9th Indiana Infantry – 3 Months

Organized at Indianapolis, Ind., April 22-27, 1861. Ordered to Grafton, W. Va., May 29. Attached to Kelly's Command, West Virginia, to July. Action at Philippi June 3. Attached to Morris' Indiana Brigade, West Virginia, July. West Virginia Campaign July 6-17. Laurel Hill July 7-8. Bealington July 10. Carrick's Ford July 12-14. Pursuit of Garnett's forces July 14-17. Mustered out August 2, 1861.

Regiment lost 3 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Enlisted men by disease. Total 5.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the 3, p. Rebellion, Part 1121

9th Indiana Infantry – 3 Years

Organized at Laporte September 5, 1861. Ordered to Cheat Mountain, West Virginia, September 10. Attached to Cheat Mountain District, West Virginia, to March, 1862. 19th Brigade, 4th Division, Army of the Ohio, to September, 1862. 19th Brigade, 4th Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Left Wing 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 21st Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to October, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to June, 1865. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Army Corps, to August, 1865. Dept. of Texas to September, 1865.

SERVICE. – Duty at Cheat Mountain, West Virginia, till January 9, 1862. Action at Greenbrier River October 3-4, 1861. Expedition to Camp Baldwin December 11-13. Greenbrier River December 12. Camp Allegheny December 13. Moved to Fetterman, W. Va., January 9, 1862, and duty there till February 19. Ordered to Louisville, Ky., February 19; thence march to Nashville, Tenn. March to Savannah, Tenn., March 18-April 6. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Occupation of Corinth May 30, and pursuit to Booneville May 31-June 12. March to Iuka, Miss., thence to Tuscumbia, Florence and Athens, Ala., June 12-July 8. Duty at Athens till July 17, and at Murfreesboro, Tenn., till August 17. March to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 17-September 26. Pursuit of Bragg, to Loudon, Ky., October 1-22. Battle of Perryville, Ky., October 8. Danville October 11. Wild Cat Mountain, near Crab Orchard, Big Rockcastle River and near Mt. Vernon October 16. Wild Cat October 17. Rockcastle River and Nelson's Cross Roads October 18. Pittman's Forks October 20. March to Nashville, Tenn., October 22-November 5, and duty there till December 26. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26-30. Lavergne December 26-27. Stewart's Creek December 27. Battle of Stone's River December 30-31, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863. Duty at Murfreesboro and Readyville till June. Woodbury January 24. Expedition from Readyville to Woodbury April 2. Middle Tennessee (or Tullahoma) Campaign June 23-July 7. At Manchester till August 16. Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 22. Lee and Gordon's Mills, Ga., September 11-13. Battle of Chickamauga September 19-20. Siege of Chattanooga September 22-November 23. Before Chattanooga September 22-27. Reopening Tennessee River October 26-29. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Lookout Mountain November 23-24. Mission Ridge November 25. Ringgold Gap, Taylor's Ridge, November 27. At Whitesides, Ala., till March, 1864, and at Cleveland, Tenn., till May. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1-September 8. Tunnell Hill May 6-7. Demonstration on Rocky Faced Ridge and Dalton May 8-13. Buzzard's Roost Gap May 8-9. Near Dalton May 13. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Near Kingston May 18-19. Cassville May 19 and May 24. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11-14. Lost Mountain June 15-17. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Ruff's Station Smyrna Camp Ground July 4. Chattahoochie River July 5-17. Peach Tree Creek July 19-20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama, September 29-November 3. Nashville Campaign November-December Columbia Duck River November 24-27. Battle of Franklin November 30. Battle of Nashville December 15-16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17-28. Moved to Huntsville, Ala., and duty there till March, 1865. Operations in East Tennessee March 15-April 22. Duty at Nashville till June. Ordered to New Orleans, La., June 16; thence to Indianola, Tex., July 7. Duty at San Antonio and at New Braunfels till September. Mustered out September 28, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 11 Officers and 120 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 220 Enlisted men by disease. Total 353.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the 3, p. Rebellion, Part 1121

Colnel Richard Borden to John M. Forbes, April 17, 1861

Fall River, April 17, 1861.

To J. M. Forbes, Boston:

I hope to get the State of Maine ready to go this evening.

Richard Borden.

SOURCE: Sarah Forbes Hughes, Letters and Recollections of John Murray Forbes, Volume 1, p. 209

James Russell Lowell to James T. Fields, November 30, 1863

Elmwood, Nov. 30, 1863.

My dear Fields, — You know I owe you a poem — two in my reckoning, and here is one of them. If this is not to your mind, I can hammer you out another. I have a feeling that some of it is good — but is it too long? I want to fling my leaf on dear Shaw's grave. Perhaps I was wrong in stiffening the feet of my verses a little, in order to give them a kind of slow funeral tread. But I conceived it so, and so it would be. I wanted the poem a little monumental, perhaps I have made it obituary. But tell me just how it strikes you, and don't be afraid of my nerves. They can stand much in the way of friendly frankness, and, besides, I find I am acquiring a vice of modesty as I grow older. I used to try the trumpet now and then; I am satisfied now with a pipe (provided the tobacco is good).

I have been reading the “Wayside Inn” with the heartiest admiration. The introduction is masterly — so simple, clear, and strong. Let 'em put in all their ifs and buts; I don't wonder the public are hungrier and thirstier for his verse than for that of all the rest of us put together. Curtis's article was excellent. I read also Hale's story with singular pleasure, increased when I learned whose it was. Get more of him. He has that lightness of touch and ease of narration that are worth everything. I think it the cleverest story in the Atlantic since “My Double” (also his), which appeared in my time. I confess I am rather weary of the high-pressure style.

Yours always,

J. R. L.

SOURCE: Charles Eliot Norton, Editor, Letters of James Russell Lowell, Volume 1, p. 373-4

George William Curtis to Charles Eliot Norton, December 19, 1860

19th December, '60.

No, I did not speak in Philadelphia, because the mayor thought he could not keep [the peace], and feared a desperate personal attack upon me. The invitation has been renewed, but I have declined it, and have recalled another acceptance to speak there. It would be foolhardy just now. I am very sorry for the Mayor.

There must be necessarily trouble of some kind from this Southern movement. But I think the North will stand firmly and kindly to its position. If the point shall be persistently made by the South, as it has been made so far, the nationalization of slavery or disunion, the North will say, and I think calmly, Disunion, and God for the right. The Southerners are lunatics, but what can we do? We cannot let them do as they will, for then we should all perish together.

SOURCE: Edward Cary, George William Curtis, p. 138-9

Charles Russell Lowell to Anna C. Jackson Lowell, June 9, 1861

Washington, June 9, '61.

Banks leaves here to-night for Baltimore and has promised to write in a day or two if I can be of use to him. Until I get my commission, he thinks of putting me at Baltimore as Censor over the telegraphic communications — a sug            gestion of Mr. Forbes. I believe I can be of use there.

Thanks to Wilson and Sumner, I am down for a Captaincy of Cavalry. There may be a slip, but the thing is as sure as anything of that sort can be made in Washington. When I shall get the commission signed I cannot guess.

If I get sick or wounded at any time, I promise to have Anna out at once to nurse me — she is a good little girl.¹

I am glad Father is pleased with my military prospects — I wish I knew as much about the business as he does, or even Jim must. A more ignorant Captain could scarcely be found. I suppose you scarcely fancy the life — though like a good Mother you don't say so.

_______________

¹ Miss Anna Lowell, his younger sister, became an army nurse in the hospitals at Washington, and devoted herself to this service throughout the war.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 211-2, 403

Diary of Josephine Shaw Lowell: September 29, 1861

Mother and Howard went to hear Mr. Beecher, and talking of Fremont, etc., etc., he told her she must have trust in God. “But I do,” she answered. “What good does it do you?” he asked. “You trust in God and worry all the time. It's just as if I should pay my passage through to Albany in the cars and then walk up all the way.”

SOURCE: William Rhinelander Stewart, The Philanthropic Work of Josephine Shaw Lowell, p. 20

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, November 9, 1863

Headquarters Army Of Potomac

November 9, 1863

We have once more moved our Headquarters. . . . Reveille was beaten so early that, when I popped my sleepy head out of the tent, there were the stars, most magnificent, especially Venus who sat above the moon and looked like a fire-ball. The moon was but a little one, but her circle was completed by that kind of image you often see, only the figure of the Man-in-the-Moon was plainly reflected on this image, a thing I never noticed before. These were the astronomical observations of Lyman, as he stood in the sharp air, clad in a flannel shirt and drawers. A sense of coldness about the legs roused me to a sense of my position, and I speedily added more warm garments. Breakfast was ready by the time it was light; and, every mouthful of beef I stowed away, I expected to hear the cannon that would announce the opening of the great battle. The General was confident of a battle and remarked cheerfully that “he meant to pitch right into them.” The idea was that they would take a chosen position, near Brandy Station, and there await our attack, for which they would not have been obliged to wait long. The bulk of the army was therefore crossed at Kelly's Ford, so as to advance with undivided force; General Sedgwick, however, with nearly his whole corps, held the redoubt he had taken on the north side, and, at the proper moment, was ready to throw his bridges, cross the river and take them in the flank. An hour wore away, and there was no sound of battle; so we all mounted, and rode to a small house on Mt. Holly. This is a low, steep hill, close to Kelly's Ford and commanding it. . . . Presently there appeared a couple of dragoons, with five fresh prisoners.  . . . “How were you taken?” quoth the Provost-Marshal. “Well, we were on guard and we went to sleep, and, when we woke up, the first thing we seed was your skirmish line” (which was only a roundabout way of saying they were common stragglers). “Where is the rest of your army?” “All gone last night to the breastworks behind the Rapidan!” And this was the gist of the matter. We passed Ewell's Headquarters, a little while after, and there I learned that, when news of the capture of the redoubt was brought him, he exclaimed with some profanity, “Then it's time we were out of this!” and immediately issued orders to fall back, along the whole line, after dark. There we crossed on a pontoon bridge, and found the 5th Corps massed, on the other side. As the cavalcade trotted by, the men all ran to the road and cheered and yelled most vociferously for General Meade. Soon we came up with General Warren. He looked like a man of disappointed hopes, as he gazed round the country and said, “There's nobody here — nobody!” And so we passed on, and beheld our English friends, with the Staff of General Webb. They had a very bewildered air, which seemed to say: “Oh, ah, where are these Rebel persons? pray could you tell me where they are?” Near Brandy Station we met good “Uncle John” Sedgwick, who said it was a cool day, as if there was nothing particular on hand, and he hadn't been doing anything for a week or two. It was now late on this Sunday afternoon and the troops were massing, to bivouac. There seemed really no end of them; though but part of the army was there; yet I never saw it look so big, which is accounted for by the fact that the country is very open and rolling and we could see the whole of it quite swarming with blue coats.  . . . We recrossed the Rappahannock at the railroad, and saw the fresh graves of the poor fellows who fell in the assault of the redoubt. The Rebel officers said it was the most gallant thing they had seen. Two regiments, the 6th Maine and 7th Wisconsin, just at sundown, as the light was fading, charged up a long, naked slope, in face of the fire of a brigade and of four cannon, and carried the works at the point of the bayonet.  . . . I think it no small praise to General Meade to say that his plans were so well laid out that our loss in all is but about 400. No useless slaughter, you see, though there was plenty of room for a blunder, as you would have known had you seen the lines of breastworks the fellows had; but we took part of them and scared them out of the rest.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 44-6

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Mead, June 4, 1864 – 8 a.m.

Headquarters Army Of The Potomac, 8 A. M., June 4, 1864.

I have only time to write you that we had a big battle yesterday, on the field of the old Gaines's Mill battle-ground, with the positions of the contending forces reversed. The battle ended without any decided results, we repulsing all attacks of the enemy and they doing the same; losses estimated about equal on both sides; ours roughly estimated at seven thousand five hundred in all.¹

I had immediate and entire command on the field all day, the Lieutenant General honoring the field with his presence only about one hour in the middle of the day. The papers will, however, undoubtedly inform you of all his doings, and I will therefore confine myself to mine.

George², myself, and all your friends, are well and unhurt. The enemy, as usual, were strongly fortified, and we have pretty well entrenched ourselves. How long this game is to be played it is impossible to tell; but in the long run, we ought to succeed, because it is in our power more promptly to fill the gaps in men and material which this constant fighting produces.

Baldy Smith's corps has joined, and he is placed under my orders.

_______________

¹ Battle of Cold Harbor. Federal loss — killed, wounded, and missing — June 2-10, 1864 — 13,153 (O. R.).

² Son of General Meade.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 2, p. 200-1

Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood to Major-General Henry W. Halleck, March 20, 1862

Executive Office, March 20, 1862.

H. W. Halleck, Maj.-Gen. Comg, St. Louis, Mo.:

Sir: — Your assuming responsibility of and defending Gen. Hamilton's order disgracing the 2d Iowa Regt. Vol. Infy. at St. Louis was read by me in the newspapers at Cairo, and was found on my table on my return.

I regret your position in this matter, but my opinion of it is not changed. Certain unknown members of that regiment destroyed and carried away, as is alleged, specimens from a museum in McDowell's college, then occupied by rebel prisoners and guarded by that regiment. Admitting the truth of the allegation, and not inquiring whether the property destroyed was the property of a loyal man or a rebel, it must also be true that but few members of the regiment could have participated in the act, or could have known the guilty parties. There must have been many members of the regiment as guiltless of the wrong done and as ignorant of the names of the guilty parties as either of us. Many of them too are just as proud and as sensitive of their good names as either of us, and their feelings deserve just as much consideration as ours. Now, I cannot admit that these men had done any wrong or deserved any punishment. And when I was required to admit this by placing the evidence of their punishment on the records of my office, I could not and did not do it, and I am yet satisfied with my action, and I yet ask earnestly, but respectfully, that the censure cast upon them be removed.

Accept my congratulations upon the brilliant success of the forces under your command.

Very respectfully, your Obdt. Sevt.

Samuel J. Kirkwood

SOURCE: State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa Historical Record, Volumes 1-3, Volume 2, No. 3, July 1886, p. 326-7

Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood to the Legislature of Iowa, September 10, 1862

Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:

The burthens of the war now being waged by our people for the preservation of our government bear heavily on us, and should be borne as equally as possible. These burthens are of two kinds: First, that of military duty in the field, and second, that of taxation at home. It seems to me to be unequal and unfair that those of us who bear the first of these burthens should be compelled to share with those of us who remain at home the second; that the soldiers who are fighting our battles in the field should also be compelled to pay their share of taxes equally with those who do not share their perils and privations.

The compensation paid to those of our soldiers who hold commissions is sufficiently liberal to enable them to pay their taxes without inconvenience, but it is not so with their no less worthy, but less fortunate comrades. It would be a just recognition by us of our appreciation of the patriotism and self-sacrifice of the latter, if we were to release them during their services from all taxes levied under State laws and it doubtless would be news of comfort and cheer to them amid the dangers and trials by which they are surrounded for our sakes, that we be careful that the houses that sheltered their wives and little ones had been secured from danger of sale for taxes, by our voluntary assumption of their share of the one burthen, while they are bravely bearing our share of the other. I therefore recommend to you that you pass a law exempting from all taxation under the laws of the State the real and personal property of all non-commissioned officers and privates in the regiments of this State in the army of the United States during their continuance in service, and that for the current year there be added to the per centum of taxation upon the valuation of the property of all the other tax payers the sum of one-fourth of one mill on each dollar of such valuation to cover the deficiency in revenue created thereby.

SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD.

SOURCE: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 224-5

Senator James W. Grimes to Elizabeth Nealley Grimes, October 2, 1863

Dubuque, October 2d.

It is a comfort to me to know that one week from to-night my labors will be over. My health is very good, save that I am worn down by speaking every day, and nearly every day in the open air. We shall carry the State by an unprecedentedly large majority, because the people are in earnest to sustain the Government.

SOURCE: William Salter, The Life of James W. Grimes, p. 238-9

Diary of Private Alexander G. Downing: Friday, December 25, 1863

It was a false alarm. The rebel attack did not materialize and we came in from picket at the usual time. The extra force from the other two regiments returned late in the afternoon. The camp is a lonely place with so many out at Redstone, and it is Christmas Day, too. I went to the regimental hospital and purchased from the steward a nice mince pie for my Christmas dinner, costing me fifty cents.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 159

Diary of Private Charles H. Lynch: April 3, 1864

Sunday. Attended church and Sunday School at Hanover, New London County, where I spent my boyhood days.

SOURCE: Charles H. Lynch, The Civil War Diary, 1862-1865, of Charles H. Lynch 18th Conn. Vol's, p. 51

Diary of Luman Harris Tenney: November 27, 1861

Went home on the freight. Surprised the folks. In the evening attended a party at Delos'. Had a grand time — all the young people there.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 4

8th Indiana Infantry – 3 Months

Organized at Indianapolis, Ind., April 21-27, 1861. Ordered to West Virginia June 19. Attached to Rosecrans' Brigade, McClellan's Provisional Army of West Virginia. Moved to Clarksburg, W. Va., June 19; thence march to Buckhannon June 29. Occupation of Buchannon June 30. West Virginia Campaign July 6-17. Battle of Rich Mountain July 11. Mustered out August 6, 1861.

Regiment lost during service 4 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 3 Enlisted men by disease. Total 7.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the 3, p. Rebellion, Part 1120

8th Indiana Infantry – 3 Years

Organized at Indianapolis, Ind., August 20-September 5, 1861. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., September 10. Attached to Fremont's Army of the West and Dept. of Missouri to January, 1862. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of Southwest Missouri, Dept. of Missouri, to May, 1862. 1st Division, Army of Southwest Missouri, to July, 1862. District of Eastern Arkansas, Dept. of Missouri, to October, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, District of Southeast Missouri, Dept. of Missouri, to March, 1863. 1st Brigade, 14th Division, 13th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, to July, 1863. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 13th Army Corps, Dept. of the Tennessee, to August, 1863, and Dept. of the Gulf to June, 1864. District of LaFourche, Dept. of the Gulf, to August, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 19th Army Corps, Army of the Shenandoah, Middle Military Division, to August, 1864. 4th Brigade, 2nd Division, 19th Army Corps, to December, 1864. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 19th Army Corps, to January, 1865. 1st Brigade, Grover's Division, District of Savannah, Ga., Dept. of the South, to August, 1865.

SERVICE. – Fremont's advance on Springfield, Mo., September 22-October 15. Camp at Otterville till January 25, 1862. Expedition to Milford December 15-19, 1861. Action at Milford, Blackwater or Shawnee Mound December 18. Curtis' advance on Springfield January 25-February 14, 1862. Pursuit of Price to Cassville, Ark. Battle of Pea Ridge March 6-8. At Sulphur Rock till May. March to Batesville, Ark.; thence to Helena, Ark., May 25-July 14. Action at Hill's Plantation, Cache River, July 7. Expedition to Coldwater, Miss., July 22-25 (Cos. "B," "E"). White Oak Bayou July 24 (Cos. "B," "E"). Austin, Tunica County, August 2. At Helena till October. Ordered to Pilot Knob, Mo., and operations in Southeast Missouri till March 5, 1863. Moved to Helena, Ark., thence to Milliken's Bend, La. Movement on Bruinsburg and turning Grand Gulf April 25-30. Battle of Port Gibson May 1. Battle of Champion's Hill May 16. Big Black River May 17. Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Siege of Jackson, Miss., July 10-17. Duty at Vicksburg till August 20. Ordered to New Orleans, La. Duty at Carrollton, Brashear City and Berwick till October. Western Louisiana "Teche" Campaign October 3-November 8. Moved to New Orleans, La., November 8, thence to Texas November 12. Capture of Mustang Island November 17. Fort Esperanza November 27-30. Duty at Matagorda Bay till February, 1864. Duty at Indianola and Lavacca, Tex., till April. Veterans on furlough April and May. Duty in District of LaFourche, La., till July. Ordered to Washington, D.C. Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign August 7 to November 28. Berryville, Va., September 3. Battle of Opequan. Winchester, September 19. Fisher's Hill September 22. Battle of Cedar Creek October 19. Duty in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, till January, 1865. Moved to Baltimore, Md., January 6-7, 1865; thence to Savannah, Ga., January 14-20. Duty there and at various points in Georgia and South Carolina till August. Mustered out August 28, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 7 Officers and 84 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 5 Officers and 166 Enlisted men by disease. Total 258.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the 3, p. Rebellion, Part 1120-1

George William Curtis to Charles Eliot Norton, October 14, 1860

North Shore, 14th October, 1860.

My Dear Charles, — I have been scribbling and scrabbling at such a rate that I have recently cut all my friends for my country. We are having a glorious fight. This State, I think, will astonish itself and the country by its majority. The significance of the result in Pennsylvania is, that the conscience and common sense of the country are fully aroused. The apostle of disunion spoke here last week, and, if there had been any doubt of New York before, there could have been none after he spake. Even Fletcher Harper, after hearing it, said to me, “I shall have hard work not to vote for Lincoln.”

I have been at work in my own county and district, and the other day I went to the convention to make sure that I was not nominated for Congress!

I have been writing a new lecture, “The Policy of Honesty,” and am going as far as Milwaukee in November. Here's a lot about myself, but we country philosophers grow dreadfully egotistical. I did cherish a sweet hope (it was like trying to raise figs in our open January!) that I should slip over and see you, and displace my photograph for a day or two, but I can only send the same old love as new as ever. The ball for little Renfrew¹ was a failure, though I was one of the 400, — and his reception was the most imposing pageant, from the mass of human beings, that I ever saw.

_______________

¹ The Prince of Wales.

SOURCE: Edward Cary, George William Curtis, p. 137-8

Charles Russell Lowell to Charles E. Perkins, June 7, 1861

Washington, June 7, '61.

I am down for a Captaincy of Cavalry and have good hopes of being put upon N. P. Banks's staff: but I cannot say I take any great pleasure in the contemplation of the future. I fancy you feel much as I do about the profitableness of a soldier's life, and would not think of trying it, were it not for a muddled and twisted idea that somehow or other this fight was going to be one in which decent men ought to engage for the sake of humanity, — I use the word in its ordinary sense. It seems to me that within a year the Slavery question will again take a prominent place, and that many cases will arise where we may get fearfully in the wrong if we put our cause wholly in the hands of fighting men and Foreign Legions.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 210-1

Diary of Josephine Shaw Lowell: September 26, 1861

Today was the National Fast and Mother and I went over to Brooklyn to hear Mr. Beecher, but behold! when we reached the Church we found it shut and the sexton said that Mr. Beecher would not preach today, as he had said all he had to say on the state of the country, and didn't know what to preach about. His daughter Hattie was married last evening.

After the disappointment, “ma chere mere” and I betook ourselves to Mr. Chapin's¹ where we heard a splendid sermon. One thing he said particularly pleased me. Speaking of the Nation, he said: “God Almighty doesn't thresh chaff; it's wheat he takes the trouble with.” It was so true and exactly what I had thought myself that the Lord would not give us so much suffering if it were not to purify us in the end.

_______________

¹ Rev. Edwin Hubbell Chapin, 1814-1880, minister of Universalist Church, Fifth Avenue.

SOURCE: William Rhinelander Stewart, The Philanthropic Work of Josephine Shaw Lowell, p. 20