Harriet Putnam

“ A chance came to go to Ga-le-na, in the State of Il-li-nois. There Grant was a clerk in a store where they sold hides. There he was when the war broke out, and the South and the North, which had been as one, were now two, and full of hate.
Four days af-ter Lin-coln’s call for troops went through the land, U. S. Grant be-gan to drill some of the men in his place in the use of the gun. In a few [91] days he set off with them for Spring-field, Ill. From there he wrote to a man who held a high post at Wash-ing-ton and told him that he would like to be of use and help save the land from its foe. ”

“ Great was the sur-prise of young Lin-coln to think so much mon-ey was his for so lit-tle work. He had thought “two or three bits” would be a-bout right. The coin which came to him then, when off du-ty from his fa-ther’s toil, the youth thought might be his own. It made him feel like a man, and the world then was more bright for him.
A man who kept a store thought he would send a “car-go load,” ba-con, corn meal, and oth-er goods, down to New Or-leans in a large flat-boat. As A-bra-ham was at all times safe and sure, the own-er, Mr. Gen-try, asked him to go with his son and help a-long. ”

“ It was on a spring day, the twelfth of A-pril, 1861, that the first gun was fired in Charles-ton har-bor up-on the Un-ion flag on Fort Sum-ter. The call was sound-ed. The great heart of the North grew hot with shame and rage.
“What! De-grade our coun-try’s flag?” they cried. “’Tis the flag for which our fa-thers fought and died!” “We will give the last drop of our blood for it! We will leave our trades, our homes and dear ones, and fly [81] to put down the foe who has dared to strike a blow at it!” ”

“ So in March, 1832, it was known that A-bra-ham’s name was brought up as a “can-di-date” for a post in the Il-li-nois State Leg-is-la-ture. Ere the time for e-lec-tion came, that part of the land found men must be sent [34] to fight the In-di-ans who were on the war-path. The great chief, Black Hawk, sought to keep the red men’s lands from the white folks, but at last he had to give up, though he did all he could to help his own blood. He was brave and true to his own.
Young men of San-ga-mon went out to fight, with A-bra-ham Lin-coln as cap-tain. ”

“ The South bore up well, and though crops were poor, and they could not get goods, still they fought as brave-ly as ev-er, and felt that they should at last win. In Vir-gin-ia, the foe had some grand men to lead them, and for a time it seemed as if they must win. [103] They were bound to-geth-er with strong ties, and heart, head, and hand, each, did its best.
When Lin-coln came to be Pres-i-dent it was well known that he had a great dis-like to sla-ver-y. But the war, as he said, time af-ter time, was “not fought to put down sla-ver-y but to save the Un-ion.” ”

“ It is for us, the liv-ing, rath-er to be ded-i-ca-ted here to the great task re-main-ing be-fore us—that, from these hon-ored dead, we take in-creased de-vo-tion to that cause for which they gave the last full meas-ure of de-vo-tion; that we here high-ly re-solve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this na-tion, un-der God, shall have a new birth of free-dom, and that gov-ern-ment of the peo-ple, by the peo-ple, for the peo-ple shall not per-ish from the earth. ”

“ Though this high post had come to A-bra-ham Lin-coln he did not feel too proud to do the “sim-ple deeds of kind-ness” which he had done all through his life. It seems that one day he went out with some law-mak-ers, for a ride on the prai-ries. He passed a place where a pig was stuck in the mud. The poor beast looked up at him as if beg-ging his help. The look plain-ly said that death must soon come un-less the horse-man gave his [41] aid. Lin-coln was wear-ing his best clothes at that time. ”

“ Men then be-gan to think as they had nev-er thought be-fore. It seemed as if a death-shot had been sent straight to the heart of sla-ver-y. That speech was, how-ev-er, but the first of a hard and fierce strug-gle be-tween two sides of one of the great-est ques-tions ev-er brought be-fore an-y na-tion.
Lin-coln and Doug-las went up and down the state [52] of Il-li-nois talk-ing in halls and in “wig-wams” as the build-ings were called where they spoke. Some-times they made a speech on the same day, out of doors, where large crowds would come. ”

“ Those who could un-der-stand the true needs of the hour, and saw how strong they were, felt that if they could place this man, who had ris-en up in the land to lead the for-ces to lib-er-ty, in a post where he could have full sway and do his best, they must name him for just that work, so, when the “Na-tion-al Re-pub-li-can Con-ven-tion” met at Chi-ca-go, May 16th, 1860, to pro-pose some one for their Chief, they named A-bra-ham Lin-coln, and said he was the man whom they want-ed to be the next Pres-i-dent of the U-ni-ted States. ”

“ A-bra-ham Lin-coln, then, think-ing of the mil-lions of his fel-low-men in sla-ver-y and of that slave-mar-ket in New Or-leans, which had nev-er gone out of his mind, spoke, both in pub-lic and pri-vate, with the force that e-ven he had ne’er used be-fore. He felt God’s time was near at hand when those who had been bought and sold like beasts of the field, should be set free. ”

“ His face was full of seams and bore marks of his long days of hard toil; his eyes were deep-set and had a look of sad-ness in them. At first he did not seem at ease. The folks who were in that place to hear him were men and wom-en of note as well as those not so well known. There was a sea of ea-ger fa-ces to greet him and to find out what that rude child of the peo-ple was like. All soon formed great i-de-as of him, and these held to the end of his talk. He met with praise on all sides. He rose to his best when he saw what the folks thought of him. ”

“ The ar-mies of the Un-ion had put down the “Great Re-bel-lion” and peace had come. So vast a war had ne’er been known in mod-ern times, and men more brave than those who fought on both sides could not be found in an-y land.
CHAPTER XIV.
RETURN OF PEACE; LINCOLN SHOT; HIS BURIAL AT SPRINGFIELD.
“Pres-i-dent Lin-coln in Rich-mond,” af-ter the “Con-fed-er-a-cy” fell to pie-ces, made a scene such as was ne’er be-fore known in all his-to-ry. There was none of the pomp and show such as a great chief in oth-er lands [134] would have had who put down a brave foe and gained a great cause. ”

“ When the flat-boat ran a-ground at New Sa-lem, and there was great risk that it would be a wreck, Lin-coln found a way to get it off. Folks [30] stood on the banks and cheered at the wise plan of the bright boat-man. ”

“ So when the An-tie-tam fight came, and Lee and troops were driv-en back from Ma-ry-land, it gave so much hope to the Un-ion cause that Lin-coln felt it was the time to send forth the “draft” he made two months be-fore. This pa-per said that on the first day of Jan-u-a-ry, 1863, all slaves in those states which had left the [107] Un-ion should be free. The slaves in those states which had not gone off, such as Mis-sou-ri and Ken-tuc-ky, were not then to be free. ”

“ His mind told him that all who paid tax-es or bore arms ought to have the right to vote. He was not a-fraid to say that, though men of more years and more fame than he took the oth-er side. He was brave, but not rash. ”

“ In Il-li-nois, Lin-coln, who all his life had been a-gainst sla-ver-y, spoke straight to the peo-ple, show-ing them the wrong or the “in-jus-tice” of that bill. His first speech on this theme, has been called “one of the great speech-es of the world.” He was brave and dared to say that “if A-mer-i-ca were to be a free land, the stain of sla-ver-y, must be wiped out.”
He said “A house di-vi-ded a-gainst it-self can-not stand. I be-lieve this gov-ern-ment can-not en-dure half slave and half free. I do not ex-pect the Un-ion to be dis-solved; I do not ex-pect the house to fall ”

“ Then the way Lin-coln got vast sums to car-ry on the war, and the part he thought it wise for the na-vy to take in the great strife, won praise for him. These things were all un-der Lin-coln’s eye and had his close care.
As time went on the whole North learned to look to Lin-coln, and de-pend up-on him for help in dark days and wise work in bright times. When the North felt they could not win, Lin-coln said, “We shall win!”
While a large force of men was in arms not much [90] had been done by Un-ion Gen-er-als. Mc-Clel-lan’s great ar-my grew less and less. Hordes of men were ill. ”

“ A-bra-ham had more to think of when he came home. He had seen so much on his trip that the world was not quite the same to him. Scores of flat-boats were moored at lev-ees, steam-boats went and came, big ships [26] were at an-chor in the riv-er. Men were there who sailed far o-ver the seas in search of gold, rich goods, sights of pla-ces, tribes and climes to which Lin-coln had not giv-en much thought. If oth-er men went out in-to the world, why might he not go? Why stay in this dull place and toil for naught? He had come to an age in which there was un-rest. ”

“ It was a glad day when Thom-as Spar-row, whose wife was Mr. Lin-coln’s sis-ter, and Den-nis Hanks, her nephew, came.
GOING UP TO THE LOFT.
The brief joy of the Lin-colns was soon lost in a great grief. An ill-ness came to that place and man-y folks died. Mrs. Lin-coln fell sick. She knew that she must leave her dear ones. Her work was at an end. As her son stood at her bed-side she said, “A-bra-ham, I am go-ing a-way from you. I shall not come back. I know that you will be a good boy, that you will be kind to Sa-rah and to your fa-ther. ”

“ The par-ties, “Re-pub-li-can” and “Dem-o-crat,” for the time were both much of one mind, “For the Un-ion,” side by side to “fall in” and march south and save it.
One state had troops all read-y to start. It was [82] Mas-sa-chu-setts. Her Gov-ern-or, in 1860, N. P. Banks, had long seen the trend of things, the need of men that must come, so his sol-diers were a-ble to leave at the first call for help. On A-pril 19, the Sixth Reg-i-ment fought its way through the streets of Bal-ti-more, and reached Wash-ing-ton in time to aid Lin-coln in hold-ing the cap-i-tol. ”

“ At last it was push, [100] push, the foe back so that they could gain no more ground. This went on, till, at three o’clock the cry of “Charge!” rang out up-on the air. With loud cheers, and their guns held in front of them, the Un-ion troops made a bold brave dash and drove the foe from the field.
THE LAST CHARGE AT SHILOH.
The loss was great on both sides. When the foe lost their lead-er, Gen. A. S. John-ston, they lost heart, and be-ing much worn by hours of dire work, had to give up.
Af-ter Shi-loh, a move was made a-gainst Cor-inth, [101] a-bout 22 miles off. ”

“ But in Charles-ton, S. C. the folks were wild with joy. The Gov-ern-or of the state, Pick-ens, made a speech from the bal-co-ny of a ho-tel. He said, “Thank God, the day has come! The war is o-pen, and we will con-quer or pe-rish. We have de-feat-ed twen-ty mil-lions, and we have hum-bled their proud flag of stars and stripes.” There was much more talk in the same vein.
In the North men wept who ne’er had wept be-fore. It seemed as if the worst had come. “But Lin-coln, our brave Lin-coln, what will he do now?” they asked. A-bra-ham Lin-coln knew just what to do. He did not need to be told. ”

“ He found the soil all he thought it would be. He chose a tract of land, and then made a long trip to “en-ter his claim” at Vin-cennes. The next thing to do was to go back to Ken-tuc-ky.
The cool days of No-vem-ber had come ere wife and chil-dren, with two hor-ses which a friend had loaned, and what goods were left, set out for the far off land of In-di-an-a. When night came they slept on the ground on beds made of leaves and pine twigs. They ate the game the ri-fles brought down, cooking it by the camp fire. From time to time they had to ford or swim streams. ”

“ He did not then see just how it would be done, but he said to a friend;
“Some-times when I am speak-ing I feel that the time is soon com-ing when the sun shall shine and the [59] rain fall on no man who shall go forth to un-re-quit-ed toil. How it will come, I can-not tell; but that time will sure-ly come!”
It was in March 1857, when Bu-chan-an had his in-au-gu-ral ad-dress all writ-ten out with care, and he was read-y to take his seat as Chief in the land, that he was told that a great step was a-bout to be tak-en by the “Su-preme Court,” the high-est court of law in the land. ”

“ The fine fall days were go-ing by and Mc-Clel-lan, though he seemed to be get-ting read-y for work, did not bring a-bout what folks thought he would. They be-gan to ask why the ar-my did not move. Word was sent North each night that it was “All qui-et a-long the Po-to-mac!” ”

“ She said “They will kill you; I know they will.”
[76]
Lin-coln tried to cheer her, and told her they would not do that. But she clung to him with tears, and a break-ing heart. “We must trust in the Lord, and all will be well,” said the good man as he bade his step-moth-er a ten-der fare-well and went a-way.
It was on Feb. 11, 1861, that Lin-coln left Spring-field for Wash-ing-ton. Snow was fall-ing fast as Lin-coln stood at the rear of his train to say his last words. A great crowd was at the rail-road sta-tion. Men stood si-lent with bare heads while he spoke. ”

“ But what man could he put in his place? Gen. Mc-Do-well had met with de-feat. Gen. Pat-ter-son, too, had failed. Up to that date the on-ly off-i-cer who had won was Gen. Mc-Clel-lan, in charge of O-hi-o troops in West [88] Vir-gin-ia. Gen. Scott spoke to Pres-i-dent Lin-coln in fa-vor of this young man, Mc-Clel-lan, and, as it was not ea-sy to find just the one need-ed at that hour, Mc-Clel-lan was kept at Wash-ing-ton to or-gan-ize the troops com-ing in to that cit-y and make all read-y for a strong cam-paign. ”

“ One more vis-it was made by the Pres-i-dent to Rich-mond. He then had his wife and his son “Tad” with him. At that time he talked with Judge Camp-bell a-bout the terms he would make with the foe. The Judge had his own i-de-a of what he would like. Mr. [137] Lin-coln was not of the same mind, but said, “I will give you in black and white my on-ly terms.” ”