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��Charles Carle/on Coffin.
��mouth of the Tennessee just as the fleet under Commodore Foot was entering the Ohio after capturing Fort Henry. Com- modore Foot narrated the events of the engagement, and Mr. Coffin, learning that no correspondent had returned from Fort Henry, stimulated by the thought of giving the Boston Journal the first information, jumped on board the cars, wrote his account on the train, and had the satisfaction of knowing that it was the first one published.
Returning to Cairo by the next train, he proceeded to Fort Donelson and was present in the cabin of the steamer " Uncle Sam " when General Buckner turned over the Fort, the Artillery, and 15,000 prisoners to General Grant. He hastened to Cairo, wrote his account on the cars, riding eastward, till it was com- plete, then returning, and arriving in season to jump on board the gunboat Boston for a reconnoissance of Columbus.
Mr. Coffin continued with the fleet during the operation at Island No. 10. His knowledge of civil engineering en- abled him to assist Captain Maynadier of the engineers in directing the mortcw firing. On one occasion while mounted on a corn crib near a farm-house to note the direction of the bombs, the Con- federate artillerists sent a shell which de- molished a pig-pen but a few feet distant.
While at Island No. to, the battle of Pittsburg Landing was fouglit. Leaving the fleet he hastened thither, accom- panied the army in its slow advance upon Corinth, was present at the battle of Farmington and the occupation of Corinth.
General Halleck, smarting under the criticism of the press, ordered all corre- spondents to leave, and Mr. Coffin once more johied the fleet, descending the Mississippi. Dunng the engagement with the Confederate fleet at Memphis, he stood upon the deck of the Admiral's despatch boat with note-book and watch in hand — noting every movement. He was fully exposed, aided in hauling down the flag of the Confederate ship, " Little Rebel," and assisted in rescuing some of the wounded Confederates from the siiiking vessels.
��He accepted an invitation from Cap- tain Phelps of the Benton to accompany him on shore when the city was surren- dered, and saw the stars and strips go up upon the flag-staff in the public square and over the Court House.
The Army of the Potamac was in front of Richmond, and he returned east in season to chronicle the seven day's engagement on the Peninsular. The constant exposure to malaria brought on sickness, which prevented his being with the army in the engage- ment at the second Bull Run, but he was on the fiela ot Antietam throughout the entire contest, and wrote an account which was published in the Baltimore American, o{\\\\\ch. an enormous edition was disposed of in the army — and was commended for its accuracy.
In October Mr. Coffin was once more in Kentucky, but did not reach the army in season to see the battle of Perrysville. Comprehending the situation of affairs there, that there could be no movement until the entire army was re-organized under a new commander, he returned to Virginia, accompanying the army in its march from the Potomac to Fredericks- burg, and witnessed that disastrous bat- tle. A month later he was with the fleet off Charleston and saw the attack on Sumter by the Monitor, and the bom- bardment of Fort McAllister.
In April he was once more with the Army of the Potomac, arriving just as the troops were getting back to their quarters after Chancellorsville to hear tlie stories and collect an account of that battle.
When the Confederate army began the Gettysburg Campaign Mr. Coffin watched every movement. He was with the cavalry during the first day's struggle on that field, but was an eye- witness of the second and third days' engagement. His account was re-pub- lished in nearly every one of the large cities, was translated and re-published in France and Germany. While the armies east and west were preparing for the campaign of 1864 Mr. Coffin made an extended tour through the border states — Maryland, West Virginia, Ken-
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