stand there, and they refuse to move until they are satiated.
The morning after the passage found us fully refreshed from water, food, and sleep—all but the Illinoisan; he could only think of his horse. So oppressive did the thought become to him finally, that he determined to go back and, if yet possible, give the creature one last drink. In his condition it appeared most unlikely that he could walk so far over a road where at each step one sank ankle-deep in sand, much less carry a burden of water. We tried earnestly to dissuade him from what we considered a foolhardy act, but nothing we could say changed his purpose. He borrowed a six-quart pail, filled it, and resolutely started. Slowly enough he traveled, and now and then he spilled some of the water; but finally he reached the horse. He found him standing motionless, as he had left him; he had not moved a step through the whole night. The water was now reduced to about two quarts. When the horse felt his nose wet by it, he gave a faint whinny, then opened his eyes and drank. In a short time he revived, started, and followed his master. With our shouts we welcomed them into camp.
REMINISCENCES OF MEN AND EVENTS OF THE CIVIL WAR.
By Charles A. Dana,
Assistant Secretary of "War from 1863 to 1865.
ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT COLLECTION OF CIVIL WAR PHOTOGRAPHS.
III.
LIFE IN THE TRENCHES AT VICKSBURG AND THE MEN IN COMMAND.
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THE day after writing Mr. Stanton this letter[1] on the generals of divisions and of brigades in the army which besieged Vicksburg, I wrote him a letter on the staff officers of the various corps. Like its predecessor, this letter has never before been in print.
Dear Sir:—In my letter of yesterday I accidentally omitted to notice General C. C. Washburn among the generals of division in Grant's army. It is true he has never commanded a division[2] nor, so far as I am aware, a brigade either, having generally been employed in command of expeditions, detachments, and scattered bodies of cavalry. He is now in command of two of the divisions detached from the Sixteenth Army Corps: namely, that of Kimball and that of W. S. Smith; and, as I happen to know, is anxious to be put in command of an army corps, for which purpose it has been suggested that a new corps might be created out of these two divisions, with the addition of that of Lauman, also detached from the Sixteenth, or Herron. But I understand from General Grant that he is not favorable to any such arrangement. Washburn being one of the very youngest in rank of his major-generals, he intends to put him in command of a single division as soon as possible, in order that he may prove his fitness for higher commands by actual service and give no occasion for older soldiers to complain that he is promoted without regard to his merits.
I know Washburn very well, both as a politician and a military man, and I say frankly that he has better qualities for the latter than for the former function. He is brave, steady, respectable; receives suggestions, and weighs them carefully; is not above being advised, but acts with independence nevertheless. His judgment is good, and his vigilance sufficient. I have not seen him in battle, however, and cannot say how far he holds his mind there. I don't find in him, I am sorry to say, that effort to learn the military art which every commander ought to exhibit, no matter whether he has received a military
- ↑ The letter to which Mr. Dana here refers closed the installment of the reminiscences which appeared in the December number of this magazine.—Editor.
- ↑ Mr. Dana is in error here. For several months prior to the siege of Vicksburg Washburn had been in command of the cavalry division of the military district of Eastern Arkansas, some 3,300 effectives. He was a brother of Hon. Elihu B. Washburne, General Grant's great friend, and his promotion to a corps was likely, for that reason, to cause criticism. That is why Grant insisted that Washburn should earn his spurs. One of the brothers dropped the final "e" to the name, while the other retained it.—Leslie J. Perry.
