prisoner; that he had ridden from me to General Dodge's column, moving as heretofore described, and had sent off nearly all his staff and orderlies on various errands, and himself had passed into a narrow path or road that led to the left and rear of General Giles A. Smith's division, which was General Blair's extreme left; that a few minutes after he had entered the woods a sharp volley was heard in that direction, and his horse had come out riderless, having two wounds. The suddenness of this terrible calamity would have overwhelmed me with grief, but the living demanded my whole thoughts. I instantly despatched a staff officer to General John A. Logan, commanding the 15th corps, to tell him what had happened; that he must assume command of the Army of the Tennessee, and hold, stubbornly, the ground already chosen, more especially the hill gained by General Leggett the night before.

About 4 p. m. there was quite a lull, during which the enemy fell forward on the railroad and main Decatur road, and suddenly assailed a regiment which, with a section of guns, had been thrown forward as a kind of picket, and captured the two guns; he then advanced rapidly and broke through our lines at that point, which had been materially weakened by the withdrawal of Colonel Martin's brigade, sent by General Logan's order to the extreme left. The other brigade, General Lightburn, which held this part of the line, fell back in some disorder, about four hundred yards, to a position held by it the night before, leaving the enemy for a time in possession of two batteries, one of which, a 20-pounder Parrott battery of four guns, was most valuable to us, and separating General Wood's and General Harrow's divisions of the 15th corps, that were on the right and left of the railroad. Being in person close by the spot, and appreciating the vast importance of the connection at that point, I ordered certain batteries of General Schofield to be moved to a position somewhat commanding, by a left flank fire, and ordered an incessant fire of shells on the enemy within sight, and the woods beyond, to prevent his reinforcing. I also sent orders to General Logan, which he had already anticipated, to make the 15th corps regain its lost ground at any cost, and instructed General Woods, supported by General Schofield, to use his division and sweep the parapet down from where he held it until he saved the batteries and recovered the lost ground. The whole was executed in superb style, at times our men and

the enemy fighting across the narrow parapet, but at last the enemy gave way and the 15th corps regained its position and all the guns except the two advanced ones which were out of view, and had been removed by the enemy within his main work. With this terminated the battle of the 22d, which cost us 3,722 killed, wounded and prisoners.

"But among the dead was Major-General McPherson, whose body was recovered and brought to me in the heat of the battle, and I had it sent, in charge of his personal staff, back to Marietta, on its way to his Northern home. He was a noble youth, of striking personal appearance, of the highest professional capacity, and with a heart abounding in kindness, that drew to him the affections of all men. His sudden death devolved the command of the army on the no less brave and gallant General Logan, who nobly sustained his reputation and that of his veteran army, and avenged the death of his comrade and commander. The enemy left on the field his dead and wounded, and about a thousand well prisoners. His dead alone are computed by General Logan at 3,240, of which number 2,200 were from actual count, and of these he delivered to the enemy, under a flag of truce, sent in by him (the enemy) 800 bodies. I entertain no doubt that in the battle of July 22d, the enemy sustained an aggregate loss of full 8,000 men.'

This was one of the greatest battles of the war, and it was won by General Logan, as General Sherman himself attests, and according to the usages of war he was entitled to command the Army of the Tennessee, but General Sherman, estimating him as only a General of volunteers, pushed him aside and gave the command to General Howard, an officer of the regular army. Other Generals have resigned their commands in the very face of the enemy with far less provocation than this, but General Logan, true to the vow he had taken, never wavered in devction to the cause of his country, nor did he resign his position until he had seen the stars and stripes triumphantly unfurled over every capitol of every Confederate State.

We have taken occasion to make this defense in this broad and unequivocal manner because we were then a

citizen of the section of the State in which General Logan resided, and because of our personal knowledge of all his movements at that time, and because, as yet, no historian has given the charges the denial their gravity demands; and because, further, it is due him and his family, and his children who are to live after him.

CHAPTER XX.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

An account of his early manhood as written by himself-Speech at Philadelphia-First Inaugural-Speech at Gettysburg-Kentucky Letter-Second Inaugural-Last Speech-Assassination-How Lincoln came to Challenge Douglas-Never an Abolitionist-"I have never kept liquor in my house and will not begin now"-A One-Idea Court.

The subject of this chapter was, perhaps, the most remarkable man of the age in which he lived, and while his life has been written times without number, yet we feel that this volume is the place in which should be preserved some of his most gifted official utterances, together with a brief statement of his early life and tragic death.

We begin with an account of his birth and early manhood, as written by himself to his personal friend, Jesse W. Fell, of Normal. It is a literal copy, being taken from the original.

"I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin county, Ky. My parents were both born in Virginia of undistinguished families-second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams, and others in Macon counties, Illinois. My paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham

county, Virginia, to Kentucky, about 1781 or 1782, where, a year or two later, he was killed by Indians-not in battle, but by stealth-when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks county, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them with the New England family of the same name ended in nothing more definite than a similarity of Christian names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solomon, Abraham, and the like. My father, at the death of his father, was but 6 years of age, and he grew up literally without any education. He removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer county, Indiana, in my 8th year. We reached our new home about the

time the State came into the Union. It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up. There were some schools, socalled, but no qualification was ever required of a teacher beyond 'readin', writin,' and cipherin" to the rule of three. If a straggler, supposed to understand Latin, happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizard. There was absolutely nothing to excite ambition for education. Of course, when I came of age, I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three, but that was all. I have not been to school since. The little advance I now have upon this store of education I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity. I was raised to farm work, which I continued till I was 22. At 21 I came to Illinois, and passed the first year in Macon county. Then I got to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, now in Menard, county, where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came the Black Hawk war, and I was elected a captain of volunteers-a success which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since. I went into the campaign, was elected; ran for the Legislature the same year (1832) and was beaten-the only time I ever have been beaten by the people. The next and three succeeding biennial elections I was elected to the Legislature. I was not a candidate afterwards. During this Legislative period I had studied law and removed to Springfield to practice it. In 1846, I was elected to the lower house of Congress. Was not a candidate for re-election. From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, practiced law more assiduously than before. Always a Whig in politics, and generally on the Whig electoral ticket, making active canvasses. I was losing interest in politics, when the repeal of the Missouri

Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known. If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said I am in height 6 feet, 4 inches nearly, lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, 180 pounds, dark complexion, with coarse black hair and gray eyes. No other marks or brands recollected." "Yours very truly,

"A. LINCOLN."

46

"Hon. J. W. FELL."

SPEECH AT PHILADELPHIA.

On his way to Washington to assume the office of President, Mr. Lincoln stopped a day at Philadelphia, and, in response to an address of welcome by the Mayor, he spoke as follows:

66

Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens of Philadelphia: I appear before you to make no lengthy speech, but to thank you for this reception. The reception you have given me to-night is not to me, the man, the individual, but to the man who temporarily represents, or should represent, the majesty of the Nation. It is true, as your worthy Mayor has said, that there is anxiety amongst the citizens of the United States at this time. I deem it a happy circumstance that this dissatisfied position of our fellowcitizens does not point us to anything in which they are being injured, or about to be injured, for which reason 1 have felt all the while justified in concluding that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety of the country at this time is artificial. If there be those who differ with me upon this subject, they have not pointed out the substantial difficulty that exists. I do not mean to say that an artificial panic may not do considerable harm; that it has done such I do not deny. The hope that has been expressed by your Mayor, that I may be able to restore peace, harmony, and prosperity to the country, is most worthy of him; and happy, indeed, will I be if I shall be able to verify and fulfill that hope. I promise you, in all sincerity, that I bring to the work a sincere heart. Whether I will bring a head equal to that heart will be for future times to determine. It were useless for me to speak of details of plans now; I shall speak officially next Monday week, if ever. If I should not speak then it were useless for me to do so now. When