Rough culture; but such trees large fruit may bear, So he grew up a destined work to do, And lived to do it-four long suffering years— Ill-fate, ill-feeling, ill-report lived through, And then he heard the hisses changed to cheers, The taunt to tribute, the abuse to praise, And took both with the same unwavering mood, Till, as he came on light from darkling days, And seemed to touch the goal from where he stood, A felon hand, between the goal and him, Reached from behind his back; a trigger pressed; And those perplexed and patient eyes were dim, Those gaunt, long, laboring limbs were laid to rest. The words of mercy were upon his lips; Forgiveness in his heart and on his pen; When this vile murderer brought swift eclipse To thoughts of "Peace on earth; good will to men." The old world and the new, from sea to sea, Utter one voice of sympathy and shame! CHAPTER XXV. THE WAR OVER. The Cost of the War-Measures Taken to Stop the Expenses-Grand Review and Disbandment of the Army - Differenco Between Eastern and Western Troops-Equal Tributes Paid to Both by their Two Great Commanders. The war was now over, and the first thing to be done was to stop the military expenses, disband the army, and scatter the navy. When Lee surrendered, and Richmond was evacuated, General Grant did not enter the city, but hurried off to Washington to stop enlistments for the army and navy, and supplies for both, which for four years had seemed such a bottomless sea of waste for the resources of any nation. The cost of supporting the great armies and fleets used in the Civil War, is shown by the rapid increase of the national debt, which was in 1860, June 30, $64,769,703; 1861, June 30, $90,867,828; 1862, June 30, $514,211,371; 1863, June 30, $1,097,274,360; 1864, June 30, $1,740,036,689; 1865, March 31, $2,423,437,001; 1866, January 1, $2,749,451,745. As to this statement, Draper's "Civil War" says: "The great increase indicated by the last item, apparently after the war was over, was due to the paying off of the troops and the settlement of outstanding bills. Such was the debt, but to it should be added the sums expended by individual States, and local bodies, in raising and fitting out their several contingents. The total rises above $1,000,000,000. Bounties were paid to the amount of about $200,000,000, and about $100,000,000 more to the families of absent and deceased soldiers." The same authority says, as to numbers of men in the field: The entire forco called into the national service during the war was 2,688,523 men. Of these there were enlisted: For three months, 191,985; for six months, 19,076; for nine months, 87,558; for one year, 394,959; for two years, 43,113; for three years, 1,950,792; for four years, 1,010; total, 2,688,523. Many of these were mustered in more than once. Making suitable allowance for this, and other necessary deductions, it may be concluded that about 1,500,000 soldiers were employed. Of these, 50,000 were killed in battle; 35,090 died in the hospitals of wounds; 185,000 died in the hospitals of disease; many more died subsequently; and the bealth of still moro was irreparably broken down. The breadth of the field of the war, extending over a territory more than a thousand miles square; the extent of seacoast, and number of ports to be blockaded; the important part which railroads were to have in all its operations; the new navy which had to be created both for the ocean and for our great rivers; and the very arms, from turreted and iron-clad ships, to siege guns, breech loaders and repeating rifles, which were to be invented and manufactured; explain the cost of such military operations. Almost simultaneously with the cutting off of the outlay for recruits and supplies, and the support of the armies in the field, came the disbandment of the great forces, which had for years been withdrawn from civil life and were now to return to it. The greater part of the men were quickly mustered out wherever they happened to be, but Sherman's army and the Army of the Potomac under General Meade, and that of the James under General Terry, were assembled at Washington, and there 200,000 veterans marched in the never-to-be-forgotton review of May 23 and 24. Tuesday, the first day, was devoted to the review of the Eastern troops. The President and Cabinet occupied a stand along the line of march, while General Grant and his staff led the procession, with General Meade Icading the Potomac army, and General Terry at the head of the Army of the James, with the several commanders in place. The next day, Wednesday, the 24th, was equally beautiful as to weather, 1 and quite as interesting and imposing in its pageantry. General Sherman thus describes it: The Fifteenth, Seventeenth and Twentieth Corps closed up to the bridge. The morning was extremely beautiful, and the ground was in splendid order for a review. The streets were filled with people to see the pageant, armed with bouquets for their favorite regiments or heroes, and everything was propitious. Punctually at 9 a. M. the signal gun was fired, when in person, attended by General Howard and all my staff, I rode slowly down Pennsylvania avenue, the crowds of men, women, and children densely lining the sidewalks, and almost obstructing the way. We were followed close by General Logan, and the head of the Fifteenth Corps. When I reached the Treasury building and looked back, the sight was simply magnificent. The column was compact, and the glittering muskets looked like a solid mass of steel, moving with the regularity of a pendulum. We passed the Treasury building, in front of which and of the White House was an immense throng of people, for whom extensive stands had been prepared on both sides of the avenue. As I neared the brick house on the lower corner of Lafayette square, some one asked me to notice Mr. Seward, who, still feeble and bandaged for his wounds, had been removed there that he might behold the troops. I moved in that direction and took off my hat to Mr. Seward, who sat at an upper window. He recognized the salute, returned it, and then we rode on steadily past the President, saluting with our swords. All on this stand rose and acknowledged the salute. Then turning into the gate of the presidential grounds, we left our horses with orderlies and went upon the stand, where I found Mrs. Sherman, and her father and son. Passing them, I shook hands with General Grant, and each member of the Cabinet. I then took my post on the left of the President, and for six hours and a half stood while the army passed, in the order of the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twentieth and Fourteenth Corps. It was, in my judgment, the most magnificent army in existence -65,000 men in splendid physique, who had just completed a march of 2,000 miles in a hostile country, in good drill, and who realized that they were being closely scrutinized by thousands of their fellowcountrymen and foreigners. Division after division passed, each commander of an army corps or division commander on the stand during the passage of the command to be presented to the President, Cabinet, and spectators. The steadiness and firmness of their tread, the careful dress of the guides, the uniform intervals between the companies, all eyes directed to the front, and the tattered and bulletriven flags festooned with flowers, all attracted universal notice. Many good people up to that time had looked upon our Western army as a sort of mob, but the world then saw and recognized the fact that it was an army in a proper sense, well organized, well commanded and disciplined, and there was no wonder that it had swept through the South like a tornado. For six and a half hours that strong tread of the Army of the West resounded along Pennsylvania avenue; not one soul of that crowd of spectators left his place, and when the rear of the column had passed by, thousands of spectators still lingered to express their sense of confidence in the strength of a government which could claim such an army.-[General Sherman's Personal Memoirs," Vol. II, p. 378. The difference between Eastern and Western armies, when thus brought together, is pointed out by General Grant, while their equal share in the achievements of the war is so impartially assigned them, by the commander-inchief of both, as to take away all jealousy or boasting from either. "Sherman's army made a different appearance from that of the Army of the Potomac. The latter had been operating where they received directly from the North full supplies of food and clothing regularly. The review of this army, therefore, was the review of a body of well-drilled, well-disciplined and orderly soldiers, unused to hardship and fit for any duty, but without the experience of gathering their own food and supplies in an enemy's country, and of being ever on the watch. Sherman's army was not so well dressed as the Army of the Potomac, but their marching could not be excelled; they gave the appearance of men who had been thoroughly drilled to endure hardships, either by long and continuous marches, or through exposure to any climate without the ordinary shelter of a camp." As for their several and equal services, which went to make up the result of the war, and the glory which will forever be attached to all who had any part in those achievements, he says, in his final report to the government: It has been my fortune to see the armies of both the West and the East fight battles, and from what I have seen, I know there is no difference in their fighting qualities. All that was possible for men to do in battle, they have done. The Western armies commenced |