Ten Years in Washington: or, Inside Life and Scenes in Our National Capital as a Woman Sees Them ... to Which Is Added a Full Account of the Life and Death of President James A. GarfieldClemmer, Mary
History
Ten Years in Washington: or, Inside Life and Scenes in Our National Capital as a Woman Sees Them ... to Which Is Added a Full Account of the Life and Death of President James A. Garfield
Clemmer, Mary
Washington (D.C.) -- Description and travel; Washington (D.C.) -- History
With the exception of the State colors, the Union flags bear fewer
mottoes. Many are fashioned of the finest fabrics, touched with the most
exquisite tints. They need no florid and sensational sentence. Enough,
that they bear the potent and silent stars of indissoluble union:
“When Freedom, from her mountain height,
Unfurled her standard to the air,
She tore the azure robe of night,
And set the stars of glory there;
She mingled with the gorgeous dyes
The milky baldrick of the skies,
And striped its pure celestial white
With streakings of the morning light;
Then, from his mansion in the sun,
She called her eagle-bearer down,
And gave into his mighty hand,
The symbols of her chosen land.”
Beside this Flag of the Republic, the Black Flag, borne at Winchester,
with its hideous yellow stripe, and hellish sentence, “No Quarter,”
needs no comment. From floor to nave, they droop everywhere, faded,
tattered, bullet-riddled, the flags of Freedom, and the ensigns of
Slavery, defiant, yet doomed. On one side of the apartment, cases,
divided into minute boxes, rise to the ceiling. Each one is large enough
to take a flag tightly rolled. Over all hangs a curtain; and here these
rags, which have outlasted the wasting march, the sore defeat, wait to
tell their story in silence to coming generations.
The War Department is now divided into the following Bureaus:
Secretary’s Office: The Secretary of War is charged, under the direction
of the President, with the general control of the military
establishment, and the execution of the laws relating thereto. The
functions of the several Bureaus are performed under his supervision and
authority. In the duties of his immediate office he is assisted by a
chief clerk, claims-and-disbursing clerk, requisition-clerk,
registering-clerk, and three recording-clerks.
The Adjutant-General’s Office is the medium of communication to the army
of all general and special orders of the Secretary-of-War relating to
matters of military detail. The rolls of the army, and the records of
service are kept, and all military commissions prepared in this office.
The Quartermaster-General’s Office has charge of all matters pertaining
to barracks and quarters for the troops, transportation, camp and
garrison-equipage, clothing, fuel, forage, and the incidental expenses
of the military establishment.
The Commissary-General’s Office has charge of all matters relating to
the procurement and issue of subsistence-stores in the army.
The Paymaster-General’s Office has the general direction of matters
relating to the pay of the army.
The Surgeon-General’s Office has charge of all matters relating to the
medical and hospital service.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account