The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-02-11
TN RZXBY LE1ZEB

depicts Is none the less admirable nor
lovable. If anything, he Is more so of
both and Barton's Lincoln demon
strates all the more clearly that Lin
coin needs no myths or legends to
enhance his fame.
Among the many interesting revela-
lions made by this biographer are
those about the five sons Of Mrs. Lydia
Bixby, who were the inspiration for
the famous Bixby Letter which was
delivered to the Boston mother on
Thanksgiving day, 1854, with a
Thanksgiving dinner and consider
able sum Of money. The inspiration
for this letter was statement from
the War department to President Lin
coin that Mrs. Bixby was the mother
Of five sons, four Of whom were killed
In battle and the fifth died Of wounds.
The facts which Barton has brought
to light are these:
Two sons, Charles N. Bixby and
Oliver @. Bixby, were killed in battle,
the former at Fredericksburg and the
latter in the Crater fight before Peters
burg. But they were the only Bixby
sons who were killed in action. An
other son, Henry G. Bixby, was cap
tured at the battle of Gettysburg but
was paroled in 1854, returned to his
home, discharged from service and
lived until 1871. Edward Bixby, boy
Of eighteen, who was supposed to have
died Of wounds, grew homesick and
deserted to the enemy In 1862. After
the war he changed his occupation,
became sailor and Is known to have
been living with his mother In 1871.
He died In Chicago in 1909. George
Way Bixby, supposed to have been
killed at Petersburg, was captured by
the Confederates there and fellow
prisoner who returned to Boston re-
ported that he had deserted to the
enemy, but later records state that he
died in prison. Although he is known
to have been living as late as March,
1855, his final fate Is unknown.
So of the five sons who died glori-
ously In the field OF battle" as Lin
coin wrote to their mother, only two
actually did die thus, one was a
known deserter and another may have
been. But for all that Lincoln's letter
was written under misapprehension
and for all that the Bixby sons may
not have been deserving of all the
honor 1t gave them, the fact remains
that this letter still stands as a classic
Of English prose and, as Barton has
said, the facts in the case can "detract
nothing from the noble and sympathet-
ic spirit Of Abraham Lincoln"
The latest Lincoln legend that Mr.
Barton has dispelled is in regard to
the sleeping sentinel, sentenced to be
shot, whom Lincoln Is said to have
pardoned. The story book version of
the affair has Lincoln riding out at
dawn to stop the execution, sitting
down In tent with the boy, looking
at the photograph of the young SOL
dier's widowed mother and hearing
the boys grateful offer to mortgage
the old farm and repay the President
for saving his life. Then 1t has the
boy, MORALLY wounded In battle later,
delivering long grafton to his COM
rades, uttering prayer for Abraham
Lincoln and sending a dying message
to the President
The only thing the matter with the
story, says Barton, is that 1t is all
wrong. William Scott Of Company K
Of the Third Vermont, who had been
detailed as one of three soldiers guard
ing the chain bridge over the Poto-
mac, was found sleeping on his post
on the night Of August 80, 1851. He
was court-martialed and sentenced to
be shot Monday morning, September
8. The sentence, however. was a bluff
and intended by Brig. Gen. William F.
Smith, commander of the brigade, to
throw a scare" into the brigade and