[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, allother inconsistencies are as in the original. Author's spelling hasbeen maintained. Closing quote added after "Japan has to wall themselvesin". ]

 A MILITARY GENIUS. 

 LIFE OF ANNA ELLA CARROLL OF MARYLAND

 SARAH ELLEN BLACKWELL

[Illustration: Ex Libris]

[Illustration: Anna Ella Carroll]

 A MILITARY GENIUS. 

 LIFE OF ANNA ELLA CARROLL, OF MARYLAND, ("The great unrecognized member of Lincoln's Cabinet. ")

 COMPILED FROM FAMILY RECORDS AND CONGRESSIONAL DOCUMENTS

 BY

 SARAH ELLEN BLACKWELL. 

For Sale at the Office of the _Woman's Journal_, 3 Park Street, Boston, Mass. Rooms of the Woman's Suffrage Society, 1406 G St. , Washington, D. C. 

 Price: $1. 10 (Forwarded free on receipt of price). 

 WASHINGTON, D. C. JUDD & DETWEILER, PRINTERS. 1891. 

Entered in the office of the Librarian of Congress, 1891. 

 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

 The long years come and go, And the Past, The sorrowful splendid Past, With its glory and its woe, Seems never to have been. Seems never to have been! O somber days and grand, How ye crowd back once more, Seeing our heroes graves are green By the Potomac, and the Cumberland And in the valley of the Shenandoah!

 When we remember how they died, In dark ravine and on the mountain side, In leaguered fort and fire-encircled town, And where the iron ships went down. How their dear lives were spent In the weary hospital tent, In the cockpit's crowded hive, ---- it seems Ignoble to be alive!

 THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH. 

CONTENTS. 

 Chapter I. 

 Ancestry and Old Plantation Life. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1

 Chapter II. 

 Childhood and Early Life -- Miss Carroll's Youthful Letters to Her Father -- Religious Tendencies -- Letters from Dr. Robert J. Breckenridge -- Sale of Kingston Hall -- Early Writings -- Letter of Hon. Edward Bates -- Breaking Out of the Civil War -- Preoccupation in Military Affairs. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 14

 Chapter III. 

 Rise of the Secession Movement -- The Capital in Danger -- Miss Carroll's Literary Labors for the Cause of the Union -- Testimonials from Eminent Men. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 31

 Chapter IV. 

 The Military Situation -- Goes to St. Louis -- Inception of the Plan of the Tennessee Campaign -- Gives in The Plan at the War Department -- President Lincoln's Delight at the Solution of the Problem -- Account Written in 1889 -- Judge Wade at Bull Run -- Formation of the Committee for the Conduct of the War. .. .. .. .. 59

 Chapter V. 

 Miss Carroll's Papers to the War Department -- Plan of Campaign -- Letters from Scott, Wade, and Others -- Discussions -- Papers as the Campaign Progresses. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 81

 Chapter VI. 

 Congressional Revelations -- Great Results -- Discussions -- Miss Carroll Presents Her Claim -- Political Opposition -- Letters and Testimony. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 105

 Chapter VII. 

 Miss Carroll's Pamphlets in Aid of the Administration -- The Presentation of the Bill. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 124

 Chapter VIII. 

 Miss Carroll Before Congress. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 132

 Chapter IX. 

 A Wounded Veteran Retires from the Field -- Interview with Grant -- The Women of America make the Cause Their Own -- A National Lesson. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 150

PREFACE. 

In commencing the attempt to portray a very remarkable career I hadhoped for the coöperation of the person concerned so far, at least, asthe supervision of any statements I might find it necessary to make. But it was decided by her friends that it would not be well for her atpresent to be troubled with new projects, or even informed of them. Itwas at first a serious disappointment to me and seemed to increase mydifficulties, but as I was allowed access to sources of familyinformation I have been enabled to present a sketch, slight andinadequate, but authentic, and greatly desired by many distantfriends. With continued improvement in health I trust that the wishesof Miss Carroll's friends may be better met by an autobiography takingthe place of the present meager and imperfect sketch. 

It should be at once understood that this is not a plea for MissCarroll. 

Her work has but to be fairly presented to speak for itself. 

Her claim was settled once and forever by the evidence given beforethe first Military Committee of 1871, met to consider the claim, andreporting, through Senator Howard, unanimously endorsing every fact. The Assistant Secretary of War, Thomas A. Scott, the Chairman of theCommittee for the Conduct of the War, Benjamin F. Wade, and JudgeEvans, of Texas, testifying in a manner that was conclusive. These menknew what they were talking about and human testimony could no farthergo. Congress, through its committees, has again and again endorsed theclaim, and never denied it, being "adverse" only to award as involvingnational recognition. 

Our great generals have left us one by one without ever antagonizingthe claim, and General Grant advised Miss Carroll to continue to pushher claim for recognition. 

But this work is to be considered rather in the light of an historicalresearch bearing on questions of the day. 

Are our present laws and customs just toward women? Are women everpreëminently fitted for high offices in the State? Is it for our honorand advantage when so fitted to avail ourselves of the whole unitedintellect and moral power of men and women side by side in peril andin duty? Such a life as this gives to all these questions theauthoritative answer of established facts. 

NEW YORK, _April 21st, 1891_. (Summer address, Lawrence, Long Island, N. Y. )

Miss Carroll's address is 931 New Hampshire Avenue, Washington, D. C. 

A SEARCH FOR THE DOCUMENTS. 

Arriving as a stranger in Washington, knowing nothing of libraries anddocument rooms, Secretaries offices, and War departments, I was atfirst greatly at a loss. For many years I had had in my possession twovery important documents, the last memorial of 1878 and the report ofthe Military Committee thereon under General Bragg in 1881. With thesetwo in my hand I proceeded to consult the Descriptive Catalogue of theCongressional Library. To my surprise, I found that these two veryimportant documents had been omitted from the index. Calling attentionto the fact, we looked them up in the body of the volume and Mr. Spofford immediately added them in pencil together with the otherimportant documents, in Miss Carroll's favor, which had also beenomitted. When I made my way to the Senate document room I found thatthis important Miss. Doc. 58 had been omitted there also, having beenset down under another name. Looking it up in the volume ofMiscellaneous Documents I again obtained the admission by Mr. AmziSmith. In the list at the Secretaries office Miss. Doc. 58 was alsoomitted together with the last report by a Military Committee, underGeneral Bragg, endorsing the claim in the most thorough going way. Theindex ending with an intermediate report mistakenly designated as_adverse_, though the previous reports were not thus heralded asfavorable. 

After the first report, as made by Senator Howard and the repeatedendorsements made by Wilson and Williams of succeeding Congresses, these two documents are by far the most important and interesting. 

The memorial of '78, containing additional evidence explaining somethings, otherwise unaccountable, and making some very singularrevelations. It is a mine of wealth for the future historian. At theSecretary's office I showed the documents and stated that theirexclusion must have been unfavorable to the presentation of the case. I was not equally fortunate in obtaining their immediate admission, but trust the mistake has since been rectified. 

The report marked as "adverse" would be more truly described as"admission of the incontestable nature of the evidence in support ofthe claim, " admitting the services in every particular and being"adverse" only to award involving national recognition. 

At the Secretary's office I obtained permission to see the file of the41st Congress, 2d. Session. There I saw the first short memorial withthe plan of campaign attached as described by Thomas Scott. Then myinvestigations were temporarily ended by the outside of a documentbeing shown me stating that the papers had been withdrawn by SamuelHunt, thus agreeing with the statement made by him in Miss. Doc. 58, that they had been stolen from his desk while the committee wereexamining the claim. 

I found it very difficult to obtain the earlier documents. "Supplyexhausted" being the answer that has long been given, but all can belooked up in the bound volumes. 

When, at length, fairly started in my work I was disturbed by a rumorthat Miss Carroll's papers, formerly placed on file at the WarDepartment, were no longer to be found there. I set out as far aspossible to investigate. Provided with an excellent letter ofintroduction to the Secretary of War I made my way, on March 6, 1891, to the vast building of the War Department and sent in my letter witha list of the documents I wanted to see. Miss Carroll's Militarypapers, given in the Miss. Doc. 58, and a list of letters from thesame memorial by Wade, Scott, and Evans. 

The permission being kindly accorded I was transferred to the Recordoffice and told that the file should be ready for me on the followingday. 

Taking with me the Miss. Doc. 58, an unpublished manuscript of MissCarroll's, and specimens of the handwriting of Wade and Scott, Ipunctually put in an appearance, was transferred to the office of theAdjutant General, and Miss Carroll's file produced for my inspection. I met with all possible courtesy and every facility for theexamination. I found two of the papers on my list in her now familiarhandwriting, and some others. 

A letter to Secretary Stanton, of May 14, 1862, recommending theoccupation of Vicksburgh and referring to Pilot Scott, stating thatshe had derived from him some of the important information which hadlead to her paper to the War Department on Nov. 30, 1861, which hadoccasioned the change of campaign in the southwest and proved of suchincalculable benefit to the national cause. 

A paper of May 15th, 1862, advising that Memphis and Vicksburgh shouldbe strongly occupied and the Yazoo river watched. Another letter toStanton concerning her pamphlets and proposing to write another one inaid of Mr. Lincoln, unjustly assailed. There was a portion of a letterwritten in great haste from St. Louis. There was an interesting letterfrom Robert Lincoln when Secretary of War. A petition from a group ofladies, asking for information concerning Miss Carroll's services andseveral other documents, but most of the important papers on my listwere not on the file. 

After examining the papers for some time I asked to see the originalsof the letters of Wade and Scott. I was told they were in anotherdepartment and would take some time to look up, but a gentleman waspolitely detailed to conduct me there and look up the letters. Iopened my Miss. Doc. 58 and pointed out the long list of letters ofMr. Wade's, on pages 23, 24, 25, and 26, and asked to see those first. 

The gentlemen expressed his astonishment that, with _such_ a documentin my hand, I should ask for _originals_. He said that the documentsprinted by order of Congress were to all intents and purposes the sameas the originals, as they were never so printed until those lettersand papers had been examined and proved to be genuine. I asked if theprinting was also a guarantee for Miss Carroll's papers as printed inthat document, though we were now unable to find the originals. Hereplied assuredly it was; that I could positively rely upon all thathad been so printed. There was no going back upon the Congressionalrecords. Other gentlemen came up and confirmed the statement. 

Under these circumstances it seemed unnecessary to carry theinvestigation any further, so with thanks for the great friendlinessand courtesy that I had met with I took up my precious Miss. Doc. 58and departed with a slight intimation that if anything more should beneeded they might have the pleasure of seeing me again. 

The missing documents, after being on file for 8 years, were sent onone or more occasions from the War Department to the Capitol forexamination by committees. 

On page 30 of the Miss. Doc. 58 we learn the reason, on testimony ofWade and Hunt (keeper of the records), why they are there no longer. 

 [Footnote: For list of documents see pages 29 and 82. ]

MISS CARROLL'S MILITARY MAPS. 

On page 178 of the memorial of '78 Judge Evans, in one of the manyrepeated letters and statements of great interest that I have beenobliged to omit for want of space, relates how he stood beside MissCarroll in her parlor at St. Louis when she was gathering theinformation for the preparation of her paper to the War Department ofNovember 30, 1861, and its accompanying map. He says, "I have a verydistinct recollection of aiding her in the preparation of that paper, tracing with her upon a map of the United States, which hung in herparlor, the Memphis and Charleston railroad and its connectionssouthward, the course of the Tennessee, the Alabama, and the Tombigbeerivers, and the position of Mobile Bay; and when Henry fell she wrotethe Department, showing the feasability of going either to Mobile orVicksburg. "

In his testimony given on page 85 of Miss. Doc. 179, he says, "On MissCarroll's return from the West she prepared and submitted to thedeponent, for his opinion, the plan of the Tennessee river expedition, as set forth in her memorial. Being a native and resident of that partof the section and intimately acquainted with its geography, andparticularly with the Tennessee river, deponent was convinced of thevast military importance of her paper, and advised her to lose no timein laying the same before the War Department, which she did on orabout November 30, 1861. The accompanying map, rapidly prepared byMiss Carroll, was made on ordinary writing paper. An unpretentiousmap, but fraught with immense importance to the national cause. 

Assistant Secretary of War Thomas A. Scott, the great railroad magnateand a man of remarkably acute mind, saw at a glance the immenseimportance of the plan; he hastened with it to Lincoln, and when herplan of campaign was determined on he studied her map with thegreatest care before going West to consolidate the troops for thecoming campaign. 

The second map sent in with Miss Carroll's paper of October, 1862, when the army before Vicksburg was meeting with disastrous failure, was made on regular map paper, representing the fortifications atVicksburg, demonstrating that they could not be taken on the plan thenadopted and indicating the right course to pursue. Miss Carroll boughtthe paper for the map at Shillington's, corner of Four-and-a-Halfstreet and Pennsylvania avenue; sketched it out herself with blue andred pencils and ink and took it to the War Department. 

On page 24 of Miss. Doc. 58, Judge Wade writes:

"Referring to a conversation with Judge Evans last evening he calledmy attention to Colonel Scott's telegram announcing the fall of IslandNo. 10 in 1862 as endorsing your plan, when Scott said, 'the movementin the rear has done the work. ' I stated to the Judge, as you and heknew before, that your paper on the reduction of Vicksburg had donethe work on that place, after being so long baffled and with the lossof so much life and treasure by trying to take it from the water; thatto my knowledge your paper was approved and adopted by the Secretaryof War and immediately sent out to the proper military authority inthat Department. "

On April 16, 1891, by permission of the kindly authorities of the WarDepartment, search was made in the office of the Chief Engineer to seeif, by chance, these maps might have come to the War Department. Notrace or record was found and it seemed to be agreed that, consideringthe circumstances of extreme secrecy attending the inauguration of thecampaign, it was unlikely that they should come there. Time, which sooften corroborates the truth, may possibly bring those maps to light. At present I cannot trace them. 

 * * * * *

It is proposed to follow this volume with another, entitled "Civil WarPapers in Aid of the Administration, " by Anna Ella Carroll, with notesby the author. 

CHAPTER I. 

ANCESTRY AND OLD PLANTATION LIFE. 

In looking at the map of Maryland we find that the configuration ofthe State is of an unusual character. The eastern portion is dividedthrough the middle by the broad waters of Chesapeake Bay, leaving ninecounties with the State of Delaware on the long stretch between theChesapeake, Delaware Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. Of late years thegreat tide of population has set toward the western side of ChesapeakeBay, leaving the widely divided eastern counties in a comparativelyquiet and primitive condition. But in the earlier history of ourcountry these eastern counties, with easy access to the AtlanticOcean, were of greater comparative importance to the State, and were aCenter of culture and of hospitality. It was in Somerset, one of thetwo southernmost of these eastern counties, that Sir Thomas King, coming from England about the middle of the eighteenth century, purchased an extensive domain. 

Landing first in Virginia with a group of colonists, he there marriedMiss Reid, an English lady also highly connected and of an influentialfamily. The estate which he subsequently purchased in Marylandembraced several plantations, extending from the county road back to acreek, a branch of the Annemessex river, then and since known asKing's creek. 

Standing well back and divided from the county road by extensivegrounds, Sir Thomas King built Kingston Hall, a pleasant andcommodious residence. An avenue of fine trees, principally Lombardpoplars and the magnificent native tulip tree, formed the approach tothe Hall, and its gardens were terraced down to the creek behind. 

On one of the outlying plantations Sir Thomas King also establishedthe little village of Kingston, of which he built and owned everyhouse. He brought hither settlers, but the little place did notthrive. Plantation life and proprietary ownership were not conduciveto the growth of cities. As the old settlers died out the houses wereabandoned, and the post office was removed to a corner of the Hallplantation, then known as Kingston Corner. A new settlement grew upthere, and since emancipation has changed the conditions of life ithas grown and thriven. It is now a promising little place of 250inhabitants. It has assumed to itself the name of the older villageand is known as Kingston on the present maps. 

At the Hall Sir Thomas King established his family residence. Here helived and here his wife died, leaving but one child, a daughter, heiress to these wide estates, the future mother of Governor ThomasKing Carroll and the grandmother of Anna Ella Carroll, whoseinteresting career is the subject of our present relation. 

Through all the early history of Maryland the contests betweenCatholic and Protestant form one of its most conspicuous features. Early settled by Lord Baltimore, a Catholic proprietary, his followerswere at once involved in a struggle with still earlier settlers atKent Island, in the Chesapeake Bay, and the Protestants who followed, while condemning Catholicism as a rule of faith, associated it alsowith the doctrine of divine right and arbitrary rule. Bitter contestsfollowed. The most active minds of the Colony enrolled themselvesenthusiastically in the opposing parties. 

St. Mary's, a little town on the western side of the Chesapeake, wasthe ancient capital of the State and the headquarters of Catholicism. 

Sir Thomas King, on his side, was a staunch Presbyterian. Thishousehold was strictly ruled in conformity to his faith, and byliberal contribution and personal influence he was largelyinstrumental in building the first Presbyterian meeting-house, at thelittle town of Rehoboth, a few miles from his own domain, a greatbarn-like structure of red brick, which remains to this day. Themarriage of Miss King with her cousin, young Mr. Armstead, ofVirginia, the ward of Sir Thomas King, was an event that had beenplanned for in both families, and was looked forward to with greatsatisfaction on all sides. 

One may well imagine, then, the consternation which ensued to theproprietor of the Hall, to his relatives and friends, and all theneighbors of that staunch Presbyterian region, when Colonel HenryJames Carroll, of St. Mary's, of the old Catholic family of the notedCharles Carroll, and himself a Catholic by profession, came across thewaters of the Chesapeake, courting the only daughter of Sir ThomasKing, the heiress to all these estates and the reigning belle of thecounty. 

In vain was the bitter opposition of father and friends. The willfulyoung heiress insisted on giving to the handsome officer from St. Mary's the preference over all her other admirers. It may be that areaction from the strict rules and the severe tenets of her educationgave to this young scion of another faith an additional charm. Howeverthat may be, love won the day. 

The father was compelled to yield, and the young heiress became thewife of the intrepid Colonel Henry James Carroll. It could hardly havebeen expected that Sir Thomas King should associate with himself underthe same roof a son-in-law of principles so opposed to his own; but heestablished the young couple on the adjacent estate of Bloomsborough, which he also owned, and here their little son, Thomas King Carroll, first saw the light of day. 

The old proprietor, in his great empty hall, coveted this littlegrandson and proposed to adopt him as his own child and make him theheir to all his estates. 

In course of time a younger son, Charles Cecilius Carroll, was born tothe Bloomsborough household, the grandfather's proposition wasaccepted, and little Thomas King Carroll, then between five and sixyears of age, became an inmate of Kingston Hall and the object of SirThomas King's devoted affection and brightest hopes. 

Governor Carroll, in after times, used to relate to his children howthey spent the winter evenings alone in the old Hall. His grandfather, in his spacious armchair, on one side of the open hearth, with ablazing wood fire and tall brass andirons; the little boy, in a lowchair, on the opposite side, listening to the tales that hisgrandfather related of ancient times and heroic deeds. By these meansSir Thomas King strove to amuse his youthful heir and to train hismind to high principles and brave aspirations. But Sunday must havebeen a terrible day to the little boy, attending long services in thered brick meeting-house and occupying himself as he best could betweenwhiles with the old English family Bible, with pictures of devils andlakes of fire and brimstone, calculated to inspire his youthful mindwith horror and alarm. 

At an early age the young heir was sent to college, to thePennsylvania University at Philadelphia, then the most famous seat oflearning for those parts. Here he graduated with distinguished honors, at the age of seventeen. Among his classmates and intimate friendswere Mr. William M. Meredith, of Philadelphia; Benjamin Gratz, of St. Louis, and the father of Mr. Mitchell, the author of Ike Marvel. 

Returning to Maryland, Thomas King Carroll began the study of law withEphraim King Wilson, who had been named after Sir Thomas King. He wasthe father of the late United States Senator for Maryland. His studiesbeing completed, arrangements were made to associate him as partnerwith Robert Goodloe Harper, the son-in-law of Charles Carroll, ofCarrollton, in his lucrative law practice, and a house was engaged forhis future residence in Baltimore. 

During the studies of Thomas King Carroll, his aged grandfather, SirThomas King, having died, Colonel Henry James Carroll and his familywere residing at Kingston Hall and managing the estate for the youngheir. 

An old friend of the family was Dr. Henry James Stevenson, one of theprominent physicians of Baltimore. Dr. Stevenson had come overformerly as a surgeon in the British army. He had married in EnglandMiss Anne Henry, of Hampton. Settling in Baltimore, he acquired alarge estate, then on the outskirts, now in the center of Baltimore. On Parnassus Hill he built a very spacious and handsome residence. During the Revolutionary War Dr. Stevenson remained loyal to hisBritish training and was an outspoken Tory. The populace of Baltimorewere so incensed against him that they mobbed his residence, threatening to destroy it. The Doctor showed his military courage bystanding, fully armed, in his doorway and threatening to shoot thefirst man who attempted to enter. The mob were so impressed by hisdetermined attitude that they finally retired, leaving the owner andhis property uninjured. Dr. Stevenson afterwards became much belovedthrough his devotion and care, bestowed alike on the wounded of botharmies. He became noted in the profession from his controversy withDr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia, the one advocating and the otheropposing inoculation for small-pox. Dr. Stevenson was so enthusiasticthat he gave up, temporarily, his beautiful residence as a hospitalfor the support of his theory. 

An ivory miniature in a gold locket, now in possession of MissCarroll, represents Dr. Stevenson in his red coat and white waistcoat, and at the back of the locket there is a picture of Parnassus Hill, crowned by the Doctor's residence, with a perpendicular avenuestraight up hill, and a negro attendant opening the gate at the footfor Dr. Stevenson, mounted on his horse and returning home. It is avery quaint and valuable specimen of ante-revolutionary art. 

The daughter of this valiant doctor was a beautiful and accomplishedgirl, Miss Juliana Stevenson. She is described as having very regularfeatures, a complexion of dazzling fairness, deep blue eyes, andauburn hair flowing in curls upon her shoulders. She was a goodmusician, playing the organ at her church, and educated carefully inevery respect. Her knowledge of English history was consideredsomething phenomenal. 

Thomas King Carroll early won the affections of this lovely girl, andthey were married by Bishop Kemp before the youthful bridegroom hadcompleted his twentieth year. 

Those that care for heraldry may be interested to know that atBaltimore may be seen the eight coats-of-arms belonging to theKing-Carroll family, of which Miss Anna Ella is the eldestrepresentative. 

When the question came of Miss Stevenson leaving home, her especialattendant, a bright colored woman, had been given her choice ofremaining with Dr. Stevenson's family or accompanying her mistress. The poor woman was greatly exercised in choosing between conflictingties. 

Mrs. Carroll was accustomed to describe to her children, with muchfeeling, the scene which followed. Sitting in her room she heard aknock at the door and in rushed Milly, with her face bathed in tears, and throwing herself at Miss Stevenson's feet she exclaimed "Oh, mistis, I cannot, cannot, leave you!" It was a moment of deep emotionfor both mistress and maid. Milly followed Mrs. Carroll to her newhome and became the old mammy, the dear old mammy of all the Carrollchildren. 

Her daughter Leah was born on the Kingston plantation, and then hergranddaughter Milly, who in later times clung to the changing fortunesof the Carroll family, and is at this day a devoted attendant on herinvalid mistress, Miss Anna Ella Carroll. A visitor to the modest homein Washington, now occupied by the Carroll sisters, is met at the doorby the comely face and pleasant smile of this same faithful Milly. Thelife-long devotion of the affectionate "Mammy" illustrates one of themost touching features of the old plantation life; but the shadow ofslavery was over it all. To follow the fortunes of her adoredmistress, Mammy left behind her in Baltimore her husband, a freecolored man. But what was the marital relation to a slave! Theyouthful couple set out on a wedding tour, but were unexpectedlyrecalled by the sudden death of Colonel Henry James Carroll. It wasnecessary for his son to return at once and take possession of hisinheritance. 

The coming home of the proprietor and his youthful bride was a greatevent at Kingston Hall. There were at that time on the plantation 150slaves, besides the children. They are described as a fine andstalwart people, looking as if they belonged to a different race fromthe colored people that we now meet with in cities. They seemed like arace of giants. The men were usually as much as six feet in height, and broad and muscular in proportion. All these numerous dependentswere drawn up in lines on the long avenues, dressed in their livery ofgreen and buff, and must have presented an imposing appearance as thestately family carriage was seen approaching through the long vista offine old trees. The arrival was heralded by a roar of welcome anddemonstrations of joy. 

And thus the youthful couple took possession of the home that was tobe the scene of so many joys and so many sorrows, ending in troubloustimes that completely changed the existing order of things, and whichwitnessed the conclusion of the reign of the Kings and the Carrolls atKingston Hall. 

Shortly after his return with his bride Thomas King Carroll waselected to serve in the Legislature. He only attained the requisiteage of 21 years on the day before he took his seat. His birth-day wascelebrated at Kingston Hall after the old English fashion, and he wasfeted and toasted and received congratulations on all sides. It issaid that he was the youngest member ever elected to the Legislature. 

Thomas King Carroll commenced life not only with wide socialadvantages, but with great natural gifts. He was striking inappearance, and of so graceful and dignified a demeanor that it issaid that he never entered a crowd without a movement of respect andappreciation showing the impression that he created. 

He was a good orator and of unimpeachable integrity and loftycharacter. This was early exemplified when as still very youthful hewas sent to represent his county at a political caucus in Baltimore. The question of raising money for the approaching campaign came up, and he was asked in his turn how much would be needed for his countyof Somerset. He arose and said: "With all due deference, Mr. President, _not one cent_. We can carry our county without any suchaid!" There was a general laugh, and Robert Goodloe Harper, who waspresent, said, "Very well, young gentleman, you will tell a differenttale a few years hence. " He went home and related the proceedings tohis constituents, who applauded his answer, and that year Somerset wasthe banner county of the State. 

The early years succeeding the marriage were years of peace andprosperity. 

The young bride won all hearts by her beauty and the sweetness of herdisposition. 

In time a lively group of children filled the old Hall with life andgayety. 

Thomas King Carroll, like many another Maryland planter, was fullyconvinced that in itself slavery was wrong. The early settlers ofMaryland would gladly have excluded it, but the institution was forcedupon them by the mother country, the English monarch and his courtderiving large incomes from the sale of slaves and canceling every lawmade by the early settlers to prevent their introduction into thecolony. Slavery had now become a settled institution, on which thewhole social fabric was built, and individual proprietors, howeverthey might disapprove of the system, could see no way to change it. All that Thomas King Carroll knew how to do was to seek as far aspossible the happiness and welfare of his slaves, and slavery showeditself on the Kingston plantation in its mildest and most attractiveform. 

Not much money was made usually upon plantations, but everything wasproduced upon the estate that was needed to feed and clothe the greatgroup of dependents. And this was the state of things at KingstonHall. 

There was Uncle Nathan, the butler, whose wife was Aunt Susan, thedairywoman; Uncle Davy, the shoemaker; Saul, the blacksmith; Mingo, the old body servant of Colonel Carroll; Fortune, the coachman, etc. , etc. --all very powerful men. 

Every trade was represented upon the estate. There were blacksmithshops; there were shoemakers, tanners, weavers, dyers, etc. All thegoods worn by the servants, male and female, were manufactured on theplace. The wool was sheared from the sheep, and went through everyprocess needed to produce the linsey-woolsey garments of men andwomen. The women were allowed to choose the colors of their dresses, and the wool was dyed in accordance with their tastes. Two of thesedresses were allowed for a winter's wear, and each woman was furnishedwith a new calico print for Sundays. 

There were few local preachers among them at that time, but two werenoticeable during the childhood of the Carroll children, Ethan Howardand Uncle Saul. And there was an Uncle Remus, too, in Fortune, thecoachman, who told the children the stories of Brer Rabbit and theTar-baby quite as effectively as the Uncle Remus of our popularmagazines. 

The servants had their own rivalries and class distinctions. Oneportion of the house servants prided themselves as being the oldservants--born on the place. Another group plumed themselves as havingcome in with the "Mistis, " and having seen outside regions and a widerrange of life. But all the house servants considered themselves vastlysuperior to the field hands and treated them with condescension. 

The house servants, though slaves, in fact, were absolute despots intheir own department. The Carroll children would not have dared totouch a knife or a fork without the permission of the butler, and ifthey had attempted to enter the cellar or the dairy without leave fromtheir respective guardians a revolutionary war would have been theresult. 

Mammy, too, was the absolute ruler over every shoe and stocking, andwas expected under all circumstances to be responsible for everyarticle of the children's toilet. 

The largest quarter devoted to the slaves was a great circularstructure, with a central hall surrounded by partitions, giving toeach field hand a separate sleeping berth. The hall in the center wasdevoted to those who were old or unfitted for work, and here the youngchildren were deposited while their parents were pursuing their tasks, and they were expected to wait upon the "Grannies" and be cared for inreturn. 

Behind this central apartment was one in which the food was prepared, and there was a great hand-mill, where the corn was ground for thedaily use. 

The children at the Hall were seldom allowed to enter these quarters, but were occasionally granted permission to go there when delicaciesfor the sick or new caps and dresses for the babies were furnishedfrom the Hall. 

There were also quarters for the married slaves, each family havingits little cottage and garden, which it was allowed to cultivate onits own account, and great was the pride of its occupants if by dintof especial care they could raise the spring vegetables earlier thanin the master's garden, and carry them up to the Hall in triumph. There they always found a customer ready to purchase their produce. Every Monday morning rations were given out for a week by the overseerand they were cooked by the families in their own quarters. 

The hours of work were moderate, and on Saturday they had a halfholiday. 

Sometimes there were parties and merry-makings at the negro quarters. On great occasions, such as the marriage of a house servant, thefamily at the Hall, by their presence, gave dignity to thefestivities, and inwardly they greatly enjoyed the fantastic scene. 

At Kingston Hall open house was kept, and numerous visitors andentertainments made life gay for the children, who grew up in anatmosphere of ease and hospitality, little anticipating thevicissitudes of the future and the stormy and heart-rending times inwhich their country was about to be involved. 

CHAPTER II. 

CHILDHOOD AND EARLY LIFE -- MISS CARROLL'S YOUTHFUL LETTERS TO HERFATHER -- RELIGIOUS TENDENCIES -- LETTERS FROM DR. ROBERT J. BRECKENRIDGE -- SALE OF KINGSTON HALL -- EARLY WRITINGS -- LETTER OFHON. EDWARD BATES -- BREAKING OUT OF THE CIVIL WAR -- PREOCCUPATION INMILITARY AFFAIRS. 

On August the 29th, 1815, Anna Ella Carroll was born, at KingstonHall. By this time a little brick Episcopal church had also been builtat Rehoboth, but the congregation was too small to support a residentclergyman, and it had to alternate with other churches in itsservices. At this infant church, in due course of time, Anna Ella waschristened by the Rev. Mr. Slemmonds. She was the eldest child, andthenceforth the pride of her distinguished father, who viewed withdelight her remarkable intelligence, and early made her his companionin the political interests in which he took such an active part. Itsoon became evident that this was a child of decided and unusualcharacter. When but three years old she would sit on a little stool ather father's feet, in his library, listening intently as he read aloudhis favorite passages from Shakespeare. 

[Illustration: KINGSTON HALL--Birth Place of Anna Ella Carroll. ]

All Mr. Carroll's children were so drilled in Shakespeare that therewas not one of them who could not, when somewhat older, repeat longpassages by rote, and they made the rehearsal of scenes fromShakespeare's plays one of their favorite amusements. Anna Ella showedno taste for accomplishments; cared neither for dancing, drawing, music, or needlework. She used to boast to her sisters that she hadmade a shirt beautifully when ten years old; but they would smile atthe idea, as they had never seen her handle a needle and couldassociate her only with books. 

These were to her of absorbing interest, and books, too, of a graveand thoughtful character. Alison's History and Kant's Philosophy wereher favorite reading at eleven years of age. She read fiction to someextent, under her father's direction; but, with the exception ofShakespeare and Scott, she never cared for it. While other girls ofher age were entranced by Sir Charles Grandison and fascinated by theheroes of Bulwer's earlier novels, she turned from them to read Cokeand Blackstone with her father, and followed with him the politicaldebates and discussions of the day. She studied with lively interestthe principles and events which led to the separation of the Colonistsfrom the Mother Country, and buried herself in theological questions. At a very early age her letters bore reference to the gravestsubjects. Imagination was never prominent; her mind was essentiallyanalytical. Pure reason and clear consecutive argument delighted her, and works of that nature were eagerly sought by her. 

Her life passed largely in her father's excellent library, which waswell stocked with classic works, both history, biography, philosophy, and poetry, and her education was to him a constant delight. 

Miss Carroll's early associates were the children of the neighboringproprietors, the Handys, the Wilsons, the Gales, the Henrys, etc. , andshe early made acquaintance with the distinguished men who where herfather's associates. 

Mr. Carroll continued to serve in the Legislature until electedGovernor of Maryland, in 1829. On this occasion he received aninteresting letter from Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, congratulatinghim and expressing his pride and gratification at the event. WhenGovernor Thomas King Carroll went to Annapolis, in performance of theduties of his office, he was accompanied by Mrs. Carroll, with theyounger children and a group of servants under the superintendence ofthe invaluable Mammy. Mrs. Carroll, by her beauty and accomplishments, was well fitted to adorn her station. When the weather became warm shereturned with her children to Kingston Hall. 

The following charming letters from Miss Carroll, then a girl offourteen, show the tenderness of the relation between father andchild, and at how early an age she interested herself in politics andentered into the questions of the day:

 KINGSTON HALL, _Jan. 20, 1830_. 

 My Precious Father:

 My dearest mother received your letter on Monday, and we were all happy to know you had arrived safely at the seat of government, although the Annapolis paper had previously announced it. 

 Oh! my dear father, if I could but see you! I miss you--we all miss you--beyond measure. The time passes tediously without you. 

 I have just read Governor Martin's last message. [1] I think it quite well written. I wondered to see it published in the _Telegraph_ [an opposition paper, I suppose]. I am anxious to see what the Eastern papers say of your election. Please, dear father, when anything relating to your political action is published, whether in the form of a message, in pamphlet, or in newspaper, do not fail to let us have them. I read with so much pride your letter in the Annapolis paper. It merits all the distinction and fame it has brought you. Too much could not be said in praise of my noble father. Dr. K---- was here to-day. He says they feel "quite exalted" to be so near neighbors to a Governor. 

 When do you think the Legislature will rise? But I must not write on political subjects only. Brother is delighted with his new horse. The little children are begging dearest mother to write you for them. May every blessing attend you, my precious father. Be sure and write me a _long_ letter. 

 Your devoted daughter, A. E. CARROLL. 

 [Footnote 1: He was Governor Carroll's predecessor. ]

 KINGSTON HALL, _Feb. 17, 1830_. 

 My Beloved Father:

 Again we are disappointed in your arrival home! _and how_ disappointed no tongue can tell. Dearest mother thought it possible you might come on a little visit, even if the Legislature did not rise. [2] You said in your last letter to me that this was "probable. " Why did you not say "_certain_?" Then I would rejoice, for when my father says a thing is certain, I _know_ it is certain. I am happy to tell you that I am much better; have had a long and tedious spell. I would lie for hours and think of you away from me, and if I had not the kindest and tenderest mother to care for me and for us all, what should we do. I understand that your appointments have not been generally approved by the milk-and-water strata of the party, of course, for no thorough Jackson man would denounce, even if he did not approve. It is my principle, as well as that of Lycurgus, to avoid "mediums"--that is to say, people who are not decidedly one thing or the other. In politics they are the inveterate enemies of the State. I hear there has been a committee appointed to visit you on your return to the Hall and present a petition for the removal of some whom you have recently appointed. They call themselves reformers. I want reform, too, even in court criers, but to be forever reforming reform is absurd. I know whatever you do is _right_, and needs no reform, my wisest and dearest of fathers. 

 Write as soon as you can to your loving child, A. E. CARROLL. 

 [Footnote 2: At that time the sessions of the Legislature were not restricted, as now they are, to sixty days. ]

Mrs. Carroll was a devoted member of the Church of England, as wasnatural in the daughter of staunch Dr. Stevenson. 

As there were no Sunday schools in those days, Mrs. Carroll gatheredher children around her on Sunday afternoons and drilled them in thechurch catechism until it was as familiar to them as their A B C; butAnna Ella always inclined to the Westminster Confession and the tenetsin which her father's childhood had been so rigorously educated. 

When about fifteen Miss Carroll was sent to a boarding school, at WestRiver, near Annapolis, to pursue her studies with Miss MargaretMercer, an accomplished teacher. 

Thomas King Carroll, at the same age, had been sent to the Universityof Pennsylvania, and afterward to the law school; but for this girl ofgifts so remarkable, and of a character so decided, the best thingthat the world of those times offered was a young ladies' boardingschool of the olden time. Well it was for her and her country that herexceptional position as the cherished daughter of a man of sucheducation and talent, occupied with political affairs, secured for heran education that would otherwise have been unattainable to her. 

However, she made the best possible use of such education as aladylike school permitted, was noted for her intelligence, and mademany friends; but her true education began and continued with GovernorCarroll at home. 

Miss Carroll had early shown an intense interest in moral andreligious questions, following her father's views on these subjects. She became interested in the ministrations of Dr. Robert J. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, then settled over a Presbyterian church inBaltimore. 

Dr. Breckenridge was the uncle of John C. Breckenridge, afterward oneof the leading secessionists, utterly opposed to his uncle inpolitical views, and one of the candidates for the Presidency in 1860. 

Dr. Robert J. Breckenridge was a valued friend of Governor Carroll. 

Miss Anna Ella became a communicant and earnest member of his church, and a mutual friendship arose, terminated only by the death of theaged minister, who has left on record his high appreciation of themental abilities and the great services afterward rendered by hisremarkable parishioner. 

We will give in part two letters from this excellent man to MissCarroll, written from Kentucky in after years. For want of space wemust greatly shorten them. 

 DANVILLE, Ky. , _December 6, 1864_. 

 My Excellent Friend:

 It is very seldom I have read a letter with more gratification than yours of November 29th. How kind it is of you, after so many events, to remember me; and how many people and events and trials and enjoyments, connected with years of labor, rush through my heart and my brain as you recall Maryland and Baltimore so freshly and suddenly to me; and how noble is the picture of a fine life, well spent, which the modest detail of some of your efforts realizes to me. It is no extravagance, not even a trace of romance; it is a true enjoyment, and deeply affecting, too, that you give me in what you recount and what is recalled thereby. For what is there in our advanced life more worthy of thankfulness to God than that our former years were such that if we remember them with tears they are tears of which we need not be ashamed. My life during the almost twenty years since I left Maryland has been, as the preceding period had all been, a scene of unremitting effort in very many ways; and now, if the force of invincible habit permitted me to live otherwise, I should hardly escape by any other means a solitary if not a desolate old age. Solitary, because of a numerous family all, except one young son, are either in the great battle of life or in their graves. Desolate, because the terrible curse which marks our times and desolates our country has divided my house, like thousands of others, and my children literally fight in opposite armies and my kindred and friends die by each other's hands. There is no likelihood, in my opinion, that our Legislature will send me to the Senate of the United States; and will you wonder if I assure you that I have never desired that they should. Was it not a purer, perhaps a higher, ambition to prove that in the most frightful times and through long years a simple citizen had it in his power by his example, his voice and his pen, by courage, by disinterestedness, by toil, to become a real power in the State of himself; and have not you, delicately nurtured woman as you are, also cherished a similar ambition and done a similar work, even from a more difficult position? * * * I beg to be remembered in kind terms to your father, and that you will accept the assurances of my great respect and esteem. 

 ROBERT J. BRECKENRIDGE. 

 DANVILLE, Ky. , _April 27, 1865_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 * * * You will easily understand how much I value the good opinion you express of my past efforts to serve our country, and of my ability to serve it still further; and it is very kind of you to report to me with your approbation the good opinion of others, whom to have satisfied is in a measure fame. * * * Many years ago, without reserve and with a perfect and irrevocable consecration, I gave myself and all I had to Him, and have never, for one moment, regretted that I did so. The single principle of my existence, from that day to this, has been to do with my might what it was given to me to see it was God's will I should do. You see, my dear Miss Carroll, that I, who never sought anything, am not now capable of seeking anything, nor even permitted to do so; and, on the other hand, that I, who never refused to undertake any duty, am not allowed now to hesitate, if the Lord shows me the way, nor permitted to refuse what my country might demand of me. This is all I can say--all I have cared to say for nearly my whole life. I would not turn my hand over to secure any earthly power or distinction. I would not hesitate a moment to lay down my life to please God or to bless my country. 

 Mr. Lincoln was my personal friend and habitually expressed sentiments to me which did me the highest honor. 

 It gives me pleasure to learn that you propose to publish annals of this revolution, and I trust you will be spared to execute your purpose. 

 Make my cordial salutations to your father and accept the assurance of my high respect and esteem. 

 Your friend, &c. , R. J. BRECKENRIDGE. 

Miss Carroll was very pleasing, with a fine and intelligent face, ananimated and cordial manner, and great life and vivacity, roused intofire and enthusiasm on any topic that appealed to her intellect andher sympathies. Naturally, in so favorable a social position and withsuch gifts, she received early in life much attention and had offersof marriage from many distinguished parties; but she never seemedinclined to change her condition or to give up the belovedcompanionship of her father. A literary life and his congenialpresence seemed to be all-sufficient for her, and she remained hisdevoted companion until his death, in 1873, when she also, the childof his youth, was well advanced in life. 

After Governor Carroll's term of office had expired he returned to hisestate, and shortly after he was waited upon by a deputation, who hadbeen sent to enquire if he would accept a nomination as United StatesSenator. But at that time Mrs. Carroll was dangerously ill. Hisextensive plantation and group of children required his presence, andhe declined to serve. He was devoted to his wife, and their marriagewas one of unbroken harmony until her death, in 1849. Governor Carrolldevoted himself thereafter to the necessities of his family andestate. 

Anna Ella Carroll frequently visited her friends at Washington, andearly commenced an extended relation with the press, writing usuallyanonymously on the political subjects of the day. A friend of herfather, Thomas Hicks, considered that he owed his election as Governorof Maryland largely to the articles which she contributed in hisfavor, and he retained through life a strong personal friendship andhigh admiration for her intellectual powers. At his death he left herhis papers and letters, to be edited by her--a labor prevented by hersubsequent illness. In 1857 Miss Carroll published a considerablework, entitled "The Great American Battle, " or Political Romanism, that being the subject of immediate discussion at that time. This workwas compiled from a series of letters contributed by her to the press, and her family knew nothing of the project until she surprised them bythe presentation of the bound volume. 

Old Sir Thomas King would certainly have been greatly gratified if hecould have known how vigorously his great-granddaughter was to upholdthe banner of religious and political freedom. This work wasaccompanied by an excellent portrait of the authoress in the prime oflife, which we here reproduce for our present readers. 

In the following year Miss Carroll published another considerablework, entitled "The Star of the West, " relating to the exploration ofour Western Territories, their characteristics, the origin of theNational claims, and our duties towards our new acquisitions, and sheurged the building of the Pacific railroad. This seems to have beenone of her most popular works, as it went through several editions, and greatly extended her acquaintance with leading men. 

The following letter, written by the Hon. Edward Bates, is verydescriptive of Miss Carroll and evinces the admiration and esteemwhich she inspired among those best fitted to appreciate her highcharacter, her uncommon cultivation, and natural gifts. 

 WASHINGTON, D. C. , _October 3, 1863_. 

 To Hon. Isaac Hazlehurst, _of Philadelphia_. 

 My Dear Sir: I have just received a note from Miss Anna Ella Carroll, of Maryland, informing me she is going to Philadelphia, where she is a comparative stranger, and desiring an introduction to some of the eminent publicists of your famous city. 

 I venture to present her to you, sir, first, as an unquestionable lady of the highest personal standing and family connection; second, as a person of superior mind, highly cultivated, especially in the solids of American literature, political history, and constitutional law; third, of strong will, indomitable courage, and patient labor. Guided by the light of her own understanding, she seeks truth among the mixed materials of other minds, and having found it, maintains it against all obstacles; fourth and last, a writer fluent, cogent, and abounding with evidence of patient investigation and original thought. 

 I commend her to your courtesy, less for the delicate attentions proper for the drawing room than for the higher communion of congenial students, alike devoted to the good of the Commonwealth. 

 With the greatest respect, I remain, sir, your friend and servant. 

 EDWARD BATES. 

As time went on, Thomas King Carroll, now advanced in years, many ofhis children married and scattered, began to find his estate and greatgroup of dependents a burdensome and unprofitable possession. 

Under a humane master, unwilling to sell his slaves, they were apt toincrease beyond the resources of the plantation to sustain them. Ready-money payment was not the general rule upon plantations. Abundance of food was produced, but money was not very plentiful whenmarkets were distant and trade very limited. 

It was not unusual for debts to accumulate and even to be handed downfrom father to son. The creditors rather favored this state of things, as the debt drew interest. As long as there were plenty of slaves, their ultimate payment was secure whenever they chose to press forit. If the money was not then forthcoming, their redress wascertain--a descent followed of that brutal intermediary, "the niggerdealer, " loathed and dreaded alike by master and servant. A sufficientamount of the human property was speedily secured and driven off forsale to satisfy the creditor. To the slave, torn from his home and hislife-long ties, it was despair. To the master's family, often a bittergrief. They might shut themselves up and weep at the outrage, but theywere powerless in the face of an inexorable system. To the master, therefore, as the slaves increased, there could often be noalternative between ruthless sale and financial ruin. Thomas KingCarroll, honorable, humane, unwilling to sell his slaves, immersedduring the best years of his life in political affairs, found in lateryears his burdens increasing, and his kindness of heart had involvedhim also in some especial difficulties. He had on several occasionsallowed his name to be used as security for friends in difficulty. Twoor three of these debts remained unpaid and the responsibility cameupon him. One especially, of an unusually large amount, involved himin embarrassment which led him to determine on the sale of hisplantation. A neighbor and intimate friend, Mr. Dennis, was desirousto purchase, and very sorrowfully Thomas King Carroll came to theresolution to give up his ancestral home. As he was accustomed to say, he loved every corner and every stone upon the place, but the burdenhad become too great for his declining strength. 

The sale was effected and Mr. Carroll removed to Dorchester county, on the eastern side of the Chesapeake, with his unmarried children, and here he died, in 1873, in his 80th year. 

Governor Carroll is described in the annals of the State as "one ofthe best men Maryland has ever produced, " a man of _characterunsullied_ and of lofty integrity. 

At the breaking out of the civil war Mr. Carroll was already anelderly man. At first his sympathies were with his own section, butafter the attack on Fort Sumter they were steadily enlisted for theNational cause, though he foresaw that its triumph would lead to thedestruction of his own fortunes and those of his children. 

Most of the slaves had been left on the plantation, but some hadalways been considered the especial property of each of his children. 

Thus Anna Ella Carroll had her own group. At the very outset of thewar she fully realized that slavery was at the root of the rebellion, and she at once liberated her own slaves and devoted her time, herpen, and all her resources to the maintenance of the National cause. She immediately commenced a series of writings of such marked abilitythat they speedily attracted the attention of Mr. Lincoln and theAdministration. Governor Hicks, too, placed in a situation of unusualdifficulty, turned to his able friend for consultation and for moraland literary support. 

Jefferson Davis, who was aware of Miss Carroll's great literary andsocial influence, wrote to her early in the secession movementadjuring her to induce her father to take sides with the South. 

"I will give him any position he asks for, " wrote Mr. Davis. 

"Not if you will give him the whole South, " replied Miss Carroll. 

A visitor to her in 1861 says: "Her room was lined with military maps, her tables covered with papers and war documents. She would talk ofnothing but the war. Her countenance would light up most radiantly asshe spoke of the Union victories and the certainty that the greatNation must win an ultimate success. "

When fresh news from the army came in she would step up to one of hercharts and, placing a finger on a point, she would say: "Here isGeneral ----'s detachment; here is the rebel army; such and such arethe fortifications and surrounding circumstances; and she would thenbegin thoughtfully to predicate the result and suggest the propermove. "

We will give a sketch of the situation in the early days of thesecession movement, mainly in the words of Miss Carroll's own ableaccount, afterwards published by order of Congress. 

_List of Documents in Relation to Services Rendered by Anna EllaCarroll, to be Found in the Descriptive Catalogue of the CongressionalLibrary. _

 * * * * *

(Descriptive Catalogue, page 911. )

Petition for compensation for services. Anna Ella Carroll. March 31, 1870. Senate Mis. Doc. No. 100, 41st Congress, 2d session. 

 * * * * *

(Catalogue, page 928. )

Report on memorial of Miss Carroll. Senator Howard. February 2, 1871. Senate report No. 339, 41st Congress, 3d session. 

 * * * * *

(Catalogue, page 962. )

Memorial for payment of services. June 8, 1872. Senate Mis. Doc. No. 167, 42d Congress, 2d session, vol. II. 

 * * * * *

(Catalogue, page 1058. )

Petition for compensation for services. Anna Ella Carroll. February14, 1876. House Mis. Doc. No. 179, 44th Congress, 1st session, vol. IX. 

 * * * * *

(Catalogue, page 1099. )

Memorial of Anna Ella Carroll. October 22, 1877. Senate Mis. Doc. No. 5, 45th Congress, 1st session, vol. I. 

 * * * * *

(Catalogue, page 1128. )

House of Representatives. Mis. Doc. No. 58, 45th Congress, 2d session. Claim of Anna Ella Carroll. Memorial of Anna Ella Carroll, ofMaryland, praying for compensation for services rendered to the UnitedStates during the late civil war. May 18, 1878. 

 * * * * *

(Catalogue, page 1149. )

Report on claim of Anna Ella Carroll. Senator Cockrell February 18, 1879. Senate Report No. 775, 45th Congress, 3d session, vol. II. 

 * * * * *

(Catalogue, page 1241. )

Report of claim of Anna Ella Carroll. Representative E. S. Bragg. March 3, 1881. House report No. 386, 46th Congress, 3d session, vol. II. 

Note. --Most of these only to be seen by consulting the bound volumesin the Congressional Library. 

 * * * * *

(All the following letters, reports, etc. , concerning Miss Carroll'sliterary and military services are reproduced from these Congressionaldocuments. )

[Illustration: Thomas A. Scott]

CHAPTER III. 

RISE OF THE SECESSION MOVEMENT -- THE CAPITAL IN DANGER -- MISSCARROLL'S LITERARY LABORS FOR THE CAUSE OF THE UNION -- TESTIMONIALSFROM EMINENT MEN. 

"On the election of Mr. Lincoln, in 1860, the safety of the Union wasfelt to be in peril and its perpetuity to depend on the action of theborder slave States, and, from her geographical position, especiallyon Maryland. 

In the cotton States the Breckenridge party had conducted the canvasson the avowed position that the election of a sectional President--asthey were pleased to characterize Mr. Lincoln--would be a virtualdissolution of the "compact of the Union;" whereupon it would becomethe duty of all the Southern States to assemble in "sovereignconvention" for the purpose of considering the question of theirseparate independence. 

In Maryland the Breckenridge electors assumed the same position, andas the Legislature was under the control of that party, it wasunderstood that could it assemble they would at once provide for aconvention for the purpose of formally withdrawing from the Union. Thesessions, however, were biennial, and could only be convened byauthority of the Governor. It therefore seemed for the time that thesalvation of the Union was in the hands of Governor Hicks. Althoughhe had opposed the election of Mr. Lincoln and all his sympathies wereon the side of slavery, his strong point was devotion to the Union. With this conviction, founded upon long established friendship, MissCarroll believed she might render some service to her country, andtook her stand with him at once for the preservation of the Union, come weal or woe to the institution of slavery. 

Governor Hicks had been elected some three years before as thecandidate of the American party, and to the publications Miss Carrollhad contributed to that canvass he largely attributed his election. Itwas therefore natural that when entering on the fierce struggle forthe preservation of the Union, with the political and social powers ofthe State arrayed against him, that he should desire whatever aid itmight be in her power to render him. 

A few days after the Presidential election Miss Carroll wrote GovernorHicks upon the probable designs of the Southern leaders should thecotton States secede, and suggested the importance of not allowing acall for the Legislature to be made a question. That she might be in aposition to make her services more effective, she repaired toWashington on the meeting of Congress in December, and soon understoodthat the Southern leaders regarded the dissolution of the Union asaccomplished. 

The leading disunionists from Maryland and Virginia were on the groundin consultation with the secession leaders in Congress, and theemissaries from the cotton States soon made their appearance, when itwas resolved to make Maryland the base of their operations and bringher into the line of the seceding States before the power of theDemocratic party had passed away, on the 4th of March, 1861. 

Hence every agency that wickedness could invent was industriouslymanufacturing public opinion in Baltimore and all parts of the Stateto coerce Governor Hicks to convene the Legislature. 

With Maryland out of the Union they expected to inaugurate theirSouthern Confederacy in the Capitol of the United States on theexpiration of President Buchanan's term, on the 4th of March, and bydivesting the North of the seat of Government and retaining possessionof the public buildings and archives, they calculated with greatconfidence upon recognition of national independence by Europeanpowers. About the middle of December Miss Carroll communicated toGovernor Hicks their designs on Maryland and suggested the proprietyof a public announcement of his unalterable determination to holdMaryland to the Union. 

After his address on the 3d of January, 1861, resolutions and lettersfrom men and women endorsing his cause were received from Maryland andfrom all quarters of the United States. 

Governor Hicks at that time was willing to abide by any terms ofsettlement that would save a conflict between the sections. He favoredthe compromise proposed by the border States committee, that slaveryshould not be forbidden, either by Federal or territorial legislation, south of 36° 30', and he was strongly inclined to base his action onthe acceptance or rejection of the Crittenden resolutions by Congress. 

On the 19th of January, 1861, he urged Miss Carroll to exert whateverinfluence she was able to induce Congress to adopt some measure ofpacification; but she was soon satisfied that no compromise thatCongress would adopt would be accepted by the cotton States, and, perceiving the danger should the Governor commit himself to anyimpossible condition, informed him on the 24th of January that theCrittenden proposition would by no possibility receive the sanction ofCongress. 

All efforts to move the steadfastness of the Governor having failed, the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Delegatesissued their call to the people to act independently of him and electdelegates to a convention. This was a most daring and dangerousproceeding, and had the plan succeeded and a convention assembled theywould immediately have deposed the Governor and passed an ordinance ofsecession. The Governor was powerless in such an emergency to defendthe State against the revolutionary body, as the State militia were ontheir side and Mr. Buchanan had declared that the National Governmentcould not coerce a sovereign State. 

The gravity of the situation was appreciated by the Governor and thefriends of the Union. Miss Carroll addressed articles through thepress and wrote many letters to prepare the public mind in Marylandfor the struggle. Fortunately the people (thus warned) failed toendorse this call; consequently the leading statesmen of the disunionparty abandoned their cherished expectation of inaugurating theirGovernment in the National Capitol. 

Many of the conspirators, however, still sought to seize Washingtonand forcibly prevent the inauguration of the President elect on the4th of March. The military organizations of the South were deemedsufficient for the enterprise, and a leader trained in the wars ofTexas was solicited to lead them. The more sagacious of their party, however, discountenanced the mad scheme. They assured Miss Carrollthat no attempt would be made to seize the Capitol and prevent theinauguration of Mr. Lincoln, so long as Maryland remained in theUnion. 

The ruthless assault upon the Massachusetts troops in Baltimore, asthey were passing through on their way to Washington, on the 19th ofApril, with the antecedent and attendant circumstances, roused to thehighest degree the passions of all who sympathized with the secessionmovement, and the mob became for the time being the controlling forceof that city. So largely in the ascendant was it and so confident werethe disunionists in consequence that they, without warrant of law, assumed the responsibility of issuing a call for the Legislature ofMaryland to convene in Baltimore. Governor Hicks, fearing that theLegislature would respond to the call, and that if it did it wouldyield to the predominant spirit, give voice to the purpose of the mob, and adopt an act of secession, resolved to forestall such action byconvening that body to meet at Frederick City, away from the violentand menacing demonstrations of Baltimore. 

The Legislature thus assembled contained a number of leading memberswho were ready at once for unconditional secession. There were alsoothers who, with them, would constitute a majority and would vote forthe measure could they be sustained by public sentiment, but who werenot prepared to give that support without that assurance. The field ofconflict was, therefore, transferred from the halls of legislation tothe State at large, and to the homes of their constituents, and therethe battle raged during the summer of 1861. In that conflict of ideasMiss Carroll bore an earnest and prominent part, and the mostdistinguished men have given repeated evidence that her labors werelargely instrumental in thwarting the secessionists and savingMaryland to the Union. The objective point of the labors of thedisunion leaders was a formal act of secession, by which Marylandwould become an integral portion of the Confederacy, not onlyaffording moral and material aid to the Southern cause, but relievingthe rebel armies in crossing the Potomac from the charge, which atthat stage of the conflict the leaders were anxious to avoid, ofignoring their vaunted doctrine of State rights by invading theterritory of sovereign States. With the usual arguments that wereurged to fire the Southern heart and to reconcile the people to theextreme remedy of revolution, special prominence was given to what wasstigmatized as the arbitrary and unconstitutional acts of PresidentLincoln. To place the people in possession of the true theory of theirinstitutions and to define and defend the war powers of the Governmentwere the special purposes of Miss Carroll's labors during theseeventful months. "

It would not be possible in the compass of this paper to set forthcircumstantially all the important questions that arose in theprogress of the war, in the discussion of which Miss Carroll tookpart; but it is proper to say that on every material issue, from theinception of the rebellion to the final reconstruction of the secededStates, she contributed through the newspapers, in pamphlet form, andby private correspondence to the discussion of important subjects. Governor Hicks bore the brunt of this terrible conflict, greatly aidedby Miss Carroll's public and private support, and stimulated by suchinspiring letters as the following:

 WASHINGTON HOUSE, WASHINGTON CITY, _Jan. 16, 1861_. 

 My Dear Governor:

 I have for some days intended to write and express my cordial admiration and gratitude for the noble stand you have now taken in behalf of the Union by the public address issued on the 3d instant. An extended relation with the leading presses of the country has enabled me in a public and more efficient manner to testify to this and create a public opinion favorable to your course of patriotic action throughout the land. Many of the articles you have seen emanated from this source. 

 I feel it will be a gratification to you, in the high and sacred responsibilities which surround your position, to know from one who is incapable of flattering or deceiving you the opinion privately held in this metropolis concerning your whole course since the secession movement in the South was practically initiated. 

 With all the friends of the Union with whom I converse, without regard to section or party, your course elicits the most unbounded applause. I might add to this the evidences furnished from private correspondence, but you doubtless feel already the sympathy and moral support to be derived in this way. I am often asked if I think you _can_ continue to stand firm under the frightful pressure brought to bear upon you. I answer, _yes_; that my personal knowledge enables me to express the confident belief that nothing will ever induce you to surrender while the oath to support the Constitution of your country and the vow to fulfill the obligations of your God rest upon your soul. 

 As a daughter of Maryland, I am proud to have her destiny in the hands of one so worthy of her ancient great name; one who will never betray the sacred trust imposed upon him. "When God is for us, no man can be against us, " is the Christian's courage when the day of trial comes. 

 I shall continue to fight your battle to the end. 

 Your sincere friend, A. E. CARROLL. 

Well might Governor Hicks say to her again and again, as in a letterto her in 1863: "Your moral and material support I shall never forgetin that trying ordeal, such as no other man in this country ever wentthrough. "

A little further on, Governor Hicks writes as follows:

 ANNAPOLIS, Md. , _December 17, 1861_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 In the hurry and excitement incident to closing my official relations to the State of Maryland I cannot find fitting words to express my high sense of gratitude to you for the kind and feeling manner in which you express your approval of my whole term of service in doing all in my power to uphold the honor and dignity of the State; but especially do I thank you for the personal aid you rendered me in the last part of my arduous duties. 

 When all was dark and dreadful for Maryland's future, when the waves of secession were beating furiously upon your frail executive, borne down with private as well as public grief, you stood nobly by and watched the storm and skillfully helped to work the ship, until, thank God, helmsmen and crew were safe in port. 

 * * * * *

 With great regard, I have the honor to be ever your obedient friend and servant. 

 T. H. HICKS. 

Thus it was that, supported by Miss Carroll, this high-minded andsorely tried man held fast to the end. He went into the struggle arich man, in a position of worldly honor and prosperity. He came outof it reduced in prosperity, having, like other faithful SouthernUnionists, lost his worldly possessions in that great upheaval. Thenceforth he lived, and he died, comparatively a poor man, but oneof the noble and faithful who had acted an immortal part in thesalvation of his country. All honor to brave and true-hearted GovernorHicks of Maryland!

Thus by her powerful advocacy and influence Miss Carroll largelycontributed to securing the State of Maryland to the Union and savingthe National Capital, and her writings also had a great effect uponthe border States. Besides her numerous letters and newspaperarticles, she began writing and publishing, at her own expense, aremarkable series of war pamphlets, which speedily became an importantelement in the guidance of the country. 

Senator John C. Breckenridge, in the July Congress of 1861, made anotable secession speech. Miss Carroll replied to this in a pamphletcontaining such clear and powerful arguments that the War Departmentcirculated a large edition, and requested her to write on otherimportant points then being discussed with great diversity of opinion. 

The following letters give some indication of the timely nature andvalue of the Breckenridge pamphlet:

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 Your refutation of the sophistries of Senator Breckenridge's speech is full and conclusive. I trust this reply may have an extended circulation at the present time, as I am sure its perusal by the people will do much to aid the cause of the Constitution and the Union. 

 CALEB B. SMITH. [3]

 [Footnote 3: Caleb B. Smith was Secretary of Interior in Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet and an old friend of Miss Carroll. ]

 * * * * *

 GLOBE OFFICE, _Aug. 8, 1861_. 

 Dear Miss Carroll:

 Allow me to thank you for the privilege of reading your admirable review of Mr. Breckenridge's speech. I have enjoyed it greatly. Especially have I been struck with its very ingenious and just exposition of the constitutional law bearing on the President, assailed by Mr. B. , and with the very apt citation of Mr. Jefferson's opinion as to the necessity and propriety of disregarding mere legal punctilio when the source of all is in danger of destruction. The gradual development of the plot in the South to overthrow the Union is also exceedingly well depicted and with remarkable clearness. If spoken in the Senate your article would have been regarded by the country as a complete and masterly refutation of Mr. B. 's heresies. Though the peculiar position of the _Globe_ might preclude the publication of the review, I am glad that it has not been denied to the editor of the _Globe_ to enjoy what the _Globe_ itself has not been privileged to contain. 

 I remain, with great respect, your obedient servant, SAM'L T. WILLIAMS. [4]

 [Footnote 4: Samuel T. Williams was at that time chief editor of the _Globe_ (the Congressional Record of the day) and son-in-law of Mr. Rives, the owner of the _Globe_. ]

 * * * * *

 _September 21, 1861. _

 Dear Miss Carroll:

 I have this moment, 11 o'clock Saturday night, finished reading your most admirable reply to the speech of Mr. Breckenridge; and now, my dear lady, I have only time to thank you for taking the trouble to embody for the use of others so much sound constitutional doctrine and so many valuable historic facts in a form so compact and manageable. The President received a copy left for him and requested me to thank you cordially for your able support. 

 The delay was not voluntary on my part. For some time past my time and mind have been painfully engrossed by very urgent public duties, and my best affections stirred by the present condition of Missouri, my own neglected and almost ruined State; and this is the reason why I have been so long deprived of the pleasure and instruction of perusing your excellent pamphlet. 

 I remain, with great respect and regard, your friend and obedient servant, EDWARD BATES. [5]

 [Footnote 5: Edward Bates was the Attorney General of Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet and an intimate friend of Miss Carroll. ]

 * * * * *

 APPLEBY, _Sept. 22, 1861_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 I will thank you very much if you will send me a couple of hundred copies of your reply to Breckenridge, with bill of expenses for the same. I do not think it is right that you should furnish your publications gratis any longer. I told our friends in Baltimore last week that the Union State Committee must go to work and send your documents over the entire State if they expect to carry this election. Mr. Mayer and Mr. Fickey, of the committee, said they would make application to you immediately and pay for all you can supply. 

 No money can ever pay for what you have done for the State and the country in this terrible crisis, but I trust and believe the time will come when all will know the debt they owe you. 

 With great respect, your friend and obedient servant, THOS. H. HICKS. 

 * * * * *

 BALTIMORE, _Oct. 2, 1861_. 

 Miss Carroll:

 If you could let me have more of your last pamphlet in answer to Breckenridge, I could use them with great effect. I have distributed from my house on Camden street all the committee could furnish me. I set my son at the door with paper and pencil, and five hundred men called for it in one day. These are the bone and sinew of the city, wanting to know which army to enter. Please send as many as you can spare. They go like hot cakes. 

 Yours very respectfully, JAMES TILGHMAN. 

 * * * * *

A. S. Diven, in the House of Representatives, January 22, 1862:

 "She signs herself Anna Ella Carroll. I commend her answer on the doctrine of the war power to those who have been following that phantom and misleading the people, and I recommend it to another individual, a friend of mine, who gave a most learned disquisition on the writ of _habeas corpus_ and against the power of the President to imprison men. He will find that answered. I am not surprised at this. The French Revolution discovered great political minds in some of the French women, and I am happy to see a like development in our women. "

Judge Diven subsequently addressed the following letter to MissCarroll:

 WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1862_. 

 I thank you for the note of the 6th. Your pamphlet I have read with satisfaction, as I had your former publication. I have no desire to appear complimentary, but cannot forbear the expression of my admiration of your writings. There is a cogency in your argument that I have seldom met with. Such maturity of judicial learning with so comprehensive and concise a style of communication surprises me. Ladies have certainly seldom evinced ability as jurists--it may be because the profession was not their sphere--but you have satisfied me that at least one might have been a distinguished lawyer. Go on, madam, in aiding the cause to which you have devoted your talent; your country needs the labor of all her defenders. If the time will ever come when men will break away from passion and return to reason your labors will be appreciated; unless that time soon arrives, alas for this Republic; I have almost despaired of the wisdom of men. God's ways are mysterious, and my trust in Him is left me as a ground of hope. 

 I have the honor to be, madam, your obedient servant, A. S. DIVEN. [6]

 [Footnote 6: A. S. Diven was Member of Congress from New York, a railroad man, and, I think, is still living. ]

 * * * * *

 BALTIMORE, _May 9, 1874_. 

 Miss Carroll:

 After the Presidential election in 1860 a Union Association was formed in Baltimore and I was elected chairman, which position I held until the Union party was formed in Maryland in 1861, when Brantz Mayer was made chairman and I was appointed treasurer, and held the position until 1863. We commenced at once to circulate your publications and sent them broadcast over the entire State. 

 When we appealed to you, you furnished them most liberally, and to our surprise and the relief of our treasury you informed us you made no charge. 

 All were disposed to give your articles a careful perusal, and many instances came to my knowledge of the great positive good they effected in keeping men within the Union party when the first blow of secession had been struck. 

 FRED. FICKEY, JR. 

 * * * * *

 _May 15, 1862. _

 I have never read an abler or more conclusive paper than your war-power document in all my reading. * * *

 RICHARD S. COXE. [7]

 [Footnote 7: Richard S. Coxe was a very eminent lawyer from the District of Columbia. ]

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, _May 22, 1862_. 

 I most cheerfully indorse the papers respecting your publications under the authority of the War Department. Mr. Richard S. Coxe, I can say, is one of the ablest lawyers in this District or in the country. In his opinion of your writings I entirely concur as with other men who have expressed one. I regret that I am without the influence to serve you at the War Department, but Mr. Lincoln, with whom I have conversed, has, I know, the highest appreciation of your services in this connection. Judge Collamer, whom I regard as among the first of living statesmen and patriots, is enthusiastic in praise of your publications, and, indeed, I have heard but one opinion expressed by all the able men who have referred to them. 

 Sincerely yours, R. J. WALKER. [8]

 [Footnote 8: R. J. Walker was long a Representative in Congress, Secretary of the Treasury under James K. Polk, and was acknowledged as the best financier of his day. ]

In September of 1861 Miss Carroll prepared a paper on "theConstitutional powers of the President to make arrests and to suspendthe writ of _habeas corpus_. " In December, 1861, she published apamphlet entitled "The War Powers of the Government. " This wasfollowed by a paper entitled "The Relation of Revolted Citizens to theNational Government. " This was written at the especial request ofPresident Lincoln, approved by him, and adopted as the basis of hissubsequent action. 

 WASHINGTON, _January 25, 1861_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 I read the address of Governor Hicks, which gave me great pleasure. I have been overwhelmed with work and anxiety for North Carolina. I franked all the papers you sent me. It is a great matter for the Union that you hold Maryland firm now. 

 Go on in your great work. I wish you would say a word for S---- in some of your articles; he is doing us good, but needs encouragement. 

 I wish to talk with you on these matters as soon as I can find a moment. 

 Respectfully and sincerely your friend, JOHN A. GILMER. [9]

 [Footnote 9: John A. Gilmer was Member of Congress from North Carolina, but a Union man throughout the war. ]

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON CITY, _March 11, 1861_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 I will be pleased to see you to-morrow, any time convenient to yourself, after nine o'clock. I am not seeing any one just yet on the matter to which you refer, but, of course, will see _you_. You have my grateful thanks for the great and patriotic services you have rendered and are still rendering to the country in this crisis. 

 I have the honor to be your friend and servant, S. P. CHASE. [10]

 [Footnote 10: Salmon P. Chase was U. S. Senator, Governor of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury, and Chief Judge of the Supreme Court. ]

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON CITY, _April 15, 1862_. 

 My Dear Lady:

 I thank you for sending me the last number of your able essays in the New York _Times_. The President paid you a very handsome compliment in the Cabinet meeting yesterday, in reference to your usefulness to the country. He handed your views on colonization and the proper point to initiate the colony, which he said he had requested of you, to Secretary Smith, and said you had given him a better insight into the whole question than any one beside, and you had, on his inquiry, suggested the Interior Department as proper to look after the matter, and advised the Secretary to get into communication with you. This was no more than your desert, but, coming from the President in Cabinet meeting, it was as gratifying to me to hear as it is now to communicate this to you. 

 With great regard, your obedient servant, EDWARD BATES. 

 * * * * *

 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, _May 13, 1862_. 

 Miss Carroll:

 I send a package by your servant which came here yesterday, I suppose, as I had the honor to frank some of your documents from here. If you will excuse my poor writing I will tell you what Mr. Lincoln said about you last night. 

 I was there with some seven or eight members of Congress and others, when a note and box came from you with products from Central America. He seemed much delighted and read your letter out to us and showed the contents of the box. He said, "This Anna Ella Carroll is the head of the Carroll race. When the history of this war is written she will stand a good bit taller than ever old Charles Carroll did. " I thought you might like to hear this. 

 WM. MITCHELL. 

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, D. C. , _September 9, 1863_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 I have read with great pleasure the manuscript left with me. Like all that emanates from your pen, it is profound and able, and I concur with you that its publication would now be timely. As you requested, I forward the package to New York. 

 Very sincerely and respectfully your friend, S. P. CHASE. 

 * * * * *

The Hon. B. F. Wade (then President of the United States Senate)writes from Washington:

 _March 1, 1869. _

 Miss Carroll:

 I cannot take leave of public life without expressing my deep sense of your services to the country during the whole period of our national troubles. Although the citizen of a State almost unanimously disloyal and deeply sympathizing with secession, especially the wealthy and aristocratic class of the people, to which you belonged, yet, in the midst of such surroundings, you emancipated your own slaves at a great sacrifice of personal interest, and with your powerful pen defended the cause of the Union and loyalty as ably and effectively as it ever has been defended. 

 From my position on the Committee on the Conduct of the War I know that some of the most successful expeditions of the war were suggested by you, among which I might instance the expedition up the Tennessee river. 

 The powerful support you gave Governor Hicks during the darkest hour of your State history prompted him to take and maintain the stand he did, and thereby saved your State from secession and consequent ruin. 

 All these things, as well as your unremitted labors in the cause of reconstruction, I doubt not are well known and remembered by the members of Congress at that period. I also well know in what high estimation your services were held by President Lincoln, and I cannot leave this subject without sincerely hoping that the Government may yet confer on you some token of acknowledgment for all these services and sacrifices. 

 Very sincerely, your friend, B. F. WADE. 

 * * * * *

 BALTIMORE, _September 28, 1869_. 

 I have known Miss Carroll many years; she is a daughter of Governor Carroll, and by birth and education entitled to the highest consideration. 

 She writes exceedingly well, and during the late war published several pamphlets, etc. , which I have no doubt proved most serviceable to the cause of the Union. Her own loyalty was ardent and constant through the struggle. 

 REVERDY JOHNSON. [11]

 [Footnote 11: Reverdy Johnson--a distinguished lawyer from Maryland, U. S. Senator, Attorney General in Taylor's Cabinet, and Minister to England during Johnson's Administration. ]

 * * * * *

 DAYTON, _Nov. 23, 1869_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 Your letter finds me in the midst of care, labor, and preparation for removal to Washington. 

 Pardon me, therefore, if I write briefly. You must see me when the session of Congress commences, that I may say much for which there is not space or time on paper. Nobody appreciates more highly than I do your patriotism and your valuable services with mind and pen through so many years. 

 Yours faithfully and truly, ROBERT C. SCHENCK. [12]

 [Footnote 12: Robert C. Schenck--General through the war, Member of Congress, and Minister to England. ]

 * * * * *

 LONDON, E. C. , _July 30, 1872_. 

 Dear Miss Carroll:

 I have read with pleasure the pamphlet you were so kind as to send me, and am glad to see that your claim is so strongly endorsed--so strongly that it can hardly be ignored by Congress. 

 Very truly yours, H. MCCULLOCH. [13]

 [Footnote 13: Hugh S. McCulloch was Secretary of the Treasury under Lincoln, Johnson, and Arthur. ]

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON CITY, _January 20, 1873_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 I owe you an humble apology for not calling to pay my respects to you, as I intended to do; but I have been so occupied with numerous engagements that the purpose indicated escaped my recollection until I was on the point of leaving for my home in Connecticut, and can only now proffer to you my cordial and heartfelt wishes for your health, prosperity, and happiness. 

 I have too much respect for your name and character to address you in the accents of flattery, and I presume you will not suspect me of any such purpose when I say that of the many characters, both male and female, of whom I have formed a favorable opinion since I was introduced into public life, there is no one for whom I cherish a higher esteem than Miss Carroll, of Maryland. 

 May the richest of Heaven's blessings rest upon your ladyship, and may the inappreciable services which you rendered your country in the dark hour of its peril be recognized by your countrymen, and to a just extent rewarded. 

 I have the honor to be and to remain, my dear Miss Carroll, most faithfully and truly your friend, TRUMAN SMITH. [14]

 [Footnote 14: Truman Smith was a Member of Congress from Connecticut for a long time. ]

 * * * * *

 GREENSBURG, Pa. , _May 3, 1873_. 

 Miss Carroll:

 I do remember well that Mr. Lincoln expressed himself in wonder and admiration at your papers on the proper course to be pursued in legislating for the crisis. 

 In this connection I know that he considered your opinions sound and, coming from a lady, most remarkable for their knowledge of international law. 

 EDGAR COWAN. [15]

 [Footnote 15: Edgar Cowan was U. S. Senator from Pennsylvania during the whole war. ]

 * * * * *

 QUINCY, ILLINOIS, _Sept. 17, 1873_. 

 Miss A. E. Carroll:

 During the progress of the War of the Rebellion, from 1861 to 1865, I had frequent conversations with President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton in regard to the active and efficient part you had taken in behalf of the country, in all of which they expressed their admiration of and gratitude for the patriotic and valuable services you had rendered the cause of the Union and the hope that you would be adequately compensated by Congress. At this late day I cannot recall the details of those conversations, but am sure that the salutary influence of your publications upon public opinion and your suggestions in connection with the important military movements were among the meritorious services which they recognized as entitled to remuneration. 

 In addition to the large debt of gratitude which the country owes you, I am sure you are entitled to generous pecuniary consideration, which I trust will not be withheld. 

 With sentiments of high regard, I am, Your obedient servant, O. H. BROWNING. [16]

 [Footnote 16: O. H. Browning, of Illinois, was Senator during the war, in confidential relations with President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton. ]

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, D. C. , _May 13, 1874_. 

 Miss A. E. Carroll:

 I am gratified to have the opportunity of expressing my knowledge and appreciation of the valuable services rendered by you to the cause of the Union at the beginning of and during the late war. Being a Marylander and located officially in Baltimore in 1861, 1862, 1863, and 1864, I can speak confidently of the important aid contributed by you to the Government in its struggle with the rebellion. I recollect very distinctly your literary labors, the powerful productions of your pen, which struck terror into the heart of the rebellion in Maryland and encouraged the hopes and stimulated the energies of the loyal sons of our gallant State. Especially do I recall the eminent aid you gave to Governor Hicks, and the high esteem he placed upon your services. Indeed, I have reason to know he possessed no more efficient coadjutor, or one whose co-operation and important service he more justly appreciated. I can say with all sincerity I know of no one to whom the State of Maryland--I may say the country at large--is more indebted for singleness of purpose, earnestness, and effectiveness of effort in behalf of the Government than to yourself. 

 A failure to recognize these service will indicate a reckless indifference to the cause of true and unfaltering patriotism, to which I cannot think a just Government will prove ungrateful. 

 I am, dear Miss Carroll, always most sincerely and truly yours, CHRIS. C. COXE. [17]

 [Footnote 17: Christopher C. Coxe held many offices of trust throughout the war, was quite eminent as a poet and man of letters, and was pension agent at Baltimore. ]

 * * * * *

 PETERSBORO', N. Y. , _May, 1874_. 

 Miss Anna Ella Carroll:

 Surely nothing more can be needed than your pamphlet, entitled "Miss Carroll's Claim before Congress, " to insure the prompt and generous payment of it. Our country will be deeply dishonored if you, its wise and faithful and grandly useful servant, shall be left unpaid. 

 GERRITT SMITH. [18]

 [Footnote 18: Gerritt Smith was a noted philanthropist, Member of Congress, one of the first so-called Abolitionists, and a man of immense wealth. ]

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, D. C. _June 5, 1874_. 

 Dear Miss Carroll:

 I did not receive your polite note and the pamphlet in relation to your claim till this morning. The statement of your case is very strong, both as to the clear proof of "value received" from you by the Government, and on which was founded its promise to pay, and as to the favorable opinions of your literary and military services expressed by leading men. I know of no instance in which a woman not born to sovereign sway has done so much to avert the impending ruin of her country, and that not by cheap valor, like Joan of Arc, but by rare mental ability. As a Marylander, I am proud that the "Old Maryland line" was so worthily represented by you in the struggle for the Union. 

 You would have had your substantial reward long ago but for the very absurd opinion that by some fixed, mysterious law of nature the labor done by women is worth less than precisely similar work done by men. You should persist in your just claim, if only to establish the principle that the value of work should be estimated according to its merits and not with reference to the worker; but, whatever may be the fate of your demand on the Government, you cannot fail to receive the thanks of the people. 

 Very respectfully, SAM'L T. WILLIAMS. 

 * * * * *

 PRINCESS ANNE, Md. , _August 22, 1874_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 I have read with interest and gratification the publication respecting your claim now pending before Congress. 

 I well remember that you were an earnest supporter of the Union in the hour of its trial, and that you did much by word and pen to encourage and sustain those who battled against the rebellion, and for such services you are entitled to high consideration and reward. The proofs adduced are very full and direct. I don't see how its payment can be resisted without impeaching the evidence of Mr. Scott, the late Assistant Secretary of War, and of Judge Wade, Chairman of the Committee on the Conduct of War--an alternative which their official and personal characters forbid, even in cases where their personal interests were involved. 

 With, my best wishes, I have the honor to be very truly yours, &c. , J. W. CRISFIELD. [19]

 [Footnote 19: J. W. Crisfield was a Representative from Maryland during the war. ]

 * * * * *

 CUMBERLAND, Md. , _August 25, 1874_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 You may feel assured that I read with exceeding interest everything from your pen and every reference in the press to yourself and interests. I have no doubt your contribution to the history of Maryland at the eventful crisis referred to will be a most valuable and interesting one. 

 H. W. HOFFMAN. [20]

 [Footnote 20: Hoffman was a Representative from Maryland, lawyer, and Member of the House of Representatives. ]

 * * * * *

 LIMA, PERU, _September 12, 1874_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 It affords me great pleasure to have an opportunity to testify to the valuable assistance rendered by yourself to the cause of the Union at the commencement and during the progress of the late war. Your private conversations and your publications in the newspapers and pamphlets all tended to inspire that ardent patriotism which a grave crisis in public affairs imperatively demanded. Every Marylander who felt called upon to support the endangered Government of the United States must have been encouraged and cheered in the discharge of a painful duty by that earnest enthusiasm which was at that time displayed by yourself in support of the measures forced upon the Government by the rebellion. I am gratified to hear that you propose to publish a book that will do justice to the memory of the late Governor Hicks; and offering my best wishes for the success of your undertaking and for your personal health and happiness, I am sincerely your friend, FRANCIS THOMAS. [21]

 [Footnote 21: Francis Thomas was a Member of Congress from Maryland, Governor of Maryland, and Minister to Peru under Grant. ]

 * * * * *

 NEWARK, _Sept. 28, 1874_. 

 Dear Miss Carroll:

 I have carefully read your pamphlet, and I do not hesitate to say your claim is a strong one. You could not have a better witness than Colonel Scott, a man of the highest character. His testimony is clear and unequivocal, and if your claim is rejected I can attribute it to but one cause--you are a woman--a relic of barbarism against your sex; but still I believe you will succeed. I am satisfied that a large majority of the members of both Houses are fair-minded, honorable men, disposed to do what is right. 

 I should be glad to meet you and talk with you about your proposed life of Governor Hicks. There are several matters I should be pleased to discuss with you. 

 Very truly your friend, WM. H. PARNELL, _President Delaware College_. 

 * * * * *

 CHESTERTOWN, Md. , _Oct. 9, 1874_. 

 My friend Miss Carroll has two claims against the Government growing out of services rendered to the country during the civil war--the one of a literary and the other of a military character. Miss Carroll is a daughter of the late Hon. Thomas King Carroll, one of the best men Maryland has ever produced. 

 GEORGE VICKERS. 

 * * * * *

 PRINCETON, _October 13, 1874_. 

 Miss Carroll:

 I thank you for your letter of the 19th ultimo and for the two pamphlets that accompanied it, which I read with great interest. I think they clearly establish your claim on the gratitude of the country and on a suitable remuneration by Congress by proving that you rendered the Government very important service during the crisis of the late war. As that service involved great labor and sacrifice on your part and saved the country a great amount of useless expenditure in men and money, justice as well as gratitude demands that it should be liberally rewarded. 

 Hoping that those in authority will recognize the debt which the country owes you, I am very respectfully yours, CHARLES HODGE, _President of Theological Seminary_. 

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, D. C. , _December 16, 1874_. 

 Dear Miss Carroll:

 I have not the vanity to suppose that my commendation can add to the high estimate placed by all upon your services to the Union in the late war; but as you have done me the honor to ask a candid expression of my opinion I venture to say that any statesman or author of America might be justly proud of having written such papers as the able pamphlets produced by you in support of the Government at that critical period. 

 As to your military services in planning the Tennessee campaign, you hold and have published too many proofs of the validity of your claim to require further confirmation. 

 I shall rejoice in your success in procuring a formal recognition of your labors if only it will aid in establishing the just rule that equal services, whether performed by man or woman, must always command equal recognition and reward. 

 As a Marylander, I am proud that in the war of the rebellion "the Old Maryland line" was so worthily represented by you. 

 SAMUEL T. WILLIAMS. 

 * * * * *

The letters of eminent men in admiration of Miss Carroll's papers, published and unpublished, would fill a volume. These are only aportion of those published by order of Congress. 

Senator Jacob Howard, of the Military Commission appointed to inquireinto Miss Carroll's services, in his report of the 42d Congress, states--

"She did more for the country than all the military generals. Sheshowed where to fight and how to strike the rebellion on the head, possessing withal judicial learning so comprehensive and concise inits style of argument that the Government gladly sat at her feet tolearn the wisdom of its powers. "

This allusion to military services leads us to a still more remarkablerecord of Miss Carroll's work. 

[Illustration: BENJAMIN F. WADE. ]

CHAPTER IV. 

THE MILITARY SITUATION -- GOES TO ST. LOUIS -- INCEPTION OF THE PLANOF THE TENNESSEE CAMPAIGN -- GIVES IN THE PLAN AT THE WAR DEPARTMENT-- PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S DELIGHT AT THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM --ACCOUNT WRITTEN IN 1889 -- JUDGE WADE AT BULL RUN -- FORMATION OF THECOMMITTEE FOR THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR. 

Early in the fall of 1861 a gunboat fleet was under preparation todescend the Mississippi. It was a time of extreme peril, when thecontinuance of the Union depended on immediate military success. TheUnion armies had met with repeated reverses. The Confederates wereexultant and the European nations were expectant of the approachingdownfall of the United States Government. France had already put forthher hand to control Mexico, and although in England the Union had warmfriends who still hoped for its success, the general impression wasthat its defeat might be considered a foregone conclusion. Financialruin also seemed inevitable. The Northern army was costing the nationtwo million dollars a day. The Hon. Mr. Dawes, in a speech inCongress, had declared it "impossible for the United States to meetthis state of things sixty days longer. " "An ignominious peace, " hepredicted, "was upon the country and at its very doors. "

At that time there was nothing in the attitude of the Union cause verystrongly to appeal to English sympathy. It was openly set forth thatthe war was not waged for the extermination of slavery. Devotion tothe Union could not excite especial interest in any but an American. On the contrary, the prevalent opinion in England was that the UnitedStates was a dangerous and rather unscrupulous power, and that itwould be for the interests of humanity that it should be divided;consequently the general sympathy was largely with the Confederatesand the desires of the governing classes for their success openlyavowed. After the emancipation proclamation it was different. TheUnion cause had thereafter the incalculable advantage of awell-defined moral position--a position always keenly felt by theEnglish masses. The desires of the governing class at that period andthe dangers of the position from a military point of view are wellindicated in extracts given by Miss Carroll in her successivememorials from the English journals and from diplomaticcorrespondence. 

In an extract from the London _Times_, brought to the notice of theSenate by Mr. Howe, the command of the waters of the southwest ispointed out as the essential matter, and it is stated by Mr. Grimesthat "the British Government has sent over into all the Britishcolonies of North America some thirty thousand men. "

 * * * * *

[London _Times_, September 27, 1861. ]

"Whatever may be the assertions of the Northerners, they must lookupon the permanent separation of the Southern States and theformation of a second republic as at least highly probable, and in theaction of England and France toward Mexico Mr. Lincoln, perhaps, onlysees an intervention in the affairs of a country which is soon to bedivided from his own by the territory of a rival. * * It is said thethree European powers have taken advantage of the dissensions of theAmerican Union to carry out plans upon a violation of the Monroedoctrine. "

 * * * * *

[London _Shipping Gazette_, February 1, 1862. ]

"A semi-official note is sent by Napoleon to the British Governmentrespecting the blockade, to the effect that the Emperor cannot longerallow French commerce to be injured. "

 * * * * *

DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE--CLAY[22] TO SEWARD. 

 _Jan. 24, 1862. _

"Prince Gortchakoff expresses his fears should any reverse happen tous that England would at once make common cause with the South, acknowledge her independence, and finally break down the power of theRepublic. I must confess I very much fear England's influence. Myfirst impression is not weakened, but rather strengthened. Nothing butgreat and decisive success will save us from foreign war. I wouldprepare for war with England as an essential means to prevent theindependence of the South before the first of April. "

 [Footnote 22: Cassius M. Clay, Minister to St. Petersburg during the Civil War, has been from first to last one of Miss Carroll's warm supporters. He says, "Be that as it may, your case stands out unique, for you towered above all our generals in military genius, and it would be a shame upon our country if you were not honored with the gratitude of all and solid pecuniary reward. " (See p. 132 of batch of memorials. )]

 * * * * *

SEWARD TO DAYTON. 

 _Jan. 27, 1862. _

* * * "You see our army and our fleet are at Cairo. You see anotherarmy and another fleet are behind Columbus, which alone is relied uponto close the Mississippi against us on the north. Though you may notsee it, another army and another fleet are actually on their way toNew Orleans. "

 * * * * *

At this time of intense anxiety it was suggested to Miss Carroll bythe War Department that she should go West and endeavor to form anopinion as to the probable result of the proposed descent of theMississippi by the gunboats, upon the success of which the continuanceof the Union depended. Accordingly she went to St. Louis, andremaining for a month or more at the Everett House, in that city, bymeans of maps and charts procured from the Mercantile Library she madecareful study of the topography of the proposed line of advance. Shebecame convinced that this intended expedition would result indisaster, and that the Tennessee river, not the Mississippi, would bethe true pathway to success. 

Again we will turn to Miss Carroll's able account in the CongressionalRecords of the military position at that time. 

"It became evident, in the autumn of 1861, that if the unity of theUnited States could be maintained by military force, the decisive blowupon the Confederate power must be delivered within sixty or ninetydays. To that period the tide of battle had been steadily against theUnion, and the military operations had not met the expectations of thecountry. Nothing is more certain than that this rebel power was ableto resist all the power of the Union upon any of the lines ofoperation known to the Administration; for operating on any safe base, on any of these known lines, the Union armies were not numericallystrong enough to reach the vital point in the Confederate power. Theenemy were in strong force on a line extending from the Potomac, westward through Bowling Green, to Columbus, on the Mississippi, andwas complete master of all the territory to the Gulf. Kentucky andMissouri had been admitted formally into the Confederacy, and they hadresolved to move the Capital to Nashville and extend their battlelines to the northern limits of those States, and the Secretary ofWar, after a tour of inspection, reported that these States had notsufficient force to hold them to the Union. 

The war had then been waged seven months, and between 700, 000 and800, 000 men had been mustered in the field; the public debt aggregatedover $500, 000, 000; and the daily average expenses of maintaining thearmy was upward of $2, 000, 000, besides the hundreds of precious liveswhich were being daily sacrificed. 

Thus, while the two armies were confronting each other in sight ofWashington, events were rapidly pressing in the Southwest which, ifunchecked, would change the destiny of the American people for ages tocome. 

Thus, in that ominous silence which preceded the shock and storm, thetwo sections stood, each watching and awaiting the movements of theother. Both were confident; the South greatly strengthened from hersuccesses and impregnable position; the North strong in its largeexcess of numbers, wealth, and the justice of its cause. 

The Army of the Potomac and the Army of the West were the twoexpeditions on which the Administration relied. 

All others were auxiliary to these great movements. The first named, though seeming to the country of such signal moment, occupied aposition of comparative insignificance when contrasted with the armyof the Southwest, and had chance thrown Richmond under nationalcontrol at an earlier day it could not have materially affected thedestiny of the war. Capitals in an insurgent and unrecognized powercan have but very little strategic value, and from the geographicalposition of Richmond it had none at all, and they were ready to moveit any day. 

They could have surrendered all the Atlantic States to Florida and yetmaintained their independence; indeed, it was upon this theory thatthe disunion party had ever based its expectations of separate andindependent nationality. Could the Confederates have held their powerover the Mississippi Valley but a few more months they would have soconnected themselves with France through Texas and with Englandthrough the States of the great northwest as not only to have madegood their own independence but to have dwarfed the United States tothe area of their old thirteen and taken the lead as the controllingpolitical power on this continent. 

With the Mississippi in their possession to the mouth of the Ohio, the presence of the English and French fleets at New Orleans wouldhave brought about that result. 

The Army of the Potomac, after having been put upon a scale of therarest magnificence consistent with mobility, and with several changesof commanders, took three years and a half to reach Richmond, and wasnot then half way to a decisive point, and never would have beenstrong enough had the expedition to open the Mississippi been executedon the plan as originally devised. 

Strategically an invasion always leads to deep lines of operationswhich, on account of the difficulty of maintaining communications withits base, are always dangerous in a hostile country, and every milethe national armies advanced, every victory they gained, carried themfarther from their base, and required an increase of force to protecttheir communications; while every retreat of the enemy brought himnearer to his resources, and it is mathematically certain that hewould soon have reached the point on that line where he would havebeen the superior power. Nothing but the results of the Tennesseecampaign prevented Lee from recruiting his army and extorted from himhis sword at Appomatox Court-House. 

The Mississippi expedition was designed by the aid of the one from theGulf to clear the river to the mouth, etc. Could it succeed? Could itopen the Mississippi to its mouth? These momentous questions and themilitary delay were weakening the confidence of the people andconfirming foreign powers in the belief that the Government hadneither the strength nor the ability to conquer the rebellion. Andeven could the expedition have opened the river, was there any pointon that river where a decisive blow could have been dealt theConfederacy? The Memphis and Charleston railroad, the only completeinterior line of communication, would not necessarily have beentouched. So long as the Confederacy could maintain its interior linesof communication complete, the United States could neither destroy itsarmies in the east nor open the Mississippi river. The NationalGovernment could only escape annihilation by reaching the center ofthe Confederate power and striking a fatal blow upon its resources. Geographically, there was but one mode of attack by which this couldbe accomplished, and this was unthought of or unknown to all connectedwith the prosecution of the war. 

Mr. Lincoln saw from the beginning the vital importance of regainingthe Mississippi and controlling the resources of its great valley, andtherefore reserved to himself the direction of this expedition asCommander-in-chief. He was fully alive to the perils that nowenvironed the Government, and he and his advisers looked imploringlyto the army for relief as the agency absolutely essential to thenation's life. This and this only could strike the blow that must thenbe struck, if ever. 

No display of military genius could have extorted from Lee his swordso long as his resources were unwasted. No valor on the part of ournavies and armies could have opened the Mississippi so long as theConfederates could keep open the lines of communication. The Memphisand Charleston railroad was their only complete bond of connectionbetween their armies of the east and the armies of the MississippiValley. There was but one avenue by which this bond could be reachedand effectually severed, and that was the Tennessee river. The peoplehad responded grandly; their uprising in behalf of their endangeredGovernment had astonished the world. It now remained for the army tosupplement by its valor in the field what the Administration and thepeople had done at home. 

Never was the stress and strain of a nation more severe; never whenanother defeat would have been so perilous and a victory so desirableas then. So long as the Confederates were undisturbed in thepossession of the southwest, and men and munitions of war sentuninterruptedly to the east, the Army of the Potomac could notadvance. Something had to be done to cripple or engage the rebelarmies in that section. 

As the weary months of October and November wore away, the darknessgrew more and more intense and the anxiety more oppressive. A blow hadto be inflicted quickly that would be sharp and mortal, to ward offintervention and invasion by European powers, to smother the spirit ofsecession in southern Illinois and Indiana, and to prevent financialbankruptcy, which of itself must destroy the nation. 

And yet neither Mr. Lincoln nor his generals knew or had in mind anyplan other than that of forcing a passage down the Mississippi, bristling with batteries that frowned from its bluffs, while swampsand bayous skirted and pierced its banks, affording defenses in therear little less formidable and forbidding. 

And thus the nation stood as in the hush that precedes the storm orthe crash of battle, apprehending not so much any particular movementof the Confederate armies as the threatening elements generally withwhich the air seemed surcharged, and knowing not how or when or wherethe blow would fall. Military success was of all things most desired;military delay of all things most dreaded. With the South to standstill was their strength; time was power, and every day's delayincreased the thickening dangers that were closing around the Unioncause. With the North not to advance was to recede; not to destroy wasto be destroyed. The exigencies of the situation made it imperativethat the decisive blow should be struck thus early in the war. How tomake that advance and deliver that fatal blow was the great problem tobe solved. Omniscience only was then able to know whether the last sunhad set to rise no more on the Union of these States. The country wasclamorous for military successes, but not half so troubled as was Mr. Lincoln and his advisers, for the people did not know, as they did, how much depended thereon; how the beam trembled in the balance andwhat irremediable evils were involved in delay. 

Congress met; the Committee on the Conduct of the War was at oncecreated. How great were the dangers which at that supreme moment madethe continued existence of the Government a question of doubt, and thefact that the military successes in the West which followed were notachieved a day too soon is made evident by the speeches of many of themost distinguished statesmen of that period, in both houses ofCongress, some of them occupying positions on the most importantcommittees connected with the prosecution of the war and necessarilypossessed of the most reliable information. The utterances in thehalls of Congress sustain every fact as here described. "

In this same Congressional document of 1878 Miss Carroll thusdescribes her inception of the plan of the Tennessee campaign:

"In the autumn of 1861 my attention was arrested by the confidenceexpressed by Southern sympathizers in the southwest, that theMississippi could not be opened before the recognition of Southernindependence. I determined to inform myself what the pilots thought ofthe gunboat expedition then preparing to descend the river. On inquiryI was directed to Mrs. Scott, then in the hotel, whose husband was apilot, and learned from her that he was then with the expedition thathad moved against Belmont; and the important facts she gave meincreased my wish to see Mr. Scott. On his arrival in St. Louis I sentfor him. He said that it was his opinion, and that of all the pilotson these waters, that the Mississippi could not be opened by thegunboats. I inquired as to the navigability of the Cumberland and theTennessee. He said at favorable stages of water the gunboats could goup the former as high Nashville, and the latter, at all stages, ashigh as the Muscle Shoals in Alabama. The moment he said the Tennesseewas navigable for gunboats the thought flashed upon me that thestrongholds of the enemy might be turned at once by diverting theexpedition in course of preparation to open the Mississippi up theTennessee; and having had frequent conversations with Judge Evans onthe military situation, I left the room to communicate thisthought--as he had just then called at the hotel--and asked him if itwould not have that effect. He concurred that it would, and that itwas the move if it was a fact that the Tennessee afforded thenavigation; and he accompanied me to interrogate Mr. Scott, to besatisfied as to the feasibility of the Tennessee. The interview wasprolonged some time. At the close I told Mr. Scott it was my purposeto try and induce the Government to divert the Mississippi expeditionup the Tennessee, and asked him to give me a memorandum of the mostimportant facts elicited in the conversation, as I wished them forthis object. I further stated my intention to pen the history of thewar, and requested him to write from time to time all the valuableinformation he might be able, and I would remember him in my work. Thesame day I wrote again to Assistant Secretary of War Thomas A. Scott, [23] to whom I had promised to communicate the result of myobservations while in the West, and also to Attorney General Bates; toboth of whom I urged the importance of a change of campaign. "

 [Footnote 23: Thomas A. Scott was the great railroad magnate, was Assistant Secretary of War when Stanton was Secretary, and was sent by Stanton to inaugurate the Tennessee campaign which saved the Union. ]

A letter from Judge Evans, who chanced to be in St. Louis on otherbusiness, at the time gives a precisely similar account of thisinterview with the pilot, and the ideas then suggested by Miss Carrolluttered, as he relates, "in a very earnest and animated manner!"

Even though it involves some repetition, we will here give also anaccount written by Miss Carroll in the winter of 1889. It will possessan especial interest, as it may be the last literary exertion that theinvalid authoress will ever be asked to make. 

It was called forth by a wish expressed by a leading magazine to havea fresh account written directly by Miss Carroll. With fingers lamedby paralysis the following account was written, showing the clearnessof Miss Carroll's memory in her seventy-fifth year. 

"In the beginning of the rebellion public opinion gave the victory tothe Southern cause, and no one shared in this conviction to a greaterextent than President Lincoln and the War Department. The first effortmade by me was in an unpretentious pamphlet, which fell into the handsof Mr. Lincoln and so pleased him (it did not appear with my name)that he suggested its adoption as a war measure, and the satisfactionit gave was so general that Governor Bates, then Attorney General, urged that I should continue to write in the interest of theGovernment. Fired by enthusiasm in a noble cause, I accepted thesuggestion, and followed soon with what some have considered my bestwork, "The War Powers of the Government, " and other pamphlets. Aboutthis time I had thought of visiting St. Louis, and mentioned myintention to Col. Thomas A. Scott, Assistant Secretary of War. Heurged me to go, asking me to write him fully of every point and factinvestigated. These facts I communicated as requested, both to him andto Governor Bates. 

The clouds were dark and lowering. Despair had well nigh possessionof the bravest hearts. After my arrival I soon saw and felt that thesentiment of the West was decidedly against the Union, or rather infavor of the Southern cause. 

I visited the various encampments en route and in St. Louis and foundbut little difference among leading minds as to the resultanticipated. All in a measure believed the struggle useless. 

Finding the sentiment prevalent that the Union must fall and feelingin my soul that it _must not_ fall, I began revolving an escape fromthe threatened doom. Just then, while I was in St. Louis, the battleof Belmont was fought. When I saw the dead and dying as they lay uponthat field and witnessed the sad sight of the ambulance wagons bearingthe wounded to the hospitals, my heart sank within me. The future ofthe war with these awful scenes repeated was a picture not to beendured, and my anxiety as to the result grew still more intense. 

In reflecting upon the dangers of the proposed expedition it came uponme, as by inspiration, that the sailors--the pilots--might offer somesuggestion. I knew that the military leaders would never availthemselves of this humble source of information. I thought the pilots, of all others, should know the strategic points. Sending for theproprietor of the hotel where I was stopping, I asked him how I couldget into contact with any of these men. He told me that the wife of apilot named Scott was then in the house. I called on her at once and, finding her well informed, I questioned her as to the harbors, coastdefenses, etc. Mrs. Scott was just about to leave the city, but shepromised to send her husband to me. I could not wait for this chance, but wrote to him for the information I desired. He called upon me inresponse, and during our conversation he said it would be "death toevery man who attempted to go down the Mississippi. " Yet no otherroute had been dreamed of. I then asked him, "What about theCumberland and Tennessee rivers;" whether they were fordable forgunboats? He replied, "Yes, the Tennessee especially. " Of course, hedid not at first know of any ulterior purpose in the questions which Iwas asking, other than the information of an ardent lover of ourcountry. As he mentioned the Tennessee it flashed upon me with thecertainty of conviction that I had seen my way to the salvation of mycountry. 

I left the pilot and sent immediately for Judge Evans, of Texas, whowas stopping at the same hotel. I was almost overcome with excitementand shall never forget the moment that I rushed to him exclaiming, "What do you think of diverting the army from the Mississippi to theTennessee!"[24]

 [Footnote 24: Judge Evans himself, describing this eventful scene, said "that for a moment it seemed as if a halo of glory surrounded Miss Carroll, and that she looked like one transfigured. " One hesitates in these matter-of-fact days to repeat such words as these, but as my reliable informant, to whom they were addressed, assures me that such were his words it seemed worth while to record them. In all times it has seemed that the human countenance wholly possessed by a great idea could assume a radiance only to be described by the spectator by some such words as these, and the fact was so symbolized in ancient art. The human soul is no less potent in these days than in the times of old. ]

I waited breathlessly for his reply. It came in measured tones. "Itmay be so. I had never thought of it. "

That night I wrote to Governor Bates, who had planned the Mississippigunboat scheme. He presented the letter at once to the ActingSecretary of War, Mr. Scott. They both opposed it at first asimpracticable. I returned immediately to Washington, prepared a paperon that basis and took it to Mr. Scott, who was really ActingSecretary of War, General Cameron's time being largely consumed inCabinet meetings. After reading my plan and hearing my verbalarguments, Mr. Scott's countenance brightened and he exclaimed, "MissCarroll, I believe you have solved the question. " He hurried at once, with the plan in his hands, to the White House and with muchexcitement gave it to the President. Mr. Lincoln read it with avidity, and when he had finished it Mr. Scott told me that he had neverwitnessed such delight as he evinced. 

General McClellan was then in command. He opposed the plan, but Mr. Lincoln quietly gave the orders himself for a change of base as soonas possible. Up to that time no plan for the close of the struggle, except down the Mississippi, had ever occurred to the mind of anyliving man or woman, as far as known; but from that moment Mr. Lincolnthought of nothing else. He hastened to send Mr. Scott to investigate, and went himself at once to St. Louis to aid in putting the plan inmotion. 

Just after the fall of Fort Henry I called at the War Department andsaw Mr. Tucker, then Assistant Secretary of War. He told me that Mr. Scott stated to him on leaving for the West, "This is Miss Carroll'splan, and if it succeeds the glory is hers. "

General Wade, then chairman of the Committee on the Conduct of theWar, was consulted in the matter. He recognized it at once as theright move and openly and boldly approved the plan. Every effort wasmade to hasten the completion of the gunboats. As soon as they werefinished, which was not until February, action was commenced on theTennessee line. Mr. Wade at the same time, made it known to Hon. Wm. Pitt Fessenden, chairman of the Finance Committee in the Senate, thatthere was then a movement on foot, to be executed as soon as thegunboats, then building at St. Louis, were ready, which would satisfythe entire country and astound the world; and he so reassured theSenate that they calmly waited until the time arrived for theexecution of the plan. 

Colonel Thomas A. Scott was sent to the West to make all things readyand expedite the movement. 

He gave his orders from one point to another, so that when GeneralHalleck, who was then in military command, was notified by Mr. Lincolnthat the whole force was to be moved from the Mississippi up theTennessee river he stood ready for the movement. In February, 1862, the armies moved up the Tennessee, then to Fort Donelson, and thenback up the Tennessee to Hamburgh, and two miles from there theyfought the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, as pointed out in my plan. Had the movement been strictly carried out from the foot of the MuscleShoals, in Alabama, Vicksburgh could have been reduced, or Mobile, andthe whole thing ended in the spring of 1862 as easily as in 1865, andwith the same result. In a recent publication General Sherman hasadmitted this fact. At the fall of Fort Henry the country wasthoroughly aroused as it never had been before. It was clearly seenthat the end was approaching. Richmond was then within reach throughTennessee. For this General McClellan had been waiting. Before this nopower on earth could have captured Richmond, and no one knew thisbetter than General McClellan. When the National armies had penetratedinto the heart of the South, within two miles of the Memphis andCharleston railroad, the result was plain to every mind. 

The old flag displayed in the presence of a million of slaves, who hadbefore been necessarily on the side of their owners, made the factdoubly secure. All hearts were jubilant, and Roscoe Conkling thenoffered his celebrated resolutions in the House of Representatives toascertain who it was that had designed these military movements sofruitful in great results; whether they came from Washington orelsewhere; by whom they were designed and what they were intended toaccomplish. Judge Olin replied that if it was Mr. Conkling's design tofind out who had done this work he could learn by inquiring at the WarDepartment, for certainly the Secretary of War or the President mustknow all about it; but it was sufficient for the present to know thatsome one had designed these movements, and that the country was now inthe enjoyment of the blessings that had resulted from them. Hon. Thaddeus Stevens moved that the resolutions of Mr. Conkling, makinginquiry, be referred to the Military Committee of the House. Duringthe discussion the plan was attributed to one person and another, butno satisfactory proof could be given on any side. I was presentthrough it all and could at any moment have satisfied Congress and theworld as to the authorship of the plan, but from prudential reasons Irefrained from uttering a word. It was decided to refer the questionto the Military Committee of the House, and there the matter slept. "

It is worth while to pause for a moment in our narration to introduceupon the scene one of the most useful and remarkable men of the time, who became one of Miss Carroll's principal coadjutors; this wasSenator Wade, of Ohio. He was successively justice of the peace, prosecuting attorney, State senator, judge of the circuit court, andUnited States Senator for three terms; he was also ActingVice-President of the United States after Lincoln's death. IfPresident Johnson's impeachment had been carried through he would havebeen the President for the rest of the term, and it was feared by hisopponents that in that case he would have secured the Chicagonomination for the coming term, of which he was one of the candidates. 

The first encounter of the Union army, a crowd of raw, undisciplinedrecruits, under new and inexperienced officers, with the betterprepared Confederate army naturally resulted in a tremendous panic. Two carriages were present on the battlefield; one contained SenatorsWade, Chandler, and Brown, Sergeant-at-arms of the Senate, and MajorEaton; in the other was Tom Brown, of Cleveland, Blake, Morris, andRiddle, of the House. Near the extemporized hospital, Ashley's BlackHorse sweeping down on the recruits caused the panic. One of thegentlemen present thus described the scene. (The description can bemet with in Coxe's Three Decades and in Riddle's Life of Wade, a workthat should be more widely published. )

"It seemed as if the very devils of panic and cowardice had seizedevery mortal officer, soldier, teamster, and citizen. No officer triedto rally a soldier or do anything but spring and run towardCenterville. There was never anything like it for causeless, sheer, absolute, absurd cowardice--or rather panic--on this miserable earthbefore. Off they went, one and all--off down the highway, across thefields, towards the woods, anywhere, everywhere, to escape. Thefurther they ran the more frightened they grew, and though we moved asfast as we could the fugitives passed us by scores. To enablethemselves better to run they threw away their blankets, knapsacks, canteens, and finally their muskets, cartridge-boxes--everything. Wecalled to them; told them there was no danger; implored them to stand. We called them cowards; denounced them in the most offensive terms;pulled out our heavy revolvers, threatened to kill them--in vain. Acruel, crazy, hopeless panic possessed them and infected everybody, front and rear. "

The two carriages were blocked up in the awful gorge of Cub's Run andwere for a time separated. When they again met, Mr. Wade shouted, "Boys, we'll _stop_ this damned runaway!"

They found a good position, where a high wall on one side and a denseimpassable wood secured the other side. The eight gentlemen leapedfrom their carriages and put Mr. Wade in command. Mr. Wade, with hishat well back and his famous rifle in his hand, formed them across thepikes all armed with heavy revolvers and facing the onflowing torrentof runaways, who were ghastly sick with panic, and this little band, worthy of the heroes of Thermopylæ, actually kept back the runawayarmy, so that "for the fourth of an hour not a man passed saveMcDowell's bearer of dispatches, and he only on production of hispapers. The rushing, cowardly, half-armed, demented fugitives stopped, gathered, crowded, flowed back, hedged in by thick-growing cedars thata rabbit could scarcely penetrate. The position became serious. Arevolver was discharged, shattering the arm of Major Eaton, from thehand of a mounted escaping teamster" (who had cut loose from hiswagon). 

"At that critical moment the heroic old Senator and his friends wererelieved and probably saved by Colonel Crane and a part of the SecondNew York, hurrying toward the scene of the disaster, and then theparty proceeded. Naturally the exploit of Mr. Wade in stopping arunaway army caused much talk at Washington and increased the greatconfidence and admiration with which he was already regarded. [25]

 [Footnote 25: A few days ago the present writer was conversing with one of the survivors of the party and received from him a detailed account of this singular episode. ]

"In consequence of this disaster and the following one at Ball'sBluff, it was evident that both soldiers and officers would have to becreated, and that we were without a military commander competent todirect so vast a war. This led to the formation by Congress of aCommittee for the Conduct of the War. It consisted of seven members, three from the Senate and four from the House; Wade, Chandler, andAndrew Johnson from the Senate; Julian, Covode, Gooch, and Odell fromthe House. (Johnson seems never to have acted. ) Nobody but Wade wasthought of for chairman. Mr. Wade was absolutely fearless, physicallyand morally; absolutely regardless of self; absolutely devoted to hiscountry. All parties agreed in boundless admiration and confidence inthe heroic old Senator. "It is said that Wade seldom missed a sessionof the committee. The most conscientious of known men; never ill; henever neglected a duty; failed of an engagement; was never waited for, and never failed to meet his foe, one or many. "

"The committee, by Mr. Wade, omitting Mr. Johnson's name, made theirfirst report soon after the close of the 37th Congress, in April, 1863, which made three heavy volumes of over 2, 000 printed pages. 

Their second report was made May 22, 1865, a trifle more in bulk, sixvolumes in all. " (Very valuable for future historians. )--_Life ofBenjamin F. Wade by A. G. Riddle. _

President Lincoln, as Commander-in-Chief, with the assistance of thiscommittee, thereafter directed the movements of the war, all thegenerals being subordinate and only enlightened step by step as to theaccepted plan of campaign, great secrecy being, as Mr. Wade testifies, necessary or the plan would have been frustrated. 

CHAPTER V. 

MISS CARROLL'S PAPERS TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT -- PLAN OF CAMPAIGN --LETTERS FROM SCOTT, WADE, AND OTHERS -- DISCUSSIONS -- PAPERS AS THECAMPAIGN PROGRESSES. 

List of Miss Carroll's papers sent into the War Department in her ownhandwriting and signed with her name, originally on file at the WarDepartment; all in the first division relating to the Tennesseecampaign; sent on various occasions to the Capital to be examined bymilitary committees, and printed by order of Congress in successivememorials and reports from 1870 to 1881. 

The papers marked with a star are now on file at the War Department. With the permission of the Secretary of War, these were seen by me andcarefully examined March 7th, 1891. They were sent by Robert Lincolnto the Court of Claims in 1885, and copies were put on file in theoffice of the Attorney General, the original documents being returnedto the War Department. One of these original documents at the WarDepartment is now incomplete, but must have been in good order in1885, as the copies then made are complete and in excellent condition. They were verified as true copies by the Secretary of War. These alsowere examined by me at the office of the Attorney General March 23, 1891. The absence of the other documents from the War Office isaccounted for by the remarkable testimony of Benjamin F. Wade andSamuel Hunt (keeper of the records), as given on page 30, 45thCongress, 2d session, Mis. Doc. 58, both testifying that the paperswere abstracted from the desk of the Secretary when the MilitaryCommittee were considering Miss Carroll's claim, in 1871. As MissCarroll possessed the original draft of these letters, she quicklyreproduced them. The papers having been already examined by theCommittee and by Mr. Hunt, the copies were accepted in place of themissing file and printed "by order of Congress, " and thus guaranteedthey became, to all intents and purposes, the same thing as theoriginal documents; but apparently they were not sent to the WarOffice, not being the original documents sent from there. On March 20, 1891, I examined the files of the 41st Congress, 2d session, at theSecretary's office of the U. S. Senate, at the Capitol, and there Ifound Miss Carroll's first memorial, 1870, with the "plan of campaign"attached, just as described by Thomas A. Scott. 

 S. E. BLACKWELL. 

FIRST DIVISION. 

A paper usually designated as the "plan of campaign. "

When given in at the War Office to Thomas A. Scott it was accompaniedby a military map; the paper in Miss Carroll's own handwriting andsigned with her name, the map unsigned. 

 1. November 30, 1862. 2. January 5, 1862. 3. March 26, 1862. 4. May 2, 1862. * 5. May 14, 1862. * 6. May 15, 1862. * 7. Following Monday, 1862. 8. September 9, 1862. * 9. October ----, 1862. 

The letter to Stanton is on file at the office of the AttorneyGeneral, certified as copied from the documents furnished by the WarDepartment in 1885. 

(The letter of October, 1862, was also accompanied by a military map, "approved and adopted by the Secretary of War and the President andimmediately sent out to the proper military authority. " See letter ofB. F. Wade, page 24, Mis. Doc. 58, of Memorial, May 18, 1878. )

SECOND DIVISION. 

 August 25, 1862. January 31, 1863. October 7, 1863. January 11, 1864. ---- ----, 1865. 

A letter, on file from Robert Lincoln, states that the papers of thesecond division were returned to Miss Carroll, March 10, 1869. 

 * * * * *

Miss Carroll's first paper, addressed to the War Department, for acampaign on the Tennessee river and thence south, placed in the handsof Hon. Thomas A. Scott, Assistant Secretary of War, the 30th ofNovember, 1861, with accompanying map, is as follows:

"The civil and military authorities seem to be laboring under a greatmistake in regard to the true key to the war in the southwest. _It isnot the Mississippi, but the Tennessee river. _ All the militarypreparations made in the West indicate that the Mississippi river isthe point to which the authorities are directing their attention. Onthat river many battles must be fought and heavy risks incurred beforeany impression can be made on the enemy, all of which could be avoidedby using the Tennessee river. This river is navigable for middle-classboats to the foot of the Muscle Shoals, in Alabama, and is open tonavigation all the year, while the distance is but two hundred andfifty miles, by the river, from Paducah, on the Ohio. The Tennesseeoffers many advantages over the Mississippi. We should avoid thealmost impregnable batteries of the enemy, which cannot be takenwithout great danger and great risk of life to our forces, from thefact that our boats, if crippled, would fall a prey to the enemy bybeing swept by the current to him and away from the relief of ourfriends; but even should we succeed, still we will only have begun thewar, for we shall then fight for the country from whence the enemyderives his supplies. 

"Now an advance up the Tennessee river would avoid this danger, for_if our boats were crippled, they would drop back with the current andescape capture_; but a still greater advantage would be its tendency_to cut the enemy's lines in two by reaching the Memphis andCharleston railroad_, threatening Memphis, which lies one hundredmiles due west, and no defensible point between; also Nashville, onlyninety miles northeast, and Florence and Tuscumbia, in North Alabama, forty miles east. 

"A movement in this direction would do more to relieve our friends inKentucky and inspire the loyal hearts in East Tennessee than thepossession of the whole of the Mississippi river. If well executed _itwould cause the evacuation of all these formidable fortifications_upon which the rebels ground their hopes for success; and in the eventof our fleet attacking Mobile, the presence of our troops in thenorthern part of Alabama _would be material aid to the fleet_. 

"Again, the aid our forces would receive from the loyal men inTennessee would enable them soon to crush the last traitor in thatregion, and the separation of the two extremes would do more than onehundred battles for the Union cause. 

"The Tennessee river is crossed by the Memphis and Louisville railroadand the Memphis and Nashville railroad. At Hamburg the river makes thebig bend on the east, touching the northeast corner of Mississippi, entering the northwest corner of Alabama, forming an arc to the South, entering the State of Tennessee at the northeast corner of Alabama, and if it does not touch the northwest corner of Georgia comes verynear it. 

"It is but eight miles from Hamburg to the Memphis and Charlestonrailroad, which goes through Tuscumbia, only two miles from the river, which it crosses at Decatur, thirty miles above, intersecting with theNashville and Chattanooga road at Stevenson. The Tennessee river hasnever less than three feet to Hamburg on the shoalest bar, and duringthe fall, winter, and spring months there is always water for thelargest boats that are used on the Mississippi river. 

"It follows, from the above facts, that in making the Mississippi thekey to the war in the West, or rather in overlooking the Tennesseeriver, the subject is not understood by the superiors in command. "

Extracts from a second paper, January 5, 1862, giving additionalparticulars for the advance up the Tennessee:

"Having given you my views of the Tennessee river on my return fromthe West, showing that this river is the true strategical key toovercome the rebels in the southwest, I beg again to recur to theimportance of its adoption. This river is never impeded by ice in thecoldest winter, as the Mississippi and the Cumberland sometimes are. Iascertained, when in St. Louis, that the gunboats then fitting outcould not retreat against the current of the western rivers, and sostated to you; besides, their principal guns are placed forward andwill not be very efficient against an enemy below them. The fightingwould have to be done by their stern guns--only two; or if theyanchored by the stern they would lose the advantage of motion, whichwould prevent the enemy from getting their range. Our gunboats atanchor would be a target which the enemy will not be slow to improveand benefit thereby. 

"The Tennessee river, beginning at Paducah fifty miles above Cairo, after leaving the Ohio, runs across south-southeast, rather thanthrough Kentucky and Tennessee, until it reaches the Mississippi linedirectly west of Florence and Tuscumbia, which lie fifty miles east, and Memphis, one hundred and twenty-five miles west, with theCharleston and Memphis railroad eight miles from the river. There isno difficulty in reaching this point at any time of the year, and thewater is known to be deeper than on the Ohio. 

"If you will look on the map of the Western States you will see inwhat a position Buckner would be placed by a strong advance up theTennessee river. He would be obliged to back out of Kentucky, or, ifhe did not, our forces could take Nashville in his rear and compel himto lay down his arms. "

Testimony of Thomas A. Scott, Assistant Secretary of War, to Hon. Jacob M. Howard, chairman of the Military Committee, to consider theclaim presented by Miss Carroll in 1870:

 PHILADELPHIA, _June 24, 1870_. 

 On or about the 30th of November, 1861, Miss Carroll, as stated in her memorial, called on me, as the Assistant Secretary of War, and suggested the propriety of abandoning the expedition which was then preparing to descend the Mississippi, and to adopt instead the Tennessee river, and handed to me the plan of campaign, as appended to her memorial; which plan I submitted to the Secretary of War, and its general ideas were adopted. On my return from the southwest in 1862 I informed Miss Carroll, as she states in her memorial, that through the adoption of this plan the county had been saved millions, and that it entitled her to the kind consideration of Congress. 

 THOMAS A. SCOTT. 

 * * * * *

To the Military Committee, appointed for that purpose in 1872:

Hon. JACOB M. HOWARD, of the Military Committee of the United StatesSenate. 

Again:

 PHILADELPHIA, _May 1, 1872_. 

 My Dear Sir:

 I take pleasure in stating that the plan presented by Miss Carroll in November, 1861, for a campaign upon the Tennessee river and thence south, was submitted to the Secretary of War and President Lincoln, and after Secretary Stanton's appointment I was directed to go to the Western armies and arrange to increase their effective force as rapidly as possible. A part of the duty assigned me was the organization and consolidation into regiments of all the troops then being recruited in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, for the purpose of carrying through this campaign, then inaugurated. This work was vigorously prosecuted by the army, and as the valuable suggestions of Miss Carroll, made to the Department some months before, were substantially carried out through the campaigns in that section, great success followed, and the country was largely benefited in the saving of time and expenditure. 

 I hope Congress will reward Miss Carroll liberally for her patriotic efforts and services. 

 Very truly yours, THOMAS A. SCOTT. 

 * * * * *

Letter from the Hon. Benjamin F. Wade, appended to the report ofGeneral Bragg, of the Military Committee, of March 3, 1881:

 Dear Miss Carroll:

 I had no part in getting up the Committee [on the Conduct of the War]. The first intimation to me was that I had been made the head of it; but I never shirked a public duty, and at once went to work to do all that was possible to save the country. We went fully into the examination of the several plans for military operations then known to the Government, and we saw plainly enough that the time it must take to execute any of them would make it fatal to the Union. 

 We were in the deepest despair, until just at this time Colonel Scott informed me that there was a plan already devised which, if executed with secrecy, would open the Tennessee and save the national cause. I went immediately to Mr. Lincoln and talked the whole matter over. He said he did not himself doubt that the plan was feasible, but said there was one difficulty in the way; that no military or naval man had any idea of such a movement, it being the work of a civilian, and none of them would believe it safe to make such an advance upon only a navigable river, with no protection but a gunboat fleet, and they would not want to take the risk. He said it was devised by Miss Carroll, and military men were extremely jealous of all outside interference. I pleaded earnestly with him, for I found there were influences in his Cabinet then averse to his taking the responsibility, and wanting everything done in deference to the views of McClellan and Halleck. I said to Mr. Lincoln: "You know we are now in the last extremity, and you have to choose between adopting and at once executing a plan which you believe to be the right one and save the country, or defer to the opinions of military men in command and lose the country. " He finally decided he would take the initiative; but there was Mr. Bates, who had suggested the gunboat fleet, and wanted to advance down the Mississippi, as originally designed; but after a little he came to see that no result could be achieved on that mode of attack, and he united with us in favor of the change of expedition as you recommended. 

 After repeated talks with Mr. Stanton I was entirely convinced that, if placed at the head of the War Department, he would have your plan executed vigorously, as he fully believed it was the only means of safety, as I did. Mr. Lincoln, on my suggesting Stanton, asked me how the leading Republicans would take it; that Stanton was fresh from the Buchanan Cabinet, and many things were said of him. [26] I insisted he was our man withal, and brought him and Lincoln into communication, and Lincoln was entirely satisfied. But so soon as it got out, the doubters came to the front. Senators and members called on me. I sent them to Stanton and told them to decide for themselves. The gunboats were then nearly ready for the Mississippi expedition, and Mr. Lincoln agreed, as soon as they were, to start the Tennessee movement. It was determined that as soon as Mr. Stanton came into the Department, then Colonel Scott should go out to the Western armies and make ready for the campaign in pursuance of your plan, as he has testified before committees. It was a great work to get the matter started; you have no idea of it. We almost fought for it. If ever there was a righteous claim on earth, you have one. I have often been sorry that, knowing all this as I did then, I had not publicly declared you as the author; but we were fully alive to the importance of absolute secrecy. I trusted but few of our people; but to pacify the country I announced from the Senate that the armies were about to move, and inaction was no longer to be tolerated. Mr. Fessenden, head of the Finance Committee, who had been told of the proposed advance, also stated in the Senate that what would be achieved in a few more days would satisfy the country and astound the world. 

 As the expedition advanced, Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Stanton, and myself frequently alluded to your extraordinary sagacity and unselfish patriotism, but all agreed that you should be recognized for your most noble service and properly rewarded for the same. 

 The last time I saw Mr. Stanton he was on his deathbed; he was then most earnest in his desire to have you come before Congress, as I told you soon after, and said that if he lived he would see that justice was awarded you. This I have told you often since, and I believe the truth in this matter will finally prevail. 

 B. F. WADE. 

 [Footnote 26: Stanton had been the bitterest of Democrats. The Republicans then knew nothing certainly of his course in Buchanan's Cabinet. His appointment surprised the Senate. Wade knew and endorsed him there. That was sufficient. --_Riddle's Life of Wade. _]

 * * * * *

 JEFFERSON, OHIO, _July 27, 1876_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 Yours of the 22nd is at hand and its contents noticed, but I cannot perceive, myself, that it is necessary for you to procure any further testimony to prove to all unprejudiced minds that you were the first to discover the importance of the Tennessee river in a military point of view, and was the first to discover that said river was navigable for heavy gunboats; and to ascertain these important facts you made a journey to that region, and with great labor and expense, by examination of pilots and others, and that with these facts you drew up a plan of campaign which you, I think, first exhibited to Colonel Scott, who was then Assistant Secretary of War, which was shown to the President and Mr. Stanton, which information and plan caused the immediate change of the campaign from the Mississippi to the Tennessee river, and this change, with all the immense advantages to the national cause, was solely due to your labor and sagacity. I do not regard it as an impeachment of the military sagacity of the officers on either side that they had not seen all this before, but I suppose none of them knew or believed the Tennessee river to be navigable for such craft, for had the Confederate officers known all this it would have been easy for them to have so fortified its banks as to have made such an expedition impossible. 

 Now all the above facts are proved beyond doubt, unless the witnesses are impeached; but all should bear in mind that when the Government had concluded to make this important change from the Mississippi to the Tennessee the utmost secrecy was absolutely necessary or the whole plan might have been frustrated by the enemy, and it was so kept that even members of Congress and Senators never could ascertain who was entitled to the honor of the plan, as can be seen by their endeavors to find out by consulting the Congressional Globe, etc. * * * Where is Judge Evans and how is his health? I am anxious to hear from him, whom I regard as one of the best of men. Give him my best respects. 

 Truly yours, B. F. WADE. 

 * * * * *

 WESTMINSTER PALACE HOTEL, LONDON, _November 29, 1875_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 I remember very well that you were the first to advise the campaign on the Tennessee river in November, 1861. This I have never heard doubted, and the great events which followed it demonstrated the value of your suggestions. This will be recognized by our Government, sooner or later, I cannot doubt. On reaching home I hope to shake you by the hand once more. 

 Sincerely your friend, REVERDY JOHNSON. 

 * * * * *

_Discussions in Congress Showing the Critical Nature of theSituation. _

 IN THE HOUSE, _January 7, 1862_. 

Mr. KELLEY: I think the condition of this Capital to-day invites war. It is environed within a narrow circle of two hundred thousand men inarms, and yet, sir, that short river which leads to the Capital of agreat and proud country, thus defended and encircled by patriottroops, is so thoroughly blockaded by rebels that the Government, though its army has not an adequate supply of forage, cannot bringupon it a peck of oats to feed a hungry horse. * * * Call it what youmay, it is a sight at which men may well wonder. We have six hundredthousand men in the field. We have spent I know not how many millionsof dollars, and what have we done? What one evidence of determined waror military skill have we exhibited to foreign nations, or to our ownpeople? * * * We have been engaged in war for seven months. * * *England does respect power. * * * Let her hear the shouts of avictorious army, and England and the powers of the continent willpause with bated breath. Sir, it was said yesterday the last days hadcome. My heart has felt the last day of our dear country was rapidlyapproaching. Before we have reached victory we have reachedbankruptcy. We are to-day flooding the country with an irredeemablecurrency. In ninety days, with the patriotism of the people paralyzedby the inaction of our great army, the funded debt of the country willdepreciate with a rapidity that will startle us. In ninety days morethe nations of the world will, I fear, be justified in saying to us, "You have no more right to shut up the cotton fields of the world by avain and fruitless effort to reconquer the territory now in rebellionthan China or Japan has to wall themselves in", and in the eyes ofinternational law, in the eyes of the world, and, I fear, in the eyesof impartial history, they will be justified in breaking our blockadeand giving to the rebels means and munitions of war. * * * But, sir, in less than ninety days, to come back to the point of time, we shallbe advancing in the month of April, when Northern men will begin tofeel the effects of heat in the neighborhood of Ship Island and themouth of the Mississippi. Looking at the period of ninety days, I sayit is not a double but a triple edged sword approaching, perhaps, thesingle thread of destiny upon which the welfare of our country hangs. Bankruptcy and miasmatic pestilence are sure to come within the lapseof that period, and foreign war may add its horror to theirs. 

Mr. WRIGHT: We are gasping for life. This great Government is upon thebrink of a volcano, which is heaving to and fro, and we are notcertain whether we exist or no. 

Mr. F. A. CONKLING: In this crisis of our history, when the veryexistence of the Republic is threatened, when in all human probabilitythe next thirty days will decide forever whether the Union is tomaintain its place among the powers of the earth or whether it is togo down and constitutional liberty is to perish. * * *

 * * * * *

 IN THE HOUSE, _January 20, 1862_. 

Mr. WRIGHT: There is one great abiding and powerful issue to-day, andthat is the issue whether the country and the Constitution shall besaved or whether it shall be utterly and entirely annihilated. WithPennsylvania it is a question of national existence, of life or death. * * * The great heart of Pennsylvania is beating to-day for the causeof the Union. * * * It is to decide the great question whether theliberty which has been handed down to us by our fathers shall bepermitted to remain in the land, or whether chaos or desolation shallblot out the country and Government forever. 

 * * * * *

 IN THE SENATE, _January 22, 1862_. 

Mr. WADE: But, sir, though the war lies dormant, still there is war, and it is not intended that it shall stay in this quiescent state muchlonger. The committee to which I belong are determined * * * that itshall move with energy. If the Congress will not give us, or givethemselves, power to act with efficiency in war, we must confideeverything to the Executive Government and let them usurp everything. If you would not fix your machinery so that you might advise with meand act with me, * * * I would act independent of you, and you mightcall it what you please. This is for the suppression of the rebellion, and the measures that we are to sit in secrecy upon look to that endand none other. No measure rises in importance above that connectedwith the suppression of the rebellion. * * * We stand here for thepeople and we act for them. * * * There is no danger to be apprehendedfrom any secrecy which, in the consideration of war measures, we maydeem it proper to adopt. It is proper for us, as it is for the generalin the field, as it is for your Cabinet ministers, to discuss mattersin secret when they pertain to war. 

 * * * * *

 IN THE HOUSE, _January 22, 1862_. 

Mr. THADDEUS STEVENS: * * * Remember that every day's delay costs thenation $1, 500, 000 and hundreds of lives. * * * What an awfulresponsibility rests upon those in authority; their mistakes may bringmourning to the land and sorrow to many a fireside. * * * If we cannotsave our honor, save at least the lives and the treasure of thenation. 

 * * * * *

About this time Miss Carroll was spoken of by those conversant withher plans as "the great unrecognized member of Lincoln's Cabinet. "But, glorious as was the success, Miss Carroll's plans were not fullycarried out, to the great after regret of the War Department, whorecognized that the war, which might then have been brought to aspeedy termination, had been greatly prolonged through the omission. 

Miss Carroll continued her communications to the War Department, endeavoring to rectify mistakes. 

 * * * * *

Extract from Miss Carroll's letter to the Department on the reductionof Island No. 10, and pointing out the advantages of the immediateseizure of the Memphis and Charleston railroad, March 26, 1862. 

"The failure to take Island No. 10, which thus far occasions muchdisappointment to the country, excites no surprise in me. When Ilooked at the gunboats at St. Louis and was informed as to theirpower, and considered that the current of the Mississippi at full tideruns at the rate of five miles per hour, which is very near the speedof our gunboats, I could not resist the conclusion that they were notwell fitted to the taking of batteries on the Mississippi river ifassisted by gunboats perhaps equal to our own. Hence it was that Iwrote Colonel Scott from there that the Tennessee was our strategicpoint, and the successes at Fort Henry and Donelson established thejustice of these observations. Had our victorious army, after the fallof Fort Henry, immediately pushed up the Tennessee river and taken aposition on the Memphis and Charleston railroad, between Corinth, Mississippi, and Decatur, Alabama, which might easily have been doneat that time with a small force, every rebel soldier in WesternKentucky and Tennessee would have fled from every position to thesouth of that railroad; and had Buell pursued the enemy in his retreatfrom Nashville, without delay, into a commanding position in NorthAlabama, on the railroad between Chattanooga and Decatur, the rebelgovernment at Richmond would have necessarily been obliged to retreatto the cotton States. I am fully satisfied that the true policy ofGeneral H----is to strengthen Grant's column by such force as willenable him at once to seize the Memphis and Charleston railroad, as itis the readiest means of reducing Island 10 and all the strongholds ofthe enemy to Memphis. "

Letter written from St. Louis, military headquarters for theSouthwest:

 [27]ST. LOUIS, _May 2, 1862_. 

 "I think the war on the approaches to the Tennessee river has ended. I think the enemy will retreat to the Grand Junction, some sixty miles nearer Memphis; and when our forces approach him there, he will go down the Central Mississippi railroad to Jackson, and if there is another great battle in the West it will be there. I think they will try to postpone anything serious until after the pending battles in Virginia. If they make the attempt now every leader would be taken in the event of defeat, without fail, whilst if it is postponed until after the fate of Virginia is decided the leaders can bring what troops they have left and, joining them to what they have here, make one last struggle for life, and if defeated they can escape across the Mississippi into Arkansas, and through that into Texas and Mexico. You may rest assured the _leaders_ will not be caught if they can get away with life; and as to _property_, they have _that_ secured already. The only way this plan can be frustrated is to occupy Memphis and Vicksburg strongly, _particularly_ the _latter_, and send one or more of our gunboats up the _Yazoo_ river _to watch every creek and inlet_, so that they may be unable to get across the _swamps_ by _canoes_ and _skiffs_. 

 "I have heard that all the skiffs and canoes have been taken from Memphis and Vicksburg to some point up the _Yazoo river_ and fitted up, for what purpose I do not know, but I can think there is no other than what I name, for _one night's ride_ from Jackson will carry a man to the edge of the _Yazoo_ river _swamps_, where it would be impossible to follow unless equally well acquainted and with boats like theirs. From there their escape would be easy, as _they would have 400 miles_ of the river to strike, at any part of which they would find friends to assist them over to the Arkansas side of the river, and from _there_ pursuit would be useless. "

 [Footnote 27: Copied by me on March 23, 1891, from the file at the office of the Attorney General. 

 S. E. BLACKWELL. ]

[28]Letter from Miss Carroll to Secretary Stanton:

 [Footnote 28: Written to recommend Pilot Scott for information given. ]

 _May 14, 1862. _

 Hon. E. M. STANTON, _Secretary of War_:

 It will be the obvious policy of the rebels, in the event of Beauregard's defeat, to send a large column into Texas for the purpose of holding that country for subsistence, where beef and wheat abound. Now, all this can be defeated by strongly occupying Vicksburg and plying a gunboat or two on the Yazoo river. I would also suggest a gunboat to be placed at the mouth of the Red and Arkansas rivers. Whether the impending battle in North Mississippi should occur at Corinth or within the area of a hundred miles, a large part of the enemy's forces will retreat by the Yazoo river and by the railroad to Vicksburg, on the Mississippi, and will then take the railroad through Louisiana into Texas. I handed Honorable Mr. Watson on Monday a letter giving information that the canoes, skiffs, and other transports had been sent up the Yazoo river from Memphis and Vicksburg for the purpose, undoubtedly, of securing the rebels' retreat from our pursuing army. 

 This information I obtained from Mr. Scott, a pilot on the _Memphis_, which conducted the retreat of the soldiers at the battle of Belmont, and had been with the fleet in the same capacity up the Tennessee river. Until June last he resided in New Orleans, and for twenty years or more has been in his present employment. His wife stated this to me, and with a view of obtaining facts about that section of country I requested her to introduce him to me. I was surprised at his general intelligence in regard to the war, and from the facts I derived from him and other practical men I satisfied myself that the Tennessee river was the true strategic point, and submitted a document to this effect to Hon. Thomas A. Scott, dated the 30th of November, 1861, which changed the whole programme of the war in the Southwest, and inured to the glory of our arms in that section and throughout the land. The Government is not aware of the incalculable service rendered by the facts I learned from this pilot, and I therefore take the present occasion to ask his promotion to the surveyorship of New Orleans, for which I should think him well suited in this crisis. 

 I enclose you a letter describing the battle of Pittsburg Landing, which will interest you. 

 Very sincerely, ANNA ELLA CARROLL. 

 * * * * *

Extract from the letter to the Secretary of War on the 15th of May, 1862, advising the occupation of Vicksburg:

 * * * "It will be the obvious policy of the rebels, in the event of Beauregard's defeat, to send a large column into Texas for the purpose of holding that country for subsistence, where beef and wheat abound. This can be defeated by strongly occupying Vicksburg and plying a gunboat, to be placed at the mouth of the Red and Arkansas rivers. " * * * "Whether the impending battle in North Mississippi should occur at Corinth or within the area of a hundred miles, a large part of the enemy's forces will retreat by the Yazoo river, and by the railroad to Vicksburg, on the Mississippi, and will take the railroad through Louisiana into Texas. " * * *

 * * * * *

On the following Monday Miss Carroll handed Mr. Watson a letter givinginformation that the canoes, skiffs, and other transports had beensent up the Yazoo from Memphis and Vicksburg for the purpose, undoubtedly, of securing the rebels' retreat from our pursuing army. 

Letter from the file of the Attorney General, Court of Claims:[29]

 [Footnote 29: Copied by me from the file at the office of the Attorney General, March 23, 1891. S. E. BLACKWELL. ]

 Hon. E. M. STANTON, _Secretary of War_:

 Sir: I find that the Secretary of War and the President are violently assailed for arresting certain parties in the loyal States and suspending the writ of _habeas corpus_. It is represented that a high judicial officer in the State of Vermont has taken issue with the Administration on this question. It is also intimated that the State authorities, in Vermont and elsewhere, are to be invoked for the protection of the citizen against military arrests. There is very great danger at this time to be apprehended to the country from a conflict between the military and the judicial authorities, because the opinion is almost universal that the authority to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_ rests with Congress. The reason that this opinion has so generally obtained is that in England, whence we have derived much of our political and judicial system, the power to suspend the writ is vested alone in Parliament; and our jurists, without reflecting upon the distinction between the constitutions of the two Governments, have erroneously made the English theory applicable to our own. 

 I believe in my work on the "War Powers of the Government, " etc. , I was the first writer who has succeeded in placing the power of the Government to arrest for political offences, and to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_, on its true foundation. In the opinion of eminent men, if this work were now placed in the hands of every lawyer and judge it would stay the evil which threatens to arise from a conflict between the military and judicial departments of the country. I therefore respectfully suggest the propriety of authorizing me to circulate a large edition of this work, or, what would be still better, that I should write a _new paper_, specially on the power of the Executive to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_, and to arrest political offenders. 

 ANNA ELLA CARROLL. 

 * * * * *

In October, 1862, Miss Carroll wrote the following letter to theSecretary of War, through the hands of John Tucker, AssistantSecretary, on the reduction of Vicksburg:

 "As I understand an expedition is about to go down the river for the purpose of reducing Vicksburg, I have prepared the enclosed map in order to demonstrate more clearly the obstacles to be encountered in the contemplated assault. In the first place, it is impossible to take Vicksburg in front without too great a loss of life and material, for the reason that the river is only about half a mile wide, and our forces would be in point-blank range of their guns, not only from their water batteries, which line the shore, but from the batteries that crown the hills, while the enemy would be protected by the elevation from the range of our fire. By examining the map I enclose you will at once perceive why a place of so little apparent strength has been enabled to resist the combined fleets of the upper and lower Mississippi. The most economical plan for the reduction of Vicksburg now is to push a column from Memphis to Corinth, down the Mississippi Central railroad to Jackson, the capital of the State of Mississippi. _The occupation of Jackson and the command of the railroad to New Orleans would compel the immediate evacuation of Vicksburg_, as well as the retreat of the entire rebel army east of that line, and by another movement of our army from Jackson, Mississippi, or from Corinth to Meridian, in the State of Mississippi, on the Ohio and Mobile railroad, especially if aided by a movement of our gunboats on Mobile, the Confederate forces, with all the disloyal men and their slaves, would be compelled to fly east of the Tombigbee. Mobile being then in our possession, with 100, 000 men at Meridian we would redeem the entire country from Memphis to the Tombigbee river. Of course I would have the gunboats with a small force at Vicksburg as auxiliary to this movement. With regard to the canal, Vicksburg can be rendered useless to the Confederate army upon the first rise of the river; but I do not advise this, because Vicksburg belongs to the United States and we desire to hold and fortify it, for the Mississippi river at Vicksburg and the Vicksburg-Jackson railroad will become necessary as a base of our future operations. Vicksburg might have been reduced eight months ago, as I then advised, after the fall of Fort Henry, and with much more ease than it can be done to-day. "

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, D. C. , _May 10, 1876_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 Referring to the conversation with Judge Evans last evening, he called my attention to Colonel Scott's telegram, announcing the fall of Island No. 10, in 1862, as endorsing your plan, when Scott said: "The movement in the rear has done the work. " I stated to the Judge, as he and you knew before, that your paper on the reduction of Vicksburg did the work on that place, after being so long baffled and with the loss of so much life and treasure, by trying to take it from the water; that to my knowledge your paper was approved and adopted by the Secretary of War and the President, and immediately sent out to the proper military authority in that Department. 

 I remember well their remarks upon it at that time, and of all your other views and suggestions, made after we got the expedition inaugurated, and know the direction they took. These matters were often talked over as the campaign advanced, and in the very last interview with Mr. Stanton, just before his death, he referred to your services in originating the campaign in the strongest terms he could express, and, as I have informed you, stated that if his life was spared he would discharge the great duty of seeing your services to the country properly recognized and rewarded. But why need I say more. Your claim is established beyond controversy, unless the witnesses are impeached, and I hardly think they would undertake that business. What motive could any of us have had to mislead or falsify the history of the war. Your claim is righteous and just, if ever there was one, and for the honor of my country I trust and hope you will be suitably rewarded and so declared before the world. 

 Yours truly, B. F. WADE. 

 * * * * *

Miss Carroll's after papers, so far as I can learn, were mainly onemancipation, on the ballot, and on reconstruction. 

CHAPTER VI. 

CONGRESSIONAL REVELATIONS -- GREAT RESULTS -- DISCUSSIONS -- MISSCARROLL PRESENTS HER CLAIM -- POLITICAL OPPOSITION -- LETTERS ANDTESTIMONY. 

Very curious is the picture revealed by the Congressional records. Fully as Lincoln and his Military Committee recognize the genius ofthe remarkable woman now taking the lead, it needs great courage toadopt her plans. 

"Mr. Lincoln and Stanton are opposed to having it known that thearmies are moving under the plan of a civilian, directed by thePresident as Commander-in-Chief. Mr. Lincoln says it was that whichmade him hesitate to inaugurate the movement against the opinions ofthe military commanders, and he says he does not want to risk theeffect it might have upon the armies if they found that some outsideparty had originated the campaign; that he wanted the country and thearmies to believe they were doing the whole business in saving thecountry. "

Judge Wade alludes to a remark about the sword of Gideon, made bySecretary Stanton, and says that was done to maintain the policy ofsecrecy as to the origin of the plan. Strict silence is counselled asabsolutely necessary, and Anna Ella Carroll is not the woman to allowa thought of self to interfere with her plans for the salvation of hercountry. 

Rapid and brilliant is the success of that Tennessee campaign, plannedand supervised by that able head. Her papers, as the campaignprogresses, are as remarkable as the original plan. On the fall ofFort Henry she prepares a paper on the feasibility of advancingimmediately on Mobile or Vicksburg, without turning to the right orleft. She carries it, in person, to the War Department and delivers itinto the hands of Assistant Secretary Tucker, who takes it at once tothe Secretary of War. 

She exhibits also a copy of the original plan, submitted on the 30thof November, 1861. 

Mr. Tucker remarks: "This is prophecy fulfilled so far, " and says heknows her to be the author, Colonel Scott having so informed himbefore he left for the West. 

Notwithstanding some blunders in the execution, the campaignprogresses, as the authorities at the War Office testify, "mainly inaccordance with Miss Carroll's suggestions. "

The fall of Fort Henry having opened the navigation of the Tennesseeriver, its capture is followed by the evacuation of Columbus andBowling Green. Fort Donelson is given up and its garrison of 14, 000troops are marched out as prisoners of war; Pittsburg Landing andCorinth follow. The Confederate leaders discover with consternationthat the key to the whole situation has been found. All Europe ringswith the news of victories that have reversed the probabilities of thewar. 

On the 10th of April, four months after the adoption of Miss Carroll'splans, President Lincoln issues a proclamation thanking Almighty Godfor the "signal victories which have saved the country from foreignintervention and invasion. "

 * * * * *

THE FOREIGN MINISTERS ARE ENRAPTURED. 

 * * * * *

SEWARD TO DAYTON. 

 _March 6, 1862. _

"It is now apparent that we are at the beginning of the end of theattempted revolution. Cities, districts, and States are coming backunder Federal authority. "

 * * * * *

ADAMS TO SEWARD. 

 _March 6, 1862. _

"We are anxiously awaiting the news by every steamer, but not for thesame reasons as before; the pressure for interference here hasdisappeared. "

 * * * * *

DAYTON TO SEWARD. 

 _March 25, 1862. _

"The Emperor said that he must frankly say that when the insurrectionbroke out and this concession of belligerent rights was made he didnot suppose the North would succeed; that it was the general belief ofthe statesmen of Europe that the two sections would never cometogether again. "

 * * * * *

DAYTON TO SEWARD. 

 _March 31, 1862. _

"I again called the Emperor's attention to the propriety of hisGovernment retracing its steps in regard to its concession to theinsurrectionists of belligerent rights, referring him to theconsideration in regard thereto contained in your former dispatches. He said, 'It would scarcely be worthy of a great power, now that theSouth was beaten, to withdraw a concession made to them in the day oftheir strength. '"

 * * * * *

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S PROCLAMATION. 

 _April 10, 1862. _

"It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe signal victories to the landand naval forces engaged in suppressing an internal rebellion, and atthe same time to avert from our country the danger of foreignintervention and invasion. "

 * * * * *

SEWARD TO DAYTON. 

 _May 7, 1862. _

"The proclamation of commerce which is made may be regarded by themaritime powers as an announcement that the Republic has passed thedanger of disunion. "

 * * * * *

Great enthusiasm is felt at Washington and throughout the country, asit becomes evident that a brilliant and successful plan has beenadopted, and great anxiety is evinced to find out and reward theauthor. 

For this purpose a lively debate takes place in the House ofRepresentatives for the avowed purpose of finding out whether "thesevictories were arranged or won by men sitting at a distance, engagedin organizing victory, " or whether "they have been achieved by boldand resolute men left free to act and to conquer. " No one knows. 

Mr. Conkling proposes to "thank Halleck and Grant. "

Mr. Washburne thinks "General McClernand and General Logan should beincluded. "

Mr. Cox thinks "General Smith is entitled to an equal degree of theglory. "

Mr. Holman thinks "General Wallace should have a fair share. "

Mr. Mallory thinks "General Buell should not be forgotten. "

Mr. Kellogg thinks all these suggestions derogatory to PresidentLincoln, as Commander-in-Chief. He desires "it to be remembered thatsubordinate officers by law are under the control and command of theCommander-in-Chief of the American Army. " He believes "there is, emanating from the Commander-in-Chief of the American forces, throughhis first subordinates, and by them to the next, and so continuouslydown to the soldiers who fight upon the battlefield, a well digested, clear, and definite policy of campaign, that is in motion to put downthis rebellion;" and he "here declares that he believes that thesystem of movements that has culminated in glorious victories, andwhich will soon put down this rebellion, finds root, brain, andexecution in the Commanding General of the American Army and the ChiefExecutive of the American people. "

Mr. Olin says: "If it be the object of the House, before passing avote of thanks, to ascertain who was the person who planned andorganized these victories, then it would be eminently proper torequest the Secretary of War to give us that information. That wouldsatisfy the gentleman and the House directly as to who was the partythat planned these military movements. It is sufficient for thepresent that somebody has planned and executed these militarymovements. Still, if the gentleman has any desire to know whooriginated these movements, he can ascertain that fact by inquiring atthe proper office, for certainly some one at the War Department mustbe informed on the subject. The Secretary of War knows whether he hadanything to do with them or not; the Commanding General knows whetherhe had anything to do with them or not. If neither of them hadanything to do with them, they will cheerfully say so. "

But at the War Department it has been determined that the secret mustbe kept so long as the war continues, and this noble, silent womansits in the gallery listening to all this discussion and makes noclaim, knowing well the injury that it would be to the national causeif it should be known that the plan was the work of a civilian, and, above all, a _woman_--a creature despised and ignored, not evencounted as one of "the people" in the sounding profession made ofhuman rights a hundred years ago. 

The House of Representatives having failed to discover the author ofthe campaign, on March 13th, 1862, the Senate makes a similar attempt. 

Mr. Washburne and Mr. Grimes think "it is Commodore Foote who shouldbe thanked. " But no one knows. 

Again that wonderful, quiet woman in the gallery sits silentlylistening to all their talking and discussing. 

She speaks of it afterwards to Colonel Scott; refers to thediscussions which had taken place in Congress to find out who haddevised the movement, and to the fact that she had preserved entiresilence while the debate went on, claiming it for one and another ofthe generals of the war. 

Colonel Scott says she has "acted very properly in the matter; thatthere is no question of her being entitled to the vote of thanks byCongress; that she has saved incalculable millions to the country, etc. , but that it would not do while the struggle lasted to make apublic claim;" and also states that the War Power pamphlet has donemuch good, and he has heard it frequently referred to while in theWest. 

Judge Wade discusses the matter and says it greatly adds to the meritof the author that it was not made known. "Where is there another manor woman, " says Judge Wade, turning to Judge Evans, "who would havekept silence when so much could have come personally from an openavowal. " Judge Evans says he has reproached himself more than oncethat he had not in some way made known what he knew, but wasconstrained to silence by considerations of patriotism that were aboveall else at that time. 

Hon. Benjamin F. Wade, Chairman of the Committee on the Conduct of theWar, afterward writes to Miss Carroll:

"I have sometimes reproached myself that I had not made known theauthor when they were discussing the resolution in Congress to findout; but Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Stanton were opposed to its being knownthat the armies were moving under the plan of a civilian. Mr. Lincolnwanted the armies to believe that they were doing the whole businessof saving the country. "

Mr. Wade also writes to Miss Carroll:

"The country, almost in her last extremity, was saved by your sagacityand unremitting labor; indeed, your services were so great that it ishard to make the world believe it. That all this great work should bebrought about by a woman is inconceivable to vulgar minds. You cannotbe deprived of the honor of having done greater and more efficientservices for the country in time of her greatest peril than any otherperson in the Republic, and a knowledge of this cannot be longrepressed. "

Col. Thomas A. Scott, Assistant Secretary of War, to whom her planswere submitted, informs her in 1862 that "the adoption of her plan hassaved the country millions of money. "

Hon. L. D. Evans, justice of the supreme court of Texas, in a pamphletentitled "The Material Bearing of the Tennessee Campaign in 1862 uponthe Destinies of our Civil War, " shows that no military plan couldhave saved the country except this, and that this was unthought of andunknown until suggested by Miss Carroll, who alone had the genius tograsp the situation. 

How clearly the Confederate leaders recognized the fatal effects ofthis Tennessee campaign is indicated by a letter found among thepapers captured by General Mitchell at Huntsville, written by GeneralBeauregard to General Samuel Cooper, Richmond, Va. :

 "CORINTH, _April 9, 1862_. 

 "Can we not be reinforced by Pemberton's army?" "If defeated here, we lose the Mississippi Valley and probably our cause, whereas we could even afford to lose Charleston and Savannah for the purpose of defeating Buell's army, which would not only insure us the valley of the Mississippi, but our independence. "

The feeling of the Confederate army is curiously indicated by thefollowing letter received by Miss Carroll as the struggle drew towardsits close and filed by Mr. Stanton among his papers:

 FORT DELAWARE, _March 1, 1865_. 

 Miss Carroll, _Baltimore, Md. :_

 Madam: It is rumored in the Southern army that you furnished the plan or information that caused the United States Government to abandon the expedition designed to descend the Mississippi river, and transferred the armies up the Tennessee river in 1862. We wish to know if this is true. If it is, you are the veriest of traitors to your section, and we warn you that you stand upon a volcano. 

 "CONFEDERATES. "

 * * * * *

Miss Carroll's patriotic labors continued to the end. She contributedpapers on emancipation and on reconstruction, and wrote articles forthe leading journals in support of the Government. 

"While her pen was tireless in the cause of loyalty, her sympathy andinterest extended themselves toward the prisons, the battlefields, andthe hospitals, and many were the individual cases of suffering andwant that she relieved. She was especially successful with procuringdischarges for Union prisoners, and where such were in need her ownmeans were most generously used to give adequate help. "

Although the agreement with the Government was that she should beremunerated for her services and the employment of her privateresources, it was not until some time after the close of the war thatshe endeavored, by the advice of her friends and prominent members ofthe War Committee, to make a public claim and establish so important afact in the history of the war. 

"Miss Carroll's own feeling was a desire to make her services a freegift to her country, and her aged father, who felt the proudestsatisfaction in his daughter's patriotic career, was of the samedisinterested opinion. "[30]

 [Footnote 30: Abbie M. Gannet, in the Boston _Sunday Herald_, February, 1890. ]

The same high and chivalrous feeling that led him to sacrifice hisancestral home to liquidate the debts incurred by others made himunwilling that his daughter should press even for the payment of thedebt due for the publication of her pamphlets and campaign documents, though published at the request of the War Department on theunderstanding that she was to be repaid. His loftiness of feeling andunbounded generosity continued even under adverse fortunes. 

"But as time went on, her father no longer living, Miss Carroll notedhow honors and emoluments were allotted to her fellow-laborers, andthat her own work, owing to the peculiar circumstances that at firstsurrounded it and the untimely deaths of Mr. Lincoln and others whowould gladly have proclaimed it, was wholly sinking into obscurity. Asense of the injustice of the case took possession of her and theconviction that history itself would be falsified if her silencecontinued. "[31]

 [Footnote 31: Abbie M. Gannet, in the Boston _Sunday Herald_. ]

Thomas A. Scott and Mr. Wade, chairman of the Committee on the Conductof the War, and others well acquainted with her work were stillliving, able and desirous to establish her claim. By their advice andwith their enthusiastic endorsement she made a statement of her casein 1870 and presented it before Congress, asking for recognition and adue award. 

"Every lover of history, every true patriot, and, above all, everypatriotic woman will be glad that she so decided. "--_Mrs. Abbie M. Gannet. _

It was not fitting that such achievements should be allowed to sinkinto oblivion. 

Accordingly she made her claim, supported by the strongest andclearest testimony from the very men who were most competent to speakwith absolute authority, Mr. Wade, Mr. Scott, and others of the WarDepartment testifying again and again to the facts of the case. 

It immediately became evident that a most determined effort was to bemade to crush her claims. The honors of war were not to be allowed torest on the head that had so ably won them. Personal and politicalinterests were too strongly involved. If it had been a little matterit might have passed; but this was a case of such magnitude andimportance, a case that must greatly change existing estimates. 

To defeat the testimony was impossible. Other means must be used. Chicanery of every kind was resorted to. 

Twice Miss Carroll's whole file of papers were stolen from theMilitary Committee, who were considering her claims. 

Fortunately Miss Carroll possessed the original drafts of theseletters. She speedily reproduced them, and the Military Committee andMr. Hunt, the keeper of the records, having already examined theletters, accepted the new file and ordered them to be printed, thusgiving them their guarantee; so that, to all intents and purposes, they became the same as the originals. 

Judge Wade advises Miss Carroll:

"I want you to set forth to these gentlemen, in your private letters, the facts about the abstracting of these papers. It has never beenproperly done. It is exceedingly important as evidence of the truth ofyour claim. Tell them how your papers were abstracted from the filestwice. Send a letter to General Banning. Tell Judge Evans to ask theGeneral to appoint a sub-committee to investigate it, so as to submitit to the general committee. Tell them all, and remind them that whenone report was made in the Senate Committee by Mr. Howard the paperswere abstracted from the files, as the Secretary of the Committee, Rev. Samuel Hunt, will testify. I hope the report will be a veryemphatic and explicit one in setting forth your plan as you took it toColonel Scott. It makes the strongest foundation to commence upon inthe sub-committee. There will undoubtedly be a minority ofRepublicans, and it will be so much the better for that, because theycan find no evidence to invalidate the report of the majority, and Iwould like to see them make the attempt. Being at the head of the WarCommittee, I had most to do with it. The committee not half the timewere present. Nobody knows the difficulty the War Committee had to getthe army moved. We had almost to fight for that campaign. "

Mr. Hunt writes from Natick, Mass. :

 _March 7, 1876. _

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 I remember well your failure to recover twice all the papers you intrusted to the charge of the Military Committee and our inability to account for their loss. 

 Hoping you will have better success now, I remain as ever, Very truly yours, S. HUNT, _Late Secretary of Senate Military Committee. _

 * * * * *

Senator Howard tells Miss Carroll she has a right to feel disappointedthat her claims should be neglected, but he says, "you know the greatpower of the _military_, who don't want you to have the recognition. "

"Senator Howard, " she replies, "there is something in moralintegrity. I understand you, but just tell the _truth_. I ask only tobe sustained by truth, and am not afraid of this power. "

"Miss Carroll, " he says with emphasis, "you have done more for thecountry than them all. You told and showed where to fight and how tostrike the rebellion upon its head. No one comprehends the magnitudeof that service more than I. "

 * * * * *

Judge Wade's remarks to Senator Wilson last of May, 1862 (as takendown by a reporter):

Judge Wade said he talked just right to Wilson for the delay in MissCarroll's matter before his committee; that Wilson said he was no moreagainst the claim than Wade. Wade told him it would _kill_ himpolitically if he didn't act soon; that it ought to kill any party whoknew the truths of the great civil war and conspired to conceal themfor their own purposes; that it would be a great feather in a man'scap and a great help to his own cause to bring the matter before thecountry _right_, no matter _who_ it offended, and he only regretted hewas not in the Senate then on this very account, and would always besorry he had not induced Miss Carroll to come out and make claim forher rights while the rejoicing was going on at the final surrender. Wilson said it was a big thing, and he agreed that the American peoplewould cheerfully pay for it, if it had been so done, by contributionboxes at the cross-roads and post-offices of the country. 

 * * * * *

Mr. Tucker writes from Philadelphia in 1870:

"I saw Colonel Scott yesterday and placed your papers in his hands. Heremarked that he should stand by all he had said or written in thematter, and he presumed that was all you would want. "

 * * * * *

 _1872. _

Judge Wade says: "I went to Morton, in the Senate, and told him thatit was infamous that the Military Committee did not report at once. Hesaid, for himself he was ready to endorse your claim fully, and haddone so when Howard reported. I went on to tell him more, but he said, 'I could not be more strongly convinced of the justice of that claim. Your own statement satisfied me without anything more. If Wilson willsend down for the report I will sign my name to it right now. ' I thenwent over to Wilson and told him what Morton had said, and told him hehad better send down for it. Wilson said he didn't think that was thebest way of doing it, but that he would call a special meeting of theCommittee and have it done. I then saw Cameron. He said he was readyand always had been. "

 * * * * *

 _1873. _

Judge Wade tells her: "Howe said your claim had been sent to hiscommittee--on Claims--but that it did not properly belong there; butthat he had examined the papers; that your claim was entirely just andought to be paid. "

And again: "That he had spoken to Wadleigh, a member of the MilitaryCommittee, about her claim. He said he had no question that it wasclearly proved, and no doubt she would be ultimately paid by theGovernment. "

 * * * * *

 _1874. _

Judge Wade says: "I asked Logan what he was going to do about MissCarroll's claim. " He said "he didn't know what to say. " "I told him itought to be paid at once; that it was clearly established. " Logansaid, "Yes; but she claims so much. " Wade replies, "She claims to havefurnished the information that led to the military movements thatdecided the war. " Logan didn't say any more, or what he would do. 

Judge Wade asked Morrill what he was going to do; that this claim hadbeen before Congress long enough. Morrill said your claim was clearlyestablished; "that were you applying for a title for a new patent ofdiscovery nothing could defeat you, but that it was indispensable tohave the Military Committee act again. " Wade says "he feelsembarrassed in appearing as an advocate, being a witness, but that hewill go before the committee anyhow and insist upon action. "

 JEFFERSON, OHIO, _October 3, 1876_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 I do assure you that the manner in which your most noble services and sacrifices have been treated by your country has given me more pain and anxiety than anything that ever happened to me personally; that such merit should go so long unrewarded is deeply disgraceful to the country, or rather to the agencies of the Government who have had the matter in charge. I hope and trust it will not always be so. The truth is, your services were so great they cannot be comprehended by the ordinary capacity of our public men; and then, again, your services were of such a character that they threw a shadow over the reputations of some of our would-be great men. No doubt great pains have been taken in the business of trying to defeat you, but it has always been an article of faith with me that truth and justice must ultimately triumph. 

 Ever yours truly, B. F. WADE. 

 * * * * *

 JEFFERSON, OHIO, _April 10, 1877_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 There is nothing in my power I would not most gladly do for you, for none have ever done so much for the country as you, and none have had so little for it. I cannot but believe justice will be done you yet for the immense services you rendered the country in the civil war. But when I reflect what mighty work you have done for the country and how you have been treated it keeps me awake nights and fills my soul with bitterness. 

 Truly yours ever, B. F. WADE. 

 * * * * *

 JEFFERSON, OHIO, _September 4, 1877_. 

 My Dear Miss Carroll:

 * * * I know you are right and I will never fail to do all I can to aid you in attaining it. Your only trouble is you have the whole army to fight, who seem better skilled in opposing you than they were in finding out the best method of fighting the enemy. I hope your health holds out and continues good, for what you have done and what you have to do would break down any weaker intellect and physical constitution. 

 Mrs. Wade joins me in wishing you all success. 

 Truly yours, B. F. WADE. 

 * * * * *

Governor Corwin writes her:

 WASHINGTON, _Jan. 13, 1878_. 

 Dear Friend:

 I thank you for the address of your good Governor of the third instant. I believe you will succeed in saving Maryland, but there is nothing to be done with this Congress, and your counsel to your friends is wise. Art, finesse, and trick are in this age worth the wisdom of Solomon, the faith of Abraham, and the fidelity of Moses. 

 Truly yours, TOM CORWIN. [32]

 [Footnote 32: Thomas Corwin was Secretary of the Treasury under Fillmore, U. S. Senator, a noted lawyer and wit, and a man of letters. ]

 * * * * *

Soon after the close of the war Miss Carroll inquires of Mr. Stantonif he could not furnish what was termed "a transportation andsubsistence" for a southern tour. Many people were present. He remarkshe had rather pay her millions of dollars than to say no to anyrequest she could make of him. "You, " he says, "who have done suchincomparable services for the country with so much modesty and solittle pretension, " etc. 

Miss Carroll does not like so much in the line of compliment and saysto General Hardie as she passes out, "Mr. Stanton said too much andattracted the attention of all in the room. "

Hardie says, "Don't take it in that light. Mr. Stanton is not the manto say what he don't mean, and, I venture to say, never said so muchto any one besides during the war. "

Miss Carroll relates this to Judge Wade. "Why, " says he, "Stanton hassaid the same of you to me, and often in the same vein; he said yourcourse was the most remarkable in the war; that you found yourself, got no pay, and did the great work that made others famous. "

For these reports and conversations see--

 45th Congress, } House of Representatives. } Miss. Doc. 2nd Session, } Pp. 30, 31, 32, 33. } No. 58. 

Vol. 6, Miscellaneous Documents, Document Room of the Senate. 

CHAPTER VII. 

MISS CARROLL'S PAMPHLETS IN AID OF THE ADMINISTRATION. THEPRESENTATION OF THE BILL. 

In July of 1862 Miss Carroll presented her very modest bill for thepamphlets that had been accepted at the War Department, which includedthe expenses paid by herself of printing and circulating. 

Of the Breckenridge pamphlet she printed and circulated 50, 000, whichwent off, as Hon. James Tilghman (president of the Union Associationin Baltimore in 1860) testifies, "like hot cakes. "

In the library of the State Department specimens of two large editionsof the War Powers may be seen side by side in the volumes of boundmanuscripts. It is over 23 closely printed pages in length, and wascirculated east and west with admirable results, all expenses borne byMiss Carroll personally. 

The Power of the President to Suspend the Writ of _Habeas Corpus_, TheRelation of the Revolted Citizens to the United States, and other ablepapers followed. 

The Secretary of War suggested the presentation of Miss Carroll'sbill, advising her to obtain the opinion of one or more competentjudges as to the reasonableness of her charges and a statement of theunderstanding upon which they were written. 

The bill is as follows, and the testimonials are as reported in theMiss. Doc. 58 (House), 45th Congress, 2d session:

_Secret-Service Fund of the War Department to Anna Ella Carroll, Dr. , as per Agreement with Hon. Thomas A. Scott, Assistant Secretary ofWar. _

 1861. 

 Sept. 25. To circulating the Breckenridge reply $1, 250 Dec. 24. To writing, publishing, and circulating the "War Powers, " etc. 3, 000

 1862. 

 May ----. Writing, publishing, and circulating the relations of the National Government to the rebelled citizens 2, 000 ------ $6, 250

 Credit, October 2, 1861: By cash 1, 250 ------ $5, 000

 * * * * *

 PHILADELPHIA, _January 2, 1863_. 

 I believe Miss Carroll has earned fairly, and should be paid, the compensation she has charged above. 

 THOS. A. SCOTT. 

 * * * * *

 PHILADELPHIA, _January 28, 1863_. 

 All my interviews with Miss Carroll were in my official capacity as Assistant Secretary of War, and in that capacity I would have allowed, and believed she should be paid, the amount of her bill within, which is certified as being reasonable by many of the leading men of the country. 

 THOS. A. SCOTT. 

 * * * * *

 PHILADELPHIA, _January 28, 1863_. 

 The pamphlets published by Miss Carroll were published upon a general understanding made by me with her as Assistant Secretary of War, under no special authority in the premises, but under a general authority then exercised by me in the discharge of public duties as Assistant Secretary of War. I then thought them of value to the service, and still believe they were of great value to the Government. I brought the matter generally to the knowledge of General Cameron, then Secretary of War, without his having special knowledge of the whole matter; he made no objections thereto. No price was fixed, but it was understood that the Government would treat her with sufficient liberality to compensate her for any service she might render, and I believe she acted upon the expectation that she would be paid by the Government. 

 THOMAS A. SCOTT. 

 * * * * *

 NEW YORK, _October 10, 1862_. 

 Without intending to express any assent or dissent to the positions therein asserted, but merely with a view of forming a judgment in respect to their merits as argumentative compositions, I have carefully perused Miss Carroll's pamphlets mentioned in the within account. The propositions are clearly stated, the authorities relied on are judiciously selected, and the reasoning is natural, direct, and well sustained, and framed in a manner extremely well adapted to win the reader's assent, and thus to obtain the object in view. I consider the charges quite moderate. 

 CHARLES O'CONOR. 

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, _September 19, 1862_. 

 Without having seen the writings mentioned in the within account I have heard them so favorably spoken of by the most competent judges that the charges of the account seem to be most reasonable. 

 REVERDY JOHNSON. 

 * * * * *

 706 Walnut St. , PHILADELPHIA, _Oct. 11, 1862_. 

 Having been requested to give my opinion of the pamphlets described in the within list, I have in a cursory way looked over them. As I have just returned from Europe from a long absence and am at present with many unsettled matters of my own, I cannot undertake therefore to study them. From the examination I have given them I cheerfully say they appear to be learned and able productions and the work of a well-stored mind. They are written in a clear style and must be read with interest and advantage, and certainly cannot fail to be of service to the cause they uphold. 

 Much labor must have been given to these productions. Their actual value in money I cannot determine, but I think they are well worthy of a high and liberal compensation. 

 BENJAMIN H. BREWSTER. [33]

 [Footnote 33: Benjamin H. Brewster was a noted lawyer of Philadelphia and a member of Arthur's Cabinet. ]

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, _September 23, 1862_. 

 I have read several of the productions of Miss Carroll, and, among others, two of the within mentioned. The learning, ability, and force of reasoning they exhibit have astonished me. Without concurring in all the conclusions of the writer, I think that the writer is fully entitled, not only to the amount charged, but to the thanks and high consideration of the Government and the nation. 

 RICHARD S. COXE. 

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, _September 10, 1862_. 

 Having read with care the several pamphlets mentioned within, and comparing them with professional arguments in causes of any considerable importance, and considering the vast learning and the ability with which it is handled, I have to say that in my judgment the charges are not only very reasonable, but will, in the estimation of all men of learning who will carefully examine the documents, be deemed _too small_. 

 L. D. EVANS. 

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, D. C. , _September 23, 1862_. 

 I have read the pamphlets mentioned within, together with others on similar subjects written by Miss Carroll, and I fully concur in the opinion above expressed, believing that said pamphlets have been of essential service to the cause of the Union. 

 S. T. WILLIAMS. 

 * * * * *

 _September 8, 1862. _

 I have carefully perused, some time since, the papers referred to within, and without entering into any question of concurrence or non-concurrence of views I deem the documents of great value to the Government, and that the estimate of the account is reasonable. 

 ROBERT J. WALKER. 

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, _October, 1862_. 

 Miss Carroll:

 While I never put my name to any paper, I would very cheerfully state at the Department that I consider the charges for your publications _too small_, but I do not think it can be necessary. What more could any one want than such an endorsement as you have from Mr. O'Conor and other eminent men?

 Very respectfully, EDWARDS PIERREPONT. [34]

 [Footnote 34: Edwards Pierrepont was Minister to England under Grant. ]

 * * * * *

Later developments showed that the $1, 250 that Miss Carroll hadcredited to the secret-service fund had come out of Thomas A. Scott'sown pocket as his private contribution to the national cause and tohelp on the circulation of such important documents. 

Mr. Scott sent the following letter, to be found in Miss. Doc. 167:

 PHILADELPHIA, _January 16, 1863_. 

 Hon. JOHN TUCKER, _Assistant Secretary of War_:

 I believe Miss Carroll has fairly earned and ought to be paid the amount of her bill ($6, 750), and if you will pay her I will certify to such form as you may think necessary as a voucher. 

 THOMAS A. SCOTT. 

 * * * * *

Mr. Tucker not having the settlement of the account, and the matterbeing referred to Assistant Secretary Watson, Miss Carroll submittedthe account endorsed by many eminent men as reasonable, and alsoendorsed with Hon. Thomas A. Scott's recollection of the agreementupon which they were produced. 

An agent tendered but $750, _with a receipt in full_. 

On objecting he said her redress was with Congress, and, upon beinginformed by Mr. Reverdy Johnson that the receipts would not bar herclaim, she accepted it. The original account, with endorsements, etc. , it is stated, is "on file in the War Department. " The Senate MilitaryCommittee of the 41st Congress, 3d session, Report 339, referring tothese publications, said: "Miss Carroll preferred a claim to reimburseher for expenses incurred in their publication which ought to havebeen paid. "

Miss Carroll having also credited the $750 to the secret-service fund, Mr. Thomas A. Scott wrote her that she should not have done so; thatit came out of his own pocket in his indignation at finding theagreement made by himself in his capacity of Assistant Secretary ofWar disregarded by his successor. For thirty years this account hasbeen presented in vain. In 1885 it was retransmitted from the Court ofClaims on some judicial grounds, though accompanied by the "moralassent" of the court. 

Miss Carroll had written the great and influential pamphlets of theday which ought to have made her a minister of state. She had devisedthe military movements that ought to have given her a very highmilitary rank. Under our arrangements for securing a male aristocracyno services, however brilliant, could secure to a woman any postwhatever. She must remain an _unrecognized_ member, and being anunrecognized member for her there was no pay--not even her travelingexpenses. Any help towards the circulation of her invaluable pamphletshad to come out of the private means of Thomas A. Scott. From first tolast, for all her intense and unremitting labors through all theyears of the civil war, she has, it would appear, received from the_Government_, in any department whatever, not one cent. To herpersonally, through the generous and unhesitating use of her ownprivate means, the result has been a long martyrdom of poverty andsuffering. 

That is how America has treated her noblest daughter. 

That is the result of belonging to a disfranchised class. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

MISS CARROLL BEFORE CONGRESS. 

Miss Carroll's first memorial was brought before Congress March 31, 1870. It was simple and short, with a copy of the plan of campaignappended. 

A Military Committee, with General Jacob M. Howard as chairman, wasappointed to consider it. Thomas A. Scott wrote twice to the MilitaryCommittee endorsing the claim. Mr. Wade, Judge Evans, etc. , made theirstatements on affidavit. 

The evidence being thorough and incontrovertible, Mr. Howard reportedaccordingly on February 2, 1871. He recapitulates the letters andevidence received; gives Mr. Wade's testimony; states that a copy ofMiss Carroll's paper was shown him immediately after the success ofthe campaign, by the late Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, [35] of Ohio (Mr. Whittlesey had asked Miss Carroll for a copy that he might leave it inhis family as an heirloom); notes Miss Carroll's statement that nomilitary man had ever controverted her claim to having originated thecampaign, and concludes:

"From the high social position of this lady and her establishedability as a writer and thinker, she was prepared at the inception ofthe rebellion to exercise a strong influence in behalf of liberty andthe Union; that it was felt and respected in Maryland during thedarkest hours in that State's history, there can be no question. Herpublications throughout the struggle were eloquently and ably writtenand widely circulated, and did much to arouse and invigorate thesentiment of loyalty in Maryland and other border States. It is nottoo much to say that they were among the very ablest publications ofthe time and exerted a powerful influence upon the hearts of thepeople. Some of these publications were prepared under the auspices ofthe War Department, and for these Miss Carroll preferred a claim toreimburse her for the expenses incurred in their publication, whichought to have been paid; and, as evidence of this, we subjoin thefollowing statement from the Assistant Secretary of War:--

 "'PHILADELPHIA, _January 28, 1863_. 

 "'All my interviews with Miss Carroll were in my official capacity as Assistant Secretary of War. The pamphlets published were, to a certain extent, under a general authority then exercised by me in the discharge of public duties as Assistant Secretary of War. No price was fixed, but it was understood that the Government would 'treat her with sufficient liberality to compensate her for any service she might render. '"

 [Footnote 35: Elisha Whittlesey was Comptroller of the Treasury at the time of his death, a very distinguished lawyer in Ohio, and for many terms a Representative in Congress. ]

On the fifteenth of June, 1870, Hon. Thomas A. Scott addressed aletter to Hon. J. M. Howard, U. S. Senate, in which he says:

 "'I learn from Miss Carroll that she has a claim before Congress for services rendered in the year 1861 in aid of the Government. I believe now that the Government ought to reward her liberally for the efforts she made in its behalf to rouse the people against the rebellious action of the South. I hope you will pass some measure that will give Miss Carroll what she is certainly entitled to. 

 "'THOS. A. SCOTT. '"

"In view, therefore, of the highly meritorious services of MissCarroll during the whole period of our National troubles, andespecially at that epoch of the war to which her memorial makesreference, and in consideration of the further fact that all theexpenses incident to this service were borne by herself, the committeebelieve her claim to be just, and that it ought to be recognized byCongress, and consequently report a bill for her relief. "

An accompanying bill was sent in, leaving the amount of compensationblank for Congress to determine, but the committee agreeing that thebill ought to be passed in some manner that should recognize theremarkable and invaluable nature of the services rendered. 

Congress having thus received the report made by their own MilitaryCommittee appointed for the purpose, for reasons plainly given by Mr. Wade and others, at once ignored it, tossing it over to the Court ofClaims, who would have nothing to do with it, and so that Congressadjourned. 

Then followed that singular and disheartening feature of congressionalcommittees. 

Action having been taken, a Military Committee appointed, and aconclusive report made, Congress could utterly neglect it, and at thefollowing Congress the previous action would count for nothing, andthe whole wearisome proceeding of a new memorial, a new effort toprocure attention, a new examination of evidence, a new report, a newbill, and again utter neglect. But the brave woman continued. She wasreally fighting alone and at terrible odds another Tennessee campaignfor the rightful recognition of woman's work. 

Accordingly, the following year another memorial was sent in, anothercommittee appointed, renewed testimony given by Scott, Wade, Evans, and others. Mr. Wilson testified that the claim was "incontestablyestablished, " referred to the evidence given in Miss Carroll's ownmemorial, but for want of time made no regular report, apparently, except this:

 _Report. _

 "Mr. Wilson, on behalf of the Committee on Military Affairs, laid before the Senate the memorial of Anna Ella Carroll, of Maryland, setting forth certain valuable military information given to the Government by her during the war and asking compensation therefor, which was ordered to be printed, together with a bill rewarding her for military and literary services"--twice read in United States Senate--amount left $----, to be filled by this body. Then Congress again quietly dropped a recognition that might interfere with party plans, and so _that_ Congress adjourned. 

And so the weary work went on of presenting new memorials and meetingwith the same neglect, Congress never denying the claim and none ofthe military commanders making any claim or denying the facts. 

Miss Carroll gave extracts from every known historical work showingthe surmises made, endeavoring to attribute the plan to one andanother, and no evidence found to establish such surmises. 

Miss Carroll wrote to Hon. J. T. Headley, the distinguished historianof the Civil War, and received the following letter:

 NEWBURGH, N. Y. , _February 6, 1873_. 

 My Dear Madam:

 I am much obliged for the pamphlet you sent me. I never knew before with whom the plan of the campaign up the Tennessee river originated. There seemed to be a mystery attached to it that I could not solve. Though General Buell sent me an immense amount of documents relating to this campaign I could find no reference to the origin of the change of plan. Afterwards I saw it attributed to Halleck, which I knew to be false, and I noticed that he never corroborated it. It is strange that after all my research it has rested with you to enlighten me. 

 Money cannot pay for the plan of that campaign. I doubt not Congress will show not liberality but some justice in the matter. 

 Yours very sincerely, J. T. HEADLEY. 

So matters went on. New memorials presented for the most part met with"leave to withdraw. " Then Miss Carroll gathered herself up for asupreme effort, presented fresh testimony, and in 1878 sent in amemorial that is a mine of wealth and the most interesting memorialshe has ever presented. It is labeled--

 45th Congress, \ House of Representatives / Miss. Doc. 2d Session / \ No. 58

Being a document of the first importance and containing some singularevidence, it has been systematically excluded from every Congressionalindex, though published by order of Congress and included in the boundvolumes. 

Miss Carroll having made in 1878 this very notable memorial, onFebruary 18, 1879--

 45th Congress, \ Senate /Report 3d Session. / \ No. 775. 

Mr. Cockrell made a report entered on the Congressional lists as_adverse_, but really an additional evidence of the incontrovertiblenature of the facts and the testimony of the case, the report beingonly adverse as to compensation. The report admits the services, bothliterary and military, and even concedes the proposition that "_thetransfer of the national armies from the banks of the Ohio up theTennessee river to the decisive position in Mississippi was thegreatest military event in the interest of the human race known tomodern ages, and will ever rank among the very few strategic movementsin the world's history that have decided the fate of empires andpeoples_, " and that "_no true history can be written that does notassign to the memorialist the credit of the conception_. "

The report thereupon proceeds to state the opinion of the committee, that with all the evidence before them every subsequent Congresshaving failed to make an award they must have had some unknown reasonsfor the omission, and that the claim, having been so long neglected, may as well be indefinitely postponed--a surprising mode of reasoningand manner of disposition of a claim. 

The report supposes the neglect was due to the fact that the serviceswere rendered to the Secret Service Commission and inclines to thinkthat the two thousand dollars received was considered a sufficientremuneration for the literary work. 

"The committee have not been able to find a precedent for payment ofclaims of this character. " * * * "But it would destroy much of thepoetry and grandeur of noble deeds were a price demanded for kindredservices, and achievements of this nature huckstered in the market ascommodities of barter. " _And that is all a report intended to beadverse can say against the claim. _

One might remark that it is not wholly unprecedented for honorablegentlemen to receive remuneration from the Government for servicesrendered, or even to ask for their traveling expenses. But this lookssomewhat like a sneer. 

Was it directed against the noble invalid who had devoted her life andstrength, her great ability, and her private fortune to the service ofher country for years, with such lavish prodigality and such brilliantsuccess, and had left a fitting award wholly to the determination ofCongress, asking only that it should be made in some way that shouldmark the unusual and distinctive nature of the services rendered?

No; surely it must have been directed against the Government agent whowanted Miss Carroll, for the consideration of $750, to give a receiptin full for a bill of $5, 000 remaining--a bill certified by thehighest authorities to be sufficiently low or altogether _too_ low forthe literary work performed. (No wonder if _such_ huckstering movedMr. Cockrell's righteous soul. ) His remarks also were exceedinglyapplicable to a liberal-minded person who shortly after sent in a billrecommending that after all these years Congress would kindly allowMiss Carroll a pension of _$50 a month_ for "the important militaryservices rendered the country by her during the late civil war. " Ifany more $50 miseries are proposed we would commend to the committeesMr. Cockrell on "huckstering. "

The true description of such a report would be "admission of theincontestable nature of the services rendered. "

Then followed the report of the Military Committee of 1881--the lastreport, so far as I have been able to ascertain, "printed by order ofCongress. "

It is as follows, verbatim:

 46th Congress, \ House of Representatives. / Report 3d Session. / \ No. 386

 * * * * *

ANNA ELLA CARROLL. 

 * * * * *

March 3, 1881. --Committed to the Committee of the Whole House andordered to be printed. 

E. S. Bragg, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted thefollowing

_Report. _

(To accompany bill H. R. 7256. )

The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom the memorial of Anna EllaCarroll was referred, asking national recognition and reward forservices rendered the United States during the war between the States, after careful consideration of the same, submit the following:

In the autumn of 1861 the great question as to whether the Union couldbe saved, or whether it was hopelessly subverted, depended on theability of the Government to open the Mississippi and deliver a fatalblow upon the resources of the Confederate power. 

The original plan was to reduce the formidable fortifications bydescending this river aided by the gunboat fleet then in preparationfor that object. 

President Lincoln had reserved to himself the special direction ofthis expedition, but before it was prepared to move he becameconvinced that the obstacles to be encountered were too grave andserious for the success which the exigencies of the crisis demanded, and the plan was then abandoned and the armies diverted up theTennessee river and thence southward to the center of the Confederatepower. 

The evidence before this committee completely establishes that MissAnna Ella Carroll was the author of this change of plan, whichinvolved a transfer of the national forces to their new base in northMississippi and Alabama, in command of the Memphis and Charlestonrailroad. That she devoted time and money in the autumn of 1861 to theinvestigation of its feasability is established by the sworn testimonyof L. D. Evans, chief justice of the supreme court of Texas, to theMilitary Committee of the United States Senate in the 42d Congress(see pp. 40, 41 of the memorial); that after that investigation shesubmitted her plan in writing to the War Department at Washington, placing it in the hands of Col. Thomas A. Scott, Assistant Secretaryof War, as is confirmed by his statement (see p. 38 of the memorial);also confirmed by the statement of Hon. B. F. Wade, chairman of theCommittee on the Conduct of the War, made to the same committee (seep. 38), and of President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton (see p. 39 ofmemorial); also by Hon. O. H. Browning, of Illinois, Senator duringthe war, in confidential relations with President Lincoln andSecretary Stanton (see p. 39 of memorial); also that of Hon. ElishaWhittlesey, Comptroller of the Treasury (see p. 41 of memorial); alsoby Hon. Thomas H. Hicks, Governor of Maryland, and by Hon. FrederickFeckey's affidavit, Comptroller of the Public Works of Maryland (seep. 127 of memorial); by Hon. Reverdy Johnson (see pp. 26 and 41 ofmemorial); Hon. George Vickers, United States Senator from Maryland(see p. 41 of memorial); again by Hon. B. F. Wade (see p. 41 ofmemorial); Hon. J. T. Headley (see p. 43 of memorial); Rev. Dr. R. J. Breckenridge on services (see p. 47 of memorial); Prof. Joseph Henry, Rev. Dr. Hodge, of theological seminary at Princeton (see p. 30 ofmemorial); remarkable interviews and correspondence of Judge B. F. Wade (see pp. 23-26 of memorial). 

That this campaign prevented the recognition of Southern independenceby its fatal effects on the Confederate States is shown by lettersfrom Hon. C. M. Clay (see pp. 40, 43 of memorial), and by his lettersfrom St. Petersburgh; also those of Mr. Adams and Mr. Dayton fromLondon and Paris (see pp. 100-102 of memorial). 

That the campaign defeated national bankruptcy, then imminent, andopened the way for a system of finance to defend the Federal cause isshown by the debates of the period in both Houses of Congress; by theutterances of Mr. Spalding, Mr. Diven, Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, Mr. Roscoe Conkling, Mr. John Sherman, Mr. Henry Wilson, Mr. Fessenden, Mr. Trumbull, Mr. Foster, Mr. Garrett Davis, Mr. John C. Crittenden, &c. , found for convenient reference in appendix to memorial, page 59;also therein the opinion of the English press as to why the Unioncould not be restored. 

The condition of the struggle can best be realized as depicted by theleading statesmen in Congress previous to the execution of thesemilitary movements (see synopsis of debates from _CongressionalGlobe_, pp. 21, 22 of memorial). 

The effect of this campaign upon the country and the anxiety to findout and reward the author are evinced by the resolution of Mr. RoscoeConkling in the House of Representatives, 24th of February, 1862 (seedebates on the origin of the campaign, pp. 39-63 of memorial). But itwas deemed prudent to make no public claim as to authorship while thewar lasted (see Colonel Scott's view, p. 32 of memorial). 

The wisdom of the plan was proven, not only by the absolute advantageswhich resulted, giving the mastery of the conflict to the nationalarms and ever more assuring their success even against the powers ofall Europe should they have combined, but it was likewise proven bythe failures to open the Mississippi or win any decided success on theplan first devised by the Government. 

It is further conclusively shown that no plan, order, letter, telegram, or suggestion of the Tennessee river as the line of invasionhas ever been produced except in the paper submitted by Miss Carrollon the 30th of November, 1861, and her subsequent letters to theGovernment as the campaign progressed. 

It is further shown to this committee that the able and patrioticpublications of the memorialist in pamphlets and newspapers, with herhigh social influence, not only largely contributed to the cause ofthe Union in her own State, Maryland (see Governor Hicks' letters, p. 27 of memorial), but exerted a wide and salutary influence on all theborder States (see Howard's Report, p. 33, and p. 75 of memorial). 

These publications were used by the Government as war measures, andthe debate in Congress shows that she was the first writer on the warpowers of the Government (see p. 45 of memorial). Leading statesmenand jurists bore testimony to their value, including PresidentLincoln, Secretaries Chase, Stanton, Seward, Welles, Smith, AttorneyGeneral Bates, Senators Browning, Doolittle, Collamer, Cowan, ReverdyJohnson, and Hicks, Hon. Horace Binney, Hon. Benjamin H. Brewster, Hon. William M. Meredith, Hon. Robert J. Walker, Hon. CharlesO'Connor, Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, Hon. Edward Everett, Hon. ThomasCorwin, Hon. Francis Thomas, of Maryland, and many others, found inmemorial. 

The Military Committee, through General Howard, in the Forty-firstCongress, 3d session, Document No. 337, unanimously reported that MissCarroll did cause the change of the military expedition from theMississippi to the Tennessee, &c. ; and the aforesaid act of the 42dCongress, 2d session, Document No. 167, as found in memorial, reportedthrough Hon. Henry Wilson the evidence and bill in support of thisclaim. Again, in the Forty-fourth Congress, the Military Committee ofthe House favorably considered this claim, and Gen. A. S. Williams wasprepared to report, and, being prevented by want of time, placed onrecord that this claim is incontestably established, and that thecountry owes to Miss Carroll a large and honest compensation, both inmoney and in honors, for her services in the national crises. 

In view of all these facts, this committee believes that the thanks ofthe nation are due Miss Carroll, and that they are fully justified inrecommending that she be placed on the pension rolls of the Governmentas a partial measure of recognition for her public service, and reportherewith a bill for such purpose and recommend its passage. 

Hon. E. M. Stanton came into the War Department in 1862 pledged toexecute the Tennessee campaign. 

Statement from Hon. B. F. Wade, chairman of the Committee on theConduct of the War, April 4, 1876. (This is the long letter from Mr. Wade, which we have already given, and we need not repeat it. )

 * * * * *

General Bragg prepared and suggested the following bill to accompanythe report:

[36]"_Be it enacted_, That the same sum and emoluments given by theGovernment to the major generals of the United States Army be paid toAnna Ella Carroll from the date of her services to the country, inNovember, 1861, to the time of the passage of this act; and thefurther payment of the same amount as the pay and emoluments of amajor general of the United States Army be paid to her in quarterlyinstallments to the end of her life, as a partial measure ofrecognition of her services to the nation, " and recommend its passage. 

 [Footnote 36: I copied this from a printed account some years ago. Conversing lately with a friend of General Bragg, I was assured that this was the first bill prepared. ]

To suggest a bill that should rightfully mark the preëminentlymilitary nature of the services rendered without giving offense to theclass accustomed to monopolize the sounding titles and to wear theglittering plumes was a wonderfully difficult thing to do. Here atleast was a brave and honest effort to accomplish what no previouscommittee had even attempted. The other committees had left the awarda blank, to be filled in by a puzzled and unwilling Congress, whopreferred to do nothing at all. 

In England probably there would not have been the same insuperabledifficulty, a sovereign lady holding high military office as a matterof course; but we have thrown aside some noble traditions, and Americanever has a sovereign lady. 

There was something noble and fitting in this recommendation of awardby General Bragg. Considering how great public services have beenformerly rewarded, it was certainly not extreme. 

To go back to English history:

"The Duke of Marlborough, who commanded the allied armies of England, Austria, and Germany, received the most flattering testimonials in allforms. A principality was voted to him in Germany, while the EnglishGovernment settled upon him the manor of Woodstock, long a royalresidence, and erected thereon a magnificent palace as an expressionof a nation's gratitude. On the Duke of Wellington honors, offices, and rewards were showered from every quarter. The crown exhausted itsstores of titles, and in addition to former grants the sum of £200, 000was voted in 1815 for the purchase of a mansion and estate, etc. Therank of field marshal in four of the greatest armies in the world wasbestowed by the leading governments of Europe. 

"In England it has for a long time been the custom to reward and honorthose illustrious in the realms of science and literature as well asof military success. Though with less demonstration and expenditure ofwealth, our own country has not overlooked signal services in itsbehalf. The government of Pennsylvania in the days of the Revolutionvoted £2, 500 for the political writings of Thomas Paine, and New Yorka farm of 300 acres in a high state of cultivation, with elegant andspacious buildings. Washington himself gave a woman a sergeant'scommission in the army, who stood at the gun by which her husband hadfallen, and on his recommendation she was placed on the pay-roll forlife. 

"Congress, in pursuance of this feeling, has not been unmindful ofAnderson's heroic defense of Fort Sumter, of Farragut's capture of NewOrleans, of Rawlins, etc. , of Stanton, and of Lincoln, in conferringtokens of recognition for their services upon the families whosurvived them. Many instances might be cited where public-spiritedwomen have been rewarded for services rendered in individual casesduring the late struggle and in other forms since. "

And was it not fitting that the author of such influential pamphletsand the designer of the remarkable plan of the Tennessee campaignshould be honorably recognized and rewarded?

Miss Carroll was in her 66th year at the time of General Bragg'srecommendation. Her father was no longer living, her family wasscattered, her health was failing, and her time, strength, and fortunehad been wholly expended in the service of her country with noblegenerosity and the most brilliant results. Surely she deserved tospend the remaining years of her life in honorable independence, distinguished and beloved by the nation to whom she had renderedincalculable service. 

Now it seemed as if, after such an unqualified indorsement of her workby three successive military committees appointed for the purpose, anda suitable bill prepared, that surely her cause was won. Miss Carrollhad been informed of the report and of the bill that had beenprepared. But the Military Committee, having made this excellentsummary of evidence, indorsed Miss Carroll's claim in the strongestmanner, and prepared a noble and fitting bill, became greatly alarmedat what they had done. Leaving their report unchanged, at the lastmoment they hastily withdrew the dignified and fitting bill andsubstituted in its place the following surprising performance:

"_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of theUnited States of America in Congress assembled_, That the Secretary ofthe Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to placeupon the pension-rolls of the United States the name of Anna EllaCarroll, and to pay to her a pension of fifty dollars per month fromand after the passage of this act, during her life, for the importantmilitary service rendered the country by her during the late civilwar. "

_Such_ a report and _such_ a bill side by side stand an anomalyunparalleled. 

Truly the life of the nation was rated as a cheap thing. 

Of course the bill died immediately of its own glaring and ineffablemeanness. 

One can hardly say whether it would have been the more unworthything to pass such a bill or to pass none at all; but the last, beingthe most timorous course, had been adopted for ten successive years, as it has also been resorted to in the ten succeeding ones. 

The Military Committee of 1881, having accomplished this astonishingfeat, threw away their arms and ignominiously fled--and Congressfollowed in the rear, indefinitely postponing action on an unwelcomeclaim, that always _would_ turn up "incontestably proven. "

CHAPTER IX. 

A WOUNDED VETERAN RETIRES FROM THE FIELD -- INTERVIEW WITH GRANT --THE WOMEN OF AMERICA MAKE THE CAUSE THEIR OWN -- A NATIONAL LESSON. 

Miss Carroll, urged on by the friends of justice and historicalverity, had made great efforts rightly to present her case and to gettogether a wonderful mass of indubitable testimony. 

She had been informed of the thorough endorsement of her claim made bythe Military Committee and reported by General Bragg, and of the nobleand fitting bill which he had prepared. Then came that pitiful littlebill and the adjournment of Congress without taking further actionupon the claim. 

She perhaps did not realize, in the presence of what seemed immediatedefeat, that she had performed a great and lasting historical work inputting the whole matter on immovable record; but she certainlyrealized that, though an angel should come from heaven to testify, itwould be useless to expect national recognition. A reaction ofdiscouragement followed, and she was suddenly stricken down byparalysis, which threatened at once to terminate her noble life. Forthree years she hovered between life and death, no hope beingentertained of her recovery. Then the natural vigor of herconstitution reasserted itself, and she slowly regained a veryconsiderable portion of health; but any subsequent efforts with regardto her claim, though receiving her assent, had to be made without herpersonal co-operation, as mental fatigue was imperatively forbidden. She had ceased to hope for any benefit to herself personally from theprosecution of her claim; but, rejoicing in the sense of the greatwork that she had been providentially called upon to accomplish, sherested in the serene conviction that with the incontestable evidencethat had been presented the facts could not be forever buried out ofsight, and that ultimately the truths of history would be secure. 

When Miss Carroll, who had hitherto been as a tower of strength to herfamily, was suddenly stricken down, fortune seemed to be at its lowestebb; but again the Carroll energy and ability came to the rescue. Anunmarried sister, with noble devotion, sustained the nation'sbenefactress. She obtained work in teaching in Baltimore and by harddaily toil provided for her support. But those were very dark daysthat followed. Then this same brave sister, through the influence ofan eminent lady at the White House, obtained a clerkship at theTreasury, at Washington, brought her sister from Baltimore andestablished her in a little unpretending family home, which she hassustained to this day. 

 Note. --Owing to the confusion attendant upon Miss Carroll's well-nigh fatal illness and her subsequent removal to Baltimore, a trunk and box marked A. E. C. Were left behind at the Tremont House, in Washington. 

 After the severe three years' prostration ended, Miss Carroll inquired for this trunk and box, and learned that the Tremont House had gone into other hands after the death of Mr. Hill; that all its contents had been sold off, and to this day she has sought in vain to learn what has become of that box and trunk. They contained a great number of letters, a completed history of Maryland, and her materials for several projected works. 

 Thus, through the cruel neglect she had experienced, the world has lost the benefit of works which, from her exceptional ability and her exceptional opportunities, would have been of inestimable value to our future literature. 

 If any one knows of the fate of that trunk and box they are requested to send word to Miss Carroll or to the present writer, and if ever that history of Maryland comes to light it will be claimed for Miss Carroll, as there are internal evidences which would establish its identity. 

 Governor Hicks a few days before his death committed to Miss Carroll all his papers with a request that she would write the history of Maryland in connection with the civil war, and the part performed by him in the maintenance of the Union. 

 Cassius M. Clay also sent to her his letters and papers desiring that she should write his biography. 

 During Miss Carroll's long and apparently hopeless illness Mr. Clay's letters were sent for and returned to him. 

Another ray of light, too, had come to cheer the invalid. A new powerwas rising upon the horizon in the growing thoughtfulness anddevelopment of women, now banding together in clubs, societies, andconfederations, with their own journals, newspapers, and publications, and with the avowed determination of never resting until women, as anintegral half of the people, had obtained all the rights andprivileges proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, the grantingof which alone could make of our country a sound and true Republic andsecure the ultimate triumph of the moral and humane considerations andmeasures upon which its welfare must depend. 

Naturally, when this growing party came to know of Miss Carroll'sremarkable work they were not disposed to let it fall into oblivion. It seemed as if the Lord himself had declared for their cause ingiving to a woman, at the crisis of the national peril, the remarkableillumination that, so far as human knowledge can judge, had turned thescale of war in favor of our National Union, and had thus pledged thecountry for all future time to the just recognition of the equalrights of women as an integral half of the people, and of equalimportance with their brethren to the welfare of the State. Everyeffort may be made to ignore and hide the remarkable fact, but thework of the Lord remains steadfast, immovable, and incapable oflasting defeat. 

 "The moving finger writes, And, having writ, Moves on. "

A notice of Miss Carroll and her brilliant achievements had beenwritten by Mrs. Matilda Joselyn Gage and incorporated in the historyof Woman Suffrage, a considerable work, giving a sketch of the careerof many eminent women. Mrs. Gage also wrote and circulated a pamphletcalling attention to the case, and Miss Phoebe Couzzins made greatexertions in her behalf. One and another began to inquire what hadbecome of the woman who had done such wondrous work for the nationalcause and had been treated with such deep ingratitude. Mrs. CorneliaC. Hussey, daughter of a high-principled New York family of friends, sought her out, visited her at Baltimore, cheered her with hersympathy, and, interesting others in her behalf, she was enabled tostrengthen the hands of the devoted sister. She induced the _NorthAmerican Review_, of April, 1886, to publish an account furnished byMiss Carroll, and she procured the publication of a series of lettersin the _Woman's Journal_, of Boston, that increased the knowledge andinterest beginning to be felt for Miss Carroll's work. 

Petitions began to pour in asking Congress to take action in the case. In 1885 it was taken up by the Court of Claims, and in case 93 may beseen the result. The evidence presented, though remarkable, was by nomeans as complete as it should have been, owing to Miss Carroll'sillness and to the difficulty of now procuring copies of herpamphlets. Consequently, though the judgment rendered makes notableadmissions and the _moral assent_ runs all through, the court wasenabled, through some legal defects, to retransmit the case toCongress for its consideration; and having once made its decision, thecase cannot again come before that court without a direct order fromCongress to take it up and try it again. 

Looking over the brief at the Court of Claims, made by the lateColonel Warden, I noted this significant passage:

[37]"It may not be amiss here to submit that the two and onlydrawbacks or obstacles that we have met to the immediate, prompt, andunanimous passage of an act of Congress in recognition of and adequatecompensation for the patriotic services and successful militarystrategy of Miss Carroll in the late civil war are found first in anobstruction which President Lincoln encountered and which he referredto when he explained to Senator Wade that the Tennessee plan wasdevised by Miss Carroll, and military men were exceedingly jealous ofall outside interference. " (House Miss. Doc. 58). "The second obstaclewhich has stayed us is founded in a (to some men) seeminglyinsuperable objection, often demonstrated in words and acts by ourlegislators--a misfortune or disability (if it be one) over which MissCarroll had no control whatever, namely, in the fact that she is awoman. "

 [Footnote 37: Brief of claimant in Congressional case 93. ]

It would appear that the decision of the Court of Claimsretransmitting the claim to Congress was considered by Miss Carroll'sfriends to be in her favor. 

Erastus Brooks writes her at this time:

 Dear Miss Carroll:

 Your "Reminiscences of Lincoln" (a work suggested by Mrs. Hussey) should, as far as possible, bring out the words and own thoughts of the man. The subject, the man, and the occasion are the points to be treated, and in this order, perhaps. 

 Again, my old and dear friend, I am very glad and hope the award will meet all your expectations--mental, pecuniary, and of every kind. The hope of the award to yourself and friends must be as satisfactory as the judgment of the court. 

 Yours, ERASTUS BROOKS. 

Miss Carroll showed this letter to Mrs. Hussey, who copied andimmediately published it. 

Miss Carroll, who had always been on friendly terms with GeneralGrant, spoke to him of her claim. They conversed together concerningher work. He assured her that he had not been aware of its extent, andadvised her by all means to continue to push her claim. I have seenthe draft of a letter, written by Miss Carroll at this time, toGeneral Grant in which she alludes to the advice he had given her topush her claim before Congress. The letter is written in thefriendliest spirit and in a tone of touching modesty. It should behere noted that there never was any antagonism between these two whohad done such great work for the salvation of their country. 

Cassius M. Clay wrote to the editor of the New York _Sun_ thefollowing letter, as published in that journal:

 WHITE HALL, KENTUCKY, _March 3, 1886_. 

 In 1861, as soon as I could get General Scott apart from his staff of rebel sympathizers, I advised him to reach the Southern forces by all the water-ways, as the shortest and most practical lines of attack. This advice was hardly necessary as every tyro in the Union Army would probably have done the same. But it belonged to Miss Anna Ella Carroll to project and force upon the bewildered army officers--Halleck, Grant, and others--the cutting in two of the Confederacy by way of the Tennessee river by means of the gunboats, and of our facilities of thus concentrating troops and supplies. It was the great strategical coup of the war. 

 I call the attention of the American nation to Miss Carroll's article in the April number of the _North American Review_ of 1886. It appears that the splendid conception of this project called for the immediate reward of a grateful Congress as the representative of the whole people. But when it was found that it was neither Grant, nor Halleck, nor Buell, but a woman, who showed more genius and patriotism than all the army of military men, the resolution was suppressed and the combined effort of many of the ablest men of the Republican party could never resurrect it. Miss Carroll merely states her case. There is no event in history better backed up-with impregnable evidence. 

 CASSIUS M. CLAY. 

Mr. Clay also wrote to Mrs. Hussey the following letter, which shesends me for publication:

 _April 12, 1886. _

 C. C. HUSSEY. 

 Dear Madame: Your letter and circular of the 8th inst. Are received. I was a long time a correspondent of Miss C. , never having seen her, but holding a letter of introduction from Vice-President Henry Wilson. I have no standpoint in politics of influence now. * * * Miss Carroll's case shows the infinite baseness of human nature--how few worship truth and justice. I am already assailed for speaking a word in her cause, and shall have all the old feuds against me revived; but I am not dependent upon the American people for subsistence and am not a petitioner for money or office, so I speak my mind. 

 Very truly yours, C. M. CLAY. 

Miss Katharine Mason, Miss Anna C. Waite, Miss Phoebe Couzzins, Mrs. H. J. Boutelle, Mrs. Louisa D. Southworth, Mrs. Esther Herrman, and ahost of other prominent ladies in succession took up the cause, publishing articles east and west, and speaking upon the subject orcontributing in some way to the cause. Petitions to Congress continuedasking attention to Miss Carroll's case, and that due recognition andaward should be accorded to her. High-principled Senators andRepresentatives would take up these petitions and present them withtheir own endorsement of the case. But ten righteous men count forlittle among a mass of Senators and Representatives wildly pushingtheir own individual and party measures. Every human being with aballot might be worthy of their attention, but a disfranchised classmust go to the wall. With every extension of the ballot such a classsinks deeper and deeper in the scale, and the disregard and contemptfor women and their claims becomes inborn--for law is an educator. 

In the spring of 1890 Mr. And Mrs. Root spent weeks in Washingtonverifying, step by step, the incontrovertible facts of Miss Carroll'swork. The _Woman's Tribune_, of Washington, generously published alarge edition of their report, enclosed advanced sheets, with apersonal letter, to every Senator and Representative, and laid themupon their desks, with the invariable result of continued neglect. 

Mrs. Abby Gannett Wells, of a highly cultivated Boston family, took upthe cause with enthusiasm, made a tour among the army relief posts, and created among soldiers and soldiers' wives a lively interest inthe work of their great coadjutor. Tokens of recognition were sent toMiss Carroll, and many a retired veteran, beside his evening fire, putdown his name to petitions for her just recognition. Then this bravelady made another effort. She published in the Boston _Sunday Herald_, of February, 1890, an account, from which we give the followingextract, having already given extracts from the earlier portion:

 "In the last year so many women throughout the country had come to take an interest in this case, petitions to Congress asking for Miss Carroll's suitable recognition and remuneration were sent in considerable numbers, some being presented in the Senate by Mr. Hoar and some in the House by Mr. Lodge. In September last, at an interview with these gentlemen in Boston, I learned it to be their opinion that if I made a plea in Miss Carroll's behalf before the two Congressional Committees on Military Affairs an interest might be aroused to lead to successful results. I therefore promised to visit Washington, and went to the city in the second week in February of the present year. 

 "The bill calling for an appropriation from Congress for Miss Carroll's services during the civil war, such services consisting of the preparation of papers used as war measures and the furnishing of the military plan for our western armies, known as the plan of the Tennessee campaign, had already been presented in the Senate by General Manderson, of Nebraska, and in the House by Mr. Lodge, of Massachusetts. As Mr. Hoar was ill when I arrived in Washington, he wrote a letter to Mr. Manderson, asking for an early hearing for me, and then sent his private secretary to conduct me to that gentleman in person. I write particulars of the obtaining of these hearings simply to show that even a case demanding urgent action like this finds unexpected obstacles that threaten to retard it indefinitely. 

 "Mr. Manderson met me kindly, but stated that the committee had such a pressure of business on hand it seemed impossible to take time for Miss Carroll's case, greatly as some of the members had it at heart. But on my replying that I represented the wishes of many women, and we could appeal nowhere else in order for this injustice to be righted, he said if I would come to the committee-room on the morning of the 5th I should be given what time was possible. On that morning General Hawley, the chairman, received me pleasantly, but stated, as he introduced me to the members, that it was unusual to give such a hearing, and he trusted that I would occupy only a little time; but I am glad to add that the committee's courtesy quite exceeded what might be expected of these busy workers. I had over half an hour of their most earnest attention, and if the expressions upon their faces were a criterion to judge by, Miss Carroll's story was not without its effect upon their sympathy and sense of right. I was particularly glad to see such evidences, because among their members were ex-Confederates, Gen. Wade Hampton being one. 

 "When Mr. Lodge presented me to General Cutcheon, chairman of the House committee, I heard again the plea of overmuch business; yet the concession was made--I might come on the morning of the 7th and occupy a "few minutes. " Promptly at the hour I was at the committee-room, and since the time was to be so short I had put aside my notes and was telling of Miss Carroll's work, and growing sure of the interest of my listeners, when the chairman interrupted, saying that it now occurred to him that a bill asking for an appropriation belonged with the Committee on War Claims. A book was consulted, and it became the opinion of the committee that this bill did belong with the War Claims Committee. As, in order for me to appear before that committee, the bill would have to go back to the House and be remanded there, and there might be some delay about it, the Military Committee passed a unanimous vote asking the Committee on War Claims to hear my plea at their next meeting, in view of the bill not appearing until later. 

 "This was discouraging, and the matter grew more so when, on meeting General Thomas, of the War Claims Committee, I was assured that the bill could not possibly belong there. By good fortune I met General Cutcheon at one of the doors of the ladies' gallery of the House, and I told him the dilemma. He generously went to the Speaker and got his decision, which was that either committee could decide as to the merits of the bill. Being given my choice, I decided to appear again before the Military Committee. 

 "That brought the hearing round to the 11th, the limit of my possible stay in the city. When a quorum had assembled General Cutcheon stated the case, and I was about to begin, when a member objected. He was sure that the bill belonged with the Committee on War Claims. A second member expressed himself as decidedly. A short discussion took place, the vote was put, it was against me and I was dismissed. 

 "I turned away, having never had in my life a greater sense of disappointment. Had I not known that the objection was so purely technical I could have borne the situation better; but to lose the opportunity for this, return home with my mission unaccomplished, see Miss Carroll herself, and tell her that the effort had been nipped in the bud, it seemed impossible to submit to it. 

 "Mr. Wise of Virginia, the gentleman who had first objected, now appeared to have a second thought. 

 "'Since the lady has come so far, and in behalf of another person, it seems to me we hardly ought to dismiss her so summarily. '

 "I hastened to say that the bill had had a similar fate before, had passed and repassed from Military and War Claims Committees until action was wholly prevented. 

 "Mr. Wise thereupon asked for a reconsideration of the motion. The final result was that a unanimous vote allowed me to present my appeal. 

 "After this generous action I found the presentation of the case a pleasure rather than a duty. It was rather a conversation with liberal-minded gentlemen. When they learned that President Lincoln, his Secretaries, and Senators and Representatives whose names are famous vouched for Miss Carroll's work, the integrity of her claim more surely revealed itself to them. 

 "The case was ordered to Mr. Wise for special consideration, which he cordially promised to give. 

 "As I left the committee-room I could not help congratulating myself over the ill-omened beginning, since it had resulted toward a relation of the work far more complete than had otherwise been the case. 

 "That day I saw the aged invalid for the first time. She is a most remarkable woman still. I heard from her own lips the story I knew so well, but rendered more thrilling than ever as thus repeated; and I had the happiness of telling her that I believed her case was now in safe hands. 

 "Not long after, through the unseating of Mr. Wise, of Virginia, Hon. Francis W. Rockwell, of this State, received the case as sub-committee. In view of this we ought to be even more hopeful, since his colleagues, Messrs. Hoar and Lodge, have put forth so many efforts in its furtherance. --_Boston Sunday Herald, February, 1890. _

 ABBY M. GANNETT. 

The _Century_ magazine, which had been publishing an exhaustiveaccount of "the men who fought and planned our battles, " was appealedto in the name of historical verity to give an account of MissCarroll's work. Having had the matter under consideration for morethan a year and having convinced themselves of the truth of the claim, they published, in August of 1890, an open letter bringing the case tothe attention of their readers. A public-spirited lady of Washingtonpurchased copies and laid the marked article on the desks of Senatorsand Representatives, with the same invariable result. But thoughCongress disregarded the matter, not so the reading public, andinquiries began to be made for further information, which it wasdifficult to furnish for want of an easily attainable printed account. It was therefore determined to meet this demand, and the presentrelation is the result. 

In consequence of the petitions continually received, friendlySenators and Representatives have again and again brought in billsasking for $10, 000, or even $5, 000, for Miss Carroll's relief(invariably neglected). 

Such bills, though very kindly meant, seem to me a mistake. It is nota question of $5, 000 or $500, 000. It is--it always has been--aquestion of _recognition_. 

Granted that this wonderful woman by the intense labor of heart andbrain, by her whole-souled devotion of life and fortune, has saved thenational cause--for the thousands upon thousands of precious liveslaid down would have been of no avail had the plan adopted at thecrisis of fate been an unwise one--this granted, a noble bill might beacted upon by Congress, but an _ignoble_ one--never. Whatever may beour faults, we are at heart a proud and self-respecting people, and nopaltry bill would be endured, and no bill which did not award militaryhonor for pre-eminent military services could meet the case withjustice and with dignity. 

Although weighed down with an immense mass of obsolete law and custom, shall we say that England leads the van in integrity of principle anddevotion to human rights? Although the doctrine of divine right wasexploded long ago, England loyally holds to her Queen. 

As long as it pleases the English people to maintain a royal line, itmakes no difference to them whether its representative be a man or awoman. England never had a salic law. But America--when a grand womancomes to her for her deliverance at the crisis of her fate, crownedwith heaven's own prerogative of genius, what America does for her inreturn for her accepted services is to stamp her under foot and buryher out of sight, that her well-earned glory may fall by default uponthe ruling class. 

Can America continue to be so unjust to women? Can it continue to holdthem down as a disfranchised class?

Owing to continued petitions, Military Committees were appointedduring this last Congress to investigate Miss Carroll's claim. 

I have not heard the result, but again Congress has adjourned withouttaking action. About March 27 I had the opportunity of looking overthe file which had just come back from the Senate Committee. First ofall came a surprising number of petitions sent in during this pastyear; then the documents in evidence of the claim. They were a meagerlot compared to what they should have been. In a case of thisimportance one would suppose that a copy of every memorial and ofevery report should have been on the file. Not at all. Quite early inthe history of the case "supply exhausted" was the answer given toevery request for these documents, and Miss Carroll herself was unableto obtain them. 

The reprint of a few of the earlier ones by no means represents them, and owing to the universal exclusion from the Congressional indexes ofthe later and more important ones, especially the memorial of 1878 andBragg's report thereon, much important evidence was wanting. Stillconsidering that all that has been printed by "order of Congress" isguaranteed, I should have thought that the evidence given before theMilitary Committee of 1871 would have been sufficient. Certain I amthat if a woman had been on that committee the matter would haveassumed more prominence, and there would have been a research for theadditional documents that have been omitted. It is the old, old storythat every intelligent woman is coming to understand, that you cannotleave to others the interests of a disfranchised class. 

In looking over the file at the War Department I noted that there hadbeen inquiries from committees asking if there was a letter of MissCarroll's there of November 30, 1861, and others mentioned, and theanswer returned was "_no_. " It would be in place here to callattention to the fact that they had once been on file there, and thereason that they are there no longer is given in the memorial of 1878, on the evidence of Wade, Hunt, and others. 

On April 16, 1891, at the file-room of the House, I saw the file thathad come back from the House Committee of this past Congress, whoseattention also had been called to the subject in consequence of themany petitions received by the House as well as by the Senate. Icounted twenty-five petitions with numerous signatures, as well assome detached letters. An interesting petition was from one of theArmy Posts, signed by soldiers and by officers, asking for award totheir great coadjutor. I noted a statement in one of them that thewidow of one of the Generals employed in carrying out the Tennesseecampaign had been in receipt, ever since her husband's death, of apension of $5, 000 a year, while the great projector of the campaignhad been left neglected. Asking if there was anything more, anotherbundle of petitions was handed to me, each package containing a paper, with extracts from the memorials and reports, neatly arranged, givingsome of the remarkable letters of Scott, Wade, and Evans, and thedecisions of the Military Committees fully endorsing the claim. Itwould seem that the committees were appointed to receive thepetitions, not to consider evidence, as the documentary evidence wasnot here on the file. And why should they consider it, when the casehad been at the first examined carefully, tried, and a unanimous votehad endorsed the claim, and succeeding reports, including the onemistakenly marked as "adverse, " all bore witness to the incontestablenature of the evidence. To go on trying a case so established over andover for twenty years would be a manifest absurdity. 

And thus the case stands. 

In reading these records a sorrowful thought must come into everywoman's soul as she recognizes how deep must have been the feelingagainst women to prevent Congress, in all these years, from coming toa fair and square acknowledgment of the truth. 

But a different spirit is coming over the world: A spirit of justice, a spirit of brotherly kindness towards women, shown in innumerableways and recognized by them with gratitude and joy. 

The active men of to-day were children when the Union was saved. Helpless children, when Miss Carroll, in the prime of her life andfullness of her powers, with clearness of perception, with firmness ofcharacter, with the light of genius upon her brow, devoted her time, her strength, her fortune, and her great social influence to thenational cause that the men of to-day might have a country, proud, prosperous, and peaceful, to rejoice in themselves and to hand down inunbroken unity to their children. 

It should be not only a duty but a blessed privilege--stillpossible--to see that all that earth can give to brighten the latterdays of our great benefactress shall be given her. That she shall becrowned with the undying love and gratitude of a great and a unitednation. 

And let us remember, too, what it would have been for our country ifthe noble daughter of Governor Carroll had thought it her duty to keepout of politics while her country was perishing, and to regard themilitary movements, upon which its life depended, as something outsideof a woman's province. 

The nation belongs to its women as surely as it belongs to itsmen. All that concerns its welfare concerns them also, and nature hasgifted them with especial attributes of heart and intellect to aid inits guidance and to aid in its salvation.