Charles Carleton Coffin.
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��tticky, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, In- diana, and Ohio, to ascertain what changes had taken place in public opin- ion. In May he was once more with the Army of the Potomac under its great leader. Lieutenant General Grant, and saw all the conflicts of the Wilder- ness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, around Hanover, Cold Harbor, the struggles in front of Petersburg through '64. Upon the occupation of Savannah by General Sherman he hastened south, having an ardent desire to enter Charleston, when- ever it should le occupied by Union troops. He was successful in carrying out his desires, and with James Red- path of the New York Tribune leaped on shore from the deck of General Gilmore's steamer when he steamed up to take possession of the city.
Mr. Coffin's despatch announcing the evacuation and occupation of Sum- ter, owing to his indefatigable energy, was published in Boston, telegraphed to Washington, and read in the House of Representatives before any other account appeared, causing a great sensation.
Thus read the opening sentence :
" Off Charleston, February 18, 2 p. m. The old flag waves over Sumter and Moultrie, and the city of Charleston. I can see its crimson stripes and fadeless stars waving in the w^arm sunlight of this glorious day. Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory."
In March the corresjjondent was again with the A.rmy of the Potomac, witness- ing the last battles — Fort Steadman — Hatcher's Run — and the last grand sweep at Five Forks. He entered Peters- burg in the morning — rode alone at a breakneck pace to Richmond, entering it while the city was a sea of flame, en- tered the Spottsville hotel while the fire was raging on three sides — wrote his name large on the register — the first to succeed a long line of Confederate Generals and Colonels. When Presi- dent Lincoln arrived to enter the city, he had the good fortune to be down by the river bank, and to him was accorded the honor of escorting the party to General Weitzel's headquarters in the mansion from which Jefferson Davis had fled without standing upon the order of departure.
��With the fall of Richmond, and the surrender of Appomattox, Mr. Coffin's occupation as an army correspondent ended. During these long years he found time to write three volumes for juveniles — "Days and Nights on the Battle Field," "Following the Flag," and " Winning his Way."
On July 25, 1866, Mr. Coffin sailed from New York for Europe, accompanied by Mrs. Coffin, as correspondent of the Boston Journal. War had broken out between Austria on the one side and Italy and Germany on the other. It was of short duration ; there was the battle of Custozza in Italy and Konnigratz in Germany, folKved by the retirement of Austria from Italy, and the ascendency of Bismarck over Baron Von Beust in the diplomacy of Europe. It was a favorable period for a correspondent and Mr. Coffin's letters were regularly looked for by the public. The agitation for the extension of the franchise was beginning in England. Bearing personal letters from Senator Sumner, Chief Justice Chase, General Grant, and other public men, the correspondent had no difficulty in making the accquaintance of the men prominent in the managment of affairs on the other side of the water. Through the courtesy of John Bright, who at once extended to Mr. Coffin every hospitality, he occupied a chair in the speaker's gal- lery of the House of Commons on the grand field night when Disraelli, then Prime Minister, brought in the suffrage bill . While in Great Britain Mr. Cof- fin made the acquaintance not only of men in public life, but many of the scien- tists, — Huxley, Tyndal, Lyell, Sir Wil- liam Thompson. At the social Science Congress held in Belfast, Ireland, pre- sided over by Lord Dufferin, he gave an address upon American Common Schools which was warmly commended by the London Times.
An introduction to the literary clubs of London gave him an opportunity to make the acquaintance of the literary guild. He was present at the dinner given to Charles Dickens before the de- joarture of that author to the United States, at which nearly every notable author was a guest.
Hastening to Italy, he had the good fortune to see the Austrians take their
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