Knox County, Ohio - Biographical sketches, 1881 (part 13 of 20)

When Felix Huston harangued the army, as he often did, the cheers of the soldiers could be heard far away over the prairies. But when Sam Houston spoke, there was an impressive silence. He briefly reviewed the struggle of Texas for independence. The most dangerous enemies of Texas, he said, were not in Mexico, but in the United States. Texans had no cause to fear those who would meet them in the field, with arms in their hands; but rea! danger to Texas was to be apprehended from the charges of those who represented the Texans asa lawless banditti. He appealed to the soldiers to aid him in making Texas respected by the nations; and that could only be done by every citizen and soldier yielding cordial obedience to the laws.

A few days after President Houston had returned to Columbia, while Felix Huston was manceuvering his troops on the prairie, several horsemen were seen to approach along the trail lea ling towards the capital. It was Sidney Johnston and his staff.

At a glance, Felix Huston comprehended the situation; and advanced to meet the man, by whom he had been overslaughed. Their saluations were courteous and dignified. Huston invited Johnston and his staff to sup with him, and the invitation was accepted. These two men were of opposite types in every thing, but courage. In aspect, Johnston was bronzed and stern. His hair was was thick and nearly black; his forehead, broad and high; his brows, heavy and projecting; his eyes, dark brown, and serious in their expression. No one ever met Sidney Johnston, who did not feel he was in the presence of a remarkable man.

Felix Huston was the taller, but not the heavier man. HEH complexion was fair; his eyes, in one of which was a slight cas were grey-blue; and his hair, light brown. He possessed mc » magnetism than Johnston, but was not so great man. Hust had a dash of recklessness in his composition, and the faul.. which belonged to his temperment; but was as generous, as he was brave. :

While thus, the rival chieftains, greeted each other, the eye of every soldier was bent upon them; and as they parted, young Sergeant Morgan, turned to his brother and said: Tom,

The supper passed off pleasantly; but scarcely had Johnston reached his quarters, when Major Ross of Huston's staff, delivered him a cartel from his chief. The correspondence, the author has never seen, and what he narrates of the duel, is legendary; but believed to be true.

In his note, Huston said there was no man in Texas, under whom he would be more proud to serve, than General Johnston, for whom he entertained great respect as_an officer, and gentleman. promoted a junior officer over him. That as he could not demand satisfaction of them all, he requested the honor of a meeting with their representative; and that Major Ross was authorised to make the necessary arrangements. Johnston promptly replied, reciprocating the courteous sentiments expresed by Huston, named sun-rise the next morning, as the time, and the west bank of the La Bacca as the place of meeting; and designated Colonel Moorehouse as his friend.

While this was going on, Dr. Ezra Reed, lately deceased at Terre Haute, called at the quarters - half tent, half house - of Captain Morgan, to borrow from the assistant surgeon - - , who messed there, a pocket case of surgical instruments, to amputate the crushed finge: of a poor fellow, as Reed said, who had been accidentally injured. Sergeant Morgan exclaimed: ''And so it requires pocket instruments to amputate a finger, does it?'' The captain still discredited the idea of a duel. The next morning, as young Morgan was calling the roll of his company at reveille, two pistol shots were heard from the direction of the river; and the sergeant, without finishing the roll call, ordered: '' Break ranks! march! ''and exclaimed: "Boys, Johnston and Huston are fighting," and broke for the river, on the opposite bank of which, but out of view, the duel was taking place.

There was but one brace of duelling pistols in camp; they belonged to Huston, and of necessity were used. The spring of one of the locks was weak; Huston called attention to the fact, and chose that pistol for himself. Johnston had never pulled a hair trigger, while Huston was a crack shot. To equalize the chances it was arranged, at Huston's suggestion, that the elbow of the pistol arm should be kept against the hip, and that the forearm alone should be raised to fire. At the first shot Johnston's ball cut a twig, which fell at Huston's feet. He took it up, and said: ''A capital shot, General." Johnston passed a finger through a bullet hole in the lappel of his coat, and replied: '' Not so good as yours, General.'' Huston missed at the second shot, and the ball of Johnston entered the ground a few feet from him, on the line of fire. At the third shot Johnston missed his aim, and Huston's pistol snapped. He sat down at the root of a tree, and braced the spring by inserting a small splint of wood. While doing so, he noticed that Moorehouse, Johnston's second, was about to load with a defective ball when Huston called out, '' Here, Colonel, is a good ball. The flaw in that one would catch the wind," and Johnston's pistol was loaded with the perfect bali taken from Huston's pocket. At the fourth shot Johnston fell. The ball entered the hip on the right side, and was extracted from the left by a simple incision of the skin. The wound was painful, and not free from danger. When Johnston fell, he promptly raised himself on his elbow, and said: ''Gentlemen, [ call upon you all to bear witness that this affair has been conducted honorably."

The combatants now repose in death. Huston died, long since, in the south; and Johnston fell at Shiloh. His friends believe, that had he not fallen, the fate of that day had been different.

In February, 1837, Sergeant Morgan was promoted to a second lieutenantcy of artillery, in the regular army, and was ordered to report to the commandant of the post on Galveston island.

In an army, and especially in such an army, inaction breeds discontent, and discontent is the parent of mutiny. Nearly every State in the Union was represented, and every man had gone to avenge Fannin, and Travis, and Crockett, and Powie. Every man wished to aid in transferring the lone star of Texas, to our National banner, but the Mexicans threatened and made demonstrations, but did not seek those whom they denounced as invaders. The fare of the army was rough; for long months at a time the soldiers lived on beef, coffee, and tobacco, without bread or vegetables. But if the fare was rough, the clothing was worse, for the treasury of Texas was empty, and the soldiers received no pay. And for all this, never, in the world's history, did any country do so much for her soldiers as Texas has done. Those who enlisted for the war, on their discharge, received a warrant for one thousand two hundred and eighty acres of land. One-third of a century after' Texas was annexed to the Union, every surviving veteran of the Texan revolution was given a pension of one thousand dollars; and, several years ago, an additional land grant of six hundred and forty acres was made to every indigent veteran who had served in that revolution; and on the fifteenth of March, 1881, by act of the Texas legislature, another grant of one thousand two hundred and eighty acres was made to every surviving veteran, or to his widow.

Nevertheless, a mutinous epidemic broke out in the camp o¢ the main army in 1837, and spread to every post in Texas. Amidst a terrific midnight storm, Colonel Teal was shot dead in his tent. Who fired the shot has never been known.

Shortly afterward a mutiny broke out at Camp Johnston, on the Navadad. The leaders were arrested and put in irons. The guard was doubled, and Captain Thomas J. Morgan was captain of tte guard. During the night, a large body of armed men assembled in front of the guard tent and demanded the release of the prisoners. The guard was under arms ready to obey orders. Captain Morgan stepped to the front and briefly addressed the mutineers. He spoke to them ina xindly manner, but with firmness. He appealed to them to return to their duty, and told them they could only reach the prisoners over the dead bodies of the guard. His firmness and presence of mind restored discipline, and as a recognition of his services he was commissioned major; by which title he was known until the hour of his death.

The post at Velasco next suffered. Lieutenant Sprowl joined the mutineers, and was shot and instantly killed by Captain Snell, commandant of the post.

At that time there were two companies at Galveston, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lynch, and the disease of mutiny next attacked them. The entire want of pay, for Texas had no money; the want of proper food - the soldiers having lived on fresh fish for three weeks; the want of clothing; and, more than all, the want of an active and glorious campaign, were the combined causes which demoralized the army.

Lieutenant Berth had been a sergeant in the army of the United States, ana in that service would have been efficient as an adjutant - he was the adjutant of the post of Galveston, He was as cold and precise as a machine, and the soldiers detested him. He received an anonymous warning not to sleep in his quarters; and that very night a shell exploded under his bed and blew it to pieces, while Berth lay concealed in the grass near by. The next day he fled from the island.

Adam Clendennin, Morgan's captain, was very unpopular, He was young, haughty and brave. A note was sent to him, demanding that he should leave the island. He treated it' with contempt. The next night, while Clendennin and Morgan were in their quarters, built of sand sod, matted together by the roots of grass, Herculano, a Mexican servant, came running in, pale and trembling, and exclaimed: ''The soldiers! the soldiers |"

Seizing their swords, they rushed out, and saw three soldiers loading a cannon pointed at their sand sod building, and not over fifteen paces from it. They rushed toward the gun; the would-be assassins sunk in the tall prairie grass and disappeared. The gun was spiked, and left in its position. On the next morning, while Clendennin and Morgan were at breakfast, the crack of a musket was heard, and a ball crashed through the slats of the window in front of the table at which they were seated. A prompt, but fruitless search was made. They returned to breakfast, and consulted as to what was best to be done. Clendennin determined to ask for orders to proceed to Houston, to report the condition of affairs at the war office. He had made but a step from the door, when the report of a musket was heard, and a ball whistled close to his head. He took the first boat for Houston.

First Lieutenant Beaumont had resigned, and Morgan was left in command of the company. A committee of three, composed of First Lieutenant Agnew, a half-breed Indian, named Smith,.and another, called on Morgan to assure him that he had nothing to fear if he did not interfere. He replied that it was their place to obey orders, not to give them; that he was in command of the company by the authority of his commission, and would do his duty. The military forms of roll call, parade, and guard-mounting were continued, but the mutineers were in frequent consultation. That day and night passed off quietly, but towards morning Morgan was awakened by Ordinance Sergeant Keoph, who told him that Smith was ringleader of the mutiny; that he was trying to pursuade the men to kill the remaining officers, seize a brig, then lying in the bay, and put to sea. That on the coming midnight a general consultation was to be held in the street formed by the huts occupied by Morgan's company. Ten of Morgan's men, and Sergeant Grover remained true, but feigned to sympathize with the mutineers. By prearrangement they were detailed for guard duty, on the following day, and by the roster it fell to Morgan's lot to be afficer of the day.

The new guard was mounted; the day passed off with unusua, quiet, and at night Morgan had the faithful Herculano conceal himself in the grass to watch any movement on part°of the mutineers. Toward midnight he crept to Morgan's quarters and told him they were assembling, but without arms. The Mexican was sent with written orders to Sergeant Grover to meet Morgan with his ten men in rear of his company's quarters. The tall grass concealed their apprgach. Their arms were loaded with buck shot. Grover was charged to look to Smith. The guard noislessly filed between the huts, faced to the mutineers with their backs to a hut. The surprise was complete. Morgan had cautioned the guard not to fire untess he gave the word. He commanded, 'Make ready!' The half-breed stepped forward and commenced to draw a heavy blunderbuss pistol but was instantly struck over the head and knocked senseles by the butt of Grover's musket. Morgan then told the men that only seven of them were guilty, and, calling their names, ordered them to step to the front, or be fired upon. They came forward and were ironed, marched to the guardhouse, and the remainder of the command were dismissed to their quarters, with the injunction to return to their duty. The suddenness of the surprise, the fall of Smith, the sense of guilt, and the chance of being regarded as innocent, demoralized those who were on the verge of desperate mutiny.

In the meantime Clendennin was not idle. He rallied a large body of officers who had just been furloughed, and armed to the teeth, and reenforced by a party of citizens who were keen for a fray, took a steamer and reached Galveston on the night following the arrest of the ringleaders. It was well they came. Toward morning a large body of mutineers by their numbers overawed the guard and libeiated the prisoners. By this time Clendennin's reinforcement had landed, and the mutineers quietly retired to their quarters. On the beach near Lynch's quar-

.ters were two heavy guns which he had turned towards the barracks of the two companies, and they were ordered to parade. The order was obeyed, and the ringleaders were again returned to the guardhouse.

Ten minutes afterwards, Colonel Lynch, by Surgeon Sheppard, sent a challenge to Clendennin. It had been reported to Lynch that Clendennin had uttered some serious reflections against him at Houston. 'The challenge was peremptory, and was instantly accepted, the duel to take place immediately after the adjournment of the court martial, which was at once to assemble to try the mutineers. Lynch was the president; Morgan, as junior officer, the judge-advocate; and Clendennin was a member of the court.

The court immediately assembled. The accused were jointly tried, and found guilty. But the court considered all the circumstances of mitigation, and was lenient in its sentence. All pay, and one thousand two hundred and eighty acres of bounty land were forfeited, and the mutineers were dishonorably discharged, and sent from the island, with a warning not to return.

and while Morgan was writing the report of the proceedings of the court, the report of the pistol of the combatants was heard. The principals, at the word, wheeled and fired. Clendennin was struck in the side, but the ball, striking a button, glanced, and the wound was slight. ' Morgan was immediately promoted to the first lieutenantcy, made vacant by the resignation of Beaumont, and on the reorganization of the army, under President Lamar, he was made captain in the First regiment of regular infantry, commanded by Colonel Bruleson, and at eighteen years of age commanded the post at Galveston. .

Peace was never ratified between Texas and Mexico, and a quasi war continued until the conclusion of the treaty of peace between the United States and Mexico, in 1848.

In June, 1843, Captain Morgan, as he was then known, came to Mt. Vernon. He had but fifty cents in his pocket, and there were only three persons in Knox county whom he had ever met - Caleb J. McNulty, A. Banning Norton, and Dr. A. C. Scott. He was young, strong, full of hope, and ready to work. He entered the law office of the Hon. John K. Miller as a law student, and became the partner of his preceptor as soon as he was admitted tothe bar. But the following spring the war with Mexico broke out, and he abandoned the law office, to become the captain of ''The Young Guard," which organized in Mt. Vernon. He had been in Ohio only three years, when at Cincinnati he was elected colonel uf the Second Ohio, by the unanimous voice of his company officers.

As is generally the case, every one seemed to believe thAt the war would be of short duration; and the volunteers were enlisted to serve for a single year. They couid have been as readily enlisted for the war. During that year Colonel Morgan served in the army, commanded by General Zachary Taylor. For some months he was stationed at Camargo, which enabled him, with the efficient assistance of Lieutenant Colonel Irwin and Major William Wall, to bring his regiment to a high state of drill and discipline. Not the discipline of regulars, for the very nature of the volunteer service renders that impracticable. Nay, more, it requires years to establish such discipline, under favorable circumstances, but when once established an army acts with the certainty of a machine, and it is superior to a machine because action is guided by reason. But there are advantages in the volunteer system. 'There is more individuality; and the road to promotion and glory is open to every soldier in the ranks ; which is the inspiration of success.

Morgan's regiment was well disciplined; and in the rapidity of its evolutions, and in steadiness of courage, it was the equal of any regular regiment. On the twenty-sixth of February, 1847, with a batallion of his regiment, he fought and repulsed General Urea and a force of lancers ten times Morgan's strength. The march and fight was in a square, and Morgan's men displayed the coolness and steadiness of veterans. Had they been less steady or less cool, not a man would have been left to tell the story of slaughter and defeat. Taylor devoted a special report to that series of actions, and that report secured the promotion of Morgan to the senior colonelcy of the eight additional infantry regiments in the regular army; and he was the only officer in that war who commanded a separate volunteer and regular regiment.

After the final repulse of Urea, Morgan left his command with Lieutenant Colonel Irwin, and proceeded to the citadel of Monterey. Meeting Adjutant Riddle, whom he knew, but by whom he was not recognized, he said: ''Adjutant, I wish to see Colonel Ormsby." ''The colonel is not in the fort; if you have any message I will deliver it to him on his return.'' -''! wish to see the colonel personally." ''Who are you? Are you an orderly from Golonel Morgan?" Morgan straightened himself and replied: ''I am Colonel Morgan, sir." At this unexpected reply

. Riddle and the officers with him gave a hearty laugh; but seeing that Morgan was offended at once with courteous hospitality invited him to his quarters, placed a lunch and bottle of bourbon on the table, and invited him to partake of them. Exhausted and hungry Morgan relished the lunch, after which Riddle handed him a small mirror, when Morgan gazed and scarcely recognized himself. He was begrimmed with powder smoke and dust; his hair was mattered and unkempt; his shirt was soiled and black, and he wore no badge of an officer on his person. He now laughed as heartily as the Kentuckians had done, and said: Now, gentlemen, I understand you."

When Morgan reached Agua Nueva he was cordially received by Taylor, who congratulated him on his victory over Urea. As'''Old Zac," as the soldiers loved to call him, was about to leave for Walnut Springs, he ordered Morgar. to re- port to Brigadier General John E. Wool, who was to remain in command of the main body of the army, to be established on the field of Buena Vista.

Morgan's regiment was without tents, and nearly without camp equipage of any kind. During the two days' rest at Saltillo the men had to go into quarters, and as they were exhausted they were relieved from duty, but conducted themselves remarkably well. However, the military governor of that place, feeling that he might be superseded in command, reported to Wool that the soldiers of Morgan were behavit.g badly. When, therefore, in obedience to orders, Morgan reported to General Wool, he was received coldly. He said that he had been informed that Morgan's troops had been carousing at Saltillo, and asked ''What have you to say to that sir?"

''General," replied Morgan, ''I have great respect for you as my commanding officer, but you have not a better disciplined regiment in your command than mine. you, by whomsoever made, is not true."

'No, the report is official, and it will be well if you will give your officers to understand that they are under an officer who will not tolerate abuses."'

Morgan received written orders to go into camp at ''The Narrows," immediately in front of the Buena Vista; and to thoroughly police the ground which was still littered with the bodies of mules, horses, and some unburied Mexicans. He was informed that the day after the morrow the whole army would go into camp at Buena Vista, and received written orders not to allow any officer or soldier to pass ''The Narrows," in advance of the column without a written pass from Wool's headquarters. This order was intended for the volunteers; as it turned out, it caught the regulars.

It is nineteen miles from the Aqua Nueva to the Narrows. At dawn the next morning, with afew wagons laden with tarpaulins and poles, instead of tents, eight companies of the Second Ohio, under Morgan - two having been left with Wool at the' pass of the Rinconada - took the lines of march for the Narrows. Arrived there, Morgan told his men what had taken place between himself and Wool; that they were sent to police that ground, as a punishment for an offence they had not committed. Although they had just marched nineteen miles, he told them to redeem their reputation by a thorough police of the ground upon which they were to camp before sun-down. The men sprang cheerfully to work; every vestige of the battle, save the blood stains on the rocks, was removed; and the sinks were all dug and arranged before sunset.

The army of Wool was to come. down the next morning. The officer of the day and the officers of the guard were instructed not to allow any officer or soldier to pass the Narrows in advance of the army, without a written pass from General Wool. About nine in the morning Colonel Churchill, inspector general of the army, a veteran of merit, and a rigid disciplinarian, with two or three other officers, reached the Narrows, on their way to lay out Wool's camp. They were halted by the guard, and their passes demanded. In vain they replied they had been sent forward by General Wool. The guard refused to allow them to pass, but an officer of the guard offered to conduct them to Morgan's quarters. He saw them coming, and suppressing the smile which sought to assert itself, met the veteran colonel with grave courtesy and requested him to alight. The inspector general declined; said he was under orders from

General Wool to lay outhiscamp. Morgan regretted to detain him; but he, too, was acting under orders, which it was his duty to enforce. The officers were again invited to alight, and this time the invitation was accepted. Cigars were offered; declined by the veteran, but smoked by his juniors.

In about an hour, Wool arrived. He, too, was halted by the guard, who did not recognize him; his pass was demanded,'and he was .escorted to Morgan's tent. The old martinet had a keen sense of humor, and failed to repress a smile, on seeing the veteran and rigid Churchill held asa prisoner. Raising his cap, Morgan advanced to receive his general, when Wool said. '« What does all this mean, colonel?" ''These gentlemen, general, sought to go through my lines without a written pass from your headquarters, and I have arrested them and await further orders."' '* Well, colonel, let them proceed. You enforce orders rather strictly."" '' No exceptions were made, in the order, general, and it is my habit to obey orders as I receive them." **Well, well, we will let it pass. Your camp is nicely policed, but you must have sinks dug." ''That, sir, was done on yesterday." 'I will look at them," he said. The boys had worked like heroes, and Wool said with an approving smile, '' That's very well, sir, very well. Good morning colonel." The heart of the old chieftain was won, and ever afterwards, he called the Ohio troops his regulars.

As the expiration of the term of service of the Ohio troops drew nigh, Colonel Morgan expressed a desire to reorganize his regiment. General Wool gave him a letter to General Taylor, requesting the commanding general to give Morgana letter to the President, advising that authority might be given Morgan to reorganize his regiment.

On presenting to General Taylor Wool's letter, after reading it, Taylor turned to Major Bliss, his chief of staff, and said, '*Major, give Colonel Morgan his commission as colonel of the Fifteenth infantry." The surprise of Morgan was complete, as he had received no intimation of the good fortune which awaited him.

Early in June, 1847, Colonel Morgan reached Vera Cruz to take command of his new regiment, which was composed of five companies enlisted in Ohio, three in Michigan, one in Wisconsin, and onein Iowa. 'The lieutenant colonel, Howard, had served twenty years as an officer of the regular army; Major Woods was promoted from a captaincy in the Sixth infantry, and Major Mills was a man of fine intelligence, great personal courage and ambition. He was killed at the very gates of the City of Mexico. ,

Thornton Broadhead, who was colonel of the First Michigan cavalry in the late civil war, and who died an heroic death at the second battle of Bull Run, was the adjutant of the Fifteenth infantry; and one of the color-bearers of that regiment, Morgan met at Chickasaw as lieutenant colonel of an Iowa regiment.

Just 'as the Fifteenth was about to take up the line of march for the interior, Lieutenant McCleary, of Hamilton, Ohio, who was the regimental quartermaster, rode up to Colonel Morgan and said: ''Colonel, I will join you to-night, or in the morning. I must look to my vouchers." His hand was hot and to let the troops recuperate. From thence to Puebla the column was annoyed along the line by a rattling fire from Juarez's men, but not of sufficient consequence to narrate.

Of all the lands beneath the sun none is so grand, or so beautiful as Mexico. Ithas its pest spots, but one forgets them while contemplating the grandeur of her mountains, the magnificence of her table lands, and the luxuriant beauty of her groves of the orange, the lime, the fig, the pomegranate, and the mango. And of the cities of the world among the most beautiful are Puebla and Mexico.

The deeds of Scott outshone those of Cortez. The Spaniard attacked the Aztecs with firearms, while they had none. Cortez had cavalry, but the Aztec regarded a mounted soldier asa god. But when Scott came he met not the Aztec but the Aztec's conqueror.

Vera Cruz is defended by what is regarded as one of the most powerful fortresses in the world; but Scott captured the walled city, thus defended, with a loss of only thirty men.

Then came Cerro Gordo; its rugged crests piercing the clouds, the impassable ravine which flanked the road, making destruction inevitable to those who might be driven over the precipice. The place seemed impregnable - against an ordinary army it was so. 'But there was Scott and Worth, and Persifer Smith, and Shields and Harney, and Duncan and Hunt, and scores of other heroes; and Cerro Gordo added one more leaf to the chaplet which crowned Scott's brow.

Pueblo became a school of training for Scott's whole army. And such rivalry, such emulation to excel, has been seldom seen. Theold army did not love the new; and while the new regiments acccepted the old ones as models they aspired to excel them.

There was a striking contrast between Scott and Taylor. Each merits a place on the roll of renowned captains. Scott was lofty in statue and in character. He gloried in the pomp and panolpy of war. In Mexico he never appeared on the street without epaulets, and sword, and sash, and coat buttoned to the chin.

As for Taylor, he was never so uncomfortable as when in full uniform. Scott's ten thousand men at Puebla formed a splendid army. It was in the very heart of a country with nine million inhabitants, whose capital it proposed to capture. The army was composed of the divisions of Twiggs, Quitman, Worth, and Pillow, the whole four only equal in numbers to the division of Morgan while he held Cumberland Gap. The four divisions advanced from Puebla on the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth of August, 1847, in the order already named. On the twelfth and thirteenth a reconnoissance was made of the hill, El Penon, which commanded the main route to the city, and which was armed by three tiers of heavy guns, the base of the hill being enveloped in water, On the thirteenth a reconnoissance was also made on Mexicalcingo, which was five miles from the city. Both places were regarded as impracticable.

Our army was in position about Lake Chalco, with its head towards E] Penon. The order of advance was inverted. Worth, Pillow, Quitman, and Twiggs marched, in the order named, southward around Lake Chalco, and thus the city was turned.

When Twiggs withdrew to follow the column he was attacked, but the skirmish was light, and without any result. On the eighteenth, Captain Seth Thornton, the same who was wrecked on the coast of Florida during the Indian war, and who was captured with Hardy at the opening of our war with Mexico, was sent forward from San Augustin to aid a reconnoissance.

He was fired upon by a masked battery, and cut nearly in two. He was the first man killed in the valley of Mexico. By reputation he was known to the whole army, and the news of his death created a greater shock than the fall of an hundred persons would have done under other circumstances. 'Three young officers were standing on the road on which Thornton had advanced a few minutes before, when an officer came dashing up, his brow knit, and his face pale. In reply to "what's the word?' answered, as he galloped on, ''Seth Thornton is cut in two by a nine-pound shot!''

The next morning, August roth, the divisions of Twiggs and Pillow were sent forward to attack the enemy at Contreras, whose right was defended by a work mounting twenty-seven guns.

'From an eminence I observed the church and hamlet of Contreras, on the road leading up from the capital through the entrenched camp to Magdalena, and seeing the stream of reenforcements advancing by that road from the city, I ordered (through Major General Pillow) Colonel Morgan with his regiment, the Fifteenth, till then held in reserve by Pillow, to move forward and occupy Contreras (or Ausalda), being persuaded, if occupied, it would arrest the reenforcements and ultimately decide the battle. A few minutes later Brigadier General Shields, with his volunteer brigade, came up from San Augustine; I directed Shields to follow and sustain Morgan. These corps reached Contreras, and found Cadwalader in position, observing the formidable movement from the capitol, and much needing the timely reenforcement."'

The position occupied, and the movement made by Morgan, was one of the operations which led to the famous court of inquiry which resulted from the charges preferred by Scott against Pillow, Worth, and Duncan.

In his report Pillow says: '' About this time Brigadier General Cadwalader''s command had also crossed the plain, when some five thousand or six thousand troops of the enemy were observed moving rapidly from the direction of the capital to the field of action. Colonel Morgan, with his large and fine regiment which I had caused to be detached from the rear of Pierce's brigade, was now ordered to the support of Cadwalader, by direction of the general-in-chief, who had now arrived upon the field."'

This portion of the enemy's forces moved steadily forward until a conflict seemed inevitable, when Colonel Morgan's regiment, having reached this part of the field, presented a frent so formidable as to induce the enemy to change his purpose, and draw off to the right and rear of his former position.

The advance of Morgan was in a diagonal line from near the hill of observation, where Scott and Pillow had established themselves, across the pedrigal (volcanic slag) which extended to Contreras. The pedrigal was broken by abrupt chasms and nearly as sharp as glass. "x route Morgan met Licutenant Beauregard, of the engineers (confederate general in the civil war), returning from having conducted Cadwalader's brigade to its position. Beauregard returned and conducted Morgan to the right of Cadwalader. The moment Morgan formed, he advanced in line to the crest of a slope in front and halted. The enemy's column also 'halted; sent forth an engineer officer to make a reconnoissance. He approached so near that his retreat was cut off, and he was captured, when the enemy changed direction to the right; and the fight which seemed imminent was postponed.

The night soon closed in. It was black and tempestuous; and the rain poured down in torrents. After midnight, the brigades of Persifer Smith, Shields, Cadwalader, and Morgan's regiment, passed between the right of the enemy's line, and the fort of Contreras, which was stormed by Riley's brigade at dawn. The fighting, from the firing of the first to the last gun, occupied about seventeen minutes.

The enemy's loss was seven hundred killed, eight hundred and thirteen prisoners, the wounded included; twenty-seven cannon and a number of standards; while Scott's loss was only sixty.

The enemy fell back to the rivulet of Cherubusco, where another battle was fought on that afternoon, August 20, 1847. In his report Scott says, ''The Ninth, Twelfth, and Fifteenth regiments under Colonel Ransom, Captain Wood, and Colonel Morgan, Of Pierce's brigade; and the New York and the South Carolina volunteers, under Colonels Burnett and Butler; together with the mountain howitzer, under Lieutenant Reno, of the ordinance corps, all shared in the glory of this action, our fifth victory in the same day. Several changes in command occurred on this field. Thus: Colonel Morgan being severely wounded, the command of the' Fifteenth infantry devolved on Lieutenant Colonel Howard; Colonel Burnett receiving a like wound, the command of the New York volunteers fell to Lieutenant Colonel Baxter; and on the fall of the lamented Colonel P. M. Butler, earlier, badly wounded but continuing to lead nobly in the hottest of the battle, the command of the South Carolina volunteers devolved, first on Lieutenant Colonel Dickenson, who being severely wounded, as before at Vera Cruz, the regiment was ultimately under the command of Major Gladden."

''T cannot distinguish between the conduct of the commanders of regiments in my division. They all acted a distinguished part, as did their field and company officers; though the circumstances of battle caused Ransom's, Morgan's, and Trousdale's regiments, and the Twelfth infantry, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Bonham, on the nineteenth and twentieth, to be most actively engaged. In this last engagement, the gallant Colonel Morgan was wounded severely, when the command of the Fifteenth regiment devolved on Lieutenant Colonel Howard."

In reviewing the operations of that glorious day, Scott thus gives the results: ''The army has in a single day, in many batles, as often defeated thirty-two thousand men; made about three thousand prisoners, including eight generals (two of them ex-presidents), and two hundred and five officers, killed or wounded four; thousand of all ranks, besides entire corps dispersed and dissolved; captured thirty-seven pieces of ordnance, with a large number of small arms, and a full supply of ammunition. Our loss amounts to one thousand and fifty-three killed and wounded."

"For gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreas and Cherubusco,'' Colonel Morgan was brevetted brigadier general in the regular army of the United States. He was then twenty-seven years of age. On his return to Ohio, at the conclusion of the war, he was welcomed back with every demonstration of regard. A banquet was tendered him at the capital of the State, anda superb sword, with gold mounting, was presented to him by citizens of the State, and the citizens of Knox county gave him a splendid brace of holster revolvers with silver handles. He resumed the practice of the law, and was elected prosecuting attorney; as his practice rapidly increased, he declined being a candidate for a second term, and formed a partnership with James G. Chapman, under the style of Morgan & Chapman.

In 1853 President Pierce tendered General Morgan a mission in Europe, which he declined. Two years afterwards, his health broke down, and he was offered and accepted the consulate at Marseilles in the south of France.

In every respect, except as to salary, Marseilles is an agreeable consulate. The place is thoroughly cosmopolitan, and probably at no other post in the world, can the flags and costumes of so many different nationalities be seen. And the general style is as much Oriental as European. From Marseilles, General Morgan was promoted to the post of minister to Portugal; a position at one time held by John Quincy Adams, and afterwards by James B. Clay.

Both as consul and as minister, General Morgan gave full satisfaction to his Government. He was yet in Europe when the first battle of Bull Run was fought, and returned to the United States in the fall of 186r.

Civil war was a new experience in the United States. 'The angry flow of words at length culminated in the clash of arms, Reason had been fruitlessly exhausted, and force was the final, and only resource left.

The first was revolutionary - bent upon the destruction of slavery, even at the cost of the Union. To this class belonged Phillips, Garrison, Chase, and others.

Those who composed the third class, were in favor of preserving the Union at any cost of men and money, but were not only opposed to making slavery an object of the war, but were opposed to arming the slaves, on the ground that the ballot would inevitably follow the use of the bayonet, and that the colored people were not prepared for the elective franchise. To this class belonged George W. Morgan, the subject of this sketch.

In December, 1861, General Morgan was consulted by Secretary Chase as to the policy of invading Texas, and as to his willingness to assume the command of a column to occupy that State. He replied in writing, and recommended the invasion. Among other reasons he gave the following:

'*The occupation of Texas would prevent supplies of beef and corm from being sent into Louisiana, and the importation of munitions of war, and the exportation of cotton, by way of the Rio Grande. If the invasion were conducted in a spirit of magnanimity it would consolidate the Union men in Texas, and thereby weaken the rebellion."

About a week after the plan had been submitted to Secretary Chase, he received a note requesting General Morgan to call at his residence that evening. When he called he was met at the door by Mr. Chase, who congratulated him on the approval of his views as to the invasion of Texas. The Secretary told him that his fortune was in his own hands. He then asked Morgan what he thought of the propriety of organizing colored regiments in Texas. He replied that to do so would consolidate the south and divide the north; that the policy would be bad as a matter of strategy.

I have learned recently that General Butler was authorized to raise troops for: Texas, with the expectation of commanding the expedition, before your name was mentioned for the post by me.

'It would gratify me beyond measure if you would consent to join him as a brigadier general. I should then be confident of I am sure you can have the post, if you say the word.

The civil war occupied a vast area, upon whose surface several cainpaigns were being conducted at the same time, but hundreds of miles apart.

Among the military points regarded as of impertance was Cumberland Gap. Mr. Lincoln had, in 1861, suggested the propriety cf building a railroad, connecting Lexington, Kentucky, with that place. East Tennessee once in the possession of a large Union army, the evacuation of Virginix would become inevitable. Buta mountain wildnerness lay betwe2n the two places, and the gap itself was regarded as impregnable,. if properly supplied with military stores.

In April, 1862, General Morgan was assigned '> the command of the Seventh division of the army of the Ohio, composed of four brigades of infantry, embracing fourteen regiments, one battalion of cavalry, and four batteries of artillery. The brigades were commanded by Brigadier Gen :rals Carter, Spears, Baird, and Colonel de Courcy.

During several months Carter had been in position at Cum. berland Ford with a force inadequate for active operations against tha: stronghold.

When Morgan assumed command he found many of the troops threutened with scurvy. The roads had been impassable, and Curter's brigade had been living on short rations of salt provisions, and wholly without fresh meat. By telegraph Morgan or tered cattle to be driven up from the blue grass region twice a week. As there was no forage they were at once slaughterec and fresh beef was supplied to the troops. The companies 'orming the different regiments were supplied with arms of dif erent calibres, and there was but one battery, and it was com >osed of only four guns. A redistribution of arms was ordere']; new arms were brought forward, and each regiment was ' ipplied guns of the same calibre.

Two rec onnoissances - one secret, one armed - were made, and Morgsn became satisfied that Cumberland Gap could not be taken b:: an attack in front.

Several t.mes the enemy sent spies into his lines, and instead of shooting them Morgan utilized them to his own purposes. One of the n pretended to be a zealous Union man, dined with Morgan, who afforded him an opportunity of overhearing a conversaticn carried on in an adjoining tent in regard to his pians. The spy learned that a column of fifty thousand men was shortly to be concentrated at Cumberland ford, when the Gap was ai once to be attacked in front, and turned by heavy columns by way of Rogers and Big Creek Gaps. This fable was carried to Knoxville, and laughed at. A heavily Jaden wagon had never gone over Rogers Gap, and the defiles leading to the gap at Big creek were heavily blockaded for eighteen miles.

In the meantime, Morgan sent Spears with his brigade to clear the blockades; with orders to fall back on the approach of an enemy, and to return to the blockade when he retired. The enemy did advance in furce to cut off Spears; but warned in men, held Cumberland Gap; Lieutenant General E. Kirby Smith, a vigilant and able officer, with a force of ten thousand men, was at Knoxville, while two brigades in Powell's Valley, watched Big Creek Gap, and another force held Chattanooga.

When his plans were completed Morgan, by telegraph, requested Buell to cause a demonstration to be made against Chattanooga in order to cause Smith's army in the field to go tothe relief of that place. Morgan then occupied a narrow defile at the Moss house, where the Deer Creek road debouches, and threw up a work there in order to becloud the enemy at the gap as tohis plans. When ready to move he seized every suspected person between the Moss house and tie gap, and each day sent a brigade over the Deer Creek road, until at length the whole division had gone forward. The crossing at what is miscalled Rogers' gap, was full of difficulty. The guns were dragged up the mountain side by the aid of block and tackle, and by this means a battery, composed of six twentypounder Partott guns, was carried across the mountains. At the foot of the mountain on the south side the enemy had a cavalry post. The pickets heard the heavy thud of the artillery wagons, and spread the alarm, after having captured one or two stragglers belonging to Morgan's column. The Knoxville Whig announced that east Tennessee was invaded by fifty thousand Yankees, and as Morgan kept his army concealed in the dense forest until it was fully concentrated, the very stillness of his command gave his movement an air of mystery, which was greatly in his favor. His division was concentrated on the afternoon of the sixteenth of June, and at 1 o'clock on the morning of the eighteenth he advanced in two columns, by parallel roads, to attack the gap.

The men had their cooked breakfasts in their haversacks, and their canteens filled with coffee. At daylight they halted for breakfast. A force of the enemy was known to have been on the night previous, about three miles in advance of the breakfast halt. Morgan had not slept during the previous night, and went into a house by the road side, to snatch a few moments sleep. He was soon awakened by Colonel de Courcy, who came in with a farmer who reported that the enemy was evacuating the confederate stronghold. The march was renewed, and the footprints of the confederates on their retreat were still fresh when the Union troops took possession of the place.

The occupation of this stronghold was more glorious than gaining a battle. It was a victory achieved without the loss of a life, and was fully appreciated by the Secretary of War, by the general commanding the army, to which the Seventh division belonged, and by the country. The following telegrams and general order, speak for themselves:

This department has been highly gratified with your successful operations against Cumberland Gap, and commend the gal- ~ lant conduct and labors of your officers and troops, to whom you will express the thanks of the President and of this department.

It is out of the power of this department to supply you at present with any cavalry for offensive operations, and as your force can for some time be advantageously employed defensively in its present position, I trust you will not need it. With thanks

The general commanding the atmy of the Ohio, takes pleasure in announcing the success of an arduous campaign by the Seventh division, Brigadier General Morgan, commanding, by which the enemy's fortified position at Cumberland Gap was turned, and his force compelled to retreat as our troops advanced to the attack.

The general thanks Brigadier General Morgan and the troops of the Seventh division, for the ability displayed in their operations against this important stronghold, and for the energy, cheerfulness, and fortitude which they exhibited in their struggles with difficulties of the most formidable magnitude for an army.

JAMEs B. Fry, Colonel and chief of staff." Morgan intended to advance on Knoxville, and established an arsenal at the Gap, containing a large supply ot ammunition and four thousand extra stand of arms. The following dispatch was sent to General Buell, and the Secretary of War:

I might as well be without eyes as without cavalry. The enemy is said to have taken up a strong position in the Clinch mountains, in the direction of Morristown, but not on the route I would advance, if authorized to go forward; but this place would be threatened by the enemy's position were I to pursue another route. One strong brigade with six heavy guns, and five hundred cavalry to act as scouts and foragers should be left here; and I should be strengthened by two brigades of infantry, one battery of artillery, and two regiments of cavalry. With such a force I could sweep East Tennessee of every rebel soldier. My effective force is now about seven thousand five dred men of all arms.

George W. Morgan

Every energy was at once directed to strengthen land Gap. Lieutenant W. P. Craighill (now colonel of engineers) had charge of the work of fortification, and Captain Patterson, of the volunteer engineers, was engaged in the construction of a storehouse capable of containing six months supplies for twenty thousand men.

The whole question of holding that rugged fortress was one of supplies. This fact was well understood by the Union and the Confederate authorities. As has been already said, in 1861, Mr. Lincoln recommended the construction of a railroad from Lexington to that place.

The Hon. John Forsyth, of Alabama, a man of distinguished ability, and at one time a volunteer aid on the staff of Bragg, in his Memoranda of Facts bearing on the Kentucky Campaign, says: ''The strongholds of Cumberland Gap would have defied our combined armies in a direct assault."

On the thirtieth of June, 1862, Morgan telegraphed to Assistant Quartermaster General Swords, at Cincinnati: '' We are in want of everything. We are destitute of forage."

On the twentieth of July, Engineer Craighill. telegraphed to Brigadier General Totten, chief of the department of engineers: '«The country in our rear is exhausted. That in our front soon will be."

On the twenty-third of July Morgan telegraphed to the Secretary of War and General Buell: '' My supplies are very short." On the eighth of August he telegraphed to Captain Brown in charge of the base of supplies at Lexington, Kentucky: 'Twenty-five thousand of the enemy are between this place and Knoxville, and the enemy's troops are constantly arriving by way of Dalton. The safety of this place depends upon the supplies you can rush forward. Not a second is to be lost. Give us supplies and we will hold this place, regardless of the enemy's force.' On the tenth of August Morgan telegraphed to Buell and Stanton ''I have about three weeks' supplies."

On the night of August 16, 1862, the aimy of Stephenson, variously estimated at from fourteen to twenty-five thousand men, went into position about four miles west of Cumberland Gap, and a few days previously the army of Kirby Smith entered Kentucky by way of Rogers and Big Creek Gaps. Smith established his headquarters at Barbourville and sent two divisions under McKown to summon Morgan to surrender. He replied: '' Present my compliments to General Smith, and say that if he wants this post he must come and take it."

Thousands of brave soldiers have been sacrificed to gratify the vanity of their commander. Smith was too wise a general and too true a man to uselessly throw away the lives of his men, He knew Cumberland Gap and the wilderness country which surrounds it. Morgan was hemmed in on every side, and he regarded his surrender as inevitable; and it was so reported to the Government at Richmond.

On the sixteenth of August Morgan telegraphed to the Secretary of War, and to Buell: ''Kirby Smith cannot possibly remain three weeks in my immediate rear, while I can hold this place five weeks with my present command." He did hold the Gap four weeks and five days from that time. But Bragg and Smith remained in Kentucky until the middle of October. General in Chief Halleck telegraphed as follows. The telegram was sent to Lexington, and thence to Morgan by private courier:

GENERAL MorGAN, Cumberland Gap: - Hold on firmly. You will soon be reenforced. Don't yield an inch. Fight the enemy whenever he appears, and I will see that you are very soon supported with other troops. Try to open communications with General Buell; if you cannot do this, telegraph to General Wright at Cincinnati.

Morgan did not ask for men, but rations to feed an army strong enough to hold the gap against all the armies which environed him. Instead of wanting men, he sent men to aid in the defence of Lexington. The following note was also sent Morgan from Lexington, Kentucky:

GENERAL: - Yonr despatches reached me safely. Their spirit makes me your servant forever. If your officers and regiments are similarly inspired the great gap will be ours as long as the hills last. I will make a strong effort to relieve you. My brigades are already em route in your direction. For reasons, I may have to come slowly, but I will come.

not be, made good. On the yineteenth of August the Union troops were driven back at Big Hill, and on the thirtieth of that month they were routed by an overwhelming force at Richmond, Kentucky. Lexington was abandoned, and in a few days more not a single soldier, wearing the Union uniform, was to be found between the Ohio river and Cumberland Gap.

During the thirty-three days that Cumberland Gap was invested, Morgan's troops were on less than half-rations; bread and other articles having been utterly exhausted. While thus threatened he made five assaults upon the out-posts of the enemy, took over five hundred prisoners, and killed or wounded one hundred and eighty men, against a loss of under forty on the Union side.

In order to save his artillery, cavalry, and wagon horses from starvation, and at the same time reinforce the Union column organizing at Lexington, Morgan mounted four hundred of Colonel Garrard's regiment, under the command of that officer, and sent him, and the batallion of cavalry, under Lieutenant Cvlonel Munday, to report to the commanding officer at Lexington,

Smith withdrew from Cumberland Ford on September rst, and Morgan sent the brigade of Colonel de Courcy to Manchester, in the hope of obtaining flour; but it was with difficulty that sufficient supplies could be got for his own brigades.

Colonel de Courey wrote to General Morgan that he had received intelligence, which he regarded as reliable, that a large force of the enemy was about to attack him, in which case he might be compelied to retire towards Boonville. To guard against the risk of having his command cut up in detail, on the morning of the seventeenth of September, Morgan dispatched Captain Joline with the following order to Colonel de Courcy:

Colone/: - A courier arrived here this morning at two o'clock with information that the enemy was beyond Lexington. The information you have received is entirely false, and 1 am satisfied no force is approaching you.

"You will in no event advance toward Boonvilie ; but in case you are threatened by a superior force, you will retreat to this place by way of I'lat Lick, sending me a courier in advance.

The most painful position a commander can be placed in, is to be compelled to abandon a position he has captured by strategy or by battle. Such was Morgan's position. Without the loss of a life, by combined tactics and strategy, he had forced the enemy to abandon one of the strongest positions on the continent. He was now destitute of supplies; not a Union soldier was within two hundred miles, aud he was engirdled by the armies of Stephenson, Bragg, Smith, and Humphrey Marshall; with the ubiquitous John Morgan, ready to pounce upon his flanks, front or rear at any moment.

SOLDIERS - You will be glad to learn that you are to be liberated from the duty of a garrison, to enter upon an active campaign. Three months ago the enemy who lies hidden' in the woods before, fled from this stronghold on your approach. Supposing that you would be equally frightened by the approach of a foe, more than one month ago, he besieged, and proclaimed to the world that you were already prisoners. What has been the result? You sent Garrard and Munday to aid our friends, menaced by an overwhelming force, and yet the enemy dared not attack you. Afterwards you sent a brigade sixty miles away to procure supplies, and still the enemy slumbered on his arms. You have made five successful attacks upon his out-posts; captured Barbourville and London; made five hundred prisoners; and killed or wounded one hundred and eighty of the enemy, with but a trifling loss on your part. But you cannot longer wait to coax the enemy to unfurl his colors. A more glorious field awaits you, and in crushing the enemy on the soil of Kentucky, you will give freedom to Tennessee.

I know well, soldiers, that you will be patient under difficulties, and heroic in danger - that you will prove yourselves to be worthy of the great army of the Union.

With a piece of red chalk Morgan had already marked his line of retreat on the map, by way of Flat Lick, Manchester, Proctor, Hazle Green, West Liberty, and Grayson to the Ohio river. Major Lyons, Morgan's topographical engineer, had been the State geologist of Kentucky, and was familiar with every foot of the route thus marked.

'*Major,'' said Morgan, ''follow that red line and tell me what kind of a country it runs through." ''It is a hellniferous country, sir; but by abandoning your artillery, wagons and mules, your infantry might get through. You can judge of the country by the names of its streams. Here 'is the Little Devil; there is the Big Devil, and yonder is Hell-for-certain creek; during the rainy season they are torrents; now they are all dry."

On the afternoon of the night of the retreat, a confederate flag approached the gap. It seemed like a reconnoissance under a flag of truce. Morgan sent out Colonel Gallup, Fourteenth Kentucky, to receive it. He took along a box of cigars and as long as possible. By mischance 'the quartermaster's buildings were fired, and the smoke curled over Poor Valley ridge, which masks a view of the gap from the south, and beyond which the representatives of the stars and bars and the stars and stripes were coquetting with each other.

The confederates returned to their lines while the work of preparation went on. On the previous night a large wagon train was sent north under the escort of the Thirty-third Indiana and Wetmore's battery, and during.the entire night of the seventeenth, the troops defiled through the gap. 'Toward day- light Gallup fired the great store-heuse on the mountain, those in the valley, and fired the immense magazine and arsenal. The explosion was heard at Cumberland Ford, fourteen miles away. By daylight the head of the column reached Flat Lick, twenty miles from the gap. That night the army rendezvoused at Manchester, where deCourcy was already in position. Here Morgan halted one day to organize for the struggle before him. Just before the column resumed the line of march on the morning of the nineteenth, the cavalry of Stephenson made a dash at Morgan's train, but were promptly repulsed by the Sixth Tennessee, under Colonel Cooper.

Proctor, on the Kentucky river, was an important strategic point, and had it been occupied by a proper force, what the result would have been cannot now be known. It is situated on the high and abrupt banks of the river, and the crossing might have been rendered doubtful. General John H. Morgan had been there on the previous night, but after destroying the large flouring-mills and a large quantity of flour, he fell back upon Irvine. The moment General George W. Morgan reached Proctor he pushed a brigade across the rlver, with a battery, and took possession of the opposite bank. This done, the point of greatest danger was passed.

At Proctor there are diverging roads, one leading towards Irvine; two others, one of them almost impassable, towards Hazle Green; one running along a narrow ridge, and the other along the North fork of the Kentucky. The former road was almost destitute of water, and the little that was to be found was in holes away down eighty or cne hundred feet amid the cliffs. The North fork was seldom travelled, and in many places had been washed away by the winter and spring freshets. Baird and Carter, the latier in front, were directed to proceed by that route, with the wagon train; and the credit of saving it from being abandoned or destroyed was mainly due to General Baird, and the indefatigable Captain Patterson.

With the brigades of Spears and de Courcy, Morgan advanced along the ridge to Hazle Green, where he halted one day, to let the brigades of Carter and Baird come up. Two confederate officers were captured at that place. From them Morgan learned that two divisions of Kirby Smith were at Mount Sterling, on the main road between Lexington and Pound Gap, and that Humphrey Marshall was expected there. During the day, Carter came up, and as it was important to occupy West Liberty, in order to cut off communication between Pound Gap and Lexington, the next morning Morgan pushed forward with the brigades of Spears, de Courcy, and Carter, with the intention of awaiting Baird at West Liberty.

Between Proctor and Hazle Green John Morgan hovered about the Union column, and let no chance of advantage escape him; but it was between Hazle Green and West Liberty that he gave his namesake serious trouble. Every defile was blockaded with felled trees and huge rocks; and from every ambush, from behind which a dash could be made and a retreat be effected, was utilized. But the men of George Morgan were skilled in removing blockades, and abundantly supplied with axes, saws, block and tackle. Frequently, the advance guard of the Union general surprised the confederates in the very act of blockading the roads. A sharp skirmish would be the result, and it is believed that the confederates fared the worst. At one point the road was so thoroughly blockaded that an inspection showed that it would be easier to hew out a.new road through the forest, than to clear the old one. The ring of a thousand axes was soon heard in the forest, and every block and

The moment Morgan reached West Liberty, he advanced with the brigade of de Courcy across a little stream, the only running water for twenty miles, towards Mount Sterling, and there planted his batteries and went into bivouac. Had an enemy advanced from Mount Sterling. he would have gone into action with his men and horses parched with thirst. But no enemy came. Morgan remained in position two days, and, as Baird had come up, the march was resumed towards the Ohio river.

It had been the purpose of Smith to attack Morgan, and for this purpose he had sent two divisions to Mount Sterling; but Bragg determined to concentrate his entire army, and Smith was ordered to join him.

There was frequent skirmishing between the two Morgans along the route from West Liberty to Grayson, at which point the Union army arrived at midnight on the second of October; and the next day, after having made a march of two hundred and nineteen miles through a country which has but few equals in the obstacles to be overcome by an army, the ten thousand Union soldiers, ragged, barefooted and hungry, went into camp on the banks of the beautiful Ohio.

Throughout the march General Morgan was ably sustained by Generals Baird, Carter, Spears, and Colonel John F. de Courcy, and by all his officers and soldiers.

Throughout the loyal States great anxiety had been felt for the safety of our little army at Cumberland Gap; and at Richmond the troops of Morgan's division were regarded as prisoners of war. When it was learned that they had safely reached the Ohio, the entire press of the Joyal States spoke in terms of high commendation of Morgan and his successful retreat. The New York Post raygked it with the retreat of Xenephon; and the Herald demanded that he should be assigned to an independent command.

Major General Wright, then in command of the department of the Ohio, one of the ablest officers in our service, and now in command of the engineer department, made a report to the general in chief, from which the following extracts are made:

Headquarters Department Of The Ohio

GENERAL - I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of the report of Brigadier General G. W. Morgan, dated the twelfth instant, detailing the circumstances occasioning the withdrawal of his forces from Cumberland Gap.

It appears from this report that the evacuation, which was in pursuance of the unanimous opinion of the general officers of the command, was a matter of necessity, arising from the provisions being exhausted, their communication being cut off, and no information of any prospect of relief being received.

While the evacuation of the gap is to be regretted, I do not see how, with starvation staring him inthe face, and with no certainty of relief being afforded, he could have come to any other conclusion than the one arrived at. : : After the unfortunate battle near Richmond, Kentucky, the entire country between the Ohio river and Cumberland Gap was in possession of the rebels.

H. G. Wright

The march of Generai Morgan from Cumberland Gap to the Ohio river was most successfully accomplished, and reflects much credit on him and his officers for the ski!l with which it was conducted, and on the men for the cheerfulness with which they bore the hardships of a toilsome march of some two hundred miles, on scanty fare, over a country affording little subsistence, and often for long marches with an insufficient supply of water. 2 : Very respectfully, your obedient servant, H. G. WRIGHT, Major General commanding.

On the evacuation of Cumberland Gap, Captain de Silva and about two hyndred other Union soldiers were left in the hospital at that place. General Morgan had left a letter to General Stephenson, commending the sick and wounded in our hospital to his especial protection; and they were not only treated with kindness, but with marked courtesy. One day Captain de Silva was invited to dine with Colonels Rains and Vance, both brigade commanders, each of whom became a brigadier general.

During the dinner they narrated to Captain de Silva, Stephenson's plan for Morgan's capture, which the confederates regarded as certain. Colonel Vance's brigade was composed of five infantry regiments and five hundred Indians. at Baptist Gap, on the north side of the mountain, only four miles ftom Cumberland Gap. From Baptist Gap runs the Yellow Creek road, parallel to the Kentucky State road from Cumberland Gap. From the latter point is another road, parallel to the Kentucky road, but on the north and east side of the Cumberland river. On the morning of the eighteenth of September, Vance was to have passed along the Yellow Creek road, until within three miles of Cumberland ford, when he was to have crossed the mountain and placed his command in ambush along a defile of less than one hundred yards between the mountain and the river. The moment Morgan left the gap, Stephenson was to have sent five thousand men by the Harland road, on Morgan's right flank, while he was to press Morgan from the rear; and the north side of Cumberland ford was to have been occupied by infantry and artillery. Had these plans been executed, Morgan's division would have been in a network of steel.

In 1864 General Vance was a prisoner at Camp Chase, and Morgan wrote to him through the headquarters of General Heintzelman, commanding the district of Ohio; and Vance's reply was received through the same channel.

My dear sir: Your favor of yesterday from Columbus was handed to me to-day, and I hasten to make such response as I feel to be consistent with my duty to my feelings of embarrassment in fully complying with your request. While, therefore, I am anxious to gratify the desire of so gallant a foeman as you proved yourself to be, I must bear in mind that-my own brethren in arms are now_in front of Cumberland Gap. It is true that time has elapsed sufficient for the Federal troops to know every path across the mountains, and native guides, are doubtless, always in readiness to point out the passages; yet if by any turn a statement of mine should be used to the prejudice of my country, I should regard myself as blameable in the highest degree.

I think, although that my duty does not prevent my saying that I did have the honor to command a brigade at the time mentioned by you, and had the way opened, proposed for use, sufficiently to cross the mountain, and did effect a crossing, on the morning (September 18, 1862), the last of your troops left the Gap. Without going into details, I will say that in a short time our troops would have coyered the Yellow Creek and the

Harlan roads, in your rear, and would thus effectually have cut off your retreat, your front being pressed at the same time. It was the opinion of every officer of rank in the command, that you moved exactly at the proper time, and with great skill and judgment. Let it be borne in mind, that a few days previous, General Leadbetter was in your rear, and of course the difficulties of retreat would have been greatly enhanced. ' His moving off, and our other plans not consummated, left the way open for you, and you wisely availed yourself of the opening.

I remember with pleasure the chivalrous bearing of the troops on both sides in the frequent skirmishes between them, as well as the courtesy which prevailed in times of less excitement and activity.

Robert B. Vance

The narrative of Morgan's operations in the Cumberland mountains, cannot be better closed than by the following letter from Secretary Chase.

S. P. Chase

"TREASURY DEPARTMENT, June 23, 1864 My dear General: Your note with the copy of your letter to General Thomas (adjutant general of U.S. A.), was received this morning, and I thank you for the opportunity of reading the letter. It seems to show conclusively that had you been properly supported, east Tennessee would now have been permanently restored to the Union, and a great internal position secured, from which the Rebellion could have been struck in any direction effectively. I saw the great necessity for the movement in the spring of 1861, and conferred with General McClellan on the subject. It is a mystery to me that it has not been effected. Your ideas put into practical accomplishment, would have saved many a life and many a campaign. Sincerely yours, S. P. CHASE. BRIGADIER GENERAL MORGAN."

The Seventh division of the Army of the Ohio was now dissolved, and General Morgan was directed to report to General W. T. Sherman, at Memphis, with the brigade of de Courcy and Foster's battery. He was assigned to the command of the

Before the flotilla had left Memphis it was there known that President Lincoln had designated General John A. McClernand (an officer in whom he had great confidence), for the command of the army to operate against Vicksburgh. It is believed that the knowledge of that fact caused the premature departure of the army from Memphis, and the loss of one thousand eight hundred men in front of Chick.saw bluffs.

Sherman's army, then called the right wing of the Thirteenth army corps, was composed of the divisions of Steele, Morgan, Morgan L. Smith, and A. J. Smith.

causeways, each about twelve 'feet wide, led through the marshes to solid ground, but they were commanded by the trenches and batteries of the enemy.

The division of Steele was on the left, beyond the bayou, with one of the narrow causeways leading through the marsh to dry land. Steele reported that the position in his front was impregnable, and his division was massed on the left centre, in rear of the division of Morgan.

General Sherman regarded two lines of attack as practicable; the one in front of Morgan's division, and the other in front of the division of Morgan L. Smith. Of one of these practicable routes Sherman says:

''Meantime the Sixth Missouri infantry (division of M. L. Smith), at heavy loss, also crossed the bayou, but could not ascend the steep bank. Right over their heads was a rebel battery, whose fire was in a measure kept down by sharp-shooters posted behind logs, stumps, and trees, on our side of the bayou. The men of the Sixth Missouri actually scooped out with their hands caves in the bank, which sheltered them against the fire of the enemy, who right over their heads held their muskets outside of the parapet vertically and fired down."

Morgan's front was like that of Steele's original position, with the addition that Morgan had the bayou to overcome. His troops had to advance under fire, through a morass knee deep with tangled weeds and water, or over the narrow causeway, less than twelve feet wide.

Five brigades were under the immediate command of Morgan. The ground was such, that it was impossible to send more than two - each of four regiments, - to the assault.

In his official report written four days after the action was fought, Sherman says: ''It was near twelve o'clock (noon) when Morgan was ready." ig i! es "The assault was made, and a lodgment effected on the hard tableland near the county road, and the heads of the assaulting columns reached different points of the enemy's works, but then met so withering a fire from the rifle pits, and cross fire of grape and cannister from the batteries, that the columns faltered, and finally fell back to the point of starting, leaving many dead, wounded and prisoners in the hands of the enemy.

''General Morgan's first report to me was that the troops were not discouraged, though the losses in Blair's and de Courcy's brigades were heavy, and that he would renew the assault in half an hour, but the assault was not renewed."'

In twenty minutes time, the brigades of Blairand de Courcy, in killed, wounded, and taken prisoners, lost about one thou- Despite that, the troops were of good heart, and on any ground upon which a battle could have been fought, would. have advanced to the assault with a cheer.

making a reconnoissance, which showed the field strewn with the dying and the dead, and observing the confident calm along the lines of the enemy, who would not fire on the newly massed columns, although within easy range, he determined not to double the sacrifice, when there was no possibility of success; ordered the brigades to retire, and reported the fact to Sherman in person.

In his report, Sherman says: ''I assume all the responsibility, and attach fault to no one, and am generally satisfied with the high spirit manifested by all." '] attribute our failure to the strength of the enemy's position, both natural and artificial, and not to his superior fighting; but as we must all, in the future, have ample opportunities to test this quality, it is foolish to discuss it." "The only real fighting done during the assault, was done by Morgan's and Steele's divisions, and at the time of the crossing of the Sixth Missouri." The following is quoted from the Memoirs of Sherman:

''There was no bungling on my part, for I never worked harder, or with more intensity in my life; and General Grant, long after, in his report of the operations of the siege of Vicksburgh, gave us all full credit for the skill of the movement, and described the almost impregnable nature of the ground."

Napoleon was once asked, ''What qualities make the ablest general?" His reply was, ''He is the best general who makes the fewest mistakes." And he might have added - there never was a general who did not make mistakes. After the return of the army from the capture and destruction of Post Arkansas, Grant reenforced it with additional troops, and still more by his own presence. Hecaptured Vicksburgh, but he did not attempt to do $0 from the direction of the Yazoo. He crossed to the Louisiana bank of the river; marched past Vicksburgh on the opposite side; run transports past the enemy's batteries in the night; recrossed the Mississippi and captured Vicksburgh. That was generalship, not a mistake; but it is a mistake to select the enemy's strongest point of defence for assault.

After the repulse at Chickasaw, General John A. McClernand assumed the command of the army, now styled the army of the Mississippi, which was organized into the First and Second corps. The command of the first corps composed of the divisions of A. J. Smith and Osterhaus, was assigned to Morgan; and the second, composed of the divisions of Steele and Stuart, to Sherman, successor to Morgan L. Smith.

The fort was defended by seven thousand five hundred men, and is thus described by Morgan in his report: '* Post Arkansas is situated on a bluff, about twenty-five feet above the water, on the left bank of the Arkansas, and two hundred and fifty miles above its mouth. The fort (since destroyed by order of Major General McClernand) was a little above a bend, and oblique to the river, facing southwest and northeast. On the southern face of this fort were two strongly constructed casemated works, riveted with iron bars. Each casemate contained one nine inch gun, and both commanded the approach from down the river. In the southwestern section there was a nine inch traverse gun in barbette,.and there were ten other guns in barbette. During the action on the eleventh of January, 1863, seven of the thirteen guns were utterly destroyed by the combined fire of the gun-boats; and four twenty pounders of Foster's battery - Osterhaus' division - which opened fire on the fort at a range of eight hundred yards. Fragments of shell

The field upon which the action was fought is a parallelogram of about one thousand yards square. The southern face rests upon the river, the east or northeast is formed of the east face of the fort, and a broken line of rifle pits, protected by wooden traverses, and running in a northeasterly direction about seven hundred and twenty yards toa small bayou which, on the day of battle was twelve feet wide and eighteen inches deep, across which were several easy fords. Across the bayou, beyond the extreme left of the enemy's line is a forest with undergrowth, amid which is a slight elevation, which flanks the line occupied by the enemy's rifle pits. Had General Sherman succeeded in turning the enemy's left, as contemplated by the original plan of General McClernand, and planted a battery upon that elevation, it would have enfiladed the enemy's rifle pits and driven him from his cover in twenty minutes.

It will be remembered that Post Arkansas is on the left bank of theriver. By land it is five, and by water twelve miles from Fletcher's landing, on the right bank. At the fort the river turns abruptly to the left, and runs for three miles ina southeasterly direction nearly parallel to its own channel below the fort; so that from Fletcher's on the right bank to Smith's on the right bank, across the bend, is only three miles, and Smith's is three miles from the fort. :

By direction of General McClernand, Morgan sent Lindsay's brigade with a section of ten, and a section of twenty-pounders under Captain Foster, and Captain McBride's cavalry company to land at Fletcher's and push across to Smith's, and from thence to establish a chain of videttes to the bank opposite the fort.

As soon as the guns of the fort were silenced, Lindsay caused his guns so to be placed in position as to enfilade the enemy's rifle pits, and the battery of artillery, and the infantry in the field in their rear.

The handling of these guns was admirable. The fuses were cut so as to explode the shells at estimated distances; and this unexpected raking fire filled the enemy's trenches with dead; silenced the field artillery behind them, and largely contributed to the result of the day.

In his report, General McClernand spoke in terms of commemdation of the technical and strategic skill displayed by General Morgan during these operations, which closed his services in the civil war. His health was seriously broken, and he resigned. :

In 1864 General Morgan returned to the practice of the law. The next year he was nominated by acclamation as the Democratic candidate for governor, against General J. D. Cox. The majority against him was under thirty thousand, while it was over one hundred thousand two years previously.

He was three times nominated by acclamation, and three times elected to Congress from the district composed of the counties of Knox, Licking, Coshocton, and Muskingum. His majority over Mr. Delano was two hundred and seventy-one. his seat was contested and he was ousted in Mr. Delano's favor during the second session of the Fortieth Congress. He was renominated in 1868, and was elected by over sixteen hundred majority. He was again nominated in 1870, and carried the same district by over two thousand one hundred majority.

Morgan, for the fourth time, was nominated by acclamation, and was only beaten by about four hundred votes; although three weeks afterwards Grant carried the same district by two thousand two hundred.

While in Congress Morgan served on the committees on Foreign Relations, Military Affairs, and Reconstruction; and in the Forty-second Congress received the votes of the Democrats for speaker, against Blaine, Republican. Since then he has been engaged in the practice of his profession, and declares his purpose not to be again a candidate.

NEAL, GEORGE D., carriage manufacturer, corner Front and Main streets, Mt. Vernon, Ohio. A native of Mt. Vernon, was born September 20, 1844, and was educated in the public schools of this city. His first business engagement was with the firm of J. W. Weaver, wholesale and retail grocer, as salesman, where he served about three years, and then was in the employ of James George & Son one year. He then entered the employ of S. H. & L. W. Jackson, carriage manufacturers, to learn carriage trimming, and remained with them until the dissolution of the firm, after which he served other firms as journeyman at carriage trimming until 1871, when he established himself in the carriage business, in which he still con- .

tinues. In 1877 he added to the carriage business that of shipping green fruits, cider, and vinegar, and in favorable seasons he ships about five thousand barrels of apples, and about five hundred barrels of vinegar. In the carriage business he carries a stock of about four thousand dollars, and manufactures all kinds of double and single carriages and light wagons, and does a business of from ten to twenty thousand dollars per year, and employs from eight to ten hands in the different departments. He occupies the commodious buildings erected by himself expressly for the business, which consists of a twostory brick building, thirty-two by sixty-three feet, with a twostory frame addition, twenty by thirty feet. Residence at No. 27 East Vine street.

NEIBEL, GEORGE W., Milford township, deceased, was born in Licking county, in 1829. He came to Knox county with his parents, and was reared ona farm, and always followed it as his occupation. He married Miss Mary A. Twist, February 29, 1852; she is the daughter of Peter and Catharine Twist, zee Beardsly. She was born in New York, and came to Ohio about 1834, with her parents. Her father was a soldier in the War of 1812. The subject of this notice enlisted in company B, One Hundred and Forty-second regiment Ohio National guard. After his return home he was taken sick with lung disease, from which he died, April 11, 1866. They had one child, John H., born June 4, 1854. He isa man of sterling qualities, is well read, and highly esteemed by the community. He was married to Miss Ida A., daughter of David H. Speelman, November 18, 1880. They reside on the farm where he was reared.

NEIDERHOUSE, JACOB, Union township, farmer, post office, Rossville, born in Switzerland, in 1829, and camie to this country in 1852. He settled in Holmes county, Ohio, where he lived fourteen years, and 1867 settled in Union township, where he now is. He was married in 1854, but his wife only lived three years. His second marriage was in 1858, to Miss C. Frederick. They have nine children - Mary, John, Robert, Samuel, Caroline, Lavina, Edward, Cora, and William. Mary married Daniel Kirk, and moved to Coshocton county, where she now lives.

NEFF, PETER, Gambier, Knox county, Ohio. - -Resident twenty-one years, and has been engaged for many years in the developement of the county for petroleum, and in 'the manufacture of Diamond Black. See his pamphlets, and the Ohio State Geological Survey, etc.

NEWELL, JAMES, deceased, born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, May 20, 1782. He married Miss Polly Fleming, July rz, 1811, who was born in Pennsylvania, July 17, 1792. Mr. Newell located in Clinton township in 1819. He died December 7, 1848, aged sixty-six years, and his wife, April rs, 1850, aged fifty-eight.

NEWTON, REV. CHARLES H., Mt. Vernon, deceased, was born at Warren, Washington county, Ohio, in September, He received a classical education at Marietta college, in which institution he graduated in 1845. Determined to lead a ministerial life, he entered Lane Theological seminary at Cincinnati, where he graduated in 1848. Immediately thereafter, on June 15, 1848, he was married to Miss Catharine Walter, of Walnut Hills, near Cincinnati. He took charge of the congregation of the Presbyterian church at New Richmond, Ohio, in 1848, where he remained six years, giving great satisfaction to the people, and doing much good. From New Richmond he removed to Delaware, Ohio, in October, 1855, where he remained for about fourteen years, very much beloved by his people, until he was chosen chaplain of the Ohio penitentiary, at Columbus, in 1870. As chaplain he was very popular, and his kind words and wholesome advice will long be remembered by those whose transgressions forced them to become inmates of that institution.

During his chaplaincy, Mr. Newton suggested and aided the officers of the penitentiary in introducing many reforms into the government of that institution, which were of great practical good to the inmates. His system of prison reform has been adopted in the government of nearly every institution of the kind in the United States.

From Columbus Mr. Newton came to Mt. Vernon in June, 1874, and had charge of the Presbyterian congregation up to the time of his death. Healso preached to the congregation at Millwood.

He died at his residence in Mt. Vernon, August 8, 1878, after about a week's sickness. His disease was paralysis of the heart. The funeral took place on Saturday, August ro, 1878. The memorial services were held at the Presbyterian church on the next morning, Sunday, August 11th. The funeral service was conducted by the Rev. William E. Moore, pastor of the Second Presbyterian church, of Columbus, assisted by the Rev. William Thompson, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal church, in this city, and by the Rev. Iarns, of the Baptist church. Dr. Moore preached from the words: ''For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." :

NEWTON BROTHERS, corner West High street and public square, Mt. Vernon, Ohio. - Walter M. and Frank B. Newton, are sons of the Rev. O. H. Newton, who was at the time of his death pastor of the First Presbyterian church, Mt. Vernon, and had occupied that pulpit for several years previously. Rev. Mr. Newton was at one time chaplain of the Ohio penitentiary, and during his chaplaincy started the prison reform movement that has since met with great success in all the prisons of the country. During his father's chaplaincy W. M. Newton served as assistant clerk in the office of the prison, and his brother, F. B. Newton, attended school.

The family came to Mt. Vernon in 1874, when W. M. entered the employ of T. B. Mead as salesman, with whom he remained two and a half years. He then formed a partnership with J. M. Tompkins, with whom he did business one year, when he bought out the interest of Mr. Tompkins, and formed a partnership with his brother, F. B. Newton, and the business has since been conducted under the firm of Newton Brothers. They commenced with a stock of about two thousand dollars and have met with marked success. They now carry a stock of about two thousand five hundred dollars. This firm isa new one; the partners are young and energetic, of good business habits, with moral characters beyond reproach; and they merit succcess and will win a rank among the mercantile men worthy of respect and honorable to themselves.

NIXON, ANDREW, farmer, Berlin township, post office, Shaler's Mills, was born in Jefferson county, in 1810, and was married to Mary Scarlet. They had one son, Michael, a resident of Mt. Vernon. Mrs. Nixon has deceased. Mr. Nixon's second marriage was with Jane Knight (Culberson), who was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1816. They have one son, Edwin, who was born in 1862, and is living with his parents.

NICHOLS, JOHN, farmer, Pike township, post office, Democracy; born in Howard township, this county, in 1839, and was married in 1860 to Mary Hammel, who was born in Pike township in 1838. They have five children: Celesta A., born in 1861; Nancy Emogene, in 1864; Ardella F., in 1867; Permelia, in 1869, and John H. in 1873.

His father, John Nichols, deceased, was born in 1800, in Loudoun county, Virginia. He came to Ohio in 1813, located in Mt. Vernon, and was marriedin 1820 to Sarah Davis, who was born near Hagerstown, Maryland, and came to Mt. Vernon in 1812. They had the following children: Martha, Sarah, Daniel (deceased), Peter, Jesse, Amos, Louisa, Rebecca (deceased), John, Jonas, and Drusilla. Mr. Nichols died in 1868, and Mrs. Sarah Nichols in 1879. They were among the earlier settlers of Mt. Vernon, moved to Howard township, and remained there until 1860. Jesse, Daniel, and Jonas were soldiers in the late war. Daniel died from the effects of his service in the army. Jonas was a member of the Ohio National guard.

NICODEMUS, JACOB L., farmer, Middlebury township, post office, Frederi¢tktown, was born in Maryland, in 1804, came to Ohio in 1852, and was married in 1835 to Susan Baile, who was born in Maryland in 1816. They had ten children, viz: Cecelia, born December 11, 1836; Evaline M., September 17, 1838; Ann S., February 17, 1840; Sarah L., June 7, 1841; Abraham P., August 27, 1843; Elizabeth M., August 20, 1845; Rachel F., June 28, 1848; Mary A., October 12, 1851; Charles W., November 22, 1853, and Susan C., August 12, 1857. The following children are dead: Evaline M. and Susan C. Cecelia was married to Lamvil S. Owen, and resides in Delaware county, Ohio; Evaline (deceased) was married to John Wells; Ann S. married to Marwin B. Gordon, they are now in Steuben county, Indiana; Sarah L. married Whiting Hawkins, of Morrow county; Abraham P. married Lucretia V. Reed, of Mansfield, Ohio; Elizabeth M. married Sheriden Ebersole, and resides in Ottawa county, Kansas; Rachel F. married Wellington Watkins, now living in Republic county, Kansas; Mary A. married Stuart Af Dixon, now living in this township; Charles W. married Martha E. Herendon and resides on the old home place.

Mr. Nicodemus came to Morrow county in 1852, remained there until 1856, then located in Middlebury township; since that time he has been a resident of this township and has reared a large and respectable family of children, who are all married and have located as above noted.

NICHOLAS & ZUCK, proprietors of Green Valley flouringmills, Butler township, are prepared to do all kinds of merchant and custom work, also sawing at their saw-mill.

NORRICK, WILLIAM H., salesman, Pike township, post office, Democracy, born in 1850, in Harrison county, Ohio, and was married, in 1876, to Mary M. Donel, who was born in Ohio, in 1855. Mr. Nortick is engaged in selling buggies for Louis Cook, of Cincinnati, and has had good success, being the only man in this section of Ohio representing this manufacturing establishment.

NORTON, DANIEL S., deceased. - The first American settlers in the Attakapas of Orleans were the Nortons, who for several years endured contentedly the perils and privations in that then foreign climate, until sickness and death reduced their number and deprived them of their head and the managment of the affairs of Mrs. Ann Norton, and nine children, devolved entirely upon young Daniel S., who, possessed of a peculiar business mind, and an adventurous spirit, carried on various trading operations in the territory and the Mexican provinces. Some of his practical operations are worthy of notice.

He introduced the first sugar-cane in the Attakapas, and established that it could be cultivated successfully. His active and well informed mind, and inventive genius, were always striving to make improvements, and he first directed attention to the navigation of the bayous and rivers, and was interested in the first boat that engaged in their trade. He travelled on the first two boats that made trips on the Mississippi, and subsequently on the first boat built"by a company at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and run by Captain Gregg on the Lower Mississippi and Red rivers. His suggestions in construction and navigation, his knowledge of the rivers and the country, contributed much to those enterprises. _

It was with the view of carrying on a trade with the southern country that he located at Connellsville, Pennsylvania, and engaged in erecting machinery for manufacturing; and hence the deep solicitude for successful navigation of the rivers, to promote which he carried on correspondence, published articles, factory on the Youghiogheny (Pennsylvania) he erected, and ope- . rated successfully, bringing the raw cotton from his old home in Louisiana. His lands in that country were of great value, and his business there for about a half century was faithfully aftended to by Governor Johnson, as his agent.