The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-02-12
INTERESTING on LINCOLN.
kGeneral Adam Badeau's Recol-
? lections of sold Abe"
PERSONAL "REMINISCENCES.
Mr. Lincoln at the New York Academy
OF Music.
The Biographer of Grant Tells About
the Intimate Relations and Warm
Friendship Existing Between the
General and the President.
Copyright

Copyright
Lincoln was born eighty-four years ago
today, on Feb. II, 1909.
first saw Mr.. Lincoln at the New York
Academy Of Music, in February, 1861. He
was on his way to Washington TO be in
aUgurated. Most of the southern states
had already seeded, and the whole coun-
try was in a state of intense excitement.
New York had been overwhelmingly OPP
posed to the Republican candidate, and
probably three-fourths of the fashionable
people who filed the opera house were his
political enemies. But he was the presi-
dent-elect, and it had been declared that
his Inauguration would be re-
sisted by southerners, and New
York meant to be loyal to the
union. Mr. Lincoln had been the
target of more than ordinary abuse and
ridicule and was personally disliked ana
even despised by many in the audience,
bat when he entered the large stage box
on the right of the grand tier, the entire
house rose while the orchestra played
ssThe Star Spangled Banner" l was a
young Democrat then, and had voted for
Breckenridge. l was with party of men
and women bitterly opposed to Republic
canism; but not one of them dreamed of
remaining seated. 1t was an unusual
thing for an American audience to rise
for any man, but this antagonistic, ex-
elusive company stood in honor of the
tail, ungainiy Hoosier who looked down
on them from his box while stIl Ballo in
Maschero' was playing. The scene and
the act had more significance than we
knew. They showed not only that New
York would subordinate politics to
patriotism, that pride of position was
nothing in comparison with pride of
country, but that this plain man of the
people would lead the greatest in the land,
and even political enemies would follow
him in the mighty conflict that was SO
near.
1.-The Ballo in Maschero," too-the
opera in which the head OF the state is
assassinated at a gathering for pleasurel
Lincoln s own fate was foreshadowed in
more ways than one that night in Febru-
airy, at the opera.
next met him at the White House in
April, 1862, as bearer of dispatches an
nouncing the capture of Fort Pulaski.
had served as volunteer id-de- camp with
out rank or pay during the siege and
bOmbardment, and carried a letter from
T.
tacl1ng force, recommending me for a
captaincy in the army. Colonel John Hay,
the president s secretary, procured me an
early interview, before the O'Clock
breakfast, and ] was ushered into the
room next to the cabinet chamber; Mr..
Lincoln sat before the fire, with one OF
his long legs thrown over the arm OF his
chair and the other coiled and twisted in
some extraordinary fashion as if there
of / han "a
with. He asked me about the siege and
the fort and L told hum what he wanted
to know, he listening attentively and in
terrupting only to extract some bit of in
formation. / said nothing about my ap-
plication until he had heard all he wanted,
then / handed him my papers. He looked
over them YEARLY, as if he had such
things thrust at him every hour of his
life, but it was early in the day and he
was not yet exhausted; besides he had
been interested in my story, so he said:
"Well, what do you want me to do?'' in
q worried tone that told Of his cares and
anxieties and made me almost sorry l was
adding to them. ''What do you want me
to do?'' | saw that l must be quick and
concise, and simply replied: 81 want to
be made q captain. He took a pen and
wrote on my recommendations: "Let
Mr.. Badeau be made captain. A. Lin
coln.'' and handed them back to me.
e1Show this to the secretary of war, - he
said. | thanked him, but he was already
occupied with different paper, and l left
the room without another word. OF
course the order was obeyed. | went to
Mr.. Stanton, who received me at once
when he learned that l came from the
president; he sent me to the adjutant-
general, and l left the war Office cap
tain in the regular army.
I did not see Mr.. Lincoln again until
March. 1884 General Grant had just
been placed in command OF all the armies
and was in Washington on his way to
Culpeper. He spent a day or two discuss
ing his plans with the government, and
Mrs. Grant remained at the capitol with
him. ! was then member of Grant S
staff and accompanied Mrs. Grant on the
first visit she ever made to the White
House to pay her respects to Mrs. Lin
coin at one of her day receptions. 1t was
a Saturday afternoon, and there was a
Great crowd Mr.. Lincoln stood by the
side of his wife, and the visitors bowed
first to him. l was in my uniform and
on crutches because of a wound, and he
looked at me almost tenderly-of course
without remembering that he had ever
seen me before. When Mrs. Grants
name was called by the officer
who announced us, the president
gave it little attention, and Mrs. Grant
would have passed on without any more
notice than any other stranger. But re-
heated: ssMrs. General Grant, Mr..
President. He instantly stopped till his
tall figure almost touched Mrs. Grants
shoulders, took both her hands in his,
and with a pleased and warm expression
lighting his ugly, noble features asked
after the general; and turning to Mrs.
lincoln. said: HMrs. General Grant,
nv dear!'' Then he gave me his hand
and final approving glance. 1 have
been present more than once when Gen.
eral and Mrs. Grant were received by
European sovereigns, descendants OF a
hundred kings, but not one OF them
showed q more gracious sense of what
was due distinguished guest than the
rail-splitter from Illinois.
The next time / saw him was under
very different circumstances. 1t was in
the summer of 1864. He had gone down
to City Point on q steamer to visit GEN
eral Grant, but had not announced his
coming. The headquarters camp was on
a high bluff on the bank of the James;
the tents formed three sides of a square
snd +he fourth overlooked the river The
president landed at the foot of the bluff
and made his way up the steep bank en-
tirely alone. Grant and one or two of his
staff were seated outside of their tents
when a tail. gaunt figure appeared on the
bank. clad in black and wearing high
black hat. We had not seen such cos
tune in months, and nobody recognized
she stranger. We thought him an agent
of the sanitary commission, or per-
hans some civilian come to ask a
permit to visit the army. The sentinel
halted him, and there was a delay OF a
minute or two before the president of
the United States was allowed to enter