Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1862-03-20
THE INDoMITABLE ENERGY OF COL.
,sfiT GARFIELD.
how HE PrLoTgD A STEAMER AND SAVED
his MEN FROM STARVATION.

now HE PrLoTED A STEAMER AND SAVE
his MEN FROM STARVATION.
! The Cincinnati Times SAYS: W
would like 10 be informed of some honor
able work that Col. Garfield can not dc
He has been a canaler. a Senstor, an
q colonel--in- the front rank Of them
ltoo-and now we see by the followinJ
letter, published in The Soiem Repu6ii
eas, that not all the raging waters of tn
Ohio food could stop hin when he wan
ted to carry supplies to his needy soldiers
"After the victory at Prestonburg
our victorious soldiers were reduced {,
extremities for foad-the impassabl
roads preventing supplies from folio W
ing as fast as it was needful for them Il
press on in order TO meet and over
whelm the enemy. Then The Difficult
ties Of supplies were augmented anC
rendered almost insurperable by tb,
late terrible food in tss Chic. and th'
Sandy"
While the brave Col. Garfield, for
cetful of everything but the comfort oi
his men and the success Of the cause,
was as cool, as wise, and as plucky or
the food as on the battlefield. The
writer says:
"when our little boat, the Sandy
Valley. on Sunday came down from
Paintsville to Louisa, the captain was
asked to drop down to our store-boat
and land. Said he, 4 can't gol' You
can try was the reply. IN be ID
il any boat can co. was his rejoinder.
Then said Capt Heaton, leave the
boat and will put some one on board
of her that ,ciH take her up, or try, at
least" IF you lose the boat, you will
have to pay for her. Very well; one
poor starving soldier is worth thou
sand such boats
"Capt. II. put a new crew on board,
and loaded her. By that time the wa
ter was 95 feet, and was up in the tree
tops. The heart of the new Captain
failed him. Then we tried another
little boat. called the Screw Propeller
or Sallie. Col. Garfield told him that
I'VE were going in his boat. and that
she must go up to headquarters. as our
brave boys could not starve, after hav-
ing escaped the perils of the battle. =
He said 'it was utterly impossible! No
boat could stem such a torrent! She
will be dashed into a thousand pieces
against the rocks and shoalsp Col.
Garfield replied. with all the enthusi-
asm of his noble nature. Then we
shall be dashed with her. for | am 60
ing to pilot her myself. and Capt. Hra-
ton will command her. You will obey
his ordersP
ave loaded her, and started upon
the most turbulent waters ever wit
messed in any stream. The little boat
trembled in all her timbers; but Col.
Garfield, being an old boatman. held
her true to the stream, making about
three miles an hour against the current.
Night overlook us, and the captain.
Moore J. and his four men. entreated US
to 'tie up to some tree until morning.
No. said Col. Garfield, 'every man stand
to his posg Those boys must have
something to eat At last, it got so
dark we could not see our hands before
us, and in one OF those crooked bends
in the river. making an exact elbow,
the boat struck the beach with her
sharp bow. and the earth being a sort
of blue quicksand, she ran six or seven
feet into the bank, and knocked US all
down. Here we were without a Ian
tern, dark as Egypt. We reversed the
wheel and tried to back out, but it was
no go.
"We then went into the country, got
mattocks and shovels, and dug around
her bow. Tried again. but with no
better success. Then Col Garfield Or
dered the skiff lowered. and run over
the river to pull her back by the capstan
and line. The sailor said: You
cant reach the shore in safety The
waters rushed much like those below
the Falls Of Niagara. Then Col. Gar
field leaped into the boat, and made the
sailor get in with him, and rowed over
to the opposite side; but they were
carried half mile down the stream
before they reached the opposite shore;
they then came back, but could not
take the rope over; the current was
too swift.
1--WE then tied one end of the rope
to tree and the other to the bow o.
the boat, and made what is called q
French windlass, with two rails; after
working her for two hours we got hel
afoat again. The current was SC
strong, rushing out of mountain goryes,
that we had to stop every half hour to
get up an extra head of steam to stem
the current. After working all night,
neither giving sleep to our eyes mol
slumber to our eyelids, we arrived at
the camp at Paintsville, on Monday
morning at 8 O'Clock.
"You cannot imagine, nor can I de-
scribe, the joyful countenances Of the
boys when they heard us coming. They
ran down the river. shouting. peal on
peal. and leaped into the air, frantic
with Joy. with tears Of gratitude. God
bless you,' was shouted from a thou
sand voices. We had TO guard the
boat to keep it from being literally eaten
up. Col Garfield is immensely popu-
lar with The troops. All vie with each
other ito do him honor