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they would cut half a notch away at noon. It appeared that shortterm troops are efficient for not more than half their time of enlistment; after that, their hearts are at home, not in their duty. The general was of opinion, that an army, if possible, should be enlisted not for any definite term, but for the war; thus supplying the men with a most powerful motive for efficient action; the homeward path lying through victory over the enemy.

CHAPTER IX.

RECALL FROM VIRGINIA.

THE visitors attracted to the fortress severely taxed the time and hospitality of the general in command and of the gracious lady who presided at his table. Senators, representatives, governors, editors, officers, private persons, crowded that table to the number of thirty a day. Some enterprising individuals even projected grand excursions to the fortress, threatening it with steamboat loads of pleasure seekers. An order was issued to prevent such an untimely irruption, and requiring a special permit to land.

Mr. Russell of the London Times has given us an amusing record of his visit to the fortress. General Butler went the rounds with him.

"The day," he reports, 66 was excessively hot, and many of the soldiers were lying down in the shade of arbors formed of branches from the neighboring pine wood, but most of them got up when they heard the general was coming round. A sentry walked up and down at the end of the street, and as the general came up to him he called out 'Halt.' The man stood still. I just want to show you, sir, what scoundrels our government has to deal with This man belongs to a regiment which has had new clothing recently served out to it. Look what it is made of.' So saying the general stuck his fore-finger into the breast of the man's coat, and with a rapid scratch of his nail tore open the cloth as if it was of blotting paper. 'Shoddy, sir. Nothing but shoddy. I wish I had these contractors in the trenches here, and if hard work would not make

honest men of them, they'd have enough of it to be examples for the rest of their fellows.'

"In the course of our rounds we were joined by Colonel Phelps, who was formerly in the United States army, and saw service in Mexico, but retired because he did not approve of the manner in which promotions were made, and who only took command of a Massachusetts regiment because he believed he might be instrumental in striking a shrewd blow or two in this great battle of Armageddon—a tall, saturnine, gloomy, angry-eyed, sallow man, soldier-like too, and one who places old John Brown on a level with the great martyrs of the Christian world.

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"Yes, I know them well. I've seen them in the field. I've sat with them at meals. I've traveled through their country. These Southern slaveholders are a false, licentious, godless people. Either we, who obey the laws and fear God, or they, who know no God except their own will and pleasure, and know no law except their passions, must rule on this continent: and I believe that Heaven will help its own in the conflict they have provoked. I grant you they are brave enough, and desperate too, but, surely justice, truth and religion, will strengthen a man's arm to strike down those who have only brute force and a bad cause to support them.'

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"In the afternoon the boat returned to Fortress Monroe, and the general invited me to dinner, where I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Butler, his staff, and a couple of regimental officers from the neighboring camp. As it was still early, General Butler proposed a ride to visit the interesting village of Hampton, which lies some six or seven miles outside the fort, and forms his advance post. A powerful charger, with a tremendous Mexican saddle, fine housings, blue and gold-embroidered saddle-cloth, was brought to the door for your humble servant, and the general mounted another, which did equal credit to his taste in horseflesh; but I own I felt rather uneasy on seeing that he wore a pair of large brass spurs, strapped over white jean brodequins. He took with him his aide-de-camp and a couple of orderlies. In the precincts of the fort outside, a population of contraband negroes has been collected, whom the general employs in various works about the place, miltary and civil; but I failed to ascertain that the original scheme of a debit and credit account between the value of their labor and the cost of their maintenance had been successfully carried out. The

general was proud of them, and they seemed proud of themselves, saluting him with a ludicrous mixture of awe and familiarity as he rode past. How-do, Massa Butler? How-do, general?' accompanied by absurd bows and scrapes. Just to think,' said the general, 'that every one of these fellows represents some 1,000 dollars at least out of the pockets of the chivalry yonder.' 'Nasty, idle, dirty beasts,' says one of the staff, sotto voce, I wish to Heaven they were all at the bottom of the Chesapeake. The general insists on it that they do work, but they are far more trouble than they are worth.'

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"The road towards Hampton traverses a sandy spit, which, however, is more fertile than would be supposed from the soil under the horses' hoofs, though it is not in the least degree interesting. A broad creek or river interposed between us and the town, the bridge over which had been destroyed. Workmen were busy repairing it, but all the planks had not yet been laid down or nailed, and in some places the open space between the upright rafters allowed us to see the dark waters flowing beneath. The aide said, 'I don't think, general, it is safe to cross;' but his chief did not mind him until his horse very nearly crashed through a plank, and only regained its footing with unbroken legs by marvelous dexterity; whereupon we dismounted, and, leaving the horses to be carried over in the ferry-boat, completed the rest of the transit, not without difficulty. "Most of the shops were closed; in some the shutters were still down, and the goods remained displayed in the windows. 'I have allowed no plundering,' said the general; and if I find a fellow trying to do it, I will hang him as sure as my name is Butler. See here,' and as he spoke he walked into a large woolen-draper's shop where bales of cloth were still lying on the shelves, and many articles, such as are found in a large general store in a country town, were disposed on the floor or counters; they shall not accuse the men under my command of being robbers.' The boast, however, was not so well justified in a visit to another house occupied by some soldiers. 'Well,' said the general, with a smile, 'I dare say you know enough of camps to have found out that chairs and tables are irresistible; the men will take them off to their tents, though they may have to leave them next morning.'

"Having inspected the .orks-as far I could judge, too extend

ed, and badly traced—which I say with all deference to the able young engineer who accompanied us to point out the various. objects of interest-the general returned to the bridge, where we remounted, and made a tour of the camps of the force intended to defend Hampton, falling back on Fortress Monroe in case of necessity. Whilst he was riding ventre à terre, which seems to be his favorite pace, his horse stumbled in the dusty road, and in his effort to keep his seat the general broke his stirrup-leather, and the ponderous brass stirrup fell to the ground; but, albeit a lawyer, he neither lost his seat nor his sang froid, and calling out to his orderly "to pick up his toe-plate," the jean slippers were closely pressed, spurs and all, to the sides of his steed, and away we went once more through dust and heat so great that I was by no means sorry when he pulled up outside a pretty villa, standing in a garden, which was occupied by Colonel Max Weber, of the German Turner regiment, once the property of General Tyler.

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"The shades of evening were now falling, and as I had been up before five o'clock in the morning, I was not sorry when General Butler said, 'Now we will go home to tea, or you will detain the steamer.' He had arranged before I started that the vessel, which, in ordinary course, would have returned to Baltimore at eight o'clock, should remain till he sent down word to the captain to go.

"We scampered back to the fort, and judging from the challenges and vigilance of the sentries, and inlying pickets, I am not quite so satisfied that the enemy could have surprised the place. At the tea-table there were no additions to the general's family; he therefore spoke without any reserve. Going over the map, he explained his views in reference to future operations, and showed cause, with more military acumen than I could have expected from a gentleman of the long robe, why he believed Fortress Monroe was the true base of operations against Richmond.

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"But whilst the general and I are engaged over our maps and mint juleps,* time flies, and at last I perceive by the clock that it is time to go. An aide is sent to stop the boat, but he returns ere I leave with the news that 'She is gone.' Whereupon the general sends for the quartermaster, Talmadge, who is out in the camps, and only arrives in time to receive a severe 'wigging.' It so happened that I had important papers to send off by the next mail

*This visit occurred before the promulgation of the liquor order.

from New York, and the only chance of being able to do so depended on my being in Baltimore next day. General Butler acted with kindness and promptitude in the matter. I promised you should go by the steamer, but the captain has gone off without orders to leave, for which he shall answer when I see him. Meantime it is my business to keep my promise. Captain Talmadge, you will at once go down and give orders to the most suitable transport steamer or chartered vessel available, to get up steam at once, and come up to the wharf for Mr. Russell.'"

A steamer was prepared, the general's promise was kept, and Mr. Russell reached Washington in time to witness the final preparations for the advance upon Richmond, by way of Manassas.

The battle that ensued ended General Butler's hopes of being useful at Fortress Monroe. It was on the very day of the battle of Bull Run that he first received the means of moving a battery of field artillery, and of completing his preparations for sweeping clear of armed rebels the Virginia tip of the peninsula, of which Maryland forms the greater part. Colonel Baker was to command the expedition. Two days after the retreat came a telegram from General Scott: "Send to this place without fail, in three days, four regiments and a half of long-term volunteers, including Baker's. · regiment and a half." The troops were sent, and the expedition was necessarily abandoned.

The news of the great defeat created at the fortress a degree of consternation almost amounting to panic; for, at once, the rumor spread that the victorious enemy were about to descend upon the fortress, and overwhelm it. General Butler was not alarmed at this new phantom. One of the first cheering voices that reached the administration was his. A few hours after reading the news, he wrote to his friend, the postmaster-general:

"We have heard the sad news from Manassas, but are neither dismayed nor disheartened. It will have the same good effect upon the army in general that Big Bethel has had in my division, to teach us wherein we are weak and they are strong, and how to apply the remedy to our deficiences. Let not the administration be disheartened or discouraged. Let no compromises be made, or wavering be felt. God helping, we will go through to ultimate assured success. But let us have no more of the silk glove in carrying on this war. Let these men be considered, what they have

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