The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-27
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE HEART OF LINCOLN.

Solemn days are these mat IOllOW. boo-
ing over a third Of its force engaged in this
furious initial battle. the brigade shares
the lot Of the rest of the army, and after
two days more OF ~fruitless fighting is or
dered TO fall back on Washington. Many
OF the wounded officers have been sent in
ahead. without discrimination as TO friend
or foe. and Benton's general, broken down
by Illness and exhaustion. is borne by am
bu!ance to the capital. and bids Fred go In
search of his prisoner friend. How the Ia
bles of war are turnedi -Four months ago
that young virginian lay in clover at Char
iottesville. petted and soothed by the pref
test girls to be found in the court Of Queen
Resale, while Benton. a prisoner patient,
moped in huny dignity and merited semi
neglect. Now the Virginian lies in splints
and a stury room in parboiled Washington,
far from the pretty girls Of Albemarle, yet
assiduously cared for by their queen. Wash
ington is now one vast hospital. whose
walls echo night and day the moan of fe-
vered sufferer. the dull thunder of distant
guns, the rumble of rolling cannon, the
tramp Of soldier hosts. for Lee has leaped
the Potomac and gone careering ~northward
toward the Pennsylvania line. Pope, Nc
Dowell and Sigel have retired in favor of
Mcclellan. Hooker and Porter, the little
chief again called to the fore, while the
manager OF the sack campaign sits down
to figure out the twistings, turnings and
doublings OF the hare that wouldn't be
caught until there were hares enough to
smother the hound Many and ingenious
are the explanations of failure-generals
ordered TO march who chose rather TO
sleep: OF generals ordered to find the corps
OF Jackson who couldn't find their own;
generals ordered to stand who never got
the order. and who would have been
crushed IL they had; generals ordered to
bar Jackson's retreat when he never
thought OF retreating; generals ordered to
bar Longstreet's joining when he had al
ready Joined: orders sent by staff officers
who never could thereafter be found: orders
declared sent to division generals, since
admitted sent not at all. 1t is a fortnight
of ~fruitless recrimination. of pushing for
place and not for the foe, of intrigue and
Islander, Of loyal victims and disloyal tri-
umph. 1t is a fortnight in which the for
tunes Of the Union seem drifting to the
lowest ebb. with all the mud and slime and
wreckage and putrescence hitherto hidden
IN the surging tide of the campaign, now
revealed to public gaze, a stencil to public
nostriis- 1t is a fortnight of funerals All,
what hundreds Of gallant boys have we to
mourn, what scores of noble names on both
sidesi Wrung to the uttermost is the great,
lonely. plying heart Of him now day and
night striving to bring order out of chaos,
hope out OF the slough of despond, victory
from dire and persistent defeat. Small
wonder Is 1t that in the contemplation of
the tremendous peril that confronts the
Nation Lincoln can find little time 10 listen
to innumerable personal appeals, to indi-
vidual claims presented by i~nsistent sena-
tors. to the stories of self-seeking, self-suf-
fcient patriots demanding the doing Of this,
the undoing OF that. 1t is a fortnight in
which Stanton, at the War Office, is over
whelmed with work and worry and grows
even more testy and imperious. 1t is a
fortnight In which, despite orders and pre-
cautions, swarms Of officers who should be
with their commands are buzzing about
Congress and the caravansaries, when ev-
cry man is needed at the front and thou
sands are skulking at the rear. when the
regiments OF the Army Of the Potomac and
OF Virginia that marched forth in the
sprtngtide In such splendid array, with
such crowded ranks, are silently, shabbily
slipping through the outskirts, mere ragged
shadows or their former selves, yet TO their
everlasting credit be it said. loyal and SUBJ
ordinate still. and confident in their faith
that they can yet whip Lee. 1t is a fort
night In which many and many a sad-faced
soldier comes away from the War Depart
ment. even from the White House, denied
a favor that at any other time would have
been accorded as by right, and one Septem-
Der evening Benton and the squire, sum-
moned to accompany their senator to the
President. are witnesses to a scene that
wrings their very hearts.
The squire has been long enough near
washington to become an ardent admins
tration man. Only twice in the past has
he seen the plain. unassuming Western
lawyer. the humorous NJ. c. who had not
reputation enough to command an audience
when, In SO. he came to speak at the
'squire's home city, but later, when they
met at the fremont, in Chicago, was the
rival Of the little giant. Douglas, in joint
debate. Now, just as Douglas had held
the hat OF the victorious Lincoln during his
inaugural address. so would Squire Benton
go to any length to back this inspired, and
as Benton Is now beginning to believe, God
given leader. More troops must be had
without delay is the burden OF what the
senator says Will Benton go West at once
and use his utmost influence? Benton will
He has only come, he says. to assure him.
self that Fred Is safe-to see Elinor, nov
scorning the sea breezes of Cape May an6
insisting on her right to be useful as q
nurse among the hospitals. Then the squire
win start within the day. Meantime, says
the senator. we must see the President
and then there is a further muttered con.
versation that Fred cannot hear, nor doe:
he care to. His one thought, after seems
that Jack Chiffon lacks nothing-after one
little word, perhaps, with Jacks no longer
imperious sister-is TO rejoin the division
as 1t comes through with the now reorgan
King corps But meanwhile Ii is the soma
tors wish they should both go with hin
to the White House, and there, amidst tn,
throng OF importunates in the ante-room
Fred Ii startled TO see the colonel OF a reg
iment I'm the First Brigade holding low
toned conversation with a portly. digniieC
man In black swallow-tailed coat, higl
stock and silken waistcoat, to whom thei
Western statesman now bows with defer
ence. and then whispers to them his name
Then the colonel turns. and Benton is NOR,
startled to see how sad. sorrow-stricke
and haggard he looks. The matter is sool