and agreements they had taken from the soldiers to the amount of $2600, settlements to be made on the first pay-day, which, so far as my interests are concerned, has not yet arrived. Capt. Samuel B. M. Young of one of the Pennsylvania regiments promised to return and see that I was compensated for transportation and hotel bills, but he did not keep his word.

One of my next experiences on a large scale was to charter a vessel and arrange to load it with supplies for the front. And as no goods could be shipped without special permission of the Secretary of the Treasury, I obtained a letter to him from Mr. Seward, and after an interview with Secretary Chase he gave me the following letter:

Treasury Department, April 29, 1862. Sir-you are hereby authorized to grant a clearance to George A. Armes for his vessel to Cheeseman Landing, with the following sutlers' supplies needed for the Army near that place, viz.: Apples, dried apples, oranges, figs, lemons, butter, cheese, milk, syrup, molasses, raisins, candles, crackers, wallets, brooms, comforters, boots, pocket looking-glasses, pins, gloves, leather, tin washbasins, shirt buttons, horn and brass buttons, newspapers, books, tobacco, cigars, pipes, matches, blacking, blacking brushes, clothes brushes, tooth brushes, hair brushes, coarse and fine combs, emery, crocus, pocket handkerchiefs, stationery, armor oil, sweet oil, rotten stone, razor strops, razors, soap, shaving soap, suspenders, scissors, shoestrings, needles, thread, knives, pencils and Bristol brick.

You will insert the following condition in the clearance: "The vessel and all her cargo to be forfeited to the United States if any other goods are found on board of her than those specified above, on examination by the custom-house officers, or by the military or naval authorities after clearing for Cheeseman Landing." You will also require a suitable bond that none of the articles so conveyed shall be used to give aid or comfort to the insurgents. I am, very respectfully,

JUDSON MITCHELL, Esq.,

S. P. CHASE, Secretary of the Treasury.

Collector, Georgetown, D. C.

Mentioning only part of what I was allowed to take in the vessel, and that it had to be inspected by the Collector of George

town, D. C., resulted in further disappointments for me. I employed six good men to carry out my directions, and I made a net profit of $4700 on that one trip to the Army.

As my hotel and stage business had ceased to exist, I rented the southeast corner of Tenth and H streets N. W. in the city of Washington, investing $3000 in horses and wagons, and entered into contracts with sutlers to haul their goods to the camps in and around the city. I put six teams to work at $10 each per day, which returned me a net profit of about $50 per day. But my prosperity was not destined to be of long duration. One morning, not long after, about 2 o'clock, I was aroused from bed by the alarm of fire, and springing up, found, to my dismay, that all my property was being rapidly destroyed by the flames, and that all I had owned was lost. My mother was heartbroken over this new misfortune, for she was very proud of the business success of her young son, and to see him lose everything in this pitiless manner, following so closely the banishment from her own home and the giving up of all her possessions, seemed more than she could endure.

I did not undertake any further speculation, but attended strictly to my duties at the Department as if nothing had happened, little thinking that added, and even more, bitter misfortunes were in store for me, for soon the news came that our elegant residence, together with the thirteen outbuildings, had been burned and entirely destroyed by the Union troops. Going out there, I found that the reports were indeed only too true. The property had been ordered to be burnt by Colonel Hart of one of the New York regiments, to prevent the Confederates from using it. This shock was more than my poor mother could bear; she became prostrated under this additional affliction, and soon aftedied of the sorrows of her rapidly accumulating misfortunes.

After the loss of my mother, I secured leave of absence from the Department to visit relatives residing in Iowa, then quite a

Western State. While there (although only a boy) I was asked to drill the men who were being enlisted for the war, and found that my little experience at a military school in Virginia was of great service, and I became a very popular drill-master. I helped organize and drill a company, which we were unable to get in the State service, the State of Iowa having already filled its quota, and after receiving the following from Mr. Seward, I called on Captain Marsh to see if he would be willing to join the regiment which Colonel Close was organizing in Alexandria, Va.

Will It Sewn He gave me a letter, which I

presented to Colonel Close,

who failed to get transporta

tion from the Government for this company from Cedar Rapids. but it all shows the interest I took as a boy in the cause of the Union.

The military fever now began to grow on me, and I thought I would like to enter the army as a private soldier; so wrote Mr. Seward asking his advice, and received the following reply:

80

letter of the 30th of July, acking my

advice in regard to m

regard to entering

suvice, and I

military s

the

much pleased with the patristic

sentiments which it & presses.

The

to

duty.

save our

duty of eiding

imperited Union, is the

which has the first and

paramount claine upon all

any capacity in you find that you

be useful and acceptable.

Very truly your friend

Mie 1 Leung

Immediately upon receipt of this letter, I returned to Washington and called upon Mr. Seward, and requested him to let my brother, who was at a school in New York, have my place in the Department. He agreeing to this, I resigned in his favor, and enlisted as a private soldier in A. C. Widdecomb's Company B, Sixteenth Virginia Volunteers.

Shortly after I was on duty shooting at a target, which I failed to hit. This seemed to anger the Captain, and the first sergeant was ordered to relieve me of my equipment, and I was detailed as an orderly at company headquarters, being too delicate and not strong enough to handle my gun. The Captain being generally busy, I did not see very much of him, and therefore had a great