fleeing comrades, won my heart and as-
sured him its sympathies and respect.

With this also find his purse and papers,
which, ' Vandal ' though I am, I feel will
be <si greater value to you to get than aat^



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627



isfaction to me to withhold. He was con-
scious to the last, as I learned from the
officer who cared for him, and seemed only
to deplore his death in parting from that
heaven he left in you. Two other Confed-
erate officers lay dead near him, but the
necessities of the moment prevented the
possibility of my delaying to find out any-
thing in relation to them.

Prajring that God will put it into the
hearts of your people to return to the alle-
giance of your father s flag, under which
all sections prospered, and which only will
prevent the further effusion of blood, and
sincerely and from my heart condoling
with you and his family in your bereave-
ment,

I am, sad girl, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,

Thomas C. Fitzgibbons,
Major 14th Mich. Vet. Vol. Inf., U. S. A.



ICy Mother's Hand I
In one of those fierce engagements
which took place near Mechanicsville be-
tween the Confederate and Federal forces
in the eventM month of May, a young
Lieutenant of a Rhode Island battery had
his right foot so shattered by a fragment
of a shell that, on reaching Washington
after one of those horrible ambulance
rides, and a journey of a week's duration,
he was obliged to undergo amputation
of the leg. He telegraphed home, hun-
dreds of miles away, that all was going
well, and with a soldier's fortitude, com-
posed himself to bear his sufferings alone.
Unknown to him, however, his mother,
one of those dear reserves of the army,
hastened up to join the main force. She
reached the city at midnight, and the
nurses would have kept her from him un-
til morning. One sat by his side fanning
him as he slept, her hand on the feeble,
fluctuating pul^tions which foreboded sad
results. But what woman's heart could
resist the pleading of a mother then ? In
the darkness, she was finally allowed to
glide m and take the place at his side.



She touched his pulse as the nurse had
done. Not a word had been spoken ; but
the sleeping boy opened his eyes and
said:

. « Tkatfeeb like my mother's hand! Who
is this beside me f It is my mother ; turn
up the gas and let me see my mother ! "

The two dear faces met in one long joy-
fril sobbing embrace, and the fondness pent
up in each heart sobbed and panted and
wept forth its expression. The tender-
loving but gallant fellow, just twenty-one,
his leg amputated on the last day of his
three years* service, underwent operation
after operation, and at last, when death
drew nigh, and he was told by tearfrd
friends that it only remained to make him
comfortable, said, '^he had looked death in
the fece too many times to be afndd now,"
and died as heroically as did the noble men
of the famed Cumberland.



Aflbotinff Mementoes of Qettysbiixv.
Among the many sad relics of the bat-
tlefield in Gettysburg, Penni^lvania, was
one which a soldier engaged in that dread-
ful fight picked up, namely, — a small pa-
per, which contained two separate locks
of hair attached thereto, directed to " Mr.
Wellerford," from Louisiana, by his wife,
in a beautiful handwriting. Below one
lock was " Fanny Wellerford," below the
other was " Richard Wellerford," — and be-
low both was "Our Darlings!" These
tender mementoes of his name and chil-
dren had been sent on to him by his at-
tached wife, to cheer his heart in the far
distant land to which the fortunes of war
had brought him ; and probably he wore
the tender testimonials near his heart,
when the fatal missile separated him from
those he loved in his &r-off Southern
home. The tender relic of domestic love
went into the possession of strangers,
while the husband and fiUher rested be-
neath the silent clods of a Northern val-
ley, — ^his grave probably unmarked and
undistinguished from the hundreds around
himi who met their death on the bloody



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THE BOOK OP ANECDOTES OP THE REBELLION.



field of Gettysburg. His wife and chil-
dren looked in vain for the return of that
loved husband and father I But for the
bravery of Meade on that wide field of
blood, and the untiring energy of Governor



As the last words faltered upon his
tongue, his voice hushed in death. By the
dim light of the stars I hastily scooped a
shallow grave and buried him with his
sister's picture l}Tng upon his breast



Governor Curtin

Curtin, who, in the chair of state, gathered
together the mighty resources of his peo-
ple, to beat back that vast tide of southern
soldiery, how many more battlefields might
have been numbered on the soil of the
North!



Burled with his Sister's Picture.

The following incident was related by a
Confederate prisoner to an attendant, who
by many acts of kindness had won his
confidence : —

I was searching for spoils among the
dead and dying upon a deserted battlefield,
when I discovered a small gold locket upon
the person of a dying boy, apparently
about fifteen years of age. As I endeav-
ored to loose it fix>m his grasp, he opened
his languid eyes and implored me, by all
that was good and pure, by the memory of
my own mother, not to rob him of his sis-
ter's picture :

" Oh," said he, *< it was her last gifk. I
promised her, when she kissed my cheek
at parting, tliat I woidd always wear it
near my heart, in life or death I " (then, as
if throwing his whole soul into a plea, he
exclaimed:) ''Oh, touch not my sister^s
picture ! "



Pretty Widows and Imprisoned Lovers.

A good looking young widow who
" bossed " a sewing machine in Wheeling,
Virginia, was in love with a notorious rebel
bushwhacker who had committed several
murders of Unionists, and was confined in
the Wheeling jail. His name was George

D , a son of the notorious Dan D ^,

and the widow's name Mary 13 . Ma-
ry was allowed to carry delicacies to
George, until she was detected in attempt-
ing to pass something of a contraband na-
ture through tlie bars of his cell, after
which she was debarred by the jailor from
the premises.

One night, about ten o'clock, the jailor
heard a noise on the outside of the ."-outh-
cm wall of the prison, and going round
there with a lantern, he discovered a par-
cel on the ground. While in the act of
picking up the mysterious package, the
widow B. alighted sock uix)n his back
from the wall, which was twelve or fifteen
feet high, and disputed his possession of
the property. In the fall her righ* leg
was broken just above the ankle, but she
struggled manfully, and in the contest a
bottle of nitric acid was broken, and the
contents spilled upon the jailor and Mrs.
B., both of whom were stained and burned.
The valiant feminine finally sank exhaust-
ed, and was carried into the jail and placed
under surgical treatment.

Upon examining the parcel, the jailor
found that it contained a bottle of chloro-
form, a bottle of nitric acid, a chisel, a box
of steel pens, and two love letters from
Mrs. Briggs, and copies of various news-
papers. As descriptive of one of the
letters, love is stated to be a word of hard-
ly sufficient strength. The in&tuated wo-
man had climbed to the wall with a lad-
der^ and was about to attach the package



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629



to a long pole and extend it to the window
of her ^ Dusky's ' cell, when she dropped
it, and was thus discovered.



Paihetio Oflbrinflr of Oenina to the Dead.
Here is a theme for one of the poets.
The scene is at Newport News, Virginia ;
the subject — A Soldier's Grave. The au-
thor would have the melody of the moan-
ing sea for inspiration, and his imagination
would find material in the tragedy of the
Cumberland and Congress. The name of
the sleeper it would be difficult to ascer-
tain ; nor has the curiosity of the visitor
been able to ascertain the name of the un-
conscious genius, who possessed such power
of condensation, poetic feeling and pathos,
as are exhibited in the simple epitaph on
this lonely grave of an unknown hero.
Here it is in words and figure :



It is safe to affirm that one might travel
over all the graveyards and the field of the
dead in all Virginia — that modem Acel-
dama — and find nothing more touching in
the lapidaric offering.



Beware of a Soldier's Wiib!
An incident of quite a romantic charac-
ter — €uid something more — occurred in
Alleghany county. New York, which ex-
hibits human nature in some of its pecu-
liar lights and shades, though perhaps not
so very strange, considering that " there is
nothing new under the sun.** A couple



were married. The bride was as beauti-
ful as the morning ; her eyes like heaven's
orbs. The husband was patriotic ; he en-
listed and went to war. A libertine from
Chautaque county saw the beautiful wife,
and exclaimed, "Ye gods, how beautiful ! "
He sought her society, and ostensibly won
her confidence ; she consented. He gave '
her ten fifiy-dollar greenbacks to make
necessary arrangements. She accepted.
The hour was fixed upon. The villain
went to his hotel to smoke the impatient
hours away, when the following letter was
put into his hands :

"Mr. , have to inform you that

circumstances beyond my control will pre-
vent me from fulfilling my engagement to
elope with you to-night I expect my
husband home on furlough soon, to spend
Christmas and New Year's, when we shall
enjoy a hearty laugh at your discomfiture.
Meanwhile, I will keep your money as a
Christmas present for him, and, when this
cruel war is over, it will come handy to
assist him to start in business.

Yours * tenderly,'

C. T. N."

"P. S. — When next you attempt to
play the libertine, you would do well to
select your victim outside of Alleghany
county ; and, above all, beware of a sol-
dier's wife."



Howard, the Havelock of the War.
Major-General Howard, commanding the
Union Department and Army of the Ten-
nessee, was often styled " the Havelock
of the war," because of his so closely re-
sembling the great English commander
of that name in his habits and manners.
He was strictly temperate, never imbibing
of alcoholic drinks, or any of a nature in-
toxicating. His language was always
chaste, firm, and right to the point; no
word or sound of profanity was allowed
about him ; tobacco he utterly discarded ;
and himself and staff held religious meet-
ings for the good of themselves and the coun-



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THE BOOK OF ANECDOTES OF THE REBELLION.



try. One who visited the General while
engaged in his Georgia campaign, de-
scribes the prayer meeting as attended
by the officers of his command, in the
midst of a pine grove, where his quarters
were at that time. The General was in
the centre of a semi-circle of staff officers
of his command, his good right arm gone,
and over his features there played a quiet



Mai Gen 0. Howard.

yet serene smile as he looked around him
upon the assembled guards and escorts
upon his left hand, with clerks and order-
lies on the right. The exerttises consisted
of vocal and instrumental music, a short,
fervent prayer, a few plain remarks, which



all could understand, the singing of the
Doxology, and a benediction, to which a
solenm Amen was echoed by some distant
battery. Before separating, each man
was taken by the hand and received a
kind word from General Howard.



Kiss Olemmie's Album.

During the last visit of the Federal

forces, under Major-General A. J. Smith,

to Holly Springs, Mississippi, in August,

1864, the following lines were penned by

Colonel A on the last page of a young

lady's album, all others having been appro-
priated by, real or pretended admirers in
1861. The black crape at the top of five
loving epistles, and the broad, dark borders
of five cards in the album, proved that ten
of Miss Clemmie's admirers had fidlen vic-
tims to Federal bullets, and that Yankee
lead and steel were even more potent than
Cupid's arrows. The females of the fami-
ly being at the time residents of the ele-
gant mansion, the book was returned to
the centre-table with these lines —

TO MISS CLEMMI£.

Tlfl certain, Miss Clemmie, whether Fed or OoniU,
In the plain oourse of nature you Ye destined to wed ;
Some '* Lord of Creation " will loringly kned.
And pour forth his tendur and ferrent appeal,
If the Feds and Gonfeds will cease this rain sttiib.
And leavea man liting to makejoa his wiJb.

JiM.



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PART Vm— EARLT HOME AND TRAGIC END OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN

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THE NFV -• ■ >: I

PUP' ;: ■ ■ • ~ ■ ,



TIL '
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PART EIGHTH,



ANECDOTES OF THE REBELLION— FINAL SCENES AND EVENTS

IN THE GREAT DRAMA: ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT

LINCOLN; IGNOMINIOUS DOOM OF JEFFERSON DAVIS ; ETC.

Thb most stbikino Occubrbncbs rblatino to thb Great Assassination Conspiraot,

— THE TraOEDT, the AoTOBS, AND THEIS DoOM ; RbMABKABLB PASSAGES AND CON-
TEBSAT10N8 IN Mb. LINCOLN'S PbBSIDENTIAL LiFE, — MeMOBIAL INCIDENTS OF HIB

Death, and of a Nation's Moubnino; Captube and Custody of Jeffebson Davis,
— ^His Sayings and Doings, Pebsonal Bbabino among his Captobs, Ignominious
Fate ; Intebestino Reminiscences in the Cabeeb of Andbew Johnson, &c., &c.



IP THIS COUKTBT CAR NOT BB SATBB WITBOITT OimO UP that PBIRCIPLB. I WAS ABOUT TO SAT I WOULD BLATHBB BB AS-

SASsnrATBD ON THIS SPOT TBAN SURRENDER tt.— Speech o/ Mk. LINCOLN, at Independence Hatty Phiiadetphiat dtfetuUng
theprimeipk qf Liberty contaitud in the Deeiaraium of htdependenee ; Feb., 186L

''After lifeJs fitful ferer, he sleeps weU ;
Treason has done bis wont ; nor steel, nor poison,
Malice domestiG, foreifn lerv, nothing

Can touch him ftirther.'*—" Macbeth,*' read twice 6y Mr. Lincoln to aomeMend^

on the Sabbath preceding his death.
I nerer wiUInfl^y plonteda thorn fai any homan bosom.— iS^eA of Mb. Lorcour, in Washington^ on the announce'
mem of his re-ebetion ; Nov,, 1864.

** Judge not, that ye be not Judged.^— Pbbsidbmt Lincoln's r^pfy, ttoice repeaud, on being urged to hang Jbppbesoh
Batis, in ease of his capture.

It it were to be done at all, it were better that it were well done!— Jbppbbson Datis to Gbnbral BRBCXDniDOB mi
hearing qf President LaooLSi^B Assassination,

He was the best man I erer knew.— Wbcbbm rt Sbward to Bbt. Dr. Bbllowb, on Abraham Lincoln.



IiMt Day's Inoidents In the PraEldBiit*^
LiflB.



O Nl



i:he morning of
the fatal Friday
which closed the
earthly days of the
honored President,
hb son, Captain Eob-
I ert Lincoln, who had
just returned from the
capitulation of Gen.
Lee, breakfasted with his father, and the
President passed a happy hour listening to
all the details. While thus at breakfast,
he heard that Speaker Colfiuc was in the
house, and sent word that he wished to see




him immediately in the reception room.
He conversed with him nearly an honr,
on his future policy as to the rebellion,
which he was about to submit to the cabi-
net. Afterwards he had an interview
with Mr. Hale, minister to Spain, and
several senators and representatives.

At eleven o'clock, the Cabinet and Gen-
eral Grant met with him, and in one of
the most satis&ctory and important cabi-
net sessions held since his first inaugura-
tion, the ftiture policy of the administration
was harmonioasly and unanimously agreed
on, Secretary Stanton remarking that he
felt that the Government was stronger
then than at any previous period since the
rebellion commenced. Turning to General



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THE BOOK OP ANECDOTES OP THE REBELLION.



Grant, Mr. Lincoln asked him if he had
heard from General Sherman? General
Grant replied that he had not, but was in
hourly expectation of receiving dispatches
from him, announcing the surrender of
Johnston. In response to this remark the
President replied —

" Well, you will hear very soon now,
and the news will be important."

" Why do you think so ?" inquired Gen-
eral Grant, somewhat in a curious mood.

'^ Because," said Mr. Lincoln, '^ I had a
dream last night, and ever since the war
began I have invariably had the same
dream before any very important military
event has occurred." He then instanced
Bull Run, Antietam, Grettysburg, &c, and
said that before each of those events he
had had the same dream, and, turning to
Secretary Welles, continued, " It is in your
line, too, Mr. Welles. The dream is that
I saw a ship sailing very rapidly, and I
am sure that it portends some impdrtant
national event."

In the afternoon, the President had a
long and pleasant interview with General
Oglesby, Senator Yates, and other lead-
ing citizens of Illinois.

At about half-past seven o'clock, in the
evening, Hon. George Ashmim, of Massa-
chusetts, who presided over the Chicago
Convention in 1860, called at the White
House, and was ushered into the parlor,
where Hon. Schuyler Colfax was seated,
waiting for a short interview with the
President on business which had a bear-
ing upon his proposed overland trip. A
few moments elapsed, when President
Lincoln entered the room, and engaged in
conversation upon various matters, appear-
ing to be in a very liappy and jovial frame
of mind. He spoke of his visit to Rich-
mond, and when they stated that there
was much uneasiness at the North while
he was at the rebel capital, for fear that
some traitor might shoot him, he replied
jocularly, that he would have been alarmed
himself if any other person had been Pres-
ident and gone there, but that personally



he did not feel any danger whatever.
Conversing on a matter of business with
Mr. Ashmun, he made a remark that he
saw Mr. Ashmun was surprised at, and
though not very important, he immediately
said, with his well known kindness of
heart,

" You did not understand me, Ashmun.
I did not mean what you inferred, and I
take it all back and apologise for it."

Mr. Ashmun desiring to see him again,
and there being no time to attend to it
then, the President took out a card, and
placing it on his knee, wrote as follows :

'^ Allow Mr. Ashmun and friend to come
to me at nine A. M. to-morrow.

April 14, '65. A. Lincoln."

These were the last words that he pen-
ned. It was the last time that he signed
his name to any order, document or mes-
sage. The last words written by him
were thus making an engagement for the
njorrow — an engagement which he was
not allowed to meet. Before the hour
had ai^ived he was no more.

After signing the card, he said, humor-
ously, to Mr. Colfax, —

'^Mr. Sumner has the gavel of the
Confederate Congress, which he got at
Richmond, to hand to the Secretary of
War; but I insisted then that he must
give it to you, and you tell him for me to
hand it over."

Mr. Ashmun here pleasantly alluded to
the gavel which he still had — the same
one he had used when presiding over the
Chicago Nominating Convention of 1860.

Mr. Lincoln finally stated that he must
go to the theatre, and, saying " You are
going with Mrs. Lincoln and me to the
theatre, I hope," warmly pressed Speaker
Colfax and Mr. Ashmun to accompany
them, but they excused themselves on the
score of previous engagements. It was
now half an hour after the time they had
mtended to start, and they spoke about
waiting half an hour longer, — ^the Presi-
dent going with reluctance, as Greneral
Grant had that evening gone Norths and



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PINAL SCENES AND EVENTS IN THE GREAT DRAMA; ETC. 635



be did not wish the people to be disap-
pointed, it having been announced in the
afternoon papers that the President^ Mrs.
Lincohi, and General Grant, would attend
the theatre that evenmg, to witness the
representation of the American Cousin.
At the door he stopped and said —

** Colfax, do not forget to teU the people
in the mining regions, as 70U pass through
them, what I told you this morning about
the development when peace comes, and I
will telegraph you at San Francisco."

Starting for the carriage, Mrs. Lincoln
took the arm of Mr. Ashmun, and the
President and Mr. Colfax walked together.
As soon as the President and Mrs. Lincoln
were seated in the carriage, Mrs. L.
gave orders to the coachman to drive
around to Senator Harris's residence
for Miss Harris. As the carriage rolled
away, they both said ^Good-by, — Good-by,'
to Messrs. Ashmun and Colfax, and the
carriage had in a moment more disap-
peared from the ground in front of the
AVTiite House. A few moments later
the presidential party of four persons,
namely, the President and Mrs. Lincoln,
Miss Harris and Major Rathbun, of Al-
bany, step-son of Senator Harris, arrived
at the theatre and entered the front and
left hand upper private box. There was
an immense audience present, as was to
be expected, in view of the announcement
of the attendance of the President and
Lieutenant-General Grant.

Only a short time elapsed, while Presi-
dent Lincoln occupied that box, before the
leaden messenger was sped on its fatal
errand, and "Good Friday," of the 14th
April, 1865, was the last of the beloved
Presidents earthly days.

Perhaps nothing can be more appropri-
ately presented, in. closing this mournful
historic page — ^the last day's incidents of
the President's life-^than the following
lines, written by the President on that
same fatal day. It appears that his friend,
General Van Alen, had recently written
to him not to expose his life unnecessarily,



as he had done at Richmond, and assuring
him of the earnest desire of all his comi-
trymen to close the war he had so success-
fully conducted. After acknowledging the
receipt of the letter, the President replied,
April 14th, the day of his assassination,
and said:

I intend to adopt the advice of my
friends and use due precaution. ♦ ♦ ♦
I thank you for the assurance you give me
that I shall be supported by conservative
men like yourself in the efforts I may make
to restore the Union, so as to make it, to
use your language, a Union of hearts and
hands as well as of States.

Yours truly, A. Lincoln."



Deathbed Scene of the Murdered ^Presidfint.

As soon as the discovery was made that
the President was shot, the surgeon-gen-
eral and other physicians were immediately
summoned and their skill exhausted in
efforts to restore him to consciousness.
An examination of his wounds, however,
showed that no hopes could be given that
his life would be spared.

Preparations were at once made to
remove him, and he was conveyed to a
house immediately opposite, occupied by
Mr. Peterson, a respectable citizen of that
locality. He was placed upon the bed,
the only evidence of life being an occa-
sional nervous twitching of the hand and
heavy breathing. He was entirely uncon-
scious, as he had been ever since the as-
sassination. At about half past eleven the
motion of the muscles of his face indica-
ted as if he were trying to speak, but
doubtless it was merely muscular. His
eyes protruded from their sockets and
were sufiused with blood. In other re-
spects his countenance was unchanged.

At his bedside were the Secretary of
War, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary
of the Interior, Postmaster General and
Attorney General ; Senator Sumner, Gen-
eral Todd, cousin to Mrs. Lincoln ; Major
Hay,M. B. Field, General Halleck, Major-
General Meigs, Rev. Dr. Gurley, Drs.



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Abbott, Stone, Hatch, Neal, Hall, and
Lieberman, and a few others. All were
bathed in tears; and Secretaiy Stanton,
when informed by Surgeon Gren. Barnes,
that the President could not live until
morning, exclaimed, ^^Oh, no, General;
no— no ; " and with an impulse, natural as
it was unafifected, immediately sat down
on a chair near his bedside, and wept like
a child. Senator Sumner was seated
on the right of the President, near the
head, holding the right hand of the
President in his own. He was sobbing
like a woman, with his head bowed down
almost on the pillow of the bed on which
his illustrious friend was dying. In an
adjoining room were Mrs. Lincoln, and her
son, Capt. Rob't Lincoln; Miss Harris, who
was with Mrs. Lincoln at the time of the
assassination, and several others.

Mrs. Lincoln was under great excite-
ment and agony, wringing her hands and