Reception in honor of the First Regiment Mississippi Volunteers, War with Mexico at Natchez, Mississippi, June 15, 1847.

(From Natchez Weekly Courier, June 16, 1847.)

Yesterday was a day which will long be remembered in our annals—a glorious day, alternately illuminated by sunshine or darkened by clouds, and one of the hours of which will be deeply traced with every sentiment which could do honor to an admiring people, or to our glorious returned volunteers, "the bravest of the brave" who have so gallantly won and so nobly worn the brilliant chaplets of fame which adorn their brows. It is to be regretted that our city of the bluffs was not honored by all the companies of the regiment, although those who were present had performed deeds, worthy, if possible, (which could not be) a reception more enthusiastic. But, it is useless to talk about that. No reception could have been warmer, more whole-souled, or more heart-inspiring. It was a sight to make the pulse throb, and the heart beat with accelerated motion to see those gallant soldiers those glorious boys of our own State-the "Star Regiment" of Gen. Taylor's army—THE MEN who had stormed the rocky steeps of Monterey, and met with unquailing hearts the iron storm that raged in that doomed city—now a glorious monument of their valor. There were the men who had breasted unflinchingly the crimson tide of battle at Buena Vista. There were the men who had never faltered in the fiercest of the death struggle and when frightened fugitives were frantically flying from the sanguinary conflict, they remained as firm and unmoved as the rock which for ages has breasted the surges of the billows of ocean. There were their ever-glorious commanders,the noble Davis, the fearless McClung—scarred with honorable wounds yet suffering from the injuries they had received in their country's service-but full of patriotic devotion and with spirits unsubdued, and with hearts as free and souls as high as when they first responded to the call of their government and flew to the field of conflict. They were, officers and men, a spectacle which reminded us of the times of our revolutionary ancestors of the "times that tried" the "souls" of the men who were led to battle by Washington, Montgomery, Greene, and many others, whose names illumine as with a glorious stream of sunlight, the history of that eventful epoch,—and they were evidently from the same stock, for such men could not have sprung from any other stock.

But, to the arrival of our laurelled volunteers. The shades of night had scarcely yielded to the bright beams of morn, ere the loud-toned cannon thundered forth the signal, announcing to the citizens of our city and the country round about, the approach of the pride and glory of our chivalrous State. The whole city was moved as if with one mighty inpulse,—citizens from the country flocked in in thousands—stores and other places of business remained unopened, and one general thrill of joyous enthusiasm appeared to animate the vast mass of moving and excited humanity which crowded our streets and thronged the bluffs of the mighty river which flows past our city, to render "honor to the brave."

At about 9 o'clock, the companies of our First Regiment of Rifles were formed at the landing, and at about the same time the fine military companies of our city—the Fencibles, the Light Guard, the Natchez Guards, the Jefferson College Cadets and the Natchez Cadets,—marched under the hill to escort them to our city. The military was formed in the following order: the Fencibles and Light Guard on the right, the Rifles in the centre, and the College Cadets and Natchez Cadets and Natchez Guards in the rear, and thus the long line moved up upon the bluff.

The procession then moved up Main street to Pine street, and down Franklin street to the bluff, where preparations on a scale commensurate with the importance of the occasion, had been made to receive our honored guests.

When we arrived upon the Bluff, a scene of rare and surpassing beauty, never excelled and rarely equalled, burst upon our sight. The Promenade ground was thronged with the bright and beautiful, and wherever he turned a blaze of loveliness was sure to dawn upon the vision of the beholder. But of all the scenes that pleased us in the highest degree was that presented by the pupils of the Natchez Institute-six hundred in number—who, under the admirable supervision of the Principal of the Institute, Mr. Pearl, were formed in two lines on each side of the central promenade the young ladies immediately in front and the boys in the rear. Each young lady held in her hand a boquet of beautiful flowers, and, as the war worn veterans, with their bronzed visages and toil-hardened frames filed slowly past them, presented each with a boquet. It was a touching as well as a soul inspiring spectacle and deeply did this manifestation of respect strike into the hearts of the toil-tried sons of gallant State. We heard dozens give expression to sentiments of high gratification. It was an offering from the young, the lovely and the guileless, that came from bosoms untainted with the vices and strifes of the world, and went directly home to the inmost cores of the hearts of these well-tried veterans. It was a beautiful sight, and which would inspire any man with feelings of the liveliest satisfaction that he lived in a State that possessed such men to send forth to the field of glory and victory, and such hands to strew with flowers the pathway of their return to the State that sent them forth to perform their daring and brilliant deeds.

After performing various military evolutions, the Rifles and our volunteer companies were formed in mass around the rostrum prepared for the reception of the officers, committees, orator of the day, and other distinguished citizens. At this point the presence of the crowd was intense. No consideration of personal convenience appeared to operate upon the nerves of any, either ladies or gentlemen, in endeavoring to get within hearing distance. When all the arrangements were completed, the orator of the Day, Col. Adam L. Bingaman, arose and delivered the following address—an address sparkling with the highest coruscations of genius, and abounding with the brightest attributes of intellect-an address to the purpose, eloquently delivered, and which went home to the hearts of the brave men whose gallant deeds and glorious achievements he was recounting.

We will not attempt to give a description of the address—for that would be a work of entire supererogation. The speech will be found below and will rivet the attention of every reader.

SOURCE: Dunbar Rowland, Editor, Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist: His Letters, Papers and Speeches, Volume 1, p. 74-6

John J. Crittenden’s Speeches during the Congressional Celebration of Washington’s Birthday, February 22, 1852

Mr. Crittenden, in answer to loud calls from all parts of the hall, rose and said:

Mr. PRESIDENT,—I regret that in this company, where there are so many others more capable, I should have been selected and called upon to respond to the toast announcing the Father of his Country as its mighty theme. You have met, sir, to commemorate the anniversary of his birth. The occasion and the associations by which we are surrounded,—here, in the city which he founded, at the capital and seat of government which he established, in sight of Mount Vernon, his chosen residence and the sacred sepulchre of his remains,—the occasion and the associations make us feel as though we were almost brought into his presence; at least his name is here,—a name which can never die,—a living name, before which every head in the civilized world is bent in reverence, and to which the homage of every true American heart is due. [Loud cheers.] I almost fear to speak on such a subject. The character of Washington has ascended above the ordinary language of eulogy. A Cæsar, a Napoleon, a Cromwell may excite the noisy applause of the world, and inflame the passions of men by the story of their fields and their fame; but the name of Washington occupies a different, a serener, a calmer, a more celestial sphere. [Great applause.] There is not in his character, and there is not about his name, any of that turbulence, and excitement, and glare which constitute glory in the vulgar and worldly sense of the term. His name has sunk deep into the hearts of mankind, and more especially has it sunk deep into the mind and heart of America, and in that secret and inner temple it will reside without any of the forms of ostentatious idolatry. It resides in the inner recesses of the hearts of his countrymen; and, like an oracle, is continually whispering lessons of patriotism and of virtue. [Great cheering.] He never sought or asked for what men call glory. He sought to serve his kind and his country by his beneficence and his virtues, and he found in that service, and in the performance of his duty, that only and that richest reward which can recompense the patriot and the statesman. [Renewed and enthusiastic applause.] That was our Washington. Let all the rest of the world present anything like his parallel. The verdict of mankind has already assigned to him a preeminent and solitary grandeur. [Applause.] In him all the virtues seemed to be combined in the fairest proportions. The elements were so mixed in him, and his blood and judgment were so commingled, that all the virtues seemed to be the natural result, and to flow spontaneously from the combination, as water from the purest fountain. In him the exercise of the most exalted virtue required no exertion; it was part and parcel of his nature, and of the glorious organization "to which every god had seemed to set his seal." [Applause.] Where was there any error in him? He was a man, and, therefore, in all humility, we, who share that humanity, must acknowledge that he had his imperfections; but who, through his long and eventful life, can point to an error or to a vice committed, or a duty omitted? His character was made up and compounded of all the virtues that constitute the hero, patriot, statesman, and benefactor [cheers], and all his achievements were but the practical developments of that character and of those virtues. [Applause.] He was the same everywhere,—in the camp, in the cabinet, at Mount Vernon. No difference could be distinguished anywhere. His greatness was of that innate and majestic character that was present with him everywhere. It was that which gave him his dignity, and not the occasional situations or offices which he held under the government. He dignified office; he elevated the highest rank, military or civil, which he ever held. No rank, military or civil, ever raised him, or could come up to that majesty of character which the God of his nature had implanted in him. [Great cheering.] That was our Washington. He was a firm believer in a divine Providence, and it belonged to his elevated and majestic mind to be so, a mind that connected itself with the throne of the Deity from which it sprung. His heart was purified, and his motives were elevated by constant recurrence to that divine assistance which he thought was extended to his country, and to himself in his service of that country. Our history as a people is, to a remarkable extent, a history of providences; and among all the benignities of Providence, in a worldly point of view, I know no greater gift that she has conferred upon us than in the person of Washington himself. [Cheers.] She raised him up at the appointed time. She raised him up at a grand crisis in the affairs of mankind, when the thoughts of men were about taking a new direction; when the old things, the old despotisms, were about to pass away under the influence of a dawning public opinion which was about to reassert the long-lost rights of mankind; when you, a new-born people, for whom this mighty continent had been reserved as the most magnificent land that the Almighty ever prepared for man, had grown to an estate to feel your strength, to know your rights, and to be willing to struggle for them; Washington was raised up to become the great leader of those great popular principles of human rights, and to consecrate them, as it were, by connecting them in his own person with every personal, moral, private, and public virtue; not leaving us to mere idealism, but exhibiting and embodying, in his own venerated and beloved person, all those mighty principles which were necessary to our success and to the establishment of our liberties. He led us triumphantly through a seven years' war; and our glorious Revolution being successfully accomplished, he applied himself, with all his influence and all his wisdom, to secure, by free and permanent institutions, all the blessings that liberty and independence could confer on his country. Our present Constitution and form of government were the grand results of his patriotic efforts. A new government being thus established, he was by the unanimous voice of his country called to the presidential office, that by his wisdom and influence he might put into practice and consolidate those new and untried institutions, by which all the blessings acquired by the Revolution and contemplated by that government were to be practically secured to the people of the United States. He served till the success of the experiment was demonstrated. He retired then to his beloved Mount Vernon, and there passed in honored privacy the remainder of his life. Where can another such character be exhibited on the pages of history? Providence intended him for a model. She has made his character cover the whole space of political and of private life. [Applause.] She trained him up in the humblest walks of private life. There he knew the wants and wishes and condition of the humblest of his fellow-citizens. The confidence which he inspired everywhere spread with every step that he advanced in life. He became commander of the army. With all the military despotism that belongs to such a state, he used his power without the oppression of a human being. During a seven years' war, amid such trials and troubles as no people ever saw, in no exigency, by no extremity, was he driven to the necessity of committing a trespass or wrong upon any man or any man's property. He needed no act of amnesty afterwards, by the government, to protect him against personal responsibility, which acts of violence might have rendered necessary to others. He led you triumphantly on. He was an example to all military men. He became President. He has left us an example there, to which we look back with filial reverence, and long, long may we do so. [Great applause.]

Before his retirement from office, he made to the people of the United States that "Farewell Address" so familiar to the thoughts of us all. It contains, as he himself said, the advice of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. It was the gathered wisdom of all his life and of all his experience. What a legacy! We rejoice in riches that no nation ever knew before. What are the mines of California with their perishing gold to this? You have a legacy left you in the wisdom of that man that is above all price. The Romans shouted, the Romans exulted, when Mark Antony told them that Cæsar had left them a few denarii, and the privilege of walking in his gardens. That was the imperial bequest. How ignoble, how trifling, does the Roman seem to you, my countrymen, who exult to-day in the legacy which was left you in the Farewell Address of Washington! [Great applause.] That is imperishable. So long as we remember it, it will render our government and our liberties imperishable; and when we forget it, it will survive in the memory, I trust in God, of some other people more worthy of it, even if it be to shame this degenerate republic. [Enthusiastic applause.] That Farewell Address contains wisdom enough, if we but attend to it; contains lessons enough to guide us in all our duties as citizens, and in all our public affairs. [Applause.] There are two subjects which recent occurrences have turned our attention to with particular interest, and which I may be allowed on this occasion to advert to, in no spirit of controversy or of unkindness towards any one, but in that spirit which induces me to desire to see every lesson of Washington daily, and constantly, and freshly brought to the mind of every citizen of the United States. To my children they were brought as their first lessons. There is none too old to profit by them, and they cannot be learned too early. You are familiar with that address, gentlemen, and I will therefore only ask you to allow me to allude to the two subjects upon which he has been peculiarly emphatic in his advice. The one is to preserve the union of the States [loud cheers]; that, he says, is the main pillar of the edifice of our independence and of our liberties; frown down every attempt to bring it into question, much less to subvert it; when it is gone all is gone. Let us heed this lesson, and be careful. I trust in God we have no grounds to apprehend such a degree of oppression as will compel us to raise our suicidal arms for the destruction of this great government, and of this Union which makes us brethren. [Great applause.] I do not allow my mind to look forward to such a disaster. I will look upon this Union as indissoluble, and as firmly rooted as the mountains of our native land. I will hope so; I will believe so. I will so act; and nothing but a necessity, invincible and overwhelming, can drive me to disunion. This is the sentiment, as I understand it, which Washington inculcates. Thank God, we have every hope of the restoration of every kind feeling now which made us, in times past, a united band of brothers from one end of this land to the other. [Loud cheers.] But there are external dangers, also, against which Washington warns us; and that is the second subject to which I desire to ask your attention. Beware, he says, of the introduction or exercise of a foreign influence among you. [Loud and prolonged cheering.] We are Americans. Washington has taught us, and we have learned to govern ourselves. [Cheers.] If the rest of the world have not yet learned that great lesson, how shall they teach us? Shall they undertake to expound to us the Farewell Address of our Washington, or to influence us to depart from the policy recommended by him? [Great cheering.] We are the teachers, and they have not, or they will not, learn; and yet they come to teach us. [Here the whole company rose, and gave three tremendous cheers.] Be jealous, he said, of all foreign influence, and enter into entangling alliances with none. Cherish no particular partiality or prejudice for or against any people. [Cheers.] Be just to all,—impartial to all. It is folly to expect disinterested favors from any nation. [Great cheering.] That is not the relation or character of nations. Favor is a basis too uncertain upon which to place any steadfast or permanent relations. Justice and the interests of the parties is the only sound and substantial basis for national relations. So said General Washington,—so he teaches. He asks, "Why quit our own, to stand on foreign ground?" [Cheers.] Go not abroad to mingle yourselves in the quarrels or wars of other nations. Take care to do them no wrong, but avoid the romantic notion of righting the wrongs of all the world, and resisting by arms the oppression of all. [Great cheering.]

The sword and the bayonet have been useful in defending the rights and liberties of those who used them, but in what other hands have they ever contributed to promote the cause of freedom or of human rights? [Cheers.] The heart must be prepared for liberty. The understanding must know what it is, and how to value it. Then, if you put proper arms into the hands of the nation so imbued, I'll warrant you they will obtain and sustain their freedom. [Applause.] We have given the world an example of that success. But three millions, scattered over a vast territory, opposed to the most powerful enemy on earth, we went triumphantly through our Revolution and established our liberties. [Cheers.] But it is said that we have a right to interfere in the affairs of other nations, and in the quarrels of other nations. Why, certainly we have, certainly we have. Any man has the right, if he pleases, to busy himself in the affairs and quarrels of all his neighbors; but he will not be likely to profit by it, and would be called a busybody for his pains. [Laughter and applause.] We, as a nation, have a right to decide—and it is always a question of expediency whether we will or will not interfere in the affairs of other nations. There are cases so connected with our own interests, and with the cause of humanity, that interference would be proper. But still, it is a question for the sound discretion of this people, a question always of expediency,—whether you will or will not interfere; and it is just because it is a question of that character, and because our passions and sympathies may often tempt us to err upon it, that Washington has made it the subject of this emphatic admonition. [Applause.] It is not because we have not the right to interfere, but it is because we have the right, and because we are surrounded by temptations, by the temptations of generous hearts and noble principles,— to transcend the limits of prudence and of policy, and to interfere in the affairs of our neighbors, that he has admonished us. [Applause.] Washington, with that forecast and that prophetic spirit which constituted a part of his character, saw through all this. He knew the warm and generous natures of his countrymen. He knew their susceptibility, and he knew where the danger of error was; and it is there that his wisdom has erected, as far as his advice can do it, a bulwark for our protection. [Applause.] He tells you, "Stand upon your own ground." [Renewed applause.] That is the ground to stand upon.

What can you do by interference? Argument is unnecessary. The name of Washington ought to be authority,—prophetic, oracular authority for us. Is our mission in this world to interfere by arms? It is but little now, comparatively, of good that the bayonet and the sword can do. The plowshare does a thousand times more than either. [Great cheering.] The time was when arms were powerful instruments of oppression; but they cannot do much now, unless they are aided by the mercenary and degenerate spirit of the people over whom they are brandished. What could we do by armed interference in European politics? So mighty at home, what could we do abroad? How would our eagles pine and die if carried abroad, without the auspices of Washington, and against his advice, to engage in foreign wars of intervention, in distant regions of despotism, where we could no longer feed them from the plenteous tables of our liberty! [Enthusiastic applause.] We can do nothing there. We can do nothing in that way. I am not one of those who shrink from this thing simply because blood is to be shed. I have seen war. I have voted for maintaining it. I have contributed to maintain it. I pretend to no exquisite sensibility upon the subject of shedding blood where our public interest or our public glory call upon my fellow-citizens to lay down their lives and shed their blood. [Applause.] But I do not wish to see them depart from those great and sure principles of policy which I am certain will lead my country to a greatness which will give to her word a power beyond that of armies in distant parts of the world. [Cheers.]

Our mission, so far as it concerns our distant brethren, is not a mission of arms. We are here to do what Washington advised us to do,—take care of our Union, have a proper respect for the Constitution and laws of our country, cultivate peace and commerce with all nations, do equal justice to all nations, and thereby set an example to them, and show forth in ourselves the blessings of self-government to all the world. [Applause.] Thus you will best convince mankind. Seeing you prosper, they will follow your example, and do likewise. It is by that power of opinion, by that power of reformation, that you can render the mightiest and greatest service that is in your power towards the spread of liberty all over the world. Adopt the policy of interference, and what is its consequence? War, endless war. If one interferes, another will interfere, and another, and another, and so this doctrine for the protection of republican liberty and human rights results in a perpetual, widespread, and wider-spreading war, until all mankind, overcome by slaughter and ruin, shall fall down bleeding and exhausted. [Applause.] I can see no other end, or good in it, unless you suppose that nations will consent that one alone shall erect itself into the arbiter and judge of the conduct of all the other nations, and that it alone shall interfere to execute what it alone determines to be national law. That alone can prevent widespread devastation from the adoption of this principle of intervention.

I beg pardon for the time I have occupied, but I hope that I may be excused for saying that I feel safer, I feel that my country is safer, while pursuing the policy of Washington, than in making any new experiments in politics, upon any new expositions of Washington's_legacy and advice to the American people. [Great cheering.] I want to stand super antiquas vias,— upon the old road that Washington traveled, and that every President, from Washington to Fillmore, has traveled. [Great cheering.] This policy of non-intervention in the affairs of other countries has been maintained and sanctified by all our great magistrates. [Renewed cheering.] I may be defective in what is called "the spirit of the age," for aught I know; but I acknowledge that I feel safer in this ancient and well-tried policy than in the novelties of the present day.

And now, in conclusion, I hope I may be excused for saying that it has been the effort, and the honest effort, of the present administration-I ask no compliment for it-to follow in the

track that Washington marked out, and, with whatever unequal steps, it has endeavored to follow after him. That has been the model upon which Mr. Fillmore has endeavored, as it regarded all foreign countries, to fashion the course of policy of his administration. [Great applause.]

 

(Close of the Congressional Banquet given in memory of General Washington, 22d of February, 1852, in Washington City.)

Mr. Crittenden rose and said: This is the anniversary of the battle of Buena Vista. We commemorate it as the birthday of our Washington. I have said that Washington is a name that cannot die; it is a living name, and it will be a living name until we as a people are dead. It fought with us at the battle of Buena Vista. The name passed from soldier to soldier when those fearful odds of battle were counted: twenty-five thousand to four or five thousand raw militia! and the frequent exclamation heard among our ranks that "This is Washington's birthday” gave strength to every arm and fortified the courage of every heart. The name and spirit of Washington enabled us to conquer that day.

An honored and venerable gentleman (Mr. Curtis) has said “that the grave claims its due." Well, let the old usurer have it. What is it at last that is his due? The poor corporeal remnants of this poor humanity.

The spirit lives after it. The spirit of Washington is immortal, and still moves and acts upon the hearts of his countrymen. His form—his visible bodily form—has passed away from us, that majestic form “where every god had set his seal to give the world assurance of a man." [Cheers.] That is buried! gone beyond our sight! But his great spirit remains with us that potent, mighty spirit; mighty to save, mighty to inspire, mighty to do battle for his countrymen, for whom he lived—for whom he died. That spirit did inspire us at Buena Vista, and to its influence we owe that memorable victory. It lives everywhere,—lives, sir, in us. The judge upon the bench partakes it. Presidents and generals acknowledge its power, and seek to emulate and follow the example of Washington. I know from intimate and long acquaintance that that old soldier (pointing to General Scott) who has so victoriously commanded our armies and led them to battle and to victory, has felt and cultivated the influence of that spirit, that his great ambition has been to fashion himself after that model man, General Washington.

But, Mr. President, we cannot well celebrate the 22d of February without having our hearts turned, also, to some memory of the victory of Buena Vista,—occurring on the same day, and seeming to have emanated from the nativity of our Washington to shed, like a bright star, new lustre upon it.

We cannot think of Buena Vista without a grateful remembrance of that famous old soldier and leader to whom, under Providence, we were indebted for that victory—a victory almost without a parallel in history. The battles of his life are all over, and he sleeps with the mighty dead.

Allow me to offer you the illustrious name of that brave, good, and patriotic man, the hero of Buena Vista, General Taylor, the late President of the United States.

This toast was drunk standing and in silence.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 28-36

James K. Polk* to Jefferson Davis, May 19, 1847

(From Vicksburg Weekly Whig, October 20, 1847.)

Washington City, May 19, 1847.

My Dear Sir:—The Secretary of War will transmit to you, a commission as Brigadier General of the United States Army. The Brigade which you will command, will consist of volunteers called out to serve during the war with Mexico. It gives me sincere pleasure to confer this important command upon you. Your distinguished gallantry and military skill while leading the noble regiment under your command, and especially in the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista, eminently entitle you to it. I hope that the severe wound which you received at the latter place, may soon be healed, and that your country may have the benefit of your valuable services, at the head of your new command.

I am very faithfully, your friend,

JAMES K. POLK.

To Brigadier-General Jefferson Davis, U. S. Army, in Mexico.

_______________

*Polk, James Knox (1795-1849), eleventh President of the United States, was born in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, November 2, 1795, graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1818, removed to Tennessee, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1820, and began practice in Columbia, Tenn. He served in the Tennessee House of Representatives 1823-1825; was a member of the national House of Representatives, 1825-1839; Speaker, 1835-1839; and Governor of Tennessee 1839-1841. He was President of the United States, 1845-1849. During his administration the annexation of Texas (1845) involved the country in aggressive war against Mexico (May, 1846-September, 1847) which resulted in the acquisition of California and other cessions from Mexico. A dispute with the British government about the boundary of Oregon was settled by the Treaty with Great Britain signed June 15, 1846. President Polk retired from office in March, and died at Nashville, Tenn., June 15, 1849.

SOURCE: Dunbar Rowland, Editor, Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist: His Letters, Papers and Speeches, Volume 1, p. 73

Diary of George Mifflin Dallas, March 20, 1861

Dr. Hitchcock, of California, the surgeon of General Taylor at the battle of Buena Vista, who saved the life of Jeff. Davis by extracting from the wound he received a piece of steel of a spur and part of its leather strap, brought me direct from Secretary Black a despatch instructing me to oppose any recognition by this Government of a Minister from the Confederate States. . . I immediately asked an interview with Lord John Russell. As this despatch relates to high questions of domestic politics, and is dated as late as the 28th of February, only three days before the Inauguration, it suggests the possibility of its having been sanctioned by Mr. Lincoln, for his inaugural speaks to the same effect.

Macaulay's fifth volume, edited by Lady Trevelyan, is just out, and is a brilliant specimen of picturesque history. His sketch of Peter the Great and his development & of the rival pretensions to the Spanish succession are admirable in every way.

SOURCE: George Mifflin Dallas, Diary of George Mifflin Dallas, While United States Minister to Russia 1837 to 1839, and to England 1856 to 1861, Volume 3, p. 442

Beautiful Scene In Washington, May 2, 1850

Correspondence of the Baltimore Patriot.

WASHINGTON, May 2, 1850

Last night was a glorious night for the lovers of the Union, and hundreds upon hundreds of the ‘lads of the clan’ were congregated together at the hospitable mansion of the Secretary of the Interior, on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter, Ellen B. Ewing to William T. Sherman, of the U. S. Army.  The bride and groom of course were the centre of attraction, and considering their youthfulness, and surrounded by such a numerous assembly of the magnates of the land they acted their parts with ease, simplicity and elegance.  Of the groom, I can only say, having no acquaintance, that fame speaks in the highest terms of him as a young gentleman of high toned honor and spotless integrity.  Of the Metropolitan favorite, the lady-like Ellen, I can speak by the card, and inform you that every quality that constitutes a charming woman, there is not on this broad land her superior.  Affection, pride, show, parade, are all strangers to her, and any one, rich or poor, having an unblemished reputation, is always considered by her, good society.—Her father appears to have taken uncommon pains in her education and in giving a proper direction to every act and thought.

If I wanted to adduce other evidence than that known to the world of the honesty and sterling integrity of Thomas Ewing, aye, even before the Richardson Committee, I would just point them to his daughter, brought up under his own eye as a voucher.  She strongly resembles the Secretary in mind and judgment, but is greatly ahead of him in making friends among the democracy.

The rooms above and below were crowded with ‘belles, and matrons, maids and madams.’  The President was there.  The Vice President was there.  The Cabinet were there.  Judges of the Supreme Court were there.  Senators and members were there.  Sir Henry L. Bulwer, lady and suite, with many of the Diplomatique corps, were there.  Citizens and strangers were there, and

Taylor, Clay, Cass, Benton and others,

Moved along like loving brothers.

The Bride’s cake was a ne plus ultra.—The popping of the champaigne was like the peals of artillery at Buena Vista: and the feast was all the art of Ude could make it, while Mr. and Mrs. Ewing and every member of the family made it [feel] as if they were really at home.

SOURCE:  The Lancaster Gazette, Lancaster, Ohio, Friday Morning, May 10, 1850, p. 2

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, September 11, 1863

Headquarters, Army Of Potomac

September 11, 1863

The last two days have been most unusually quiet. I read a little in military books, write a few letters, look over the newspapers a little, talk to the Staff officers, and go to bed early. The conversation of the officers is extremely entertaining, as most of them have been in a good many battles. They say that General Meade is an extremely cool man. At Gettysburg he was in a little wooden house, when the hot fire began. The shells flew very thick and close, and his Staff, who were outside, got under the lee of the house and sat down on the grass. As they sat there, out came General Meade, who, seeing them under such a slender protection against cannon-balls, began to laugh, and said: “That now reminds me of a feller at the Battle of Buena Vista, who, having got behind a wagon, during a severe cannonade, was there found by General Taylor. ‘Wall Gin'ral,’ said he, looking rather sheepish, ‘this ain't much protection, but it kinder feels as it was.’” As a point to the Chief's anecdote, a spherical case came through the house at that instant, exploded in their circle and wounded Colonel Dickinson. . . .

I walked over and saw the Provost prisoners, the other evening. If you want to see degraded human nature, there was the chance. There was a bough covering, about forty feet square, guarded by sentries, and under it were grouped some fifty of the most miserable and depraved human beings I ever saw — deserters, stray Rebel soldiers, “bushwhackers” and camp-followers. They sleep on the bare ground with such covering as they may have, and get a ration of pork and biscuit every day. This is only a sort of temporary guardhouse, where they are put as they come in. War is a hard thing. This country, just here, was once all fenced in and planted; now there isn't a rail left and the land is either covered with dried weeds or is turned into a dusty plain by the innumerable trains of horses, mules and waggons.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 12-3

Colonel William M. G. Torrence

SECOND COLONEL, THIRTIETH INFANTRY.

William M. G. Torrence, the successor of Colonel Abbott to the colonelcy of the 30th Iowa Infantry, was the eighth of the Iowa colonels who lost their lives in the service — Worthington, Baker, Mills, Dewey, Kinsman, Abbott, Hughes, and Torrence. Of those who lost their lives in battle, he was the fifth — Baker, Mills, Kinsman, Abbott, and Torrence.

Colonel Torrence was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he was born the 1st day of September, 1823. His parents were Presbyterians, of which church he was also a member. His mother died in his early infancy, and left him to the kind care of an esteemed and most worthy sister, who reared him with almost maternal tenderness.

In early manhood, he left his native State for Kentucky, where he became a school-teacher; and in this capacity he passed several years. He was engaged in school-teaching in Kentucky, at the time war was declared against Mexico; but, like Colonel Scott of the 32d Iowa, left the school-room and volunteered. He was a first lieutenant in that war, and a member of the 1st Kentucky Mounted Volunteers, commanded by the portly, perfidious Humphrey Marshall. His cool judgment and commendable courage in action won him distinction. He was highly complimented for the part he acted at the battle of Buena Vista, being tendered a commission in the regular army of the same rank as that which he held in the volunteer service; but he declined the honor, and, at the close of the war, returned home with his regiment.

In the latter part of 1847, Lieutenant Torrence came to Iowa, and settled in Keokuk, where he resumed his former occupation, and where he made his home till the outbreak of the rebellion. During his residence in Keokuk, he was for several years City Superintendent of Public Instruction. In the spring of 1861, he enlisted a company (A) for the 1st Iowa Cavalry, and was in June commissioned major of the first battalion of that regiment. In the winter of 1861-2, he served with his battalion in Central Missouri, and had command of posts in Howard, Pettis and Cooper counties. At Silver Creek, in January 1862, he engaged and defeated the rebel Colonel Poindexter, capturing and destroying his camp and his train. While a member of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, he served with credit to himself, and was equally successful as a post-commandant, and as a leader of expeditions to hunt out and punish guerrillas. He was a terror to the Missouri bushwhackers.

On the 3d of May, 1862, for reasons unknown to me, Major Torrence resigned his commission, and returned to his home in Keokuk.

After the call of the President for additional troops in the summer of 1862, Major Torrence again volunteered, and was made lieutenant-colonel of the 30th Iowa Infantry. In October, 1862, he accompanied his regiment to the field, and was with it in all its subsequent campaigns and engagements. At Arkansas Post, where he commanded his regiment, he particularly distinguished himself; and at the memorable charge against the enemy's works at Vicksburg, where Colonel Abbott was killed, he bore himself with equal gallantry. On the 29th day of May, 1863, he was commissioned colonel of the 30th Iowa; and, from that day till the 21st of October, 1863, he remained in command of his regiment.

The history of the 30th Iowa during the colonelcy of Colonel Torrence covers the siege of Vicksburg; the march to Jackson under General Sherman after the surrender of Vicksburg, and a portion of the march from Memphis to Chattanooga. It was on the last named march that the colonel was killed.

An account of all the above operations has already been given in the sketches of other officers and regiments, and can not be repeated with interest. This however should be said in justice to the 30th Iowa: no regiment from the State surpasses it in gallant and meritorious services; and, of the Iowa troops called out in the summer of 1862, no regiment has done more fighting, and few have done as much. In the face of the enemy, it has always conducted itself with conspicuous gallantry, challenging the admiration of both its brigade and division commanders. From the time of its entering the field to the present, the 30th has served in the same division with the 4th, 9th, 25th, 26th and 31st Iowa regiments.

The services of the 30th Iowa, and of the Iowa troops before Vicksburg, were arduous and exhausting. After operations had settled down into a regular siege, the troops suffered chiefly from the intense heat in the trenches, and from the want of good water. The labor in digging the approaches, and of constructing new forts and planting artillery, was the hardest and most dreaded. The Federal camps were so securely established back behind the hills, as to render them comparatively safe from the enemy's scattering musketry, and from the ponderous missiles of their artillery. The skirmish-line was the place of chief danger; and yet, the skirmish-line was the scene of much amusement. Regiments took their regular turn on the skirmish-line, every two or three days, usually going out in the morning, and holding their posts for twenty-four hours. They were protected by old logs, fallen trees, and slight earth-works. Every man had his chosen place — in the crotch of a fallen tree, at the end of a log, behind a stump, or somewhere; and the regular day for his regiment at the front, was sure to find him there, unless he had been struck by a "Johnnie," or left sick in camp. Thousands to-day can go to the very spot where, during the siege of forty-five days, they slammed away.

A favorite amusement with many of the men, was to stick their hats on the end of their guns, and then, thrusting them just above the works, invite the "Johnnies" to "hit that." It was nothing uncommon, too, for the men to "take a game of seven-up." It is wonderful what indifference to danger men acquire from being constantly exposed to it.

The greater portion of the months of August and September, 1863, were passed by the 30th Iowa in camp on Big Black River. In the latter part of September, the regiment marched with its brigade to Vicksburg, and proceeded thence by boat to Memphis. Going by rail from Memphis to Corinth, It marched thence for Chattanooga. The 30th was attached to General Osterhaus' Division, which marched out to Tuscumbia, Alabama, to call the attention of the enemy from Sherman's real line of march. It was on that march that Colonel Torrence was killed.

He was shot by the enemy, in ambush, just beyond Cherokee Station and among the wild hills of northern Alabama. I remember the day well. It was in the afternoon of the 21st of October, and stormy and dismal. The troops of John E. Smith's Division, being only about seven miles in rear of Osterhaus', could hear the firing distinctly. That night no baggage was unloaded, and we slept in a cold, drizzling rain. We expected to be thrown to the front the next morning, and all were gloomy. But the next morning we remained in camp, and watched the ambulances that were bearing to the rear the dead and wounded of Osterhaus' Division: when the dead body of Colonel Torrence went past, there were not a few sad hearts among the Iowa troops. The Colonel was shot through the breast while at the head of his regiment, and died almost instantly.

The following, as nearly as I can learn, are the circumstances under which Colonel Torrence was killed; and General Osterhaus was severely censured by some, for the part he acted. The enemy were met just beyond Cherokee. Between the Federal and Confederate forces was an open field, bordered by dense timber; and Osterhaus' line of march was eastward in the direction of Tuscumbia. Forming his line, he advanced across the field, when the enemy fell back into the woods, in their rear. Colonel J. A. Williamson, in command of the brigade to which the 30th Iowa was attached, on arriving at the edge of the timber, left his command in line, and rode forward to reconnoitre. On returning, he met Colonel Torrence advancing with his regiment by the flank, and said to him: "How is this, Colonel? you are not obeying orders." Colonel Torrence, lifting his hat, and in his bland, gentlemanly way, replied: "I am acting under the orders of General Osterhaus." Colonel Williamson then rode back to the balance of his command, but had hardly re-joined it, when a volley of musketry was heard down the road.

Colonel Torrence had discovered the enemy only an instant before they fired, and was just deploying his regiment in line. He was shot through the breast, and, as I have before said, fell from his horse, and died almost instantly.

In the skirmish near Cherokee, (for so it was called) the loss of the 30th Iowa was twenty-seven in killed, wounded and missing. Captain William H. Randall was among the killed. He was a native of Indiana, and a resident of Birmingham, Van Buren county. Brave, modest and unassuming, he was deservedly one of the most popular officers of his regiment.

If I ever saw Colonel Torrence, I did not know him; but I am told he was a tall, slender man, with agreeable manners and affable address. At the time of his death, his head was heavily sprinkled with gray. He was a good scholar, and, judging from his official papers, a man of good taste and judgment. He was a Christian gentleman, and, as a citizen, held in the highest esteem.

The following is an extract from his last communication sent to the adjutant-general of Iowa:


"Head-quarters 30th Regiment Iowa Volunteers,
Iuka, Mississippi, October 13th, 1863.

"N. B. BAKER, Adjutant-General of Iowa:

"Accompanying this, you will receive two flags, worn out in the service. They were carried by the 30th Iowa during their marches a distance of five thousand seven hundred miles, between October 26th, 1862, and October 10th, 1863."


Quite in contrast is the following extract from the report of an Iowa officer, whose name I will not give.

"Exposed to every danger, they were ever conspicuous for their cool, daring courage, and the ardor of their souls, blended with pure love for their country, beamed from their countenances, and hung about them, ' Like the bright Iris, o'er the boiling surge.'"

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 461-6