WINFIELD SCOTT'S VISIT TO COLUMBUS.
BY GEN. H. B. CARRINGTON, U. S.
A.
[General Henry Beebee Carrington is one
of the very few su
viving generals of the Civil War. He has led a distinguished ar
eventful life. Born in Wallingford,
Conn., March 2, 1824, he is now
the age of eighty-six, hale and hearty;
a writer of clearness and precisio
and a speaker forceful and entertaining.
He graduated at Yale (1845
and in November, 1848, arrived in
Columbus to there take up his pe
manent residence. Of his entrance into
the Capital City he notes in h
own language that it was
"travelling by stage from Cleveland to C
lumbus over the Loudonville hills, being
met all along the way by th
call 'Who is Governor?' and that the
election of Seaberry Ford as Go
ernor was not settled until after my
arrival in Columbus, you will se
the initial point from which my Columbus
experience underwent varie
and unusual vicissitudes."
Immediately after his arrival in Columbus,
began the study of law, was admitted to
the bar and practiced his pro
fession until 1861, during the most of
which period he was the la
partner of William Dennison, the first war governor of Ohio. M
Carrington was Adjutant General for the
State (Ohio) from 1857 to 186
At the outbreak of the war he organized
many of the first regimen
sent out by Ohio; became colonel of the
18th U. S. Infantry; had
distinguished record as commander,
participating in many of the in
portant battles and emerging from the
conflict as a brigadier-genera
In 1875 he was granted access by the
governments of both Great Brita
and France to all archives pertaining to
the American Revolution;
surveyed and mapped all the
battle-fields of the American Revolution, t
result of which was the most complete
and authentic work on the revol
tionary battles ever issued. He served
the United States government
many important capacities, as, in
1889-91, moving the Indians throug
Missoula across Mission Ridge range of
the Rocky Mountains to Jock
Reservation, Western Montana; later,
under direction of the United Stat
government he made a detailed census of
the Six Nations in New Yo
and the Cherokees in North Carolina.
General Carrington has been a pr
lific writer, something like a dozen
volumes on American history, politic
etc., emanating from his pen. He is now a resident of Hyde Par
Mass., and the article which herewith
follows, recounting an interestin
incident in the visit of General
Winfield Scott to Columbus, is from a
address delivered by General Carrington
on the evening of his 86
birthday before the Massachusetts
Commandery of the Loyal Legion
at its Spring Meeting in Boston, March
2, 1910.-EDITOR.]
278
Winfield Scott's Visit to Columbus. 279
COMMANDER AND COMPANIONS: I respectfully ask permission on this my 86th birthday, on release from an attack of grippe, as I may not have a better op- |
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fathers might have been spared our country. All is right now. The Union has been restored, but at what a cost! I make this request because I owe Gen. Scott a boundless measure of personal gratitude, and do it with more freedom be- cause of our present membership, no other commission of general or field officer during the Civil war dates back of my own, May 14, 1861, and Gen. Scott in person, without my own previous knowledge, was active in its issue. It is historic in fact, and I desire to have it on record with those of other companions of this commandery. I was on very close relations to Gen. Scott during a painful tragic incident which he declared to have been the most painful of his life. Its sequel will be noted later. As the Whig candidate in 1852 for the presidency of the United States, unmindful of his lack of experience in political or social science and aptitude for oratorical discussions of polit- |
280 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
ical issues, he ventured upon a formal
political campaign, via
Ohio, with New Orleans and the South as
his objective point of
influence. Great applause and a rousing
reception awaited him
at Cleveland, Ohio.
At Cleveland he found awaiting his
arrival the following
committee from Columbus. All military
and civil organizations
or orders at the capital had been
organized for a grand proces-
sion and welcome on his arrival. The
committee consisted of
Aaron F. Perry, Esq., my own former law
partner, afterwards
congressman from Cincinnati, and William
Dennison, then my
law partner, who afterwards became
governor at the outbreak of
the war.
A telegram reached me from Cleveland
that I must act as
the personal escort of Gen. Scott upon
his arrival at Columbus.
A salute of 21 guns was
to be fired upon his leaving the railroad
station, and a gun squad was awaiting
his arrival. A coach and
four, duly decorated, awaited his
pleasure. All roofs and win-
dows of the main street, High street,
and all sidewalks, were
crowded with thousands of eager and
enthusiastic observers. A
handkerchief signal was to follow the
second shot of the salute
for the procession to take up its march.
Upon reaching the carriage, I was
advised that my seat
would be at Gen. Scott's left, and upon
my comment, "I do not
see why this be so, unless to make the
contrast more decided by
the side of his magnificent physical
carriage," he replied at once,
with a smile: "Size does not make the
man, sir. I am in the
hands of your committee the same as
yourself, and that is their
concern."
The first shot was fired, and at the
second I raised my hand
to give the moving signal when an
artillery man rushed from the
station to tell me that by a premature
discharge of the piece, two
and perhaps three had been killed. Dr.
Hamilton, a skillful sur-
geon, was in the doorway. To him, I
entrusted the charge of
the whole matter, with caution "to
make no public demonstration
of his medical service," stepped
back, entered the carriage, gave
the signal, and with the music of many
bands and shouts of ex-
cited witnesses the procession hastened
on its route.
On reaching the Neil house, opposite the
Capitol, the Gen-
Winfield Scott's Visit to
Columbus. 281
eral was introduced and was warmly
welcomed, and the hotel was
soon filled with delegations to do him
honor.
The most impressive body thus presented,
was that of Ger-
mans under the escort of the venerable
Judge Christian Heyl,
who with marked excitement presented a
copy of the Westbote,
a local Democratic paper, and demanded
whether its charges
"that when in Mexico he both
flogged and hung German soldiers,
for absence without leave, desertion,
and let Irish and other sol-
diers go clear," were true.
Scott, like an enraged lion, rose to his
full stature of more
than six feet, four inches, and as he
swung wide his arms and
breasted the waiting Germans, words shot
forth as from a cata-
pult. He was like a wild man, and people
shrank back from his
immediate presence. For a moment it
seemed that he must strike
some living adversary.
"What's that! What's that you say?
I never heard it be-
fore! It's a devilish invention! An
infamous lie! A damned
falsehood! For a man who for fifty years
had neither risen
from sleep nor walked abroad, or even
drank a cup of cold water
in the field, but his mind was on his
country, her honor and her
welfare! This is wicked, atrocious,
horrible! You see me ex-
cited! I have the right to be
excited!" With sweeping arms
and gestures as wild, he added: "I
carried on war as a Chris-
tian, and not as a fiend!"
Judge Heyl caught the truth, withdrew
his delegation, and
as they left the Neil parlor, the
corridors rang with this, their
response:
"Hurrah for General Scott,
The hero brave and true,
We'll place him there,
In the presidential chair,
For he's our nominee."
The speech was so incoherent and tempestuous
at its open-
ing, that Mr. Perry, editor of the
Columbus, Ohio, State Journal,
revised our joint notes, omitting
expletives, so that the truly mas-
terly vindication by General Scott, of
his Mexican service, ap-
peared in the November number of the
American Whig Review
of New York, greatly to his honor.
282 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
Mr. Perry introduced its first
appearance at Columbus by
the following editorial:
"Never have we witnessed a scene
more imposing than when
the old chieftain, with a quick and
indignant response, repelled
the false and malignant charge. Lofty in
stature, and standing
at least four inches above the tallest
of those among whom he
stood, his form seemed gigantic, as with
heightened color and
flashing eye, and a wave of his hand
that expressed a calm de-
fiance of all such assailants, he
uttered his emphatic protest
against such assaults as that paragraph
represented."
GENERAL SCOTT'S ADDRESS.
"New, and before unknown to me, are
such things as have
been told me. They surprise and pain me.
They at once con-
cern all that I value personally, and
aim a blow at all that
wherein, if I know myself, I have the
highest pride. They at-
tack my own identity! The principles for
which I had believed
I need never search my own bosom in
vain, are undermined, or
denied me! I am met with charges of
injustice and cruelty
while leading an American army through
Mexico, and while
participating alike in its trials and
its triumphs!
"Gentlemen, it was my lot to lead
an American army upon a
foreign field. I went, resolved to
sustain, in the forefront of
my progress the high-tide water mark of
our own American civ-
ilization, in all its moral and civil
virtue. The standard of our
own, and not the practices of that
foreign country, was the stand-
ard which I sought for the government of
men's passions and the
control of the license and excesses of
war. Alike to Americans,
whether native or of foreign birth, and
to Mexicans, I declared
my purpose, and exhibited my principles
of action.
"I promulgated the martial code.
Doubtless, you all have
read it. I deemed it necessary. I could
do nothing without it.
It announced the spirit of our progress,
and held amenable to
punishment all who forgot manhood, and
threatened to bring
shame upon our flag - dishonor to our
arms - or a reproach
upon our virtue! Without it we had not
conquered, or if we
had conquered, the brightest trophy of
our conquest had been
Winfield Scott's Visit to
Columbus. 283
wanting. It would have been a physical
triumph, and a physical
triumph alone. Humanity would have
disowned us. I promul-
gated that order. Read it, and read it
again, gentlemen, and then
bear me witness, that it was in my
heart, as it was almost hourly
on my lips, for continued months, to
carry with American arms
and under the American Flag, even into
the enemies' country,
all the elements of social order, and
that regard for personal right
that belonged to our own free
institutions in the United States.
"Yes, I sought to carry with me,
and resolved to maintain,
at all hazards, among my own command,
and also that people
among whom we should be thrown, that
high standard of virtue
and honor which we boasted at home. Had
I not been less than
an American, and recreant to the highest
interests of humanity,
and the age we rejoice in, if I had done
less? They say I hanged
some Germans, and tied up and flogged
others. Gentlemen, some
persons were hanged in Mexico. The names
of all of them I do
not now recollect. Whether any were
Germans or not, I know
not. But for what--yes, for what were
they hanged? I
hanged one for murder, gentlemen; I
hanged one for rape upon
an innocent young female, and for
profane and wicked church
robbery. All knew the law that was over
them. Every man of
them knew that he would be held as
answerable for vile mis-
deeds against the laws of God and man,
as if he were then upon
American soil.
"For such crimes they suffered -for
such crimes as here,
in your own Ohio - a land of law - would
have brought down
upon them severe penalties, and with
equal justice. Some did
suffer death! But their trial was fair,
impartial, and upon the
same principles of solid law upon which
they would have been
adjudged guilty here among you. Do some
say I hanged fifteen
Germans, and that others were arraigned
and flogged without
cause or trial? Gentlemen, I know
nothing of it. It is false -
it is a lie - an invention - gentlemen -
a lie. I see aged citi-
zens before me. I see eminent lawyers
here. And, gentlemen,
you see me much excited. But is it not
for cause? For one
who for fifty years has scarcely walked,
rose, slept or eaten, or
even taken a cup of cold water, in the
field, the town, or the
camp, but his thoughts were of his
country-her virtue -her
284
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
renown - her honor; to
be thus assailed-it is monstrous -it
is intolerable! Gentlemen, I did, with a
high hand, sustain the
law, which, with uprightness in my
heart, I determined to sus-
tain. I did hang for murder! I did hang
for rape! I did hang
for treason! And I flogged thieves and
pickpockets ! For, gen-
tlemen, let me again say, I not only
carried with me, but I re-
solved with every resource I could
command, to sustain fearlessly
and effectually, in its virtue and in
its choicest blessings, not only
to my own command, but to the
defenceless and peaceful Mexi-
cans, that civilization, yes, that
Christian civilization, of which I
was proud to believe that army might
appear a worthy represen-
tative.
"But, gentlemen, I was no respecter
of persons. American
or Mexican-native born or foreign born,
whoever knew the
law and obeyed it not-whoever, reckless
of his own responsi-
bilities and the rights of others,
trampled under foot and set at
naught the law that was over all, I
punished. I did hang for the
crimes stated, and I would have hung a
hundred seekers of inno-
cent blood, and violators of female
chastity, if so many had been
the offenders! And for this, perverted
and misshaped, I am
made answerable to a charge against
which my every feeling re-
volts, and which my own nature and my
own life repel. No, gen-
tlemen, it is a lie, (the charge as
made, or that they were wrong-
fully punished) a false and groundless
lie. I am not unthankful
to my good friend who has told me of
these things. It was right.
"But, gentlemen, I stand here
before you, and declare as I
have already declared, and again
declare, the principles that gov-
erned my command in Mexico are those of
my life. To that life
in my country's service I need not
appeal in vain for an answer
now. With equal freedom and confidence,
do I throw myself
upon the honest verdict of every man,
who, with me, served his
country in the fields of Mexico."
Enthusiasm pervaded the evening
gatherings, and the ban-
quet passed along until quite a late
hour in its formal course.
Dr. Hamilton had advised me that the
slain and wounded
had been cared for, and both Mr.
Dennison and Mr. Perry agreed
with myself that the accident so far as
possible should not enter
into a record of the day's celebration.
Winfield Scott's Visit to
Columbus. 285
Suddenly, late at the banquet, whispers
as to an accident
came near Gen. Scott's chair. By his
side was Surgeon Gen.
Gibson, his staff companion on his
journey. Scott straightened
himself up, "Did you hear that?
What is it? About some ac-
cident today?" All at once he
caught what I supposed he had
never noticed, and said: "Did the
stopping that salute mean
anything?"
Secrecy was no longer possible. He broke
down absolutely,
like a weeping child. Even when
accompanied to his room, it
seemed as if he never would regain
composure. He ordered his
morning train from Cincinnati, en route
to New Orleans, to be
countermanded. He cried out: "It is
one thing to lose an arm
in battle, but, my God, no office in
this world is worth a limb,
much less a life! Why did you not tell
me that the farce of a
funeral procession, converted into a
pretended jubilee of joy,
was my fate today? It will kill
me." Before midnight he be-
came more composed and acceded to the
suggestion that we go to-
gether at daybreak to the homes of the
afflicted households.
At six o'clock the next morning, Robert
Neil, Sr., accom-
panied us to the modest homes of the
afflicted families in the fifth
ward, the German ward of Columbus. Gen.
Scott's great height
compelled him to stoop on entrance, and
with difficulty a chair
was placed for his use. His first
reception was cold and repul-
sive. The extent of the calamity was
hardly realized in these
homes. The gun squad of men I had
personally known. The
great soldier wept like a child. His
anguish was so intense as
not to be ignored. One little boy,
standing between his knees,
said: "Soldier, don't cry; you
didn't do it." With each house-
hold he left a $20 gold piece, promised never to forget them, and
he kept his promise.
From that date, Gen. Scott kept me
supplied with military
books, and on parting the next day, left
me this memorandum,
"Many a battle has been lost or won
by silence, such as yours of
yesterday, proving the wisdom of
silence, when actual knowledge,
would have been ruin. You ought to be in
the army! You
may be wanted. I'll never forget
you." And he never did.
When at the opening of the Civil war a
proposition was
pending to add to the obliterated
regular army, nine additional
286
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
regiments, of infantry, each of three
battalions, of eight com-
panies each, with an aggregate
complement of 2,443 officers and
men, he requested President Lincoln to
give one of the Colonel's
commissions to the Adjutant General of
Ohio.
This request of Gen. Scott's was
forwarded to myself, as
approved by President Lincoln's cabinet,
with the following offi-
cial advice of Secretary S. P. Chase,
"Why not accept this
colonelcy, with the prospect of
brigadiership ?"
I declined the offer, because, already
it had been designed to
assign to me a South American or a
southern European diplo-
matic position, on account of
threatening lung troubles, that in
1855, almost cost my life.
To this declination came the rejoinder,
"there are other ser-
vices as valuable as those in the field.
If you accept, your duties,
as important, may not risk your health
in immediate field ser-
vice."
Not until June 24, 1861, did I accept
the colonelcy of the
18th U. S. Infantry.
What followed? There was no regular
infantry! All other
new colonels were needed to command
volunteer brigades, di-
visions or corps.
A western army "Camp of Enlistment
and Instruction" was
established in Ohio, called Camp Thomas,
under the command
of the colonel of the new 18th U. S.
Infantry. Canby of the
19th, a native of Indiana, was in New
Mexico. Indianapolis was
made headquarters for recruits for that
regiment. All regiments
above the 14th, were to be raised and
disciplined at the west, of
which Camp Thomas was made the general
headquarters.
To the 16th was assigned as a major,
Sydney Coolidge, of
Boston, Mass. To the 18th, as a major,
was assigned Adjt. Gen.
Frederick Townsend of New York, who resigned
the colonelcy
of his N. Y. regiment after the battle
of Big Bethel, to accept this
majority.
Col. W. T. Sherman of the 13th
Infantry, as a general offi-
cer, was barely holding his own at
Mudraugh's Hill, Kentucky.
He was called "Crazy" in his
estimate of forces intended for the
war.
Senator Thomas Ewing of Ohio, Sherman's
father-in-law,
Winfield Scott's Visit to
Columbus. 287
came in person to Camp Thomas, at the
general's request, that I
support him at once. The war department
declined. Gen.
Mitchell at Cincinnati directly ordered
me to join him with the
18th Infantry to "seize and occupy
Cumberland Gap." The war
department declined. But as early as May
7, general order No.
17, office of adjt. general of Ohio,
(quoted, in foot note under
heading 'Ohio,' vol. 1, 1861, Appleton's
Encyclopedia), divided
Ohio into districts of organization, at
once, of a military reserve,
of 1,000 companies (100 regiments) for
probable service in the
field during the year. Secretary Cameron
had declined the offer
of 50, instead of 13, the assigned
quota, but approved the equip-
ment of other regiments, then in camp,
as they might be wanted.
That offer, bearing date April 23, 1861,
reads as follows:
(See War Records Page 1O4, vol. 1,
series III).
HEADQUARTERS OHIO MILITIA AND VOLUNTEER
MILITIA, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
HON. S. CAMERON, COLUMBUS, APRIL 23, 1861.
Secretary of War:
We have nothing from you since dispatch
not to forward, etc.
We are urgent that a requisition for the
Kentucky quota reach us soon.
We have the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
Regiments raised and can make
the force 50,000 men. I speak upon due
reflection and upon the figures.
I shall organize six or eight regiments
additional to our quota and put
them under drill at any event, and the
feeling is so intense that I do
not limit the number. We will learn much
by-; Edward Ball (see 104,
as above) left this a. m. We have corn
for the year, whether we plant
much or not and could never so well meet
the issues of war. When
the order is "Advance," Ohio
will go to the Gulf if need be. Yours, etc.,
HENRY B. CARRINGTON,
Adjutant-General.
The following reply of Secretary Cameron
appears on page
124,
War Records, same volume and series:
Secretary Cameron to Col. Carrington,
Columbus, O., April
27, 1861:
"WAR DEPT., WASHINGTON,
APRIL 27, 1861.
COL. H. B. CARRINGTON, Columbus, O.
DEAR SIR:- I have yours of the 23d
inst., and would tender you,
as I have already done to His
Excellency, the Governor of Ohio, the
288 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
thanks of this department, for the
promptness and energy with which
you have met the call of the government. I regret that, according to
the plan adopted and under which this
department is acting, we can
only accept for the quota first called
for from Ohio. You will do well
however, in organizing and drilling
other regiments, so as to be pre-
pared to meet any emergency that may
arise.
Very truly yours,
(Signed) SIMON CAMERON, Sec. of War."
This address as "Col." at that
early date was left for later
solution.
Of all these facts, Gen. Scott, as well
as the president and
his cabinet, had full knowledge. In
fact, the first two regiments
of the thirteen assigned to Ohio left
for Washington, within sixty
hours after receipt of President
Lincoln's first call; and these
regiments were made up by telegrams sent
at midnight, or by
personal calls when nearby, of the very
best companies of the
organized and well drilled state
militia.
As a fact, nine of these regiments had
to be sent into West
Virginia, and their battery had appeared
in the Battle of Phillipi
before mustering officers could be
secured to muster into service
the Ohio Volunteer proper, then in Camp
Dennison, awaiting
muster. (See Rebellion Records, Series III, Vol. I, page 124,
dated April 27, 1861.)
This "Light Battery" of the
State Militia, then known as
"Barnett's," had been long
organized by Capt. David L. Wood,
quartermaster general of Ohio from 1857
to 1861. During a trip
to Niagara, fully mounted, it was there
reviewed by Gen. Scott,
who pronounced its practice to
"closely vie with that of Ringold's
of the regular army." Wood was
appointed a captain of the
18th Infantry, instead of artillery,
which, owing to his personal
weight and age, made foot service
impracticable for him to take
up Infantry movements.
The battery went into service under the
following order:
COLUMBUS, O., APRIL 20, 1861.
COL. JAMES BARNETT, Cleveland, O.
Report your six pieces, caissons, and
full battery, including the
Geneva company, at Columbus, forthwith,
Monday, if possible. You can
hire horses for the guns here, or at
your point of service. Bring
Winfield Scott's Visit to
Columbus. 289
harness and everything else. Twenty men
to each gun. You retain
Colonel's rank. By order,
H. B. CARRINGTON, Adjutant General.
A foundry was opened on Sunday, and
round shot were
cast. Ladies left church to make powder
bags. Powder was
brought from Xenia. When Barnett's
battery entered the Co-
lumbus Railroad Station, Pres. Israel
Andrews of Marietta Col-
lege and Rufus Putnam, one of its
trustees, were at the depot,
about to call upon Gov. Dennison and beg
for artillery. With-
out leaving the depot they went home
with the battery and it
was planted on the heights back of
Parkersburg at midnight,
just in time to repel the advancing
Confederate forces, which
were pursued and routed at Phillipi.
It is needless to add that James Barnett
as a major general
of Volunteers, still shares the respect
of the American people
hardly less than any general officer who
bore part in military
service during the years from 1861-1865.
Catherinus P. Buckingham, of Mt. Vernon,
Ohio, and a
graduate of West Point, had been
appointed Assist Adjt.-General
of Ohio, but by special arrangement of
the War Department,
Col. Carrington was to retain office
until the first 26 regiments
were organized.
His lengthy official report to Secretary
Cameron, dated
June 21st, 1861, of all forces organized
under his personal super-
vision, appears on pages 288 and
289, Official War Records,
Series III, Volume I.
On page 357, same volume, appears letter
from Adjt.-Gen.
L. Thomas, U. S. A., bearing date July
27, 1861, fully setting
forth the services of the nine regiments
of Ohio state troops and
Col. Barnett's artillery of six guns,
which had served in West
Virginia before the Ohio Volunteers
could be placed in the field.
On pages 387 and 393, dated August 3 and
August 8 (same
volume) appear communications as to the
delay of the Gov-
ernment in supplying mustering officers.
During these months, at Camp Thomas,
itself, every condi-
tion incident to a sudden call to the
field was maintained, even
as to city absences, or long absence
from camp.
Vol. XIX- 19.
290
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
By request of Gov. Tod, an incipient
oubreak from Camp
Chase, by prisoners of war, was reduced
to order, and a detach-
ment of the 18th, sent to that camp, was
soon withdrawn. An
official report was made of the incident
to the governor, im-
mediately.
The first battalion of the 16th, Maj.
Sydney Coolidge, of
Boston, afterwards killed at
Chickamauga, was taken by Col.
Carrington, in November, to Louisville
and turned over to the
division of Gen. Mitchell. Two
battalions of the 18th, at the
same time, were delivered by Col.
Carrington to Gen. Thomas
at Lebanon, Ky., and to these were added
the 9th and 35th Ohio,
and the 2d Minn., as a Brigade, under
his command. Emer-
gencies required that he first complete
his recruiting service at
the west, and the next senior colonel
took his brigade into the
Battle of Mill Springs, Ky.
To return to the subject of this sketch.
Upon learning of the progress made in
the organization of
the 18th U. S. Infantry, Gen. Scott
invited its colonel to his
headquarters at Washington.
On the day that Munson Heights was
occupied by Confed-
erate troops and when Massachusetts
avenue was crowded by
double trains of bread wagons, passing
to the Federal Capital,
the national bakery for the time being,
Gen. Scott, over his per-
sonal signature issued a special order,
in my favor, directing
all post commanders and other officers
then preparing for de-
fence of the capital, to give the bearer
full respect in his inspec-
tions of fortifications and disciplinary
movements of the army.
Its date was Sept. 25, 1861. All forts
east of the Aqueduct
were visited, as well as the
"Sheleton Drills" of regiment, bri-
gade, and division movements in
"Evolutions of the Line."
Enlargement of the recruiting service on
Bragg's invasion of
Kentucky, in 1862, involved the personal
organization, equip-
ment, and paying bounty of all Indiana
volunteers; and, upon
my immediate promotion as Brig. Gen. of
Volunteers, the pro-
tection of the Ohio river border for
fully three years, when I
rejoined Gen. Thomas, until he left
Kentucky for the Pacific
coast; and then, my own regiment,
recruited to its maximum
strength, in Sept. 1865, was ordered to
the defence of the In-
Winfield Scott's Visit to Columbus. 291
dian frontier. During its existence, as a three battalion regi- ment, it included an aggregate of 4,773 men. Having the ap- pointment of all second lieutenants, I enlisted educated young men with scrupulous care. Several attained the rank of brigadier general. I mention three. The first recruit of the 18th Infantry was Henry B. Freeman, now brigadier general retired. Another, Gilbert S. Carpenter, a student of Western Reserve College, be- came colonel of his regiment during the Spanish American War, and at his death, was on the army list as a brigadier general re- tired. A third, John Hitchcock, son of the president of the Western Reserve College, then but a young lieutenant, gave his life for the flag, in the battle of Stone River. In the aggregate of Special Recruiting Service, more than 120,000 men were duly organized and placed in the field for im- mediate active duty. When I left Gen. Scott in 1861, to return to Camp Thomas, his parting words, afterwards more than once recalled to my memory by his favorite A.D.C., then A.A.G. who became later adjutant general of the army, Col. E. D. Townsend, (who coun- tersigned Gen. Scott's special order) were simply these: "You are my own colonel, and I knew you would do it." He was a "great soldier with a great heart," and his manu- script duty-detail, above noticed, has to myself and family, a value as if it were a gold medal rather than as a great soldier's simple expression of his implicit confidence and sincere respect. |
|
WINFIELD SCOTT'S VISIT TO COLUMBUS.
BY GEN. H. B. CARRINGTON, U. S.
A.
[General Henry Beebee Carrington is one
of the very few su
viving generals of the Civil War. He has led a distinguished ar
eventful life. Born in Wallingford,
Conn., March 2, 1824, he is now
the age of eighty-six, hale and hearty;
a writer of clearness and precisio
and a speaker forceful and entertaining.
He graduated at Yale (1845
and in November, 1848, arrived in
Columbus to there take up his pe
manent residence. Of his entrance into
the Capital City he notes in h
own language that it was
"travelling by stage from Cleveland to C
lumbus over the Loudonville hills, being
met all along the way by th
call 'Who is Governor?' and that the
election of Seaberry Ford as Go
ernor was not settled until after my
arrival in Columbus, you will se
the initial point from which my Columbus
experience underwent varie
and unusual vicissitudes."
Immediately after his arrival in Columbus,
began the study of law, was admitted to
the bar and practiced his pro
fession until 1861, during the most of
which period he was the la
partner of William Dennison, the first war governor of Ohio. M
Carrington was Adjutant General for the
State (Ohio) from 1857 to 186
At the outbreak of the war he organized
many of the first regimen
sent out by Ohio; became colonel of the
18th U. S. Infantry; had
distinguished record as commander,
participating in many of the in
portant battles and emerging from the
conflict as a brigadier-genera
In 1875 he was granted access by the
governments of both Great Brita
and France to all archives pertaining to
the American Revolution;
surveyed and mapped all the
battle-fields of the American Revolution, t
result of which was the most complete
and authentic work on the revol
tionary battles ever issued. He served
the United States government
many important capacities, as, in
1889-91, moving the Indians throug
Missoula across Mission Ridge range of
the Rocky Mountains to Jock
Reservation, Western Montana; later,
under direction of the United Stat
government he made a detailed census of
the Six Nations in New Yo
and the Cherokees in North Carolina.
General Carrington has been a pr
lific writer, something like a dozen
volumes on American history, politic
etc., emanating from his pen. He is now a resident of Hyde Par
Mass., and the article which herewith
follows, recounting an interestin
incident in the visit of General
Winfield Scott to Columbus, is from a
address delivered by General Carrington
on the evening of his 86
birthday before the Massachusetts
Commandery of the Loyal Legion
at its Spring Meeting in Boston, March
2, 1910.-EDITOR.]
278