During the day great preparations had been made for the
grand illumination to come off in the evening. About 7½ o'clock P. M.,
we rode to the city, with Bro. Summy's people, and remained until near 10½ o’clock.
We rode down Seventh street, past the Post-office, to E street; then along that
street to Ninth street; then down Ninth street to Pennsylvania avenue, and then
up the avenue to the War Department, where we left the carriage and walked down
Seventeenth street, past the War Department, nearly to the Navy Department.
Four bands were at the War Department, and made excellent music all the
evening. Over the north portico was erected a magnificent evergreen arch,
beneath which was suspended a transparency with the motto, “The Union must and
shall be preserved,” and beneath, the word “Richmond.” The pillars were
wreathed with flags, and in each window were twenty-four lights. The effect was
very brilliant. Several thousand people filled the avenue and Seventeenth
street, both north and west of the War Department. The Navy Department,
Winder's building, the “Art Hall,” and several other buildings near, were
brilliantly illuminated, and added much to the effect. We then went around to
the President's house, which was a blaze of light; while from Lafayette Square
beautiful rockets were sent up, exploding in a shower of stars. We next went
down the avenue past the Treasury. Over the north door of the State Department,
which is in the Treasury building, was the motto, “At home, Union is Order, and
Order is Peace; Abroad, Union is Strength, and Strength is Peace.” Over the
east door the motto was, “Peace and good will to all nations, but no entangling
alliances and no intervention.” Over the door of the National Currency Bureau
of the United States Treasury Department, was the motto, “U. S. Greenbacks and
U. S. Grant; Grant gives the Greenbacks a metallic ring.” Below this was
another transparency presenting a facsimile of a ten dollar compound
interest note. Jay Cooke's banking office had transparencies as follows: over
the north window, “5-20”; over the south window, “7-30.” These were connected
by another, bearing the inscription. “The bravery of our Army, the valor of our
Navy, sustained by our Treasury, upon the faith and persistence of a patriotic
people.” Hundreds of other buildings were illuminated, but I can not mention
them. We walked down Pennsylvania avenue as far as Seventh street; then up
Seventh street to the Post-office, and down F street, stopping in front of the
Patent Office, where some ten or fifteen thousand persons were congregated,
listening to speeches. We did not go up to the Capitol, as the cars were
crowded and the walk too much for Mary. It was very brilliantly illuminated to
the very top of the dome, and in the distance presented a magnificent
spectacle. Taken as a whole, the illumination was by far the best I have ever
seen, and is said to have been the best ever seen in this city.
SOURCE: Corydon Eustathius Fuller, Reminiscences of
James A. Garfield: With Notes Preliminary and Collateral, p. 376-7
