The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-27
A BIT OF WAR HISTORY
RECOLLECTIONs OF THE FINANCIAL
AGENT OF THE COyFEDERACY.
The South Sold Cotton and Bought
Arms and Boats--Transactfons in
England and ON the Continent.
St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

Office a few days ago when these words,
more in the nature of a salutation than
a plea, were addressed to him. Looking
up he saw before him man of military
bearing, with snowy hair and whiskers-
a man who would be noticed in crowd.
1t had been many years since General
Turner had seen that face. but his rec
ognition of his visitor was almost in
Simultaneous.
"Why, Colonel Huse, how glad am to
see you! Forgive you? OF course. The
war is over. and I have no feeling of
enmity toward those who fought on the
other side"
Then followed an interchange Of ante
bellum "reminiscences that would have
filled a volume.
General Turner's visitor. who intro
duced himself in this curious fashion.
was Col. Caleb Huse. of Newark, N. J.
Before the war he was an instructor in
chemistry at West Point, and General
Turner was one of his pupils. General
Turner shared in the trials and tri-
umphs of the civil war as an officer in
the Union army; Colonel Huse, although
a New England man. took a more i'm
portant IL less trying position in the SER
vice of the Confederacy. During those
four years of which the struggle lasted
Colonel Huse represented the interests
of the South in Europe. He was the
financial agent of the. confederate gov
ernment he purchased all the supplies
and arranged every detail in connection
with the payment therefor.
Colonel Huse is sixty-three years OF
age. He has still the bearing of a SOL
der. He is still as active as most men
of forty-five. Ee is man. too, who
claims none of the honor of the military
heroes Address him as Colonel or as
General, for the latter is the title by
which he is generally known, and he at
once informs you that he never heard
shot fired during the war. He is ma
tive of Massachusetts, and in 1S47 en-
tered West Point. Four years later he
graduated, but remained at the college
in the capacity of instructor for ten
years. 1t was during this period that
General Turner was one or his pupils III
| the chemistry class. That such man
| should ever be employed by the cOnfed-
crate government in such an important
position as that which he held is most
remarkable. The manner In which he
| received the appointment and many of
| the incidents connected with the dis
| charge Of his duties form an interesting
| chapter of the unwritten history of the
conflict by which the Union was pre-
served. Here is the story, as told by
| Colonel Huse to representative OF the
GIobe-Democrat last night:
I'm the year 1850 / received leave of
! absence, it being then just ten years
| since i had graduated. / went to Eu-
| rope and spent considerable time there.
On my return. in 1851. Colonel Delafield.
who was superintendent or West Point,
| informed me that the University of Ala
| bama desired an instructor to place the
| cadets of the school on regular mill
| tary basis He said he had recon-
mepded me for the position, and asked
me if I would like to accept it. ] re-
| piled that / would, and after some slight
preliminary arrangements / went to
| Alabama, and at once entered upon my
| new duties. In February, 1861, while
| there was yet no talk of war, resigned
| my commission as a Union officer. In
| the meantime. just prior to my resig-
nation, my leave of absence had been re-
| volxed, and / had been ordered to Wash
| ington. There was nothing further from
my thoughts than that of taking any
| part in the conflict, since ]. had resigned
my commission. In April, however, / re-
| ceived letter to go on to Montgomery
| from Stephen r. Mallory, Secretary of
| the Navy, who had known me for many
years. / was then just thirty years old.
| On the very day on which the first shot
was fired on Fort Sumter / received my
| orders to go to Europe to purchase such
| ordinances as might be required during
L
| started out accordingly without delay.
| was the sole financial agent of the gov
| eminent of the Confederacy in Europe.
| At one time I had 100000 stands of arms
waiting my orders in the Imperial Ar
Senal at Vienna, and ten batteries of ar
| tillery at the same place. The govern
ment of the United States tried to pre-
vent our purchasing these, but the gov
ernments of Europe took the ground
| that they were ordinary manufactured
.f 1At, fri hat
such they must sell TO all who desired
| to purchase. England, of course, had
recognized the South as a belligerent,
| though not as a power. In any event.
| there were nations which were anxious
| to see the war continued 1t was the
| first real attempt to conduct the affairs
| OF great nation on democratic prin-
| ciples; the prediction had been made
| that it was bound to 20 to pieces, and.
| the wish being father to the thought,
| there was a strong desire to see the
| prophecy verified. Then the cotton
manufacturers of England Were amass-
| ing fortunes. Cotton had been lying on
| their hands; now the supply was scarce,
| prices went up, and the cause of the in
| crease in prices being the war, a con-
/ tinuance of the war was not in any way
| considered disaster. But am talking
| philosophically rather than facts. Let
| me come to the latter.
BEGINNING THE WORK
| "A
ders on the day that the first shot was
| fired on Fort Sumter. arrived in
| Charleston on the evening of the day on
/ which 1 started out. I went from there
| to Baltimore, by The Bay line. The
navy yard at Norfolk had just been de-
| stroyed. The passengers who came on
board the boat on which / took passage
| made it's destruction their one topic of
/ conversation. When I arrived in Balti-
| more preparations were being made for
/ the burial of the four soldiers belonging
| to the Massachusetts regiment who had
| been shot on the previous day. Need
less to say, the excitement was intense.
| Men walked through the streets mutter-
| ing vengeance. One man did not know
what side his neighbor espoused, so that
| there was a great deal of bitter discus
| sion; there was war IN the atmosphere;
| there was something in every look and
| gesture that told of the intensity of feel
! ing which had been aroused, the talk
| was of war. of the treachery of the
South, or the justice Of it's cause, as the
| case might he. / saw the guns being
! handed out from The stores of the deal
| ers in such supplies. The point which |