chief of staff or the command of a brigade. Most men would have taken the brigade, but Garfield chose to remain with the general. That Rosecrans never regretted the appointment as chief of staff, which he made immediately after the interview, is evidenced by what he has said.

"We were together until the Chattanooga affair. I found him to be a competent and efficient officer, an earnest and devoted patriot, and a man of the highest honor. His views were large and he was possessed of a thoroughly comprehensive mind."

His appointment as chief of staff gave great satisfaction throughout the army, and it was everywhere expressed. The country was equally pleased, especially Ohio. The editor of the Zenia Torchlight, a paper published at Garfield's home, thus commented on the appointment:

"We have known General James A. Garfield for several years, and entertain for him the highest personal regard. He is one of the most eloquent men in Ohio, as well as one of the ripest scholars. Socially and morally, he has no superior. He is popular with all, as the attachment of his scholars, as well as his soldiers, for him demonstrates.

"In respect to abilities, nature has by no means been unfriendly to him; and he has neither despised nor slighted her gifts. A severe course of mental training, combined with the mental practice obtained by presiding over one of the colleges

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of Ohio. has fully developed his natural endow

ments.

"Above all these considerations, every one respects General Garfield for his stern, unyielding, uncompromising patriotism. The permanent good of his country, the restoration of its unity, and the perpetuation of the National power and glory through all coming time, are the objects which he keeps steadily in view."

Once installed in his new position, he rapidly grew into a favorite. Possessed of sound, natural sense, an excellent judgment, a highly-cultivated intellect, and the deserved reputation of a successful military leader, he was soon to be the mentor of the staff, and his opinions sought, and his counsels heeded by many who were older and not less distinguished than himself.

Edmund Kirke, in his picturesque war story, "Down in Tennessee," written in 1863, draws the following pen-portrait of Garfield in his new capacity:

"In a corner by the window, seated at a small pine desk-a sort of packing-box, perched on a long-legged stool, and divided into pigeon-holes, with a turn-down lid-was a tall, deep-chested, sinewy-built man, with regular, massive features, a full, clear blue eye, slightly tinged with gray, and a high, broad forehead, rising into a ridge over the eyes, as if it had been thrown up by a plow. There was something singularly engaging in his open,

expressive face, and his whole appearance indicated, as the phrase goes, 'great reserve power.' His uniform, though cleanly brushed and sitting easily upon him, had a sort of democratic air, and everything about him seemed to denote that he was 'a man of the people.' A rusty slouched hat, large enough to have fitted Daniel Webster, lay on the desk before him; but a glance at that was not needed to convince me that his head held more than the common share of brains. Though he is yet young-not thirty-three-the reader has heard of him, and if he lives he will make his name long remembered in our history."

Garfield was looked upon as the only mature member of the staff, Rosecrans having a partiality for young and gallant spirits, like Captain Charles Thompson, Major Bond, Colonel Mickler, Captain Hunter Brooke, Major Horace Porter, subsequently on Grant's staff, and Major Morton McMichael. Not that Garfield was much older than these officers, but he had a mature look always, and his mood was ever serious, as if there was in the peril of the nation something more of personal concern and personal interest to him than to most of his associates.

It was while acting in this capacity that Garfield had a conversation with Clement C. Vallandingham. Vallandingham having been banished for his treasonable sentiments, was brought to Murfeesboro, Tenn., where the army lay, to be

sent by flag of truce into the rebel lines, a few miles distant, at Tullahoma. When brought into camp, Vallandingham was taken, in the usual course of business, to Rosecrans's head-quarters, and he and Garfield being acquaintances, it was natural they should fall into conversation, and equally natural that the conversation should turn upon the policy and conduct of the war, in a political

sense.

Vallandingham was to go off the next day, escorted as far as the rebel lines, in the vicinity of Tullahoma. He entered Rosecrans's tent at an early hour of the morning with an affectation of unconcern and light-heartedness which he could not have felt, threw himself into a tragic attitude, and in a mock heroic vein exclaimed, quoting from Romeo and Juliet:

"Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops."

Here he hesitated, when Garfield quickly but quietly finished the speech, by adding, in a half aside, to the aid-de-camp in charge of the flag of truce escort, waiting to convey Vallandingham to the rebel lines,

"I must begone and live, or stay and die."

Vallandingham, however, overheard and caught the hidden meaning of the citation, and blushed scarlet, as he made its application.

Τ'

GARFIELD AS CHIEF OF STAFF.

HE chief of staff should bear the same re lation to his general that a minister of state does to his sovereign. What this relation is, that brilliant historian, Kinglake, tells us in his "Crimean War:"

"The difference between a servant and a minister of state lies in this, that the servant obeys the orders given him, without troubling himself concerning the question whether his master is right or wrong, while a minister of state declines to be the instrument for giving effect to the measures which he deems hurtful to his country. The chancellor of the Russian Empire was sagacious and politic. That the czar was wrong in these transactions against Turkey, no man knew better. But, unhappily for the czar and for his empire, the minister did not enjoy so commanding a station as to be able to put restraint upon his sovereign, nor even, perhaps, to offer him counsel in his angry mood."

We now see that in some respects our chief of staff went through a similar experience. From the day of his appointment, General Garfield became the intimate associate and confidential ad