The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-05-13

=
Major Hopkins and Colonel Charles
tdu .oln are also anxious to be brig
adiers, and there are others. Judge
Harlan of Grand Rapids wants to re-
cruit company here In Washington.
He says that the Michigan association
here has more than six hundred MEM
bers. and If he can get authority from
the governor to go ahead with his work,
he can easily raise company here.
But the patriots on the prairies will
fill the volunteer ranks.
When Civil War Broke Out.
At the breaking out of the civil war
there were only twenty clerks in the
war department, and Simon Cameron.
secretary of war. was forced to rely
upon such volunteers as he could get.
A large number of young men came
from Pennsylvania and offered their
assistance in the emergency and worked
without pay for some months until con-
gress met and made appropriation for
the employment of additional clerks.
Thomas A. Scott then a vice president
Of the Pennsylvania Railroad company,
was on the same footing as all the rest.
He was without military rank or any
official standing until on May 8, 1861,
he was commissioned as colonel of the
District of Columbia volunteers to
provide him with the necessary SEM
blance Of authority to act. General
Cameron's order placing Mr.. Scott in
charge of all railroad lines and the
movement of troops was very broad
and arbitrary. 1t was that "all infor-
nation and instructions in relation to
extended roads or telegraph lines, or
operating them on government account,
must emanate from Colonel Scott's de-
partment." How he fulfilled his trust
and finally became General Cameron's
trusted chief can best be told in that
veterans own words, as uttered to the
narrator:
Scott the Man for the Place.
mo man in America, In my judg-
ment, could have on that day fulfilled
the requirements of the situation as
Colonel Thomas A. Scott did. 1t need
ed an individual of untiring energy,
quick decision and great nerve to deal
with the everyday requirements Of the
situation, and no man possessed all
these qualities in such a degree as he
did. 1t had been a part Of my policy
at the beginning Of the war not only to
take and operate railroads in the
enemy's country, but to build lines of
railway to follow the army as nearly
as practicable. Most Of our old army
officers thought this could not be done,
but Colonel SSOtt demonstrated its en-
tire feasibility<almosta at the beginning
of his career as a military railway
manager.
"In an incredibly short space Of time
after he came to the department he had
his office placed in Geographic COM
munication with all the army stations
that could be reached and with every
telegraph station in every loyal state
of the north He had great RESPONSE
bilities and a great work to do.
Railway Through Washington Streets.
IT had taken possession" of the Balti-
more and Ohio railroad before his ar
rival, which, of course, passed under
his management as soon as he assumed
charge. He then built a line Of railway
through the streets of Washington to
the Long bridge, so as to make direct
connection with the Orange and Alex
andria railroad beyond Alexandria. In
less than a month he had so systemat-
ICED his portion of the duties Of the de-
partment that he could tell the capac-
ity for transportation toward every d.
vision Of the army. His marvellous mas
terry Of details connected with his busi-
ness qualities and his power to reach
your judgment almost without explain
alton, was one of the characteristics Of
his mind which served to make him in
many respects the greatest railroad
manager that ever lived in this coun-
try. J. Edgar Thomson was, perhaps,
his superior in solid foresight and men,
tai grasp, but no man ever exceeded
him in executive ability. He and Thorn
son formed a combination of brain and
railroad talent greatly diverse, but so
harmonious as to be effective for great
results upon all occasions.
In No Condition to Fight.
1.-TWO days before the battle Of Bull
Run Mr.. Scott and myself went down
their necessities, etc. Neither Of us was
evident that after the COME lerate army
concentrated at Manassas our forces
were not in condition to fight. We re-
turned to Washington impressed with
this idea. General Winfield Scott. COM
mander-in-chief, and myself had an in
terview on the subject, and he secuted
concentrate at Bull Run, and said that
General Patterson, who was at Mar
tinsburg could certainly prevent 1t.
thought II impossible, and urged the
sending of all available troops to Bull
Run. 1t Nas late in the day when the
decision was reached to forward all
troops that could be gotten to Manas-
sas, and there was a question as to the
time. Colonel Scott was called on and
solved that problem by landing on the
field in time for battle the New Jersey
regiments, which were then in Wash
ington.
Assistant Secretary Of War.
when congress met one of its first
acts was to pass law authorizing the
Of an assistant secretary
Of war, and up to that time Colonel
Scott had no other position or authority
than that conferred upon him as coll
onel of the District of Columbia volun-
teers, and my order making him mana
ger Of the military railroads and tele-
graphs did not give him all the author
ty needed. When the law created the
office of assistant secretary of war the
question as to the selection of a man
came up in the cabinet meeting. Mr.. |