The Sunday globe., 1901-06-16
MOTHER FERGUSON.
An Historical Character of our Civil
War.
LINCOLN SFAMOUS DECLARATION
An Illustration Of The ngratitude Of Republics
Where the Citizen is a Poor Old Woman
Without PuI-A Pathetic Story Graphically
Told BY an Able New York Newspaper Man.
Mother Stewart atrsunOns and snoampmentS

while there is a God and an Ameri- /
can country you shall never starve. -
President Lincoln to Mother Ferguson.
She nursed a thousand soldiers dur
ing the Civil War. She was in 145 |
battles. Great generals did her honor. I
They called her mother of Lincolns
cavalry" Now, broken, helpless with |
age, Mo'her Ferguson is living alone |
la a shabby attic, destitute and penni-
less at 50, dependent on the charity OF
q few old friends, all poor themselves /
Through a blur of tears she sat the
other night fumbling a ticket to the an
nual G. A. r. excursion when a re-
porter found her.
1--WE never missed one yet she said
missing this. / won't miss it, I'll go
If / have to go barefoot
She was alone but for her Catholic
prayer book. She lives on the top floor
Of the frame house at 3l5 Sixteenth
street, Brooklyn. Pinned on the faded
mantle which she wore was an old tim
type Of Lincoln and about 1t an an
cient miniature flag.
I've worn it ever since Lincoln was
assassinated," she said, THAT pin 10
a veterans pin. You see, I'm vet
The old woman smiled wanly. Her
hair is white and her face lined with
wrinkles. She is bent with years. Her
face is one of mingled gentleness and
strength. The nose is Roman, and its
contour shows great strength. The
chin is firm and full Of determination,
and the eye, although now dim with
years, famed with a wondrous fire
when she talked of her battle. Mother
Ferguson is not unlike Clara Barton
in appearance. =
"Oh. | was great old woman until
these last three years" she sadly said.
They all knew me, the generals as
well as the boys, and they tipped their
hats to me as fine as you ever saw.
But now / can't get around any more.
My son is i'll somewhere, and my
daughter is out in California. So
have to look after myself"
81 can't miss the vets eXcursion-l
won't But look at those shoes. They
are pretty bad, aren't they?" And the
old woman smiled bitterly again. I'm
away off over here in Brooklyn. The
old friends don't know where | am,
and | can't get around to see them
else | know It would be all right. All
have to look forward to is meeting
| the soldiers
Mother Ferguson is deaf and coughs
constantly. She told her story with
many breaks to the reporter. She wore
an old gown open at the throat and sat
in a chair which G, A, R. women
months ago had made easy with pill
| lows.
81 was in the war from first to last
she said. 81 was at Bull Run, and !
was at AppotmattoX. l don't know
| how old l am. / guess it's 70 or so.
| Ny husband-he's dead these 80 years
Joined the First New York cavalry.
! remember the day Just like yester-
| day. They were recruited up at 765
| Broadway. and it was the very first
| cavalry company they organized for
| the Union side President Lincoln
christened it himself, and after that
| they always called II Lincoln's cav
airy
1--WE went first to Washington. Oh,
| those were times! The streets were
| alive those days. The very air was
| thrilling with fight. ! slept in the
| house where Colonel Ellsworth-Ells.
| worth of the Zouaves-was staying.
| He was killed a few days later. ! had
| gone along with the cavalry as a nurse.
| | wouldn't stay behind, though my hus-
band begged me hard enough. | knew
| the poor fellows would need somebody
| to nurse them before the awful war
| was over, and / was strong then.
| "Ah. sir, few eyes have seen what
these have. l was with Mcclellan and
| Kearny and Franklin and Sheridan
| and Hunter and Porter and the rest Of
| them. | was at Bull Run, Antietam
Fredericksburg, Fair oaks, Chancel-
| lorsville. Piedmont and in the seven
| days fighting at Gettysburg.
Gettysburg! Oh, never was there
such fighting as there! | have seen
much but nothing like Gettysburg
The old woman put up her hands as If
to shut out the vision. And | was
with Sheridan in his raids up the val
| ley--yes, with Sheridan twice over.
| Phil There was the boy!
| 1T was at Harrison's Landing | first
! saw Lincoln. We had been licked, oh,
badly. | think he came down there to
find out how m9ny Of us hadn't been
killed. They were all tRere-the big
generals and Lincoln-and they intro
duced me to him and told him what
had been doing. They said I'd been
with his cavalry right through, and
that | had nursed the wounded and
cared for them. She's the mother Of
the cavalry they told him. And
was so proud as he stood there looking
at me kindly.
IT'S just like he was standing here
before me now-so tall, with sunken
cheeks and such wonderful eyes, set
deep in his head. And how do you
like soldering he asked me. 4 would
not be satisfied TO be anywhere else,
II told him But it's dreadful, the
slaughter He looked at me and said
that as long as there was a God and an
American country ] would be taken
care of. And he shook hands with me
again. This old tintype here looks
just as he looked then,
| 81 was right in the fighting. | just
couldn't stay out of it. Once General
Fitz John Porter had me taken to the
rear. was right up with the ammuni'
ton wagon. / couldn't stay back.
When you are in fight, you don't
know you are fighting. You lose sense
of that You see terrible things, and
they don't move you. It's just as
though your sense Of feeling had sud
denly gone dead. Around you the
guns roar and you see men fall, their
heads off, a limb gone OF shattered to
pieces by a shell. You wade in blood,
and YOU don't feel it. After the first
flush of it is over you lose sight Of
everything almost.
MANY OF the New York soldiers !
helped in the war. There were the
SiXty-ninth, the Irish boys, and Cor.
corans brigade, They passed us at
Harrison's Landing, and | made cof.