The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-09-18
MEMORIES OF ABE LINCOLN
Touching War "reminiscences Of tba
Great President Hitherto Untold.
Respite for a Widows Only Son. conssmn.a
'oDe onot-"Old Abe" Joined in Chaplain Nc
aoes"GlOry. Glory. HalIelujahn Chorus.
o-F. Presbrey. in Washington ro.,.

''esh attention by the encampment of tho
IA X. In Washington. One charae,er
ABOVE all others fills the largest place IN
the recoliections of those bitter years
stahdins on the historic ground at Gettys-
Dhrg a lew weeks ago, the thought came To
INC OF personal "reminiscences of Abraham
Lincoln. who there made a speech and Mt
'efeo words that will live throughout the
centuries. In theyear 1868, in company with
1onn H., of Buffalo, / visited Washing.
Ton. In Buffalo was a widow, whose only
son. Willie. had been sentenced to be shot
o. q court martial. Distressed and heart
broken. she came to US as we were leaving
ana asked if we would not see Mr.. Lincoln
and urge him, for her sake, to spare her
boy Willie. Arriving at the capital. our
hrst thought was of Willie, the widows
only sen. and We wendell our wav to the
White House, To find Mr.. Lincoln closeted
with Secretary Stanton. trying to arrange
and plan victory out of the battle of
Cn1ckamaugs. which vas then regarded as
a defeat TO our army. although this view is
not now generally held.
we made q second visit early in the
afternoon, to find Mr.. Lincoln still occu-
pied In the same way. Ii was a dull. dark
day, and every body seemed TO be depressed
by the apparent defeat of our arms. In
the evening suggested to my friend that
we make the third attempt TO ses the Pres
1dent. but on arriving at the White House
the messenger informed us he was still at
the War Department. We started over to-
ward the old war Office. and soon en-
Soun tered tall. gaunt-looking figure, with
head bowed and hands behind him. SEEM
Ingly carrying the load himself of all the
Terrible conflict and struggle To which the
nation was being subjected.
WITH LINCOLN
i said: as this Mr.. Lincoln7" He re-
piled: Yes. SIR" / said: "All day long
we have been trying to see you in behalf of
Willie -. of Buffalo. the widows only
son. who has been sentenced to be shot in
the Army of the Cumberland" He said:
What fort" l replied: w do not know
anything except the bare fact that be Is to
Do shot. and he Is the only son of n widow"
He said: Get the papers of Judge Holt,
and come to me In the early morning, and
We will see whether Willie will be shot,"
Arriving at the executive Office IN the
morning We found many people waiting,
but Willie's case had the precedence.
Mr.. Lincoln said: Read the papers. and
let me sec why Willie is TO be shot" 1t
was ct q time when the government. for
want of money, could not pay the soldiers
promptly. Willie was one OF a detachment
OF eight sent up the railroad from their
camp some hfteen miles. TO guard a bridge.
He had the only money in the company.
The sergeant borrowed it and invested 1t
IN whisky, and as q result a quarrel arose
between another and Willie, and i, ended
in Willie siabbing his assailant. At this
point In the reading hr. Lincoln said:
Now, he was a nice sergeant. Willie lenGs
him the money, he buys the whisky. and
0haws -. - aDH DNA.an AWA our
is to be shot. WelI.D said he. go on.n
At the conclusion of the reading he said,
thoughtfully. 81 don't know as j can reach
the general IN command" bat bic PICKED ND
his pen and dashed of q message:
Delay the execution of sentence against
Willie . the widows only son, until
further notice. A. LINCOLN"
At the end of three DAYS. az his direc-
rion we called at the White Honse in the
evening to see if he had any tidings that
We could carry back To the widow on our
return TO Buffalo. Tho MESSENGER admitted
Us, and, going to the executive chamber,
We found the door slightly ajar. and there
sat Mr. Lincoln with head bowed in his
hands IN q profound study. Disturbed IN
his MUSINGS Wy BY our. our presence o.. he he said, said;
this evening for home. and have come to
learn if yon have any tidings In regard to
Willie" STRENGTHENING himself mp and
thrusting his hand deep in bis coat pocket.
he replied: well, as Artemus Ward said,
j guess / are" He drew the message from
his pocket and read: willie. the widows
only son. will not be shot until further
still living. because Mr.. Lincoln had a
heart as tender as a wOman's.
VOICE OF THE
Being In Washington o few months after
the Emancipation Proclamation had been
signed. several friends met at Wizards
Hotel, and it was suggested that 1t would
be a proper thing to call and pay our re-
spects to Mr. Lincoln. | mention their
names because l think 1 am the only per-
son living who made that visit. There was
Schuyler Colfax. Gen. John A. Logan,
samuel Hooper. of Boston,: Henry l..
Blow. of St. Louis. and Philip Dorsheimer
and Samuel Wilkinson. of Buffalo. We
stated that we had called TO pay our re-
spects and TO congratulate him upon the
success OF our arms, the result. as we be-
lieved, of his signing the emancipation
Proclamation. he said he was glad TO meet
MS. and IL was n pleasure TO him To Know
that he had the sympatny OF ms country
men in this great struggle. he said II was
true that many thought he had been too
slow in taking this important step. which
he finally felt compelled to take In enamel
tipued. Il hated slavery; when l grew to
manhood / loved it no better. but when L
was elected i felt that 1 was called to be-
the President of tho whole country, north
IL 6OuLu. " g UNIT HS
upon and i called out $1,000 men.
had no purpose but 10 save the
country and save slavery. and when L
called twice for 500. 600 more, my deliberate
purpose nnder God was TO accomplish the
same end. But" hs said slowly and with
great emphasis. ION many n defeated heId
there was a voice louder than the voice or
cannon. 1t was the voice of the Almighty.
the God of battle. saying: Let My people
co. The nation was very slow In learning
that il was the voice of God. but at last IL
became realized rs n great and solemn
fact. Great multitudes begged and
prayed that / might be the instruments TO
answer that MESSAGE. and / did II, oeliev-
ing we should never succeed In the great
~struggle unless we obsyed the Lords mes
age And since that was done i think the
God of battle has been on our side" We
all left his presence with the feeling that
we had been talking with Gods messenger.
who had been called TO execute his VIII IN
fhe most critical hour Of our Nations peril.
MESSAGE FROM A LIBBY
Another incident will never be forgotten
by any now living who may have CHANGED
TO be present on the occasion OF the anni-
yersary of the Christian Commission
which was held in the House or Represent
atives at the national capital. 1t was at a
time when the deepest interest was felt all
over the country IN the soldiers who were
sick in camp and IN hos pitaL Ihousands
$50 .ah nf