, of Delaware, who had been
a partner in all the Pacific Railroad transactions with
Oakes Ames, brought suit in a Pennsylvania court
against various parties for a settlement of accounts.
Among the papers filed was a letter from Oakes Ames,
stating that he had disposed of certain shares of the
Credit Mobilier stock to certain persons indicated by
initials on a list, and McComb explained that these
initials indicated certain persons, members of Congress.
Among them were James G. Blaine, the Speaker of the
House, General Garfield, and others.
In December of that year after the assembling of
Congress, at the instigation of General Garfield and
others, Mr. Blaine himself moved the appointment of a
Committee of Investigation, of which Judge Poland
of Vermont was chairman.
The committee made a thorough investigation, send
ing for persons and papers.
Mr. Ames appeared before them December 17, 1872.
He mentioned sixteen members of Congress with
21

322 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
whom he said he had had dealings in relation to the
Credit Mobilier ; eleven of them had purchased the:
stock, but General Garfield was not one of the eleven.
Mr. Ames's testimony in regard to General Garfield
was as follows :
" Q. In reference to Mr. Garfield, you say that you
agreed to get ten shares for him, and to hold them till
he could pay for them, and that he never did pay for
them nor receive them .¦¦
A. Yes, sir.
Q. He ne-ver paid any money on that stock, nor re
ceived any inoney from it ?
A. Not on account of it.
Q. He received no dividends ?
A. No, sir ; Ithink not. He says he did not. My
own recollection is not very clear.
Q. So that, as you understand, Mr. Garfield never
parted with any money, nor received any money on
that transaction .¦¦
A. No, sir ; he had some money from me once, some
three or four hundred dollars, and called it a loan. He
says that that is all he ever received from me, and that.
he considered it a loan. He never took his stock and
never paid for it.
Q. Did you understand it so }
A. Yes ; I am willing to so understand it. I do
not recollect paying him any dividend, and have forgot
ten that I paid him any inoney'.'
On January 23, 1873, five weeks after the above
testimony was given by Mr. Ames, he appeared the

THE CREDIT MOBILIER.

323

second time before the committee with a memorandum
in which there was an entry under General Garfield's
name, to the effect that the stock had been sold for
$329, and that that amount was paid General Garfield
fn June, 1868 ; that he did not pay it in money, but by
a check on the Sergeant-at-Arms.
The Sergeant-at-Arms, Mr. DUlon, testified, that he
paid a check of $329, but that he paid it to Mr.
Ames himself and not to General Garfield (Testimony
P- 350)-
Mr. Ames's testimony extends over many pages. He
admitted that his memory was not good, and that he
might be mistaken.
General Garfield in his testimony denied ever having
agreed to take any stock, or authorizing Mr. Ames to
reserve it for him. Neither had he ever received any
dividends. The only transaction that had ever taken-
place between Mr. Ames and himself was the loan of
$300. General Garfield vindicated himself in a pam
phlet in which the following points are clearly estab
lished by the evidence :
" I. That I neither purchased nor agreed to purchase
the Credit MobUier stock which Mr. Ames offered to
sell me ; nor did I receive any dividend arising from it.
Thus it appears from my own testimony ; and from the
first testimony given by Mr. Ames, which is not over
thrown by his subsequent statements, and is strongly
confirmed by the fact that in the case of each of those
who did purchase the stock, there was produced, as
evidence of the sale, either a certificate of stock, receipt

324 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
of payment, a check drawn in the name of the payee,
or entries in Mr. Ames's diary of a stock account,
marked, adjusted, and closed, but that no one of these
evidences exist in reference to me. This position is
further confirmed by the subsequent testimony of Mr.
Ames, who, though he claims that I did receive $329
from him on account of the stock, yet he repeatedly
testifies that beyond that amount I never received
or demanded any dividend, that he did not offer me
any, nor was the subject alluded to in conversation be
tween us.
" Mr. Ames admits, on page 40 of his testimony,
that after December, 1867, the various stock and bond
dividends on the stock he had sold amounted to an ag
gregate of more than 800 per cent. ; and that between
January, 1868, and May, 1871, all these dividends were
paid to several of those who purchased the stock. My
conduct was wholly inconsistent with the supposition
of such ownership ; for, during the year 1869, I was
borrowing money to build a house here in Washington,
and was securing my creditors by giving mortgages on
my property ; and all this time it is admitted that I
received no dividends, and clairned none.
" The attempt to prove a sale of the stock to me is
wholly inconclusive ; for it rests, first on a check pay
able to Mr. Ames himself, concerning which he several
times says he does not know to whom it was paid ; and
second, upon loose undated entries in his diary, which
neither prove a sale of the stock, nor any payment on
account of it.
" The only fact from which it is possible for Mr.

THE CREDIT MOBILIER.

325

Ames to have inferred an agreement to buy the stock
was the loan to me of $300. But that loan was made
months before the check of June 22, 1868, and was
repaid in the winter of 1869 ; and after that date there
were no transactions of any sort between us.
" And finally, before the investigation was ended,
Mr. Ames admitted that on the chief point of differ
ence between us he might be mistaken.
"On page 356, he said he 'considered me the pur
chaser of the stock, unless it was borrowed money I
had of him ; ' and on page 461, at the conclusion of
his last testimony, he said :
" ' Mr. Garfield understands this matter as a loan ; he
says I did not explain it to him.'
" Q. You need not say what Mr. Garfield says. Tell
us what you think.
"A. Mr. Garfield might have misunderstood me.
... I supposed it was like all the rest ; but when Mr.
Garfield says he mistook it for a loan, that he always
understood it to be a loan, that I did not make any ex
planation to him, and did not make any statement to
him, I may be mistaken. I am a man of few words,
and I may not have made myself understood to him.
" 2. That the offer which Mr. Ames made to me, as
I understood it, was one which involved no wrong or
impropriety. I had no means of knowing, and had no
reason for supposing, that behind this offer to sell me
a small amount of stock lay hidden a scheme to de
fraud the Pacific Railroad and imperil the interests of
the United States. I was not invited to become a
party to any scheme of spoliation, much less was J

326 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
aware of any attempt to influence my legislative action,
or any subject connected therewith ; and on the first
intimation of the real nature of the case, I declined
any further consideration of the subject
" 3. That whatever may have been the facts in the
case, I stated them in my testimony as I have always
understood them ; and there has been no contradiction,
prevarication, or evasion on my part.
" If there be a citizen of the United States who is
wUling to believe that, for $329, I have bartered away
my good name, and to falsehood have added perjury,
these pages are not addressed to him. If there be one
who thinks that any part of my public life has been
gauged on so low a level as these charges would place
it I do not address him ; I address those who are wUl
ing to believe that it is possible for a man to serve the
public without personal dishonor. I have endeavored,
in this review, to point out the means by which the
managers of a corporation, wearing the garb of honor
able industry, have robbed and defrauded a great na
tional enterprise, and attempted by cunning and decep
tion, for selfish ends, to enlist in its interest those who
would have been the first to crush the attempt, had
their objects been known.
" If any of the scheming corporations or corrupt
rings that have done so much to disgrace the country
by their attempts to control its legislation, have ever
found in me a conscious supporter or ally in any dis
honorable scheme, they are at full liberty to disclose it.
In the discussion of the many grave and difficult ques
tions of public policy which have occupied the thoughts

THE CREDIT MOBILIER. 327
of the nation during the last twelve years, I have borne
some part : and I confidently appeal to the public rec
ords for a vindication of my conduct."
Extra Congressional Pay.
In March, 1873, the term "salary grabber" — un
known tUl then in English language — came into use,
through the passage of a retroactive law, by which the
pay of members for past services was increased. The
bill first made its appearance, together with a report
submitted by Mr. B. F. Butler, from the Judiciary Com
mittee of the House of Representatives, on the 7th of
February. On the loth of February Mr. Butler moved
to suspend the rules and adopt a resolution directing
the incorporation of this biU with the miscellaneous
appropriation biU. The motion was lost Garfield voting
in the negative. It came up again in various forms on
the 28th of February, and Garfield voted against it five
times. Finally, the measure came before a conference
committee of the Senate and the House. Of that com
mittee Garfield was a member. He opposed in the
conference that part of the appropriation bill which
related to salaries of members of Congress, but signed
the report, for reasons which he gave in a speech in
the House on the 3d of March. He said :
" I wish to state in a few words the condition of that
[salaries-increase] question in the conference. The
Senate conferees were unanimous in favor of fixing the
salary at $7,500, and cutting off all allowance except
actual individual traveling expenses of a member from
his home to Washington and back again, once a session.

328 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
That proposition was agreed to by a majority of the
conferees on the part of the House. / was opposed to
the increase in the co7iference as I have been opposed to
it in the discussion and in my votes here ; but my asso
ciate conferees were in favor of the Senate amendment,
and I was compelled to choose between signing the
report and running the risk of bringing on an extra
session of Congress. I have signed the report, and I
present it as it is, and ask the House to act on it in
accordance with its best judgment."
Mr. Hibbard, of New Hampshire. " I desire to ask
the gentleman how much plunder wUl be taken out of
the Treasury, if this raising of salaries is adopted >. "
Mr. Garfield. " I am glad the gentleman has asked
me that question. The report presented here, taking
into account the changes made with reference to the
salaries of members and officers of both Houses, wUl
involve an annual increase of expenditure of about
three-quarters of a million of dollars."
Mr. Hibbard. " How much for the present Con
gress .¦¦ ''
Mr. Garfield. " For the present Congress it involves
an additional expenditure of tbout one and a quarter
miUions. I think the House ought to know all the
facts." General Garfield beHeved that Congress had no right
to increase its own pay. It was a moral wrong, for which
the country would justly hold thera responsible ; but the
promoters of the plan had attached it to the legislative
appropriation bill, which, if defeated during the closing
hours of that session, would involve the caUing of an

THE CREDIT MOBILIER.

329

extra session. What should he and those that believed
with him do .? If the bill was defeated, aud an extra
session called, would they not be held responsible }
The bUl passed, but there was stUl one course. left to
those who had opposed it ; they could draw their pay,
and return it to the Treasury.
On April 29, 1873, a list of those who had so dis
posed of their back salaries was published by Treasurer
Spinner, from which it appears that General Garfield
was the fourth who so disposed of the salary that had
been voted him, thus washing his hands from any taint
of iniquity.
The DeGolyer Contract.
Partisan defamers, with all their searching, have been
able to bring only one other calumny against General
Garfield, and that in relation to a fee which he received
for legal services from DeGolyer, McClelland & Chit
tenden, contractors for paving the streets of Washing
ton. Another member of the firm was Mr. Nickerson,
who, having had a falling out with his co-partners,
sought revenge.
General»Garfield's fee was for an argument made be
fore the Board of Public Works for the District of
Columbia, and Nickerson charged that his services
were secured and rewarded for the sake of his influ
ence in Congress — General Garfield being chairman
of the House Committee on Appropriations.
When the charges came before the public. General
Garfield demanded a hearing before a committee ot
investigation. He promptly acknowledged receiving a

330 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
fee of five thousand doUars, but denied any improper
action. He stated that Mr. Richard C. Parsons, a
practicing lawyer at Cleveland, had been retained by
DeGolyer and to make a brief of the relative merits
of a large variety of wooden pavements, that the Board
of Works had agreed to put down a certain amount of
wooden, concrete, and other kinds of pavement, that
they had fixed a price which they would pay, and that
the only thing remaining was to determine which was
the best pavement to insure a large contract.
There were forty kinds presented. Mr. Parsons was
called suddenly to Cleveland and retained General Gar
field to prepare the brief, which he did after the ad
journment of Congress, and for which Mr. Parsons
paid him five thousand dollars. He had nothing to do
with the contract, knew nothing of the conditions.
General Garfield further stated that it never occurred
to him that what he was doing would have the remot
est connection with the Committee on Appropriation,
of which he was a member.
Mr. V/ilson, of Indiana, a member of the committee
in 1874, when the "matter was under investigation in
Congress, made the following statement which is con
clusive of the whole matter.
"The Board of Public Works was considering the
question as to the kind of pavements that should be
laid. There was a contest as to the respective merits
ofvarious wooden pavements. Mr. Parsons represented,
as attorney, the DeGolyer & McClelland patent, and,
being called away from Washington about the time the
hearing was to be had before the Board of Public

TIIE CREDIT MOBILIER. 331
Works on this subject, procured General Garfield to
appear before the Board in his stead and argue the
merits on this patent. This he did, and this was the
whole of his connection in the matter. It was not a
question as to the kind of contract that should be made,
but as to whether this particular kind of pavement
should be laid. The criticism of the committee was
not upon VaQ pavement in favor of which General Gar
field argued, but was upon the contract made with
reference to it ; and there was no evidence which
would warrant the conclusion that he had anything to
do with the latter." •
" I want to say," said General Garfield to the com
mittee, " that if anybody in the world holds that my Tee
in connection with this pavement, even by suggestion
or implication, had any relation whatever to any appro
priation by Congress for anything connected with this
District, or with anything else, it is due to me, it is due
to this committee, and it is due to Congress, that that
person be summoned. If there be a man on this earth
who makes such a charge, that man is the most infa
mous perjurer that lives, and I shall be glad to confront
him anywhere in this world."

332 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

XXVII.
HOME AND FAMILY.
THE home of General Garfield is in the township
of Mentor, twenty-five miles east of Cleveland.
The waters of Lake Erie form il^ northern boundary,
and the city of PainsviUe joins it on the east. The old
stage road from Buffalo to Cleveland, the great thor
oughfare, a dusty highway once crowded with emi
grant wagons, with its frequent inns, passes through
the township, along the summit of a sandy ridge which
undoubtedly was once the shore of the lake. Now
there are few public-houses.
" To the mossy wayside tavern
Comes the noisy throng no more ;
And the faded sign, complaining.
Swings unnoticed at the door."
This highway leads directly to Euclid Avenue, the
most beautiful of Cleveland's streets.
Mentor is an agricultural town. The soil is fertile,.
and the land in excellent tUth. The farm-houses are
large and roomy, indicating thrift. The people are all
well-to-do. " We have no poor people," was the remark of a citi
zen to the writer.

HOME AND FAMILY. 333
The gentle undulations of the land, the groves of oak,
maple, end hickory, the green fields, remind one of
some of the charming landscapes of Old England.
The hawthorn hedges, with their milk-white blos
soms, are wanting, but here and there are green hedges
of the Osage orange. In England, the village church
is an ancient stone structure, gray with time, its tower
mantled with ivy, while around it
" Beneath those rugged elms and yew-tree shade.
Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell forever laid.
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."
In Mentor, the vUlage churches are plain white
structures, with modest spires pointing heavenward.
There is the country store, the post-office, the school-
house, roomy residences with grand old shade-trees in
front, — the homes of the farmers, of lords of the soil,
InteUigent citizens, descendants of the sturdy New
England stock, who can trace their lineage back to the
homes of the Puritan ancestors in Nottingham or
Devon. A mile or more west of the Disciples church, on the
right-hand side of the old highway, stands a farm-house
of two stories, with dormer windows in its roof. Car
penters and joiners have been at work upon the edifice
during the season, raising, enlarging, and transforming
its interior.
There is a wide piazza in front, with old-fashioned
arm-chairs. Near by is a small buUding, the workshop
of the proprietor. Behind the house is a barn with
stalls for five horses, and a carriage-house. Not far off is

334 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
a kitchen-garden, with its beds of beets, turnips, and
cabbages. There are cherry and peach trees, currant
bushes, and in front of the mansion maples, which cast
a graceful shade. This is " Lawnfield," the home of
General Garfield, with a farm of one hundred and fifty
acres, reaching away toward the blue waters of Lake
Erie. He purchased it four years ago. Prior to that time
Hiram was his home, but it is not situated on any rail
road, and he moved to Mentor, to be on the great
thoroughfare, and at the same time conveniently near
Cleveland. This removal was a grief to the citizens of
Hiram, but gave great gratification to the people of
Mentor and vicinity.
General Garfield has greatly improved his farm since
purchasing it. Neat fences have taken the place of
the decaying and unsightly zigzag rails. He has re
cently drained a swampy section, and expects a large
yield of grain from what has thus been reclaimed.
During his Congressional vacations, he finds great
pleasure in looking after affairs on the farm, occasion
ally spending a portion of a forenoon in holding a
plow, or performing some part in the harvest-field.
The premier of _England — Gladstone — finds recrea
tion in wood-chopping, and so does General Garfield.
He has not forgotten how to swing the ax. The farm
is well provided with barns, which are neatly painted.
In the pastures are some fine-blooded stock.
In purchasing the farm. General Garfield had in view
a home — a place where his children could be under
the pure influences of a well-ordered community, where

HOME AND FAMILY.

335

they would attain simple habits, enjoy healthful exer
cise and pure fresh air.
" It is strange," said General Garfield to a party of
visitors, as he conducted them over his fertile fields,
" how a man wUl revive his early attachments to farm-
life. For twenty-five years, I scarcely remained on a
farm for a longer period than a few days, but now I am
an enthusiast, I can see now what I could not see
when I was a boy. It is delightful to watch the grow
ing crops."
It is a great relief to General Garfield, when he can
hasten hither from the wearying life at Washington.
Here he can find time to revive his acquaintance with
the classics ; to commune with Nature. He is not
singular in this ; it seems to -be a characteristic of
statesmen. Washington loved life as he found it at
Mount Vernon ; Jefferson delighted in looking after
affairs at Monticello. To Henry Clay there was no
pleasure like that of Ashland. Beneath the elms of
Marshfield, by the sounding sea, or strolling in his pas
ture, the sleek Jersey cows licking salt from his hand,
Daniel Webster found peace and rest after the hot de
bates of the Senate. So at Lawnfield — his hands upon
the plow, the summer sun bronzing his face, the health
ful breezes of Lake Erie fanning his cheeks — General
Garfield revives his acquaintance with Nature, and
reads over the exploits of AchUles and Agamemnon.
Partially in rear of the dwelling is a small buUding
which General Garfield calls his workshop, containing
his working library, books of reference, public docu
ments, and the immense amount of material which

336 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
a statesman accumulates during a period of twenty
years of active life.
General Garfield is methodical in his work. At the
beginning of public life he began the making of scrap-
books — the saving of material for future use ; so that
it is but the work of a moment to lay his hand upon a
speech, a statement, tables of statistics, opinions that
were indexed ten or fifteen years ago. His scrap-books
are a library of themselves, invaluable to a statesman.
All of his orders while in the army as commander of
a brigade, as chief-of-staff to Rosecrans, are copied
and filed. The future historian may turn to them
and see just how the plans were laid, and how the
army marched during TaUahoma and Chattanooga
campaigns, — what ofders were issued during the two
days' struggle at Chickamauga.
General Garfield carries method into all the affairs
of life. His plans are clearly defined. The habit of
working methodically, acquired in the Institute of
Hiram, enables him to turn off a great amount of work,
and he does it without wearying. He dislikes the labor
of writing, and usually employs a stenographer. A
well-balanced brain, the discipline of the mind, a grand
physique, and a temperate life, enables him to continue
his labors hour after hour, and be as fresh at the close.
Mr. Garfield was married, as has been stated in
another chapter, while President at Hiram, to Miss
Lucretia Rudolph. Mrs. Garfield is in the bloom of a
beautiful womanhood. A writer in the Independent,
Mary Clemmer, who has long known her, renders this
tribute :

HOME AND FAMILY.

337

" Mrs. Garfield abides beyond a question. With a
less brilliant and positive presence, with a less vital and
powerful temperament than those which have made
Mrs. Hayes the force for beauty and good which she
is in the White Flouse, Mrs. Garfield has a charm as
unique and real, all her own. Unconsciously, I made
myself the liege of this lady years ago. It was when
a woman (called a 'woman of genius '), said, pityingly,
to me, as she surveyed General Garfield on the floor of
the House :
" ' How unfortunate that his wife is not his equal 1 '
" ' Do you know Mrs. Garfield 1 ' I asked.
" ' No ; but I have heard.' "
" ' I know her,' I said, ' and know that she is her
husband's equal not only, but in more than one respect
his superior. She has 'the philosophic mind' that
Wadsworth sings of ; she has a self -poise, a strength
of unswerving, absolute rectitude her husband has not
and never will have, though her temperament does not
give her the capacity for the seasons of moral enthusi
asm which are possible to him. Much of the time that
other women give to distributing visiting-cards, in the
frantic effort to make themselves 'leaders of society,'
Mrs. Garfield spends in the alcoves of the Congres
sional Library, searching out books to carry home to
study while she nurses her children. You may be sure
of one thing : the woman who reads and studies while
she rocks her babies wUl not be left far behind her hus
band in the march of actual growth.'
" That was ten years ago. Since then I have seen
many women come to the surface of capitolian life out
22

338 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
of obscurity, and go back into obscurity again ; have
seen hundreds of so-called ' leaders of society ' shrivel
and go out in the scorching flame of fashion ; while I
have followed -with a tender heart this woman, the wife
of a famous man, — a woman whom nobody called ' a
leader.' She, meanwhile, has not been lifted off her
feet, as many women are, by her husband's rising for
tunes ; no ' spreading ' forth in style of dress or living ;
no 'airs.' And in Washington, in official life, that
means everything — indicative of character. She has
moved on in the tranquil tenor of her unobtrusive way,
in a life of absolute devotion to her duty ; never for
getting the demands of her position or neglecting her
friends, yet making it her first charge to bless her
home, to teach her children, to fit her boys for college,
to be the equal friend, as well as the honored wife, of
her husband. Gentle, patient, unobtrusive almost to
timidity, wise in speech and action, keenly intelligent,
liberally educated, conscientiously devoted to every
thing good, — this is the woman who will perpetuate
the loving, consecrated life that to-day abides in the
White House, if as its mistress she enters it"
Mrs. Garfield while at Hiram, was a member of the
" Olive Branch Society," a literary organization, which
held a reunion in 1877. In a poem given on that oc
casion by Mrs. Eliza G. Glashier, a tender tribute was
paid Mrs. Garfield :
" With heart as leal and loving.
As e'er was sung in lays
Of high born Roman matron.
In old heroic days.

HOME AND FAMILY. 339
Honor and fame her steps attend.
Worthy the soldier's name to bear
Worthy the civic wreath to share.
That binds our Viking's tawny hair.
And glad are we the world should know.
As Hero, him we long ago.
Found truest, helper, friend."
Five chUdren, four sons and a daughter, make
Lawnfield a merry, happy home. The two eldest sons,
Harry A. and James R., are attending school at Con
cord, N. H.
The third son, Irvin McDowell, iUustrates in his
name, the generous nature of General Garfield, and
not only that, but it exhibits his love of justice.
General McDowell was appointed commander of the
army that fought the first battle at Bull Run, against
his protestations. He was regarded with suspicion and
jealousy by General Scott then in his dotage. After
the defeat. General McDowell was suspended by Mc
CleUan, and received no other important command dur
ing the war. General Garfield in common with many
other citizens felt that McDowell had not received
fair treatment.
" Having had," said General Garfield, " a personal
acquaintance with General McDowell, I knew him to
be an upright man, and a good officer, and consequently
protested slightly to the abuse heaped upon him by
giving my son his name."
The youngest boy, Abram, is six years old ; the
daughter, Mollie, thirteen.
The mother of General Garfield resides with him, in
the enjoyment of exceUent health, though seventy-eight

340 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
years of age, attending now, as in early years, to the
duties of life, manifesting the same sweet spirit, un
changed by the honors that have come upon her illus
trious son ; and it is the son's highest pleasure to ten
derly care for the mother.
No profane word, no unseemly jest, no ribaldry, is
ever heard at Lawnfield. No wines sparkle on its
table. The moral atmosphere is as sweet, pure and
healthgiving to heart and soul, as the breezes from
Lake Erie to the body. It is a Christian family, — a
Christian home.

THE MAN.

341

XXVIII.
THE MAN.
JAMES A. GARFIELD has been endowed by na
ture with a grand physique. In the lives of his
ancestry there must have been stalwart men. He is
broadly and strongly buiU, and in stature above the medi
um height. There must be prodigious strength of
muscle in the arms of a man, who, when sixteen years
old, could cut two cords of wood between sun and
sun ; and there must be great endurance of fibre,
that could continue it fifty days without flinching.
Such strength of muscle enables General Garfield to
lift great weights.
At Pittsburgh Landing, in 1862, a line of teams
came down from the army for rations. There were so
many wagons to be loaded that great despatch was
necessary. A fine-looking soldier, wearing a blue over
coat, presented his requisition. The commissary saw
him take up a barrel of flour and toss it into a wagon,
as if it required no effort.
" I suppose you will require a receipt for these pro
visions," said the soldier to the commissary.
" Yes, your commanding officer must receipt for it."
" Can't I sign it ? "

3^2 JAMBS A. GARFIELD.
"O no, it must be signed by a commissioned
officer." "Very well, I'm a Brigadier General. My name is
Garfield." General Garfield's face is the index of his character ;
it is beaming with kindness ; but in the lines of his
countenance one can see sturdiness, energy, pluck, and
the calmness and coolness of an evenly balanced brain ;
steady nerves, and a wUl controlled by moral forces.
It is the face of a man not easily frightened.
It was at Chestertown, in Maryland, in October,
1863, that General Garfield addressed a public meet
ing, at the solicitation of Hon. Henry Winter Davis.
Rotten eggs were hurled at him. He gazed calmly and
steadily upon the assembly, and said :
" I have just emerged frem the rain and hail of Chick
amauga ; I have faced the worst that rebels can do, and
do you think I can be frightened by cowards ? "
It is the calm man who stills the storm. No more
eggs, but silent respect from the humbled audience.
General Garfield's eyes are bright and hopeful.
There is no insincerity or revenge in them. A physi
ognomist would say that a man with such an eye never
would take gloomy views of things, even when things
were at their worst. It would not be possi'ole for him
to be a pessimist
In his bearing, General Garfield is frank, cordiaj,
generous. He has an intense hatred of wrong, but is
ever ready to forgive the wrong-doer, the moment the
wrong is acknowledged.
" I would clasp hands," he said, in a speech last

THE MAN. 343
year at Dayton, "with those who fought against us;
make them my brethren, and forgive the past on one
supreme condition : that the cause for which they
fought was, and forever will be, the cause of treason
and wrong. Until this is acknowledged, my hand
shall never grasp any rebel hand across any chasm
however small."
From being strictly temperate in all things. General
Garfield is in good health.
"The advantage of a strong pulse," says Emerson,
" is not to be supplied by any labor, art, or concert.
It is like the climate, which easily raises k crop, which
no glass, or irrigation, or tiUage, or manures, can else
where rival."
We have seen what this strong-pulsed man accom
plished in his boyhood — in his school days. We know
what he has accomplished in his maturer years. He
has lived in accordance with nature's laws, and nature
has accordingly endowed him with her strength. He
can lift great weights, can endure great hardships, and
accomplish great things. He can work all night if
need be ; but that is not in accordance with nature ; it
is only when the demand is imperative, that he makes
any extra draft on his strength. He is an indefatigable
worker. It is in his blood, coming down from his
New England ancestry. It is his nature to work.
" A man accustomed to work," says Campbell, the
poet, " is equal to any achievement that he may re
solve to accomplish. James A. Garfield, when a
school-boy at Geauga, cookino; his breakfasts in a fry-

344 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
ing-pan, fixed his eye on a definite object far away ;
he never lost sight of it — he attained it.
" How have you been able to make your discoveries ? "
asked a gentleman of Sir Isaac Newton.
"By always intending my mind," replied the dis
coverer of the law of gravitation.
General Garfield has his hours of recreation ; when
thought and care are cast aside ; but when the hour
for work comes, he sits down to his labors with the ap
petite of a hungry man to his dinner.
We have already seen the determination, character
istic of General Garfield, manifested in his boyhood, in
pushing the jack-plane, and when he engaged to cut one
hundred cords of wood at twenty-five cents per cord ;
but to complete that job, something more than deter
mination was requisite.
Another element of character was called into activ
ity — perseverance. It was a contract not to be finished
in a day, but for a period of nearly six weeks ; he must
be up before daylight, wielding the ax before the sun
made its appearance above the eastern hills, and when
it disappeared in the west at night, he must still be
waking the echoes of the forest with his sturdy blows,
to accomplish his self-allotted task of two cords per
day. There were blisters on his palms, aches stream
ing up his arms ; he went to bed weary. It was the
routine of weeks, and there was no let up on the part
of the boy of sixteen. Determination and persever
ance carried him through Hiram and WUHams, and
brought him to manhood. The responsibilities of life

THE MAN.

345

were upon him, and with them came another element
of character — courage.
We saw the spirit that was in him when the boy of
sixteen confronted the brawny boatman and laid him
sprawling on the deck, and the quick generosity that
made the conquered boatman his friend. The same
spirit carried him through the hardships and difficul
ties of a midwinter campaign to the victory of Middle
Creek, which led him singly and alone to confront the
opinions of seventeen generals in the movement on
TaUahoma, which impelled him to ride through the
leaden hail of Chickamauga. In the planning of the
Chickamauga campaign we have witnessed judgment
adjusting its balances, calmly weighing difficulties,
forming deliberate opinions, summoning determ,ination,
courage, and perseverance to execute the plans, and
winning the campaign. Such power of judgment re
quires foresight — that faculty of mind which can look
from the beginning to the end — estimating everything
at its just value.
But these are physical and mental qualities ; an indi
vidual may have them and yet not be a man.
"Worth makes the man."
A century has rolled away since Alexander Pope
penned the words, but time has not diminished their
truthfulness. It was but the expression of a universal
truth. The fiber of James A. Garfield's manhood has other
qualities, higher and nobler — those that constitute
character. No child is born with character ; it does

346 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
not come by birth, nor is it attained in a day. It is
growth — the bloom of childhood — the fruitage of ma
turer years. It cannot be put on and off like a garment
at pleasure, worn to-day, laid aside to-morrow ; it is an
unchangeable habit. It is not what others think of us ;
it is what we are. God's balance places Justice, Truth,
and Right in one scale, and ourselves in the other. No
man ever yet tipped the beam. Some men come
nearer doing it than others, and he who comes nearest
weighs most.
The citizens of Ashtabula county who know James
A. Garfield best, have given expression to their appre
ciation of his character and reputation by keeping him
in Congress eighteen years ; the people of Ohio pub
lished their judgment to the world during the past
winter, by electing him to the Senate of the United
States, and now the Republican party, in the strength
and vigor of its manhood, proclaims its faith in his
character by selecting him to fiU the highest office in
the gift of the nation.
" Talents',' says Goethe, " are nurtured best in solitude,
but character on life's tempestuous sea." Have there
been any seas more tempestuous than that over which
James A. Garfield has sailed ? — the blood-red sea,
swept by the storms of civil war — the putting down
of the most gigantic rebellion in the annals of history,
the liberation of four miUion of slaves, their enfran
chisement, the settlement of great questions relating
to human rights, personal liberty, the finances, involv
ing the permanency of the Republic, its mighty future
and the welfare of forty miUions of people }

THE MAN.

347

In the discussion of these General Garfield has man
ifested ever catholicity of spirit. He is no bigot.
Prejudice is foreign to his nature. He has no blows to
give to an antagonist prostrate at his feet. The raised
arm dropped, the muscles of his clenched fist relaxed,
when, in his boyhood, the brawny boatman caUed
parley. Political opponents respect one so fearless,
honorable, and just Many of his political opponents
are his personal friends. His mind is judicial. He is
not Hke the knight who saw only one side of the
shield ; he sees the other side. His generosity, kind
ness of heart, sense and honor prompts him to do
things which in feudal days, and in the Southern States
to-day, would be called chivalrous, but which with
General Garfield is simply doing his duty. Such a
man wiU be honest in his convictions. He may make
mistakes ; there may be error of judgment, but his ac
tion wiU be sincere. His convictions of justice and
right have made him the unflinching lover of Truth
and Liberty, the earnest advocate of Human Rights,
the upright citizen, the unostentatious Christian, the
honest man.

348 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

XXIX.
ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS.
SINCE the first pages of this sketch were written,
many letters have been received from those who
knew General Garfield in boyhood, and others who
have been intimate with him through his maturer
years. WhUe they may not present anything of great
importance, yet they iUuminate, as it were, his life.
Rev. S. D. Bates, pastor of the Free-will Baptist
Church, Marion, O., and now President of Ridgeville
College, Ind., was the enthusiastic young teacher of the
district school in Orange, who had much to do with
turning General Garfield from the canal to the college.
" My school at Orange," writes Mr. Bates, " was large
and forward in the winter of 1848-9, and I was pressed
for time to do all my work. To obviate this difficulty,
I had an Arithmetic class of fifteen advanced students
meet me at eight o'clock in the morning, to whom I
gave a full hour, explaining and iUustrating the prin
ciples involved, as a specialty in the exercises. The
widowed mother of Garfield lived nearest to the school-
house, on the north. James had come home just
before I commenced teaching, at the close of canal
navigation, sick with the ague and fever, contracted

ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS.

349

whUe on the canal. During nearly the entire winter
he had an ague-chill every morning, and a burning
fever each evening. In the early morning he felt
comfortably well, and most of the winter came in weak
ness to the eight o'clock Arithmetic recitation. That
one hour was all the time he was able to be in school
each day tUl nearly spring. The circumstances made
his appearance haggard and forbidding. He was then,
though only seventeen years of age, as tall as now, but
thin in flesh, pale and sallow in countenance, and, of
course, largely uncultivated in manner. In appearance,
he was unprepossessing. I soon saw, however, that his
painful effort to reach the morning-class exercise, in
dicated a burning thirst for learning, and I was not
long in discovering that underneath the rough ex
terior, there was a jewel, a bright, sharp, comprehensive
intellect Though in such feeble health, he soon proved
himself the best in the class, being at the same time
one of the youngest. I believed he had the ' stuff in
him ' to make a splendid student, if he could be induced
to give some years to study. How to do this was the
difficult problem to solve. He had himself a passion
for the sea. The blue waters of Lake Erie had a fasci
nation that seemed impossible for him to resist. As his
health improved towards spring, he seemed bound to
go upon the lake when navigation should open.
" It was useless to talk to him then about a course of
study. I tried, and succeeded in the experiment of
leading him simply one step at a time.
" I said to him, ' James, you are not sound enough in
health yet to endure the hard work, the kicks and

350 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
cuffs, and rough usage incident to a beginner's life in
saiUng. Go with me, in March, to the seminary, get a
little more education, and in the coming fall, when in
sound health, go on the lake a few months.'
" His mother, who was altogether unwilling to have
her son become a saUor, most heartily seconded my
efforts. Two other young men, one a cousin of Gar
field, decided to go with me to the seminary, and,
finally, by the combined persuasion of all, he decided
to go. That moment was the turning point in his life
and destiny."
We have seen how the young student planed
boards, and worked as a carpenter, to pay his way
through Hiram. A letter from a gentleman in Detroit,
Dr. Alonzo Harlow, informs us of his acquiring pen
manship and a knowledge of business forms; quali
fying himself as teacher, in order to earn money to
enable him to carry on his collegiate studies.
Dr. Harlow's Business College was located at
Chagrin Falls, about 40 miles from Cleveland. He
was accustomed to call upon every new pupil to take
the rostrum, and deliver an impromptu address on
temperance ; possibly to see what stuff they were com
posed of, of course not expecting much of an address.
Dr. Harlow writes :
" As was my custom with all new beginners, I called
James, the same day of his arrival, to take the rostrum
and address the school on temperance ; and to my sur
prise and wonder, he gave us so able and eloquent dis
course upon the theme, that I made up my mind that
he was simply declaiming some address he had com-

ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS.

351

mitted to memory. Thinks I, my good fellow, I wUl
fix you next time. When his turn came to speak
again, I gave him a subject out of the common range
of ordinary thought supposing we would have a break
down ; but to my great gratification and astonishment
he went on making an excellent address. He was
acknowledged to be the best speaker in the school."
The class at Dr. Harlow's frequently resolved itself
into a House of Representatives in Congress, and oc
casionally into a court of justice. As a member of
Congress, Mr. Garfield represented the State of New
York. The citizens came in to hear the young orators,
¦and many of them remember the speeches made by Mr.
Garfield. While at the school, he made great proficiency in
penmanship and painting. He taught penmanship the
next term at Hiram, earning enough to pay his ex
penses. WhUe in Williams, he taught in the surround
ing towns — in Pownal, in a school-house, where
Chester A. Arthur once taught
His success in penmanship is remarkable, when we
consider that General Garfield, naturally, is left-
handed. It required a tremendous effort of will, and
long and patient practice, to use his right hand. He
determined to do it. He had, at first to take the pen
in his left hand, and after dipping it in the ink, trans
fer it to the right hand. His first attempts at writing
were exceedingly discouraging. The muscles would
not obey his wiU, but he kept on tiU he mastered them,
and became an accomplished teacher of penmanship.
In addressing an assembly. General Garfield fre-

352 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
quently makes an impressive gesture with his left
arm. General Garfield went to WUHams in June, 1854,
a few weeks before the close of the term at that
coUege, and attended the closing recitations of the
Sophomore class, to become familiar with the methods
of the professors, before his examination for entering
upon the junior year. After his examination, there
was a long summer vacation, which he spent mainly
in the coUege library. It was the most extensive col
lection of books he had ever beheld. He never had seen
a copy of Shakspeare. He began with it and read it
through, from beginning to end. He next took up
English history and poetry, beginning with Spen
ser and coming down to Tennyson, whom he greatly
admired. He had a retentive memory, and learned
whole poems by heart A quarter of a century has
passed since then, and he has not forgotten them.
General Garfield had positive opinions in regard to
the rights of fugitive slaves, and had occasion to make
them known during his military service in Kentucky,
as asserted by one of his staff.
" One day," said the officer, " I noticed a fugitive
slave come rushing into camp with a bloody head, and
apparently frightened almost to death. A regular bully
of a feUow came riding up and with a volley of oaths
began to ask after his ' nigger.' General Garfield was
not present, and He passed on to the division command
er. This division commander was a sympathizer with
the theory that fugitives should be returned to their
masters, and that the Union soldiers should be made

ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. 353
the instruments for returning them. He accordingly
wrote a mandatory order to General Garfield to hunt out
and deUver over the property of the outraged citizen.
I stated the case as fully as I could to General Garfield
before handing him the order. He took the order and
deliberately wrote on it the following indorsement :
" ' I respectfully but positively decline to allow my
command to search for or deliver up any fugitive
slaves, I conceive that they are here for quite another
purpose. The command is open, and no obstacles will
be placed in the way of search.'
" I read the indorsement and was frightened. I ex
pected that, if returned, the result would be that the
general would be court-martialed, I told him my fears.
He simply repHed, ' The matter may as well be tested
'first as last. Right is right, and I do not propose to
mince matters at all. My soldiers are here for other
purposes than hunting and returning fugitive slaves.
My people, on the Western Reserve of Ohio, did not
send my boys and myself down here to do that kind of
business, and they will back me up in my action.' He
would not alter the indorsement, and the order was re
turned. Nothing ever came of the matter further.
" One day at Murfreesboro', an old colored lady came
to the general's tent and complained of having been
cruelly beaten by her master, a man named Carney,
simply because her two sons had been hired as servants
by two Union captains ; the heartless rebel abusing the
old lady on the ground that she had urged her sons
to do so.
" Carney was summoned, and in his presence the
23

354 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
woman told her entire story, in the course of which she
said that Colonel Burke (since general) had been near
by when the whipping had been done. So indignant
was the general at both Carney and Burke that he
came near depriving the latter of his straps, and to the
former said among other things expressive of his
wrath : ' You rascal, you ought to have your ears cut
off for this cussedness.' "
In a former chapter General Garfield's position in
regard to the bill for extra pay for congressional ser
vices has been given ; but the following incident nar
rated by President Hinsdale of Hiram College, shows
what sacrifice General Garfield made in connection
with that bUl :
" There is an incident connected with that bUl," said
President Hinsdale, "which I wiU relate, not because I
was concerned in it, but because it shows something of
the working of the general's mind. I got to Wash
ington on Saturday, and on Sunday there was a long
session of the committee on appropriations devoted to
the discussion of the increase of salaries. This feature
was a rider on one of the most important appropriation
biUs. Garfield opposed the rider, but was overruled by
the committee. On Monday I happened to pass the
room of the committee on appropriations and I found
General Garfield walking up and down the corridor.
He said to me, ' I've got to decide in fifteen minutes
whether I will sign that bill or not If I do, I go on
the record as indorsing a measure that I have been
opposing. If I do not, I lose aU control of the bill. It
will be reported to the house by General Butler, and he

ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS.

355

win control the debate on it. The session of Congress
ends to-morrow, and if the bill fails to pass, this Con
gress will expire without making provisions for carrying
on the government. Now what would you do .-" I told
him that I would sign the biU, and in the house I
would briefly explain why I had at last signed a bill
which I had opposed. I don't assume that his conduct
was guided by my advice, but he pursued the course I
had indicated."
Such a statement should forever put a stop to all
charges of mercenary action on the part of General
Garfield.

356 JAMES A. GARFIELD.

XXX.
THE CONVENTION AT CHICAGO.
NATIONAL Conventions of political parties are
the outgrowth of American institutions. In no
other country can there be assembled a body like that
which gathered at Chicago, June 3, 1880, to nominate
candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of
the United States. In England, not even for the nomi
nation of members of Parliament are there any conven
tions like those peculiar to our own country. France
is a Republic, — young, fresh, vigorous; but political
parties in France are divided into monarchical and
anti-monarchical, and thus far the Republicans of
France have had no need for a national convention.
In no country is a national convention of a political
party possible at the present time, except in the United
States. Our own Republic went on half a century, after
the adoption of the Constitution, before political parties
saw that under a government of the people, the people
themselves should nominate, as well as elect their high
est executive officers.
Prior to 183 1, the Congressional caucus nominated
candidates for President and Vice-President. The first
Congressional caucus on record was held Jan. 19, 1808,

THE CONVENTION AT CHICAGO.

357

by the Democratic, then the Republican members, to
decide whether Madison or Monroe should succeed
Jefferson. Mr. Madison was Secretary of State ; Mr.
Monroe, Minister to Great Britain. Madison being on
the ground to wield his own personal influence, suc
ceeded in obtaining a majority of the caucus in his
favor. It was soon discovered that " King Caucus," as the
system was called, was despotic, tyrannical, and cor
rupting. Every act of a democratic member of Con
gress had reference to some political end. The caucus
system was overthrown in 1825 by the quadrangular
contest which threw the election into the House of
Representatives, defeating the caucus candidates and
electing John Quincy Adams.
The first political convention of any prominence in
the United States was held at Baltimore, September,
183 1, by those opposed to the Masonic Order. The
party had its origin in Western New York in 1826,
through the publishing of a pamphlet by WUliam Mor
gan, which purported to be an expos6 of the ritual of
the order. William Wirt of Maryland, was nominated
for President
In the foUowing December, the National Republicans,
in a convention at Baltimore, nominated Henry Clay ;
but both of these conventions were small assemblies —
in no sense National. The democratic members of the
New York Legislature nominated Andrew Jackson ;
but it was the action of the democratic members of the
Legislature of New Hampshire that brought about the
first convention that could be caUed National. The

358 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
democratic members of that body took it upon them
selves to issue a caU for an assembly of delegates from
all the States, — one delegate for each vote in the elec
toral coUege. The party in the different States re
sponded, and the convention met at Baltimore, May 21,
1832. The whole number of electoral votes at that
time was 288, and 283 delegates responded. At that
convention a resolution was adopted requiring two-
thirds of the votes in the convention to secure a nomi
nation. The convention adopted a platform setting
forth the principles of the party.
The first National Convention of the Whig party
was held at Harrisburg, Dec. 4, 1839, twenty-two States
being represented. General Harrison was nominated.
Such was the beginning of the National Convention,
which is as truly American as the Republic itself.
It is quite possible that the young man who in this
year of 1880 is to cast his first ballot, may not have
stopped to think of the significance of a national po
litical convention. There are some foreigners who
doubtless flatter themselves that they understancf
American politics and American institutions, who do
not comprehend a National Convention ; they speak
of such an assembly as an unauthorized gathering.
Government has not called it, and an assembly not
called into being by government is of no account.
They do not comprehend, in the American sense, the
meaning of a government of the people ; that all au
thority comes from the people ; and that the people
themselves authorize the convention.
A national convention of a great political party has

THE CONVENTION AT CHICAGO.

359

a grandeur all its own ; it is for the selection of a citizen
fitted by the endowments which God has given him,
and by the exercise of his faculties, by character and
experience, to be ruler of fifty miUions of people ; the
compeer of kings and emperors ; to wield the power of
a great nation ; to guide the Republic for a period of
years towards its mighty destiny !
This is the meaning of that gathering of the dele
gates chosen by the people, which assembled in Chi
cago, The convention met June 3d, and chose George F.
Hoar, Senator in Congress from Massachusetts, Presi
dent. There were three prominent candidates for the
Presidency. General Grant, who had filled the office
eight years, from 1868 to 1876; James G. Blaine,
Senator from Maine ; and John Sherman, Secretary of
the Treasury.
The friends, of each candidate labored earnestly to
secure a majority of the delegates, but neither suc
ceeded. Among the delegates from Ohio was General
Garfield, who was elected chairman of the Ohio dele
gation, and who did all in his power to secure the
nomination of Mr. Sherman.
On the second day of the convention, Mr. Conkling
of New York, introduced a resolution which pledged
every member of the convention to support the nomi
nee, and declaring that no one should hold a seat who
was not ready so to pledge himself.
The question was put and several voices responded
,in the negative. Mr. Conkling called for a vote by
states. Three delegates from West Virginia voted in

36o JAMES A. GARFIELD.
the negative. Mr. Conkling therefore offered a second
resolution that the delegates who had so voted had for
feited their seats in the convention.
The delegates from West Virginia stated that they
were true Republicans, but, that as a matter of principle,
they would not pledge themselves in advance to every
thing the convention might do. Several gentlemen
spoke upon the resolution.
Mr. Young, of Tennessee, asked to know why the
gentlemen who had voted in the negative did not join
the Democratic party. It was a question of mere per
sonal independence.
The question was about to be put when General
Garfield took the floor.
" I fear," he said, " that the convention is about to
commit a grave error. He would state the case. Every
delegate save three had voted for the resolution, and
the three gentlemen who had voted against it had risen
in their places and stated that they expected and in
tended to support the nominee of the convention, but
that it was not in their judgment a wise thing at this time
to pass the resolution which all the rest of the dele
gates had voted for. Were they to be disfranchised
because they thought so.' That was the question.
Was every delegate to have his republicanism inquired
into before he was aUowed to vote .' Delegates were
responsible for their votes, not to the convention, but
to their constituents. He himself would never in any
convention vote against his judgment He regretted
that the gentlemen from West Virginia had thought it
best to break the harmony of the convention by their

THE CONVENTION AT CHICAGO. 361
dissent. He did not know these gentlemen, nor their
affiliations, nor their relations to the candidates. If
this convention expelled those men then the conven
tion would have to purge itself at the end of every
vote and inquire how many delegates who had voted
• no ' should go out. He trusted that the gentleman
from New York would withdraw his resolution and let
the convention proceed with its business."
Mr. Pixley, of California, moved to lay the resolution
on the table.
Mr, Conkling thereupon withdrew the resolution.
On the morning of the 5th of June, the convention
having accomplished the preliminary business, the
names of the several candidates were presented.
General Garfield presented the name of John Sher
man in an able speech, which elicited great applause.
The names of General Grant, Senator Blaine, Senator
Windom of Minnesota, Senator Edmunds of Vermont,
and E, B. Washburn also were presented.
Thirty-five ballots were taken, during which two
votes had been cast for General Garfield. After the
thirty-fourth ballot, it was evident to the friends of
Senator Blaine that he could not be nominated. Be
ginning with 284 he had dropped to 257. On this
ballot the delegation from Wisconsin voted for General
Garfield, which, with one delegate from Pennsylvania,
gave seventeen ballots.
General Garfield arose to a point of order, that he
had given no one liberty to use his name, and without
such Hberty no one had a right to vote for him. Gen
eral Garfield was about to say more, but was prevented

362 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
by Mr. Hoar, who said that he had not stated a ques
tion of order.
On the thirty-fifth ballot fifty were cast for General
Garfield. The number of delegates composing the convention
was seven hundred and fifty-five. On the thirty-sixth
baUot, General Garfield received three hundred and
ninety-nine. An indescribable scene ensued. The standards of
every State, with the exception of Florida, were carried
over to Ohio, amid the cheers of the vast audience.
For fifteen minutes the audience gave expression to its
enthusiasm, the band playing " RaUy Round the
Flag," and the audience joining in the song.
During this period of intense excitement. General
Garfield sat pale and thoughtful, and in a maze. A
lightning stroke had faUen upon him. Throughout the
convention he has done what he could for Mr. Sher
man. He had had no thought of receiving the nomi
nation. No one had worked for him. Only two
delegates had voted for him up to the thirty-fourth
ballot. It was a case of spontaneous combustion !
Very few of the delegates knew General Garfield per
sonally. No one had set forth his qualifications, only
as he himself had set them forth by creditable and
faithful service during the first years of the war, and by
his eighteen years' service in Congress. The few
words spoken by him in regard to the West Virginia
delegates — his persuasive, calm, conciliatory course,
his fairness, his courage to do what others felt ought
to be done — had made a deep impression upon the

THE CONVENTION AT CHICAGO.

363

convention. His address, presenting Mr. Sherman as a
candidate, was acknowledged to be the most eloquent
of all the speeches.
The nomination came of itself, without concert or
arrangement. General Garfield was greatly disturbed.
" I wish you," he said, to the correspondent of the
Cleveland Herald, " to say that this is no act of mine.
I wish you would say that I have done everything and
omitted nothing to secure Secretary Sherman's nomi
nation. I want it plainly understood that I have not
sought this nomination, and have protested against the
use of my name. If Senator Hoar had permitted, I
would have forbidden any body to vote for me. But he
took me off my feet before I had said what I intended. I
am very sorry it has occurred, but if my position is
fully explained, a nomination, coming unsought and
unexpected like this, will be the crowning gratification
of my life."
There have been in other conventions the taking up
of compromise candidates, but in no other national
convention has there been such a turn of affairs — the
nomination of a man for the presidency, who was not a
candidate, but who was working with all his might to
secure the nomination of another.
General Garfield had not been in training for the
presidency. From his entrance upon public life, — as
a Senator in the Ohio Legislature, as commander of a
brigade, as chief of Rosecrans's staff, as a representa
tive in Congress, he had aimed to carry out his convic
tions of what was just and right A portion of the

364 JAMES A. GARFIELD.
delegates, when the convention was at a deadlock,
knowing his worth, recognizing his services, conscious
of his fitness for the high position, took him up against
his protestations, gave him a majority of the votes ;
the convention made the nomination unanimous, and
the Republican party throughout the Union, with a
unanimity and enthusiasm almost unparalleled, accepts
him as their great leader in the approaching campaign.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 365

XXXI.
CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
IN a rugged pasture on a hill side in the town ot
Fairfield, Vt., a few stones, and a slight depression
in the surface of the ground, mark the spot where once
stood a log cabin. It was the humble home 'of Rev.
Mr. Arthur, who fifty years ago was preaching to the
people of Fairfield. He was a young man enthusiastic.
and devoted in his caUing. Pie began his preaching
in the district school-house, but his audiences increas
ing, a neighboring barn became the place of worship,
— the women occup3dng seats of planks and blocks
of wood on the bare fioor, the men on the hay-mow
and scaffolds, and the boys on the high beams. Rev.
Mr. Arthur's labors were so successful that the com
munity was stimulated to build a meeting-house.
The town of Fairfield, fifty years ago, was compara
tively new, and many of the residences were like that
of the young minister, built of logs. It was a thrifty,
hard-working, steady-going community, full of life and
hope, and became religious under Rev. Mr. Arthur's
ministratibn. Upon his settlement in the place, Mr. Arthur had a
wife and three daughters, but the log cabin was bright-

366 CHESTEl A. ARTHUR.
ened just half a century ago by the advent of a fourth
child, — a boy who received the name of the attending
physician, Chester Abel.
Rev Mr. Arthur subsequently moved to the vicinity
of Troy, N. Y., preaching in various localities.
The political campaign of 1840, between General
Harrison and Martin Van Buren, was the most excit
ing of any in the history of the Republic. Chester A.
Arthur, a boy of ten, whose sympathies were with
the Whig candidate, had his boyish enthusiasm
aroused by the log cabin raisings, the barbecues, the
beating of drums, the playing of brass bands, the sing
ing of Harrison songs, the firing of cannon. Four
years later — during the contest between Henry Clay
and James K. Polk, — the raising of ash poles in honor
of Henry Clay, whose Kentucky mansion bore the
name of Ashland, succeeded the log cabin raisings of
the Harrison campaign.
Chester A. Arthur, a youth of fourteen, joined a com
pany of young Whigs in the Clay campaign. Party
spirit ran high. At a pole raising in the village of
Fonda, the Democrats brought on a fight. There were
many bleeding noses, blackened eyes, and broken
heads on both sides. One of the foremost in the frajj,
was Chester A. Arthur.
" I have been in many a political battle since then,"
said Mr. Arthur, recently, " but none livelier, or that
more thoroughly enlisted me."
Being near Union CoUege, Schenectady, Mr. Arthur
entered that institution in 1844, then under the presi
dency of Rev. Eliphalet Nott, D. D., regarded as one

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

367

of the ablest men in his profession at that time. Dur
ing his college course he taught school in common with
most students, during the winter terms. One of the
schools thus taught was in Pownal, Vt., the buUding in
which James A. Garfield subsequently taught penman
ship. Mr. Arthur graduated in 1848, taking the degree of
A. M. He stood high in his class, and was regarded
as a student of much promise. He became a member
of the Psi UpsUon Fraternity. He chose the law for
a profession, and was admitted to the bar in 1850, when
he was twenty years of age.
The year 1850 was one of excitement in the politi
cal world. The questions before Congress, were the
repeal of the Missouri compromise of 1820, the passage
of the fugitive slave law, the organization of New
Mexico and California.
To the people of the North- the fhgitive slave law
was an odious act ; a slave escaping from one State
into another, must be delivered up to his master. It
directed and provided for the surrender to the claimant
of each alleged fugitive without a trial by jury, but by
a commissioner. The testimony of the fugitive could
not be admitted in his defence, the testimony of the
claimant was sufficient, and the commissioner could
call out the v^holQ posse comitatus of the United States
to put his decree in execution, and all citizens were
commanded to aid him.
The moral sense of Chester A. Arthur, in common
with the moral sense of thousands of northern citizens,
revolted. His soul was stirred within him. He had

368

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

formed a partnership with Erastus D. Culver, of New
York, and the firm was known to the Abolitionists as
one in sympathy with the rising tide of free principles.
In November, 1852, a vessel sailed into New York
Harbor from Norfolk, Va., with Jonathan and Juliet
Lemon on board as passengers. They had decided to
emigrate to Texas, and there being no trade between
Norfolk and New Orleans — no vessels sailing, they
embarked for New York, where they expected to take
a steamer. Among other chattels they had eight
slaves. The vessel dropped anchor in New York har
bor ; the steamer would not sail for several days.
During the interim an officer appeared on board the
vessel with a writ of habeas corpus, requiring Mr. and
Mrs. Lemon to appear before Judge Payne of the Su
perior Court, and show cause for detaining the eight
human chattels, when by the laws of New York,
slavery was forbidden.
The young lawyer, Chester A. Arthur, entered into
the case with great zeal. Mr. Lemon employed Mr.
O'Conner, a life long Democrat Mr. Arthur gave all
his energies to the preparation of the case. Mr. Lemon,
through counsel, claimed that he was compelled to touch
at New York, but had no intention of stopping there.
Messrs. Culver and Arthur based their argument on the
rights of man, on the State laws and the law of nations.
It was not a case under the fugitive slave act ; the
negroes were not fleeing ; their master had voluntarily
brought them into a State, which prohibited slavery,
and they were entitled to their freedom. Judge Payne
took the same view and ordered them to be set free.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

369

There came a howl from every State south of Mason
and Dixon's line, in regard to the " unparaUeled out
rage," with threats of dissolving the Union. The Demo
cratic press of the North got down on its knees ; the New
York jFournal of Commerce demanded that New York
should repeal its obnoxious law, against slavery, other
wise the City of New York would lose its Southern
trade. A portion of the Whig press was subservient.
The State of Virginia directed its Attorney-General to
take upthe case and appeal from Judge Payne's decision.
The Legislature of New York, instead of repealing the
law against slavery, requested the Governor to employ
counsel. E. D. Culver and Joseph Blunt were ap
pointed. Afterward they withdrew and Mr. Arthur
was appointed. He associated with himself William
M. Evarts and argued the case before the Supreme
Court. That Court sustained Judge Payne's decision.
The case was then appealed to the Court of Appeals.
There also the judgment of Judge Payne was affirmed,
and thenceforth no slaveholder dared venture into New
York State with his slaves.
The prejudice against color, which in 1830, had been
so intense, had been yielding to the spirit of the age,
but was so deep seated that up to 1856, no colored
person could ride in a public conveyance in the streets
of New York.
One day a colored young lady, Lizzie Jennings, ap
peared in Mr. Arthur's office, and stated her case.
She was a superintendent of a colored Sunday-school,
had entered a Fourth Avenue horse car, and paid her
fare, but a fellow objected to her presence, and the

370

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

conductor had rudely expelled her, tearing her clothing-
and otherwise maltreating her. She had come to Mr.
Arthur for advice. What should she do .? " I wiU take
care of your case," said Mr. Arthur.
He brought suit against the company, a rich corpo
ration, with the aristocratic portion of the community
lending its influence against Lizzie Jennings and the
colored race. Mr. Arthur managed to have the case
tried before Judge Rockwell, of the Brooklyn court ;
and so successfully was it managed, so masterly his
plea, that Lizzie Jennings recovered $500. It was
like the taking of the Malakoff in the Crimean war, —
a point gained for the colored race. Since then, their
rights in all public conveyances have been respected.
The year 1856 was signalized by the formation of
the Republican party. Mr. Arthur entered zealously
into the movement was a stanch supporter of Fremont,
and of Mr. Lincoln in i860. Upon the breaking out
of the war, he was appointed by Governor Morgan
chief engineer on his staff. In this office he did very
valuable service in the equipment of the volunteers of
the State for the war. Upon Jan. 27, 1862, in honor
of these services he was appointed quartermaster-
general on Governor Morgan's staff. Here he again
worked with great energy to forward troops to the seat
of war.
In 1 86 1, when the fires of patriotism were burning
brightly, it occurred to some one that New York might
rid herself of a crowd of bullies, thieves, and rascals,
by sending them to the army e7i masse. Billy Wilson,
a notorious rough, took up the idea, and received au-

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

371

thority to raise the regiment. He was to be colonel.
The bullies enlisted in great numbers ; they were quar
tered in the park. Public-spirited citizens made mu
nificent contributions for their outfit and support. The
buUies made the most of their opportunity, and not
only demanded, but quietly helped themselves to what
ever they wished in the neighboring stores, telling the
proprietors to charge it to the State. Complaints
reached the governor, who gave Arthur full authority
to act in the premises.
The quartermaster-general sent an order to WUson
to report at his office. The bully complied, entering in
full uniform with a swaggering air. Mr. Arthur in
formed him that such practices as had been complained
of must be stopped. WUson listened with a super
cilious air. " I'm a colonel in the service of the United
States, sir," he said ; " and neither you nor Governor
Morgan have any authority over me. So long as I
wear these shoulder-straps, I shall take no orders from
any of you fellows."
General Arthur has been endowed by nature with
a grand physique, and he does not know fear. He rose
from his chair, grasped the straps, and in a twinkling
they were torn from the bully's shoulders.
" I'll make short work of them," he said. He threw
the feUow into a chair, and ordered his arrest.
" You are not yet mustered into the service of the
United States, sir, and for the present you are under
the authority of the State of New York," he said. The
bully was conquered.
The disbursements of the quartermaster's depart-

372 CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
ment in New York during Governor Morgan's admin
istration amounted to many miUions, but General
Arthur's accounts were kept in the most methodical
manner, and, in his settlement with the United States,
his was the first of aU to be settled. It is a remark
able fact, and one which reflects the highest honor on
General Arthur, that whUe the accounts of some of
the States were reduced by miUions, his was not cut
down a single dollar !
On the 20th of November, 1871, he was appointed
by President Grant to succeed Thomas Murphy as
CoUector of the Port of New York. When his term
of four years had expired, he was reappointed ; and the
Senate, by unanimous vote, confirmed the appointment
without reference to a committee, — a high and unusual
compHment, which evidenced a keen appreciation of his
ability and faithfulness in office.
President Hayes, upon his election to the Presidency,
inaugurated, or attempted to inaugurate, civil service
reform. He wished especiall}'- to bring about a new
order of things in the New York custom-house. Gen
eral Arthur refused to carry out the programme made
out for him, and was removed. Two special commit
tees were appointed to look into his administration of
affairs, but found nothing against him ; and President
Hayes and Secretary Sherman, in ¦ announcing the
change, bore public and official testimony to .his per
sonal integrity.
General Arthur is in the full vigor of manhood,
urbane and gentlemanly in his intercourse with men.
Death has robbed him of an accomplished' wife, the

CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 373
daughter of Captain Herndon, who was lost in one
of the Pacific mail steamers, that foundered at sea a
few years ago. He has two children.
Attaining his majority at a time when slavery was
making its aggressions, he espoused the cause of lib
erty, gave himself heart and soul to the maintenance
of the rights of a despised race, and on all questions
relating to human progress, is as unswerving as the
star of the north from its place in the heavens. Not
a word of calumny has ever been breathed against
him. He is honored and respected by all who know
him, irrespective of party.

374

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

XXXIL
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
THE Whig National Convention of 1852, ruled by
the slave power, rejected Daniel Webster and
nominated General Winfield Scott for the Presidency,
giving precedence to the soldier who knew nothing
of civil matters, thus ignoring the statesman most ca
pable of guiding the affairs of state. Heartsick and
sore, Daniel Webster sat beneath the elms of. Marsh-
field during the waning October days, the sere and
yellow leaves faUing around him, and the shadow of
death stealing upon him.
" After November next," he said to a friend, " the
Whig party will live only in history."
The election was held. General Scott suffered an
ignominious defeat, and the great party disappeared.
The time had come for it to die ; and the time had
come also for the advent of a party, which should be in
harmony with the spirit of the age ; which in the bloom
and vigor of its youth should grapple with gigantic
wrong, stand forth before the wondering nations as the
champion of human rights, and by its victories give a
mighty uplift to civUization. Its triumphs have not
been for the nation alone, but for all mankind. No

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

375

other party in this or any other land has ever accom
plished so much.
The Republican party came upon the field, bearing
the banner of the ages. The barons of England flung
it to the breeze in the green meadows of Runnymede
— The Rights of Man, its inscription. Cromwell bore it
in triumph amid the carnage of Marston Moor. Winkle-
reid waved it above the eternal snow of the Alps.
The Mayflower bore it at her mast-head across the
Atlantic. Prescott, Putnam, and Stark planted it on
Bunker HiU, and the men of the Revolution carried it
in triumph at Bennington, Saratoga, and Yorktown.
The Republican party bore it up the heights of Donel
son, and upon a hundred fields drenched with blood
during the greatest civil war of all time. It was the
Republican party that stood upon the rocky ridge of
Gettysburg, where centuries of destiny were com
pressed into minutes. At that time the Democratic
party was proclaiming to the world that the war was
a failure, that there never could be peace without sep
aration. During those moments the slave power, backed
by the Democratic party, was organizing riots in
New York, hanging negroes, resisting the draft In
Indiana the Democratic party was organizing the Or
der of the Golden Circle, with its pass-words and
signs, to overthrow and defeat the government The
Republican party put down the gigantic rebellion,
north and south, announcing to the monarchies of the
Old World, sympathizing with the Rebellion, that
thenceforth the American people were a Nation and
not a Confederacy. They gave their bravest and best

376 THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
— pouring out the precious wine of life till all resist
ance was crushed out on the field of Appomattax.
Then four millions of the human race rose from theif
centuries of enslavement and became citizens of the
Republic, shouting hallelujah to Almighty God, and
hailing the Republican party as their deliverer.
The war ended, the Republican party entered upon
its great work of reconstruction, restoring states, ex
hibiting a leniency unparalleled in history, rewarding
its soldiers, paying debts, re-enfranchising rebels. Its
work is not yet fully accomplished, nor will it be, till
every citizen, without distinction of race, lineage, color,
or previous condition, shall be in the full possession of
all his rights, and the equal of every other man before
the law.
Ideas are eternal. Nations rise and fall, but ideas
Jive on forever. Liberty, truth, justice, right, can never
perish. Liberty knows no defeats ; eternal youth is
hers. " Vital in every part » * *
Cannot but by annihilation die.''
James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur are
standard bearers of the party that has announced to
the world that this continent, from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, from the Lakes to the Gulf, is henceforth to be
under the stars and stripes, and forever consecrated
to liberty and the equal rights of every man. With
justice and right upon its banners the Republican
party takes up its march once more, keeping step, now
as in the past, to the music of the advancing ages, to
do its appointed work.

INDEX.

A.
Abbotts Creek, 130.
Adams, John Quincey, 96.
Advice to Young Men, 283.
Ames, Oakes, Mr., 318-325.
Arthur, Chester A., Chapter xxxi.
Ancestry, 13-16.
Anti-Slavery Society, 93.
Autumn, So. B.
Saird, General, 192, 201.
Ballou, Alpha, 22.
Ballou, Eliza, 22, 24, 25, 32.
Ballou, Henry, 22.
Ballou, James, 22, 24.
Ballou, Maturin, 21.
Banks, N. P., 247.
Banks, Failure of, 42.
Bates, Samuel D., 57, 348.
Bates, General, 19S.
Beauregard, General, 160.
Bethany College, 77.
Big Sandy Expedition, 129.
Blaine, J. G., 247, 321, 355.
Booth, Almeda A., 66-69, 89.
Bragg, Braxton, Chapters xvi.— xix.
Brough, John, 228.
Buchanan, George, in.
Buckner, General, 188.
Buell, D C, IIS, "7, 140.
Butler, B. F., 327. C.
Campbell, Alexander, 35.
Camp Chase, 115.
Cary, Samuel, 28.
Caucus, "King," 357.
Chadburn, Paul, 81, 82.
Cheatham, 190, 191.
Chicago Convention, 356.
Clayton, General, 198, 201.
Clemmer, Mary, 336.
Clinton, De Witt, 31.
Concord Battle, 16, 17.
Conkling, Roscoe, 247, 359.
Congressional Pay, 325.
Conventions, National, 358.
Copper Mining, 48.
Cox, J. D., 106.
Cranor, Colonel, 130, 131, 139.
Credit Mobilier, 317.
Crittenden, General, 117, 193, 195.
Culver, E.D., 358.

Barsie, J. L., 85.
Davis, General, 218.
De Golyer Contract, 329.
Democratic Conventions, 357.
Dennison, Governor, 114.
Disciple Church, 64.
Dutch Oven, 28.
Eclectic Institute, 69.
Edmunds, Senator, 361.
Eighteenth Brigade, 123.
Emancipation, 94.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 22a
Emigration to Ohio, 23.

Fairfax, Lord, 233.
Eaneuil Hall Speech, 289.
Port Donelson, 155.
Fort Henry, 151.
Forty-Second Regiment, 115.
Freedmen, 243. a.
Q-arfield, Abram, 20, 25, 28, 38, 339,
Garfield, Abraham, 18, 19.
Garfield, Benjamin, ,6.
Garfield Coat of Arms, 14.
Garfield, Edward, ts, 15, 16.
Garfield, Eliza Ballou, 36-40, 64.
Garfield, Harry A., 339.
Garfield, Irvin McDowell, 339.
Garfield, James A., Jr., 339.
Garfield, Mollie, 339.
Garfield, Mr., 89, 91, 337, 338.
Garfield, Solomon, 17, 22.
Garfield, James A.,
Birth, 32.
Boyhood, 41.
Planes Boards, 45.
Works in a Potashery, 45.
A Carpenter, 46.,
Wood Chopper, 46.
Farm Hand, 47.
Desires to be a Sailor, 47.
Works on the Canal, 48-51.
Fights wilh Dave, 52.
Returns Home, 54.
Turning Point in Life, 55.
Sickness, 55.
Masters the Spelling Book, 57.
Attends the Village School, 58.

377

378

INDEX,

Garfield, J.imes A. — coniintted.
Goes to Geauga Academy, 59.
Works in the Haying Field, 60,
Teaches his First School, 61.
Second Term at Geauga, 61.
Begins Study of Latin. 62.
Goes to the Eclectic Institute, 64.
Janitor at the Institute, 65.
Begins Geometry, 68.
Spends a Vacation Studying the Clas
sics, 70.
On the PI ay- Ground, 72.
Standing in the Classics, 75.
Why he Decided to go to Williams Col
lege, 78.
Contribution to the Willia^ns Quar
terly, 80.
Speech In Relation to the Outrage on
Charles Sumner, Si.
Graduate of Williams, 81.
President Chadboume's Statement of
his College Life, 82.
Elected President of Hiram, 83.
Letter to a Friend, 8^.
Letter from one of his Pupils, 86.
Becomes a Preacher, 90.
Takes up the Study of Law, 91,
Marriage, 92.
His Anti-Slavery Convictions, 96.
Elected to Ohio Senate, 105.
Repljr to Judge Key, loS.
Appointed Lieutenant- Col onei, 113.
Raises Soldiers, 115.
Ordered into Service, 115.
Meets General Buell, 116.
Appointed Commander of a Brigade,
116.
Plans Expedition against Humphrey
Marshall, 117.
Appointed Commander of the Big Sandy
Expedition, ii3.
Movement up the Big Sandy, 120.
Hardships of the Campaign, 124.
First Skirmish, 125.
Movement on Paintville, 126.
Battle of Middle Creek, 132,
Charge upon Humphrtiy Marshall, 13S.
Flight of the Enemy, 138.
Service as Steamboat Captain, 140.
Receives Thanks of General Bnell, 145.
Contrasted with McClellan, 146.
Joins General Buell, 158.
Appointed Commander of the 20th
Brigade, 158.
Arrives at Pittsburg Landing, 158.
Takes part. in the Corinth Campaign,
ISO.
Rebuilds Railroad Bridges, 164.
On the Sick List, 166.
Appointed to succeed General G. W.
Morgan, 167.
Member of Court-Martial for the Trial
of Fitz-John Porter, 167.
Appointed Chief-of Staff to Rosecrans,
x68.

Garfieldt James A. — coniintted.
Makes Report to Rosecrans refuting
Opinion of the Generals of Divis
ions, 112.
Plans the Tullahoma Campaign^ 175.
Plans the Chickamauga Campaign, 185.
Comprehends Bragg's Movements, 193,
Issues Orders during the Battle, 209.
Rides to General Thomas, 214.
Takes part in the Final Repulse ol
Bragg, 218.
His Despatch to Rosecrans, 218.
Appointed Major-General, 219.
Election to Congress, 222.
President Lincoln's Desires, 223.
Appointed ou Committees, ^223.
Reply to Mr. Long, 231,
Reply to Fernando Wood, 242.
Remarks relating to the Freedmen, 243.
Remarks on State Sovereignty, 245.
Tribute to General Rosecrans, 249.
Remarks on Abraham Lincoln, 258.
Address on Elements of Success, 263.
Address on Future of the Republic» 274.
Advice to Young Men, 283.
Address on the Finances, 289.
Election as Senator, 311.
Reception at Columbus, 312.
At Home, 332.
At Chestertown, Penn., 342.
At Chicago Convention, 360.
Garrison, William Lloyd, 32.
Geauga Academy, ^t,
Giddings, Joshua B., 95-102.
Golden Circle, 227, 375.
Granger, Gordon, 178, 214, 217, 218
Grant, General, 357. H.
Halleok, Henry W., 164, 165, 189, i9<^
Hardee, General, 161.
Harlow, Alonzo, 350.
Harris, Isham G., 231.
Harrison, General, 366.
Hayes, President, 372.
Hazen, Wm. B., 69, 114, 124.
Henry, Joseph, 32.
Herndon, Captain, 373,
Hinsdale, President, 354.
Hoar, George F., 355.
Hoar, John, 18.
Hood, General, 201, 203,211.
Hopkins. Mark, 77, 79, 90, 221.
Hudson College, 274.
Hurlburt, General, 174.
I.
Ingalls, Mehitabel, 22.
J.
Jennings, Lizzie, 369.
Johnston, Albert Sidney, 153
Johnson, B. R., 207.
Johnson, General, 201,
Johnston. J. E., 169.
Journal of Commerce, 369.

INDEX.

3751

K.

Key, Judge, io8. L.
Xiawnfield, 3:14, 335.
Xjee, Major, 205.
Xjee, Robert E., 233.
Iiemon, Jonathan, 368.
Lemon, Juliet, 368.
Xietcher, Amos, 48.
Liberator, 33.
^Lincoln, Abraham, 217, 228, 256, 290.
Literature, 40.
Long, Mr., 229.
Longstreet General, 208.
Lovejoy, E. P., 94.
Lowe, Robert, 245.
Lytle, General, 212, 213.
M
Macaulay, Lord, 279.
Madison. President, 357.
Marsliall, Humphrey, 119, 123, 137.
Marsh, Sylvester, 30.
Maydole, Mr. , 209.
McClellan, General, 146-148.
McClemand, General, 160.
McComb, Henry, 321.
McCook, General, 186-196.
McDowell, General, 152, 339.
McGoffin, Govemor, 153.
Middle Creek Battle, 137.
Mill Springs Battle, 154.
Monroe, Lieutenant-Colonel, 134.
Monroe, President, 337.
Monroe, Professor, 106.
Moore, Colonel, 116.
Morgan, E.D., 311.
Morgan, G. W., 167.
Miurfreesboro', 168, 333.
Murphy, Thomas, 372.
Ifashville, 156.
!N"egley, General, 190, 191, 193.
Hott, Eliphalet, 366. O.
Oberlin College, 106.
O'Conner, Mr, 368.
Olds, Adjutant, 132. P.
f aimer. General, 198.
Pardee, Major, 119.
Peace Measures, 107.
Pendleton, G. H., 286.
Pennsylvania Canal, 28.
Pittsburg Landing, 161.
Pillow. General, 151.
Pixley, Mr., 361.
Polk, General, 192, 204, 205.
Polk, James K., 366.
Preston, General, 201.

Reid, Whitelaw, 162.
Eepublican Party, 374.
Kevere, Paul, 17.
Heynolds, General, 198, 202, 211.
Bight to Rule, 112.
Eockwell, Judge, 370.
Rosecrans, chapters xv., xvi., xvii.,
XVlll .. XX.
RusseU, W. H., 256.
Ryder, J. F., 271. S-
Seminole Indians, 96.
Sewall, Samuel E., 93.
Schoepf, General, 154.
Sheldan, Lieutenant-Colonel, 13a.
Sheridan, General, 202.
Sherman, John, 359.
Shiloh Church, 161.
Slavery,' 32, 95, 96, 98.
Stanley, General, 187.
State Sovereignty, 245.
Steamboat Incident, 142.
Stevens, Thaddeus, 247.
Stephens, Alexander H., 113.
Stewart, General, 198.
Stone River Battle, 168.
T.
Taylor, Dorcas, 67.
Temperance Reformation, 34.
Thomas, G. H., chapters xiv., xv., xvi.,
xvii., xviii.
Train, George F., 319, 320.
Translation Society, 70.
V.
Vallandigham, 227, 234.
Van Buren, Martin, 366.
Van Cleve, chapters xvi., xvii, xviii.,
•w.
Walker, General, 197.
Wallace, W. H. L., 160.
Wallace, Lewis, 160.
Washburne, E. B., 231, 247, 361.
west Virginia Delegates, 360.
Wilder, Qeneral, 189.
Williams College, chapter vii.
Wilson, Billy, 371.
Windom, William, 361.
Wirt, William, 357.
Wood, Fernando, 242.
Wood, T. J., 158, 211.

Young, Mr., 360. Z.
Zollicoffer, General, 141.

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