Two wars: an autobiography of General Samuel G. French ... Mexican war; war between the states, a diary; reconstruction period, his experience; incidents, reminiscences, etc

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Preface

Some years ago, when living on an orange grove at Winter Park, it occurred to me that my idle time might be usefully employed in transcribing from memoranda and my diary many incidents of my life for preservation in one manuscript for my children. This was continued at intervals until it became as here presented. It was mainly discontinued after my children became old enough to observe passing events for themselves.

But inasmuch as a few books have been published containing errors in describing some military operations in which I participated, justice to the troops under my command induces me to publish my account of them as recorded when they occurred.

This volume, then, is a simple narrative of passing events, without discussing their importance and bearing politically in shaping the destiny of the nation.

Although my lot was cast with the South, and whatever may be my opinion of the action of the North before, during, and after the war as expressed in these pages, I am as loyal to the Constitution and as ready to uphold and maintain the rights and dignity of the United States as any man within its boundary ; and this was evidenced when I tendered my services, as a soldier, to the President before war was declared against Spain.

I do not know that I am indebted to any person, except Joseph M. Brown, of Marietta, Ga., a son of Gov. Joseph E. Brown, for what I have written, and to him I make acknowledgment for obligations. The Author.

Pensacola, Kin.. Maj 1. 1899.

Introduction

Of all forms of history, a good autobiography is the most pleasing and attractive. If the writer has been a prominent and responsible participant in great events, if high character warrants his faithfulness to truth, and if the events of which he writes are in themselves of great historic value, his autobiography will possess a peculiar charm and interest for every intelligent reader.

The generation that recalls from memory the events of our history connected with the admission of the great State of Texas into the American Union and the war with Mexico which followed has nearly all gone. Here and there a strong man survives whose memory is clear and whose conscience is true. To hear him talk of these events, or to read after him as he writes of the universal excitement in the country — the angry debates in Congress, the opposition to the admission of Texas, and to the war with Mexico, the brilliant campaign of Taylor, the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, and Buena Vista — is to enjoy history in its most attractive form. The historian who has been an active participant in the events of which he writes, whose passions have been cooled by age, and whose judgment has been disciplined by longyears of experience and reflection enjoys an immense advantage. However we may disagree with him in his criticisms upon the conduct of men or upon their motives, if he be a man of high and true character, we enjoy the greatest satisfaction in accepting his positive statements as to facts which represent his own actions and experiences.

Gen. French is such a historian. The clear, natural, dispassionate style of his book — its freedom from bitterness, the tenderness with which he dwells upon the history of his classmates at West Point, several of whom became distinguished generals in the Federal army (Grant, Franklin, Ingalls, and Quinby) — all these characteristics of his autobiography soon win the confidence of the reader.

viii Introduction.

For the general reader of to-day. and especially for the survivors of the Confederate Army, Gen. French's autobiography will possess peculiar interest. The writer lias enjoyed the opportunity of reading the advance sheets of the book only through the accounl of the battle of Allatoona, which was fought October .">. 1864, bu1 as Gen. French participated in the campaign of Gen. Hood up to its predestined disaster at Nashville, the autobiography will be read with more than usual interest by students of the ill-starred march into Tennessee and the battles of Franklin and Nashville.

The venerable author of "Two Wars"' has been an able and gallant soldier of his country, and the simple and graphic manner in which he writes of his distinguished services, and relates the greal events in which he bore a faithful part, entitle his book to the confidence of his countrymen. It is a most valuable addition to our country's history, and a book which will be of permanent use in the stud}- of our great Confederate struggle.

Ellison Capers.

Columbia, S. C, July 1 i ■ .

COXTKNTS.

Chapter I

Page Ancestry— Thomas Ffrench— Military Aspiration Important Document—Appointment to West Point New Jersey Farm Life— Great Changes— A Heal Yankee — Pennsylvania Hall— The Fashions— < !apture of a Hessian Soldier — Rufus Choate and Bishop Wain wright- West Point— Cadet Lif< — Senator Wall— John F. Reynolds— The Boycott— Rufus Ingalls— Requisites of a Commander 1

Chapter II

Graduation — Commissioned Brevet Second Lieutenant, U. S. A. — Ordered to Fort Macon, X. C. — Goldsboro— Journey to Beaufort — Officers at the Fort— Life in a Casemate— Stormy Atlantic— That ( >yster Supper The Wandering < lot— Adieu to Fort Macon — Journey to Washington— Lieuts. George H. Thomas and John Pope— Weldon, X. C— Go to West Point— Prof. Morse— First Dispatch- Hope Club, Washington— Dinner Given by Surgeon General Lawson— Appointed Aid to Gen. Scott— British Gold— Col. S. Churchill —Integrity of Old Army Officers— Leave Washington for Fort Mc- Henry— Society in Baltimor* — Chief Justice Taney 20

Chapter III

Death of Hon. A. P. Upshur. Secretary of State— Calhoun Appointed — Treaty of Annexation of Texas— Declaration of the State of Massachusetts—Texas Accepts the Resolution of Annexation— Formation of Army of Occupation — Transf erred toMaj. S. Ringgold's Battery of Horse Artillery— Officers Sail for Aransas Pass — The Wicked Captain — Becalmed — Cross Bahama Banks — Key West — Out of Drinking Water — Fare on Board Ship — Storm — Aransas Pass— St. Joseph's Island— Maj. Ringgold's Cook— Embark for Corpus Christi— Game and Fish — Horse Racing— White Horse of the Prairies- Trip to San Antonio — The Town— Incidents of the Trip 30

Chapter IV

President of Mexico Resigns, and Paredes Is Elected— Mexican Troops Concentrating at Matamoras— Taylor Marches to the Rio Grande- Rattlesnakes— Mirage— Wild Horses — Taylor Concentrates His Troops at Arroyo, Colo.— Bull Fight— Mexicans Flee— Taylor Goes to Point Isabel— Join Gen. Worth— Field Works— Arrival of Gen. Ampudia— Orders Taylor to Leave— Taylor Declines— Col. Cross Murdered— Lieut. Porter Killed— Gen. Arista Arrives— Declares Hostilities Commenced— Capts. Thornton and Hardee Captured. . . . 41 x Contexts.

Chapter V

Page Arista and His Cavalry— United States Excited — Two Hundred Thousand Men Offer Their Services— Congress Declares ••War Existed by the Acts of the Mexican Republic" — Taylor Marches to Point Isabel — Bombardment of Fort Brown -Capts. May and Walker — Taylor Marches for Matamoras— Battle of Palo Alto — Victory — Arista Falls Back to Resaca — Battle of Resaca — Capture of Enemies' Batteries — Capts. May and Ridgely — Gen. ha Vega Captured — His Sword Presented"to Taylor — Duncan and Ridgely Pursue the Enemy — I Capture La Vega's Aid— Col. Mcintosh — Hide over the Field of Palo Alto— Death of Lieuts. Chadburne and Stevens — We Take Possession of Matamoras — (Ten. Twiggs Appointed Governor — Twiggs and Jesus Maria — Arrival of Gens. W. 0. Butler. Roberl Patterson, Pillow, and Others — Promoted to Second Lieutenant — Officers of the Company — March to Camargo — Thence to Monterey — Seralvo — Arrival at Monterey 47

Chapter VI

Monterey — Population — Gen. Ampudia — Gen. Worth— ( lapturea Fort Battery in a Hot Place — Bragg's Order Countermanded — Two Long-Haired Texans— Capture the Bishop's Palace — Our Battery Ordered to the East End of the City — Gens. Taylor and Quitman — Street Fighting — Gen. Ampudia Surrenders — Gen. Worth, Gov. Henderson, and Col. Jefferson Davis Commissioners — Enter the City— Dine with a Mexican Gentleman — Death of Ridgely — Hot Springs — Santa Anna President — Victoria Surrenders Gen. Scott —Vera Cruz -Return to Monterey — Death of Lieut. Richey — Inves filiation of Richey's Death— Monterey — Saltillo — Agua Xueva — ( .en. Wool - Santa Anna Advances Majs. Borland and Gaines Captured Taylor Falls Back to Buena Vista Mexican Army — Am Wounded— The Hacienda — Cavalry Fight with Mexican Lancers — Flag of Truce — Victory — ( iarried to Saltillo 01

Chapter VII

Drs. T. C. Madison. V. S. A., and G. M. Provost — Surgical Operation — Courtesy of a Mexican Woman — Leave Saltillo — Paltry Escort Safe at Monterey— The Rio Grande— Maj. W. W. H. Davis- New Orleans — Gen. Pillow — Col. Mcintosh — Bailey Beyton and Sergeanl S. Prentiss — Drunk by Absorption — Steamer for Louisville — Racing on the River — Trip to Pittsburg, Pa. — By Canal Boat to Harrisburg — Home — Report to the Adjutant General — Go to Trenton. N. J. — Presentation of a Sword — Go to Washington— John W. Forney's Bargain with Secretary Buchanan— Cap t. A.W.Reynolds — Sent to Tr>>y. X. Y — Gen. Wool — Leave Buffalo— Toledo— To Cincinnati by Canal— Society in Cincinnati — Appointed Captaia~and Assistant Quartermaster — Start for Washington— Cross the Alleghany Mountains by stage— Six Commissions in United States Army — Reception by Gen. Jesup— < 'apt. Rufus Ingalls 85

Contexts. xi

Chapter VIII

Page Ordered to New Orleans— Baton Rouge— Col. W. \Y. S. Bliss— Maj. J. H. Eaton— Maj. R. S. Garnett — Taylor Nominated for President — Return to New Orleans— Ordered to Vicksburg— "Gen." Mc- Macken, the Prince of Landlords— Bishop Polk — Sen! to Mobile — Regular Army at East Pascagoula, Miss.— Gen. Twiggs and His Fiancee — Sail for Galveston — Galveston — Houston — Austin — Troops Sent to Establish Posts, now Cities— San Antonio— Death of Gen. Worth — El Paso— Return to San Antonio— New Orleans—Call on Gen. Twiggs — Twiggs and Tree — Sword Presented to Mi — Dine at the President's — Death of President Taylor— Fillmore President Capt. Ringgold. U. S. X.— Ordered to Louisville — Return to Washington—Col. Joseph Taylor— Gen. W. O. Butler— Maj. Gaines Cincinnati — Salmon P. ( base 96

Chapter IX

January. 1851, Ordered to El Paso— ('apt. Sitgreaves — Sail for Havana — Barnum and Jennie Land — Sail for New < Orleans By Steamer to Galveston — On the Gulf for Indianola — San Antonio Report of Expedition — Unprecedented March without Water Indians— With Gen. Jesup— Hartford Convention — Battles on the Canadian Frontier— Gov. W. P. Duval (Ralph Ringwood) United States Senators — Clay's Magnetism — His Duel with John Randolph— Lieut. 1!. F. Stockton. United States Navy, Duel with English Officers at Gibraltar — John Howard Payne Commodore Van Rensselaer Morgan — My Marriage Assigned to Fort Smith, Ark.— Trips to Washita. Fort Gibson. andTowson — Choctaws and Cherokees— John Ross — Journey from Fort Smith to Natchez, Miss.— A Misanthrope — Gen. John A. Quitman— Death of Mrs. Roberts — Tender My Resignation — Go to My Plantation — Go to San Antonio — Death of Mrs. French — Sail for Europe — John Brown's Raid 107

Chapter X

Canada, Boston, Rye Beach — Antislavery Party Nominates Lincoln for President — His Election Evidence of Hostility to the South — Mississippi Secedes — Gov. Pettus — Appointed Colonel and Chief of Ordnance in the Army of the State of Mississippi — State Had No Arms — Governor Sends an Agent to Europe to Purchase Arms — Laboratory for Making Ammunition — Flannel and Paper to Make Cartridges—Cartridges and Horse Collars — Only Old Flint Muskets — Old Shotguns — Governor Objects to the State Troops Going out of the State — Visit Home— Am Offered the Appointment of Brigadier General, Confederate States of America 135

Chapter XI

Leave for Richmond — Ordered to Evansport, Va., to Blockade the Potomac — Worthless Ammunition — Forces on the Maryland Shore — xii Contents.

Paoe Constant Firing AH Winter — Orders to Fall Back to Fredericksburg — " Come to Richmond Immediately " — Orders from Gen. Lee — New Berne Falls — Relieve Branch at Kinston Ordered to Wilmington—Build Defenses — F«>rt Fisher Constructed — Col. William Lamb in Command -Running the Blockade — Whitworth (inns — July IT. L862, Placed in Command of the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia— Defend a Fine from the Appomattox t<> Cape Fear- .Inly 81, Shell Gen. McClellan's Army — Constructed Defenses of Petersburg Battle of Fredericksburg — Pelham- President Calls for Me Gen. Lee's Considerate Conduct — Gen. Foster al Tarboro, N C. — He Interviews an Old Darky — Railroad Bridge at Goldsboro, N. ('.. Burned Weak Defense Made— How I Gol Supplies from Suffolk — Mrs. Johnston and Gen. Viele Was Fannie Cooper a Spy? Martial Law Sidney Lanier -Flag of Truce Boats — Exchange of Prisoners 140

Chapter XII

Telegram from Secretary of War — (Jo to Richmond Declined Going to Vicksburg Gen. Longstreet — He Siaris tor Suffolk Suffolk — Capture of :i Fort and ( rarrison — No Reporl Made of the Capture — Statemenl of Lieut. George Reese — Longstreet Ordered to, Join Lee Dispatches -Battle of Chancellorsville— Withdraw from Suffolk An [mpertinenl Not< — Court of Inquiry Asked for and Refused — Possible Resull Had Longstreei Obeyed Orders— Tew Dispatches to Longstreet — ( )rders to Report to Gen. Johnston L59

Chapter XIII

Leave Petei'sburg for Jackson, Miss. — Visit Home — My Division Composed of the Brigades of Gens. Maxey, Evans, and McNair — Extraordinary ( lorrespondence between Gen. Johnston and Presidenl Davis — Movements to Attack Grant at Vicksburg Fall of Vicksburg— Retreal to Jackson —Siege of Jackson Visit Home Negro Troops Surround the House — Narrow Escape -Vandalism — Johnston 'takes ( lommand of the Army of Tennessee Polk in ( iommand <>f Army of Mississippi — A ( !ourt of Inquiry Thai WasNol Held -My Division at Meridian — President Davis Jackson Burned -Sherman's Advance on Meridian — Ordered to Mobile— Polk Crossing Tombigbee Liver lie 1> Slow to Move Go to Demopolis— Mr. Founier — Sent to Lauderdale — Tuscaloosa — Montevallo Leach Rome — Fight at Lome Join Gen. Johnston at Cassv ille L78

Chapter XIV

I assville The Line of Battk — Hood's Line Not Enfiladed History of That < 'on fere nee — Two Lieutenant Generals Invite Their. ( 'on inlander to a < louncil of War — Johnston ( )bliged to Fall Hack -We < Iross the Etowah Liver Dallas New Hope Church Constant Fighting — Lain. Lain Death of Lieut. Gen. l'olk Battle of the Latimer

Contents. xiii

Paoe

House -My Division Occupies Little and Big Kennesaw Mountains The Battle Incidents of the Battle Confederates Save Wounded Union Soldiers from Burning Kennesaw During Nighl Bombardment- Col. Martin's Noble< londuct— The Irony of Fate -Maj. Poten and French Soldier !'••<>

Chapter XV

Our Army Falls Hark from Kennesaw Confederate "Rebel Yell" Occupy Works on the Chattahoochee River A. I'. Stewart Appointed Lieutenant General— Assumes Command of the Army of Mississippi Texas Brigade Fight to Obtain Tools We Cross the Chattahoochee Arrival of Gen. B. Bragg Gen. Johnston Relieved — President Davis's Remark about Relieving Johnston from Command Johnston's Policy versus Hood's Battle of Peachtree Creek We Occupy Atlanta Battle of Atlanta S. D. Lee Assigned to Command of Hoods Corps— Gen. Ector Wounded Capt. Ward Killed— Battle of July 28, L864 I Apply to Be Relieved from Serving with Hood Gen. M. Jeff Thompson Condition of the Camps of United States Troops— Evidence of the Terrible Fire of Small Arms— Evacuation of Atlanta Jonesboro and Lovejoy's Station. . ~IVZ

Chapter XVI

From Lovejoy's to Lost Mountain Big Shanty Acworth Destroying Railroad— In the Rear of Sherman situation of the Two Armies- Orders to Destroy the Etowah River Bridgi — To Fill Up the Railroad Cu< at Allatoona Hood Not Aware that Allatoona Was Fortified and Garrisoned March to Allatoona Summons to Surrender No Answer— Gen. Corse's Report Erroneous The Fortifications- Strength of Forces Equalization of Forces Some Federal Dispatches ''.'lie Battle Corse's Accounl Col. Ludlow's Description—Desperate Fighting The .Main Line Captured— Enemy Driven into an Interior Fort — Dispatches from Gen. Armst rong Respecting Movements of the Enemy at Big Shanty— Withdraw to Avoid Being Surrounded by Converging Forces— Corse's Dispatch to Sherman — Provisions— Confederates Three Days and Nights without Rest or Sleep — Pass by the Enemy— Evangelist P. V. Bliss Writes the (Gospel) Hymn. "Hold the Fort "- Hood and His Erroneous Publications in His Book — His Admiration for Corse— My Admiration for the Confederates— -The Soldier's Grave— The Lone Grave—Lieut. (Jen. A. P. Stew art's Note in Regard to This Accounl of the Battle m

Chapter XVII

Return from Allatoona — Hood's Deportment— Cross the Coosa River — Devasfation around Rome— Rome Burned — Garrison of Kesaca

Refuses to Surrender— Capture of the Seventeenth Iowa Regi o1

atTilton — Dalton Taken — Dug Gap — Dinner of Roasting Ears— Supxiv Coy TENTS.

Pai;e

per— ( !aptured Officersare Jolly Good Fellows — Gadsden — Encampment ;tt Mrs. Sanson's — Her Daughter a Guide for Gen. Forrest when He Captured Gen. Streight — Cross the Black Warrior River and Sand Mountains — Decatur — Some Fighting at Decatur — Gen. Beauregard with Hood — Beautiful Valley of the Tennessee made Desolate by War — Tuscumbia — Dreary March to Columbia, Bain and Snow — Stewart's and Cheatham's Corps Cross Duck River en Route to Spring Hill — Hood Slept — Schofield Passed By — Pursue Schofield to Franklin — Battle of Franklin — Incidents — Remarkable Order for a Second Assault at Night — Losses in My Two Brigades — Exchange of Prisoners Stopped ■. . . . 285

Chapter XVIII

March to Nashville — Cold Weather — Partial Investment of the City- Leave of Absence — Turn the Command Over to Brig. Gen. C. W. Sears — Battle of Nashville — Hood Not Physically Able for the Duties of a Commander in Want of All Supplies — Marshal Saxe — Mulai Malek — Going to Nashville a Failure: Could Not Be Otherwise Leave for Columbus, Ga. — Marriage to Mary Fontaine Abercrombie — Go to Meriwether County to Avoid Wilson'sRaid — Robbing in Columbus — Adventures of My Orderly — Yankees Raid the Houses Gen. A. Had No Pies — Gens. Lee and Johnston Surrender — Terms Thereof— War with the Musket Ends 302

Chapter XIX

Aspect of the Country at Termination of the War — The Returned Confederate Soldier — Car] >et 'naggers — Lincoln's Vow — His Proclamation Concerning Confiscation of Slaves — How the Slaves Were Legally Liberated — Lincoln Murdered — Johnson President — His Thirst for Vengeance -••Treason" to Be Made Odious — Grant Declared That the Paroles Must Not Be Violated— Cost of a Bill of Dry Goods in Confederate Money in 1864— Leave Columbus for Greenville. Miss. —Desolate Home — TheGood Israelite — Return to Columbus — I Go with Mrs. French to Mississippi — Traveling Incognito a Failure — Journey to New York in 1S()5 — Incidents of My Mother and Child When They Went North — Home Confiscated — Edward Coup er's Kind Ad No One Would Touch Mother's Trunks — Copy of a Contracl in 1865, Whereby I Obtained Funds— People under Espionage at the North Return to the Plantation — Northern Plan to Terminate the War 310

Chapter XX

Freedmen's Bureau — Gen. ( ). (). Howard. Commissioner— Platform for Reconstruction — Ironclad Oath — Natural Rights of Man — Civil Rights — Negroes Made Citizens — Persecution — Agents of Freedmen's Bureau — Personal Experience — Negro Justices Some Trials

Contests. xv

Page

— Judge Shackelford— Secret Societies— William A. Sharkey— Gov. Adelbert Ames— Sheriff Webber — Taxes — Board of Levee Commissioners Dismissed — Religious Negroes — Bishop Wilmer — Prayers for the President — Shotgun Election — Hegira — Carpetbaggers — Indissoluble Union — Indestructible States— We Were a Conquered Nation — Reconstruction Only a Definition for Deeds Done — Strength of Respective Armies 328

Appendix

S< >m e Statistics of the War 353

Percentage Killed and Wounded in Late Wars 355

Slave Owners in the Confederate Army 355

Prison Deaths and Prisoners 357

The Authority to Tax 358

Cost of the War 359

Naval Power of the United States 359

Names, Rank, and Positions of Officers on My Staff 359

Government in Louisiana, 1875-76 360

Violation of Paroles 365

Cassville 367

Slavery Proclamation and Confiscation Act 383

Indenture 385

Our Unknown Dead 402

ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, ETC.

P.^GE

Samuel G. French Frontispiece

Plan op Battle < >f Resa< a. Mex 52

Plan < >F Battle < >f M< >nterey, Mex 63 -

Map of the Country near Buena Vista 75

Plan < if Battle of Buena Vista 79

John C. French 119

Jefferson Davis 141

Robert E. Lee 171

J< >seph E. Johnston ITU

Leonedas Polk 191

Map of Cas^ville 197

Map of New Hope Church, (7a 200

Map of Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Jene 27. 18(34 204

Battle of Kennesaw Mountain 207

A. P. Stewart ' 213

Map of Atlanta Campaign 224

F. M. COCKRELL 227

Capture of Blockhouse, Allatoona ('keek. October 5. ism 231

Maj. 1). W. Sanders 235

Battle < >f Ai.la ioona 250

Signal Tree, Allatoona, October 5, isoi 254

Battle of Allatoona— Capitke of Redoubt "R" 259

Railroad Cut, Allatoona 269

Joseph M. Brown 279

The Lon e ( i bav e 282

M LP i >F Battle c >f Franklin 293

Julius L. Brown 303

The Indenture 386

The INDENTURE (reverse side) 390

Henry Ward Beecher Selling Slaves 393

Joseph F. Brown 399

TWO WARS.

Chapter I

Ancestry -Thomas Ffrench— Military Aspiration— Importanl Document —Appointment to Wesl Point New Jersey Farm Life— Great Changes— A Real Yankee — Pennsylvania Hall— The Fashions- Capture of a Hessian Soldier— Rufus Choate and Bishop Wainwright — West Point — Cadet Life — Senator Wall— John F. Reynolds— The Boycott — Rufus Ingalls — Requisites of a Commander.

INASMUCH as the government of this country cannot grant any title to nobility, nor can it be conferred by any foreign power, the people of the United States have, to gratify a natural pride, been obliged to obtain distinction in various ways. Among them may be mentioned the accumulation of money, political preferment, the pride of ancestry, and professional attainments.

The pride of ancestry is a very laudable one, and no doubt it has a giiiding influence in shaping the destiny of our lives. We discover it in the honor felt by the members of such societies as those of the Colonial wars, the Cincinnati, Sons of the Revolution, Aztec Club, Sons of Veterans, and many others. And it is true: "Those will not look forward to their posterity who never look backward to their ancestors."

Of the countless millions of human beings who in successive generations have passed over the stage of life, most of them, on their exit, have sunk into oblivion. The names of twenty-seven ate all that are known of the human family from man's creation down to the days of Noah.

From the deluge to the present time a few men of great genius as poets, historians, warriors, conquerors, and criminals claim general recognition from mankind. All others are relegated or consigned to the special history of a people, and thereby rescued from an otherwise oblivion. As individuals they perish.

I am quite sure we are more indebted to Bos well for a true insight into the life and character of Samuel Johnson than we are to his writings, and there is the utmost interest attached to the home life of all the world's great actors. Even as late as our revolutionary war we find much interest in the part played by the fashionable ladies during the war, and gossip of the Wistar

parties, and card parties of New York and Philadelphia. From the "Mischianza " * we have a clear insight to the true and o-entle character of Major Andre and his accomplishments; and the beauty of some of the Quaker City Welles.

Now in consideration of the desire of every gentleman to have a knowledge of his ancestry, and some knowledge of the times in which they lived, I purpose for the benefit of my children to write down somewhat of things I have seen and a part of which 1 was, and to make mention of some of the famous men with whom I have been acquainted during the eventful years between L839 and the presenl time (1895).

As 1 was an officer in the United States army from L843 to L856, and a major general in the Confederate army, I purpose to relate some of the events of the Mexican and Confederate wars in the course of this narrative.

1 was horn in the county of Gloucester, State of Xew Jersey, on November 22, lsis. My father's name was Samuel French, whose ancestry in this country runs hack to Thomas French, who descended from one of the oldest and most honorable of English families. The Ffrenches were Normans and went to England with William the Conqueror. In after days some of the family went with Strongbow, the Karl of Pembroke, when he invaded Ireland and "laid waste the country, reducing everything to subjection,'* whereby they gained great possessions. Thomas Ffrench, who was a descendant of the Norman Ffrenchs, was. as the register shows, baptized in thechurch now standing in Nether Hayford, North Hamptonshire, in the year 1537. The painting of that church you have.

A direct descendant of the aforesaid Thomas Ffrench, also named Thomas Ffrench. an adherent of the Church of England, for some reason abandoned it and became a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers), and for this apostasy was persecuted and imprisoned. To escape the persecution he sailed to tin; colonies, and when he returned to England he became "one of the landed proprietors of West New Jersey in America."

••■A fete given by Maj. Andre in Philadelphia, May. 1778, in houorof Sir

William H<>\\ e.

An Important Document. 3

Taking passage for himself, wife, and nine children, he landed in Burlington, West New Jersey, on the 23d of July, 1680, O. S.

In 1664 Charles II. granted to his brother, the Duke of York, the territory along our coast north of the mouth of the Delaware river. The duke sold the land lying between the Delaware and Hudson rivers to the forty-first degree of north latitude to Lord John Berkeley and Sir John Cartaret, who named it NVu Cresarea. or New Jersey. They. divided it into East and Wesl Jersey; but later, the grant being unsatisfactory to the king, owing to conflicting claims of the proprietors and their heirs, James in L689 compelled them to surrender or sell their claims to the crown, and all were embodied in one province. New Jersey. Thomas French, under these proceedings, signed the articles relinquishing to the king his proprietary privileges to the one-ninetieth of the one-eighth of West Jersey. Thus New Jersey became a royal colony after the king bought the rights of the proprietors. Sir John Carteret named the land purchased New Jersey because he had been governor of the Isle of Jersey off the coast of France in the English Channel.

My mother's name was Rebecca Clark. She was born January 1. L7:m>. at Billingsport, on the banks of the Delaware river, in New Jersey. She was married to my father on the 3d day of ( )«tober, 1816. The names of their children were: Garret, Samuel G., Charles C. John ('., Sallie ('., and George W.

Passing from family records, I will now revert to myself, and will endeavor to show what creatures of circumstances most men are. One day, when a boy (aged about eight years ), my father left me at a stoic in Market Street, near Water Street. Philadelphia, Pa. , where he usually obtained his family groceries. Over the door of that store was a modest signboard, and od it was painted the names, Hamilton and Hood. Mr. Hood was always kind to me, and usually gave me a paper of candy or other sweetmeats. /On this particular occasion, it being a rainy day, I was left there alone with Mr. Hood, and 1 remember now — although near seventy years have passed— what there and then occurred. Eating candies and playing about in the store, I discovered hanging in the office a picture of a young person (fullsize bust ,') clad in a gray coat, with three rows of round brass buttons thereon, braided horizontally. From some cause it riveted my boyish attention. After looking ; ,t it for some time,

I exclaimed: "Who is that?" Mr. Hood replied: "That is my son." "What is he dressed so fine for?" I asked. Mr. Hood then told me his son was a cadet at the United States military academy ;it West Point: that he was at school there. Dancing around. I said: "I want togotothat school too." The response was. "Only a few boys can go to that school: to get there the boy's father must have influence with the President, and get an appointment from him, jjetc. I still looked at the picture, and I can see it to-day as I did then. It will never be effaced. As years rolled on. and I knew nothing about West Point, except that it was not open to all applicants, it was fading away in my mind, until one day when passing along Chestnut Street I saw in the window of a clothing house a large picture of the cadets of the United States military academy on dress parade. I gazed on it a very long time, oblivious to all around me. calling to mind only the remarks made to me by Mr. Hood; on these I pondered long, and made some inquiries, and finally resolved to make an effort to get an appointment to the academy. -On entering school, kept by the Rev. Samuel Aaron in Burlington, N. J., my roommate was a boy named Duer, who was from Pennsylvania. One day he opened his trunk and showed me his appointment as a cadet to the United States Military Academy. I told him I wanted to go there also, and questioned him about how he obtained the appointment. It was the same story that Mr. Hood had told me when I was almost a child. Put, undaunted by the requirements, I resolved to act for myself, for ii]) to this time I had not mentioned the subject to either my father or mother, because the former belonged to the Society of Friends, or Quakers: save only that, marrying "out of meeting.'* he was no longer regarded as an orthodox member, and they were not considered as warlike people in any respect. Accordingly, when at home one day. I wrote to the President of the United States asking in the name of my father the appointment. As his name was the same as mine, I supposed I would get the reply myself from the post office. ^>