I know of no better way than through the pages of this little book to notify the members of the Twenty-sixth regiment of Michigan Infantry of the beautiful gold watch, with chain, pin, and corps badge, purchased with the money so generously donated by themselves in the spring of 1864. It is handsomely engraved with name, date, and regiment. To me it has a value far exceeding its intrinsic worth, for many of those represented in the gift are now “sweetly embalmed and hid away in white.” Those who survive will please accept the gratitude of the recipient, by whom their memory will ever be sacredly cherished. I returned to Washington _via_ Harbor Creek, Penn., where I visited the bereaved family of my sister who died the previous October. Had I consulted my own ease or pleasure, I should have yielded to the earnest entreaties of those motherless boys, and remained with them while their loss was so fresh in memory and so keenly felt; but duty pointed her finger to the thousands of sick and wounded in our hospitals, many of whom, like themselves, were boys in their teens, having been tenderly reared, each one some mother’s darling or some father’s fond hope, far from home and its comforts, their young lives going out one after another in those distant hospitals, in the camp or on the field of carnage--and I could not turn a deaf ear to her call. Fifty dollars more, contributed by friends in Harbor Creek for soldiers, were added to the amount collected in Michigan. _CHAPTER XVII._ FALL OF RICHMOND--SURRENDER OF LEE--MY RETURN TO WASHINGTON--THE ILLUMINATION--THE ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT--HIS REMAINS IN STATE--FUNERAL OBSEQUIES--THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS UPON HIS LIFE AND MANY VIRTUES--HOSPITAL WORK IN WASHINGTON, ALEXANDRIA AND SURROUNDING CAMPS--THE ARMY RECALLED--THE MICHIGAN “HOME”--TRIP TO BALTIMORE AND ANNAPOLIS--HOSPITAL DISCONTINUED--THE GRAND REVIEW--CLOSING REFLECTIONS. I arrived in Washington the evening of the 13th of April, the night before that great national calamity, the assassination of our beloved President. The evening of my arrival there was a grand illumination of the city in honor of our recent victories, which resulted in the fall of Richmond, the surrender of Lee, and the overthrow of the rebellion. Lights gleamed from nearly every window--the White House was beautifully illuminated and gaily decorated with the stars and stripes--numerous small flags floated from the windows, while larger ones were festooned over the doors or proudly waved from lofty flag-staffs. O ye starry emblems of liberty, what rivers of blood it has cost to maintain your honor!