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hands, looking along the line to see how many of their beloved companions were left to them. It was a sight I never wish to see again. But there was little time to lose, and no time to complain. General McClernand came up, and asked if that was all that was left of the 11th. 'Yes,' was the reply. Well, my men,' he said, 'we must win this day, or all will be lost. Will you try it again?' 'We will, General,' was the response. The boys called on me to lead them. I formed the regiment (or company, as it was) on the left of the 70th Ohio regiment, and was again ordered to take our position in front. Ten minutes' time and we were again engaged."

In the spring of 1863 he was promoted to the rank of BrigadierGeneral, to date from November 29 (his birthday), 1862, for distinguished service on the field of Shiloh and at the siege of Corinth. Many of his gallant actions during the siege of Vicksburg we have already recorded, especially the heroic part he took in the disastrous assaults of May 22d. In the equally disastrous Red River expedition, his coolness and bravery at the battle of Pleasant Hill undoubtedly saved the detachment of the 13th army corps which he commanded from overwhelming defeat and ruin.

rest.

Gen. Ransom was four times wounded. At Charleston, Missouri, August 19, 1861; at Fort Donelson, February 15, 1862; at Shiloh, April 6, 1862; and at Pleasant Hill, La., April 8, 1864. His wound at the latter place was very severe, and he returned to Chicago for He had been in continual active service almost from the outbreak of the war without any relaxation; but even before his wound was quite well, feeling that his presence was needed in Georgia, he removed to the front. Through the remainder of the summer he was in good health, and took a prominent part in the campaign which gave us Atlanta.

In the early part of October he was taken sick with dysentery. As his command had been ordered to Rome, he started with it, although his disease was continually weakening him. Sometimes he rode in an ambulance, but always at the head of his troops, and sometimes took the saddle as the advance guard became engaged with the enemy. Generals Sherman and Howard and the medical directors begged him to allow himself to be reported sick, but his decision was unalterable. "I will stay with my command until I

DEATH OF GEN. RANSOM.

491

leave in my coffin," was his final answer. On the 26th of October, still on the move, there was a change for the worse, and his death was hourly expected, but his vigorous constitution and iron will carried him through the relapse. An army chaplain gives the following graphic and mournful picture of his death:

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"Late at night of October 7th, our regiment received orders to prepare to march at 5 o'clock next morning as an escort to General Ransom, who, being very sick, was to be sent to Rome. The Geneeral was in high favor with Sherman, who sent for him to take an important command, after he had sufficiently recovered from his wounds received on the Red River expedition under Banks. After Atlanta had fallen he had been placed in command of the 17th corps, during the absence of General Blair, who was home on leave. He had been for two or three weeks suffering from a severe attack of dysentery, and for some days it had been necessary to carry him on a bed in an easy spring wagon. Arriving at Galesville he was obliged to give up. He was provided with good quarters in a house, but in spite of the best care he grew worse. And now the army was to move. To leave him behind to the tender mercies of

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the chivalry,' was but to abandon him to robbery and murder. He was very low. Few thought he would get to Rome alive. fortable litter was provided, with a little canopy of hoops, etc., as a protection to his head from the sun and wind, and he was to be carried upon the shoulders of four strong men, in relays, relieving each other every fifteen minutes.

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"Soon after we had started we passed General Sherman's headquarters. He sent an order to the regiment to halt, and came out to sce General R. 'How are you, Ransom?' said he. 'How are you getting on?' 'Oh, finely, thank you.' Quite an Oriental style of traveling you are indulging yourself in.' 'It is wonderfully easy and comfortable, General,' said Ransom. Well, keep up good heart, my boy, I shall follow you soon, and be near you during the day. I hope the change will restore you.' 'Which way are you going, Colonel?' said he, to the commanding officer. 'Right ahead,' was the reply.

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"Oh, you had better countermarch; take this wagon-path through the brush, here; cross the Chatooga river at a temporary bridge you

will find about a half-mile from here and thus save eight miles travel.' I mention this as showing the minuteness of observation for which Sherman is so remarkable. Indeed, close observance of details is a characteristic of all who have become distinguished for great qualities. And it is another peculiarity which distinguishes them that they are apt to be misunderstood. In the first years of the war Sherman was called crazy, because he saw so much further than those under whose orders he served, that they could not understand him; therefore he was called insane. Those who stand upon the watch-towers survey a much wider horizon than the multitude below. 'Geniuses are the world's madmen.'

"The day was pleasant and we proceeded on our way at a good rate of speed; those strong men carrying the patient as gently as an infant is rocked in its cradle, and making some twelve or thirteen miles. At night General Ransom appeared better, and the next morning having had refreshing sleep, felt courageous for continuing his journey. Ten miles more were made by noon, when it began to be apparent that his strength was rapidly failing. Reaching a house six miles west of Rome, we halted. He was carried in and placed in a comfortable bed. But it was evident his end was fast approaching. His great fortitude had thus far sustained in him the belief that he might yet survive. But the signs of dissolution were now unmistakable, and it was time to announce to him the inevitable fact. He received it with the same calm courage with which he had so often before stood face to face with death. He sent messages of love and farewell to friends. He said: "Tell my mother I am not afraid to die. My chief regret is that I cannot be spared to serve my country longer; and, if I must die, that it cannot be with my armor on, confronting her enemies.' He adjusted all his business, and gave directions as to the disposal of his effects and of his mortal remains, to Capt. Cadle and another member of his staff who stood by him with almost womanly tenderness and assiduity in his last hours, as indeed they had all through his sickness. I said to him: 'You have a family, General?' 'A mother and near relatives; but I am not married, nor am I engaged.' 'You are not yet thirty?' I said. 'I should be thirty in November.'

"When very near his end, General Wm. P. Carlin, commanding a

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division of the 14th corps, which was passing, came up and called to see him. He was almost breathing his last; but rousing himself, with an effort, on hearing his voice, and looking and speaking almost as if his spirit had departed and for a moment returned to make itself again manifest, he greeted General C. with all the courtesy and grace of language for which he was noted. As the General afterwards said: 'He received me with the same dignity and grace as if he were entertaining a distinguished guest in his best estate at his private quarters.' Scarcely had General Carlin retired when he breathed his last. After repeated messages of gratitude to the faithful men who had carried him so far and so gently, and also to Dr. Ormsby and others who had watched by and tended him so long and faithfully, he said he felt like sleeping; and he went to sleep among the eternal,' as calmly as the sun went down that mild October evening, amid fleecy clouds of golden glory. Yes, we did escort him home; but arrived there only with his cold remains."

His body was brought to Chicago and interred with impressive ceremonies, and amid the deep grief of thousands who knew him. We cannot better sum up the character of the deceased hero, than in the words of the clergyman who preached the funeral sermon, Rev. W. H. Ryder, D.D.:

“1. General Ransom was retiring and unostentatious. There was no strut about him. He was simple in his manners-quiet, unobtrusive. In a company of gentlemen he would not have been selected as a military man, according to the popular estimate. His power was always in reserve for occasions-and the greater the occasion, the deeper the peril, the more capable did he show himself to be. Ambitious-meaning thereby desire of power or eminence-he was not. His ambition was to honor his country--the service—to quit himself as a man should, acting in such a presence, and such an hour. Whether General Ransom would have arisen to the rank of a great leader-i. e., whether he would have gained a still higher grade, and filled it with the same distinguished success which graced all the positions he occupied, is now a question which can never be decisively answered, and which, perhaps, it is not worth while to tarry long to consider. One thing is quite certain: had he been the chief in command of the famous Red River expedition, that blundering

campaign, if undertaken at all, would have had a very different issue. And it is a pretty safe rule, that he who does best when most is demanded, is capable of doing more than he has ever yet done.

"2. General Ransom was a kind, pleasant, sympathetic man. He had a sunny face, a clear, cheerful eye. He attached people to him; they loved him, for he was good; they honored him for he was brave. There are those here who knew the kindness of his heart, and who loved him with all the reverence of grateful affection. A dutiful son, an appreciative relative, a faithful friend, a patriot hero, he deserves well of his countrymen, and will long be honored in the sanctuaries of a thousand hearts.

"3. General Ransom's patriotism and high moral tone proceeded from conviction-were the outgrowth of inward stability. The springs of his action were deep. He was true in danger and uniformly prepared for the duty when it came. Hence, also, he did not degenerate into the temptations which beset the service, or lose that strength which comes from Christian integrity. These traits would have served him in any calling. And had he lived to the allotted age of man, it is more than probable he would have held fast to the principles which distinguished his youth, and ended his career in a life of the largest usefulness."

GENERAL MCARTHUR.

JOHN MCARTHUR was born in the parish of Erskine, Renfrewshire, Scotland, November 16, 1826. He was sent to school at the usual age, and displayed such proficiency and aptitude in learning his tasks that he attracted the attention of the parish minister, who desired to educate him for the ministry. The boy had a mechanical turn of mind and was fond of working in his father's shop. In his own words at that time, he preferred to be "Jock, the Smith," rather than the "Rev. John McArthur." He remained in his father's shop until the age of twenty-three, when he determined to emigrate to the prairies of Illinois. In due time he arrived in Illinois, and was employed as a foreman in Cobb's boiler foundry, in Chicago. In 1852 he formed a copartnership with his brother-in-law, Carlyle Mason, as blacksmiths and boiler makers, when he laid the foundation of his future brilliant career. He was fortunate in business, and by his

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