and refused to back off when the wheel was reversed, and the general tried to induce some of the men to take the small boat and go on shore to fasten a rope so that they might pull the boat off the bank by the aid of the windlass. Not one dared tempt the terrific flood. So the general took the boat and the rope, and at a most hazardous risk of his life, especially so, as the river navigation was new to him, he crossed the stream and fastened the rope.

It was a triumphant hour for him, when he saw the crowd of his anxious troops on the river bank awaiting his coming, and one in which he blessed the day on which he learned to steer a canal boat.

The half-famished men, who had descended in despair to the river, believing that no boat could stem the flood, shouted themselves hoarse, and performed all kinds of childish antics, when they saw their general skillfully steering the frail and trembling river steamer. They could scarcely believe their own eyes; and many a night about the camp fires the soldiers afterwards told the story of the general's dangerous trip up the Sandy, with rations for his hungry men.

For three months the union troops remained at or near Piketon, often making short expeditions to drive out stray bands of rebel marauders.

In the month of March, General Garfield determined to drive out the rebels who were posted near Pound Gap, on the Virginia side of the Cumberland mountains; and with seven hundred men, including two hundred cavalry, he made a forced march of

forty miles, and encamped secretly near the enemy's quarters. Early next morning, in a blinding snow storm, he sent the cavalry through the Gap, while the infantry clambered up by a difficult path to surprise the rebels in the rear. He was completely successful in surprising the post, but the rebels scattered so fast that he captured but few of them. They left valuable stores of amunition and provisions behind, of which he took possession. The next day he burned the camp and returned to his quarters. A few days later he was ordered to report with the greater part of his command at Louisville.

The order of General Buel, which he had thus obeyed so implicitly and fully, was dated December 17, 1861, and reads as follows:

HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO,

LOUISVILLE, KY., December 17, 1861. SIR-The brigade, organized under your command, is intended to operate against the rebel force threatening, and, indeed, actually committing depredations in Kentucky, through the valley of the Big Sandy. The actual force of the enemy, from the best information I can gather, does not probably exceed two thousand, or two thousand five hundred, though rumor places it as high as seven thousand. I can better ascertain the true state of the case when you get on the ground.

You are apprised of the position of the troops under your command. Go first to Lexington and Paris, and place the 40th Ohio regiment in such position as will best give a moral support to the people in the counties on the route to Prestonburg and Piketon, and oppose any further advance of the

enemy on that route. Then proceed with the least possible delay to the mouth of the Sandy, and move, with the force in that vicinity, up that river and drive the enemy back or cut him off. Having done that, Piketon will probably be in the best position for you to occupy to guard against future incursions. Artillery will be of little, if any, service to you in that country. If the enemy have any, it will encumber and weaken, rather than strengthen them.

Your supplies must mainly be taken up the river, and it ought to be done as soon as possible, while the navigation is open. Purchase what you can in the country through which you operate. Send your requisitions to these head-quarters for funds and advance stores, and to the Quartermasters and Commissary at Cincinnati for other supplies.

The conversation I have had with you will suggest more details than can be given here. Report frequently on all matters concerning your command. Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

D. C. BUEL,

Brigadier-General Commanding.

The above order was followed by a congratulatory order, dated January 20, 1862, which reads as follows:

HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO,
Louisville, Ky., January 20, 1862.

[General Orders No. 40.]

The general commanding takes occasion to thank General Garfield and his troops for their successful campaign against the rebel forces under General Marshall on the Big Sandy, and their gallant con

duct in battle. They have overcome formidable difficulties in the character of the country, the condition of the roads, and the inclemency of the season; and without artillery, have, in several engagements terminating in the battle on Middle Creek on the 10th inst., driven the enemy from his entrenched positions and forced him back into the mountains with the loss of a large amount of baggage and stores, and many of his men killed or captured. These services called into action the highest qualities of a soldier, fortitude, perseverance, courage."

When General Garfield arrived at Louisville, he found that General Buel was far away in Tennessee, hurrying to the assistance of General Grant, at Pittsburg Landing. So General Garfield, obedient to fresh orders, bade a hasty farewell to his comrades, and hurried on after the army. He overtook General Buel at Columbia, Tennessee, and was at once assigned to the command of the 20th brigade, in the division of General T. J. Wood.

This change in his command was a great grief to General Garfield, who had hoped to keep the Fortieth Ohio in his brigade, and thus be with his old friends, scholars and neighbors throughout the war. But from that time their paths diverged, and never united again during the entire contest.

The army, of which his new command formed a part, made a forced march from Columbia to Savannah, on the Tennessee river, and from that point they were in great haste hurried on by boat to Pittsburg Landing. The battle of Shiloh had been raging for more than a day, when these reinforcements

arrived. Without rest or time to enter camp they hurried on to the field of battle, and General Garfield's command was under fire during the final contest which gave the victory to the federal troops.

The next day his brigade, with other forces under General Sherman, was sent in pursuit of the retreating enemy, and a short but hotly contested battle was fought, in which General Garfield was conspicuously cool and brave.

During that tedious siege of Corinth, which followed, his brigade was nearly all the time at the outposts, and was engaged often in skirmishes with the rebels, and were with the first column that was ordered forward when the town was evacuated by Beauregard.

In June, 1862, his brigade was sent to repair and protect the Memphis and Charleston railroad, between Corinth and Decatur, after which he advanced to Huntsville, Alabama, and gained no little credit for his skill in military engineering, connected with the fortifications.

It has been often related of him that while in command of this brigade, a fugitive slave came rushing into his camp, with a bloody head, and apparently frightened almost to death. He had scarcely passed the head-quarters, when a regular bully of a fellow came riding up, and with a volley of oaths began to ask after his "nigger." General Garfield was not present, and he passed on to the division commander. The division commander was a sympathizer with the theory that fugitive slaves should be returned to their