Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 16, 1862

Another hard night; one of a few very cold and disagreeable ones. We left the ranks early for rails, and after carrying them two or three miles, found, on arriving at camp, there were plenty on hand and not accounted for. We got our supper and tried to sleep, but it was almost impossible. We would have suffered severely had it not been for our woollen blankets; as it was, when we woke up this morning, many of us found the water in our canteens frozen, said canteens having been used as pillows during the night.

WHITEHALL.

After starting at seven o'clock, we kept halting continually until nine. We had travelled not more than four or five miles when we heard heavy firing in our immediate front. Our brigade being a head, our regiment was sent in about the first. We left the main road, taking the one over the hill on the left, and were immediately under fire. Here we came upon two men of "A" who had been killed by a shot or shell. We dropped our knapsacks and filed along a line of fence, coming to a halt in front of the Neuse, with the rebels on the opposite shore.

We fired several volleys by company, then the order came, "At will," which was easier. We had an old rail-fence in front, and beyond that a few barrels of pitch or turpentine, then a slope, and the water, and the rebels beyond. We received a good share of their bullets, and hoped ours did better execution, as we were fortunate in not losing a man. There were several narrow escapes, however. The flag was immediately behind our company, and a part of the time the flag of the 9th New Jersey was unfurled behind us also, which might have drawn an extra amount of fire; but we did not suffer any loss, while some of the companies lost several. "A," four killed and seven wounded; "B," one wounded; "C," three killed; "K," one killed; "D," two wounded; "F," one wounded; "G," two wounded; "H," two wounded. We were on the rebels' right. We stayed there about an hour and a half and then were ordered back, and started directly across the field in line of fire for cover, where we could see other regiments flat on the ground. All the protection we had there, was by hugging mother earth and folding our arms back of our heads, the bullets whistling close to us in a neighborly fashion. Here we waited, and those who had hard-tack munched it; but we kept up a thinking all the while whether the muscles of our arms would stop a bullet from going through our heads. Soon Belger's battery took our old place and opened on the rebels, who treated them pretty severely for a time, as we could see good R. I. material dropping constantly. The battery boys came for the water we had in our canteens, with which to cool their guns, the firing having been quite brisk. After two hours of very steady work, the rebels concluded to give up the fight. As they had destroyed the bridge yesterday, we could not chase them, so fell in and started again for Goldsboro, and about eight o'clock camped in a field at the junction of two roads.

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 26-7

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 17, 1862

GOLDSBORO.

There was no time this morning to cook coffee, so we started on a cold-water breakfast, after another cold night, with little good sleep, and marched without incident until four P.M., when we heard the usual cannonade at the front. As soon as the noise of the cannon was heard, then commenced the usual straggling. All have some of course. The attention of our boys was called to a scene upon which we looked with surprise, and which many of our company will never forget. As we passed from the main road to take position on the hill, we saw a man, or what was dressed as a man, in Uncle Sam's clothes, importuned by another to join his command. He would not budge; and the concluding words we heard as we passed by, were: "Damn it, man! just look here: look at this regiment going in; there is not a man there; they are all boys with no hair on their faces, and you afraid!" We pitied the fellow, and often wondered if he joined his company. His pride had evidently gone on a furlough. We halted on a high hill, from which we could see all that was going on, and soon found we were in reserve, which pleased us all. After getting turnips and sweet potatoes,—of which we found a plenty (all planted for us),—we straggled to the edge of the bluff and watched the fight. In a tree close to where we stood was a signal station, and by that we supposed Gen. Foster was near. On the left we could see the railroad which leads into Goldsboro, and the fighting over it; to the right, the bridge; while in front, close to the river, there seemed to be a continuous sheet of flame from our advance and the rebels. Some of our men worked their way to the mill; and a story was told by one of the 17th Mass. Vols., who reached the bridge on his own account, that he saw a train of cars stop there, and, just as it halted, a shot from one of our batteries struck the engine in the head-plate, smashing the engine badly. He could see men jump from the cars in all haste. (This story was told several years after the action; and the fact of those men coming as they did, and perhaps others behind, may have been the reason we left so suddenly, and went to New Berne.)

About seven o'clock Gen. Foster rode past our line, saying: "The object of the expedition [the burning of the bridge and partially destroying the connection between the Gulf States and Richmond] is accomplished. We are going to New Berne."

We were immediately formed, and started on the back track with cheers for the general; but we had not gone three miles before we found we were not "out of the woods." Orders came to countermarch, so we turned about, wondering what all the artillery firing meant. We tramped back about two miles or so through the woods, on fire on both sides of the road, turned to the left down hill, and formed line in silence, waiting. We were not allowed to speak or light our pipes, but waited, it seemed, for two hours. The regiment was formed in division column closed in mass; the company behind us being only a few feet away, and in front nothing but the pickets and supposable rebels. After staying here a while we heard the artillery go along the road, and soon followed. We reached camp about ten o'clock, tired and hungry, but no chance to get anything to eat, and a man missing. He turned up afterwards, having settled himself for a nap when we were in the woods. Not finding any one near when he awakened, he concluded to strike out for himself—happily remembering that old broken caisson beside the road, and recollecting on which side he left it on going in, he soon came Russelling" into camp with the rest of us.

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 27-8

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 18, 1862

We started for home about five this morning, expecting to make easy marches, but have been disappointed so far, as we have tramped just about the same gait as when going up, making about twenty miles to-day and camping in the same field we did the night out of Kinston, about five miles from Whitehall.

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 28-9

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 19, 1862

We were up and at it at the usual time this morning, on the home tramp, which kept up the spirits of many. About ten o'clock we came in sight of our first day's fighting ground. We found that several of the graves of our men had been opened by the rebels. After repairing them we kept on, taking the Neuse Road, which we steered clear of in coming up on account of the heavy entrenchments and barricades the rebels had placed on it. Every little while we had to leave the road and take to the woods to get by their obstructions, which continued for four or five miles from Kinston; some of them were very formidable.

About three o'clock we marched into a large field on the left of the road to receive rations, which we understood had been brought to us on the cars from New Berne, and it was about time; our larder was getting low. We received a little bread, but not enough to satisfy both stomach and haversack, so we filled the former and stowed away the crumbs that were left in the latter. The report is that the bread and beef were left at New Berne, and soap and candles shipped to us,—an explanation which did not soothe our feelings entirely.

We marched about five miles farther and then camped for the night.

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 29

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 20, 1862

After some trouble we managed to get to bed last night about eleven o'clock; but for a long time after that the mules kept us awake; perhaps they were hungry also. The weather was clear and not cold, so we got a little rest. At six o'clock this morning we were ordered on, after a very light breakfast, excepting for a few who may have foraged. There were a few chickens and a little applejack about our mess. To-day has been the hardest of any day of the tramp, and there has been more straggling. The company organization was in the line, but thinned out terribly. We had no noon-rest; but at two o'clock we filed from the road to a field, came to the front, and received a good scolding. Our regiment looked as if it had been through two Bull Runs; only about 150 left, and the rest not "accounted for." In fact there were very few left of those who should do the accounting. The colonel stormed a little, but that did not bring up the men; so, as he was probably as hungry, if not as tired, as we were, he let us go to eating, which was a decided farce. Our haversacks were as flat as our stomachs. We found a few grains of coffee and tobacco-crumbs in the bottom of our bags, and succeeded in digging a few sweet potatoes, which we ate raw. We were told they were very fullsome. We waited here two hours or so for the stragglers, who finally came along. They had been having a fine time, plenty of room to walk, and two hours more to do it in than we had; and, more than that, they were in the majority, so nothing could be done but "Right shoulder shift" and put the best foot forward. About sundown we saw, in crossing a bridge, a wagon-load of hard-tack bottom side up in the creek. Some of the boys sampled the bread, but it was not fit to eat. Shortly after a signboard indicated fourteen miles to New Berne. That was encouraging! The walking was fearful, the roads full of water, in some places waist deep, and covered with a skimming of ice. At last we met a wagon loaded with bread, and after much talk with the driver we got what we wanted. Next we met a man who said it was only twelve miles to New Berne. They either have long miles or else some one made a mistake; we seemingly had been walking two hours or more from the fourteenth mile post, and now it was twelve miles. We came to the conclusion not to ask any more questions, but "go it blind.”

We at last reached the picket-post, seven miles out, and halted to rest and allow the artillery to go through. Here Col. Lee told us we were at liberty to stay out and come into camp Sunday; but most of "E" thought of the letters and the supper we would probably get, and concluded to stand by the flag. After a rest we started again, and at last began to close up and halt often, so we knew we were coming to some place or other.

The writer has no very distinct idea of those last seven miles, excepting that he was trying to walk, smoke, and go to sleep at the same time, and could only succeed in swearing rather faintly, and in a stupid sort of manner, at everything and every one. It was dark and foggy, but finally we saw what appeared to be the headlight of a locomotive a long way off. Then the fort loomed up, and we were passing under an arch or bridge, and in a few minutes we reached "E's" barrack, and our troubles were all forgotten. Now we were wide awake; gave three hearty cheers for every one; had all the baked beans and coffee we could stagger under; and then the captain's "Attention for letters" brought us to our feet. Some had as many as a dozen. They had to be read at once, and, notwithstanding our fatigue and the lateness of the hour, read they were.

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 29-30

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 21, 1862

CAMP STEVENSON.

Sunday. A splendid day; but what a miserable-looking set of boys we are!—stiff, lame, and dirty, and hungry for more beans. We received the welcome order, "No work for three days." We went to church this morning, so there are really only two days and a half, and they will soon be gone. But we have letters to answer, trips down-town to make, for those who can get passes; and the first thing we know it will be Wednesday.

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 30

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 24, 1862

Wednesday, and our duties have commenced again: regular camp routine,—drill, guard, and police, the same as before the last march.

We are forgetting the sore feet, and gaining flesh every day, and an occasional run down town to Blagg's tends to rub off the rough edge of being cooped behind sentries.

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 30

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 25, 1862

Christmas. A fine day, and, being my birthday, I was allowed a furlough, for chum and self, from reveille till tattoo.

We started as early as possible for New Berne, and, among other things, had a first-class turkey dinner, with all the fixings, silverware, cut glass, white tablecloth, and some one to wait on table. But for us, as for all, the day came to a close, and at the usual time we were back, no better than about eighty others, excepting the memory of home-life which the associations of the day had called up.

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 30

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 30, 1862

The paymaster looked in on us. He is the first we have had any dealings with, and we are glad he came, for most of "E" have been "hard up." We received pay from August 29th to November 1st,—$27.30 each. We expected to get the whole, and were disappointed; for when many of us squared up, it took about all that we received to settle our debts. We are drilled now as a brigade nearly every day, firing blank cartridges; consequently our guns need extra cleaning, and we get more marching. Evidently they mean our brigade to be number one.

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 31

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 31, 1862

The last day of an eventful year to us, but the matters worthy of note are few and far between.

We drilled hard from two o'clock till we had barely time to clean up for dress parade, and very little can be said of brigade drills in their favor. The principal thing being, we passed the "defile" many times, and formed en echelon, about all the afternoon. It may be it was to celebrate the new "star,”—our Gen. Stevenson wearing his for the first time to-day. If that was it we will forgive him, but if the star is going to increase the brigade drills we shall wish he never had won it.

Our brigade now is the 2d in the 1st Division, Acting Major-General Wessels, and is composed of the 5th R. I., 10th Conn., 24th Mass., 44th Mass., and Belger's R. I. Battery.

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 31

Senator Charles Levi Woodbury to Senator Robert M. T. Hunter, April 1, 1856

BOSTON, [MASS.], April 1st, 1856.

DEAR SIR: I send you a copy of the French Tariff whose promulgation has reached here in the last mail. In the pendency of the proposed revision of our own, the new position of France, possesses much [of] importance. Our constitutional and treaty limitations necessarily make the task of revising a tariff, full of perplexity and requiring mature analysis.

With all the aid the Treasury Department have furnished to the experience of Genl. [Charles Tillinghast] James,¹ there are some features in his otherwise able bill, which are based on principles that cannot be justified in the free trade school of Statesmanship. There is a living faith in popular opinion eventually rendering to a patriot and a statesman the acknowledgment of his merit and forecast. You are beginning to experience this in the North. It has happened to me several times within a few weeks, conversing with leading merchants and manufacturers of this section, to hear from their lips those acknowledgments with regard to yourself that none of our party could ever have expected.

The policy you have advocated is now successful and the manufacturers here, express their unqualified confidence that you can arrange a revision of the tariff which would be absolutely satisfactory to the South and agreeable to the North. From the known accordance of my views with your policy, it could not have been intended I should withhold these expressions from your knowledge.

In my judgment the time has come when the tariff may be set on a permanent footing of low duties and equitable adjustments. To reaffirm at this juncture the cardinal principles of the advalorem and foreign valuations, to establish the free trade policy on the admitted basis of its general welfare and to reduce the unnecessary and enormous revenue now derived from customs, would carry important consequences in the political world which none can better estimate than yourself. I should not write thus frankly, did I not presume you were occupied with the proposed revision. The confidence all these great interests repose in you make this a happy moment for your effecting permanent good, and with your permission, it would give me great satisfaction to aid in bringing the interests here to that communication, which would possess you of their views, and show that they approved this question in a spirit of concession heretofore unknown to them. Allow me to renew the expressions of my sincere esteem.

_______________

¹ A Democratic Senator in Congress from Rhode Island, 1851-1857. He was elected as a protective tariff Democrat.

SOURCE: Charles Henry Ambler, Editor, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1916, in Two Volumes, Vol. II, Correspondence of Robert M. T. Hunter (1826-1876), p. 185-6

Francis Mallory to Senator Robert M. T. Hunter, April 13, 1856

NORFOLK, [VA.], April 13, 1856.

DEAR HUNTER: Since my return home I have been so unwell that I have had no opportunity of mixing extensively among the people though so far as I can learn you have gained much in this district. Buchanan's popularity is based on that of Wise whose friends have sought to make the impression that he (B) is the strongest man now before the people. This causes the timid and time serving to represent themselves as preferring Buch[ana]n. Wise has lost all power in the East save among his Eastern Shore men and such as they can influence. The Eboshin and Fendum have done their work effectually and two or three appointments made in this place within a few weeks past have given great dissatisfaction because they were taken from among the Eastern Shore men in preference to residents. Buck's [Buchanan's] is only a reflection of Wise's popularity and to dissipate it is no difficult matter. The idea that to insure success for the Cincinnatti nominee he must be from the North has been industriously circulated over the South, and this has been the chief weapon of the W. and B.¹ men. Let something be done in the right quarter to cause doubt of its truth and we can carry every Eastern district. Give me a program for operations and I will carry it out. If you wish an open demonstration made I will have it started here or in some county. How are you and Pierce now? Would it be safe to make one for him as the choice of the Northern candidates, if so would [it] whip the office holders into measures? But as to this I will not move till I hear from you. Banks sends me word all is right above-that is in the upper part of the district. Simkins, Wise's friend, is proud of the Demo[cratic] Associations but the selections was not plain because of the jealousy over here about Eastern men. He talks of resigning, if so a Hunter man will fill it. The election was no test but was owing to the personal popularity of Simkins. Tell me what I can do and I am ready to act

I may be in Washington in 10 or 12 days. Pierce promised my son a commission in the army, the first vacancy last spring or summer but I have not troubled him since. He was disposed to confer it then but Davis defeated me. Pierce felt and expressed some compunction for his move against me as Navy agent and wished to make amends in this way. I care nothing for it myself but the boy (now 22 years old) is anxious for it. He was educated at Lexington and would make, so says Col[onel] Smith a fine officer. He seems to have no turn for anything else but he is well behaved, handsome and brave. He had much better marry a rich girl but he seems to prefer fighting Indians at $40 per month, and being a wilfull boy he must have his way. Is there any chance? Some forty vacancies have occurred within a few months. But I started to write you about other matters and did not design to trouble you with my small wants.

[P. S.] How would it do for me as an old Fillmore man to come out in a letter assigning reasons why I could not vote for him and giving reasons also for my preference for others. If this would be politic give me an outline of my platform-who I should war upon-who pray-and how far to go in either case. Is not Millson² against Pierce? I should think so from questions he put to me the other day.

_______________

¹ Wise and Buchanan men.

² John S. Millson, a Representative in Congress from Virginia, 1849-1861.

SOURCE: Charles Henry Ambler, Editor, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1916, in Two Volumes, Vol. II, Correspondence of Robert M. T. Hunter (1826-1876), p. 186-8

Major Robert Selden Garnett to Senator Robert M. T. Hunter, April 20, 1856

POST AT MUCKLESHUTE PRAIRIE,        

NEAR STEILACOONE, W. T., April 20, 1856.

MY DEAR COUSIN: By the time this reaches you the excitement growing out of the Cincinnati Convention will, I presume, have somewhat subsided. I need not tell how much I hope it may find you the successful man in the struggle that may occur there. Should however this be not the case, I hope you will console yourself with the reflection that there is yet sufficient time ahead for your turn.

It was my intention at an early day after my arrival in this country to post you up thoroughly on the origin and merits of this war going on here with the Indians. But I no sooner landed than I was packed off to this outpost where I have been unable to see any intelligent or disinterested man who could give me the information I wanted. Nor have I been able to meet any hostile Indians in action or otherwise and learn from them their own accounts of their difficulties. Indeed it is in this respect that I conceive one of the greatest blunders of the whole business has been committed, for I have been unable yet to see any one who can give me an intelligent and consistent account of what the Indians regard as the cause of the war, and as its object, and upon what terms &c they desire. We in the Army are campaigning and fighting here in the dark. Without understanding the cause or the object of the war, and consequently without the means of knowing what are the best means to bring about a peace. Most of the whites say it is dissatisfaction with the treaties made by Gov. Stevens. If so instead of going to War on the subject, and, attempting to teach them a lesson on adhering to treaties which will cost us some millions of money, why not send for them and learn what features of the treaty are distasteful to them, and if reasonable why not let them have what they want as long as it does not interfere with the just wants and safety of the settlers. I am told the Indians complain that by these treaties they are required to live upon small reserves incapable of subsisting them and their animals in their mode of life. That the Indians [?] have been located upon lands badly situated, indeed so much so that the whites can't use it, with no prairie or pasture lands for their animals and no clear lands for their potatoes &c; and that if they are all crowded upon such small ill-selected spots they must starve to death.

If there is truth in this, and no one has tried that I know of, to see the hostile Indians to ascertain whether this be so or not, it is in my opinion a just cause not only of dissatisfaction and complaint but of war. We cant expect men to change their habits of life, the habits of their race, or to starve to death quietly merely to satisfy the wild schemes of white men. If this be true I can see no reason why they should not have larger and more suitable reserves given them, particularly too since they have relinquished by these treaties more lands than will be sufficient for the settlers of this country, at present rates, and for the next hundred years. In making this concession to them we should be giving them nothing more than humanity demands us to give them, and which common justice should never have permitted us to take away from them. But you will gather from the enclosed newspaper slips something of the merits of the question at issue between the authorities here. From all that I can learn I am well satisfied that this War has been very unnecessarily brought on by Govr. Stevens' treaties. Not only by the ill judged provisions of the treaties themselves, but especially by entering into treaties with them where the wants of the country (in my judgment) did not require anything of the sort. As bad fortune would have it I am told that this treaty, out of the large number which he made on his Quixotic pilgrimage in the interior of the continent where no white men will settle in the next 300 years perhaps, was the only one which reached Washington City in time to be confirmed by the Senate during the last Congress, and is now the law of the land. I am satisfied that if this were not the case and I had the power from Mr. Pierce to annul and destroy Stevens' treaty I could establish a permanent peace here in six weeks and not fire a rifle, a peace by which the settlers should be safe from danger, and not checked in their settlement of the country. And I would make no concession to the Indians which any practical and reasonable man could find fault with.

SOURCE: Charles Henry Ambler, Editor, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1916, in Two Volumes, Vol. II, Correspondence of Robert M. T. Hunter (1826-1876), p. 188-9

Diary of Private Adam S. Johnston, July 8, 1862

Left Camp Cooper, and arrived the sameday at Wartrace, remaining in the above mentioned camp twenty-six days, without moving. Encamped for the night in Wartrace, guarding commissary or station all night ; making a march of 8 miles.

SOURCE: Adam S. Johnston, The Soldier Boy's Diary Book, p. 17

Diary of Private Adam S. Johnston, July 9, 1862

Left Wartrace and arrived at Duck river the same day as guard for rail road bridges and fortifications there, and encamped for the night at Duck river bridge camp, making a march of 5 miles.

SOURCE: Adam S. Johnston, The Soldier Boy's Diary Book, p. 17

Diary of Private Adam S. Johnston, July 14, 1862

Left Camp Duck river and arrived the same day at Tullahoma and encamped for the night, making a march of 9 miles.

SOURCE: Adam S. Johnston, The Soldier Boy's Diary Book, p. 17

Diary of Private Adam S. Johnston, July 25, 1862

Left Tullahoma and marched to Manchester fair grounds, Coffee county, Tenn., and encamped for the night, making a march of 11 miles.

SOURCE: Adam S. Johnston, The Soldier Boy's Diary Book, p. 17-8

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 Webster to Richard M. Blatchford, March 12, 1851

Washington, March 12, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—I am tired of sitting, and Mr. Sargent writes this note, while I am acting the part of a peripatetic philosopher. You will find herein a certain document, defunct and obliterated.

The weather is very fine, and I am very well. Morgan is here, and when I am in the saddle on his back, I am far from being motionless. The Morgan horse is a cross between a Normandy horse, now spread all over Canada, and the English blood horse; it has the sloping hip, and strong shoulder, and crooked hind leg, and broad shin of Normandy, with the spirit of the English hunter. Its chef-d'œuvre is best performed in a single wagon. In two respects he resembles the Narraganset horse, to wit, he has a broad spread nostril, and great breadth between the eyes; the line from the top of his head along his mane, and back to his hips, is nearly straight; on a level road, therefore, his draught is parallel to the surface of the ground. Whereas a horse, who carries his head very high, though the ground be level, is constantly pulling up hill. So much for Morgan, and a dissertation on horses. If you wish to see a perfectly graphic thing on such a subject, turn to Walter Scott's description of Lord Marmion's horse flying from Flodden Field.

Mr. and Mrs. Curtis are well; we had a very pleasant dinner there yesterday, with Mr. Stephens, and Mr. Aspinwall, and Miss Mary Scott. Mrs. Webster and I hope to see the same company to-day, at five o'clock, partaking of a Potomac shad, and some other provant or other vivres, at our house in Louisiana avenue.

When you think of it, tell me who is successor to Brigham. And here, my dear Sir, I stop from walking and talking.

Yours, always most truly,

DAN'L WEBSTER.

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

Daniel Webster to Messrs. Richards and others, March 21, 1851

Washington, March 21, 1851.

GENTLEMEN,—On the receipt of letter of the 14th of February, I deemed it advisable to postpone an answer until the carriage, harness, and horses should arrive here. They came on, and were received, all sound and in good order, in the early part of this month. Unfortunately, I failed as well at my own house as at other places, in various attempts to see Mr. Wood, who brought on the carriage, so that I only had one short interview with him; and the pressure of affairs at the breaking up of Congress, and until the final adjournment of the Senate, has obliged me to put off until to-morrow, every thing not absolutely necessary to be done to-day.

And now, gentlemen, I have to thank you for your costly and handsome present. The carriage itself is thought to be as elegant as any ever seen in the country. It appears to be of exquisite workmanship, and is rich without being gaudy. It is very commodious, and its motion pleasant and agreeable.

The horses attached to the carriage are, I think, quite worthy of it. They are certainly uncommonly handsome, and their travelling and action very fine. On the whole, gentlemen, I rather fear that this equipage is too splendid and superb for a plain farmer of Marshfield; but as it has been your pleasure to make me so very valuable a gift, I accept it with all thankfulness, and shall always regard it as the measure, not of my merit, but of your bounty and munificence.

But, gentlemen, I am more deeply your debtor for the estimation in which you are pleased to hold my public services in the counsels of the country. If I have attempted to expound the Constitution, I have attempted to expound that which I have studied with diligence and veneration from my early manhood to the present day. If I have endeavored to defend and uphold the Union of the States, it is because my fixed judgment and my unalterable affections have impelled me, and still impel me, to regard that Union as the only security for general prosperity and national glory. Yes, gentlemen, the Constitution and the Union! I place them together. If they stand, they must stand together; if they fall they must fall together. They are the images which present to every American his surest reliance, and his brightest hopes. If they perish in my day or afterwards, I shall still leave, in the history of the times, my own deep, heartfelt and engrossing conviction that they are among the greatest political blessings ever bestowed by Providence on man; and that if, in any course of disastrous events, such as may happen to all human institutions, they should become severed and broken, even their history and their memories will constitute a track of light, upon which all lovers of human liberty, in after

times, may gaze with admiration. Yes, gentlemen! Union and the Constitution!

"Fortunati ambo! Si quid mea carmina possunt

Nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet ævo.

Dum domus Æneæ Capitoli immobile saxum

Accolet, imperiumque pater Romanus habebit."

I was not unaware, gentlemen, on the morning of the 7th of March last year, that I was entering upon a duty which, as you suggest, might bring into peril that favor which has been long shown me by that political party whose general principles I had for a long time steadily maintained. A crisis had arrived in which it did not become me, as I thought, to be indifferent and to do nothing. Still less did it become me to act a part which should inflame sectional animosities and tend to destroy all genuine American feeling, and shake the fabric of the government to its foundation. I was willing to trust and am still willing to trust for the vindication of my motives, to the intelligent men of my party and of all parties. I should indeed have been wholly unworthy of that character, which it is my highest ambition to maintain among my countrymen, if I had allowed any personal peril to bear with the weight of a feather against my profound sense of public duty. Whatever may now happen, I shall meet it with a clear conscience, and a fixed purpose; and while acting in full coöperation with the great mass of our fellow citizens, who hold the same sentiments that you hold, I shall fear nothing.

I am, gentlemen, your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,

DANIEL WEBSTER.

Messrs. WM. M. RICHARDS, SAMUEL C. SPROULLS, CHARLES A. STETSON, CHARLES W. A. ROGERS.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 423-5