New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-08-24

| EFFORT OF will. In him il was innate
lnWoNen with his nature inseparable
from himself. With il went even when
he put prudence aside. a GOODNESS of
Judgment and military instincts with
out which there is no fitness for war.
| West Point cannot teach them. They
are either born in man or they are
not They are of the essence.
When every tribute has been paid
TO him as soldier and patriot we must
all wish il were possible to know more
of the man whom Motley described as
the true. original type of the American
gentleman. He must indeed. as his
biographer says. have been in a pc
culiar manner influenced by his en-
! vironment and ancestry. The pre-
/ liminary chapter in which some &C
count Of these is given is only too brief.
1t is not only that the Wadsworths Of
| Colonial and Revolutionary days were
| evidently men Of mark; and Of a true
1 aristocracy. They were New England
! ers. and the stamp of New England an
\
was on their descendants. and still is
! II was James Wadsworth the father Of
( James 6. who first became n settler in
! Western New York. 1t Was he and his
| brother William who created Geneseo
| Under them began the patriarchal life
which has made the name famous. II
| is this life If which one would like
| larger picture with the details filed in.
| To these brothers. as 10 him who was
! 10 be General WadsWorth, obstacles
were but things 10 be swept away.
! They were all free from the American
passion for haste They built slowly,
/ solidly on solid foundations. They had
/ English ideas of the relations that
ought TO exist between owner and
/ tenant. and these they adapted to
American conditions. ! know not
whether elsewhere in America great
| landed estate like Geneseo had been
got together and managed with wise,
| businesslike generosity TO all con
cerned. or whether this vas unique.
| But whether unique or not, ii was ideal,
and ideal il remained while James lived
J and after.
II ever a man went into the var
with a whole heart, IT was Wadsworth.
He hated rebellion and slavery and de-
clared he meant TO fight them wherever
he could. The caution which in the
winter Of 1SGO-'6l and even in the early
spring Of 1861 was the prevailing tone
in the North ne flung 10 the winds. In
the foolish Peace Conference Of Feb
ruary. 1861, he voted for war. He was
then ffty-three years old. When the
Presidents call for troops came he set
| himself at once, as q member Of the
executive OF the Union Defence Com
mittee. 10 organize commisssriat ser
vice His business gifts came into play.
" bought d steamer, loaded II with
provisions, clothing, horses and labor
ors. and sent it 10 Annapolis, paying
$1,000 out OF his own pocket, a sum
which afterward was repaid. Offered
a Major Generaship for New York, he
declined il in favor Of anybody more
competent than himself. He put his
services AT the disposal first OF New
York and then Of Washington. He Of
fered himself 10 General Mcdowell as
aide de- camp. a young mans place.
and did young mans duty.
As McDowells aid, he was at Bull
Run and there. as ever afterward,
showed that impetuous daring which
belongs 20 the natural leader OF men.
He was man whom men would fol-
low: like Lord Wolseley always try
ing 10 get his head shot off" He had
other military aptitudes: an eye for
counting. conception Of what troops
could do and could not do. In the
confused medley and through that in
dscribable panic tWenty-seven miles
long" he kept his head. and what one
officer unframed 10 war might do he
did. To the Iast he was Of the rear
guard The post If danger. II was his
apprenticeship 10 war 4 letter from
his daughter, Mrs. Richie. the present
Mrs. Affair. describes him as in the
saddle for twenty-four hours. He and
his son-in-law. Richie. were the last
officers who passed through Fairfax
Court House General Mcdowell said
he was the youngest man among
them"
Forthwith he was made a brigadier
general of volunteers. This promotion,
still distrustful Of his military skill lac
accepted on the promise Of a West
Point officer as adjutant general. His
brigade was one of the outposts OF the
defence OF Washington, at Upton's
Hill. In that tedious and difficult task
he won the confidence Of mis- superiors
in rank. When Lincoln finally relieved
Mcclellan of his generalship in CHEZ,
and babe him reorganize the Army OF
The Potomac, Wadsworth was made
Military Governor of Washington. Nc
Clellan protested but protested in vain.
His protest il a tribute which ! would
not omit.
on the purely military side Wads-
worth had but slender stock OF ex-
perience He was in command OF wide
spreading fortifcations and 2O.VU
troops. But Washington was half
city. half camp and not the least In
teresting pages in this Memoir are
those which describe how wisely ne