ABRAHAM LINCOLN

AND

EDWIN M. STANTON

ADDRESS

DELIVERED BEFORE BURNSIDE POST, NO. 8

DEPARTMENT OF THE POTOMAC, G. A. R. APRIL 25, 1889

BY

COMRADE THOMAS M. VINCENT

Assistant Adjutant General, and Brigadier General by Brevet, U. S. A.

TARRYTOWN, NEW YORK

REPRINTED

WILLIAM ABBATT

1917 Being Extra Number 61 of THE MAGAZINE OF HISTORY WITH NOTES AND QUERII

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND EDWIN M. STANTON

Men are known by their works, and, therefore, in giving some attention this evening to events connected with Abraham Lincoln and Edwin M. Stanton, it will not be out of place to refer to some of their great labors from 1861 to 1865.

George Bancroft, on a most memorable occasion, after refer ring to the prediction of a West Jersey Quaker, 120 years before, that the consequence of importing slaves would "be grievous to posterity," and the language of Patrick Henry, in 1773, that a seri ous view of the subject "gives a gloomy prospect to future times," continued by quoting, in connection with efforts for emancipation and abolition, words of despair from Washington, Jefferson, Madi son, and others, and recited how the enslavement of the African resulted in a storm, adding:

"The storm rose to a whirlwind; who should allay its wrath? The most experienced states man of the country had failed; there was no hope from those who were great in the flesh; could relief come from one whose wisdom was like the wisdom of little children?

"The choice of America fell on a man born west of the Alleghenies, in the cabin of poor people of Hardin County, Kentucky — Abraham Lincoln."

As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy he was soon confronted with civil war, and recognized the aphorism:

"The sole object of a just war is to make the enemy feel the evils of his injustice, and, by his sufferings, amend his ways; he must, therefore, be attacked in the most accessible quarter."

But in April, 1861, the Government of the United States was, for the purpose of war, paralyzed. It had not, practically, an army to maintain its authority, and was far from being able to at tack the "accessible quarter" of an internal enemy, in conspiracy over an area of 733,144 square miles, connected with a shore line of 25,144 miles; a coast line of 3,523 miles, and an interior boundary of 7,031 miles.

Had the people of the United States, through Congress, been more thoughtful concerning the object of, and necessity for, the

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perpetuity of our popular government, and to redress wrongs al ready long enough endured. The President deemed it proper to add that the first service of the forces would, probably, be to re possess the forts, places and property which had been seized from the Union, and directed that in every event, consistently with the objects he had referred to, care should be taken to avoid any devas tation, any destruction of, or interference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country.

When the President took this first decided action against the rebellion, the danger threatening the seat of government will be indicated by the following:

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,

GENERAL ORDERS, WASHINGTON, April 26, 1861.

No. 4.

I. From the known assemblage near this city of numerous hostile bodies of troops, it is evident that an attack upon it may soon be expected. In such an event, to meet and repel the enemy, it is necessary that some plan of harmonious co-operation should be adopted on the part of all the forces, regular or volunteer, present for the defense of the Capital — that is, for the defense of the Government, the peaceful inhabitants of the city, their property, the public buildings and public archives.

II. At the first moment of an attack every regiment, battalion, squadron and indepen dent company will promptly assemble at its established rendezvous, (in or out of the public buildings,) ready for battle, and wait for orders.

III. The piquets (or advanced guards) will stand fast till driven in by overwhelming forces; but it is expected that those stationed to defend bridges — having every advantage of position — will not give way till actually pushed by the bayonet. Such obstinacy on the part of piquets so stationed is absolutely necessary to give time for the troops in the rear to assem ble at their places of rendezvous.

IV. All advance guards and piquets driven in wrill fall back slowly to delay the advance of the enemy as much as possible, before repairing -to their proper rendezvous.

V. On the happening of an attack, the troops lodged in the public buildings and in the Navy Yard will remain for their defense, respectively, unless specially ordered elsewhere, with the exceptions that the 7th New York regiment and the Massachusetts regiment will march rapidly towards the President's Square for its defense; and the Rhode Island regiment (in the Department of the Interior) when full, will make a diversion, by detachment, to assist in the

defense of the General Post Office building, if necessary.

WINFIELD SCOTT.

May 3d the President deemed it indispensably necessary to further augment the forces by 42,034 three-year volunteers, (39 regiments of infantry, and 1 of cavalry,) and 22,714 officers and

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enlisted men, regulars, (8 regiments of infantry, 1 of cavalry, and 1 of artillery,) thus making the forces, exclusive of the Navy, au thorized for the protection of the National Constitution and the preservation of the National Union by the suppression of the in surrectionary combinations then existing, as follows:

Regular army, (January 1, 1861,) 16,402

Militia, (April 15, 1861,) 75,000

Regulars and volunteers, (May 3, 1861.) 64,748

Total, 156,150

The call for militia was more than met; 91,816 men were fur nished, and the call for 40 regiments of volunteers was exceeded — 71 regiments of infantry, 1 of heavy artillery, and 10 batteries of light artillery, were accepted and mustered into service before July 1st.

In July the magnitude of the unlawful violence had fully dawn ed, and it was clearly apparent that the measures authorized for the impartial enforcement of constitutional laws, and for the speedy restoration of peace and order, had failed. Congress assembled and authorized the President to accept 500,000 volunteers, for three years of the war. Subsequently extended latitude, as to the acceptance, was conferred in that "previous proclamation" was done away with, and the volunteers were authorized to be accepted in such numbers, from any State or States, as in his (the President's) discretion the public service might require.

January 15, 1862, Edwin M. Stanton became Secretary of War, and through his stimulus the recruitment was so energetically pressed by the people that, April 3d, 1862, the forces were deemed sufficient to overcome the rebellion. At this time, had any one said it would require 2,678,697 enlistments, from first to last, and an increase of the volunteer forces, in service at one time, to 1,034, 064, in order that armed resistance to the Government might be overthrown, the assertion would have been considered as marking insanity. It will be recalled that early in 1861, an officer, with

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fame now world-wide, urged the calling out of 300,000 men, and more than one person alleged him to be under a visitation of in sanity — a subject fit for the institution having for its object "the most humane care and enlightened curative treatment of the in sane of the army." And when Simon Cameron advised that 500,- 000 men should be raised, the people laughed and thought he was mad.

June 28th the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Minne sota, Illinois and Wisconsin — also the President of the Military Board of Kentucky — requested the President to call upon the sev eral States for such number of men as might be required to fill up all organizations in the field, and to add to the armies then organiz ed. The request was based on a desire that the recent successes of the Federal Armies might be followed by measures which would secure the speedy restoration of the Union, and the belief, in view of the important military movements then in progress, that the time had arrived for prompt and vigorous measures, thus to speedi ly crush the rebellion. The decisive moment seemed near at hand, and the people were desirous to aid, promptly, in furnishing all needful reinforcements to sustain the Government.

The President concurred in the wisdom of the views expressed in the request, and, July 2d, called for 300,000 men for three years. This call for volunteers was, August 4th, supplemented by one through a draft for 300,000 militia, for nine months' service.

January 1, 1863, the volunteer forces numbered 892,728; Janu ary 1, 1864, that number had been reduced to 836,101; but on January 1, 1865, it had been increased to 937,441, and on May 1, to 1,034,064.

February 24, 1864, by act of Congress approved that date, the President was authorized, whenever he deemed it necessary

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during the war, to call for such number of men for the military ser vice of the United States as the public exigencies might require. It established the will of the President as the authority for raising troops, and conferred a delicate and mighty power. That expres sed confidence in the President was a sound rebuke to those who, not much more than one year before, had in contemplation to im peach and remove him from office.

From first to last 2,678,967 men were furnished, and organized into 1,668 regiments, 21 battalions and 504 independent companies of infantry; 232 regiments, 9 battalions and 122 independent com panies of cavalry; and 52 regiments, 6 battalions and 274 companies of artillery.

The constant addition to the forces, of new regiments, proved a great element of weakness to the armies. As a great evil, it may here be referred to.

Under every call, the first act of Governors of States was to ask for authority to raise new regiments. The desire of the War Department was to secure recruits for old regiments, and thus maintain their organizations. The Secretary of War, in order to a determined stand, secured in December, 1864, the views of the General-in-Chief and army commanders. All were in support of the opinion of the Secretary relative to the necessity of recruits for old regiments, but the pressure of the States caused all, as on former occasions, to yield, and 56 new regiments and 129 new inde pendent companies, under the call of December 18, 1864, were added to the list of organizations in service, in addition to 77 new regiments and 98 companies under the call of July 18, 1864. All this at a time when the Army of the Potomac, alone, required 80, 000 recruits to fill its organizations to the maximum — some 400,000 would have been necessary for all the armies — and when experi enced and gallant Lieutenant-Colonels and other regimental offi cers, bearing the wounds of many battles, could not receive pro motion owing to the depleted state of their commands. The sub-

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ject was pointedly referred to by the commander of one of the armies as follows:

"The raising of new regiments is a means desired to fill the quota and avoid the draft.

There is no intention ,1 suppose, that these new regiments should serve the United States, and their Colonels will hardly come into contact with the army. Still, if it be the intention to put these new regiments into the field, where their Colonels would have command of older and better regimental commanders, it is a question for the War Department to determine, and not mine. I must take troops as they come to me, and respect the commissions they hold."

There is a record of the increase, on one occasion, of the Army of France from 200,000 to 400,000 in two months' time, and had it been thought proper to inaugurate a vast system of defense, the number, it has been said, could have been raised to 700,000 in four months — this under the influence of extraordinary expedients; and the exertion was considered an evidence of the great energy and genius of Napoleon, as well as the military spirit of the French Na tion.

Marvellous results have been achieved by the United States, as exemplified by what has been recorded in the foregoing, in con nection with the following summary:

In two and one-half months in 1861, we find an average of almost 100,000 men per month placed in service; and during five months the average was 94,061 — this without the aid of extra ordinary expedients and in the face of great difficulties in army clothing and equipping.

At this early period of the war the difficulties, in arming, clothing and equipping, were so great that the services of thou sands were declined. Could arms, clothing, and equippage have been secured, it is safe to say that 1,000,000 of men could have been placed in service within five months.

Lincoln's adopted State, Illinois, under the calls of July 2d and August 4th, 1862, placed in service 58,689 men. Of that num ber over 50,000 — from the farmers and mechanics of the State — were furnished within eleven days.

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"Animated by a common purpose, and firmly resolved on rescuing the Government * * (they) left their harvests un- gathered, their tools on their benches, the plows in the furrows;" thus making a proud record, without a parallel in the history of the war.

Under the calls of July 2d and August 4th, 1862, there were, prior to November 21st of that year, sent into the field;

289 regiments of infantry, for 3 years; 58 regiments of infantry, for 9 months; 34 batteries of artillery, for 3 years; 42 companies of cavalry, for 3 years; and 36 companies of cavalry for 9 months.

Also 50,000 recruits for old three years' regiments — a grand aggregate of 370,349 men; an average of about 82,211 per month.

Under the proposition (accepted by the President April 23d, 1864,) of the Governors of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Wis consin, to furnish 85,000 one-hundred-day troops, the Governor of Stanton's native State, Ohio, in response to the War Depart ment call of May 1st, ordered the contribution of the State to ren dezvous in the various counties, at the most eligible places, on the 2d day of May. Seven and one-half o'clock p. M., the same date, reports recited 38,000 men in camp. In twelve days 36,254 men were organized into 41 regiments and 1 battalion, mustered, cloth ed, armed, equipped, and ready for transportation to the field. On the 24th of May, £# days from the date of rendezvous, the 42 regiments embracing the force were in active service.

Here it will be of interest to remember that from April 15, 1861, to April 28, 1865, a period of about 48 consecutive months, there was supplied a monthly average, for the Union and Confederate armies, of 75,000 men, a large army in itself. Considering the in crease in the population of the United States since the rebellion, a sound and instructive deduction can be made relative to the present military power of our now united country.

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DISBANDMENT

The orders for musters-out, issued on and subsequent to April 29, 1865, brought gladness to many hearts, and the gallant men who had, after a vast sacrifice of life and health, caused peace to dawn, were anxious to pass from the army to civil life, which they did "so quietly that it was scarcely known save by the welcome to their homes."

The soldiers and the people were tired of war. For with truth has it been said, that "in six hundred and twenty -five battles and severe skirmishes blood flowed like water. It streamed over the grassy plains; it stained the rocks; the undergrowth of the forest was red with it; and the armies marched on with majestic courage from one conflict to another, knowing that they wrere fighting for GOD and Liberty."

The rapidity with which the work of disbandment was exe cuted will be apparent from the fact that, to August 7th, 640, 806 troops had been mustered out; August #2d, 719,338; Septem ber 14th, 741,107; October 15th, 785,205; November 15th, 800,963; January 20th, 1866, 918,733; February 15th, 952,45$; March 10th, 967,887; May 1st, 986,782; June 30th, 1,010,670; November 1st, 1,023,021 — leaving then in service 11,043 volunteers, colored and white.

The command of Sherman (Army of the Tennessee and Army of Georgia) and the Army of the Potomac were the first to com plete their musters-out, entirely. Regiments commenced leav ing Sherman's command, then numbering, present and absent, 116,183 officers and men, from the rendezvous, near Washington on the 29th of May, and on the 1st of August the last one of the regiments mustered out left Louisville, Kentucky, to which point the command (after the musters out therefrom were partly com pleted) was transferred, and the armies composing it merged into one, the Army of the Tennessee. The work of mustering out the

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troops was not continuous — it was interrupted and delayed by the transfer of the two armies from Washington to Louisville, and their subsequent consolidation.

Regiments commenced leaving the Army of the Potomac (numbering, including the 9th Corps, 161,851 officers and men, present and absent) from the rendezvous near Washington on the 29th of May, and about six weeks thereafter (July 19th) the last regiment started for home. During the interval, the work, like that of Sherman's command, was not continuous. It was inter rupted and delayed by the movement of the 6th Corps from Dan ville, Virginia, to Washington, and the consolidation, by orders of June #8th, of the remaining portion of the army into a provisional corps, numbering present and absent, 22,699 officers and men.

Thus, for the two commands in question, and between the 29th of May and the 1st of August (two months) 279,034 officers and men, present and absent, were mustered out and placed en route to their homes.

Including the other armies and departments, the number was increased by August 7th (two months and seven days) to 640,806 officers and men.

Had it been possible to spare all the volunteers, the entire number, 1,034,064 could easily have been disbanded and returned to their homes within three months from the date (May 29th, 1865,) the movement homeward commenced.

In Macaulay's England, we find the following relative to the disbandment of Cromwell's army:

"The troops were now to be disbanded. Fifty thousand men accustomed to the profession of arms were at once thrown on the world; and experience seemed to warrant the belief that this change would produce much misery and crime, that the discharged veterans would be seen begging in every street, or would be driven by hunger to pillage. But no such result followed. In a few months there remained not a trace indicating that the most formidable army in the world had just been absorbed into the mass of the community. The royalists themselves con fessed that in every department of honest industry the discharged warriors prospered beyond

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other men, and that none was charged with any theft or robbery, that none was heard to ask an alms, and that, if a baker, a mason, or a wagoner, attracted notice by his diligence and so briety, he was in all probability one of Oliver's old soldiers."

A greater eulogy was won by the magnificent volunteer army of the United States, aggregating more than 1,000,000 men, a force more than twenty times the size of that referred to by the English historian.

When the time for disbandment had arrived, Governors of States and other distinguished men — all having deeply at heart the good of the country — were apprehensive that so great a force, suddenly released from military restraint and employment would create disturbance throughout the country. The Secretary of War was requested to provide troops to maintain order. He did not view the fears of others as well founded, and made reply, in substance; that if we could not trust the soldiers who had subdued the rebellion, we might as well yield the life of the republic. He acted in accordance with his views, and beyond sending troops to take care of the depots wherein was stored the public property, turned over by the volunteers to the respective supply departments, precautions against disturbance were not taken.

MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS LONG DISTANCES WITHIN SHORT PERIODS OF TIME

1. The transfer in 1863, by rail, of the 12th Army Corps, the command aggregating 23,000 men — accompanied by its artil lery, trains, animals, and baggage — from the Rapidan, in Virginia, to Stevenson in Alabama, a distance of 1,192 miles in seven days, crossing the Ohio river twice.

2. The transfer of the 23d Army Corps, 15,000 strong, with its artillery, trains animals and baggage, from Clifton, Tennessee, via the Tennessee and Ohio rivers, and Baltimore and Ohio Rail road, to the Potomac, in eleven days — distance 1,400 miles. This movement commenced January 15th, 1865, within five days after

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the movement had been determined upon in Washington. It was continued by water, to North Carolina, where, early in February, Wilmington was captured. March 22d, when the right wing of Sherman's army reached Goldsboro, it found there the corps, which a short time prior had been encamped on the Tennessee.

The movement was much impeded by severe weather — rivers were blocked with ice, and railroads rendered hazardous by frost and snow.

3. The transfer, by water, of the 16th Army Corps, from Eastport, Tennessee to New Orleans. The entire command, in cluding a brigade of Artillery and a division of Cavalry, consisted of 17,314 men; 1,038 horses; 2,731 mules; 351 wagons, and 83 am bulances. Three days were required to embark it on 40 steamers. The fleet sailed on the 9th of February, 1865, and the command ar rived at New Orleans on the 23d — a distance of 1,330 miles in 13 days.

4. The transfer, by sea, from City Point, Virginia, to Texas, of the 25th Army Corps, 25,000 strong, with its artillery, ammuni tion, ambulances, wagons, harness, subsistence, and 2,000 horses and mules.

The embarkation took place between May 26th and June 17th, 1865 and the debarkation, at Brazos Santiago, between June 13th and 26th. The movement required a fleet of 57 ocean steamers; entire tonnage — 56,987 tons. All of the veseels were provided for a 12 days' voyage — 947 tons of coal and 50,000 gallons of water were consumed daily.

While this expedition was afloat, other movements by sea, in steam transports, aggregated more than 10,000 men, inclusive of 3,000 Confederate prisoners sent from Point Lookout to Mobile. Therefore there were more than 35,000 troops and prisoners afloat on the ocean at the same time.

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5. From November 1st, 1863, to October 31st, 1864— one year — 626,126 men were forwarded to the field, and 268,114 were returned to their homes on furlough and for discharge; making the aggregate of the movements 887,240 — embracing independently of recruits, 495 regiments and 119 batteries and companies. The following year the aggregate was 1,064,080, distributed to 1,126, regiments, 241 batteries and 369 companies.

SUPPLYING THE ARMIES

The Army of Sherman — embracing 100,000 men and 60,000 animals was furnished with supplies from a base three hundred and sixty (360) miles distant, by one single-track railroad, located mainly in the country of an active enemy. The effort taxed and measured forethought, energy, patience and watchfulness, and is a most instructive lesson. The line was maintained for months, until Atlanta was secured, and supplies for a new campaign had been placed there.

The army then moved southeast, through Georgia, accom panied by thousands of beef cattle, and trains embracing 3,000 wagons filled with war supplies and material.

After the capture of Savannah, the command was promptly met at that place by a great fleet, conveying clothing, tentage, subsistence for soldiers and animals, wagons, harness, ammuni tion, and all else necessary for the march or in camp.

The necessary supplies were again in readiness at Kinston and Goldsboro, through the agency of railroads constructed to those places from Wilmington and Morehead City — each of the two roads being 95 miles in length.

While the foregoing was being accomplished, other large ar mies in the east and west, were as promptly and energetically sup plied in all their wants.

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During the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1865, the demands for water transportation alone, required a fleet of 719 vessels, (351 steamers, 111 steam tugs, 89 sail vessels, 168 barges.)

MILITARY RAILROADS

The President, by the act of January 1st, 1862, (General Or der No. 10, Adjutant General's Office of that year,) was authorized to take military possession of all the railroads in the United States; but it was not found necessary to exercise the authority over any of the roads outside the limits of the insurgent States.

"The military railroad organization, (under a Director and General Manager — funds for its support being supplied by the Quartermaster's Department,) was designed to be a great con struction and transportation machine for carrying out the objects of the commanding generals, so far as it was adapted to the purpose, and it was managed solely with a view to efficacy in that direction. It was the duty of the Quartermaster's Department to load all the material upon the cars, to direct where such material should be taken, and to whom delivered. It then be came the province of the railroad department to comply with said order in the shortest prac ticable time, and to perfect such arrangements as would enable it to keep the lines in repair under any and all circumstances."

Among the wonders connected with military railroad construc tion were:

The Chattahoochee bridge, seven hundred and eighty (780) feet long and ninety-two (92) feet high, which was completely built in 4;Hi> days by 600 men.

The Etowah bridge, six hundred and twenty-five (625) feet long, seventy-five (75) feet high, was burned, and rebuilt by the labor of six hundred (600) men of the construction corps in six (6) days.

In October, 1864, Hood's army reached the rear of Sherman's forces, first at Big Shanty, afterwards north of Resaca, destroying, in the aggregate, 35 Y^ miles of track and 455 lineal feet of bridges. 25 miles of track and 230 feet of bridges were reconstructed and trains were run over the distance in 7^ days. In 13 days after Hood left the line trains were running over the entire length.

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Numerous other wonderful efforts are of record, but the fore going are sufficient to illustrate the speed with which the construc tion corps operated. Commanders had such confidence in it that, in advancing, they were confident that the railroads in their rear would not fail to meet the wants of their commands. This confi dence was most important in connection with lines of operations lengthened in depth, and resulted from the knowledge that "none of the humanly possible precautions for basing" an army had been neglected.

OTHER LOGISTICAL MEASURES — INDICATING THE SCIENCE

OF THE STAFF

The Adjutant General's Department and the Bureau of the Provost Marshal- General had to do with supplying men for the armies; the results, in part, involving the personnel, have been made apparent from what has been recited. The former, in addi tion, was charged, during the entire war, with the organization and disbandment of the forces.

The recruitment of white volunteers was under the exclusive control of the Adjutant's General's Department from the first call for troops until May, 1863, when it was placed under the Provost Marshal General, to whom, by law, was confided the enrollment and draft, and thereby the entire recruiting service for white troops was placed under one head, and a great reduction made in the ex penses of recruitment, through the more rigid control secured by the enrollment act.

The Adjutant General's Department had charge of the re cruitment of colored troops, and the re-enlistment of the veteran volunteers in the field. The plan for the recruitment of the 126,000 veterans, who received the thanks of Congress, was devised and prepared by the Provost Marshal General, and relative thereto Stan ton has said: "I know of no operation connected with the re-

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cruitment of the army which has resulted in more advantage to the service than the one referred to."

The Departments of the Adjutant General and Provost Mar shal General recruited, respectively, 1,515,264, and 1,120,621 men.

Involving the material, through the supply departments, we find that during the whole war, there was no failure of operations through lack of transportation or the supplies required of the Quar termaster's Department. Its vast and varied stores had not only to be ready at numerous and widely extended points, when needed, but it had to transport to all points, there to be in readiness at the proper time, the extensive quantities of provisions, medical and hospital stores, arms and ammunition provided by the other supply departments.

The Army mule, for the purposes of the draft behaved nobly, and bore the conscription without being able to express a desire to furnish a substitute. On his roll of honor we find 450,000 serv ing in the various armies. 650,000 horses joined the ranks; and the third year of the war the field armies required for the cavalry, artillery and trains, one-half as many animals as there were soldiers.

As the mules and horses had, as a general thing, to labor away from water and rail lines they gave but little attention to the me chanical manoeuvres of 719 steam and sail vessels in service at one time during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1865, and the 419 en gines and 6,330 cars employed during the war.

The soldier necessarily preferred the mail for his correspond ence; he did not confine himself to a single line, and, as a result, the 1,000,000,000 telegrams transmitted by the military telegraph were mostly on official business.

Good and wholesome rations were uniformly supplied by the subsistence department, and there was not a campaign, expedition or movement that failed on account of the inability of the depart-

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ment to meet all proper requirements. It is true that, generally, the bread was rather hard, yet, nevertheless, it was tackled and free ly consumed.

The Medical Department made ample provisions for the sick and wounded from the first. Aside from the vast accommodations elsewhere, Sherman's army found at Savannah four first-class sea steamers, complete in all respects as hospital transports, with ex tra supplies for 5,000 beds, had it been necessary to establish large hospitals on his line of operations. Complaint was never made as to a shortage of medicine; generally it was found that the supply exceeded any demand based on the soldiers' taste.

The Government had an abundance of money wherewith to meet its sacred obligations, and the Pay Department kept its pledge "to make prompt payments in the shortest practicable time."

When the war commenced the Government was forced to ob tain from foreign countries almost the entire supply of arms and ammunitions, but in 1863 the Ordnance Department became inde pendent through home resources, both for the manufactured arti cles and the material composing them.

Aside from contributing to the command of armies, the officers of the Corps of Engineers were charged with important labors in connection with the defenses of Washington and other places; the reconnoissance of positions held by the enemy; thei nvestment of cities and towns; the fortifying of important points on railroads; the construction of offensive and defensive fortifications necessary to the march of large armies; the manoeuvring of pontoon trains; surveys for the armies in the field, and the seacoast and lake de fenses.

The ability and efficiency of its officers were notably illustrated in the construction of the pontoon bridge (exclusive of 200 feet of trestle work) over 2,000 feet long — the main part in deep water, in some places 85 feet — across the James River above Fort Powha-

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tan, by 450 men in five hours, between 5 and 10 o'clock p. M., June 15, 1864. Over this single structure passed — mainly in forty hours — the army, about 100,000 men under Grant, with cavalry, artillery and infantry, and trains embracing about 5,000 wagons, besides 3,000 beef cattle, without an accident to an individual man or animal. This movement, one of the most important on record, took place during the fifth epoch of the grand campaign, from the Rapidan to the James, which opened May 4th, 1864.

The passage, in all its attending circumstances, may well stand forth brilliantly. If it does not surpass, it will compare favorably with the passage of the Danube, before Wagram, by 150,000 of Napoleon's forces, through the agency of three bridges — in all 1,360 feet — thrown over an arm of that river 140 yards wide.

The Signal Service was particularly valuable in observing and reporting the changes and movements of the enemy, and connect ing the army and navy when employed in combined operations, thus enabling the two branches of the service to act as a unit. Oftentimes the services were of vital importance by furnishing in formation that could not have been had otherwise, notably as re ferred to by Sherman, as follows:

"When the enemy had cut our wires and actually made lodgment on our railroad about Big Shanty, the signal officers on Vining's Hill, Kenesaw, and Altoona, sent my orders to Gen eral Corse, at Rome, whereby General Corse was enabled to reach Altoona just in time to de fend it. Had it not been for the services of this corps on that occasion, I am satisfied we should have lost the garrison at Altoona, and a most valuable depository of provisions there, which was worth to us more than the aggregate expense of the whole signal corps for one year."

Again, the late Brigadier General Myer, as Chief Signal Offi cer, has said:

"The officers of the Signal Corps opened the first direct communication from the Upper to the Lower Mississippi, when Rear Admiral Farragut, running past the batteries of Port Hudson, found himself, after the perilous passage, cut off above that fortress from the vessels of his fleet which could not follow him, and were lying in the stream below.

There is not, perhaps on record a feat of aerial telegraphy such as that thus and then performed, when from the topmast of the flagship of the Admiral, lying above the fort, mes sages were regularly transmitted past the guns of the fortress to a station on the mast-top of the war vessel Richmond, five or six miles below."

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STANTON

It has been said that Stanton dominated the President to the extent of disregarding orders and instructions. While he ever readily considered Stanton's advice, I had frequent opportunities of observing that the President was the controlling power, — the master as was his wont to say. I well remember an order given at one time which the Secretary deemed based upon misconception. I was instructed to take the case to the President and invite his consideration to its prominent points. On reaching the Executive Mansion I found the President in the reception room surrounded by a large number of persons. He immediately recognized me, stepped forward and conducted me into the most retired corner of the room. After I had stated the object of my visit, he said: "Stanton is careful and may be right. I was very busy when I examined the case, but I will take the papers, re-examine, and by four o'clock this afternoon send them by messenger to your office." Before the hour indicated, the papers were in my hands. The President had revoked his order and affirmed the decision of the Secretary. The case is illustrative of the official relations between the two great men.

The allegation that Stanton's death was the result of a self- inflicted wound is refuted, abundantly, by the letter from Surgeon- General Barnes, dated April 16, 1879, to the editor of the Philadel phia Press', but I may here state that after Stanton's death I often saw his body, and, frequently, was very near it, and I remained at the house for the main portion of the night preceding the inter ment of the remains; consequently I was in a position to have no ticed self-inflicted injury had there been any.

To a private soldier I have known him to give audience when his leisure was so pressed as to cause an interview with officers of high rank to be refused, and yet the warmth of his heart, as attested by the War Department records, was found going out at all times, through measures calculated to enhance the comfort and protect

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the interests of the members — officers and men — of the armies of the Union.

His devotion to the public welfare was such as to find him at his desk, not only during the day, but at night until near the dawn — not satisfied to go to his home for needed rest until the most that could be had been accomplished. And when really ill during many nights of prolonged labor, a devoted and entreating wife, who had come in the hours of morning to accompany him from his office, often failed to break the vigil devoted to the public interest.

Often, at midnight, I have found myself with important papers before him for consideration, the labors of the day having so pres sed him as to prevent his necessary action during the usual hours of duty; and on more than one occasion did he fall asleep before I had finished, so great was his fatigue.

The great strain eventually did its work, and at times he had, from illness, to remain at his house. On one of these occasions his old-time friend, Governor Brough, of Ohio, telegraphed to me to know Mr. Stanton's condition. I went to his house, and, after reading the telegram, he said he would answer it himself, and at tempted to do so; but his great strength had so far weakened that he could not wield the pen, and, with tremulous voice and tearful eyes, he bade me make the necessary reply.

Endowed with greatness of intellect, coupled with superhuman energy and industry, he was eminently gifted in dispatching public affairs. While strictly honest, he was so blindly devoted to the cause of the Union, and so rigid in the view, that self-preservation was paramount to all other considerations, that before him justice, at times, seemed powrerless, and personal rights passed for trifles.

But in spite of elements of his character which stand not ap proved, he stood well forward as to "that impersonal life which is the fullest definition, as well as the truest test, alike of goodness and greatness," and his great ability and the force of his will made

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him eminently successful in the high office of War Minister when treason and rebellion were abroad. It has been well said that his training, as an advocate, so strengthened his devotion to a cause when adopted, that even if he had not loved the cause of the Union he would have labored for it intensely because he was retained in it. With his qualifications and the delegation of almost unbounded military authority, he was the right arm of the Executive of the Nation "in smiting treason and rebellion and re-establishing the foundation of the Government."

His genius as a ruler and organizer, and ability to reach grand results with vigor and masterly skill, are found in the public ar chives, endurably recorded.

Cameron said of Stanton in June 1878: "He was a great, big, brave, loyal man; perhaps too harsh and quick-tempered in his treatment of those around him, but nevertheless, a thoroughly good and well-meaning man. He had terrible responsibilities which at times cause him to be exacting almost to the very verge of injustice, but I am sure that he always intended to do right, and there is no doubt he was in every way the man best fitted for the place in the Government which he was called upon to fill. He was a man of wonderful strength, not only of mind but of body, yet even he gave way under the constant, the never-ending strain which was put upon all his faculties. His death was hastened, by, if not the direct result of, overwork in the War Department."

LINCOLN

It was a frequent thing for the President to visit my office, thus to obtain direct information. He was particularly interested in the success of the recruitment, and for his own convenience he per sonally tabulated the daily telegraphic reports on a slip of paper. After he had made the necessary record, he would roll the slip around a short lead pencil and place it in his vest pocket from which he would take it during the ensuing visit. If the number of men

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obtained was satisfactory he would sit for a brief time conversing brightly; but if otherwise, the enlarged furrows of care on his face would indicate the sadness of his disappointment, and, without a word, he would depart.

These interviews indicated his great simplicity of character; but, withal, there was ever writh him the marked dignity of a noble manhood.

Soon after the act of July 17, 1862, authorizing persons of Af rican descent to be received into the service of the United States, and before the President had decided fully wiiat he would do under it, but at a date when the good results that would follow the en actment were obvious to him, he received an application — it may have been from a Mr. Black or a Mr. Brown — to raise a regiment. In his characteristic w^ay he endorsed the application: "Referred to the Secretary of War. This gentleman wishes to engage in the ebony trade. A. Lincoln."

After the colored troops had won their reputation — when it was recognized that their colors were guarded with as much pa triotic care as though talismanic virtues clustered around them — he said that their employment was one of the greatest blows dealt to the rebellion, and, in hoping that peace would soon be perma nent, added: "Then will there be some black men who can remem ber that they have helped to this great consummation." Com mencing with Milliken's Bend, June 7th, 1863, General Grant fre quently complimented the colored troops, much to the President's gratification.

The President, on one occasion, in defining the franchise, said that some of the colored people "might be let in * ! * they would probably help, in some trying time to come, to keep the jewel of liberty in the family of freedom."

Hallam, when writing of Charlemagne, and the epoch made by that great Emperor in the history of the world, by advancing

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civilization and regenerating Western Europe, used words which may be applied to Lincoln : "His sceptre was as the bow of Ulysses which could not be drawn by a weaker hand. He stood alone, like a beacon upon a waste, or a rock in the broad ocean. His deeds have cast a luster around his head, and testify the greatness that has embodies itself in his name."

THE CLOSING HOURS

April 14, 1865, I had, about ten o'clock p. M., returned from the War Department to my house, and very soon thereafter was informed by a cousin of Mrs. Lincoln — Dr. Lyman Beecher Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky — that the President had been assassinated, and the members of his cabinet attacked. I at once hurried to the house of the Secretary of War, and there found the family greatly alarmed and excited; but the Secretary, just prior to my arrival, had started for Mr. Seward's residence. I followed and there learned that he had gone to the scene of the tragedy on 10th street; on reaching the latter place I found him at the house to which the President had been taken from Ford's Theatre. I re mained there, near the Secretary, and at his request, during the night.

About 1 . 30 P. M., he said that the wound was mortal; that the President was then dying, and that it was not probable he would live through the night. He was greatly saddened and referred to the change of scene from that at the Cabinet meeting, a few hours before, at which General Grant was present, when the state of the country and the prospect of a speedy peace were discussed. He stated that the President during the meeting wTas hopeful and very cheerful, and had spoken kindly of General Lee and others of the Confederacy. He informed me that it would be necessary to stand prepared to communicate the President's death to the Vice- President, and soon thereafter handed me the rough draft of the formal notification from which I prepared a fair copy, and held it

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until after the President's death; which was officially announced at 7.55 A. M., April 15, by a telegram from the Secretary to Major General Dix, as follows:

"Abraham Lincoln died this morning at twenty-two minutes after 7 o'clock."

The notification to the Vice President was duly signed and communicated, as recited in a subsequent telegram, as follows :

"Official notice of the death of the late President, Abraham Lincoln, was given by the Heads of Departments this morning to Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, upon whom the Con stitution devolved the office of President. Mr. Johnson, upon receiving this notice, appeared before the Honorable Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the United States, and took the oath of office as President of the United States, and assumed its duties and functions."

The death-bed scenes were harrowing in the extreme. Sur rounding and near the illustrious one, who was insensible from the first, in consequence of his mortal wound, from which his life's blood was oozing, were the sobbing, grief -stricken wife, all the mem bers of the Cabinet save Mr. Seward, and others in civil and mili tary circles. As the sure approach of death was noticed, the deep sad gloom increased, and, at the solemn moment, it seemed that it had extended to Heaven to be from there promulgated back to Earth through the agency of deep sable clouds. The attendant drops of rain seemed to have been sent to mingle sorrowfully, with the tears of the Nation.

Soon after 8 o'clock the devoted War Minister had ordered all to be arranged for the removal of the body to the Executive Mansion, and then left me, as his representative, until after the transfer should take place. It was about this time, that, after pressing and smoothing the eyes of the dead President, I placed coins on them to close them for a last long slumber.

"Softly heroic the life had been all through"; and he who had loved and served his country so well, was, at the final instant, seal ed for the preservation in that repository of abundance — the love of his countrymen.

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To quote again from Bancroft's fitting words:

"Where in the history of nations, had a Chief Magistrate possessed more sources of conso lation and joy than Lincoln? His countrymen had shown their love by choosing him to a second term of service. The raging war that had divided the country had lulled, and private grief was hushed by the grandeur of the result. The nation had its new birth of freedom, soon to be secured forever by an amendment to the constitution. His persistent gentleness had conquered for him a kindlier feeling on the part of the South. His scoffers among the grandees of Europe began to do him honor. The laboring classes everywhere saw in his advancement their own. All peoples sent him their benedictions. And at this moment of the height of his fame, to which his humility and modesty added charms, he fell by the hand of an assassin; and the only triumph awarded him was the march to the grave. * * * * Not in vain has LINCOLN lived, for he has helped to make this republic an example of Justice, with no caste but the caste of humanity. ***** ^he heroes who led our armies and ships into battle and fell in the service, * * * * ^id not ^ie in vain; they, and the myriads of nameless martyrs, and he, the chief martyr, gave up their lives willing ly, 'that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.' "

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