the warmest thanks and the richest rewards which a grateful people can pay. But they, I am sure, will join us in saying, as we bid farewell to the dust of these martyr heroes, that wheresoever throughout the civilized world the accounts of this great warfare are read, and down to the latest period of recorded time, in the glorious annals of our common country, there will be no brighter page than that which relates THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG." THE DIRGE. ""Tis holy ground This spot where, in their graves, "Here let them rest And summer's heat and winter's cold "Here where they fell, Oft shall the widow's tear be shed, Oft shall fond parents mourn their dead- "Great God in heaven! Shall all this sacred blood be shed- "It will not be. We trust, O God! Thy gracious power To aid us in our darkest hour. This be our prayer, 'O Father, save PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S ADDRESS. "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. "But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate-we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we may say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us; that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." WASHINGTON, February 17, 1888. CHAPTER III. PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND GENERAL MCCLELLAN. The President visits the General-His Accidental Detention-Mr. Lincoln declares he would not consent to sign the Death-Warrant of a Soldier for failing to go where his legs refused to carry him-Called these "Leg Cases." HERE is a little historical item which, as far as it goes, ought to be known in explanation, possibly, of what has been publicly brought against General George B. McClellan as an unpardonable act of rudeness, not to say insult to President Lincoln. This act was the keeping President Lincoln waiting for a considerable time on one occasion when he called on McClellan at his head-quarters. Referring to this a few days ago, in conversation with General Henry J. IIunt, chief of artillery at the battle of Gettysburg, and now governor of the Soldiers' Home near Washington, I inquired if he thought it possible that the story could be true. Hesitating a moment, in evident belief of its falsity so far as General McClellan was concerned, and appearing never to have heard of its publicity, he answered, “Yeswith a reservation." He said that one day when he himself called at McClellan's head-quarters he found General Barry there in a great rage on account of what he regarded as a gross insult to President Lincoln, who had called to see General McClellan and had been kept waiting in the anteroom; but whether through the fault of the Irish door-keeper or the neglect of the general, he did not appear to know. He had, however, observed that when Mr. Lincoln passed up stairs the door-keeper or orderly-whatever his appellation -gave a clownish burst of expression, as if in derision of the President. How can the exact truth ever be known? One thing is certain, instead of going to McClellan, the President should have sent for him to come to the White House whenever he wished to see him; and this, I presume, was his usual custom. While writing of President Lincoln, I will relate another singular incident not generally known, I think, and which comes to me on equally undoubted authority (Joseph Holt, President Lincoln's Judge-Advocate-General). At the beginning of the war, oftener probably than later in the fearful struggle, sometimes, in going into battle, a soldier who had "never smelt gunpowder" would falter, shrink away, and may be throw down his arms, utterly unable, from cowardice, to proceed, thus rendering himself liable to the penalty of death. When these cases came before President Lin coln and the necessity of making an example of such culprits was pointed out to him, he invariably pleaded off. By way of convincing him not only of the imperative necessity of strictly enforcing the law as a restraining influence against cowardly instincts but also of its reasonableness and justice, it was urged that, the soldier seeing before him two dangers, -on the one hand, sure death if he acted the coward, on the other, a reasonable chance of escape if he pressed forward in battle,―he would naturally choose the lesser of the two and thus save his honor at least, if not his life. But it was all to no purpose, Mr. Lincoln solemnly declaring that he never could consent to sign the death-warrant of a soldier for failing to go where his legs refused to carry him; and he never did. He consigned to pigeon-holes without his signature scores, if not hundreds, of these cases, where they now lie buried at the War Department. He called them Leg Cases." 66 WASHINGTON, December 1, 1886. CHAPTER IV. A REMINISCENCE. Ex-President Buchanan-His Last Interview with Colonel Thomas Hart Benton-Controversy between William Carey Jones and Francis P. Blair, Sr.-Interesting Incidents in the Life of Colonel Benton-His Death and Funeral. IN one of Ex-President Buchanan's letters to me, dated at Wheatland, 21st April, 1866, he wrote as follows: "By-the-by, I wish to impose upon you a task which I do not think will be uncongenial. Old Mr. Blair attempted to misrepresent the scene between Colonel Benton and myself on the evening preceding his death, which was as kind and affectionate on his part as if he had been my dear brother. His noble daughter, who was alone present, voluntarily, and without my previous knowledge, contradicted him, and made and published a true statement of the occurrence, signed by her husband, Governor Jacob. The date of that letter is at Clifton (Kentucky), August 2, 1858. I had much difficulty in finding it, but at last obtained it from Governor Jacob. He informs me there was a pamphlet published at the time by William Carey Jones, the son-in-law of Colonel Benton, which I ought to have, but it is not in his possession. Now I have thought that this might be procured through my old friend Peter Force. I would give any reasonable price for it, as I wish to leave behind me some interesting reminiscences." Sincerely desirous of obliging Mr. Buchanan, I at once endeavored to procure the pamphlet referred to, calling at all our book-stores for it, as well as upon Mr. Force, who, though then a very old man, was still living in apparently good health. It was all in vain. I could find it nowhere. Mr. Force told me it might be, and probably was, in his library, but that his pamphlets were not generally classified or arranged, and that a search for it there would be nearly hopeless. I was obliged to give it up for the time being, intending, however, some time or other to find it if possible, and I have at length succeeded, it having recently come to light among the books and pamphlets of the late Peter Force's library in the library of Congress. It bears no title, but is addressed "To the People of the United States." It is very severe on Mr. Blair, Sr., and refers likewise to Mr. Francis P. Blair, Jr. The controversy arose from the appearance, in the first instance, of a communication attributed to Mr. Blair, Sr., or as having been inspired by him, from which the following is an extract. The writer professed to give an account of an interview with Colonel Benton just before his death, saying: "The inspiration of this theme (the Compromise of 1850) fired the languid blood and reanimated for a moment the failing frame of the dying patriot. In energetic whispers he told his visitor that the same men who had sought to destroy the republic in 1850 were at the bottom of this accursed Lecompton business. . . . He warmly praised the intrepid and incorruptible Douglas Democrats who had resisted the power and wiles of a corrupt and deluded administration." |