h LIBRARY OF THE COMMANDERY OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS MILITARY ORDER OFTHE LOYAL LEGION OF THE UNITED STATES CADET ARMORY, BOSTON m < HutinWi LIVES OW Modern American Heroes. FOR BOYS AND YOUNG MEN. BT THE POPtTLAE BIO«RAPHER I. TSJE HEMO BOY. Being the Life and Deeds of General Ulysses S. Grrant, THE PATRIOT ANI> HERO. Tracing his career from Boyhood to Manhood, from the Sehoolhouse to the Battle- Field and Victory. 1 vol., 16mo, fancy cloth, 340 pages and nine Illustrations. Price, $1.50. Extract from a letter received from Gen. Grant's Father. Eev. P. C. Headley : Dear Sik— I have read over carefully the Hero Boy, written by yourself. It ia correct and well written, with direct reference to doing justice to all parties. Yours, most truly, J. R. GRANT. l^otices of the Press. This volume is the first of a series for boys, entitled " lihe Young American's Library of Modern Heroes." It is full of entertaining incidents of Gen. Grant's early life, and contains sketches of his career in the Mexican war, on his farm, and in the whole course of our national struggle against rebellion. The book is il- lustrated with maps and plates, and will be, according to its design, a very useful and entertaining book for boys. — N. Y. Observer. Of all children's books we doubt if any class exercise so direct an influence as the lives of eminent men ; to emulate their example is often the first ambition of the young in the career which native genius indicates. Hence, it is of no small im- portance what exemplars are put into the hands of children. One of the most at- tractive and authentic of these contemporary biographies for- the young is the "Hero Boy," or the "Life of General Grant,"" by Rev. P. C. Headley. It is a handsome duodecimo, written with spirit, well illustrated, and handsomely hour-' It will prove a taking book for boys. — HT. T. Evening Post. Gen. Grant is now the foremost figure in this war, and the whole nation is eaf — to know his history. The narrative of his rise from a very obscure and hum' position to his present high command, illustrates the character of our institutio and the certainty of the rewards assured to honest energy ; and the eyes, not oi of the whole country, but of the world, are now directed toward him. The bic raphy before us gives a brief sketch of his early life, but is much more minute details of military operations since the war begun. The style is animated ai graphic, and is well suited to its stirring them?. — .V; Y Iri'Jepen'lenf. In the " Hero Boy," Mr, Headley has made his work a labor of love and honor — love for the boys and honor for the man. ^Gathering his materials with great care, and arranging them with the skill of a practised hand, he has really produced the very best outline of the General's career yet put in print; it is illustrated with maps, enriched with a glossary of military terms, and leads off admirably as the first of a series entitled "The Toung American's Library of l^lodern Heroes."— Chicago Jmirnal. II. THB rATBIOT BOY. 3EING THK Life of Major-General 0. M. Mitchel, the Astronomer and Hero. 1 vol., 16mo, cloth, 300 pages. Fully illustrated. Price, $1.50. Extract front, a letter received from, Gen. MitclieVs Son. Wm. H. Appleton, Esq. : Dear Sik — I have read with great pleasure the life of my father, written by Eev. P. C. Headley. and just published by yourself. In every thing relating to the boyhood and early life of my father, the author has been most successful and correct. Very respectfully yours, E. W. MITCHEL. Notices of the JPress, General Mitchel was a remarkable man. As an astronomer, he was one of the foremost of the age ; as an orator, he had few peers ; while as a general, he proved himself possessed of the highest qualities of leadership. His natiire was strong and magnetic; there was no resisting the fascination of his presence. He was idolized by his troops ; and had he lived, he would doubtless have disputed the honors with the most successful of our chieftains. We are glad the life of this gifted man has been written with reference to the youth of our country. We know it will do good, and stimulate many an ardent youth to noble endeavor. The present volume should be placed in the hands of every boy in the country; for the subject of it is one that cannot be too promi- nently kept before the eye of the nascent generation. It is got up in beautiful style, and reflects credit on the publisher.^ — Albany Evening Journal. We know of none who presents a nobler example to the youth of America than the illustrious Mitchel.— A^; Y. Evening Post. "We had once the pleasure of seeing the subject of this biography in his observa- tory in Cincinnati, where he most affably explained some of his methods of ex- ploring the visible heavens. He was not then a soldier, but the patriotic love of country was active within him, ready to be called into action at his country's summons. He became a soldier — and an eminent one — and in the service he sur- rendered his life. . As an astronomer, and as a general, he maintained a Christian life, and his death was a transit beyond the stars. Mr. Headley, who has succeeded '^o well in other biographies, has raised a fitting monument to the great and good lan, and he directs the eyes of our youth to contemplate it. — The Presbyterian. The subject is a brilliant example to American youth. We are familiar with le career of Prof. Mitchel, and rejoice to see it graphically portrayed in this eautiful volume. We would put this book into the hands of a lad to show him .'hat true greatness there is in a man who has knowledge, religion, and patriotism, -]^ew York Commercial. 3 lii. THE MINBB BOY and his MONITOB. Being the Life of Oapt. John Ericsson, the Inventor, DESIGNEE OF THE FAM0TT8 IKON-CLAD " MONITOR," ETC. A DEEPLY INTERESTING AND INSTRUCTIVE BOOK FOR BOYS, One volume, 16mo, fancy cloth, SCO pages. Fully illustrated, Price, $1.50. Notices of the JPress. The idea of placing our prominent and most deserving men in a historic light before the actions which have made them illustrious are deprived of their freshness, is certainly a happy one ; and the practised pen of Mr. Headley is just the one to produce biographies worthy of the subjects sketched. There is as much romance for the general reader, old or young, in the life of John Ericsson as in that of George Stephenson, and we undertake to say that the author has in the present instance been as faithful to the ingenious Swede as the talented biographer of the great railway man was to him. The text of this pretty volume is liberally il- lustrated, which never fails to heighten the interest of reading boys. — Troy Daily Whig. We have no hesitation in saying that this is the most interesting and romantic of all the recent " boy books." It treats of a personage whose name is far more familiar to our people than his history — of a man who belongs to that class of great mechanics who are equally important and useful in war or in peace. Of course it will be said that the life of Ericsson is an example to boys, and it is as far as industry, honesty, and energy go ; but it is of special interest to boys who have a genius for mechanics, and, in any event, is most entertaining and in- structive reading. — N". T. Evening Post. A fascinating history of a man of remarkable inventive genius to whom the nation is under immeasurable obligation. None can tell what course the war might have taken, or what result might have been reached, had not the monster Merrimac been checked by the Monitor, and her early success turned into defeat in the ever-memorable battle at Hampton Roads. The great influence of Erics- son's genius in manifold inventions is also shown, and many interesting things are told concerning Sweden, lis native ]a.vid.—Congregationali(it. TV. LIFE AND CAREER OF JLIEVT.-GBNBBAL W. T. SMEBMAJS^, *'THE GREATEST OF LIYIIG CAPTAmS." Being an Authentic History of Ms Early Life and EemarJcdble Career.. 1 vol., 16mo, fancy cloth, 368 pages, fully illustrated. Price, $1.50. This Life of General Sherman is among the most interesting in the series, full of life, incident, bustle, and movement. One of the greatest Comm;inders in History is shown as he is, and we are now more than ever astonished at the extent and variety of his achievements, when they are thus brought into the compact shape of a single volume. The book is not less attractive by its mechanical appearance, with its clear text, portrait, sketches, map, etc. — New Yorker. .The facts here, from the early life of Sherman, are obtained from, the most au- thentic sources. It is full of the incidents of his younger days, illustrating his life and character. His career is one of the noblest in military annals. It is well to have such books, that fall into the hands of the young, written by men of excellent taste and' judgment, Mr, Headley has done justice to his subject; — Boston Posti LIFE AND NAVAL CAREER OF AJyMIBAL n. G. FAMBAGUT. Mr. Headley is doing a good work in giving us biographies of our modern Amer" ican heroes. The series already embraces Grant, Mitchel (the astronomer), Ericsson, Sherman, and Sheridan. He now adds Farragrut. These biographies are not mere re-hashes from the daily papers, but veritable histories, derived from authentic sources, often from the families and personal friends of the parties described, nor are they dry compilations of dates and statistics, but are full of stir and animation, suited to fire the imagination and enlist the admiring interest of youth. — Sunday School Times. We warmly commend the series of Biographies, of which Admiral Farragut is the fifth, and one of the most interesting volumes. — Daily Evening Telegraph. VI. LIFE AND MILITARY CAREER OF MAJOB-GBJSr. I'HILIJP S. SHEUIDA]^. A valuable contribution to the history of the war. — Boston Congregationalist. There are few better biographies or better worth recording than that of General Sheridan.— A^ew Yorker. General Sheridan was one of the most dashing, energetic, persevering, and suc- cessful Cavalry Generals the world has ever known. The history of this gallant Union officer abounds in interesting and thrilling incidents ai^vl adventures, all of which are graphically described, forming a very entertaining work, combin- ing aU the interest of fiction with the more substantial elements of historical truth. Youthful readers, as well as " children of a larger growth," will read these volumes with absorbing interest — Syracuse Daily Standard. The series, which is concluded by the life of our cavalry hero, forms one of the most interesting and impressive which has ever been given to Young America. It is by example that boys are roused to emulate the great, and the presentation to the public in a cheap form of the events of the career of those men with whose fame the world is ringing, cannot but have the efifect of ennobling the efforts of our young generation. Mr. Headlej' is eminently qualified for the task of prepar- ing for youthful readers the work before us. All superfluity and high-sounding phraseology is avoided and a straight, consistent narrative presented. We warmly commend the works as the best reading that can be given to our young people, and the whole series forms a most attractive gift to increase the enjoyment of the holiday season.— Philadelphia Daily Evening Telegraph. The above Biographies were written expressly for Boys and Young Men. They are not mere compilations from Newspapers, etc., but authentic histories, Mr. Headley having been furnished by the heroes in question, their relatives and friends, all the material and facts necessary to make them complete and reliable, instructive and entertaining. NEW EDITIONS OF HEADLEY'S Life of JE^mpress *Tosephine, Mary Queen of Scots, Z,ife of Emperor JV'apoleon, Ge7ieral J^afayeite, yyonien of the Slble. DPrice, ^l.TS e a c li . WM. H. APPLETON, Publisher, 92 & 94 Grmid Street, N. Y. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hil http://archive.org/details/patriotboyorlifehead UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00022245624 THE PATRIOT BOY; OR, THE LIFE AND OAKEER MAJOE-GENERAL ORMSBT M. MITCHEL. KEY. P. a HEADLEY, A.UTHOE OF "NAPOLEON," "BMPEES3 JOSEPHINE," "hEEO BOY," ETtt NEW YORK: WILLIAM H. APPLETON, 92 GRAND STREET. 1866. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by WM. H. APPLETON, In the Clerk's Office of llie District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. J. B. S.* THE WIDOW'S ONLY AND DUTIFUL. SON, AMD ALL OTnER YOUNG AMERICANS, WHO EMULATE THi: EXAMPLE OF THOSS NOBLE MEN WHO FOUNDED, PERPETUATED, AND HAVE DEFENDED THE REPUBLIC, THIS ERIEP RECORD OF A TRUE HERO IS DEDICATED, WITH A ■WAR:J INTEREST IN THEIR V/ELL-BEING, BY THE AUTHOR. • Seo noto on page 301. PREFACE. The " Young Ajnerican's Library " would indeed oe wanting in one of tlie most instructive and en- couraging examples of the-higliest success in tlie midst of disheartening trials, of a resolute will and hopeful spirit, without the life of General Mitchel. This volume is from authentic som-ces ; and it i& believed that in no important statement will the* truthfulness of the narrative be questioned. Still the portraiture di-awn must fall below the splendid original. For, while the records of his life are not full as we could wish, and as the " great departed "" intended thej should be for the sake of his family, it is no idle task to present, with fidelity, a life and character in successful activity and moral excellence so far above that of the majority of distinguished men. Some latitude has been taken in the introduction of incidents and explanations, which, if not directly connected with General Mitchel's career, shed light upon the strong points in his nature, and on the confiict in which he sacrificed his noble life. 6 PREFACE. The author is indebted to Abbott's "History of the Rebellion," Pittinger's " Daring and Suffering," and to those who knew and loved General Mitchel, for many important facts. Brief extracts illustrative of his brilliant oratory, and remarkable power to make astronomical science simple and attractive to the common mind, are taken from his " Sidereal and Planetary Worlds," " Popu- lar Astronomy," and the " Bible and Astronomy," the only published works of the lamented author. The most difficult part of the delightful task of writing the biography has been to give interest, and adapt to the juvenile mind, that portion of it which relates to his scientific career, vvithout resorting to imaginary facts or conversations. It is devoutly hoped that the narrative may stimulate to manly effort, and Christian fidelity, many youthful hearts in our land of "fiery trials," and of a glorious future. NOTE. The next volume in the " Young American's Library of Modern Heroes " will be the "Miner Boy and his Monitor,'' or the extraordinary life and achievements of Captain John Ericsson, the American-Swede, by the same author. CO Is" TENTS CHAPTER L FAOl The Hero before the "War— His Birthplace — ^An Orplian— The Family re- move to Ohio — The Life-struggle begins — Clerk and Errand Boy — Leaves his Employer— He wouldn't be called a Liar— Drives Team— A Noble Spirit, .... 12 CHAPTER IL Spare Moments Improved— Ormsby goes to "West Point— Foot travel over the Country — His career resembles that of General Grant — His Sta- dsnt-life— Writes Home— Graduates \vith honor— Wants to go to France and fight — Joins the Army in Florida — Resigns — Is Married — Domestic Enjoyments, 25 CHAPTER IIL Anecdote of our Hero— Is Elected Professor in Cincinnati College — His Enthusiasm in Astronomy — Is a Captain — He wants' an Observatory —What is that? 84 CHAPTER IV. The New World waked up to the Importance of Watch-towers for the Stars — A Wonderful Sight— Observatories Built— Professor Mitchel's great Enterprise — The First Lecture— Onward .... 41 8 ' CONTENTS. CHAPTER Y. PAOB An Eclipse— Who first solved the a-svful Mystery ?— What are Comets ?— Danger of bummg the Earth — Other Wonders— The Dream, . , 54 CHAPTER VI. The Astronomer a Business Man— His ISsTohle Energy — Two Eules of his Life— Starts for Europe— Voyage— The Stranger in England— In Paris — ^Munich— The Treasure — The Professor in Greenwich— A Curious old Town— Its Lions, 62 m CHAPTER VIL Professor Mitchel leaves England— Reaches Cincinnati — Disappointment — ^Not Discouraged— He Toils on— Mr. Longworth's Gift- The Corner Stone of the Observatory is Laid— Interesting Ceremonies — The As- tronomer at work with the Mechanics — The Watch-tower Finished. . 72 CHAPTER VIII. The beautiful Monument of Faith and Work— A new Trial — The Confla- gration—Turns Lecturer— The first Effort— Lectures in New Tork— The influence of his splendid Oratory, 81 CHAPTER IX. He becomes Railroad Engineer — ^A new course of Lectures — Examples of his Oratory— He is appointed Adjutant-General of the State of Ohio — -' Various Honors— Inventions, - . 9€ CHAPTER X. Professor Mitchel called to Albany— Makes a War Speech— Thrilling Anec- dote related by him— Intense Enthusiasm— His influence at Albany — What is the use of Observatories ?— The largest Telescope— A Poet's Hymn, . 104 CONTENTS. CHAPTEE XL PAGE The Preparations for Conflict— The attempt to Assassinate the President- elect—The Secret History of the Inauguration — The Commencement of Hostilities, 119 CHAPTEE XU. Mitchel enters the Field— Goes to Cincinnati— Takes Care of the City — Eaises Volunteers — Yisited by the Secretary of War— Xohle "Words — The Sad Eailare — General MitcheFs sources of Power over Men — " Old Stars "—His pure Ambition, 127 CHAPTEE XIII. General Mitchel as a Disciplinarian — ^His Division unriyalled in Drill — Proud of their Chieftain — Eeady for Active Service — General Mitchel desires to lead them to the Eield— Brave and Patriotic Language— IS'ational Yictories — General Mitchel breaks up Camp — Fine Spectacle — Splendid Marching, 135 CHAPTEE XIT. Bowling Green — Forced Marches — The first Gun— Crossing the Eiver — Consternation and flight of the Eebels — ^Scenes in the City — De- spatches— Yisit from General Buell— iS'ashville Occupied — Scenes there — General M'.tchel calls on Mrs. James K. Polk, . . . .148 CHAPTEE XV. General Mitchel's plan of Campaign — Its Sublime Dai-ing — Moves to Mur- freesboro''— Scenes near Corinth — Eebel Contempt of the Flag of Truce — Eebel "Woman's Letter — General Mitchel's Justice and Humanity — Guerrillas — Suffering Union Men— A Fight— The value of Seconds, . 158 CHAPTEE XVI. A daring Adventure under General Mitchel — The leader of the band de- 1* 10 CONTENTS. PAGH tailed to conduct it— Perilous Travelling— Partial Success— The Flight for Life — Arrest of the " Engine Thieves," 1T3 CHAPTEK XYII. A brave Boy — The Dungeon — Iron Cages— The escape and arrest of An- drews — The Death-v.-arrant — Deep Experiences— General Mitchel blameless in the -whole affair, 183 CHAPTER XYIII. The advance of the Third Division to Fayetteville— The Old Planter— The Slaves — The Grand ilarch— Scenes by the "Way — In the Eiver— The mysterious Night Tilarch — The Prize Secured, .... 1S5 CHAPTEE XIX. General Mitchel enters Huntsville — The Union Flag and the Loyal Judge — The Scenes in the Town— Bridges Burned— Bridgeport— Decatur — Tuscumbia— Congratulations— A brilliant attack on the enemy at Bridgeport — ^Advancing in the cheerful morning air, .... 203 CHAPTER XX. Practical Questions- The Enemy must pay the Army Expenses— The Trials of Lo}\ilty— General Mitchel believed in crushing the Eebellion — The Cotton Bridge— Slavery— Negroes reliable — Anecdote, . . 213 CHAPTER XXI. General Mitchel's views of Slavery— The abuse of its power— An Illus- tration — General Mitchel deals promptly but justly with the citizens of revolted States— A "Genteel War "—General Mitchcl's plans and policy — He is ordered to Washington, ....... 224 CHAPTEE XXIL General Mitchel at Washington— The Secretary of War and the President are his friends — The Secret Expedition — The Patient Inactivity — The CONTENTS. 11 PAGE Order to Port Koyal— The History of Ma new Department— Tho Naval Attack— Scenes Ts-liicli followed, . 234 CHAPTEE XXIIL The impression made by the Major-General in his Southern Department — Expeditions — Daring Adventures— The progress of the Contrabands — Anecdotes— The Mortal Sickness, 240 CHAPTEE XXIY. The Scenes of the Sick-Eoom— The kind and Christian words spoken— Tho Victorious Death— The Burial— The testimony of noble Friends- Elegy, 265 CHAPTER I. The Hero before the "War— His Birthplace— An Orphan— The Family remoye t« Ohio— The Life-struggle begins — Clerk and Errand Boy— Leaves his Em- ployer—He -wouldn't be called a Liar— Drives Team— A Noble Spirit. \^ young readers who are very far in their " teens," heard of Professor Mitchel before the civil war made him a general. Nearly all of omr officers were men but little known previous to the rebellion. Professor Mitchel, the as- tronomer and lecturer, was widely popular in the time of peace. He was justly admired for genius, and a char- acter as bright, pure, and uniform, as the globes of light whose marches and motions he enthusiastically watched, " When marsTialled on the nightly plain, ^ The glittering host bestud the sky." This fact will lend a charm to the record of his career, so worthy of your imitation. The Mitchel family were originally Virginians. The father of our hero was an unassuming, intelligent, and 14 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. enterprising man, of no ordinary mind. With a fine mathematical genius, he had a decided taste for astronom- ical studies ; and, like many other youths who have not enjoyed the means of education, he might have gained a high position in the walks of science had he received the indispensable culture — ^perhaps have rivalled his honored feon^in splendid attainments. His wife was a remarkable woman. Over natural powers of a higli order, and an attractive person, was shed the lustre and loveliness of unaffected piety. Mr. Mitchel was at one time in pos- session of a handsome property ; but, besides raising a large family, by unavoidable reverses, he saw it pass hope- lessly from his hands. Discouraged, and having sons who had never known the pressure of poverty, and were therefore unfitted to assist him in his efforts to retrieve his fortunes, he decided to leave Virginia, and go vto the far West, to begin life anew. He disposed of his effects, and travelled slowly and wearily through what is now West Virginia, until he struck the Ohio River. The country was unsettled and wild. There were no rail' roads, and the 'only means of transportation was upon the flatboats of the Ohio. Upon one of these the family embarked, and went on their way to Kentucky. In this State Mr. Mitchel resolved to find a home. He bought land near Morganfield, Union County, erected a tem- porary house, and fairly commenced pioneer life. In the new Kentucky dwelling, which the strangers LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 15 from tliG " Old Dominion" called tlieir own, in the year 1809, was born Ormsby McKniglit Mitcbel. The father was a planter, and, consequently, had slaves to work the land ; but often expressed his hatred to the system of labor that made it apparently necessary to own the negroes, and at his death gave them their freedom. • This noble act, in advance of the public feeling even at the North, contributed largely to the embarrassment in business, which, with sickness attending a change of climate, had much to do with the life-struggles of the infant boy, all unconscious of the changes about him. There was nothing in Ormsby's experience different from that of other children until three years of age, excepting a premature interest, perhaps, in the moon and stars, call- ing forth exclamations of singular beauty. Then IVIr. Mitchel was taken sick. The boy still played, unheed- ing the suffering and peril of the father. Day after day disease did its work. Ormsby knew there was something strange and new in the dwelling. Mother's sad face, the physician's frequent calls, cast a shadow even upon the spii'it of the child. And when he was told that father vv^as dead, and touched the cold face, and then saw the coffin borne away, the boy wept with a grief which was caught from the faces about him — a pass- ing shower of tears, succeeded by sunny smiles and laugh- ter. It was years after, that he learned what he had lost — ^the meaning of the word orphan. 16 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. It is a sad thing, and a great misfortune in a human view, to be left earlj an orphan. But Grod often over- rules it for the highest benefit of the bereaved. This was evidently true in Ormsby's experience. Having no nurse to aid the burdened mother, the youngest boy was taken care of much of the time by an older brother, who ever after cherished a strong alBPec- tion for the object of his peculiar interest. Adversity had marked this household for peculiar trial. The chosen spot for a habitation proved to be sickly, and notliing of an earthly kind seemed to prosper. Mrs. Mitch el and her family lived in Kentucky when it was a vast hunting ground. Some of the brothers be- came familiar mth the romantic adventures of those early years. They often threaded the wilderness with the rifle. One of them served in the war of 1812 with the " Hunters of Kentucky." The family, afflicted, and the means of support by the Providential discipline greatly reduced, broke up the sadly interesting associations in the Kentucky home, and started for that garden State of settlers from the East and South, Ohio. Leaving on horseback, they travelled through the wilds of Kentucky to the banks of the Ohio. Little Ormsby rode in front of his eldest brother. At night they not un- frequently stopped in the forests where the Indian prowled abound, fearing they should be murdered before morning. LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. lY They finally found themselves on the banks of the Ohio, and on the spot where Covington now stands, opposite Cincinnati, then only a few houses along the river side. Under the very shadow of the hiU upon which the IVIitchel Observatory stands, the family attempted to cross in row boats. A fearful thunder storm burst upon them, and they all came near being lost. The first boat, contain- ing the older brother, had gaiued the landing ; and he, the head of the family in fact, stood upon the bank watching the imperilled little bark. It finally reached the shore in the face of the tempest, wind, and current. After some hesitation, they concluded not to stop at Cincinnati, but pushed forward to Miami, a pleasant little town in Cler- mont County, in which, at Point Pleasant, you recollect, Lieutenant-General Grant was bom. Not long after, another move took the widow and her children to Lebanon, a thriving village in Turtle Creek township, and the capital of Warren County. It is be- tween thirty and forty miles northwest of Miami. The country around Lebanon, which now contains three thou- sand inhabitants, is very beautiful and fertile, A few miles east of the village, on the Miami River, is a great curiosity, which Ormsby often saw with won- der. It is an ancient fortification, nearly a mile in length, enclosed by a wall of earth. This enclosure is in some places ten feet high. It has more than fifty gates, or openings. By whom, when, or for what purpose the sinr 18 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITOHEL. gular defences were built, is unknown. You know that all over tlie great western vallej are scattered these relics of the past. Men of genius and culture have studied them, and volumes have been printed containing their speculations. Still we are in the dark. God limits our curiosity and knowledge on every hand. Wherever we turn, in our explorations, a voice comes at length to our inward ear, " Thus far and no farther." Ormsby climbed over these memorials of past ages, as wise as the philosopher, in regard to their history, beyond plausible theories. Still his holidays were few, for he had neither time nor money to spend. He had all the while a treasure more precious than a fortune ; a gifted, devout, and loving mother. She threw over him an influence which was the true source of his success and greatness in after life. This he delighted to acknowledge through his whole history. Though left alone with her cherished offspring, and struggling to feed and clothe them, the heavenly atmosphere of her faith and love surrounded him continually. "We shall not know on earth the debt of gratitude which the Church and State owe such mothers — quietly, and caring not for human applause, doing their mighty work — ^then retiring into obscurity while their sons as- cend to high positions. Ormsby passed most of the years of early boyhood in Lebanon. Soon as the boy coul(J earn money, he was LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 19 ready to embrace every opportuDity of adding a penny to the common treasury. Here his early school-days were passed. But the schools there were then poor. OrmsLy, however, progressed rapidly. When eight years of age he was reading Virgil, and soon surpassed his country teachers. He often would say with regard to one of them, that after translating the most difficult passages he would ask him to read them ; and upon his failure to do it, rendered them himself. At the age of twelve he en- tered a store as a clerk. We come now to the most important crisis in his ex- perience — ^the fountain of his highest eloquence — the seal of his true greatness and eternal destiny. He took his position in the world as a Christian, Thus early did he connect his studies, his ambition, his life, his everlasting state, with the cause of the Redeemer, of mankind ; and borrowed from Him strength " to will and to do." His entii-e history from childhood till fourteen, is one of noble self-denying effort to lay a good foundation for success in life. His ambitious, aspii^ing heart, struggling with poverty, felt it no disgrace to stoop to what many would think a menial service. At one time you might have seen him running to the chamber or cellar of the store to get a broom, or gallon of molasses, for a cus- tomer. Then again you would have found him in his employer's house, doing the "chores" in and around it.. The Kentucky orphan was the general waiter of the Ohio "20 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL country mercliant. A humble beginning for an astron- omer and a major-general. But in this country, where we have no inherited nobility, our noblemen come ofitener from the humblest and obscurest homes, than the mansions of the rich. I will let our hero tell his own story of this rough experience : " I was working for twenty-five cents a weeh, with my hands fuU, but did my work faithfully. I used to cut wood, fetch water, make fires, scrub and scour in the morning for the old lady before the real work of the day was commenced. My clothes were bad, and I had no means of buying shoes, so was often barefooted. " One morning I got through my work early, and the old lady, who thought I had not done it, or was especially ill-humored then, was displeased. " She scolded me, and said : ' You are an idle boy. You haven't done the work.' " I replied : ' I have done what I was told to do.* " ' You are a liar,' was her angry reply. " I felt my spirit rise indignantly against the charge ; and, standing erect, I answered : ' You wiU never have the chance of applying that word to me again.' " I then walked out of the house to reenter it no more. I had not a cent in my pocket when I stepped into the world. " What do you think I did then, boys? " I -met a countryman with a team. I boldly and W; '\:f / »a LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 21 earnestly addressed Tn'm, saying : ' I will drive the leader if you will only take me on.' " He looked at me in surprise, but in a moment said, 'I don't tliink you'll be of any use to me/ " ' O yes I will,' I replied ; ' I can rub dowu and watch your horses, and do many things for you, if you will only let me try.' " ' Well, well, my lad, get on the horse.' " And so I climbed upon the leader's back, and com- menced my teamster-life. The roads were deep mud, and the travelling very hard, and consequently slow. We got along at the rate of twelve miles per day. It was dull and tiresome you will believe ; but it was my starting- point. I had begun to push my way in the world, and went ahead after this. An independent spirit, and steady, honest conduct, with what capacity God has given me — as he has given you, boys — ^have carried me successfully through the world." And now hear and always remember what he says to boys who have like himself, in early life, no friends to help with money, and must enter the busy world penni- less. They are noble, inspiring words, spoken to a large assembly of lads in one of our cities : " Don't be down-hearted at being poor, or having no friends. Try, and try again. You can cut your way through, if you live, so please God. I know it's a hard time for some ^f you. You are often hungry and wet 22 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. with the rain or snow, and it seems dreary to have no one in the city to care for yon. But trust in Christ, and He will he your friend. Keep up good heart, and be determined to make your own way honestly and ti*uly through the world. As I said, I feel for you, because I have gone through it all : I know what it is. God bless you." The fatherless boy had thus far been in a school of sad trial, yet blest with the kindly influences of home. In one ^iew, he had no childhood ; but took his place very early among men, to battle with poverty and pay his way. The indignant and unceremonious desertion of his em- ployer, you will notice, was not a rebellion against even tyrannical authority, nor a petulant refusal to do a servant's work in the honest endeavor to secure the needed compensation. It was the charge of falsehood, of unreliable character, which made him a homeless orphan. He felt even then that he could not, and would not, brook the insult to his sense of justice and his conscious integrity of purpose. The association with a nature so narrow and harsh was beyond endurance, and he went forth the joenniless possessor of a fortune ; he had the wealth of a fine mind, lofty principle, and tireless energy of character. Brave young spirit ! God will bless always such a venture upon His providence. And no part of Ormsby's life has a more important, LEFE OF GENEEAL MTTOHEL. " 23 use^ lesson for you, my young reader, than tliis very experience. It laid the foundatilon, so far as native char- acter is concerned, of all his greatness. Those habits of patient industry, self-denial of present, transient pleas- ures, and a regard to the endless future which distin- guished him, and gave him the noblest success, were formed in his boyhood. It reminds me of a youth in Yale College many years since, of similar spirit, who blacked the boots of the richer students to aid in the pay- ment of his current expenses. One day they were around him at his work, talking over their future plans, when one of them said : " Well, K , what are you going to be?" K brushed away, and quietly replied, " Gov- ernor of the State of ISTew York." A laugh went round the little circle at his expense. The merry young men went forth from the college halls to be either a burden to society or comparatively unkno^m. The boy who was not ashamed to black boots to pay his debts, was heard in Congress, and was elected Lieutenant-Governor of the Empire State. I must give you one more true and encouraging story. Thirty years ago, in the small academy at B , was a boy faithfully devoted to the culture of his mind. But he was poor. Opening the drawer to his table you would have wondered and smiled, to see a howl of molasses well sprinJcled with crvmibs. This was the student's whole pro- 24 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. vision for board. A loaf of bread, and the bowl witb ita contents, was the simple living. Now that lad is a pop* nlar author, whose beautiful cottage stands on the green banks of the glorious Hudson. CHAPTER n. Spare Moments Improved— Onnsby goes to West Point— Foot travel over the Coimtry — His career resembles that of General Grant — His Student-lilfe — "Writes Home — Graduates with honor— Wants to go to France and fight- Joins the Army in Florida— Eesigns — Is Married— Domestic Enjoyments. \OU]S'G Mitcliel had improved liis leisure mo- '^n ments. He early learned tlie value of these .z^*^ golden sands of time. Were you ever in the United States Mint ? K so, you noticed a per- forated floor, where the work in gold is done. Under this wooden net-work is the polished stone which catches the small particles. The woodwork can be re- moved, and the gold dust swept up and saved. The guide will tell you that nearly forty thousand dollars are thus saved every year in these sweejpings. Young Mitchel caught the little fragments of time, and used them well. When thirteen years old, Ormsby had acquired a con- siderable knowledge of G-reek and Latin, in addition to English branches, including mathematics. He panted 2 28 LITE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. — far from home, without money and without friends, which way he should turn if he were rejected. While he was looking thoughtfully from his window, watching a sentinel pacing up and down, that stranger spoke kindly to him, asking him " if Le was prepared for examination," and offering him all the assistance in his power. " Tell me what books I am to be examined in," said Ormsby, " and I will take care of the rest." Soon he was posted by his friend in regard to the text-books used in the severe trial before him. In a few days he had passed the ordeal with flying colors. Being very young when he entered the Academy, his greatest ambition was to make each recitation as nearly perfect as possible. He had not been accustomed to the routine of study, like many of his classmates, who had reached even manhood. But his progress was steady and rapid. In his class was Eobert E. Lee. Jefferson Davis was in the Academy at this time ; and being some- what older than Mitchel, used to take him with him in his walks amid the magnificent scenery on every hand.* From the cadet's barracks, where the young men had their rooms, he went to recitation, military drill, and mess hall or boarding-house, with promptness and regularity. His perfectly correct and abstemious habits kept him from the finely-constructed and managed hospital belong- ing to the Academy. He was no stranger in the engi- neering and model rooms, which contain the costly and * See note on last page. LIFE OF GEOTEEAL MITCHEL. 29 beautiful apparatus, and miniature forts, &c., for instruc- tion in all kinds of civil and military engineering. In the riding hall, for exercises in horsemanship, he ac- quired equestrian gracefolness seldom excelled in the Academy. Nor did he neglect the elegant gallery of art, in which the marble and canvas seemed to breathe and speak. It was especially favorable to study at West Point when our cadet was there. The visitors were com- paratively few. Eailroad cars and steamboats did not then whistle at depot and wharf every hour. The tide of travel had not begun to flow toward that romantic spot ; nor was it really thought of as a watering-place for the summer. Every object, from the grand old mountains to Kos- ciusko's garden of beauty, interested him. He often sat near the iron enclosure of relics, itself the most suggestive of all — a part of the great chain which was drawn across the Hudson during the Revolutionary "War. It was com- menced January 20th, 1778, and finished April 11th of the same year. This gigantic chain weighed one hundred and eighty-six tons. The heaviest link weighed a hundred and thirty pounds. Benedict Arnold, who commanded the position, had a link removed, pretending it was for repairing, to carry out his traitorous plan of giving, through Andre, the British possession of the stronghold — ^the key to the mag- nificent river. 30 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. Nothing will more forcibly show the depth of treason which .gave birth to the great Rebellion, than the oath taken by every cadet upon entering the Military Academy at "West Point. It is a well-known fact that nearly all the leaders in the revolt were graduates of this institution. Jefferson Davis, as already stated in the biography, was a classmate of General Mitchel. The cadets have been largely from the South. The result was, when the officers of the army and navy re- signed their positions to join the ranks of treason, they furnished a larger number of commanders educated for the service at the expense of the United States, than were left to defend the Republic. The following is the oath deliberately broken, and its national character denied and scorned by Davis, Beaure- gard, Lee, and other master spirits in the unexampled rebellion against constitutional law and order : "I do solemnly swear that I wiU support the Con- stitution of the United States, and bear true allegiance to the national Government ; that I will maintain and de- fend the sovereignty of the United States paramount to any and all allegiance, sovereignty, or fealty I may owe to any State or Country whatsoever ; and that I will at all times obey the legal orders of my superior officers, and the rules and articles governing the armies of the United States." Young Mitchel wrote letters glowing with his ear- LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. 31 nest, affectionate nature, to his mother and brothers. Those to his mother revealed the characteristic tender- ness and reverence to which allusion has been made. His large sympathies remind us of a great living divine, also widely known as a lecturer, who, when he was asked for the name of his gifted and devout mother, no longer among the living, wrote it in the following form : " Elizabeth W H , a name never spoken or written, without devout thanksgiving to God our Saviour, for her wonderful purity, piety, and charity ; that she was and is my mother" How beautiful is such filial love ! The hue of a river's tide is often visible far out into the bay which receives it; so in the manhood of these lofty minds clearly flows from the fountain at the cradle, the stream of affection for her T\^ho watched the dreamer there, and onward till the world was his sphere of action and influ- ence — her gift to its struggling millions. Cadet Mitchel graduated with honor. The highest mark of confidence in his attainments and character was, his appointment as assistant professor of mathematics in the Academy. This chair he filled for two years. The next year after his graduation there was a revo- lutionary movement in France. Napoleon, you recollect, died on the rocky island of St. Helena in 1821. Charles X. succeeded him to the throne. He became unpopular on account of tyrannical measures, and the restless peo- 32 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. pie, always changeful and unreliable, resolved to get rid of him. When the outbreak of feeling came, and there was some prospect of a struggle for freedom, cadet Mitchel caught the fever of adventure. He wanted to have a hand in the strife. Day after day he thought of the arena of martial glory, and his dreams were haunted by its far- off enchantment. He wrote home, expressing his enthu- siasm and his increasing desire to repair to France. But the volatile Frenchmen soon dispelled his visions of valor and honor on their soil, so often red with the blood of revolution. In a fey/ months Louis Philippe was seated on the throne of the empire, and the people were ready to shout, " Long live the King ! " Leaving West Point, Mitchel joined the army in Flor- ida, and was stationed at St. Augustine. His life became monotonous. The active mind of the youthful soldier could not endure the confinement, with no prospect of a larger field for the use of his culture, and the attainment of the reward of an honorable ambition to " make his miark in the world." The occasional expedition — the many hours of idle- ness—the separation from social and religious scenes — aU made him weary of a position which seemed to be of little worth to the country or to himself. He won a single victory which shed over his whole life a sacred halo of light. Miss Louisa Clark, of Cornwall, in which West LIFE OF GEIfEEAL MITCHEL. 33 Point lies, had married Lieutenant Trask, who died. Her father was Judge Clark, at one time a member of the Legislature, and a gentleman of wide and deserved influence. Mrs. Trask was a ladj of fine intellect, rare culture, and of beautiful Christian character. This interesting young widow attracted the interest of the professor. His enthu- siasm and noble character successfollj won her hand, and they were married. The tenderly confiding nature of Mitchel found a congenial one in Mrs. Trask. Life from that hour became to him, who had the rough experience of orphanage, a new and blessed existence. Resigning his place in the United States army, he went to the growing and charming city of Cincinnati, Ohio. The soldier became an honest attorney. For two years, old tomes and new, of legal lore, clients and courts, with the endearments and delights of home, which no one knew better how to value and enjoy than he, filled up the time. Like poor Payne, who wrote the world-wide song, " Home, sweet home," but was a wanderer all his days, Mitchel had a contrast to what he now enjoyed, to make that melody the very music of his souJ. "Wife, children, friends, around his table or hearthstone, were next to heaven in his affections. This suggests the crowning excellence of his charac- 2* 34: LIFE OF GENEEAI. MITCHEL. ter ; his consistent, unsullied Christian life. It brought no blush to his cheek, in any place or at any time, to " stand up for Jesus ; " everywhere giving the whole weight of his influence to the cause of true religion and human well-being. Soon after he had taken up his residence in Cincinnati, he connected himself with the church of Dr. Lyman Beecher, and became a useful young layman under the eloquent teachings and practical activity of that distin- guished divine. Here, also, ten years before he began his career as an astronomical lecturer ; he made his first effort on the platform in the " Old College Building." The Rev. Thomas Brainerd, D.D., then pastor and editor there, relates, that his paper with others contained a notice that this stranger, a graduate of West Point, would lec- ture on astronomy. At the hour appointed the hall, lighted with candles by the friends of the speaker, contained an audience of sixteen j^ersons. Though succeeding efforts were crowned with better success, he left the platform for the forum altogether, little dreaming of the splendid future before him as the orator of the stars. CHAPTEE in. ^ Anecdote of our Hero — Is Elected Professor in Cinciimati College — His Entlm- siasm in Astronomy— Is a Captain— He wants an Observatory- Wtat ia that? ^ROFESSOE C , wlio knew liim well, relatecT to me an anecdote illustrating Mr. IMitchel's enlightened views, and readiness to meet any objection to triith and duty. He was warmly interested in conference meetings, where the humblest Toice could be heard in exhortation and prayer. The professor objected to them, because those would speak and pray who were either unsound in doctrine or otherwise unfit to lead a congregation, TVith the quick- ness of thought, and wonderful beauty of expression and manner peculiar to him, he answered his friend by nar- rating two incidents. One of them was to show the perversion of the freedom of such meetings, and the other, the vast amount of good which flows from them. Mr. Mitchel said : "A certain minister rose in a noon-day meeting, and with apparent sincerity told this story of his 36 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. experience. Returning from a foreign coast, he prayed in faith that the Lord would give him ten souls the first meeting he should attend. He went to a religious meet- ing and made some remarks. The result was, ten per- sons became Christians. The man then snapping hia finger, added, ' I might just as well have asked for a hun- dred.'" In contrast with such occasionally erratic and unhappy moments, Mr. Mitchel went on to say : " There was in the West a gentleman to whom another in a distant town was deeply indebted. This creditor wrote to a law- yer there, to collect the money due him. The attorney wrote back, that the young man who owed him was unable to pay, but struggling hard to get the means. The impatient creditor soon sent another demand for the collection of the debt. Again the considerate, compas- sionate counsellor at law, urged forbearance with the em- barrassed, honest young pioneer. The indignant claimant replied, that the money was his rightful due, and he must have it. Time passed, and the debt was not paid. So off the angry creditor started for the lawyer's town and office. Entering the latter, he addressed his attorney excitedly, wishing to know why he had not collected the money. The kind appeal was once more urged ; the exercise of mercy pressed upon the client. ' Right is right ; ' was the unyielding response. ' I believe in justice, and all I ask is to have it done in this case. And now, I want to know whether you wUl get the money?' LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 37 " ' I must if you insist — it is my business ;' the law- yer answered, ' and I will attend to it at once.' " The gentleman left the office and strolled into the busy streets. Almost unconsciously he followed people going to the place of prayer. Soon after he was seated, a plain man arose, and repeated the passage, ' And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy G-od?' The speaker dwelt upon the grace of mercy, which was so often over- looked in the stern demands of justice. He impressively showed the deep meaning of the words of Christ, ' Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.' The stranger was smitten with a sense of cruel injustice. The conviction of guilt became too strong for endurance. Rising, he astonished persons around him by his almost wild excitement. Pushing aside those in his way, he said, * Here let me come — out of my way, I must go I ' Hasten- ing to the attorney's office, he inquired with anxious, earnestness, 'Have you collected the debt?' " ' No,' was the answer ; ' but I was just going to see what could be done, and issue the warrant if necessary.' " ' Don't you do it — don't you do it ! I have just found out that I haven't had the first idea of justice, or mercy either. I don't want the money, give it to the young man, for I'll have no more to do with it forever.* Thus the debtor returned to his home a better citizen, if not a Christian." 38 LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. The lay-preaching had been the appeal more power fal to the creditor than all the eloquence of the pulpit, though indispensable in its high position. In 1834, Mr. Mitchel was elected Professor of Math- ematics, Philosophy, and Astronomy, in Cincinnati Col lege, then just established. From tbis time dates the beginning of his career as an Astronomer. For ten years he filled with great honor the chair which was the very one most congenial to his taste. The students admired and loved him. His enthu- siasm in the study of the starry heavens rose with the growing familiarity of his mind with their glories. He loved, upon a clear evening, to gather his class about him, and with the poor helps they ha^ — only inferior instruments — to direct their attention to the wonders of the firmament. With glowing words he would speak of the " shepherdess of night, and her starry flock." He felt, and tried to impress upon youthful minds, the language of the stUl and radiant dome above their heads, sung by another ; " Though voice nor sound mform the ear, Well known the language of their song, When, one by one, the stars appear, Led by the silent moon along, — Till round the earth from all the sky, Thy beauty beams on every eye." Not only in the college and the chm'ch was he active, but interested in all the sources of public improvement. LITE OF GEXEEAL ISITTCHEL. 39 . He was captain of a volunteer company ten years, drilling the men with the devotion to military order and discipline, of a colonel preparing his troops for the field of battle. It proved a valuable drill to him, keeping fresh and available his education at "West Point. In other ways Providence was fitting him for his future and splen- did, though brief military career. In 1836 he filled the ofiice of Chief Engineer of the Little Miami Railroad. Think of the Professor look- ing after the engines, tracks, and all the machinery for running the cars ; learning lessons to be worth more than he dreams possible, nearly thirty years later on rebel soil, in his ever-active and valuable life. The Professor's department of instruction of the col- lege, and want of the helps needed, tm-ned his attention to the possihility of having an observatory. " And what is an observatory? " asks a young reader. A general definition is, "a place appropriated for making observations upon natural objects." In astrono- my, it is a building designed for making celestial observa- tions. It has a dome for the optical instruments, which usually revolves ; or a room in the upper story, with a movable roof, which can be removed when the heavens are viewed. The dome has openings with shutters. Its revolutions will sweep the horizon ; and a single person can turn them just as he would the turret of a monitor. The first thing essential is, to have the structure free 40 LIFE or GENERAL MITCHEL. from tremors^ or any motion. To secm-e this, there are piers of solid masonry, built upon rock, or deeply imbed- ded, separated from every other part of the edifice, and rising high as the place for the instruments. This, you will see, gives an inmaovable support for the heavy and nice telescopic apparatus. The second consideration is, to avoid the effect of changes in the air. So, places are selected secluded from the dust of travel and from fogs. A third important consideration in putting up an observatory is, to have a free view of the horizon — a clear sweep of the circular base of the blue dome. I hear another questioner inquire, " What is the furniture of such a house ? " An equatorial, or telescope, with which any part of the heavens may be seen by adjusting it, is the leading article in the costly furnishing. There are two great classes, called reflecting and re- fracting telescopes. In the former, the rays of light from a star, or any other object, pass down the large tube of the instrument, and fall ©n a metallic mirror, whose polished surface reflects them to a point called ih^ focus ; and there, forms a very luminous image of the object. You then examine the image with a magnifying glass. Of course, the greater the power of the lens, the larger will the object appear. The refracting telescope has no mirror. Instead of LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 41 tliis, the rays of light fall upon an object-glass^ or power- ful lens, which brings them to a focus, and then you use the eye-glasses as in the other telescope. Hear what he who has gazed many nights, while you were asleep, through the telescope, says about it : " I will not here undertake to explain how it is that the telescope enables the eye to penetrate space. That this power belongs to this magic instrument, no one can doubt who has ever seen a small, feeble star, converted by optical power into a magnificent orb, forty times more ex tensive than the moon's surface, as viewed by unaided vision. " Who could have divined the nature of the revelations which would be made by an instrument giving to the eye a depth of penetration a thousandfold greater than it pos- sessed by nature ? " If indeed the Creator is infinite, if His august pres- ence filleth immensity, then we had a right to anticipate that, no matter how deep the eye of man might pierce the domain of space, a point never could be reached wherein the evidences of God's presence would not appear. " Such has been the result of the application of the tele- scope to sounding the mighty depths of the universe. Every, augmentation of power has served to reveal new wonders ; every increased depth to which the eye has penetrated, has evoked from the viewless depths of space, millions on millions of shining orbs, imtil the imagination 42 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. is overwiielmed by the teeming numbers as by the mighty distances to which these island universes are removed. " Conceive, if it be possible, of an object so remote that its light, flashing vs^ith a speed which no mind can com- prehend, should still occupy a million of years in passing the mighty interval by which it is removed ! and yet there is evidence that we now behold with the most pow- erful tubes, objects even ten, twenty, or thirty times more remote. "We yield the point, and, in humble adoration, repeat the language of the sacred book, ' He inhabiteth eternity. His presence fiUeth immensity, and of His king- dom there is no end ! ' " Such, indeed, is the effect produced by the telescopic explorations of the universe, that man has ceased to doubt the infinitude of God's empii-e, and now limits his ambition to a deeper penetration into its grandeur, without ever indulging the thought that he shall by any power pierce beyond its mighty limits. Lo ! these are parts of His ways, but the thunder of His power who can understand?" Besides this instrument, the next to it are the transit and clock for observing and keeping correct time, and the mural circle, which is used in measuring the distance of stars from the zenith, or point overhead— the central spot in the blue arch. There are also barometers, thermome- ters, &c. And would you like to know when the first palace for a star-gazer was built ? LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. 43 It was commenced in 1667, and finished in 1671, at Paris, France, by Louis XIV. It was here that Picard, the superintendent, made calculations which furnished the great Newton with very yaluable help in demonstrating the sublime law of gravitation, suggested by the falling apple. Leverrier is at the head of it now. But where would you guess is the largest observatory ? Do you recoUect who began the Crimean war, in which three empires were engaged ? Yes, the Emperor Nicholas. In 1839, he had erected at Pultowa, ten miles from St. Petersburg, an Imperial Observatory. It cost half a million of dollars, and fifty thousand more are annually appropriated for its management. More than a hundred families are connected with its operations, and it is the best fornished and endowed in all Europe. The cele- brated M. Struve superintends it. His name, as you will learn hereafter, is forever associated with that of the lamented Mitchel. CHAPTER IV. The New World waked up to the Importance of Watch-towers for the Stars- A Wonderful Sight— Observatories Built —Professor Mitchel's great Enter* prise— The First Lecture— Onward. FEW years since, we were entirely dependent on the Old World, especially upon England, for the discoveries in astronomy. The people of in- telligence even, did not care for any thing so far above the business of a newly-settled hemisphere. About the first thing that waked up scientific men in this country, was the transit of Venus, June 3d, 1769. " What is that ? " you inquire. The word transit, you know, means a passing, as of goods over the country, from one point to another. When applied to Venus, the beautiful morning and evening star by turns, it indicates a wonderful event. It has happened but three times, it is believed, since the creation of the world. The path of the planet is across the sun's face ; that LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 45 is, it passes between us and the luminary of day, and looks like a little blot on its surface. This phenomenon requires such a position of the earth and Venus in regard to the sun, that it can rarely occur. The first time it was seen was in 1639, when a single person beheld the beautiful sight. Young Horrocks, liv- ing near Liverpool, England, suspected the thing would occur, and watched the result of his calculations. How intensely he waited for the grand spectacle ; because never seen before, and attended with fresh light upon the science of astronomy. He could scarcely eat or sleep for days. But near the time for the expected wonder, the hour of divine worship arrived. Few, indeed, would have risked the loss by going to the House of God. Horrocks went — ^bowed to the " King of kings," and returning, looked through the tube of his instrument, and lo ! the speck was ia the " sun's eye ! " In 1761, the swift revolutions of the heavenly bodies brought again the transit. Astronomers from England, France, and Russia, were scattered round the globe, from Siberia to the South Sea, to be sure of clear, acc^arate, and varied observations. Eight years later, the spectacle, it was predicted, would recur. In January, 1769, our scientific men began to get ready for the anticipated sight. They selected dif- erent points for watching the little black ball floating on the sea of fire. Temporary watch-towers were soon after 46 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. erected, and aid to build better and permanent ones, was solicited from State Governments in vain. Money and politics, not stars, occupied the tbougbts of legislators. In 1825, John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, recommended in eloquent language, and urged with strong arguments, the appropriation of money by Congress, to build a national university and observatory. And what did the people say? They treated the i^plendid project as the Romish priesthood did Galileo, because he said the earth tm-ned on its axis, excepting the imprisonment of its advocates. They ridiculed the idle fancy — ^the proposed waste of Government funds. The years vanished ; for the world rolled on, and the sun and the stars swept along their high pathways. Meanwhile Yale College, in 1830, placed a fine tele- scope in the steeple of a college building, which was al- most a prison for it. Williams' College, Western Eeserve, and other insti- tutions, followed in the erection of observatories, and put- ting in them good, but not the most powerful instruments. The Military Academy at West Point, ten years after Cadet Mitchel left its walls, built a noble edifice for the library, having three towers for the use of optical in- struments. In 1842, Professor Mitchel determined to devote himself to the erection of an observatory that would compare with those in Europe — at least be entitled to the name. Congress, about the same time, began to LIFE OF GE^EEAJL MTTCHEL. 47 act with reference to a national edifice for naval and astronomical purposes. He was alone in Ids enter- prise. And now we come to a new exhibition of the energy and hopeful perseverance of the untiring Mitchel, You have another illustration of the great lesson of his useful life ; the resolute will, seizing every opportunity for success in the noblest attainments, made sacred and sublime by his faith in Grod. No timid, vacillating, or seMsh man would have conceived the enterprise of build- ing an observatory which should have no superior in the country for years to come, and furnishing it with the best instruments the world could produce. But how shall the professor, vrithout fortune, begin the undertaking? The busiaess communities care but little about the stars ; the glitter of coin, or schemes that wiU make it, move the busy throng crowding the market- place and thoroughfares of commercial activity. The genius that knows no failure in a worthy cause, and had never repeated for himself the word " can't," thinks and dreams over the grand idea. He knows that it will seem to many like the extravagant scheme of an en- thusiast. But he remembers that Columbus was regarded as a lunatic while he mused and wept over his mental discovery of a hemisphere, which none were ready to help him make a splendid reality. Kings and queens smiled at his harmless fancies, while he heard vdth his inward ear the shining surf breaking upon the shores of unknown 48 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. lands, and saw the treasures of half the world lying at his f6et. The navigator succeeded, because he thought not of final defeat. Professor Mitchel saw, in his imagination, the massive structure on some green summit, and himself behind the tube, whose glasses revealed resplendent and hitherto unseen wonders in the star-sown fields of ether. The edifice must be reared to science, the country, and God. He could devise no plan to get the ear and awaken the interest of the people, unless he could excite enthu- siasm through the high themes which filled and delighted his soul. One day it was announced by a " poster," in the hall of Cincinnati College, and a notice in the daily papers of the city, that Professor Mitchel would commence a series of lectures in the audience room of that institution. The astronomer finds it necessary to use his tact in this bait for the public. For however excellent the imme- diate instruction, his object is to catch his hearers in the, golden meshes of his yet imaginary observatory. And just as you, young reader, have gone by yourself, tools in hand, to work out some ideal model of miniature mechan- ism, the professor goes to his study, to invent and con- struct a machine for exhibiting in brilliant light, and greatly magnified, the beautiful and wonderful telescopic views, on paper, taken in the silence of the night, when those whom they were to delight were asleep. The eveninor for the first lecture came. Such had LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 49 been tlie efforts of friends of the man and the cause, that before the hour had struck for the experiment, that had distui-bed the very repose of the lecturer, through the open doors of the College Hall a large procession of intel- ligent citizens poured into the finely-illuminated room. The extempore Stereojoticon was a success, and is ready for the exhibition. Manly, yet modest, is the bearing of the "star-gazer" as he takes his position, surrounded by members of the faculty and anxious friends^ — anxious, not in regard to the quality of the lecture, but the effect of the occasion on the scheme which suggested it. And I am sure my intelligent reader will love to fol- low the astronomer through a few passages of this opening and most eloquent lecture, and others which succeeded it. How sublimely he walks among the ages past, and through the starry depths ! " The starry heavens do not display their glittering constellations in the glare of day, while the rush and tur- moil of business incapacitate man for the enjoyment of their solemn grandeur. It is in the stillness of the mid- night hour, when all nature is hushed in repose, when the hum of the world's ongoing is no longer heard, that the planets roll and shine, and the bright stars, trooping through the deep heavens, speak to the willing spirit that would learn their mysterious being. " Often have I swept backward in imagination six thousand years, and stood beside our Great Ancestor, as 3 50 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. he gazed for the first time upon the going down of the sun. What strange sensations must have swept through his bewildered mind, as he watched the last departing ray of the sinking orb, unconscious whether he should even behold its return ! Wrapt in a maze of thought, strange and starthng, his eye long lingers about the point at which the sun had slowly faded from his view. A mys- terious darkness, hitherto unexperienced, creeps over the face of nature. The beautiful scenes of earth, which through the swift hours of the first wonderful day of his existence, had so charmed his senses, are slowly fading one by one from his dimmed vision. A gloom deeper than that which covers earth, steals across the mind of earth's solitary inhabitant. He raises his inquiring gaze toward heaven, and lo ! a silver crescent of light, clear and beautiful, hanging in the Western sky, meets his as- tonished eye. The young moon charms his untutored vision, and leads him upward to her bright attendants, which are now stealing, one by one, from out the deep blue sky. The solitary gazer bows, and wonders, and adores. The hours glide by — the silver moon is gone — the stars are rising, slowly ascending the heights of heaven — and solemnly sweeping downward in the still- ness of the night. The first grand revolution to mortal vision is nearly completed. A faint streak of rosy light is seen in the East — it brightens — the stars fade — ^the planets are extinguished — the eye is fixed in mute aston- LITE OF GKN"EEAL MITCHEL. 61 ishment on the growing splendor, till the first rays of the returning sun dart their radiance on the young earth and its solitary inhabitant. To him ' the evening and the morning were the first day/ " The curiosity excited on this first solemn night — ^the consciousness that in the heavens God had declared his glory — ^the eager desire to comprehend the mysteries that dwell in these bright orbs, have clung to the descendants of him who first watched and wondered, through the long lapse of six thousand years. In this boundless field of investigation, human genius has won its most signal vic- tories. Music is here — but it is the deep and solemn harmony of the spheres. Poetry is here — ^but it must be read in the characters of light, written on the sable gar- ments of night. Architecture is here — but it is the colos- sal structure of sun and system, of cluster and universe. Eloquence is here — but ' there is neither speech nor lan- guage. Its voice is not heard,' yet its resistless sweep comes over us in the mighty periods of revolving worlds. " Shall we not listen to this music, because it is deep and solemn ? Shall we not read this poetry, because its letters are the stars of heaven ? Shall we refuse to con- template this architecture, because ' its architectm-e, itft archways, seem ghostly from infinitude ' ? Shall we tm'n away from this surging eloquence, because its utterance is made through sweeping worlds ? No ; the mind is ever inquisitive, ever ready to attempt to ^ale the most 52 MFE OF GENERAL l^IITCHEL. rugged steps. "Wake up its entliusiasm — fling tlie light of hope in its pathy/ay, and no matter how rough, and. steep, and rocky it may prove, onward! is the word which charms its willing powers." How beautifully does the life of the orator illustrate these last words ! He had been charmed to duty, and cheered in the trial of courage from his earliest boyhood, by the music of that single lesson of the stars, onward! And the wonderful orations^ we may call them, which week after week fell from his lips, carried the delighted hearer* " onward " over the whole field of time. Like a daz- zling comet, he went among the mighty systems of worlds, and led the mind along the track of discovery to the mag- nificent telescopic revelations of the present. "With the first "star-gazers" he seemed to stand and watch the great over-arching sky, and decipher the fact that there was real and apparent motion there ; that is, there were objects moving, and others which only seemed to be so, like the trees when the cars alone change their place : then he studied with them in the dim light of early ages, the revolutions of that nearest planet the moon, the grand niarch of the constellations, the flight of the terror-inspiring comets, and appearance of the dreaded eclipses, while the rays of science brightened along the track of discovery ; till he looked among the glories which stream upon Ihe vision of the latest " sentinels on the watch towers" of the starry heavens. LIFE OF GENEBAL MITCHEL. 53 His strong and fiery imagination swept from tlie "hiil-tops of Eden" to the heights of America, from which the inquiring eye has been lifted to the sky. How strange it is that we do not know, and shall never know on earth, when and where, and by whom the first intelli- gent observation of the heavens was made ! Hear the sublime language of the professor : " I would fain stand at the very source of discovery, and commence with that unknown godlike mind which first conceived the grand thought that even these mys- terious stars might be read, and that the bright page w^ich was nightly unfolded to the vision of man needed no interpreter of its solemn beauties but human genius. On some lofty peak he stood, in the stillness of the mid- night hour, with the listening stars as witnesses of his •vows, and there conscious of his high destiny, and that of his race, resolves to commence the work of ages. * Plere,' he exclaims, ' is my watch tower, and. yonder bright orbs are henceforth my solitary companions. Night after night, year after year, will I watch and wait, ponder and reflect, until some ray shall pierce the deep gloom which now vv^raps the world.' " Thus resolved the unknown founder of the science of the stars. His name and country are lost forever. What matters this since his works, his discoveries, have endured for thousands of years, and will endure as long 64 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. as the moon shall continue to fill her silver horn, and the planets to roll and shine." Here you have also a fine glimpse of our hero's char- acter. Not anxious about the world's changing mood, his gi^eat concern was to do his work well, and leave to God and posterity his fame. Of the moon and the polar star, he adds : " Go with me, then, in imagination, and let us stand beside this primitive observer, at the close of his career of nearly a thousand years (for we must pass beyond the epoch of the deluge, and seek our first discoveries among those sages whom, for their virtues, God permitted to count their age, not by years, but by centuries), and here we shall learn the order in which the secrets of the starry world slowly yielded themselves to long and persevering scrutiny. And now let me unfold, in plain and simple language, the train of thought, of reasoning, and research, which marked this primitive era of astronomical science. It is true that history yields no light, and tradition even fails ; but such is the beautiful order in the golden chain of discovery, that the bright links which are known, re- veal with certainty those which are buried in the voiceless past. If, then, it were possible to read the records of the founder of astronomy, graven on some column of granite dug from the earth, whither it had been borne by the fury of the deluge, we know now what its hieroglyphics would reveal, with a certainty scarcely less than that which LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 55 would be given hj an actual discovery, such as we have imagined. We are certain that the first discovery ever recorded, as the result of human observation, was on the moon, " The sun, the moon, the stars, had long continued to rise and climb the heavens, and slowly sink beneath the western horizon. The spectacle of day and night was then, as now, familiar to every eye ; but in gazing there was no observation, and in mute wonder there was no science. When the sohtary observer took his post, it was to watch the moon. Her extraordinary phases had long fixed his attention. Whence came these changes ? The sun was ever round and brilliant — the stars shone with undimmed splendor — while the moon was ever wax- ing and waning, sometimes a silver crescent hanging in the western sky, or full-orbed, walking in majesty among the stars, and eclipsing their radiance, with her over- whelming splendor. Scarcely had the second obser- vation been made upon the moon, when the observer was struck with the wonderful fact, that she had left her place among the fixed stars, which, on the preceding night, he had accurately marked. Astonished, he again fixes her place by certain bright stars close to her posi- tion, and waits the coming of the following night. His suspicions are confirmed — the moon is moving ; and what to him is far more wonderful, her motion is precisely con- trary to the general revolution of the heavens, from east 56 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. to west. Willi a curiosity deeply aroused, lie watclies from niglit to night to learn whether she will return upon her track ; hut she marches steadily onward among the stars, until she sweeps the entire circuit of the heavens, and returns to the point first occupied, to re- commence her ceaseless cycles. " The long and accurate vigils of the moon, and the necessity of recognizing her place, by the clusters or groups of stars among which she was nightly found, had already familiarized the eye with those along her track, and even thus early the heavens began to be divided int6 constellations. The eye was not long in detecting the singular fact, that this stream of constellations, lying along the moon's path, was constantly flowing to the west, and one group after another apparently dropping into the sun, or at least becoming invisible, in conse- quence of their proximity to this brilliant orb. A closer examination revealed the fact, that the aspect of the whole heavens was changing from month to month. Constellations which had been conspicuous in the west, and whose brighter stars were the first to appear as the twilight faded, were found to sink lower and lower toward the horizon, till they were no longer seen ; while new groups were constantly appearing in the east. " These wonderful changes, so strange and inex- plicable, must have long perplexed the early student of the heavens* Hitherto the stars, along the moon's route, LIFE OF GEiqiEIlAL MITCHEL. 5T had engaged special attention ; but at length certain bright and conspicuous constellations, toward the north, arrested the eye : and these were watched to see whether thej would disappear. Some were found to dip below the western horizon, soon to reappear in the east ; while others, revolving with the general heavens, rose high above the horizon, swept steadily round, sunk far down, but never disappeared from the sight. This remarkable discovery soon led to another equally important. In watching the stars in the north through an entire night, they all seemed to describe circles ; having a common centre, these circles grew smaller and smaller as the stars approached nearer to the centre of revolution, until finally one bright star was found, whose position was ever fixed — alone unchanged while all else was slowly moving. The discovery of this remarkable star must have been hailed with uncommon delight by the primitive observer cf the heavens. If his deep devotion to the study of the skies had created surprise among his rude countrymen, when he came to point them to this never-changing light hung up in the heavens, and explained its uses in guiding their wanderings on the earth, their surprise must have given place to admiration. Here was the first valuable gift of primitive astronomical science to man. " But to the astronomer this discovery opened up a new field of investigation, and light began to dawn on some of the most mysterious questions which had long 3* 68 LIFE OF GENERAL IVnTCHEL. perplexed him. He had watched the constellations near the moon's track slowly disappear in the effulgence of the sun ; and when they were next seen, it was in the east, in the early dawn, apparently emerging from the solar beams, having actually passed by the sun. Watching and reflecting, steadily pursuing the march of the north- ern constellations, which never entirely disappeared, and noting the relative positions of these, and those falling into the sun, it was at last discovered that the entire starry heavens was slowly moving forward to meet and pass by the sun, or else the sun itself was actually moving backward among the stars. This apparent motion had already been detected in the moon, and now came the re- ward of long and diligent perseverance. The grand dis- covery was made, that both the sun and moon were moving among the fixed stars, not apparently, but ahso- lutely. The previously received explanation of the moon's motion could no longer be sustained ; for the starry heav- ens could not at the same time so move as to pass by the moon in one month, and to pass by the sun in a period twelve times as great. A train of the most important conclusions flowed at once from this great discovery. The starry heavens passed beneath and around the earth — the sun and moon were wandering in the same direction, but with different velocities, among the stars — the constellations actually filled the entire heavens above the earth and beneath the earth — the stars were invisible LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 59 in the day time, not because they did not exist, but be- cause their feeble light was lost in the superior briLliancy of the* sun. The heavens were spherical, and encom- passed like a shell the entii-e earth, and hence it was con- ceived that the earth itself was also a globe, occupying the centre of the starry sphere. " It is imposible for us, familiar as we are at this day with these important truths, to appreciate the rare merit of him who by the power of his genius first rose to their knowledge, and revealed them to an astonished world. We delight to honor the names of Kepler, of Galileo, of NeAvton ; but here are discoveries so far back in the dim past, that all trace of their origin is lost, which vie in in- terest and importance with the proudest achievements of any age. " With a knowledge of the sphericity of the heavens, the revolution of the sun and moon, the constellations of the celestial sphere, the axis of its diurnal revolution, as- tronomy began to be a science, and its future progress was destined to be rapid and brilliant. A line di'awn from the earth's centre to the north star formed the axis of the heavens, and day and night around this axis all the celestial host were noiselessly pursuing their never ending journies. Thus far, the only moving bodies known were the sun and moon. These large and brilliant bodies, by their magnitude and splendor, stood out conspicuously from among the multitude of stars, leaving these minute 60 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. but beautiful points of ligM, in one great class, unchange- able among themselves, fixed in their groupings and con- figurations, furnishing admirable points of reference, in watching and tracing out the wanderings of the sun and moon. " To follow the moon as she pursued her journey among the stars was not difficult ; but to trace the sun in his slower and more majestic motion, and to mark accu- rately his track, from star to star, as he heaved upward to meet the coming constellations, was not so readily ac- complished. Night after night, as he sunk below the horizon, the attentive watcher marked the bright stars near the point of setting which first appeared in the even- ing twilight. These gradually sunk toward the sun on successive nights, and thus was he traced from constel- lation to constellation, until the entire circuit of the heavens was performed, and he was once more attended by the same bright stars, that had watched long' before, his sinking in the west. Here was revealed the measure of the Year. The earth had been verdant v/ith the beau- ties of spring — glowing with the maturity of summer — rich in the fruits of autumn — and locked in the icy chains of winter, while the sun had circled round the heavens. His entrance into certain constellations marked the com- ing seasons, and man was beginning to couple his cycle of pursuits on earth with the revolutions of the celestial orbs. LIFE OF geio:kal mttchel. 61 " While intently engaged in -watching the sun as it slowly heaved up to meet the constellations, some ardent devotee to this infant science at length marked in the «arly twilight a certain, brilliant star closely attendant upon the sun. The relative position of these two objects was noted, for a few consecutive nights, when, with a de- gree of astonishment of wliich we can form no concep- tion, he discovered that this brilliant star was rapidly approaching the sun, and actually changing its place ■among the neighboring stars : night after night he gazes on this unprecedented phenomenon, a 7noving star ! and on each successive night he finds the wanderer coming nearer and nearer to the sun. At last it disappears from sight, plunged in the beams of the upheaving sun. What had become of tliis strange wanderer ? was it lost forever ? were questions which were easier asked than answered. But patient watching had revealed the fact, that when a group of stars, absorbed into the sun's rays, disappeared in the west, they were next seen in the eastern sky, slowly emerging from his morning beams. Might it not be pos- sible that this wandering star would pass by the sun and reappear in the east? With how much anxiety must this primitive discoverer have watched in the morning twilight? Day after day he sought his soKtary post, and marked the rising stars, slowly lifting themselves above the eastern horizon. The gray dawn came, and the sun shot forth a flood of light, the stars faded and 62 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. disappeared, and the watcher gives over till the coming morning. But his hopes are crowned at last. Just before the sun breaks above the horizon, in the rosy east, refulgent with the coming day, he descries the pure white silver ray of his long lost wanderer. It has passed the sun — it rises in the east — the first jolanet is dis- covered ! "With how much anxiety and interest did the delighted discoverer trace the movements of his wander- ing star. " Whatever light may be shed upon antiquity by de- ciphering the hieroglyphic memorials of the past, there is no hope of ever going far enough back, to reach even the nation to which we are indebted for the first rudiments of the science of the stars. " Thus far in the prosecution of the study of the heavens, the eye and the intellect had accomplished the entire work. Rapidly as we have sketched the progress of early discovery, and short as may have been the period in which it was accomplished, no one can fail to perceive how vast is the difference between the light that thus early broke in upon the mind, heralding the coming of a brighter day, and the deep and universal darkness which had covered the world before the dawn of science. En- couraged by the success which had thus far rewarded patient toil, the mind of man pushes on its investigations deeper and deeper into the domain of the mysterious and unknown. LITE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 63 " In these primitive ages the heavenly bodies were regarded with feelings little less than the reverence we now bestow on the Snpreme Creator. The sun, espe- cially, as the Lord of life and light, was regarded with feelings nearly approaching to adoration, even by the as- tronomers themselves. The idea early became fixed, that the chief of the celestial bodies must move with a uniform velocity in a circular orbit, never increasing or decreasing. Change being inconsistent with the supreme and dignified station which was assigned to him — what, then, must have been the astonishment of the primitive astronomers, who in counting the days from the summer to the winter sol- stice, and from the winter round to the summer solstice, these intervals were found to be unequal ? " CHAPTEE V. An Eclipse — Who first solved the awful Mystery ?— "What are Comets ?— Danger of burning the Earth — Other "Wonders — The Dream. ^Y reader, have you seen an eclipse of the sun or moon? You know what it is? When the luminary of day is veiled, the moon has come between us and it, just where the tracks cross ; that is, at the point in their orbits which brings them in a line with the earth. Of course we cannot see through the moon, and so the sun is obscured. When the moon is eclipsed, the earth gets in a similar way between the sun and moon, and the light is cut off from the satellite of oUr world. You will be interested in the orator's description of the discovery of this simple fact that robbed the eclipse of the horrors which had terri- fied the people. A watcher of the heavenly bodies had become convinced that the dreaded darkness was caused by a natural law of revolution, and made calculations ac- cordingly. Up to this time nobody knew or could guess LITE OF GEIsEEAL MITCHEL. 65 what hlackened the face of the sun and moon. It is not strange that the night coming at morning or middaj, should alarm the inhabitants wherever it was seen. I think we should be just as much alarmed were it not for the labors of that man ages since, and his successors in astronomical studies. Let us go back over long cen- turies. The prophet of such an event, explaining the dark marvel of the past since creation's dawn, has arisen. Every thing is ready for predicting the sun's hiding behind the moon. Says the eloquent Llitchel : " He announces to the startled inhabitants of the world that the sun shall expii'e in dark eclipse. Bold predic- tion ! mysterious prophet ! with what scorn must the un- thinking world have received this solenm declaration. How slowly do the moons roll away, and with what in- tense anxiety does the stern philosopher await the coming of that day which should croTvn him with victory, or dash him to the ground m ruin and disgrace ! Time to him moves on leaden wings ; day after day, and at last hour after hour, roll heavily away. The last night is gone — the moon has disappeared from his eagle gaze in her ap- proach to the sun, and the dawn of the eventful day breaks in beauty on a slimibering world. '• This daring man, stern in his faith, climbs alone to' his rocky home, and greets the sun as he rises and mounts the heavens, scattering brightness and glory in his path. Beneath him is spread out the populous city, already 66 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. teeming with life and activity. The busy morning hum rises on the still air and reaches the watching place of the solitary astronomer. The thousands below him, uncon- scious of his intense anxiety, buoyant with life, joyously pursue their rounds of business and of amusement. The sun slowly climbs the heavens, round, and bright, and full-orbed. The lone tenant of the mountain-top almost begins to waver in his faith, as the morning hours roll away. But the time of his triumph, long delayed, at length begins to dawn ; a pale and sickly hue creeps over the face of nature. The sun has reached his highest point, but his splendor is dimmed, his light is feeble. At last it comes ! Blackness is eating away his round disc ; onward, with slow but steady pace, the dark veil moves, blacker than a thousand nights — the gloom deepens- — the ghastly hue of death covers the universe — the last ray is gone, and horror reigns. A wail of terror fills the murky air ; the clangor of brazen trumpets resounds ; an agony of despair dashes the stricken milhons to the ground, while that lone man, erect on his rocky summit, with arms outstretched to heaven, pours forth the grateful gushings of his heart to G-od, who had crowned his eiforts with triumphant victory. It is to me the proudest vic- tory that genius ever won. It was the conquering of nature, of ignorance, of superstition, of terror, all at a single blow, and that blow struck by a single arm." " Who," you ask, " was this wonderful man, whom LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. 67 *his fellows must have regarded as little less than a god?'" His fame is "inscribed on the very heavens," but lost on earth. No one can tell his name or nation. Such is human glory ! But great and good deeds never die, "A thousand years roll by;" and in ancient and splendid Babylon the record of an eclipse is made, " which is safely wafted down the stream of time." A thousand years more have swept by, and among the fierce Arabs again the prediction is made, and the eclipse appears. And then after a thousand years are added to those already gone, the astronomer of Paris observes the same phenomenon. Is it not amazing that the prophets of eclipses, whose records cover three thousand years, should exactly agree ? That the Frenchman should study the record of the Baby- lonian who looked on the sun and moon so long before ? You have learned how the great law of gravitation, the., mysterious bond holding planets, suns, and systems to- gether, was discovered by Isaac Newton. A falling, apple led him to ask the natm-al question, " What brings it to the ground?" That apple was the key to wonders vast as God's universe. Little thoughts and little things are not to be lightly esteemed ; they have been the beginning of world-wide, discoveries and eternal destinies. We cannot follow the celestial orator through his un- rivalled lectures. But since writing this a young lad said s 68 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. " Tell US about the comets, and the boys will be mteiv terested. What did General Mitchel say about them?" He had just read that a learned professor in Munich, a city of which I shall have more to say hereafter, predicted the burning of the world in 1865 by a comet. Next to the eclipse has this wanderer frightened the world. The boy's questions were doubtless the same you would ask, and I will give them with the answers. " What are comets?" "It is a very hard question to answer. They sud- denly blaze forth and sweep through the heavens with amazing velocity. Their aspect is often terrific. Their paths are irregular, and from all points of the compass they rush toward and aroimd the sun. What they are no man has yet been able to tell." " I just recollect seeing one a few years ago ; but will you describe their appearance ? " " The comet of 1858 was very beautiful. It resem- bled a plume ; the trail of light flowing backward from the splendid starlike brow. Others, have been double ; and the gTeat comet of 1744 had six luminous trains, which streamed above the horizon long after the globe of splendor had sunk below it. The Catholics, who were afraid of the armies of the Sultan of Turkey at that time, offered this prayer : ' The Lord save us from the Devil, the Turk, and the Comet ! ' " " Why were people afraid of comets ? " LIFE OF GEJSTEEAL MTTCHEL. 69 " Because they seemed to be wild and wandering mes- sengers from distant regions, having no connection with cm* starry dome. They were regarded as omens of war, pestilence, and famine." " How did astronomers find out they were not?" " Observation proved that these fiery corsairs of tha blue deep were, after all, governed by the same law of gravitation which binds all the worlds together. And though some of them plunge away for several hundred years into space, and then return, they had their appoint- ed periods, like the earth and moon." " Is there really any danger that a comet will destroy the world? " " Newton, Mitchel, and others think not ; at least that the collision is not likely to occur. K it did they believe the curious body is too light, or cloudlike, to jostle our planet out of its orbit, or set it on fire. Yet none can deny that God could make it a torch to kindle ' nature's funeral pile.' " The lad looked thoughtful. The possibility of the world's meeting with a comet troubled him. I could only cheer him with the assurance that a sincere trust in Him who created the comet, would give us " A heart for any fate." He then inquired about the milky way, made of re- splendent suns, so far away you cannot separate them 70 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. with tlie eye. And many of the nebulae, or luminous clouds floating in the blue depths " blaze with countless stars " when a powerful telescope is directed to them. Professor Mitchel seemed to forget that he was on earth, in dwelling on the boundless grandeur of the uni- verse, which he had viewed during the " night v/atches," and talked as if he were among the resplendent worlds and discoursing from the skies. He was like the im- aginary traveller of the German poet, quoted by him to express his overwhelming visions of Jehovah's power, wisdom, and omniscience in the celestial vault. Here is the singular and beautiful fancy : " God called up from dreams a man into the vesti- bule of heaven, saying, ' Come thou hither and see the glory of my house.' " And to the servants that stood around the throne, he said : ' Take him, and undress him from his robes of flesh : cleanse his vision, and put a new breath in his nostrils : only touch not with any change his human heart — the heart that weeps and trembles.' " It was done ; and with a mighty angel for his guide, the man stood ready for his infinite voyage. From the terraces of heaven, without sound or farewell, at once they wheeled away into endless space. * * * In a moment the rushing of planets was upon them ; in a mo- ment the blazing of suns was around them. On the right hand and on the left towered mighty constellations, form- LIFE OF GEIJJ-EEAL MITCHEL. Yl ing triumphal gates and archways that seemed ghostly from infinitude. Suddenly, as they swept past systems and worlds, a cry arose that other heights and other depths were nearing, were at hand. " The man sighed, and stopped, and shuddered, and wept. His overladened heart uttered itself in tears, and he said : ' Angel, I will go no farther. Insufferable is the glory of God. Let me lie down in the grave, and hide me from the infinite ; for end I see there is none.' " And from all the listening stars that shone around issued a choral voice — ' the man speaks truly ; end there is none that ever yet we heard of.' " ^ End is there none ? ' the angel solemnly demanded. * Is there indeed no end ? and is this the sorrow that kills you ? ' " But no voice answered that he might answer him- self. Then the angel threw up his glorious hands to the heaven of heaven, saying : " ' End there is none in the universe of God. Lo ! also there is no beginning.' " I will only add the closing passages of these unequalled lectures : " Look out to-night on the brilliant constellations which crowd the heavens. Mark the configurations of these stars. Five thousand years ago the Chaldean shep- herd gazed on the same bright groups. Two thousand years have roUed away since the Greek philosopher pro- Y2 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. nounced the eternity of the heavens, and pointed to the ever-during configuration of the stars as proof positive of his assertion. But a time will come when not a con- stellation now blazing in the bright concave above us shall remain. Slowly, indeed, do these fingers on the dial of heaven mark the progress of time. A thousand years may roll away with scarce a perceptible change ; even a million of years may pass without effacing all traces of the gTOupings which now exist ; but tha,t eye which shall behold the universe of the fixed stars when ten millions of years shall have silently rolled away, will search in vain for the constellations which now beautify and adorn our nocturnal heavens. Should God permit, the stars may be there, but no trace of their former relative posi- tions will be found ! " Here I must close. The intellectual power of man, as exhibited in his wonderful achievements among the planetary and stellar worlds, has thus far been our single object. I have neither turned to the right hand nor to the left. Commencing with the first mute gaze bestowed upon the heavens, and with the curiosity awakened in that hour of admiration and wonder, we have attempted to follow rapidly the career of the human mind, through the long lapse of six thousand years. What a change has this period wrought. Go backward in imagination to the plains of Shinar, and stand beside the shepherd as- tronomer as he vainly attempts to grasp the mysteries of LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. 73 the waxing and waning moon, and then, enter the sacred precincts of yonder temple devoted to the science of the stars. Look over its magnificent machinery ; examine its space-annihilating instruments, and ask the sentinel who now keeps his unbroken vigil the nature of his in- vestigations. " Moon, and planet, and sun, and system, are left behind. His researches are now within a sphere to whose confines the eagle glance of the Chaldean, never reached. Periods, and distances, and masses, and mo- tions, are all familiar to him ; and could the man who gazed and pondered six thousand years ago stand beside the man who now fills his place, and listen to his teach- ings, he would listen with awe, inspired by the revelations of an angel of God. But where does the human mind now stand? Great as are its achievements, profoundly as it has penetrated the mysteries of creation, what has been done is but an infinitesimal portion of what remains to be done. " But the examinations of the past inspire the highest hopes for the future. The movement is one constantly accelerating and expanding. Look at what has been done during the last three hundred years, and answer me to what point will human genius ascend before the same period shall again roll away? But in our admiration for that genius which has been able to reveal the mysteries of the universe, let us not forget the homage due to Him 74 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. who created, and by the might of his power sustains all things. At some future time, I hope to be permitted to direct your attention to this branch of the subject. If there be any thing which can lead the mind upward to the Omnipotent Ruler of the universe, and give to it an approximate knowledge of His incomprehensible attri- butes, it is to be found in the grandeur and beauty of His works. " If you would know His glory ^ examine the inter- minable range of suns and systems which crowd the Milky Way. Multiply the hundred million of stars which belong to our own ' island universe' by the thou- sands of these astral systems that exist in space, within the range of human vision, and then you may form some idea of the infinitude of His kingdom ; for lo ! these are but a part of His ways. Examine the scale on which the universe is built. Comprehend, if you can, the vast di- mensions of our sun. Stretch outward through his sys- tem, from planet to planet, and circumscribe the whole within the immense cii'cumference of Neptune's orbit. This is but a single unit out of the mj^riads of similar systems. Take the wings of light, and flash with im- petuous speed, day and night, and month and year, till youth shall wear away, and middle age is gone, and the extremest limit of human life has been attained ; count every pulse, and at each speed on your way a hundred thousand miles ; and when a hundred years have rolled LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. Y5 by, look out, and behold ! the thronging millions of blazing suns are still around you, each separated from the other by such a distance that in this journey of a cen- tury you have only left half a score behind you. " "Would you gather some idea of the eternity past of Grod's existence, go to the astronomer, and bid him Jead you with him in one of his walks through space ; and as he sweeps outward from object to object, from universe to universe, remember that the light from those filmy stains on the deep pure blue of heaven, now falling on your eye, has been traversing space for a million of years. Would you gather some knowledge of the omnijwtence of God, weigh the earth on which we dwell, then count the millions of its inhabitants that have come and gone for the last six thousand years. Unite their strength into one arm, and test its power in an effort to move this earth. It could not stir it a single foot in a thousand years ; and yet under the omnipotent hand of God, not a minute passes that it does not fiy for more than a thousand miles. But this is a mere atom ; the most insignificant point among His innumerable worlds. At His bidding, every planet, and satellite, and comet, and the sun himself, fly onward in their appointed courses. His single arm guides the millions of sweeping suns, and around His throne circles the great constellation of unnumbered universes. " Would you comprehend the idea of the omniscience 76 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. of God, rememlber that the highest pinnacle of knowledge reached by the whole human race, by the combined efforts of its brightest intellects, has enabled the astronomer to compute approximately the perturbations of the planetary worlds. He has predicted roughly the return of half a score of comets. But God has computed the mutual per- turbations of millions of suns, and planets, and comets, and worlds, without number, through the ages that are passed, and throughout the ages which are yet to come, not approximately, but with perfect and absolute precis- ion. The universe is in motion — system rising above system, cluster above cluster, nebula above nebula — all majestically sweeping around under the providence of God, who alone knows the end from the beginning, and before whose glory and power all intelligent beings, whether in heaven or on earth, should bow with humility and awe. " "Would you gain some idea of the ivisdom of God, look to the admirable adjustments of the magnificent retinue of planets and satellites which sweep around the sun. Every globe has been weighed and poised, every orbit has been measured and bent to its beautiful form. All is changing, but the laws fixed by the wisdom of God, though they permit the rocking to and fro of the system, never introduce, disorder, or lead to destruction. All is perfect and harmonious, and the music of the spheres that bum and roll around our sun, is echoed by that of ten LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. 77 millions of moving worlds, that sing and sHne around tlie bright suns that reign above. If, overwhelmed with the grandeur and majesty of the universe of God, we are led to exclaim with the Hebrew poet king — ' When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast or- dained, what is man, that thou art mindful of him ? and the son of man, that thou visitest him ? * If fearful that the eye of God may overlook us in the immensity of His kingdom, we have only to call to mind that other passage, * Yet thou hast made him but a little lower than the an- gels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over all the works of thy hand ; thou hast put all things under his feet.' Such are the teachings of the word, and such are the lessons of the works of God." CHAPTEH VI. The Astronomer a Business Man— His Noble Energy— Two Eules of his Life- »• Starts for Europe — Voyage — The Stranger in England — In Paris — Munich— The Treasure— The Professor in Greenwich — A Curious old Town — Ita Lions. )HE pictorial illustrations of the lecture were very- beautiful. The splendor of thought and diction were the 'more surprising, because unaided by manuscript in the delivery. The audience were fascinated. Week after week the throng gath- ered around the gifted astronomer, who meanwhile, in private conversation and in his solitary moments, was maturing a plan to secure the object which led him to the platform of oratory unrivalled in that, or any other college. "When the last lecture was announced, he was re- quested to repeat it in one of the largest churches of the city. This v*^as the opportunity tov>^ard which all his efforts had been tending. Two thousand people assem- bled. The simple yet lofty eloquence enchained the mass which ,packed the spacious temple to the last echo of the LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 79 orator's voice. Wten the strain of thrilling address ceased, the professor came down from the glory and music of the spheres to practical business, and requested the audience " to give him a few minutes of time, for the explanation of a matter which it was hoped would not be received with- out some feelings of interest and approbation." He was now among the " money changers." Business-like, he goes right to their sober, practical judgments with the terrestrial part of his work. It is amusing to think of such a transition — from the star-lit dome above them, to the counting-room and safe. After a simple, honest statement, he went on with his appeal in these words : "You look at Europe, and find rapid advancement in astronomy, and all over the world costly observatories are erected. In Russia, Germany, France, and England, there are instruments in great variety and magnificence, while there is an utter deficiency in our own country in every thing pertaining to the science of the stars." The fact that monarchs lavished treasures on the temples of science, that the people must build them here, was urged ; the assertion that the reliance on these would be a vain one, suggested ; and finally, the assurance given that the ques- tion would now be tested and settled. For he had de- termined to devote five years of faithful effort to secure the projected observatory. This was always a quality of General MitcheFs char- acter. He never said go simply, in a good enterprise, but 80 LIFE OF GENERAL MrfCHEL. " come with me." It was his rule to lead, as weU aa point the way. A murmer of applause went through the vast assem- blage. The plan was submitted. The amount needed was to be divided into shares of twenty-five dollars each ; nothing was to be done till three hundred names were obtained, and each subscriber was to have the privileges of the observatory. This was accomplished, and the heroic spirit of the founder of the star-tov/er, was assured of triumph. Hear the pure and inspiring words of his lips: " Two resolutions were taken at the outset, to which I am indebted for any success which may have attended my own personal efforts. First. To work faithfully for five years, during all the leisure which could be spared from my regular duties. Second. Never to hecome angry under any provocation while in the prosecution of this enter- prise." Let every youth catch the spirit of perseverance and patience breathed in these resolves, v/hich were faith- fully kept by him. He believed and tried the truth of the heavenly counsel, " He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty ; and he that ruleth his own spirit than he that tal^eth a city." Soon as the three hundred shareholders were obtained by quiet effort suceeding the lectures, the association thus formed gave him permission to visit Europe, to see what LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 81 the old world had accomplished in astronomy, and what it might have for him. It was a happy day for the pro- fessor when he turned his face toward Europe. No purer earthly delight could make a great heart beat with quickened pulsations. How wide the contrast between the barefooted errand work of !RIiami and Lebanon, and the scientific mission to the capitals and royal observa- tories of the mightiest kingdoms of the earth ! He could sympathize with Columbus when his vessel's prow was pointed toward the untraveUed seas where continents lay. He hastened to New York, the port of departure, and June 16th, 184:2, sailed down the bay. With loving eyes he watched the receding spires of the great Metropolis, and the shores on either hand, till Neversink faded from the view. Hjs vision dimmed with the dew of feeling, for his idolized family and native land were disappearing, per- haps forever, from his sight. But his Christian faith hung a bow of promise over the darkness of distance behind, and " flung the light of hope " on his pathway over the sea. The flashing waters at night were the beautiful foundation of his floating observatory, from which he gazed with affection which they seemed to reciprocate, upon the bright friends of his nightly vigils, for whose sake he was self-exiled for a time to a strange land. No moments are wasted on the voyage. The traveller has made activity the highest pleasure. Between the world of stars above, the wonders of the deep, the books, 4* 82 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEI. and a few intelligent friends, and tlie intense thinking o^er his plans for getting into the heavens and seeing for him- self what was there he had not beheld, the days flew past. Sights and sounds of land again began to appear. Soon after, the shores of England greeted his vision, and a glow of new enthusiasm spread over his fine face. He was near " Fatherland " and the object of his many anxious thoughts, a window to the starry depths. He went to London and the Royal Observatory of Greenwich, to find the treasure that lured him across the Atlantic, an object-glass of the largest size. In the de- scription of the telescope, you recollect this expensive part forms the distant object, bringing it before the eye-glass, through which the observer gazes upon the remote orb, as if it were comparatively near. The gay capital of France, to which he longed to go when Charles the Tenth was dethroned, and draw the revolutionary sword, next attracted his steps. How dif- ferent his errand ! Not the soldier's glory, nor the pleas- ures of art, nor yet of sensual indulgence, • stirred his ambition. He wanted a piece of rounded glass; and Paris, with all its dissipation, had gifted devotees of science, and splendid instruments for its service. But here, also, he was disappointed. He looked in vain for the creation of skill which should open to him when in the tube prepared for it, Ihe marvels and glories of the canopy studded with globes of light. LIFE OF GENERAL lillTOHEL. 83 That scientific centre of the German States, Munich, was the next goal of his hopes. The name, I think, must remind you of a very fine poem, well nigh spoiled by its repetition, so often poorly, on the stage by school- toys : Campbell's " Battle of Hohenlinden." In that the shout is raised, " Wave, Munich, all thy banners wave, And charge with all thy chivalry." This ancient city, the capital of Bavaria, is beautifully situated on the Isar River. This stream flows through an extensive plain, whose rich landscape environs the city. The Park, Max-Josejplis-Platz, is one of the very finest in Europe. But there were objects of greater interest to- Professor Mitchel in the ancient city. The museums of art are wonderful. For days you* can see magnificent paintings, even if you look but a few moments at each. There are nearly half a million of engravings. The university, about the time Professor Mitchel was there, contained 1,4:71 students, taught hj seventy-six ^ro^ fessors. In our country half that number of students would be a very large attendance upon college instruction by less than a dozen professors. The Koyal Library has six hundred thousand vol- umes. Another library has two hundred thousand books» 84 4,iFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. with foiir hundred manuscript works, t. e., every word written with a pen. The cathedral is a wonder. It was built nearly five hundred years ago ; and has two towers three hundred ^nd thirty-three feet high — taller than any spire you ever saw, I think. The view from these lofty towers is grand and beauti- ful. And there is in one of the squares an obelisk, or kind of pyramid, one hundred feet in height, made of cannon taken by the Bavarians in their wars. This city is the residence of ambassadors from all parts of Europe. They live in splendid style, and make the old city seem like the home of a score of kings. But turn aside from all these attractive scenes to that plain pile, and enter its doors, and you will see the centre of the professor's thoughts ; it is the manufactory of opti- cal instruments. Munich has long been famous for its fine lenses, and «very thing pertaining to telescopes, and all similar aids for scientific men. No manufacturer of these instruments was more famous than Frauenhofer. To walk through his cabinet, or any simib^r one, would interest the youngest of my readers. Such a variety of beautiful mechanism for making observations of earth and sky ! M. Mertz had succeeded the renowned worker in these instruments to annihilate space, and measure the visible universe. Yet LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 85 it was all the same to IVIitcliel. No sooner liad lie entered tlie cabinet, than Iiis eye rested on tlie polislied crystal he sought. There it lay, a foot in diameter," or tliree feet in circumference, the prize of his pilgrimage. But to mount it, that is, to finish the instrument, would requii-e ten thousand dollars and two years of time. The money could and must be secured. Mr. Mitchel made a bargain, but with conditions that would protect M. Mertz against loss if he failed to raise the ten thou- sand dollars. He then hastened again to Greenwich, England, to become a pupil there. It may be interesting to the reader to know more about this home for a while, of Professor Mitchel. Greenwich is in Kent County, three and three-fourth miles southeast of London Bridge, and contains one hun- dred and six thousand inhabitants. It is an old city, with narrow, irregular streets, some of which are lower than the River Thames. If you are not an astronomer, the first object which would attract yom' curiosity, would be the Naval Hos- pital. It is designed for veteran, disabled, and unfortu- nate seamen. The pleasure-loving, dissipated Charles H., built it for a palace, on the site of the Greenwich House, which was erected in the year 1300. In it the queen-daughters of Henry VIII., Mary and Elizabeth, were born. Here Edward VI. died. 86 LIFE OF GENERAL ItHTCnEL. The pile was converted to its present benevolent use in tlie reign of William and Mary, and opened for in- mates in 1705. The situation is beautiful, on a terrace above the river. The four squares whicli form the whole, bear the names of the sovereigns who completed them— Charles, Anne, William, and Mary ; and with all the buildings, cover forty acres. The magnificent establishment is the largest of the kind in Europe, and I suppose in the world. But Professor Mitchel gave only a small portion of time to this splendid monument of charity. Not very far from it stands the Royal Observatory, formerly Greenwich Castle, also founded by the gay king, Charles II., in 1674. Here Flamsteed studied the heavens, and gave Sir Isaac Newton discoveries, which aided him greatly in unfolding his theory of matter ; thus one noble intellect wakes up another to still higher efforts. Professor Airy, Astronomer Royal, that is to say, appointed by the king or queen, welcomed his gifted friend and pupil, whom he had invited to come and reap any benefit he might be able to secure there. Professor Airy saw at once a rare intellect and a rare gentleman, in the American rival to the honor of new discoveries in the vast fields of ether. The stranger had gladly accepted the compliment which he. richly merited. The days and weeks went too LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 87 swiftly by, while the books, instruments, and nightly star- gazing occupied his thoughts. He was not ashamed to take his place once more as a learner at the feet of another, whose riper culture and experience might add a single new truth or idea to his own brilliant attainments. CHAPTER Vn. Professor Mitchel loaves England— Eeaches Cincinnati— Disappointment— Not Discouraged — He Toils on — Mr. Long-worth's Gift — The Corner Stone of the Observatory is Laid— Interesting Ceremonies— The Astronomer at work ■with the Mechanics — The "Watch-tower Finished. )HE mellow liglit of October, 1842, lay upon the rich landscapes of Old England, always wanting in the brilliant coloring of our autumnal ver- dure, when Professor Mitchel embarked for his home on the banks of the Ohio, His objects of travel were obtained. With a grateful and buoyant spirit he bade adieu to the British Island, and sailed for New York. Look where he might on ocean or sky, he saw often, and even in " visions of the night," the solid, transparent cii'cle, lying in the cabinet of M. Mertz. He saw in fancy more ; the temple it would yet adorn, rising on some fair summit near the Queen City of the "West. Arriving at New York, he hurried on to Cincinnati. A meeting of the society which sent him abroad, and of other interested citizens, large and enthusiastic, as^ LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 8^ sembled to hear his report. All were interested deeply in the professor's story, and the hopeful beginning of the .work to which his ardent soul was devoted. But a com- mercial crisis had come upon the country during his absence of four months. " What is a commercial crisis?" a reader inquires. A general depression in business, arising from failures among men controlling largely the money market. Tha causes are various. Sometimes it is the result of specu- lation and extravagance. The avv^ful waste and expen- diture of the war are pressing heavily on thousands in our country, which, with the mania for speculation, threaten much financial distress before peace is restored. In this paralysis of business, the most enthusiastic friends of the astronomer felt troubled, and some of them too poor to do all that they had intended and promised- Such an enterprise — purely scientific, and expensive — offering no opportunity for speculation, needed the most prosperous times. And what shall the undaunted worker do? If he could get to West Point without funds, he can get to his observatory, at length. Day after day he called on wealthy citizens, urging the claims of the observatory. See him now, with elas- tic step and brightened brow, preparing his remittance of a payment to M. Mertz in Old Munich. Three thousand dollars ! So much is sure, and sooa 90 LIFE OF GENEEAL l^IITCHEL. on the way to Europe. This amount was demanded to secure the object-glass and the completion of the tele- scope, when the remainder of the price was to be paid. "The die was cast." The order had gone with the money to finish the magnificent instrument, which must have a house in which to keep and use it. And now the unresting brain and heart and hands are directed to this edifice. As yet not even a site, a. foot of land for its foundations, was procured. The professor turned for help to a very wealthy and enterprising gen- tleman, who owned some of the verdant highlands near the city. He stated to him in honest, earnest words, the wants and embarrassments of the Astronomical Society. The listener was Nicholas Longworth, Esq., whose vineyards covered many acres. " Well, Professor Mitchell, the enterprise must not fail for want of ground. Select four acres on the hill in my twenty-five acre lot, and enclose it. It will give me great pleasure to present it to the association." " I can present you, sir, in the name of the society, their warmest thanks. Of all eligible points for an ob- servatory it is the most desirable." With a lighter footfall, and more sunny brow than at any moment since the struggle began for his watch-tower, he left the presence of the munificent donor. With a loving eye he looked away to the lofty hill, LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 91 lifting its ample swell four hundred feet above the streets of the city. From its top, the vision could sweep the en- tire horizon without an intervening object. Below lay the beautiful metropolis of the "West, with its elegant buildings and hum of business ; and around it, in every direction from the broad and glorious Ohio, were spread the plains and slopes, dark with vineyards and verdure, and dotted with tasteful dwellings. It was as rare a spot for the building, as was the splendid glass for the in- strument that structure was to protect. Two grand steps onward toward the goal of the astro- nomer's hopes are taken. The next is to build. No time is lost by him. He soon has the carpenters at v/ork on the fence, and a road cut to the summit, making access by teams with material, quite easy. The spring and summer of 1843 had rapidly passed to him, under the pressure of this great work, and college duties. An auspicious and exciting day has come. The ninth day of November was set apart for laying the corner-stone. That stone is to be a part of the pier, or masonry, supporting the telescope with its harness for service. The anticipated morning dawns. The throng at an early hour begin to gather on the height. And now the moment for the ceremonies arrives ; and who is that calm, venerable, majestic man, more than foiu-score years of age, attended with so much reverence to the platform? 92 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. He is the orator of the day. Many hundred miles has the noble pilgrim travelled, to lift his voice once more in an oration to his countrymen. How softly the light of a late western autumn, falls on the bald head fringed with silver hair ! All eyes glance fondly, admiringly toward the central figure. Even the noble, yet modest astron- omer, to whom it is an inauguration day of the greatest enterprise of his laborious life, is forgotten. The open- ing services are finished, and John Quinct Adams rises amid the hum and cheers of the concourse. "With tremulous lips, and clear accent, he pays his tribute to the founders of the Observatory, to science, and then to the country he loved — ^the home of a free, enterprising, and intelligent people. The only cloud that hung darkly to his discerning eye, on our horizon, was that whose light- ning has fallen upon us, and whose thunder of retribution is rolling day and night through the heavens. For the last time did the veteran statesman, scholar, champion of freedom, and Christiao, open the treasures of his gifted mind and large heart to the multitude. Mem- orable occasion ! Do you think the bright boys who saw that scene, and heard the words spoken, will ever forget it? The influence of it will bless the land, till its hills are swept with universal desolation, or " melt with fervent heat." The multitude dispersed. There lay the single piece of granite. Around it were broken ground, and materials LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 93 for building. "Winter is nigh, and tliis hindrance, vnth the want of funds, compels the suspension of labor for the season. Do you not believe, my reader, that very few men would have held on, resolved to succeed, with such weari- ness of effort and discouragement ? The secret of such un- surpassed energy and perseverance, is found in the strug- gles, good habits, and high aims of the boy in early life. No one but Professor Mitchel himself knew the expenditure of labor it cost to save the imperilled object of many years effort. The winter of 1843 and 1844 was the trial-period of the whole undertaking. He thought, and prayed, and worked. The bloom and fragrance of May were never more grateful to him, who saw his intense and painful toil crowned with success for the time. The thousands of dollars more due to the makers of the tele- scope, were collected and sent to Munich. What now shall be done? The treasury is empty, and eight thousand dollars more are wanted to finish the building. Fertile in resources, he resolves to appeal to intelligent mechanics, and go to work. "Without money, and with three workmen, the summer sun sees the struc- ture slowly rising. The second week finds the expenses of the previous one paid, and six hands on the torn hill- top. They toil on till Saturday night. " How stands the account?" asks the Professor. The treasurer replies, " Enough to pay up, and double the number of men." 94 LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHI^L. Thus six weeks passed away. And during tlieir long days, you miglit have seen the professor — where ? Walk- ing oyer the broken ground or sitting upon some stick of hewn timber, to see the work progress ? No ! he was not afraid of any kind of honorable labor, nor to show the callous palm. See him now driving the team which drags the "stone-boat," or handling, like a born ditcher^ the pickaxe and shovel. A stranger would have found it dif- ficult at a sufficient distance to conceal his noble forehead and face, to distinguish him from a son of the Emerald Isle. In this, too, he resembled strikingly General Grant, who in or out of the army scorns all tinsel, and appears like the conunonest soldier or citizen. The mechanics of Cincinnati acted magnanimously, indeed. Many of them subscribed stock, in other words, became members of the Astronomical Society, taking shares in the amount invested by it, and paid it in work. In a quarry owned by the society, the stones were blasted and hewn for the growing edifice. Oh ! with what keen delight did the brave, unselfish Mitchel, hear the rude sound of hammer, iron bar, pulley, and voices of command to the silent, faithful brute workers. More pleasant than the odor of summer fiowers, was the smoke of the lime-kiln on the hill, in which the lime to cement the masonry was burned. Nothing was refused in subscriptions to the object, LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCH EL. 95 whether a day's work or a due bill, which coiild be bar- tered for something else that would pay. The months wore away, and again autumn returned. The observatory walls were built, and a roof covered them, with no debt on them. And now a new difficulty arose. Mr. Longworth required the Society to finish the structure in two years, or forfeit the land. The time would expire in June, 1845. Either the period must bo lengthened — a favor it would not be pleasant to ask — or the association run in debt. Professor Mitchel's private means were expended, for he always set the example in whatever he desired others to do. But the building went forward to completion. He hoped that in a brief time after a monument of scientific love and labor stood in the beauty of finished proportions, the money with which to meet all engagements could be obtained. February, 1845, was another proud day. The pro- fessor is not on the hill. Along the streets he is passing, while mysterious burdens are carted from the general storehouse of commerce. What new turn has his activity taken ? From Munich to Cincinnati that splendid object- glass, tubed and ready to be lifted to its place, has trav- elled. The mails had taken bits of paper ; a ship brought with its ponderous fixtures the crystal windows to the far depths of ether. The telescope is actually in the city ! No victor ever exulted with a higher and purer triumph of genius and 96 LIFE OF GENERAL MITOHEL. high endeavor, than did the astronomer from his unfin- ished temple, which was to enshrine the telescopic eye to pierce the heavens. Boisterous March came, and his rough winds seemed to sing with joy around the finished structure, consecrated to victories over time and space. All things were ready for the high priest of the sanctuary of science devoted to God and hum.anity. iilil iiilTCHEL UB?EEVATOKT. ^ '^x.^'^^' TuE Dome uncovered, with Hallt's Comet before the Telescope, p. 96. CHAPTER Vm. The beautiful Monument of Faith and "Work— A new Trial— The Conflagration —Turns Lecturer— The first Effort— Lectures in Ne-vv York- The influenco of his splendid Oratory. )HE building is eighty feet long and thirty feet broad. The front is two stories, while in the centre of the structure there is a third story for the telescope and other instruments. The roof can be taken off during the time of observing the heavens. It is a beautiful building, crowning well the summit on which it stands. Dr. Bache, the superintendent of the U. S. Coast Survey, i. e., a department for tracing coast boundaries, distances, &c., gave to the Observatory a large transit in- strument and a sidereal clock. Professor Mitchel has used them well in dividing and numbering stars. But he was to learn another and sadder lesson of trust than any hitherto known. He must feel the truth, that, " When calmest on life's wave we ride, Oft rolls behind a gloomy tide." 5 98 LIEE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. A darkly mysterious providence was at hand. His last dollar was gone. And hark ! on the still air rises the cry of "/re/ fire!" "Where? "What is it?" are the re- sponses from the startled people. " The College ! the College ! " in another moment, is on every lip. The flames cm-1 in the chill wind around the walls, until, in spite of streams from the engines of faithful firemen, they stand charred and desolate. With the College went the pro- fessor's salary. He was nearly as penniless as when he started for the Military Academy. He had engaged to superintend the Observatory for ten years without salary, depending on that from the College. The cherished Observatory must not at last be aban- doned. What shall he do ? His wonderful faith, hope, and energy, will surely conquer in the trial of them all. Years would be necessary to rebuild the pile which had been the food of the flames. Again he thought and prayed — then acted. The enthusiastic reception of his lectures in Cincinnati encouraged him to try them abroad. His familiar and repeated conversations with his classes on astronomy, and with citizens about the Observatory, its design and uses, had taught him to speak with force and simplicity on the marvels of the sky. This strength- ened his confidence and purpose more than any other con- sideration. To speak plainly and well at any time is a great attainment ; but to do so when the motions and glories of the uncounted stars are the theme, and the LIFE OF GENE'cAL MITCHEL. 99 " common people " the hearers, is a rare attainment. Because of this power the multitudes two thousand years before heard the Creator of the world "gladly." The astronomer turned his back on the temple, surmounting ' the lordly hill of aU the region, and, with his baggage, started for the great cities of the Union. It is no private speculation — ^no mercenary aim that tears him from home and his telescope. Reaching Boston, the notice of his first lecture on the starry heavens since his course in the College, and one in the city church, was given. Indeed, he regarded the oc- casion as his entrance upon public life as a lecturer. The hour came — the hall was not full. But he had charmed the few ; and without the least unbecoming pride, he said to a friend afterward, " he felt sure every listener would bring another the next evening." He was not disap- pointed. The question of success was answered : " The^ Athens of America " had decided the claims of this apos- tle of science devoted to religion, to his high position. In New York the Music Hall is thronged night after night to hear his impassioned eloquence, poured in an un- broken flow of " thoughts that breathe and words that burn," on the excited thousands. A sublimer spectacle in lecturing was never seen. The object, the theme, the orator, the intellectual audiences, the wrapt attention, the almost painful intensity of leelmg, all crown him the prince of lecturers. Not a line cf manuscript lies before 100 LIFE OF GE]S^.EAL MTTCHEL. him. Yet he never hesitates, never repeats, never chafea the liveliest sensibility of any hearer. Listen to even the boys as they walk homeward, and you will hear them saying : "Father, wasn't it splendid?" Another exclaims: " If I could ever talk like that, and knew as mtlch as t*rofessor Mitchel, I would be willing to study hard." Why not, my dear boy, emulate the example. Did the barefooted clerk on the countryman's horse, which trudged along the muddy roads two miles an hour, look very much like holding the best minds in New York under the speU of his eloquence ? It was the same in Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and St. Louis. None but the infinite Father can estimate the effect of those unequalled lectures. They awakened an entirely new and profound interest among the people. A host of young persons were led to watch with a delight unknown before the circling constellations, and calm, beauteous planets. The North Star in the handle of the little dip- per, the large dipper with its pointers toward that central orb; magnificent Orion vdth "his bands"; the grape- like cluster, Pleiades, about which Job so eloquently dis- courses ; and Sirius, the dog-star, which was so dazzling when it came like a rising sun before Newton's telescope, he had to withdraw his eyes ; attracted more observers than had gazed upon them at any time since the May Flower was guided by the cynosvre over the deep. LIFE OF GENERAL MITOHEL. 101 The excellent use that Professor Mitchel made of the observatory appears in the next published effort of his studious mind ; which, if it did not attempt the highest speculations of astronomical science, did perhaps mere than any othei^ make it interesting and familiar to all. And it is delightful to tell you that not only was Mrs. Mitchel an intellectual and pious mother to his children, but " night after night did she sit by his side in his study of the heavens." Her gentle hand assisted at the grand telescope, or wielded for him the pen in writing down his observations. In 1860 appeared his " Popular Astronomy." The opening lectm^e is a fine description of the " day-god," worshipped by the Persian pagans ages ago. How clear and sublime the language in which he follows him in his chariot of fire through the heavens, and along the hori- zon's rim ! For you know that, in winter, the blush of sun- rise appears far from the place where was seen the richer crimson and gold of midsummer. " The sun is beyond comparison the grandest of all the celestial orbs of which we have any positive knowl- edge. The inexhaustible source of the heat which warms and vivifies the earth, and the origin of a perpetual flood of light, which, flying with incredible velocity in all direc- tions, illumines the planets and their satellites, lights up the eccentric comets, and penetrates even to the region of the fixed stars ; it is not surprising that, in the early 102 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. ages of tlie world, this mighty orb should have been re- garded as the visible emblem of the Omnipotent, and aa such should have received divine honors. " On the approach of the sun to the horizon in the early dawn, his coming is announced by til gray eastern twilight, before whose gradual increase the brightest stars and even the planets fade and disappear. The coming splendor grows and expands, rising higher and yet higher, until, as the first beam of sunlight darts on the world, not a star or planet remains visible in the whole heavens ; and even the moon, under this flood of sunlight, shines only as a faint silver cloud. " This magnificent spectacle of the sunrise, together with the equally imposing scenes which sometimes accom- pany the setting sun, must have excited the curiosity of the very first inhabitants of the earth. This curiosity led to a more careful examination of the phenomena attend- ing the rising and setting sun, when it was discovered that the point at which this great orb made his appear- ance was not fixed, but was slowly shifting on the horizon, the change being easily detected by the observation of a few days. Hence was discovered, in the primitive ages, THE sun's apparent MOTION. In casc the sun is observed attentively from month to month, it will be found that the point of sunrise on the horizon moves slowly, for a cer- tain length of time, toward the south. "While this motion continues, the sun, at noon, when culminating on the LIFE OF GE:s~EPwAL mitchel. 103 meridian, reaches each day a point less elevated above the horizon, and the diurnal arc or daily path described by the sun grows shorter and shorter. At length a limit is reached ; the point of sunrise ceases to advance tovrard the south, remaining stationary a day or two, and then slowly commences his return toward the north. Thus does the sun appear to vibrate backward and forward be- tween his southern and northern limits, marking to man a period of the highest interest, for within its limits the Spring, the Sujimee, the AurmiN, and the "Winter, have run their cycles, and by their union have wrought out the changes of the year." " And what," asks an inquiring mind, " can you tell us, Professor, of the spots on the sun's face ? " " To the naked eye the sun's surface presents a blaze of insufferable splendor ; and even when this intense light is reduced by the use of any translucent medium, the entire disk appears evenly shaded, with a slight diminu- tion of light around the circumference, but without visible spot or variation. When, however, the power of vision is increased a hundred or a thousand fold by telescopic aid, and when the intense heat of the sun and his equally in- tense light are reduced by the help of deeply-colored glasses, the eye recognizes a surface of most wonderful character. Instead of finding the sun everywhere equally brilliant, the telescope shows sometimes on its surface hlach s^otSj of very irregular figure, jagged and broken in outline 104 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. " Besides the mottling of the surface, the telescope detects in the solar orb a variety of brighter streaks, called faculce^ whose appearance has been connected, as some believe, with the breaking out of the black spots. " We are compelled to acknowledge that up to the present time science has rendered no satisfactory account of the origin of the solar light or heat. Whence comes the exhaustless supply, scattered so lavishly into space in every direction, we know not. Neither is it possible to give a satisfactory solution of the solar spots, or of any of the strange phenomena attending their rotation or trans- lation on the sun's surface. The idea that tornadoes and tempests rage in the deep, luminous ocean that surrounds the sun, like those vv^hich sometimes agitate the atmos- phere of the earth, has no solid foundation. We know the exciting causes of the tornadoes on earth, but why such storms should exist in the solar sphere it is in vain to conjecture at present. Doubtless the time will come when these phenomena will be explained." Then the professor talks eloquently of Mercury, a planet so near the sun, " that it is said Copernicus him- self, during his whole life devoted to the study of the heavens, never once caught sight of this almost invisible world," and yet " it was discovered in the very earliest ages " by the ancients. " How large is this orb, almost lost in the sun's un- quenchable fire, and do people live in that burning splendor ? " LIFE OF GEITEItAL MTTCHEL. 105 The first question only is answered. " Its diameter is but 8,140 miles. In comparison with the vast propor- tions of the aun, this little planet sinks into absolute in- significance ; for if the sun be divided into a million of equal parts, Mercury would not weigh as much as the half of one of these parts." Of Venus he says : " The extreme brightness of this planet makes it a very beautiful but difficult object for telescopic observation. Although spots have been seen upon the surface of Venus, I have never been able, at any time, with the powerful refractor of the Cincinnati Ob- servatory, 'to mark any v/ell-defined differences in the illumination of her surface. If we are to trust to the observations of others, the inequalities which diversify the planet Venus far exceed in grandeur those found upon our earth. It is stated by M. Schroter that, from his own observations, the mountains of Venus reach an alti- tude five or six times greater than the loftiest mountains of our own globe." " And what did the most gifted men of the early ages think of our world? " Our astronomer answers : " The ancients did not reckon the earth as one of the planetary orbs. There seemed to be no analogy between the world which we inhabit, with its dark, opaque, and diversified surface, and those brilliant planets which pur- sued their mysterious journey among the stars. Sunk as they were, so deep in space, it was very difficult to reach 6* 106 LIFE OF GEKEEAL MITCHEL. any correct knowledge of their absolute magnitude. The earth seemed to the senses of man vastly larger than any or all of these revolving worlds. About the* earth, as a fixed centre, the whole concave of the heavens, with all its starry constellations, appeared to revolve, producing the alternations of day and night. It was not unnatural, therefore, knowing the central position of the earth with reference to the fixed stars, to assume its central position with reference to the sun, and moon, and planetary worlds." You have often gazed with wonder at the ' ' Queen of night." You heard in earliest childhood of the*" Man in the Moon," that is, the spotted surface somewhat resem- bling a face. Of this orb he has an interesting sketch : " Before the power of the telescope had reached its present condition of perfection, the darker spots of the moon were assumed to be seas and oceans ; but the power now applied to the moon demonstrates that there cannot exist at this time any considerable body of water on the hemisphere visible from the earth. And yet we find objects such, that in case we were gazing upon the earth from the moon, possessing our actual knowledge of the earth's lakes and rivers, we should pronounce them, without hesitation, lakes and rivers. There is one such object which I will describe as often se-en through the Cincinnati refractor. The outline is nearly circular, with a lofty range of hills on the western and southwestern LIFE OF GEiN^ERAli MITCHEL. 107 sides. This range gradually sinks in the east, and a beautiful sloping beach seems to extend down to the level surface of the inclosed lake (as we shall call it, for want of other language) . With the highest telescopic power, under the most favorable circumstances, I never could detect the slightest irregularity in the shading of the sur- face of the lake. Had the cavity been filled with quick- silver and suddenly congealed or covered with solid ice, with a covering of pure snow, the shading could not be more regular than it is. To add, however, to the terrene likeness, into this seeming lake there flows what looks exactly as a river should at such a distance. That there is an indentation in the surface, exactly like the bed of a river, extending into the country (with numerous islands) for more than a hundred miles, and then forking and sep- arating into two distinct branches, each of which pursues a serpentine course for from thu'ty to fifty nnles beyond the fork, all this is distinctly visible. I may say, indeed, that just before entering the lunar lake, this lunar river is found to disappear from sight, and seems to pass be- neath the range of hills which border the lake. The re- gion of country which lies between the forks or branches of this seeming river, is evidently higher, and to the eye appears just as it should do, so as to shed its water into the stream which appears to flow in the valley below. The question may be asked, why is not this a lake and a river? There is no lunar atmosphere on the visible 108 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. hemisphere of the moon, such as surrounds the earth , and if there were water like ours on the moon, it would be soon evaporated, and would produce a kind of vaporous atmosphere v/hich ought to be seen, but has not been de- tected. '' "What, then, shall we call the objects described? I can only answer that this phenomenon, with many others, presented by the lunar surface, has thus far baffled the most diligent and persevering efforts to explain. Among what are called the volcanic mountains of the moon are found objects of special interest. One of them, named Copernicus, and situated not far from the moon's equator, is so distinctly shown by the telescope, that the sides of it have all the appearance of the action of a crater ejecting immense quantities of lava and molted matter. Can there be, indeed, the overflowing of once active vol- canoes ? " Have you not seen in the heavens the red little planet called Mars, the name of the god of war? "Why," perhaps you inquire, " is the fiery Mars so much redder in hue than the other planets?" " The reddish tint which marks the light of Mars," says she professor, " has been attributed by Sir John Ilerschel to the prevailing color of the soil. This is all pure conjecture." How limited the knowledge of the most learned 1 None can tell v/hether there be seas or inhabitants on LIFE OF GEI^-EEAL inTCHEL. 109 the nearest globes to us. The gigantic planet in our solar system, the genius which often studied its majestic motions, tells us : "Is one of the fivd revolving worlds discovered in. the primitive ages. Its revolution among the fixed stars is slow and majestic, comporting well with its vast dimensions, and the dignity conferred by four tributary worlds. The nocturnal heavens, as seen from this grand orb, must be inexpressibly magnificent. Be- sides the same glittering constellations which are seen from earth, the sky of Jupiter may be adorned with no less than four moons, with their diverse phases, some waxing or waning, some just rising or setting, some pos- sibly just entering into or emerging from eclipse ; the whole of this splendid celestial exhibition sweeping across the heavens, rising, culminating, and setting in less than five hours of our time. Such are the scenes witnessed by the inhabitants of Jupiter, if such there be." The splendid planet Saturn with his gorgeous ring, which is scarcely visible when its edge is turned toward the observer. Professor Mitchel beautifully traces in its path of light. Of the revolving ring turned edgewise, he says : '' The disappearance of the ring which took place in 1848 was watched by the author at Cincinnati Obser- vatory with the powerful refractor of that institution. A minute fibre of light remained clearly visible even when the edge of the ring was turned directly to the eye of the spectator. The delicacy of this line far exceeds any thing 110 LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. ever before witnessed. When compared with the finest spider's web stretched across the field of view, the latter appeared like a cable, so greatly did it surpass in magni- tude the filament of light presented in the edge of Saturn's ring. I had the pleasure of witnessing the phenomena so beautifully described by Sir William Herschel, the move^ ments of the satellites along this line of light, ' like golden beads on a wire.' " We now come to the far-off world, which, until re- cently, was thought by all astronomers to be the last in the system to which our earth belongs — ^the outside trav- eller around the sun. Indeed, Sir William Herschel, after whom it was named, supposed it was a comet. The Royal Astronomer at Greenwich, Dr. Markelyne, first declared that it was a neighbor to the globes which before had been kno^vn to live in the light of the central lu- minary Professor Mitchel watched with intense interest, through his grand telescope, the four moons of the dis- tant Herschel. He assures you that " they are among the most difficult of all the objects revealed to the eye of the telescope. After Sir William Herschel no one for forty years was able to see any of these satellites, his forty-foot reflector having gone into disuse. In 1828, Sir John Herschel, after many unsuccessful attempts, by confining himself in a dark room for many minutes previous to observation, and thus giying to the eye great acuteness, LIFE -OF GENERAL MITCHEL. Ill succeeded in detecting two of the satellites. In 1837, Lamont, with the powerful refractor of the Rojal Obser- vatory at Munich, managed to follow, with tolerable cer- tainty, the two larger moons, and occasionally obtained glimpses of two others. At this time there were four fine telescopes in the world, capable of showing these four satellites under favorable circumstances. I have fre- quently seen two of them with the Cincinnati refractor." Beyond Herschel, by a most astonishing calculation, showing that a planet ought to he where it was found by M. Galle, of Berlin, another planet has been added to the solar system, named Neptune. This makes nine in the family of planets to which we belong. You will read with interest the astronomer's account of its discovery : " The discovery of Neptune is undoubtedly the most remarkable event in the history of astronomical science — an event without a parallel, and rising in grandeur pre- eminently above all other efforts of human genius ever put forth in the examination of the physical universe. "The planet Uranus was discovered by the aid of the telescope, not exactly by accident, but still without any expectation on the part of the discoverer that his exami- nation of the fixed stars would result in the addition of a primary planet to the system. Indeed, as we have seen, so little did the astronomical world then anticipate the discovery of a new planet, that the announcement by Sir 112 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. William Herschel that he had detected a most remarkable comet was accepted on all hands, and it was only con- tinued observation that finally compelled astronomers to accept the new object as a planet. In the case of the dis- covery of the first asteroid we find a systematic organi- zation of astronomical effort to detect a body whose existence was conjectured^ on the single ground of the harmony of the universe, or that the law of inter-plan- etary spaces, interrupted between Mars and Jupiter, could be restored by finding a planet revolving within that vast interval. Hence a search was commenced, which con- sisted in examining every star in the region of the eclip- tic, to ascertain whether its place was already laid down on any known map or chart of the heavens. Now it is evident that if it were 4)ossible to make a perfect daguer- reotype of any region of the celestial sphere, say to-night, and the same could be effected in the following night, the comparison of these two pictures would exhibit to the eye any change which may have occurred in the interval from the one picture to the other ; and hence if a star was found on the second and not on the first picture, this star might fairly be suspected to be a planet, or the same sus- picion would attach to a star found on the first, but miss- ing on the second picture. Now, a map of the heavens, so far as it includes the correct places of the stars, an- swers our purpose quite as well as the daguerreotype ; and any star found in a region well charted, but not laid down LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 113 on the map, may be fairly suspected to be a planet. A few hours of examination wiU show it to be at rest or in mo- tion. If in motion, then its planetary character is decided. " This method of research has been employed in the discovery of aU the asteroids, and there is but one exam- ple in which a more powerful and searching examination became necessary. This was in the case of the asteroid Ceres, which, as we have seen, was discovered by Piazzi, at a time when but few observations could be made pre- vious to its being lost in the rays of the sun. For a long time it seemed almost a hopeless task to undertake the re- discovery of the planet, as the telescope would be com- pelled to grope its way slowly round the heavens, in the region of the ecliptic, comparing every star with its place in the chart. The genius of G-auss succeeded in this her- culean task, and when the telescope was pointed to the heavens in the exact place indicated by the daring com- puter, there, in the field of view, shone the delicate and beautiful light of the long-lost planet. " The case of the discovery of Neptune is entirely different. Here no planet was known to exist, no tele- scopic power, however great, had ever seen it. For ages it had revolved round the sun in its vast orbit, far beyond the utmost known verge of the planetary system, un- fathomably buried from human gaze and from human knowledge. No sage of antiquity had ever dreamed of its existence. The fertile brain of even Kepler had failed 114 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. to imagine its being, and tlie powerful penetration of New- ton's gigantic intellect had failed to pierce to the far-off region inhabited by this unknown and solitary planet. " Indeed, with the knowledge which existed prior to the discovery of Uranus, no human genius, however mighty, could have passed the tremendous interval which separates the orbits of Saturn and Neptune from each other. The discovery of an intermediate planet was re- quisite to furnish a firm foothold to him who would ad- venture to pass a gulf of not less than two thousand nnlKons of miles at its narrowest place. '' No account, of course, can be given of the mathe- matical treatment of the problem. It was undertaken at about the same liu.e by Adams, of England, and by Le Verrier, of Pai'iG. Each computer, unknown to the other, reached a refiult almost identical. Le Yerrier commu- nicated his ^oluiion to the Academy of Sciences on the 31st August, 1847. M. Galle, of Berlin, directed the tele- scope to the point in which the French geometer declared the unknown planet would be found. A star of the eighth < magnitude appeared in the field of view, whose place was not laid down on any known chart. Suspicion was at once aroused that this might possibly be the planet of computation, and yet it seemed incredible that a problem far surpassing in difficulty any which had ever been at- tempted by human genius should thus at the first effort have been solved with such marvellous precision. LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 115 *' The suspected star was examined with the deepest interest in the hope that it might exhibit a planetary disk. In this, however, the astronomer was unsuccessful, and there remained but one method by which its planetary character might be determined, that of watching suffi- ciently long to detect its motion. This process, however, must have tried very sorely the patience of the observer, as the motion of the planet at so great a distance as three thousand six hundi'ed millions of miles, was so slow as to require three entire months to pass over a space equal to the apparent diameter of the moon. The position of the suspected star having been accurately determined on the first night of observation, it became evident on the next night that the star had moved by an amount such as was fairly due to the slow motion of so vast an orbit. It could be none other than the unknown planet ! A - success almost infinitely beyond the expectations of the' most sanguine computer had crowned this mighty effort,- and the amazing intelligence that the planet was found startled the astronomical world." And no one can say how long it ^ill be before the world will again be startled by the news of still more sublime discoveries from the heights of observation once occupied by Mitchel, in the years to come. It is very possible some young reader may yet -^T^te his name on the heavens, in the imperishable association, of it with the stars. CHAPTER IX. He becomes Eailroad Engineer— A new course of Lectures— Examples of hl8 Oratory— He is appointed Adjutant- General of the State of OMo — Various Honors — Inventions. ^EANWHILE, this surveyor of planetary paths, and of the orbits of flaming suns, had shown his equally familiar knowledge of terrestrial affairs. Such great and practical men seldom appear. In 1844 he smweyed the Ohio and Mississippi Rail- road. Several years later he crossed the ocean again as confidential agent of the company, to transact business for them in Europe. So well did he manage the concerns of men who seldom took time to look higher than engines, iron rails, and the figures of the pen and pencil, that a few months after his return he was sent again over the waters. You will believe me when I tell you that, ex- cepting the waters below and the heavens above, his interest was quite inferior to the sublime enthusiasm LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 117 which led him to Munich. But he was no dreamer. From the far-off glories of the sky he could come down to the locomotive, and the profits and losses of running it. When he returned he was also made president of a por- tion of that extensive track down the great valley of the West. Professor Mitchel also delivered another series of lec- tures in our large cities on the Astronomy of the Bible. These were more brilliant than the first. Did you hear them? If not, did father or mother? If you did, you cannot forget the entranced audience ; wherever you looked, if your glance was away from the orator for a moment, the throng seemed carried beyond the stars to the dazzling throne of the Deity. Whoever listened will tell you how like an inspired prophet, or an angel, he some- times appeared. God, as creator and governor of the myriad worlds rolling in the fathomless blue. Law-giver, Redeemer, and Judge of mankind, whose book and starry volume agree in every part, was presented in speech more glowing than ever had issued, till then, from the platform of a popular assembly. It reminded the intelligent lis- tener of John Milton, the poet of earth and heaven, talk' ing instead of singing the grand cantos. I shall quote just enough from his glowing pages to give you specimens of his eloquence, refresh the memory of those who listened to him, and interest you in the works he has left for aU time behind him. The motive 118 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCH EL. which led him to deliver the lectures which he designed evidently to have published, was, first of all, to confirm our faith in the Bible — to show that " the undevout as- tronomer is mad " — and convince the people of the shal lowness of the cavils and scorn of those " scientific men " who try to shake our confidence in the Christian system. Grandly he did his work. And every thoughtful mind will mourn the death which to us seems premature, that defeated his further purpose to continue these eloquent discourses, and show to the doubting, the Godlike consist- ency and glory of redemption — of the incarnation and sacrifice of the Creator of the worlds ! He thus begins : " We stand with the philosopher and astronomer on the very apex of that stupendous pyramid which human genius has reared by the protracted labor of six thousand years. We are lifted far above the clouds. We are permitted to examine the ' Thrones, dominions, princedoms, virtues, powers,' which fill the heavens. Our view sweeps from the hum- ble satellite which acknowledges and obeys the superior power of the earth, through systems, and schemes, and universes, whose vastness no stretch of thought can com- prehend, whose numbers no arithmetic can count. * * " What hand has launched these flaming orbs in space? Whose eye omniscient has traced out their un- LITE OF GENEEAL :&nTCHEI.. 119 trodden paths ? What hand omnipotent upholds the stu- pendous fabric of Nature ? " These are themes of superlative grandeur. No mind can approach their contemplation -without an ex- pansion of thought, an uplifting of the powers of the soul, a sensation resembling that which swept across the soul of our great ancestor, w^hen it was whispered, ' Ye shall be as gods ' ; and then comes a withering sense of our weakness, a consciousness of our utter inability to scale these lofty heights, or penetrate the deep profound which stretches out before us. " K called upon to discuss these themes in the presence of superior beings, the hierarchs of Heaven, resplendent with exalted wisdom, it would be utter folly to unseal the lip, or move the tongue to the utterance of one solitary thought. But I address not myself to angelic intelli- gences, but to man, humble, trusting, inquiring, teach- able man, conscious of his own weakness, and ever ready to receive with feelings of charitable consideration the humble efforts of those who, like himself, are struggling to discover truth. " Does the physical universe proclaim the being of a God? Should this inquiry be affirmatively answered, we propose to inquire— i^ the God thus revealed is the same august and eternal being portrayed in our sacred looJcs ? " Thus the genius of Mitchel launches out, upborne by 120 LIFE OF GENESAL MITCHEL. the Tbreatli of prayer, and eagle-eyed with the light of faith to roam among the worlds, finding in every part of the dazzling infinity that God is there — ^the God of the Bible and of all science. We must pass without even a reluctant glance at the gems of thought and oratory scattered over these pages, inviting our admiring study, to the closing and impressive words. How fine is the illustration of a "rebel world." After quoting facts in astronomy hinted at in the Bible, and explaining apparent difficul- ties, he adds : " We find a remarkable appropriateness in the selec- tions which have been made of the phenomena of the heavens, to illustrate the teachings of prophetic decla- ration. They were appropriate to the age in which they were written ; they have been appropriate in all succeed- ing ages down to the present time, and science assures us they can now never fail. Can aU this have resulted from accident? Can so great a multitude of thoughts, ex- pressions, doctrines, illustrations, and similitudes, have all risen by accident into appropriate use among so many writers, so widely separated in time? If it be argued that after all there is nothing in all this language, in all these expressions, in aU these illustrations, and that it is but the perversions of an ingenious fancy which gives to them an appearance of appropriateness, it must still be admitted that it is certainly very wonderful that such a LIFE OF GENEKAL MITCHEL. 121 multitude of independent expressions should be capable of being woven into a texture of astonishing harmony and beauty. " Search the old prophets, the Psalms, the book of Job, even the New Testament, and in all these books, wherever any allusion is made to the physical heavens, it seems to have been written by one possessing the highest intelligence, the most profound knowledge. " There is but one solitary instance in which an author of any one book in the Bible, was brought face to face with the philosophy of antiquity. This was the celebrated meeting between the great apostle of the G-entiles with the Stoics and Epicureans on Mars Hill, in Athens. As already stated, the Stoics did not admit the power of God to create the material of the universe. He could only arrange and organize what had existed from all eternity. He could banish old Night and subdue the empire of Chaos, but had no creative power. The Epicureans on the other hand were atheists. " Paul, who was learned in the Hebrew Scriptures, and who had been educated in the law at the feet of Gamaliel, even as a Jew, and much more as a Christian, had imbibed the doctrine so universally taught in the Bible, that all nature is but the offspring of the creative energy of the Divine will. " Here we find, then, the representatives of the doctrines of the Old and New Testaments, both in philosophy and 6 122 LITE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. religion — the two great concerns of humanity — ^brought face to face with the philosophers and priests of pagan- ism, and under circumstances of most extraordinary- grandeur. " The scene was the Areopagus, on Mars HiU, the most venerated and revered court of all antiquity. Here, in seats hewn from the solid rocks, sat the judges, whose decree fixed not only the fate of individuals, but of em- pires. On every hand the temples of the pagan divinities reared their beautiful or majestic forms. Statues of men, heroes, and gods, in uncounted numbers, filled every niche and crowned every rock on this lofty eminence. The sublime form of the colossal statue of Minerva, the tu- telary divinity of Athens, reared in majestic propositions, ' towering from the rock of the Acropolis.' There were the shrines of all the divinities, the temples of aU the gods, the sanctuary of the vengeful furies, and, in fuU sight, the very gardens where Socrates had poured forth his lessons of wisdom, where Zeno had organized his stern stoical school of philosophy, and where Epicurus had captivated weak humanity mth his doctrines of graceful ease or refined sensuality. " Such were the circumstances surrounding the repre- sentative of the philosophy and the religion of the Bible. Rising, doubtless, under a full sense of the greatness of his responsibility, Paul uttered that marvellous discourse, in which he exclaims, ' O Athenians ! I perceive that in LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 123 all things ye are too superstitious ; for as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscrip- tion, " To the unknown God." Whom, therefore, ye igno- rantly worship. Him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of Heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands ; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed any thing : seeing that He giveth to aU life, and breath, and all things. Forasmuch, then, as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the God- head is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's devices.' Your philosophy, O Stoics ! is false. God's creative energy built this magnificent universe, and God's almighty power guides universal nature. Your divinity, Epicureans ! wrapt in sombre abstraction, be- holding, from afar, with indifference the affairs of men, is not the divinity of truth ; for we also are the offspring of the ' unknown God,' and in Him we live and move and have our being. Your religion, O priests ! is false, and your shrines and splendid temples, and statues of marbles and bronze and gold, glittering with precious stones, graven by art and man's device, are but a mock- ery ; for this unknown God, who built the heavens and the earth, and who sustaineth all things by the might of His power, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Turn, then, O priests and philosophers ! from your idol- atry and philosophy, to this unknown God whom ye 124 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. ignorantly worship ; repent, for He hatli appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. " What response could pagan philosophy or pagan idolatry make to this appeal of the Christian hero ; and what response can modern philosophy make this day to the same appeal ? God has breathed into our nostrils the breath of life, and man has become ar living soul. Say what we may, we are the offspring of God, and as His children we are the heirs of immortality ; we may defy the Omnipotent and incur His frown, which withers our very being ; or we may bring our hearts and souls in unison with God's holiness, and under His beneficent smile be filled with joy and happiness inexpressible an^ full of glory ? " God hath given us the power to scan the universe, to detect its laws, to learn its stupendous organization, to lift the soul of man nearer to His divine presence. Where shall the guilty find a refuge? Surely not in the iron — the adamantine laws of physical nature. Sup- pose it were possible to endow one of these flying worlds — ^the earth we inhabit — with a will and a rational soul ; and the earth, now an independent, thinking, willing being, should rise in rebellion against the laws of God's control, and refuse longer to obey. The rebelHous planet exclaims, Let the sun attract me never so much, I care not for his heat, his light, his life ; I refuse to reciprocate the attraction : I have a power of will supreme, my des- LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. 125 tiny is my own ! And thus the fatal decision is made. Slowly the rebel world wheels at each revolution, farther and yet farther from the great centre of life and light. In spiral circuit it separates farther and still farther from its wonted path, till finally, cold and darkness and a com- ing death begin to assert their empire over the misguided world. With a start of horror and a shudder which shakes it to the very centre, it now wakes from its dream of independence and exclaims, I will return ! I will re- turn ! Alas ! the return is impossible. The laws of nature are irrevocable. The sun may yet attract with living power the lost wanderer, but the bond is broken, the equilibrium is forever destroyed, and this rebel planet must become a wandering star, for which is reserved the blackness of darkness forever ! " No, my friends ; the analogies of nature, applied to the moral government of God, would crush all hope in the sinful soul. There, for millions of ages, these stern laws have reigned supreme. There is no deviation, no modification, no yielding to the refractory or disobedient. All is harmony, because aU is obedience. Close forever, if you will, this strange book, claiming to be God's reve- lation — ^blot out forever its lessons of God's creative power, God's superabundant providence, God's father- hood and loving guardianship to man his erring ofispring, and then unseal the leaves of that mighty volume which the finger of God has written in the stars of heaven, and iii 126 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. these flashing letters of light, we read only the dread sen- tence, ' The soul that sinneth it shall surely die ! ' " In 1847 the astronomer was appointed Adjutant-Gen- eral of the State of Ohio, an office he held two years This position placed him on the Glovernor's staff, and gave him charge of the military business of the State. His education at West Point had fitted him to fiU it well. He was also at one time a member of the Board of Visit- ors annually selected for the examinations at the Military Academy. He belonged to the Royal Academy of Lon- don, and received the honors of other institutions. During all the years of building, teaching, and travel, the astronomer had also been a brilliant inventor. His most wonderful invention was the Declmomster. It would be difficult, until you study astronomy with a good tele- scope, to make you understand it. The use of it was to get the position of the stars and number them. Scientific men affirm, " that there is no other Jcnoivn method equal to it for raj)idity and accuracy in the cataloguing of stajs." It is a beautiful contrivance. Another curious invention was nice machinery which made a clock record its beats, or each pendulum swing work the telegraph, just as the finger of the operator does in sending a message. The motions of the mechanism were so delicate that "the assistance of the spider was invoked." His slender web moved a wire cross, which was raised and then dipped into quicksilver once every LIFE OF aENEEAL MTTCHEL. 127 second for more than tliree years ! Much longer might the silken harness have raised the wire sixty times a min- ute, or half a million of times in a year, had it been let alone. Look at that clock with Professor Mitchel's attach- ment. Tick, tick, it goes ; up and down, the cross held by the web, swings ; and dot, dot, on the paper, is the work of a little pointer. The clock keeps time, and works its own telegraph with the precision of the living man over his machine. Various and extraordinary improvements were added, until the automaton operator became one of the most per- fect m.achines ever created by human skiU. It seems as if a soul were somewhere in it ; such are the wonders of creative genius ! In 1852 he commenced the publication of the Sidereal Messenger^ the first paper which ever came from the American press devoted to the stars. But there was then too little interest in the bright worlds above our own to sustain the beautiful messenger of his obser- vations — the gathered rays of knowledge which came from the spheres to his mind in the "watches of the night." CHAPTER X. Professor Mitchel called to Albany— Makes a War Speech— Thrilling Anecdote related by Mm — Intense Enthusiasm — His influence at Albany— What is the use of Obseryatories ?— The largest Telescope— A Poet's Hymn. fN the summer of 1860, the finished professor, engi- neer, raikoad president, and financier, was called ^^ to be a peacemaker in the cause he loved. General @* Stephen Yan Rensselaer, following the example of ^ Mr. Longworth, offered several acres of highland near the city of Albany for the site of an observatory. Mrs. Blandina Dudley, a wealthy lady there, gave $13,000 toward a building. Other individuals of means increased the amount to $25,000. Professor Mitchel furnished the plan of the edifice, "which was commenced in 1853. It was completed in less than three years, and named after the principal donor the Dudley Observatory. But the selfish aims and dis- position to quarrel, which have ruined the peace of fami- lies, churches, and nations, unsettled the management, and threatened the success of the splendid enterprise. LITE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 129 While negotiating with the directors, whose call was urgent, he happened to be in New York May 20th, 1860, when the great mass meeting assembled in Union Square, because rebel cannon had hurled defiance at the Stars and Stripes. Hundreds of bojs, with thousands of men, on that signal daj, in long processions poured into the ample area, now in the heart of the city. Banners were waved over the throngs, and fluttered from unnumbered win- dows. Platforms festooned with flags, bands of music, and Vv^ildly-beating hearts, were under the shadow of Washington's Equestrian Statue. Hearken to the eloquent voices that ring out upon the ears of the eager multitude. The venerable Gardiner Spring, D.D., of the Old Brick Church, made the opening prayer after a few pa- triotic remarks- — the keynote of the grand occasion. Hon. John A. Dix was chosen president. Among the nearly one hundred vice-presidents were William B. Astor, Esq., W. C. Bryant, the poet-editor, R. B. Mintum, and Henry Orinnell, the merchant princes, with many distin- guished citizens from all the professions and business cen- tres of the great metropolis. The President made an eloquent speech. When he alluded to the gallant defence of Fort Sumter by General Anderson, v/ho was present, and pointed to the tattered flag which waved over the hundred men while several thousand rebels opened upon the fortress, the very statue 6* 130 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. of Washington seemed to rock before such a storm of cheering as never went up around it before. The Hon. Daniel S. Dickinson followed with a thrill- ing appeal. Of the peculiar and mournful character of the war, he said : " The most brilliant successes that ever attended the field of battle could afibrd me no pleasure ; because I cannot but reflect that of every one who falls in this unnatural strife, be it on one side or the other, we must in our sober moments exclaim : Another sword has laid him low, Another, and another's ; And every hand that dealt a blow — Ah, me ! it was a hroilier's. But we are called upon to act. It is a time when the people should rise in the majesty of their might, and stretch forth their strong arms and silence the angry waves of tumult. It is a question between union and anarchy — ^between law and disorder. It should be, ' Our country, our whole country, and nothing but the country/ " ' 'Tis not the whole of life to hve, Nor all of death to die.' " The next address was a glowing, stirring burst of elo- quence by the lamented, brave, noble General Baker of Oregon. He was in the Mexican war at the storming of Cerro Oordo's bloody heights, and fell, you recollect, at Ball's Bluff — a sacrifice 1o a military blunder. I LITE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 131 will give you a single passage of his impassioned speecli, - which moved the vast throng as the tempest bows the forest before its breath : " I am not here now to speak timorous words of peace, but to kindle the spirit of manly, determined warr I speak in the midst of the Empire State, amid scenes of past suffering and past glory ; the defences of the Hudson above me ; the battle-field of Long Island before me ; and the statue of Washington in my very face ; the battered and unconquered flag of Sumter waving in his hands, which I can almost now imagine trembles with the ex- citement of battle." The torn banner of Sumter was placed on the statue. Passing by the speeches of Caleb Lyon, ex-Governor Hunt, and others, we come to the scene around Professor" Mitchel in front of the Everett House. No speaker could make all of the immense and excited throng hear his voice. . And at this spot was organized another meeting, of which ex-Governor Fish was President. The Rev. Dr. Vinton, of the Episcopal Church, opened it with an impressive prayer, of which the following words related especially to the country : " O God, we have heard with our ears and our fathers have declared unto us the noble works thou didst in their days, and in the old time, before them. Let the shield of thjfc omnipotent care be extended over the United States of America, to defend the Constitution, and to 132 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. perfect the union of the people. Inspire the people with a spirit to think ^nd to do that which is right. Thou hast proclaimed throughout the land — 'Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up, beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears — let the weak say I am strong.' A loving patriotism has yielded the pride and treasures of the family to protect the State. May Thy Spirit descend upon the great congregation of Thy people. Inspire the orators to speak the truth in love, and bow our hearts in obedience to duty as Chris- tians and fellow-citizens, as loyalists and patriots, as sin- ners saved in a common salvation through Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be praise now and forever. Amen." The Governor, Hiram Ketcham, and Henry J. Ray- mond, editor of the New York Times^ addressed the mul- titude. An extract from the brilliant oration of the latter contains a fine anecdote of General Anderson : " I heard an anecdote to-day from Major Anderson (cheers for Anderson) which may interest you, and at the same time illustrate this position. During the attack on Fort Sumter, a report came here that the fiag on the snoming of the fight was half-mast. I asked him if that was true, and he said there was not a word of truth in the report. He said that during the firing one of the hal- yards was shot away, and the flag in consequence dropped LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 133 down a few feet. The rope caiiglit in the staff, and could not be reached, so that the flag could not be either lowered or hoisted ; and, said the Major, ' God Almighty nailed that flag to the flagmast, and I could not have lowered it if I tried.' (Immense cheering.) Yes, fellow-citizens, God Almighty has nailed that resplendent flag to its mast, and if the South dares to march upon "Washington, they will find that that cannot be taken down. No ! they will find that that sacred sword which defends and strikes for human rights — ^that sword which Cromwell wielded, and. which our fathers brought into the contest, and which made us a nation — will be taken once more from its scab- bard to fight the battle of liberty against rebellion and treason." No tones of patriotic fervor and stirring oratory awaken a deeper echo, or come from a loftier, purer soul, than those that fell from the lips of Professor Mitchel. If you did not listen to them, read the burn- ing words that thrilled the populace : " I know that I am a stranger among you. (' No, no.') I have been in your State but a little while ; but I am with you in heart, and soul, and mind, and strength ; and aU that I have, and am, belongs to you and our com- mon country, and to nothing else. I have been announced ^0 you as a citizen of Kentucky. Once I was, because I Rras born there. I love my native State as you love your Qative State. I love my adopted State of Ohio as jou 134 LIFE OF GENERAL IVnTCHEL love your adopted State, if such you have ; but, my friends, I am a citizen now of any State. I owe allegiance to no State, and never did, and, God helping me, I never will. I owe allegiance to the Government of the United States. " I did not abjure the love of my own State, or of my adopted State ; but over all that rose proudly, triumphant, and predominant, my love for our common country, ^nd now, to-day, that common country is assailed, and alas ! that I am compelled to say it, it is assailed in some sense by my own countrymen. My father and my mother were from old Virginia, and my brothers and sisters from old Kentucky. I iove them all ; I love them dearly. I have my brothers and friends down in the South now, united to me by the fondest ties of love and affection. I would take them into my arms to-day with all the love God has put into my heart ; but if I found them in arms, I would be compelled to smite tliem down. (Great cheer- " You have found officers of the army who have been educated by the Government, who have drawn their sup- port from the Government for long years, who, when called upon by their country to stand for the Constitution and the right, have basely, ignominiously, and traitor- ously, either resigned their commissions or deserted to traitors, rebels, and enemies. The traitors and rebels North, and the traitors at the South, we must set aside. They are not our friends. When they come to their senses LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 135 we will receive them with open arms ; but till that time, while they are trailing our glorious banner in the dust, when they scorn it, condemn it, curse it, and trample it under foot, then I must smite. " My friends, that is the spirit that was in the city yesterday. I was told of an incident which occurred that drew the tears to my eyes, and I am not much used to the melting mood at all. A man in your city had a be- loved wife and two children depending upon his personal labor day by day for their support. He met her and said : ' Wife, I feel it my duty to enlist and fight for my coun- try.' Said she, ' That's just what I have been thinking of, too ; God bless you ! and may you come back without harm ! But if you die in the defence of the country, the God of the widow and the fatherless ^Yill take care of me and my children.' That same wife came to your city. She knew precisely when her husband was to pass as he marched away. She took her position on the pavement, and, finding a flag, she begged leave just to stand beneath its sacred folds, and take a last fond look on him whom she possibly might never see again. The husband marched down the street ; their eyes met ; a sympathetic flash went from heart to heart ; she gave one shout and fell to the pavement, and there she lay for not less than thirty minutes'in a swoon. It seemed to be the departing of her life. But all the sensibility was sealed up. It was all sacrifice. She was willing to meet the tremendous sacri- 136 LIFE OF GSISTEEAL MITCHEL. fice upon wMcli we have entered. And I trust you all are ready. Lead me to the conflict. Into that I am ready to go. I care not where duty calls me, I am ready. God help me to do my duty. In God's name I will smite, and as long as I have strength to do it. (En- thusiastic cheering.) Oh listen to me, listen to me ! I know these men ; I know their courage ; I have been among them; I have been with them. They have courage, and do not pretend to think that they have not. I tell you what it is, it is no child's play you are entering upon. They will fight with a determination and a power well nigh irresistible ; make up your mind to it. Let every man put his life in his hand, and say : ' There is the altar of my country, there I will sacrifice my life.' (Wildest cheering.) I am ready to fight in the ranks or out of the ranks. Having been educated at West Point, having been in the army seven years, having served as a coromander of a volunteer company ten years, and having served as an adjutant-general, I feel I am ready for some- thing. I only ask to be permitted to act ; and^ in God's name, give me something to do." You cannot well imagine the effect of this glorious appeal. The throng around the stand waved their hats, shouted, and not a few wept with the intensity of emotion. The orator could have led the entire multitude to any field of conflict at that moment. The stranger went on his way. Smothering the fire in his soul he repaired to his LIFE OF GENERAL ]^nTCHEL. 13T watcMower in the capital of the empire State, because there was then his post of duty. His patient spirit, which resolved at the beginning of the labors for observatories, never to get angry, calmed the strife. Soon the intellect- ual and moral atmosphere of his presence pervaded the new sphere of his rare abilities. His eagle eye was on the same heavens at night on which he had gazed from the college tower and the heights near Cincinnati. In the Church of Grod, and everywhere, his influence was benign and cheering as the morning Kght. " And what is the real benefit of observatories ? What good do they do ?" you may ask, reader ; for the question has been asked by men of wealth and influence. Pro- fessor Mitchel had to answer it countless times. I will give you three great advantages to the people : They give accurate time. The best clocks are kept in them ; and errors, if any, in beating the seconds, are cor- rected daily by the instruments for the purpose. In Greenwich, England, there is a curious contrivance to keep the public " posted" on time. On a turret of the Royal Observatory there is a mast, like a large flagstaff. On it slides a ball made of wood and covered with leather fifteen feet in circumference. A little before one o'clock each day that ball is raised to the top of the mast. Precisely at one o'clock, by the corrected time, down goes the round signal, and out come the watches, while unnumbered eyes are turned to the clocks of the dwellings and offices of 138 LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. business. Their pointers are moved, and the people around agree, for a moment at least, in time. Nor is this the most wonderful part of the arrange- ment for the benefit of the public. A clock inside of th<3 observatory, which indicates exactly the corrections of time, is connected with a galvanic clock at the entrance gate, and also a clock at the terminus of the Southeastern Railway. It sends galvanic signals every day along the principal railroads which converge in London. It drops the Greenwich ball, and another in the Telegraph Com- pany's offices on the Strand. At Deal, the Admiralty have a signal for the benefit of the mariners. Just think of it. If the time at the Observatory, measured by the unerring stars, is a minute too fast or too slow, the clockwork tells the fact to the galvanic time- keeper at the gate, and at the great railway station. And then fleeter than rushing cars, go every day, the signals from one depot to another. The bright worlds above telegraph to the astronomer through his delicate instru- ment; he touches the mechanism his genius has con- struct'id, and the telegraphic nerves in an instant send it over tLe kingdom. In Washington, our national capital, the ball drops at twelve o'clock. Now, my reader, when you reflect on the fact, that a slight error in the sea captain's chronometer may derange his calculations of latitude and longitude, and shipwreck LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 139 his vessel, how important to him is an observatory, and to you if, with the travelling thousands, you are on the deep ! Then remember that a mistake of a few seconds may bring a collision on the raHroad, and kill a score or more of passengers — and how important appears the true time to all the conductors on the iron-paved highway ! And similar provisions for safety might be made in every country, state, and province. Another advantage of observatories, is the economy as well as security, of our commerce. "Were it not for the labors of astronomers, our ships, as of old, would have to creep along the shores, afraid to traverse the faithless ocean. The shortest routes from one port to another could not be taken ; disasters would be increased, and boundless wealth which now comes over the blue main, would re- main unsought, unknown. There is yet another sublime reason for erecting and furnishing on a large scale, and in greater number, astro- nomical observatories. It is the education which they furnish. They benefit the humbler institutions of learn- ing. Wherever there is such a watchtower of the skies, the general intelligence will be increased. The higher learning will come down on the lower sphere of culture, and tend to elevate it. You cannot look up to the observatory without being reminded of the wonders of the firmament, and of Him who bent that arch. Much less can you ascend its stair- 140 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. way and look through its telescope, which, with its Tiar" ness, weighs tons, upon the flaming islands floating upon " airy nothing," without purer, wiser thoughts. The largest telescope in this country is now, I believe, in Cambridge, Mass. The finest in the world was built and is owned by Earl WiQiam Parsons Rosse, of Birr Castle, Kings County, Ireland. He erected the Ob- servatory on his grounds in 1844. The grand telescope cost sixty thousand dollars. The tube is six feet in the opening, and the whole weighs six thousand pounds. It has the most powerful reflector known, prepared by a new method, the invention of Lord Eosse. Several years were required for building the wonderful instrument. It re- veals stars — and inequalities in the moon, which can be seen by no other telescope. The noble granite pile which supports it, the tackle for raising and adjusting it, are unsurpassed, and were created from the resources of his own abundant wealth. Should you visit the British empire, and get a view of the blazing orbs through this monster, telescope, you would not soon forget the scene. Before we leave the astronomical career of Professor Mitchel, I must add a few stanzas from a poem suggested by celestial scenery. It is the finest, to my knowledge, in any language. It v/as appreciated by none more than the devout Mitchel. The author, Derzhaven, was a Rus- sian. He had gazed upon the luminous heavens from his LITE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 141 northern home, where they flash and burn as nowhere else so brightly. The clear cold air gives the stars a singular bright- ness. The auroral splendor at times seems like a hundred crimson banners bordered and tinged with purple, gi'een, and gold, waving in the sky ! The Great Bear, and all the grand constellations circling around the Pole Star, make the dome of the north an object of surpassing grandeur and beauty. It is the inspiration of such a view of the divine power and glory which breathes in the magnificent hymn to THE DEITY. thou Eternal One ! whose presence bright All space doth occupy, aU motion guide ; Unchanged through times all devastating flight ; Thou only God ! There is no God beside ! Being above aU beings ! Mighty One ! Whom none can comprehend, and none explore ^ Who fill'st existence with thyself alone : Embracing all — supporting — ruling o'er — Being whom we call God and know no more ! As sparks mount upward from the fiery blaze, So Sims are bom ; so worlds spring forth from thee : And as the spangles in the sunny rays Shine round the silver snow, the pageantry Of heav'n's bright armies ghtters in thy praise. A million torches lighted by thy hand, Wander unwearied through the blue abyss : 142 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. They own thy power, accomplish thy command, All gay with life, all eloquent with bhss. What shall we call them ? Piles of crystal light, A glorious company of golden streams. Lamps of celestial ether, burning bright, — Suns Mghting systems with their joyous beams ? But thou, to these, art as the noon to night ! Yes, as a drop of water in the sea, All this magnificence in thee is lost ! What are ten thousand worlds compared to thee ? And what am I, then ? Heav'n's unnumbered host. Though multiplied by myriads, and arrayed In all the glory of sublimest thought, Is but an atom in the balance weight Against thy greatness — is a cipher brought Against infinity 1 Wh?-t am I, then ? Naught ! Naught ! But the affluence of thy light divine, Pervading worlds, hath reached my bosom too ; Yes, in my spirit, doth thy Spirit shine, As shines the sunbeam in a drop of dew. CHAPTER XI. The Preparations for Conflict— The attempt to Assassinate the President-elect— The Secret History of the Inauguration — The Commencement of Hostilities. EFORE I introduce the splendid astronomer to your admiration under tlie starry banner of the country which he loved, I wiU take you back to the scenes which caUed him from his observatory and charts, dearer to him than all other material objects, excepting the Bible, his family, and the republic. If not a platform reformer, his great heart beat true to God and humanity. From his loving gaze into the star-sown fields of ether, he looked anxiously over the troubled land whose political campaign in the autumn of 1860 had stirred, as no other had, the tides of national feeling. Nor had he forgotten the scenes in Union Square, New York, during the previous May. For long years the South had been preparing for a conflict with the North. The claim of the former to superior blood, the determination to preserve and extend 144 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITOHEL. slavery, and the desire to have a nationality in accord- ance with these ideas, had for many years been gaining strength and influence in the cotton States. The election of Abraham Lincoln, the " Black Eepublican," as the majority of the people who elected him were called, be- cause of their hostility to American slavery, was a signal for revolt and revolution. All the winter succeeding the hour when the people's choice was known, were heard the mutterings of discon- tent, and seen the preparations for resistance to the in- coming administration. Gifted, but evil-minded men in Congress, and even in the President's cabinet, went frown- ing to and from the national capital. They met in secret council, and with fiery looks and speech talked over a dis- solution of the Union — in other words, death to the Re- public. The infamous Floyd, Secretary of War, resigned, and the Hon. Joseph Holt took his place, who at once began to look after the defences of Washington. It was then we heard the hypocritical cry, " No coercion ! no coer- cion ! " That is to say, let us alone in our treasonable designs. I shall refresh your memory of a few stirring events of that winter, because they not only thrilled the heart of Professor Mitchel, and suffused his eye with tears of grieving loyalty while fixed on the stars in the field of his telescope, but in their consequences cost him his useful life. LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 145 In Charleston harbor, near the city where secession had its birth in formal action, a few months before, stood the forts, Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, Castle Pincknej, and rising in massive grandeur and mounting one hundi'ed and forty guns, Sumter. Major R. Anderson had been compelled, by the signs of attack, to leave Moultrie for Sumter, a much stronger fortress. The fii'st thing, after he had entered the fort with his eighty brave soldiers, " Major Anderson assembled the whole of his little force, with the workmen employed on the fort, around the foot of the flagstaff. The national ensign was attached to the cord, and Major Anderson, holding the ends of the lines in his hands, knelt reverent- ly down. The officers, soldiers, and men clustered around, many of them on their knees, all deeply impressed with the solemnity of the scene. The chaplain made an earnest prayer — such an appeal for support, encouragement, and mercy, as one would make who felt that ' man's extrem- ity is God's opportunity.' As the earnest, solemn words of the speaker ceased, and the men responded amen, vrdh. a fervency that perhaps they had never before experienced, ^lajor Anderson drew the ' Star Spangled Banner' up to the top of the staff, the band broke out with the national air, ' Hail Columbia,' and loud and exultant cheers, re- peated again and again, were given by officers, soldiers, and workmen. If South Carolina had at that moment attacked the fort, there would have been no hesitation 7 146 LIFE OF GENEKAL MTTCHEL. upon the part of any man "within it about defending that flag." President Buchanan was perplexed and timid ; the rebels in earnest, and fearless. An unarmed steamer, the " Star of the West," went with supplies to Fort Sum- ter. Upon approaching it, the first guns of the war thun- dered defiance at the steamer which carried only food for hungry men. This was early on the morning of January 9th, 1861. A wave of indignation swept over the land, and that was all : a cowardly hand was at the helm of the dishonored Ship of State. Government vessels were seized, sometimes surrendered at the mere demand of traitors, whose ordinance of secession had been passed at Charleston three months before. But brightly shone the loyalty of others. When the "Alabama Navy" commanded Lieutenant Maffit to surrender the Crusader, his noble scorn was ex- pressed in these words : " I may be overpowered, but in that event what will he left of the Crusader will not he worth taking J^ He got away v/ith his vessel. Captain Porter v/as ordered in February to strike his colors to South Carolina. From his ship, the St. Mary's, at Panama Bay, he wrote the following subhmely fearless reply : " All under my command are true and loyal to the ' Stars and Stripes,' and to the Constitution. My duty is plain before me. The constitutional Government of the United States has entrusted me with the command LIFE OF GEXEEAL MITCHEL. 147 of this beautiful ship, and before I Trill permit any other flag than the ' Stars and Stripes ' to fly at her peak, I wiU fire a pistol into her magazine and blow her up. This is my answer to the infamous proposition." February 11th, Abraham Lincoln ga^^-e his fellow- citizens at the railroad depot, Springfield, Illinois, the following impressive farewell, worthy of the newly-elected ruler of a great nation threatened by rebellion : " My friends ! No one not in my position can appre- ciate the sadness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I have lived more than a quar- ter of a century. Here my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty devolves on me which is perhaps greater than that which has been devolved upon any other man since the days of TTashington. He would never have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same divine aid which sustained him. In the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for sup- port, and I hope you, my friends, will pray that I may receive that divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain. Again I bid you aU an affectionate farewell." At Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, and other cities along his route, echoing bells, booming cannon, and other demonstrations of enthusiastic joy, greeted him. 148 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. At Buffalo, lie passed under the flag of the Young Men's Christian Association bearing the inscription, "We will pray for you." After similar receptions at Albany, Nqw York, and Philadelphia, he reached Harrisburg. Here it became evident, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a conspiracy existed to assassinate Mr. Lincoln, and to prevent his inauguration. The plot v»^as ripened in Baltimore. An Italian, a barber, it v/as afterward re- ported and believed, was to pluck the fruit. He was to see that the fatal blow was given amid the confusion of the riot, v/hen the train in which the President-elect was expected, arrived. A railroad oiScial promptly planned an escape from the peril. The few friends who were in the secret a.pproved of it. A carriage vfas ordered, Mr. Lincoln stepped into it with his unofHcial escort ; and with &n order given to the diiver to cast no backward look, he was carried to another point of departure, reaching Bal- timore by way of Philadelphia before the arrival of the cars ha had intended to take. The conspirators were not looking for him, and of course were foiled in then- fiendish purpose. The object of their hate passed on safely to Washington. Saturday, February 23d, when the train bearing Mrs. Lincoln without her husband reached Bal- timore, the mob in a rage were compelled to give up the search for their victim. This fact, with others which I shall narrate, were re- lated by Adjutant-General Thomas, who has so nobly LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 149 carried out the President's proclamation of freedom to the enslaved. He has for many years been the superintendent of a Sabbath-school in Georgetown, near Washington, and speaks of it with more interest than of his military honors. General Scott was at the head of the United States Army, and General Thomas was then his adjutant. Standing by the side of the chief, it was his respon- sibility to act under him in preparing for the next at- tempt to put Mr. Lincoln out of the way, which was to be at the inauguration. It is not the place to tell you all this quiet work of the hours before the 4th of March, 1861. How the armed men were drilled, and assigned their positions ; the cannon placed at the commanding points around the capitol, and " shotted ; " and then, when the congressional halls were filled, how, putting off his military dress for a plain citizen's apparel, General Thomas went among the people there to feel the excited pulse, and learn, if possible, what to expect. But you know that the day wore away peacefully. The President's oath was ta,ken ; silence wrapped the late night in Washington with no tragedy to mar its peace. Soon came the scenes of Forts Moultrie and Sumter ; the uprising of the people ; and the murder of Massachusetts soldiers in Baltimore April 19tli, the anniversary of the first blood-shedding in the Revolutionary struggle eighty- five years before, in Lexington, Massachusetts. Unless 150 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. you recollect the state of feeling then, you cannot imagine the depth and intense excitement of the national indig- nation. It reminded one of the story of a Scotch noble- man who drew long iron bars across a deep mountain gorge to make a harp for the storm. The morning and evening breeze passed over those gigantic strings with no answering sound. But when the tempest swept down from the mountains and darkened the heavens, then the metallic chords vibrated to the wild strokes of the storm, and filled all the region with strange, wild music. The nation's heart is not easily moved ; but when that terrible outburst of treasonable passion reached it, the loud and thrilling tones of patriotism went over the land, ringing back upon the traitorous throng the death-notes of a doom which has made a graveyard of the South. We will add a strain or two of the free North's battle songs : " The streets our soldier-fathers trod ' Blushed with their children's gore ; We saw the craven ruler's nod, And dip in blood the civic rod — Shall such things be, righteous God, In Baltimore ? " Bow down, in haste, thy guilty head 1 God's wrath is swift and sure ! The sky with gathering bolts is red^ — Cleanse from thy skirts the slaughter-red — Or make thyself an ashen bed — Oh! Baltimore I CHAPTER Xn. Mitchel enters the Field— Goes to Cincinnati— Takes Care of the City— Eaisea Volunteers — Visited by the Secretary of "War- Xohle "Words — ^The Sad FaUore — General Mitchel's sources of Power over Men — ''• Old Stars" — His pure Ambition. HE summer spread its harvest glories over the Y^ earth — and our national anniversary passed with sobered rejoicing. Then the terrible battle of Bull Eun, July 21st, thrilled afresh the popular heart, when God vindicated his Sabbath law in our defeat, who opened the engagement. In August the successful bombardment of Forts Hat- teras and Clark by General Butler of the land forces, and Commodore Stringham of the navy, cheered our despond- ency. The late summer season found the professor's pur- pose matured of entering the arena of conflict. He had read, and thought, and prayed, till the pure orbs above, to his eye, were hidden behind the darkening war-cloud, bidding him to go where its bolts were falling upon his countrymen in arms. He offered his services to the Gov- 152 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITOHEL. ermnent, feeling, with General Grant, that his military education at West Point had created a special claim to them, and given him the peculiar advantage of preparation for the field. The commission of brigadier-general of volunteers was dated August 9th, 1861. This is loyalty — preferring to suffer with the country for its redemption, than enjoy in peaceful employments the blessings it confers. How base and wicked, in con- trast, appears the disloyalty of the fault-finding lovers of ease^ and friends of the oppressor ! By a singular, perhaps a designed coincidence, the general was placed in command of the Department of the Ohio, with his headquarters at Cincinnati, the theatre of his first great scientific achievements. It was no com- mon struggle of feeling when he turned from the home which was ever his earthly paradise, and the tower of celestial observations, to the distant latitude of his former brilliant career in the walks of science and business, soon to make the solitary tent and the battle-plain his abode and circle of activity. The farewell words were spoken ; the strong Christian heart beat tenderly, but firmly ; and away he hastened to the banks of the Ohio. The world did not know the greatness of the sacrifice made by one large and loving heart. When Mrs. Mitchel gave him up, she gave all, and soon laid down herself to die. The professor returned to the very shadow of his Observatory, to assume the chieftain's post of duty for LITE OF GEXEEAL MITCHEL. 153 the same country of Ms lo-v'e and labors. Hotv different now his employment ! Riding from one side of the city to another, he carefully surveys all the approaches to the beautiful town lying on the banks of the Ohio, with the green rich slopes of terraced hill3 behind it. There was no city in the Union which he would have so fondly watched as this. It was endeared to him by the external loveliness of its position and proportions, the rewarded toils of the past, and the residences of munificent *' mer- chant princes," who had generously aided him in his struggles. Redoubts went up under his vigilant hand, and lines of defence were laid out to meet any raid of the enemy, who threatened all the important points within striking distance of their arms. This forethought, and the readiness to meet any assault, which it secured, strengthened the mutual affection between liim and the intelligent, appreciative people of the western metropolis, and had much to do with warding off the blow which the foe desired, but feared to give. You will recollect that a few weeks before General Mitchel was ordered to the West, General Grant was placed in command of Cairo and the district extending from Cape Girardeau to ISTew Madrid ; and that, find- ing the assumed and absurd as well as wicked neutrality of Kentucky broken by the rebel occupation of Co- lumbus and Bowling Green, he sent a few of the " boys" to Paducah, at the mouth of the Tennessee, and also to 154 LIFE OF GEISTEKAL MTTCHEL. Simtliland, at the mouth of the Cumberland, blockading those rivers. Still it was not certain which side in the civil war the State would take. The prospect was that the secession frenzy would seize the majority of the peo- ple, and hurl it into the chaos of revolt. It was at this crisis that General Mitchel looked over the field into which he had entered, and resolved to make an effort to save Kentucky and Tennessee to the Union. This resiilt was desirable on many accounts. One was a border State, naturally allied to the North ; and the re- sources both furnished for the support of our army, were considerable. The attachment to slavery in the former was not so intense as in the cotton States, and it was washed by the rivers of the great West. General Mitchel therefore ardently engaged in the en- listment and organization of troops for the Kentucky shore. Could you have seen him in the " Queen City,'* where he had stirred the popular heart with his eloquent flights among the stars, and toiled with brain, heart, and frame, to secure an observatory for the benefit of the peoplej and the honor of the State on whose soil it was to stand, you would have wondered at his industry and success in labors so different. Now talking with ofiicers, and then with the citizens who could aid him, appealing to the patriotism of the young men, and superintending the mustering of the vol- unteers, he was the busiest worker in all the stirring city LIFE OF GENERAJL MTTCHEL. 155 and on the Kentucky border. Here they gathered on the soil of the undecided State, until the force was large enough to move with hope of success. His wisdom and comprehensive oversight, his vigor and transparent integ- rity, attracted the admiration of the intelligent observers about him, and of the Government. General Mitchel then asked leave to take them to the field of greatest promise for the uncertain prize. The prompt, earnest, heroic man is ready to confront the armies of treason. His fine eye is aglow with enthusiasm, and nothing clouds the open intellectual expression of his face but the shadow of suspense. One day, with no messenger or tele- gram to announce his coming, the Secretary of "War sud- denly appeared on the ground, to see what this general was doing. There is excitement in the camp, and the cheerful aspect of relief in the bearing of General Mitchel. Watch him walking or riding by the Secre- tary's side during the hours of that visit, with animation giving the details of his work and his plans, pure and sim- ple-hearted as a child in his unhesitating and modest com- munications. Then, turning with dignified and appealing earnestness to Mr. Cameron, he said : " Mr. Secretary, I should not have been able to raise these troops and pre- pare them for the field by saying, ' Go boys.' But I have used the language, ' Come, and I voll lead you.' Now I desire to keep my promise to my troops. And I solicit permission to march at the head of these troops upon 156 LIFE OF GEISTEEAL MTTCHEL. Cumberland Gap, and push through, if possible, to Knox- ville, and liberate East Tennessee." The privilege was denied him, because the petty ambition of superior officers created opposition. The country must suffer loss, and the war be prolonged, rather than permit a bold and gifted commander to cross the lines of their departments. The Government spared no effort for conciliation and har- nJony. It is fearful to think of the sacrifices of life, and aggravations of the war every way, by well-intended, but undeserved kindness to rebels, and shameful indulgence of friends, A few weeks later the departments of the Ohio and Cumberland were united under General Buell. He was distinguished for bravery in the Mexican war, and hith- erto had sustained the character of a true soldier in ths regular army. But he was unlike General Mitchel in natural qualities, early education, and habits. Though born in Ohio, he was southern in his sentiments and selfish in his ambition ; ready to resign his place under the flag which had honored him, rather than render unconditional loyalty to it. General Mitchel was assigned a command under him in charge of a camp of rendezvous, with his headquarters at Bacon Creek, near Louisville, Kentucky. The very bearing of General Mitchel won respect and regard. The unmistakable manliness and goodness of character, the stamp of genius on his brow and in his ex- pressive eye, made their impression upon the western LIFE OF GETS^EEAIi MTTCHEL. 15T *' boys " "wlio gathered about him. And then the entire absence of tinsel and "red tape " in his official appear- ance, and the thoroughly practical energy of his earnest work of preparation for service, a^vYakened the enthu- siasm of his troops. You TviU not forget that, truly in his career, the child was father of the man. The errand duties, getting astride the leader of the country- men's team, and pushing his way to West Point, were the outworking of the same "sleepless soul" that later in life built railroads and astronomical observatories, and has now girded on the sword for his native land. There was a stiU higher source of power over men. He was a Christian hero. Unselfish in his aims, he was blameless in his example. You have heard, it may be, gay persons speak of religion as a weakness ; a sad resort of those who are superstitious and afraid to die. How pitiful is such blindness ! Think of "Washington, Foote, and Mitchel, with a host of gifted men living and dead. It was the sincere piety of the astronomer and com- mander that fused together in a well nigh perfect, and a lofty character, the native elements which la-y in the heart, taking from them the dross of selfishness. The soldiers are fond of pet names for then' oflicers, expressive of theu' estima.te of the commanders. And the 'professor'' s fame was established, while his martial deeds were yet to be won. Natural enough, in the admiration and growing confidence felt toward liim, ^lis 158 LIFE OF GENERAL linTCHEL. brilliant acliieveinents in celestial studies, furnished the famiUar title. General Mitchell had not long been among the troops before brave lips said something about " Old Stars." It went like a fire in one of the prairies not far distant, among the ranks. " Old Stars " was on every tongue. He had lived in thought and study among the stars, and would soon show himself equally able to gaze undazzled upon the stars of military glory, and also worthy to wear them. These were not his aim, for he was serving under a King who held over his head a crown of unfading stars ! Before Him, how mean were the honors of a day ! CHAPTER XIU. General Mitchel as a Disciplinarian — His Division xmriTalled in Drill— Proud of their CMeftain — Eeady for Active Service — General Mitchel desirea^ tc lead them to the Field— Brave and Patriotic Language— lifational Yictories General Mitchel breaks up Camp — Pine Spectacle — Splendid Marching. ^HE battalions under the discipline of General Mitchel were called the Third Division of the Army of Ohio. His headquarters were at Bacon Creek, Kentucky. The genius of the commander was devoted to the thorough train- ing of the troops for military duty. There was nothing done for show simply, but all for the attainment of the highest degree of martial culture for the field. The men caught the enthusiasm of their leader. They saw the lofty motive, and aimed at the ideal before his compre- hensive mind. He had learned to do well whatever he deemed worthy of his attention ; to make the most of himself and his opportunities. His thoroughness and mastery of tactics moulded the troops into a united, solid body, 160 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. wielded by his single wiQ. The proud and heroic ranks have been compared to the Old Gnard of Napoleon. And perhaps nowhere in the army was there a finer example of perfect and merited command. It was like the hand of a skilful engineer on a finished locomotive ; moving to the slightest motion of the hand, with no friction or jar in its movements. The difference was great, however, in this : it was the supremacy of a splendid mind over ad- miring and loving hearts. Could you have walked through the camp, or met miles from it a soldier of that gallant host, and inquired of him v/here he belonged, he would immediately have answered, " I belong to the Third Division." It was honor enough to be under the command of " Old Stars." All inferior authority, however cheerfully obeyed, was forgotten under the sway of a master genius, regulated hy a large and benevolent heart. The chief and his trained legions were ready and impatient for the smoke of battle. The camp could do no more for them, excepting to weaken their manly strength, at its highest point of preparation for the red field on which they desired to test it. Did you ever see the encampment of an army? If not,, you cannot ge a perfectly correct idea of. it by pic- tures or description. But I will take you to that of the Potomac Army as I saw it in the winter of 1863 and '64. Get with me into the cars at Washington and cross the Long Bridge over the Potomac, across which have LIFE OF GENERAX MTTOHEL. 161 marclied our volunteers by thousands. At Alexandria you begin to see the war. Rigbt by the track we read in large letters on one side, " Soldier's Eetreat ; " on the other we see, as far as the eye can reach, the rows of sol- diers' graves. Then for about sixty miles we ride in the " U. S." train, for no others pass over the road, through a desert, though on the " sacred soil" of Virginia. Fences are gone, buildings burned, and the blackened chimneys standing — graves, dead horses, and mules, and regiments of soldiers with their camps, to guard the road, arrest the eye ; and over all, myriads of crows make up the scene, till we get to ^' Brandy Station," a few miles from rebel pick- ets. Soldiers line the platform as we get out. Near by is a building, and around it a group of tents. One of them is the office of the Christian Commission, the grandest en- terprise that ever softened the savage aspect of war, and cared for body and soul with motherly tenderness and watchfulness. We start, satchel in hand, for the head- quarters of the army, a mile away over the hill, which is scarred with wheels and hoofs, and barren as the ocean beach. The first man that passes us is a chaplain on horse- back, with a polite salutation. The next is an aged negro, who inquires, " Do you think the soldiers will get sixteen miles below ? I have a wife there in slavery." W^ tell him yes, and pass on. The first tent, as we approach the pines over the crest of the lull, is that of a daguerrean^ 162 LIFE OF GENERAX MTTCHEL. Then we come to a semicircular row and groups of tents half a mile at least in extent. The hamlet nearest, as we advance, is the provost-marshal-generars department. There is his tent, at the end of a lane cut through the pine trees, and fenced in with boughs ; and on the left are the tents of his staff in a row. Let us knock at Gen- eral M. R. Patrick's tent. " Come in ! " rings out from the lips of the hero of Mexico and Florida, the patriot and Christian, who can give a splendid lecture on Hebrew poetry, or attend to the details of his immense department, with its post office for tT\^o hundi-ed thousand men, prison for rebels, hospital, &c. "We pass on to General Meade's headquarters, about midway in the curved line of tents. He is absent ; but there sits the gallant, lion-hearted Sedgwick. "We look upon his pleasant face and hear him speculate .upon the war, but do not know that in a few weeks a sharp- shooter's bullet will pierce his noble face. Apart and back of this centre of command lie the batteries, dark and silent, and apparently all harmless. In another direction are the supply wagons, the field for the horses, and other appliances for army support and movements. Sentinels keep their round day and night. The drum beats tattoo at night, and the bugle sounds sweetly on the morning and evening air. Two, four, six miles, in different directions, are similai encampments, subordinate, like planets to the sun, to this. LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 163 Such is the outline of life during the intervals of active field service. And when the order flies along the telegraph wires connecting the headquarters of the major- generals, to prepare to advance, what a magnificent sight it is, as from one to two hundred thousand soldiers strike their tents, and in lines of cavalry and columns of infantry- sweep over the country ! This reminds me of another part of army movements, which you may not have even seen or noticed at all ; I mean the Signal Corps. Do you ask what it does? Then I will here ansvf er the inquiry : " Probably no class of men employed in the army are more useful than those engaged in the duty of sending army despatches from one point to another, by means of signal flags. These flags are of different colors — white, black, or red, to suit different circumstances. They are either four feet or six feet square, fastened to jointed poles, the length of which can be increased or diminished as required. The officers in charge of a station are fur- nished with field glasses and powerful telescopes, by means of which they can read the signals from twelve to eighteen, or twenty miles distant. For night work torches are used. The operation of transmitting signals is per- formed in this manner : The message is sent to the signal station, which is generally located in the highest tree, upon the loftiest mountain or hill top. The officer in charge arranges his ' key' upon a circular pasteboard in- 164: LIFE OF GEN"EEAL MITCHEL. stniment, marked with numerals. When all is ready, by the turning of this disc the proper numbers appear and are called off to the jQagman. This flagman, on hearing the number, immediately places the fiag in the position indicated. Thus, waving the flag according to a number requiring it to move from right to left, will mean a cer- tain word. The flag is then straightened up, and another number called, which may raise the flag above the bear- er's head, or drop it toward the ground. Again, some number called out, causes the flagman to make a motion with the flag that conveys a whole sentence of information to a distant station where another signal officer has been reading off, through his telescope, the numbers previously sent. The reader of the ' despatch ' sits looking through his glass, calling off the numbers to his assistant, who notes them down upon the ' field-book.' "When the entii'e message has been received the numbers are transmitted to the next station, and so on until it reaches the general to whom it is sent. The whole time occupied in sending- a despatch of thirty lines is generally less than as many minutes. The flagman, by constant practice, works rap- idly, and the reader calls the numbers with equal speed ; and where there are two or more officers, or flagmen, at a station, the message is passed on to the next as fast as it is received. When the numbers reach the last station, the *key' signal is sent over, and being properly adjusted, the officer at the receiving station can then write out for, LETE OF GENESAL MITCHEL. 165 or read the message to, his commanding general. Thesa ' keys' are constantly changed. A combination of ' keys' is arranged between two commanding generals in a man- ner that insures their despatches against any chance of being read by even the officers making the signal, and of course, if the rebels saw them, they would be unable to decipher them. For instance. General Sherman has ar- ranged with General Howard that the 'key' to his de- spatches shall be sent under cover of a particular word. Accordingly, when that word is received. General Howard has the ' key' that unlocks the remainder of the dispatch. On Monday morning General Sherman may make use of a ' key' that he discards in the afternoon. The afternoon 'key' is known to General Howard by the ' v/ord' that accompanies the message. If General Sherman desires to ' speak with' General Logan, who may be stationed miles away, his arrangement of ' key words ' may.be to- tally different from those used in communicating with Howard. Signal officers, by long practice, are often able to abbreviate messages, especially when they know that the station beyond is commanded by an officer familiar with the abbreviations. A bystander looking on, when a message is being sent, will see the flags in the hands of the man near him waving rapidly, and strain his eyes in every direction to see where the persons are who are taking ' notes.' He will see no one, unless favored by a sight through the telescope at the station. The great 166 LIFE OF GENEKAL J^HTOHEL. merit of this system of signalling consists in the secrecy with which messages may be sent, and answers returned, although it is equally advantageous in an engagement, when secret messages are not required, and orders are rapidly conveyed from one part of the field to another. It is at this time that the signal officers and men are in the greatest danger. The rebels have an offensive way of intercepting despatches, with Miuie bullets, sent by the rifle of some sharpshooter, detailed to pick off the flagmen and others engaged at the signal station." No order to take the field came to the gallantly impatient leader and his restless troops. He could no longer wait. Approaching his superior in com- mand, General Buell, he addressed him in these brave words : " General, we must now either be permitted to go into the field and meet the foe, or we must degenerate and go backwards. It is utterly impossible for me to carry my division any further in my drill of discipline. The men have learned every thing they can learn, and from this moment we must commence to decline unless we are sent into actual service." General Buell made but little reply, only intimating a grand movement soon. The rebel force was strong ai' Bowling Green. General Grant had moved upon Forts Donelson and Henry, and planted the national banners on their walls. LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 167 General B. F. Butler, the wisest, boldest, and most successful commander then in the field, \Yith Commodore Farragut, called the " Old Salamander," with his naval force, were prepariag to advance on New Orleans. Ship Island, a narrow strip of sandy land several miles in length, and a few hours' sail from the mouth of the Mississippi, was to be the place of rendezvous and starting. "^ General Grant was on his way to Nashville, followed by the victorious flotilla. General Buell decided to make an expedition from his department toward Bowling Green at that time, the strongest point in the enemy's western army movements. You will recollect it was one of the first places fortified when the rebels invaded neutral Kentucky. General Mitchel intensely desired to try the metal of his " boys" in the seizure of a prize worthy of their arms. He asked the privilege of striking boldly then. A wide-awake and far-seeing chieftain, he also " kept his own counsels." Monday, February 10th — for the general avoided working, when possible, on the Sabbath — he issued in the evening, the order to his troops to be ready for march- ing the next morning at six o'clock. That night was a busy one in camp. See the tents come down, the knap- sacks packed, the horses caparisoned, and the-thousands of impatient volunteers waiting the command to march in the first beams of morning. 168 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. ** Forward ! " and Bacon Creek, Kentucky, receivec the farewell look of the departing troops, whose canvaa city had disappeared like frostwork in the rising sun. They swept along toward Green Kiver, giving no inti- mations of approach. The clear eye that traced the paths of the nightly host with unrivalled accui'acy, sur- veyed carefully the whole field before him. There can be no more gallantly patriotic and sublime spectacle in the field of martial exploits than the progress of General Mitchel from Bacon Creek to Bowling Green. Scouts, that is, horsemen to discover danger or search for the enemy, were sent forward toward the town. Si- lence reigned in forest and field. ISTo sign of alarm ap- peared. How unlike the campaigns in the army gen- erally ! Somehow, the rebels have learned when and where our troops v>^ere in motion, and have been pre- pared to meet them. In one instance a large and splen- did host were marching in several divisions on a secret expedition to surprise " the flower of the rebel army." A prominent general was to leave a certain point at half- past seven o'clock in the morning, and another pass that place at nine o'clock. When the latter arrived, the other, who should have been an hour and a half on the march, was just eating his breakfast. Whether, as many be- lieve, he was made stupid by strong drink the night before, or not, it deranged the whole plan of the attack, and gave the enemy all the notice he desired of the hostila LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 169 visit. Of course with the slaughter and wounding of many brave fellows, the well-planned and hopeful enter- prise failed. ' Not so with the Third Division. Prajerfal, sober, far-seeing and vigilant, the general stole upon the foe along a track of forced marches, like the Angel of Death upon the camp of Senacherib. The cavalcade dashed onward ten miles ; and being tired, because they had been so long idle, and also then delayed by repairing a bridge, they halted a mile beyond Green River. Their place of rendezvous was called Camp Madison. Here they rested on "Wednesday. At night the picket-guard were out, and the order issued to be off again at four o'clock the next morning. With scarcely a streak of day upon the eastern sky, the refreshed and cheerful troops move rapidly toward Bowling Green, forty-two miles distant. As the light deepens, they discern in the ponds scattered over the country heaps of dead cattle, mules, and horses, thrown into them by the foe, for the Upas shadow of war has been there. There are no signs of human life. Pause under that tree by the deserted home. Hearken amid the stillness whose music is the sound of flowing streams, and the noise of insects in the air. "What a thunder of hoofs and heavy tramp of armed men breaks on the ear ! Nearer and nearer the strange echoes rise. Another moment and 8 170 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITOHEL. the long procession rushes past with banners, and gleam«« ing steel, and grim-mouthed cannon. The morning kindles on the hills, and onward sweep the battalions over plain, through forest, and across cur- rents which catch the spreading light brightly, as though no tumult of war had hushed the hum of the little dwellers in the branches on the banks. Tramp, clatter, rumble, go troops, feet, and wheels, toward Bowling Grreen, with a secrecy and celerity unsurpassed, if ever equalled. The secession stragglers who catch a glimpse of the hurrying caravan of war's legions, fly from the path of their march. Jokes and laughter enliven the long hours of the advance toward the unsuspecting enemy. Many think soberly, and some sadly, of home, the anxious hearts there, and the possibility of sudden death and a burial among strangers. Bravely, and with elastic step, the troops follow a leader who has won affectionate con- fidence unrivalled in the army. " Halt ! " What is it that brings the battalions to a sudden pause in the forest path ? Like an abatis before a fortress, lie the fallen trees across the way, heaped there by the enemy. Almost before the word of command can reach them, the two companies of engineers and mechan- ics advance. How bravely the axes swing ! The imple- ments for " casting up a highway" move with the rapidity of sabre-strokes, and in fifteen minutes the formidable obstruction is brushed aside, and " forward ! " rings on LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 171 the air just now echoing to the hundred blows or more, of manly arms. No groans of the dying, no shouts of conquest mingle in the bloodless strife. Nature " makes no sign" of suffering when the glittering steel falls upon the subjects of her domain. CHAPTEE XIV. Bowling Green — ^Forced Marches — The first Gun— Crossing the Elver— Con sternation and flight of the Eebels— Scenes in the City— Despatches— Visit from General Buell— Nashville Occupied — Scenes there — General Mitchel calls on Mrs. James K. Polk. OWLING Green is on Barren River, a branch of the Green Eiver. General Mitchel heard that the bridge over it leading to the town was destroyed, and that the rebels would meet them on this side of the stream. To be ready for them, Colonel Turchin takes the cavalry and Loomis' bat- tery, and dashes off at a rapid pace. It is a fine sight. Did you ever behold a similar spectacle? I shall not soon forget the contrast between peaceful parades on the park or green, and these scenes on "the front" — 'the bugle notes that mean soher work, tlie prancing steeds, the long and waving lines of soldiers, the plumes and banners, the cannon with their carriages and caissons, and all moving over fenceless fields, scarred and scathed LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 173 with the tread of war, tOTvard the plain of slaughter. Such was the scene between Glasgow Junction, near which the last' halt was made, and Bowling Green, on the morning of February 13th, about the hour mj reader was entering the quiet school-room, or college hall. The columns that press on behind hear, about ten o'clock, the booming of the artillery echoing from the banks of Bar- ren River. Oh ! how the heroes start — eyes flash — and a general movement is visible. The steps are quickened, but the knapsacks in the forced march of forty-two miles in thirty-seven hours, have grown heavy. A new idea is sug- gested by the burdens. There comes a secession wagon. *' Stop there, driver ! Just take these knapsacks along." In a minute, under guard, the " team" drags the Yankee freight toward Bowling Green. A few miles farther another teamster is hailed ; the tired troops are relieved, and almost run for the goal of conflict. The advance find no foe in battle array, and no bridge across the deep, broad current. Colonel Turchin fiends a signal shell over it into the town. What a sud- den excitement among the soldiers and citizens ! Three regiments " are seen scampering to the cars, and putting ojff with what they had." The Texas Rangers start, torches in hand, for the public buildings. It is sad to watch the flames curling, in magnificent waves of ruin, over the beauty and pride of the town. 174 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. The victories of General Grant and Commodore Foote, and tlie progress of the dreaded gunboats up the Cumberland River, had awakened apprehensions before the messenger of death startled the traitors. They vrere getting ready to leave. Look along the j-ailroad toward Nashville, and you will see immense trains of loaded cars. The rebels are moving to that city. Not dreaming of danger from any quarter besides the base of General Grant's operations, they " packed up ; " and perceiving no necessity of great haste, they had been waiting unconsciously for General Mitchel. That shell over the coldly flowing river is h*ke a note of doom from the clear heavens. Another, and then another globe of imprisoned fire, mak^s its graceful curve above the dividing stream. "What " hurrying to and fro," and cries of terror ! *' Shall we set fire to the trains?" " Yes," shouts an officer. " No ! the Yankees are too near for that." And through the streets soldiers and citizens rush in the gloom of the night, whose stars are reflected from the surging waters. The snow had whitened the earth, and the cold wind sweeps around the shivering volunteers. Fires soon blaze on the river bank, and near them some almost benumbed declare they "would rather be shot than fro- zen." They lie down " snugly tucked in their blankets," to snatch a brief slumber. Scarcely are they asleep before LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 175 *' the assembly beats to arms, and the brigade is agaic in ranks." Upon them falls yet no herald-rays of the morning. It is gloomy and chilling. The engineer companies have repaired an old wherry or kind of flatboat, running a rope across the dismal flood of Barren Eiver. Quickly as the spider builds her nightly suspension bridges, had the army athletes spanned the bridgeless stream, and now the brigades begin by small detachments to cross over. Mournful spectacle is that which meets the vision in the dawn of day ! Mansions are in ruins — relics of flight strew the forsaken streets. Comic scenes, too, are there. A poor sutler had run away in such haste that all his good things for army speculation were left for our hungry " boys." They do not wait for a spread table or koiyes and forks. They snatch the eatables, and are on the march again. Then they enter the ruins of a storehouse of arms which the rebels had burned. And such a med- ley of weapons ! Old musket and pistol barrels, bowie knives, "hangers," savage blades, butcher knives, and every imaginable tool for murdering and mangling men are there. But much plunder is saved. Half a million of dollars is an unexaggerated estimate of its value to the Union cause. We give you the despatches to the general- in-chief, McCleUan, and the congratulations on the vic- tories : 176 LITE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. Louisville, Fehruary 15, 1862. To Major- General Mc Clellan : Mitchers division, by a forced marcli, readied the river at Bowling Green to-day, making a bridge to cross. The enemy burned the bridge at one o'clock in the morn- ing, and were evacuating the place when he arrived. D. C. BUELL, Brigadier- General Commanding-. The following is a general order, issued by General Buell to the troops of General Mitchel's division, after their advance upon Bowling Green : Headquartehs, Third Division, Camp John Q. Adams, ) BowLiKa Green, Fehniary 19, 1862. f Soldiers of the Thied Division : You have exe- cuted a march of forty miles in twenty-eight hours and a half. The fallen timber and other obstructions, opposed by the enemy to your movements, have been swept from your path. The fire of youjr artillery, and the bursting of your shells, announced your arrival. Surprised and ig-norant of the force that had thus precipitated itself upon them, they fled in consternation. In the night time, over a frozen, rocky, prectpitous pathway, down rude steps for fifty feet, you have passed the advance guard, cavalry and infantry, and before the dawn of day you have entered in triumph a position of LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 1Y7 extraordinary natural strength, and by your enemy proud- ly denominated the Gibraltar of Kentucky. "With your own hands, through deep mud, in drench- ing rains, and up rocky pathways, next to impassable, and across a footpath of your own construction, built upon the ruins of the railway bridge destroyed for their protection by a retreating and panic-stricken foe, you have transported upon your own shoulders your baggage and camp equipage. The general commanding the department, on receiving my report announcing these facts, requests me to make to the officers and soldiers under my command, the follow- ing communication : " Soldiers who by resolution and energy oyercome great natural difficulties, have nothing to fear in battle, where their energy and prowess are taxed to a far less extent. Your command have exhibited the high qualities of resolution and energy, in a degree which leaves no limit to my confidence in their future movements. " By order of Brigadier-General Buell, " Commanding Department of tJie Ohio.'''' Soldiers ! I feel a perfect confidence that the high estimate placed upon your power, endurance, energy, and heroism, is just. Your aim and mine has been to deserve the approbation of our commanding officer, and of our Government and our country. 8* 178 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. I trust you feel precisely as does your commanding general, that nothing is done while any thing remains to be done. By order of Brig.-Gen'l O. M. Mitchel, Commanding. Bowling Green was occupied, and nothing saved the rebel army which fled from it but the necessity which General Mitchel felt of making sure his communications. Otherwise he might be surprised, his retreat cut off, and his command taken prisoners, or at best, badly " cut up." Ferry-boats were constructed, and such defences planned as promised the greatest possible security to the troops, and success to the bold expedition. In the midst of these labors, his unselfish heart throb- bing with love to the land of his birth, and the high am- bition to hasten its deliverance from mad misrule, General Buell suddenly appeared in camp. His less ardent and less comprehensive mind was disturbed by General Mitch- el's daring movements. General Mitchel encounters here a new trial of his noble nature. It will be among the saddest records of the war, that officers like General Don Carlos BueU al- iDwed political or military aspirations, or half-hearted loyalty, or, at best, great blunders, to sacrifice thousands of lives, and imperil, more than all other dangers, our national honor and existence. General Mitchel spread out his plans. LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 1T9 " We must move cautiously ; do nothing to exasperate OUT Southern brethren ; " seemed to be the settled policy of the chief of the Cumberland army. " "We must move rapidly, strike boldly, and follow up every advantage to subdue the traitors," was the tone of each word added by the commander of the Third Division^ The result of the discussion was, permission under certain conditions for General Mitchel to go forward with his campaign. He was a free man dragging a chain^ The weight was a hindrance, and it might be made fast at any moment ; the finishing blow of a selfish policy, which at length came. The locomotives which stood puffing on the track when the shell crossed the river, drew the Union forces toward Nashville. It is Sunday evening. War does not respect the holy hours of the Lord's day. There had been no signs of its advent in that excited town. Armed men, citizens in groups, or hurrying through its streets, and scornful wo- men on balconies and in the doors of the mansions, are the scenes of February 23d, 1862. The city authorities gather to the appointed spot of meeting the commander of the Union troops and his staff. Colonel Kennett has been selected to receive, in behalf of General Mitchel, the possession of the town. It was a bitter necessity to many ; a most welcome transition to others who had not ceased to love the old flag. Nashville deserves a brief description, which wiU in- ^^^ 180 LIFE OF GENEKAL MITCHEL. terest you. It is on the left bank of the Cumberland, two hundred miles from its mouth, and six hundred and eighty-four from Washington. The capitol stands on an elevation one hundred and seventy feet above the river, commanding a glorious landscape. It is built of lime- stone, costing a million of dollars, and is one of the most magnificent structures of the kind in the country. The private residences are elegant, many of them palatial — rich in material, surroundings, and furniture. A suspen- sion bridge spans the stream there. The city is the ter- minus of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. General Mitehel called, in company with other officers, upon the widow of President James K. Polk, as did Gen- eral Grant while there. During the interview, the dig- nified lady, addressing him, said : " General, I trust this war will speedily terminate by the acknowledgment of Southern independence." This direct appeal to his loyalty turned all eyes to him. The silence which followed was brief. Calmly and firmly he spoke from the fulness of his earnest heart, with equal dignity, and great impressiveness : " Madam, the rnan whose name you bear was once President of the United States. He was an honest man and true patriot. He administered the laws of this Gov ernment with equal justice to all. We know of no inde- pendence of one section of our country Vv^hich does not belong to all others ; and judging by the past, if the mute LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 181 lips of the honored dead who lies near us could speak, they would express the hope that the war might never cease, if that cessation were purchased by a dissolution of the union of the States over which he once presided." The fair traitor was silenced, and loyal hearts deeply moved. CHAPTER XV. General Mitchel's plan of Campaign— Its Sublime Daring— Moves to Murfrees° boro'— Scenes near Corinth— Eebel Contempt of the Flag of Truce— Eebel "Woman's Letter— General Mitcbers Justice and Humanity— Guer- rillas — Sufferinsc Union Men— A Figbt— The value of Seconds. fr\ ND now we come to the first great opportunity to Y stow the splendid qualities of our hero in daring wjto^ and difficult military movements, the very mar- tial ability peculiar to Napoleon Bonaparte. You will find on the map, a little southeast of Nashville, and one hundred and sixteen miles from it, Huntsville, Alabama. It is a handsomely-situated town. The capital of Mp-dison County, it has a finely-built court- house, which cost forty-five thousand dollars. The popu- lation is four thousand. Though an important centre of business for the region, the great attraction to General Mitchel was its situation. It is on the Memphis and Charleston Eailroad, which, with intersecting tracks, poured into the depots of the southeastern rebel army LIFE OF GENEKAL MTTCHEL. 183 the men, munitions of war, and the supplies of the "West. See how the network of iron paths in Kentucky, Tennes- see, and Mississippi, connect with this grand central thoroughfare of trade and travel. General Mitchel de- termined to march his comparatively small army a hun- dred and thirty miles through the enemy's country to Hunts ville, and cut that great artery of life to the Con- federacy. The value of this road to the rebel army you will learn from a secession paper published at Florence, which lies upon it, between HuntsviHe and Corinth. The news of Grant's progress southward from Fort Donelson had reached the place. The Gazette of March 12, 1862, had the following very significant article : " We learned yesterday that the Unionists had landed a very large force at Savannah, Tenn. "We suppose they are making preparations to get possession of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. They must never be allowed to get this great thoroughfare in their possession, for then we would indeed be crippled. The labor and untiring industry of too many faithful and energetic men have been expended on this road to bring it up to its present state of usefulness, to let it fall into the hands of the enemy to be used against us. It must be protected. We, as a people, are able to protect and save it. If unavoid- able, let them have our river ; but we hope it is the united sentiment of our people, that we will have our railroad" 184 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. General Mitchel carefully counted the perils and the cost of the bold adventure. The possibility of being caught by the rebels away from the centres of our mili- tary strength, he knew. Libby prison for those who were not killed in the fight, or the hospitalities of any other place of Southern incarceration, were not pleasant to con- template. On the other hand, he had learned that, with- out a risk, a resolute attempt to overcome obstacles, nothing worthy of a man, and especially of a Chris- tian, was ever accomplished. Providence was his trust ; and He honors a faith that depends on His inter- position to give success, if that aid may be intelligently expected. General Mitchel, with a bounding heart of hope and pure ambition to do what he felt able and called to per- form for the republic, advanced from Nashville to Mur- freesboro' early in March. His superior officer had other work enough to fill his hands, which left our commander for awhile unembarrassed. Movements were made pointing to the hastening con- flict at Shiloh, by the hostile armies of the western field. General Buell commenced his march over the country toward the Tennessee River. General Grant, whose en- larged command was now the " Department of the Missis- sippi," had moved his battalions already in the vicinity of Pittsburg Landing. The rebel army of the Southwest was intrenched at Corinth, a few miles distant in a south- LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 185 westerly direction, on the Memphis and Charleston Rail- road. The splendid victories of Grant and Foote in the northern part of the Mississippi valley, and of Butler and Farragnt near the mouth of the Father of Waters, had alarmed the traitors. The ghostly thought, that the "Yankees" migTit "hew their way" through that mag- nificent valley, and cut their revolted territory in two, began to haunt their proud dreams of conquest. Beaure- gard was the chief of the concentrated forces prepared to dispute the advance of the Union troops. It was at this crisis of affairs that General Mitchel was at Murfreesboro'. You recollect his engineering on the railways while at Cincinnati nearly twenty years before. Now this practical knowledge was just the thing for his raid, as it may be termed. The rebels, in their late retreat, had destroyed all the bridges on the route. General Mitchel, in ten days, had twelve hundred feet of these demolished structures rebuilt and ready for the ad- vance. It is the sixth of April, the Sabbath-day. Listen, with the ear turned toward Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh — ^the latter name being that of a church near — and you can almost catch the thunder of terrible battle. General Grant has been unexpectedly attacked at that point, in- stead of meeting the enemy as anticipated at Corinth. Generals Albert Sidney Johnson and Beauregard have 186 LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL, made a bold push forward. Like a long spectral caravan, their splendid army swept through the forest in the morn- ing twilight, to fall upon General Prentiss' division. Oh ! what carnage, consecrated with the blood of patriots, that day of the Lord ! And how strangely tragedy and com- edy are mingled sometimes in War ! On the rebel side of the field a commander gathered around him his brigade, and in the hearing of our men, whose battery was concealed by a forest, he commenced his address in these words : " Sons of the South ! "We are here to defend our homes, our wives and daughters, against the horde of vandals who have come h*ere to pos- sess the first and violate the last. Here, upon this sacred soil, we have assembled to di-ive back the Northern in- vaders — drive them into Tennessee. "WiU you follow me ? Is there a man so base among those who hear me as to retreat before the contemptible foe before us? I wiU never blanch before their fire, nor " Just then a strange screaming sound in the aii', and six shells dropped around the orator. "With the dust, he and his audience in a hurry cleared away. The speech is doubtless un- finished to this hour. And where is Mitchel, who longed for the smoke of conflict which rolled in dense clouds over Shiloh ? He is sweeping like the wind toward Shelbyville, on his way to Huntsville. Meanwhile li%.^epot of supplies was re- moved to within fifty mil»3 of Huntsville. You know LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 18T the food for an army, including horses and mules, re- quires the greatest forethought and care. Let thousands of soldiers, with the necessary animals, be caught tvithout subsistence in an enemy's country, and starvation or sur- render must soon follow. To prevent tliis, headquarters for the supplies, as well as for the commanding general, must be secured with the advance of the army from one centre of operations to another. Long trains of cars, or of wagons, convey these means of sustaining the immense cavalcade of the moving battalions to a convenient dis- tance from the troops. To give you an idea of army trains, I vrill add a de- scription of one of these. An army corps of 30,000 in- fantry has about 700 wagons, drawn by 4,200 mules. Including the horses of officers and of the artillery, about 7,000 animals have to be provided for. On the march, it is calculated that each wagon will occupy eighty feet, in bad roads much more ; so that a train of 700 wagons will cover 56,000 feet, or over ten miles ; the ambulances will occupy about a mile, and batteries about three miles ; 30,000 troops need six miles to march in if they form one column ; the total length of the marching column of a corps is, therefore, twenty miles, without including the cattle herds and trains of bridge materials. Lnpatient critics of army movements would often be more lenient were they to familiarize themselves with the details of X 188 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. the immense difficulty of organizing and moving large trains and artillery. The bitter spirit of the rebels in the country which General Mitchel traversed, was shown whenever an op- portunity occurred. A member of his staff told me that all manner of sport was made of the movements and sol- diers of the army. Mimickry, ridicule, and curses, were the salutations continually. Men, women, and children, vied with each other in the effort to annoy the troops, and display their demoniac enmity toward the "Yankees." No clearer evidence of a bad cause could be given. The consciousness of a righteous and worthy enterprise will lift those engaged in it to rational and decent conduct : the old proverb, " murder will out," has forcible appli- cation here. The worst effect of slavery, perhaps, is the tyrannical, irritable, and selfish disposition it cultivates. To make property of another race — to be reheved from all labor by those who are at the mercy of their owners — ^nurtures the basest passions. Embodied in political action, and then military force, the motto has been and is, " Rule or ruin." While at Shelbyville General Mitchel received, under flag of truce, a rebel officer. The returning captive was taken sick. He was nursed for many days in his pain and weakness. No stranger would have guessed, from the kindest attention and medical aid, that he was a faith- LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 189 ful soldier of Jeff. Davis. When he recovered, the flag of truce was borne by an escort of the officer toward Corinth, where the troops of Beauregard held their strong position. The sad news from our army of the first day's battle at Shiloh, had reached the towns on the route. At Fay- ette ville, which you will observe is on the curve made by the course of travel, twenty miles from Shelbyville, the -exulting people excelled the forest savages in their in- humanity. A flag of truce, the world over, is regarded sacred. "Without such respect, there could be no inter- course between hostile armies. It is the flag whose mean- ing is just the opposite of the hlach flag, which signifies no mercy. But at Fayetteville it was scorned. The barbarians were so sure of sweeping the Union legions from their soil, they could meanly, basely, insult the peaceful banner over the head of an officer from their army. The life of the escort was in danger. A ruffian took him by the hand and rudely pulled it, saying, with an oath I will not repeat : " You infernal Yankee, what are you doing here ? " It reminds us of the stories of Indian captivity, in the early history of our country, when a prisoner became the object of cruel pastime till death released the victim. The officer and his lieutenant sat up all night to watch over the life of the truce-flag bearer. The returned rebel wrote to General Mitchel, deeply regretting the injury, 190 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. and making all the apology in his power for the outrage And to illustrate the spirit of the women, I must add an extract from a letter addressed to " Dearest Aunt : If there is an hereafter, a heaven or hell, I pray to go to perdition ere my soul would be join- ed or rest in heaven with the fiendish foe. Heaven would not be the place described to us were it filled with spirits BO foul, so hellish (excuse the expression). "Words are too weak, too trite, too feeble to convey even the slightest idea of feeling with which our refined, elegant, high-toned, principled, chivalrous people look upon such an offcast, degenerate set. . . . Oh ! the thought is too painful, to see our men, the choicest, the most refined specimens of God's work, destroyed and even forced to take up arms against the dregs of creation ; for every man they lose is a blessing, a godsend to humanity and society. "Anna." Such was the welcome of the citizens, for the most part, to General Mitchel, pushing with sublime daring into the heart of the treasonable South. You will read with admiring interest his eloquent " declaration of senti- ments," in respect to his o^vn conduct amid such provoca- tions : "In my treatment of the people I adopted a very simple policy at the outset. I have studied the great platform of the rebellion to the best of my ability, and LIFE OF GENERAL MITOHEL. 191 made up my mind tliat no cause existed for the South raising its hand against the United States — ^not the slightest ; that it was a rebellion, a downright piece of treason all the way through ; and that every individual in that country who was either in arms, or who aided and abetted those in arms, was my personal enemy, and that I would never break bread, or eat salt, with any en- emy of my country, no matter who he might be ; and I have never done it up to this day. In the next place, I determined I would show them I was honest, and had an object in view ; and while I treated them with the most perfect justice, I determined to make every individual feel that there was a terrible pressure of war upon him, which would finally destroy him and grind him to pow- der, if he did not give up his rebellion." Words more just, patriotic, unselfish, and appropriate, no lips have uttered since the Declaration of Independ- ence proclaimed the birth of the Republic ! They were the keynote of that peculiar and fascinating earnestness, which not often lends its glow to fine intellect and high culture. There was so much soul in all he did. I do not mean merely enthusiasm, which may be very shallow. It was depth of feeling, moved like the tides by the sun and moon, when any object worthy of his powers engaged them. It gained for him a privileged place in the Acad- emy, built observatories, captivated the elite of the land while he discoursed of the stars, and made him a leader 192 LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. on the battle-field, second to none in promise of grandest success. How unlike the compromisiiag, hesitating policy of many distinguished generals in our Union army, from the beginning of the war ! And how unlike the terrible earnestness of the foe ! You have heard of the guerrillas? And you may have seen the anecdote of a man who confounded the name with gorilla^ a powerful and savage animal resem- bling the orang-outang — not a very bad mistake either ; for the guerriUas are a band of lawless robbers, who prowl over the country, plundering and murdering the Union people without mercy. General Mitchel learned that they had driven the in- habitants of Franklin and Marion Counties, in East Ten- nessee, to the mountains, away from their homes, crops, and all their comforts. Thousands of peaceable citizens, because they loved the Republic, were thus, like the Christian martyrs under the pagan and papal kings, " wandering in the dens and caves of the earth." White and black alike were hunted down by the rebel bandits — pillaged, insulted, outraged. General Mitchel sent General Negley, a brave offi- cer of the stamp of his commander, to look after these ruffians ; and after he had administered justice from the mouths of rifles, and from sabre-tongues, to make a caU at Chattanooga. There, was a strong position of the enemy. On the cavalry flew, to ward Winchester, by forced marches, LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. 193 to surprise General Adams, near Jasper. How splendidly those troopers climbed the steep declivities, and moved like a huge anaconda over the mountain crests, and along the rugged slopes ! Twenty miles of this gallop were left behind, when the Union force struck the pickets of Ad- ams' battalions, and captured them by the most adroit at- tack. Soon General Negley met the main force, v/hich fled up a narrow lane. Hotly pursued, the enemy crowded the unfrequented road toward Jasper, until compelled to turn and fight. Now comes one of the severest '• hand-to-hand nghts " of the war. Gallantly dash Taggard and Wyncoop's cavalry upon the desperate rebels. Spur, carbine, and sabre do their work well ! The burnished blades wave and cross, and go dov^n to diink blood in the electric an* of that fierce battle. See that fine-looking guerrilla, his face half b.uried in whiskers and mustache, lifting his blade with defiant sv/ing ! Down it goes, with sudden, aimless curve, toward the ground. The proud head droops — ^the blood gurgles from a mortal wound ! That dying officer is Major Adams, brother of the commanding general. And then the reins are drawn on the steeds, and their heads turned tovv^ard Jasper. In the town an effort is made to rally the terrified fugitives, but, cursing Adams and ill luck, on they sweep toward Chattanooga. For miles the road is strewn with weapons, knapsacks, and 9 194 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. all the relic3 of a flying host, leaving a score or more dead in their wake. General Adams finds rest in Chattanooga, to the very gates of which General Negley follows him. Colonel Sill advances to Shell Mound, on the river. Meanwhile, from the mountain passes of the Cumberland Kange, the over- joyed exiles come streaming into Jasper, haggard, weary, and hungry. Oh ! 'tis touching to see strong men weep with grief and gratitude, and vainly endeavor to express their thanks for the deliverance wrought by General Mitchel and his heroes. Despatches pass back and forth between Generals Negley and Mitchel, breathing victory and congratula- tions. The cobwebs are swept from long-forsaken homes, and lights at evening again burn by their altars. Upon one occasion an officer, with whom General Mitchel had business of great importance to transact, re- ported himself at a later moment than he had appointed for the interviev/. Y/hen the officer came into the gen- eral's presence, with no thought of any allusion to a little delay, his commander said promptly : '' Sir, you are late." " Only a fev/ seconds," replied the officer. " Sir," replied Greneral Mitchel, " I have been in the habit of computing the value of the hundredth part of a second." The rebuke was felt and borne in silence. The as- LIFE OF GENEEAIi MITCHEL. 195- I tronomer had learned the importance of the fraction of a second in the measurement and motions of the heavenly bodies, which may be equally precious in ^he movements of armies and destinies of men. Look away toward that wild summit, around which lies a rugged and romantic landscape, bathed in the morning light of the Sabbath ! Tents dot the slopes, and over them waves, in the refreshing breeze, the '' Star' Spangled Banner." Excepting the track of the Union army, and its encampments, heights and valley are hos-- tile soil. The Ninth Ohio Brigade have gathered to the bugle- call for religious service. The brave " Buckeye" volun- teers stand with uncovered heads, while the chaplain's prayer ascends to the God of battles. Then the sacred song rises and swells upon the mountain air, floating' away to the eagle's nest, and blending v/ith the wild bird's notes of praise to Him " who hears the young ravens when they cry." The sermon follov/s. When the prccHcher leaves his platform General Mitch el mounts a rock, and modestly, earnestly addresses the troops. His clear voice and eloquent words held in breathless atten- tion every hearer. He begins by assuring the vast audience that he does not " appear before them as the general commanding, but in a higher capacity ; that he shall address them as a man speaking to his fellow men— as one striving fo-: the 196 LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. same eternal rest ofiered to all in this probationary life." He urges tlie duty of the soldier to be a Christian ; that religion heightens every enjoyment, and prepares him to discharge better every obligation For half an hour the scholar, general, and orator, pre- sents in glov/ing light the transcendent excellence of Christian character, the ingratitude and ruin of an irre- ligious life. Seldom, if ever, has the war-field presented so sublime and impressive a scene. The Sabbath-sky arched the mountain top, glittering mth arms and uniform, from whose rocky eyrie for the first, and doubtless last time, worship ascended to the '' King of kings." And when the sun went down in glory over the guardian heights of East Tennessee, brave hearts were touched with the memories of that appeal — tears glistened while its magic power sent the thoughts away to Christian homes and temples, per- haps to be seen no more. Snatches of sacred melody from scattered tents died on the bosom of night — the mountain vespers of freedom's advancing host I CHAPTER XVI. A daring Adventure under General MitcTiel — The leader of the hand detailed tc conduct it— Perilous Travelling— Partial Success— The Flight for Life— Ar- rest of the " Engine Thieves." )E come now to a wild episode in General Mitchel's campaign ; an adventure, the like of which , I think, was never known before. To understand it, you must recollect that the rebels had been driven by General Grant from their great frontier posts, and had fallen back on shorter lines of defence — that is, placed their troops around a smaller territory. The railroad which General Mitchel was after, was the western artery of supplies to the enemy. The map will show you on the easterly side of a vast parallelogram of railways from Memphis to Chattanooga, thence to At- lanta and Jackson, and round again to Memphis, forming the life-enclosure of the hostile field, the Georgia State road. 198 LIFE 0¥ GENERAL JillTCHEL. If along with success in the magnificent enterprise of General Mitchel, this important line could be destroyed or even crippled, East Tennessee, then poorly defended, would be at the mercy of our General Morgan lying before Cumberland Gap, ready to spring like a lion from his lair, whenever the prey v/as T\^ithin reach. Mr. J. J. Andrews, a secret agent of the United States, who had often been through nearly every part of the South, matured a very bold plan of cutting off com- munication by this route. It was a military expedition of small proportions, but attended with a courageous fear- lessness, and with perils surpassing any other deed of ar- tifice, and defiance of suffering and death, in the annals of war. A score of men were to penetrate to the enemy's country, seize the trains on the track from Atlanta to Huntsville, and burn the bridges behind them ; thus inter- rupting communication, till a decisive blow could be laid upon the almost isolated foe. The proposition was first made to General Buell, who referred Andre Vv^s to General Mitchel. Yfith him the bold raiders were successful. The audacious design just suited the enthusiasm and energy of the chief. The greatest caution and secrecy was to attend every movement of the pretended friends of the Confederate Administration while under its pro- tection. Among them was a young man named William Pittinger, an Ohio farmer's boy, only tv/enty-two yeara LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 199 of age. Like his general, he was early fond of astro- nomical studies. When only seventeen years of age he constructed a telescope of considerable power, " which his friends from near and far came to see and gaze through, at the wonderful v/orlds unthought of before." An intelligent, yet imaginative youth, he asked as a spe- cial favor that he might be permitted to join the expe- dition. He has since published an account of the wild, exciting, and tragical adventures of that select company, who were all from Ohio excepting the leader Andrews, and William Campbell, both of whom were from Ken- tucky. Several of the fearless band of twenty-four, who were gathered from four different regiments and eight companies, made short excursions to the enemy's lines, and came near being captured at Chattanooga. They had gone in citizen's dress from that place to Atlanta, in- tending there to seize a Georgia engineer, take his train, burn the bridges behind them, and run through to our lines. But he had been pressed into Beauregard's service, then mustering his forces at Corinth, and thus escaped. At length all was ready for the grand dash into the heart of " rebeldom." The little camp was pitched above Shelbyville, where General Mitchel's battalions lay. April 6th, the Sabbath-day, smiled brightly on the scene. Writes young Pittinger : " The earliness of the clime made the birds sing, and the fields bloom with moro than the brilliancy of May in our own northern land 200 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. Deeply is the quiet of that Sabbath with the green beauty of the warm spring landscape pictured on mj mind. An impression, I know not what, made me devote the day to writing letters to my friends. It was well I did so, for long and weary months passe,d ere I was permitted to' write to them again." Monday morning, Andrews reported to General Mitchel that he had been along the line of the Georgia State Railroad, and the " scheme was still feasible, and would be of more advantage than ever." The leader of the band was a noble specimen of Ken tucky manhood. He was " nearly six feet in height, of powerful frame, black hair, long, black, and silken beard ; Roman features ; a high and expansive forehead ; and a voice fine and soft as a woman's, with the most cool and dauntless courage," and great refinement of feeling. He had a single defect of character, it would seem, from the history of the expedition. While, as a secret agent, he was always deliberate in action, his very habit of acting alone, unfitted him in some degree to act for others, in a startling surprise, when " instant action is the only chance of safety." Still a braver, manlier spirit, never staked every thing in a desperate adventure, than this loyal son of Kentucky. At four o'clock on that Monday afternoon, the sun- beams fell unclouded upon the gallant company striking their tents, and leaving camp in the bracing air of the LIFE OF GENESAL IMTTCnEL. 201 closirg day. They hastened to Shelby ville, to bid adieu to old comrades and their brave officers. The eyes of scarred heroes were suffused with tears while they grasped hands, in a parting vhich appeared to those who remained behind, a final one. Alas ! it proved to be so to more than a third of the number. The orders were, to proceed in separate squads along the road toward Chattanooga, and halting two or three miles from Shelbyville, meet in consultation, and arrange the programme of dangerous advance into hostile ter- ritory. Now look into that thicket of shrubbery and old fallen trees, opening into the fields and road ; a partial conceal- ment, and yet affording a glimpse of the approaches to prevent a surprise by straggling foes. The silent stars flash above the ambush, and the dry leaves rustle in the night wind, while Andrews in subdued and earnest tones reveals the plan of action. The band are to travel in companies of three or four toward Chattanooga, avoid- ing suspicion by such stories of their adventures as might be suggested by the occasion. They are to reach the stronghold, one hundred and three miles distant, on Thursday evening. The road is hard, and every step under the shadow of danger. With nightfall comes a ter rific storm, and rayless darkness wraps the lonely path of travel. But onward, falling into swollen gutters and sinking into mire, Pittinger and his comrades go toward 9* •202 LIFE OF GENEEAL I^OTCHEL. their unrelenting enemies. At midnight they find shel- ter in a ioghouse. The owner, alarmed at the unseason- able call, begins to question the "boys." They reply : " We are Kentuckians, disgusted with the Lincoln Government, and are seeking an asylum in the free and independent South." " Oh, you have come on a bootless errand," he adds ; *' and yon had better go home, for I have no doubt the whole of the South will soon be as much under Lincoln as Kentucky is." " Never ! v/e will fight till we die first." This deceives the Union settler, and chuckling over his own contrary belief, he says : "Well, we'll sec ; v^^e'U see." The adventurers do not dare disclose their real char- acter, and the quiet loyalist entertains the supposed chiv- alry, promising not to inform the Union pickets of their refuge. We do not justify such a resort to falsehood, but war Bets aside the rules of peaceful life. The next morning they pushed on through the storm again, which soon beat upon them with pitiless fury. At Manchester, entirely beyond our lines, they found intense excitement over the rumor of an approaching force of Yankee cavalry. Hast- ening, with the peculiar emotions of loyal hearts, to the public square, from which, it v^^as stated, the invaders were visible, they saw the dreaded troopers rising over LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 203 the crest of a hill. How suddenly the delusion vanished J For lo ! a company of negroes General Mitchel had frightened from the coal-mining vv^orks he had just de- stroyed, were hurrying into tov/n. The chagrined chiv- alry dispersed, cursing the " sons of Ham," on whose un- requited toil they flourished, and for which they had open- ed the sluices of human blood in the land. The dinner hour found them hungry, and near a " Sand-hiller's " solitary and humble drelling. "What are " Sand-liillers " ? asks a young reader. The name is applied to the poor whites of the South, who feel almost as crushingly the curse of slavery as do those v/ho are bought and sold. They own no land, but have their cabins on the poorest soil of the planters, and with a corn-patch, live -as they can by the. fish-hook and gun— a miserably ignorant, squalid, servile class, who are merely the tools of the aristocracy. They are also called " clay-eaters." A good appetite made even the coarse corn bread, half baked, and tainted meat relish — the only repast the raiders could have that dark day. At night they were sheltered by a bitter secessionist, v/ith whom they dis- cussed the tyranny of the Eepublican Administration. The morning of Thursday dawned on the weary and jaded company, still a long distance from Chattanooga, deter- mined to force their way on to the appointed place of meeting, when Andrews concluded to defer the 204 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHJIL. final dash a single day — as it proved, a strangely fatal delay. A few hours later they were in Jasper, hearing and seeing what they could ; apparently as good rebels as any of the villagers. You will know more of this town in General Mitchel's movements. Here, news of the battle of Shiloh were just received — it was said, exultingly, that thousands of Yankees were killed, and one man affirmed that Jive hundred gunboats were sunk. After all sorts of adventures — getting lost among tlie Cumberland Moun- tains, and perils among foes — they followed a valley to the river-bank, opposite Chattanooga. In an hour or two the cars would pass on the opposite side, in which they must be passengers. Between them and that track was a ferry, sv/ept by a gale of wind. The unsuspecting ferry- man tried to cross, but his boat was beaten back, like a nautilus-shell in a storm at sea. After repeated efforts, the hazardous passage was accomplished. The next barrier, which v/aj§ the most dreaded, v/as the guard. But the arrival of General Mitchel at llunts- viile had so alarmed the people that they evidently forgot the ferry in looking tov/ard that centre of terrible interest — ^the armed watchmen were gone. "With a sense of relief, the little band hastened to the mountain-environed town, near the rushing Tennessee. A peak, seven hundred feet high, frowns in singular grandeur over it, from which lookout four States are visible. To the depot they hur LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 205 ried, and boiiglit tlieir tickets, when, just as the sun stooped to bathe lovingly, with farewell smiles, " ^Earth's gigantic sentinels. Discoursing in the skies ! " the train came thundering along. In another moment the raiders were safely seated in the cars, and gliding along those smooth metallic lines, gleaming in the golden flame of the west, toward Marietta. Sleep overcame the exhausted travellers, until the conductor's call, at mid- night, " Marietta ! " startled them to realize that the goal was won — ^they " were in the centre of the Confederacy." They walked, with rapid step and quickened pulse, to the Tremont House. With strange, sobered thoughts, they went to their last led for many eventful, memorable months. The leader, Andrews, who stopped at another hotel, had given orders to start in the four o'clock train the next morning. The waiter awakened the unsuspected " boys " at that hour. Big Shanty, eight miles from Marietta, where the train stopped for breakfast, was selected for the daring attempt to seize the engine, and drive it in hot haste for our lines. The early morning air and the vernal bloom softened even the savage aspect of war along the route, bordered with encampments, and scarred with the hoofs and wheels of their locomotion. And here I shall let young Pittin- ger tell his own story : 206 LIFE OF GEl^ERAL MITCHEL. " As soon as we arrived, the engineer, conductor, and many of tlie passengers went over to the eating-house. Now v\^as our opportunity ! Andrews and one or two others, went forward and examined the track to see if every thing was in readiness for a rapid start. Oh ! what a thrilling moment was that ! Our hearts throbbed thick and fast vv^ith emotions we dared not manifest to those who were loafing indifferently around. In a minute, which seemed an hour, Andrews came back, opened the door, and said very quietly and carelessly, ' Let us go, now, boys.' Just as quietly and carelessly we arose and followed him. The passengers, vv^ho v/ere lazily waiting for the train to move on and carry them to their destina- tion, saw nothing in this transaction to excite their suspi- cions. '' Leisurely we moved forward — reached the head of the train — then Andrews, Brown, our engineer, and Knight, who also could run an engine, leaped on the locomotive ; Alfred Wilson took the cars as brakesman, and the re- mainder of us clambered into the foremost baggage car, which, with two others, had previously been uncoupled from the hinder part of the train. For one moment of most intense suspense all was still — then a pull — a jar — a clang-^and we were flying away on our perilous jour- ney, "There are times in the life of man when whole yearo of intensest enjoyment seem condensed into a single LIFE OF GENERAL MITOHEL. 207 moment. It was so with me then. My heart throbbed with delight and gladness that words labor in vain to ex- press. A sense of ethereal lightness ran through all my veins, and I seemed to be ascending higher — ^liigher — into realms of inexpressible bliss, with each pulsation of the engine. It was a moment of triumphant joy that will never return again. Not a dream of failure now shad- owed my rapture. All had told us that the greatest diffi- culty was to reach and take possession of the engine, and after that success was certain. It luould have been but for unforeseen contingencies. Away we scoured, passing field, and village, and woodland. At each leap of the en- gine our hearts rose higher, and we talked merrily of the welcome that would greet us when into Huntsville a few hours later — ^our enterprise done, and the brightest lau- rels of the guerrilla Morgan far eclipsed ! " But the telegraph ran by our side, and vv^as able, by flashing a single lightning message ahead, to arrest our progress and dissipate all our fondest hopes. To obviate all danger on this point, we stopped, after running some four miles, to cut the wire. John Scott, an active young man, climbed the pole, and with his hand knocked off the insulated box, and swung down on the wire. Fortunately there was a small saw on the engine, vnth which the wire was soon severed. "While this was being done, another party took up a rail, and put it into the car to carry oS with us. This did not long check our pursuers, but we 208 LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. had the satisfaction of learning that it threw them down the embankment. " When the engine first stopped Andrews jumped off, clasped om' hands in ecstac.j, congratulating us that our dijfficulties were nov/ all over ; that we had the enemy at such a disadvantage that he could not harm us, and ex- hibited every sign of joy. " ' Only one train more,' said he, ' to pass, and then we will put our engine at full speed, burn the bridges af- ter us, dash through Chattanooga, and on to Mitchel at HuntsviHe.'" Alas for the boasted wisdom and security of human plans ! The expected train came rushing on — the plea that Beauregard ordered the strange haste gave them an unchallenged flight still onvv^ard, but a red flag on the last car told of another coming engine—it swept hj, and also hung out the flaming signal. The wJdstle of the pursuing engine now shrieked on their ears ! The steam was crov/ded — the ponderous wheels went round like a spinning-top, and struck fire on the sounding rail — the car bounded and rocked, tossing the raiders about, as " peas rattle in a gourd ; " but on the exasperated reb- els rushed. Such a war-scene was never witnessed before. Nearly a mile a minute, the pursued and pursuers flew past villages, hamlets, and houses, from which the aston- ished people gazed with terror, till vv^ithin fifteen miles of Chattanooga. The alarm had called out the military LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 209 force there — cannon were planted ready to fire on the im- aginary host — ^trees were felled across the track to oppose the advance — for the telegraph had helped the enemy in spite of early success in cutting it. Wood and water were now low, and the hunters in sight ! Andrews seemed bewildered. Instead of holding to- gether his band, and striking across the woods for the Tennessee Eiver, only about a dozen miles distant, he shouted ; .^ " Leave the traiQ — disperse — and each man save him- self as best he can." A moment more and the "boys" were scattered among the spurs of the Cumberland Mountains. Soon as the first shock of the unexpected and stunning blow had passed away, and the rebels found that the " engine- thieves" were in the wilderness, the great "man-hunt" began. TTe cannot follow them through their wanderings and hiding-places, with hunger, and thirst, and bruises, added to the continual fears of discovery which haunted the fu- gitives. But one after another they were chased down, and carried into Chattanooga. Here they were throvvTi into an old negro prison, with its dark subterranean dun- geon, where, through a trap-door, the captives were hur- ried in a suffocating air and oppressive gloom. Daily, at the same opening, the jailer let down in a bucket the small pieces of bread and meat for their meals. CHAPTEH XYII. A brave Boy— The Dungeon— Iron Cages— The escape and arrest of Andrews— The Death-warrant— Deep Experiences— General Mitchel blameless in the whole afifair. T Ringgold, Robinson and young Parrott were taken. The captors determined to make Par- rott betray his companions, especially An- di-ews. He nobly declined to do so. Then they stripped him, laid him on a rock, and a lieuten- ant gave him a hundred lashes. He bore them without a murmur or wavering in his purpose. The " heroic boy " was then chained and conveyed to the prison, where all were handcuffed and bound together, by twos and threes, around the neck. One day light broke into that horrible place, which kindled a smile upon the haggard faces of the prisoners, and made them feel like shouting — ^it was the tidings that Bridgeport was taken by General Mitchel. This splendid victory is recorded in another place. After the capture, one of two who did not awaken in the morning, at Mari- LIFE OF ge:neeal^mitchel. 211 etta, to go with their companions, succeeded in reaching OTir lines from a rebel battery which they had been com- pelled to join. This created a suspicion in regard to the other, who was also put in the "black hole" of Chatta- nooga. The inmates were aU suddenly removed to Atlanta, Georgia, under the startling apprehension that General Mitchel would visit Chattanooga in his mysterious and rapid movements. A few days later, when the fear of immediate danger had subsided, the prisoners were returned to Chattanooga, and thence to Knoxville, Tennessee, for trial. Here they found, in frightful want and suffering, many Union men who re- fused to acknowledge the Confederacy. The higher class of captives — ^the prison aristocracy — were confined in iron cages. There were five of these in the fine and antiquat- ed old building used for a military prison. A part of the company of" engine thieves," as they were called tlirough- out the South, were put into the very one in which Par- soaa Brovmlow was caged and shot at by his guards ; the bullet marks wore still upon it. Such are the tender mercies of professedly civilized men, engaged in a cause which fires the base passions nourished by slavery under the surface-dressing of soci- ety. While the court-martial was in session, several weeks later, when number seven in the list was called, there 212 LIFE OF GENERAL ]\nTCHEL. was a pause. A strange sound was in the air. They listened — it was a shell ! General Mitchel, whose mag- nificent dash through rebel States was troubling the sub- jects of Jeff. Davis all along his route, was opposite Chattanooga, and sending his heralds over the river. Never did a court break up more suddenly, and away for Atlanta again the prisoners went — Atlanta ! the splendid prize of the unrivalled Sherman two years later. The barbarities of the rebels, v*dio have always, you inow, talked of mercy, and complained of Yankee cru- elty, are illustrated in two other instances I will add. One man, by the name of Whan, who assisted in burn- ing bridges, was put in a barrel filled with sj)ikes, rolled down a hill, and then taken out bleeding, and hung. An- drews when swung off from the gallows, among the first caught, touched the ground ; so the murderers dug the earth from under his feet, to save repeating the execu- tion. " How was he caught?" you ask. He was pursued with the rest, and overtaken. With a comrade he escaped, with blankets tied together, from the prison in Chattanooga. Crossing the river, he reach- ed an island. But his hunters, with bloodhounds, came there. Nearly naked, and bleeding, he ran from one side of the island to the other, and through the water, to elude the dogs, and at length climbed a tree of thick foliage. After the rebels had given up the search in despair of LIFE OF GEjS"EEAL MITCHEL. 213 finding him, two cMldren, who had followed from mere curiosity, saw a lunch on the tree. Carefully looking at it, they called out, "It is a man!" The alarm was sounded ; — poor Andrews, faint and disheartened, dropped from the tree, seized a log in the water, and paddled out ; but a skiff with men in it was near, and he had to sur- render. He was taken hack, and soon after hung, as al- ready described. And thus ended the career of a young man of intel- lect, energy, and culture, who, like Major Andre, the British spy, a finished gentleman, was a felon-victim of war ; that is to say, died a criminal's death. And yet it is the character, and not the mode of dying, that makgs the event important. Hearing that a son of General Mitchel was captured, it raised the hope in the hearts of the survivors of an exchange, which proved an illusion. Passing over fur- ther details of this tragic and romantic history, we will look in upon Atlanta jail, while General Mitchel was spreading terror along his path of conquest, sad, with a host around him, at the failure of the almost recklessly daring adventure, and the fate of his brave men. You shall again hear the noble young Pittinger tell the tale of sorrow and joy most affectingly mingled : " One day while we were very merry, amusing om*- selves with games and stories, we saw a squadron of cav airy approaching. This did not at first excite any atten^ 214 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. tion, for it was a common thing to see bodies of horse- men in the streets ; but soon we observed them halt at our gate and surround the prison. "What could this mean ? " A moment after, the clink of the officers' swords was heard, as they ascended the stairway, and we knew that something i^nusual was about to take place. They paused at our door, threw it open, and called the names of our seven companions. With throbbing hearts we asked one another the meaning of these strange proceedings. Some supposed they were to receive their sentence ; others, still more sanguine, believed they were taken out of the room to be paroled, preparatory to an exchange. I was sick, but rose to my feet, oppressed .with a nameless fear. " A moment after, the door opened, and George D. Wilson entered, his step firm and his form erect, but his countenance pale as death. Some one asked a solution of the dreadful mystery, in a whisper, for his face silenced us all. " ' We are to he executed immediately ! ' was the awful reply, whispered with thrilling distinctness. The others came in all tied, ready for the scaflFold. Then came the farewells — farewells, with no hope of meeting again in this world ! It was a moment that seemed an age of measureless sorrow. Our comrades were brave ; they were soldiers, and had often looked death in the face on the battle-field. They were ready, if need be, to die for their country ; but to die on the scaffold — to die as mur- LIFE OF GENEKAIi MITCHEL. 215 derers die — seemed almost too hard for human nature to bear. Then, too, the prospect of a future world, into which thej were thus to be hurried, without a moment's preparation, was black and appalling. Most of them had been careless, and had no hope beyond the grave, Wil- pon was a professed infidel, and many a time had argued the truth of the Christian religion with me for half a day at a single discussion ; but in this awful hour he said to me : " ' Pittinger, I believe you are right now ! Oh ! try to be better prepared when you come to die than I am.' " Then, laying his hand on my head, with a muttered ' God bless you,' we parted. " Shadrack was profane and reckless, but good-heart- ed and merry. Now turning to us, with a voice the forced calmness of which was more affecting than a wail of agony, he said : " ' Boys, I am not prepared to meet Jesus ! ' " When asked by some of us, in tears, to think of heaven, he answered, still in tones of thrilling calmness, ' I'll try ! I'll try ! but I know I am not prepared ! ' " Slavens, who was a man of immense strength and iron resolution, turned to his friend Buffum, and could only articulate * Wife — children — tell — ' when utterance failed. " Scott was married only three days before he came to the army, and the thought of his young wife nearly 216 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. drove him to despair. He could only clasp his hands in silent agony. " Ross was the firmest of all. His eyes beamed with unnatural light, and there was not a tremor in his voice as he said : " ' Tell them at home, if any of you escape, that I died for my country, and did not regret it.' " All this transpired in a moment, and even the Mar- shal and other officers standing by him in the door exclaimed : ' Hurry up, there ! Come on ! we can't wait ! ' " In this manner my poor comrades were hurried o^ Robinson, who was too sick to walk, was dragged away with them. They asked leave to bid farewell to our other boys, who were confined in the adjoining room, but it was sternly refused ! Thus we parted. We saw the death cart containing our comrades drive off, surrounded by cavalry. In about an hour it came back empty. The tragedy was complete ! " Wilson asked permission to speak on the scaffold, which was granted, doubtless anticipating something which might excuse the murder. Instead of this he made to his savage audience a calm; earnest, manly Union speech. He assured them that the South was wrong, and that the flag of our country would again wave over the very soil beneath his scaffold. The excited crowd evidently felt the appeal, but did their work of death. LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 21T Let us return to tlie prison and the group stiU within its walls. Adds Pittinger : " There were tears from eyes that shrank from no danger. But I could not shed a tear. A cloud of burn- ing heat rushed to my head that seemed to scorch through every vein. Slowly and silently the moments wore on, and no one ventured to whisper of hope. At last some voice suggested that we should seek relief in prayer. The very idea seemed to convey consolation, and was eagerly accepted. Soon we knelt around the bare walls of our strange sanctuary, and, with bleeding hearts, drew near the throne of God. Captain Fry first led us, mingled with sobs and strong supplications. Then each followed in turn, with one or two exceptions, and even these were kneeling with the rest. As the twilight deepened, our devotional exercises grew more solemn. In the lonely shadow of coming night, with eternity then opening tan- gibly before us, and standing on its very brink, we prayed with a fervor that those who dwell in safety can scarcely conceive. It was a holy hour ; and if the angels above ever bend from their bright mansions to comfort human sorrow, I do beheve that they were then hovering near. From that hour I date the birth of an immortal hope ; and believe that many of my companions, also, in looking back, will realize that they passed from death to life in that dreary prison-room ! " Young Pittinger was released after long months of 10 218 LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. captivity, and became a minister of tlie Gospel which he embraced in that Atlanta jail, over which waves the Star- spangled Banner ! I need not teU you that no blame attached to General Mitchel, either because of the hazardous nature of the expedition, or its failure. He did not suggest it ; and if he had done so, it was only one of those great risks some- times taken, which, if successful, Avould have been a splendidly heroic affair ; but which, in this melancholy result, excites but little interest. Still it was a subor- dinate move in the grand marches of General Mitchel, deserving a record that shall immortalize the patriotic band who staked their lives upon its high design. \ CHAPTER XYin. The advance of the Third Division to Fayetteyllle— The Old Plantei— The Slaves — The Grand March— Scenes hy the "Way — In the Eiver— The mys- terions IsTischt March — The Prize Secared. ^HEN General Mitchel started from Shelbyville the railroad raiders were lost from view. He had heard the rebel account of the so-called defeat of General Grant at Shiloh. The pos- sibility of darkest disaster there flung a dismal shadow on his path ; but his chosen goal was before him. Cautiously, rapidly, he moved over the twenty miles to Fayetteville. This town is on Elk River, nearly south of the former, on Duck River. Here General Mitchel prepared to lead the Third Division forward to Hunts- viUe ; the entire force was to act with the leader in the division in advance. April 10th he was at Fayetteville. Then commenced another forced march unsurpassed in modern warfare. You will learn what the " boys " thought of Fayette- 220 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. ville by an extract from a letter written just after they left it : " The order to march from Fayette ville whs re- ceived with pleasure — a pleasure which was slightly annoyed with regret that we had not destroyed the town It is a miserable little secession hole ; and the shameful insult that had been offered to our flag of truce, with the threatening and scowling and searching looks of the in- habitants Y/henever they showed themselves at the win- dows of their houses, to which General Mitchel had or- dered them, had pretty thoroughly angered us against them. Nothing would have pleased the boys better than to have given the rascals a lesson which would never have departed from their memory, provided, after the lesson, they had any memory left." How gently in those days we did deal with foes who scoffed and cursed in return ! It was well intended, but sadly-mistaken kindness ; quite as much so as indulgence of a wilful and rebellious child, whose greatest need is a thorough whipping. It was not according to our hero's views of the warfare. When the troops crossed the boundary of Alabama they found quite a number of Union men. Meeting a venerable planter, he was questioned closely : "It seemed like tearing out my heart to give up the old Union," he said ; " but when Alabama voted to separate, I thought it my duty to sustain her." " But Alabama, in attempting to break up the na- LIFE OF GEI^EEAL MTTCHEL. 221 tion, did what she had no right to do," replied the volunteer. " Ah ! " responded the aged gentleman, " passion and prejudice blinded our eyes to that truth." " Are you willing, then, to see the authority of the na- tional GoYernment restored ? " was the next inquiry. " Yes," said the planter, " and to pray from this time forth that all her people may be willing to retm^n to their allegiance." And then the heroes went " marching on," in doubt whether the old slaveholder, after all, didn't mean to go with Alabama whatever her course. Soon after the troops moved along the line of the rebel General L. P. Walker's plantation, an immense estate, extending for miles beside the road. The stately mansion was deserted, and the fLirniture gone. Instead of " fair women and brave men," it poured forth negroes in a throng, who came to see the northern invaders. They laughed hys- terically, they sang, they danced in their childlike glee. " By golly," exclaimed an athletic, intelligent yoimg negi'o, " I'se a great notion to go along vdth dis crovrd. What do you say, massa ? " " My poor friend," was the reply, " if you do you will probably be turned out of our lines the first place we encamp. Somebody who claims you will come and take you back ; and besides being severely punished for running away, you will in every respect be worse off than before." 222 LIFE OF GENEKAL MITCHEL. "It is very hard, massa," he resumed. His voice trembled, the tears were gathering in his eyes, and the volunteer confesses he had to ride away to hide his own. But such was our ^^ policy" then. One of General Walk- er's plantation houses was in flames, but how it was fired no one seemedto know. The next striking incident along the march was meet- ing a negro of the same plantation, with a heavy iron ring and bolt fastened to his leo^. " How long have you worn that?" asked a cavalry- man. " Three months, massa," answered the slave. The trooper slid from his horse, knocked off the fetters, fastened them to his saddle, and rode off, mutter- ing : " I would forfeit a year's pay for the privilege of transferring them to the leg of the rascal^ who put them on that man." That is slavery. It must have been a splendid sight — those columns, like a solid mass, moved by a single genius, rushing for- ward to surprise the enemy, hour after hour, over field, through forest, and across streams, as if unconscious of fatigue. If a rebel is caught he is sent to the rear, so that he may give no intelligence to his friends. On — on — the troops, inspired with their cliieftain's ardor, press. The bayonets gleam, the artillery thunders along, the horses seem to prance with sympathetic haste, and jokes pass from rank to rank to cheer the brave hearts LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 223 on the way. Broad plantations, verdant woods, flashing waters recede in the distance, as the battalions march toward the unsuspecting enemy. The sun goes down on the scene, reflected from gold, silver, and steel, with no sign of faltering in the " boys." Suddenly they came to a stream wide and deep. There were no boats, no bridges. That night they must cross to reach the goal in the morning. The pause is brief. In the gloom General Mitchel flies on his steed along the lines, and says : " My boys, there is but one chance for us. Will you plunge in with me ? " A hurrah — and in they dash. The waters surge around them in the shadows, vexed, as never before, by an armed host, darkening all the flood. Emerging from the baptism for the next day's stem and perilous work, they built their camp-fires and prepared for sleep. While General Mitchel was sitting by his crackling flame, with no other mark of a chieftain's headquarters, a soldier leading a negro came into its glare, the- first prisoner of the raid. The astonished captive stood in mute suspense before the commander, who said mildly to him : " Well, what have you to say?" " Massa, dey going to eat you up down dare in Hunts- ville. Dey got five thousand troops down there, sir." " How do you know that ? " " I heard my massa say so at supper table to-night. I've come out of Hunts ville, and am sure of it. De trains come in, locomotives whistle, five of 'em. Each 224: LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. of 'em brouglit a thousand soldiers. Many beside dare before ; and dej 'stroy you certain, sir." It was likely enough to be true so far as troops were concerned. On their way to Corinth they might be ready to welcome the bold adventurers with their fresh and su- perior force. No matter ; the die was cast. No thought of retreat or hesitation stole over a single mind. Then nature yielded to the demand for repose. • Soundly slept the wet heroes tiU two o'clock in the morning. Greneral Mitchel, awaking from brief slumber, went through the camp with the muffled voice and step of a spirit from the dark depths of the forest. No drum beat, no signal gun disturbed the silence. The whispered words were few. But the legions rose as if by magic in line of march, waiting for the word of command to dash forward. To each regiment, while moving past him to receive his final orders of advance, he said : " Now, boys, perfect silence ; not a word to be uttered. Move straight forward, and let not the enemy know that you are ad- vancing by any sound whatever." Never was a chieftain's command more faithfully obeyed. A more spectral march of living men was never seen. The well-drilled thousands swept along with no sound but the faint echoes of hoof and wheel in the gloom of waning night. Impressive, marvellous scene ! That fragment of the national army, separated by more than a hundred mUea LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 225 of hostile land from the rest of it, fearlessly, noiselessly threading unknown paths in twilight shadow, to strike at a vital point the unsuspecting traitoffe. So still is that march that the columns go through a small town five miles from Huntsville without waking a sleeper. The whole force defile through the streets, brushing the very thresh- old of dwellings ; and when the sun shines on the risen inhabitants, not one of them knows that the brave host have been there. Scarcely an hour after that hamlet of unmolested rebels is passed in the reddening dawn, an ad- vance force of a hundred and fifty cavalry, together with a part of Captain Simonson's battery, assisted by Lieut- enant M. Allen, the whole under the charge of Colonel Kennett, first catch a glimpse of Huntsville and the beau- tiful cedars surrounding it. They loant to shout ; but not a sound breaks in upon the death-like stillness. There lies the prize of long, sometimes wet and weary marching. No herald has apprised the unsuspecting in- habitants of the danger near. The morning faintly kin- dles, as hitherto, upon the hills and roofs of fancied security. The iron track gleams in the morning Kght ; workmen, in their humble dwellings along its line, as un- conscious as itself of the advent of new managers and hands tc run the road. But the decisive blow will be no martial pastime. The troops understand the game and the stake. To seize the great path of transportation and travelling, cutting the coromunication between the rich 10* 226 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. and boundless "West, and tlie blockaded, war-ravaged East, might be no very difficult move. To apply tbe torch to the extensive machine shops running day and night for the Confederacy, and make a bonfire of the depots piled with army supplies of material, might not cost much conflict or time. But General Mitchel knew his perilous ground, even with this accomplished. Nearly east was the stronghold of Chattanooga, where the defiant foe challenged the strength of the Union army. A little further west was Corinth, whose fortunes for the few days of his swift march had been changing, he knew not how. The report was that they were greatly im- proved by our defeat. Instead of such disaster, the country was wild with excitement over the enemy's repulse. General Grant had stemmed the overvfhelming tide of rebellion, and, reenforced by General Buell, had rolled it back toward Corinth. Congress paused to hear and cheer over the telegram, and a salute of a hundred guns thundered forth the jubilant joy from the national capital. General iSIitchel had no signal of the victory. CHAPTER XIX. General Mitchel enters Hantsville— The Union Flag and the Loyal Judge— TTie Scenes in the Town—Bridges Burned— Bridgeport — Decatur— Tuscmnhia — Congratulations— A brilliant attack on the enemy at Bridgeport— Ad- vancing ia the cheerful morning air. )H[E advance dashed forward on double-quick, when two locomotives came puffing toward them. A flash, and the first artillery thunder broke the stillness, and was the order to stop. One of the engineers tried to escape, when another command from the brazen orator of freedom brought him to a halt. In a twinkling away dashed the first engine and train, and the cavalry after it ; a hundred and fifty Gilpins chasing the iron horse ten miles, --with, the speed of the wind. The whole force now came up. Troops are suddenly seen moving toward the right, and stealings toward the railroad. Another swept away to the left. Both were armed with the roughest implements of war, iron bar and " pick," to destroy not human, but business, life. Their attack was to be directed to the unoffending 228 LIFE OF GEJ^EEAL MITCHEL. metal and wood. See yonder another body of soldiers moving toward the town — and iJiere^ another. Why is this division of strength ? It is not the bloody encounter they expect or seek, but the capture, without a gun or shot, of depot, telegraph office, and every other valuable public building of the city. Quietly they advance ; no sign of expectation of the visit appears. The brightening .sky bends over a slumbering people. The word of command to move on Huntsville is passed along the lines. General Mitchel leads the troops into the startled town. Like the lightning flash the alarm flies over the city. The first notes of terror are the screams of locomotives, making haste to escape with their trains. But they soon find the end of the track — the iron bar and pickaxe have been there before them. East and west the puffing engines stop. The operator hastens to the telegraph office to announce to friends who may come to the rescue, the advent of the " Yankees ; " but a new occupant is there. The depot master and others rush to the storehouse of supplies to destroy, but a,rmed men have the needed freight under bayonet charge. But look ! Over that excited population, from a slender flagstaff* on a private mansion, the national ensign is float* ing in the breeze. What can it mean ? for it was there when the "Third Division" reached the city. A brave patriot lives under those starry folds. The Hon. Judge Lane accepted the appointment to the LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 229 judicial bench from President Lincoln, soon after his inau- guration. He knew the dangers of the position. The South had entered upon the mad work of resistance to the lawful Administration, hurling denunciation upon those who ap- proved it. But Judge Lane was a man of resolute will and courage. He told his angry fellow-citizens that he intended to perform, according to his ability, the duties of his office regardless of their displeasure. The infu- riated mob surged around his dwelling, and threatened both it and himself. " Resign ! resign ! " was the loud demand. " I am ready to die," he replied, " for my country, if necessary ; but I am a loyal man to my Government, and shall remain so till death." To leave no shadow of doubt on the minds of the as- tonished traitors, he seized a flag of the Union, and bore it to the top of his house, saying, that " whoever dared attempt to tear it down, would have to pass over his dead body." This sublime moral courage and defiance, seemed to awe the exasperated haters of the old flag, and they did not venture on further violence. Are you not reminded of the gallant Ellsworth ? He died tearing down the banner of treason ; and we cannot help feeling that his heroism had in it a dash of rashness— that his valuable life might, without that^ have been spared. Judge Lane's safety, on the contrary, depended on 230 LIFE OF GENERAL MITGHEL. fearlessness ; and tlie cause lie loved, called for the manly scorn of the treasonable throng. He was one of the few in the Cotton States, who continued unseduced and un- moved amid the bribery and threats of the lawless con- spirators against the Republic. The citizens of Hunts- ville were unarmed, and many of them undressed, when the footsteps of the gallant invaders echoed through the streets. It was too evident that no defence could be made successfully to attempt it, and the tov/n surrendered to the abhorred defenders of the starry flag of the Union. Sixteen locomotives, and a hundred cars, fell into our hands. Indeed, all the resources of the important place came under the new administration without injury, the surprise was so complete and admirably conducted. General Mitchel ascertained in e^n hour, through his proper officer, the exact condition and availabihty of the raikoad. The means of transportation were sufficient for moving his forces to any desii'ed point on its track. If you turn again to the map, you v/ill notice that the Tennessee Eiver in its southerly course bends into Ala- bama, and is crossed eastwardly from Huntsville at Bridgeport by the railway, and vv^estwardly at Decatur, which is south of Nashville. General Mitchel decided at once to send an expedi- tion to each, and burn the noble structures, to cut off the approach of enemies. He commanded the one toward Chattanooga ; Colonel Turchin the one in the direction of LIFE OF GEXEEAL 2JITCHEL. 231 Corinth. General Mitchel stopped at Stevenson, a town at the junction of the Nashville and Chattanooga Eailroad •with the Memphis and Charleston Eailroad, on v/hich Huntsville stands, to secure whateyer was valuable to him at that important connection. He then went on, and applied the torch to the Bridgeport bridges. He was now secure from an attack bj an advance from either direc- tion by the railroad. On Saturday he reached Huntsville again. The work of destruction for safety was all done. The Sabbath da^iTied. General Mitchel loved this sacred pause in the world's busy life. Could he have acted with his feelings, the day would have been given up to devout thanksgiving, and entire rest from military movements, and even plans. But war has no lioly time ; and without a mutual agreement by the hostile armies, it would be impossible to keep the day. And even then, it would be extremely difficult to regulate the marches and battles with regard to its observance. On that morning, when, all over the loyal States, the sound of the church bells floated over the peaceful homes, the cars were con- veying General Mitchel to Decatm-. What a Sabbath it was there, and beyond ! The enemy was flying in terror, the excited imagination magnifying the number of the Union troops, and creating an unreal fear of their nearness. The smoke of bnming o bridges left in the wake of retreat, rose here and there, the oflering to Mars from those plains of slavery. 232 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. General Mitcliel hastened forward his troops in hot pursuit. The chase was continued to Tuscumbia, about half way to Corinth, and opposite Florence, on the • other bank of the river. It is in Franklin County, Ala^ bama, a mile from the Tennessee River. There is here a curiosity. From a fissure in the solid limestone rock, a living spring gushes forth, discharging from the smooth, pure mouth, twenty thousand cubic feet of water every minute. "What a blessing such a fountain will be if ever a large city supplants with northern enterprise the quiet village ! It is sixty-seven miles from Huntsville. Here he communicated with the " Department of the Mississippi," where General Grant was getting ready to move on Corinth. His despatches to General Buell, dated at Tuscumbia, gave an account of his brilliant successes in modest language. This very cautious officer, superior only in command, read them with surprise, if not regret. The comparatively new general had made a clear track for the Union troops, one hundred and fifty miles across the rebel State of Alabama. The brief period, the un- surpassed boldness and heroism of the achievement, start- led and gladdened loyal hearts all over the land. Think of it — in two days from the morning he came like a whirl- wind upon Huntsville, that entire distance had changed hands ; dilapidated locomotives were completely repaired, and every thing pertaining to the road was in running order. The shops rang with the sound of " Yankee " LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 233 blows, the engineers had on their caps the " U. S," and the whole was guarded by northern volunteers. Mean- while, a new time-table was prepared and printed, to guide the conductors, who, had they been caught there unarmed and with no evil design^ three days before, would have ridden on quite a different rail. You can imagine the amazement, alarm, and rage, which made all this seem like a horrid dream to the inhabitants. And you will be interested in General IMitchel's spirited congratulations to his troops, in which he sums up the briUiant exploits of the few days before . Headquarters, Third Division. ') Caiip Taylor, Huntsyille, April 16, 1862. ) Soldiers : Your march upon Bowling Green won the thanks and confidence of our conmianding general. With engines and cars captured from the enemy, our advanced guard precipitated itself upon Nashville. It was now made your duty to seize and destroy the Memphis and Charleston Railway, the great military road of the enemy. With a supply-train only sufficient to feed you at a dis- tance of two days' march from your depot, you undertook the herculean task of rebuilding twelve hundred feet of heavy bridging, which, by your untiring energy, was ac- complished in ten days. Thus, by a railway of your own construction, your depot of supplies was removed from Nashville to Shelbyville, nearly sixty miles in the direction of the object of your attack. The blow now became prac- 234 LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. ticabie. Marcliing witli a celerity such as to outstrip any messenger who might have attempted to announce your coming, you fell upon Huntsville, taking your enemy com- pletely hy surprise, and capturing not only his great mili- tary road, but all his machine-shops and rolling stock. Thus providing yom-selves with ample transportation, you have struck blow after blow with a rapidity unparalleled. Stevenson fell, sixty miles to the east of Huntsville. De- catur and Tuscumbia have been in like manner seized, and are now occupied. In three days you have extended your front of operations more than one hundred and twenty miles, and your morning gun at Tuscumbia may now be heard by your comrades on the battle field made glorious by the victory before Corinth. A communica- tion of these facts to headquarters has not only now the thanks of our commanding general, but those of the De- partment of War, which I announce to you with proud satisfaction. Accept the thanks of your commander, and let your future deeds demonstrate that you can surpass yourselves. By order of Gen. O. M. Mitchel. Having determined to attack the enemy at Bridgeport on the 29th, General Mitchel was within three miles of the town, after a rapid and most difficult march. Here he encountered the enemy's pickets. " Crack ! crack ! " sound the rifles, and away they fly. The valorous chief LIFE OF GENESAL MTTCHEL. 235 hurries on to tlie railway bridge which he had burned, and by a feint of general attack there, makes the rebels believe the trial of strength has come. Meanwhile, form- ing with the artillery in the centre, the Thirty-third and Second Ohio on the right, and the Tenth and Twenty- first Ohio on the left, he sweeps round between two divisions of the foe, toward the crest of a hill overlooking his en- trenchments. Daring stroke of strategy ! He is between two mill-stones — if they discern the move, and can grind them together before he is able to defeat them, he will be hopelessly crushed. But with superhuman energy he presses across the ground, and up the slope. !N'ow look ! There in battle array stands Mitcbel's brigade, almost under it are the enemy's works. The first alarm had startled the troops to arms, but their fears had sub- sided in the lull of his advance over the country, the very cause of greatest alarm had they known it. The Sabbath sun is sinking in the west. His farewell beams fall in dazzling splendor on the stacked arms of the regiments, who have coolly gone to supper. Major Loomis, a brave officer, steps forward to the very edge of the summit, and gazes down upon the rebels, counting their number. Then falling back, he gives the command to fire. Oh ! watch those shells and balls crushing through the lines of men at the table of the evening repast. Blood and fragments of flesh are the quick response. Then a rush to arms, another discharge 236 . LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. of our artillery, and the rebels retreat, firing the noble bridge for the public travel as they go. General Mitchel hastens forward to save it. It rested on an island, and he rescues from the flames the main structure extending from this natural abutment. The general, anticipating a reenforcement by the other division of the enemy upon the raih'oad, hasten- ed to that part of the field. Soon the fresh troops came dashing down the line in splendid style — ^tlie body of cav- alry making an imposing and martial appearance, which drew forth the spontaneous admiration of our men. The Union artillery opened, cutting a gap in a moment through the chivalrous ranks. The deadly greeting was repeated, and then the horses' heads were turned for flight — " the red field was won." CHAPTER XX. Practical Questions— The Enemy must pay the Army Expenses— The Triala of Loyalty— General Mitchel believed in crushing the Eebellion— The Cot- ton Bridge — Slavery — Negroes reliable — ^Anecdote. ^EVERAL questions now tried tlie wisdom and ability of General Mitcliel. The first was, how to hold the conquered territory in the midst of enemies. From jSTashville to Decatur the road was open, and it was not difficult to get sufficient food for the troops. But the poor horses — their racks and mangers were empty, or scantily supplied. These " un- armed heroes " must starve unless forage is obtained from the country around them. General Mitchel's comprehen- sive and practical genius is equal to the emergency. A good man is always merciful to the brute. No surer evi- dence of a narrow or base mind, than cruelty to the de- pendent animal, can be given. Not only was humanity a ^conspicuous quality of General Mitchel's character, but horses and mules are as needful as men in war ; that is^o ;say, they are indispensable, and they must be fed. 238 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. The sagacious commander set his scribes to work. These were Union men whose principles had been tried, like Judge Lane's, almost in the flames of martyrdom. It was easy to complete this roll of honor — the list of the faithful amid treachery. My reader, it is impossible for you to realize the trial of loyalty in the Border and Cotton States. No ordeal excepting the inquisition, and manifold tortures of Papal persecutions in the centuries past, compares with it. Demons abroad could have done no more to vex and ruin. For no other crime than loyalty to tlie old flag, unoffending citizens were taken from their place of busi- ness, or on the highway, and shot or hung. DwelHngs were burned, and helpless women and childi'en left roof- less in the dead of night and winter. I knew a widow v/ho was living in that region of rebel pov^er, who, be- cause her husband had joined the Union army, when he was at home on a short furlough was visited by a band of rebels. He was demanded, but she refused to tell them where he was. Searching they found him, and fired upon him, wounding him. He fled to the yard, when several bullets soon finished the work of deatii. Reentering the house, they asked for the rest of the family. She had hidden a son in the chimney. They then made preparations to burn the dwelling before the tearful face of the mother, taking the last blanket from a sick child. When she asked for her husband, " Oh," the LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. 239 fiends replied, "you'll find him in the yard." "You haven't murdered him!" With a wife's frantic affec- tion she flew to the lawn, and there beneath the watch- ful stars lay the pierced and bleeding body. But she ■was a mother too, and hastened again to plead for her children. Destitute and bereaved, the traitors left, her at length, hurling back curses on the midnight air. The tragical incident is an illustration of common scenes, varying in the degree of atrocity, belting the broad land from the Carolinas to the Western territories. General Mitchel soon obtained from the tried loyalists the long list of open, determined rebels. He had also the names of the smaller number of the once loyal, who, yielding to the terrible sweep of the current of secession, were borne on its angry bosom. When the enrollment of the citizens was completed, General Mitchel sent an order to the undisguised enemies of the Union, demand- ing a correct statement of the contents of their granaries. The hay and grain, with supplies of every kind, were to be truthfully stated. The number of their horses and mules was included in the required memoranda ; for the com- manding general intended to provide for, and if wanted, use them. Any concealment or treachery in the trans- action, if suspected, would be thoroughly searched out, and receive the merited punishment. General Slitchel was just, but no trifler with rebellion. The enemy saw that he meant all he said, and made correct returns. 240 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. Excepting a sufficient allowance for the plantations, noth- ing could be used, nothing sold or given away, without his permission. It was a principle with him, and in that regard he was in advance of a majority of the Union officers, and even statesmen, to spare no rebel interest which sustained the revolt, and employ whatever resoui'ces of success in subduing it, he found on hostile soil. The rebellion was "evil and only evil, and that continually" in his view. No affectation of charity for our "misguided brethren" lightened the pressure of his hand on the foes of his country. In this respect he resembled the pioneer in right opinions and action, General Butler. No king ever ruled with more unquestioned power, and more nobly ^ for the cause of freedom and the Union, than he did in New Orleans. General Mitchel comprehended likewise the real issue, and the people we had to deal with, in saving the nation. When the census was finished, he directed his quarter- master to go the traitors, and demand a tenth of their possessions which were useful to his army. Yv^atch the officer at the door of that elegant mansion, in which the proud planter stands. " We have called with an order from the general to get suppHes," quietly says the officer. The planter growls, wants to resist, but yields, and directs his slave to " load up." This gcene is repeated LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 241 till the desired quantity is received. The rebels then present their bills, which are promptly paid. By this means General Mitchel supplies his army, and robbed no man. His severity was the severity of justice. The foe had to support the military visitors with a hospitality compelled by the sword, and bribed by the price in " greenbacks." And who furnished the " green- backs" ? The rebels, indirectly, as you will see. And in the way it was done, you have another fine illustration of the general's engineering ability and energy. Like Grant, he was practical, on the alert, and thorough in his work. Marching along, one day, he came in sight of what ap- peared to be a fort. It was a huge pile, in spots white as the snow. Advancing, he saw near it the ruins of a bridge he wanted, which the enemy had burned. In a few moments more it was all plain enough. The rebels had made a defensive work of cotton, to guard the bridge before the torch was applied. Five hun- dred bales of it were piled there, and either because in too great haste, or not apprehending its capture, they had not made of it a bonfire. Of course it was lawful plunder. This was taken from Decatur to Stevenson, where he wished to cross the river. The deep current roUed along in a channel some three hundred yards wide, between his troops and the opposite shore. About 11 242 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. seventy of the oblong squares are rolled out ; crowbars are used to pry up the ropes that bind tliem, and rails are run under the cordage. The bales held together by the rails are ten feet apart. You will understand at once, that in this way he made pontoons, or floating abutments, which, one by one, were launched upon the bosom of the river, and fastened to each other by the same method. The next thing in the novel building of the structure, is to lay planks over the gaps between the bales. Now look ! from shore to shore stretches a cotton and wooden bridge, under which the unobstructed current flows. Be- fore the day is gone, the command is given, "Forward !" Three thousand men, horses, and cannon, move upon the pathway over the waters, till the last foot and wheel strikes the solid earth beyond. A genius equal to any command, only, could have performed the feat of skill and despatch. Napoleon himself would have been proud of it. But General Mitchel is not done with the cotton. The bridge is unharnessed, the bales released from the fasten- ings, and conveyed to the railroad. It reaches Hunts- ville, and there readily finds market, for the handsome sum of thirty tJiozisand dollars. Add to this, ten thousand dollars more received for transportation by army-wagons and cars to its destination, and we have forty thousand dollars in the treasury of the United States, the amount paid for the supplies and forage he had bought. "Waa LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. 243 not the management a shrewd and capital way of making the rebels pay the expenses of the Tliird Division, after helping the battalions safely over the river ? Another question besides the maintenance of his army on an enemy^s soil, gave General Mitchel anxious thought ; and that was slavery. What shall be done with master and slave so far as they come in direct contact with the army, was the great problem. The bondsman would flee to the camps, and the master follow him, to demand his property, according to the unrepealed law of the land. The Government, when the war began, tried, as al- ways before, to have nothing to do with slavery. The con- flict was for the old order of things, with system of human bondage included. General Mitchel was both conser^^a- tive and radical in the true signification of the words. He would ^jreserve the Constitution and the Republic en- tire, and upvot American slavery as necessary to the suc- cessful termination of the war — to the very preservation of the State. But he was under a superior officer who thought other v/ise, and the national councils then urged indulgence tov,^ard the master, and a war apart from the cause of the war. It is sad and humiliating to think of the nation's foUy in this regard. It is a singular fact, that the hero of 'New Orleans, General Butler, a democrat of the old school, or Buchanan stamp, and a politician, should have been the leader in the 244 LIFE OF GENEEAX MITCHEL. great work of emancipation. When he went to Fortress Monroe, General Mitchel was superintendent of Dudley Observatory, in Albany. With the large majority of the people the astronomer did not then intend to " mix up the question " with the civil strife, but simply beat down the mad rebellion. A commander in the navy told me at that very time, that ••' the moment emancipation had any connection with the contest, he would change sides." But General Butler had a singular insight and foresight on the subject. Colo- nel Mallory, a rebel, sent to him, under flag of truce, to demand those slaves who had come into our lines. The Colonel and General Butler had belonged to the same political party. He said to his former partisan : " I have come, general, to claim my servants." " You hold, do you not," replied General Butler, " that negro slaves are property ; and that Virginia is no longer a part of the United States ? " " I do, sii\" " You are a lawyer," continued Butler, " and I ask you if the Fugitive Slave Law is binding on a foreign na- tion ? and if a foreign nation employs this kind of property to destroy the lives and property of the United States, if it ought not to be regarded as contraband ? " The enraged colonel disappeared; and a new word was added to our vocabulary, so far as its application to negroes is concerned. '' Contraband" in this connection, LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 245 is a term for which we are indebted to General Butler and the war. The " contrabands " continued to come in, and were set to work on the fortifications. Though General Mitchel's opinions changed less rapidly, he desired to know and do his duty. General Buell had issued an order, that no protection should be extended to slaves who appeared within the lines. This v/as just what the masters desired. You may recollect the case of the poor fugitive, who, under such a cruel rule, after having shown the commanding officer where arms were hidden by the rebels, was given up to the master ; by him dragged after his horse with a rope round the fugitive's neck, and then whipped to death. General Mitchel made his earnest protest against the order. His policy was to allow neither master nor slave in his camp. This, indeed, was the best compromise in the circumstances he could make. But according to the principle of action already alluded to, of crushing, in all possible and right ways, the rebellion, he used the negroes when he could, and gave them protection for the service. Hear his noble words to Mr. Abbott : "I organized these negroes into watchful guards, throughout the entire portion of the territory of my com- mand. They watched the Tennessee River, from Chat- tanooga entirely down to Tuscumbia and Florence. To every negro who gave me information of the movements 246 LIFE OF aENEEAL MirCHEL. of the enemy, who acted as guide to me, or who piloted my troops correctly through that unknown country, I promised the protection of the Government of the United States ; and that they should never be returned to their masters. I found them extremely useful. I found them ^perfectly reliable^ so far as their intention was concerned ; not always accurate in detail, but always meaning to be perfectly truthful." This is the testimony of all candid and humane offi- cers. It was with great reluctance the Government allowed them to fight for our country, and their own ; and yet braver troops we have not in the army. At Port Hudson, when an officer was lying wounded under the fire of the rebels, the commander of the forces, among whom were colored soldiers, asked for men to go into the storm of shells and bullets, to bring away the fallen, bleeding form. Immediately four negroes stepped forth, and were sent over the plain of death. They lifted the body, and turned toward our lines ; soon three of the four dropped before the bullets of the exasperated foe. Again the call for help was made. Four more of the dark-browed he- roes promptly came out of the ranks. With firm, elastic step, they started where their comrades fell, for the Union lines. Two of the nev/ volunteers were struck, and theii grasp relaxed. Once more the demand for bearers of the wounded warrior is responded to, and the brave fellowa lay dowTi their burden within the protection of our ranks, LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. 247 Such is the unselfish kindness of a proscribed race, whose patient endurance of injustice is a most wonderfal thing. Everybody expected insurrections when the war began — that the opportunity afforded by the political con- vulsion, would be embraced by the slaves. Instead of this, they have prayed, and waited for God to open the way of deliverance to them, whose a-ime is "a color unlike our own," given them by a common Father ! How abhor- rent to Sirrij the scorn and injury to them ! The mag- nanimous spirit of General Mitchel felt this, whatever difiiculties he encountered in the exercise of his humanity and religion, created by the law of the land, or commands of a superior officer. CHAPTER XXI. o- ditions— Daring Adventures— The progress of the Contrabands— Anecdotes— The Mortal Sickness. ^HE fine impression which the arrival and prompt action of the new commander made upon the army and people, was given by a correspondent of ITie Independent^ who was there : " The after- noon of the 15th of September, on which the Arago came up our magnificent bay, with the American ensign at her fore, while the tliirteen guns, from the fort, echoed by the same salute from the Wabash, proclaimed a major-general, ushered in an epoch in the Department. Before the end of that week. General Mitch el had visited all the camps on Hilton Head, at Beaufort, and at Fort Pulaski, and had addressed all the regiments except such as chanced to be absent on picket duty. In another week the expedition to St. John's Blufi* was matured, though its execution was twice deferred by storms. LIFE ^F GENERAL MTTCHEL. 265 " The week in whicli that expedition sailed witnessed an expedition that burned the extensive salt works, a quarter of a mile long, at Blufton, and a reconnoissanee up Savannah River, proceeding further and achieving more than any previous reconnoissanee had done. And before these lines reach you, other projects will have become history. *' And all this activity while his predecessors were forever complaining that they could do nothing with the limited number of troops in the Department ; and yet more, when shortly before his coming here some eight regiments were transferred to Virginia ! " His clear sight saw that the negroes were an im- portant element in the condition of the Department, and he immediately began to occupy himself with plans for their becoming a source of happiness to themselves, and of strength and prosperity to the Government. He found some six or seven hundred negroes hived in three wooden buildings within the stockade, near to the camps, and all their demoralizing influences. He set the negroes at work building log-houses for themselves, out in the country re- mote from the camps. He appointed a teacher, who has begun a school among them. Last Sunday he attended the morning service of the colored church, when their new house of Avorship was dedicated, and addressed them in counsels of singular appropriateness and wisdom. Hig leading idea was, ' White men can do nothing for joii ex- 12 266 LIFE OF GENEEAIi MTTOHEL. cept to give you a chance. You must do for yourselves. You must raise yourselves. You must for yourselves re- fute the unfriendly predictions of your enemies.' Though not a professed abolitionist, yet General Mitchel is a bet- ter, wiser friend of this people than either of his predeces- sors has been. " He understands, as real generals have always done, the need of having his soldiers in sympathy with him. He says a cheering, inspiring word to a knot of men as he rides through a camp ; it is passed from man to man till the regiment feels the thriU. As a specimen of the brief, pithy, unpremeditated talks by which he kindles the men, this afternoon he passed the camp of the Seventh Connecticut, just as they were on battalion drill. He stopped and watched their drill, and being asked to ad- dress them, he consented. So they were formed on close column by divisions, and he said : ' Officers and soldiers of the Seventh Connecticut, I thank you for what you did last week in Florida. You did aU that could be asked of you. Now I have another job for you. In a few days the word wiU be March! I don't want any man who cannot stand a march. Your first business now is to bo well. The skies are bright. The people of the North are looking to the South. Soon large reenforcements wiU be on their way here. But let us first show them what we can do without reenforcements.' " More, and better than all, Gleneral Mitchel is a LITE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. 28T Christian, who makes a conscience of his work, and whose trust is in the Lord God of Hosts. " Finding there were large numbers of contrabands at Hilton Head, subject to ill treatment and often abuse from the prejudiced whites, his first work (almost) was to see to their comfort. Very soon a number of houses were erected for them, just beyond the village of Hilton Head (for it is now gTOwn into a village) , and quite out of the way of the camps, v/here they could be comfortably lodged and sheltered. A church has been erected for them, and at its dedication General Mitchel addressed them as a kind father would speak to his children. On another oc- casion he did the same. And to a friend he afterwards said : ' I have addressed large audiences, of the most literary and scientific men and women, in all the great cities of the United States, and I say to you I never was so moved before in my life as when standing before that multitude of the poor, the humble, and the wronged, who have but now come out of bondage into a hoped for freedom.' ^' craven hearts of the North ! here was a man, loaded with wealth, honors, and privilege, yet he spurned not the poor, nor feared to stand in his place before them and speak words of hope and consolation to their stricken and trembling hearts. T ) all those engaged in teaching or otherwise in the mission, with whom he conversed, 268 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. he promised his hearty cooperation in every practicable effort." His fertile brain and adventurous spirit began to push out on every hand in plans to embarrass the enemy. On St. John's River was a fort of considerable strength, and in another direction the Blufton Salt Works, of great value to the enemy. He sent successful expeditions to both, and also drew Beauregard out of Savannah with twenty-five thousand men. The next bold movement of General Mitchel was a repetition of the gallant exploits in Alabama. Take the map and you will notice smaller streams flowing into Broad River, and just west of them, making a broad curve, the Charleston and Savannah Raikoad. Thouigh furnish- ed with much smaller force than he needed. General Mitchel was resolved to use it well, and deal the heaviest blows upon the merciless enemy that could be given by it. It was to be his last earthly work. The only reason why it did not accomplish all that he intended, was the want of sufficient means to secure the highest results — painful it is to know it. War at best is ivaste ; but when military or political ambition and mistakes, which will enter always more or less into all war, especially in a Republic, throw away noble, lives it is enough to break the heart of pa- triotism, and kindle the quenchless fire of indignation upon its altars. Wrote an eye-witness of this daring and brilliant LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 269 movement, true to the promise that he made his troops, of giving them active employment on assuming command of the Department of the South : " General Mitchel has just prosecuted a third expedi- tion, of greater magnitude and of more important aim, which, while yielding fresh lustre to our arms, I grieve to say has only partially achieved its object, and so adds an- other long list to the names of martyrs in the Union cause. " The especial design of this enterprise was to destroy the trestle-work bridges of the Charleston and Savannah Railroad, crossing the Pocotaligo, Tullifiny, and Coosa- hatchie. These streams are all tributaries of the Broad River ; and to approach them it was determined, after a careful study of the map of this peculiarly impracticable and most difficult country for military operations, to make a landing at Mackay's Point, at the junction of the Broad and Pocotaligo Rivers, a distance of twenty-five miles from Hilton Head, where our troops could be debarked under cover of gunboats, and a march of eleven miles would take them to the village of Pocotaligo, at which place it was supposed the enemy would make a stand. The at- tack was intended as a surprise ; and while our main force was to advance, as stated, a smaller body of troops, commanded by Colonel Barton, of the Forty-eighth New- York volunteers, was to create a diversion by penetrating to the Coosahatchie bridge in the steamer Planter, con- voyed by the gunboat Patroon ; but with imperative orders 270 LIFE OF GEITEEAL MITCHEL. to retire should they encounter a superior force. By cut* ting the railroad in the manner proposed, communication between the cities of Savannah and Charleston would be destroyed, and the way opened for a sudden blow upon one or both of these places, at the discretion of the com- manding general. " The plan of this expedition was skilfully conceived, and every precaution adopted to render it successful. Few can imagine the perplexities attendant upon the movement of troops and artillery by water. It was neces- sary to construct flat-boats for the transporation of field- batteries ; to concentrate all the light-draught boats ; to gain such knowledge as might be gained imperfectly through scouts, of the character of the country to be traversed ; to decide upon the possibility of debarking at the point se- lected ; arriving at proper tides ; providing for the subsist- ence of the troops, and a hundred other details regarding prudence and sagacious foresight, and which after all were susceptible of disarrangement. Considering all these cir- cumstances, and the fact that so many persons are em- ployed in the organization of an expedition of this kind, it is not to be wondered at that information of the projected attack passed our hnes, and the enemy consequently was ready to receive us. " The army transports of light draught were not suffi- cient for the transportation of the number of men required for this sei*vice ; and in the emergency, Commodore Godon, LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 271 of the navy, was applied to by General Mitcliel for assists ance. Connnodore Godon promptly agreed to take troops on the gunboats, and the soldiers were assigned as follows : " Gunboat Paul Jones, Captain Charles Steedman, com- manding naval forces, towing "Wabash launches. Trans- port Ben Deford, with six hundred of the Forty-seventh Pennsylvania volunteers, and four hundred of the Fifty- fifth Pennsylvania volunteers. Gunboat Connemaugh, with three hundred and fifty of the Fourth New Hamp- shire volunteers. Gunboat "Wissahickon, with two hun- dred and fifty of the Fourth New Hampshire volunteers. Transport Boston, with five hundred of the Seventh Con- necticut volunteers, and three hundred and eighty of the Third New Hampshire volunteers. Gunboat Patroon, with fifty of the Third Nev/ Hampshire volunteers. Gun- boat Uncas, with fifty of the Third New Hampsliire volun- teers. Transport Darlington, with three hundred of the Sixth Connecticut volunteers. The Eelief and schooner, with two hundred of the Sixth Connecticut volunteers. Gunboat Marblehead, with two hundred and thirty of the Third Ehode Island volunteers. Gunboat Vixen, with seventy of the Third Rhode Island volunteers. Steamer Florida, with three hundred of the Seventy-sixth Penn- sylvania volunteers. Gunboat Water Witch, with one hundred and thirty of the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania volunteers. Army gunboat George Washington, with two hundred and fifty of the New York Volunteer Engi- 272 LITE OF GENERAL MirCHEL. neers. Steamer Planter, with three hundred of the Forty-eighth New York volunteers. The Ben Deford towed a flat boat having on board a section of Lieutenant Henry's battery First United States artillery, and the Boston another flat boat carrying a section of company E, Third United States artillery. The entire land forces were composed of portions of the first and second brigades of the Tenth army corps, respectively commanded by Brigadier-Generals J. M. Brannan and A. II. Terry, .the former being senior officer, and therefore commanding the expedition. " At nightfall of Tuesday, the twenty-first, the expedi- tion was ready for departure, but did not leave until mid- night, as nothing could be accomplished by reaching its destination before daybreak. The vessels left in the order above designated, but the night was misty, and one or two of them ran aground, delaying their arrival at the rendez- vous for some hours beyond the time v.'hich had been fixed. " Meanwhile the tug Starlight was despatched with some boats of the Paul Jones and a small copapany of soldiers of the Seventh Connecticut, under Captain Gray, to capture the rebel pickets at Mackay's Point and at a plantation on the Pocotaligo Eiver, a few miles distant. This project was only partially successful. At the plan- tation. Lieutenant Banks, of the enemy's picket, and three men, were made prisoners, but tlii'ough the incompetency LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. 273 of a negro guide, the guard at the point escaped, giving warning of our approach. From the rebel officer who was taken. General Brannan learned that our attack had been apprehended by the enemy, and for several days they had been preparing for the encounter. "The tedious process of putting the men ashore in small boats was commenced soon after six o'clock a.m., on Wednesday, and by ten o'clock, men, horses, and guns were landed, excepting the detachment of the Third Rhode Island volunteers, who were on the gunboat Marblehead, which was aground all day some miles down the river. "The line of march was taken up soon after ten, the section of Lieutenant Henry's battery being at the head of the coiumn with skirmishers of the Forty-seventh Pennsylvania regiment. Advancing slowly over an admi- rable road for seven miles, we failed, during the march, of encountering the enemy, who had prudently recoiled from a meeting until it should take place beyond range of our gunboats, although the nature of the ground over which we passed afforded many excellent positions for defence. " The road alternated through dense woods and through marshes, only passable over a narrow causeway, sa^e at one or two points. Choosing a position at the op- posite end of this causeway, the enemy opened a fiirious fire of shell and canister on our advancing column, which was promptly met by the battery under Lieutenant Henry. 12* 274 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. Immediately the order was given by General Brannan foi his brigade to form line of battle, the centre resting on the causeway. After a brisk fire of both musketry and artillery the rebels retired to the dense woods in their rear, tearing up the causeway-bridge, which delayed the ad- vance of our artillery until it could be repaired. Meanwhile, the First Brigade pressed on to the woods, which they penetrated, driving the enemy before them, and closely followed by the Second Brigade, under G-eneral Terry, who came up with a cheer, and were quickly in the engagement. Here the fight, it may be said, fairly commenced — the enemy's sharpshooters picking off our men rapidly. The artillery fire from our side was not slackened v/hile the bridge was being repaired, and it was not long before the batteries went forward to the work in support of the infantry. " This action began between tv/elve and one, and lasted about an hour, ending in the retreat of the rebels to an- other position at Frampton's plantation, which lies two miles beyond. The enemy v/ere closely followed, and after a fight more hotly contested than the first, our troops were again victorious, the second time driving the rebels from their well-chosen position, and two miles beyond, which brought them up to Pocotaligo bridge (not the railroad bridge) , over which they crossed, taking shelter behind earthworks on the farthest side. To this point pur troops nearly approached, but found further progress LIFE OF GEITEEAL MITCHEL. 275- impossible, as the bridge bad been cut by the enemy on his retreat. This fact we construe into a clear acknowl- edgment of his defeat. "Although these events are thus briefly noted, it required upward of five hours of impetuous and gallant fighting to accomplish them. At no one time was the entire field of combat in view from a given point, and I therefore find it impossible to speak in detail of the operations of my own regiment. Both brigades participated in the action, and both Generals Brannan and Terry were constantly under fire, leading and directing the movements of their men, awakening enthusiasm by their personal bravery and the skilful mianner in which they manoeuvred their commands. Frequently, while the. fight was progressing, we heard the whistles of the rail- road trains, notifying us of reenforcements for the rebels, both from Charleston and Savannah ; and even if we had had facilities for crossing the river, it would have been unwise to have made the attempt in view of these circum- stances. General Brannan therefore ordered a retreat, which was conducted in a most orderly manner, the regi- ments retiring in successive lines, carrpng off their dead and wounded, and leaving no arms or ammunition on the field. " Of the exact force of the rebels, of course we know nothing, although General Brannan was of the opinion that it equalled our own. Certainly their artillery ex 276 ■ LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. needed ours by four or five pieces, and this we have from the seven prisoners taken, one of whom, William Judd, belonged to Company B, Second South Carolina cavalry, whose horse was also captured. The prisoners informed us that Genera,l Beauregard commanded in person. "While these events were taking place between the main forces on either side. Colonel Barton, of the Forty-* eighth New York, with three hundred of his own men and fifty of the Third Rhode Island regiment, under com- mand of Captain J. H. Gould, went up the Coosahatchie River, convoyed by the Patroon, to within two miles of the town of the same name. Landing this force here, a march was made to the village through which runs the railroad. Arrived there, they commenced tearing up the rails, but had scarcely engaged in the work when a long train of cars came from the direction of Savannah, filled with troops. This train v/as fired into by our party, kill- ing the engineer and a number of others. Several soldiers jumped from the cars while they were in motion, and were wounded. One was taken prisoner — ^thirty muskets were captured, and colors of the Whippy Swamp Guards taken from the color-bearer, who was killed by our fire. The work of tearing up the rails was not accomplished in time to prevent the onward progress of the train, and our men afterward completed the job — also cutting the tele- graph, and bringing away a portion of the wire with them. LIFE OF GENEEAL :MITCHEL. 2YY " Colonel Barton next attempted to reach the rail- road bridge, for the purpose of firing it, but was unable, as it was protected by a battery of three guns. Fearing that his retreat might be cut off by the enemy's cavahy, he gave the order to retire to the steamboat, which was done successfully. His men had nearly all embarked when the cavahy boldly came directly under the guns of the Planter and Patroon, and fired upon both steamers. A few rounds of canister dispersed them, and the only damage w^hich they inflicted was the serious wounding of Lieutenant J. M. Blanding, of the Third Rhode Island artillery. " Nearly all Wednesday night w^as passed in bringing the wounded from the battle-field and placing them upon the transports. This humane work was personally super- intended by General Terry and Brigade Quartermaster Coryell, of General Brannan's staff. As fast as the boats were filled they returned to Hilton Head, and by Thurs- day night the whole force had reembarked. Before our last regiment left Mackay's Point the enemy's pickets had reappeared, but not in sufiicient force to molest us. '' Scarcely five minutes after the first engagement be- gan, wounded men were brought to the rear. Surgeon Bailey, the Medical Director at Beaufort, who accom- panied the expedition, established a hospital almost under fire, by the roadside, beneath the shade of the stately pine woods, with Siu-geons Merritt, of the Fifty-fifth Pennsyl- 2Y8 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. vania, and McClellan, of the Sixth Connecticut, and these gentlemen soon had their energies taxed to the uttermost. It was a spectacle to make one shudder as the poor fel- lows, wounded and dying, were emptied from the ambu- lances upon the green sw.ard. " A striking instance of heroism came under my obser- vation. During the thickest of the fight. Artificer Zincks, of Henry's battery, seized a shell which had fallen into our ammunition-box, and threw it into a ditch, where it exploded, seriously wounding him. Had it not been for his bravery and presence of mind, the most serious conse- quences might have ensued. Lieutenant Henry's horse was shot under him, and the shell that killed the animal also killed one man and v\^ounded five others. It is a sin- gular fact that Lieutenant Gettings, of the Third United States artillery, whose section also did good service in the fight, also lost one man killed and five wounded by the explosion of a single shell. Lieutenant Gettings himself was Vv^ounded in the ankle. " Three howitzers from the Wabash, under command of Lieutenant Phcenix and Ensigns Wallace and Larned, accompanied the land forces, and won a great deal of praise for gallantry and efiective firing. Young Wallace was sent by General Terry to cover the retreat from Pocotaligo bridge, which he handsomely accomplished He had delivered two rounds of grape into the enemy's -ranks, when a shower of rifle-balls were sent against him, LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 279 trounding three of his men and perforating his own clothes. The heroic young fellow was then ordered to retire, which he reluctantly did, after vainly asking per- mission to fire another round. " The rebels left fifteen or twenty of their dead on the field, and the inference is that their loss must have been severe, or they Vfould have had time to remove all in their successive retreats. Two caissons filled with am- munition were captured from the enemy during the second battle. Our own supply of ammunition at this time having been well-nigh exhausted, this proved very opportune. " Although the main object of the expedition failed of success, yet the benefits conferred were not of trifling value. "We have made a thorough reeonnoissance of the heretofore unknov/n Broad River and its tributaries, and ascertained the character of the country, v/hich is knowl- edge of immense importance, in view of future movements in that direction. We have also demonstrated the neces- sity of heavy reenforcements if the Government desire General Mitchel to strike heavily in his department." But in nothing was his Christian philanthropy and pa- triotism more conspicuous than in his attention to the great work of taking care of the " contrabands", gathered by thousands within his department. Their physical wants were supplied, their education provided for, and religious instruction furnished them. He knew the afiec- tionate regard of these simple-hearted refugees from 280 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. slavery, whicli lias been recently warmly expressed in naming a new settlement and headquarters of operations in tlieir behalf, Mitclielville — in memory of the generous »an*i benevolent chief of the department, whose loss they will never cease to mourn. A careful observer of passing events at Beaufort, al- ready quoted, added the following testimony respecting the emancipated slaves, whose prospects so deeply inter- ested the departed chief: " Yesterday completed a year since the flashing broad- sides of the Wabash and the gunboats were echoed from the fortifications guarding either side of the bay. The re- currence of the day leads me to review the results of the past year in this department. " Even those most hopeful for the future of the Afri- cans have not been able to repress a fear that when they were released from the immediate pressure of the lash, a motive to industry would be wanting, and that indolence, dependence, misery, and degradation would result on a scale unparalleled in history. The past year of the department has gone far to solve the problem. The negroes have been placed under circumstances the most unfavorable. Their industry has been interrupted by removals and evacuations. They have by no means been secure of having the avails of their labor. Not unfrequently their crops have been pillaged by lawless soldiers. And yet under all these disadvantages, the negroes working on LIFE OF GEJSTESAL MTTCHEL. 281 their plantations and in the quartennaster's department have shown a readiness, an activity, an efficiency, varying indeed with the skill, energy, and adaptation possessed by the persons appointed to oversee their labor, yet on the whole affording much encouragement. Under the wise arrangement made by General Mitchel, all of the work of getting out the timber and constructing the buildings of the new negro quarters was done by the negToes them- selves. It was a most gi'atifying spectacle to see them, morning and evening, going to their toil or returning home, with the saw and the axe and the spade upon their shoulders. Many of the difficulties which mu^t attend the passage of a people from bondage to fi-eedom are being met and removed, and suggestions are furnished as to the best method of procedure in future. " One of the superintendents, who unites with this office that of a pastor among the negroes, told me lately that, finding that the great body of the people had never been married, he had been marrying not only couples Qewly joined, but those who for years had been just *' living together." Also finding that many of the people had of their own will dissolved their former ties, he had represented to General Saxton the need of having a regu- lar tribunal to act in cases of this kind, and to decree or refuse divorces as it deemed best. Accordingly the Gen- eral, acting as Governor, has instituted a Commission for this purpose. Thus, one by one, the questions which 282 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. must hereafter arise upon a vast scale are met, considered, adjudicated, within the narrow limits of this department. And whenever the time shall come (may God hasten it !) that the millions of Africans shall be raised into enfran- chisement, then the rulers, the philanthropists, to whom the honorable but herculean task shall be committed of molding their new-born liberty into the forms of life, will find their safest, most invaluable guidance in the liistory of the enfranchised people of Port Royal. " Lately, a new question, much disputed, has advanced toward a solution among us — the question of the possi- bility of making soldiers of the negroes. The expedition by the Darlington returned, having, without any loss, ac- complished all its objects successfully, and bringing away sixty contrabands. Of course, the most important result achieved was the proof afforded of the capacity of the negro race for warlike exploits, and the encouragement given to themselves. Their com^age was put beyond a peradventure. When ordered to take to the boats, for the purpose of effecting a landing, they would leap into them with an alacrity which nothing could exceed. When en- gaged in the skirmishes with the enemy, they could with difficulty be kept under cover of the stockade erected around the boat. They would stand out on the spar-deck, loading and firing, till ordered by their officers to go in. " The captain of the gunboat Potomska, who accom- panied the expedition, has written a letter paying the LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCnEL. 283 Strongest tribute to the soldierly qualities displayed by tbem, " THE NEGEO 13 OUE nTYALUABLE AXD CUE NATUEAL ALLY, " It was a negro wlio saved the expedition from utter failure, and the troops from probable ruin. On reaching the mouth of the St. John's River, it appears that there was no way for the troops to get in the rear of the battery on the Bluff, except by marching for forty miles around the head of Pablo and Mount Pleasant Creeks. They must carry their rations, and the sick or weary must be left by the roadside to be murdered by the guerrillas of the enemy. The troops would reach the scene of action utterly ex- hausted, and if defeated, would be likely to be annihilated. Yet there was no alternative, and the order for the desper- ate march was given. " But about midnight, a negro came from shore and told the general of a point of land v\^here the troops might lane! viith ease and safety, and by a march of some eight or ten miles would reach a spot where they could cover the landing of cavahy and artillery, and from thence by a march of four miles could reach the battery from the rear. He described the roads, and gave aU needful informa- tion as to the topography of the region vv^ith perfect clear- ness and absolute accuracy. His advice was adopted; the enemy found themselves assailed from a side where they had not dreamed of attack, and fled precipitately. 284 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. We owe the bloodless victory of St. John's Bluff, and the opening of St. John's River, to the bravery and intelli- gence of a negro (no longer, thank God, a slave). "And they are our natural, iinbought allies. They knoY/ by instinct that there is friendship between us, and that the rebels are their enemies. For example : I was walk- ing through one of the streets of Jacksonville, about half- past seven o'clock on Monday evening, when a mulatto wo- man said to me : ' Sir, I think that General Finnigan went down that street just now.' [General F. v>^as the com- mander of the rebel forces in Florida, and had charge of the battery.] She pointed down a cross road, where the forms of two persons were seen vanishing in the thicken- ing darkness. Alone and unarmed, I could only summon the patrol, and in the delay the suspected persons escaped. But the incident shows the ready trust they place in us, and their willingness to serve us. " We brought away some five hundred to six hundred contrabands from Jacksonville and vicinity. A very in- telligent man, a resident of Jacksonville, said to me : ' The people will be ruined — they Avill be helpless. Here are men who have been supported by the wages their negroes have earned. Now the negroes are going away. How will they live? Next spring, when it is time to plant, who will do the work?' I saw a very intelligent negro, property of Rev. Mr. Duval, Methodist minister in Jacksonville. The man is a drayman. He used to LIFE OF GENEEAli MTTCHEL. 285 bring in to the reverend owner from $3 to ^7 a day Now he is gone, Rev. Mr. D. must henceforth ' live of the Gospel.' " Speaking of slaveholding divines, reminds me of a reply which amused me very much. On James Island, I employed a negro who came from a place not far from Charleston. I asked him what was his master's name. He replied : ' His name ? Parson Prentiss, sir.' ' Oh, he was a parson, was he ? and what was his persuasion ? ' I inquired. 'His persuasion? Oh, he lick um studdy (steady), sir,' was his reply, A tolerably extensive branch of the Church South, is it not ? " In Jacksonville, many families were utterly desti- tute. An officer, in charge of a picket post in the town, heard a girl, waking at midnight, cry for food, but the mother had none to give the child. The next day he car- ried to the house a box of bread and a pail of rice. In many houses there was literally nothing to eat. The in- habitants said that prices were, for corn meal, from $1.50 to $2 a bushel ; salt, 50 cents a quart ; sugar $1 a pound. Fresh beef is very cheap, because there is no way of pre- fjerving it. " In one of the camps at St. John's Bluff, envelopes were found cut out with scissors from the unused leaves of a ledger, with the ruled lines and the dollar-and-cent columns. " In Jacksonville, I saw a girl making envelopes. She 286 LIFE OF GENEEAL MTTCHEL. laid an old envelope, opened and spread out fiat, on a piece of common wallpajjer, and cut out tlie envelopes, using tlie old one as a pattern. Surely, it is a paj)er blockade, isn't it ? "One incident, illustrating the value of the Confed- erate cuiiency, was told me hj an intelligent refugee, as having occurred some months ago. A shoemaker had made a pair of boots, for which he charged his customer $23. The buyer counted out the money in Confederate notes, and then put down a $10 gold piece, giving him his choice. He took the $10. " Some time since, General Terry, who commands the Department of Fort Pulaski, St. Augustine, Fernandina, Key West, and Tortugas, when in St. Augustine was beset by a woman, who complained that her negro had been released, and who demanded his restoration and re- enslavement. She was an English woman, she said, and the Government had no right to interfere with her prop- erty. She came from the British "West Indies, and brought this negro slave with her. " ' Had not slavery been abolished in the British West Indies before you left there?' asked the general. " ' No,' she replied, with great sharpness. ' I came in 1831, long before the emancipation.' " ' Ah, you came in 1831 ?' asked the general. "'Yes, in 1831.' " ' And are you aware, madam, that in 1808 Congress LIFE OP GENEEAL MITCHEL. 287 passed a law making it an act of pii'acy, punishable with death, to bring a person into this country with a view of retaining him in slavery?' "The female slave hunter did not press her claim further." General Mitchel, when alluding to the contrabands not long before his death, remarked, that among the most grateful memories of the past, was the one of a jprayev' meetiiig held by them, which he attended. Their unaffect- ed worship — their faith and love, breathing the very spirit of Christianity, affected him, and his adoration rose with theirs to the God and Father of all. He knew that many of those just now " goods and chattels personal," would stand beneath the dome of unclouded light, and study with him the works of Providence and grace forever. « October 26th he was seized with the yellow fever. For a time no serious apprehensions were felt. Indeed, when the crisis of the disease was reached, the symptoms were pronounced favorable. The perspiration vras free, and the physician left him with confident anticipations of his recovery. But the recent death of his devoted vdfe, his exile from the cherished West, and the entire field of decisive conflict, and the then tlii'eatening aspect of the nationfd struggle for existence — all depressed him, and made recovery to his Christian heart of little consequenca beyond the will of God. He was resigned to do and to 288 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. suffer all tliat was required by loyalty to the " King im mortal and in\-isible." This indifference to earthly scenes, apart from their relation to a higher love and activity, made him uncon sciously less careful to guard against exposure of his sen- sitive frame, than he other vv^ise might have been. A re- lapse assumed immediately an alarming type. CHAPTER XXIV. The Scenes of the Sick-Ecom — The kind and ChrisMan words spoken — ^The Vic torious Death— The Burial— The testimony ci noble Friends— Elegy. )HE thirtietli dawned. By the bedside ctood hia grieving friend watcliing eveiy expre::icn of the dying face. Raising liis fine eye, and extending his hand, he said, " It is a blessed thing to have a Christian's hope in a time like this." The as- cent was given, with " dim eyes suffused vrith tears." An hour passed in silent waiting on the undisputed work of death's angel, who had taken from all human interposi- tion the illustrious captive, even then " more than con- queror" over all mortal and spmtual foes. Again the expressive orbs which had reflected unnumbered stars, opened, and his feebler hand beckoned his friend to his side. Pressing tenderly the palm, he said again : " You must not stay longer ; go now, and come to me in the At this moment Major Birch, whose devotion to hja 13 290 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. general had been warm and constant, entered the apart- ment in an agony of sorrow. He had written, at General Mitchel's dictation, his " last will and wishes." He led to the couch the Rev. Mr. Strickland, and beckoned the friend present to foUov^". After a few words to the clergy- man, he said, " Kneel down." The prayer was offered, amid a stillness of grief too deep for any other language than the subdued utterance of the soul to the " Captain of Salvation." When the company rose from prayer, his affectionate glance once more sought his friend, and he murmured, while his hand was laid in the one so often pressed, " You can do me no good ; do not stay." No cloud was on the splendid intellect, nor on the pros- pect beyond the starry darkness soon to curtain the form of the once loving gazer into its depths. At that moment two sons who were upon his staff, were sick with the same disease, and could not be permitted to know that the father was dying, and hear his last words, lest it should be fatal to them. As he reached the eternal gates, reason at times wandered. The last clear words of triumph were : " I am ready to go." The latest unshadowed glance of the princely soul rested on Rev. Mr. Strickland ; and when he came near, speech was lost ; but twice he raised his hand and pointed upward ! In four short days the manly and vigorous form whicU had borne all pressure of care, had sunk under the scourge of the southern latitudes, and lay in the evening quiet, LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 291 cold, and still. The splendid tenant redeemed, and crowr ed in the skies, was stretching its tireless pinions in the glory of the Infinite ! . The generous, loyal heart had ceased to throb for human wrong-doing and sniFering, and was pouring the tide of its strong affections around Messiah's throne. The vision v/hich had been so often and much among the stars, was satisfied with the shadow- less canopy of unveiled splendor above the thrones of light ! Since this record of his death and burial was written, I have seen a letter written the day of the funeral, which cannot fail to interest you : " Port Eoyal, S. C, October 31. '' Last evening the announcement reached Hilton Head, * Major-General Mitchel died at a quarter-past six this evening.' It is impossible to convey to any one out- side of the department the overwhelming sensation of grief and gloom that this news created. Every one, in every station, feels that he has lost a personal friend, in whose brilliant exploits he felt an intense pride ; that the department has lost one who was the tower of its strength and safety ; and that the country has lost a general to whom no superior is left behind. Truly, in the grand, touching words of Isaiah : ' It is as when a standard- bearer fainteth.' " To-day T have attended his funeral at Beaufort. 292 LIFE OF GENEEAL IVnTCHEL. The procession moved from Hospital No. 2 to the Epis- copal church, the pall being borne by Admiral Dupont, Brigadier-generals Brannan and Saxton, and other naval and military officers of high rank. At the church and at the grave, the service of the Methodist Episcopal Church was read by Rev. Dr. Strickland, chaplain of the Forty- eighth New York, an old friend of the general. I re- gretted that there was not something beside the' reading of the service — some word of prayer or remark suggested by, and growing out of, the occasion. It seemed as if every one present must long to hear and join in an ex- pression of the emotions of admiration for the dead, of grief for his departure, which burdened every heart. It was remembered with overwhelming emotion that two weeks ago he had summoned to;?ether aH the officers at the post, to meet him in this church, and had, in a familiar address, animate with patriotism, spoken to them of his policy, and cheered them to the faithful discharge of their duties to the country. Alas ! no more will that clear eye flash with the instinct of genius and patriotism ; no more will that ringing voice, which seemed to emulate the resonance and the strength of the steel by his side, call us to duty and to glory. In the very spot where so lately he stood and spoke, now his body rested, enveloped in the flag he loved so well, " Chaplain Strickland, who, at the request of the gen- eral, came from Fort Pulaski to spend the last hours with LIFE OF GENERAL MITCnEL. 293 him, informs me that he was not only calm and resigned, but triumphant in the hopes of redemption. When his speech had failed, his eyes were tm-ned upward, and ha pointed toward heaven.- It was an hour of triumph for him, hut of sadness for us. God grant that his vision, illumined hy the radiance of immortality, may have dis- cerned for our country some prospects of brightness, of happiness, and of liberty, hidden as yet from us. " He died as he had lived ; for he was not alone a general, but a Christian. He was a' member of the Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, formerly under the charge of Dr. Beecher ; and his life and spirit were in harmony with this profession. It was faith in God which sustained him amid the perils which he saw sur- rounding the nation. He said to the writer a few v/eeks ago, ' I am not troubled. I am standing on a rock. I have absolute confidence in the wisdom and goodness of God. He may indeed leave the country a prey to disas- ter. But I do not believe that He will, for then it would be of no use to contend against such a result. Eather, I believe that He will bring it out of all its perils into peace and liberty.* *' Among the many saddening attendants of the lat? bereavement was the fact that the general's two sons, prostrated by the same disease which had proved fatal tG him, were ignorant of his death, not being in a condition to bear the shock of the announcement. It will be re- 294 ;.IFE OF GEKEEAL MITCHEL. membered that shortly after he offered his services to the Government, and left his home for the seat of war, liia wife died suddenly, overwhelmed with solicitude in his behalf and with sorrow over his absence. Surely, no one among us has made such unparalleled sacrifices at the altar of liberty, of humanity, of the country with whose destiny he believed the interests of humanity to be insep- arably linked." Wrote another on that sad day at Port Eoyal : " He ■•said to his attendant physician Wednesday morning : * I have tried for thirty years to live the life of a Christian, and if God wills, I am prepared to go.' He was perfectly sensible until within a few hours of his death, but talked very little, and though his two sons were in the chambers above him, he did not ask for them. Doubtless he real- ized the impossibility of seeing them, and forbore to Agitate his mind by speaking of them. They do not yet know of his death. "As it was known to many that I had been called upon to assist in nursing their beloved general, I was ac- costed as I went to and fro (our houses being separated only by an alley and small yard) by officers and privates to know of his condition ; and when at last I was com- pelled to tell them there was no hope, it was wonderful to see the love they bore him. Not in an instance did one tm'n away with an indifferent or cold remark. * He was so kind to us,* said one. ' It will be a sad blow to our LIFE OF GKN^EEAL MITCHEL. 295 troops,' said another. ' He was a good man, and good men are scarce in these days,' said n third. ' God help us, and send us another of his like,' ejaculated an old soldier who was walking with a heavy basket on his shoulder, as he passed on, the tears starting from his eyes. More than one said, ' Ah ! if he could live, and some of our useless, wicked generals be taken.' But neither love nor hate could avail. He sleeps the sleep that knows no waking. " To-day at 11 A. M. he was buried -^ith military hon- ors at the Episcopal church in this place. Rev. Dr. Strickland officiated, and read a part of the Episcopal service and the 90th Psalm. " Commodore Dupont and staff were in attendance, General Saxtoii and General Brannan and suites, and most of the officers of the regiments stationed at this place. " They have laid the last remains of the classic scholar, the earnest seeker after scientific truth, the elo- quent orator, the humble Christian, and the successful warrior, in a sunny spot in the old South Carolina churchyard at Beaufort, around which cluster the e-^er- sheltering live oaks, there to repose till some st^e of his adoption shall call for them, to do them such honor as belongs only to the generous, true, and brave." Farewell, thou gifted, saintly man — " lord in the do- main of thought" — ^patriot, hero, Christian ! "We mourn 296 LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. because so few like thee proclaim tlie dignity and worth of fallen humanity when consecrated by the grace of Christ to science, truth, and duty ! The funeral scene of the departed chief was solemn, and deeply impressive. The coffin was laid under " the shadow of the Episcopal church in Beaufort, S. C, near those of his aide-de-camp, Captain Williams, who died two days before." I shall add to the testimony already given from many sources, in regard to the grea,tness and excellence of his character, an" extract from a note received frcra n, gi-ad- uate of West Point, now occupying a Iiigli po: iiion, v/ho knev/ him well. It is not partial eulogy, I::: the calm utterance of an appreciative mind and heart, tliGiigh be- longing to another religious denomination : " My later acquaintance with Mr. Mitchel led ni3 to the conclusion that he was genial and hearty, generous to a fault, brave as a lion, earnest and enthusiastic. A strong, living, steamlike Christian man. As an orator, truly extemporaneous, he had, to my knowledge, no equal. As a soldier he combined intelligence with char- acter, and to both he added wonderful energy. He was exec )dingly te;mperate in eating and drinking : indeed the table had no charms for him but those which sprung from association v\'ith family and friends. He was often really hilarious fl'om tlie effect of natural, not artificial sphits. He was a man Vv-ith a very large heart. What he loved, LIFE OF GENERAL MTTCHEL. 297 he loved with a fervor which never exhibited itself in words, but always in actions. He loved his family better than himself, and his devotion to his wife after her illnesa (paralysis), was truly touching. He loved his friends with such simple, single-hearted affection, that they formed a brotherhood of association around him. He loved his country as few men do, even in these days of self-devo- tion ; and he loved his God and Churcli with such fervor that he could not do enough for the good cause of Christ." His pastor in Albany, Eev. Dr. Clark, used the fol- lowing language in an eloquent discourse upon the heroes that city had sent to the war : " Of the citizens of Albany who oflered up their lives for their country during the year 1862, I have the names of twenty, each of whom deserves an extended and earnest tribute. The most illustrious in this company is that of Ormsby Macknight Mitchel — a name dear to many hearts here — one who formerly worcliippcd within, these walls, but who to-day worships in a higher, purer, more glorious temple. General Mitchel T7as distinguished in so many departments, that I am r.nablc to say whether he was most eminent as an astronomer, a soldier, or a Clnistian. Pie certainly presented, in a most happy union, scientific culture, earnest patriotism, tender hu- manity, and devoted piety. His intcllsct moved among the stars, and caught then* brillicncY. Ili^ thoughts par- took of their harmony and grander.r. His discoveriea 13* 298 LIFE OF GENEEAL MKCHEL. and contributions to astronomical science are alone suffii cient to render his name distinguished in the annals of American literature. His popular lectures made him a favorite with all, and inspired the minds of the people with a love for the beauties and sublimities of astronomy, and ■with adoration for the great Creator and his marvellous works. He has left here an apparatus for accurate meas- urements which bears the impress of his great mechanical skill. But it is with the mechanism of his noble heart, that was nicely adjusted to measure the depths of human suffering ; it is with those fine chords that vibrated to the calls of patriotism and the claims of his country ; it is with those aspirations that nothing but the truths and glories of Christianity could satisfy, that we are chiefly interested. General Mitchell had a soul that could hear the cries of humanity, and respond by toil and sacrifices for the helpless and unfortunate. For the education and happiness of the freedmen committed to his charge he did what he could ; and at the last great day, many of the re- cipients of his benevolence will be ready to rise up and pronounce him blessed. At the moment the breath left his body, science lost a rare ornament ; the army mourned for a skilful and brave soldier; humanity wept for an earnest defender and advocate ; and the Church lost a true Christian and humble follower of our Lord Jesus Christ." The elegy of W. F. Williams on his death, is a touching tribute : LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL, 299 "MITCHEL. 'Hung he the Tieavons in "black! His mighty lifo ^vas burned away By Carolina's fiery sun ; The pestilence that walks by day Smote him before his coxirse seemed run, t The constellations of the sky, The Pleiades and Southern cross, Looked sadly down to see him die, To see a nation weep his loss. * Send him to us,' the stars might cry; * You do not feel his worth below ; Your petty great men do not try The measure of his mind to know. * Send him to us — this is his place. Not 'mong your puny jealousies ; You sacrificed him in your race Of envies, strifes, and policies. * His eye could pierce our vast expanse. His ear could hear our morniAg songs, His mind amid our mystic dance Could follow all our myriad throngs. * Send him to us ! no martyr's soul, No hero slain in righteous wars. No raptured saint could e'er control A hoUer welcome from the stars.' 300 LIFE OF GENSKAL MTTCHEL. Take Mm ye stars ! take hira on high, To your vast realms of boundless space But once he turned from ycu to try^ His name on mortal scrolls to trace. That once was when his coimtry's call Said danger to her flag was nigh, And then that banner's stars dimmed all The radiant lights which gemmed the sky. Take hun, loved orbs ! H"" ':-'^untry's life, Freedom for all — for the: :. 1 9 wars ; For these he welcomed blco':>" strife, And followed in the Wf^ke of Mars ! " NOTE. A boy's patriotism. Since tlie last pages of this biography were written, I have seen a letter addressed by '' J. B. S ," the wid- ow's only son, to his mother, expressing his wish to join the army. "When it was sent to her, the call was loud for volunteers. It is given here, because it contains the soul of pa- triotism, guided by Christian principle. He will be sur- prised to see it, but it will not injure him, I think, wliiie I hope it may do you good. The words of filial obedience, along with the ardent devotion to the old flag, are the assurance of that revereut loyalty, never so much needed among American youth as now and in the future of our country. Here- is the letter : Phillips' Academy, Jidy ISith, 1S64. My dear Mothep. : I have taken my pen this i::crn:nr; to wiite you on a subject which at first may seem to you unrcaccnr.ble, but -vrbich if you look at in the Ught of duty, you will not refuse to consider. 302 LIFE OF GENEEAL MITCHEL. Andover is in a whirl of excitement — ^Phillips' Academy on fire with patriotic fervor. Attempts are being made to raise a company from this school to defend Washington. Hon. Mr. H , of Boston^ on Monday saw the Governor, who says he will accept a company from this school for one hundred days, and he has given his son permission to go. One of our teachers, Mr. B , a noble Christian gentleman, says he will go right into the ranks with us, if a company can be raised here. Mr. T is also in favor of this project, and is to speak to us this morning at prayers about it. One of the members of the school last evening drew up a paper for any v/ho would go, pro- vided they could receive the consent of their parents. Sixty-five names are on that paper, among which is my own. Our country, mother, needs men to defend the Capital, that those there now may go to the fi-ont, where they are wanted. Thia war has continued long enough already. More men are needed. Other mothers have given their sons to their country. ' This, -mother, is not a rash act of mine. Is it not -my duty to go ? Is it not yours to let me ? Can you conceive of circumstances more favorable than these ? We shall all be together there as here ; -we can pray tlierc as here, we can do good there as here ; shall we not be doing our duty more there than here. Mr. B and some of the theological students being with us gives additional interest. As so many of our class are going, no doubt arrangements can be made when we return to enter college as soon as we expected to do so. All the boys are writing home to get the consent of parents, and will soon receive rephes. This no doubt is a bad season of the year to be in Washington ; but the rebels can work in hot as well as in cold sea- sons, and we must repel them. Mother, our country must be free ; she must be rescued from the thraldom of civil war. Dear mother, I now ask if I can go ? Will you not give your con- sent ? I can't go without it, therefore I must have it. Will you not, LIFE OF GENERAL MITCHEL. 303 to-morrow morning early, telegraph me an affirmative answer ? I know and feel the relation we sustain to each other, but what is that to our country, our bleeding, distracted country ! How can I bear to think that you will refuse me this request ! It seems to me we shall not be as much exposed to vice as imder other circumstances, for we shall have with us earnest 'Christians. S ^'s mother has given two sona to the war, and how he is going himself. Your affectionate son, J. B. a THE END.