two horses shot under him; and at every stage of the battle, by every officer in the regiment, the highest skill and bravery were manifest." The following resolutions were also in the Chicago Tribune: "The officers of the 88th Regiment Illinois Volunteers, deeply feeling the loss of their Surgeon, Dr. Geo. Coatsworth, who was killed at Stone River, Tennessee, January 9th, 1863, were called together, by Col. Sherman, when a committee, consisting of Lieut.-Col. Chadbourne, Capt. Sheridan, Capt. McClurg, and Lieut. Bigelow, was selected to draft resolutions expressive of their feelings. Lieut.-Col. Chadbourne, on presenting the resolutions, remarked that he did not feel this occasion to be an ordinary one; that he was opposed to the usual way of calling meetings and passing the customary resolutions. He believed that every one present felt the loss of a true friend in the death of Dr. Coatsworth. Resolutions were then drafted. "WHEREAS, Providence has seen fit to remove from us our Surgeon, George Coatsworth, by death, "Resolved, That we, the officers of this regiment, tender to his family our heartfelt sympathy in this their sudden bereavement. We bear willing tribute to his many excellences of character, and his greatness of head and heart. His death is an irreparable loss to us, and to the profession of which he was so able a member. In our friend we recognize a man of more than ordinary ability and attainments; our respect and love for him increased as a continued daily association with him developed those traits of character, which a less intimate acquaintance would fail to discover. We feel that not only has the regiment lost a true friend, but the profession one of its clearest thinkers, finest students and most accomplished operators. But though the loss is hard to bear, we find relief in the fact that he died in the noblest way a man can die at his post, in the laborious discharge of his duty. "FRANK T. SHERMAN, Chairman. Suitable expressions were made, by the physicians of Chicago, on motion of the distinguished Dr. N. S. Davis, Editor of the Chicago Medical Journal. One month from the time of his death on the field he was, on his 32nd birthday, buried at home. A sad reunion that, on which his kindred came from far and near to welcome back the absent one. The tutors and comrades of his youth were there, and pondered upon his parting words, one year before: "Mother, I shall be with you again one year from to-day." The little box before them proved how surely and how well those words had been kept. The letter, informing me of his wounds, had been stolen by guerrillas-his coffin had been intercepted by them, and I had been captured--all in the effort to get him home. It was effected, but at what cost! One whole month, in the inclemency of mid-winter, under the crushing blow of my great loss, I was on the route, and in the storm, determined, at the risk of my own life, to give the soldier a home burial. Thus the brightest wedded life that Heaven ever smiled upon was wrecked. The one in early death the other in early bereavement, from the sorrow of which death was courted as a relief. Like thousands of others, I shall ever look back upon those times with shrinking dread, and make it my daily prayer that God will never again permit our noble American people to engage in a bloody civil war. It was a consolation to me that the entire families of both of us were strictly loyal to the cause in which my husband fell; and may God reward them as they deserve for the continued heartfelt sympathy they ever manifested in us and the work; the affectionate, solicitous letters of daily and often hourly arrival-the kind aid tendered-the rush of help in the hour of need, and the regard so delicately manifested, by many of them draping so long in deep mourning, for the loss of him who was more to me than life. But, among the kindest, tenderest, holiest memories will ever remain the following letter, sent me from the field, by the brave 88th: "HEADQUARTERS 88TH REGIMENT ILLINOIS VOLUNTEERS, "CAMP BRADLEY, MURFREESBORO, TENNESSEE, Jan. 11, 1863. } "MRS. DR. GEO. COATSWORTH: "DEAR MADAM: Allow us to present to you a copy of resolutions, passed at a meeting of the officers of this regiment, expressing our respect and love for your deceased husband, and our deep regret at a loss which we must mourn in common with you. We feel delicacy in intruding upon the sacredness of your grief; but as we take pleasure in being the keepers of your husband's later reputation, we feel ourselves privileged to approach you with our heartfelt testimony. And let us assure you that these resolutions are couched in no idle words merely, but rather that we deeply feel every word in them, and much more than they express. Dr. Coatsworth had been with us for some months, but each day as it passed showed us more and more the keenness of his intellect, the kindness of his heart, the genial nature of his disposition, and the innumerable excellences of character, which proved that we had just begun truly to know him. The future seemed to open up before him in all the brightness of its possibilities, and he was sanguine of a long life of future usefulness and labor; but this was not to be. The clouds of his early trials and achievements had lifted themselves merely that his sun might set in its natural brilliancy. At the opening of the battle of Stone River he entered upon his labors with that earnest zeal which always characterized his devotion to his profession. Night and day he labored unceasingly, rest he forsook, and scarcely paused for necessary food. Forty-eight hours he thus labored, forgetful of himself, and only anxious to relieve the sufferings around him, but at length even his mighty strength gave way, and he sank into that grave from which he had rescued so many others. He died at the post of duty, from principles more glorious than the hero who falls by the bullets of the enemy. The war-record of Dr. Coatsworth stands untarnished, and his death an unparalleled sacrifice. "Again let us offer you our sincere and heartfelt sympathy. As you mourn a devoted husband, so we mourn an endeared friend, and, through his mastery of his profession, an invaluable protector. We invoke for you, in your bereavement, the protection of that Providence who doeth all things well. "We remain, Madam, "With great personal esteem, "FRANCIS T. SHERMAN, Colonel, "And all other officers of the Regiment." CHAPTER XII. EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. AS THE New Year of 1862 was ushered in by the fearful battle of Stone River and its important victory, so the New Year of 1863 was made memor able by the incomparable edict that freed four millions of souls, and forever abolished slavery, the prime cause of the war, from our rich American soil. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by our good President, was as follows: "WASHINGTON, January 1, 1863. By the President of the United States of America: "WHEREAS, On the 22nd day of September, in the year of our Lord 1862, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing among other things the following, to wit: "That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be thenceforth and forever free, and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any effort they may make for their actual freedom; that the executive will on the first day of January aforesaid, issue a proclamation designating the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people therein respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United |