At Drury's Bluff we next find the gallant Osborne; he charged the enemy's front, and in that desperate engagement received a wound that proved nearly fatal. With his arm shattered and bleeding he gave orders that his men should not know it, and remained in his saddle some hours, encouraging and cheering them on, until the victory was finally gained. It was of him and his men that Butler said, "Had we more men like these the victorious results to our arms would have been greatly hastened." His wound occasioned the only leave of absence Osborne ever took from active service. He was promoted to a brevet-brigadiership, reported for duty, with his arm in a sling, and hastened on to the charge before Richmond. April 2, 1864, he led his brigade against the enemy's works; and, in the hand-to-hand contest, dismounted from his horse and followed on foot. It was one of the most daring, gallant affairs of the entire war; the whole garrison were captured. Osborne was now made a full brigadier, and his old regiment was presented with the eagle by the Secretary of War. General Osborne led the advance immediately after against Lee's forces, and with a desperate "charge bayonets," compelled the rebels to retreat. In his official report Foster said that Lee's retreat was cut off by the prompt effici ency of General T. O. Osborne. "On recommedation of General Grant and the Secretary of War, Osborne was now made a Major-General." It was richly deserved for efficient and meritorious services before Richmond and Petersburg, and gallantry on the 2d and 9th of April. The war now virtually at an end, General Osborne resigned at once and returned to Chicago. Here he was received with the warmest applause. The Scottish hero, in the days of Bruce, was not more toasted or lionized by the grateful hearts he led against Edward the First, than was this descendant of stern Old Scotia by the grateful hearts and admiring friends of the "loyal North-west." General Osborne was soon appointed and confirmed as Postmaster, under President Johnson, but he declined to serve under his terms of administration. He has since been elected to the honorable and responsible position of Treasurer of Cook county. Far advanced at an age when most men begin, a natural statesman, possessed of rare oratorical powers, great energy and marked ability, combined with a popular personality and unswerv ing integrity, there are future honors awaiting Thomas O. Osborne, by which his countrymen can repay in part his noble conduct during the war. CHAPTER XVIII. CHICAGO AND HER INFLUENCE ON THE WAR. In God's World Great Institutions Grow-Progress and Climate of Chicago Spirit of her Inhabitants-Her Grain and Pork MarketsSuccess the Test of Genius-First Shipment of Wheat - - Statistics Her Railroads-Political Convictions-Would such a Practical City Go to War? --Her Pulpit-Her Press-Tribune-Times-Journal-Republican Staats Zeitung - Reverend Dr. Eddy - Christian Times Mary Ashton Livermore-- Board of Trade-Express Companies Railways-The War-Built Churches, Schools, and Charitable Institutions-A Future War shall not Blush at Chicago's Record in the War of 1861. "Ir the war comes, what will Chicago do?" was a question asked from one prairie horizon to the other. This city, and all pertaining to it, has been except. ional. Planted where nature seemed most niggardly in provisions for a great city, where the deep slough prophesied the impossibility of solid foundations or permanent streets; where the surrounding country for miles was a sterile plateau, there was nothing promising the beauty and power of the great city. There may have been some who then saw that here was the gateway of the North-western trade; but we doubt it. In God's world, great institutions are not made—they grow. So the city grew; it was wanted, though men knew it not. The railway era was to transform every thing, and values were to leap out of the ground; and commerce came with snowy wings, as the great prairies began to bloom into beauty; and soon this, which a distinguished United |