Carlyle's laugh, and other surprisesHigginson, Thomas Wentworth
History
Carlyle's laugh, and other surprises
Higginson, Thomas Wentworth
American literature -- History and criticism; Authors, American
Followed and imitated by multitudes, justly beloved for his warmth of
heart and readiness of hand, he had a happy and busy life, sure to win
gratitude and affection when it ended, as it did at Roxbury on June 10,
1909. The children and the aged loved him almost to worshiping, and is
there, after all, a better test?
XIII
A MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL, RUFUS SAXTON
A MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL, RUFUS SAXTON
Complaint has sometimes been made of Massachusetts that the state did not
provide a sufficient number of officers of high grade for the regular
army during the Civil War. Be that as it may, one of the most eminent of
such officers has just died, being indeed one whose actual fame may yet
outlast that of all the others by reason of its rare mingling of civil
and military service.
General Rufus Saxton was born at Greenfield, Massachusetts, on October
19, 1824, graduated at the military academy in 1849, was made brevet
second lieutenant, Third United States Artillery, July 1, 1849, second
lieutenant, Fourth Artillery, September 12, 1850, and captain and
assistant quartermaster, May 13, 1861. He was chief quartermaster on the
staff of General Lyon in Missouri and subsequently on that of General
McClellan in western Virginia, and was on the expeditionary corps to Port
Royal, South Carolina. In May and June, 1862, he was ordered north and
placed in command of the defenses at Harper’s Ferry, where his services
won him a medal of honor; after which he was military governor of the
Department of the South, his headquarters being at Beaufort, South
Carolina; this service extended from July, 1862, to May 18, 1865, when
he rose to be colonel and brevet brigadier-general of volunteers. He was
mustered out of the volunteer service January 15, 1866, but rose finally
to be colonel and assistant quartermaster-general in the regular army,
March 10, 1882. He retired from active service October 19, 1888, having
been made on that date a brigadier-general on the retired list. This is
the brief summary of what was, in reality, a quite unique career.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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