1863
1863
January.—Grandmother went to Aunt Mary Carr’s to tea to-night, very much to our surprise, for she seldom goes anywhere. Anna said she was going to keep house exactly as Grandmother did, so after supper she took a little hot water in a basin on a tray and got the tea-towels and washed the silver and best china but she let the ivory handles on the knives and forks get wet, so I presume they will all turn black. Grandmother never lets her little nice things go out into the kitchen, so probably that is the reason that everything is forty years old and yet as good as new. She let us have the Young Ladies’ Aid Society here to supper because I am President. She came into the parlor and looked at our basket of work, which the elder ladies cut out for us to make for the soldiers. She had the supper table set the whole length of the dining room and let us preside at the table. Anna made the girls laugh so, they could hardly eat, although they said everything was splendid. They said they never ate better biscuit, preserves, or fruit cake and the coffee was delicious. After it was over, the “dear little lady” said she hoped we had a good time. After the girls were gone Grandmother wanted to look over the garments and see how much we had accomplishedand if we had made them well. Mary Field made a pair of drawers with No. 90 thread. She said she wanted them to look fine and I am sure they did. Most of us wrote notes and put inside the garments for the soldiers in the hospitals.
Sarah Gibson Howell has had an answer to her letter. His name is Foster—a Major. She expects him to come and see her soon.
All the girls wear newspaper bustles to school now and Anna’s rattled to-day and Emma Wheeler heard it and said, “What’s the news, Anna?” They both laughed out loud and found that “the latest news from the front” was that Miss Morse kept them both after school and they had to copy Dictionary for an hour. War prices are terrible. I paid $3.50 to-day for a hoop skirt.
January13.—P. T. Barnum delivered his lecture on “The Art of Money Getting” in Bemis Hall this evening for the benefit of the Ladies’ Aid Society, which is working for the soldiers. We girls went and enjoyed it.
February.—The members of our society sympathized with General McClellan when he was criticised by some and we wrote him the following letter:
“Canandaigua,Feb.13, 1863.“Maj. Gen. Geo. McClellan:“Will you pardon any seeming impropriety in our addressing you, and attribute it to the impulsive loveand admiration of hearts which see in you, the bravest and noblest defender of our Union. We cannot resist the impulse to tell you, be our words ever so feeble, how our love and trust have followed you from Rich Mountain to Antietam, through all slanderous attacks of traitorous politicians and fanatical defamers—how we have admired, not less than your calm courage on the battlefield, your lofty scorn of those who remained at home in the base endeavor to strip from your brow the hard earned laurels placed there by a grateful country: to tell further, that in your forced retirement from battlefields of the Republic’s peril, you have ‘but changed your country’s arms for more,—your country’s heart,’—and to assure you that so long as our country remains to us a sacred name and our flag a holy emblem, so long shall we cherish your memory as the defender and protector of both. We are an association whose object it is to aid, in the only way in which woman, alas! can aid our brothers in the field. Our sympathies are with them in the cause for which they have periled all—our hearts are with them in the prayer, that ere long their beloved commander may be restored to them, and that once more as of old he may lead them to victory in the sacred name of the Union and Constitution.“With united prayers that the Father of all may have you and yours ever in His holy keeping, we remain your devoted partisans.”Signed by a large number.
“Canandaigua,Feb.13, 1863.
“Maj. Gen. Geo. McClellan:
“Will you pardon any seeming impropriety in our addressing you, and attribute it to the impulsive loveand admiration of hearts which see in you, the bravest and noblest defender of our Union. We cannot resist the impulse to tell you, be our words ever so feeble, how our love and trust have followed you from Rich Mountain to Antietam, through all slanderous attacks of traitorous politicians and fanatical defamers—how we have admired, not less than your calm courage on the battlefield, your lofty scorn of those who remained at home in the base endeavor to strip from your brow the hard earned laurels placed there by a grateful country: to tell further, that in your forced retirement from battlefields of the Republic’s peril, you have ‘but changed your country’s arms for more,—your country’s heart,’—and to assure you that so long as our country remains to us a sacred name and our flag a holy emblem, so long shall we cherish your memory as the defender and protector of both. We are an association whose object it is to aid, in the only way in which woman, alas! can aid our brothers in the field. Our sympathies are with them in the cause for which they have periled all—our hearts are with them in the prayer, that ere long their beloved commander may be restored to them, and that once more as of old he may lead them to victory in the sacred name of the Union and Constitution.
“With united prayers that the Father of all may have you and yours ever in His holy keeping, we remain your devoted partisans.”
Signed by a large number.
The following in reply was addressed to the lady whose name was first signed to the above:
“New York,Feb.21, 1863.“Madam—I take great pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of the very kind letter of the 13th inst.,from yourself and your friends. Will you do me the favor to say to them how much I thank them for it, and that I am at a loss to express my gratitude for the pleasant and cheering terms in which it is couched. Such sentiments on the part of those whose brothers have served with me in the field are more grateful to me than anything else can be. I feel far more than rewarded by them for all I have tried to accomplish.—I am, Madam, with the most sincere respect and friendship, yours very truly,Geo. B. McClellan.”
“New York,Feb.21, 1863.
“Madam—I take great pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of the very kind letter of the 13th inst.,from yourself and your friends. Will you do me the favor to say to them how much I thank them for it, and that I am at a loss to express my gratitude for the pleasant and cheering terms in which it is couched. Such sentiments on the part of those whose brothers have served with me in the field are more grateful to me than anything else can be. I feel far more than rewarded by them for all I have tried to accomplish.—I am, Madam, with the most sincere respect and friendship, yours very truly,
Geo. B. McClellan.”
May.—A number of the teachers and pupils of the Academy have enlisted for the war. Among them E. C. Clarke, H. C. Kirk, A. T. Wilder, Norman K. Martin, T. C. Parkhurst, Mr. Gates. They have a tent on the square and are enlisting men in Canandaigua and vicinity for the 4th N. Y. Heavy Artillery. I received a letter from Mr. Noah T. Clarke’s mother in Naples. She had already sent three sons, Bela, William and Joseph, to the war and she is very sad because her youngest has now enlisted. She says she feels as did Jacob of old when he said, “I am bereaved of my children. Joseph is not and Simeon is not and now you will take Benjamin away.” I have heard that she is a beautiful singer but she says she cannot sing any more until this cruel war is over. I wish that I could write something to comfort her but I feel as Mrs. Browning puts it: “If you want a song for your Italy free, let none look at me.”
Our society met at Fannie Pierce’s this afternoon. Her mother is an invalid and never gets out at all, but she is very much interested in the soldiers and in all young people, and loves to have us come in and see her and we love to go. She enters into the plans of all of us young girls and has a personal interest in us. We had a very good time to-night and Laura Chapin was more full of fun than usual. Once there was silence for a minute or two and some one said, “awful pause.” Laura said, “I guess you would have awful paws if you worked as hard as I do.” We were talking about how many of us girls would be entitled to flag bed quilts, and according to the rules, they said that, up to date, Abbie Clark and I were the only ones. The explanation is that Captain George N. Williams and Lieutenant E. C. Clarke are enlisted in their country’s service. Susie Daggett is Secretary and Treasurer of the Society and she reported that in one year’s time we made in our society 133 pairs of drawers, 101 shirts, 4 pairs socks for soldiers, and 54 garments for the families of soldiers.
Abbie Clark and I had our ambrotypes taken to-day for two young braves who are going to the war. William H. Adams is also commissioned Captain and is going to the front.
July4.—The terrible battle of Gettysburg brings to Canandaigua sad news of our soldier boys of the 126th Regiment. Colonel Sherrill was instantly killed, also Captains Wheeler and Herendeen, Henry Willson and Henry P. Cook. Captain Richardson was wounded.
“Abbie Clarkand Ihad our ambrotypes taken to-day.”“Mr. Noah T. Clark’sBrother and I”
“Abbie Clark
and I
had our ambrotypes taken to-day.”
“Mr. Noah T. Clark’sBrother and I”
July26.—Charlie Wheeler was buried with military honors from the Congregational church to-day. Two companies of the 54th New York State National Guard attended the funeral, and the church was packed, galleries and all. It was the saddest funeral and the only one of a soldier that I ever attended. I hope it will be the last. He was killed at Gettysburg, July 3, by a sharpshooter’s bullet. He was a very bright young man, graduate of Yale college and was practising law. He was captain of Company K, 126th N. Y. Volunteers. I have copied an extract from Mr. Morse’s lecture, “You and I”: “And who has forgotten that gifted youth, who fell on the memorable field of Gettysburg? To win a noble name, to save a beloved country, he took his place beneath the dear old flag, and while cannon thundered and sabers clashed and the stars of the old Union shone above his head he went down in the shock of battle and left us desolate, a name to love and a glory to endure. And as we solemnly know, as by the old charter of liberty we most sacredly swear, he was truly and faithfully and religiously
Of all our friends the noblest,The choicest and the purest,The nearest and the dearest,In the field at Gettysburg.Of all the heroes bravest,Of soul the brightest, whitest,Of all the warriors greatest,Shot dead at Gettysburg.And where the fight was thickest,And where the smoke was blackest,And where the fire was hottest,On the fields of Gettysburg,There flashed his steel the brightest,There blazed his eyes the fiercest,There flowed his blood the reddestOn the field of Gettysburg.O wailing winds of heaven!O weeping dew of evening!O music of the watersThat flow at Gettysburg,Mourn tenderly the hero,The rare and glorious hero,The loved and peerless hero,Who died at Gettysburg.His turf shall be the greenest,His roses bloom the sweetest,His willow droop the saddestOf all at Gettysburg.His memory live the freshest,His fame be cherished longest,Of all the holy warriors,Who fell at Gettysburg.
Of all our friends the noblest,
The choicest and the purest,
The nearest and the dearest,
In the field at Gettysburg.
Of all the heroes bravest,
Of soul the brightest, whitest,
Of all the warriors greatest,
Shot dead at Gettysburg.
And where the fight was thickest,
And where the smoke was blackest,
And where the fire was hottest,
On the fields of Gettysburg,
There flashed his steel the brightest,
There blazed his eyes the fiercest,
There flowed his blood the reddest
On the field of Gettysburg.
O wailing winds of heaven!
O weeping dew of evening!
O music of the waters
That flow at Gettysburg,
Mourn tenderly the hero,
The rare and glorious hero,
The loved and peerless hero,
Who died at Gettysburg.
His turf shall be the greenest,
His roses bloom the sweetest,
His willow droop the saddest
Of all at Gettysburg.
His memory live the freshest,
His fame be cherished longest,
Of all the holy warriors,
Who fell at Gettysburg.
These were patriots, these were our jewels. When shall we see their like again? And of every soldier who has fallen in this war his friends maywrite just as lovingly as you and I may do of those to whom I pay my feeble tribute.”
August,1863.—The U. S. Sanitary Commission has been organized. Canandaigua sent Dr. W. Fitch Cheney to Gettysburg with supplies for the sick and wounded and he took seven assistants with him. Home bounty was brought to the tents and put into the hands of the wounded soldiers. A blessed work.
August12.—Lucilla Field was married in our church to-day to Rev. S. W. Pratt. I always thought she was cut out for a minister’s wife. Jennie Draper cried herself sick because Lucilla, her Sunday School teacher, is going away.
October8.—News came to-day of the death of Lieutenant Hiram Brown. He died of fever at Portsmouth, only little more than a year after he went away.
November1.—The 4th New York Heavy Artillery is stationed at Fort Hamilton, N. Y. harbor. Uncle Edward has invited me down to New York to spend a month! Very opportune! Grandfather says that I can go and Miss Rosewarne is beginning a new dress for me to-day.
November6.—We were saddened to-day by news of the death of Augustus Torrey Wilder in the hospital at Fort Ethan Allen.
November9.—No. 68 E. 19th Street, New York City. Grandfather and I came from Canandaigua yesterday. He is at Gramercy Park Hotel. We were met by a military escort of “one” at Albany and consequently came through more safely, I suppose. James met us at 42d Street Grand Central Station. He lives at Uncle Edward’s; attends to all of his legal business and is his confidential clerk. I like it very much here. They are very stylish and grand but I don’t mind that. Aunt Emily is reserved and dignified but very kind. People do not pour their tea or coffee into their saucers any more to cool it, but drink it from the cup, and you must mind and not leave your teaspoon in your cup. I notice everything and am very particular. Mr. Morris K. Jesup lives right across the street and I see him every day, as he is a friend of Uncle Edward. Grandfather has gone back home and left me in charge of friends “a la militaire” and others.
November15.—“We” went out to Fort Hamilton to-day and are going to Blackwell’s Island to-morrow and to many other places of interest down the Bay. Soldiers are everywhere and I feel quite important, walking around in company with blue coat and brass buttons—very becoming style of dress for men and the military salute at every turn is what one reads about.
Sunday.—Went to Broadway Tabernacle to church to-day and heard Rev. Joseph P. Thompsonpreach. Abbie Clark is visiting her sister, Mrs. Fred Thompson, and sat a few seats ahead of us in church. She turned around and saw us. We also saw Henrietta Francis Talcott, who was a “Seminary girl.” She wants me to come to see her in her New York home.
November19.—We wish we were at Gettysburg to-day to hear President Lincoln’s and Edward Everett’s addresses at the dedication of the National Cemetery. We will read them in to-morrow’s papers, but it will not be like hearing them.
Author’s Note,1911.—Forty-eight years have elapsed since Lincoln’s speech was delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers’ Cemetery at Gettysburg. So eloquent and remarkable was his utterance that I believe I am correct in stating that every word spoken has now been translated into all known languages and is regarded as one of the World Classics. The same may be said of Lincoln’s letter to the mother of five sons lost in battle. I make no apology for inserting in this place both the speech and the letter. Mr. Whitelaw Reid, the American Ambassador to Great Britain, in an address on Lincoln delivered at the University of Birmingham in December, 1910, remarked in reference to this letter, “What classic author in our common English tongue has surpassed that?” and next may I ask, “What English or American orator has on a similaroccasion surpassed this address on the battlefield of Gettysburg?”
“Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here—but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve, that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
“Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here—but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve, that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
It was during the dark days of the war that he wrote this simple letter of sympathy to a bereaved mother:—
“I have been shown, in the files of the WarDepartment, a statement that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from your grief for a loss so overwhelming, but I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation which may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.”
“I have been shown, in the files of the WarDepartment, a statement that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from your grief for a loss so overwhelming, but I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation which may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.”
November21.—Abbie Clark and her cousin Cora came to call and invited me and her soldier cousin to come to dinner to-night, at Mrs. Thompson’s. He will be here this afternoon and I will give him the invitation. James is asked for the evening.
November22.—We had a delightful visit. Mr. Thompson took us up into his den and showed us curios from all over the world and as many pictures as we would find in an art gallery.
Friday.—Last evening Uncle Edward took a party of us, including Abbie Clark, to Wallack’s Theater to see “Rosedale,” which is having a great run. I enjoyed it and told James it was the best play I ever “heard.” He said I must not say that I “heard” a play. I “saw” it. I stand corrected.
I told James that I heard of a young girl who went abroad and on her return some one asked her if she saw King Lear and she said, no, he was sick all the time she was there! I just loved the play last night and laughed and cried in turn, it seemed so real. I don’t know what Grandmother will say, but I wrote her about it and said, “When you are with the Romans, you must do as the Romans do.” I presume she will say “that is not the way you were brought up.”
December7.—The 4th New York Heavy Artillery has orders to move to Fort Ethan Allen, near Washington, and I have orders to return to Canandaigua. I have enjoyed the five weeks very much and as “the soldier” was on parole most of the time I have seen much of interest in the city. Uncle Edward says that he has lived here forty years but has never visited some of the places that we have seen, so he told me when I mentioned climbing to the top of Trinity steeple.
Canandaigua,December8.—Home again. I had military attendance as far as Paterson, N. J., and came the rest of the way with strangers. Not caring to talk I liked it just as well. When I said good bye I could not help wondering whether it was for years, or forever. This cruel war is terrible and precious lives are being sacrificed andhearts broken every day. What is to be the result? We can only trust and wait.
Christmas Eve,1863.—Sarah Gibson Howell was married to Major Foster this evening. She invited all the society and many others. It was a beautiful wedding and we all enjoyed it. Some time ago I asked her to write in my album and she sewed a lock of her black curling hair on the page and in the center of it wrote, “Forget not Gippie.”
December31.—Our brother John was married in Boston to-day to Laura Arnold, a lovely girl.