A MEMORIAL DISCOURSE,
OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF
COLONEL CHARLES TOWNSEND,
OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
DY
REv. W. T. SPROLE, D.D.
Delivered in the First Presbyterian Church, Newburgh, NV. Y.
June 18, 1865.
PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION.
MDCCCLXVI.








THE  COSTLY  SACRIFICE.
"AND THE KING LAMENTED OVER ABNER, AND SAID, DIED ABNER AS
A FOOL DIETH?"-2 SAMUEL 3: 33.
ABNER was the son of Ner, uncle to Saul,
and the general of his armies.  For seven
years after the death of the unhappy Saul,
who forfeited God's favor by his wickedness,
and vainly strove to defeat the divine purpose'with respect to the son of Jesse, this
man Abner struggled to preserve the crown
to Ishbosheth, the only surviving son, of the
slaughtered king.  Though generally successful in the contests which arose between his
troops and those of David, proving, by his
persistent endeavors, his solicitude to perfect
the claims of the surviving prince to the succession, he fell under the severe displeasure of
Ishbosheth. After all his heroic struggles in




4          THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
behalf of his master's son, he was charged with
infidelity in the house of his royal father.
Sickened and disgusted with the accusation,
Abner suddenly abandoned the cause for
which he had periled his life, and undertook
to deliver the kingdom  into the hands of
David. In this, however, he was prevented.
Shortly after his conference with David, and
in which he had engaged to perfect his claims
to the throne, Joab, who hated Abner, and
who was the General-in Chief of David's armies, from  personal resentment, blended, it
may be, with the jealous fear that he might
be supplanted in the affections of his master,
under the mask of friendship sent for him,
and perfidiously slew  him.  When David
heard of his assassination, he was deeply distressed, and in many ways expressed his detestation of Joab's execrable villany. He de:
dared his ignorance of his General's purpose,
and his innocence of all wish for his destruction; he pronounced a curse on the assassin
and his family; and, called upon his people to
unite with him in paying a becoming tribute
to his memory. He evidently had a high re



THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.        5
gard for Abner's worth, declared that a prince
and great man had that day fallen in Israel;
and, when they carried him to the grave, David
occupied the place of chief mourner, and pronounced a funeral oration over his fading re,
mains.
Our text is derived from this, and to give
it a brief paraphrase, we might read it: " Did
Abner foolishly throw away his life? Were
his days shortened by acts of wickedness and
folly?  Was he not striving to accomplish a
wise purpose, when thus cruelly taken off?
And while we mourn his violent death, is
there not much in our remembrance of the
man to warrant our regrets at his departure "
We have assembled this afternoon to convey to the tomb the remains of Colonel Townsend, and before burying him out of our sight,
we have paused in the sanctuary to ask ourselves a question, similar to that proposed by
David. Was the object to which he devoted
his life, and in the prosecution of which he
lost it, a bootless one? What was there in
the man, in the work in which he so heartily
enlisted, which has proved to him so costly,
1*




6          THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
and which entails a sadness not dissimilar to
that which burdened the heart of David,
enabling us to give a decided, intelligent negative to the question which constitutes the
text?  Did he die as the fool dieth?  For
what did he die? Let us see.
If, a little more than four years ago, you had
taken the map of the world in your hand,
where could you have found a people whose
condition equaled our own in all the elements
and means of national prosperity? Had you
visited Asia in thought, the cradle of the human race, in geographical extent outmeasuring any other of the great divisions of the
globe, equal perhaps in population to the rest
of the world, you would have found its governments despotisms, its religions impostures, its
thronging millions under the yoke of mental,
and, in many cases, physical bondage. Africa,
once famous in the annals of civilization and
art; which could boast of Thebes, with its hundred gates, and Carthage, the rival and the
dread of the mistress of the world; which
claimed Sesostris and Hannibal in the list of
its heroes; Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.         7
among its divines-a continent where barbarism proclaims its triumphs. The islands of the
sea, except the few reached by the redeeming
influence of the Gospel, covered with a pall,
and presenting a festering mass, deeply sunk
in the scale of mental, social, political, and religious being. In this.Western hemisphere,
exclusive of our own happy Republic, and our
provincial neighbors on the north, through
the immense regions stretching along the continent on the west, and through the provinces, states, and kingdoms spread over the
great Southern peninsula, the civil, social, political, and moral condition of the people, one
of unrest, uncertainty, and peril.  Crossing
the ocean again, and confining your attention  to  Europe, where the influences of
civilization and religion have been longest
at work, and where you might reasonably
have anticipated beholding society and government in its highest perfection, you would,
doubtless, have seen much to admire. In romantic scenery, fertility and kindliness of soil,
portions of it stand without a rival. There
are cities hoary with age, vast in extent, and




8           THIE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
splendid in all the adornments derived from
rank and wealth. There, the historian gathers his annals, the antiquary his gems, and the
tourist his curiosities; it can boast of battle
fields whose associations thrill the soul; universities venerable with age, and stored with
the treasures of human knowledge; royal palt
aces, majestic cathedrals, baronial castles, the
noblest discoveries in science, and the proudest monuments of art, as thick as the leaves
in the vale of Ambrosia! But what is the condition of the people, not of the Lord's temporal
and spiritual, the tinseled and polished few,
but of the masses, who make up the strength
and subsistence of a nation? King-craft and
priest-craft hold them in their unsparing grasp,
never relaxing a claim, conceding a right, nor
yielding a prerogative, not forced from them
by necessity.  Sunny France, the politest of
them all, where culture boasts its most polished form, is little else than a despotism. The
people have poured out _their blood in torrents time and again to achieve constitutional
liberty; but, they are no less under the heel
of the tyrant than when the gloomy Bastille




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.          9
reared its grim front within the gates of Paris.
Crossing the channel from that. slaughter-house
of virtue, you find Great Britain, beyond a
doubt, one of the most powerful, enlightened,
and elevated nations of the Old World, our
venerable but stony-hearted mother, a wonderful compound of faults and excellencies,
with all her claims and pretensions to justice,
favoring wrongs, which show recklessness for
the rights of her neighbors, and some of which,
deeply affect the welfare of her masses. There,
the law will enter the poor man's house and
strip him  of his all, while the law of entail
grants special protection and benefit to the
nobility. The laborer must pay his debts,
though it deprives him of the scanty bed on
which he would fain rest his weary limbs,while
my Lord of Buckingham may run in debt for
millions and still drive four in hand. A majority of the people are dissenters, that is, not
connected with the Established Church, yet
compelled by law lo sustain a form of service
their conscience does not approve, and feed a
priesthood, in whose apostolic succession they
have no faith; and, for these religious disabil



10         THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
ities there is no redress.  Returning home
from this rapid survey, and dwelling for a
moment on its advantages, civil and religious,
would you not have been compelled, in view
of facts which are indisputable, to have exclaimed, There is no place like home? Here
we are a sovereign people, every man at
liberty to sit under his own vine and enjoy,
without stint or restraint, the fruit of his own
fig-tree, possessing the most ample natural resources, and enjoying the most abundant facilities for toil and its remunerative results;
having a press without a censor, a forum
without a spy, a senate without a master,
and a temple for the Lord, without its armed
police and intimidating soldiery. Comparing
its condition a little more than four years ago
with that of other nations in all the respects
which involve and indicate national prosperity, which secure and improve the physical,
social, and religious well-being of the people,
greatly in advance of all the nations of the
earth; a nation, it is true, whose history was
not dim with age, the oldest of whose reminiscences were those of her greatness and her




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.         11
glory, a very Hercules from the cradle of her
infancy; and, how do we account for it  In
geographical position, other nations enjoyed
equal facilities, for prosperity. Many others
equaled if not surpassed us in soil and climate; and vigorous and cultivated minds in
large abundance were to be found among
their people.  We were excelled in the discoveries of science and in some of the arts.
Their triumphs in these respects greatly exceeded our own.  Profound jurists, eloquent
divines, accomplished statesmen, persevering
artisans, exceeded our own in number. Yet,
no people, on whom the sun ever shone, ever
shared so largely in all the blessings that contribute to the happiness of church and state.
We owed every thing to the fact, that the
government under which we lived, was formed
by men, who derived their ideas of right and
justice from an open Bible, who proudly trampled on the monstrous dogma, that "kings were
made to govern, and the people to obey," and,
whose notions of the brotherhood of man, led
them to scout the tyranny of caste and the privilege of class.  For three fourths of a cen



12         THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
tury the people lived under that government,
making yearly strides in the accumulation of
national wealth, and in the undisturbed enjoyment of peace and prosperity. Respected
abroad and happy at home, entertaining all
the assurance of personal security which
could be derived from just and equal laws,
and possessing the power to correct all the
evils which might arise from the mal-administration of our public affairs. The three millions which first lent a delighted ear to the
music of the simple yet unparalleled machinery of the government, under its efficient workings, had grown to nearly thirty. Our States
had tripled, our borders widened from sea to
sea, our commerce whitened every ocean, and
excelZsior was the motto which every department in trade, every branch of mechanics, and
the workers in every field of literature inscribed upon their banners; all surmounted
by that still more noble and significant utterance of the great expounder, Liberty and
tunion, now and forever, one and inseparable.
Such was the condition of things under our
mild, humane, and heaven-formed government




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.        13
when our infatuated, misguided brethren of
the South, without reason, and under the impulsion of a frenzy that gathered life and
strength from a mad and disappointed ambition, commenced the monstrous work of its
destruction. Their effort to divide the States,
which it held together, if successful, must
have resulted in its annihilation, a curse entailed upon its jarring fragments which would
have converted our happy land into one widespread ruin, desolating both church and state.
And it was to prevent a catastrophe like that
which led our lamented friend, with the thousands who gave themselves a willing sacrifice
in defense of our glorious Union, to enter
the field of conflict, and in which he lost
his precious life. Tell me, "Did he die a& the
fool dieth?"  Could a nobler purpose, as intelligence values earthly objects, have filled
his heart, or prompted him  to brave the perils of the camp or the field, than that in the
prosecution of which he not only resigned his
life but died?  We are here to-day not to deplore the folly of an act of which sorrowing
hearts can not become too soon forgetful, but
2




14          THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
to cherish its remembrance. as reflecting distinguishing honor upon the dead, and which entitles him to the gratitude and affectionate
recollection of the living.
Hearts, it is true, have been deeply smitten, and whose sorrows at his loss are not
easily assuaged; but, there is something in
the consciousness that he died for country in
the very flower of his age, and has added
another to that catalogue of names which appear in the record of departed heroes, and
which inspire us with the profoundest admiration.  We are now  enjoying returning
peace, and as its returning blessings brighten, our hearts overflow with gratitude, both
to the living and the dead.  These saviours,
under God, of the heritage of our fathers,
shall ever be cherished; and when they have
all passed away, and time, with noiseless
wing, has brushed out their epitaphs, crumbled their monuments, and effaced their record-their names, their virtues, and their
valiant and patriotic efforts for the defense
and preservation- of our government will be
preserved in the memory of the American




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.        15
people; and not among the least of these
will be found the noble youth whose fading
remains we are this afternoon to consign to
their last resting-place. In confirmation of
this, let me give you a very hasty sketch of
his life, and the circumstances connected with
his death.
Colonel CHARLES TOWNSEND was born in the
town of Cornwall, in this county, on the thirtyfirst of May, 1841; an infant of remarkable
beauty, so much so, that not only in his own
family was his unusual comeliness the subject
of remark, but strangers rarely saw the child
without pausing to caress it. His winning
features, as his subsequent boyhood and early
manhood showed to all who knew him, were
a faithful index of a mind and temper that
were in perfect keeping with his face. From
his earliest childhood he was noted for his
gentleness. In the first school he ever attended, (taught by a lady, now a resident of
our own village, and from whom I have frequently had the  statement,) his docility,
kindness, and freedom from peevishness and
fretfulness, so often noticeable in children of




16         THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
a very tender age when first subjected to restraint and confined to the irksomeness of
the class-room, made him not only her favorite scholar, but the cherished associate of all
his young companions.  And these traits continued with him  and distinguished him during his whole life. The gentlemen who subsequently became his instructors all hold the
same language in describing his character,
which I have heard from  his first teacher;
adding, moreover, what she had no opportunity of observing, that in connection with
these winning features of mind, his mental
ability was such as to have given him prominence, and, with God's blessing, to have
made him  extensively useful, in any of the
honorable walks in life.
Said one, in a communication written to
his widowed mother shortly after hearing of
his death, and with the pious purpose of
striving to drop consolation into that bitter
cup given her to drink-and he is a man of
large experience in the training of youth, the
young men from whose academy are to be
found occupying positions of responsibility




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.        17
and honor in many parts of our State:
"Charles was the noblest lad, I think, I
ever had under my care; the only one
whose return to my seminary I would have
hailed with joy."  There must have been in
him  a rare combination of excellencies to
have elicited such a letter; and if it were
the only testimony borne to his worth, we
might suppose that personal friendship for
the family had something to do in giving undue coloring to the remark; but extravagant
though it seems, it is in perfect keeping with
the large number of testimonials which have
been sent to me, since engaging to render
these last sad offices, for his honored dust.
The idol of his family, a son whose deportment never cost his mother an aching
heart, whose mature wisdom invited and justified the confidence of the younger branches,
to whom they looked for counsel, and felt safe
under his direction, and of whom his immediate relatives were justly proud that such an
one in their regards should have occupied the
highest place, does not surprise us. We all
love our children, and love is rarely more
2*




18         THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
blind than at the fireside. Excellencies but
dimly visible to the world there shine in fullorbed splendor, and faults elsewhere noticeable, are often overlooked. But, when we
hear comparative strangers according with
parental estimate, and outside acquaintances
echoing the. same strains that we hear from
the family circle, what might otherwise sound
like extravagance must be taken, as a sober
truth. Let me give you a few extracts from
letters which have been placed in my hands
within the last few days. Says one, who had
an ample opportunity of acquainting himself
with the Colonel's character: "I knew him
well. His lofty purpose, his high resolve, his
love of justice, his fearless vindication of the
good and true were never surpassed. Knowing his duty, he gave it his affections, and
dedicated to it all his energy. No temporal
interest could divert hin from what he believed to be right; the allurements of wealth
were powerless to turn him from his purpose.
If he felt under obligations to pursue it, his
noble soul knew no fear but God's. His
ambition was ever under the government of




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.        19
sound moral principles, and he was ever
bold in a righteous cause.  0, my country! would that you had more such heroes!"
Another, an early schoolmate, and whose
attachment there formed for him, in connection with the association of later years, had
ripened  into an affection and admiration,
which made the tidings of his death the oc.
casion of great distress, writes thus: " Charlie's
nobility was always the chief object of my
admiration.  I never knew a man more truly
noble, kind-hearted, generous, and high-mind.
ed'in all his dealings. He made himself the
favorite wherever he was known.  It has
been my fortune to go through nearly two
years of this terrible war, and return to my
friends unscathed. On one or two occasions,
while in the army, I met Charlie, and we frequently corresponded with each other. His
letters convinced me that his nobleness and
all his excellencies had gone with him. Most
gloriously did he perform his whole duty."
In a communication from the surgeon of his
regiment, we find him  saying: " Few better
than myself knew  his generous nature, his




20          THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
sterling integrity, his noble manhood, his
keen sense of honor, his unflinching integrity, and fervent patriotism. I loved him as
a brother."
He was in his twentieth year when hostilities were commenced by the South; and
hardly had the reverberation of the rebel
guns in their ill-starred attack upon Sumter
been heard in the loyal North, before he
formed the purpose of giving himself to his
country.  Having already had some little
knowledge of military tactics, as a member
of a volunteer corps in the metropolis of 6ur
State, he resolved by study to prepare himself, at the earliest possible period, to render
some assistance as a soldier; but finding,
from the proclamations of our chief magistrate, that there was an immediate necessity
for men, dutiful son that he was, he wrote
home, asking and pleading for permission to
serve as a volunteer.  For a time the mother
found it impossible to give her consent; but
becoming satisfied that his whole heart was
bent upon the vindication and protection of
his country's flag, she reluctantly, (and who




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.       21
that knows a mother's heart could blame
her?) but formally and tearfully sanctioned
his ardent longing. On the first offer of his
services, he was made a non-commissioned
officer, August twelfth, 1861, in the Third
New-York Cavalry, better known as the Van
Allen Cavalry.  Those in command of the
regiment, discovering remarkable aptness in
him, as well as an unusual degree of ability
in one whose experience in military matters
was necessarily limited, secured for him, in
the course of the same month, a second lieutenancy, the duties of which were so promptly
and faithfully performed, that in the space of
a few months he was appointed to the adjutancy of his regiment. In this responsible
position he served on the right wing of the
army of the Potomac during the winter of
1851-'2, participating in many encounters in
the Shenandoah Valley, and about the fords
of the Potomac. These engagements, though
small and of slight importance, were nevertheless just such a school as helped him to
learn that promptness and self-command which
distinguished him when occupying a still high



22          THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
er grade of office, and participating in engagements far more desperate and bloody.
At Harper's Ferry, Charles, in consequence
of the constant toil to which his position in
his regiment exposed him, contracted a fever,
which prevented him from accompanying his
command, which, in the spring of 1862, was ordered to New-Berne, North-Carolina. Change
of climate, and the arduous duties of the camp
and field, were too great for one, who had enjoyed from his earliest childhood, all the carefulness and comforts of home. Unwilling to
be parted fiom his companions, he resolved,
notwithstanding the feebleness of his condition, to bear them  company; but the rapid
progress of his disease compelled the interference of his surgeon, who positively assured
him  that a longer continuance with his regiment, must destroy his life. He had proceeded as far as Washington City, and there he
was laid upon a sick, and as many thought a
dying bed.  Assured by his best friends and
advisers that even in the event of his recovery he could never again take the field, he
most reluctantly resigned his commission.




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.        23
It was just as he was recovering from this
illness that one day, in Albany, he saw the
One Hundred and Sixth New-York volunteers
passing south, to the seat of war. The appearance of so fine a regiment stirred within
him the fire that hardship, exposure, and disease, had no power to quench, and having
solicited, he readily obtained a commission as
its Major.  He joined his new command at
New-Creek, in Western Virginia.  Satisfying
his superior officers by the lmanner in which
he filled his subordinate position, that his
knowledge, fidelity, and courage were equal
to a much higher one, on the promotion of
the lieutenant-colonel, he was immediately
called to his place, and in September of 1863
he assumed the entire command of the regiment.  We can not follow him, for want of
time, through the many perils he encountered with his men, nor notice the terrible
battles in which le participated, under the
direction of Grant, from  the battle of the
Wilderness, till Lee was pressed back, to the
neighborhood of Richmond.  Suffice it to
say, from the numerous testimonials received




24          THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
from his brother officers, he never asked his
men to brave a danger he was not willing
to face himself, nor did they experience any
hardship, of which he was not a cheerful partaker.  Modest, fearless, and valiant, they
were ever loud in his praise, and proud of
him as their leader.
War is apt to exert a hardening influence
on most persons.  Not many can become
familiar with scenes of carnage without the
loss of sensibility, and growing comparatively indifferent to distress.  But not so
with Colonel Townsend.  He seems to have
preserved the same purity of mind and generosity and kindliness of temper in scenes of
blood and death, which made him the charm
of the fireside at home.  In illustration of
this, let me read to you an extract from a letter written by one of our Florence Nightingales, who had devoted herself to the care of
our suffering troops.  She says, speaking of
Colonel Townsend: " He was really as good
as he was handsome. I was at Martinsburgh
a few weeks at the time they had so many
sick, and where so many died.  I took my




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.      25
meals in the same house where the Colonel
had his quarters, and finding him often absent, on inquiry I heard he was in the hospital attending to the wants of others in preference to his own, whenever his regimental
duties permitted it. I always found him at
the bedside of the sick, and not unfrequently
with the dying. He was invariably the one
for whom the latter called when their last
messages were to be sent to their absent
friends. I have often stood with him at the
bedside of such, and heard him  talk to
them; and I verily believe, if there are Christians in the world, he was one. He might not
have been a public professor, but his conduct
and conversation showed that his heart was
right with God. One case in particular, she
adds, I can't refrain mentioning. One of the
most esteemed and highly educated young
men who went with the regiment was a private, but to whom the officers could not have
been more fondly attached, had he been one
of their number. Colonel Townsend was with
him to the last. The poor fellow longed to
see his young wife, and anxious and untiring
3




26         THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
were the efforts made to get her there ere he
breathed his last. But she came one day too
late. Then if you could have seen and heard
the Colonel, how tenderly and tearfully he
spoke to that poor broken-hearted widow,
dandled her infant child, and seemed to
give them  both so wide a place in his
heart, doing all that any one could do to
assuage her grief, you would think as I do,
that his Christianity was above suspicion. " I
could write," she remarks in the conclusion of
her letter, "volumes about his goodness and
of the praises given him by the poor soldiers,
and the families of those to whom  he has
been so uniformly kind.'Tis sad to think we
shall never see his genial smile nor hear his
cheerful voice again."
On the first day of June, 1864, the Sixth
Army Corps, to which the One Hundred and
Sixth- Regiment was attached, was moved forward upon the enemy's intrenched position at
Cold Harbor, and here were posted some of
their choice troops, officered by some of their
best men, outnumbering our own, and in a
most favorable position to repel the charge




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.        27
which the battalions were ordered to make
upon their works. As the word passed down
the lines of the divisions who were in the advance, Colonel Townsend, dismounting from
his charger, and placing himself before the
color- guard, promptly gave the command
"Forward i"  At once the long line of stalwart forms and bristling bayonets swept over
the ground to the harvest of death. On they
pressed, through swamp and underbrush, and
shot and shell-many falling to breathe no
more, under the destructive missiles of the
enemy; and not a few, writhing in agony
from  cruel wounds.  Still the column advanced, and with irresistible fury passed the
first and second lines of the enemy's works,
and were rapidly approaching the third, when
the enemy, concentrating all their reserves,
and massing every available force, brought the
advancing column to a stand. It was there
the tide of battle  gathered  its greatest
strength, and the force of the charge being
spent, it was ordered to fall back, but without
the gallant Colonel of the One Hundred and
Sixth.  Till that moment the young com



28          THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
mander was conspicuous in the fight, cheering
his men by word and deed, and filling with
admiration the eyes of the hardy veterans
who were marching with him to the grave.
When last seen, and just before he received
his death-wound, from  the testimony of one
who fought at his side, with his cap in one
hand and his sword uplifted in the other, he
was heard, with clarion voice, encouraging his
command to renewed endeavors. Vain valor!
His last rallying-cry had hardly escaped his
lips before he fell, pierced through the brain,
insensible and dying.  The falling back of
our men left his bleeding form within the enemy's lines, who, on repossessing the ground,
carried him to their field-hospital, where, on
the ensuing day, he breathed his last, just
twenty-three years of age. A noble sacrifice
for a noble cause.  "Did he die as the fool
dieth?"
The tidings of his death soon reached his
family, and what added to the intensity of
their grief was the bitter thought that his
precious remains might never be reclaimed.
By repeated inquiry they were enabled to




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.       29
gather all the particulars of his condition from
the time he was carried from the field, till he
breathed his last; but still no certain information could be had concerning the spot,
where they had laid his dust. Through many
long and trying months his sorrow-stricken
friends were vainly trying to locate the spot,
hoping that when the accursed rebellion had
been crushed out, they might secure the gratification of their most anxious wish.  At
length, in the good providence of God, the
foe was routed, and the capture of that whole
region of country within the limits of which
his last battle was fought, and near which
his body was said to have been buried, was
brought under the control of the Federal
troops. Then the resolution, contrary to the
advice of many, was formed, to make search
for it, but, as most thought, with little likelihood of success, Many had fallen in the same
battle in which he perished; the whole dis
trict was seamed with graves, and who could
point out the one that received him?  His
beloved aunt, for whom he entertained the
strongest affection, who had cared for him
3*




30         THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
from infancy, and whose love for him could
not have been more strong and tender had he
been her own son, never relinquished the
hope of recovering his body; and whose
strongest desire to live was that she might re.
claim  it-entered on this precious mission;
and, contrary to the fears and convictions of
all who saw her start upon it, was successful,
And we have him with us here to-day. To
the honor of some of our leading generals, to
whom she was accredited, the amplest facili.
ties were furnished, by them to aid her in the
prosecution, of her sad errand.  From  the
pious General Howard and the equally de.
voted Patrick, at that time in charge of the
troops in the city of Richmond, every kind.
ness was received, and an escort of gallant
troops detailed to secure all the attendance
and protection she needed.
Previous to this, repeated efforts had been
made by the surviving officers of the regiment
to recover his body; but after wearisome and
anxious search, they had abandoned the effort
as useless. This fact, ascertained after the
arrival of his noble-hearted aunt in Richmond,




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.       31
would have been sufficient to discourage any
heart but woman's. Rising above every doubt,
and determined only to be content after making the most diligent search herself, she start.
ed with her escort; and the God of Providence
-whose hand is in all the events of lifecrowned her efforts with success, and gratified
the fondest desires of her broken heart. Hear.
ing that a field-hospital had been established
some miiles distant from the battle-ground of
Cold Harbor, and that. there, some persons
might still be found, who could give information of the disposition of the bodies of the
Federal troops who had fallen in that terrible
engagement-one of the most bloody of the
whole war-they started in search of it; but
in doing so, the high waters of the Chickahominy compelled them to make a wide detour, and thus the road which they were directed to take, and which might lead them to
the vicinity of the spot where dear Charlie
fell, was lost. In their perplexity they wandered about for a time in search of the right
path; and having paused to inquire at a farmhouse, with which they had met as they jour



32          THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
neyed onward, strange to tell, the occupant
and his family, after hearing the object of
their errand, informed them that in the immediate vicinity of his own farm-house and
which, after the battle, had been converted
into an hospital, a Federal officer had been
interred; that he saw him  die, was present
at his burial, and with his own hands had
marked the spot.  He described his person,
face, and dress with such accuracy that not a
shadow of a doubt remained of his identity.
He told the regiment to which he belonged;
spoke of the character of his wound; and mentioned with such particularity his last requests, that they proceeded at once to disinter him. Though he had been stripped of his
clothing, and tumbled into the rude grave
they dug for him, uncoffined and without a
prayer, enough remained of that fading form
to satisfy his life-long friend that the man's
statement contained nothing but the truth.
The feelings of thankfulness that filled that
sorrow-stricken  heart; how  tenderly they
collected those mouldering relics —what gladness the intelligence that Charlie's body had




THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.         33
been secured  gave  the mother's widowed
heart at home, I need not pause to describe.
But it is with us now, and we have, in company with his mourning fiiends, the melancholy privilege of paying it our last offerings
of affection and respect.
"None knew him but to love him,
None named him but to praise."
I ask again-" Did he die as the fool dieth?"
There were some points in the character of
the departed, on which, did time permit, it
would not be unprofitable to dwell.
His ardent patriotism. In the enjoyment
of every thing that wealth and social position
could bestow, beloved and respected by a
large circle of friends, and looking to a future
filled with the fairest and happiest prospects,
he gave them all for his country. If Cornelia,
with maternal pride, could point to her living
sons as her richest jewels, we can claim the
memory of our slaughtered ones as our hon.
ored inheritance, and treasure their dust as
our most sacred deposit. Our soil was never
dearer to us than now; and our Union still
more precious for such costly expenditure.




34         THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
His filial piety.  The love he so largely
shared in the domestic circle was fully reciprocated. It should do much to relieve the
anguish the widowed maternal heart has felt
and still suffers, to know that no word nor
act, while living, caused a single ache. In all
the excitements of the camp, the march, the
conflict, he never forgot his home, nor failed,
as his frequent letters show, to cherish the
fondest remembrance of those who loved him
best.
His remarkable purity.  The vices incident
to the soldier's rugged life; the hardening influences of scenes of blood and carnage; freedom  from  the restraints of civil and social
life; the numberless temptations that environ
men when cast off from the conservative influences of home, the Sabbath, and the house of
God-all, according to the testimony of his
brother-officers, who were intimately associated with him, had no effect in soiling the fair
reputation he took with him to the army.
Profanity and dissipation in all its forms he
studiously avoided.  "I could," remarked a
chaplain who saw him  but a short time be



THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.        35
fore he went into his last battle, " not fail to
contrast his whole appearance, manner, and
connections, with that of others, and felt that
he was the same Charles Townsend I had
known before the war began."
And last, but not least, Mis constant recognition, of his Saviour'spresence. He felt that
the eye of God was ever on him, and though
passing constantly through scenes unfriendly
to devotion, and in the midst of which human dependence upon Divine power and goodness are apt to be forgotten; when, the neglect
of God is too often excused on the ground of
influences which are adverse to purity of
thought, he never forgot his Maker's presence.
He writes, (and men in exposed positions,
where deadly perils are all around them, are
not apt to dissemble or play the hypocrite,)
" Every thing helps me to worship God. I see
Him in all nature. In every thing I trust Him
as a little child might trust its parents. I
trust Him every time I expose my life to the
enemy's bullets, and oh! so completely! "
Then, may we not, in answer to the interrogatory of the text, " Did he die as the fool




36          THE COSTLY SACRIFICE.
dieth " confidently respond, No   But he
died nobly, honorably,.heroically; in a cause
that Heaven has commended, and in the triumph of which all the good rejoice. Not as
a fool, but as a wise man, a patriot, a hero;
and, blessed be God for the rich and greatest
of all consolations it affords, he died, as we
believe, a C7hristian. AMEN.