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R. M. (Richard Miller) Devens.

The pictorial book of anecdotes and incidents of the war of the rebellion, civil, military, naval and domestic ... from the time of the memorable toast of Andrew Jackson--The federal union; it must be preserved! ... to the assassination of President Lincoln, and the end of the war. With famous wor

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her dear pet. With her eyes full of iebrs
she said she was very sorry to part with
it, because it loved her and she loved it so
much — but, the soldiers needed the money
more than she did the lamb, because they
sometimes lost their limbs, and sometimes
were killed. Taking all the circumstances
into consideration, it was a great act for a

little girl.



Baoapa from Libby Priflon fhrooflrhaToimff
Lady's Intervention.

A Union prisoner who was confined in
the Libby Prison, Richmond, had the good
fortune to effect his escape, the means for
which were furnished by a young lady,
who had taken his case in hand through
personal sympathy, and whose plan was as
ingenious as it was gracious. This young
lady sent the prisoner a bag of tobacco,
inclosed in which he found a small Union
flag, and a note telling him, if he would
be free, to appoint a time and place of meet-
ing. To carry out so cherished a purpose,
he affected death, and, having in this
feigned condition been carried past the
guard, lay in the dead house from noon
until dusk. He then scaled a fence ten
feet in height, and reached another yard,
where he met the young lady with a suit
of ck>thing made from rebel blankets ; he
then followed the young lady a long dis-
tance, safely passing the guards, until he
reached the house of the young lady's
father. Here he was concealed and cared
for in the best manner possible, for nine
days, while her father obtabed passes for
him, paying three thousand dollars in Con-
federate money for them ; and then hiring
a carriage for five hundred dollars in the
same kind of money, and getting to the



Rappahannock by going such a round-
about way as would prevent detection, he
finally reached the Union lines — thanks to
his kind-hearted deliverer.



Charleston Women XTnder Fire.
During the shelling of the city of Charles-
ton, there was a moral sublimity exhibited
in many cases by the female portion of that
imperilled community, which could but
challenge the heart-feeling even of the
Federals, whose object it was to destroy
or capture that cradle-cily of secession.
An instance of the calm heroism to which
women can rise is thus given : A lady,
dressed in deep mourning, was seated in
the fix)nt verandah of her dwelling, en-
gaged in sewing, when a Parrott shell
came screaming up the harbor and burst
with an miearthly sound, just above and in
fit)nt of the position where she was sitting,
throwing its fragments in every direction.
But this " Mother of Gracchi," as she may
be called, remained tranquil in her seat,
slowly and sadly raising her eyes toward
the point where the shell had burst She
was observed to thoughtfully gaze for an
instant upon the deadly scattering missile,
aftd then as calmly to resume her womanly
employment, in serene silence. From her
mourning apparel it was judged she had
felt before the horrors and desolation of
war. Perhaps her only son had fallen, in
strange fatuity of warfare against his coun-
try, at Wagner, at Sumter, or on James
Island. Or perhaps the *^ loved one of her
bosom " had fallen, and the Angel of Death
had no more terror for her.



Qeneral Lyon limiUng hie Oharge at Spring-



While General Lyon was standing, in
the battle at Springfield, Missouri, where
bullets fiew thickest, just after his &vorite
horse wfis shot from under him, some of
his officers interposed and begged that he
would retire from the spot and seek one
less exposed. Scarcely raising his eyes
from the enemy, he said :



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THE BOOK OF ANECDOTES OF THE REBELLION.



^ It is well enough that I stand here. I
am satisfied."

While the line was forming for the
charge against the rebels, in which he lost
his life, General Lyon turned to Major
Sturgis who stood neai* him, and re-
marked:

" I fear that the day is lost ; if Colonel
Sigel had been successful he would have
joined us before this. I think I will lead
this charge."

He had been wounded in the leg in an
early part of the engagement — a flesh
wound merely — from which the blood
flowed profusely. Major Sturgis during
the conversation noticed blood on General



Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon.

Lyon's hat, and at first supposed he had
been touching it with his hand, which was
wet with blood from his leg. A moment
after, perceiving that it was fresh, he re-
moved the General's hat and asked the
cause of its appearance. " It is nothing,
Major ; nothing but a wound in the head,"
said General Lyon, turning away and
mounting his horse. Without taking the
hat held out to him by Major Sturgis, he
addressed the lowans he T^as to command
with —

^ Forward men ! I wiU lead ytm ! ^
Two minutes afterward he lay dead on
the field, killed by a rifle-ball through the
breast, just above the heart



Fatal FulflUmMit of a Jest.

Just before the war broke out, and before
Lincoln's proclamation was issued, a young
Virginian, named Summerfield, was visit-
ing the city of New York, where he made
the acquaintance of two Misses Holmes,
{tool Waterbury, Vermont. He became
somewhat intimate with the young ladies,
and the intercourse seemed to be mutually
agreeable. The proclamation was issued,
and the whole North thrown into a blaze
of excitement Upon visiting the ladies
one evening, and at the hour of parting,
they remarked to Summerfield that their
present meeting would probably be the
last; they must hurry home to aid in
making up the overcoats and clothing for
the volunteers from their town.

Summerfield expressed his regret that
they must leave, but at the same time
especially requested them to see that the
overcoats were well made, as it was his
intention, if he ever met the Vermont
soldiers in battle, to kill one of them and
take his coat.

Now for the sequel :

Virginia seceded. The Second Ver-
mont regiment, a portion of which was
from the town of Waterbury, were sent
to Virginia. The battle of Manassas was
fought, in which they were engaged, and
so was Summerfield. During the battle,
the latter marked his man, not knowing
to what State he belonged ; the fatal ball
was sped on its errand of death ; the vic-
tim fell at the flash of the gun, and upon
rushing up to secure the dead man's arms,
Summerfield observed that he had a fine,
' new overcoat strapped to his bade, which
he determined to appropriate to his own
use. The fight was over, and Summerfield
had time to examine his prize, when, re-
' markable as it may appear, the coat was
marked in the lining with the name of
Thomas Holmes, and in the pockets were
found letters, signed with the name of the
sister whom Summerfield had known in
New York, and to whom he had made the
above quoted remark, in which the now



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687



dead man was spoken of as brother. The
evidence was condiudYe — ^be had killed
the brother of his friend, and the remark
which he made in jest had, in the^ melan-
ancholy fortmies of war, a fatal fulfillment



Watdh kept by a Doff ov«r Lientenant
PflefTs Grave.

A remarkable incident is related of the
manner in which Mrs. Pfieff, the wife of
Lieutenant Louis Pfie£^ at Chicago, who
was killed at Shiloh, was enabled to find
her husband's body. No person, when
she arrived on the field, could inform her
where her husband's body was buried;
and afler searching among the thousands
of graves for half a day, she was about
to abandon the pursuit. Suddenly she
saw a large dog coming toward her, which
she recognized as one that had left Chi-
cago with her husband. The dog seemed
delighted to find her, and led her to a dis-
tant part of the field, where he stopped



Watch kept by a Dog.

before a single grave. She earned it to be
opened, and found the body of her hus-
band. It appeared, by the statements
of the soldiers, that the dog was by the
side of the Lieutenant when he fell, and
remained with him till he was buried.
He then took his station by the grave, and



there he had remained for twelve days,
until relieved by the arrival of his mistress,
only leaving his post long enough each
day to procure food in order to sustain
himself in his faithfid service.



"And a Uttle child shaU lead them.'*
The Boston Sanitary Fair called forth
some pleasing illustrations of the sunny
side of human nature. Said a pretty girl
to a gray-haired gentleman : " Oh, Uncle
James, I want you to take a share in this
grand plana" "Bless your heart, I've
just bought a new one, and you have a
piano, and Emma, and every one else,
child!" **But you can give it back to
the Sanitary." ** Bright thought! put me
down for two shares ; just look in my
memorandum-book, tliough, a minute, Liz-
zie — share in a plough, a buggy, six dolls,
cannon, piano^ oil painting, sewing ma-
chine, four afighans, etchings of Cupid and
Psyche, flock of sheep, and — ^there write
it down — ^and piano!" One of the
"solid men of Boston," that, doubtless.
He drew a doll, very likely.



Mrs. Belmont'e Ck>noert foot the Sanitary
OohuhImIoil

While the New York Sanitary Fair
was engaging the time and generous de-
vices of the good people of that metropolis,
several ladies connected with it called
upon Mrs. August Belmont, wdfe of the
great banker, and requested her to hold a
concert, for the benefit of the Fair, among
her friends. She took it under advise-
ment, and consented to do so, and made
arrangements accordingly. She found her
house . would accommodate about thi^ee
hundred guests. .She issued her tickets
for that number, at five dollars a ticket.
She was shortly visited by the Fame com-
mittee, who informed her that the price
of tickets must not exceed two dollars
each. They were informed that Mrs.
Belmont's friends would as soon give ^y^
or ten dollars as two— -that the house waa
small, the expense would be the same, and



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THE BOOK OP ANECDOTES OF TQE REBELLION.



the receipts to the Fair yerj much dimin-
ished. But the lady managers were per-
sistent — two dollars and no more must be
the extent, or they would have nothing to
do with the concert Mrs. Belmont, hav-
ing much of the spirit of her heroic father,
infonned the ladies that she was competent
to manage her own affiurs in her own
house, and that they might consider them-
selves as discharged finom all further duty
in regard to her concert. Her husband,
on learning this state of affairs, handed
his wife fifteen hundred dollars in green-
backs, took all her tickets and carried
them down town, sold some and gave the
rest away to his friends, and made ample
provision to have the concert a success.
It came off; the rooms were brilliant and
crowded; the beauty and fashion and
wealth of New York were there in all
their glory ; Grottschalk and kindred per-
formers charmed the brilliant audience,
and Mrs. Belmont had fifteen hundred
dollars in her hands to contribute to the
Sanitary Commission



' TbAt FUff ia DouUy Dear to mb tbim



A poor woman from Wisconsin, whose
husband and son were in the ranks,
learning that the latter was wounded at
Lookout, made her way to Louisville,
whence she was sent by the agents of the
Sanitary Conunission to Nashville. Ow-
ing to Uie interruption of railroad commu-
nication it was impossible to send her
further front, and the Nashville office
accordingly telegraphed to the Commission
agent at Chattanooga for infbnnatiim.

The next day, which was Thursday, it
was answered that her eon was severely
wounded, and had been placed in a hospi-
tal which was subsequently ciiptured by
the enemy, in whose hands he then was.
It was sad news, but better than none.
It was communicated to her as kindly and
gently as possible ; but it drove her almost
frantic Two days passed, with no more
tadingpi* The suqpense became (erriUe.



Was he alive ? were his wounds cared for
by the rebels ? was he dead ? Such were
the questions which the poor mother din-
ned constantly in the ears of the agents.
""Oh, that I could hear!" she cried.
^£ven the worst would be better than
this suspense." At last, late on Sunday
night, the word so prayed and waited for
came. It was this only: '^Dead." It
was a terrible blow. A very agony of
grief settled upon the mother's heart, and
for hours her sufferings seemed beyond
all human endurance. After a time, car-
rying her great sorrow with her, she went
away ; but the next morning she returned
to the office, still terribly stricken in heart,
but calmer than before, and said, pointing
to the fiag over the door, with tears in her
eyes,

" TJiat fiag u doubly dear to me this
morning. It has cost me something."



Cialte a 8afl» Place for the Harper's Verry
Flaff.

The War Department was made dra-
matic one day by an Irish woman, of Am-
azonian size, and heart as loyal as brave,
who came under the auspices of General
Schenck, to present to Secretary Stanton
the American flag pulled down by Colonel
Miles at Harper's Ferry, when that poet
was surrendered to the rebels. ^ How
did you secure this, my excellent woman ? **
" Sure, sir, I just lifted my clothes, and
wrapped it round me here, just as they
flo<^ed into the parade." The Secretary,
after gallantly thanking her as her devo-
tion deserved, ordered fifty dollars to be
paid to the brave woman. It would not
have been safe to have attempted to un-
wrap thai fiag.



fbr the Bead.
Among the relics of the war upon exhi-
Mtion at one of the Soldiers' Fairs was a
mutilated dollar bill, connected with which
was a toudiing story. A pastor in an in-
land town had called tipon his congrega-
tioa to contribute to the Sanitary Camms«*



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589



sion, and had met a liberal ref<ponse. The
next day a woman, dependent upon her
daily work for her own support and that
of her children, brought him a dollar bill
to be added as her mite to the collection.
The pastor declined to take it, telling her
she ought not to give so much, considering
her situation ; but the woman insisted, ad-
ding, "We've had it in the house many
weeks ; we can not spend it."

Seeing that the bill was much torn, and
supposing that she had found difficulty in
passing it, her pastor said, " Oh, Til give
you a good bill for it."

"No, that's not it. It was in brother
Sam's pocket when he was wounded.
He's dead now, and we have his torn
pocket-book, and mother said [the mother
was a widow, and he her only son] we will
give that dollar to the Sanitary Commis-
sion ; we can not spend it."

The pastor redeemed the bill for two
dollars, and sent it to be disposed of at
Xhe Fair. Fifty dollars were at once
offered for the bill, but the gift from two
widows, of a baU-marked relic of their
son and brother, did not stop at that figure,
but brought an abundant harvest into the
Sanitary treasury. No necessity would
have compelled them to spend it ; but the
cause consecrated it as a holy baptism
for the dead, — an affecting and precious
offering.

Wonaa's Tonen* Pa t rayin g tbm TMhI Tor-
pedoes at Voit Henrj.

To defeat our attadc on Fort Henry,
the rebels planted torpedoes of the most
formidaUe description in the principal
channels. Their existence and location
was revealed by that most irrepressible
of all the forces of nature — a woman's
tongue. One morning the " Jessie Scouts "
— a volatUe, daring corps of young men,
who inevitably turned up wherever a fight
was expected — went into a fiurm-house,
where neariy thirty women had gathered
for safety. The inmates, greatly alarmed,
begged them not to iiguie a party of un-



protected females. The scouts allayed
their fears, when the women informed
them they had frequently heard that South-
em wives and daughters had no mercy to
hope for at the hands of the Lincoln sol-
diery. In the conversation which ensued,
one stated that her husband was a captain
in the rebel army at Fort Henry.

" By about io-morrow night, madam,"
remarked one o£ the scouts, " there will
be no Fort Henry— our gunboats will dis-
pose of it."

" Not a bit of it," was the reply ; ^ they
will be all blown up before they get past
the island."

This was said so significantly, that the
scout questioned her further, but she re-
fused to explain. He finally told her that
unless she revealed all she knew he would
be compelled to take her into the camp
of " Linoolnites," as a prisoner. This ex-
cited her terror, and she explained that
torpedoes had been planted, and described
their location as well as she was able,
though bewailing her slip of the tongue.
The information proved accurate enough
to enable Lieutenant Phelps to find them ;
but even had he remained^ in ignorance,
they were of such a character as would
have disappointed their makers and done
us no harm.



fliieiman'a Abflonoe of Mlnd-ihe Sergeaat^
Boffar.

One of the most noted characteristics
of General Sherman, the hero of Atlanta,
was absence of mind in- respect to things
not immediately affecting his military oper-
I ations — upoa which latter all his thoughts
seemed concentrated. This peculiarity
of the Grenerai found an interesting illus-
I tration in a cirenmstance which occurred
at Lebanon Junction, Kentucky, after the
following feshion :

General Sherman, with two regiments
under Colonel Lovell H. Rousseau — after-
wards M^jm^General, and a detachment
under Lieutenant-Colonel R. W. Johnston
—afterwards Bri^uUer,— occupied Leba-



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THE BOOK OP ANECDOTfca OP THE REBELLION.



non Junction, Kj., on the 17th of Septem-
ber, 1861. While walking up and down
the platform of that place, awaiting the
repair of the telegraph line, Sherman's
segar gave out. He immediately took
another from his pocket and asked the
orderly sergeant of the marine Zouaves for
a light. The home guard sergeant had
only a moment before lighted his segar,
and, with a bow, handed it to the General
— ^probably the first Brigadier he had seen
during the war. Sherman lighted his
segar carefully, took a puff or two to as-
sure himself, and abstractedly threw the



Shennan's Absence of Mind.

sergeant's segar away. A short t ime after.
General Rousseau, who saw this scene,
mentioned the matter to General Sher-
man. He could not recollect it, but said —
** I was thinking of something else. It
won't do to let to-morrow take care of
itself. Your good merchant don't think
of the ships that are in, but the ships that
are to come in. The evil of to-day is
irreparable. Look ahead to avoid breakers.
You can't when your ship is on them.
All you can then do is to save yourself
and retrieve disaster. I was thinking of
something else when I threw the sergeant's
segar away " — and then he added, laugh-
ing, *< Did I do that, really ? " Those who
would see Shennan's remarkable charac-



teristics, military and personal, most admi-
rably portrayed, will find a fund of such
matter in Captain Couyngham's sparkling
reminiscences of that great commander,
drawn from personal observation, and pen-
ned with the hand of a genius not unwor-
thy the chieftain at whose side he rode, —
one of the books with which the reader,
especially if a soldier, can never tire.



Ben. UoOulloch and Joe Baacter.
General Ben. McCulloch was in many
particulars a remarkable man. Though
a very common looking person, he was
very vain of his personal appearance and
proud of his fame. When the General
was returning finom Richmond, not long
before the fatal battle of Pea Ridge, a
little incident occurred — such as, perhaps,
he was more than once the subject of.
The party consisted of the General, Cap-
tain Armstrong, his A. A. G., and Colonel
Snyder, of the Missouri army, with two
or three black ser^'ants, tniveling m a



Gen. Ben HiCulloch.

four mule ambulance. They stopped for
limch by the wayside, about two days
travel ftt>m Fort Smith, in Arkansas, and
were discussing the prospects of the Con-
federacy and the contents of a basket and
a demijohn, when a stranger rode up and
inquired the way to Colonel Stone's win-
ter quarters. The stranger was a perfect
specimen of the genus ^butternut* He
was dressed in bilious looking jeans, with



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691



a home-made hat and coarse boots, and
wore his hair and beard very long. He
was mounted on a good horse, and carried
on his shoulder a long, o!d-&3hioned rifle.
Before there was any time to answer his
inquiries he cast his eyes on General
McCulloch, and seemed to recognize him.
Dismounting at once, he advanced eagerly
to the General, with extended hand and
a hearty " Bless my soul, Joe ! how do
you do? — ^what on earth are you doing
here?*' The General saw that the man
was mistaken, . but answered him pleas-
antly, and invited him to partake of the
lunch, to which said lunch and demijohn
the stranger did full and ample justice.
He told the General (for to him he ad-
dressed all his conversation, as to an old
friend) that he was a volunteer, and had
joined Colonel Stone's regiment of Texan
Bangers, and that he intended to fight with



don't think you know me, and perhaps
have never seen me before."

** You be darned ! " said butternut ; " I
would know you, Joe, if I was to meet
you in Africa ! "

"Well, now," said the general, getting
tired of his new fi-iend's familiarity, " who
do you take me for, any way ? "

''Take you for?" retorted Texas, ear^
nestly ; ^ I don't take you for anybody ; I
know you to be Joe Baxter, what staid in
the Perkins settlement, in Collins county,
all last summer, a seUin' chain-pumps and
puUin* up Ughtnin'-rods!^



Jerry the Oenins, looking throngrh General
Palmer** Spy-fflaee.
When General Palmer was on the Ten-
nessee river, there was in Company C, of
the Forty-seeond Illinois, a singular genius,
I femiliarly known as Jerry, an easy, care-



X



Jerry and Gen. Palmer^i Spy-gla«.



^ Old Ben McCulloch until we gained our
independence." Old Ben enjoyed the
man's mistake until they were about ready
to start on, when he said to his Texan co-
patriot,

^ My friend, I think you are mistaken
as to whom you have been talking to ; I



less, jovial fellow, thinking a man a man
anywhere, and paying no attention to the
shoulder-strapped gentry any more than
if they were not about One day, General
Palmer was among a company of ofRcers,
looking with his gl^^s at the battle-ground
of Fittfiburg Landing. Jerry was near



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THE BOOK OF ANECDOTES OF THE REBELLION.



by, and steppbg up to the General, slap-
ped him familiarly on the shoulder, and
said, ^* Say, old feller, let me see that thing,
will yer ? " The officers expected to see
Jerry sent in on bread and water ; but,
always ready for fun. Palmer handed
Jerry his spy-glass. Jerry took it, and
very deliberately looked it pver; and,
placing it about two feet from his eye,
looked through it. One such look was
sufficient, and turning to the General, with
a look of extreme contempt, he said,
'^ Here, take the tamal thing ; I can see
through it ! " and retired amidst the shouts
of the General and his officers.



Old Abe fbdn^r tfa« B6«pon«iM1lty.
Mr. Lincoln was naturally very anxious
to know who was really responsible
for the calamitous surrender of Harper's
Ferry. So he summcmed Halleck. The
General did not know. " Very well," said
the President, <^ then I will ask General
Schenck." That Greneral merely knew
that he was not to blame. The President
sent for Milroy. Milroy averred that he
was not guilty. Hooker was summoned.
Fighting Joe hoped it was dear to His Ex-
cellency that he had nothing to do with it
" Perfectly clear," said our Unde Abraham,
smiling. So he assembled all the four gen-
erals in his room. '^ Gentlemen," said he,
'^Harper's Ferry was surrendered, and none
of you, it seems, are responsible. I am very
anxious to discover the man who is." He
walked up and down the room, while they
still sat there. Suddenly he stopped. ^ I
have it," he said ; " I know who is respon-
sible." The generals crowded about the
President, each a little suspicious. ^ Who
is it, who is it, Mr. President ? " " Gen-
tlemeui" replied our imde, with a twinkle
in his eye, ^ General Lee is the man."
Everybody knows that the good President
was exceedingly fond of those witty
writers, whose books he was f^ad to have
in his library, — ^Artemus Ward, Petro-
leum V. Nasby, Mi^ Jack Downing,
Shillaber, DoeBticks,and Orpheus C. Kerr,



— ^who helped to keep the nation in good


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Using the text of ebook The pictorial book of anecdotes and incidents of the war of the rebellion, civil, military, naval and domestic ... from the time of the memorable toast of Andrew Jackson--The federal union; it must be preserved! ... to the assassination of President Lincoln, and the end of the war. With famous wor by R. M. (Richard Miller) Devens active link like:
read the ebook The pictorial book of anecdotes and incidents of the war of the rebellion, civil, military, naval and domestic ... from the time of the memorable toast of Andrew Jackson--The federal union; it must be preserved! ... to the assassination of President Lincoln, and the end of the war. With famous wor is obligatory.
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