During the session of the court, General Garfield and Colonel Ammen were the guests of Colonel Beatty and myself at our camp near Huntsville. Though I had met Garfield, I had no previous acquaintance with either of them. They were even them remarkable men--both accomplished and highly educated, Ammen having previously had a military education. We were enabled to get intimately acquainted with them at our meals and during the long evenings spent in discussing the war and all manner of subjects. Both were fine talkers and enjoyed controversial conversation. Ammen, though not alone from vanity, was disposed to occupy the most of the time, and sometimes he would occupy an entire evening telling stories, narrating an event, or maintaining his own side of a controversy. He was the oldest of the party, and always interesting, so he was tolerated in this--_generally_. He was superstitious, and believed in the supernatural to a certain extent, denying that such belief was a weakness, else "Napoleon and Sir Walter Scott were the weakest of men." General Beatty relates an incident of an evening's talk (July 24th) at our camp thus: "We ate supper, and immediately adjourned to the adjoining tent. Before Garfield was fairly seated on his camp stool, he began to talk with the easy and deliberate manner of a man who had much to say. He dwelt eloquently on the minutest details of his early life, as if they were matters of the utmost importance. Keifer was not only an attentive listener, but seemed wonderfully interested. Uncle Jacob undertook to thrust in a word here and there, but Garfield was much too absorbed to notice him, and so pushed on steadily, warming up as he proceeded. Unfortunately for his scheme, however, before he had gone far he made a touching reference to his mother, when Uncle Jacob, gesticulating energetically, and with his forefinger levelled at the speaker, cried: 'Just a word--just one word right there,' and so persisted until Garfield was compelled either to yield or be absolutely discourteous. The General, therefore, got in his word; nay, he held the floor for the remainder of the evening. The conspirators made brave efforts to put him down and cut him off, but they were unsuccessful. At midnight, when Keifer and I had left, he was still talking; and after we had got into bed, he, with his suspenders dangling about his legs, thrust his head into our tent-door, and favored us with the few observations we had lost by reason of our hasty departure. Keifer turned his face to the wall and groaned. Poor man, he had been hoisted by his own petard. I think Uncle Jacob suspected that the young men had set up a job on him."(15) The court having concluded the case, Buell, August 6, 1862, issued an order approving its proceedings and sentence of dismissal from the service, and declaring that Colonel Turchin ceased "to be in the service of the United States."(16)