BUTLER, BANKS, BURNSIDE, BAKER, AND OTHERS. John W. Norris, Chicago, Ill.j ...: Seale nie See RH LI ees | JUST PUBLISHED. BEADLE’S DIME PATRIOTIC SPEAKER BEING EXTRACTS FROM THE SPLENDID ORATORY OF JUDGE HOLT, GENERAL MITCHELL, DR. ORESTES A. BROWNS! EDWARD EVERETT, THE GREAT. UNION SQUARE (N. Y.) AD: DRESSES, THOMAS F. MEAGHER, STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, DANIEL 8. DICKINSON, CARL SHURZ, REV. DR, BEL- LOWS, AND OTHERS; TOGETHER WITH POEMS FOR THE HOUR. , CONTENTS. PA America to the World, - - - - Love of Country. = - - Hon: Joseph Holt, The Right of Salt. Preser vation: - - id., Our Cause, - . - - Major: Gener al Mitchell, A Kentuckian’s Appeal, - - - - fon. LS. Rosseau, Kentucky Steadfast, © - ° = -' - - - [d., Timidity is Treason, * 4 “ s Dr. Brownson, The Alarum, - - - - - - R&R. H. Stoddard, April 15th, 1861852 pes = - - -. Wm. H. Burleigh, The Spirit of 761, - - - - . = — Franklin Lushington, The Precious Heritage, - - - Hon, Galusha A. Grow, The Irish Element, - - - Edward Everett, George Francis Train’s Speech i in 1 London, - Byron 'Christy’s Bunedue, omy Deets - - - - Let Me Alone, * - - - The Brigand-ier- “General Contractor, sia - - - The Draft, - - - - - ie The Union Square Speeches, - - - - - - The Ubion, - - - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Our Countr 'y’s Call, - - - - Wm, Cullen Bryant, The Story of an Oak- -Tree, - - - Ad. H. tec tae L-e-g (Elegy) on my Leg, - - - - History of our Flag, - a Dr. Pinna Extracts from Thomas F. Meagher’ 3 Address at Jones’ Wood, ‘ How much we owe to the Union, . Hon. A. H. Stephens, Extracts from the last speech of Stephen A. Douiglas, - ’ Extracts from President Lincoln’s alesse f The great bell Roland, - . - - - Theodore Tilton; ‘ The New Year and the Union, a - - George D. Prentice, | King Cotton, - - - > Z -- ti. H. Stoddard, Battle Anthem, - - - ee - John Neal, ! The ends of Peace, - ae - Hon. Daniel 8. Dickinson, a Freedom the Watchword, -' - - - Carl Schurz, \ The Crisis of our National Disease, ~ - - Rev. Dr. Bellovs, d The Duty of Christian Patriots,~ - - oh Pe, Dr. Adame, H Turkey Dan’s Fourth of Taly Oration, “5 ~ 4 A fearless Plea, - re F The Onus of Slavery, - - - Hon Benjamin R Heads | A Foreigner’s Tribute, - - - Dr, Lieber, ¥ Catholic Cathedral, - - - - z Hhulburt Under wan ‘a The “ Speculators,” - = - - dl The Little Zouave, - - - - - | Our Native Land, - - Sir Walter ‘Scott, i ta¥” For Sale by all Newadealots. BEADLE AND COMPANY, Publishers, 118 William St., N. ¥ 5 B Db mS es = B = = < > a ih — — =< oe A 2 oO me co wR < pas wr MEN OF THE TIME: PBRIOGRAPHIES OF GENERALS BUTLER, BAKER, BANKS, STEVENS, BURNSIDE, WILCOX, WEBER. BEADLE AND COMPANY, NEW YORK: 118 WILLIAM STREET, LONDON: 44 PATERNOSTER ROW. v Entered according to Act of,Qongress, in the year 1862, by BEADLE AND COMPANY, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.+ CONTENTS. MAJOR-GENERAL BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, = | MAJOR-GENERAL NATHANIEL P. BANKS, - MAJOR-GENERAL AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE, | BRIGADIER-GENERAL EDWARD D. BAKER, - BRIGADIER-GENERAL ISAAC L STEVENS, - BRIGADIER-GENERAL 0. B. WILCOX, -~ - BRIGADIER-GENERAL MAX WEBER, Paan. 11 385 57 73 91 96 MEN OF THE TIME. MAJOR-GENERAL BENJAMIN F. BUTLER. No person has a better claim to the honors accorded to the Men of the Time by the American public than General Butler. His early espousal of the Union cause gave indica- tion of his thorough patriotism. A life-long Democrat of the hi hard-shell” school, he ran, in 1860, as the Breckenridge can- didate for the Gubernatorial chair of Massachusetts. That he should have been among the first to fly to arms, proved not Only how remarkably all partisanship was forgotten in the . hour of danger, but also demonstrated his readiness to court the field in the contest so recklessly forced upon the loyal men of the North. For this readiness, his “ Southern friends” and old coadjutors haye not ceased to persecute him with their most virulent tongues and pens, and for his extraor- dinary efficiency in dealing with the enemies of the Republic he has won the proud distinction of their unending hate—a distinction reserved for those who performed their duty fear- lessly and thoroughly. Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in Deerfield, Rocking- ham county, New Hampshire, November 5th, 1818. His father, John Butler, was a soldier in the war of 1812-14. By his Mother’s side he was descended from the Cilley family—a name honorably known in our Revolutionary annals, She was & woman of much energy of character, and during the boy- hood of her sons, supported the family by her own efforts— her residence being in Lowell, Mass. Benjamin attended the Lowell High School, and fitted himself for college at the Exeter Academy. His collegiate course was pursued snccess- fully at the Waterville (Maine) College. After graduation he at once entered upon the study of the law in the office of William Smith, of Lowell, and was admitted to the bar in 12 MEN OF THE TIME. 1840, when he at once entered upon a career of excitemel! in about equal proportions. One who knew him personally in Lowell writes : “His speeches were smart, impudent, reckless, slap-dat affairs, showing the same general traits which have characte ized him as a lawyer and politician ever since he began career. He very soon became a decided character in Lowel and Middlesex county. He made politics and Jaw play int each other’s hands; and while he denounced the agents an overseers of the mills as tyrants and oppressors, his offic was open for the establishment of all sorts of law-suits of and industry congenial to his nature. Like an athlete wll Bu | finds it necessary for his peace to expend his aching energi@ fie i upon double duty, Butler’s tireless will sought employment ip fe i a restless and unique career in which politics and law mingl@ tin } f claims against the mill proprietors, he soon assumed a placé beside the most able criminal advocates of the State. The writer above referred to says :— “At the criminal terms of the Middlesex Court, he has done a greater amount of business than anybody else, and his 1 reputation at present is that of the most successful criminal i lawyer in the State. His devices and shifts to obtain at i acquittal and release are absolutely endless and innumerable. i He is never daunted or baffled until the sentence is passed and put into execution, and the reprieve, pardon, or commu tation is refused. An indictment must be drawn with the greatest nicety, or it will not stand his criticism. A verdict of guilty is nothing to him—it is only the beginning of the case ; he has fifty exceptions; a hundred motions in arrest of judgment; and after that, the habeas corpus and personal replevin. ‘The opposing counsel never begins to feel safe until the evidence is all in, for he knows‘not what new dodges _ behalf of the male and female operatives. I don’t think he b 4 ever had any misgiving as to the result of a case upon which d he had entered, or that he ever hesitated to espouse the caus? : of a client, no matter how worthless the client or how de perate the cause. And he never abandoned his client, in| f victory or defeat.” : His reputation rapidly expanded; and, from being knows| ‘ as the successful attorney of all persons having grudges of : ' MAJOR-GENERAL BENJAMIN F. BUTLER. 18 | Butler may spring upon him. He is more fertile in expe- 4 dients than any man who practices law among us. His expe- dients frequently fail, but they are generally plausible enough Jel] '0 bear the test of trial. And faulty and weak as they often- | times are, Butler always has confidence in them to the last ; } aa when one fails, he invariably tries another. If it were si} Not that there must be an end to every thing, his desperate | Cases would never be finished, for there would be no end to is his expedients to obtain his case. The story which has been ! lately published that he caused an attachment to be placed 0} “pon the water-wheels of one of the Lowell mills, at the suit of a factory girl—thus bothering the owners, so that they were et} glad to settle the ‘ bill’ without delay—is probably true.” | It was true, and the same fertility of resource it was which brought forth the celebrated “ contraband” solution of the Painful question so puzzling to constitutionalists, “ What shall We do with the negroes ?” Is A political opponent, who knew Butler from close relations in| for several years, thus daguerreotyped the man at the period Of his “standing up to be shot at” as the Breckenridge can- n| idate for Governor of Massachusetts, in 1860. The picture, r} though by an opponent, is so cleverly drawn, that it may here @| be reproduced. In the light of more recent events, it pos- e| 8esseg a renewed, interest : “He worked his own way to col- lege, and through it. It is safe to say that his alma mater 3| Never graduated such another. He supported himself in col- $ lege by making chairs. Through life he has cut his own way, j ! and a wide, long breadth of swath has he carried. He has Wrung success from men and circumstances, moreover, that Were reluctant to concede it to him. And in so doing, he 1} hag indicated his great strength. When he first came to the ar, the Courts looked upon him as a sort of portentous phe- }} Romenon, such as never before came athwart the judicial | Vision, He had no family influence to aid his young steps. He had no friends to ‘plow for him, as the phrase is. His arly days were spent in steady rowing up-stream, with a Strong wind and the current poth dead against him. But he He cleared the rapids, and up he continued He might anchor if he ffer him to rest Never faltered. to-sail, He #s in calmer water now. Would. But his temperament will never su 14 MEN OF HE TIME. this side the ‘narrow house. But the fact that all he ha and all he is are the conquest of his own energy, is a fad that indicates his pluck. He may be safely set down as man of irrepressible energy. “He is not far from forty. His health is perfect. His constitution is in no manner impaired by early excesses, if indeed, he were ever guilty of any. If he were, they nevel could be traced in his physical condition. Nothing but the apoplexy or a raging fever can bring such a constitution the ground. It isas sound and compact as the Federal Con stitution, He merely staggered under an attack that senl many wailing ghosts to the Plutonian realm—the National Hotel poison. He imbibed the poison, or inhaled it, or ate it, as copiously as they. He took no better care of himself that they of themselves. But in his case the disease got decidedly the worst of it. ‘The man recovered of the bite; the dog ib was that died’ Twice that amount of poison he would havé vanquished, Few men, indeed, ‘can endure the winter's cold as well as he, or the summer’s heat, or hard and inces sant mental or physical labor. In this fact is found his great est element of strength, in our judgment. This is the primary cause of his bestriding the Democratic fold, Beach, Davis, Choate, and all hands, so like a Colossus. It is the key to all his successes, It is the reason why he tries so many causes more than any other one man in the Commonwealth. ‘He can stand it’? He of whom that sentence can be truly uttered is the happiest, or ought to be the happiest, man in the State. And of Butler it can be said. He can labor) always ‘and never tire.’ Indeed, he grows more vigorous the longer he remains in harness. He will be found trying causes in the Court in the day-time; making stump speeches at night; directing the campaign on Sundays, and resting and recreating never at all. He isn’t the famous ‘son of the sleep- less;’ he is Old Sleepless himself. He will, with his admirable constitution, run on like Deacon Holmes’ ‘one hoss shay, and like it, ‘go to pieces all at once.’” To mental character and idiosyncrasies of the man, the same writes thus: ‘“‘ His mind is not logical. He don’t state a case with logical precision. He can state it with sophistical deception; and he will make it look like logic. Unless you pee cS Pea Pade tele Sy: | OO Rel MAJOR-GENERAL BENJAMIN F. BUTLER. 15 look again, perhaps you would call it logic. But try it again, and you will detect the dull copper sound. He often believes his own sophistry, so ingeniously does he construct it. His arguments to the jury in all ‘hard cases’ are made up of the Most ingenious sophistries; sometimes, indeed, mixed with Mposing absurdities. But he presses all with equal vehe- Mence, and apparently has as much confidencé in his copper 48 in his golden coin. And sometimes they are quite as suc- Cessful. His fallacies are most ingenious and difficult to Unravel. His arguments have not even method, saying Nothing of logic. He skips from one theme to another and back again, with bewildering celerity. The hearer can haye ho idea of what he will discuss, or how long he will be at it, from hearing him start, for he often begins in the middle and nds with some squib on collateral matter. Notwithstanding the truth of all these criticisms, his arguments are always Ingenious and most effective. They always endanger the adversary—they often utterly overwhelm him. They abound in insinuations. They are set with homely illustrations, and Such as ‘split the ears of the groundlings.’ “He is not a fluent nor graceful speaker. His voice is harsh and grating. There is no mistaking his meaning. He Uses ‘talk words’ with fiery vehemence. He makes awkward Work when he undertakes to utter compliments. But he 8mites an adversary with the plainest Anglo-Saxon epithets, 4s though he had had long practice in their use, as, indeed, he has. The laughs he creates are more apt to be in the rear Seats than on the bench or in the bar. His wit, though often Sharp, is undeniably more apt to be appreciated among the “general’ than among cultivated men. He looks to them— ‘caviare to the general, is his motto. But not unfrequently he perpetrates things that would do no diseredit to Jekyll in his best days. But his wit needs chastening and softening, Ina large degree. It would then bite with a keener edge. It often gives offense to the hearer who isn’t hit by it, by its Coarseness and blunt edge. He is a faithful and steadfast friend. His zeal in his client’s cause never flags for an instant. His fidelity to his client is never shaken; and the fidelity is €qually strong in all cases. It isn’ at all measured by the fees received. Pay or no pay—the earnestness and the energy 16 MEN OF THE TIME. are the same, so long as the relation of attorney and cliet! continue.” This is a characterization of whose truthfulness all will be impressed who read the man in his acts. His tenacity of| will, his devotion to the cause of his espousal, his ingenuity forth from the events of 1861-62, to write him down as one of the most remarkable men called into the service of his country. “The scalps of Choate, the distinguished head of the American Bar, of Lord, who leads the Essex circuit with | out a rival, and Judge Abbott, among the living, and of Farley, the sturdiest advocate that Middlesex county has yielded from loins prolific of lawyers, we have seen dangling from his belt.” And we of a later day have seen how cease lessly he pursued the enemies of his country: so many rebel “scalps” are credited to his account on the books of the War Department, that a plethoric book would scarce suffice for their history. Butler’s political history is so closely identified with the history of the Democratic party in Massachusetts, during the last fifteen years, that the one stands for the other. It is as full of intrigue, excitement and interest, as would naturally come from a conflict between such intellects as that State has produced. He became a “ Coalitionist,” in 1852, uniting with the Free-Soilers to crush out the old Whig party. He was the nominee of the coalition for the Legislature, in 1853. “The first day’s election resulted in the choice of a part of the ticket, but Butler and three others fell behind, and were defeated. On the second trial Butler was chosen, receiving just nine votes more than the required number. But the State was lost ; Clifford was chosen Governor, and the Senate - and House had small Whig majorities. Butler was the leader of the Coalitionists in the House, and his battles with Otis P. Lord, the Whig leader, are memorable in the history of legis- lative strife in that State. Never were two men more equally matched. “The election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention next came on; the Coalitionists carried Lowell easily, and Butler was chosen. In this Convention he took an active part, and displayed greater ability and appreciation of Drinc’ The Mon - and originality, his geniality and his sternness—all have come) to h Cont But gay as The tye r ity its Co iz Fos) eo ae MAJOR-GENERAL BENJAMIN F. BUTLER. 17 ciples than anywhere else. And he was as fertile in Pedients as ever. The published debates bear evidence of rill be hi industry and skill, and the votes exhibit his fidelity to the ity of Winciples and measures of the majority of the Convention. nuity| the Constitution was rejected by the people, and the Coali- come} ton was dead. Butler was always faithful to it, and loyal e| © his Free-Soil allies. When, in 1852, the Congressional | Contest came between Henry Wilson and Tappan Wentworth, Butler, though he did not formally withdraw from the field, Save important aid to Wilson, who was, however, defeated by 4 small majority, and reserved for the Senate three years later. has| ‘he political fights in Lowell, in 1852 and 1853, were the ugliest ling | Ver known in the State.” asee| The coalition, if it failed to destroy the Whig party, dealt pel | itmortal blows; and the “ Know-Nothing ” organization, with the | its secret conclayes, suddenly came to complete what the ice | Coalition had commenced. Butler fought that secret organ- ization with all his tremendous energy. ‘ When Jo. Hiss and he | his Nunnery Committee brought the Legislature of 1855 into he | Contempt, and in self-defense the chief culprit had to be ag expelled, Butler appeared as his counsel, luxuriating in the ly | Opportunity to show up the follies of the new party. When 3 | Gardner disbanded the Irish companies, Butler resisted, and, h after his commission as Colonel was taken away, he went to s law, and prosecuted the Adjutant-General for taking the guns from the armory, with no satisfactory result, however. Three or four years later he appeared, with John A. Andrew, as | counsel for George P. Burnham, and carried before the Supreme Court the question whether the imprisonment of Burnham by the House, for contempt, was legal—again with no result satisfactory to him or his client.” The writer of these extracts humorously added :—“ These persistent efforts illustrate his dogged pertinacity, and his fertility in expedients, of which I have already spoken. I doubt whether any controversy can be raised which Butler can not, by hook or by crook, get into the Supreme Court for hearing and argument. If he can not beat General Lee and General Johnson any other way, he will institute a suit in the Virginia Court of Appeals, and bring it to trial before he comes home again.” 18 MEN OF THE TIME. Butler fought the Republicans as valiantly as he nal Be wrestled with the Know-Nothings. “In the year 1858, } two-t friends tried to nominate him for Governor, but Mr. Beadl) 1S « beat him by about two hundred majority out of a thousal no} delegates. At this time, Butler was the candidate of the) Meu Liberals, and Beach of the Hunkers. The next year, by, mili general consent, Butler, still occupying a liberal position} to received the nomination, and the full vote of his party. Tbe ow: old Whigs, however, who would probably have supported! Ant Beach, refused to vote for Butler, of whom they had and still} Jac have an abiding hatred and contempt, because he was # ne Coalitionist, an Anti-Corporationist, a friend of Free-Soilers— Son in a word, a Democrat, for they contrived to get Ex-Governot he Briggs into the field on an Anti-Free School issue, and voted} © for him. In 1860 came the split in the Democratic party; CoN and General Butler played a very prominent part in the th Convention at Charleston and Baltimore. With his usual ele pluck and audacity, he told the slaveholders some very plain ® ss truths, and on the question of the platform, fought them with| ability and skill. The history of these conventions is fresh} |. in all men’s minds. ‘To the surprise of all, except those wh A know how easily General Butler is influenced by his friends, : he finally went with the Breckenridge party, and in the fall | of 1860 became its candidate for Governor, Mr. Beach resun : ing his old position as the regular candidate.” | Tt was a most unfortunate step for the candidate’s pop larity, and it soon became evident that the Breckenridg? leaders in the South and in Congress meant treason. Butler was not in sympathy with treason; he was rather its most rank enemy, and ran, it would appear, under false represent ations made to him by the Southern leaders, who did nob scruple to deceive and betray their best friends.* * Butler, in his interview with Pierre Soule, in New Orleans, revealed his feelings at the deception practiced by the conspirators, saying, i2 reply to Soule’s attempted justification : “ Not another word, sir! Not another word, you hypocrite ! You lied to me at Charleston! I shall never forget how basely you lied! I held private interviews there with you as a gentleman and a friend; you deceived me—you deserted me! You, and those who acted with you, said you would stand by me to the last in a fair ana legal fight for South- ern rights—that you would stand by our Northern Democracy. You know how false you proved! I want to hear no new professions. Leavé the room instantly! If ever you call me your friend again, 1 will give you a ball and chain in Fort Jackson; and if you do not cease your treason | Butler’s military life, like his political, was assumed for the i two-fold purpose of employing his energies and of securing MAJOR-GENERAL BENJAMIN FY, BUTLER. 19 own advancement. Among the first official acts of the how-Nothing Governor of Massachusetts, was a recom- Nendation, in his annual message, of exclusion from the fj Militia of..the State of persons of foreign birth, and inquiry | Nto the race and sect of certain companies bearing the fol- lowing names: the Columbian Artillery, the Bay State - Artillery, the Shields Artillery, the Sarsfield Guards, the I) Jackson Musketeers, the Union Guards, and the Jackson Guards. One of the companies thus blotted out, the Jack- Son Musketeers, was in the regiment of Colonel Butler, and he refused to transmit the order disbanding the prescribed ‘Ompany, and for the refusal he was summarily broken of fommand by Governor Gardner. In a short time, however, the officers of the brigade to which Butler’s regiment belonged, lected him to be Brigadier-General, and the same Governor Who had expelled him from office, was compelled to commis- Sion him to the higher office.” That rank he held at the opening of hostilities in April, 1861, He immediately offered his services to Governor John A Andrew, and was placed in command of the Massachusetts ‘Advance Guards,” comprised of the Siath, Highth, Third “nd Fourth Militia regiments. From that moment he became the cynosure of all eyes, so much depended on his energy, re- Sources, and integrity to the Union cause. That he did not fail ig written not more to his own personal credit than to his Yountry’s good. A journalist, regarding the first month’s Service, exclaimed :—‘“ It is not too much to say that, under the circumstances, the person who conceived and executed the thought of opening communication with Washington by Way of Annapolis, saved the Capital of the Union from attack y the arms of the Confederate States. It is not too much to say that General Butler, by his memorable moyement to Annapolis ; his seizure of the ship Constitution; his official ®ble plottings against the life of the Union, I will have you hang from ese windows.’ : efore this just fury the conspirator was speechless, and ere long, he 48 removed to the North, to save Butler the trouble of executing his “rrible threat. th © may add that we report this interview on the strength of state- €nts made by a newspaper ‘“ correspondent.” t 20 MEN OF THE TIME. correspondence with Governor Hicks; his occupation and repair of the road to Washington; his sudden encampment at the Relay House ; his noble march to Baltimore; his post- ing cannon upon the hill overhanging the city; and his wise proclamation to the people of Baltimore, saved the State of Maryland from plunging into the black depths of treason, and from political and social woes unnumbered. In all these pub- lic acts, not less than in his official correspondence with the Governor of Massachusetts, General Butler has evinced wis- dom, energy, ana steadiness of purpose, uncontrolled by pop- ular prejudice.” This is but a just tribute to his services, rendered in a mo- ment of extraordinary hazard and responsibility. His cam- paign in Maryland reads like a romance. It will, doubtless, be written out at length some of these days, and will form a book of unique interest. It was while in the performance of his trust of occupying Maryland to save that State from the grasp of the conspirators, and during a brief visit to Washing- ton, that he made a speech, remarking that his steps were turned southward, never more to be retraced until the rebel- lion was crushed and its authors brought to judgment. This called forth the usual billingsgate from Southern sources. One newspaper notice we may reproduce as representative of the intense malignity of the rebel heart toward all loyalists who proposed to do their whole duty without fear or favor. The Staunton Vindicator said :— “The Puritan upstart from Massuchusetts, B. F. Butler, who was placed in the command of a mercenary regiment from that State, has been promoted by President Lincoln to the position of Major-General, and assigned, rumor says, to Fort Monroe. On his arrival at Washington, where he was or- dered to report, after being relieved of his command at Bal- timore, he made a speech, in which he said his face was ‘toward the South, and he would never ‘ take a step backward.’ A more craven-hearted coward never walked the earth. With the most revolting countenance eyer worn by man, be is the impersonation of a horse-thief or land-pirate. With- out a particle of courage or honor, he is endeavoring to ape the man of war. Driven with brickbats and sticks from his passage with his regiment through Baltimore by unarmed pace al tet eh eens, Se a MAJOR-GENERAL BENJAMIN F. BUTLER. 21 Citizens, he has recently signalized his cowardice by offering insult and contumely to the people of that city when their hands were tied. The man, in fact, is a brute. He looks like one. For such acreature to talk of conquering the South ! for such a miserable poltroon to threaten to invade Vir- Sinia !—for such a specimen of abbreviated and distorted humanity to raise his hireling arm to strike against the rights ‘nd homes of gentlemen! If he, with his ragamuftin regi- Ment, turned and fled from the brickbats and sticks of the - - Citizens of Baltimore, what would they not do to escape the Serried phalanx of armed and disciplined Virginians? The Poor, miserable poltroon should never be dignified with a bul- let or a halter, but if ever caught, (which we doubt, for he Will keep out of harm’s way,) he should be tied to a whipping- ' Post, and cut to death with a cowhide in the hands of one of our meanest free negroes or penitentiary convicts.” Few journalists, except those educated under the debasing nd blighting curse of treason, could be guilty of such lan- Stage; but it was to Northern ears the language of cowardly far. The conspirators bestowed upon General Scott similar ®pithets. His successful “campaign” in and around Baltimore indi- “ated him as the person for a more responsible command. © was commissioned Major-General of Volunteers May 16th, 861, and assigned to the newly-created “ Department of Vir- Sinia,” embracing South-Hastern Virginia, North and South varolina—head-quarters at Fortress Monroe, Large aggrega- ‘ons of troops followed, and Richmond as well as Norfolk Were considered as Butler’s lawfal prize. He labored assid- Yously and vigorously to gather and equip his army; but the “ounter-stroke planned by the rebels of a movement upon .' ’shington, by way of Manassas, gave the Federal General- “Chief too much anxiety to answer to all of Butler's requi- ‘tions for equipments, transportation, artillery and munitions. Jere was arranged, however, a combined movement upon Richmond direct, predicated upon McDowell’s and Patterson’s Stecegs at Winchester and Manassas. This sad reverse, of ‘se, rendered Butler’s army of twenty-five thousand men paratively inoperative; und for some weeks succeeding © first great disaster, it remained upon the defensive. 22 « MEN OF THE TIME. Prior to this, the Big-Bethel disaster fell upon Butler’s command, The rebels under Magruder were in annoying proximity to Butler’s camps at Hampton and Newport News, and he resolved to dislodge them.