1865 September 2: Webb Seavey, Fred Dresser, and David Caneday Home from the War; and Other Bits of News

Following are smaller news items from The Polk County Press of September 2, 1865.

A JOKE.—The Prescott Journal has a lengthy account of Gen. Grant’s reception at Prescott and the leading spirits are all hugely complimented for the masterly manner in which they performed their different parts.  The fun of it is, the General was asleep when the boat passed Prescott, and they did not see him at all.  [Ulysses S. Grant]

HOME FROM THE WAR.—Captain WEBB S. SEAVEY, 5th Iowa Cavalry, and Quartermaster FRED. A. DRESSER., 30th Wisconsin Volunteers, arrived home on Tuesday evening.

Capt. SEAVEY has been mustered out with his regiment, after four years hard and faithful service for the Government, and was unfortunate enough to serve part of his time in the rebel slaughter pen at Andersonville.  We are sorry to say that his health is quite poor.

Quartermaster DRESSER is home on furlough, and returns in a few days.  His regiment is stationed at Louisville, and will be mustered out some time during the month of October.  [Frederick A. Dresser]

GEN. GRANT.—GEN. ULYSSES S. GRANT and party visited St. Paul, St. Anthony, Minneapolis, Minnehaha, and Fort Snelling last Saturday.  He met with a grand reception.

—DAVID CANEDAY, formerly of the “Monitor” dropped in upon us Thursday.  DAVE is the same old “David” of old, notwithstanding the hard campaigns of the Southwest.  [David A. Canaday]

TO OUR READERS.—With this number of the PRESS we bid “good-bye” to our readers for a short time, while with the aid of the “iron horse” we journey East and visit again our old New England home.  During our absence the PRESS will be in charge of our brother and junior publisher, who will, no doubt, assume our duties in a manner satisfactory to all.  [former soldier Henry O. Fifield is the brother and junior publisher]

DREADFUL ACCIDENT AT ST. PAUL.—During the passage of GEN. GRANT through Third Street St. Paul, last Saturday, an iron balcony containing about twenty men, women and children, was precipitated from the second story of a building to the stone side-walk below, severely injuring,—some of them fatally,—seventeen persons.  The balcony was a shabbily built affair, and broke down from being overloaded.

—The latest report from Gov. Brough says that one of his limbs have [sic] been amputated above the ankle.  He is much worse, and no hopes are entertained of his recovery.  [John Brough]

WOODEN MORTAR.—We saw at the historical society room, the other day, a wooden mortar, which was used in the bombardment of the forts around Mobile. It is simply the section of a gum log, about eighteen inches long and ten inches in diameter, hooped with three iron bands.—They are quite light, and can be easily carried from place to place to suit convenience.  This one belonged to the Seventh Regiment, and was presented by them to the historical society.—St. Paul Press.

The Southern Church.

At the outbreak of the rebellion and long previous to it, the slavery question had been a source of as much dissension in church as in State.  Several of the leading church denominations had divided or were utterly at variance among their membership on this inevitable question.—All the churches in the South argued the divinity of slavery, supporting, supported succession and encouraged rebellion.  Almost all the former ecclesiastical organizations there, are now broken up, and under the influence of the liberal ideas of the North, the reconstruction of the churches is beginning.  Slavery, the sole cause of contention and seperation [sic], is now virtually abolished, and the re-union of the churches, or rather their reorganization on the principles which all their members North and South, once held in common, is already taking place.  The elimination of every element of discord from the powerful and widely extended church organizations of the country, will be very effective in promoting harmony among the people of every State and section, and will do much in the way of uniting indissolubly those who were so lately at enmity towards each other.

1865 August 26: General Grant Visits Prescott

The Prescott Journal of August 26, 1865, covered the supposed visit of General Ulysses S. Grant.  The Journal never confesses up to their ruse, but The Polk County Press of September 2, 1865, fills us in on the joke:

A JOKE.—The Prescott Journal has a lengthy account of Gen. Grant’s reception at Prescott and the leading spirits are all hugely complimented for the masterly manner in which they performed their different parts.  The fun of it is, the General was asleep when the boat passed Prescott, and they did not see him at all.

G E N.   G R A N T !

HIS RECEPTION HERE.

Great Enthusiasm Manifested

Remarks by the General, Incidents, &c.

Yielding to the solicitations of the patriotic people of Prescott and St. Paul, Gen. U.S. GRANT, who it will be remembered has been somewhat prominent in connection with the late war, has taken a trip “up the river.”

His reception here was brilliant beyond anything in the previous history of this city, and must have been flattering to the great chief, as it was creditable to ourselves.  We can give but a brief outline of the reception, which occurred about 12 o’clock last night.

A scandalous rumor having been put in circulation that the great strategist would attempt to flank this town by going up the channel on the other side of the island, Mr. Mecham [Edgar A. Meacham] was detailed to occupy that channel with a barge.  The sagacious soldier did not attempt to flank him, and so the noble Itasca moved straight for our levee.

As the boat came in sight, the blocks on the levee were brilliantly illuminated, bonfires were kindled, and the cannon thundered a welcome.  The Democratic levee did itself honor.  Nessel had out two rows of Chinese lanterns the whole length of his Hotel, with appropriate mottoes.  Beardsley [Joseph W. Beardsley] and Lyford each held aloft a torch, formerly owned by the McClellan club ;  while Charley Barnes, his face radiant with joy, had his office gaily illuminated, and stood on the sidewalk with a kerosene lamp in each hand.

As the boat neared the levee, the Glee Club under the lead of Prof. Billings sang,

“Lo, the conquering Hero comes.”¹

Music has charms, in fact it is “the pla_ spel of the sole,” and the music brought Gen. Grant to the bow of the boat.  As the boat landed and the plank was run out, he was greeted with three rousing cheers.  He attempted to come ashore, but had lost his ticket, and Clerk LEWIS would not let him off without paying his fare, so he leaned against the capstan while the

SPEECH OF WELCOME

was delivered, by Mr. J. M. McKEE, Esq., formerly a prominent officer in the Home Guards.  Mr. McKEE stroked his manly beard with becoming dignity and said he felt proud to welcome this great chief to Prescott.  He had never before had the pleasure of seeing the victorious leader, as imperative business had kept him from visiting the sunny South during our recent trouble.  He made some further appropriate remarks, and closed by telling the General that he could get cigars of excellent flavor at the Book & Variety Store.

Gen. Grant made no speech in response, but easily and gracefully leaning against the capstan,² he indulged in a running talk, the substance of a portion of which we give.  He thanked Mr. McKee for the pleasant remarks he had made, especially about the cigars, and told him he might send him a box as a sample.  He said that he had heard of many of McKee’s suggestions about the war, and they had been of great service to him.  Though he had never before seen but a few of the manly faces before him, yet he had been a careful reader of the “Family Paper,” and felt well acquainted with us all.  He asked to be introduced to Dr. Beardsley, and told the Dr. that those Co. Seat resolutions of his, were a very wrong and wicked thing, but he supposed his heart was nearer right than his head, and no doubt he repudiated them now.  He forgave him, since he had taken Richmond, (O. T.)

The Gen. was then introduced by his request, to Chas. L. Barnes.  Said he, “Squire Barnes, is it true, as I hear that you are going for negro suffrage !”  Chas. replied that it was.  The Gen. congratulated him, and advised him to fight it out on that line.  Said he, “Esq. Barnes, you are young yet, and can still do a great deal to elevate an oppressed race.”

The Gen. then enquired for Barnard, and was told that he had gone to St. Paul, when he replied, “all right, I shall see him there.  I understand he was powerful on recruiting.”

The General evidently wished to talk with several others, but just at this time Capt. Webb rang the bell, and said that boat was going to St. Paul, so the General broke of [off?] his remarks, and retired to his room, which was C, ladies’ cabin.

The demonstration was an imposing one, and well calculated to flatter the General, and impress him with a sense of the grandeur of the Northwest.

Capstan

1.  From George Frederic Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus.
2.  A capstan is a vertical-axled rotating machine developed for use on sailing ships to apply force to ropes, cables, and hawsers.

1865 June 24: General Grant’s Speechmaking, St. Croix Baptist Association’s Resolutions on the War, the Latest from Texas

Several shorter articles on a variety of topics from The Polk County Press and The Prescott Journal of June 24, 1865.

From The Polk County Press:

Gen. Grant’s Speeches.

One of these days somebody or or [sic] other will be giving us “The Life and Speeches of Ulysses S. Grant.  And some of the orations of the little man of Granite will read as follows:

SPEECH AT THE COOPER INSTITUTE.

My friends I thank you for this reception.

SPEECH AT THE ASTOR HOUSE DINNER.

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen :—I rise only to say that I do not intend to say anything.  [Laughter.]  I thank you for your kind words and hearty welcome.  [Applause.]

SPEECH AT THE SERENADE OF THE N. Y. SEVENTH REGIMENT.

Gentlemen of the Seventh Regiment, I thank you for this compliment.  Good night.

SPEECH AT THE CHICAGO FAIR.

I never make speeches, and will, therefore, call on Senator Yates to express the thanks which I feel but cannot express.  [Richard Yates]

Thus it will be seen that the man of great deeds is a man of very few words.

THERE are various speculations concerning the effect of the disbandment of the army upon the country.  The precedents in other countries will scarcely apply to this.  Ours is a citizen army, impelled by a patriotic interest in the preservation of the country, to take up arms in its defense.  Many of its members left farms, workshops, and professions, to which they can return.  The action of our armies, both under Gen. Meade [George G. Meade] and Sherman [William T. Sherman], which do not bear a stain fo [sic] rapine or violence, shows that the vicious element in the army is small.—The great majority of those who on disbandment will not be able to resume at once former regular pursuits, will, we think, be desirous to obtain work, and we hope will be cordially assisted to consumate [sic] that desire.  We can already judge something of the disposition of the soldiers, on retirement from the army, by the fact that 100,000 men, who have served in the ranks for a greater or less time, are now absorbed in the community, and we imperceptible as a class.—We believe that a similar result will follow the complete disbandment of the army.  The returned soldiers will, of course have no inconsiderable effect upon the competition of labor and upon the general tone of thought of the community, but will soon melt into the general mass, and become absorbed in the duties of labor and the interests of citizenship.  The theory that a great era of crime is to succeed the disbandment of the army, is insulting to the brave men who have fought our battles.—What the soldier was as a citizen before he went to the war, he will soon be after his return from it.  He never looked upon his life in the army as anything more than an episode, and never surrendered his plan of business and pleasure which before enlistment he had devised for the future.

The London Standard says :

“President Davis [Jefferson Davis], we are happy to say, has not yet fallen into the hands of the sleuth hounds who have been set up on his track.  If the worse should be all him, and his escape be found impossible, it is supposed he will die fighting rather than fall into their hands.  Such a death of such a man would enlist the sympathy of Europe in the cause of a suffering people ;  but his life and leadership would be preferred by that people to his martyrdom.  The spectacle of the heroic leader at bay, with his two thousand followers, among the myriads of the North, disdaining while living to surrender the cause for which he has struggled during these terrible four years, is of such absorbing interest to the civilized world that all political topics pile into insignificance beside it, and the attention of the civilized world is facinated [sic] by it in a longdrawn agony of mingled hopes and fears.”

Realization :  Jeff Davis taken in a woman’s dress about the time the predictor was predicting.

RECEIPT for making trowsers last.—Make the coat and vest first.

From The Prescott Journal:

Resolution,

Passed by the St. Croix Baptist Asso-
ciation, June 14th and 15th, 1865.

RESOLVED, That we owe humble heart felt and profound gratitude to Almighty God, who has brought our country victoriously through the terrible struggle of four years of such civil war as the earth has seldom or never witnessed, leaving us still a proud and honored name and peace among the nations of the earth.

2d.  That in this war the hand of God is plainly visible, visiting and scourging us for all our national sins, and especially for the accursed system of American Slavery, of which both North and South have been guilty ;  and that we accept the favorable termination of the war as an unmistakable providential indication that God means to preserve us a nation, obliterating all traces of Slavery from the land, and fitting us to be more largely instrumental in evangelizing the nations of the earth.

3d.  That in the emancipation of 4,000,000 of bondmen by the fiery or deal through which we have passed, we see some compensation for the untold miseries and sacrifices of the war, culminating as they did in the sudden and violent death of our beloved leader, who stood higher in the hearts of the people than any other since the days of Washington.

4th.  That we execrate the foul crime by which the life of a great and good man was violently taken and the nation deprived of its honored and chosen President, and that we regard with unutterable detestation the vile miscreant, who, in the hands of the slaveholder’s rebellion, was the instrument of its accomplishment.

5th.  That as the ministers and churches of the South were largely guilty in inciting the crimes of Secession, they ought to show a penitent spirit for these heinous offences before we can cordially fellowship and fraternize with them.

6th.  That it is the christian duty of the hour to labor earnestly for the intellectual, moral and religious elevation of the Freedmen, so that they may be fitted for the enjoyment of all their rights, responsibilities and privileges as citizens of these United States, that of suffrage included, and also for the enlightenment and evangelization of the poor whites.

The Battle Flags.

FARNHAM, of the Sparta Eagle, has been visiting the Chicago Fair.  We extract the following eloquent passage from his description of Trophy Hall :

Suspended from the galleries above and floating over the marvelous array of objects that cover the floor of that hall can be seen the tattered banners carried upon almost every battle field of the rebellion.  As we stand within the circle of five hundred battle flags that sweep the hall of trophies, we are led to contemplate what terrible scenes that strange horizon of bloody tattered banners have witnessed; what thunder and clamor of war has rolled around them.  How have they shivered as passing souls went up; how they flared like torches in the face of the foe!  How did the wild aurgea [sic] drift them out to glory !—Amid what clouds and dyings [sic], what bursts of sun and gusts of ringing cheers have they shaken like the wings of an eagle !  And where are the hands that held them, and where are the hearts that loved and vindicated them before God and mankind !  The apostrophe of Morton to the bones of Warren comes to us like a fresh utterance, as we look at them :  “Illustrious relics !  What tidings from the grave !”¹  Uncover the brow and be still, for the dead are here !

NEW YORK, June 17.—The Herald’s correspondent, in the Gulf Department, furnishes interesting accounts of the incidents preceding, attending and following the occupation of Brownsville, Texas, on the 31st ult., by the National troops under Gen. Brown.  The rebel troops, previous to evacuating the place, mutinied, pillaged the town, and made prisoners of some of their officers, until their demands for the payment of their back dues were complied with.

The rebels left the day previous to Gen. Brown’s arrival, not waiting to be paroled, or to comply, in any manner, with the terms of Gen. Kirby Smith’s surrender.  Large numbers of them moved across the Rio Grande, into Mexico, taking with them their arms.—Their artillery they sold to the Mexican Imperialists at Matamoras.

It is said that the last of the rebels were driven from Brownsville by Mexican residents, who organized a home guard for the preservation of order.

Soon after the evacuation commenced, after taking possession of Brownsville, General Brown wrote a letter to General Mejia, the Imperialist commander at Matamoras, assuring him that neutrality would be observed by the American forces in regard to the contest in Mexico between the republicans and imperialists.

It is said that the rebel General Magruder [John B. Magruder], as well as Kirby Smith, has gone to Mexico.  The latter carried with him a considerable amount of money.

On the 2d inst., the rebel Generals Kirby Smith and Magruder were received on board the U. S. steamer Fort Jackson, Capt. Sands, off Galveston, when the articles of surrender of all the rebel trans-Mississippi forces were signed by Gen. Smith.  The next morning the rebel officers were conveyed back to Galveston, and on the 5th inst. Capt. Sands, and other officers, proceeded up to the town, landed, and received its surrender from the hands of the Mayor, and once more unfurled the National flag over the public building, in the presence of a large but undemonstrative and orderly assemblage of people.

1.  From Perez Morton’s (1751-1837) funeral oration for Revolutionary War General Joseph Warren (1741-1775), who had spent the night in the Morton home just before the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he died.

1865 June 17: Grant—“Victory has crowned your valor and secured the purposes of your patriotic hearts”

General Ulysses S. Grant’s order comes from the June 17, 1865, issue of The Polk County Press.

Congratulatory Order — The Lieut. General to the United States Armies.

WASHINGTON June 4.“Gen. Grant has issued the following congratulatory address to the armies :

WAR DEPT., ADJT. GEN. OFFICE, }
Washington, D. C., June 2. }

General Orders No. 108.

Soldiers of the armies of the United States, by your patriotic devotion to your country in the hour of danger and alarm, your magnificent fighting, bravery and endurance, you have attained the supremacy of the Union and Constitution, overthrown armed opposition to the enforcement of the laws and of the proclamations forever abolishing slavery, the cause and pretext of the rebellion, and opened the way to the rightful authorities to restore order and inaugurate peace on a permanent and enduring basis on every foot of American soil.  Your marches, sieges, and battles, in distance, duration, resolution and brilliancy of results, dim the luster of the world’s past military achievements and will be the patriot[’]s precedent in defense of liberty and right, in all time to come.

In obedience to your country’s call you left your homes and firesides, and volunteered in its defense.  Victory has crowned your valor and secured the purposes of your patriotic hearts, and with the gratitude of your countrymen and the highest honors a great and free nation can accord, you will soon be permitted to return to your homes and families, conscious of having discharged the highest duty of the American citizen.

To achieve these glorious triumphs and secure to ourselves, your fellow countrymen, and posterity, the blessing of free institutions, tens of thousands of your gallant comrades have fallen and sealed the priceless legacy with their lives.  Their graves a grateful nation bedews with tears, honors their memories, and will ever cherish and support their stricken families.

[Signed] .                        .U. S. GRANT,
.                                              .Lieut. General.

1865 May 27: Grant— “no military hero in the world’s history has won so many important successes unclouded by defeat”

This article comes from The Polk County Press of May 27, 1865.

Grant’s Grand Total.

We believe that no military hero in the world’s history has won so many important successes unclouded by defeat, as our modest and unassuming Lieutenant General.  They may be summed up as follows :

At Fort Donelson, February 16, 1862, he captured Maj. Gen. S. [Simon] B. Buckner, with 13,000 prisoners, 3,000 horses, about 2,000 stand of arms, forty-eight field pieces, ten heavy guns and other military stores.

At Vicksburg, July 4th, 1868, he captured Lieut. Gen. Pemberton [John C. Pemberton], with 20 general officers, 4,000 commissioned officers, and 29,000 men—total about 34,000.  He also captured 128 pieces of field artillery and 90 siege guns, besides 83 pieces previously taken—total 801.  Of small arms 45, 000, with arms and munitions of war for 60,000 men, with a vast quantity of steamboats, locomotives, cotton, etc,—and, more important than all, the Mississippi.  As Vicksburg involved the surrender of Port Hudson, we have to credit to Grant the fruits there gathered—5,500 prisoners, 51 guns, 44,800 pounds of powder, 150,000 rounds of ammunition, 5,000 stand of arms, two steamers, and other stores.  Arkansas Post, captured by a detachment from his command, adds 5,000 prisoners and 40 guns.

At Chattanooga, besides the brilliant feat of rescuing our beleagured [sic] and endangered army, and driving the enemy from a vastly superior position, he captured 6,000 prisoners and 40 guns.  A detachment of his immediate command under Weitzel [Godfrey Weitzel], captured 3,000 prisoners and 180 guns at Fort Fisher and Wilmington.  In the crowning campaign against Richmond, he destroyed a rebel army of 60,000 men, all of whom were either killed, wounded, dispersed or captured.  In the final surrender at Appomattox Court House, April 9th, 1865, 26,000 prisoners, 16,000 stand of arms, 160 cannon, 70 flags, 1000 wagons, 4000 horses were all that remained ;  but at Richmond Weitzel had previously reported the capture of 800 guns, and a considerable number must have been captured at Petersburg.

This surrender involved the subsequent surrender of Johnston [Joseph E. Johnston] with 25,000 prisoners and over ninety guns, and must be followed by simpler surrender of the armies of Dick Taylor [Richard Taylor], probably 12,000, Kirby Smith and McGruder [sic: John B. Magruder] estimated at 25,000.

It would be safe to say that, including the captured not above enumerated, two hundred thousand men and two thousand guns have been captured by Gen. Grant, and as the immediate results of his victories.—His grand total of captures are at least twice as great as the forces under his command at any one time.

When we add to these figures the rebel killed and wounded at Donelson, at the battles before Vicksburg at Chattanooga, and at the Wilderness, the last of which is estimated to have amounted to sixty thousand and it will appear that Gen. Grant has put hors du combat [sic: hors de combat] not less than three hundred and fifty thousand rebels in captured, killed, wounded and dispersed.  True, some of these successes were obtained by desperate fighting and severe losses, but impartial history will declare that we could not have had Vicksburg without Shiloh, nor Richmond without the terrible battles of Spottsylvania.  In the light of the whole record, now complete, every one of Grant’s campaigns is demonstrated to have been a success.  The temporary laurels won by Lee [Robert E. Lee], Johnston and other rebel chiefs, but add their tribute to Grant’s enduring fame, which, like Mose’s divinely consecrated rod, swallow up all the others.

1865 February 11: Corrected Enrollment List for Town of Osceola; News About Generals Grant, Pope, and Curtis; Casualties at Fort Fisher; 10th Wisconsin Battery in Savannah

Following are the smaller items from our two newspapers, The Prescott Journal and The Polk County Press, for their issues of February 11, 1865.

The 10th Wisconsin Battery had many men from Osceola (Polk County), various places in Saint Croix County, from Prescott (Pierce County), and from Eau Claire.

From The Prescott Journal:

 The President and Sec. Seward have had an interview with the Southern Peace Commissioners.  No immediate result was attained.  [Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William H. Seward]

GEN. GRANT’S NEW HOUSE.—The new house presented to Gen. GRANT in Philadelphia, is a four-story, double-front structure of brick and brown stone trimmings.  It has sixteen rooms, among which are a billiard-room and library, and is provided with all the modern improvements.  Its cost was about $30,000.  The furniture which is to complete the gift is now in process of manufacture, and will not be entirely ready before the first of March.  [Ulysses S. Grant]

 The Supreme Court of Michigan has decided the soldier-suffrage act to be unconstitutional.  The decision elects one Democratic Congressman (BALDWIN), several Democratic members of the Legislature, and a large number of Democratic county officers.

GONE TO EUROPE.—AUGUST BELMONT, the grand manager of the Democratic party, has gone to Europe with Gen. MCCLELLAN [George B. McClellan].

 JEFF. DAVIS has appointed the 10th of March next as a day of fasting, humiliation prayer and thanksgiving. The prayers of the unrighteous have thus far done the rebellion no good.  [Confederate President Jefferson Davis]

 Nineteen out of the seventy-five Democratic members of Congress voted for the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery forever.

GENERAL GRANT has recently been quite indisposed and confined to his quarters.  He is improving, however, and will speedily be able to attend to his out-door duties.

WISCONSIN WAR DOGS IN SAVANNAH.—The Savannah Republican of the 18th inst., thus facetiously alludes to the firing of salute by the battery in the streets of Savannah :

“A salute of seventeen guns was fired yesterday at the intersection of Broughton and East Broad streets, by the 10th Wisconsin Battery, Capt. Beebe.  The rapidity and precision astonished the citizens, and no doubt caused some of them to imagine what the deadly effects of such accurate artillery practice must be upon an enemy’s line.  Think of it ! the far, far Western State of Wisconsin sending War Dogs to bark in the streets of Savannah !  We won’t stand for it !  It is unconstitutional !”

The Herald’s Fort Fisher correspondence says the late casualties in Gen. Terry’s army in the fight at Fort Fisher were 691.  Of these 11 officers and 77 men were killed, 39 officers and 473 men wounded, and 92 men missing.  [Alfred H. Terry]

The Herald’s Washington special says the War Department has been notified of the arrival of the rebel Congressman Henry S. Foote within the lines of Sheridan’s army at Winchester, Va.  [Philip H. Sheridan]

The Post’s Washington special says that Secretary Fessenden, in his instructions to Jay Cook, says he intends to rely wholly hereafter upon taxes and sales of 7-80 bonds to pay the expenses of the war.  [U.S. Secretary of the Treasury William P. Fessenden]

From The Polk County Press:

Major General Pope

Major General Pope has been ordered to take command of the Military Division of the Missouri, embracing Department of Arkansas Missouri, Kansas, and the North west, and has already goes to St. Louis to assume the new and important duties devolving upon him. His appointment to this enlarged and honorable sphere of duty is a tardy but deserved recognition of the great military abilities to signally displayed by General Pope on many a well bought field.  [John Pope]

The Milwaukee “Wisconsin” says that Major General Samuel R. Curtis, of Iowa, former commander of the Missouri Department, is to succeed him in the Department of the Northwest.

GOOD CHANCE.—We learn there is but one man on the enrollment list in the town of Eau Galla [sic] liable to a draft.  Wonder what he would take for his chances.—Hudson Star and Times.

THE SIXTH DISTRICT PROVOST MARSHAL’S OFFICE REMOVED.—From the Sparta “Eagle” we learn that the Provost Marshal’s headquarters for this District has been removed from La Crosse to Sparta, the Co. seat of Monroe county.

WISCONSIN WAR DOGS IN SAVANNAH. — The Savannah Republican of the 13th inst., thus facetiously alludes to the firing of salute by the battery in the streets of Savannah :

“A salute of seventeen guns was fired yesterday at the intersection of Broughton and East Broad streets, by the 10th Wisconsin Battery, Capt. Beebe.  The rapidity and precission astonished the citizens, and no doubt caused some of them to imagine what the deadly effects of such accurate artillery practice must be upon an enemy’s line.  Think of it ! the far, far Western State of Wisconsin sending War Dogs to bark in the streets of Savannah !  We won’t stand for it !  It is unconstitutional !”

By this it would seem that the Polk county boys have been exhibiting their muscle to the Georgians.

— Jeff. [sic] Davis has appointed the 10th of March next as a day of fasting and prayer.  The prayers of the unrighteous have thus far done the rebellion no good.

— A ten inch Parrott gun costs $4,500 ;  a[n] eleven inch Rodman $6,500 ;  a fifteen inch Krupps $29,400 ;  and a twelve inch Blakely $35,000.

The Enrollment List for the Town of Osceola, is Corrected.

	H. C. Goodwin,	W. C. Guild,	Tim. Hennessey,	M. M. Nason,
	Frank Smith,	Ashael Kimball,	Terrence Daley,	Hennes Johnson,
	Fowler Hale,	W. H. Bowron,	Wm. Wilson,	Fred. Greenwold,
	John Baker,	Rice Webb,	George Wilson,	J. C. Terry,
	Wm. Young,	William Kent,	John S. Irish,	J. A. Whitney,
	Joseph Berg,	B. F. Wid,	Corneilus Clark,	Joel Brown,
	Gustoff Nelson,	Hiram Bass,	John Kent,	T. M. Bradely,
	Isaac McLean,	S. Rowcliffe,	H. H. Herrick,	Mat. Young,
	E. W. Waterhouse,	Thos. McCabe,	Nicholas Lavocot,	T. Y. McCourt,
	S. B. Dresser,	John Morrisey,	B. P. Pitman,	W. H. Bowron,
	O. F. Knapp,	Joseph Corey,	C. E. Mears,	Frank May,
	Joseph Furbish,	H. H. Newbury,	Jas. T. Kent,	Jonas Peterson,
	W. H. Kent,	Cyrus Bradley,	Nelson Doll,	S. H. Clough,
	Sam. S. Fifield, jr.,	A. S. Thomson,	L. G. Clark,	R. H. Hill,
	E. L. Seavey,	J. F. Nason,	Daniel Mears, *	Jerry Mudgett, *
	A. Gillespie,	Levi Nason,	J. Brosanham, *	Thos. Mcoy. *

* Names marked thus are persons who are over age, and their names will be stricken from the list as soon as proper affidavits reach the Pro. Marshal’s Headquarters.

1865 January 21: General Grant’s Military Strategy

This article appeared in the January 21, 1865, issue of The Prescott Journal.

Gen. Grant and the New War Policy.

What is the matter with Chicago Times?  All the summer and autumn it took a most sombre view of the prospect of our arms.  It thought GRANT was whipped in every battle. [Ulysses S. Grant]  It predicted disaster to SHERMAN. [William T. Sherman]  It denounced the war policy of the government.  It eulogised Gen. McClellan as the great military genius of the age. [George B. McClellan]  No other of our Generals, it asserted, has the ability to oppose the generalship of DAVIS and LEE. [Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee]  If we had relied upon its editorial columns for our news of the war, and views of the situation, we should have said that the past campaign ad been a series of damaging defeats now and then a seeing advantage gained perhaps, but in reality one uninterrupted succession of disasters.

It is with some surprise therefore, that we find a recent editorial in that sheet warmly commending Gen. GRANT.  It says his first act on becoming Lieutenant General was to revolutionize the system on which the war was before conducted.  He gave up the anaconda system, and began concentrating our forces.  It shows how he holds the best of the rebel armies at Richmond while SHERMAN is left free to ravage the richest domains of the rebellion.  It concludes :

In fine [finé?], within one year, under the new system of attack inaugurated by the Lieutenant General, the Confederacy has been reduced to a condition that promises its speedy dissolution.  Much, in fact, has been accomplished under General Grant than under all the generals that preceded him.  A year ago the Confederacy was defiant ;  to-day it is gravely discussing the propriety of throwing itself into the arms of England or France to escape subjugation.  In short, since General Grant became Lieutenant General, the Federal armies have not suffered a single defeat of magnitude ;  while the inroads into the military power of the rebellion have been numerous and substantial.

This is a remarkable confession for the leading Copperhead journal of the Northwest to make.  The scatteration, anaconda system was the system of GEO. B. McCLELLAN.  Gen. Scott [Winfield Scott] may have inaugurated it, but it was fully developed by “Little Mac.”  We are surprised to read such an acknowledgement as the above from one of his most strenuous supporters.  It may be, however, that a glimmer of common sense is beginning to penetrate the copperhead fraternity.  They, perhaps, are at length coming to see that it is useless longer to deny what is palpable.  They have stoutly and persistently, for many months, endeavored to convince the country that everything connected with the war has been going adversely to the Union.  Are they finally satisfied that the endeavor is a hopeless task !  We hope so, and trust that they may see the propriety of abandoning their evil course.

1864 September 17: General Grant—“All we want now, to ensure the early restoration of the Union, is a determination on the part of the North, and unity of sentiment in the North”

The following article is from the September 17, 1864 issue of The Prescott Journal.  It also appeared in the The Polk County Press issue of September 17, 1864, under the heading of “Letter From Gen. Grant.”

GEN. GRANT’S VIEWS.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8.

The following extract from a letter [telegram in the Journal] from Lieut. Gen. Grant [Ulysses S. Grant], dated Headquarters, City Point, Va., Sept. 6.“

Hon. E. B. Washburne¹ :

DEAR SIR—I would state to all citizens whomsoever it may concern, that all we want now, to ensure the early restoration of the Union, is a determination on the part of the North, and unity of sentiment in the North.  The rebels have now in their ranks the last man.  Their boys and their old men are guarding bridges and forming a good part of their garrison for entrenched positions.  Any man lost by them cannot be replaced.  They have robed the cradle and the grave equally to get their present force.  Besides what they lose in frequent skirmishes and battles, they are losing from desertion and other causes, at least one regiment per day.  With this drain upon them, the end is not far distant, if we will only be true to ourselves.

Their only hope now is in a divided North.  This might give them reinforcements from Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri, while it would weaken us.  With the draft enforced, the enemy would make but little resistance.  I have no doubt the rebels are anxious to hold out until after the Presidential election.  They hope for the election of the peace candidate—in fact like Micawber, they hope for “something to turn up.”  Our peace friends, if they expect peace from separation are much mistaken.  It would but be the beginning of the war, with thousands of northern men joining the South, because of our disgrace.  In allowing separation to have peace on any terms, the South would demand restoration of their slaves already freed ;  they would demand indemnity for losses sustained ;  and they would demand a treaty which would make the North slave hunters for the South.

Yours truly,                    U. S. GRANT.

1. Elihu Benjamin Washburne (1816-1887), was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Illinois who served from 1853 to 1869. He was a strong supporter of Gen. Grant and would serve as Secretary of State during Grant’s first presidential term for only eleven days, after which he became the United States Minister to France.

1864 August 27: Barrett, Beardsley, Brainard, Dahlgren, Grant, Lincoln, McClellan, an Empress and a Texas Deck

Following are the smaller news items from the August 27, 1864, issue of The Prescott Journal.

DEATHS.

In Hospital, at New Orleans, of Chronic Diarrhea, June 19th, 1864, Cyrus Beardsley, Sergeant in Co. I, 153d Regt., N. Y. Volunteers, aged 34 years and 8 months.

The deceased came to Prescott in 1853, and returned to New York, his native State, in 1860, leaving many friends in this county.  He enlisted in September, 1862, and performed the duties of a soldier and christian [sic] faithfully.

Death loves a shining mark.¹

  Recruiting is still going on, and the prospect is favorable for filling the quotas in most of the towns in this County.  Let the good work continue.

ADMIRAL DAHLGREN’S DEFENSE OF HIS SON.—Admiral Dahlgren [John A. Dahlgren] has written a touching letter defending the character of his son against the imputations attempted to be cast upon it by the rebel authorities, with regard to alleged brutal orders for his proposed dash into Richmond, as a justification for their barbarous treatment of his body.  After examining the photographic copy of the document alleged by them to have been found on the body of Colonel DAHLGREN [Ulric Dahlgren], he pronounced it a “bare-faced, atrocious forgery.”  He feelingly alludes to to [sic] the attributes of his dead son, and describes in the most touching manner the last letter of that son to him, written just before the gallant Colonel departed upon the expedition which resulted in his death.

— The New York Herald comes out in favor of an armistice—as a war measure—and says if Old Abe [Abraham Lincoln] will act upon this hint it will save the country and secure his election.  The Herald desires it to be distinctly understood that this “armistice” is an original Herald idea.  It says Lincoln has tried “my plan,” and Greeley’s plan [Horace Greeley], and several other plans, but he never will be able to accmplish [sic] anything till he acts upon the Herald’s plan.  In case Old Abe will surrender the whole question to the Herald’s management, that bashful sheet guarantees to finish up the job in short order.

— The New York Herald is a dirty and infamous sheet, but possesses tact and shrewdness.  It wants General McCLELLAN [George B. McClellan] elected President, but it has sense enough to understand that his prospects cannot be promoted by assailing General GRANT [Ulysses S. Grant].  The Copperhead World having proclaimed GRANT the last and worst of military failures, the Herald says :

“Gen. Grant’s achievements are great and tangible.  His victories are counted by the half dozen, and when the people run over in their minds the lists of our great battles they name six of the victories of this illustrious soldier where they name one achieved by any other.  Gen. Grant is the man who has planted the Stars and Stripes on all that part of the rebel territory that we now occupy.  *  *  Those politicians cut their own throats who try to ignore, underrate or sneer down a man who has fought more battles and won more victories than any other general in the army, and who has won his way from a colonelcy of militia to the Lieutenant Generalship of the United States.”

— George Dawson, writing from Washington to his paper, the Albany Evening Journal, says, “the draft in September is a fixed fact.  It will be neither modified nor postponed.  Those subject to the draft might as well prepare for it—by procuring substitutes in advance, or by ‘setting their house in order’ for departure, if they choose to give their person service.”

ATTACK ON A MISSISSIPPI STEAMER.—The steamer Empress on her up trip from New Orleans, was fired into by a battery of six guns on the 10th near Gaines’ Landing, and narrowly escaped destruction.  She was struck while making a distance of 300 yards, about 30 times by cannon shot, disabling her machinery.  The balls ploughed through her in every direction and showers of musket balls fell on every side.  There were about 500 persons on board and great alarm and confusion existed.  The Captain, JOHN MALLOY, who was at his post forward of the texas,² was instantly killed by a cannon ball, which took his head off completely.  His last words were “never surrender the boat.”  The pilots, mates, and engineers heroically kept their posts until finally the steamer was rescued by the tin clad gunboat “No. 3.”  Five persons were killed, including S. E. BRAYNARD,³ Co. I, 16th Wisconsin infantry, and several wounded.

  If Grant wins a battle, it is in part a triumph over the fundamental law of the Government.  If Sherman [William T. Sherman] conquers Atlanta, an essential portion of the Constitution is thereafter dead.  If our soldiers win a victory, its glory is lost in the consciousness that a portion of its fruit is a marred and battered Constitution.—Milwaukee News.

Men who announce such sentiments as the above desire of course that the rebels should succeed.  If LEE [Robert E. Lee] wins a battle they have no fears for the Constitution.  If HOOD [John Bell Hood] were to drive back and scatter the yet victorious legions of SHERMAN, the News and such as it speaks for would doubtless hail it as a constitutional triumph.  Whatever interferes with the success of rebellion, is a blow at the Constitution, according to the Copperheads.

SOME of the opposition Journals are so violently in favor of peace, that they cannot tolerate the mild and milky belligerency of Gen. McCLELLAN.  Thus the Catskill, (N. Y.) Recorder, an ardent Democratic sheet says :

We know where McClellan stands ;  he is for war !  for “more vigorous prosecution of the war.”  He is for more conscription, for more taxes, for doing Lincoln’s work more thoroughly than Lincoln is doing it !  Let any Democrat put the record thus deliberately made by McClellan with his agency in the infamous arbitrary arrest of the Maryland Legislature, and then say if he has not seen enough to cure him of all desire to see such a man in the Presidential chair.

PENSIONS AND THE HUNDRED DAY MEN.—JOS. H. BARRETT,⁴ Pension Commissioner at Washington, has published a letter stating that “the same rights in regard to pensions are granted to those called into the service for one hundred days, (and to their widows or dependent relatives, in case of death,) as to those who have enlisted for the term of three years.  This law, under which all pensions based on service in the present war are allowed, is unequivocal in its language, making no distinction between those engaging for a longer or a shorter period.”

CLOTHING FOR THREE MONTHS’ MEN.—The War Department has decided that the allowance for clothing for three months’ men who have served less than that time shall be fixed for the full time of service.  The same rule applies to six and nine months’ men.  The 100 day men will be treated in this respect the same as the three months’ troops.

BRIDGED.—The great railroad bridge over the Chattahoochee river which the rebels destroyed, was re-built by Gen. Sherman, and trains passed over it on Friday.  Cars now run to within three miles of Atlanta.

1.  From Edward Young’s poem “The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality”—better known simply as Night-Thoughts—was published in nine parts between 1742 and 1745. This quotation is from Night V, line 1011.
2.  The texas deck gets its name from the steamboat tradition of naming the highest deck after the largest state of the union in the 19th century (Texas). On a riverboat, that is the flat deck immediately behind the pilot house.
3.  In the published Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, he is listed as Lu E. Brainard, from Mauston (Wis.).  He enlisted November 26, 1862, and was “killed August 10, 1864, Miss. River, by guerrillas.” Capital “L” and capital “S” in 19th century handwriting are often hard to distinguish.
4.  Joseph Hartwell Barrett (1824-1910) was President Lincoln’s friend and biographer (Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1864; Abraham Lincoln and His Presidency, 1904). He was admitted to the Vermont bar in 1851 and served two years as secretary of the Vermont Senate.  By 1860, Barrett was the editor of the Cincinnati Gazette, and was a member of the Republican political machine in Ohio. He served as commissioner of Pensions under Presidents Lincoln and Johnson.

1864 April 9: General Grant “is just now the great sensation in the city” and Other News from Washington

From the April 9, 1864, issue of The Prescott Journal.

FROM WASHINGTON.

Gen. Grant in Washington—The Missouri Faction—New Hampshire Election—
Gov. Randall—Gov. Doty—Disaster in Florida—Recklessness of Gen. Seymour—
Congressional matters [sic]—Wisconsin Men at the Capitol.

Correspondence of the State Journal.

WASHINGTON, March 10, 1864.

The arrival of Gen. Grant [Ulysses S. Grant] is just now the great sensation in the city, and whether he will remain here, or continue in the field is a question on every tongue.  He was hardly known to be in the city when he appeared at the President’s levee last night.  His entrance, as soon as it became known, caused a tremendous excitement in the crowded rooms of the White House, and such was the rush to him that a modest man could not get within forty feet of him, while the occupants of crinoline,¹ who happened to be in the crowd, were squeezed quite to their hearts content and to the ruin of their gay habiliments.

The General came in about 10 o’clock unheralded, and soon the Secretaries not present were sent for, and came to welcome the distinguished hero of thirty-seven battles.  He bears his honors well and looks hale and hearty, as though he could shoulder his new responsibilities without damage and meet the requirements of his place where so many failed.  What will be done with Halleck [Henry W. Halleck], or what his position is to be is matter of earnest speculation.  It is confidently hoped that many evils arising from his personal hostility to certain earnest men and strong measures will be cured by the appointment of General Grant to the first position under the Commander-in-Chief.

The controversy which is now kept up between the rival factions in Missouri, has entered upon the floor of Congress and provoked some feeling.  So far as it partakes of personalities between the members it had better been excluded.  But I confess, radical as I am, and with all my sympathies with the opposition to Schofield & Co. [John M. Schofield], the more I see of the case the stronger the conviction that rivalry and personal, rather than public considerations are inciting nausea.  I cannot forget that the now so-called conservative champion, General Blair [Francis P. Blair], was the first to raise the banner of Emancipation in Missouri, and to stem manfully and boldly the pro-slavery torrent, while many of these now radical abolitionists were arrayed under the black flag of slavery, and doing their worst to destroy the germ which the former so successfully planted.  I cannot sympathize with those who are seeking to embitter this controversy and extend it abroad for the purpose of using it against Mr. Lincoln, and in favor of some of his rival aspirants.  Better far to conciliate and harmonize these local and personal conflicts between parties in the same great common cause of freedom.

The glorious result in New Hampshire was not expected here, and demonstrates how much can be done by proper effort.  The representatives from there spoke discouragingly, but called for aid, and the response has been effective and satisfactory.  Gov. Randall,² who attained such distinction as an effective laborer and speaker in the New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut canvases, was pressed into the service in New Hampshire, and all who have heard him on the stump can fully credit the report that he was among the most powerful of the speakers in that canvass.

By the way, at the time of leaving the city on his way north, the Governor was the subject of a pretty severe practical joke.  While procuring his ticket at the railroad depot he was very quietly relieved of all his loose money to the amount of $140!  He undoubtedly neglected to read the notice so prominently posted there : “Beware of pick-pockets ;” so I suppose he alone is responsible for the loss.  He nevertheless went on his mission though robbed and moneyless.

Gov. Doty,³ now of Utah, has been here for some weeks, leaving the administration of affairs of his office in the hands of Amos Reed, Secretary of the Territory.  He went out as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Utah, in which capacity he rendered most important service in reconciling the Indians and securing their loyalty.  Several valuable and important treaties negotiated by him with different tribes in Utah have been ratified by the Senate.  No man is better fitted for his present position, and he will acquit himself creditably and to the honor of the nation.  He looks ten years younger than when he went out—the influence of the climate, &c., having removed all his old rheumatism and renewed his age.

The disaster in Florida is a serious and unexpected one, and wholly unnecessary, and apparently attributable to rashness and over anxiety on the part of West Point General commanding to achieve a name as a fighter.  He was most reckless, and the lesson he has learned has cost the nation heavily.  The loss in killed, wounded and prisoners will be near 2,500 from all private accounts.  It seems to have been so unnecessary that one gets exasperated at the thought of it.  The force suddenly thrust down there from Charleston and Savannah could not long have been spared to remain there, and if Seymour had invited an attack at his station at Barber, he could have successfully repelled it against heavy odds.  Had the enemy refused to advance upon him, he could have remained until the rebel force was defeated by necessary demands elsewhere and then made a successful advance.  There appears also to have been a great want of skill in the management of his forces, though in personal courage he is not wanting.  [Truman Seymour]

A strange fatatity [sic] seems to attend all the operations on the Atlantic coast.  The commanders of the army and the navy in the Southern department have seemed to be generally unequal to their responsibility, and an inscrutable providence has struck down the only two men sent there, who were able to cope with the many difficulties to be encountered—viz: Gen. Mitchell and Admiral Foote [Andrew H. Foote].  Thus far it has been the most expensive and the least effective department of the service.  The blockade, however, in now rendered perfect at Charleston and along the entire coast save at Wilmington, North Carolina.

If a respectable force is kept at Jacksonville it will open the St. John’s River country and secure supplies of lumber and turpentine, &c., and will divide the forces and attention of the enemy and be of great ultimate advantage.  But there is no use of talking of or relying upon the “Union element of the South ;” save among the negroes, it is not there.  Slavery has tainted the moral and political atmosphere to such a degree that the whiskey drinking “cracker” and the swaggering slaveholder are alike embittered against the “Yankees,” and will fight until exhausted.  Every tallow-faced female throughout the South is a preacher of vengeance and thoroughly possessed by the demon of slavery.  Even while living upon the liberality of the government and protected from the suffering resulting from the rebellion, they breathe out curses upon the heads that feed them, and foam in vindictive rage at the flag which shields them.  While there is a vestige of hope, they will fight and will only yield to advancing civilization, when the strong arm of federal power demonstrates the advantages of freedom and the blessings, moral and physical, of the Republican Institutions.

The whiskey question having been temporarily disposed of by Congress, the gold question has taken its place, and both attract the personal attention of speculators.  The proposition of Mr. Boutwell⁴ to put the excess of government gold into circulation by anticipating the payment of interest, seems to obviate the objections existing against authorizing the sale and U have little doubt but this will finally  be adopted.

The bill before the Senate granting lands to Minnesota for a railroad from St. Paul to Lake Superior is contested by our Senators who are faithfully guarding the interests of Wisconsin and are seeking to obtain the grant for her to open the road from Tomah to Superior.

Gen. Simeon Mills⁵ arrived here on Tuesday, and J. R. Brigham⁶ of Milwaukee has been here some days, it is understood on business connected with the Milwaukee Post Office, to which C. L. Sholes⁷ was appointed some time since, but whose appointment was suspended.  D. H. Richards is here representing the Canal Company⁸ and a number of Wisconsin lawyers in attendance upon the Supreme Court.

The impeachment of Andrew J. Miller seems not to be very probable this session; not certainly for the want of adequate evidence so much as from the persistent efforts of interested lawyers and parties representing non-residents, and who derive a good business from connection with that court.  I fear the blighting curse has rested so long upon the people of that State that it can only be removed by God himself.

.    .    .    .   .    .    .    .R.

Cutaway diagram showing a crinoline, from Punch magazine, August 1856

1.  By 1850, the word “crinoline” had come to mean a stiffened petticoat or rigid skirt-shaped structure of steel designed to support the huge skirts of a woman’s dress into the required fashionable shape worn in the 1850s and 1860s.  The “occupants of crinoline” would have been the society ladies in their party dresses with the large hoops.
2.  Former Wisconsin Governor Alexander W. Randall, who at this time was in Washington, D.C., because he was the assistant postmaster general.
3.  Wisconsin’s second governor, and Utah Territory’s 5th governor, James Duane Doty (1799-1865).
4.  George Sewall Boutwell (1818-1905) was the 20th governor of Massachusets (1851-1853), the first Commissioner of Internal Revenue (1862-1863), a U. S. Representative from Massachusetts (1863-1860), the 28th U. S. Secretary of the Treasury under Grant (1869-1873), and a U. S. senator from Massachusets (1873-1877). Secretary Boutwell controversially reduced the national debt by selling Treasury gold and using greenbacks to buy up Treasury bonds, and Representative Boutwell was instrumental in writing and passing the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U. S. Constitution.
5.  Simeon Mills (1810-1895) was a Wisconsin state senator best known for introducing the bill that became the charter for the University of Wisconsin. an efficient businessman, he served as clerk to various government agencies and as Wisconsin paymaster during the Civil War.
6.  Jerome Ripley Brigham (1825-1897) was a Wisconsin lawyer, city attorney of Milwaukee (1880-1882), state assemblyman (1877), member of the Milwaukee board of city fire and police commissioners (1885-1888), and a regent of the University of Wisconsin (1870- 1875).
7.  Christopher Latham Sholes (1819-1890) was a Wisconsin newspaperman, politician, and inventor. Sholes helped to organize the Free Soil and Republican parties in Wisconsin, supporting both Lincoln and then Johnson. He was state senator (1848-1849, 1856-1857) and state assemblyman (1852-1853). During the Civil War, Sholes also served for a time as Milwaukee postmaster, and was later port collector and commissioner of public works.
8.  Daniel H. Richards (1808-1877) was one of the founders of the Milwaukee Advertiser. The Milwaukee and Rock River Canal Company, “which had for its purpose the construction of a canal connecting Lake Michigan by way of the Waukesha lakes with the Rock River, and thus establishing a waterway to the Mississippi River. Congress made a land grant for the purpose, surveys and estimates were made and during the twelve years preceding the admission of the state to the Union repeated efforts had been made to carry out the enterprise. … During the twelve years from 1836 to 1848, when the prospect was abandoned, the only actual work done besides making surveys was the construction of a dam across the Milwaukee river at Milwaukee. … The advent of railroad building was the chief influence in bringing about an abandonment of the canal project.” Bonds had been sold to pay for the building of the canal and there were claims against the State of Wisconsin—who had issues the bonds—filed with the U.S. Congress, with D. H. Richards listed as a claimant. (For more information, see the Dictionary of Wisconsin History entry for the Canal Company.)