The above view was drawn by J. W. Barber for "Historical Collections, U. S.," by J. W. Barber and Henry Howe. The building with Grecian front was occupied as Post-office and Custom House, now the site of the Chamber of Commerce. Mitchell & Rammelsburg's furniture and Shillito's drygoods establishments and the tower of the Unitarian Church appear beyond.

"We'll hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple-tree.
Glory Hallelujah.''

These Indiana regiments were the first regiments the Cincinnati people had seen beside their own, and they greeted them with great enthusiasm. They were two thousand strong, a fine body of bright young men, and splendidly equipped, with knapsacks slung and like all the early Indiana regiments attired in gray. Regiment after regiment of Morton's gray-attired men soon followed them. One of these, the Seventh Indiana, was reviewed a few weeks later by Major Anderson of Fort Sumter fame, from the residence of his brother, Larz Anderson, on Pike street. The major was a sedate-appearing gentleman and looked care-worn and dejected, the result it was said of the excessive mental strain put upon him by his experiences at Charleston.

The sudden change from the avocations of peace to those of war made the city seem as another place and the people another people. Under the excitement of a great overpowering emotion of patriotism all classes mingled with a surprising degree of friendliness and good feeling; even strangers greeted each other and neighbors that had been estranged for years forgot their petty jealousies. Their fathers and sons touched elbows as they marched away under the old flag amid their tears and prayers. The spirit of self-sacrifice and generosity largely displayed tended to increase one's love of his kind: and it came, too, often from those who had been reputed to be hard and selfish. The angel in their natures came out smiling but blew no trumpet. One whom we knew, still know, and never can get rid of, neither in this world nor in any other, said to his landlord, "These are strange times; my business is dead and now I have this great house of yours on my hands and no income to meet the rent: I shall have to move out and find some humble shelter for my family." "That," replied he, " will do me no good. Stay where you are and take care of my property; no matter about rent. These are the times spoken of in Scripture when the hand of the father is against the son and brother against brother. We must help each other. If I get out of bread and you have it, I will call upon you; and if you get out and I have it, come to me and I will divide the last crust." The dough for that last crust was never kneaded.

War was a matter about which the people were as ignorant as babes. The spirit of humanity, and not of ferocity and blood-shedding, was their natural characteristic. But for years blood-shedding was the great business of the city; its industries were shaped to that end and supported its population. In those beginning days the public meetings were intensely exciting. Two or three of these we distinctly remember. One, about the very first, was in Pike's Opera House. It was packed from pit to dome, tier above tier. The venerable Nathaniel Wright attempted to read some spirit-spiriting resolutions and failing for want of voice they were passed over to Mr. Rufus King, when every syllable went forth in clear ringing tones to the ears and hearts of that packed, enthusiastic mass. Mr. King to this day we are glad to say has that magnificent voice in sound working condition; a voice that always goes out only for what is good.

It was in that very hall later on, on an October evening, 1864, that James E. Murdock read for the first time "Sheridan's Ride," that fine descriptive poem of Buchanan Read, a Cincinnati production, conceived and born on that very day wherein genius in song illustrated genius in war and the hearts of the nation beat in unison with the music.

A meeting of gentlemen and ladies was held at Smith and Nixon's Hall to learn from O. M. Mitchell what he knew about war. He was an object of pride with the Cincinnatians. Through his exertions they had the honor of having established the first observatory, built by the contributions of a people, on the globe. He was a small and ordinarily silent man, dark complexion, erect in figure, his face strong, keen with its expression of thought. The little man

seemed the concentration of nervous energy. He had often addressed them on the subject of astronomy. His religious and poetical instincts were strong, he was all alive with feeling; he possessed great fluency and command of language and electrified his audiences with this sublime elevating topic as probably no man had ever done before. When the war broke out he said he was ready to fight in the ranks or out of the ranks; and he only asked permission from his country to have something to do. This sentence was the key-note of his character-patriotism and intense activity. On this occasion he spake with fiery energy-the war was to be no child's play. "We read in the newspapers about steel netting for our soldiers to protect the breasts against bullets. What nonsense! And they tell us of a famous cannon just invented that will carry seven miles-seven miles! What? Expect to put down this rebellion and drive the rebels into the last ditch, they talk so much about, and get no nearer than seven miles!" At this sally the audience roared.

Judge Bellamy Storer was another of Cincinnati's fiery, enthusiastic orators, and like Mitchell was overflowing with patriotism united to the religious instinct. The more sublime flights of oratory can never be reached without an infusion of the latter.

At a meeting in Greenwood Hall Judge Storer gave one of his fervid appeals, calling upon the young men to volunteer. As he closed, he drew his tall, imposing form to its utmost height and spreading out his arms exclaimed, "I'm an old man, rising of sixty years," then with a look as though about ready to spring into a fight, added, "and I now volunteer."

A few days later our eyes were greeted with the sight of a company of old substantial citizens called the "Storer Rifles," clad in handsome uniforms, marching through the streets to the sound of drum and fife-old, mostly wealthy, grayheaded men, some of them very obese, with aldermanic protuberances; they were splendidly equipped, each at his own expense, and were named the "Storer Rifles." Among them was the Judge himself, bearing his shooting-piece and evidently as proud of his trainer clothes as any school-boy.

This company was organized to act as Home Guards for the protection of the city and to stimulate "the boys" to enlist for the war.

After a little it seemed as though the entire force of able-bodied men were drilling, and, where not for the army, to act as Home Guards. Within a week from the fall of Sumter at least ten thousand men were drilling in the city. The vacant halls were used as drill-rooms and the measured tramp of the recruits and the cries of the drill-sergeants, "left, left," arose from all over the city. The town wag of the time was Platt Evans, a tailor who had his shop on Main street, just below Fourth. Numberless were the stories told of his witticisms. He was a rather short, red-faced man, advanced in life, with a coarse complexion but of artistic tastes. Withal he stammered in speech, and this defect often gave a peculiar pungency to his wit. On being solicited to act as a captain of a company of Home Guards he blurted out, "you foo-fools; if-if I was m-m-marching you down B-B-Broad-B-B-Broadway, you all would be in the r-r-river b-b-b-before I could ca-call ha-ha-halt!”

The famed Literary Club, converting their rooms into a drilling hall, formed into a military company. They were largely young lawyers, their business for the time crushed and they had no resource for occupation but to turn from law to war, from courts to camps. Some sixty went into the service, almost all became officers and some distinguished generals, as R. B. Hayes, M. F. Force, Ed. O. Noyes, etc. Mr. R. W. Burnet volunteered to drill the club. He was a dignified, quiet gentleman of about fifty years of age, a son of Judge Burnet, and had been educated at West Point. On taking charge he made a short address, in which he said his first military experience on graduating was as a young lieutenant in the nullification times of 1832, when he was sent with his company by Jackson to Charleston to throttle its rebellious citizens if they attempted to execute their

treasonable threats. "And now," said he, "I can but reflect that it is these same pestilential people that have so wickedly plunged the country into a cruel, unnecessary war, and I am again in service against them."

Finding himself, after the lapse of thirty years, somewhat rusty in his tactics, Mr. Burnet resigned and his place was supplied by a drill sergeant from the Newport Barracks. He was a coarse, rough, ignorant foreigner, and occasionally forgetting himself at some exhibition of awkwardness, would let slip an oath, "Dn you there, on the left, hold up your heads!" Then, remembering where he was, he would bow himself and in tones of great humility say, "I ask your pardon, gentlemen." Then, a minute later, again flying into a passion, he would let slip another oath, to be in like manner followed with another " I ask your pardon, gentlemen." And thus it was the Literary Club was initiated into the school of the soldier by oaths alternated with expressions of humility.

Cincinnati was especially prominent for the large number of eminent characters she supplied for the cabinet and the field-Hon. Salmon P. Chase, the great war secretary, and two of Ohio's war governors, Dennison and Brough, and many of the distinguished Union generals, as Major-Generals Rosecrans, McClennan, Mitchell and Godfrey Weitzell; Brevet Major-Generals R. B. Hayes, August Willich, Henry B. Banning, Manning F. Force, August V. Kautz and Kenner Garrard; Brigadier-Generals Robert L. McCook, William H. Lytle, A. Sanders Piatt, E. P. Scammon, Nathaniel McLean, M. S. Wade and John P. Slough; and Brevet Brigadier-Generals Andrew Hickenlooper, Benjamin C. Ludlow, Israel Garrard, William H. Baldwin, Henry V. N. Boynton, Charles E. Brown, Henry L. Bennet, Henry M. Cist, Stephen J. McGroarty, Granville Moody, August Moore, Reuben D. Mussey, George W. Neff, Edward F. Noyes, Augustus C. Parry, Durbin Ward and Thomas L. Young; also Joshua L. Bates of the Ohio militia. A host of other Cincinnatians served in various civil and military capacities. Especially useful were its medical men; more than half the entire number of "United States volunteer surgeons" were from this city; they entered the service independent of special commands. Among the medical men were William H. Mussey, George Mendenhall, John Murphy, William Clendenin, Robert Fletcher, George H. Shumard, etc. After the bloody battles of Fort Donaldson and Shiloh the Cincinnati surgeons went down to the fields in streams, attended to the wounded and their transportation to hospitals in the city, a number of buildings being im provised for the purpose. A very efficient citizen of that era was Miles Greenwood, an iron founder, who cast cannon, rifled muskets and plated steamboats with iron for war purposes.

The Cincinnati branch of the United States Sanitary Commission was particularly efficient; an outline of their work is given on page 190. Alike efficient was the local branch of the United States Christian Commission. It was under the management of A. E. Chamberlain, H. Thane Miller, with Rev. J. F. Marlay Secretary, and B. W. Chidlaw general agent. It distributed stores and money to the amount of about $300,000, the contributions of Soldiers' Aid Societies and Ladies' Christian Commission, mainly from the patriotic men and women of Ohio.

The most marked events in the war history of the city were what has been termed the "Siege of Cincinnati" in 1862 and the raid of John Morgan in the following year.

THE SIEGE OF CINCINNATI.

After the unfortunate battle of Richmond, on the 29th of August, Kirby Smith, with his 15,000 rebel veterans, advancing into the heart of Kentucky, took possession of Lexington, Frankfort, and Maysville. Bragg with his large army was then crossing the Kentucky line; while Morgan, with his guerilla cavalry, was already joined to Smith. Pondrous-proportioned Humphrey Marshall was

also busy swelling the rebel ranks with recruits from the fiery young Kentuckians. Affairs looked threateningly on the border.

General Lewis Wallace was at once placed in command at Cincinnati, by order of Major-General Wright. Soon as he arrived in the city, on Thursday, the 4th of September, he put Cincinnati and the two cities on the Kentucky side of the Ohio, Newport and Covington, under martial law, and, within an hour of his arrival, he issued a proclamation suspending all business, stopping the ferry-boats from plying the river, and summoning all citizens to enrol themselves for defence. It was most effective. It totally closed business, and sent every citizen, without distinction, to the ranks or into the trenches. Nor was it needless, for the enemy, within a few days thereafter, advanced to within five miles of the city, on the Kentucky side, and skirmished with our outposts. Buchanan Read, the poet, painter of the time, draws this picture of the events. Read was a volunteer aid to General Wallace.

The ten days ensuing will be forever memorable in the annals of the city of Cincinnati. The cheerful alacrity with which the people rose en masse to swell the ranks and crowd into the trenches was a sight worth seeing. Of course, there were a few timid creatures who feared to obey the summons. Sudden illness overtook some. Others were hunted up by armed men with fixed bayonets; ferreted from back kitchens, garrets and cellars, closets and even under beds where they were hiding. One peacefully excited individual was found in his wife's clothes, scrubbing at the wash-tub. He was put in one of the German working parties, who received him with shouts of laughter.

The citizens thus collected were the representatives of all classes and many nativities. The man of money, the man of law, the merchant, the artist, and the artisan swelled the lines, hastening to the scene of action, armed either with musket, pick, or spade.

But the pleasantest and most picturesque sight of those remarkable days was the almost endless stream of sturdy men who rushed to the rescue from the rural districts of Ohio and Indiana. These were known as the squirrel-hunters. They came in files, numbering thousands upon thousands, in all kinds of costumes, and armed with all kinds of firearms, but chiefly the deadly rifle, which they knew so well how to use.

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Old men, middle-aged men, and often mere boys, like the minute men of the old Revolution, they dropped all their peculiar avocations, and with their leathern pouches full of bullets, and their ox-horns full of powder, by every railroad and by-way, in such numbers that it seemed as if the whole State of Ohio were peopled only with hunters, and that the spirit of Daniel Boone stood

upon the hills opposite the town beckoning them into Kentucky.

The pontoon bridge over the Ohio, which had been begun and completed between sundown and sundown, groaned day and night with the perpetual stream of life, all setting southward. In three days there were ten miles of intrenchments lining the Kentucky hills, making a semicircle from the river above the city to the banks of the river below; and these were thickly manned, from end to end, and made terrible to the astonished enemy by black and frowning cannon.

General Heath, with his 12,000 veterans, flushed with their late success at Richmond, drew up before these formidable preparations and deemed it prudent to take the matter into serious consideration, before making the attack.

Our men were eagerly awaiting their approach, thousands in rifle pits, and tens of thousands along the whole line of fortifications, while our scouts and pickets were skirmishing with their outposts in the plains in front. Should the foe make a sudden dash and carry any point of our lines, it was thought by some that nothing would prevent them from entering Cincinnati.

But for this provision was also made. The city above and below was well protected by a flotilla of gunboats, improvised from the swarm of steamers which lay at the wharves. The shrewd leaders of the rebel army were probably kept well posted by traitors within our own lines, in regard to the reception prepared for them, and taking advantage of the darkness of night and the violence of a thunder storm made a hasty and ruinous retreat. Wallace was anxious to follow, and was confident of success, but was overruled by those higher in authority.

To the above general view of the siege we contribute our individual experience. Such an experience of the entire war in a diary, by a citizen of the genius of Defoe, would outlive a hundred common histories; centuries hence be preserved among the choice collections of American historic literature. It would illustrate as nothing else could, the inner life of our people in this momentous period, their varying emotions and sentiments; their surprise and indignation at the treason to the beautiful country of their love; their never-equalled patriotism and generosity;