Daniel Webster to Fletcher Webster, March 12, 1851

Washington, March 12, 1851.

DEAR FLETCHER,—I understand that our neighbor, Mr. Waterman, furnishes Boston bakers, or roasters, which have machinery by which the spit is turned while the meat is roasting. I wish you would inquire, and if such an article is to be had, send me a good one.

It ought to be open, for the admission of air, on both sides.

Yours,

D. W.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 421

Daniel Fletcher Webster to Senator Daniel S. Dickinson, January 21, 1855

BOSTON, January 21, 1855.

MY DEAR SIR—I this day received, on my return from Washington, an envelope post-marked Binghamton, and containing an autograph letter from my late father to you. I suppose I am indebted for this favor to no one but yourself. I have seen the letter in print, but am very much your debtor for the original. It contains sentiments to which I have often heard my father give expression, in the privacy of social and domestic life, and with which he impressed his family and friends.

I will have it copied and return you the original. With your leave, I propose to make use of it in the publication of my father's correspondence.

I am, with great respect,

Your friend and servant,

FLETCHER WEBSTER.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 485

Daniel Webster to Fletcher Webster, October 2, 1850

Washington, October 2, 1850.

DEAR FLETCHER,—It is my hope to reach Boston on Monday evening next. For the two or three weeks, more or less, which I may be at Marshfield, I shall need a good coach, a handsome pair of horses, and a proper driver. If this could be had at Foster's, I should prefer it; if not, please look them up else where.

My cold is taking leave, and "it could take nothing I could more willingly part withal."

Tell the Judge,¹ I have something to say to him about California. Everybody is off, and Mr. Kortiss ² and I quite alone. except when Colonel March falls in.

Yours, affectionately,

DAN'L WEBSTER.

_______________

¹ Honorable John P. Healy.

² Mr. Edward Curtis.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 394

Daniel Webster to Fletcher Webster, October 24, 1850

Franklin, October 24, 1850.

Dear Fletcher, I have yours of the 22d. I am growing so fat here, I hate to think of leaving. My cough spasms are pretty much gone off. I am out doors all day, if it be a fair day, and I am getting to be hungry. At least, I can sit at table, amid the odor of viands, while other people eat, which I could not do a month ago. I shall stay as long as I can. Evidently, the air suits my case. I hear no news, I read no newspapers.

D. W.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 396

Daniel Webster to Daniel Fletcher Webster, July 23, 1850

Washington, July 23, 1850.

MY DEAR SON,—I gave directions yesterday, to have my old rooms arranged for me. This morning, at ten o'clock, I was sworn in, and I write this at my old high table, in my little room. The rooms are all clean, and very nice. Mr. Zantzinger is appointed agent and superintendent of the building, and Charles Brown¹ is put again on "Continental Establishment." Some other things must be done, which, with Mr. Derrick's advice, I shall dispatch at once, so as to avoid importunity.

Would Mr. Sargent come here, and be my private and confidential clerk, for eight hundred dollars a year? Or do you think of anybody who would do better?

The weather cooler, and I am well. D. W., Mr. Corwin, and Mr. Hall were sworn in to-day. Mr. Crittenden and Mr. Graham accept; Mr. Pearce, doubtful. Mr. Bates, not heard. from.

Remember me to Mrs. H. and Mr. H.

Yours,

D. W.

_______________

¹ A colored man who had been with Mr. Webster for many years.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 379

Senator Daniel Webster to Fletcher Webster, June [possibly 23,] 1850—10:30

Sunday, half-past ten o'clock, June, 1850.

DEAR FLETCHER,—After writing you this morning, I received two letters from you, for which I thank you. I shall now go to Marshfield before I go to New Hampshire, and will push right off for Marshpee, Waquoit, Red Brook, or elsewhere in those foreign parts.

This morning, after breakfast, and before church, that is, between half-past seven and eleven o'clock, I struck out the whole frame and substance of my address for the Fourth of July. I propose to write it all out, which I can do in three hours, and to read it, and to give correct copies at once to the printers.

So, if I find a trout stream in Virginia, I shall not have to be thinking out, "Venerable men."

Your mother wrote Caroline yesterday, and sends you her love to-day.

Yours affectionately,

DAN'L WEBSTER.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 375

Senator Daniel Webster to Fletcher Webster, Thursday, April 18, 1850

In the Senate, April 18, Thursday, 1850.

MY DEAR SON,—I received yours this morning. You appear to have a fierce storm. Here the weather has been quite cold, and it is feared the fruits are all spoiled, or nearly so.

I have been in court in a very important cause, and all the while kept running up to the Senate. I am harassed and tired; but I have no other case for three weeks.

I suppose the committee of thirteen will be appointed to-day. We shall then see a little what will be the course of things, and when I can probably leave for home. I learn that my name is on the list for the committee, but I shall not serve on it. Again, perhaps, to-morrow.

D. W.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 366

Senator Daniel Webster to Fletcher Webster, Wednesday, April 24, 1850—10 a.m.

In the Senate, Wednesday, ten o'clock. April, 1850.

MY DEAR SON,—I was glad to receive your letter this morning, and to learn the health of yourself and family. I hardly knew what had become of you. I should be glad to hear from you every day. Any thing from home seems a solace, among letters of business and letters of politics. Let me or Mrs. Webster hear from some of you every day.

I shall hardly get to Virginia, except so far as to Harper's Ferry, perhaps.

Yours truly,

D. W.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 366-7

Senator Daniel Webster to Daniel Fletcher Webster, March 28, 1850

Washington, March 31, 1850.        

Sunday, two o'clock.

MY DEAR SON,—Mr. Calhoun died this morning at seven o'clock. It is remarkable, that his body servant, who has waited upon him for thirty years, died also last night.

Mr. Calhoun was just about my own age, born in the same year. I found him a prominent member of the House of Representatives when I first took a seat in that body, in May, 1813, the year of your birth.

The Secretary of the Senate has come to signify Mr. Benton's wish that I should say something in the Senate to-morrow, which I shall try to do.

I have your letter of Friday, which Mr. Curtis likes very much. He is anxious to know, a great deal more than I am, how things move in your quarter.

The "speech" continues in demand. One hundred and twenty thousand have gone off. I am sending a handsome copy to each member of the legislature, and shall send the speech also pretty generally to the clergy of Massachusetts. But the great mass throughout the State ought to be supplied freely.

I am pretty well, though a little rheumatic.

Yours,

D. W.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 363-4

John L. Motley to Mary Lothrop Motley, September 21, 1862

Vienna, September 21, 1862.

Dearest Little Mary: Your last letters, 1st and 2d September, reached us with promptness, and gave us the same mingled pain and pleasure that your letters always do. You are a dear darling to write to us so faithfully and conscientiously, and we look forward to our weekly budget from “our own correspondent” with great eagerness. You say in your last that Mrs. Lothrop's third son is going to the war. I cannot sufficiently admire their spirit and patriotism and her courage. I had such a nice, interesting, well-written letter from Julius at Newbern. I wish you would ask Mrs. Lothrop when she writes to thank him for it, and to say that I have not yet answered it simply because I have nothing agreeable or interesting to say from this part of the world. One of these days, when affairs are looking less gloomy, I shall take pleasure in sending an answer to his letter. Meanwhile I am delighted to hear of his promotion to a lieutenancy, and wish him every success.

The most amazing part of the whole matter is that people should now go about talking to each other of the “Constitution and the enforcement of the laws” exactly as if we were at peace. We are not in peace. We are in war. And the law of war is perfectly simple. It is to use all and every means necessary for overcoming the resistance of your enemy. Had government issued a proclamation of universal freedom to all men, in the exercise of its unequivocal and unquestioned rights as a belligerent, at about the time when the “Young Napoleon” was burrowing in the Chickahominy swamps, it would have done more toward overcoming the resistance of the enemy by cutting off the great source of their supplies than the whole of that ignominious campaign in the Peninsula, which has brought us, in spite of the unparalleled heroism, endurance, patience, and unflinching courage of our soldiers, back to exactly the same point (to make the best of it) from which we started a year ago. Tell Dr. Holmes that I received his letter of the 4th September yesterday, and that it gave me inexpressible comfort.

I shall write him next week. I agree with every word he says, and it gives me great pleasure to hear him say that the antislavery feeling is on the increase in Boston. Of one thing I feel perfectly certain, although everything else seems obscure as midnight. If Jeff Davis gets half the country, he will get the whole. If we keep half, we shall keep the whole. I mean by “we” the antislavery party of the country.

As to arming the slaves and drilling them as soldiers, I do not care so much about that, except as a means of preventing servile insurrections. Black men, as well as white men, are susceptible of military discipline, and soldiers in the army of whatever color must be shot for massacre and murder. The very reason which always prevented me from being an abolitionist before the war, in spite of my antislavery sentiments and opinions, now forces me to be an emancipationist. I did not wish to see the government destroyed, which was the avowed purpose of the abolitionists. When this became the avowed purpose of the slaveholders, when they made war upon us, the whole case was turned upside down. The antislavery men became the Unionists, the slaveholders the destructionists. This is so plain that no mathematical axiom is plainer. There is no way of contending now with the enemy at our gates but by emancipation.

Poor Fletcher Webster! I saw him on the Common at the head of his regiment; he looked like a man and has died like one. I am beginning to think that they who are dying for their country are happier than those of us who are left. Another old schoolfellow of mine was killed too, Phil Kearny (General Kearny)—the bravest of the brave. Good-by, darling. My love to grandmama and grandpapa and all the family.

Your affectionate

Papa.

SOURCE: George William Curtis, editor, The Correspondence of John Lothrop Motley in Two Volumes, Library Edition, Volume 2, p. 284-6

John Lothrop Motley to Mary Benjamin Motley, July 21, 1861

Woodland Hill, Sunday, July 21, 1861.

My Dearest Mary: I have not the time nor the matter for anything but a hasty line. I am obliged to write two days before the packet day, as I must go to Nahant to-morrow, Monday, and the next day I have promised to dine with old Mr. Quincy, at Quincy. I came up yesterday to dine with Mr. George Curtis and his wife, Ticknor, Everett, and Felton. You will see in the “Daily Advertiser” the proceedings of one or two public bodies by whom respectful tribute has been paid to Mr. Appleton's character. His mind was singularly calm and lucid to the last. On Wednesday I went to Cambridge, by invitation, to hear the exercises of commencement and to be present at the dinner. The performances were very creditable indeed, and I found at the dinner, at which there were some three hundred of the alumni present, several members of my class, and passed a very pleasant hour, the more so as Felton had faithfully promised me that I should not be called out for a speech. As I had received an LL. D. at the previous commencement in my absence, I could hardly refuse the invitation to the dinner. But two degrees of LL. D. were conferred on this occasion — one on Governor Andrew, and the other on General Scott. The announcement, which was made on the platform in the church, after the conclusion of the college exercises, of the governor's name was very well received, and there was much well-deserved cheering, for he has been most efficient and intelligent in his exertions ever since this damnable mutiny broke out, and it is much owing to his energy that Massachusetts has taken the noble stand which she now occupies in defense of the Constitution and the country.

But when the name of Winfield Scott was announced, there arose a tempest of cheers such as I am sure was never heard before at any academic celebration in Cambridge. I thought the church would have split to pieces like a bombshell, so irrepressible was the explosion of enthusiasm. ’T is a pity the old man couldn't have heard it with his own ears. He is used to huzzas from soldiers and politicians; but here were grave professors and clergymen, judges, young undergraduates and octogenarians, all hallooing like lunatics. And the same thing was repeated at the dinner when his health was drunk. You will see an account of the proceedings in the “Daily Advertiser” of the 18th of July.  . . . You will also observe that I was startled from my repose at the table, not by Felton, but by Everett, who made a most complimentary allusion to me far beyond my deserts, in his after-dinner speech. They insisted on my getting up and saying a few words of acknowledgment; but I was too much moved to make a speech, and they received my thanks with much cordiality.

Nothing can be better than Everett's speech at New York, — one of the most powerful commentaries on this rebellion that has ever been spoken or written, — and he has made several other addresses equally strong in tone. We are now in an era of good feeling throughout the North, and we no longer ask what position any man may have occupied, but where he stands now, and I am glad that we shall henceforth have the benefit of Everett's genius and eloquence on the right side.

Since I wrote last nothing very important has occurred; but now important events are fast approaching. I don't use this expression in the stereotype phraseology of the newspapers, because you must have perceived from all my letters that I did not in the least share the impatience of many people here.

The skirmish of the 18th was by detachments, only 800 men in all, of Tyler's brigade, commanded by him in person, and they are said to have behaved with great skill and gallantry. It is your old friend Daniel Tyler of Norwich, who, you know, was for a considerable part of his life in the army and was educated at West Point. He is now a brigadier-general, and, as you see, commands under McDowell, whom I described to you in my last. Montgomery Ritchie, by the way, is aide to a Colonel Blenker, who has a regiment in Tyler's brigade, and James Wadsworth is aide to McDowell. The affair at Bull Run is of no special importance; of course we don't know what losses the rebels sustained, nor is it material. These skirmishes must occur daily, until it appears whether the enemy mean to risk a pitched battle now, or whether they mean to continue to retire, as they have hitherto been steadily doing, before the advance of the Union forces. The question now is, Will they make a stand at Manassas, or will they retreat to Richmond? Beauregard, who commands at Manassas, is supposed to have at least 60,000 men, and Johnston, who was until two days ago at Winchester, is thought to be falling back to join him. On the other hand, while McDowell is advancing toward Manassas, Patterson, with 35,000 men (with whom is Gordon's regiment, Massachusetts Second), has moved from Martinsburg to Charlestown, and, as I thought, will soon make a junction with him, and McClellan is expected daily out of West Virginia. Thus some 120,000 Union troops are converging at Manassas, and if the rebels have sufficient appetite, there will soon be a great stand-up fight.

If they retreat, however, there will be more delays and more impatience, for it is obvious that the Union troops can gain no great victory until the rebels face them in the field. This has not yet been the case, but they have fired from behind batteries occasionally while our men were in the open. Hitherto nothing of importance has occurred except the slow advance of the Union and the slow retreat of the rebellion. Perhaps before this letter is posted, two days hence, something definite may have occurred in the neighborhood of Manassas. Day before yesterday I saw the Webster regiment reviewed on the Common. On the previous afternoon Governor Andrew had invited me to come to his room at the State House. I did so at the time appointed, and found no one there but the governor, his aides, Colonel Harrison Ritchie, Wetherell and Harry Lee, and Mr. Everett, who was to make a speech on presenting the colors to the regiment. I saw them march along Beacon Street in front of the State House, and thought they had a very knowing, soldierly look. They had been drilling for months down at Fort Independence, and are off for the seat of war to-morrow.

When the regiment had arrived on the Common and was drawn up in the Lower Mall, we proceeded to review them. Governor Andrew, in his cocked hat and general's uniform, took possession of Mr. Everett, and the two were flanked by four aides-de-camp, effulgent in what the newspapers call the “gorgeous panoply of war,” while I was collared by the adjutant-general and the stray colonel, and made to march solemnly between them. What the populace thought of me, I don't know, but I believe that I was generally supposed to be a captured secessionist, brought along to grace the triumph of the governor. Well, we marched on, followed by a battalion of escort guards and preceded by a band of music, to the Mall, and then the Webster regiment went through its manœuvers for our benefit, and that of some thousands of enthusiastic spectators besides.

Of course I am no judge of military matters, but they seemed to be admirably drilled, and one or two army officers with whom I spoke were of the same opinion, — one of these, by the way, was a Virginian, Marshall by name, a stanch Union man and nephew of the General Lee of Arlington, who so recently abandoned the side of General Scott for a high post in the rebel army, — but I am at least a judge of men's appearance, and it would be difficult to find a thousand better-looking men with more determined and resolute faces. They wear the uniform of the regular army, and their officers are nearly all young, vigorous men, of good education and social position. I had a little talk with Fletcher Webster, who seemed delighted to see me. Everett made a magnificent little speech on presenting the standard, and Webster a very manly and simple reply. The standard bears for inscription the motto from Webster's (the father's) famous speech, “Not a single stripe polluted, not a single star effaced,” together with the motto of Massachusetts, "Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem,” i. e., “With the sword she seeks tranquillity under the protection of liberty.” This has been the device of the Massachusetts seal for more than a century, I believe; but it is originally a plagiarism from Algernon Sydney.

I am delighted with all that you tell me of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll and their warm and friendly sympathy; of Lord Granville; of Lord de Grey; of Milnes and Forster and Stirling. I haven't time to mention all the names of those whom you speak of as being stanch in our cause — the great cause of humanity and civilization. To check and circumscribe African slavery, and at the same time to uphold free constitutional government, is a noble task. If the great Republic perishes in the effort, it dies in a good cause. But it isn't dying yet; never had so much blood in it. Qui vivra verra.

You say that I have not mentioned Sumner in my letters. I thought that I had. I saw him two or three times before I went to Washington. He is very well in health and unchanged in opinions or expectations, except that, like all of us, he has been made far more sanguine than ever before as to the issue of the struggle. He came to Washington before I left it, but we did not go together. He has of course remained there for the session. I have heard from him twice or thrice; but as I now write from America, I never quote any one's opinions, but send you my own for what they are worth. In this letter there is little of consequence.

I am delighted with what you say about the sea-coast arrangement with the Hugheses, and trust sincerely that it may be made. You cannot but be happy with such charming, sincere, and noble characters, and I envy you the privilege of their society. Pray thank Hughes for that most sympathetic dedication to Lowell.

I am glad that the book is finished, that I may now read it with the same delight which the first one gave me. I saw Lowell commencement day, and promised to go out and dine with him some day next week. He is going to send for Hawthorne. Alas! he meant to have had Longfellow. We shall have Holmes, Agassiz, and others, and shall drink Hughes's health. I forgot to say that I saw at Felton's house young Brownell of the Ellsworth Zouaves. He, you may remember, was at Ellsworth's side as he came down-stairs at the Marshall House, Alexandria, and was shot dead by Jackson. Brownell, who was a corporal in the regiment, immediately shot Jackson through the head. He has since been made a lieutenant in the army, and is here on recruiting service. He is a very quiet, good-looking youth of about twenty-two. The deed has no especial claim to distinction, except its promptness. You remember that it was at the very first occupation of Alexandria, and Jackson supposed, when he came out of a dark closet and fired at Ellsworth, that secession was still triumphant in the town. Brownell took out of his pocket a fragment of the secession flagstaff which Ellsworth had just taken from the housetop, and gave me a bit of it as a relic. The reason why Ellsworth was so anxious to pull down the flag was that it was visible at the White House of Washington, and therefore an eyesore to the President.

SOURCE: George William Curtis, editor, The Correspondence of John Lothrop Motley in Two Volumes, Library Edition, Volume 2, p. 181-7

Brigadier General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, October 29, 1862

CAMP NEAR BERLIN, MD., October 29, 1862.

I am very glad you were so much pleased with Mr. Dehon. His visit to you was in truth a great compliment, because it was the sole cause of his stopping in Philadelphia. His son is a very clever young man, about twenty-two years of age, whom I accidentally encountered when I was in command of the Army Corps, and very much in want of staff officers. He was recommended to me by young Williams,¹ on Rickett's staff, who simply said he was a gentleman. I have been so much pleased with him, that after my return to the Division, I retained him, although I hardly had that right, he belonging to another division. His father, who has been a Boston democrat, was very prominent in getting up the Twelfth Regiment for Fletcher Webster. I presume this favor to him, for it was a favor, did much towards impressing him agreeably in regard to me. Now you will say this is my modesty and usual underrating of my exceeding great abilities. I must confess I was not aware that I was such a hero as you say the public declare me to be, and I fear it will take more than newspaper correspondents and your great love to make me believe I am anything more than an ordinary soldier conscientiously doing his duty. One thing, however, I am willing to admit, and that is, that I consider myself as good as most of my neighbors, and without great vanity may say that I believe myself to be better than some who are much higher.

As to the termination of the war, I see no prospect of such a desirable result. A war so unnecessary must last till one or the other side is brought to its senses by the oppressive burdens that ensue. As yet, this state of affairs has not been reached. The South accepts ruin, and is willing to have all its material interests destroyed if it can only secure its independence. The North, owing to the villainous system of paper money, the postponement of taxation and of the draft, has not yet realized the true condition of the country.

__________

¹ John Worthington Williams, of Philadelphia.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 322

Brigadier General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, October 1, 1862

CAMP NEAR SHARPSBURG, MD., October 1, 1862.

I note the canard about General Sickles taking command of Hooker's corps, which arose from the fact that General Sickles has been placed in command of Hooker's old division. So, also, I saw a brilliant account in Forney's "Press" of the battle of Antietam, in which the writer, confusing Hooker's division with his corps, speaks of the gallantry of Generals Patterson and Grover in leading the men; whereas Hooker's division was at Alexandria, when Grover was with it, and Patterson has been for some time in Philadelphia. But such is history.

When Hooker placed me in command of the corps on the field, I immediately sought out Ricketts, told him I presumed there was a mistake, Hooker not knowing that he (Ricketts) outranked me, and I turned over the command to him, and only resumed it after getting the peremptory order from McClellan, which I sent you. Ricketts appreciated my course, and said there was no one he was more willing to serve under than myself, and that he only made his protest because he considered it a matter of principle. In this I think he was right, and I should have done the same thing myself, for I do not believe McClellan had the right to do as he did.

I am very much flattered to hear that Mr. Binney¹ and other citizens desired to have me to defend Philadelphia. It was just as well, however, that they were refused; the service would have been temporary, and I should have lost the brilliant chances of the two battles. I envied Reynolds when he left for Harrisburg, and secretly thought the Governor might have applied for me. Afterwards — indeed, the next day, after South Mountain — I was grateful beyond measure that I had been overlooked. In reference to George,² I think he had better accept the appointment in Averill's regiment, and not wait any longer for Rush.³ In regard to my own staff, I have received a letter from Mr. Coxe,⁴ in which he says his last hope is being elected into one of the Pennsylvania Reserve regiments. This amounts to nothing, because Seymour and Reynolds have prohibited elections in the division, and there have been none for some time. In the meantime, I have had two young men serving temporarily on my staff. One is a Mr. Mason, belonging to one of the Reserve regiments, and the other Mr. Dehon, of Boston, belonging to the Twelfth Massachusetts (Fletcher Webster's regiment). They are both very clever and active.

In regard to Willie, your brother, I will see what can be done. The trouble is, both Seymour and Reynolds have got into a snarl with the Governor about elections, the Governor maintaining that he will not appoint without elections, and they (in orders) prohibiting elections and getting McClellan to give acting appointments, subject to the approval of the Governor, which appointments are never submitted to the Governor for his approval. The consequence is there are a number of officers appointed who have never been commissioned by the Governor, and who in reality have no commissions. This makes it very difficult to know what to do, and how to unravel the snarl that Seymour and Reynolds have got into.

The news has just been brought into camp that the Southern Confederacy have sent Peace Commissioners to Washington. Alas, I fear, they have left it too late, and that the day has gone by for any terms to be granted them except complete submission! Either one extreme or the other will have to come to pass — the day for compromise, for a brotherly reconciliation, for the old Union, in reality as well as name, has passed away, and the struggle must be continued till one side or the other is exhausted and willing to give up. Peace — oh, what a glorious word, and how sweet and delightful would its realization be to me! And if such is the case, how desirable for thousands and thousands of others, who have not gained, as I have by war, distinction and fame!

__________

¹ Horace Binney, of the Philadelphia Bar.

² George Meade, son of General Meade and compiler of this work.

³ Richard H. Rush, colonel 6th Pa. Cavalry, known as "Rush's Lancers."

⁴ Alexander Brinton Coxe, of Philadelphia.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 315-7

Fletcher Webster

Colonel 12th Mass. Vols. (Infantry), June 26, 1861; killed at the battle of Bull Run, Va., August 30, 1862.

FLETCHER WEBSTER, son of Daniel and Grace (Fletcher) Webster, was born in Portsmouth, NewHampshire, July 23, 1813. He was fitted for college at the Public Latin School in Boston, his father having removed to that city in 1816. He entered Harvard College in 1829, and graduated in 1833. Though not of studious habits, he held a respectable rank as a scholar. His generous character and cordial manners made him a general favorite with his classmates, and he was selected by them to deliver the class oration at the close of their collegiate life, — a distinction more gratifying to a social and sympathetic nature like his than the highest honors of scholarship would have been.

After leaving college he studied law, partly with Mr. Samuel B. Walcott, at Hopkinton, Mass., and partly with his father, in Boston, and was in due time admitted to the Suffolk bar, and began the practice of his profession in Boston. In the autumn of 1836 he was married to Miss Caroline Story White, daughter of Stephen White, Esq., of Salem, and immediately after his marriage put in execution a plan he had previously formed of trying his professional fortunes at the West, — a change which at that time required more enterprise and involved greater sacrifices than now. He went first to Detroit, where he remained till the close of 1837, in the practice of his profession, and then removed to La Salle, in Illinois, where he remained till 1840. During his residence in Illinois, he made the acquaintance of Mr. Abraham Lincoln, who immediately recognized Colonel Webster when they met in Washington in 1861, and recalled their former intercourse to his memory.

Colonel Webster met with fair success in the practice of the law, but the profession was not congenial to his tastes or in harmony with his temperament. He had the quick perceptions, the ready tact, and the easy elocution which are so important in the trial of causes, but he disliked the drudgery of preparation and was not patient in the investigation of legal questions. This repugnance might have been overcome, had he continued a few years longer in the practice of his profession, but such was not destined to be his fate. His whole course of life received a new direction in consequence of the election of General Harrison to the office of President of the United States in the autumn of 1840. Mr. Daniel Webster became Secretary of State, and Colonel Webster removed to Washington, where he acted as private secretary to his father, and occasionally as assistant Secretary of State. This was a sphere of duty congenial to his tastes. He was a clear and ready writer, and was fond of the discussion of political questions. His father has said that no one could prepare a paper, in conformity with verbal instructions received from him, more to his satisfaction than his son Fletcher; and this was a point on which Mr. Daniel Webster's parental affection would not have blinded him. He was very fond of his son, and was not only happy in having him near him, but his happiness was always imperfect if his son were absent from him. So far as the son's advancement in life was concerned, it might have been better that he should have been left to make his way alone, and that his father should have consented to the sacrifice of affection which such a separation would have required; but, now that both are gone from earth, who will not pardon a mistake — if mistake it was — which had its source in the best affections of the human heart ?

In 1843 Mr. Caleb Cushing was appointed Commissioner to China, and Colonel Webster accompanied him as Secretary of Legation. He remained in China till the objects of the mission were accomplished, and reached home on his return in January, 1845. In the course of the year after his return, he frequently lectured in public on the subject of China, and gave interesting reminiscences of his own residence there.

In 1850 he was appointed, by President Taylor, Surveyor of the Port of Boston, an office which he held by successive appointments till March, 1861, when a successor was nominated by President Lincoln.

Immediately after the firing upon Fort Sumter, and the attack by a lawless mob in Baltimore upon the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, he responded to an appeal made to the patriotic citizens of Massachusetts by the following notice, which appeared in the Boston papers of Saturday, April 20, 1861.

"FELLOW-CITIZENS, — I have been assured by the Executive Department that the State will accept at once an additional regiment of infantry. I therefore propose to meet to-morrow at ten o'clock, in front of the Merchants' Exchange, State Street, such of my fellowcitizens as will join in raising this new regiment. The muster-roll will be ready to be signed then and there.

“Respectfully,

"FLETCHER WEBSTER."

The above call was seconded by the following notice, subscribed by the names of twenty-eight well-known gentlemen.

"There will be a public meeting to-morrow, Sunday, in front of the Exchange, State Street, at ten o'clock, A. M., to aid in the enrolment of the new regiment of volunteer militia called for by Fletcher Webster. Come all.”

At the appointed hour on Sunday, April 21st, an immense crowd appeared in State Street in front of the Exchange. Colonel Webster attempted to address them, but the place where he stood made it impossible for him to be heard except by those who were near him. Some one proposed to go to the Old State-House, at the head of the street, a few rods distant, and the suggestion was received with acclamation and immediately carried into effect. Colonel Webster then spoke from the balcony of the Old State-House, and, among other things, said he could see no better use to which the day could be put than for us to take the opportunity to show our gratitude to Divine Providence for bestowing upon us the best government in the world, and to pledge ourselves to stand by and maintain it. He whose name he bore had the good fortune to defend the Union and the Constitution in the forum. This he could not do, but he was ready to defend them in the field. He closed his remarks with an allusion to his father's devotion to the country, and expressed a hope that we should yet see the nation united, and our flag remain without a star dimmed or a stripe obliterated. He then announced that all who desired to enlist would find papers ready for signatures at the surveyor's office, at the Custom-House.

The meeting was then addressed by other gentlemen in a similar strain. Nothing could surpass the enthusiasm with which the remarks of all the speakers, and especially those of Colonel Webster, were received by the audience. And this was in no small degree owing to the impression made by the fact that it was the son of Daniel Webster who was ready to risk his life for the defence of the Union and the Constitution. The illustrious statesman had been but nine years in his grave; and, of the audience which listened to the son, probably nine tenths at least had seen the father and heard him speak. The scene before them recalled him. To the mind's eye, that majestic form and grand countenance seemed standing by the side of his son, and in the mind's ear they heard again the deep music of that voice which had so often charmed and instructed them. And there was yet another reason for the strong feeling that was awakened. Colonel Webster had been for some years identified with the great party which had been defeated in the election of I860, and he had been removed from a lucrative office by the administration of President Lincoln. But none the less zealously did he come forward in aid of his country in her hour of peril and distress, and the value of his example was appreciated and felt.

The enthusiasm of the meeting was not a transient flame, but a steady fire. The next day a committee of one hundred persons was organized to co-operate with Colonel Webster in forming and providing for his regiment, and among them were some of his own warmest personal friends, and some of the most zealous and devoted of the political disciples of his father. Money was contributed with lavish hand. So rapidly were the ranks of the regiment filled, that in three days the enlistment was completed and the lists closed. Five companies were enlisted in Boston, one in North Bridgewater, one in Abington, one in Weymouth, one in Stoughton, and one in Gloucester. Colonel Pessenden, a graduate of West Point, offered his services as military instructor, which were gratefully accepted. The classmates of Colonel Webster presented him with a valuable horse and equipments. The young ladies of Mr. Emerson's school in Boston made liberal donations to the company commanded by Captain Saltmarsh, which, in their honor, was called the Emerson Guard. The pupils of the Latin School made most generous provision for the equipment of the company commanded by Captain Shurtleff, a graduate of the school, and, in acknowledgment, the company was named the Latin-School Guard.

The three months after the organization of the regiment were spent in Port Warren, in the harbor of Boston, in the discipline and drill requisite to convert fresh recruits into steady soldiers. This was dull work for ardent young men, burning for actual service in the field; but the event showed that it was time well spent. On the 26th of June the regiment was mustered into service. On the 18th of July a splendid standard was presented to the regiment, on behalf of the ladies of Boston, by Edward Everett, who accompanied the gift with a patriotic and soul-stirring address, to which Colonel Webster made an appropriate reply.

On the afternoon of the 23d of July, the regiment left Fort Warren for the seat of war. They were received with enthusiastic welcome on their arrival at New York the next day. The officers were entertained at the Astor House by the sons of Massachusetts resident in New York. With a few stoppages, the regiment arrived at Baltimore about noon on Friday, July 26th, and were cordially received. Colonel Webster and his command proceeded to Harper's Ferry, where they arrived on Saturday, July 27th, and pitched tents on the Maryland side of the Potomac, about a mile from the ferry, calling their encampment Camp Banks. The regiment was soon after removed to Darnestown, where it remained until it was transferred to Cantonment Hicks, about four miles east of Frederick City, in Maryland, arriving there on Thursday, December 5,1861. At that place the regiment remained in camp until February 27, 1862, when it marched into Virginia for more active service.

For the next four or five months the Webster regiment, forming part of the division of the army under Major-General Banks, was mainly employed in guarding the Upper Potomac, and keeping vigilant watch upon the enemy, so as to prevent him from crossing the river into Maryland. It was an important, though not an exciting service, and was of essential value in completing their military training, and giving them that efficiency which is the result of mutual knowledge and mutual confidence.

During all this time Colonel Webster showed himself possessed, in no common measure, of the qualities of a good commander. His discipline was firm and uniform, but not alloyed by petulance or passion. His regiment acquired a good name from the neat and soldier-like appearance of the men, the quickness and accuracy of their drill, and the orderly arrangements of their camp. His men were warmly attached to their Colonel. They appreciated his manly frankness, his simplicity of character, his kindness of heart, and the cheerfulness with which he bore the hardships and privations of the service, though he had no longer the unworn energies of youth to sustain him.

In the early part of August, 1862, Colonel Webster obtained leave of absence for a few days, and came home. This was in consequence of the death of his youngest daughter, Julia, to whom he was tenderly attached, and whose death overwhelmed him with grief, and awakened in him an irresistible longing to mingle his tears with those of his wife and surviving children. It was during this brief absence that his regiment was for the first time set upon the perilous edge of battle in the disastrous affair of Cedar Mountain, August 9th, where that gallant and promising young officer, Captain Shurtleff, was killed, and where so many of our "beautiful and brave" of the Second Massachusetts Regiment poured out their precious blood. It was a source of regret to Colonel Webster that his regiment should have been led into their first battle by any one but himself; but, on the other hand, he had a right to be proud of their excellent conduct and steadiness under a hot fire of two or three hours.

Colonel Webster, on the 16th of August, rejoined his regiment, which was then encamped upon the Rapidan, near Mitchell's Station. It was a part of Hartsuff’s brigade, Ricketts's division, and McDowell's corps, forming a portion of the Army of Virginia, under the command of General Pope. On the 18th of August, the army began a movement towards the North Fork of the Rappahannock, and by the 20th the main body was behind the river and prepared to hold its passes.

On the 24th of August, General McDowell's corps was at or near Warrenton. On the morning of the 27th of August, he was directed to move forward rapidly on Gainesville, by the Warrenton Turnpike. And the required position was reached before the next day. On the next evening a brisk engagement took place at Thoroughfare Gap between the advance of the Rebel force under General Longstreet and the division under General Ricketts, in which the Twelfth Massachusetts Regiment took part, and behaved well, having six men wounded. "The Colonel did splendidly," said one of his officers, writing home immediately after.

The regiment was not on the field on the 29th of August, the first day of the second battle of Bull Run, but in the perils and disasters of the next day it bore a conspicuous part. It was stationed on the left, against which the main attack of the Rebel force was directed, where the fight was most severe and the slaughter most terrible. Colonel Webster led his men into battle with the utmost gallantry; and, encouraged by his voice and presence, they behaved admirably well. Many of them fell, but the survivors did not flinch. Late in the afternoon, some of the regiments on their left, overborne by superior numbers, began to give way, and the Twelfth fell back some twenty paces, to avoid being placed between the fire of advancing foes and retreating friends, but in good order and without breaking their ranks. Not long after this Colonel Webster was shot through the body. Lieutenant Haviland was near him when he fell, and with two men went with him to the rear. They had gone but a few paces when one of the men was shot, and the other, seeing the enemy close upon him, sought safety in flight. Colonel Webster was perfectly helpless, and Lieutenant Haviland, still suffering from an injury received from his horse having fallen upon him at Cedar Mountain, could do no more than find a place of shelter for the dying man under a bush in a little hollow. No one could be found to carry him away, and messages sent for a surgeon proved ineffectual. Colonel Webster desired his friend to leave him, but Lieutenant Haviland was determined to save him if possible; at any rate, not to desert him. Within a short time, a body of Rebel troops came upon them and took them prisoners. They would not carry away Colonel Webster from the spot where he lay, nor yet allow Lieutenant Haviland to remain with him. The officer in command promised to send an ambulance for him, but his pledge was not redeemed. He died on the spot where he was left, and we can only hope that his suffering was not long or severe. His body was recovered and sent home by the generous and courageous efforts of Lieutenant Arthur Dehon, as is told in the memoir of that promising officer and most amiable young man. His funeral services were held at the church on Church Green, Boston, on Tuesday, September 9,1862. The building was filled with a large body of mourning and sympathizing friends, who listened with deep feeling to the well-chosen words of the officiating clergyman, the Rev. Chandler Robbins, and the solemn and appropriate music of the choir. At the close of the services his body was taken to Marshfield and committed to the dust, in the family cemetery, by the side of his illustrious father.

Colonel Webster was long mourned and affectionately remembered by the officers and men who had served under him. And there were others, too, who grieved for his loss; for though not widely known, he had many faithful friends who had known and loved him from boyhood, and had stood by him in all the changes and chances of life. His own heart was warm, his nature was generous and open, and his temperament cordial and frank. His tastes were strongly social, and his powers of social entertainment were such as few men possess. He had an unerring sense of the ludicrous, his wit was ready and responsive, and no man could relate an amusing incident or tell a humorous story with more dramatic power. Nor was he without faculties of a higher order. His perceptions were quick and accurate, he was an able and forcible speaker, and he wrote with the clearness and strength which belonged to him by right of inheritance. The value which his friends had for him was higher than the mark which he made upon his times. The course of his life had not in all respects been favorable to his growth and influence, and he had not the iron resolution and robust purpose which make will triumph over circumstance. But when the golden opportunity came, he grasped it with heroic hand. He rose to the height of the demand made upon him, and dormant powers and reserved energies started into vigorous life as the occasion required them. Had he lived, he might have had a higher place, but it is enough for his friends to know that in the providence of God he was permitted to die a glorious death, at the head of his regiment, with his face to the foe, calmly confronting the shock of adverse battle, in defence of the Union, the Constitution, and the laws, for which his father had lived. Who could ask more for the friend of one's heart or the child of one's love?

Colonel Webster left a widow and three children, — two sons and a daughter. His eldest son has since died.

SOURCE: Harvard Memorial Biographies, Volume 1, p. 21-30