The Captured Scout of the Army of the James: A Sketch of the Life of Sergeant Henry H. Manning, of the Twenty-fourth Mass. RegimentTrumbull, H. Clay (Henry Clay)
History
The Captured Scout of the Army of the James: A Sketch of the Life of Sergeant Henry H. Manning, of the Twenty-fourth Mass. Regiment
Trumbull, H. Clay (Henry Clay)
Manning, Henry Hatch, 1844-1868; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
Failing Health.--A Grateful Heart 47
In Hospital.--Gentle Ministry there 48
Hope against Hope.--The Privilege of Christian Work 53
Only Waiting.--Rest at last 55
Claims of the Dead on the Living 58
THE CAPTURED SCOUT
OF THE
ARMY OF THE JAMES.
THE DEAD OF THE ARMY OF THE JAMES.
On the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1868, some two hundred ex-officers
of the "Army of the James" were assembled in the dining-hall of the St.
James Hotel, Boston, in delightful re-union, as comrades of camp and
campaigning. The writer of this little sketch was called on to say words
in tribute to "The memory of the honored dead" of that army, and in
consequence the tenderest recollections were revived of those who fell
in the long years of war with rebellion.
Hardly had the writer reached his home from that re-union, before word
came to him of the death of another soldier of the Army of the James;
one whose varied and thrilling experiences, peculiar services to the
Union cause, and noble Christian character entitled him to special
mention, as a noteworthy and satisfactory illustration of the bravery
and worth of the enlisted men of that army. While on his death-bed, this
young soldier had sent particular request to one who, as an army
chaplain in his brigade, had known something of his personal character
and history, to preach a commemorative discourse on the occasion of his
decease. Thus called on again to pay just tribute to the memory of the
dead of the Army of the James, the writer prepared this sketch as part
of a sermon preached at Warwick, Mass., Sept. 13, 1868, and now gives it
to the public at the request of those who, knowing something of the
young soldier's history, naturally desire to know more.
COST OF THE SLAVEHOLDERS' WAR.
Others than his immediate comrades have reasons for an interest in this
young soldier, and should join in honoring his memory, and recalling at
his death the record of his army life. Dying though he did among the
green hills of Massachusetts, in these days of palmy peace, with parents
and sisters ministering to his comfort, as he wasted slowly before their
loving gaze, he was really one of the dead of the war, one of the
starved of Andersonville. His vigorous constitution was broken down
under the malarial damps of the sea-island death-swamps, beneath the
smiting sun-glare of the Carolina sands, in the fatigues of dreary
marches and anxious picket service, and amid the excitements of battle
and the crushing responsibilities of a mission of imminent peril within
the lines of the enemy. His young life was really worn away, not here at
the North, but there at the South, in dragging months of imprisonment,
in teeming hours of attempted escape, in rapid flight from the swift
pursuers, and in the death-clutch with the fierce-fanged hounds in the
swamp of despair!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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