Madison County, Illinois - Chapter 36: Various War Times, 1912 (part 1 of 2)

The Black Hawk War - General Henry, the Hero - Other Commissioned Officers Last Mexican War Survivors - The Civil War - Alton a Great Military Camp

Men - Commissioned Officers, Three Years' Service - War Time at Home - Tories and Loyalists at Home - Typical Experience of a Private Soldier - A Madison County Soldier's Experience in Southern Prisons - A Local War Time Tragedy - The Spanish-American War - The Grand Army of the Republic.

The story of Madison county's part in the war of 1812 has already been told. At the conclusion of that conflict there was peace in the land, save sporadic outbreaks on the bor¬ der, until what is known as the Black Hawk war, commencing in the bloodless campaign of 1831 and ending with the massacres, rather than battles, of the summer of 1832, the ex¬ pulsion of the warring tribes and their practi¬ cal extermination. It is a sordid and unhappy record, - replete with horrors. Judge Moses, in his "History of Illinois,'' says: "It is the story of the calling out of 8,000 volunteers to cooperate with 1,500 regulars in expelling from the state a band of 400 Indian warriors with their some 1,000 women and children at the expenditure of millions of money and the loss of hundreds of lives." The loss of life, of course, fell principally upon the Indians.

The real cause of the war was the detesta¬ tion in which the Indians were held by the pioneers. They coveted the rich lands the Indians held, and their slogan was "The In¬ dian must go." The alleged cause, however, arose out of diverse interpretations of the treaty of 1804 between the government and the Sac and Fox Indians. It was a jughandle treaty by which the Indians ceded all the territory lying between the Mississippi, Wisconsin, Fox and Illinois rivers, some 3°'~ 000,000 acres, for the sum of $1,000 annually paid to the tribes in perpetuity. The treaty, however, provided that "as long as the ceded territory remained the property of the United States the Indians should have the privilege of living and hunting thereon." It was the vague wording of the instrument permitting different interpretations, which -gave the ex¬ cuse for hostilities.

The pioneer settlers encroached on lands claimed by the Indians and collisions natu¬ rally followed. The whites even settled in the villages and upon the farms of the tribes at the mouth of Rock river. On the return of Black Hawk and his band from their annual hunt in 1830, they found that the whites, in possession of their village, had burned many lodges and had run the plowshare over the graves of their dead. The warriors were or¬ dered by the whites to depart, whereupon Black Hawk replied that the land was his and that the whites must withdraw. This was construed into a threat by the settlers, some forty in number, and they frantically appealed to Governor Reynolds "for protection against the blood-thirsty savages." In response the governor ordered out 700 militia "to remove the band of Sac and Fox Indians now resid¬ ing about Rock Island." He also appealed to General Gaines, in command of the military district, to cooperate with him. That com¬ mander replied that he had ordered 600 regu¬ lar troops to proceed from Jefferson Barracks to Rock Island, together, if necessary, with four companies from Prairie du Chien, with which force he was satisfied he could repel the alleged invasion of the Sacs. The militia assembled at Beardstown in double the num¬ ber called for. It consisted of two regiments, one commanded by Col. James D. Henry, the other by Col. Daniel Lieb ; also an odd battal¬ ion of mounted men under Maj. N. Buckmaster of Madison. Other Madison county officers who responded to the call were Will¬ iam Gillham, William Weatherford, Joseph Gillespie, James Semple, Samuel Whiteside, Levi Davis, P. H. Winchester, William Bolin Whiteside, William Miller and Solomon Preuitt.

After a toilsome march the militia reached the Sac village and, combining with the regu¬ lars, presented a force of 2,500 strong. They arrived June 25,. 1831. Black Hawk, having but 300 warriors, saw resistance was useless and, evacuating the fort during the night, re¬ treated across the Mississippi. The troops burned the Indian village and marched to Fort Armstrong (Rock Island). General Gaines notified Black Hawk that he intended to pur¬ sue the fugitives, whereupon that wily war¬ rior proceeded to the General's headquarters and signed a treaty obligating his band to re¬ main west of the Mississippi unless permitted by the government to return. And thus ter¬ minated the first year's campaign without bloodshed and with only a modicum of glory,

The Indians passed a wretched summer, it being too late to put in crops and too early for the hunting season. Meanwhile Black Hawk made a savage retaliatory attack on a band of his ancient enemies, the Menominees, killing twenty-seven of them. Upon this, demand was made upon him by the Indian agent, to deliver up the aggressors, which he refused to do. Black Hawk's second in command had. in the interval, visited the neighboring tribes and the British Father at Malden, (Black Hawk had, during the War of 1812, led a band of British Indians against the Ameri¬ cans) and received glowing assurances of support, claiming that the whites had violated the treaty by not providing adequate supplies for the tribes. Black Hawk crossed the river from Iowa in April, 1832, with all his tribe, his object being, as he subsequently claimed, to proceed to the land of the Winnebagoes and raise a crop.

Meanwhile the outrage committed by Black Hawk's band on the Menominees had been reported to the government and General Henry Atkinson was dispatched to Fort Arm¬ strong with a company of regulars to enforce the surrender of the perpetrators. On hear¬ ing of the invasion of Black Hawk and think¬ ing that other tribes would cooperate with him, Atkinson made a requisition on Gover¬ nor Reynolds for a militia force to support the regulars. The governor thereupon issued his call for a strong detachment of volunteers to rendezvous at Beardstown. The force was organized into four regiments under the com¬ mand of General Samuel Whiteside, of Madi¬ son, and a spy battalion under Maj. James D. Henry. The volunteers, accompanied by the Governor, marched to Rock Island, arriving May 7, 1832, and were mustered into the United States service. They were reinforced by 300 regulars under Col. Zachary Taylor, afterwards president. One of his lieutenants was Jefferson Davis. In the advance on the Indians a battalion under Major Stillman was defeated by an inferior force of Indians. The volunteers became dissatisfied, their time having expired, and refused to follow the In¬ dians, who were retreating into the marshy regions of Wisconsin. General Whiteside re¬ monstrated with them in vain, and they were marched back to Ottawa and disbanded. The Governor at once issued a proclamation for 2,000 volunteers. The response was prompt and the command organized into three brig¬ ades. Gen. Alex. Posey commanded the first brigade; Col. John Ewing the second, and Gen. James D. Henry the third. An eventful campaign followed, with numerous skir¬ mishes with the retreating foe. Following the Indians into Wisconsin and learning that they were headed toward the Mississippi, Gen¬ eral Henry overtook them on the banks of the Wisconsin and defeated them. They made another stand on Bad Axe creek, near the Mississippi, and Henry again forced them to retreat after a desperate battle. Black Hawk reached the Mississippi with the remnant of his forces and was crossing them over in skiffs when the transport steamer "Warrior" opened on them with cannister and caused great slaughter. In the battle of Bad Axe and in crossing the river 150 Indians were killed; as many more drowned. Twenty whites were killed and twelve wounded. The Indians who escaped to the Iowa shore, some 300, were attacked by the Sioux Indians, un¬ der orders from General Atkinson, and more than half of them killed. Black Hawk was one of those who escaped. He settled with his tribe on the banks of the Des Moines river where he died in 1838 at the age of 72 years. He ranks with Tecumseh and Pontiac as a great Indian warrior.

shown by the volunteers to the helpless and innocent, squaws and children being shot in¬ discriminately as well as the warriors. Thus ended the Black Hawk war with peace on the border. Judge Moses makes this comment on this notable campaign : "The war was brought on by the interference of the state au¬ thorities with those of the United States upon the false pretenses and clamorous demands of a few squatters who were themselves in the wrong. The campaign cost $2,000,000, and the whole trouble might have been averted by the payment of a few thousand dollars and the peaceable transfer of the Indians across the river."

General Henry, the Hero The volunteers, as a whole, displayed soldierly qualities, and none more so than those from Madison, and records made in the campaign were the basis thereafter of many successful political careers. The officer who won the greatest renown in the campaign of 1832 was General James D. Henry, who dis¬ played brilliant military genius. He was an officer of commanding ability and dauntless courage, but subject to uncontrollable fits of passion the outbreak of one of which, when a resident of this county, sullied his reputa¬ tion. He was a native of Pennsylvania and located in Edwardsville in 1822. He was a blacksmith by trade, but ambitious. His early education was deficient and, after working all day, he spent the evenings in study. In 1826 he removed to Sangamon county and was later elected to the office of sheriff. After the war he became the popular hero and could have had any office in the gift of the people, but his health failed owing to the exposures of the campaign, and he went south hoping for improvement, but died of consumption in New Orleans, in March, 1834.

far as shown by incomplete records, were, in addition to the officers named above : Barnsback's company - Captain, Julius L. Barnsback ; first lieutenant, Ryland Ballard ; second lieutenant, Jesse Bartlett.

Little's cavalry company - Captain, Solomon Preuitt, promoted lieutenant colonel; first lieu¬ tenant Josiah Little, promoted captain ; second lieutenants, Jacob Swaggart and William Arundell.

Buckmaster's batallion - Major, Nathaniel Buckmaster ; Captain, Aaron Armstrong ; first lieutenant, Jacob Swaggart; second, Wil¬ liam Tindall.

Snyder's company - This command was made up of Madison and St. Clair county men, about equally divided : Captain, A. W. Snyder; first lieutenant, James Winstanley, both of St. Clair; second lieutenant, John T. Lusk, of Madison.

On the nth day of May, 1846, congress passed an act declaring that, by act of the Mexican government, a state of war existed between the United States and Mexico. At the same time that body made an appropria¬ tion of $10,000,000 to carry on the war and authorized the enlistment of fifty thousand volunteers. Illinois was called upon for three regiments of infantry or riflemen, and the pay, with all allowances, was fixed at $15.50 per month to the private soldier. The re¬ sponse to the call was enthusiastic. By the time the place of rendezvous had been selected (Alton) there had been seventy-five compa¬ nies recruited, out of which Governor Ford, was able to accept but thirty companies, the remainder being doomed to disappointment. From these thirty companies were organized - the First Regiment, Col. John J. Hardin; the Second, Col. William H. Bissell, and the Third, Col Ferris Foreman, which were mus¬ tered into the United States service at Alton on the 2nd day of June, 1846. A fourth regi¬ ment was accepted under Col. E. D. Baker and mustered in July 18, 1846. The First and Second regiments were transported down the river and across the Gulf to Camp Erwin in Texas, and thence marched to San Antonio where they joined General Wool's army of the Centre. . Leaving that city September 26th, they soon entered the enemy's territory and two months later arrived at Agua Nueva, a march of a thousand miles without encoun¬ tering an enemy. In January, 1847, General Taylor, marching from Saltillo, formed a junction with General Wool. On the 22nd and 23rd of February was fought the famous , battle of Buena Vista, in which the Americans were victorious over a vastly superior force, and the two Illinois regiments especially dis¬ tinguished themselves. The First Illinois lost one colonel (Hardin), one captain, one subal¬ tern and twenty-six enlisted men ; wounded and missing, two subalterns and sixteen en¬ listed men. Total loss of the First, 50.

Second Regiment : Killed, two captains, one subaltern and twenty-nine enlisted men ; wounded, two captains, six subalterns and sixty-three enlisted men ; missing four. Total loss 107.*

*The Adjutant General's report gives the follow¬ ing as the officers of Company C, Second Regiment Illinois Volunteers, Mexican war: Captain, James W. Baker ; first lieutenant, Turner J. DeButts ; sec¬ ond lieutenants, John Brown and James Smith. These, it seems, were the officers when the regiment was mustered out, not, with the exception of Baker, the officers when it was mustered in. The company was then known as the Alton Volunteer Guards, and the officers at its organization were, Peter GofT, cap-

These two regiments remained at Buena Vista until May seeing no more active service beyond scouting. They were mustered out at Camargo, Mexico, on June 17, 1847.

The Third and Fourth regiments were bri¬ gaded under General Shields. On the 9th of March they took part in the advance on Vera Cruz. In the battle of Cerro Gordo, April 17th and 18th, they were hotly engaged, but had the good fortune to meet with few losses. The gallantry of Lieut. G. T. M. Davis, of Madison, was commended in general orders after the battle. General Shields was shot through the lungs, and Lieutenant Davis is credited with saving his life by giving the wound immediate attention. No regiments from any state gained more honor than these four from Illinois and to relate all the inci¬ dents of their gallantry in their various en¬ gagements would require pages.

The Fifth Regiment, called out to take the place of regiments whose time had expired, was organized at Alton, June 8, 1847; left by steamer for Fort Leavenworth, July 14th, and from that post marched across the plains to Santa Fe. It was mustered out at Alton De¬ cember 15, 1848. It was commanded by Col. E. W. B. Newby. On its muster rolls ap¬ pears the name of Corporal David R. Sparks, tain; Jas. W. Baker, first lieutenant; E. F. Fletcher and Rodney Ferguson, second lieutenants. But there were changes later on, and at the battle of Buena Vista Baker was captain with Fletcher, Ferguson and Lauriston Robins, lieutenants. All three of the lieutenants were killed at the battle and Captain Baker wounded. The last-named was furloughed home and died of his wounds at Alton. The bodies of Fletcher, Ferguson and Robbins were sent home from Mexico and buried with military honors. Governor French and all the state officials, and many military men of distinction attended the service. The funeral is recorded as the most imposing ever held in the state up to that time. It occurred on the 21 st of July, 1847. Rev. Dr. S. Y. McMasters, rector of the Episcopal church, preached the funeral ser¬ mon. These four officers of the Alton Volunteer Guards are buried side by side in the Alton cemetery.

The Sixth Regiment was organized from the overflow of the Fifth. It was commanded by Col. Jas Collins; was organized at Alton August 3, 1847, ar*d left on the 14th of that month for New Orleans. There it was di¬ vided, half of it going to Vera Cruz under Colonel Collins and the remainder to Tampico, under Lieutenant Colonel Hicks. On its re¬ turn from Mexico it was mustered out at Alton, July 20, 1848.

The last company accepted from Illinois was Capt. Josiah Little's company of cavalry, of this county. It was mustered in at Alton September 11, 1847; went to Mexico, and on its return, was discharged at Alton, July 25, 1848. Captain Little was from Upper Alton. He also served in the Black Hawk war of 1832.

The names of the commissioned officers from Madison county in the Mexican war, as found in the adjutant general's report, include only those at the organization of the regi¬ ment. The numerous changes and promotions thereafter are not noted, and hence the record is very incomplete. The editor notes the fol¬ lowing :

Company E - Captain, Peter Lott ; first lieutenant, John A. Prickett; second lieuten¬ ants, James Catron and Aston Madeira. In this company were A. F. Rodgers, afterwards colonel of the Eightieth Illinois in the Civil war, and W. R. Wright, afterwards captain of Company B, in the same regiment. Two other members, who afterwards became prominent citizens of Alton, were corporals - Joseph Quigley and Dr. I. E. Hardy.

No record is found of the company of which Peter Goff was captain and it seems uncertain whether that was an additional com¬ pany to those named, or whether he was pro¬ moted to the captaincy of some command already organized.

One great difficulty in obtaining accurate in¬ formation from the adjutant general's report is that while the place of enlistment is given (in nearly all cases, Alton) no1 intimation is given of place of residence.

Alton was a lively place during the Mexican war. It was the designated point of rendez¬ vous for all the troops from the state in 1846 and thence they started for the war. A large body of them were encamped at what is now Rock Spring Park. While there the ladies of Upper Alton baked large quantities of pies which they either gave to the soldiers, or sent to the camp for sale. Hence the volunteers gave the place the name of "Pietown," which appellation is still cherished.

Another detachment was encamped in the woods which then covered the hills about the present site of Lincoln school. A third en¬ campment was on the bluff near the city cemetery. Colonel Rodgers says the Second Regiment was mustered in at the corner of Fifteenth and Liberty streets, Middletown, on the grounds of Dr. B. S. Edwards and S. G. Bailey.

As an instance of the incompleteness of the adjutant general's rolls the editor does not find the names among the commissioned of¬ ficers of Lieutenants Ferguson, Robbins and Fletcher, who were killed at Buena Vista. Capt. Jas. W. Baker was wounded in the same battle and sent home. He died from his wounds at Alton. The bodies of the officers named were sent home and now the bodies of Captain Baker and the three lieutenants rest side by side in the Alton cemetery. On the arrival of the remains from Mexico there was a great funeral demonstration at Alton. A movement was set on foot to erect a monu¬ ment in their memory, but nothing came of it. As Irving said in Rip Van Winkle: "How soon we are forgot when we are gone !"

The last reunion of the Illinois survivors of the Mexican war was held at Alton in Sep¬ tember, 1911, at the invitation of Colonel Rod¬ gers who entertained them. It was a slim gathering of old men, more or less decrepit, ranging in age from 84 to 92. It probably marked their last attempt at a similar gather¬ ing. So far as known Col. A. F. Rodgers, of Upper Alton; John Diamond, of Alton, and Lem. Southard, of Wanda, are the only sur¬ vivors in Madison county of those who fought in the Mexican war. Capt. D. R. Sparks sur¬ vived to a good old age, dying in 1907, and Captain W. R. Wright still later, his death oc¬ curring in 1910.

Fourteen years after the close of the Mex¬ ican war the first gun of the Civil war was fired at Charleston. The nation awoke from its dream of peace to the stern and bitter re¬ alities of war. Nothing more sublime exists in history than the magnificent uprising of the north to avenge the insult to the flag and to save the Union from disruption; and in no locality was the call to arms responded to with more alacrity than in this county on the border. Across the river from Madison was Missouri, a state divided against itself in the conflict of arms. A man's foes were those of his own household - father against son, brother against brother - each appealing to Heaven for the justice of his cause.

The echo of the firing on Sumter had hardly died away when the flower of Madison's young manhood responded to the president's appeal to the arbitrament of battle. The ranks were filled at once and the overflow of those who could not find places in Illinois reg¬ iments went to St. Louis and enlisted in Mis¬ souri organizations. This was the beginning. Through the four following tragic years the volunteers continued to fill the broken ranks or to form new organizations until 3,598 were in the field in Illinois regiments and many in Missouri organizations.

The exact number enlisted from this county will probably never be accurately known, as the records of Missouri are incomplete owing to its then disorganized condition, and to the further fact that there were many enlistments in the regular army not credited to the county ; but the known figures bring the total to 4,450. This out of a total population of 30,689 in i860 and a voting strength of 6,461 ! These figures of patriotic devotion are more eloquent than any words. Sons followed fathers and young boys their older brothers as the war progressed. It was a wonderful exhibit of patriotism in which all parties and all classes joined. A library would hardly suffice to record the services and sacrifices, the deeds of valor and daring, the sufferings and devo¬ tion of the volunteers of Madison county. It would require a volume alone to record simply their names, regiments and battle fields. To attempt this would be beyond the scope of this work and for the further reason that it is un¬ necessary. Their muster rolls have already been published in permanent form 'by the ad¬ jutant general's office and also in "Brink's History of Madison County," published in 1882. But even the official records give only a part of the story of the citizen soldiery of Madison county, for the reason given above of enlistments outside the state of which there is no distinctive record. Another reason is that, since the war, hundreds of soldiers of other states have settled in Madison county and become a part of its citizenship.

At the outbreak of the war Alton was made, as it was in the Mexican war, a camp of rendezvous and instruction - and for the further reason that it was important to rush troops to strategic points on the border. The first regiment to arrive there was the Seventh Illinois Infantry, Col. John Cook. This socalled Seventh Regiment was, in reality, the First Regiment of the Civil war. Six regi¬ ments were enrolled for the Mexican war and hence the numbering of the Civil war regi¬ ments began with the Seventh. Colonel Cook was the son of the famous anti-slavery con¬ gressman of the early days, Daniel P. Cook, and a grandson of Gov. Ninian Edwards. He later became a brigadier general and rendered valuable service.

Other regiments ordered to Alton during the war were : Thirteenth United States In¬ fantry, Seventy-seventh Ohio, Thirty-seventh Iowa, Fifteenth, Seventeenth and Twentyfourth Illinois, Thirteenth and Seventeenth Cavalry, and others mentioned previously. The regiment of Col. Lew Wallace, of Indi¬ ana, came to Alton by rail and after remaining here a short time, took steamers for the south. A cavalry company from Hillsboro was there for a time. The men were finely equipped, each man owning his own horse. They crossed the river at Alton and marched for the scene of active hostilities in Missouri. They were next heard from at the battle of Lexington where they were captured and paroled. They came back homeward and made their reappearance, sans horses and equipments and with a poor opinion of the war. The old penitentiary at Alton was made a military prison early in 1862. The history of that institution is told in another chapter.

A stirring episode of the opening days uf the war was the removal of military supplies from the St. Louis arsenal and their convey¬ ance to Alton on the steamer "City of Alton." It was conducted by Capt. James B. Stokes, of Chicago, acting under authority of Gover¬ nor Yates, who had obtained a requisition therefor from the war department at Wash¬ ington, which had, however, no power to de¬ liver the goods. The arsenal was closely watched by secessionists and they stood ready to seize the arms the moment an attempt was made to remove them. Captain Stokes volun¬ teered to undertake the hazardous enterprise. The requisition was immediately put into his hands and he proceeded to St. Louis, where he found the arsenal surrounded by a trea¬ sonable mob. He at length reached the build¬ ing and informed the commander of the ob¬ ject of his visit. The commander informed him that the arsenal was surrounded by spies and that the most trivial movement might bring an overwhelming force down upon them, but he gave the captain permission to make the attempt. His apprehensions were well-founded, for the next day information was received that Governor Jackson had or¬ dered 2,000 men down from Jefferson City with the evident intention of capturing the arsenal. Two batteries had already been planted by the governor's friends, one near the arsenal and one on the St. Louis levee.

Captain Stokes immediately telegraphed to Alton for a steamer to descend the river and land about midnight opposite the arsenal. He then proceeded to the building with a force of 700 men from the Seventh Illinois and pro¬ ceeded to lower the heavy boxes containing the guns from the upper stories to the first floor. At the same time to divert attention from the real object, he caused 500 unservice¬ able muskets to be openly placed on a differ¬ ent boat. This drew the most of the crowd from around the arsenal and the Captain had the remainder shut up in the guard house. Meanwhile the telegram to Alton had been received by Col. S. A. Buckmaster and the Packet company. Colonel Buckmaster was in the confidence of the governor and the steamer "City of Alton" was at once made ready for the expedition. Promptly at mid¬ night the steamer landed at the arsenal and the removal of supplies at once commenced. Cap¬ tain Stokes' requisition only called for 10,000 muskets, but he proceeded, by permission of the commandant to take 20,000 muskets, 500 pistols, 500 carbines, besides cannon and a quantity of ammunition, leaving but 7,000 muskets to arm the St. Louis volunteers. When the order was given to start the boat could not move owing to the immense weight of the cargo which had been placed about the engines to protect them. Assistance was sum¬ moned from the arsenal and part of the arms removed to the stern, when the boat floated free and the trip to Alton began. A book en¬ titled "The Patriotism of Illinois" gives the following account of the upward trip : "Which way?" inquired Capt. Leander Mitchell of the steamer. "Straight in the channel to Alton," replied Capt. Stokes. "What if we are at¬ tacked?" said Capt. Mitchell. "Then we'll fight," was the reply of Stokes. "What if we are overpowered?" said Mitchell. "Run the boat to the deepest water and sink her," re¬ plied Stokes. "I'll do it," was the heroic answer of Mitchell ; and away they went, past the secession battery, past the St. Louis levee, and on to Alton where they arrived at 5 o'clock in the morning. When they landed, Captain Stokes fearing they might be pursued by some of the secession military companies of St. Louis, ran to the engine house and rang the fire bell. The citizens came flocking to the river in all sorts of habiliments. Captain Stokes informed them of the state of affairs and pointed to! the waiting freight cars. In¬ stantly men, women and boys boarded the steamer and commenced the work of unload¬ ing the arms. Rich and poor tugged together with might and main for two hours, when the whole of the valuable cargo was on the cars, and the train moved off for Springfield amid enthusiastic cheers. These arms, thus res¬ cued, served to equip the early Illinois regi¬ ments. This daring exploit occurred on the night of April 25, 1861, ten days after the is¬ suing of the president's proclamation calling for troops to suppress the rebellion.

Major Franklin B. Moore, later noted cav¬ alry leader, was a member of the expedition and in his autobiography gives the following matter-of-fact account of the expedition from Alton : "I had hauled a load of lumber that day for the boat and went into the office to get my ticket. John J. Mitchell was there and beckoned to me. He said to me in a low tone: 'We are going down to the St. Louis arsenal to-night to get the arms stored there. Don't you want to go along?' I answered 'Yes.' I was told to keep mum, take my team home and return to the boat at night. I car¬ ried this out all right. Many of Alton's best men were with us. J. J. Mitchell, Col. S. A. Buckmaster, James Powrie, and others I do not recall. We went down to the arsenal, at the lower end of St. Louis, and landed there all right. Col. Buckmaster and a few others went into the arsenal and captured the watch¬ men. No soldiers were within. The re¬ mainder of us stayed on the boat. They re¬ turned and told us to come on. We were told where we could find the ordnance. We car¬ ried for several hours and loaded the boat with muskets, cannon and ammunition. We re¬ turned to Alton about daylight next morning. The cargo was loaded on cars by citizens who gathered at the landing, and sent to Springfield."

Captain Stokes was a West Pointer. He went to war as commander of the famous Chicago Board of Trade Battery and attained the rank of brigadier general.

Among the military men who resided in Madison county were many who rose to high command in the service. I have spoken of General Whiteside, who figured in the War of 1812 and commanded a brigade in the Black Hawk war, and of Gen James D. Henry, the popular hero of the latter conflict, but there were others who attained fame in the early history of the state. One was Col. Stephen H. Long, who divided honors with Gen. Zebu- Ion H. Pike as an early explorer of the west¬ ern wilderness. Long's peak, in the Rocky mountains, which he discovered is named for him. He became chief of topographical en¬ gineers of the United States Army. He died in Alton and is buried in the city cemetery. Colonel Long was a native of New Hamp¬ shire, son of a soldier of the Revolution, a member of Washington's bodyguard. Several of Col. Long's brothers obtained distinction. Enoch Long was an officer in the War of 1812 and commanded the defenders of the press at the time of the Love joy tragedy in Alton; G. W. Long was a major of engineers, United States Army; Dr. B. F. Long was an eminent physician. Preble Long, a fourth brother, died in early manhood. All the five brothers were residents of Madison county. Capt. H. C. Long, son of Col S. H., was a dis¬ tinguished civil engineer, and a grandson, Wil¬ liam L. Breckinridge, is now chief engineer of the entire Burlington railway system. A daughter of Colonel Long, Mrs. M. P. Breck¬ inridge, still resides in Alton. Several grand¬ sons of the Long brothers served in the Civil war. One of them, George Frank Long, was a member of the Tenth Illinois Volunteers; marched with Sherman to the sea, and was desperately wounded in the last battle of that campaign, at Bentonville, North Carolina. He eventually recovered, though crippled for life. He now resides in Springfield. He was a son of Dr. Long and was born in Upper Alton.

nent figure in the Civil war and chief of trans¬ portation of the western department. His greatest feat was the celerity with which he transferred Schofield's army from Tennessee, in the spring of 1865, to the coast of North Carolina to cooperate with Sherman as he marched through that state in pursuit of Johnston's army. General Parsons was a prominent lawyer in Alton, for several years, but later removed to St. Louis. He was a generous friend of education and an elder in the Alton Presbyterian church. He was a candidate for lieutenant governor in 1880 on the Democratic ticket headed by Senator Trumbull, another Madison county man. Col. Friend S. Rutherford, a brilliant Alton law¬ yer, went to the war in 1862 in command of the Ninety-seventh Illinois. As related else¬ where, he died in 1864, just after being com¬ missioned a brigadier general.

Gen. Loren Kent, at the outbreak of the war, was a dry goods clerk in Alton. He first entered the army as a private in the Tenth Illinois, and his service was such as to win rapid promotion. At the age of twenty-three he was a lieutenant colonel and provost mar¬ shal general of the Army of the Tennessee. He paroled the 32,000 Confederate prisoners cap¬ tured by General Grant at Vicksburg. He was subsequently colonel of the Twenty-ninth Illinois and was promoted brevet brigadier general. After the war he was appointed collector of the port of Galveston and died there of yellow fever in 1867, aged twentyseven years. His remains were brought home for burial in the Alton cemetery.

Another distinguished young soldier who reached high rank was Col. Samuel T. Hughes. "He enlisted at the outbreak of the war in an Edwardsville company of the Ninth Illinois and was elected a lieutenant of the company. He won rapid promotion and at the close of the war came back in command of the regiment. That his service was ardu¬ ous is shown by the fact that' the Ninth partic¬

Col. A. F. Rodgers, who enlisted two com¬ panies for the Eightieth Illinois and was elected captain of Company B, and subse¬ quently lieutenant colonel and colonel of the regiment, is spoken of fully and his services noted in the biographical volume of this work. He was succeeded in command of Company B by Captain W. R. Wright, a Mexican war veteran, a gallant officer who endured with Colonel Rodgers the horrors of southern prisons as a part of his military experience.

Another gallant officer of Wood River township was Maj. Frank Moore, the famous cavalry raider and leader. It was said of him by a certain major general, on one occasion: "Maj. Moore has captured more prisoners than my whole army corps."

Among officers who held regimental com¬ mands were Col. John Kuhn, of the famous Ninth Illinois; Col. Chas. E. Springer; Lt. Col. John E. Moore, Lt. Col. James N. Mor¬ gan, lately retired from the United States Army as colonel; Maj. W. A. Chapin; Lt. Col. Harrison E. Hart and Capt. W. L. Hurlbut. The last named officer was one of the most brilliant young officers sent to the war from Madison county. After three years' service in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac, being severely wounded at the battle of Get¬ tysburg, he was killed at the battle of the Wil¬ derness in command of a regiment. He was only twenty-two years old at the time of his death. He was the only son of Rev. T. B. Hurlbut, of Upper Alton, one of the defend¬ ers of the press at the time of the pro-slavery riot of 1837.

Among other prominent officers who gave up their lives during the conflict may be named Capt. John Trible, Gen. F. S. Ruther¬ ford, Lieut. Col. Harrison E. Hart and Adju¬ tant John S. Robinson.

sioned officers from Madison is complete, but it names those on the records of the adjutant general's office so far as obtainable. The non¬ commissioned officers and private soldiers are equally entitled to mention, but the limits of this work do not permit publication, of the names of all the 4,450 soldiers who responded to the call of their country from Madison county.

The volunteers from Madison county served in sixty-nine different Illinois regi¬ ments during the war. In some of the regi¬ ments were several full companies from the county, in others only a few individuals, and still others served in Missouri regiments ow¬ ing to the Illinois quota being full. As an in¬ stance of this, Capt. Louis B. Hubbell took a full company from Alton to St. Louis and en¬ listed them May 27, 1861, in the Fourth Mis¬ souri Regiment. The names of C. Henry Warren and W. P. Cousley stand next to Cap¬ tain Hubbell's and are supposed to be those of his lieutenants, though not so designated. The company was mustered into the service by Lieut. J. M. Schofield, United States Army, afterwards commander-in-chief of the army.

The companies first enlisting from this county for three months' service were Com¬ panies G, I and K of the Ninth Regiment. The commissioned officers were Captains Ben W. Tucker, Jos. G. Robinson and John H. Kuhn ; lieutenants, Cary H. H. Davis, Jared P. Ash, Thos. J. Newsham, Herman Schwerzer, Samuel T. Hughes, and Emil Adams.

Tenth - Companies D and K from Madi¬ son : Captains, Samuel T. Mason, Harry M. Scarritt, Archibald Burns, George C. Lusk and T. H. Kennedy; lieutenants, Peter Hughes, William Gallion, William F. How¬ ard, W. P. Cousley, Gottlob Girnt, James Rogers, John T. Fahnestock, Edward L. Fri¬ day, and James W. Allen ; first lieutenant and adjutant, William Wilson.

Twenty-second - Captains, John Seaton and James N. Morgan; lieutenants, Robert H. Clift (adjutant), Frank H. Allen, Robert McKenzie, and Anthony Young.

Thirty-second - Madison represented in six companies: Captains, George W. Jenks and Joseph H. Weeks; lieutenants, David Glenn, John Keck, John J. Laboteaux and Troy Moore.

Fifty-ninth - Madison county represented in four companies : Captains, W illiam D. Renfro, O. W. Flazier and Emanuel Menet; lieutenants, Warren D. Crandall, C. A. Massman, John P. Anderson and Benjamin F. Stevens.

Eightieth - Colonel, A. F. Rodgers; major, Henry Zeis; adjutant, James B. Newman; captains, George W. Carr, John H. Smith and William R. Wright; lieutenants, H. C. Smith, Stephen A. Albro, Conrad H. Flick.

One Hundred Thirty-third - Lieutenant Colonel, John E. Moore; chaplain, W. R. Adams; captain, John Carstens; lieutenants, John B. Davidson and John Packer.

Second Cavalry, Company D, Madison County Rangers : Franklin Moore, captain (promoted major) ; George Lebold and Wil¬ liam Munger, lieutenants.

Tenth Cavalry - Captains, Henry Reily and Isaac Ferguson; lieutenants, Columbus Cross, William H. East, John Mabee, Samuel Bird, William A. Chapin (promoted major), John Droll, William Schwerdtfeger and Edward Jaggerman.

Second or Fifteenth Missouri - Captains, Henry Nelson and Frank Unger; lieutenants, Cassimer Muni, Fridolin Rummel, Herman Vautel, John V. Krebs and Edward Richter.

The flag presented to the Tenth Illinois In¬ fantry by the ladies of Alton was carried through the four years' service of the regi¬ ment, and waved on the march through Geor¬ gia, the Carolinas and Virginia, and in the grand review at Washington. It is now dis¬ played among the Illinois battleflags in the state capitol.

Schedule i in the adjutant general's office, showing expenditures and liabilities incurred by towns and counties of Illinois in aid of the suppression of the rebellion, gives the follow¬ ing expenditures by Madison county : Alton : Bounties, $41,825; subsistence, $59975; soldiers' families, $23,414.24; total, $65,- 839.49. Highland: Bounties, $11,100; gen¬ eral expenses, $454.10; total, $11,554.10. Troy: Bounties, $5,400; general expenses,

$104; total, $5,504. Total expenditures by county, $89,897.59. The $23,414.24, ex¬ pended for the relief of soldiers' families, is especially creditable.

Rutherford ; brevet brigadier general, Loren Kent ; colonels, A. F. Rodgers, Samuel T. Hughes, L. S. Metcalf, John H. Kuhn and Charles E. Springer ; lieutenant colonels, Har¬ rison E. Hart, John E. Moore and James N. Morgan ; surgeon and medical inspector, George T. Allen; majors, Thomas J. Newsham, Joseph L. Morgan, William Padon, Smith Townsend, Henry Zeis, W. P. Olden, Emil Adam, William R. Prickett, Franklin B. Moore, W. A. Chapin, Elias K. Preuitt and Emil Frey; adjutants, Robert Clift, John H. Woods and John S. Robinson (brigade adju¬ tant) ; surgeons, Joseph Pogue, Emil Guelich, Charles Davis, Henry W. Boyd, T. J. Bluthart, Hezekiah Williams, Daniel M. Dunn, R. L. Metcalf and T. B. Yerkes; assistant sur¬ geons, C. M. Smith, George H. Dewey, Fran¬ cis W. Lytle, Eben. Rodgers, I. E. Hardy, Gustav Horn and C. E. Roesch ; chaplains, John D. Gillham, W. R. Adams, Irwin B. Randle, John E. Moore and Jesse P. Davis; commissaries of subsistence, William G. Pinckard and James W. Davis; quartermas¬ ters, George C. Cockrell, Gustav Korn and Lee D. Covell ; aides de camp, Captains H. M. Scarritt and W. W. Leverett and Adjutants James W. Allen, Robert H. Clift, John S. Robinson, John H. Woods, James B. New¬ man, S. A. Buckmaster, Jr., and E, A. Tucker.

In addition to the Union League, which was founded during the war for the purpose of sustaining the government and aiding the soldiers in the field, there existed the Ladies' Loyal League with much the same objects in view, but especially helpful in furnishing re¬ lief to the sick and wounded soldiers in con¬ nection witli the State and National Sanitary Commissions. One branch of the Ladies' Loyal League was organized at Alton in 1863 and continued its organization during the war. It was a secret society like the Union League. It was oath-bound and had its grips, signs and passwords. The organization accomplished a vast amount of good, working mainly in con¬ junction with the State Sanitary Commission, of which Col. John R. Woods, of Alton, was secretary. On the 22d and 23d of February, 1864, the Ladies' League gave a fair and festi¬ val at the City Hall, in aid of the Sanitary

Commission. As illustrative of the nature of their work the following excerpts from the appeal made to the public for support is illu¬ minating.

"The most pressing necessity for this noble enterprise continues and we hope that every Union-loving man, woman and child will give us their hearty cooperation. Let us all work for this grand object which is ultimately the hope of our brave men now languishing in hospitals for want of comforts we can well afford to send them. To the Union League and Aid Societies we appeal most earnestly. May we not expect from every Union League and Aid Society in the counties in our vicin¬ ity a box or package or articles in aid of the fair? A most cordial and earnest invitation is extended to the farmers to aid in this be¬ nevolent enterprise. In enumerating the do¬ nations needed for the fair the committee has thought best to arrange them in classes :

"Agricultural and dairy products of every kind. Fruits of all kinds. Supplies for tables, turkeys, chickens, hams, tongue, etc. ; cake of all kinds, jellies, canned fruit, oysters and pickles. Donations of money will also be ac¬ ceptable. For the farmers in our vicinity who would deem it a privilege to aid in the good cause we have appointed Mr. P. B. Whipple to receive anything they may furnish.

"Let everyone to whom this appeal comes do something. The great, ever-renewed and painful needs of our soldiers, sick and wounded in hospitals, call for the utmost ef¬ forts of all loyal men and women to make this affair a preeminent pecuniary success. We plead for the liberality of all loyal men and women. Those wishing further particulars

The fair was a great success. It was in¬ tended not alone for the soldiers in the field but for their families at home who were suf¬ fering for the necessities of life during the absence of their natural protectors in their country's service. The ladies extended an in¬ vitation to Governor Yates to be present and open the fair but he could not attend on ac¬ count of other engagements. The invitation extended to General Rosecrans, then in com¬ mand of the Department of Missouri at St. Louis, was accepted, Captain H. M. Scarritt going to St. Louis to make the arrangements. General Rosecrans not only attended but brought with him General Fisk and General Totten, and each officer brought the members of his staff. Great crowds patronized the fair and it was successful beyond expectations, the sum of $3,115.15 being realized therefrom. .

The Ladies' Loyal League of Alton seems to have been organized May 7, 1863, and the first officers to have been : President, Mrs. John M. Pearson; vice president, Mrs. H. S. Mathews; secretary, Mrs. M. I. Lee; treas¬ urer, Mrs. W. R. Adams. Mrs. Mathews was elected president February 7, 1864, and so re¬ mained while the league existed. Mr. Isaac Scarritt seems to have had chief charge in for¬ warding supplies collected, and had the active support of such men as Hon. Samuel Wade, John E. Hayner and many other prominent citizens. Alton being a military post with al¬ ways one or more regiments there stationed, there was plenty of work for the ladies' right at home and in aiding soldiers' families. Sim¬ ilar relief societies were formed in other parts of the county and the ladies devoted them¬ selves to scraping lint and making bandages for the wounded and in preparing delicacies for the hospitals. Not all the suffering and hardships of the war were endured by the soldiers in the field, but the wives and mothers showed equal heroism and endurance in the sorrowful lives they led at home, "eating their hearts out" with anxiety for their loved ones and not knowing at what hour the news from the front would bring them life-long sorrow.

There were other sidelights on the situation at home in war time that are not as pleasant to recall. These were the organizations of Sons of Liberty and Knights of the Golden Circle, which had ramifications throughout the county and in the county of Jersey reached the limit of armed resistance. There rebel officers crossed over from Missouri and drilled recruits along the banks of the Piasa and so open were their hostilities that guards were stationed for a period along the Grafton road leading into Alton to give warning of the approach of any hostile force, it being well known that conspir¬ acies were on foot to capture the military prison and release the prisoners. The oppo¬ nents of the war claimed to be in favor of the Union but that they were striving to restore it by compromise and by calling back the Union forces from the south. To further this end they resorted to every means to induce the soldiers to desert, on the plea that the war was being waged not to restore the Union but to abolish slavery. They hoped by Stirling up dissatisfaction in the north to create a fire in the rear which would call back the soldiers in the field and force a compromise. The elec¬ tions of the fall of 1862 had been disastrous to the Union cause and Illinois elected a leg¬ islature hostile to further prosecution of the war and passed resolutions denunciatory thereof. In answer to this a rousing Union meeting was held in Alton in February, 1863, which passed stirring resolutions favoring a vigorous prosecution of the war until all armed resistance to the government was sub¬ dued. This fire-in-the-rear legislature was later prorogued by' Governor Yates and there¬ after the state government was unhampered in its support of the national government.

One of the resolutions adopted by the Un¬ ion meeting at Alton was as follows : ''That we approve the president's proclamation (Emancipation) and will defend and maintain it against its northern defamers, who predict failure because the wish is father to the thought. That the efforts made by the here¬ tofore disguised but now open enemies of the country, to call a convention of rebels north to treat with rebels south, be spurned by all honest men, as those of the vilest and most treasonable enemy."

The response of the army to the resolutions passed by the legislature recommending an armistice and the calling of a national conven¬ tion to effect a compromise, was still more emphatic and unanimous. The Illinois regi¬ ments, wherever located, passed resolutions rebuking the legislature in scathing terms and denouncing the proposed armistice as in the highest degree "treacherous, dishonorable and cowardly." One of their resolutions read : "Resolved, that the Sixty-second Illinois will follow the flag that waved over the battlefields of our fathers wherever it may go, whether it may be on the many battlefields of the south, or against the miscreants, vile and perjured abettors of the north, and for the honor of that banner we pledge our lives, our property and our sacred honor." Those were war times and the upholders of the Union spoke their sentiments without any mental reservation or evasion.

In referring to the patriotism of Madison county and the part taken by the residents thereof in the Civil war we give a synopsis of the experience of a private soldier, James T. King, of Upper Alton, written by himself, and which we consider typical of the part taken by our soldiers in preserving the Union of the states. Mr. King writes: "The name which does not often appear in the recorded history of the Civil war is that of the private soldier, and yet it was he who made history possible, for he was the scout, the picket, the skirmisher and the firing line.

"In June, 1863, two hundred of Forrest's cavalry charged the cavalry outpost on the Murphysboro pike at Franklin, Tennessee. The infantry picket was aroused by a vidette dashing by yelling, 'two hundred Rebel cav¬ alry !' The Lieutenant in charge deployed his men behind a rail fence, and when he had placed them he said to this private soldier 'Now you stand in front of me.' He did. That is what the private soldier is for - to 'stand in front of me.' As the clattering hoofs of two hundred cavalry came thundering down the pike, driving before them the two remain¬ ing Union videttes, it looked bad for the eight infantry pickets and their thin line of battle, but the instant they reached our picket post these two Union videttes pulled their horses to their haunches, wheeled about and began emptying their carbines at the galloping rebel column. The brave bluff won. The enemy thought he had struck the infantry line of bat¬ tle, wheeled and retreated. It was the private soldier who did it.

"On August 26th business in Decatur was suspended. Her citizens were gathered about the Illinois Central depot. On the tops of freight cars, on lumber piles, at open windows, men and women were watching. The bands were playing, flags and flowers were every¬ where, and beneath were the tears of wives, mothers, sisters and sweethearts. Company F was off for the war. Of this company wfas one private soldier from Madison county. Af¬ ter the training camp at Springfield and the transfer to the south, came the manoeuvers to hold in check the rebel cavalry leader, John Morgan, as he worked devastation on the homes of Union men in Covington, Lexington, Paris, Danville and Frankfort, Kentucky. A trail of dead also marked the line of march. At Franklin his command kept up a series of skirmishes with Van Dorn's cavalry, during one of which in April. 1863, twenty-nine dead were left on the field east of town. The in¬ tervals between marching and skirmishing were, for the most part of three months, spent in building magnificent Fort Granger, with rifle pits and abattis extending more than a mile from the fort. Then the forward move¬ ment began, with Chattanooga as the objective point. The line of march was marked by Triune, Festerville, Wartrace, Tullahoma, Estell Springs, Winchester, Stevenson, Bridge¬ port. Shell Mound and then the occupation of Chattanooga. It must not be inferred that this was a direct march ; but that, skirmishing with the enemy always, guarding against flank movements and rear attacks, watching for the safety of wagon trains, the course was this way and that, forward and back, but ever crowding the enemy back, as matured the plans of our great commander, W. S. Rosecrans, who was known throughout the Army of the Cumberland as "Old Rosy" - the great flanker - and who by his strategy caused us to march many weary miles, but saved us from many pitched battles. It was in this campaign that both commissioned officers and the non-com¬ missioned might all have been classed as pri¬ vate soldiers. Shoulder straps were not much in evidence, and the men entitled to wear them carried the same blanket roll, haversack and canteen, and ate the same hard tack and raw bacon as the men whom they commanded. It was war now - bitter, cruel and pitiless war. No opportunity now for baths and clean clothes, and when we would occupy ground left by the Confederates, with their fires still burning, a man would whisper to his comrade : 'Something is wrong with those fellows in mess No. 3. They have got their shirts off and are looking for something. They are not very clean fellows, anyhow.' The comrade would reply: 'Well, I've been itching, too. I'm going to look.' Later: 'How many did you find?' 'Two. How many did you?' 'Beat you one. I got three. And then, look there! See the Colonel!' The Colonel sat on a cold grey stone on the sunny side of a tree. His shirt was off and he was examining the seams. And then a shout went up, started by us four of his Sunday school class and taken up by the regiment. The woods rang with 'Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah for Colonel Moore!' The rebel, the Yankee, the soldier, the officer were close kin. What a great leveler the army greyback was ! Sounds funny, perhaps, a half century later, but in the prison pens of the south it was the source of more acute torture than wounds, cold or starvation.

"The battle of Chickamauga ! Where Rosecrans overreached himself, where his flanking tactics had caused his own army to be flanked, where the strategy of military movements had changed from the Union to the Confederate side. The brave men of Thomas' corps ! How they held back the now overwhelming Confed¬ erate army that charged their front and with long sinuous lines extended out and beyond their right and left, while batteries with grape and canister shot plowed furrows down their battle line! Listen to the rattle of musketry. One hundred thousand men in close combat ! Hear it start faintly in the distance and roll nearer, regiment by regiment, until the men of the line for miles are at it. Hear the sul¬ len boom of the twelve pounders and the sharper report of the six pounders. Not one by one but six by six, working death and de¬ struction for all that was in them! See the dust and powder smoke rising above the trees. See the glistening in the clear sky, the reflec¬ tion of one hundred thousand bayonets and rifles. The Madison county boy was there with his division in the Chickamauga woods, with the reserves, listening to it all. But four miles away ! Arms stacked, but canteens filled, a few crackers, a little raw meat in the haversack and, better than all, sixty rounds of cartridges, and rifles so bright inside you could look down the barrel and see the breech pin. Chafing and fretting at their inaction were these reserves, for a day and a half. And listen; hear it now; see the smoke! 'God, will the orders never come? Ah, there it is. The bugle, the long roll.' And these boys of the line jumped for their gun stacks, and away by the right flank, in double quick time, to join with Thomas' men and play with death on Snod¬ grass Hill. Over the dead. Next the stream of wounded, calling 'Hurry up boys, you're needed.' 'Hurry? We are still on the double quick?' 'It's hot as hell up there.' 'We'll make it hotter!' 'You'd better say your prayers, boys.' 'We said them before we started.'

"Five hours of dust and flame, and blood and powder smoke. Five hours of hell. Three times struck, but not disabled. They were but scratches, and the boy did not leave the firing line; and when darkness stopped the fighting this eighteen-years' old boy helped to carry on a stretcher a wounded officer, four miles to the midnight rendezvous.

"Starvation now in the Union camp. Rosecrans had lost his nerve. The Confederates got old Lookout Mountain and our supply line. Thirty thousand mules gave up their lives trying to bring cartridges and crackers over the mountain roads to supply the Army of the Cumberland. Then the private soldier, again. The mules had done what they could. They failed and died. On picket all night. At sunrise, resting his head on his cartridge box, he dreamed of home, dreamed dreams that frosty air and memory of dead and dying comrades did not disturb. It was after the battle, but no time for tears.

" 'You are detailed to cross the river for forage.' 'But I have been on picket all night.' 'It's your turn to go.' It was the orderly ser¬ geant who spoke. 'I'll go, sir.' The soldier did not know he was going straight into the enemy's lines. The colonel knew. The Lieu¬ tenant in charge knew. He had his instruc¬ tions, but ignored them. No picket, no ad¬ vance guard. The command was unleashed. The chum of the soldier was killed, and all save one and the officer were made prisoners of war.

"Libby prison, escape and recapture ! Dan¬ ville prison, Andersonville, Charleston, Flor¬ ence! bloodhounds, lice, starvation and tor¬ ture ! How many lives can be lived in three short years !

"But it was for the Union. It was whether a government of the people might live. It was nothing that this Madison county boy did, for a hundred thousand were doing the same and more. And what shall the harvest be of the seed sown by the soldier of the Union and watered by their blood? Are we a better and a stronger nation because of the great con¬ flict? De we love liberty more and concede to others the same rights we claim for our¬ selves ?

"The old Confederates say 'We are glad we did not succeed, for an undivided country is better. But we were right! They and their children now hold that the great rebellion was a war between the states and that the plotting to overthrow the government at Washington, by those who had sworn to uphold it, to pro¬ tect and faithfully serve it, was a patriotic act. Let those reconcile these claims who can ; it is not for the soldier who saved the Union to enter the field of diplomacy or casuistry.

flag of secession is now almost as common in the nation's capital as the dear old Stars and Stripes.' What is it for? Now and then we are confronted with the red flag of anarchy. We can understand that. But this secession flag that we fired at in the sixties, and which we thought was buried at Appomattox! It keeps us guessing."

The flank advance on Chattanooga and the battle of Chickamauga covered a month of forced marches, skirmishing and fighting over mountains and through thickets of timber and brush in rain and mud by night and day.

Crack! Crack!, "Surrender you Yanks!" "Halt, there! Halt, or you're a dead man!" Crack! crack 1 crack! "Now surrender, you Yankee son of Yankee Doodle!"

I looked along a rifle barrel into the right eye of a Confederate as he hissed the words through his teeth. My companion had fallen dead at the first fire and I saw that this fellow meant to shoot. My answer was conciliating.

"Well, give me that hat. Here, I'll take that ring. That knife is mine." Our pockets went inside out, and I was more surprised when they began to exchange clothing with us. Some of our party who were better clothed than myself were forced to give up their blue coats and take butternut instead ; also to give boots in exchange for dilapidated shoes. When the dressing and undressing had been completed, but for the arms in the hands of our captors, you could'nt tell Yank from Confed. They forced us at the point of the bayonet to repair the railroad about Chicka¬ mauga which had been burned during the bat- tie. During these three days they gave us once daily a few ounces of meat and a pint and a half of meal. The latter we mixed with water and baked on a chip before a fire. The men who guarded us to Richmond had been in the thick of the fight at Chickamauga, and their humane treatment, in contrast with that of the authorities at Richmond and the stock¬ ades, was not forgotten. We were very hungry, and when the train stopped for wood they allowed us, after giving our parole, to break for the woods where we found wild grapes and muscadines. At Atlanta we were searched by officers and relieved of such trifles as we had not previously given up, or such as, by sleight-of-hand, we were unable to secrete. They did not spare us our tin canteens, tin cups and spoons. At Weldon we were sur¬ rounded by many persons of both sexes, who evinced much curiosity to know what battles we had been engaged in and the circumstances of our capture. One elderly gentleman re¬ marked: 'Yankees can't stand up against our southern soldiers ; we whip you on every bat¬ tlefield.'

"Passing under one of the wagon bridges that formed a railway crossing and which was covered with people, we were assailed with a shower of sticks and stones. On our arrival in Richmond October io, 1863, we were placed on the second floor of a tobacco building, over¬ looking the river. Extending from the corner across the sidewalk was this sign : 'Libby & Son, Ship Chandlers and Grocers.'

"To inhale some fresh air, I immediately seated myself at an open window and was drawn in by a fellow prisoner, or I should have been shot by an outside guard. A little later we were drawn up in line and counted, and then listened to a speech from a man whom

I learned later was 'young Ross.' He stated that for fear we might bribe our guards it would be necessary for us to give up what money, watches, jewelry and pocket knives we possessed. 'We might,' he said, 'keep what Confederate money we had, but greenbacks and coin must be turned over, all of which will be receipted for and turned over and returned when you are exchanged. And now, gentle¬ men, step up and get your receipts, after which you will all be carefully searched and anything that you have not turned over will be confis¬ cated.' It was surprising to see the amount of property that thus passed under Confeder¬ ate control. I could not understand how so much had escaped previous seizure, but the sagacity of Mr. Ross brought it to light. It was never seen by the Yankees again.

"We were soon removed to the Smiths' building, another tobacco factory. Here we were again searched, but the game was hardly worth the hunt. Our rations, we estimated at Richmond, at two to four ounces of beef and six to eight ounces of good wheat bread. To supplement this we made counterfeit green¬ backs, which we were sometimes able to pass ' on unsuspecting guards. Once by cutting out the figures in a ten cent scrip, and with a little blood gluing this over the figure one in a dol¬ lar greenback, myself and three comrades bought with this bogus ten dollar bill ninety loaves of good bread, and it was the only time while I was in the Confederacy that I had a full meal.

"The morning after this we were loaded into box cars for 'exchange ;' but the train moved towards Danville, which, we learned later, was our destination. As we approached the Roanoke river it was dark and raining. I had succeeded in removing the cap from the gun of one of our guards, and, attempting to do the same for the other, found his was not capped. So when the river was crossed and we had cleared the houses, four of us jumped from the moving train and escaped to the woods.

After five days and nights of almost super¬ human effort and suffering we were all re¬ captured and taken to Danville. While here our government sent, under flag of truce, clothing, a blanket and an overcoat for each of us. We learned of their arrival and there was great rejoicing; but on looking out next morning we saw our guards wearing blue overcoats and carrying new United States blankets. They gave us a portion, however, and our condition was much improved, but Danville looked like a Union camp. I saw here a number of recaptured prisoners under¬ going the torture of buck and gag; and once when we had dug a large tunnel from the cel¬ lar, our rations were cut off for forty-eight hours, and we were all driven to an upper room, thus driving four hundred men into space formerly occupied by two hundred. We were herded thus for two days, one person at a time being allowed to descend to the yard below, and not until his return could another go. Entreaties, threats and curses were met with bayonets, and a scene of horror ensued not to be described. About half a dozen who lay on the opposite side of the room from me forced a window and leaped to the ground below ; but they were riddled with buckshot and not one escaped. They brought in those who were not killed outright and we dug out some of the shot as best we could ; but our remnants of knives were poorly adapted to such work and the operation was critical. A man near me held a can of soup through an opening in the window to pour off some of the bugs. He fell, with a bullet through him. He was not killed, but he had learned his lesson.

"We reached Andersonville May 20, 1864. As I passed inside, the ground seemed entirely occupied. The stockade then contained eight¬ een acres and eight thousand men. On all sides I heard the cries of 'Fresh fish.' 'Look out for the dead line!' 'You can't stop here; pass on ; plenty of room down the hill.' I walked down the slope to unoccupied ground.

My feet sank into the yielding sand, and as I retraced my steps my footprints had filled with the slimy ooze from the hillside. I would not lie on such ground except as a last resort. On the farther side of the stockade, near the dead line, I found a smooth-faced boy named Reese. He was from Ohio, and was slow in his speech. He always smiled when he spoke, and his smile was sweet as a girl's, but sad as tears. He was sheltered under an old blanket stretched on three small sticks. I had secured an overcoat from the supplies sent us at Dan¬ ville, and this I had traded to a guard for two United States blankets. I had stolen a sheetiron tobacco plate from the cellar there which I had transformed into a dish. I had an old knife that I had managed to save from the searchers, and a haversack that had been car¬ ried through the Chattanooga campaign. I proposed a partnership with Reese, which, when I had shown my property, was speedily accomplished, and comparing our condition with those of thousands about us we were a pair of millionaires. Reese died in the pen at Florence. The three comrades with whom I escaped from the train died at Andersonville. One friend with whom I slept died at Charles¬ ton. and another was killed by a guard.

"Prisoners kept pouring into Andersonville until the number reached 23,000. The entire ground was covered until there was scarce room to move, and then the stockade was en¬ larged to thirty-three acres, and later the num¬ ber of prisoners reached 35,000. The soft hill¬ side by the tramping of so many feet became more solid, and thousands who had no vestige of a blanket burrowed holes to escape the heat and dew. When it rained these holes filled with water and the occupants had to sit out¬ side. The ration for the earlier months con¬ sisted of about four ounces of meat and a section of corn bread four inches square by three inches thick. The bread of unbolted meal was baked very hard for the depth of half an inch while the center was raw. The bread would often be as full of flies as a plum pudding is of fruit. As a large portion of our number drew rations after dark the in¬ gredients were not wasted. During the later months yams, rice or peas were issued in lieu of meat, and meal or grits instead of bread. We had no vessels to receive these, and the steaming rice was shoveled from the wagon box into blankets ; or a man would take off his trousers, knot one of the legs and thus receive the portion for his mess. The same method was used in the distribution of the yams and peas, except sometimes the receptacle was a piece of under clothing. Reese and I with some half a dozen others, with the aid of sticks and half canteens, dug a well some twenty feet deep, which yielded only drops of water, but it was a great improvement over the sluggish stream which carried to us the sewage of the cook house and the camps above. When rations were issued raw a feeble at¬ tempt was made to furnish wood. A few loads of wood came in so that once a week a mess of fifteen would receive two cord-wood sticks. These were so inadequate that we dug in the sand for the roots of the forest that had once covered the ground. This was done so long as a piece the size of a lead pencil remained. The heat of July and August caused Reese and hundreds of others to go blind after the sun went down, nor could they see until the sun rose again. We called them 'moon-eyed men.'

"All the old prisoners had scurvy. Nine or ten months of prison life did not fail to pro¬ duce it. While smallpox prevailed at Dan¬ ville the authorities caused a general vaccina¬ tion. Many hundreds of these men were now attacked with a virulent gangrene. These, with the wounded, the scurvy cases and the imbeciles, used to gather daily at the south gate to solicit medical aid. The dead were also carried there to await the opening at nine o'clock. Then Confederate surgeons came in and applied some substance to the wounds that caused them to emit smoke. This did not stop the work of the gangrene, but it killed the parasites. While the dead were accumulating I used to count thirty, forty, sixty and more, coming from all quarters of the stockade. Death came slowly. It seemed a gradual wear¬ ing out. I had noticed what I supposed was a dead soldier lying for some days near my place. He had comrades there, and at last one of us ventured to inquire 'Why don't you carry that man out?' 'You'd better wait until he is dead.' 'Well, he will never be any deader than he is,' was the retort. "You wait and see.' I noted him carefully for some minutes, when at last the breast heaved slightly and emitted a faint sigh.

"Passing down the hill one day a packed mass of men attracted my attention. As I pushed my way in, making inquiries, I was answered, 'The hounds ! The hounds ! A man sat naked on the sands. His comrades were pouring water over him. He was cov¬ ered with scratches and bites from his head to his feet. His face, his breast, his back and limbs were torn and bruised. 'I could have fought off the dogs,' he said, 'but the men cocked their revolvers and made me come down from the tree, and then they set on the dogs until they were tired.'

"It was in June that a small portion of the prisoners were transformed into beasts and be¬ gan to prey upon the others. They snatched and ate the rations of the weaker ones and grew strong. We called them 'raiders and they grew in numbers and boldness until mur¬ der was added to theft and no one was safe. They made raids within a few steps of where I lay, and cut and bruised some men in a hor¬ rible manner. The prisoners began to organ¬ ize as regulators, and armed themselves with the sticks that had supported their little shel¬ ters. The raiders, anticipating trouble, began to organize and also called themselves regu¬ lators. The law and order men began the ar¬ rest of the raiders and they began the arrest of the others, and even of non-combatants, that they might turn attention from them¬ selves. The stockade was pandemonium those days. Hundreds of half naked men here, and hundreds there, surged to and fro, with sticks and fists for weapons. No one can say what was done. The dense crowd hid the acts of individuals, but order was finally victorious. A court was organized ; as is well known six of the raiders were found guilty of murder and were hanged. The others, with the innocent men that had been arrested in the turmoil, were all compelled to run the gauntlet, where fearful vengeance was visited upon the unfor¬ tunates.

"Towards the last of August we were sent to Charleston, and later to Florence, South Carolina. There was no shelter. The weather, later, was cold, ice forming on the little stream nightly. The rations were uncooked and more scant. There was no meat issued, and we were very weak. The punishments, as at Andersonville, involved the hounds, the buck and gag, and the chain gang. I did not see any stocks at Florence, but the commandant used to hang up by the thumbs men who had es¬ caped and been retaken. I heard their shrieks in the long nights. Things got shadowy, then ; I was burning with fever and shaking to pieces. I could not eat the grits. Comrades brought me water from the swamp. I had lain so long that a depression was formed in the sand and it was difficult to turn. I heard shots, and they said men were killed. I saw dead men carried by. Men stopped to look at me as I had looked at others, and passed on. One said 'See how he shakes;' another 'How white that fellow is ; he won't last long.'

"Then there was talk of parole, and I was outside, a comrade under each shoulder. To the box cars again - a Confederate steamer - iron clads - Fort Sumter, - a transport of the United States, from the masthead of which floated the Stars and Stripes. Sailors in natty uniforms leaned over the rail, and, looking down upon the deck of our rusty little cockle shell, they gave us a welcome cheer. This was the sixth time we had left prison or stockade for exchange and it now seemed that our guards had for once told us the truth. We had often said, during the weary months from Libby to Florence, that when we should once again see the old flag we would shout until we woke the echoes for miles around. But it was a feeble cheer that went up from the wrecks of men squatting on the open deck. Here and there some of the stronger ones formed knots of five or six and broke into such a wild dance or walk around yelling or singing awhile, that they might have been regarded as maniacs loosed from their cells. Some knelt in silent prayer, and tear drops cut faint furrows down grimy cheeks where they had long been strangers. Others swore and cursed. They cursed everybody related to the Confederacy, and the things that had contributed to the hardships of their prison experiences, and, as if that were not material enough, they crossed the lines and cursed Lincoln and Grant be¬ cause of the broken cartel. I hugged to my side the little bag of grits I had accumulated.

I could not eat the grits but dared not let them go until I knew that we were surely free. I had starved so long that those broken kernels of corn were very precious. I was constantly hop¬ ing to barter them for something that I could eat, or possibly for a dose of quinine or some peppers. But now a gang plank was run from an opening in the side of the transport. It was lined on each side by sailors who pushed us rapidly along and aboard the big vessel. In the hold before us was a great stack of blue uni¬ forms and clean underclothing, complete from cap to shoes. Kind attendants, too, were there to assist us, and they said, 'Strip now, quick, take everything ofif, and throw your rags over¬ board.' And out they went through a port hole overhead. They were very filthy, for they were the remnants, of what we had worn a year and a half before in the Chattanooga campaign, remnants of what we had gained in traffic, remnants of what we had taken from the bodies of our dead. They had been held together by threads raveled from the stronger parts and held together by needles made from splinters of Georgia pine. We thought Charleston harbor a fit burying place for them all. As fast as dressed we were marched in two ranks to an upper deck, where we' passed a small window from which was handed to each of us a pound loaf of wheat bread. At another window each of us re¬ ceived a great piece of raw fat pork - a half pound and the sweetest morsel I ever tasted. At still another window each got a pint cup full of steaming United States coffee. It was then, when our digestive organs had something to work on, when we were decently clothed, and were at last free from the torture of ver¬ min, that lost manhood began to return. Each did not now look upon his fellow as some¬ thing to be watched and feared. We did not watch that night lest our bread should be stolen. In fact, it was reported that we would receive rations again in the morning - a fact heard to believe. Some, after being rationed fell into line a second and even a third time and hoarded their bread and meat. When their actions were noted they were told to take all they wanted.

"Rounding Cape Hatteras much of this bread and meat was brought to light again, and for forty-eight hours the ship presented anything but the neat and trim appearance we had noted on first coming aboard. The ship's surgeon, the officers and their wives, vied with the sailors in attentions to their passengers. Five only of our number died on the trip to Annapolis, and here, after we had been again stripped and washed, and our hair clipped close, we were put to bed between white sheets. Women came to my cot with oysters fresh from the bay, with bread and butter, jellies and pickles, with shining glass and snowwhite napkins, and when I had eaten they said

'Now you just rest and sleep, and dream of home.' When I was able to read the card at the head of my cot, I found : 'Phthisis pulmonalis, fever, general debility; diet - treatment.' I cannot remember the diet nor the treatment, but I remember well the minis¬ trations of those women ; how they hovered round my cot, touching up my pillow, and how their cool hands rested on my hot forehead. I do not know whether they were army nurses, residents of Annapolis, or members of Chris¬ tian and Sanitary commissions. I never knew. But the soldiers have not forgotten their min¬ istrations, and give to woman's loyalty and patriotism a 'royal three times three.' "

William Henderson was an escaped pris¬ oner of war, who had been captured in Mis¬ souri where he had served in Price's army. He was confined in the Federal prison at Alton from which he made his escape in company with two others, and made his way into Greene county where he was concealed by sym¬ pathizers until search for him had ceased. He found favoring conditions existing in the coun¬ ties of Greene, Jersey, Macoupin and Calhoun. The early settlers in the south-central sections of Illinois were mainly from the southern states and sympathizers with the rebellion were numerous. So largely was this senti¬ ment entertained in these counties, all adja¬ cent to or bordering on Madison, that open avowals of disloyalty were made by many of southern birth or descent without fear of un¬ pleasant consequences. Henderson took ad¬ vantage of this feeling. He allied himself with a certain Captain Carlin, of Carrollton, a member of a family that furnished Illinois with one of its early governors. Carlin was a sympathizer with the south, a man widely known and held in certain heroic esteem by the common people with whom he was accustomed

Henderson and Carlin entered into com¬ munication with certain agents of the Vallandigham type who were scheming to throw open the state to the invasion of a southern army, by way of Missouri. Their plot was a link in a wide-spread conspiracy to free all the Con¬ federates confined in Federal prisons in the north, unite them with the Knights of the Golden Circle and Sons of Liberty, and inau¬ gurate a conflict in the north that would call back the Union armies from the south to pro¬ tect thHr own homes.

From among the young men over the coun¬ try districts the plotters found material pecu¬ liarly suited for their purpose either by reason of home influences that rendered them ready to espouse the southern cause, or as an outlet for their surplus energies that craved advanture, the novelty of camp life, and the glamor of predatory raids on the Robin Hood order, * for the plans of the leaders included not only the release of the inmates of the military prison at Alton but the looting of the banks in that city.

But the leaders here lost the opportunity for the success of their plans by a fatal mis¬ take in the selection of the arm of service for which the material they had in hand was adapted. They began training and drilling them for the infantry arm when their recruits preferred and were eminently fitted for the cavalry branch. Every young man owned his own horse and as a fearless rider had no supe¬ rior. He was most at home in the saddle, but the monotony of the infantry drill did not ap¬ peal to him. It was lacking in dash and ex¬ citement. The towns did not furnish as large a number of recruits for the Henderson army as the rural districts, but they did afford strong sympathetic influences from many prominent personages wdio looked with favor on the movement. But gradually the rigid infantry drilling, which took place Saturday afternoons and Sundays, in open glades along the timbered sections of Piasa creek, grew wearisome. The recruits showed that they could more quickly form in cavalry lines and execute evolutions in such formations. This took the eye of Carlin, who was an expert horseman, but Henderson, who had served in the southern infantry, did not approve of them and dissension arose. In addition, the busy harvest season was at hand and served as a factor to enhance disintegration. Desertion became common but with the depletion of the home recruits there came into the section ref¬ ugees from the south, with renegades from the north and east, who were drawn into the serv¬ ice. They had nothing to lose and the lure of unlimited loot was ever before them.

The complexion of the forces thus changed. Many young men'of the counties who had, un¬ til the advent of the new-comers, remained in nominal membership, refused to be connected further with the now lawless gang. Soon the new recruits refused to move from one camp to another on foot. They needed mounts and they stole them. Henderson and Carlin fought against this, knowing it would excite local hostility, but the wedge was entered. They must either stand firmly by their new vagabond crew or throw up their plans, and they accepted the situation and stood for it.

Thus swept along, aided by unscrupulous persons of the counties, who sought escape from the toll of robbery by lending the ma¬ rauding crews such assistance as lay within their power, and openly encouraged to further depredations by those whose hatred to the Re¬ publicans was as deadly as that our forefa¬ thers held against the Tories. The reign of terror swept over the counties and down into Madison, ebbing and flowing through the years of 1863-4 and well up into the following year. The marauders exacted a heavy toll of prop¬ erty and murderers had a free way that the law seemed powerless to control.

At Fidelity, in Jersey county, a branch store had been established by the firm of Hatheway & Wade of Alton, and placed under the man¬ agement of George Miller and Richard Holden, two young clerks of that city. Miller was a quiet-mannered young man who had risen high in the esteem of the firm in whose employ he was in the main store at Alton. He was intrusted with business of consider¬ able magnitude since it embraced the trade of a rich section of Jersey and Macoupin coun¬ ties. He was very popular with the townsmen of Fidelity and the farmers of the surround¬ ing country.

Among the advisers of Henderson was a Doctor Jay, of Fidelity, a physician who had abandoned his practice and was, during that troubled period, proprietor of the Union Ho¬ tel of that place, the sign of which was chopped down to signify aversion to the title. He ran a saloon in connection with the hotel, a low doggery, that was the daily scene of brutal fights between rival factions. Jay had gained a controlling hand over Henderson and by de¬ grees led him into heavy drinking, during which he induced him to aid in many robber¬ ies. One of these was the robbery of an old miser named Coventry, by which the gang se¬ cured $10,000 in gold coin which had been se¬ creted in logs about the farm and buried in the earth. The miser was compelled at the pistol's point to dig up and hand over his hid¬ den treasure to the outlaws.

One day in November, 1864, Flenderson, Moss (another escaped prisoner) and Simp¬ son rode into Fidelity and tied their horses to the rack in front of Jay's bar-room. There were in Fidelity at the time two soldiers home on furlough, named Webb Hoag and Thomas Watson. Jay had a particular hatred for both of them because of their bold, outspoken de¬ nunciation of the Knights of the Golden Cir¬ cle, of which Jay was the leading spirit. Jay waited until his three customers were well plied with whisky before he suggested doing away with such dangerous enemies to the safety of the gang as the soldiers. His sug¬ gestion met with the immediate approval of Moss, who, accompanied by Henderson rode down to the store of Hauskins in which was located the postoffice. The third man, Simp¬ son, followed behind them.

Moss met one of the soldiers, Watson, in the store. The latter had just received notifi¬ cation of his recall to duty. Moss picked a quarrel with him and shot him dead. Hoag, the comrade of Watson, hearing the reports of revolvers from both Moss and Simpson, hurried into the store and was shot down as he entered.

Henderson had remained on his horse in the road, in front of the store, with the reins of the horses of the two other men in one hand. In the other he held a navy revolver with which he intimidated the crowd, which, know¬ ing Henderson's quickness and unfailing aim, kept well back from the scene. Three doors north of the postoffice was the Hatheway & Wade store, a brick building with a door open¬ ing on the side, away from the scene on the street. Miller heard the first shot fired that killed Watson. He ran to the rear of the store and secured a double-barreled shot gun, loaded with buck shot. He was warned to remain in the store, but did not heed the caution. He passed out of the door and walking along the side of the building suddenly stepped from the corner and throwing the gun to his shoulder fired at Henderson, whose quick eye had caught sight of him as he threw up the gun, and fired without bringing the revolver to his eye. The two shots crossed. Miller fell with a ball through his heart. Henderson was struck by one of the buckshot in his right leg which broke the bone below the knee. The desperadoes then galloped away.

The body of Miller was taken to Alton by his employers. Albert Wade rode to Fidelity on the night of the tragedy, through one of the furious storms that at times sweep over the prairies in November. Miller was buried in his home town of Upper Alton, in Oakwood cemetery. His wife, a daughter of Captain Troy Moore, a brave soldier, still resides in the home she entered as a bride a short time before her husband's tragical death.

Henderson was overtaken the next day by a pursuing posse. He was secreted in a farm house, in the edge of Macoupin county, five miles from the scene of the murder. He was waiting for medical aid to have his wounded leg dressed. He was shot by the posse which captured him. His body now lies in the woods, a neglected grave near the town of Medora. His companion, Moss, was caught, after a long search, and after a brief trial, was hanged in the jail at Jersey ville. The third outlaw now lives in Missouri, and is known as a reformed, law-abiding citizen.

With the death of the leaders of the ma¬ rauders ended the reign of outlawry and open advocacy of disunion in the counties named. The section so long dominated by the con¬ spirators, as fair a land as the sun shines on, soon became, as it is now, the home of smiling peace, where plenty and prosperity bless a happy, united people.

Forty-seven years have passed since the close of the great Civil war and during that period the ranks of the survivors have grown thin. Of the 4,400 young men who re¬ sponded to their country's call from this county the number of survivors is unknown. Many of them have removed to other states, but those living are still resident in their old homes. All of them have passed their three¬ score and many of their their four-score years. They realize the truth of the script¬ ure limitation of life: "For the days of the years of man's life are three-score years and ten, and if, by reason of strength, they be four-score years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow." They live mainly in patriotic recollections of a fearful but glorious episode of their lives and in tender memories of the comrades who marched with them to the front and returned no more; who died on the battle field, on the march, in hospitals or in prison pens. But the fire of their patriotism has never been quenched. It glows and burns with enduring brightness. They have lived to see a united country, saved to freedom and progress by their valor and sacrifice. That the returned soldiers became good and useful citizens and leaders in every movement for the country's prosperity and upbuilding in peace, as they were its bulwarks of its defense in war, is but a natural sequence, or evolution, of their patriotism. A soldier who volunteers surrenders his individuality. He goes where he is sent and does what he is told. He no longer directs his own life, but merges it in that of his country for life or death. The organization of the Grand Army of the Re¬ public is a concrete expression of continued loyalty and devotion to the country which the members offered their lives to save. It is a renewal of the comradeship of the heroic days when they followed the flag, touched el¬ bows and kept step to the throbbing of the drum. Not all old soldiers belong to the Grand Army but all holding an honorable dis¬ charge are eligible to membership.*

*Since the above was written the editor has had access to the muster rolls, as published at the time, of the local companies that volunteered under the president's first call in April, 1861. They were more than could be accepted. Their local designations and commanders were : Madison Guards, Captain Jos. G. Robinson; Alton City Guards, Captain B. W. Tucker; Alton Jaeger Guards, Captain John H. Kuhn; Union Guards, Captain Harrison 'E. Hart; Buckmaster Guards, Captain L. B. Hubbell; Alton Artillery Company, Captain Henry Platt; Mont¬ gomery Guards, Captain J. E. Coppinger. A seventh company, under Captain J. H. Yager, was also or¬ ganized from the overplus of the Alton and Edwardsville companies.

All these are flourishing and in good work¬ ing condition, daily exemplifying the lessons of patriotism. New Douglas Post, No. 670, has disbanded.