the bravery and exploits of General Garfield were rehearsed to him, such as his daring ride from General Rosecrans to General Thomas, and bringing supplies up the Big Sandy to his hungry soldiers.

“How is it,” inquired Mr. Lincoln of an army officer who was present at the time, “that Garfield did in two weeks what would have taken one of your regular officers two months to accomplish?”

“Because he was not educated at West Point, as I was,” replied the officer, laughingly, thinking the President designed to slur West Point graduates.

“No, that was not the reason,” retorted Mr. Lincoln. “It was because, when he was a boy, he had to work for a living.”

He made Garfield a major-general for his courage, tact, and efficiency; and when, a few months later, Ohio proposed to transfer him to Congress, and Garfield objected, the President said:—

“By all means, send him here. We need just such a man of military experience and skill in Congress.”

He was often moved by the tales of sacrifice on the part of parents, wives, and sisters. He seemed to enter really into the feelings of patriotic mothers and wives, who cheerfully parted with their dear ones for the sake of their country. He was told of a mother in Boston who had lost five sons in battle, and he immediately sat down and wrote the following letter to her:—

“Executive Mansion, Washington, Nov. 21st, 1864.

“Dear Madam,—I have been shown, in the files of the War Department, a statement of the Adjutant- General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons, who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save, I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

“Yours very sincerely and respectfully,

“Abraham Lincoln.

“To Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Massachusetts.”

His deep interest in the Union army caused him to hail every organization in behalf of the sick and wounded soldiers. The Sanitary Commission, the Christian Commission, and all soldiers’ aid societies, won his heart. Any measure or enterprise that would carry comfort to the “boys” commanded his undivided support. In a speech at the close of a very successful fair in Washington, for the benefit of soldiers, he said:—

“In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments have manifested themselves, such as have not been seen in former wars; and among these manifestations nothing has been more remarkable than these fairs for the relief of suffering soldiers and their families. And the chief agents in these fairs are the women of America. I am not accustomed to the use of the language of eulogy; I have never studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must say that, if all that has been said by orators and poets, since the creation of the world, in praise of women were applied to the women of America, it would not do them justice for their conduct during this war. I will close by saying, God bless the women of America!”

He was invited to preside at a meeting of the Christian Commission in Washington, but a pressure of duties prevented even his attendance. He wrote, however, to the chairman of the committee:—