Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-23

1dE
more amusing than his description of the
rear of the army ut Shiloh; of the mules,
contrabands, the teamsters, huddled up,
trembling at the roar of the guns they
could not see, intoxicated, frightened, going
from worse to worse. 'tNo WONDER" said
the General, "that so-and-so (naming we'll
known correspondent, fell into panic
when he saw the sight, and began telegraph
ing our defeat all over the Union. Why,
it was like fellow down in one of Dante's
first-class divisions of hades telegraphing to
his newspapers the condition of affairs
above"
THE FEELING IN WASHINGTON.
This rough illustration will give rela-
tive idea of Washington during the war. In
a sense we lived among the mules, contra
bands, teamsters, the impedimenta of the
army. No, it was not a wholesome out
looki The air was suffused with hatred,
distrust and fear. There was no love for
the Union among the Washington people.
ooh, you vile Yankee" as a comely maiden
hissed at me one Sunday morning on her
way to church, as she saw me come out of
the quarters of the Third Infantry, on
Lafayette square. The maiden could not
help it. She was modest, fair and pious,
but the animus was there! 1t pervaded
Washington. She could no more help it
than the lark could help its singing.
1t wasnot the heroic side of the contest
that those of us saw who remained much in
Washington. In this somber trade of war
the heroic is only seen in the flash of the
guns Washington was the rear of the
army much as what Sheridan described the
rear of Shiloh. 1t was city of dissipation.
The gambling houses were in bloom.
Among the heart-breaking experiences in
my young process of becoming acquainted
with the public men was the sight of several
heroes of former political dreams lowering
over faro table or submerged under the
fascination of roulette. AS general Sickles
said to me at a later day when recalling the
impressions and experiences of war:
THE INFLUENCE OF WHISKY
'It was whisky rebellion. Whisky
everywhere-in the committee rooms, pri-
vate houses, at hundred saloons There
never was a State that seeded that did not
secede on whisky The debates reeked with
whisky. The solemn resolvesof statesmen
ship were taken by men whose brains were
feverish from whisky. If one-tenth of the
whisky drank in Washington in one day in
those war times, and especially when seces-
sion was in development and elimination,
were to be drank by the French Assembly,
there would be war with Germany in day.
Yes," continued Sickles, Eve have had two
whisky rebellions in American history, but
the second was the greater
As we recall it now there could have been
no atmosphere more unwholesome, aud
amid these fetid surroundings how could we,
even with eyes of trust and hope, see the
true greatness of Lincoln. He stood in the
mists. He was nebulous, uncertain, trying
to the eyes. When the mists lifted we saw
him as he was-and that what were appar-
ent clouds, black and trembling, was Mont
Blanc in its mighty splendor, the eternal
sunshine resting on its head.
OF the infinite patience of Lincoln, and
that exquisite politeness which an extreme
occasion alone can show, recall one expe
rience. During the after midnight hours on
the Washington Chronicle, there came a
newspaper from a correspondent at the
front, taken from Southern picket. 1t had
news of the fall of Charleston. We had not
heard of it in the North. News then came
over the grapevine, and if this were true it
would be the news of the generation
charleston fallen"
AN EARLY MORNING VISIT.
So after delfberation, accompanied by Mr.
Hart, the chief of the journal, 1 went to the
later. But it was such news as would irradi-
ate even Presidents dreams. The faithful
keeper, a well-known North of Ireland per-
sonage, with the soft Scotch brogue, finally
our errand. Mr.. Lincoln, who
was in bed, came down to the magnificent
room, half awake, hair tousled
over a sleepy face, in slippers and night
gown. Curling up on the lounge, eyes half
closed, he listened to the news. "Charles-
ton surrendered" yankees in the sacred
city," Clown given over to rapine,"
Southern valor exhausted" and so on, Mr..
Lincoln listened, slowly nursing his knee,
and said: ''What is the date?" December
20th," or some such day. December 10th.
Well, 1 have news from Charleston, Decem-
Der %, and then the bombardment was 60
ing on zealously."
We felt as if we had committed lese-
majesty or some other dreadful crime, this
President from his slumbers at
in the morning to hear news that he knew
to be untrue. Bnt SO gentle over our re-
grets, SO courteous, so much obliged for our
coming-for did we not see it might have
been news-and then what hopes and happy
we came from his presence as if we had been
lowered, and not as uDseemly visitors who
had robbed him of his peace.
LINCOLN AS FOUND HIM.
Why should one write all this? knew
him and yet seem never to have known him.
When we approach Lincoln, it is as if we
were on enchanted ground, into an atmos-
phere of incense and repose. Memories of
him, more than of any of the famous men of
the day, crowd upon me. AT Independence
Hall, raising the flag; at the famous review
of Munson's Hill; in almost daily sight at
in beleaguered roedways
through the camps; in lonely striding walks
to the old war Office; at midnight disturbed
from his slumbers; in that window recess of
the Cabinet room which never see with
out hush as if he were there; at Gettys-
burg; in his coffin when the lilacs were in
bloom and the great star hung in the even
ing sky.
Memories, all sacred to me now-but |
what better recognition than silence? In
silence, yes, but with gratitude, humble, !
devout, that even these eyes were,permitted |
to see and know him. In that spirit, as |
somewhat incumbent upon me, and let this |
be my excuse, have sought to recall Lin
coin as found him, and in doing SO, with |
reverence, with sentiment akin to worship, |
once again to pay tribute to his pure, un- |
dying fame. JOHN RUSSELL YOUNG.
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