Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-12
April IL, 1908

I been said by those who should know
that the fiasco at Fort Fisher was at
tributed to a failure of cooperation.
where he had right to expect it, and
that some others of his military move
ments, whether wise or not, were
thwarted or greatly impeded by the
unlocked for counter movements of
Generals Baldy Smith and Gilmore,
who were regular army officers, while
General Butler, their superior in COM
mand. was only volunteer. 1t is an
authenticated fact that just before
the investment of Petersburg General
Buffers cavalry penetrated the city,
even to Bolinbroke street, and remained
there in possession the greater part of
an afternoon, when they were with
drawn by order of General Smith 1t
hardly admits of a doubt that the town
might have been kept under our flag at
that time and the long siege avoided.
On the following day the place was oc-
cupied by ther Confederates, who came
pouring down from Richmond In large
numbers"
The school boy of today, and he of
years ago, will read the authors de-
scription of Lincoln at Gettysburg in
1863 with beating pulse
-Four months had elapsed since the
great struggle, but still scattered upon
the ground in many places were OBJ
| served the evidences of deadly strife;
such as fragments of soldiers uni
forms, caps, shoes, pieces of harness,
of gun carriages and other signs, on
| the broken ground, where many had
fallen. AT points where the fighting
had taken place in thickets of small
timber, the trees were terribly cut and
riddled with bullets and cannon balls;
none were left unscathed. How human
beings could have escaped at all under
! such fearful fusillades as occurred was
| them and still is, mystery The evil
dence was Overwhelming that Gettys-
! burg was one of the most desperate
of battles, but then it was a case of
| Greek meeting Greek.
THE band played patriotic airs after
Mr.. Everett Ghe orator of the day)
had finished. and then Mr.. Lincoln
arose, and, laying aside his cloak, de-
livered his celebrated address. 1t was
listened to- L need not say, with the
greatest attention, as, indeed, was
everything Mr. Lincoln said on any
occasion, but no one at the time re-
garded it as anything very unusual
| 1t seemed like a rehearsal of a few
we'll known facts, told in Mr.. Lin
coins inimitable style, but without
new or startling ideas. 1t may well
be supposed from the solemnity of the
i occasion that he was earnest and inn
pressive in it's delivery. Weighed down
as he evidently was by the awful re-
sponsiblity resting upon him as the
head of the nation, he was fairly pa
thetic in his utterances. 1 was sitting
within few feet of Mr.. Lincoln at
the time, but am unable to say now
whether he referred to notes or man
uscript when speaking, or not l am
sure. however, that he did not read
much of what he said, nor use the
stand in front of him at all"
Pen Picture of Stanton
The following picture of Stanton, the
| great war secretary, is a sample of
the authors power of description:
"Mr. Stanton was a compactly built
man, capable of great endurance, and
surely it required person of the ut
most stregnth, physical and mental. to
perform the labor of the war depart
ment during the Civil War. Stanton
was found equal 10 the, emergency. He
was never found wanting; was at his
post day and night, and always busy;
often moving from place to place in the
narrow quarters of the departments His
| work was done standing, writing at a
| high desk. He found little time to sit
| or converse on other than military af-
| fairs. Only with some of the numerous
| subordinates in his department was he
at all brusk He had been hard work.
! er wen engaged as a lawyer in the in
| vestigation of Spanish land grants in
| California, and harder work now de-
volved upon him to look after the army
and supervise military operations over
| this wide country. But human endur-
ance has it's limits. Mr.. Stanton liter
ally wore himself out in the service of
his country. He gave up the fight not
| long after the war was over"
The history of the Thirty-eighth con-
gress in 1S63-64 of which the author
was member, and in which originated
the legislation that built the Pacific
| railroads is particularly interesting:
| n ho
field, Conkling, Window, Washburne
and Donnelly, the last two conspicuous
! for their belligerency and many wordy
conflicts on the floor. There were also
Geo. w. Julian, VIM. D. Kelly, Allison,
Schenck, Cresswell, Fenton, Boutwell,,
Schof1eld, Kasson, Holman, Pendleton,
Randall Jim Brooks and Ferdinand
Wood, both from New York and OF
doubtful loyalty: Dan Voorhees,, Bru-
tus Clay, Oakes Ames, Justin S. Morrill,,
Sam Cox, Bingham, Thad Stevens, Col
fax and quite a number of others who
in after years were frequently heard in
connection with political and business
achievements Of the country.
During the tendency of this legis-
lation CPacific railroad), G. p Hunting
ton spent much time in Washington.
Many amendments were suggested by
him. and it gave me much satisfaction
to forward his views. In former years,
political fellowship. Besides, as I have
stated, I had been associated with him
and others in the organization of the
Central Pacific Railroad company"
The following bit of descriptive writ
| ing is a new version of Sheridan's
famous ride at Winchester, and will be
hailed with delight by the men who
were on the ground, as we'll as all who
love Old Glory:
Version of Sheridan's Ride
Generals Sherman and Sheridan were
brave soldiers and equally able officers,
but in personal appearance they diff
fered greatly. Sherman was a tall,
slender man, while Sheridan was rather
short and thick set. Sherman, in the
day of his military activity, left the
impression of being a little bent, as a
person is likely to become by leaning
over a desk, or table. as had been his
custom for years while in the banking
business. His face was much furrowed
and wrinkled, as if from care. but his
countenance bore an expression of un-
usual candor and confidence. Sheridan
was always erect, as is generally the
case with men of under size. His COM
pexion was forid, if not freckled. His
face was longer than would be indt-
Gated by his stature. From his coun-
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