Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1891-03-19
WAR "REMINISCENCES.
CLOSED UP THE COURT.
An Inlident of the Civil War Overlooked
by History.

General Schuyler Hamilton, the vet
eran of three wars, is one of the mos
picturesque figures in the military his
tory of the United States. His record
as a soldier was such as to call for tn,
special commentator Of President Lin
coin when he resigned his command in
1868 on account of ill-health and dis
ability, incurred" to use Secretary
Stanton's words. in the service OF his
country, wherein he was highly distin.
guished for ability and good conduct. q
Although during his long military
career General Hamilton had his lung
pierced with lance and his skull frac-
tured by a blow, yet he finds himself
now at nearly seventy years Of age in
the possession of all his mental and
physical faculties. His bearing is as
soldierly and his eye as clear as when
he led his command to battle. The
General often recalls incidents in his
military service
Perhaps lie most remarkable event
in his military career occurred in Wash
ington in 1861 when the Supreme
Court of the United States was temper
arily closed. This story, the General
believes, has never before appeared in
print lie recalled it the other day
while in conversation with some friends,
and subsequently, related it substantial
ly as follows.
1T was in the early days Of the civil
war in 1861. when writ Of habeas cor
pus was issued 10y Justice Wayne Of the
United States Supreme Court, in the
natter of a private in Colonel Willis
Germans regiment of Minnesota volun-
tcers. The point involved in the case
was practically the right Of the Presi-
dent 60 call out the volunteer militia to
aid in the suppression Of the rebellion.
The writ was finally served upon Cen
cral Winfield Scott, and the Importance
attaching to the subject may be imag-
ined from the fact that a Cabinet meet
ing was called 30 consider the matter.
The Attorney General was appointed
General SCOTS legal adviser.
II was absent at the moment, giving
liberty 10 a collateral descendant of
Washington without parole When l
returned General Scott asked: Colonel,
is your horse saddlcd?' My reply was:
My horse IS always saddled; only drop
the bit in his mouth
He then told me about the writ,
which was q emed defective. He
thought the Sergeant knew the servitor
Of the writ and we started out with or
ders from General Scott: Get the pa
pers; use violence if necessary" Secre-
tary Stanton added We do not care
for the man; we want the papers.
We started on the search at
once, but the Sergeant could not recog-
nize the man lie pointed out half
dozen in the block in front of Wizards
Hotel We ran our horses to the Capt.
tol, where | saw Mr. Carroll clerk Of
the Supreme Court, and advised him Of
the dilemma. lie gave orders that no
papers should po ON file unless indorsed
by him. then invited him 10 bee tenn
porarily i'll, provided a coach, lunch
con, and guard of cavalry, with orr
ders To shoot any one who attempted to
approach the carriage.
We meandervd through the Roc,
Creek region until shutdown Upon re-
turning to General SCOTS headquar-
tiers | found him in his chair and not in
a very amiable mood. lie began to
scold ! smiled and asked him to hear
me. He said: Young man | have sent
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- .7 - '''N''' cry
XIX
''lSh sliaPlS lolu nun 1i'at ! hau
'aHeh the elerN OF lhe supreme Court
ON III li'e rock reeN country guarded
oy a cavalry '9'"f'' To prevent the nj
ing Oh the return 20 'iie writ 81 haneas
corpus "tielt .le deemed erroneous or
directive aPltal' Api'ai. lir erred.
smut up lht supreme court oi the
hi''" states Ior tt's hfst time since
lts Inauguration ny Ia". without Vl'Ia-
non "' ~" on order. ialle inns re-.
turn 70 tfes'"ei. '"''eoia ana zen hun
what you nave done anu what have
sald