STATE PROHIBITION COMMITTEE 
 
 ROOM 418 0, T, JOHNSON BLDG. 
 tub ANGELES, CAL
 
 s
 
 KING OF POLAND
 
 The Life -Story and Personal 
 Reminiscences 
 
 OF 
 
 COL. JOHN SOBIESKI 
 
 (A LINEAL DESCENDANT OV KING JOHN III, OF POLAND) 
 
 WRITTEN BY HIMSELF 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED HIS POPULAR LECTURE 
 
 'THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND' 
 
 ^SECOND EDITION) 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PUBLISHER 
 
 L. G. SOBIESKI 
 
 Los ANGELES, CAL.
 
 Copyrighted 
 
 by 
 JOHN SOBIESKI
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 To my comrades in the United States Army, 
 who served with me in behalf of national unity; to 
 my comrades who served with me in Mexico in 
 defense of that republic; and to those noble men 
 and women with whom I have for more than thirty 
 years labored in behalf of the temperance and other 
 reforms, this volume is dedicated. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 2003716
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The late Dr. Benjamin Jowett of the University 
 of Oxford once said: "We shall come in the future 
 to teach almost entirely by biography. We shall 
 begin with the life that is most familiar to us, the 
 life of Christ, and we shall more and more put 
 before our children the great examples of persons' 
 lives, so that they shall have from the beginning 
 heroes and friends in their thoughts." 
 
 All intelligent adults in recalling the things 
 that most influenced their early lives will appreci- 
 ate the wisck>m of Dr. Jowett's prophecy. Multi- 
 tudes of the wisest and best will testify that their 
 first ambition for a noble life began with reading 
 the life-story of some good man or woman. 
 
 What a quickening to faith and what an inspira- 
 tion to righteous endeavor is that account in the 
 eleventh chapter of Hebrews, of the "great cloud 
 of witnesses" (martyrs "of whom the world was 
 not worthy") "who through faith subdued king- 
 doms, wrought righteousness, * * stopped the 
 mouths of lions, waxed valiant in fight," etc., etc. I 
 
 " The glorious company of the Apostles." 
 
 "The goodly fellowship of the Prophets." 
 
 "The noble army of Martyrs." 
 
 It is the life and example of such that move 
 the world.
 
 vi Introduction. 
 
 Many millions of people all over Christendom 
 have been thrilled with admiration and moved to 
 thank God and take courage at the story of the 
 Polish patriot and Christian soldier, King John 
 Sobieski, who in a mighty battle at the gates of 
 Vienna ( A. D. 1683) rescued Christendom from 
 the terrible Moslem invasion. "That hero's 
 victory, with his little army of Poles against ten 
 times the number of Turks," says an English his- 
 torian, "caused all Europe to ring with the praise 
 of John Sobieski and echo the words chosen by 
 Pope Innocent for his text when the great news 
 reached Rome: 'There was a man seiU from God, 
 whose name was John' (John 1:6). For Sobieski 
 had not merely delivered Austria he had saved 
 Europe." 
 
 And then again, how our youthful hearts have 
 been stirred with righteous wrath against the 
 oppressor, and warm sympathy with the oppressed, 
 as we have read in our school-books of the down- 
 fall of the Polish Republic, and the cruel partition 
 of that country by the three great powers, Prussia, 
 Russia, and Austria this last named being the 
 same country that Poland's brave little army had 
 delivered from Turkish pillage and slaughter. 
 " Oh, bloodiest picture in the book of time ! 
 
 ^ :K * * * * 
 
 Hope, for a season, bade the world farewell, 
 And Freedom shrieked as Kosciusko fell."
 
 Introduction. vii 
 
 More than fifty years after that " Battle of 
 Warsaw" (1794) which Campbell celebrates in 
 verse, in another heroic effort for Polish freedom, 
 Count James Sobieski, the lineal descendant of 
 King John III., fell as Kosciusko and others had 
 fallen. That James left an only child, a son six 
 years old, named John, for his grandfathers. This 
 son, with an inborn enthusiasm for liberty, having 
 heard of free America, soon after his father's death 
 found his way to this country. And here he has 
 been for forty-five years, giving himself entirely to 
 patriotic and humane service: for the first ten 
 years in the regular United States army and 
 through many battles; then for two years helping 
 Mexico to a republic; and since then as an American 
 citizen he has spent his time in the halls of legisla- 
 tion and the field of reform endeavoring to rescue 
 the weak and tempted and protect the home from 
 the drink demon. 
 
 In these pages is given for the first time the 
 life-story of this very worthy son of Poland's 
 patriot kings and defenders a son who, if that 
 people were free to choose, might to-day be ruler 
 of a Polish Republic. 
 
 (Perhaps it ought to be said, that while the 
 author of this book has especially requested me to 
 give this introduction, yet he has not been consulted 
 as to what I shall say about him here, and will not
 
 viii Introduction. 
 
 read this till he sees it in book form. If there be 
 errors in it, I alone am responsible.) 
 
 A most unassuming man, it was only by much 
 importunity that Colonel John Sobieski's friends 
 prevailed upon him to dictate his life-story for pub- 
 lication. In fact, it was a long- time before his most 
 intimate acquaintances learned many of the facts 
 in his life that seem stranger than fiction. The 
 shrewd newspaper reporter did not learn of his 
 royal lineage till within recent years, so that duY- 
 ing the past twelve months for the first time the 
 great dailies and some magazines have published 
 sketches of this "royal Polish patriot, famed as a 
 soldier and statesman." Always in love with 
 democracy and free government, and imbued 
 with hatred of the idea of aristocracy and a titled 
 nobility, in his earlier years he held it no credit in 
 itself to be of kingly lineage, and kept the fact to 
 himself. In Europe to-day the renowned family of 
 Sobieski is thought to be extinct; because, from 
 the time this sole surviving member, when a twelve- 
 year-old boy, secreted himself in the hold of a 
 vessel bound for America, nothing has been heard 
 of him. 
 
 But "blood will tell." All of Colonel John 
 Sobieski's acquaintances who have read the story 
 of King John III. in the book entitled "The 
 Wizard King" (now out of print), recognize a 
 marked resemblance in many particulars.
 
 Introduction. ix 
 
 Though Colonel Sobieski never sat in the 
 schoolroom a day in his life, and never was trained 
 and taught as were his fathers, except by his 
 mother before her early death, yet he betrays a 
 nobly cultured ancestry. This is evident in a 
 splendid physique, in rare gifts of mind, and in 
 most courteous bearing and high moral character. 
 He is well educated in the truest and best sense. 
 True, he lacks much that he might have learned in 
 our common schools, and at Oxford or Harvard; 
 and none more regrets this than he. Never- 
 theless, he has been an intelligent observer 'and 
 an extensive reader all his life (though he hardly 
 knows how he learned to read), and as necessity 
 arose learned to talk in several different tongues, 
 though doubtless not always according to the dic- 
 tionaries and grammars. But, as a wise and 
 scholarly critic has recently remarked in refer- 
 ring to the late Evangelist Moody: "Grammatical 
 and rhetorical niceties are not the final test of 
 intellectual greatness and genuine culture." 
 
 The story in the following chapters is printed, 
 with very few and slight changes, just as it was 
 dictated to an amanuensis by the author; and 
 dictated, too, within a month, wholly from memory, 
 and with scarcely any reference to books. 
 
 Colonel Sobieski is an ideal orator. % He simply 
 "talks right on." He has never written a line 
 of any of his numerous lectures and addresses,
 
 x Introduction. 
 
 and makes no written notes in preparing them 
 a most remarkable fact for one who has been so 
 constantly on the platform. He is ready at a 
 moment's notice to give a speech or talk on 
 any subject with which he is familiar. For instance, 
 a friend asked for a copy of a lecture that Colonel 
 Sobieski had not delivered for ten years. He com- 
 plied with the request by dictating the address 
 exactly as delivered, though he had come to have 
 different views since that time. He is not a orte- 
 ideaed man. He is continually surprising his inti- 
 mate friends by his varied repertoire. He is ready, 
 seemingly, at any time, to preach a sermon, conduct 
 a funeral service, deliver a patriotic address, a 
 Biblical or historical lecture, or make a stump 
 speech, and do it well, always stopping when his 
 auditors are saying "Go on." And what a fund of 
 fact, and fresh stories! But don't; ask him 'to tell 
 "that story." Ten to one he will not. It must 
 tell itself, as it were, when ;he wishes to illustrate 
 a point. 
 
 He stands almost alone in being so very radical 
 and outspoken in his convictions for reform, and 
 yet so popular with people of all classes and parties. 
 The reason of this popularity is that his natural 
 kindness is always kindly expressed, and he habit- 
 ually stands for fair play to everybody. Generous 
 even to his own hurt, he can hardly say no to a 
 call for charity, yet he is always strictly honest, and 

 
 Introduction. xi 
 
 faithful to promises. Once when an organization 
 of which he was a member got so embarrassed 
 financially that a majority advised repudiation, 
 "Brother John" rose in his might with a thundering 
 "No ;" (for, though habitually gentle, he speaks 
 with mighty emphasis on occasion). "Give me 
 two years' time," said he, "and I'll raise that money 
 (about $8,000) myself rather than have a good 
 cause disgraced by repudiating a just debt." 
 
 And he did it, though he impoverished himself 
 in the doing. It was just like him. 
 
 For habitual buoyancy of spirit, and for always 
 seeino- the roses rather than the thorns in life's 
 
 o i 
 
 pathway, his friends say they have never known 
 his equal. He is the only man the writer ever 
 heard say that he never had "the blues," though 
 he often suffers excruciating pain from that bullet- 
 shot through his body and stomach a wound that 
 the army surgeons pronounced mortal at the time. 
 And yet, since then he has traveled more miles, and 
 delivered more lectures to more people, than any 
 one now living in America; but he says he never 
 was weary from a day's work, though he has often 
 been very sleepy and hungry. 
 
 Although he richly deserves a pension, he has 
 never applied for it. Why not? Because, he 
 says, the government has already too many pen- 
 sioners, and he prefers to take care of himself as 
 long as he can. Here is a man who might have
 
 xii Introduction. 
 
 been a millionaire since coming- to America, but 
 he has deliberately chosen to be as poor in this 
 world's goods as the great Master he loves to 
 follow. He was frequently offered promotion in 
 the United States army, for brave and meritorious 
 conduct, but he declined. He was offered choice 
 of any position with commission in the Mexican 
 army, but he preferred to be simply chief of staff 
 of the commanding general, Escobedo. And after 
 he had helped lead the army of that republic to 
 victory, the Mexican government, to show its 
 gratitude for his splendid service, tendered him a 
 tract of several thousand acres of land; but he 
 would accept no compensation whatever, and 
 returned to his adopted country to spend his life 
 in pleading for purer morals and juster laws. 
 
 What an inspiring example of unselfish devo- 
 tion to the highest interests of country and mankind! 
 What a harvest of good seed sown! And what a 
 blessed reward, even in this life ! So that he may 
 well say, as he does, that he would be happy to 
 live his years over again just as he has lived them. 
 
 While this Polish-American soldier lay bleed- 
 ing on the field of Gettysburg, the surgeon said he 
 must die, and kindly advised him to make his peace 
 with God. "I've had no fuss with God," was the 
 ready reply, in the best English the young count 
 knew.
 
 Introduction. xiii 
 
 Always at peace with his Creator, ready to 
 serve and suffer for the lowliest, tender to little 
 children, kind to dumb animals, and courteous to 
 every human being 
 
 " He wears the look of a man unbought, 
 %. # * * # * 
 
 Yet touched and softened nevertheless 
 With the grace of Christian gentleness; 
 The face that a child would climb to kiss ; 
 True and tender and brave and just, 
 That man might honor and woman trust." 
 
 J. L. D. 
 SHELBYVILLE, ILLINOIS, February 10, 1900.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 I'AC.K 
 
 King John Sobieski Frontispiece 
 
 Colonel John Sobieski Sy 1 
 
 Colonel Sobieski's Family 17 
 
 Mrs. John Sobieski :;:i 
 
 Mary and John Sobieski (')."> 
 
 Mary Sobieski (at age of sixteen) 97 
 
 Mary Sobieski (at age of twenty) 113 
 
 Louie S. Gilhousen 1 -'.) 
 
 Mrs. M. P. Lemen 101 
 
 Rev. J. G. Lemen 193 
 
 'Col. Frank J. Sibley 225 
 
 Mrs. Charlton Edholm Sibley . '. 241
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PACK 
 
 CHAPTER 1 1 
 
 My birth Descendant of King John Sobieski My 
 ancestors Father joins the Revolution Captured 
 and imprisoned His death My mother's summons 
 to Warsaw Her interview with the viceroy Her 
 refusal of the proposition of the viceroy Our ban- 
 ishment. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Banished Journey to the frontier Refusal of the 
 Austrian authorities to let us land Go to Posen Or- 
 dered out by the Prussian authorities Go to Brussels, 
 Berne, Milan Expulsion from Milan The case of 
 Captain Ingraham Arrival in England Louis Kos- 
 suth and Hungary My uncle Joseph Bern My 
 pledge to my mother on her death-bed My parents 
 My mother's death. 
 
 CHAPTER III 17 
 
 My voyage to America Arrival in America Enter 
 the United States army Barracks at Carlisle, Penn- 
 sylvania Jefferson barracks, St. Louis Sent to Fort 
 Leavensworth to join the Utah expedition under Gen- 
 eral Albert Sidney Johnston Our journey across the 
 plains Fort Bridger The Mormons Ordered to 
 New Mexico War with the Apaches Return to 
 Fort Fillmore, 1860. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 38 
 
 Second enlistment Ordered to Fort Leavenworth 
 News of Lincoln's election Ordered East with 
 Lieutenant Armistead on recuiting service Brook- 
 lyn, New York Dr. Van Dyke's great sermon in 
 defense of slavery Hear Henry Ward Beecher reply 
 Hear Wendell Phillips on John Brown's death 
 Ordered to Washington Closing scenes in American 
 Congress before Lincoln's inauguration Inaugu- 
 ration of Mr. Lincoln Beginning of the Civil War.
 
 Contents 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Washington after the surrender of Fort Sumler 
 Manifestation everywhere of Southern sympathy 
 Entrance of Northern troops Change of public sen- 
 timent Gathering of the Union army Organizing 
 the army Marching into Virginia Battle of Bull 
 Run Our defeat Retreat to Washington Demor- 
 alization of the army and people. 
 
 CHAPTER VI 59 
 
 Arrival of General McClellan at Washington Bring- 
 ing order out of chaos Preparation for the defense 
 of the city Complete defensive works erected about*X 
 the city Lincoln calls for five hundred thousand 
 men General McClellan made the commander-in 
 chief of the army Organization of the Army of the 
 Potomac Peninsular Campaign Our arrival at 
 Fortress Monroe Battle between the Monitor and 
 the Merrimac. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 68 
 
 Capture of Norfolk Destruction of the Merrimac 
 Siege of Yorktown Battle of Williamsburg Our 
 sojourn in the Chickahominy swamps Battle of 
 Fair Oaks Seven days' battle in front of Richmond 
 Our retreat to Harrison's Landing. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 74 
 
 The army at Harrison's Landing Our corps ordered 
 tc- re-enforce Pope Defeat McClellan again in com- 
 mand March into Maryland Battle of South 
 Mountain Battle of Antietam McClellan removed 
 Burnside in command Battle of Fredericksburg. 
 
 CHAPTER IX 91 
 
 March again Stuck in the mud General Burnside 
 superseded by General Hooker Reorganization of 
 the army Advance again on the foe Battle of 
 Chancellorsville Charge of the Eighth Pennsylvania 
 Our defeat Diccouragement.
 
 Contents 
 
 CHAPTER X 96 
 
 The death of Stonewall Jackson, and its effect on the 
 Confederate army Lee's march into the North 
 We follow him Arrival on the field of Gettysburg 
 The Battle Thrilling description of Pickett's charge 
 Wounded A faithful comrade Taken to the hospi- 
 tal for the mortally wounded, near Hagerstown 
 Taken to the hospital at Washington Rapid recovery 
 Rejoin my company Ordered before Casey's ex- 
 amining board Commissioned colonel of a colored 
 regiment My declination Rejoin my company 
 Crossing the Rapidan Retreat Winter quarters. 
 
 CHAPTER XI 110 
 
 Reorganization of the Army of the Potomac Pre- 
 paration for the campaign of 1864 Grant visits us 
 Opening of the campaign Battle of the Wilderness 
 Terrible slaughter Changing of our base to Peters- 
 burg Siege of Petersburg begun. 
 
 i 
 
 CHAPTER XII 115 
 
 Interest in the struggle for liberty in Mexico Inter- 
 view with the Mexican minister, Romero Com- 
 mission to raise men to go to Mexico Take a vaca- 
 tion for a couple of months Go to New Orleans In- 
 formed by the United States authorities that we will 
 be arrested if we proceed to Mexico Arrested Dis- 
 charged on parole of honor Determined to go at 
 every hazard Finally enter Mexico byway of Sonora. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 124 
 
 Arrival in camp of patriots Their little army 
 Different nationalities The character of the Mexican 
 greaser I trust them and find them reliable W r hat 
 we had to eat The way the contest was carried on 
 A thrilling adventure. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 130 
 
 The meeting with General Escobedo Become a mem- 
 ber of his staff -The French rapidly leaving the coun- 
 try News arrives that the last detachment of French 
 has left, and that Maximilian has left the city of 
 Mexico and gone out to Queretaro, where he proposes 
 to make his last stand -His capture, trial, death My 
 impressions of the Mexican leaders and their corps.
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER XV 133 
 
 The summoning of a military commission to try 
 Maximilian Universal demand for his death Found 
 guilty and sentenced to death, which was to take place 
 within five days of his sentence The trial of Gen- 
 erals Miramon and Mejia Efforts made by the dif- 
 ferent European nations and the United States 
 government to save Maximilian The refusal His 
 death Reflections. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. . . 141 
 
 My impressions of President Juarez, Escobedo, and 
 Diaz. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 150 
 
 My return to the United States Visit different points 
 in the United States Finally settle down in Minne- 
 sota Become a reformer in politics Elected to the 
 legislature Introduce three reform measures. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII His 
 
 I meet Miss Willard Estimate of her power as a 
 Leader My marriage to Lydia Gertrude Lemen % 
 My wife's family Our children, Mary and John. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 179 
 
 Nominated for Governor of Missouri Lithia Springs 
 Assembly Hon. Wm. E. Mason Good Templar Or- 
 ganizer A happy life Education, religious views, 
 etc. 
 
 CHAPTER XX I'.") 
 
 Some of my co-workers in reforms John Russel 
 John P. St. John Col. Frank J. Sibley Mrs. Charl- 
 ton Edholm Sibley. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 204 
 
 Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of my arrival 
 in America Addresses and letters from prominent 
 reformers Recent events in my family.
 
 Contents 
 
 THE RISE AND FALL OF THE POLISH RE- 
 PUBLIC 230 
 
 POEM JOHN SOBIESKI 202 
 
 POEM KING JOHN SOBIESKI, 1G83 ' 200 
 
 POEM COLONEL JOHN SOBIESKI, 1892 ... 201
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 My birth Descendant of King John Sobieski My ancestors 
 Father joins the Revolution Captured and imprisoned- His death My 
 mother's summons to Warsaw Her interview with the viceroy Her 
 refusal of the proposition of the viceroy Our banishment. 
 
 I was born in Warsaw, Poland, September 
 10th, 1842. My father was Count John Sobieski, 
 the son of James Sobieski who lost his life in the 
 Revolution in Poland of 1830 and 1831, and a 
 lineal descendant of King John Sobieski who 
 is known in history as John III., being myself sixth 
 in the direct line through the oldest sons of 
 oldest sons of that great warrior monarch. My 
 mother's maiden name was Isabella Bern, of the 
 celebrated Bern family, so noted for their patriot- 
 ism. Her oldest half-brother served under the 
 great Napoleon, and was in most all of the strug- 
 gles for liberty in Europe, from 1815 until his 
 death in 1853. 
 
 My father was educated in the schools of 
 Poland, France and Germany, graduating from the 
 university at Heidelberg in 1840, when he was 
 about twenty years of age. Immediately upon his 
 graduation he returned to his native country, enter- 
 ing the service with the rank of colonel in the 
 Polish contingent of the Russian army. Here he 
 was serving at the outbreak of the insurrection in 
 1846, which insurrection he entered into at once
 
 2 , Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 with all the enthusiasm of one of the Sobieski 
 race. He participated in several battles of that 
 contest, was wounded, captured, and imprisoned, 
 and was finally executed by the Russian govern- 
 ment March 10th, 1848. 
 
 The estate of my father was situated about one 
 hundred and twenty miles from Warsaw, and as 
 soon as the insurrection broke out, my mother with 
 her boy myself at once repaired to the estate, 
 which was one of the largest in Poland, compris- 
 ing two hundred thousand acres of land. My 
 mother learned that my father had been wounded 
 and captured by the Russian army, and supposed 
 that they had put him to death, as she did not 
 hear of him again for more than a year. 
 
 But all this time my father was suffering the 
 horrors of a Russian prison. For some thirteen 
 months he was struggling for existence in that 
 prison, without a bath or a change of clothing, in 
 a cell infested with vermin of every description. 
 One day he was visited by a Russian officer, who 
 informed him that it had been decreed by the 
 Russian government that Tie must suffer death. 
 The officer told my father that, if he had any reason- 
 able request to make, it would be granted. His 
 only request was that he might be privileged to see 
 his wife and boy. 
 
 One day my mother was surprised by receiving 
 a visit from a detachment of Cossack soldiers, who,
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 3 
 
 in the name of the Czar, ordered her to get ready 
 and follow them. 
 
 Not knowing whither we were bound, in our 
 own carriage, driven by our own servant, we pro- 
 ceeded with the soldiers. I remember the journey 
 well. It was in the latter part of February or the 
 first of March. In that north country winter had 
 not abated any of its rigor, so I remember the 
 severe cold and the gay trappings of the soldiers. 
 We could not have been more than two days mak- 
 ing the trip, stopping now and then for a few min- 
 utes rest, and for refreshments. We arrived jn 
 Warsaw at night. 
 
 The next morning we were ordered to appear 
 before the viceroy of Poland, who was a brother of 
 the emperor. He was a man noted' for his savage 
 and unfeeling nature. But, to my mother's aston- 
 ishment, he received her with every token of 
 respect and regard, and seemed, indeed, almost 
 friendly. He told my mother that he had an 
 unpleasant duty to perform, and would do it 
 just as gently and as kindly as possible. He 
 informed my mother that my father was still living, 
 but that he would be executed the next morning ; 
 and that her father and her two younger brothers 
 were in the same prison with my father, and would 
 be executed at the same time with him. He said 
 that he now had a proposition to make to her, and 
 he hoped that she would consider it carefully ;
 
 4 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 that she would not let any sense of wrong she 
 thought she had suffered prevent her from making 
 a wise decision, as the future welfare of herself and 
 child was in her own hands, and depended upon 
 her answer. He said that the emperor had author- 
 ized him to make her this proposition: That if she 
 would consent to have her boy taken from her that 
 day, conveyed to an institution under the direc- 
 tion of the Greek Church, where he would be ca^e- 
 fully guarded, instructed and educated under the 
 supervision of the teachers of the Greek Church, 
 (the object of the Russian government being to 
 nationalize me, that is, to make me an adherent 
 of the Russian government ), assuring her that 
 everything should be done for his welfare and cul- 
 ture, and that she should have the privilege ol 
 occasionally visiting him ; if she would consent to 
 this and take the oath of fidelity to the emperor, 
 she might return to the estate unrestrained and 
 enjoy it until her son arrived at his majority, when 
 he would come into possession of it himself: but, 
 on the other hand, if she refused this proposition, 
 then on the morrow a decree would be issued in the 
 name of the emperor, expelling her and her son 
 forever from Poland upon the penalty of death, 
 should she or her son ever return, or enter any 
 territory controlled by the Czar ; and that our 
 estates and all of our belongings would be forever 
 confiscated to the Czar.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 5 
 
 The viceroy very kindly offered my mother 
 proper time to consider the proposition, and 
 begged her to take the time. But my mother 
 without any hesitation told him such a proposition 
 would not require time for thought or considera- 
 tion. Her mind was already made up. She said : 
 " Sire, you can tell the emperor for me, that he can 
 take from us our estate, he can take from us all we 
 possess in the world, banish me and my child 
 from our native land, home and kindred, to dwell 
 in foreign lands among strangers. I may be 
 compelled to beg bread for myself and boy, but I 
 will go, and I'll teach my boy that he is a Pole, and 
 to love liberty and to despise tyranny, and to revere 
 and cherish the cause which his father cherished 
 and died for, and to hate with undying hatred that 
 nation and sovereign who murdered his father 
 and kin and despoiled his country, and sent us into 
 exile. " 
 
 When my mother had thus spoken, we were 
 dismissed from the presence of the viceroy, and 
 were then taken to see my father in that terrible 
 prison dungeon. Though fifty-one years have 
 elapsed since then, and I have passed through 
 many scenes, yet that terrible picture has never 
 been effaced from my memory. In a small room 
 without a single ray of sunlight, and with but a 
 few straggling rays of daylight, we found my 
 father. The dirt and filth were appalling indescrib-
 
 6 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 ^ 
 
 able. How he had existed for more than thirteen 
 months, it was beyond our comprehension to con- 
 ceive. Nothing but his splendid constitution had 
 sustained him. For six hours we were permitted 
 to be with him. Those six hours were spent in 
 loving caresses and counsel. Promptly at the 
 expiration of the time we were summoned forth. 
 The parting was such as you might have expected 
 of a brave man and a brave woman knowing that 
 they should never meet again till they should meet 
 in the land of spirits. My mother at once 'made the 
 request that she might be permitted to visit her 
 father and brothers, as they were confined in the 
 same prison. This was refused, and we were then 
 taken back to our hotel. The next morning my 
 father and grandfather were executed. My father 
 was not quite twenty-eight years of age at the time 
 of his death. 
 
 Before we left Warsaw my mother learned 
 that her younger sister, whose age was twenty, 
 and who had been arrested and imprisoned some 
 months before, had been sentenced to Siberia 
 for twenty years at hard labor. Later, we met with 
 a bishop of the Greek Church, who was present at 
 the departure of my aunt for Siberia, who described 
 her departure, chained to a gang of convicts, whose 
 company she was to march in for twenty-eight 
 hundred miles, all of which must be made on foot. 
 She was never heard of afterward. She probably 
 died or was murdered by the Cossack soldiers 
 en route.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Banished Journey to the frontier Refusal of the Austrian authori- 
 ties to let us land Go to Posen Ordered out by the Prussian authorities 
 Go to Brussels, Berne, Milan Expulsion from Milan The case of Captain 
 Ingraham Arrival in England Louis Kossuth and Hungary My uncle 
 Joseph Bern My pledge to my mother on her death-bed My parents 
 My mother's death. 
 
 Two or three days after my father's execution, 
 my mother and I were placed in a sleigh, and 
 under escort of Cossacks were started toward the 
 frontier. We were driven out without any 
 preparation at all, for my mother never dreamed 
 when she left our ancestral home, that she was 
 never to return. She took but a limited amount 
 of money, and left all of her diamonds, valued at 
 more than half a million of dollars. She often said 
 that if she had taken these along with her, they 
 would have secured her support, or furnished her 
 all the revenue she might have needed. 
 
 After days of journeying, we arrived on the 
 frontier of Galicia, the part of Poland absorbed by 
 Austria. We were halted by the Austrian authori- 
 ties, who in a few hours informed us that our 
 presence was not desirable. From thence we 
 went to the province of Posen, known as Prussian 
 Poland. After sojourning there for a few weeks, 
 we were one morning peremptorily ordered out of 
 the country.
 
 8 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 The reason for our ejection both by the 
 Austrian and the Prussian authorities was evident. 
 Both of those countries were being rent at that 
 time by revolutionary movements, and, as we were 
 political exiles, we were looked upon with suspicion 
 and dread. 
 
 From thence we went to the city of Brussels, 
 in Belgium. After sojourning there some weeks, 
 we went to Berne, Switzerland, the beautiful capi- 
 tal of that country. Here we remained for more 
 than a year, my mother teaching a school of young 
 ladies, in languages, music, and painting. 
 
 From there we went in 1850 to Milan, Italy. 
 My mother's health had begun to fail her, and 
 she went to Milan, where she had some friends, 
 and where it was thought her health would be 
 better. 
 
 On the way we visited Rome. I still have a 
 recollection of the Eternal City. Much as I 
 enjoyed its walks and drives, my pleasure was 
 greatly marred by the poor beggars, who seemed 
 to meet us in swarms at every turn. 
 
 After living in Milan for something over a year, 
 an event occurred that hastened our departure. 
 Captain Duncan N. Ingraham, of the United 
 States navy, while cruising in the Mediterranean 
 Sea, had entered the little Turkish town of Smyrna, 
 where he learned that an American citizen by the 
 name of Martin Koszta had a dav or two before
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 9 
 
 been seized on the streets and taken aboard an 
 Austrian ship of war, placed in irons, and held as a 
 prisoner. 
 
 The history of Martin Koszta had been this: 
 He was. a Hungarian, and had taken part in the 
 revolution under Kossuth. He succeeded in mak- 
 ing his escape after the failure of the revolution, 
 and came to the United States, where he had 
 taken out his naturalization papers. His health 
 failing him, he returned to Europe and took a 
 journey up the Mediterranean. The steamer, or 
 ship, stopped at Smyrna, where he went ashore. 
 Smyrna being a neutral port, no doubt he con- 
 sidered himself perfectly safe ; and so he was, as 
 far as international law was concerned. But in 
 some way he was recognized; and the Austrian 
 commander being informed of his presence, he was 
 arrested and taken aboard the Austrian ship, and 
 no doubt would have been returned to Austria or 
 Hungary and executed. 
 
 Captain Ingraham, on learning of his arrest, 
 went alongside of the Austrian ship and asked if 
 Martin Koszta was aboard. He was at once 
 informed that he was not and had not been. Cap- 
 tain Ingraham then went ashore, where he was 
 informed that Koszta was aboard that ship, as the 
 ship had been watched every moment from the 
 time he had entered it. Ingraham then went 
 alongside the Austrian vessel and asked the same
 
 to Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 question again ; and again Koszta's presence 
 was denied. 
 
 He returned ashore, where he met the admiral, 
 or commodore (for there were three Austrian ships 
 of war lying in the harbor). He said to the admiral: 
 " I have been credibly informed that an American 
 citizen by the name of Martin Koszta has been 
 arrested upon these streets and taken aboard your 
 flag-ship, and is now held as a prisoner. I have 
 been to your ship twice, and twice the commander 
 of your ship has lied in my face and denied there 
 was any such person aboard." 
 
 The admiral answered by saying : " Martin 
 Koszta is a subject of his Majesty Francis Joseph^ 
 and is held a prisoner on board my flag-ship, 
 and you can see him if you so desire." 
 
 Captain Ingraham immediately went aboard 
 the Austrian ship. When Martin Koszta was 
 brought before him in irons, Koszta was asked if 
 he was an American citizen. He said he was. 
 He was asked if he demanded the protection of 
 the American government. He said he did. He 
 was informed that he should have it. His release 
 was at once demanded, but the Austrians refused 
 to give him up. Captain Ingraham then gave 
 them twenty-four hours time to release and restore 
 the prisoner, and said if he was not released at the 
 end of that time, he would open his guns upon the 
 Austrian ship. But the Austrians laughed him to
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. n 
 
 r ~orn, as they had three ships, three men, and three 
 :;uns, to the Americans' one. The ship that Cap- 
 tain Ingraham commanded was the sloop of war 
 St. Louis. 
 
 When the next day dawned there was great 
 excitement and stir in the little Turkish town. 
 People gathered on the hilltops overlooking the 
 bay, watching with deep interest everything 
 going on in the harbor. 
 
 Now, before the expiration of the time, the 
 governor came to Captain Ingraham and thanked 
 him for his willingness to protect the neutrality of 
 his port, but said that, with their superior arma- 
 ment, the Austrians would sink him in a short time. 
 The answer of Captain Ingraham was : " I know 
 my duty and shall do it ; and unless the prisoner is 
 released, I will open my guns upon them at the 
 time specified." 
 
 He now steamed his ship into better position, 
 where he could bear directly upon the flag-ship of 
 the Austrians. Quarters were beat, guns loaded, 
 and every man was at his post ; Captain Ingraham 
 was on the quarter-deck, with watch in hand, 
 waiting for the expiration of the time, when, just 
 five minutes before the expiration of the time, a 
 boat was let down from the Austrian ship, the 
 prisoner was surrendered to the French consul, 
 and by the French consul released and placed a 
 free man upon the streets from which he had been
 
 12 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 taken : and the monarchs of Europe had learned 
 for the first time, that the young Republic of the 
 West was strong enough and brave enough to 
 protect her people everywhere, and would do it at 
 every hazard, even though such citizens might be 
 of foreign birth. 
 
 It was while returning from the Mediterranean 
 that Captain Ingraham called at Milan. A demon- 
 stration was made in his honor by the people^ of 
 that city, and especially by the political exiles wno 
 were then residing there. This greatly offended 
 the government, and the viceroy, Archduke 
 Maximilian, at once ordered the expulsion of all 
 the political refugees residing in that city, and for- 
 bade them residing in any part of Italy that was 
 under the Austrian government. 
 
 I remember Captain Ingraham well. I remem- 
 ber that as he passed under the window of 
 the hotel where my mother and I were standing 
 and waving our handkerchiefs at him, he raised 
 his eyes and bowed and smiled upon us. That 
 moment he was forever photographed upon my 
 heart. That was forty-eight years ago, and yet, if 
 I were gifted with the power of an artist, I could 
 easily put him upon canvas, so vivid is my memory 
 of him. He was a South Carolinian, and an ideal 
 Southerner in every respect ; tall, dark, and hand- 
 some, a typical, splendid specimen of the Ameri- 
 can sailor, of which brave body Paul Jones,
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 13 
 
 Stephen Decatur, John Rodgers, Commodore 
 Perry, Admiral Farragut, Devvey, Sampson, Schley, 
 and Hobson are representatives ; men who have 
 made the American navy glorious everywhere 
 and for all time to come. 
 
 The viceroy who decreed our banishment, as I 
 have already stated, was Archduke Maximilian, 
 the brother of the emperor of Austria. He him- 
 self afterward played the imperial act in a farce in 
 Mexico. I shall refer to him again, later in 
 my story. 
 
 My mother now proceeded with me to England, 
 that glorious old land of liberty. I was now old 
 enough to appreciate what that word liberty 
 meant ; and oh, how I rejoiced to be among the 
 generous, warm-hearted, liberty-loving people of 
 that country ! For all classes, from the queen to 
 the peasantry, showed interest in our behalf. 
 
 Some months after our arrival in England, 
 Louis Kossuth, who had been liberated from his 
 prison in Turkey, together with my uncle, General 
 Joseph Bern, visited England. I remember Kossuth 
 well: he was then in his prime. I remember 
 his patting me on the cheek and telling me 
 that some day I, too, would fight for liberty. No 
 man in England ever received greater ovations 
 than did he. From there he proceeded to 
 America, where still greater honors awaited him. 
 Congress gave him a vote of welcome to the land.
 
 14 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 O 
 
 American statesmen like Webster, Sumner, 
 Douglas, Seward, and Hale, voiced the sentiment 
 of Congress and of the people in welcoming to 
 these shores the glorious champion of liberty. 
 After a few months he returned to Europe and 
 sought to interest some of the nations there in 
 behalf of his country. Failing in this, almost 
 broken-hearted, he retired to Genoa, Italy, where 
 he spent the rest of his days. 
 
 After Austria received its stunning defeat at 
 the hands of France, and again at the hands of 
 Prussia, by which it lost its place as the head of 
 the German states, they sought to conciliate 
 Hungary by conceding to her all she strove for 
 under Kossuth : a diet of her own, a ministry, and 
 a constitution. This seemed to conciliate Hungary : 
 but it did not Kossuth, who said there could be 
 no reliance upon Austria ; that he could not trust 
 the House of Hapsburgs, for they would betray 
 Hungary whenever it would pay them to do it. 
 Austria rescinded its decree of banishment of 
 Kossuth, restored his property to him, and he was 
 elected a member of the Hungarian Diet; but still 
 he would not return, saying that he could only live 
 in free Hungary, or not at all. So he died in 
 Genoa, in March, 1894, at the age of ninety-two, 
 beloved and mourned by all who love liberty, 
 patriotism and consistency.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 15 
 
 My uncle Joseph Bern, who served under 
 Kossuth, had led a life of rare devotion. He had 
 fought for liberty almost everywhere : wherever the 
 cause of liberty was in peril, he entered into it with 
 all the enthusiasm he displayed when fighting for 
 his own country. He returned to Turkey, as he 
 saw unmistakable signs of a coming conflict 
 between that country and Russia. He became 
 naturalized as a Turk, was raised to the rank of 
 pasha, reorganized her army upon the modern 
 plan, and, while right amidst his work, suddenly 
 died in December, 1853. It was supposed he 
 was poisoned by some one in the pay of Russia. 
 But he lived long enough to put Turkey on such 
 a good military footing as to enable her army to 
 beat the Russian army in every battle that 
 occurred the year afterward. 
 
 After living about six months in England, my 
 mother's health had failed so rapidly, that it was 
 deemed best that we be separated. So I was 
 placed in the family of a Polish gentleman by the 
 name of Zolaski. My mother continued to decline 
 rapidly, and in September, 1854, she died. She 
 was twenty-nine at the time of her death. 
 
 I do not know much about the personal appear- 
 ance of my father, as he died when I was so 
 young. But those whom I have met who did 
 know him, described him as being tall, with amass 
 of black curly hair, large, flashing, black eyes, and
 
 1 6 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 very handsome, a thorough soldier. My mother 
 I remember very well. She was of medium 
 height, would weigh perhaps one hundred and 
 twenty pounds. She had beautiful, dark auburn 
 hair; her eyes were dark brown, not very large, 
 but tender and beautiful. I have had people say 
 to me, <l What a beautiful woman your mother 
 is!" It may be asked by those who know me, 
 why I did not inherit some of the good looks^of 
 either my father or my mother. That seems to 
 be one of those things that we can't account for. 
 My mother did one thing for me that I shall 
 always remember with gratitude. She made me 
 pledge to her on the day of her death, that I would 
 never, as long as I cherished her memory, drink 
 strong drink, gamble, or take the name of God in 
 vain; and I have never in the slightest degree 
 violated this pledge. It has proven to me of more 
 estimable value than any wealth she could possibly 
 have left me. When she died she left me in a 
 land of strangers, without a penny, and, as it were, 
 without friends. But that pledge has kept me 
 through those years when I was in the army, when 
 I was young, tempted and tried. The love which I 
 cherished of a noble memory made me strong 
 against every temptation ; and all that I am, and 
 all I expect to be, and all the good that I have 
 accomplished in fighting the liquor traffic, all 
 belong to her.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 My voyage to America Arrival in America Enter the United States 
 arm y Barracks at Carlisle, Pennsylvania Jefferson barracks, St. Louis 
 Sent to Fort Leavenworth to join the Utah expedition under General 
 Albert Sidney Johnston Our journey across the plains Fort Bridger 
 The Mormons Ordered to New Mexico War with the Apaches 
 Return to Fort Fillmore, 1860. 
 
 At the time of my mother's death I was 
 adopted into the family of Professor Kaloski, of 
 Liverpool. They were very kind to me, and I 
 shall always remember them with sincere affection, 
 and regret that I repaid them so poorly for all their 
 kindness to me. Professor Kaloski's wife was an 
 English lady of rare accomplishment and beauty, 
 who, before and after my mother's death, did all 
 for me that a mother could have done. 
 
 Professor Kaloski came of one ot Poland's 
 noblest families. In the uprising for liberty in 
 1830, he entered enthusiastically into the struggle, 
 and when it failed, lost all, and was compelled to 
 go into exile. He came to America and was for 
 some two or three years an instructor at 
 Annapolis, our naval school. Before coming to 
 this country he had lived in England for a year or 
 so, where he met the beautiful woman who after- 
 ward became his wife. It was she, I suspect, 
 who drew him back to England, where he married
 
 1 8 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 and settled down. He was a strong, stern man by 
 nature, yet kind of heart. He was all to me that 
 a father could have been. 
 
 But while I was content in this lovely home, 
 my mother had told me about America ; of it 
 being a land of liberty, where oppression by the 
 government was never known ; of Washington, 
 Jefferson, Franklin, and all those splendid heroes 
 who made this republic a land where there jyas 
 complete equality before the law. It became to 
 me my ideal land ; and I shall never forget my 
 delight and joy, when I beheld for the first time 
 the beautiful flag of this republic in the port 
 of Liverpool. 
 
 In the fall of 1854, or rather, December, 1854, 
 the United States ship of war, Constellation, 
 Captain John Cravens commanding, came into 
 Liverpool. Captain John Cravens had been a 
 pupil at Annapolis when Professor Kaloski was 
 instructor, and a great friendship had sprung up 
 between them. He frequently visited the home of 
 Professor Kaloski while in Liverpool, and in that 
 way I became acquainted with him. 
 
 There was a young midshipman by the name 
 of Abbot, who frequently accompanied him. A 
 great acquaintance and friendship sprang up 
 between us, though he was some three or four 
 years older than I. He was a whole-souled, free- 
 hearted, careless young fellow, always doing a lot
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 19 
 
 of reckless things, and yet loved by evl-fybody. 
 He could say anything or do anything, even on ship- 
 board, with all of its rigid discipline, without 
 punishment, beyond now and then a severe repri- 
 mand. To him I imparted my great desire to come 
 to America. He persuaded me to let him smuggle 
 me aboard the ship, which he did, down in the 
 sick bay, where I was dressed as a young sailor, 
 and a sick one at that ( and the most of the time 
 it was literally true); and in this -way I was 
 successfully concealed until we were entering the 
 harbor of New York, when my presence was made 
 known to the commander, Cravens. His astonish- 
 ment and anger were beyond bounds ; but he soon 
 got over both of them and became very kind to 
 me, for he was a noble, good man. He wanted to 
 know of me what I desired to do. I told him I 
 wanted to be a soldier ; that all of my ancestors 
 had been, and I wished to be. 
 
 He said, " Why, my dear boy, you are not big 
 enough; what could you do?" 
 
 I said, " Sir, I can blow the bugle as well as 
 anyone ; and you have a boy aboard the ship who 
 blows the bugle for the marines, who is not any 
 larger or older than I." 
 
 "Well," he said, "we will see what we 
 can do." 
 
 Some days after he came to me and took me 
 to Governors Island, where I was introduced to
 
 20 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 the commander of the post; here a bugle was 
 brought in and I was asked to give them some 
 music on it. I did so, and it was highly satisfac- 
 tory. Captain Cravens then became my guardian, 
 and enlisted me in the United States service 
 April 26th, 18oo. This noble man was lost at sea 
 during the Civil War, off Cape Hatteras, serving 
 the flag which he loved so well. 
 
 After remaining on Governors' Island a jew 
 weeks, I was sent to Carlisle barracks Pennsyl- 
 vania, where I was to be instructed further in 
 music, drilled and disciplined, and converted into a 
 soldier. I could, speak or understand but a few 
 words of the English tongue; but I rapidly picked 
 it up, and in a few months could understand nearly 
 everything that was said to me, and make all my 
 wants and desires known. 
 
 A circumstance occurred shortly after going to 
 Carlisle, that did much to set me forever against 
 the evils of strong drink. Up to this time, I had 
 never known much of anything about intoxicating 
 liquor. I had seen people drink wine, but had 
 never seen anybody drunk that I knew of. In the 
 barracks there at Carlisle was a sergeant by the 
 name of Warmingham, as fine a specimen of a 
 man, physically, as I ever saw ; a perfect soldier. 
 I remember, as young as I was, how I used to 
 admire his fine looks and wonder if I would ever 
 be as fine looking a soldier as he. One day the
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 21 
 
 men were paid off, and Sergeant Warmingham 
 that afternoon went over to town. I remember as 
 he passed out the gate in his clean, new uniform, 
 with his white gloves, my admiring eyes followed 
 him far as I could see him. He did not come back 
 that night indeed, it was several days before he 
 did come back ; and when he did return what a 
 looking man ! He was brought back by two 
 policemen drunk, crazy, cursing and raving. He 
 was placed in a cell, where I heard his ravings for 
 days afterward. He was finally court martialed, 
 reduced to the ranks, and set to work about the 
 grounds with a ball and chain. When I used to 
 look out upon his blackened, bruised face, looking 
 so wicked and desperate, and I was told that the 
 cause of it all was strong drink, it so turned me 
 against that dreadful beverage, that I have never 
 ceased to hate it from that day to this, and shall 
 hate it as long as I live. 
 
 After a while I was ordered to Jefferson bar- 
 racks, near St. Louis. Jefferson barracks at that 
 time was quite a rendezvous. 
 
 It was while I was at Jefferson barracks that I 
 saw General Lee, then Colonel Lee, on the staff" of 
 General Scott. He came to the barracks on a tour 
 of inspection. We were several days getting in 
 trim for his visit. I remember him well. He was 
 a very handsome man at that time, probably 
 between forty-five and fifty years of age ; a perfect
 
 22 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 Jfc 
 
 soldier in his manners and bearing. His refined 
 face and manners I shall never forget. Little did I 
 think at the time, that in so few years I should be 
 fighting an army of which he would be the com- 
 mander. 
 
 The commander of the post at that time, and, 
 indeed, of that department, was General Harney, 
 at that time one of the best known and popular 
 men in the service. He had served in the army 
 more than a quarter of a century; in Florida, in 
 Mexico, and on the plains. He was a typical 
 frontier soldier; strong, brave and daring; hated 
 and feared by the Indians as no other man. At 
 the opening of the Civil War he was still in com- 
 mand of that department. He adhered to the 
 Federal government, but because of some act of 
 his at the opening of the war, and perhaps to 
 make way for a younger man, he was retired. 
 
 I remember a circumstance while at Jefferson 
 barracks, that gave me all the experience with 
 tobacco that I ever had. Some boys who were 
 musicians went up to St. Louis. They drank beer 
 and wanted me to ; upon my refusal to do so they 
 made fun of me and called me a "girl". I stood 
 that as well as I could, but felt it deeply. Then 
 they offered me a cigar. I thought I would com- 
 promise with them on that, but regretted afterward 
 that I did. We sat and talked and smoked, and 
 I grew dizzy, then sick, and then began to throw
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 23 
 
 up. I not only got sick, but I got awfully sick. 
 The first hour I was really afraid I was going to 
 die; and the next hour I was afraid I wouldn't die. 
 The boys took me into the rear of the saloon, and 
 laid me on a cot where the other topers usually 
 lay when too drunk to promenade. Finally, the 
 boys started me back to the barracks. When we 
 arrived at the barracks my red cheeks were all 
 gone: I was so weak I had to be led. I was taken 
 to my room and was laid upon my bed. 
 
 A few minutes afterward the sergeant of the 
 guard came in and said : " Where is that drunken 
 musician ? " 
 
 My comrade said, " He is not drunk, but he is 
 sick from smoking a cigar. " 
 
 "I know better," said the sergeant, " let me 
 see him. " 
 
 He came along to my bedside and said: " Are 
 you drunk ? " 
 
 I said, " No sir, I never drank any liquor in 
 my life, but I smoked a cigar and I'm afraid I'm 
 going to die. " 
 
 He said, "Oh, h ! you'll be, all right in the 
 morning. I'll excuse you from roll-call to-night. 
 
 I was all right in the morning, but I came to 
 this conclusion : that two things which many men 
 consider absolutely necessary for their happiness 
 and well being, whiskey and tobacco, for some rea-
 
 24 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 son or other, were never intended for me ; so 1 
 bade ttiom adieu forever. 
 
 I was shortly after this, in the spring of 1857, 
 ordered to Fort Leavenworth, which was being 
 prepared to suppress the trouble then brewing 
 in Utah with the Mormons. In the winter before, 
 Congress had passed stringent laws for the sup- 
 pression of polygamy. This was done at the 
 demand or practically at the demand of J.he 
 whole nation, which was shocked at the develop- 
 ment of polygamy in one of our territories, and it 
 was determined, at whatever cost to the nation, 
 that it should be suppressed. Yet, as I dictate 
 these words to-day, we learn that a treaty has been 
 made with the so-called Sultan of Sulu, that not 
 only permits polygamy in one of our newly 
 acquired Philippine Islands, not only permitting 
 it, but the sacred honor of the nation is pledged 
 that it shall never be interfered with. It has been 
 the proud boast of our country for thirty years or 
 more, that we neither tolerated polygamy nor 
 slavery; and now we do both. It only shows what 
 territorial greed will do for a nation. 
 
 The commander of the expedition was Colonel 
 Albert Sidney Johnston. Colonel Johnston was 
 one of the best known and most competent men 
 of our army. Born in Kentucky, T believe, he had 
 fought for liberty in the Texan army against 
 Mexico, had risen to distinction in the army of the
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 25 
 
 little republic, and gained additional laurels in our 
 warwith Mexico. He was a man of akind heart and 
 noble bearing; very dignified, without being at all 
 austere ; winning in his ways, and loved by all who 
 came in contact with him. At the outbreak of our 
 Civil War, it is said by those who knew him best, 
 that his sympathy was actually with the national 
 government. His Southern birth and relations 
 caused the Federal government to treat him with 
 suspicion and coolness. It was more than his sen- 
 sitive nature could stand; so he resigned his com- 
 mand, settled his accounts with our government, 
 and went over to the South. He was killed at the 
 battle of Shiloh, April, 1862, and in his death the 
 South lost one of her ablest commanders. 
 
 The second in command was Colonel Alexan- 
 der, who, during the Civil War, was the chief of 
 General Lee's staff. Another prominent officer 
 was Major VanDorn, who was afterward a distin- 
 guished general in the Confederate army, and was 
 assassinated by a grieved husband in Mississippi. 
 Another was Captain Hancock, our quarter- 
 master, afterward so distinguished in the Union 
 army as commander of the Second Army Corps, and 
 one of the most celebrated generals of our army. 
 He was the Democratic candidate for president in 
 1880, and came near beating Garfield for that high 
 position. Others were Fitz John Porter, after- 
 ward a distinguished commander of the Fifth Army
 
 26 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 Corps; Captain J. B. Magruder, afterward a dis- 
 tinguished Confederate commander ; and Major 
 Beauregard, the great Southern general. 
 
 How often I have seen these men eating 
 together at the same mess! Yet only a brief 
 period of four years passes away, and we see them 
 leading brigades, divisions, corps, and armies 
 against each other in the mightiest conflict the 
 world has ever seen. 
 
 An incident occurred a few days before our 
 march from Fort Leavenworth, that was very amus- 
 ing, especially as I look back upon it now. One 
 day I was acting as orderly for Captain Hancock, 
 our quarter-master, when Major Beauregard came 
 to Hancock and said he had received some books 
 from France, recently, on engineering, and they 
 were very valuable volumes; and asked if he could 
 have permission to take them along on the train. 
 Hancock asked him how many books he had. 
 
 " Oh, " he said, "quite a box of them. I sup- 
 pose they would weigh a hundred pounds, box and 
 all." 
 
 Hancock replied, saying that he would be 
 glad to accommodate him, but the order was 
 imperative not to take anything along, except that 
 which was absolutely essential for the welfare of 
 the expedition. 
 
 So the major went away in disappointment.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 27 
 
 Shortly after this, Major VanDorn came over 
 to the headquarters and said that he had a barrel 
 of peach brandy that he had received a few days 
 before from Kentucky ; he said it was the finest 
 stuff he ever tasted in that line ; he didn't want 
 to sell that which had been given to him, and 
 asked if he could have the privilege of taking it 
 along on the train. 
 
 Hancock said : " Certainly, certainly, any- 
 thing of that kind, now ; but Beauregard 
 was here a few minutes ago, and wanted me 
 to permit him to take along a whole library of 
 books, and I refused him. Why, those books 
 would be just as heavy when we get to Salt Lake 
 City ; but I think that barrel will be a great deal 
 lighter, don't you ?" 
 
 That admitted of no discussion at all : the barrel 
 was taken, and I am very sure that it began to 
 lighten from the first hour certainly from the 
 first day ; for a few days after our march began, I 
 saw the barrel cast aside on the prairie. 
 
 We left Fort Leavenworth on the 26th of June, 
 on a beautiful, bright, hot day of summer. As we 
 marched out from the fort, and I watched our lit- 
 tle army starting on that celebrated expedition, I 
 thought what a magnificent array it was. What a 
 fine army! It numbered twenty-nine hundred 
 men all told infantry, artillery, cavalry and engi- 
 neers ; just about the size of a good brigade of our
 
 a8 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 army during the Civil War. In our march of the 
 first fifty miles westward, we passed little villages 
 and cabins ; but after that, in a few days, we 
 found ourselves out on the great American desert. 
 How splendid was the scenery! We soon began 
 to encounter little herds of deer, and then 
 the buffaloes. 
 
 Coming down through western Kansas a few 
 months ago, passing through her fine towns and 
 cities, with their colleges, universities, electric 
 lights and electric trains, and looking out on their 
 splendid farms, I remembered that in my day I had 
 seen those plains covered with herds of deer and 
 elks and immense numbers of buffaloes, and thought 
 how wonderful was the advance of our American 
 civilization. 
 
 The story of that celebrated march has passed 
 into history : its hardships, its sufferings are well 
 known to the reader of American history, and I 
 will not undertake to tell it. It would make a 
 volume larger than this which I intend to write. 
 
 When we reached the Green River, we were met 
 by a deputation of Mormons from Brigham Young, 
 who was still governor of Utah, saying that he 
 regarded our advance to Utah as an act of hostil- 
 ity, and that he should resist it : but as it was too 
 late for us to return that fall, we could remain 
 there, and he would furnish us with rations which 
 would be reasonable in price ; but he would
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 29 
 
 expect us early in the next spring to return from 
 whence we came. But we continued to advance. 
 
 A few weeks after this, Brigham Young, in 
 addressing his people, told them not to be fright- 
 ened, as our army would never reach Salt Lake 
 City; for some night while we slumbered, the 
 angel of death would visit us, and we would wake 
 up in the morning and find ourselves dead; or 
 words to that effect. 
 
 But the angel of death didn't visit us ; at least, 
 not all of us. That winter, while we lay at Fort 
 Bridger, a negotiation was held between the Mor- 
 mons, represented by Judge Kain of Philadelphia, 
 and the government authorities, and a peace of 
 some kind was effected ; so that in the following 
 spring, when we took up our line of march again, 
 we were not opposed anywhere, and the first of 
 June we arrived in Salt Lake City. 
 
 Salt Lake City of that day was not the Salt 
 Lake City of to-day. It was a city, then, of about 
 seven or eight thousand, I should judge ; ragged 
 and uneven in appearance, yet everything was 
 neat and tidy. But nearly all of the inhabitants 
 had fled upon our approach ; indeed, I do not 
 think there were a hundred people left. The 
 Mormon people at that day, the same as to-day, 
 were composed almost entirely of foreigners ; 
 people from nearly all the nations of Europe, 
 except Poland.
 
 30 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 They had been told of the bad character of our 
 army ; hence, they fled upon our approach. 
 
 But a few days after, the commander of the 
 army issued a proclamation assuring them that we 
 had come in the name of law and government, and 
 they would not be molested as long as they were 
 obedient to law, and inviting them to return. In 
 a few days they came back to their homes and 
 farms, and everything was going on as usual. A 
 proclamation was issued by the new governor, 
 inviting all persons who were tired of their polyg- 
 amous life, or any other person, to enter our lines, 
 and they would be protected, and returned to their 
 homes if they so desired. But nobody came, and 
 the Mormons at that time impressed us as being 
 a very prosperous, contented, and industrious, but 
 very fanatical people. 
 
 I think but once during our stay did they have 
 any reason to complain of the conduct of any of 
 our officers or men. Some months after our 
 arrival, we were paid off for eight months service ; 
 and that afternoon, after payment, most all of the 
 boys, except those on duty, got permission to go 
 into the city. We were camped out where Fort 
 Douglas is now, about four miles from Salt Lake. 
 While down in the city one of the boys got pretty 
 boozy, - and meeting a Mormon woman on the 
 street, suddenly became very affectionate, threw 
 his arms about her and gave her a good hugging
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 31 
 
 and kissing. I am sure he must have been very 
 boozy, for no man, unless he were in such a 
 state, would have hugged and kissed such an ugly 
 woman. But, unfortunately, she turned out to be 
 one of the wives of Heber Kimball, who was second 
 in authority in the Mormon Church. He was in 
 great anger, and demanded to see the com- 
 mander at once. Captain J. B. Magruder was 
 officer of the day, and pretty drunk, as most every 
 one else was, except myself and the men on guard. 
 
 I entered the tent of Captain Magruder and 
 found him sitting on a camp stool, with his feet 
 thrown on another, leaning up against the wall of 
 the tent, and about three sheets in the wind. I 
 said, "Captain Magruder, there is a Mormon 
 official of some kind, who wishes to see you 
 at once." 
 
 He said, " All right, go out and trot him in." 
 
 I did so, and followed along behind to overhear 
 what was said. 
 
 As he entered the tent, Captain Magruder 
 did not rise to his feet to receive him, for the very 
 best of reasons. He simply raised his head and 
 said, "Who are you ?" 
 
 Heber Kimball straightened himselt up and 
 said, "I am Apostle Kimball." 
 
 Magruder said, " What in the devil are you an 
 apostle of?" 
 
 He said, "The Latter-day Saints."
 
 32 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 Magruder said, "Latter-day devils!" 
 
 In great anger, Kimball at once withdrew from 
 the tent. 
 
 The next morning Magruder said to me, 
 " What did I say to that Mormon yesterday ?" 
 
 I told him. 
 
 He laughed and said: "I was pretty drunk ; 
 however, I was very correct in my statement." 
 
 But shortly after this, when Kimball camo^to 
 the camp again, he found Magruder sober. Cap- 
 tain Magruder at once became very much enraged 
 at the insult that had been offered the woman, 
 and told the apostle to go and bring his wife, 
 and if she could identify the man who assailed 
 her, he should be punished to their complete 
 satisfaction. 
 
 At once great excitement prevailed in our 
 little garrison : the offender was known to us at 
 once, and every one of us determined to shield 
 him. So when Kimball returned with his wife, we 
 were ordered to fall in double rank. We had told 
 the guilty man to fall in the front rank, about mid- 
 way in the rank, as that is always the best place 
 for a man to be who is looked for. 
 
 Captain Magruder, Heber Kimball and wife 
 started down the line, the woman apparently 
 scanning carefully each face as she passed. I 
 expected that the nervousness of the guilty man 
 would betray him, and felt very much relieved
 
 Mrs. John Sobieski.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 33 
 
 when he was passed. They now began marching 
 along the rear rank. Our lines were resting right 
 off the officers' quarters, when our chaplain an 
 Episcopal clergyman, a very dignified man very 
 unfortunately stepped outside of his tent. 
 
 The moment the woman's eyes rested on him 
 she became excited, and, pointing her finger at him, 
 said : " There is the man ; he is the one that 
 did it." 
 
 We were all paralyzed with astonishment for a 
 moment men and officers. Then we all burst 
 out laughing. But you ought to have seen the 
 poor chaplain. He stood there like a statue. 
 
 After a while the commanding officer tried to 
 control himself, and shouted, " Order in the 
 ranks. " 
 
 The men drew up and tried to contain them- 
 selves, and then burst out again. Again and 
 again we laughed and laughed ; and when order 
 was at last restored, the chaplain stepped forward 
 and proved by all present that he had not been to 
 town for more than a week. . She now wished 
 another trial to pick out the offender, but, of course, 
 that was denied her. So Kimball and she returned 
 to the city very much outraged, and I suppose 
 always believed that they had been very unfairly 
 dealt with. 
 
 But the poor chaplain never recovered from it. 
 The officers continually chaffed him about it ; and
 
 34 Lite of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 the men, when he was anywhere about, pretending 
 that they did not know of his presence, would fall 
 to discussing the question of his guilt or innocence. 
 Finally, the one who was defending him would 
 always give in and say : "I guess you are right. 
 I guess he must have done it ; but I wouldn't have 
 thought it. " Some weeks afterward he received 
 a furlough, and we never saw him again, and I 
 suppose he never ceased to regret the mistake^he 
 woman made in identifying him as her assailant. 
 
 A few weeks after this we were ordered to New 
 Mexico, as the Apache Indians were threatening 
 trouble again.' On our arrival at Fort Union, we 
 were assured that everything was quiet and 
 no trouble was apprehended. But a few morn- 
 ings after our arrival we had unmistakable evidence 
 of their hostility, by discovering that one of our 
 sergeants had been horribly tortured and murdered 
 within a mile of camp. We were at once assembled 
 and put upon our guard. As we were but a small 
 band, we could easily be surprised and massacred. 
 
 There was a still smaller garrison twenty miles 
 away, and the commander desired to communicate 
 with them at once. But alas ! our force was too 
 small to send a detachment, and so we were 
 assembled and asked who would volunteer to carry 
 a communication to the other fort. No one 
 seemed to be anxious to undertake it except a 
 young musician, who was then about sixteen years
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 35 
 
 old, and he was permitted to go. Probably 
 that which he thought least of during the entire 
 journey was Indians. 
 
 Arriving at his destination, he delivered the 
 papers; and when he started to return, was 
 informed that a young lady would be placed under 
 his protection, to be conducted to Fort Union. He 
 rather demurred to this. He had never had much 
 acquaintance with the fair sex, and was more afraid 
 of them than he was of the Apache Indians. She 
 was a beautiful Spanish girl, the only daughter of 
 our army contractor, who had requested that she 
 should be sent back to Fort Union the first oppor- 
 tunity. When she came out upon her horse, her 
 dazzling beauty and electrifying smiles quite cap- 
 tivated the young bugler, and put him at his ease. 
 Neither one of them could talk very good English, 
 but they made that up in other respects. By the 
 time they arrived at the fort, they had gotten on 
 excellent terms with each other. He asked per- 
 mission to visit her, which was readily granted 
 
 She had no mother. The house where she 
 lived was about one hundred rods from the fort, 
 entirely surrounded by a shrubbery peculiar to 
 that country. He went often to see his young 
 lady friend, and everything went lovely until the 
 old man got home. He knew soldiers and had a 
 poor opinion of them; and he had reasons, too, for 
 disliking them. One day the old man ordered the
 
 36 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 bugler off the premises and threatened him, if 
 he ever caught him around there again, that he 
 would make it warm for him. 
 
 Then the young man arose in his wrath, and 
 with all the dignity of a man of sixteen, said: "As 
 you are the father of the young woman whom I 
 love, I will spare you ; but were it not for her, you 
 would soon be sleeping with your fathers." 
 
 This did not seem to disturb the old Spaniard 
 any, and I think he slept well that night; but the 
 young musician didn't. The old saying is that 
 "Love laughs at at the lock and key," and very 
 soon the young lady, with a pair of scissors, had 
 cut a hole through the shrubbery sufficiently large 
 for the young man to creep through; and whenever 
 the coast was clear a white handkerchief would be 
 displayed, and then the young man would start out 
 to see his girl. 
 
 Everything went lovely for some time; but one 
 day, right amidst a very interesting visit, the young 
 lady gave a scream and started for the house. 
 The young man saw the old Spaniard bearing 
 down upon him with a big, bright knife glittering 
 in his hand. His first impulse was to stand and 
 fight; but as he had nothing to fight with, he 
 thought discretion was the better part of valor, so 
 he started for the hole in the wall, the old man 
 hard after him. The young man got to the hole 
 first, and was about half through when the old
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 37 
 
 gent got there. In justice to the old man, I'll say 
 he did not attempt to impede the exit of the boy ; 
 indeed, he assisted him very materially in getting 
 through: but the young man never thanked him 
 for the help he received, for it put him in such a 
 condition, that he was only fit to serve on a stand- 
 ing committee for some days thereafter. 
 
 Shortly afterward we were ordered to Cali- 
 fornia. A year later, when we were ordered back 
 to Fort Fillmore, the young man was now a year 
 older, and declared he was going to assert his 
 rights, and we expected there would be bloodshed. 
 But when we arrived at Fort Fillmore, we found 
 all cause for this had been removed, as both the 
 father and daughter were dead : they had been 
 killed by the Apache Indians a few months 
 before. I am very sure that the young man 
 mourned for weeks yes, for months and years 
 for the beautiful girl whom he really loved ; but 
 as for the old man, I am sure he never wore crape 
 for him.
 
 38 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Second enlistment Ordered to Fort Leavenworth News of 
 Lincoln's election Ordered East with Lieutenant Armistead on recruit- 
 ing service Brooklyn, New York Dr. Van Dyke's great sermon in 
 defense of slavery Hear Henry Ward Beecher reply Hear Wendell 
 Phillips on John Brown's death Ordered to Washington Closing 
 scenes in American Congress before Lincoln's inauguration Inaugu- 
 ration of Mr. Lincoln Beginning of the Civil War. 
 
 On the 26th of April, 1860, I entered upon my 
 second enlistment in the United States army. I 
 was given a furlough of thirty days, but got tired 
 of it at the end of two weeks and returned to duty. 
 
 My company was then ordered to Fort Leaven- 
 worth, where we arrived on the llth of November. 
 The next day came the news of Mr. Lincoln's elec- 
 tion to the presidency. Mr. Lincoln had been 
 elected more than a week before, but it had required 
 all that time for the news to reach the Missouri 
 River. At this period there were no railroads nor 
 telegraphs to speak of west of the Mississippi, and 
 none at all west of the Missouri. I shall never for- 
 get the sensation that Mr. Lincoln's election crea- 
 ted. Not more than one or two at the fort sym- 
 pathized with his political views. I had never 
 before heard politics discussed in the army ; but 
 now the discussion became fierce between those 
 who were in favor of sustaining the national
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 39 
 
 government and those who were defending South 
 Carolina for taking steps to secede from the Union. 
 
 Right amidst the discussion, orders came for 
 Lieutenant Armistead to go East and recruit 
 our battery up to its full complement of one hun- 
 dred and fifty-three men. Our battery had been 
 converted into a fine artillery. Our first point was 
 Brooklyn, New York. We arrived there the 1st of 
 December. 
 
 The next day was Sunday. I accompanied 
 my lieutenant that Sunday to church. It was the 
 first time I had ever been in a Protestant church. 
 It was a Presbyterian church: Dr. Van Dyke was 
 the pastor. He preached a sort of thanksgiving 
 sermon that day in defense of slavery. His text 
 was taken from Jeremiah 1:14, from these words: 
 " Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon 
 the inhabitants of the land." His church was one 
 of the richest and most fashionable in Brooklyn, 
 and Dr. Van Dyke was a very learned and eloquent 
 speaker. He boldly defended slavery, denounced 
 abolitionism, and declared that slavery was a moral, 
 social and political blessing, and a divine insti- 
 tution ; and he said every word spoken against 
 slavery was a sin, and a reflection on God's holy 
 word and his divine religion. 
 
 I shall never forget this, my first Thanksgiving 
 time in America. Indeed, I can say that the first 
 public Thanksgiving I ever knew anything about
 
 40 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 was in New York, in 18GO. Thanksgiving day, 
 then, was quite different from what it is now. Now, 
 the same day is observed by common consent 
 throughout the entire Republic, in every State and 
 Territory, North and South. Then, Thanksgiving 
 day was not observed in any of the States in the. 
 South, and only in those States in the North where 
 the people, to more or less extent, were of New 
 England or Puritan origin. Therefore, Thanks- 
 giving was held all along from the first of Novem- 
 ber to the middle of December. In New York it 
 was customary for the mayor of New York city to 
 appoint a Thanksgiving day, usually fixing the 
 same day that had been selected by the governor. 
 
 On this occasion I refer to in 1860, Fernando 
 Wood, the distinguished Democratic leader of 
 those days, was the mayor of New York city. 
 In his proclamation he rather impiously said, that 
 in obedience to the usual custom, he would desig- 
 nate a day for Thanksgiving and praise for those 
 who thought they had any special reasons for feel- 
 ing thankful to God for the situation that confronted 
 them. With an abolitionist elected President and 
 the party of disunion triumphant, and with a civil 
 war impending, he thought it called for a day of 
 fasting and humiliation instead of Thanksgiving. 
 
 The Sunday before that Thanksgiving, as I 
 have said, Dr. Van Dyke had preached his cele- 
 brated sermon in defense of human slavery.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 4 1 
 
 The Sunday following I heard Henry Ward 
 Beecher preach for the first time. Mr. Beecher 
 at that time was in his zenith of power and fame. 
 While his sermon was not intended to be a reply to 
 Dr. Van- Dyke's, yet it was practically a reply to 
 that divine, and also a reply to Mayor Wood's 
 Thanksgiving proclamation. After enumerating 
 many reasons we had for thanksgiving to God for 
 his blessings, Mr. Beecher, with his fist clinched, 
 reached the climax of his great sermon by rushing 
 to the side of his platform with eyes that blazed like 
 meteors, as he shouted in clarion tones that seemed 
 almost to shake the great building*: 
 
 " Another reason, and the best of all, we have 
 to thank God that freedom has at last won a vic- 
 tory at the ballot box, and upon the 4th day of 
 next March our government, for the first time, will 
 be administered in the interest of human liberty 
 instead of human slavery." 
 
 When the great preacher had thus spoken, the 
 vast audience was silent for almost half a minute, 
 and then the people broke out in most rapturous 
 applause, that shook the immense church from 
 pillar to rafter. It was a scene I can never forget. 
 
 When I went to New York, I had supposed that 
 Abraham Lincoln was an abolitionist, and also the 
 party which had elected him, as I had always heard 
 that party and Mr. Lincoln spoken of as being 
 abolitionists. But a day or two after my arrival in
 
 42 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 New York, I read in the New York Times an 
 editorial denouncing abolitionists, and yet I found 
 the same paper was a Republican paper. It puz- 
 zled me : I could not understand it. 
 
 At my boarding-house I had become acquainted 
 with a very intelligent gentleman, whom I knew to 
 be a very strong Republican. I asked him to 
 explain the matter to me. He was very much 
 amused at my verdancy in political matters. ^He 
 assured me that the Republican party was not an 
 abolition party ; and while he had always voted the 
 Republican ticket, yet he had no sympathy at all 
 with the abolitionists. He said he would regard 
 it as the greatest calamity in the world the abol- 
 ishment of slavery. He said the Republican party 
 only proposed to keep slavery out of the territo- 
 ries, and thus keep free labor from being contami- 
 nated and degraded : at the same time, he admit- 
 ted that, now that Kansas had been admitted into 
 the Union, there was no territory where slavery 
 was likely to go anyhow. I was beginning, now, 
 to get an idea of American politics. He said 
 there were a few abolitionists in the country, like 
 Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Stephen 
 Foster, and Parker Pillsbury ; but they were per- 
 sons of no influence at all, and scarcely amounted 
 to a cipher. 
 
 A few nights after this, I went over to New 
 York, accompanied by a friend of mine, to attend
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. . 43 
 
 an anniversary of John Brown's death. When we 
 arrived at the hall where the meeting was to be 
 held, we found it surrounded by a mob. It was 
 not by any means an ideal mob; the men were 
 dressed in their broad-cloth, and their looks indi- 
 cated that they belonged to what we call the 
 "upper class." The mob was being kept out of 
 the hall, by the police. As I and my friend were 
 dressed in United States uniform, they permitted 
 us to pass in. 
 
 In a hall that would hold perhaps fifteen hun- 
 dred people, we found about one hundred and 
 twenty-five, who were quietly sitting there. 
 Shortly after we had taken our seats, the curtain 
 rose, and out walked Wendell Phillips and several 
 other distinguished abolitionists. As soon as he 
 came out upon the platform, the rioters, who had 
 now gained access to the hall, began their dis- 
 turbances in the corridors and galleries. Mr. 
 Phillips was now introduced to the audience. I 
 remember my disappointment in some respects. 
 I expected to see a stout, red-faced, vehement 
 orator ; but instead there stood before me a man 
 about forty or forty-five years of age as hand- 
 some a man, I think, as I ever saw. He was per- 
 haps six feet high, with a refined, scholarly face, 
 and a Roman nose, 
 
 He stood for a moment with his hand upon the 
 desk, and attempted to begin his speech by say-
 
 44 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 ing, " Gentlemen." But that moment the crowd 
 began their noise ; shrieking, stamping, singing 
 and braying. The police contented themselves 
 with preventing the mob from entering the par- 
 quet, where those who wished to hear were seated. 
 For more than an hour Mr. Phillips battled with 
 the mob ; but he reserved his force, while they 
 were exhausting theirs. After awhile his splendid 
 voice rose above the din of the noise, and aft^r a 
 time the mob became silent : he had conquered 
 them. And then for more than an hour he was 
 the master. He poured upon the friends of slavery 
 his scorn, his invectives and sarcasm. It was 
 grape and canister, solid shot and shell, and Greek 
 fire all combined. He glorified John Brown as the 
 greatest martyr of his age ; no words that he could 
 use in his eulogy were rich enough : and he 
 declared prophetically that his death had begun a 
 struggle that would not end until slavery was 
 ended. 
 
 I met Mr. Phillips years afterward in Bloom- 
 ington, Illinois, where he was to give a lecture in 
 the regular course. The lecture was on Saturday 
 night. He was to stay in Bloomington over 
 Sunday. The lodge of Good Templars in that 
 city, of which I was a member, appointed a com- 
 mittee to wait upon him to ask him to speak upon 
 the temperance question. Two of the committee 
 were Democrats, and very much prejudiced
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 45 
 
 against him. But he received us very graciously, 
 readily consenting to speak gratuitously, only 
 making this condition : that no announcement 
 should be made until Sunday, as it might be a 
 detriment to the lecture committee. As we were 
 about to retire, he asked us to remain longer; he 
 said he was always glad to meet young men who 
 were interested in a reform of any kind. I had 
 become the spokesman of the committee. I told 
 him I had heard him in New York at the time of 
 the John Brown meeting. 
 
 He said, "I remember you well ; as you were 
 dressed in United States uniform, you attracted 
 my attention." 
 
 His conversation was so charming, that when 
 we retired, he had captured us all, and especially 
 the two young Democrats who were so bitterly 
 opposed to him. On the following night he deliv- 
 ered an address on temperance to a crowded house, 
 and delighted all. 
 
 Mr. Phillips, unquestionably, was the greatest 
 orator America ever produced. He dedicated the 
 wonderful powers with which God had endowed 
 him to righting wrongs, defending the right ; and 
 no just cause, however poor and unpopular, but 
 that he advocated, even at the expense of his 
 financial interests and social standing. He was 
 against slavery ; was for woman suffrage, even 
 when it was more unpopular than abolition ; he
 
 46 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 championed the cause of Ireland even more 
 eloquently than Daniel O'Connell himself; he 
 opposed capital punishment, and demanded its 
 abolishment ; he pleaded for prison reforms ; he 
 pleaded for the abolishment of imprisonment for 
 debt; he pleaded for monetary reform; his patri- 
 otism was broader than his own country ; he might 
 well say, as another great American said, "The 
 world is my country, and to do good my religion." 
 Although he, for so many years, was regarded 
 as the South's great foe, yet at the close of the 
 rebellion, while he favored the reconstruction 
 measures and insisted upon negro enfranchise- 
 ment in the South, in which I think he erred, 
 nevertheless, he opposed everything like vindic- 
 tive punishment of the Southern people ; and of all 
 the reformers of this century, Wendell Phillips was 
 the greatest Roman of them all. 
 
 We were now ordered to Washington. Rumors 
 of trouble to occur in Washington on the occasion 
 of Mr. Lincoln's inauguration had induced Gen- 
 eral Scott to call to Washington all the regular 
 troops that could possibly be obtained ; and, as we 
 had secured our full complement of men, we were 
 ordered to report in Washington on the morning 
 of March the 1st. 
 
 We found the Capitol city full of excitement. 
 The members of the outgoing administration were 
 leaving the city, and the Southern families were
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieskl. 47 
 
 also going, so as to avoid being present at the 
 inauguration. 
 
 I had never been in Washington before, and as 
 it is the capital of the country, I was all alert to 
 see and hear everything that I could. I was at 
 that time nineteen years old, just at the age when 
 young men or boys like to see everything and 
 learn everything. The first thing of all I wished 
 to see was Congress ; and by the kindness of the 
 commanding officer of my battery, I was permitted 
 to go up to the Capitol building every day. The 
 first place I went to visit was the Senate of the 
 United States. 
 
 The Vice-President at that time was John C. 
 Breckinridge. His appearance attracted me at 
 once. He was the ideal Southerner in appearance ; 
 the very personification of grace and ease. At that 
 time he was not quite forty years of age. He had 
 come from one of the most celebrated families in the 
 United States ; his ancestors had all been distin- 
 guished from the earliest days of the Republic. His 
 father had been a Senator and in the cabinet of 
 President Jefferson. He himself had served in 
 Mexico as a major, winning a fine reputation. He 
 had redeemed the Ashland district Henry Clay's 
 old district from the Whigs, and made for himself 
 such a reputation that he had been nominated for 
 Vice-President on the same ticket with Mr. Buch- 
 anan, when he had barely arrived at the constitu-
 
 48 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 tional age of thirty-five; and he gained fame rapidly 
 while Vice-President, and was nominated by the 
 Southern wing of the Democratic party for the 
 presidency, in I860. He had stood second to Mr. 
 Lincoln in the electoral college ; he had already 
 been elected United States Senator from Kentucky 
 for six years, and was sworn in as United States 
 Senator the day Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated. He 
 returned to Washington and took part in the exjtra 
 session of Congress, and made a very bold and able 
 speech in defense of the Confederate cause; resigned 
 his seat, entered the Confederate army as a major- 
 general, and finally was made Secretary of War by 
 President Davis. At the close of the rebellion he 
 succeeded in making his escape. After a year or 
 two abroad, he returned to the United States, 
 dying at Lexington, Kentucky, in 1874. It was 
 said that his death was hastened by that which 
 has hastened the death of so many other brilliant 
 men strong drink. 
 
 The great debate in Congress during those last 
 days of that session was on the adoption of what 
 was known as the Crittenden Peace Compromise. 
 It was advocated by Crittenden of Kentucky, 
 Douglas of Illinois, Johnson of Tennessee, Corwin 
 of Pennsylvania, Dixon of Connecticut, Green of 
 Missouri. It was opposed by Trumbull of Illinois, 
 Hale of New Hampshire, Chandler of Michigan.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 49 
 
 It was adopted, but nothing came of it, as the war 
 soon broke out. 
 
 It was my good fortune to hear Stephen A. 
 Douglas speak. Douglas spoke on the 2nd of 
 March and Green on the 3rd of that month. I 
 was very much interested in Mr. Douglas, as he 
 had been the candidate of the Northern wing of 
 his party for the presidency. He was at that time 
 forty-seven years old a very handsome man ; 
 rather short of stature, but well proportioned ; had 
 a very large head, with a mass of dark brown hair 
 inclining to be curly. His voice was sweet, full, 
 and clear. He had the attention of the entire 
 Senate, and the galleries were filled as full as they 
 could be packed. He lived only a few months 
 after this, dying the following June. He devoted 
 the last months of his life in rallying his country- 
 men in defense of the national flag. 
 
 The next day the great Senator from Missouri 
 (Green) spoke. As soon as he arose to speak 
 the members of the House of Representatives came 
 flocking over to the Senate, completely filling the 
 chamber. I remember seeing clustered around 
 his seat while he was speaking, Senator Douglas, 
 Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, Senator 
 Seward of New York, Senator Wilson of Massa- 
 chusetts, and Wade of Ohio. He was a man of 
 marvelous oratorical powers and transcendent abili- 
 ties. I shall never forget that great speech; it
 
 5 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 was thrilling in the extreme. That closed the 
 great debate upon that question. You might say 
 it closed an epoch in our country's history.. 
 
 The next day Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated. 
 The day dawned bright, clear, and crisp. At noon 
 the carriage containing President Buchanan and 
 Lincoln drove down to the Capitol building. I saw 
 then, for the first time, the President of the United 
 States and the President-elect. One could qiot 
 imagine greater contrast than those two men pre- 
 sented. Mr. Buchanan at that time was some- 
 thing over seventy years of age, tall and handsome 
 in appearance. His career had been a successful 
 one : he had been a member of both branches of 
 the State legislature; he had been a member of 
 the lower house of Congress for several terms ; 
 three times he had been elected United States 
 Senator from Pennsylvania; minister to Russia 
 under President Jackson ; Secretary of State under 
 President Polk ; minister to England under Presi- 
 dent Pierce; four years President of the United 
 States; it seems that all of his ambitions had 
 been satisfied. He was closing his administration 
 in the tumult of secession and revolution. He has 
 been very much censured, yet I am satisfied, when 
 everything is considered, his age, his environ- 
 ments, that future historians will say he did 
 the best that he could.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 51 
 
 Mr. Lincoln, as I saw him that March morning 
 for the first time, seemed tall, awkward, and 
 shambling in his appearance, his face plain to 
 ugliness ; yet, while he was speaking, delivering 
 his inaugural, there seemed to be some sort of a 
 transformation. He appeared so sincere, so true, 
 so honest and sensible, that from that moment I 
 had a faith in him which never wavered. 
 
 My battery was lying out near Brightwood. I 
 used to go into the city almost every day. Hardly 
 anybody thought there would be war. Though 
 another government had been organized and 
 foreign ministers appointed, still people thought 
 it would blow over without bloodshed. It all 
 seems so strange to us now almost incredible. 
 But one morning news was brought to the camp 
 that startled us all F"ort Sumter, in Charleston 
 Harbor, had been fired upon. The next day 
 came news of its surrender; and at last it burst 
 upon our minds that war grim war was upon us, 
 and, worst of all, civil war !
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Washington after the surrender of Fort Sumter Manifestation 
 everywhere of Southern sympathy Entrance of Northern troops 
 Change of public sentiment Gathering of the Union army Organiz- 
 ing the army Marching into Virginia Battle of Bull Run Our 
 defeat Retreat to Washington Demoralization of the army and people. 
 
 That night, after the news of the surrenderee! 
 Fort Sumter, there was a consultation in the quar- 
 ters of Captain Magruder, and the next morning 
 three of our officers went into the city and placed 
 their resignations in the hands of the Secretary of 
 War, and we saw them no more. Public senti- 
 ment in Washington seemed to be all one way. I 
 heard everywhere expressions of sympathy for the 
 Southern Confederacy, and even cheers for 
 Jefferson Davis and the Southern cause. 
 
 My captain came to me the morning he 
 went into the city, and urged me to go with him 
 and join the Southern cause. He complimented 
 me by telling me that I was a thorough soldier 
 and could command his batteries as well as he or 
 anybody, and that he would guarantee me a com- 
 mission at once ; but I reminded him that I could 
 not resign ; that I was an enlisted man and was 
 bound to the general government for four years 
 more. 
 
 He said, " Oh, the government be d 
 that it had all " gone to h ,"and the Southern
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 53 
 
 army would be in Washington before two weeks. 
 I told him I did not know anything about 
 the merits of the question which brought about 
 secession and war ; but the way I looked upon the 
 matter, my duty was plain : that I had come to 
 this country an exile, without home or country ; 
 the United States had given me both, and I should 
 be forever true to the government of my adoption : 
 wherever the flag went, I should go ; and if it went 
 down in defeat and disaster, I would go with 
 it. He then sadly bade me good-bye, and said 
 he appreciated my scruples and feeling of grati- 
 tude, mistaken as he believed I was. 
 
 Captain Magruder was a good man, warm- 
 hearted and generous, thoroughly devoted to his 
 native State, Virginia. For six years he had been 
 almost a father to me, and it made me sad to leave 
 him. The last time I met him was in 1870 
 a broken man in every way. When I told him 
 I had come two hundred miles out of my way 
 to see him, he thanked me warmly for the esteem 
 which I still held for him. We talked over old 
 times together. He mentioned the incident I 
 have just given : I was in hopes he had forgotten 
 it. He told me that I had acted the wiser part, 
 though he said he had acted conscientiously in the 
 matter at the time. I did not doubt that. He 
 lived only a few months after this interview.
 
 54 Life of Colonel John Subie^ki. 
 
 On the fifth day after the surrender of Fort 
 Suniter, if my memory serves me correctly, volun- 
 teer troops began to arrive at Washington; and 
 how quick public sentiment began to change. It 
 was as sudden as a burst of sunshine after a 
 thunder-storm. I shall never forget the day that 
 the first Northern regiment arrived. I think it 
 was the Sixth New York. Way down Pennsyl- 
 vania Avenue we heard a band playing. We stfan 
 caught the notes: it was the "Star Spangled 
 Banner." And then we began to hear the cheer- 
 ing of the people. It was a crack New York regi- 
 ment, composed of the sons of leading citizens, 
 finely dressed, finely equipped, and finely drilled. 
 What a splendid appearance they made ! 
 
 Within the next few weeks at least fifty thous- 
 and men came into the District of Columbia ; and 
 all, with the exception of a few regiments of State 
 militia, were raw men who had come from the 
 workshops, the farms, the school-room, the store, 
 indeed, from everywhere ; men of every calling 
 and occupation, except the brewer, the distiller, 
 the saloon-keeper I did not hear of their coming; 
 but everybody else came. Splendid material to 
 make soldiers of ; but they had to be made soldiers 
 " from the ground up," as the saying is. Not one 
 in ten thousand had ever seen a soldier ; hardly 
 knew a ramrod from a knitting-needle. They 
 used to afford us of the regulars a good deal of
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 55 
 
 amusement in witnessing their drill, for the 
 officers seemed to be more awkward than the men 
 themselves. Among the first things that a soldier 
 learns is his facing, and marking time ; so you'll 
 hear the drill sergeant say, " Right, left ; right, 
 left." So we used to say they didn't know their 
 right foot from their left, and they'd have to bind 
 hay on one foot and straw on the other, and say, 
 " Hay-foot, straw-foot ; hay-foot, straw-foot." But 
 they had something better than drill, better than 
 discipline ; that was their patriotism, their enthusi- 
 asm for their cause. They were the nucleus of 
 the grandest army that was ever organized or led, 
 the Volunteer Army of the Union. 
 
 I remember witnessing an amusing incident 
 just before we marched into Virginia. Near where 
 we were encamped was a regiment of volunteers. 
 I was out one day witnessing a lieutenant drill his 
 company. They had gotten sufficiently advanced, 
 now, so that they did pretty well. That morning 
 there had been a thunder-storm, and there had 
 been quite a heavy fall of rain. In the middle of 
 the drill ground was a slight depression, and the 
 captain had his men going at a double quick ; he 
 espied this water, and knew a part of his line 
 would pass through it. Military words had not 
 become familiar to him yet, so, instead of obliquing 
 his men, or halting and right-abouting them ( I 
 presume he had been a teamster a few weeks
 
 56 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 before), he shouted to his men : " Haw ! haw ! 
 haw!" It did just as well ; the men understood 
 it, but it was hardly military. 
 
 A few days afterward we marched into Vir- 
 ginia, and then out toward Manassas or Bull Run. 
 
 I wonder if an army ever went forth to battle 
 as that army did. It was composed of forty-five 
 thousand men. We thought it was a mighty 
 army and to us it was. It was three times larger 
 than any American army that had ever gone forth 
 to battle before. Most of them were young men. 
 
 I presume ninety per cent were under twenty-five 
 years of age ; full of enthusiasm, life, song, and 
 mirth. We expected a little brush with the 
 
 II Johnnie Rebs," as we called them, but we ex- 
 pected to easily dispose of them and march 
 proudly on. 
 
 But, alas ! how few of us ever entered Rich- 
 mond. It was more than twenty years before I 
 did ; and when I did enter Richmond, I went there 
 as a soldier in another army. I went there fight- 
 ing a more destructive foe than the one we 
 met at Manassas : I went there as a helper and a 
 friend, to save the homes of that beautiful city from 
 the devastation of the liquor traffic. 
 
 As the battle of Bull Run is now a matter of his- 
 tory, I shall not take space in this small volume 
 to describe it.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 57 
 
 On our retreat the night of the battle, we came 
 a place where the road had become choked up by 
 different obstructions, and they were trying to clear 
 the way so our artillery could pass, to prevent it 
 from falling into the hands of the enemy. A stray 
 private soldier was making his way back to Wash- 
 ington. He was the tallest man I ever saw. He 
 looked more like a pair of tongs than anything else 
 I could think of; he actually looked as though his 
 legs began right under his chin. And he was the 
 most disgusted looking man I ever met. Throw- 
 ing himself down on the earth where several of us 
 were lying, in the idiom peculiar to a New Eng- 
 lander, he said : "Gol darn it, I won't run another 
 step to-day." 
 
 Some one said to him, "You had better run, 
 and run now, for the black-horse cavalry will be 
 along here in a few minutes." 
 
 He said, "I don't care for the black-horse 
 cavalry or any other cavalry ; I would not run 
 another step for Jeff Davis and the whole Southern 
 Confederacy." 
 
 A few minutes afterward a shout came up from 
 the rear, warning us of the approach of the 
 black-horse cavalry, and I tell you there was 
 clearing out of that road pretty quick. Our 
 Yankee friend rose to his feet with alacrity, 
 gave one disgusted look toward the rear, and 
 started on a run that would have done credit to a
 
 58 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 jack-rabbit. I do not believe he stopped until he 
 arrived at his Green Mountain home. 
 
 The next day at two o'clock we entered Wash- 
 ington, and passed through her streets out to our old 
 camping ground at Brightwood. Utter demorali- 
 zation reigned. No one seemed to have a com- 
 mand ; no one seemed to care for command. The 
 few regular troops alone kept together, and had 
 brought away with them their arms and accouter- 
 ments. Washington was full of saloons, and they 
 alone seemed to be in high glee and reaping a rich 
 harvest. A thousand men could have charged 
 across Long Bridge and have captured the city. It 
 was the darkest day for our cause during that 
 terrible conflict.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 59 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Arrival of General McClellan at Washington Bringing order 
 out of chaos Preparation for the defense of the city Complete 
 defensive works erected about the city Lincoln calls for five hundred 
 thousand men General McClellan made the commander-in-chief of the 
 army Organization of the Army of the Potomac Peninsular campaign 
 Our arrival at Fortress Monroe Battle between the Monitor and 
 the Merrimac. 
 
 General McClellan was called to Washington 
 and placed in command of Washington city. The 
 first thing he did was to close the saloons of the 
 city ; the next was to establish rendezvous for the 
 army, sending out patrols to pick up scattered men. 
 Then began the preparation to put Washington in 
 a defensive condition. Ditches were dug, fortifi- 
 cations were erected, and in a short time Washing- 
 ton had been made impregnable against any pos- 
 sible attack that could at that time have been 
 made against it. 
 
 Now, for the first time, Mr. Lincoln began to 
 realize that there was really war in the land : not 
 a little insurrection that would blow over in ninety 
 days, but a mighty and terrible war that would 
 tax all the resources of the nation. So he issued 
 a call for five hundred thousand men, to serve for 
 three years, or until the close of the war. Soon 
 these fresh levies began to come into Washington 
 by the thousands and tens of thousands. They
 
 60 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 were taken in hand and disciplined, and were pre- 
 pared for the great work that was before them. 
 
 At this juncture General Scott resigned his 
 command and retired. General Scott was one of 
 the greatest men our country ever produced. 
 Born in the State of Virginia, he began his life as 
 a lawyer. At the outbreak of the war with Great 
 Britain in 1812, he entered the army, and remained 
 in continuous service until November, 18(H, a 
 period of forty-nine years ; the longest time of any 
 great general who has served in our army on the 
 active lists before or since. He had won a brilliant 
 reputation in the war with Great Britain, and was 
 ever known thereafter as the hero of Lundy's Lane. 
 Afterward, in service in Florida and on the plains 
 he showed his efficiency. At the outbreak of the 
 war with Mexico, he was soon placed in command 
 of our entire force in that country, and in his 
 march from Vera Cruz he showed a genius which 
 has never been excelled by any war captain in the 
 world. Marching his army for almost a thousand 
 miles over blistering plains, righting a dozen 
 battles of more or less magnitude, outnumbered 
 three to one in every contest, the foe at times 
 commanded by the President of the Republic o! 
 Mexico, General Santa Anna, Mexico's most 
 renowned soldier, he won every battle, and planted 
 the flag over the halls of Montezuma. Though 
 his army was composed mostly of volunteers, he
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 61 
 
 accomplished in less than a yea.r what it took more 
 than two years for the French army of more than 
 ten times his number drilled, disciplined troops 
 and veterans to accomplish. 
 
 He was the Whig candidate for President in 
 1852, against Franklin Pierce. He was the most 
 magnificent looking man I ever saw. Among the 
 ancient Greeks and Romans he would have been 
 worshiped as a God. He was six feet, seven 
 inches high, well proportioned in every way. He 
 weighed about two hundred and seventy-five pounds. 
 I remember I used to go blocks and blocks out of 
 my way to get a chance to see him. A great 
 admirer, as I am, of beauty in either man or woman, 
 and realizing General Scott's great reputation as a 
 soldier, I felt almost like worshiping him. Indeed, 
 I think we could all say of him, " He was 
 Winfield Scott, the magnificent. " He died in the 
 summer of 1866, full of honor and of years. 
 
 General George B. McClellan was now placed 
 in command. He took this raw material of our 
 volunteers, organizing them into armies both East 
 and West. Early in the spring of 1862 he was 
 relieved of the chief command, that he might 
 assume the command of the Army of the Potomac 
 in person. 
 
 It had been determined to approach Richmond 
 by the way of the peninsula, so we left Washing-
 
 6a Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 ton the 27th of February, arriving at Fortress 
 Monroe on the 4th of March. 
 
 The next Sunday after our arrival in Fortress 
 Monroe, just after dinner, our attention was called 
 to evident excitement at the fort. Looking up 
 the road, we saw the occasion of it. Coming down 
 from Norfolk we espied three steamers : two of 
 them were easily discerned and understood ; the 
 third one not easily made out. He- appearance 
 was so peculiar; she looked like a hai. sunk house. 
 The word soon passed around that the strange 
 looking craft was a Confederate ram, the Virginia. 
 
 When Norfolk navy-yard was captured by the 
 Confederates, there was a partially finished ship 
 of war called the Merrimac ; this had been scuttled 
 and sunk by our people. The Confederates 
 raised her and constructed her into an iron ship. 
 Her mail was made of railroad iron; then they added 
 to her, to make her more destructive, a tremendous 
 battering-ram made of the finest steel, for the 
 purpose of crushing into the sides of ships and 
 sinking them. It would seem that the head ones 
 of our government knew of her construction, but it 
 was all new to us. 
 
 When she came sailing down from Norfolk, 
 escorted by those other steamers, I surveyed her, 
 and then looked over to our naval ships, looking 
 so majestic and strong, the Congress, carrying 
 thirty-eight guns ; the Cumberland, the same
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 63 
 
 number of guns ; the Minnesota, with forty-eight 
 guns. With a joyful heart, I thought how soon our 
 noble ships would do them up and send them to 
 the bottom of the deep. I changed my mind 
 shortly afterward. 
 
 The escort now halted at a safe distance, but 
 the Merrimac ( I'll call her the Merrimac, al- 
 though the Confederates had re-named her the 
 Virginia,) came steaming on, evidently making for 
 the Congress, passing the Minnesota on the way. 
 The Minnesota fired a broadside at her. The 
 great big sixty-four-pound shots struck fairly and 
 bounded away, as harmless as though they had 
 been peas shot by a pop-gun. When I saw the lit- 
 tle effect of those mighty projectiles, I was filled with 
 despair. The Merrimac did not deign to answer, 
 but steamed down into the channel, passing the 
 Congress. This seemed very strange; but it was 
 explained afterward that Captain Buchanan, the 
 commander of the Merrimac, had a brother aboard 
 of the Congress, who was an officer of the ship, 
 and he thought, by destroying the Cumberland 
 first, that the Congress would then see the futility 
 of any further resistance and would surrender; and 
 his brother's life would thus be saved, or, at least, 
 not endangered. In this it would seem that he 
 was mistaken. 
 
 As soon as the Congress had been passed, the 
 Merrimac with her long ram glittering in the sun,
 
 64 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 ready for its work of destruction, put on all 
 steam, opened the portholes, and ran out the guns, 
 making directly for the Cumberland ; all the while 
 being stormed at by both the Congress and the 
 Cumberland, but with utterly futile results. The 
 Cumberland was finally struck amidships, breaking 
 into her side a hole that would have sunk her 
 in fifteen minutes, anyhow. The Merrimac now 
 drew back and let fly a couple of guns that ^ent 
 a pair of two-hundred-pound shots ripping through 
 the entire length of the Cumberland. The surren- 
 der of the Cumberland was now demanded, but the 
 answer came back, "We will never surrender ;" and 
 neither did they. But, firing their guns to the last, 
 and cheering their flag, they kept up until the sea 
 settled over them. 
 
 The Merrimac now turned her attention to the 
 Congress. The tide was now going out, and they 
 could not get close enough to ram, so they stood 
 off at arm's length and riddled her through and 
 through with their terrific projectiles ; and, as she 
 refused to surrender, the Southern vessel then fired 
 several red-hot shot, setting her afire. The Mer- 
 rimac then returned' to Norfolk. 
 
 What a night of derpair it was ! We antici- 
 pated everything disastrous for the next day. We 
 hated to see the dawn of another morning. And, 
 what added to our sorrow, the splendid ship, the 
 Minnesota, in attempting that night to leave the
 
 Mary and John Sobieski. 
 
 (At the age of five and three years respectively.)
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 65 
 
 Roads, had run aground and could not be gotten off. 
 Next morning early, at high tide, the Merrimac 
 and her escort returned to complete the work of 
 destruction. But she did not know the new foe she 
 had to grapple with ; neither did we know of it. 
 Down she came steaming in all of her gloomy ugli- 
 ness, making for the Minnesota, which was lying 
 hopelessly aground. All at once, from out be- 
 hind the Minnesota, there appeared a new craft, 
 more ludicrous in appearance, if possible, than 
 the Merrimac had been the day before; looking 
 just as some Southern writer said, "like a raft with 
 a cheese-box on top of it." She steamed out spite- 
 fully to meet her antagonist, and they came together. 
 Now began for the first time in the world's his- 
 
 o 
 
 tory a contest between two ships of iron, and for 
 three hours and fifteen minutes those ships of war 
 fought each other. 
 
 During the contest we became so excited and 
 carried away, that we forgot all about them 
 being simply ships of war, and in our imagination 
 they became mighty combatants ; instead of being 
 men-of-war, they became gods. We would shout 
 and cheer whenever we thought our champion had 
 made a point. At one time we thought the battle 
 was lost, for all at once the Monitor ceased firing ; 
 she seemed to be drifting, and we thought she had 
 become hopelessly disabled. It seemed that a 
 shot from the Merrimac had struck the pilot-house
 
 $6 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 of the Monitor right at the point, or aperture, 
 rather, where inside Captain VVorden was con- 
 ducting the battle. The shot striking so close to 
 his eyes, caused a concussion, paralyzing the 
 optic nerves and making him temporarily blind. It 
 was while the change was going on in the com- 
 mand, that the ship seemed to be drifting ; but she 
 soon came into battle again as gallantly as ever, 
 amid the shouting and cheering of the forty thous- 
 and men who were watching from the shore. 
 After a while the Merrimac drew out of the con- 
 test and steamed aimlessly around : evidently a 
 council of war was being held. All at once she 
 put on all the steam she had and made for her little 
 antagonist, striking the Monitor with such force 
 as to cause the Merrimac to careen on one side, 
 exposing herelf below her iron mail. Quick as a 
 flash the Monitor let go one of her two-hundred- 
 pound shots. It went tearing through the entire 
 length of the Merrimac, killing fourteen men, 
 wounding twenty-eight others, among them Cap- 
 tain Buchanan, and put the ship in a sinking 
 condition. She now steamed out of action and sig- 
 naled for her escorts, who tugged the sinking ship 
 back to Norfolk. 
 
 And when we saw the battle was over and 
 practically a victory had been won, our joy knew 
 no bounds. We shouted and cheered, cried and 
 laughed ; some men fell down on their knees
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 67 
 
 thanked God for the victory ; others hugged their 
 comrades ; others cursed and swore ; just as they 
 felt, so did they express themselves. Our joy 
 was unconfmed : we had no drill nor parade that 
 day. It was a day of joy that I shall never forget. 
 That battle revolutionized the navies of the 
 world. Lord John Russell, Minister of Marines at 
 that time, said in the British House of Lords the 
 next day : "Yesterday, we boasted that our navy 
 was the greatest in the world ; to-day, we have to 
 realize that we have no navy at all."
 
 58 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Capture of Norfolk Destruction of the Merrimac Siege of York- 
 town Battle of Williamsburg Our sojourn in the Chickahominy 
 swamps Battle of Fair Oaks Seven days' battle in front of Richmond 
 Our retreat to Harrison's Landing. 
 
 A few days after this we captured Norfolk, and 
 one result of that battle was the destruction of^the 
 Merrimac. The Confederates blew it up to pre- 
 vent it from falling into our hands. 
 
 When we captured Norfolk, we captured about 
 a thousand Confederate prisoners. Norfolk had 
 been a celebrated slave mart before the war, so 
 for a temporary prison the Confederates were put 
 into these slave pens. An old colored woman, 
 when she saw the pens which she had so often 
 seen filled with her own race, now filled with their 
 masters, it was too much for her, and she turned 
 herself into a regular Methodist camp-meeting, and 
 began to shout, "The Lord is slow, but he is 
 mighty sure." Doubtless she had been praying 
 for her freedom for many years, and now, when she 
 saw the dawn of the day of freedom appearing, she 
 had unconsciously given expression to the saying 
 of the ancients: "The mills of the gods grind 
 slowly, but they grind exceeding small." 
 
 We now marched on to Yorktown, where we 
 besieged that place. But when the Confederates
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 69 
 
 saw that their works were becoming untenable, 
 they evacuated; and we followed them to where 
 we fought the battle of Williamsburg, where 
 General Hancock won his spurs, and his title as 
 " Hancock, the superb." 
 
 I remember the morning of the battle, when we 
 were pressing our way on to Williamsburg. It had 
 been raining for two or three days, and the roads 
 had become exceedingly heavy. An ammunition 
 wagon had stalled, and the driver had been beating 
 and pounding, the horses doing the best they 
 could. Finally, in his anger, the man jumped off 
 the horse and threw a rock at its head. Hancock 
 was right behind the man, who did not know it. 
 Hancock immediately jumped off his horse, and 
 seizing a rock, hurled it at the man. It hit him 
 right between the shoulders. 
 
 The man cried, "Oh!" and Hancock said: 
 "Yes, damn you, that's what that horse would have 
 said, if it could have spoken." 
 
 I was never cruel in my nature, and I do not 
 know that I ever mistreated a dumb animal ; but I 
 never have occasion to deal with a dumb brute but 
 the words of General Hancock come to my mind : 
 I wonder what this animal would say, if it could 
 speak. It is a matter of a good deal of consola- 
 tion to me to believe that no dumb brute will rise 
 up in judgment against me. I killed a little bird 
 once, but that is the extent of my "cussedness."
 
 70 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 After the battle of Williamsburg, we marched 
 on toward Richmond. Now every inch of soil 
 that we trod upon was historic ground. We 
 passed William and Mary College, where the 
 great Jefferson graduated, with other distinguished 
 Virginians; and the white house where Washing- 
 ton courted and married the beautiful widow, Mrs. 
 Custis. Both of those historic landmarks fell a 
 victim to the torch a wicked and uncalled-for^act. 
 
 There are always men who, unrestrained, 
 delight in destruction ; there are no rights ol 
 their fellow men that they will respect ; with them 
 there is nothing sacred ; they are really barbari- 
 ans as much so as the Apache Indians; the 
 only civilization that they have is a very slight 
 veneering ; they are men who are never brave in 
 battle, who are always hanging around the out- 
 skirts of an army, their object being to plunder, to 
 murder, and to destroy. As war itself is a species 
 of barbarism, I presume that this class will always 
 curse civilized armies. 
 
 May 31st and June 1st, 1862, we fought the 
 battle of Fair Oaks. The first day of the battle, 
 owing to a heavy rain, all of our pontoon bridges 
 crossing the Chickahominy had been swept away, 
 except one made of wild grape-vines. The Con- 
 federates took advantage of this and attacked our 
 army in force; that is, the portion of it that had 
 crossed the river before the flood, and they had to
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 71 
 
 stand the brunt of the battle the first day : but dur- 
 ing the night the rest of our army succeeded in 
 crossing the river. So on Sunday morning, June 1st, 
 our army attacked the Confederates fiercely, and 
 the battle raged all that day until two o'clock in 
 the afternoon, when the Confederates gave way all 
 along the line and retreated in confusion to their 
 old position. 
 
 The most important result of this battle was 
 the severe wounding of General Joseph E. John- 
 ston, the Confederate commander, when General 
 Robert E. Lee assumed the command. There he 
 began his great career as commander of the army 
 in northern Virginia, a career which placed his 
 name among the world's great soldiers, and 
 endeared him forever in the hearts of all Southern 
 people. 
 
 General McClellan has been censured a good 
 deal for not continuing the battle, driving the 
 Confederates out of their position, and capturing 
 Richmond. He may have erred in this, and he 
 may not. Repelling an attack of an army and driv- 
 ing it back is quite a different thing from driv- 
 ing an army out of a fortified position and captur- 
 ing a city fortified and defended as that city was. 
 I am satisfied that General McClellan acted wisely 
 in the matter. 
 
 We had now pushed the Confederates to the 
 very outskirts of the city: we could see the
 
 72 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 steeples of the churches and hear the church bells. 
 But just at this juncture General Lee succeeded 
 in forming a junction with Stonewall Jackson. 
 Stonewall Jackson had succeeded in utterly de- 
 feating Generals McDowell, Fremont, and Banks; 
 and we found ourselves attacked not only by Lee's 
 army, but by Stonewall Jackson's also. Now 
 followed six days of terrific fighting, which, for a 
 succession of battles, the world has never s^en 
 equaled, and in which more than fifty thousand 
 men were either killed or wounded. 
 
 The last of that series of battles was fought at 
 Malvern Hill, and this was the climax. McClellan 
 had formed his army in such a way that his flank 
 was protected by the great gunboats lying in the 
 York River. Early in the afternoon General Lee 
 attacked our forces fiercely. My old captain, now 
 General Magruder, finding out where his old bat- 
 tery lay, determined to capture it at every hazard. 
 We hurled them back four times. Once a hand- 
 to-hand contest took place right over our guns ; 
 but we drove them back, and his splendid division 
 was nearly annihilated. He was afterwards put 
 under arrest by General Lee for recklessness in 
 the matter. Just after dusk the Confederates 
 gave way at all points, General Lee losing more 
 than ten thousand men in this battle. That night 
 we resumed our march to Harrison's Landing, 
 where we arrived early in the morning.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 73 
 
 To show how the bravest of armies will now 
 and then have a coward, I will tell this story. 
 
 At the battle of Malvern Hill General Lee met 
 a great tall Johnnie in full retreat, blubbering like 
 a whipped boy. The general halted him, saying : 
 "Halt here ! what regiment do you belong to ? " 
 
 "Tenth Virginia, boohoo ! boohoo ! " 
 
 The general said, "Go back to your regiment, 
 and stand your ground and fight like a man." 
 
 He said, "Oh, no, General ! I'm a coward ; I 
 told them I was when they drafted me, boohoo ! 
 boohoo! " 
 
 The general said, "Why, nonsense! Virginians 
 are never cowards ; and if I was, I wouldn't be a 
 great boo-baby. " 
 
 "I wish I was a baby, and a gal baby at that, 
 boohoo ! boohoo !" was the reply of the poor 
 fellow.
 
 74 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The army at Harrison's Landing Our corps ordered to reenforce 
 Pope Defeat McClellan again in command March into Maryland 
 Battle of South Mountain Battle of Antietam McClellan removed 
 Burnside in command Battle of Fredericksburg. 
 
 I shall never forget the morning we arrived at 
 Harrison's Landing. It was raining hard, as it had 
 been for several hours. It was a regular Virginia 
 downpour. We had had six days of constant fight- 
 ing. My corps, the Fifth Army Corps, commanded 
 by Fitz John Porter, had borne the brunt of the 
 fight, as we were the rear guard and were fighting 
 by day and marching by night. A dozen hours 
 would safely cover all the sleep I had for the six 
 days. So, when I had hitched my horse to the 
 picket rope, I took off the saddle and lay down 
 on the ground. I laid my head on the saddle, 
 and slept until late in the afternoon. I remember 
 when I woke up, the rain had just begun to sub- 
 side a bit. The spot where I lay was on the side 
 of a little hill, so the water ran away as fast as it 
 fell. When I arose and looked at myself, I could 
 hardly recognize myself; the rain had washed, or 
 bleached out, my dirty uniform, so it looked bright 
 and new. Our rations had not yet come up, so I 
 strolled out into a field where I found an apple
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 75 
 
 tree full of half-grown apples, and I think I ate a 
 peck. I will not vouch for this statement, but it 
 was astonishing how many I ate of them. My 
 comrades wouldn't touch them, as hungry as they 
 were, and they tried to make me believe that I 
 wouldn't live more than an hour and a half; but 
 they agreed with me perfectly I felt as gay as a 
 lark. I remember my sergeant said that a Polander 
 might eat them and digest them all right, but it 
 would raise hell with any human being. 
 
 We remained at Harrison's Landing about a 
 month, or a little more, when our corps was ordered 
 to Washington, and then out to reenforce General 
 Pope, who had practically superseded General 
 McClellan. 
 
 In the last days of August we fought the battles 
 of Manassas and Chantilly, and were again de- 
 feated. We lost several very valuable officers in 
 these battles ; among them was Colonel Fletcher 
 Webster, the only surviving son of Daniel Webster, 
 the great statesman ; Colonel Isaac Stevens, ot 
 Oregon, formerly governor of that Territory; but 
 our greatest and saddest loss among the officers 
 was the gallant General Philip Kearney. 
 
 General Kearney was a native of New Jersey, I 
 believe. At West Point he was a classmate of Gen- 
 eral Robert E. Lee. He had won a splendid rep- 
 utation in the Mexican War, where he lost an arm. 
 When he returned from Mexico, he retired from
 
 76 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 the United States army. He fought in the 
 Italian army against Austria, and maintained his 
 splendid reputation as a soldier; and such was his 
 record there, he was given a badge of the Legion 
 of Honor for his services in Algiers. At the out- 
 break of our Civil War he returned to the United 
 States, tendered his services to our government, 
 and in the Peninsular Campaign was the inspiration 
 of the army. He was a perfect stranger to le^r. 
 The night of the battle at Chantilly, without any 
 guard, he rode out to inspect the enemy's lines, 
 and ran into them ; they called upon him to halt ; 
 he wheeled his horse and attempted to escape ; the 
 Confederates fired upon him, and he fell dead from 
 his horse. General Lee was not far away ; they 
 reported to him that a Federal officer of distinction 
 had been killed. General Lee and his staff went 
 over to where the body lay. Lee at once recognized 
 his old classmate, and ordered the soldiers to take 
 him to his quarters; a guard was at once posted 
 over the remains, and the next morning the body 
 was sent into our lines under a flag of truce. 
 
 While I was lecturing in England some years 
 ago, I read a statement made by an English officer 
 who was serving on General Lee's staff, in regard 
 to the death of General Kearney. He said that 
 when Lee and his staff went out to ascertain who 
 the fallen general was, as soon as Lee saw him he 
 recognized him. He said for the first time he saw
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 77 
 
 General Lee show indications of emotion. He 
 turned at once to the party who had done the firing 
 and said: "Boys, do you know whom you have 
 killed ? You have killed one of the bravest 
 soldiers that ever drew a sword: you have killed 
 General Kearney." General Leeordered a stretcher 
 to be brought and the remains of General Kearney 
 placed upon it, and ordered that the remains 
 should be carried to headquarters. General Lee 
 and his staff dismounted, and, uncovering theii 
 heads, formed a procession and followed the remains 
 to the headquarters. Thus it is that the brave 
 always honor the brave. 
 
 We now retreated to Washington, and Pope 
 was superseded in command and ordered to report 
 to St. Paul, Minnesota, to take charge of the 
 campaign against the Indians on the frontier. 
 
 General Pope was an able soldier, but he was 
 entirely lacking in what is known as tact. When 
 he was called from the West to the East and 
 placed in command of the Army of the Shenandoah, 
 the good record he had made in the West had pre- 
 ceded him, and he was well thought of by all ol 
 the men and, I think, most of the officers. But in 
 two weeks' time, by his unwise utterances, he suc- 
 ceeded in making himself thoroughly disliked by 
 all. He began by making reflections on the Army 
 of the Potomac, sneering at his officers, reflecting 
 on the men. In the first general order he issued
 
 78 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 to the army, he began by saying: "I have come 
 from the West, where we have been accustomed 
 to look at the backs of the enemy;" and numerous 
 other unwise sayings made him thoroughly 
 detested : yet I believe the army did their duty 
 fully and faithfully under him, as they loved their 
 cause, if they did not their general. 
 
 McClellan was now again placed in command 
 of the defenses of Washington, which really meant 
 the command of the Army of the Potomac ; and 
 the news of his reinstatement was hailed with 
 enthusiasm by the men. 
 
 General Lee had already crossed over into 
 Maryland, and was rapidly approaching Washing- 
 ton. General McClellan at once put his army in 
 motion, and we marched out of Washington to 
 meet Lee. We met his advance guard at New 
 Market, drove it back, reached the city of Frederick 
 on the 12th of September, and everywhere our 
 army was received with enthusiasm by the people, 
 which much surprised us. 
 
 On Sunday, the 14th, we fought the battle of 
 South Mountain, where the Confederates were 
 defeated with great loss. 
 
 We rapidly followed them to Antietam. There 
 we met General Lee with his entire command. A 
 drunken general, in command at Harper's Ferry, 
 had, without much resistance, surrendered to Gen- 
 eral Stonewall Jackson his entire command of
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 79 
 
 twelve thousand; and thus enabled Stonewall Jack- 
 son to reenforce General Lee at Antietam with 
 his entire corps. This made the battle one of the 
 most terrific and bloody of the war. The battle 
 opened in the morning-, and lasted all day and far 
 into the night; the loss of the Union and Con- 
 federate armies on that day was more than thirty 
 thousand. 
 
 The next day was spent in replenishing our 
 exhausted ammunition, and making preparation for 
 an attack early on the morning of the 19th. But 
 during the night General Lee succeeded in making 
 his escape. His expedition into Maryland had 
 cost him heavily. He expected large reenforce- 
 ments to his army from the Southern sympathizers 
 in Maryland, but did not receive any. He had lost 
 twenty-five thousand men, and had also lost the 
 prestige of the victory he had won in the summer. 
 His mistake was a heavy blow to the Southern 
 cause. 
 
 A few weeks after this, while General McClellan 
 was reorganizing his army, refitting it by issuing 
 clothing to the men and doing those things neces- 
 sary to make an army efficient after such an 
 exhausting campaign, he was superseded by 
 General Burnside, and ordered to report at Trenton, 
 New Jersey, his home. This closed his connection 
 with the Army of the Potomac, and, indeed, his 
 services in the Civil War.
 
 8o Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 General McClellan was one of the most accom- 
 plished officers our army ever had. He had grad- 
 uated at West Point at the head of his class, and 
 had won a fine reputation in Mexico. When the 
 war in the Crimea was going on, he was selected 
 by General Scott to visit the seat of the war to 
 study the operation of the allies and the Russian 
 army, and received a high compliment from General 
 Scott for his report. Shortly after, he resigned 
 from the army and was made president of the 
 Illinois Central Railroad. 
 
 At the outbreak of the war, the governor of 
 Ohio made him a major-general of the State militia, 
 and he led them into western Virginia. His 
 campaigns there were so brilliant in defeating the 
 Confederates, that he was made a major-general 
 in the United States army by President Lincoln. 
 He was at that time but thirty-five years of age. 
 After the battle of Bull Run he was ordered to 
 Washington and placed in command. The prompt- 
 ness with which he brought order out of chaos 
 delighted the country. His great organizing 
 powers were so manifest, that when Scott retired 
 from the army, he, by general consent, succeeded 
 him. But already murmurs had been raised 
 against him; there were those who thought he 
 ought to inaugurate an active campaign in Virginia 
 in the winter, and nothing could he say in defense 
 of himself that the country would receive. But
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 81 
 
 after General Burnside made the experiment, after 
 the battle of Fredricksburg, the impracticability 
 of such a course was demonstrated. Such is the 
 nature of the soil in that country, by reason of 
 the almost constant rains, that it would be as 
 impossible to carry on a campaign at that time 
 of the year as it is in the Philippine Islands 
 during the rainy season. Then his Peninsular 
 Campaign was severely criticised, and he was 
 unfortunate enough to secure the ill will of the 
 Secretary of War, who was a very strong and a 
 very vindictive man. And at last President Lincoln 
 considered it wise, under the circumstances, to 
 remove him from command; but his removal almost 
 caused a mutiny in the army. No man was ever 
 idolized by his army as was General McClellan. 
 with the possible exception of Napoleon Bonaparte. 
 He was one of those men whose defeat did not 
 effect the confidence the men had in him; they 
 were ready to do, dare, and die for him. Such was 
 the men's love for him, that the government con- 
 sidered it wise at the beginning of the battle of 
 Gettysburg to let the impression go out that he 
 was again in command; and the impression was 
 general throughout the entire army during that 
 battle, that we were fighting again under the eye 
 of "little Mac;" but he was never with us again. 
 
 He was nominated for the presidency by the 
 Democratic party in 1864. This was the mistake
 
 Hz Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 of his life; and made worse by the platform upon 
 which he was placed, known as the " peace plat- 
 form," although in his letter of acceptance he 
 declared that the war should be prosecuted as long 
 as any man disputed the authority of the govern- 
 ment. He was overwhelmingly defeated by Presi- 
 dent Lincoln in the electoral college, although he 
 received a large popular vote. He was afterward 
 nominated for minister to England by President 
 Johnson, and rejected by the Senate for political 
 reasons. He was in 1877 nominated for governor 
 of New Jersey by the Democratic party, and elected 
 by an overwhelming majority. He made an ex- 
 ceedingly popular and able governor. 
 
 The last time that I saw him was at- the Palmer 
 House in Chicago, in 1885, when I and some other 
 old soldiers who had served under him, called 
 upon him. He received us very graciously, and 
 seemed to be much touched by our kind remem- 
 brance and regard. It had been twenty-three 
 years since I had seen him, yet he was looking so 
 young that we all remarked how lightly the finger 
 of time had touched him. The whiteness of his 
 mustache alone seemed to show his age. He died 
 a few weeks after this of heart trouble, after a few 
 hours' sickness. 
 
 General McClellan was in every way a high- 
 toned Christian gentleman. His habits and mor- 
 als were exceptionable; he was a total abstainer,
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 83 
 
 he neither drank liquor nor used tobacco; he was 
 unpretentious in his life and living-. He sought to 
 make the war as bearable as possible, by respect- 
 ing property and families in Virginia. He was 
 very much censured for this. There are those 
 who believe with General Sheridan, that the most 
 humane way is to make war as terrible as 
 possible, and thereby shorten it. But General 
 McClellan did not take this view of it, and I am 
 satisfied that future generations will decide that 
 he was right. Of all the twenty battles that he 
 fought, he never clearly lost a battle, although 
 none of his victories were decisive. ,-^^H 
 
 General Burnside now assumed the command, 
 and was received with great satisfaction by the army. 
 Recognizing the fact that he had been given com- 
 mand of the army in response to a public demand 
 for a battle, regardless of whether he was ready 
 or not, he gave battle to General Lee at Freder- 
 icksburg; and though our men never fought more 
 bravely, yet our defeat was terrible. We lost 
 more than twenty thousand men, while the loss 
 of the Confederates was very slight in comparison. 
 
 An incident occurred in this battle, showing 
 how gallantly the adopted sons of America fight 
 for her flag. 
 
 The citadel of the Confederate position at the 
 battle of Fredericksburg was Marye's Heights, 
 just back of the city of Fredericksburg. This was
 
 84 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 commanded by more than fifty pieces of artillery. 
 I remember reading of the conversation that took 
 place between General Lee and General Long- 
 street the night before the battle. When Lee 
 asked the question if Longstreet had gotten his 
 cannon so posted that he could command the 
 approach of the hill, he replied that he could comb 
 it as with a fine-tooth comb; and we found it 
 so, to our terrible sorrow. 
 
 Four times an attempt had been made to cap- 
 ture the hill, and we had been beaten back with a 
 loss that was appalling. About four o'clock in the 
 afternoon of that day, General Thomas Francis 
 Meagher, commander of the celebrated Irish bri- 
 gade, begged permission to charge it with his bri- 
 gade. Dismounting from his horse, sword in hand, 
 he led the charge. My battery was on the other 
 side of the river, and it seemed to us, from where 
 we were posted, that the side of the hill was so 
 literally covered with our fallen comrades that it 
 would be impossible for a charge to be made with- 
 out the men tramping upon their dead and dying 
 comrades. The hillside was literally blue with 
 their uniforms; yet on went our gallant brigade. 
 We watched them with bated breath as they 
 advanced. All at once the entire artillery of the 
 enemy opened upon them ; but unbroken on they 
 went, their brave commander sorely wounded, his 
 sword broken by a fragment of a shell, bleeding in
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 85 
 
 ialf a dozen places, he still led them on. Already 
 two-thirds of the distance had been made, and 
 more than two thirds of the brigade was down; but 
 still on they marched. The very crest of the hill 
 had been reached, and we were shouting : "He's 
 making it! He's making it!" when the enemy's 
 infantry, four deep, arose and blazed in their faces; 
 and down went the whole brigade. It seemed to 
 us as though every man had been killed; but under 
 the darkness of the night a few hundred succeeded 
 in making their escape. But the next morning, 
 out of the thirty-eight hundred who had made the 
 charge, only six hundred and eighteen answered 
 the roll-call. The brave general himself was 
 wounded in a half dozen places. This shows the 
 sacrifices those splendid men made, that the flag 
 of their country might wave over a free and united 
 people. 
 
 Their brave leader such was the severity of 
 his wounds was never again permitted to take 
 active part in the field. He was at the close of the 
 rebellion appointed by President Johnson as gover- 
 nor of Montana Territory. He was drowned in 
 the Missouri River. When a young man, he had 
 joined with others of his countrymen to liberate 
 Ireland from the power of Great Britain. Failing 
 in the attempt, he was sentenced to death. His 
 sentence was commuted to transportation to 
 Van Diemen's Land for life. After serving there
 
 86 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 some years, he made his escape and came to the 
 United States. He served as a captain in the 
 Sixty-ninth New York at the battle of Bull Run. 
 Such was his conduct there, that he was appointed 
 brigadier-general by President Lincoln, and signal- 
 ized himself for bravery at the battle of Fair Oaks 
 and at Gaine's Mill. In addition to his soldierly 
 qualities, he was a great orator. 
 
 I was very nearly captured while we were rrear 
 New Baltimore, after the battle of Antietam. I 
 took charge of some teams one day, to go out and 
 get some forage. Our orders were very strict not 
 to enter into any private house, and if any of my 
 men did so, or attempted in any way to molest the 
 inhabitants, to report them on return to the camp. 
 After getting some distance out into the country, 
 and being some little distance in the rear of my 
 teams, I noticed that they had halted in front of a 
 farm-house. I put the spur to my horse, and as I 
 approached the house heard the cackling of hens 
 and the gobbling of turkeys, and knew some fowl 
 (foul) proceedings were going on at the front. I 
 rode up to the house just in time to meet the men 
 on the way out to their wagons, with their hands 
 full of fowls. I halted them and ordered them to 
 drop their plunder, and threatened to report them 
 on returning to camp. A very handsome lady, 
 apparently about thirty- five, who was standing on 
 the porch of the house, thanked me for my protec-
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 87 
 
 tion, and calling me captain, asked me how soon it 
 would be before I would return. I told her in a 
 couple of hours. She said if I would call, she 
 would show her appreciation of my services by 
 having a good dinner for me. 
 
 On my return she met me at the door, and a 
 darky received my horse and led it away. 
 
 As I was entering the hall, she said: " Captain 
 you can lay your belts upon this table, and I'll 
 promise you that they shall not be interfered with." 
 
 I hesitated for a moment, questioning in my 
 mind the wisdom of the act ; but I took them off 
 and threw them on the table. She led the way 
 into the parlor, where she introduced me to an 
 exceedingly handsome young lady, who was her 
 sister. 
 
 She said, "Sister, this is the young captain who 
 protected our house this morning." 
 
 The young lady bowed and smiled. I was at 
 that time twenty years of age, a very susceptible 
 time in one's life, so the smile was more than I 
 could stand, and I was gone in a minute. 
 
 She said, "Yes, sister told me about the event 
 of this morning, and that shows that all the chiv- 
 alry is not on our side." 
 
 The lady of the house said : " Now, I will hurry 
 up my servants with the dinner, and my sister 
 will entertain you;" which she did charmingly.
 
 88 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 Soon dinner was announced, and when I 
 entered the dining room, I saw there were several 
 extra plates. I was assigned to a place at the table, 
 and while waiting for the ladies to be seated, a 
 door opened to my right, and in walked two Con- 
 federate officers, a captain and a major. They 
 were introduced to me as Captain and Major 
 Grayson. They extended their hands, and I shook 
 hands with them and said I was glad to meet th^m. 
 I reckon I never told a bigger lie. 
 
 The lady of the house said: "Now, I will put 
 the major on the right of our friend, and the cap- 
 tain on the left. There, you don't know how nice 
 you warriors look." 
 
 I thought I might look nice, but I didn't feel 
 that way. It was some minutes before I dared 
 look in the face of my hostess. I cannot describe 
 my feelings in those minutes, though I tried to 
 conceal them. I thought, after I had protected 
 her house, she had laid a trap to take me prisoner. 
 I was afraid, if I looked at her, I would say some- 
 thing that wasn't nice; so I waited until my emo- 
 tions were conquered, and everything went as 
 pleasantly as though we were old friends. 
 
 After dinner we went into the parlor. All 
 around the parlor walls there were pictures of 
 distinguished Virginians: Washington, Jefferson, 
 Madison, Monroe, Tyler, Marshall, Zachary 
 Taylor, and others. I thought all this time that
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 89 
 
 I was a prisoner, though not the slightest refer- 
 ence had been made to the subject, or to my 
 peculiar position. As we walked around the room 
 we talked about the great men whose pictures we 
 looked upon, and they complimented me that one 
 so young as I was, and a foreigner, too, should be 
 so well acquainted with the lives of these great 
 men. Soon the ladies came in and we got to talk- 
 ing about my native country. As I told them of 
 the struggle of our country for liberty and the part 
 my family had taken in the struggle, and as I de- 
 scribed the Russian prison, the death of my father, 
 the banishment of my mother and myself, I saw 
 the tears standing in the eyes of the two fair 
 Virginians. 
 
 I now told my hostess that I must go. They 
 all begged of me to remain longer, as they had 
 enjoyed my visit so well ; but I assured them that 
 I must go. I thought they were going to say that 
 they would keep me anyway; but soon my 
 horse was announced, and we proceeded out into 
 the hallway, followed by the ladies. The gentle- 
 men assisted me in adjusting my belts, and when 
 we arrived at the porch the little darky stood 
 ready with my horse. When the bridle was placed 
 in my hands, I turned around and confronted them 
 for the first time. Up to this time not a single 
 word had been said in regard to our peculiar 
 relations
 
 90 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 As I extended my hand, both of the gentlemen 
 stepped forward to receive it. The major said he 
 was glad to have met me, and hoped to meet me 
 again under more favorable circumstances. And 
 the captain said, "And above all, we hope you 
 may go through the rest of the war unscathed." 
 
 I thanked them for their kind wishes, tipped 
 my hat to the ladies, mounted my horse, and was 
 gone. My relief was great when I found th^it I 
 was a free man. 
 
 Still, I have often since pondered upon my 
 strange adventure that afternoon. I have rather 
 concluded that the major was the lady's husband, 
 that the captain was his brother, of course, and 
 that they had come there that day after we had 
 left, and the lady had told them of the events of 
 the morning, and, under the circumstances, they 
 could not avail themselves of their opportunity for 
 my capture. I wonder if they did go through the 
 rest of the storm of war unscathed! I hope they 
 did; and I have often hoped since then, that if 
 they did come through alive, that I might meet 
 one or both and have a talk with them over the 
 events of that afternoon. I have given up that 
 hope now, but trust in the great Beyond we shall 
 meet and have a talk and laugh over the peculiar 
 dinner on that November day, when we met 
 together, and, forgetting the bitter passions of 
 war, passed the hour so pleasantly.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 March again Stuck in the mud General Burnside superseded by 
 General Hooker Reorganization of the army Advance again on the 
 foe Battle of Chancellorsville Charge of the Eighth Pennsylvania 
 Our defeat Discouragement. 
 
 After a few weeks of rest, General Burnside, 
 heeding the demand of the press of the country, ad- 
 vanced again on the foe. We went just far enough 
 to get submerged in the mud so deep that it took 
 us six weeks to get out. 
 
 General Burnside was now removed, and Gen- 
 eral Hooker appointed in his place. 
 
 General Burnside resumed the command of the 
 Ninth Army Corps, and reported to General Grant 
 for service in the West. He took part in the 
 siege of Vicksburg. In the campaign of 1864 he 
 returned to Virginia again with his corps, and took 
 part in the siege of Petersburg. At the close of 
 the war he took up his residence in Rhode Island, 
 was elected governor of the State two or three 
 times, was twice elected United States Senator, 
 and finally died of apoplexy. General Burnside 
 was one of the most refined, cultured, Christian 
 men that ever served in the army. He was an 
 ideal man in his character: he made a good soldier 
 and an enlightened statesman. Peace to his ashes.
 
 ?2 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 General Hooker went to work with all of the 
 wonderful vigor of his nature to reorganize the 
 army and perfect its machinery; and completed his 
 work to the last detail. His great reputation as a 
 fighter pleased the army and the nation; and the 
 campaign of 1863 was looked forward to with the 
 greatest hope, by army and nation. So, when we 
 opened the campaign on the 27th of April with 
 one hundred and fifty-eight thousand men ii^the 
 ranks, the Army of the Potomac was never before 
 or afterward in such a fine, hopeful and spirited 
 condition. 
 
 But an incident occurred the first day of our 
 activity that I shall never forget. General Hooker, 
 with his staff, was standing close to our battery. 
 He was sitting on his magnificent charger, when 
 an orderly came up and announced the successful 
 crossing of the river by General French. As 
 Hooker read the despatch, he almost jumped from 
 his saddle. 
 
 "Good!" exclaimed he, "I have got them 
 where I defy God Almighty to help them." 
 
 In three short days the enemy was triumphant; 
 and our army, defeated and broken, with a loss of 
 nearly twenty-five thousand men, retreated again 
 across the Rappahannock to the old camps. 
 General Hooker was a good fighter but a poor 
 commander of an army: everything went wrong 
 from the beginning.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 93 
 
 I can never forget that fatal day when General 
 Howard permitted himself to be surprised. Gen- 
 eral Howard had -been apprised in the morning by 
 General Hooker to look out for his rear, but in 
 some way had neglected doing so. While some of 
 his men were preparing their suppers, and others 
 were writing letters to their loved ones, that 
 leopard of the Southern army, General Stonewall 
 Jackson, was creeping up into their rear, getting 
 ready to make his last and awful spring, which should 
 cause the defeat of our army, and his own death. 
 Without a note of warning he sprang out on 
 Howard's men. The men were shot down before 
 they could get to their guns or rifles. Panic now 
 seized the men and spread from regiment to regi- 
 ment, brigade to brigade, division to division, 
 until the whole corps was involved. Down they 
 came pell-mell, like a seething ocean or river. 
 
 That day we were with General Pleasanton. 
 He intuitively, as soon as he heard the tumult, 
 seemed to understand it. Already the fragments 
 of the dispersed corps were upon us : we could 
 hear the shouting of the exultant foe. General 
 Pleasanton seemed to be helpless. There were 
 two field batteries, but it would take time to get 
 them in line. There was a splendid regiment of 
 cavalry that had just come in from a scout. 
 
 General Pleasanton turned to them and said: 
 " Major Keenan, are you willing to sacrifice your- 
 self and regiment to save the army?"
 
 94 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 He answered, "I am willing to obey orders." 
 
 "Charge the enemy at once, "ordered General 
 Pleasanton. 
 
 Major Keenan coolly turned to his regiment 
 and ordered the men to mount. 
 
 As they passed my battery I knew I was look- 
 ing upon a regiment of men that were going out to 
 die. They were splendid looking men from west- 
 ern Pennsylvania. They drew their hats clown 
 close around their heads, settled themselves in 
 their saddles, grasped their carbines with a firmer 
 grasp, and started out on a trot toward the enemy. 
 Just at a place where a point of woods pointed 
 down into the clear field, they sounded the bugle 
 for a charge ; and eight hundred men threw them- 
 selves into the face of twenty thousand. 
 
 Stonewall Jackson, never dreaming that he was 
 being charged by a single regiment unsupported, 
 gave orders for his corps to halt and reline. It 
 took twenty minutes to do this ; but before that 
 time we had our batteries in position, and were 
 giving them shot at the rate of one hundred a 
 minute. We were now reenforced by General 
 Sickles, and the fierce, triumphant onset was stayed, 
 and the army saved ; and the gallant Eighth 
 Pennsylvania Cavalry had done it. It was a 
 grander charge than that of the "Light Brigade," 
 for that charge was a blunder; but this a case 
 where a regiment deliberately sacrificed itself to
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 95 
 
 save the army. Oh, that we had a Tennyson to 
 immortalize these splendid heroes! 
 
 Thirty hours after this we were back across the 
 river again, with a loss of tweny-five thousand of 
 our comrades, defeated and discouraged. We had 
 started out with great hope and expectation ; but 
 all our hopes were blasted, and we were eating the 
 bitter fruits of defeat.
 
 06 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The death of Stonewall Jackson, and its effect on the Confederate 
 army Lee's march into the North We follow him Arrival on the 
 field of Gettysburg The battle Thrilling description of Pickett's 
 charge Wounded A faithful comrade Taken to the hospital for the 
 mortally wounded, near Hagerstown Taken to the hospital at Wash- 
 ington Rapid recovery Rejoin my company Ordered before Casey's 
 examining board Commissioned colonel of a colored regiment My 
 declination Rejoin my company Crossing of the Rapidan Repeat 
 Winter croarters. 
 
 The loss of the Confederates in killed and 
 wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville was 
 nearly as large as ours, and the loss on both sides 
 was nearly forty thousand ; but the greatest loss 
 that the Confederates sustained was the death of 
 their celebrated leader, General Stonewall Jackson. 
 
 In my opinion, take it all in all, he was the 
 greatest soldier developed by the South during the 
 Civil War. He was a most remarkable character. 
 Coming from very humble origin, an orphan boy, 
 he succeeded, partially by his own endeavors, and 
 with the help of some friends, in being appointed 
 a cadet to West Point. He chiefly distinguished 
 himself in school by studious habits. If he did not 
 graduate at the head of his class, he came near 
 doing so. I think the same year he graduated he 
 went to Mexico; and in that array of wonderful, 
 bright young men from West Point, he stood in 
 the very foremost rank. He returned home a
 
 w 
 
 <D 
 
 s 
 
 O 
 
 03
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 97 
 
 major by brevet. He afterward resigned from the 
 army, and became an instructor at Washington 
 College, Lexington, Virginia. 
 
 At the outbreak of the Civil War, it was said 
 he hesitated long before he decided to cast his 
 fortune with the Southern Confederacy; but, 
 believing that his duty to his State was imperative, 
 he offered his services to the State of Virginia. 
 
 O 
 
 At the battle of Bull Run he commanded a 
 brigade. During the battle General Beauregard 
 saw his brigade was about to be fiercely attacked. 
 He asked Jackson if his brigade would stand. 
 " Yes, like a stone wall," was the reply. 
 
 The only time he was defeated was at the 
 battle ot Winchester, when he was defeated by 
 General Shields. But a few weeks afterward he 
 fought and beat in detail Generals Banks and 
 Shields, and succeeded in joining Lee before 
 Richmond, where he hurled his invincible divisions 
 against McClellan's army with such fierceness that 
 he compelled us to raise the siege. It was his 
 coming so suddenly and unexpectedly on the field 
 of the second Bull Run battle, and striking such a 
 terrific blow, that fairly paralyzed Pope, and made 
 the defeat of his army complete and overwhelming. 
 W T hen Lee crossed the Potomac in 1862, it devolved 
 upon General Jackson to go by way of Harper's 
 Ferry and capture our army there. This he 
 executed to the letter ; and rejoining Lee the night
 
 98 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 before the battle of Antietam, saved Lee's army 
 from being crushed in that battle. And when 
 everything was going well with us in the battle oi 
 Chancellorsville, it was Jackson who succeeded in 
 getting into Howard's rear and leaping like a leop- 
 ard from the jungle upon the Eleventh Corps, 
 sweeping everything before him, and making the 
 defeat of our army complete. 
 
 Just after dark that night, as he was riding 
 along his lines, he received a shot that completely 
 shattered his arm. It was from the effect of this 
 wound that he died. 
 
 General Lee, in wrking to President Davis, 
 speaking of Jackson's death, said: "I have lost 
 my right arm. " He had lost more ; for the Army 
 of Northern Virginia never ^ won a decided victory 
 after his death. He was so deeply religious in his 
 character, that one is reminded of the days of 
 Cromwell. He was the Bayard of the Southern 
 army ; without blemish or reproach. 
 
 As soon as the armies had rested, preparation 
 was begun for another campaign, when General 
 Hooker received information that General Lee had 
 started northward. He at once put his army in 
 motion to follow him. During the march General 
 Hooker retired from the command of the army, 
 and was succeeded by General Meade. 
 
 The appointment of General Hooker to the 
 command of the Army of the Potomac proved to be
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 99 
 
 most unfortunate. While he was a brave, splendid 
 fighter, yet he lacked the coolness of a great com- 
 mander. He could not work a great army. At 
 the battle of Chancellorsville he never got more 
 than one-half of his splendid army into battle, and 
 some of them got in on their own hook. He was 
 hot-headed, impetuous, and passionate; and what 
 made matters still worse, he loved whiskey. < 
 
 After he left the Army of the Potomac, in the 
 fall of 1863, the Eleventh and Twelfth Army 
 Corps were consolidated, forming the Twentieth 
 Army Corps. With it he went to reenforce Gen- 
 eral Grant at the battle of Chattanooga, or Look- 
 out Mountain, where he did some splendid fighting, 
 But during the campaign of Atlanta he got dis- 
 pleased at something, and asked to be relieved. 
 He died in Cincinnati some years afterward, from 
 paralysis. 
 
 General George G. Meade, who succeeded him, 
 was a fine soldier. He came out in command of 
 the Pennsylvania Reserves. As a brigade com- 
 mander, as a division commander, and as corps 
 commander, he had been eminently successful. 
 A better selection could not have been made. 
 Taking command of the army while it was on 
 the march, he had many things to contend with ; 
 but he brought it upon the field of Gettysburg, 
 notwithstanding the hot and dusty march, in fine 
 shape. We arrived on the field of Gettysburg
 
 ioo Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 about three o'clock in the afternoon. We had a 
 brisk engagement with the enemy as soon as we 
 arrived, and were compelled to retreat through the 
 suburbs of Gettysburg. 
 
 A lieutenant of my battery, Lieutenant Wills, 
 was mortally wounded. My captain ordered me 
 to take charge of him, and see that no harm befell 
 him. I took him into a house and laid him upon 
 a sofa. There was no one in the house: I tfrmk 
 they had gone into the country for their health. 
 My lieutenant lived but a few minutes. He had 
 given me his watch, a picture of his wife, and a 
 letter which he had written to her that morning. 
 In the letter he had predicted to her his death in 
 that battle. 
 
 As I looked out of the window of the house, 
 I saw the Confederate soldiers swarming all about 
 it. I saw at once that I was in the Southern Con- 
 federacy. I put the keepsakes in my pocket, and 
 ran down cellar and into a room where the 
 farmer kept his milk, cheese, butter, and such. 
 The cellar was dimly lighted from the west. 
 
 The little village of Gettysburg was largely 
 what is called an agricultural town, that is, many 
 of the farmers lived in it and were cultivating 
 farms that were adjacent to it; and this happened 
 to be one of those farm-houses. 
 
 I soon took in the situation, and already hear- 
 ing footsteps up-stairs, and knowing the instincts
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. it 
 
 of a soldier well enough to know they would 
 be down-stairs hunting for something to eat, 
 I came out of the room, and getting behind the 
 stairway, took a seat on a barrel. I wanted 
 some of that milk and cheese awfully bad: but 
 soon down came the rebel soldiers, and as they 
 passed me, I fell into line and went into the little 
 room with them, and drank milk and cream out ot 
 the same earthen milk-pan with men whom I had 
 been fighting half an hour before. 
 
 I remember as I was drinking from the first 
 milk -pan, a Confederate soldier who was waiting 
 to take his turn at it, became impatient for his 
 turn, and said: "Come, chum, hurry up now;" and 
 when he saw so little left in the pan as I handed it 
 to him, he said: "My God, chum, what a capac- 
 ity you have for drink!" 
 
 Then I found some pickles and some ginger- 
 bread, and got a big hunk of cheese. I then 
 retreated .with the boys, but was very careful to 
 fall in behind and unobserved take my place again 
 on the barrel behind the stairway. A half dozen 
 delegations came down in the next two or three 
 hours, and each time the same thing was gone 
 through with: each time I fell in with them and 
 went into the little room, to prevent myself being 
 discovered by anyone who was bent on investiga- 
 tion. \ filled myself chuck full of mi l k, cream, 
 gingerbread, cheese, and pickles, without any
 
 102 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 detriment whatsoever to myself. I wish I could 
 do that now. Early in the morning the rebels 
 were driven back again, and I found my command 
 without any difficulty. 
 
 Late in the evening of the 2nd of July, and the 
 second day of the battle, I started out with some 
 canteens, to fill them with cool water for myself 
 and some comrades. A large spring which was on 
 the field, was in our hands late in the afternoon; 
 but it seemed later that the Confederates had 
 expanded themselves and taken it in. I care- 
 fully made my way through the dark to the spring. 
 I filled my canteens, and noticed quite a number 
 of men filling canteens at the same time. All I 
 could see of them was the dark outlines of their 
 forms. 
 
 When I finished filling my canteens, a man 
 at my side said: "Chum, may I have your dipper 
 to fill my canteen?" 
 
 I said yes, and gave it to him ; but that word 
 "chum" was a word not in vogue with us, so I 
 asked him what command he was in. 
 
 "Why," he said, "Hood's command, Third 
 Texas." 
 
 "What command is yours?" said he. 
 
 I had a lie all ready for him ; I told him the 
 Fourth North Carolina. Just then he had finished 
 his canteens and handed the dipper back to me, 
 when another man asked me for the dipper. I let
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. A 103 
 
 him have it, but I had lost all interest in that 
 dipper. However, I succeeded in getting into our 
 lines without any trouble. 
 
 The next morning about nine o'clock our 
 battery was ordered to reenforce General Farns- 
 worth. We started on our journey. Just at that 
 moment I was not dreaming of any danger, but a 
 sharpshooter, who was posted somewhere out of 
 sight up among the rocks, drew a bead on me and 
 let me have it. When I was struck by that bullet 
 the sensation was peculiar; it seemed to me as 
 though I went right up into the sky about one 
 hundred and fifty feet. A. spiritualist friend of 
 mine said my soul did, but that it came back again. 
 Well, I am glad it did change its mind, and not 
 leave me on such a slight pretext as that. My 
 comrades say I fell like a log. When I came to 
 myself my battery had disappeared, but my horse 
 had remained with me and was smelling me. The 
 first thing that I did was to ascertain what was the 
 matter. I rose to a sitting position, when I felt 
 the blood trickling down both sides of my body. 
 On raising my blouse, I found I had been shot 
 through the stomach, the bullet coming out close 
 to my back-bone, without in any way injuring it. 
 I at once lay down on my side. I thought T 
 would live about half an hour. I had seen men 
 similarly wounded, and they usually died within an 
 hour.
 
 104 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 Do you ask what I thought while I lay there? 
 Well, not much of anything. I thought what kind 
 of a sensation I would experience in my last 
 moments. I was not at all afraid to die. I had 
 never in my life consciously done any man a wrong, 
 and never desired to harm any one, except in the 
 discharge of my duty as a soldier. I had no 
 desire to injure anybody, not even the Czar of 
 Russia. I at that time took comparatively little 
 interest in religion. My early training had been 
 that of a Catholic, but I had now ceased to be one. 
 I loved God and my fellow men. I believed in 
 the Bible; at least, what I knew about it. I had 
 never read the book at that time, but had read 
 Bible stories, which constituted all of my Bible lore. 
 I believed in the immortality of the soul and in the 
 recognition of our friends hereafter, and did not 
 doubt that, in case of my death, I would soon be 
 with my father and mother in the happy land. And 
 I believed in Christ; so the thought of death did 
 not worry me. 
 
 While I was lying there, perhaps it had been 
 twenty minutes from the time I had recovered my 
 consciousness, a young man belonging to the 
 ambulance corps came along and asked me about 
 my wound. I told him. He told me to lay over 
 on my back, and as soon as he could he would 
 send a stretcher for me and take me from the 
 field. As the day was very hot, I took my hat and
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 105 
 
 shaded my face. All at once a new sensation 
 took possession of me : it was like an electric thrill. 
 I almost shouted with gladness. I knew I was not 
 going to die, but would soon be restored to health. 
 A couple of men with a stretcher came then and 
 took me off the field. 
 
 Down under the base of a hill was a straw-stack, 
 where there was an improvised hospital. As there 
 was no fighting going on in that part of the field 
 that morning, I was at once waited upon by a 
 kindly old doctor, who did not belong to the army, 
 and who evidently had come in from the country. 
 
 As he came up to me, he said: "My dear 
 young man, do you know the nature of your 
 wound? " 
 
 I said, "Yes, sir." 
 
 ''Well," he said, "if you have not made your 
 peace with your God, you had better do it at once, 
 as you have but a short time to live." 
 
 I told him that God and I were on the best ol 
 terms, for I had never do-ne any fussing with him. 
 He looked upon me compassionately, and told 
 them to take me into the shade near by, as the sun 
 was very hot. I got along excellently that day, 
 suffering only a little feeling of nausea, and that 
 was all. 
 
 About one o'clock the terrific artillery battle 
 began between the Confederates and our forces. 
 Three hundred pieces of artillery were pouring
 
 106 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 \ 
 
 forth their missiles of death. I had never heard 
 anything like it; the earth where I lay shook and 
 trembled constantly. After two hours or so it 
 ceased, and then after a short interval it reopened 
 again. It was our artillery attempting to repel 
 Pickett's charge. About half past four they began 
 to bring in the wounded. I soon lost all thought 
 of myself in the groans and cries of my suffering 
 comrades. So many of them were torn by ^hot 
 and shell, and their suffering was awful. 
 
 About six or half past six my comrade found 
 me. He was overjoyed when he saw that I was 
 alive, but saddened at the nature of my wound. 
 I told him I was all right, hadn't suffered a bit, 
 wasn't going to suffer, and expected to live at least 
 seventy-five years longer. He now went off for a 
 doctor, and brought one, who, after examining my 
 wounds, asked me how early in the day I had been 
 wounded. I told him. He said he was astounded 
 to think that I had lived so long, and told me that 
 I would not live an hour. My comrade expressed 
 some impatience when the doctor told him he could 
 do all that could be done for me, and that was to 
 keep my wound as cool as possible, and for him to 
 get a canteen of cold water and to keep the wound 
 constantly wet. He did as directed, and all night 
 long he kept up his vigil: trickle, trickle, trickle 
 I can feel the water now, it seems. When morn- 
 ing came I was in fine condition. Early in the
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 107 
 
 forenoon I was placed in an ambulance and taken 
 out near Hagerstown, where I was put into a big 
 barn that had been converted into a temporary 
 hospital for the mortally wounded. 
 
 Shortly after my arrival a young man came 
 along, asked me my name, my company and age. 
 These items he wrote out on a piece of paper, and 
 pinned it on my blouse. I told him that was 
 unnecessary, as I expected to live many years. 
 
 Right behind him was a Catholic sister, who, 
 looking down upon the piece of paper on my 
 blouse, said to me: " You are a Catholic." 
 
 I said, "No, I am not." 
 
 "You have a Catholic name," she said. 
 
 "Yes," I replied, " I have been a Catholic, but 
 I am not one now." 
 
 She asked me what I was. 
 
 I told her I was nothing. 
 
 " Well, my poor, wayward boy," said she, " I 
 shall stay by you until it is all over with you." 
 
 "Well," I said, "then you'll have to marry me, 
 as I intend to inhabit this planet for some years to 
 come." 
 
 She smiled and said nothing, but carefully 
 watched over me until I was removed from the 
 barn hospital. 
 
 In the course of four or five days all had died 
 except about a half dozen, and we were taken to 
 Washington to the hospital. The doctors cheered
 
 io8 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 me up by telling me that I would live only a day 
 or two, and wanted to label me again. I refused 
 to let them, kept in the best of spirits, laughing 
 and joking with my attendants, and in four weeks' 
 time I was down on the streets; and in eight weeks 
 to a day from the time I was wounded, I reported 
 for duty. From the day I was wounded, I kept 
 improving every minute. I attribute my wonder- 
 ful recovery to the fact that I was a very young 
 man, lacking a few weeks of being twenty-one, 
 possessed of a happy, jovial, hopeful nature, and 
 I had lived a good life. I had never drunk liquor, 
 or used tobacco except about half of a cigar, and 
 I am sure that I vomited that poison up about as 
 soon as it made a lodgment. The doctors told 
 me that I must have come of a splendid line of 
 ancestry, who had led pure lives, as there was not 
 the slightest evidence of any poison in my system. 
 I do not know how that may have been, but I got 
 well, and was able in two months to eat hardtack, 
 corned beef, and "sow-belly," and digest it all 
 right and return to my duty. 
 
 A few days after my return to my battery, I 
 was ordered to return to Washington and report 
 to General Casey's examining board. I passed 
 my examination so successfully that it was 
 announced to me as soon as I was mustered out ot 
 the Second Artillery, that I would receive a commis- 
 sion in the regular army. I was at once mustered
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 109 
 
 out of my company, went to Washington, reported 
 to headquarters (war-office) , where I received a 
 commission as colonel in the United States colored 
 troops, You may be surprised, but I was very 
 much disappointed with the outcome of this. Had 
 I received the commission of second lieutenant 
 with white troops, I would have been delighted ; 
 but with the prejudice I then had, if I had re- 
 ceived the commission of major-general in the col- 
 ored troops, I would have hesitated. I went out 
 to Georgetown and saw the men that I was to 
 convert into soldiers that was enough. I went 
 back to the city, returned my commission, had 
 the order mustering me out of my company re- 
 scinded, and returned to my bugle again. 
 I am more than ever convinced in the face of 
 recent events that the formation of colored regi- 
 ments in our regular army is a mistake. The 
 gulf between the two races is so deep and the 
 predjudices. so strong that it has been a continued 
 source of trouble and contention in our army and 
 increasing rather than diminishing, so it is for the 
 best that our army should be composed entirely 
 of the white race. 
 
 Shortly after I returned to my command the 
 army made an advance over the Rapidan, in an at- 
 tempt to surprise General Lee ; but owing to the 
 blunders of a drunken general, the opportunity was 
 lost, and we returned to Culpepper, Va., for winter.
 
 no Lite of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Reorganization of the Army of the Potomac Preparation for the 
 campnign of 1864 Grant visits us Opening of the campaign Battle of 
 the Wilderness Terrible slaughter Changing of our base to Petersburg 
 Siege of Petersburg begun. 
 
 The Army of the Potomac was again reorganized, 
 the First and Third Corps broken up and putrinto 
 other corps. My corps, the Fifth, received a large 
 portion of the First Corps. General Meade 
 labored all that winter to bring the army to the 
 highest state of efficiency for the great campaign 
 which we knew was before us. General Grant 
 visited us and reviewed us, and it was well under- 
 stood that he would be with us to conduct the 
 campaign. The record of General Grant had been 
 such that he had the confidence of the entire army, 
 as well as of the country ; and during all of the 
 time that he was with us, it grew instead of dimin- 
 ishing. He was cool, wise, and tactful. 
 
 The first of May we opened our campaign in 
 the Wilderness with a series of battles lasting 
 twelve days, which took the name of "Battle of the 
 Wilderness." It should have been called the 
 "Battles of the Wilderness." It took the name 
 "the Wilderness" from the fact that the country 
 over which we struggled was heavily wooded. In 
 the twelve days of that struggle the Union army
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. in 
 
 lost seventy thousand men in killed, wounded and 
 missing. It was a battle of giants: the strategy of 
 Lee was pitted against the strength and courage 
 of Grant. Finally, Grant, seeing the futility of 
 attempting to force Lee back, changed his base to 
 Petersburg. In doing so we fought what was 
 known as the celebrated second battle of Cold 
 Harbor. It took that name from the fact that a 
 battle had been fought on the same ground during 
 the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. It proved to be 
 the most awful and destructive battle of the war, 
 for the time it lasted. In one half hour Grant lost 
 sixteen thousand men in killed, wounded and 
 missing. Grant always said he made a great 
 mistake in fighting that battle, as nothing 
 was gained by it except the slaughter of men. 
 
 We now began the siege of Petersburg, which 
 lasted from June, 1864, till March, 1865. The coun- 
 try would not have permitted so long a siege at the 
 beginning of the war, but the people had learned 
 something since then; the press of the country 
 had learned something; and all had confidence and 
 faith in the patriotism and the ability of General 
 Grant, and were willing to trust him and to let Grant 
 and the President run things, believing all would 
 go well. If they had felt so at the beginning of the 
 conflict, it would have been better for all concerned. 
 
 During the winter of 1864-65 we saw 
 unmistakable evidence oi the disintegration of
 
 ii2 i.ife of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 Lee's army ; desertions became very frequent, and 
 those who came to us were half starved to death. 
 Grant and Sheridan had perfected their plans, and 
 were ready, as soon as the roads permitted, to give 
 Lee's forces a stunning blow. 
 
 On the 26th of March the campaign opened. 
 The battle of Five Forks was fought : then began 
 the great struggle that ended in the surrender of 
 Lee. Lee was compelled to evacuate, Petersburg 
 which uncovered Richmond, and that city at last 
 fell. Lee started up the valley, evidently to try to 
 reach Lynchburg. The enthusiasm of our army 
 on this march was boundless. The officers could 
 hardly get their men to rest. They had got Lee 
 on the run at last, and were determined to keep 
 him moving. When he reached Appomattox he 
 found Sheridan in front of him that ended the 
 matter. I shall never forget the enthusiasm when 
 we learned that the two great generals, Grant and 
 Lee, had met under a flag of truce and were nego- 
 tiating for a surrender. Then came the news of 
 the agreement of the surrender of Lee. Our divi- 
 sion was appointed to receive the surrender. 
 General Grant gave strict orders that there should 
 be no cheering or exultation at the surrender. 
 "For," said he, "remember that they are no 
 longer our enemies, but our countrymen. " There 
 was no disposition for exultation. We had fought 
 these men for four years; we had tested their man-
 
 Miss Mary Sobieski. 
 
 (At the age of twenty.)
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 113 
 
 hood upon forty fields of battle ; we knew that they 
 were sincere in their convictions that their cause 
 was right. So the least thought of our hearts was 
 the spirit of exultation. On that lovely morning 
 of April, twenty-eight thousand starved, ragged, 
 and destitute men marched out and stacked their 
 arms and broke ranks, and the war was practically 
 over. 
 
 We divided our rations with them; you would 
 never have imagined that we had been foes. We 
 freely mingled with each other; there was no dis- 
 cord. 
 
 After a few weeks my battery was ordered to 
 Washington. I was not mustered out of the service 
 until the 26th of June. I desired very much to 
 take part in the great, grand last review in Wash- 
 ington. The Army of the Potomac was reviewed 
 one day, and Sherman's army the next day. I 
 remember as we marched down Pennsylvania 
 Avenue, the shouting of the mighty hosts of people 
 who witnessed our march, and this inscription on a 
 banner that stretched across the avenue: "There 
 is one debt that the nation can never pay, and that 
 is the debt that is due to its soldiers." The next 
 day Sherman's army was reviewed. How anxious 
 I was to see that mighty army of men and leaders! 
 Sherman, Logan, Blair, and others ; and then the 
 mighty army itself men who had marched from 
 Atlanta to the sea, then north to Washington: and
 
 ii4 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 when I came to witness their parade, I was filled 
 with pride for this army. They looked every inch 
 the mighty men of war they were. I saw a sight 
 those two days that probably will never be 
 witnessed in this country again: two hundred 
 thousand veteran soldiers, whose average service 
 was three years ; who had gone through a war such 
 as no other army in the world's history had ever 
 seen, and probably will never see again. 
 
 On the 26th of June, 1865, I was mustered out 
 of the service. I was at last an American citizen. 
 For ten years I had served in the army of my 
 adopted country ; I had fought forty-two battles in 
 defense of her flag; I had been under fire four 
 hundred and twenty-six times ; had never seen a 
 sick day, except when I was suffering from the 
 wound which I received at Gettysburg ; was never 
 in the guard house ; never under arrest ; never 
 reprimanded but once, and that was under circum- 
 stances that brought no discredit upon me ; had 
 drunk no liquors of any kind and to this, more 
 than anything else, I attribute my good fortune.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 115 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Interest in the struggle for liberty in Mexico Interview with the 
 Mexican minister, Romero Commission to raise men to go to Mexico 
 Take a vacation for a couple of months Go to New Orleans Informed 
 by the United States authorities that we will be arrested if we proceed 
 to Mexico Arrested Discharged on parole of honor Determined to 
 go at every hazard Finally enter Mexico by way of Sonora. 
 
 I had taken great interest in the contest in 
 Mexico, between there public on one side and the 
 so-called empire on the other. There was a great 
 deal of sympathy throughout the nation for the 
 Mexican Republic. 
 
 I do not think it would be out of place here to 
 give the causes which led up to the invasion 
 of Mexico by France and Spain. The Mexican 
 Republic had had a stormy existence. The 
 people had suffered so long from Spain, and 
 when at last liberated, they did not know much 
 about self-government, and had to learn its 
 principles. People cannot be taught by books, 
 schools, or mere oral instruction, the principles 
 of self-government. One might just as well learn 
 how to build houses or ships or railroads by 
 text-books. They must have actual experience; 
 they must use the hammer, the plane, and the 
 square; learn by mistakes and blunders. Just so 
 with people learning to govern themselves. They 
 must learn by experience, and in that way alone
 
 n6 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 can they ever learn to govern themselves or their 
 fellow men. The Mexican people were going 
 through that school of experience, and they did 
 learn, so that to-day Mexico is one of the best and 
 most wisely governed nations in the world. In 
 learning self-government the people found one 
 great evil that had to be righted. The people in 
 Mexico at that time were Catholics, and, in fact, 
 outside of the foreign element in Mexico, to-day 
 the people of that country are practically members 
 of the Catholic Church. 
 
 The progressive element in 1856 found that 
 not less than two-thirds of the real estate belonged 
 to the Church; and there were other abuses that 
 necessarily arose where all the people belonged 
 to one church. Therefore, the Liberal party, under 
 the leadership of Juarez, made it an issue at the 
 election to remedy these wrongs; and upon that 
 issue the Liberal party triumphed, and proceeded to 
 confiscate the entire property of the Church, and to 
 abolish the monasteries and the convents. This 
 was a very extreme measure, but reforms often 
 go to extremes. This was the situation, and is the 
 situation in Mexico to-day, that the Catholic Church 
 can only occupy their church buildings by per- 
 mission of the government, and there are no con. 
 vents or monasteries. 
 
 Beaten at the polls, the Church party then 
 appealed to the sword ; and there, too, they were 
 beaten.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. n? 
 
 At this juncture the Pope was appealed to, but 
 the Catholic powers were not disposed to interfere. 
 Napoleon of France, though nominally a son of 
 the Church, was not inclined to interfere until he 
 was approached in another way. The next effort 
 was made through Eugenie, the empress. The 
 Pope then being a temporal prince, had a repre- 
 sentative at the French court. He, reaching 
 Napoleon through Eugenie, held out the grand idea 
 of the establishment of an empire in Mexico as a 
 breakwater against the influence of the great 
 American Republic; and Napoleon was to have 
 the glory of founding a Latin empire in the West. 
 Archduke Maximilian, a very devout, pious prince, 
 the brother of the emperor of Austria, was to be 
 selected as its emperor; and he in turn was to 
 pledge that as soon as the empire was per- 
 manently established, he would restore to the 
 Church her property and her ancient privileges. 
 
 Some excuse now had to be made for making 
 war upon Mexico, and one was found. Mexico 
 was owing to the subjects of Isabella in Spain, and 
 to Napoleon in France, bonds of the Mexican 
 Republic, which had long since become due, and 
 of which neither principal nor interest had been 
 paid. Therefore, both the French and the Spanish 
 governments at once demanded prompt liquidation 
 of the claims. The Mexican government replied 
 that it was not within its power to do so at that
 
 n8 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 time ; that it had not the money in the treasury, 
 neither was it in condition to float a loan. 
 
 War was at once declared against Mexico, and 
 France and Spain sent a fleet with an army to 
 enforce their demands. They landed at Vera Cruz, 
 bombarded and captured that city, and began their 
 advance toward the capital. Then and there an 
 agreement of some kind was made by the Mexican 
 government with the Spanish government, ar\d a 
 proposition was made to the French government of 
 a similar character, that was eminently fair, and yet 
 was rejected by the French government. The 
 Spanish government now saw the ambitious 
 designs of the French emperor, and withdrew. 
 
 The French pressed on toward the city of 
 Mexico, where, after many hard battles, in which the 
 French were sometimes defeated, they at last suc- 
 ceeded in capturing the city of Mexico, the capital 
 of the republic. 
 
 The French general called together an assembly 
 of notables, as it was termed, but it was made up 
 almost exclusively, if not exclusively, of the Con- 
 servative, or Church party. They had their instruc- 
 tions, and immediately made known to the French 
 government, or emperor, that they desired the 
 establishment of an empire, with Archduke 
 Maximilian, of Austria, as their emperor. The 
 French emperor informed them that he was only 
 too delighted to carry out their wishes. Maximilian
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 119 
 
 was communicated with, and he promptly accepted. 
 He and his wife, Carlotta, landed at Vera Cruz with 
 every demonstration of enthusiasm. It was said 
 that their whole journey from Vera Cruz to the city 
 of Mexico was one constant ovation, and with 
 magnificent display they were installed in the halls 
 of the Montezumas. But it was noticed all the 
 while that those who joined in the ovations were 
 only the French soldiers and the Church party. 
 
 While President Juarez was driven from the 
 largest cities, he retired into the mountain 
 regions in the interior, and kept up a battle for 
 the republic that challenged the admiration of the 
 whole world and called forth the sympathy of the 
 lovers of liberty everywhere. The empire was at 
 once acknowledged by all the nations of the world, 
 except the United States. Our government, under 
 the leadership of the great and enlightened 
 Lincoln, took the position that no nation should be 
 governed without the consent of the governed. 
 But our nation at that time was engaged in the 
 Civil War and could not interfere, though a day of 
 reckoning came. Our government all the while 
 recognized only the republic, and its minister, 
 Romero. This was the situation in June, 1865. 
 
 Having determined that I would go to Mexico, 
 I went to General Hancock, told him my desire, 
 and asked him if he would not give me a letter of 
 introduction to the Mexican minister, Romero. He
 
 120 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 said he would do so gladly. Hancock at this time 
 was in command at Washington. 
 
 I obtained an interview with Romero. After 
 reading my letter of introduction, he received me 
 warmly. We had a long talk together; he told 
 me that he would give me any kind of commission 
 that I wanted, but I was modest and only asked 
 for one as a colonel. Romero said that as for pay, 
 I would have to take my chances. I told him I 
 didn't want any pay; all I wanted was to fight for 
 liberty in Mexico. 
 
 I caused to be put in the paper this announce- 
 ment: "An excursion to Mexico: all who desire 
 to make a visit to Mexico call at the Roanoke 
 Hotel, room twenty. No one, except those who 
 have served in the Union army for three years, 
 need apply." 
 
 In less than ten days I had one hundred men 
 and over; good, true men, sober, thoughtful, 
 patriotic, who were willing to do and dare. It was 
 arranged that we should meet about the middle of 
 August in New Orleans. I spent the time mean, 
 while in visiting some old army friends in Michigan 
 and Illinois, and arrived at New Orleans on the 
 14th of August. Some of my men had already 
 arrived. Being young men, we talked too much, 
 and the government heard of it and informed me 
 that such an expedition would not be allowed. I 
 went right on making preparations just the same.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 121 
 
 On the morning of our contemplated departure we 
 were all arrested by the order of General Sheridan, 
 and found that we had been arrested under the 
 Anti-filibustering Act. But they let us go, on con- 
 dition that we would agree not to undertake to 
 reach Mexico until we had been discharged from 
 our arrest, and that we would report to the provost 
 marshal each morning. Thus for three weeks we 
 put in our time in that way ; putting in the day as 
 as pleasantly as possible, and in the evenings 
 going over to the French market, drinking their 
 fine coffee, and flirting with the pretty black-eyed 
 French girls. 
 
 I had sought the counsel of Mr. Rosier, who 
 was the leading lawyer of New Orleans. When I 
 laid before him our case, he said that the law 
 against filibustering applied only to those persons 
 who were contemplating the invasion of a nation 
 with whom this government was at peace, with 
 hostile intent, and that in this case our government 
 had never recognized in any way the government 
 of Maximilian, and that we were going to fight him 
 not to fight the republic, but to defend it ; but 
 the great trouble at that time was this: everything 
 was in a chaotic condition, the military ruled every- 
 thing, and the writ of habeas corpus was suspended. 
 
 It was just while Mr. Rosier was considering 
 by what kind of process he could get us into court, 
 that General Sheridan arrived at New Orleans and
 
 122 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 invited us up to headquarters to see him. He 
 gave us some good fatherly advice. He told us 
 that we had violated no law, but said we must not 
 go to Mexico. He said Maximilian could not exist 
 one day in Mexico without the French soldiers, 
 and that our government had determined that the 
 French soldiers must get out of Mexico, and 
 had so informed the emperor of France; and 
 if the French did not go, that he, Sheridan, 
 would be sent over with an army to drive them 
 out ; and then if we wanted to fight, we could 
 fight all we wished to. He said if we would 
 give him assurance that we would return to our 
 several homes, he would order our discharge. A 
 few of us told him we would consider the matter ; 
 but we were all discharged the next morning, and 
 those who desired to go home, said through their 
 spokesman that they felt they ought to take the 
 advice of General Sheridan, that their object in 
 going to Mexico had not been one of adventure or 
 romance, but purely to aid the Mexican Republic 
 in the fight for existence, and as that could be 
 better accomplished by the power of the United 
 States government, and if our going might compli- 
 cate the negotiation now going on with the French 
 government, they felt it was their duty to return 
 home. Ten of us considered it our duty to go to 
 Mexico ; so we sadly parted company.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 123 
 
 Upon consultation, our little party deemed it 
 best, in order to prevent any possible conflict with 
 the authorities, to reach Mexico by going west 
 through New Mexico, by the way of Sonora. It 
 was a long journey to take. Three more of the 
 company changed their minds when we arrived at 
 Santa Fe, and concluded to go on to California. 
 We persevered on our way, and arrived at the 
 camp of the patriots October 16th, 1865, just six- 
 teen days after the so-called Emperor Maximilian 
 had issued the celebrated order that every man 
 found fighting for the republic, if captured, should 
 be immediately shot. The issuing of this order 
 by Maximilian cost him his life.
 
 24 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Arrival in camp of patriots Their little army Different nationali- 
 ties The character of the Mexican greaser I trust them and find them 
 reliable What we had to eat The way the contest was carried on A 
 thrilling adventure. 
 
 I found the little band that I first reached com- 
 prised of about six hundred, that is, when they 
 were all in camp, without quartermaster, commis- 
 sary, wagons or artillery; armed with all kinds of 
 fire-arms, of ancient and modern makes. The 
 little army was composed of Americans, English, 
 Germans, French, Canadians, Russians, Scotch, 
 Irish, Grecians, and pure Mexicans that is, if there 
 is such a thing as a pure Mexican ; and we were 
 of all religions and no religion, and those of no 
 religion were in the decided majority. 
 
 The day of my arrival I had a long talk with a 
 young Englishman, who was on the staff of Colonel 
 Conteena. He told me that the greasers, who 
 would form the bulk of our followers probably 
 three-fourths or more were very peculiar, and I 
 would find them unlike any other part of the 
 human family; that they were lazy, unreliable, and 
 treacherous, and that the only way to get along 
 with them was to treat them as though they were 
 dogs; that when I ordered one to do anything,
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 125 
 
 and be didn't start, to go right at him and kick 
 hirr. until he did start; when I was out on the 
 march with them, I should never let them get 
 behind, for they would be liable to stab me in the 
 back; and never, under any circumstances, to go 
 to sleep with them, unless there was some white 
 man on watch, as they would be liable to convert 
 me into a ghost, if I did. 
 
 This was the gloomy outlook that I had before 
 me; these were the men that I had come so many 
 thousand miles to fight for, and to die with for lib- 
 erty. I informed the young officer that I should 
 treat these men as human beings, as men, and that 
 I had no fears as to the result. I told him that 
 I thought I saw where the trouble was ; that if 
 any man should kick me, that he would live just 
 long enough for me to get at him to kill him ; that 
 I should treat these men in every respect as my 
 equals, should not kick them, and when out on a 
 march I wouldn't care whether they walked before 
 me or behind me ; that I should go to sleep with- 
 out leaving anyone to watch over me, and had no 
 fears whatsoever of the result. And in the eighteen 
 months that I was with these men, I treated them 
 kindly, trusted them implicitly, ate with them, 
 slept with them, and never received anything but 
 kindness and courtesy from them. 
 
 I found that it was the policy of the Mexican 
 government to avoid anything like a general
 
 iz6 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 engagement with the imperial troops, but to watch 
 for the enemy and catch him every time when he 
 was unguarded, to strike him at every unguarded 
 spot, and not permit a day to pass that he could 
 fancy himself secure. This was a wise policy, and 
 in this way we could have kept up the war indef- 
 initely. We always knew where the enemy was; 
 there was never an hour in the year but eyes were 
 upon the foe, ready to report any mistake. 
 
 For our commissary we had none at all ; we 
 had to live on the country, literally. We learned 
 to eat everything that flew in the air or crept 
 upon the earth. Mingling with those people who 
 were composed of all bloods, caused me to lose all 
 my race prejudice; and being compelled to eat 
 everything made me lose all my prejudice in 
 regard to foods. I got so that I would eat a 
 rattlesnake as quick as I would a bluefish or a 
 chicken. 
 
 During the eighteen months that I served in 
 the Mexican army, I had many adventures, and 
 desperate ones, too; but the size of this volume will 
 not permit me to go into the history of all of these. 
 As no prisoners were taken on either side, we 
 always went out to fight the foe with our lives in our 
 hands. 
 
 Upon one occasion, word was brought to us 
 that a small French force of fifteen or twenty men 
 had taken possession of a sugar-ranch down in the
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 127 
 
 valley, for the purpose of confiscating the sugar 
 and sirups belonging to the old planter, who was 
 a good, true republican. Their location had been 
 described to us, and we knew just where to strike 
 them ; so I took twenty-five men and started out to 
 sweep them off the face of the earth. I think most 
 everybody has heard the old adage of the one who 
 went out for wool and came home shorn. Well, it 
 was fully exemplified in our case. 
 
 A path through the thicket had been described 
 to us, by which we could easily approach the 
 enemy unobserved. There was no moon that 
 night, but plenty of beautiful stars, such as they 
 have in that glorious country. As we approached 
 the enemy, we saw by their light where the men 
 had lain themselves down on their blankets. 
 They had evidently made a fire and had thrown 
 some green cane upon it to make a smudge to 
 keep off the mosquitoes. The mosquito is quite an 
 animal in that country. It was a volume of smoke 
 that could not be perceived in the dark that led us 
 into our fatal mistake. I had directed my men to 
 creep as close to the enemy as possible, and when 
 I gave the signal, to aim and fire. They did so: 
 but, Jerusalem! instead of the little party that we 
 annihilated on our first fire, we found the woods 
 were full of them ; they rose up everywhere. 
 Finding that if we remained, it meant massacre, I 
 ordered my men to escape the best they could to
 
 128 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 the thickets. The French were pouring their fire 
 in upon us, and I saw the men falling everywhere. 
 In my flight I ran behind a cane factory that had 
 been used quite recently, as there was a large 
 amount of the debris of the cane still at the mill, 
 and I found it right in front of me. In my attempt 
 to go over it for there was no way to go around 
 it without running into the French I stumbled 
 and fell, and the ground cane fell over me in large 
 abundance, covering me completely with per- 
 haps two or three feet of the debris. I concluded 
 to lie there. The French soldiers went over me 
 I thought about a thousand of them, but probably 
 fifty was nearer the number. 
 
 After they had passed I began to reflect upon 
 my situation. I came to the conclusion it would 
 be better to lie there until the French returned, 
 and then, if possible, creep out and get to the 
 thicket. Soon they returned, very much excited 
 and noisy. I knew that I must get out of there as 
 soon as possible, as daylight would soon come, 
 and that would be fatal. I considered the ques- 
 tion whether I would take my carbine, or blunder- 
 buss, with me. I dare not undertake to find the 
 path through the thicket through which I had 
 come, as the entrance, I feared, lay in the hands 
 of the enemy ; and so I must get into the thicket 
 at the nearest point and take my chances, and be 
 guided back to camp by the stars. I cautiously
 
 Louie S. Gilhousen.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 129 
 
 crawled out from my hiding place into the 
 opening ; and was glad enough to get into the 
 opening, too, for I knew that no place anywhere 
 could be hotter than my hiding place had been. 
 It had been, indeed, a veritable Turkish bath. 
 The distance to the thicket was probably sixty 
 rods. I concluded not to attempt to take my car- 
 bine with me, but to rely upon my revolver for any 
 emergency. Stealthily on my hands and knees I 
 crawled to the thicket, and when I got into it I 
 congratulated myself; but a thicket in that country 
 is a thicket. One who has never seen the 
 "shrambles" of Mexico cannot appreciate any- 
 thing about their density ; and then they are thorny, 
 and there is among them a large population of 
 insects to the square foot. But, guided by the stars, 
 I slowly and painfully crawled along, and finally 
 succeeded in getting into camp just as daylight 
 had begun to dawn. 
 
 When I arrived my body was in the condition 
 of our first parents in the garden of Eden, but 
 bleeding all over, and without even an apron of fig 
 leaves. I was the only one of my company that 
 ever returned. At once a consultation was called, 
 and we decided to move, as a precaution against 
 being pursued by the French. We learned after- 
 ward that after dark a whole regiment of French 
 soldiers, some five or six hundred men, had 
 arrived at the plantation; and this was the force our 
 little squad had got into.
 
 130 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The meeting with General Escobedo Become a member of his 
 staff The French rapidly leaving the country News arrives that the 
 last detachment of French has left, and that Maximilian has left the city 
 of Mexico and gone out to Queretaro, where he proposes to make his 
 last stand His capture, trial, death My impressions of the Mexican 
 leaders and their corps. , T 
 
 In January, 1867, General Escobedo arrived 
 and took command of our force. I was introduced 
 to him shortly after his arrival, and found him an 
 elegant gentleman, a fine soldier, and of a chival- 
 rous nature. For some reason he took quite a 
 fancy to me from the first, and shortly afterward I 
 became a member of his staff. A little incident 
 occurred about this time that shows the simple, 
 primitive character of the Mexican. 
 
 There was a lieutenant in our command whom 
 I had known ever since joining the Mexican army. 
 In our march we had come within a short distance 
 of his home. His handsome daughter, a girl about 
 fourteen, came to camp with her mother to see her 
 father. She was one of the most beautiful girls I 
 ever saw, and in that warm country girls become 
 young ladies very early. I have seen mothers 
 there twelve years old. I was introduced to his 
 wife and daughter, and took a meal with them. 
 They belonged to what we would call the lower
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 131 
 
 order of the Mexicans, and yet among this class 
 sometimes you meet magnificent specimens of 
 both men and women. 
 
 'After his family had left, I complimented him 
 upon his beautiful daughter, just as I would a happy 
 father in this country, who had such a treasure. I 
 thought nothing more of it, but he seemed to have 
 misjudged me. He came to me some few days 
 afterward and wished to borrow some money of me* 
 I had brought with me into the Mexican service 
 about two hundred dollars in gold. There was no 
 chance to spend any of it, so I had most of it still 
 on hand. I loaned him a ten-dollar gold piece, 
 the amount he had asked for, yet he continued 
 waiting around. Finally, he came to business by 
 offering me the hand of his beautiful daughter. It 
 seems that is a custom in that country. I was quite 
 taken by surprise, but the Mexicans are so sensi- 
 tive that one has to approach them very carefully. 
 Nothing was further from my thoughts, then, than 
 becoming a benedict, and I could not think ot 
 marrying a Mexican lady, however beautiful, as the 
 ways and natures of Mexicans were entirely foreign 
 to my own, and so I must decline the offer. I 
 thanked him for the high compliment he had paid 
 me in offering me the hand of his beautiful daugh- 
 ter, but reminded him that we were in an uncertain 
 contest and our lives were not promised us for a sin- 
 gle day. He frankly told me that would be no
 
 132 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 ^reat misfortune to her, as she could very readily 
 get another husband. With this I coincided, but 
 urged other reasons, and among them, that I was 
 a heretic in religion, and that his beautiful daughter 
 could never be happy as the wife of a heretic. I 
 knew he was a very devout Catholic, and that last 
 objection seemed to be satisfactory, for I saw him 
 visibly shiver as I mentioned it. He then departed, 
 and I congratulated myself on my diplomacy. 
 
 We were now ordered to Queretaro, where we 
 arrived May 14th. There I met for the first time 
 President Juarez, and General Diaz, now President 
 ot Mexico, and other leaders of the republican 
 forces. I saw again a regular army one of forty 
 thousand men composed of artillery, cavalry and 
 infantry. Plans were made at once to attack. I 
 had been on Escobedo's staff, but now I was to 
 lead a brigade in the assault. We were lying 
 upon our faces waiting for the first appearance of 
 daylight to attack. We were to attack them on 
 every side; but Maximilian had been sold out by 
 Lopez, one of his Mexican generals, and I was 
 told about two o'clock that there would be no bat- 
 tle. General Escobedo entered the city, relieved 
 the Imperial guards at every point all of this 
 happening while Maximilian was sound asleep. 
 He only awoke to find himself a prisoner of war.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 "Hie summoning of a military commission to try Maximilian 
 Universal demand for his death Found guilty and sentenced to death, 
 which was to take place within five days of his sentence The trial of 
 GeneTals Miramon and Mejia Efforts made by the different European 
 nations and the United States government to save Maximilian The 
 refusal His death Reflections. 
 
 I did not see Maximilian until the second day 
 after his capture, when I had charge of him for a 
 day. I do not think he had the slightest idea of 
 his impending doom. I am told that when he was 
 informed he was about to be tried, he seemed very 
 much surprised, and asked on what charge. He 
 was told the charges were being formulated, and 
 they would be submitted to him soon. He asked 
 if he could have counsel, and was informed he 
 could have any one whom he might choose. He 
 chose an American, a man by the name of Hall, 
 from the .city ol Mexico. Mr. Hall was sent for at 
 once, and the trial proceeded. 
 
 The two principal charges against him were : 
 first, issuing his celebrated order executing all who 
 were found fighting to sustain the republic; second, 
 of being a filibuster, as a subject of Francis Joseph 
 of Austria, making war upon a nation with whom 
 Austria was at peace. He was found guilty, and 
 at once sentenced to be shot within five days oi 
 the time of the sentence. Upon this being made
 
 134 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 known to him, he asked that he might have proper 
 time to prepare for so important an event. This 
 was granted him, and the 19th of June was fixed 
 as the day of his execution. Generals Mejia 
 and Miramon were tried upon the charge of being 
 traitors to their country, and also sentenced to be 
 shot, the date of their execution being fixed the 
 same day as that of the archduke. 
 
 Great efforts were at once put forth by all of 
 the European powers to save Maximilian's life. 
 They remonstrated, threatened, protested, and 
 entreated. Finally, the Emperor of Austria, his 
 brother, asked the United States government to 
 use its good office and influence to save the 
 doomed man, and this was done. 
 
 I am sure that President Juarez disliked 
 exceedingly to put Maximilian to death, and 
 above all would have liked to grant the request of 
 the United States, to which country he felt every 
 sense of gratitude for the part our government had 
 taken in compelling the French to evacuate 
 Mexico: but that terribly cruel order Maximilian 
 had issued, by which so many noble men had per- 
 ished, caused practically all of Mexico to demand 
 his death; and however much President Juarez 
 was loved and adored, he could not have prevented 
 the execution. I am sorry to say that I felt just 
 that way myself that he had to die. 
 
 One day when I had charge of him, I said tc
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 135 
 
 him: " Your Majesty remembers, no doubt, when 
 you were the viceroy of Italy, that you ordered the 
 expulsion from all of your domain, of those political 
 refugees who had taken part in the demonstration 
 of honor to Captain Ingraham, of the United 
 States navy." 
 
 He said, "Yes," without raising his head. 
 
 I said, "Your Majesty, I was one of those refu- 
 gees." 
 
 Now for the first time he raised his eyes, and 
 said: "That is impossible, as that was many years 
 ago, and you are a very young man." 
 
 I said, " Yes, that was sixteen years ago, and I 
 
 was but a very small boy, but your order excluded 
 
 > > 
 me. 
 
 "Well, time rounds up all things," was the 
 reply. 
 
 Among those who were taken prisoners at the 
 time with Maximilian, was Prince Salm Salm. The 
 prince had been a brave soldier in the Union army. 
 The United States government asked that he 
 might be liberated, and he was. His wife was an 
 American lady, and a very beautiful woman; a 
 woman of wonderful power and fascination. She 
 was so charming that when she went through the 
 hospitals in Washington, the boys used to say that 
 if she would visit the hospitals every day, they 
 could discharge their doctors, as she would do 
 more by her charming smiles and manners to restore
 
 136 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 them to health than all of the doctors and theii 
 medicine. 
 
 Upon her arrival in Queretaro, we found ou 
 that she began at once to use her blandishments 
 and fascinations to affect an escape for Maximilian. 
 One Mexican officer who was to have charge of 
 him one day, was offered by the princess three 
 hundred thousand dollars in gold. He was a man 
 who did not possess a dollar in the world, but such 
 was his patriotism, and the universal hatred which 
 was borne toward Maximilian, that he spurned the 
 offer. After the development of this attempt to 
 bribe, the charming princess was informed that 
 there was a good deal of malaria in Queretaro, 
 and for the good of her health she had better 
 return to the city of Mexico. She went at once. 
 
 The last three or four days of Maximilian's life 
 were spent almost wholly with the priest. On 
 the morning of the execution, June 19th, 1867, a 
 beautiful, bright morning, he was taken out of 
 the old convent where he was captured, and where 
 he had lived during the time he was in our custody, 
 and there placed in an ambulance, and driven out- 
 side of the walls of the city, near an old fortress, 
 where the execution took place. 
 
 Arriving on the ground, the troops were formed 
 in line. The doomed men were placed in position, 
 Maximilian standing on the right of the firing 
 party. The firing party consisted of thirty-six
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 137 
 
 men, formed into two companies, six men to each 
 one of the doomed men. Each of the six men 
 were furnished with loaded rifles, except one in 
 each of the six, who had a blank cartridge. There 
 had been a sharp rivalry for the honor of belong- 
 ing to the firing party. I was selected to com- 
 mand the reserve firing party. When everything 
 was ready, each one of the men was asked if he 
 had anything to say. 
 
 Maximilian, speaking in Spanish, said in sub- 
 stance, that he loved Mexico and desired its wel- 
 fare ; and if the shedding of his blood would be the 
 means of bringing peace and happiness to the dis- 
 tracted country, he was willing to die. Generals 
 Mejia and Miramon said a few words that I do not 
 now remember, closing by saying: "Long live 
 Mexico." Maximilian asked that the commander 
 of the firing party might advance to him, when he 
 delivered to that officer six pieces of gold, which is 
 equivalent to about ten dollars of our money. He 
 ordered a piece of gold to be delivered to each one 
 of the firing party, directing them to take good aim. 
 
 The firing party was now ordered to advance, 
 make ready aim fire. The two generals fell dead, 
 apparently never moving after they struck the 
 ground. Strange as it may seem, Maximilian fell 
 mortally wounded only, exclaiming as he fell: "Oh! 
 my God! my God! " At once the commander of 
 the reserve firing party ordered one of the men
 
 138 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 from his own party to advance, 'and drawing his 
 own revolver, ordered him to put it to the ear of 
 the archduke and fire. He did so, and the career 
 of the archduke was ended. I ordered him to use 
 my revolver for this reason, that I did not know 
 who of the firing party had the blank cartridge, 
 and I did not wish any more mishaps, and thus add 
 to the misery of the unfortunate man. Thus 
 ended the career of the so-called emperor. At the 
 time of his death he lacked about a month of being 
 thirty-five years of age. 
 
 It seems very strange now that Emperor 
 Napoleon should have chosen such a weak man for 
 such a trying place. A more unfortunate selection 
 could not have been made. Maximilian was a man 
 of exceedingly small caliber, but probably as good 
 as the average monarch of Europe. He would 
 have done well enough to have acted as a mere 
 figurehead, as most of the monarchs of Europe are 
 indeed, I think he would have been eminently 
 successful in that role. Unlike most of the mon- 
 archs of Europe of to-day and of the past, he was a 
 man of sound morals. He was a very handsome 
 man I should say at least six feet high, a blonde, 
 and rather pleasing in his manners. He was well 
 calculated for the ballroom and the palace. I 
 believe that a strong, wise, discreet man could 
 have succeeded in the role that he attempted to 
 play in Mexico; but it required all of these qualities,
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 139 
 
 and he possessed none of them. He treated all of 
 his Mexican chieftains with contempt, which is the 
 natural feeling that everyone has for a traitor. It 
 is said he took up the precious time which he 
 should have used in maturing measures for the 
 consolidation of his empire, in settling questions of 
 etiquette about his court. 
 
 His wife, Carlotta, who was the daughter of 
 the King of the Netherlands, was a bright, able, 
 and beautiful woman, liberal in her views, and 
 broad in her ideas of statecraft. Had she been 
 the ruler, I believe she would have succeeded. 
 
 The conduct of Maximilian while waiting for 
 execution in the last month of his life, was becom- 
 ing. This was surprising to those who knew him, 
 but I think I can understand it. He was a deeply 
 religious man, and had no doubt in his mind but 
 when he died his soul would immediately pass into 
 the abode of the blest, and he would at once join 
 his Carlotta for at the time of his death he sup- 
 posed tliat she was dead, as it was so represented 
 to him; and then he was aware of the fact that he 
 belonged to one of the most ancient royal houses 
 of Europe, and that the manner of his tragic death 
 would be such that the whole world in all ages to 
 come would read of his every act, word, and move- 
 ment during that last eventful month of his life. 
 
 The world seems to think, or rather, I might 
 say the impression is general, that Carlotta went
 
 140 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 crazy on account of the tragic death of her hus- 
 band. This is a mistake; she had gone mad a 
 year previous to his death. After the French 
 agreed to leave Mexico, Carlotta returned to 
 Europe and went from court to court begging help 
 to sustain Maximilian, but was rebuffed every- 
 where; and it was too much for her proud, sensi- 
 tive spirit, and she went mad, and has remained so 
 even unto this day. 
 
 There are some who would try to apologize 
 for Maximilian and save him from the discredit of 
 that awful, blood-thirsty and cruel order, trying to 
 do so by throwing the blame on others Mejia, 
 Miramon, and Bazaine ; but the whole thing is 
 characteristic of the Austrian reigning house. It 
 has been said that he was a weak man, and there- 
 fore could not do such a bloody thing; but weak 
 men more often than strong ones do cruel things. 
 Nero was not a strong man, neither was Mary of 
 England a strong woman.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 14* 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 My impressions of President Juarez, Escobedo, and Diaz. 
 
 The next day after the execution of Maximilian 
 I met President Juarez personally for the first time. 
 He gave an audience to the foreign officers who 
 had served in behalf of the republic. We had a 
 long talk with him. In our group there were 
 Americans, English, Germans, French, and Italians. 
 All of these different nationalties had been drawn 
 to Mexico by a love of adventure and to serve 
 the cause of liberty. The President won our 
 hearts at once. He warmly thanked us for our 
 services in behalf of Mexico. He addressed us in 
 the Spanish language, or rather the Mexican dia- 
 lect, as we could all understand him in that. He 
 said it was useless for him to express his sense of 
 gratitude to us, as he had not words and could not 
 find words to express it; and he said all that 
 Mexico could do for us would never be half 
 enough. He said that for Mexicans to fight for 
 Mexico was natural; but for foreigners who had no 
 other ties except the love of liberty and a desire to 
 assist a brave people who were struggling against 
 fearful odds, to make every sacrifice and to suffer 
 every privation for the republic, was a spirit so 
 noble that it could not be put into language.
 
 142 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 For some reason or other my associates chose 
 me as their spokesman, although I was the 
 youngest of the group, lacking at that time a few 
 months of being twenty-five. I assured him in 
 behalf of my associates that what we had done, 
 we had done freely ; that we desired neither gold 
 nor lands ; that we had been amply repaid in see- 
 ing the cause for which we had served triumphant, 
 and Mexico free; and we felt assured that Mexico 
 had taught the world a good lesson, and that 
 hereafter ambitious adventurers would see in the 
 fate of Maximilian that Mexico was not a good 
 country for them to trouble. 
 
 As we shook him by the hand at the close ot 
 our interview, he said he hoped that we would all 
 conclude to spend the rest of our lives in a land in 
 defense of whose liberties we had fought so nobly. 
 
 I saw him quite a number of times afterward, 
 while in Mexico, and enjoyed several chats with 
 him. In one of the visits I had with him, he gave 
 me the full history of the causes which led up to 
 the invasion of Mexico, which I have given in 
 a former chapter, and which Minister Romero had 
 given me in my interview with him in Washington. 
 
 I regard President Juarez as one of the noblest 
 characters that we have any record of in history. 
 He was a full-blooded Indian, yet he had risen 
 up through every obstacle, until he reached the 
 highest position in the gift oi his nation. On com-
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 143 
 
 ing to public life, he saw that the great incubus 
 upon that republic was the. clergy; that they owned 
 more than two-thirds of the real estate of Mexico, 
 that they were thoroughly monarchical in their 
 principles, and that nothing would satisfy them but 
 monarchy ; and that, as far as the education of the 
 masses was concerned, they were bitterly opposed 
 to it. So it was their aim to keep up such a 
 tumult, insurrection, rebellion, that the people at 
 last, weary from the struggle, would willingly yield 
 themselves to some despot. Appreciating the true 
 situation of his country, he was determined to 
 inaugurate and lead a movement that should give 
 both peace and liberty to his people; and to do this 
 he was called upon to make a great sacrifice of his 
 feelings. He was a Catholic; he knew practically 
 nothing of any other kind of religion; an Indian 
 Catholic at that, knowing nothing but submission 
 to the priesthood. He wished to live and die in 
 communion with the church. He saw before him 
 excommunication, ostracism, and possibly death in 
 disgrace; but, nevertheless, he was determined to 
 strike the blow. He knew, too, what a people he 
 had to contend with ; a people that were ignorant, 
 as far as the mass was concerned ; a people that 
 were superstitious, and thoroughly devoted to the 
 clergy but he was determined to make the trial. 
 He gathered about him some of the most progres- 
 sive men of the republic, and laid his plans before
 
 M4 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 them. They at once joined him with one accord 
 in the movement. Then began that tremenduous 
 struggle that ended only on the 19th of June, 1867, 
 just ten years from the time of his inauguration. 
 His theory as to the real cause of the trouble in 
 Mexico has proven to be correct ; for though thirty- 
 two years and more have passed since the execu- 
 tion of Maximilian, yet in all that time there has 
 not been enough blood shed in insurrections to 
 equal what has been spilled in some of our bloody 
 strikes and riots. He was thoroughly humane in 
 his feelings, and was very much opposed to blood- 
 shed. So much was he opposed to it, that, as much 
 trouble as Maximilian had given his country, and 
 notwithstanding the cruel decree of the emperor, 
 by which so many of Mexico's noble sons had been 
 cruelly butchered while prisoners of war, if Juarez 
 had had his own way he would not have executed 
 him. And he told me that he regretted Mejia's 
 and Miramon's executions, and that if he had had 
 it in his power, he would have sent them out of the 
 country instead; and yet two worse traitors could 
 not be imagined. Mejia had been a soldier in the 
 Mexican army; Miramon had been not only a 
 general, but a president of the republic ; and yet 
 they had joined themselves together to slaughter 
 their own countrymen and to perpetuate the reign 
 of a foreign prince.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 145 
 
 As soon as the republic was thoroughly estab- 
 lished, Juarez went to work to enlighten it. ' He 
 reduced the army to a minimum, established 
 schools free from clerical influences, and secured 
 the very best of teachers. And the best paid 
 officials in Mexico to-day are her school-teachers ; 
 and under the operation of her free-school system 
 the Republic of Mexico has in a single generation 
 raised the standard of popular intelligence till it 
 will compare favorably with that of our own coun- 
 try. He invited capital to Mexico, promising it 
 protection; encouraged the construction of rail- 
 roads and the establishing of manufactures ; and 
 he capped the climax of his magnificent career by 
 establishing perfect religious liberty. He died in 
 1872, of apoplexy. He was the real founder of the 
 Mexican Republic. He was Mexico's greatest 
 general, greatest statesman, purest patriot. 
 
 I did not see much of Diaz. My opinion of 
 him at that time was not favorable, and his con- 
 duct afterward in opposing Juarez rather confirmed 
 that unfavorable opinion; but after he became 
 President he carried out the enlightened views of 
 Juarez, and has given to Mexico a splendid 
 government. 
 
 General Escobedo I knew well. I found him 
 an elegant gentleman, sincere and patriotic. He 
 was a splendid soldier; tall, graceful in carriage, 
 gracious to all with whom he came in contact,
 
 146 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 brave in battle, and chivalrous. He was my ideal 
 of a 'perfect soldier. 
 
 The general impression in this country is that 
 the Mexican people are treacherous, and when 
 their passion is aroused, cruel. I never found them 
 so; I found them frank, cordial, and polite. Like 
 the people of all warm or hot climates, if they are 
 deeply wronged, their revenge is terrible. No 
 doubt there are treacherous persons amongst them, 
 but what nation of people has not that class? I 
 think I have found a few outside of the Mexicans 
 myself. 
 
 As an illustration of their way of revenge, 
 yet I do not know whether I should say their 
 way, for I have known of similar cases in our 
 Northern country, while I was in the city of 
 Mexico, a couple of months after the war was over, 
 I had been out one night calling on a friend. 
 Returning about midnight, I saw standing in the 
 shadow of a large tree a man who was apparently 
 waiting for someone. I had a small one-barrel 
 pistol in a side pocket; I put my hand upon it. 
 While I had wronged no man or person in Mexico, 
 yet I thought sometimes mistakes were made, so 
 it was better to be prepared. When I arrived 
 opposite him he leaped at me like a tiger. I 
 quickly stepped aside, just in time to avoid him, 
 and stuck my revolver in his face, when the beau- 
 tiful moonlight fell on the faces of both of us. I
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 147 
 
 shall never forget, if I should live a thousand years, 
 the expression of hatred and the desire for revenge 
 that I saw on that man's countenance; and then 
 his surprise when he saw my face. He dropped 
 his knife immediately, begged my pardon a thou- 
 sand times, it seemed, which I readily granted. 
 He gave me his card, strange as it may seem, and 
 asked me to call and see him. I assured him if I 
 remained in the city long enough I would do so, 
 but other engagements during my few remaining 
 days in the city prevented me from calling. It 
 was clearly a case of mistaken identity, and might 
 have been a costly one to me. 
 
 Shortly before I left Mexico the Congress of 
 Mexico conferred upon all of those who had come 
 from other lands to fight for the cause of liberty 
 without any financial consideration, the rights of 
 citizenship, and ten thousand acres of land upon 
 any unoccupied domain of Mexico. I have never 
 called for my land. 
 
 There is something very remarkable about this 
 invasion of Mexico by France and Spain that I have 
 never seen mentioned by any writer: it is the terri- 
 ble fatality or misfortune that has befallen all the 
 individuals who had any connection with it. 
 
 The two Mexican generals and leaders, Gen- 
 eral Mejia and ex-President Miramon, were both 
 declared to be traitors by a jury of their country- 
 men, and sentenced to death.
 
 148 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 Pope Pius IX, who influenced France and Spain 
 to make war upon Mexico, lost his power as a 
 temporal prince, and his capital, Rome, and shut 
 himself up in the Vatican, declaring himself to be 
 
 1 o 
 
 a prisoner of the King of Italy, and never left the 
 Vatican alive again. His minister or delegate, as 
 the title is, afterward fell into disgrace and com- 
 mitted suicide. 
 
 Eugenie, the empress of France, who intrigued 
 to secure her husband's cooperation in the expedi- 
 tion, lost her throne, her husband, and her son; 
 and she has now for nearly 37 years been an exile 
 in England, a grief-stricken, heart-broken woman. 
 The Emperor Napoleon led his country into war 
 with terrible defeat, broke the prestige of his 
 uncle's great name, was driven from his throne, 
 and died in disgrace, an exile in England. 
 
 Isabella of Spain lost her throne, and for more 
 than thirty years has been living in exile. 
 
 General Prim, who led the Spanish army into 
 Mexico, and the greatest military man that Spain 
 has had in a hundred years, was assassinated in 
 the streets of Madrid. 
 
 Marshal Bazaine was tried upon the charge of 
 being a traitor to France, and was sentenced to be 
 shot; but his old comrade-in-arms, President 
 McMahon, commuted his sentence to imprison- 
 ment for life, and he was confined for several
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 149 
 
 years, but finally made his escape, and died in 
 poverty and distress in Spain. 
 
 France, who had led the movement, lost her 
 proud position as the most powerful nation on the 
 continent of Europe; was humiliated in her war 
 with Germany, in which she never won a battle or 
 a skirmish; had her capital captured by the 
 Germans ; was stripped of a large portion of her 
 most valuable territory, and trodden in the dust. 
 
 Spain, who seconded France, got into a war 
 with the United States, lost practically all of her 
 colonies, most of her navy, and suffered the most 
 humiliating defeat that any nation has ever known. 
 
 Surely, in this unparalleled record, as one con- 
 templates it, can be seen the retribution of God 
 for a causeless and cruel invasion.
 
 150 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 My return to the United States Visit different points in the 
 United States Finally settle down in Minnesota- Become a reformer in 
 politics Elected to the legislature Introduce three reform measures. 
 
 After spending a couple of months in the city oi 
 Mexico, and enjoying myselfas I never have before 
 or since for the same length of time, I was finally 
 wakened out of my dreams of pleasure, receptions, 
 balls, celebrations, and so forth, to realize that 
 there was something more serious for me in hand; 
 so I turned my eyes toward the United States. 
 
 The ten years which I had served in the United 
 States army, and the battles I had fought in the 
 country's behalf, had so imbued me with American 
 spirit and national feeling, that I could never think 
 of permanently locating anywhere except in the 
 domain of "Uncle Sam." 
 
 I would not return to my native land and per- 
 manently locate there, even though it might be 
 free, and all of my ancestral rights restored to me. 
 It is my earnest desire that the last time I shall 
 open my eyes to behold the light of day, it may be 
 to look upon the land of my adoption; and may all 
 of my descendants ever abide under the stars and 
 stripes, in the land of the free and the home of the 
 brave.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 151 
 
 I landed in New York the 1st of September, 
 1867. After sojourning a few days in New York, 
 I went to Boston. I then proceeded to Chicago; 
 and from there to Rochester, Minnesota, where I 
 spent the winter and the following spring. It was 
 while in Rochester, Minnesota, that I became con- 
 nected with the Independent Order of Good 
 Templars. I was at that time rough and uncouth, 
 as one naturally would be whose life had been 
 spent in the army from the time he was twelve 
 years old until he was twenty-five. 
 
 It was in this lodge of Good Templars that I 
 met a very beautiful young lady, Miss Sophia D. 
 Chapin. She took a great deal of interest in me, 
 and at once exercised a remarkable influence over 
 me. She was a school-teacher, and she did her 
 work well with me. She would chide me when I 
 did wrong, which was quite often, and correct me in 
 my speech and manners ; she did wonders for me 
 the six months that I remained under her beautiful 
 influence. We left Rochester about the same 
 time, she to teach school in Mississippi, and I to 
 go further west. We did not meet again for 
 twenty years. At first we exchanged letters for a 
 year or so, and then our correspondence ceased. 
 
 During the campaign for prohibition in North 
 Dakota, in 1889, I often saw letters in the New 
 York Voice, written by Mrs. J. C. White. I liked 
 her letters very much indeed, and found out that
 
 152 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 she and her husband, Captain J. C. White, w^re 
 conducting the campaign for prohibition in that 
 State. 
 
 When I spoke in Fargo, I met Mrs. Baxter of 
 Michigan. She said to me: "Mrs. J. C. White 
 sends her regards to you, and says that you must 
 come to Castleton and visit them before you leave 
 North Dakota." 
 
 I replied that I had read and heard a good 
 deal about Mrs. White, but had never had the 
 pleasure of meeting with her; however, I should 
 enjoy meeting her and her husband very much. 
 
 "Why," said Mrs. Baxter, "she said that you 
 and she were old friends, and that you were one of 
 the noblest young men she ever knew. She said 
 you would know her maiden name, which was 
 Sophia D. Chapin. " 
 
 How delighted I was to hear of my old civilizer, 
 and friend of olden days, and find her so active in 
 a cause to which I was devoting my life! 
 
 When I arrived in Grand Forks, I received a 
 letter from Captain White, saying that I was 
 announced to speak at Fargo on Sunday night, 
 and asking me if I wouldn't speak in Castleton 
 Sunday afternoon, as the train ran so that I could 
 return to Fargo in time to lecture. He said he 
 had heard so much of me, and heard his wife talk 
 so much about me, that he was desirous of meeting 
 me. I accepted the kind invitation, arrived there
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 153 
 
 early Sunday morning, and spent the hours very 
 pleasantly talking over the olden days. I spoke 
 there in the afternoon, and then Captain White 
 and his wife accompanied me to Fargo and 
 remained until Tuesday morning. I found Cap- 
 tain White a high-toned, chivalrous gentleman, a 
 worthy husband of such a noble woman. 
 
 A few weeks afterward I received a letter from 
 him, telling me that he had seen by the papers that 
 I was to be in Chicago during the session of the 
 National Woman's Christian Temperance Union ; 
 that it would be impossible for him to attend, but 
 his wife would attend, and asking me if it was too 
 much to ask of me to see that his wife got a 
 pleasant stopping place, and to care for her in any 
 way that she might need help while she was there. 
 I did so, and did all I could to make the time 
 pleasant for her. 
 
 She died a few months afterward from 
 la grippe. . Her husband survived her only a few 
 weeks, dying from the same disease. Both of 
 them had worked so hard during that campaign 
 which gave to North Dakota prohibition, that they 
 hadn't strength enough to resist the ravages ot 
 disease. It is due to them and to the temper- 
 ance people of North Dakota that a suitable 
 monument should be erected at their grave, and 
 upon it should be an inscription telling of their 
 splendid lives and the sacrifices they made to give
 
 154 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 to North Dakota its constitution forever prohibiting 
 the liquor traffic in the State. A brighter or more 
 beautiful spirit than that of Mrs. Sophia White 
 never went through the pearly gates. * *"5.*,.*i ^ 
 
 I visited St. Paul first, and then Minneapolis, 
 finally settling down in Dayton, a suburban town 
 of Minneapolis, where 1 spent my time when not 
 working for temperance, in reading law. I had 
 the good fortune while there of making the 
 acquaintance of Mr. E. H. Robinson, a splendid 
 man, and his noble wife, who were as true friends 
 as any that God ever gave me. They were loyal 
 to me in every emergency. 
 
 That fall a serious breach broke out in the 
 Republican party of Hennepin County, and the 
 better element of the party was so dissatisfied with 
 the nominations made in the convention that they 
 bolted. A call fora convention to nominate a reform 
 ticket was immediately made. It was composed 
 of men of all parties, and I was nominated as one 
 of the candidates for the legislature. The con- 
 vention was presided over by Russell H. Conwell, 
 who was then a young attorney, and editor of the 
 first daily paper of Minneapolis, The Daily 
 Chronicle. Mr. Conwell is now Rev. Dr. Conwell, 
 the celebrated popular lecturer, and pastor of the 
 great University Baptist Church of Philadelphia, 
 the largest Baptist Church in the world.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 155 
 
 I took the stump during that campaign and 
 spoke in every town in the county. I was elected 
 by an overwhelming majority, leading my entire 
 ticket, which to me was quite remarkable, as I had 
 lived in the county but a few months : and during 
 the entire campaign I proclaimed myself first and 
 last and at all times a prohibitionist ; and to say 
 that in that day and in that new country was quite 
 different from what it is now. 
 
 The legislature assembled in January. The 
 Sunday before I went to St. Paul, I was invited to 
 the house of an ex-member cf Congress to dine. 
 After dinner he took me into his library and said 
 he was going to give me some good advice. He 
 said he had taken a great deal of interest in me 
 ever since he had known me, and had in every 
 way shown his friendship for me, and continued: 
 "Now you are the kind of a young man I 
 can talk to, for the reason that you don't have any 
 symptoms of the big-head. Now, my young friend, 
 you have a brilliant political future before you, if 
 you do not make any mistakes. There is no 
 reason why you cannot be in Congress in less than 
 ten years, if you act wisely. Now do this, my 
 young friend, and you will be all right: fully iden- 
 tify yourself with the Republican party, and never 
 fly the track ; let the Republican platform be your 
 creed, and never know anything else or advocate 
 anything else except that which you find in the
 
 ^5 6 Ltfe of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 platform of the party. Doubtless, sometimes the 
 party will do something and stand for something 
 that you would not wish to accept but never mind, 
 swallow it down. This should always quiet your 
 conscience: that the average intelligence and 
 morality ought to be equal to yours, consequently 
 you should be willing to submit to whatever a 
 majority of the party says is right and proper. Let 
 these social questions, such as temperance and 
 kindred questions, alone; leave them to the ministers 
 and to the Church." 
 
 I thanked the judge for his good advice, but 
 that winter in the legislature I advocated woman 
 suffrage, the abolishment of the death penalty, and 
 the prohibition of the liquor traffic, and did and 
 said a lot of other things which no wise or discreet 
 politician who was looking for future political 
 promotion would ever do. 
 
 Then the judge told me that I would never be 
 elected to another office by any political party. 
 As that has been more than thirty years ago, and as 
 I have never had an office since, I guess the judge 
 was right. Still, I am more than satisfied with 
 my choice ; and if I had my life to live over again, 
 I would choose the same path. 
 
 When I was in the legislature, William A. 
 Marshall was the governor of the State. Governor 
 Marshall was a very courteous, affable gentleman. 
 He had been a brave soldier, and was in every
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 157 
 
 way a worthy man. Hon. William Yale, ol 
 Winona, was lieutenant governor. J. Q. Farmer 
 was speaker of the House. All of these gentle- 
 men are now living, with the exception of Gov- 
 ernor Marshall. 
 
 The leading men of the State Senate at that 
 time were Hon. William P. Murray of St. Paul, 
 Senator Daniels of Rochester, and Senator Lord 
 of Mower County. In the House of Representa- 
 tives, the leading members were Hon. Mark 
 Dunnell, Hon. Dana King, Hon. Cushman K. Davis. 
 
 I found myself to be the youngest man of the 
 legislature. There were two others born the 
 same year, but later in the year. They were 
 Cushman K. Davis of St. Paul, and A. A. Ames 
 of Minneapolis. 
 
 Cushman K. Davis, though serving his first term, 
 and one of its very youngest members, at once 
 came to the front as one of the ablest debaters, 
 and gave promise of the great name that he has 
 since achieved. While governor of the State of 
 Minnesota, Mr. Davis gave evidence of some poli- 
 tical independence, and that injured him for a 
 while; but he has recovered from it, and is now the 
 idol of his party in the State. 
 
 A. A. Ames, one of my colleagues, a bright, 
 rising young doctor, has since been four times 
 mayor of the splendid city of Minneapolis, and has
 
 158 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 several times been a candidate of his party for 
 the governorship. He was and is a Democrat. 
 
 As soon as the legislature had got well under 
 way, I gave notice of the introduction of a bill pro- 
 hibiting the liquor traffic, and another bill for the 
 abolishment of the death penalty. The last named 
 bill I could never get from the committee it was 
 referred to. 
 
 One day I received a petition from a Mrs. 
 Coleman. It was signed by about one hundred 
 names, asking for woman suffrage. Mrs. Coleman 
 was an educated woman, and of considerable 
 ability; a forceful speaker. On receiving the 
 petition, I consulted with one of my colleagues as 
 to what I should do with it. "Oh!" he said, 
 "pay no attention to the thing; for if anyone 
 introduces it, it will make him the laughing-stock 
 of the House." 
 
 I thought over the matter a day or two, and 
 came to the conclusion that I ought to present it. 
 So one morning at the proper time I sent up the 
 petition. It caused great laughter and applause, 
 and a motion was made, and carried unanimously, 
 that it be referred to a committee of one, and that 
 one the member from Hennepin who had pre- 
 sented it. So, amid shouting and laughter the 
 motion was carried, and it was handed back to me. 
 I put it back in my drawer, never intending to 
 look at it again.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 159 
 
 Of course all of this was reported in the papers, 
 and in a few days I received a letter from a lady 
 who was quite renowned in the educational world, 
 and whose husband has since been a judge and a 
 United States Senator, saying that she had seen 
 the action of the legislature in the case, and 
 knowing that I was a young man, she would send 
 me some books and other printed matter, and it 
 might help me in getting up my report. I had 
 thought that the whole thing was a joke, and 
 intended to pay no attention to it ; but in a day or 
 two the documents came, and to my astonishment 
 I found speeches and papers favoring woman 
 suffrage from such statesmen as Lyman Trumbull 
 of Illinois, Senators Wade and Corwin of Ohio, 
 Senators Sumner and Wilson of Massachusetts; 
 and from such literary men as Wendell Phillips 
 and Ralph Waldo Emerson of Massachusetts. 
 I read the documents, and became a convert to 
 the principle, and have remained so to this day. 
 
 I found another member of the House who was 
 a believer in woman suffrage, Hon. Charles Wheaton 
 of Northfield, Rice County. 
 
 I presented my report to the House, and it was 
 laid over. Mrs. Coleman wrote to me that she 
 would like to come to St. Paul and speak in its 
 behalf. I asked for the use of the hall of the 
 House of Representatives, and it was readily 
 granted. The meeting was largely attended ; the
 
 160 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 lady made an able speech, and it evidently made 
 a good impression. 
 
 At the same session of the legislature the 
 Republicans were trying to get through a resolu- 
 tion amending the constitution, by striking out the 
 word white as one of the qualifications of a voter. 
 Mr. Maynard, the leader of the Democratic party, 
 came over to me and told me if I would vote to tack 
 both propositions together, that all the Democratic 
 members would support me. Their object was to 
 so load down the measure that it would be over- 
 whelmingly defeated. 
 
 My idea was that one proposition was as good 
 as the other ; that a woman ought to have a chance 
 to vote and the black man ought to have a chance 
 to vote ; that no one should be deprived of the 
 ballot on account of color or sex. All this time 
 I had been laughed at so much that I was quite 
 sensitive. I thought I was standing practically 
 all alone in my support of the bill. But when 
 it came up for action, some of the most fashion- 
 able and elegant ladies of St. Paul and Minne- 
 apolis came into the house, filling the lobby and 
 the galleries. I shall never forget my feelings that 
 day. Under the influence of the smiles of those 
 fair ladies, how brave I was! And we fought 
 a royal battle ; and though defeated, it endorsed a 
 movement that will not end until the women of our 
 land stand equal with the men before the law.
 
 Mrs. M. P. Lemen. 
 
 (At age of seventy-nine.)
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 161 
 
 The next battle in that legislature was on the 
 prohibition question. My bill was referred to a 
 special committee, of which I was chairman; and, 
 to my surprise, I found, after making my speech 
 before the committee, that every member was in 
 favor of it. It was so reported back to the House, 
 and was referred to a committee of the whole, and 
 there a battle royal was fought. It went through 
 the committee of the whole by a large majority, 
 but under the lash of the party whip the measure 
 being stigmatized by the principal Republican 
 paper in the State as a bill in the interest of the 
 Democratic party, the paper saying if the bill passed 
 it would drive the German and the Scandinavian 
 vote into the Democratic party, and would hope- 
 lessly defeat the Republicans in the State and 
 under the tremendous pressure that was brought 
 against the bill for political reasons, it was 
 defeated. 
 
 I said that night after its defeat, that, God 
 helping me, I would never vote again with any 
 political party that was dictated to by the distiller, 
 the brewer, and the saloon-keeper; and I never 
 have. 
 
 During that session of the legislature, a mat- 
 ter came up that I have often thought of with, a 
 good deal of pride. Minnesota being largely a 
 lumbering State, the State was divided into six 
 lumbering districts. An eastern district had what
 
 1 62 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 they called a surveyor of logs. I do not remem- 
 ber now what his duties were, but it was a very 
 lucrative office. When the war broke out a 
 Mr. Camp held the position. It was a position 
 worth four thousand dollars a year. But when the 
 call was made for men to put down the rebellion, 
 he threw up his position and joined the army as a 
 private soldier. He came out of the army a 
 major. 
 
 One morning in the lobby of the House of 
 Representatives, Dr. Ames introduced me to 
 Major Camp. Major Camp said to me that he 
 wished my support for the office of surveyor of 
 logs. He said he resigned the position to go 
 into the army, and that Mr. Lane, his successor, 
 had held the office now for seven years, and he 
 thought, under the circumstances, that he was 
 entitled to it again. I told him that I would 
 support him in the caucus. 
 
 That night just as we were going into caucus, 
 a senator who did not live in my district, nor in 
 Major Camp's district, came to me and said: "I 
 suppose you know who the man is who is to be 
 nominated for surveyor in your district. " 
 
 I said, "Why, yes, Major Camp." 
 
 "Oh, no!" said he, "Mr. Lane, for I have a 
 petition signed by every lumberman in that district, 
 asking for his reelection."
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 163 
 
 "Well," I said, "nevertheless, I shall support 
 Major Camp. " 
 
 He said it would be useless, as everybody else 
 would support Mr. Lane. He said even the man 
 who would present Mr. Camp's name to the cau- 
 cus, would vote for Mr. Lane, and would say so in 
 the caucus. I told him all right, he was privileged 
 to do so; that while I was well acquainted with 
 Mr. Lane and knew that he was all that his friends 
 claimed for him, nevertheless, I should always 
 vote for the soldier when everything else was 
 equal. With that we parted. 
 
 When the caucus got down to our district, the 
 senator rose and nominated Mr. Lane with a neat 
 little speech, and then started to read the petition, 
 when the chairman of the caucus told him that he 
 did not presume it was necessary to read the peti- 
 tion, as he presumed there would be no opposi- 
 tion to Mr. Lane. The senator looked over to 
 where my colleague and I sat. 
 
 My colleague said nothing. So I rose and 
 said : " Yes, there will be another nomination. " 
 
 So he proceeded to read the petition. 
 
 When he sat down, my colleague rose and 
 said he had been requested to put in the nomina- 
 tion of Major Camp. He said this request had 
 been made by Mr. Camp himself, but said he 
 should vote for Mr. Lane, as his election was 
 desired by the lumber-dealers of the district.
 
 164 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 I was determined that the matter should not 
 rest there, and that Major Camp's name should not 
 go before the caucus in that way. So I rose and 
 said: "Mr. Chairman, on behalf of Mr. Camp, I 
 wish to say that everything that has been said in 
 behalf of Mr. Lane we agree with. He is honest, 
 capable, and popular, and his reelection doubtless 
 would give entire satisfaction. But when the 
 Civil War broke out, it found Major Camp holding 
 this office that he had been elected to a few 
 months before: and when the nation called its 
 sons to arms in its defense, he threw up this fat 
 office, and entered the army as a private soldier, at 
 eleven dollars a month; and for gallantry in the 
 field he was promoted at the close of the war to be 
 major of his regiment. During those four years 
 he marched in the rain, slept in the mud, faced 
 Confederate bullets, while all this time Mr. Lane 
 without any disrespect to him was staying at 
 home, eating three square meals a day and at night 
 sleeping on a bed of down, and drawing a salary 
 of four thousand dollars a year. And now this 
 gallant soldier, Major Camp, comes to us and asks 
 us to reelect him to the position that he left to 
 defend his nation's flag.' That he is just as 
 capable as Mr. Lane, no one will deny. And 
 now, what are we going to do about it? Gentle- 
 men, I remember, and some of you remember, 
 when we marched down Pennsylvania Avenue at
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 165 
 
 the time of the great review, we saw a banner 
 stretched across the avenue with this inscription: 
 'The nation owes one debt it can never pay, and 
 that is the debt it owes its soldiers.' Gentlemen, 
 it is the boast of the Republican party that it is 
 the friend of the soldier; that boast will be tested 
 to-night, and what shall be the answer? Your 
 votes will tell." 
 
 A vote was immediately taken, and Major 
 Camp was nominated by a vote of thirty-five to 
 eighteen. Immediately after the ballot had been 
 taken we adjourned. 
 
 The senator whom I have already mentioned 
 came to me and said: "Your man went through 
 a kiting, didn't he?" 
 
 I said, " He went through all right. " 
 
 But the next morning while I was sitting in my 
 seat, a leading lumberman came to me in great 
 excitement and said: "Do you know what you 
 have done? Do you know what you have done?" 
 
 I replied, " Nothing very alarming, I hope. " 
 
 He said, "You have, by defeating Mr. Lane, 
 offended the entire lumber interest of your district." 
 
 " Do you know Major Camp? " I asked. 
 
 "Yes," he replied, "I have always known 
 him." 
 
 I said, "Well, is he honest?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Is he capable?"
 
 1 66 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 Yes," he replied, "but we like Mr. Lane 
 better personally." 
 
 "Well," I said, "I like Major Camp better 
 personally, and I take the responsibility of the 
 whole matter." 
 
 He said, "He shall not be elected." 
 
 An attempt was made by Lane's friends to 
 make a bargain with the Democrats, and they 
 succeeded so far as to postpone the election for a 
 week; but during the week they heard from their 
 constituents, and Major Camp was triumphantly 
 elected. 
 
 A few days afterward the legislature adjourned, 
 and I am sure that my term in the body dem- 
 onstrated the fact that I was utterly wanting in the 
 qualities that go to make up a successful politician. 
 
 After the adjournment of the legislature I 
 spent a few weeks in determining what should 
 be my future course in life. I came to this con- 
 clusion: That I would devote it to the world's 
 betterment. Though but a young man, being at 
 the time twenty-five years of age, I had seen 
 enough of the world, and knew enough of the 
 world's history to convince me of how unsatis- 
 fying are the ordinary things which men strive 
 for: Wealth and fame and the world's applause 
 and smiles. Therefore, I determined that my 
 life should be consecrated to reforms and redress- 
 ing abuses wherever found. That in doing so 
 I should not consult my personal interests, but
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 167 
 
 rather I should be guided exclusively by the 
 teachings of the great Master, believing as I 
 did in those teachings, "That whosoever would 
 lose his life, would find it, and whosoever would 
 find his life, would lose it." 
 
 Three great reforms presented themselves to 
 my views at once : The abolishment of the liquor 
 traffic, the abolishment of the death penalty, 
 and the enfranchisement of w T omen. To these 
 great reforms my life has been devoted, and in 
 advocating them, I have lectured in nearly all 
 the states and territories of the Union, and in 
 British America, and nearly all the English speak- 
 ing countries of the world. 
 
 Writing this at the age of sixty-four, after 
 nearly forty years of constant labor, I am fully 
 satisfied with the choice I then made. While 
 I possess little of what the world calls goods, yet 
 the rich experience of my forty years, the work 
 which I have been enabled to do, and the work 
 that I have seen accomplished, the noble men and 
 women with whom I have been associated, have 
 been an ample reward to me. Had I to live my 
 life over again I should choose the same path. 
 And the remaining years of my life, be they many 
 or few ; will be devoted to these reforms. 
 
 While I have been vitally interested in other 
 reforms, and shall ever be, yet these reforms men- 
 tioned are the ones I feel especially called upon 
 to promote.
 
 1 68 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 I meet Miss Willard Estimate of her power as a leader My marriage to Lydia 
 Gertrude Lemen My wife's family Our children, Mary and John. 
 
 In June, 1875 I attended the National Temper- 
 ance Convention that was held in Farwell Hall, 
 Chicago. 
 
 It was here that I met for the first time Miss 
 Frances Willard. She was the chairman of the 
 enrolling committee. I saw that she had my 
 name wrong, so I went to her to have the correc- 
 tion made. I had heard of her before as an 
 educator. It was under these circumstances that 
 an acquaintance began which lasted through her 
 lifetime. She was at that time about thirty-five 
 years of age, and was just beginning a career 
 which made her immortal. Her personality was 
 very charming. It is said of Queen Elizabeth 
 that at court she was full of her foibles and flirta- 
 tions and vanities, but that when she entered the 
 council room she laid them all aside, and was 
 every bit a sovereign and a states woman. Miss 
 Willard's heart was always a girl's heart, full of 
 love, affection, and sentiment; but her head was 
 always the head of a stateswoman. She had 
 singular powers on the platform ; she never seemed 
 to me to be a great orator, and I have seen many
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 169 
 
 that seemed her superior, but with Webster's 
 definition of what constitutes an orator, she was 
 unexcelled. She could move and convince an 
 audience as I have never known any one. else to do. 
 
 At the National Prohibition Convention at 
 Indianapolis, I saw an example of her wonderful 
 power. There was a great deal of division of sen- 
 timent in our party as to the advisability of putting 
 woman suffrage into the platform. The conven- 
 tion was composed of about fourteen hundred dele- 
 gates, and they -were nearly equally divided on 
 that question when we met. Those of us who 
 were in favor of putting it in our platform only 
 claimed forty or fifty majority. She addressed the 
 convention the first night on that subject, and took 
 it by storm. So, when the final vote was taken on 
 the question in the convention, there was hardly 
 enough left of the opposition to be counted. 
 
 I was very much attached to Miss Willard, and 
 when her death was announced, I, with thousands 
 of others who had known her and loved her, wept 
 at the bereavement. I was one of the pall-bearers 
 at her funeral. It was a bitter cold day in the 
 middle of February. Her body lay in state at 
 Willard Hall. Thousands stood on the streets all 
 day men and women, old and young, rich and 
 poor to get a chance to look upon the face of one 
 who loved everyone, and had worked for everyone 
 with all the energy of a great soul.
 
 17 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 In this National Temperance Convention, where 
 I first met Miss Willard, she introduced a resolu- 
 tion declaring that where the question was one of 
 temperance alone, that women should have the 
 ballot. The resolution was adopted, but it caused 
 a hot discussion, m any women opposing it, declar- 
 ing they could do all they wanted to do by prayer 
 alone. 
 
 During the discussion the celebrated Anna 
 Dickinson was seen in the convention, and was 
 called upon to speak. She began by saying that 
 she was not a member of the convention, and was 
 not in sympathy at all with the object of the con- 
 vention; yet in this question of suffrage she had a 
 good deal of interest. She said that one lady had 
 said that she didn't care for the ballot, that she 
 could do more with prayer. She said: "Let us 
 illustrate that point. Supposing there was a cer- 
 tain town where the liquor question was an issue, 
 and the temperance people should meet in con- 
 vention and nominate a ticket ; and the liquor men 
 should also nominate a ticket; but when election 
 day came, the liquor men would go to the polls and 
 vote for their ticket, and the temperance men, 
 instead of going to the polls, would go to the 
 church and pray for their ticket, instead of voting : 
 which ticket, in the judgment of this convention, 
 would be elected?" The convention saw the 
 point, cheered lustily, and adopted the resolution. 
 
 In the spring of 1876, as chairman of the Pro-
 
 Ivife of Colonel John Sobieski 171 
 
 hibition State Committee of Illinois, I called the 
 convention to meet in Chicago, to nominate a 
 State and electoral ticket. The Prohibitionists 
 already had a ticket in the field for President. 
 Green Clay Smith of Kentucky had been nomi- 
 nated for President, and Professor Thompson of 
 Ohio for Vice-President. The convention was to 
 be a mass convention: just ten persons came. I 
 took them to a Good Templar hall, at 310 West 
 Madison Street, and locked the door to keep the 
 reporters out, so they would not make fun of us 
 through the papers. We proceeded to nominate 
 a full ticket, with Dr. James F. Simpson of Greene 
 County for governor. Every man in the conven- 
 tion was nominated for something. It was a very 
 harmonious convention. There was no caucusing 
 nor trades nor combines; it was an ideal con- 
 vention. 
 
 That night at my boarding-house (I was then 
 living in Chicago ), a reporter of the Tribune found 
 me and said he had been hunting for our conven- 
 tion all day. I laughingly told him I didn't doubt 
 it; that had it been a Democratic or Republican 
 convention, he would have known just w r here to 
 look for it adjacent to some liquor saloon or beer- 
 garden. He wanted to know where we met. I 
 told him at Garden City Hall. 
 
 He said, "Why, that is not a large hall." 
 I told him it was not a large convention. He 
 wanted to know what we did. I gave him a list of
 
 172 lyife of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 our candidates nominated, the new State central 
 committee appointed, and resolutions adopted. 
 Then he asked a question that I didn't want him 
 to ask, and that was, how many delegates there 
 were in the convention. 
 
 I said, "What number?" 
 
 He said, "Yes. v 
 
 I said, "Three hundred and ten;" that was the 
 number of the street where the convention .was 
 held. 
 
 So the next morning the Tribune had it in 
 great head-lines: "The Prohibitionists hold a State 
 Convention and nominate a full ticket. Three hun- 
 dred and ten delegates attended." But what 
 amazed me was who had misinformed the reporter 
 as to the number of delegates. But as the state- 
 ment wa"s of such slight importance, I did not 
 think it worth while to correct it; so I let it go. 
 
 On June 3rd, 1879, I was united in marriage to 
 Miss Lvdia Gertrude Lemen. Miss Lemen was 
 
 / 
 
 born in Salem, Marion County, Illinois, January 3d, 
 1851. She was educated in the public schools 
 of Salem, studied a few years in the Young Ladies' 
 Seminary of that town, and graduated at Almira 
 College, Greenville, Illinois, in the class of 1876. 
 Her father I never met, as he had died a year 
 or two before I became acquainted with the family. 
 He was the son of Rev. Joseph Lemen and the 
 grandson of Rev. James Lemen, the man through
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 173 
 
 whose labor the territory of Illinois came into the 
 Union as a free State, whose six sons were Baptist 
 ministers and whose influence was felt through- 
 out the entire West. For over one hundred years 
 the Lemen family labored in the cause of Christ. 
 He was an ardent Abolitionist and labored ear- 
 nestly for the overthrow of slavery. He was an 
 accomplished writer of both prose and poetry. 
 
 Mrs. Lemen was one of the greatest and best 
 women I ever knew. She was born in New York 
 in 1811. The family moved to New Hampshire 
 in 1813. She was educated in New Hampton 
 Academy, graduating in 1831. In 1832 she was 
 sent West as a teacher to work in behalf 
 of the educational interests of the Baptist Church. 
 She was one of the founders of Shurtleff College, at 
 Alton, Illinois, and one of its first instructors, being 
 the first of her sex that ever held that position in 
 this county, and, perhaps, in the world. She was 
 for years the preceptress of the Young Ladies' Sem- 
 inary, at Salem, Illinois, and was compelled to 
 retire from that institution on account of her pro- 
 nounced anti-slavery views. She was an original 
 abolitionist of the Wendell Phillips school, and of 
 course a prohibitionist. She worked for every 
 good caase; she hated every evil. The weak and 
 the oppressed always found in her a friend ; whether 
 they were white or black, red or yellow, learned or 
 ignorant, good or bad, it was all the same to her.
 
 174 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 She could only see the man and the woman, and 
 she was ready to help them. The last years of 
 her life were spent very largely in the temperance 
 work. In the summer before she died, though she 
 was eighty-three at the time, she was president of 
 the county Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 
 teacher in the Sunday-school, secretary of the For- 
 eign Missionary Society, a correspondent of many 
 religious and temperance papers, teacher of a pri- 
 vate school, and spent a part of her time lecturing 
 on temperance. She so impressed her personality 
 on her children that they all believed what she 
 believed, and are working for that to which she 
 devoted her life. She died January 12th, 1892, 
 at the age of eighty -three years and eight months. 
 
 Her family consisted of three children. The 
 oldest daughter, Mrs. Helen Denny, is a leading 
 woman of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
 Union, and a lecturer of great acceptability. She 
 has lectured in every part of the Union. Her hus- 
 band, Colonel W. N. Denny, is a leading man in 
 Indiana, a veteran of the Civil War. 
 
 The son, Rev. J. G. Lemen, after graduating 
 at Harvard University, began the practice of law ; 
 then became a minister, and then a journalist. 
 He is now at the head of the Christian Home, 
 Council Bluffs, Iowa. That institution is con- 
 ducted upon the George Miiller plan of England, 
 depending entirely upon the gifts that God in
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 175 
 
 some mysterious way bestows upon it. Gifts come 
 in all the way from one penny to five thousand 
 dollars. He began his work with a house of one 
 story and a half; he has now thirty cottages, a 
 chapel, and other buildings, with more than three 
 hundred inmates, coming from almost all of the 
 States of the Union. Mr. Lemen is a man of great 
 ability minister, doctor, lawyer, orator, philan- 
 thropist, and reformer. 
 
 The death of J. G. Lemen occured October 
 26, 1904. 
 
 Dr. B. J. Kendall of Chicago, has written an 
 appreciative article concerning Rev. J. G. Lemen 
 and his work, headed "America's George Muller." 
 The article is as follows: 
 
 In all ages when God had a great work to do He has raised up 
 a great man for its leader. 
 
 When He would found the greatest nation on earth He raised a 
 Washington to be a leader in freeing its people from the fetters 
 that would check their progress in the forward march of time. 
 
 When He would free a down-trodden race of slaves He raised 
 a Lincoln to reiterate to the world that all men were born free and 
 equal. 
 
 When He would establish in England an institution where 
 those who were unfortunate and left homeless and friendless could 
 find not only a shelter from the storm but a friend whose great 
 heart was throbbing in sympathy with their own, He called a 
 Muller whose name is as familiar in that land as the name of that 
 great Washington is in our own land. This man was as truly 
 called of God to establish the great Orphanage in England where 
 an incalculable amount of good has been done as was our beloved 
 Washington in establishing a nation to be the light of the world- 
 
 When he would establish in America an Orphanage destined 
 to be the largest and grandest institution of the kind cnthe globe
 
 176 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 He called that noble man, Rev. J. G. Lumen, who was faithful to 
 the trust imposed in him and the result was the establishing of 
 the Christian Home Orphanage at Council Bluffs, Iowa. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago, three little children were suddenly 
 bereft of father and mother. They were friendless and homeless; 
 but it was only one of the many similar instances happening every 
 day only three little children left friendless and homeless, that 
 was all. But it was a crucial moment in at least one life. Rev. 
 J. G. Lemen, whose heart was large enough to find a place for every 
 unfortunate one. took these children into his own home, where 
 they shared the same loving, tender care that was bestowed upon 
 his own little ones. Moved with compassion, he took others also 
 into his already overcrowded home, until finally the test 'came, 
 and he must give up the pastorate of a large church in Council 
 Bluffs, with all his hopes and aspirations, and devote his entire 
 time to caring for these homeless ones he had taken in out of the 
 cold and storm, or he must turn them back into the streets of i< 
 merciless city. He felt that God had led him thus far and he 
 dare not refuse to follow the leadings of His Spirit. As he stepped 
 out upon His promises and obeyed the command to go forward , 
 the way opened before him, and when he had exhausted his own 
 competency, never doubting but that a way would be opened to 
 supply their needs, He who owns the cattle upon a thousand hills 
 moved upon the hearts of His faithful ones to send of their sub- 
 stance, that these little homeless ones might be cared for. Con- 
 tributions of food, clothing and money began to pour in from 
 those who had miraculously learned of the great work God was 
 establishing through the efforts of this faithful servant. 
 
 His sainted wife was as faithful as he and the noble work 
 grew rapidly under their united and unceasing efforts to care for 
 the many helpless ones that had poured into this home from all 
 quarters. Hundreds of homeless and friendless children have not 
 only found here a shelter from the storm, but loving, tender hearts 
 have been ready to help them and lift them from their helpless 
 condition into a plane where all the affection of a father and mother 
 was theirs to enjoy. 
 
 Instead of being left to the cold mercies of as selfish world 
 where they would have been compelled to occupy our poorhouses, 
 jails and prisons, growing up in ignorance and steeped in vice 
 they were in this, the grandest of all institutions, carefully and
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 177 
 
 lovingly educated and trained for the Master, that they might 
 go out into the world, educated Christian men and women, to be 
 a blessing instead of a curse. 
 
 In addition to this, in the last twenty-five years more than 
 two thousand children have been carefully and cautiously placed 
 in good Christian homes. No other institution we know of is so 
 careful that every child that leaves the Home shall be adopted 
 into a Christian family whose character must be thoroughly 
 vouched for in every particular by their pastor and official church 
 members and bankers or business men. The greatest precautions 
 are taken that no child shall go to be a slave for any one. Love 
 must be the great factor in securing a child here that it may have 
 the affectionate, tender care which only comes from a parent or 
 the true follower of the meek and lowly Jesus. Families of young 
 children are never separated here. For this and many other rea- 
 sons, I am fully satisfied that there is no institution anywhere more 
 worthy of the hearty support of every person who has a heart that 
 beats with sympathy for the unfortunate. 
 
 Our lamented Brother Lemen was a lawyer before he was a 
 preacher, and he knew the importance of having all the business 
 of the Home done to conform to the laws of the land as well as the 
 laws of God. Because of this fact all of the real estate is deeded to 
 the organization in a way that it can never be mortgaged nor can it 
 ever be used for any other purpose than an orphanage. There- 
 fore, this large plant will not only be a permanent institution but 
 I perdict for it that within the next twenty-five years it will be the 
 largest and best Orphanage in the world. It certainly will if 
 each one who reads this article does just what the Spirit impresses 
 him to do. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lemen were blessed with four lovely children, 
 three sons and one daughter. All of them take great delight in 
 the work of the Home. The oldest son had given his entire time 
 to this noble work for several years before the death of his father 
 and mother, and naturally the mantle of his parents fell on him, and 
 having had almost the entire management of the Home for several 
 years before their death no perceptible change has taken place in 
 its policy; but the greatest advancement in the history of the Or- 
 phanage has come since the death of the founder. 
 
 I have been in this Home often and knowing all the family 
 and having examined the genealogy of the Lemen family extend-
 
 178 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 ing back 250 years. I find there are many clergymen in our brother's 
 ancestry and many other professional and business men, as well 
 as farmers, all of whom are prominent and earnest supporters of 
 every good work and all great reforms. Many of them were noted 
 for their activity as abolitionists, temperance workers, as well as 
 workers for every good cause. After a long and intimate acquain- 
 tance with this family and the noble work they established and 
 are still tenderly and faithfully caring for, I feel sure that our 
 Heavenly Father could not have put the work in better hands. 
 
 The fruit of our marriage has been two chil- 
 dren. Mary, the older, is nineteen. She . has 
 been for two years a student at Forest Park Uni- 
 versity, St. Louis; one year at the Stevens Col- 
 lege, at Columbia, Missouri. She is a beautiful 
 girl, all that her father's heart could desire. 
 
 My boy, John, was born October 3rd, 1882; 
 died April 5th, 1895. He was a beautiful boy, 
 my pride and joy. His head was all covered with 
 ten thousand clustering curls; he had large black 
 eyes. The boy was in every way as beautiful as a 
 poet's dream. He was a great student, and loved 
 books. Before he was twelve years old he had the 
 reputation in our little town of being the best 
 posted in history of anyone in the town. He was 
 naturally very religious. He died at his imcle's 
 house in Council Bluffs, where he was visiting. 
 He was sick only a few days with brain fever.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 179 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Nominated for Governor of Missouri Lithia Springs Assembly Hon. Wm. E. 
 Mason Good Templar Organizer -A happy life Education, religious, views, etc. 
 
 In May that year (1892 ) the Prohibition Con- 
 vention of Missouri met in Chillicothe, and nom- 
 inated me for governor. I was not present- in 
 the convention, being in Canada at that time 
 lecturing. It was some days before I received the 
 announcement of my nomination, and I was quite 
 surprised thereat. I did not desire the nomination, 
 and there were other reasons which, had I been 
 present, would have compelled me to decline it. I 
 so wrote to Dr. Brooks, and to Hon. D. Ward King, 
 the chairman of our State committee, telling them 
 that I could not see my way clear to accept the 
 nomination. But they prevailed upon me to 
 accept, and I did so in the following letter: 
 
 Hon. D. Ward King, Maitland, Missouri. 
 
 My Dear Sir: Your letter of recent date, as chairman of 
 the Prohibition State Committee informing me of my nomination 
 for the office of governor of the State of Missouri, is received and 
 its contents noted. 
 
 To have one's name mentioned in connection with the high 
 office of governor of our great State, an office that has been filled 
 by so many of its gifted sons, is an honor which I highly appreciate. 
 But to be nominated by a convention like that which recently 
 assembled at Chillicothe, composed, as it was, of the bravest men 
 and most intellectual women, is an honor, indeed, which one can- 
 not too highly esteem and prize. I have examined the platform 
 laid down'_by the convention, and I heartily endorse it.
 
 i8o Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 The liquor problem has been considered by all thoughtful 
 men and women one of the most difficult problems to meet and 
 solve. In our State we first tried the so-called Downing law, 
 which many hoped would eive relief from the baneful effects of the 
 liquor traffic; but that proved disappointing. Then we tried the 
 local-option law. When that was enacted, we were greatly re- 
 joiced, believing a great step forward had been made. We en- 
 tered into the contest with enthusiasm, and more than eighty coun- 
 ties of our State were carried against the liquor traffic. But in 
 most of these counties the elections h^ve been set aside by sub- 
 servient courts, and in a large number of others the laws have 
 been rendered largely ineffective by the unfaithful prosecuting 
 attorneys acting in the interests of the political parties that stand 
 behind the liquor traffic. So it seems to us now that there is but 
 one way out of it, and that must be through a political party that 
 is unanimously opposed to the traffic, and pledged to its entire 
 destruction. Nor do we stand alone in our views on the importance 
 of the liquor problem. The Globe- Democrat of our State, the largest 
 and ablest Republican paper in the nation, declared a few years 
 ago that the supremacy of the saloon-keeper's influence was com- 
 plete; and The St. Louis Republic, the greatest Democratic organ 
 in the Southwest, smarting under the terrific blows that were 
 dealt the Democratic party by the liquor interests, caused by the 
 enactment of the local-option law, declared that the saloon was 
 the greatest menace to the purity of our politics and the indepen- 
 dent action of legislators. Our own observation teaches us the 
 same thing aye, it teaches us more: that it is not only the power 
 behind the throne, but it is the throne itself. The distinguished 
 gentlemen who have been nominated for the same office that I 
 have gentlemen whose characters are such that they cannot 
 have any possible sympathy with this traffic would not dare 
 to say one word either publicly or privately against it. Our party 
 alone appeals to the Christian, moral, and patriotic elements of 
 our State and nation to enter our ranks to combat and overcome 
 this giant evil. 
 
 I am glad to note that while the convention was thus so brave- 
 ly outspoken against the liquor evil, yet they just as fearlessly 
 grappled with other social questions. 
 
 That one-half of our people should be disfranchised on ac- 
 count of their se* f.nd that sex just as intellectual, and confessed-
 
 L,ife of Colonel John Sobieski 181 
 
 ly much more moral is manifestly so unjust, that to me it seems 
 superfluous to argue it. Suffrage should be predicated upon in- 
 telligence, and upon intelligence alone. 
 
 The currency question is another question to which the con- 
 vention addressed itself, and I agree with the convention that the 
 money of our country, whether gold, silver, or paper, should be 
 equal to the business demand of the country, and should not be 
 less than fifty dollars per capita. 
 
 The government ownership of railroads and telegraphs I have 
 long advocated, and it is no longer an experiment. It has been 
 tried in both Canada and Europe, and the electric light and water- 
 works systems, predicated upon the same principle, have been 
 tried, and have in every case proven successful. 
 
 The public domain of our country should be carefully guarded, 
 so that foreigners could not in any way be owners. Our public 
 lands should be for Americans, and for Americans only. 
 
 I fully coincide with the convention in its views on the school 
 question. Our public schools are the universities of our plain 
 people, and the glory of our nation; the religious bigotry must not 
 be permitted to attack them. The motto of every true American 
 should be: "A school-house on every hill-top, and no saloons in 
 the valley." 
 
 The criminal institutions of our State should, in my opinion, 
 be so conducted that they may be as free as possible from the 
 spirit of vindictive punishment; and the one object in view should 
 be for the moral and intellectual improvement and reformation 
 of the unfortunate inmates. That the lash is still permitted in 
 our prison is a shame and disgrace to our State. It belongs only 
 to the age of the rack and the thumbscrew. And I believe, further, 
 that the prisoners should be paid for their labor; and, with this 
 in view, that the contract system should be abolished and the 
 work done inside the prison walls, and that, after deducting the 
 cost of clothing and feeding the convicts, the balance of their 
 earnings should be kept and turned over to the convict at the end 
 of his term, except those who have families, and their earnings 
 should be sent to the families at the end of each month. This 
 would enable the convict to support his family, and it would en- 
 able the man without a family to have a sufficient sum of money 
 ready when he closes his term to start anew in life, instead of leav- 
 ing the prison penniless as is often the case and being driven
 
 182 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 back to a life of crime; and it would also prevent cheap prison 
 contract labor from coming in competition with the labor outside 
 of the prison. I feel that, in advocating this humane view of the 
 prison question, we should have the heart}' co-operation of the 
 Democratic, Republican, and Populist parties, inasmuch as every 
 convict in the nation is either a Democrat, Republican, or a Popu- 
 list. 
 
 I believe that our tax laws should be so readjusted that the 
 residences, or homes, of our people should be free from taxation 
 except where their value is more than two thousand dollars. Tax- 
 ation should be upon people's luxuries, and not upon their neces- 
 sities. 
 
 Thus going before the people of the State of Missouri, and the 
 nation, so manifestly just and right, we have a right to demand 
 their sober and intelligent consideration. We are not afraid of 
 the sting of defeat, as we know that victory has always been rocked 
 in the cradle of reverses. But with our faith in God and the Ameri- 
 can people, and with supreme confidence in the justice of our cause, 
 we go forth to battle, and ultimately to victory. 
 
 [JOHN SOBIESKI. 
 Neosho, Missouri, August 3, 1892. 
 
 During August of this year (1896 ) I was plat- 
 form manager at Lithia Springs Assembly, where 
 I presided at the debate there between ex-Gover- 
 nor St. John and Hon. William E. Mason, on the 
 financial question. It was an intensely interesting, 
 and a good-humored discussion. The disputants 
 were quite courteous to each other. Both are men 
 of very popular qualities. I make mention of ex- 
 Governor St. John in another place. I will here 
 speak of Mr. Mason. 
 
 I found Mr. Mason a genial, warm-hearted, 
 sympathetic man. I must confess that his career 
 in the United States Senate has been to me a
 
 L,ife of Colonel John Sobieski 183 
 
 pleasant surprise. I took it for granted that he 
 was an intense partisan, and would cheerfully obey 
 . the dictum of his party chief; and doubtless, if he 
 had been consulting his own personal interest, he 
 would have done so: but in the Senate he has 
 shown a laudable independence. He has not only 
 antagonized the administration, but the entire 
 leadership of his party, in standing by his con- 
 victions for what he thinks is for the best interest 
 of country and humanity. He has recently de- 
 clared in a letter to a friend, that he would rather 
 be one of the people to help elect senators, than 
 to be in the Senate and stultify his conscience. 
 The principles that seem to govern Senator Mason 
 are lofty patriotism and an enlightened humani- 
 tarianism. 
 
 I have organized two thousand and eighty-six 
 lodges of Good Templars, and taken into the order 
 ninety thousand members. In all of my eight 
 hundred thousand miles of travel, I have never 
 been aboard a boat, or a ship, or a train, when there 
 has been anyone injured by accident. 
 
 Though I am sixty-four years of age (in 1907 ) , 
 I am not conscious of the slightest decadence in 
 any of my mental or physical powers. During 
 the last year, on one occasion I rode thirty miles 
 by private conveyance, and made four speeches in 
 one day, and felt in splendid condition when I 
 retired.
 
 184 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 My life up to the present time has been ex- 
 ceedingly happy. My work has brought me in 
 contact and association with the best people in 
 the world, and I am not aware that I have an 
 enemy on earth. I am sure that I am not an 
 enemy of anybody in the world. And if I had my 
 life to live over again, I would choose the same 
 path; avoiding, however, some of the mistakes 
 that I have made. And I think my life has been a 
 remarkably successful one, considering the small 
 amount of mental capital I had invested. 
 
 Some years ago I was the guest for a night at 
 the home of a distinguished American statesman, 
 who has been the governor of his State, and is now 
 serving on his third term in the United States 
 Senate. He and I had become acquainted when 
 we were both just starting out in life. We were 
 both born in the same year. In addition to his 
 success politically, he has been very successful 
 financially, being a millionaire. During the even- 
 ing a gentleman called on him, and they stepped 
 into the library, which was just off from the parlor, 
 leaving me to be entertained by his very charming 
 and witty wife. During our talk the lady told a 
 witty story for she was a very good story-teller- 
 and I gave a very hearty laugh, as I often do. 
 
 After his wife had retired, he said to me: 
 "How much money have you accumulated?" 
 
 I told him I couldn't tell exactlv, but I would
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 185 
 
 see in a minute. I was pretty flush that day. 
 When I went down into my pocket, I found twelve 
 dollars and sixty-two cents. 
 
 "Well," said my distinguished friend, "the 
 world generally would say that I have been the 
 more successful man of the- two. I have all the 
 political honors I ever aspired to, and have ac- 
 cumulated more wealth than I ever expected to. 
 You have none of these things, and yet you are 
 the happier man of the two. I see by your talk 
 that you believe in everybody, while I believe in- 
 hardly anybody. Your life has been such that 
 you have seen the best side of mankind ; mine has 
 been such that I have seen the worst side of man- 
 kind. I have a lot of political friends, yet I know 
 they wouldn't hestitate to cut my throat, meta- 
 phorically speaking, or trample me under foot at 
 any time when it would advance their interests. 
 I thought when I heard you laugh to-night while 
 I was in the library, that I would give half of my 
 fortune if I could give such a hearty laugh as that." 
 
 I have often been asked where I received my 
 education. I have to answer that up to the age of 
 eleven years my mother taught me ; and since then 
 I have picked up all that I have. I never went to 
 school a day in my life. I always had a passion 
 for books and the best of books; I have never 
 read any of the light, trashy literature. The 
 works of fiction that I have read have for the most
 
 1 86 Life of Colonel John Sobieskl 
 
 part been standard works. My reading has gen- 
 erally been historical, biographical, travels, sociol- 
 ogy. The magazines that I have read chiefly 
 have been the Century, Arena, Forum, North 
 American Review, and Harper 's Magazine. I 
 have often been asked what my method of learning 
 to read English was. That was quite easy for me : 
 the Polish language has the Latin letters the same 
 as the English language ; so just as soon as I once 
 learned to speak English, I easily learned to read 
 English. Strange as it may seem, the first book 
 that I read in the English tongue was the history 
 of Aaron Burr and his celebrated trial. The next 
 book was Irving's "Life of Washington." Capt. 
 Magruder, afterward Major-General Magruder of 
 the Confederate army, my old captain, let me have 
 the book. He said it would make a good Amer- 
 ican of me, and it did. My next book was Ban- 
 croft's "History of the United States." This 
 was followed by Gibbon's "History of Rome," 
 and from that time on I have always been passion- 
 ately fond of history. 
 
 I have never cared for games of any kind ; con- 
 sequently I have never played any except croquet, 
 and never liked that. I love music and painting ; 
 especially am I fond of vocal music. I am passion- 
 ately fond of children especially little girls. 
 Children intuitively seem to know my fondness 
 for them, and they soon begin to recognize me on
 
 I,ife of Colonel John Sobieski 187 
 
 the street; and when I lecture in a place a week 
 or ten days, as I usually do, it is the children who 
 always greet me the first thing when I leave the 
 platform. 
 
 I was always fond of reading religious litera- 
 ture, and especially had a passion for reading or 
 investigating religious beliefs and controversies; 
 so that I am fairly well posted in regard to the 
 beliefs of the reading religious denominations : and 
 I think the fact that I have read so many of these 
 books of controversy has brought me to the point 
 of appreciating how little theological views have 
 to do with Christian life and character. Since I 
 have arrived at what they call the "years of un- 
 derstanding, my views upon theological matters 
 have greatly changed. My religious views at this 
 writing (November 28th, 1899) are these: I 
 believe in one eternal God and loving Father of all, 
 the Creator and Governor of all things. I believe 
 in Jesus Christ, who was sent to teach us the way 
 of salvation and truth. I believe it is our religious 
 duty to do all we can to overcome every evil pro- 
 pensity of our nature, and I believe that through 
 God's grace and power we can accomplish this. 
 I believe we should carry our religion into all the 
 affairs of life. In all of our transactions with our 
 fellowmen, we should in every case do as we 
 would have them do unto us.
 
 1 88 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 THE GREATEST. CRIME I EVER COMMITTED 
 
 It is the saying among the French, that an 
 Englishman will arise on a beautiful morning 
 which they occasionally have in England and 
 say: "This is a glorious morning, let us go out 
 and kill something." But I never had a fondness 
 for the murder of animals or birds, or even fish. 
 
 Some years ago, I was stopping with a friend, 
 a doctor, in a little town in Illinois and he .pro- 
 posed that we should go out and kill something. 
 So, giving me a musket, and taking one for him- 
 self, we started for a small grove a couple of miles 
 from his house, but failed to find anything to 
 kill. The squirrels, which were our objective 
 game, had evidently got an inkling of our coming, 
 and kept out of sight. After an hour or so spent 
 in the forest, we started to return to the house. 
 
 Sauntering leisurely along under some tall elms, 
 I heard a bird singing, and looking up I saw a wee 
 bit of a bird perched upon a lofty limb, singing very 
 sweetly. Without a moment's thought, and with- 
 out the slightest idea that I could hit so small a 
 mark (for I had none of the spirit of murder in my 
 heart), I up with my musket and banged away. I 
 saw some feathers fly, and the little songster came 
 dropping down from branch to branch, and fell at 
 my feet. I stooped down and picked it up. It 
 was a tiny little thing, not much larger than my 
 thumb, of a yellowish green color, as beautiful as
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 189 
 
 it could be. Then like a flash the thought came 
 upon me: what a contemptible deed I had done! 
 Here was one of God's beautiful creatures that had 
 just as much right to existence as I, and its life, 
 doubtless, was as sweet to it as mine was to me, 
 and at the very moment that it was singing its 
 beautiful songs to make the world more pleasant 
 and glorious, I had brutally shot it to death! 
 
 I carefully buried it among the leaves, and then 
 promised myself that I would never again want- 
 only destroy life. I then begged my friend, who 
 wore a pair of very heavy boots, to please kick me 
 over to his house. This he refused to do. But I 
 returned to his home a wiser and a sadder man. 
 
 I regard this the greatest crime I ever com- 
 mitted.
 
 1 90 Life of Colonel John Sobieskl 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Some of my Co-workers in Reforms John Russel John P. St. John Col. 
 Frank J. Sibley Mrs. Charlton Edholm-Sibley. 
 
 In the nearly forty years that I have been a 
 lecturer and associated with reformers alike in- 
 terested with me in the temperance work and 
 kindred endeavors, I have formed acquaintances 
 that have been very dear to me, and if space 
 only permitted it, I should be pleased to include 
 them all in the notices which I print in this book. 
 
 JOHN RUSSEL OF MICHIGAN 
 
 My first real temperance work was under this 
 distinguished reformer, who was then at the head 
 of the Independent Order of Good Templars in 
 the state of Michigan. At that time the order 
 numbered forty thousand members in that state. 
 
 John Russel is one of the greatest men of 
 our country. He entered the Methodist ministry 
 when a very young man, and remained in active 
 work in that ministry until his very advanced 
 age pervented him from meeting the require- 
 ments of its arduous labor. 
 
 The time which he devoted to temperance 
 reform he never regarded as in any degree con-
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 191 
 
 flicting with his regular work, as he regarded it 
 as a part of his church labor. 
 
 He received a splendid education, and with 
 his strong, vigorous mind and imbued with Chris- 
 tian thought and ideas he was enabled to leave 
 the great impression he has upon the church and 
 country. 
 
 He was an early free soiler, and then an early 
 Republican, and one of the organizers of that 
 party. But when the war was over and slavery 
 was abolished, he had no further use for the Re- 
 publican party. He wanted a party to do some- 
 thing else, that he knew the Republican party 
 could not. or would not do. That was to abolish 
 the legalized liquor traffic. So he was the first 
 one to move in the direction of organizing the 
 Prohibition party. He was the temporary chair- 
 man of their first national convention, their first 
 candidate for vice-president, and was conceded 
 by all to be the father of the Prohibition party. 
 Though an aggressive Prohibitionist and reformer, 
 yet I am sure he has never said a bitter or vin- 
 dictive word; he was always sweet and Christian- 
 like in spirit. But his logic was irresistable. I 
 have never known one that equalled him. No 
 one could resist him. 
 
 He is still living almost ninety years of age; 
 still confident in the ultimate victory of the Pro- 
 hibition party.
 
 1 92 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 JOHN P. ST. JOHN 
 
 I made the acquaintance of ex-Governor John 
 P. St. John at Topeka, Kansas, in 1881, at the 
 time of the meeting of the Right Worthy Grand 
 Lodge of Good Templars. He was then the gov- 
 ernor of the State of Kansas. Governor St. John 
 was born in the State of Indiana. While he was 
 yet very young the family came to Illinois. 
 When the gold excitement occurred in California, 
 though but a mere lad at the time, he walked 
 across the plains to California ; and I think he 
 finally went to Australia. Returning to Illinois, 
 he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He 
 married Miss Parker, the daughter of State Senator 
 Parker, of Charleston, Illinois. He now began 
 the practice of law at Charleston. He had just 
 got well started in law when the Civil War broke 
 out. He entered the army at once, in one of the 
 Illinois regiments, where he made a splendid repu- 
 tation as a brave and gallant officer. 
 
 At the close of the war he moved to Missouri, 
 but remained there only a year or so, when he went 
 to Kansas, locating where he now r lives, at Olathe. 
 He was elected to the Kansas legislature, I think 
 serving in both branches; and 1878 was elected 
 governor of the State. Governor St. John is a 
 natural-born reformer. He was an early aboli- 
 tionist and Republican, and was once indicted in 
 Illinois, under the infamous black laws, for feeding
 
 Rev. J. G. Lemen.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 193 
 
 a negro. They failed to convict him, although he 
 openly acknowledged his offense. He was always 
 a temperance man a radical temperance man 
 and an uncompromising prohibitionist. 
 
 When the prohibition amendment was pending 
 in his State in 1880, he entered earnestly into the 
 battle in its behalf, and was the only man of 
 prominence in his party who did; and it is 
 generally conceded that his influence resulted 
 in the adoption of the prohibition amendment. 
 A gentleman w r ho was at Bismarck Grove, near 
 Lawrence, Kansas, at a prohibition camp-meet- 
 ing in 1880, said that Governor St. John was there 
 to speak in behalf of the amendment. The 
 Republican State Convention was to meet a few 
 days afterward. Some of his political friends came 
 there to protest against his doing so. They 
 told him they could see 110 objection to his speak- 
 ing along the line of general temperance but told 
 him if he spoke in behalf of the amendment, it 
 would defeat him in the convention. 
 
 He said to them: "Gentlemen, I am here to 
 speak for the prohibition amendment, and I shall 
 do it. I hate the traffic, and I have always hated 
 it ; I have never got a chance to give it a blow, 
 but I shall do so in the future ; and while I would 
 like to be re-elected governor of the State, I do 
 not propose to purchase it at the price of my 
 conscience and convictions. Gentlemen, I shall
 
 194 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 speak for the prohibition amendment to-day, and 
 many other times before the election." 
 
 That ended the interview, and he was renomi- 
 nated and reelected, and the amendment was 
 adopted and the law enacted. He was renomi- 
 nated again in 1882, but the liquor element in his 
 own party joined with the Democratic party, and 
 there being a great Democratic slide -that year, he 
 was defeated by a small majority. It has, been 
 said that he deserted the Republican party on 
 account of his defeat that year, and sought to 
 revenge himself by defeating it in the nation. 
 Nothing could be further from the truth. His 
 attachment to the Republican party was as strong 
 as ever after that defeat. I had several conversa- 
 tions with him, and know this to be so. 
 
 After the action of the Republicans in conven- 
 tion in 1884, there was but one thing he could do, 
 and he did it bravely. The campaign of 1884 was 
 signalized for slander, the Republican party charg- 
 ing Mr. Cleveland with an immoral life, while the 
 Democratic party, on the other hand, were charg- 
 ing Mr. Blaine with selling his influence as Speaker 
 of the House to carry through corrupt measures, 
 and with being an immoral man when he was 
 young ; and altogether the campaign was the dirt- 
 iest, most disgusting and disgraceful our nation 
 has ever known. Every effort was made that 
 could be made to prevail on Governor St. John to
 
 of Colonel John Sobieski 195 
 
 withdraw from the contest so late in the campaign 
 as to prevent another man being put on in his 
 place, but it was unavailing. Governor St. John 
 received one hundred and fifty thousand votes at 
 that election. 
 
 COL. FRANK J. SIBLEY 
 
 One of the most pleasant associations in my 
 life has been with Col. Frank J. Sibley who was 
 introduced to me by John B. Finch who had been 
 intimately associated with Col. Sibley from the 
 beginning of his career. 
 
 In 1880 I found Col. Sibley hard at work 
 speaking and planning for the adoption of the 
 Prohibitory Constitutional amendment in Kan- 
 sas, and in many conversations with him on that 
 subject at the time he outlined the struggle which 
 has continued for twenty-seven years for the 
 putting in successful operation the supression of 
 the liquor, traffic as provided by the amended 
 constitution. 
 
 As I look back over these years of efforts at 
 law enforcement I now perceive that he had, at 
 that early date, foreseen all the impediments in 
 the way, and had suggested the practical reme- 
 dies for every one of the difficulties that has ever 
 arisen, and I am satisfied that if the Legislature 
 would have listened to the suggestions that he 
 then offered their committees, the liquor business
 
 196 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 in Kansas would have been completely suppressed 
 more than two decades ago. 
 
 Very early in my acquaintance with Col. 
 Sibley I became impressed with his ability to 
 cope with almost any situation and to adapt him- 
 self to almost any situation or set of conditions 
 which might arise. 
 
 I was early impressed with his wide knowledge 
 of business details of large enterprises. This was 
 again emphasized by the wonderful success of a 
 series of Prohibition camp meetings, reaching to 
 the principal points in five states and managed 
 under his sole direction. Ten of the most emi- 
 nent speakers in the United States appeared in 
 the course. 
 
 I had the pleasure of being associated with 
 this eminent talent throughout the course. Every- 
 thing was so carefully arranged by Col. Sibley 
 that at the beginning of a two months tour each 
 speaker received from him a carefully prepared 
 schedule showing the exact date and hour he was 
 to leave each point, by what railroad and the 
 hour of his arrival at the next. This involved 
 over 5000 miles of railroad travel and the stopping 
 of a day or more at over thirty cities. I thought 
 when I received my schedule that the chances 
 were that we should have to make a good many 
 changes in it. 
 
 The amusing fact in the outcome was that
 
 I/ife of Colonel John Sobieski 197 
 
 everyone of the speakers made all these trips 
 exactly 'as laid out in advance and always arrived 
 in time, except once, when Col. Bain and myself 
 were -induced by a conductor on the railroad to 
 change the route as he said there were no trains 
 that would make the connections in the schedule. 
 This change brought us five hours late and we 
 were somewhat chagrined to find that the train 
 on which we had been appointed to travel had 
 arrived exactly as had been designated in our 
 schedule. 
 
 Col. Bain and I had a good many laughs at 
 what we supposed was Col. Sibley's mistake, but 
 when we found out the real facts we concluded 
 that we did not have much of a joke on him. 
 
 I might add that although this series of meet- 
 ings was very expensive yet the management was 
 so carefully and judiciously planned that on the 
 last day of the last meeting every speaker was 
 paid in full and every bill for the whole trip 
 promptly paid. 
 
 In late years Col. Sibley has resided in Tucson, 
 Arizona, and has been engaged in very large Cop- 
 per mining experiences, which, under his careful 
 management, with his great talent for arranging 
 every detail of business, has proved marvelously 
 successful and has made many thousands of dollars 
 for the fortunate people who have invested with 
 him.
 
 198 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 It has been a source of gratification to me to 
 find that even in the midst of large business re- 
 sponsibilities requiring the closest application and 
 his constant attention, that Col. Sibley never for- 
 gets the interests of the Prohibition cause or the 
 workers engaged in it, and they still have his 
 warmest sympathy and most substantial help 
 in all. the work of the great reform. 
 
 Col. Sibley was exceedingly fortunate in his 
 marriage relations. When but nineteen years of 
 age, in 1866, he married Alice F. Barney, who 
 was then but seventeen years of age. She was a 
 schoolmate of his, reared in the same neighbor- 
 hood. She matured into one of the most attrac- 
 tive women I ever knew. She was exceedingly 
 handsome, very vivacious, and witty, a model 
 wife and mother. She was a helpmate in every 
 particular. In all the struggle of Col. Sibley's 
 life, she stood faithfully and loyally by his side. 
 The fruit of this marriage was two sons. This 
 estimable lady died in 1903. 
 
 On September 28, 1905, Col. Sibley married 
 Mrs. Charlton Edholm, a renowned lecturer on 
 Prohibition and social purity, a woman in full 
 sympathy with her husband in all his moral ideas. 
 
 MRS. CHARLTON EDHOLM-SIBLEY 
 
 From "Who's Who in America' we quote as 
 follows: Marv Grace Charlton Edholm, lecturer;
 
 Ivife of Colonel John Sobieski 199 
 
 born Freeport, 111., Oct. 28th, 1854; daughter of 
 James Bovard and Lucy Gow Charlton, educated 
 in the public schools and college to sophomore 
 year. Married 1878 Osborne L. Edholm, journal- 
 ist. Was connected for years with Oakland and 
 San Francisco newspapers; was Superintendent 
 of Press, Worlds W. C. T. U. ; lectured for Florence 
 Crittenton Missions and now engaged in evan- 
 gelistic work in the line of social purity. In 
 1901 founded the Lucy Charlton Memorial, named 
 after her mother, as a home for unfortunate 
 women and children. For this purpose she used 
 her own home in Oakland, Cal., and has supported 
 the charity from proceeds of her lectures and sale 
 of her books. Prohibition nominee State Supt. 
 of Public Instruction, Cal. 1902. Arthur: Traffic 
 in Girls and Work of the Rescue Missions. 
 
 In 1901 Mrs. Sobieski persuaded many minis- 
 ters in Southern California to invite Mrs. Edholm 
 to speak on the Traffic in Girls, and these hundreds 
 of lectures aroused the people to stop this in- 
 famous traffic in white slaves. Scores of girls 
 told Mrs. Edholm that they had been saved from 
 snares laid for them by the warning they had 
 received from hearing the addresses or reading 
 her book. It is fitting that as King John Sobieski 
 saved the maidens of Europe from Turkish harems 
 in 1683, that the wife of his descendent should 
 arouse the ministry of California to save the
 
 200 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 maidens of their land from a still more horrible fate. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Chapman invited Mrs. Edholm to 
 speak on Anti-Saloon Day at the Long Beach 
 Chautauqua, and her address on "Municipal Part- 
 nership with the Traffic in Girls" so aroused the 
 righteous indignation of Rev. Sidney C. Kendall 
 that he called on Mrs. Edholm and outlined the 
 plan of his now famous book, " The Soundings of 
 Hell" offering her the manuscript if she would 
 publish and circulate it with her own book, " Traffic 
 in Girls." With gratitude Mrs. Edholm accepted 
 Mr. Kendall's generous offer, and his marvelous 
 book has since become the Les Miserables of the 
 purity reform, while he himself has achieved an 
 inter-national reputation as a Knight of the 
 Twentieth Century to save girls from organized 
 hordes of procurers. 
 
 As the prohibition of the liquor traffic is the 
 only way to stop the traffic in girls, and as Rev. 
 and Mrs. Wiley Philips had long been interested 
 in purity work it was but natural that The Cali- 
 fornia Voice, the organ of the Prohibition Party, 
 should publish in serial form " The Soundings of 
 Hell." As Rev. Kendall, the author, and Rev. 
 Rev. Phillips, the publisher, scoured the "crib" 
 district for evidence against these trafficers in 
 maidens, their blood boiled with fury, and night 
 after night they risked life in this holy cause. 
 Like the signers~of the Declaration of Independ-
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 201 
 
 ence these men have pledged their lives, their 
 fortunes and their sacred honor to free these victims 
 from the living tomb of the house of shame and 
 abolish forever the traffic in girls. 
 
 The people of Los Angeles became so aroused 
 by this constant agitation of the Voice and Mrs. 
 Edholm's addresses that after a tremendous mass 
 meeting, led by Rev. Kendall and Rev. Phillips, 
 five hundred Christians marched en masse to 
 the "cribs" singing "Onward Christian Soldiers, 
 Marching as to War." There they prayed and 
 sang with the poor enslaved girls and on Tuesday 
 night by order of the police every one of these 
 three hundred "cribs" \vere closed. Later they 
 were nearly all razed to the ground. 
 
 But realizing that the only permanent en- 
 forcement of law must come from the Prohibition 
 Party officials, Mrs. Edholm made the trip from 
 Vancouver, B. C., to Indianapolis to persuade 
 the National Convention of the Prohibition Party 
 to incorporate a. plank in their platform denounc- 
 ing the municipal partnership in the " Traffic in 
 Girls." This was done, and these splendid cru- 
 saders, many hundred thousand strong, with 
 their battle cry, "God wills it!" will rescue not 
 the tomb of the dead Christ from the infidel Turk 
 but these maidens, countless numbers of them, 
 whose bodies are "temples of the Holy Ghost," 
 from a living death, for with the abolition of the 
 liquor traffic they will abolish the traffic in girls.
 
 2O2 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 JOHN SOBIESKI 
 
 FEB. 22, 1855 FEB. 22, lOO.'i 
 
 By F. J. SIBLEY, of Tucson, Arizona. 
 
 A half a hundred years! Alone, storm tossed, 
 
 A half a century passed! since exile crossed 
 
 A wintry ocean. His the heart to brave 
 
 All dangers. As his fathers gave 
 
 Their lives for Freedom, so, not less would he 
 
 Endure all things to make his brothers free. 
 
 From England's fading shores, no loving hands 
 
 Were waved to cheer the voyage to unknown lands. 
 
 No welcome waited when the voyage was done. 
 
 In all the surging multitude, not one 
 
 Was there to greet him. Just a sturdy lad, 
 
 With true, strong heart; 'twas all the wealth he had. 
 
 Yet, in his veins the high and royal blood 
 
 Of untold centuries of valor flowed. 
 
 Imperial Sobieski led the host 
 
 That overthrew the Turk, else had Europe lost, 
 
 And, superstition thrust across its track, 
 
 The onward march of Christian thought turned back. 
 
 Nor yet less brave or grand, that later sire, 
 That dared to lead, along the path of fire, 
 That he must surely tread, who would restore 
 The sceptre that his fathers held before; 
 That sire who proudly trod the scaffold path, 
 Prepared for him who dares the Russian wrath. 
 
 Strange that he reached our land that day of days, 
 When all the nation, deepest homage pays 
 To Washington. Did that great patriot call 
 This robbed and exiled prince to stand or fall, 
 In new-world wars, for all that men hold dear? 
 Whose e'er the call, he answered, "I am here".
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 203 
 
 Then years of march, where tropic river flows, 
 
 Or where the storms have piled the mountain snows, 
 
 Ten years of war and camp, and battle field 
 
 Ten years of his young life to freedom sealed, 
 
 And then a life enlistment in the cause 
 
 Of sober manhood, stayed by righteous laws. 
 
 What, though to him the ancient throne no more 
 
 The fate of future year can e'er restore! 
 
 Riches, and strength, and power, are vain to bring, 
 
 The life he lives, is all that makes a king. 
 
 Though crown and throne, and sceptred kingdoms fall, 
 
 A royal manhood triumphs over all.
 
 204 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of my Arrival in America Addresses 
 and Letters from Prominent Reformers. 
 
 REMARKS BY CHAIRMAN GEO. M. BASSETT 
 
 I am glad to serve as chairman on this oc- 
 casion. This large company present is "glad to 
 be here. Willard Hall could not contain the 
 people who would like to be here today. In 
 coming here to show our appreciation of Col. 
 Sobieski, and to honor him, we are ourselves 
 honored. I presume every one here claims Col. 
 Sobieski as a personal friend and could testify 
 how helpful and uplifting his influence has been 
 to us. 
 
 We honor the man today who has been used 
 of God to strike mighty blows at our common 
 enemy. 
 
 There is a fitness in meeting today in Willard 
 Hall. This place is already rich in memories 
 and observances. How appropriate that here 
 and now John Sobieski and his friends are per- 
 mitted to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his 
 arrival in America. 
 
 One of the best equipped organizations for 
 fighting the liquor traffic has been the Order of 
 Good Templars.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 205 
 
 I presume the majority of those present has 
 at some time been a member of a Lodge and has 
 helped it form the "circle of unity." 
 
 No man has done more to advance the interests 
 of this Order than Col. Sobieski. 
 
 ADDRESS BY E. \V. CHAFIN 
 Grand Chief Templar of Illinois 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, Colonel Sobieski: On 
 behalf of the Grand Lodge of Good Templars of 
 the State of Illinois, I take pleasure today in ex- 
 tending to you our hearty greetings and congratu- 
 lations. In 1868 Brother Sobieski was induced 
 to leave his home in Minnesota and come to work 
 for the Good Templars of Illinois. That was 
 Brother Sobieski's first session of the Grand Lodge 
 and I have no doubt that that session made a 
 lasting impression upon his mind. The report 
 of the committee on Prof. Wilkin's report laid 
 the foundation for political action in this great 
 reform. We cannot in five minutes give much of 
 Colonel Sobieski's work for our order. He was 
 connected for many years with our work in 
 this state. Last year I spoke in forty -seven 
 different counties of Illinois, and in not a county 
 did I speak but that someone asked about him. 
 I found that his speeches and the lodges he or- 
 ganized had driven the saloons out of many towns 
 and some counties.
 
 206 L,ife of Colonel John Sobieskl 
 
 Colonel Sobieski had the honor of being Grand 
 Treasurer of our Grand Lodge, was twice Grand 
 Counselor and represented this Grand Lodge in 
 the Supreme Lodge. This is something of his 
 work. I want to say to you that he has spoken 
 in every state and territory in the nation. He 
 has organized more Good Templar Lodges than 
 any man in the world during our fifty-four years 
 of Good Templar history. He has organized 
 2000 lodges. One hundred thousand men and 
 women and boys and girls have received the 
 obligation from him. Such a record as that a 
 man ought to be as proud of as to be president 
 of the United States. He is still a young man, 
 looks as young as he did thirty years ago. While 
 he is still young in this work it is not too much 
 to say that probably no man on this continent 
 has had such a wide influence in promoting the 
 Independent Order of Good Templars and all 
 other temperance organizations for he has worked 
 with and for them all. He has worked with 
 anybody and for anybody that stood against the 
 saloons and worked for temperance and total 
 abstinence. He was a pioneer. He was a mem- 
 ber of the legislature in Minnesota and intro- 
 duced three bills, one in favor of woman suffrage, 
 the first one to be introduced in the norithw 7 est. 
 That received one vote in the house, He intro- 
 duced one for the abolition of capital punishment.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 207 
 
 That got three votes. He also introduced one 
 for prohibition which didn't pass. We wish him 
 God-speed in his work. We expect he is good 
 for at least thirty years of Good Templar work, 
 and long before that the saloons shall have been 
 banished from America. 
 
 ADDRESS BY ELLA S. STEWART 
 
 I think that I can claim a somewhat special 
 and unique interest in this hour's celebration 
 because like Colonel Sobieski and Washington, 
 I also arrived on the 22nd of February, and this 
 coincidence, while of no general interest, is of 
 keen significance to me. My birthdays have 
 always been hallowed by the memory of our 
 greatest national hero, and hereafter they will 
 have an additional flavor when I recall that on 
 this day in 1855 there arrived, unobtrusively, in 
 this country one of the true nobility of earth who 
 adopted it and has served it so devotedly. I 
 think I never met a man whose life has been of 
 so much inspiration to me as that of Colonel 
 Sobieski. Mr. Stewart and I both prize his 
 friendship as one of our most valuable assets. 
 Our home has been hallow r ed by his visits and our 
 meetings have always been keenly anticipated 
 and remembered. Colonel Sobieski's character 
 is so lich and varied that it would take many 
 hours such as this to form an analysis and review
 
 208 Life of Colonel John Sobieskl 
 
 of it so I will simply mention one or two phases 
 which have most strongly impressed me. The 
 first is his patriotism. The blood of ancient 
 heroes and conquerors flows in his veins, and the 
 holy zeal and devotion which prompted his an- 
 cestors to devote their lives to the interests of 
 Poland have impelled him to devote his time and 
 best interests to the true welfare of America, the 
 country of his adoption. ' I noticed that some 
 minister in a sermon last Sunday in this city, 
 called attention to an incident in the life of Wash- 
 ington which he said was unparalleled in that 
 of any other American citizen when he refused 
 the salary of $6000 that had been voted to him 
 by Congress. But this lofty conception of service 
 of country without any mercenary motive has 
 been shown also by Colonel Sobieski. The first 
 ten years of his life in America he gave to her 
 army, serving through the civil war. He wears 
 the scars of a bullet that passed through his body 
 at Gettysburg making a wound from which he 
 suffered for many years. He is richly entitled 
 to a pension but he has steadfastly refused to 
 apply for one. When the Civil War was over 
 he went to Mexico and enlisted in the army to 
 aid that struggling republic to repel her invaders. 
 When this task was accomplished the Mexican 
 government voted him citizenship in the republic 
 and a grant of 10,000 acres of land but he refused
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 209 
 
 to accept any compensation whatever. His ser- 
 vices were offered to both of these governments 
 from the very highest motives a true love of 
 liberty. For twelve years he was a brave soldier. 
 But that is not all. All these years since he has 
 been constantly and actively serving his country, 
 and I want to say that the life of Colonel Sobieski, 
 as an American citizen, during these years of 
 peace has been lived in such a way that if he had 
 never worn the uniform of a soldier he still could 
 say with the German poet, Heine, "Lay a sword 
 upon my coffin, for I was a valiant soldier in the 
 war for the liberation of humanity." 
 
 This later warfare which he has waged during 
 years spent in the quiet walks of citizenship and 
 these later battles have called for a higher type 
 of courage than that required of him as a good 
 soldier. There are millions of men, of all national- 
 ities and ages who have shared with Colonel 
 Sobieski this physical courage. Nations have 
 never called in vain for warriors but the vast 
 majorities of those who have answered these 
 calls would be utterly unable to comprehend the 
 higher patriotism which has impelled him to 
 fight these battles for a better civilization. Many 
 men volunteer for war. They are eager for battles, 
 with all their possibilities of suffering and death. 
 They rush out upon an enemy without any symp- 
 tom of alarm but most of them would show the
 
 2io Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 white feather if called upon to champion and 
 defend an unpopular cause. They turn their 
 backs when a hard moral duty confronts them. 
 It is easier to face shot and shell on the field of 
 battle with thousands of comrades at hand than 
 to stand alone and face scorn and ridicule and to 
 bear the banner of a weak and despised, though 
 righteous reform. This Colonel Sobieski has done 
 and I imagine he would say that it took more 
 courage to stand, as Mr. Chafin has mentioned 
 alone in the legislature of Minnesota, a year after 
 his retirement from the army, when he was only 
 twenty-five years old and champion prohibition 
 in America, the abolition of capital punishment 
 and the enfranchisement of \voman than to be 
 under fire on a field of battle. So these later 
 years of his service for America have been the 
 best. He has been fighting for civic righteous- 
 ness; for purer laws; for the American home. 
 His battles have been to redeem men from their 
 depravity ; to redeem helpless women and children 
 from their misery and to redeem our nation from 
 the corruption and decay which always follow 
 legalized sin and governmental iniquity. 
 
 There are so many other characteristics of 
 this man that I love and admire, so many beauti- 
 ful personal qualities that I would delight to 
 speak of his generosity, his unselfishness, his 
 patriotism, his loyalty, his devotion to truth,
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 211 
 
 his loyalty to his friends, his willingness to believe 
 in the highest motives of people rather than the 
 lowest, his openmindedness, his optimism and 
 his soul aglow with enthusiasm for all that is 
 noble and good. Truly one might use Brownings 
 words of him and say that he is 
 
 "One who never turned his back, but marched 
 breast forward: 
 
 Never doubted clouds would break; 
 
 Never dreamed though Right were worsted 
 
 Wrong would triumph." 
 
 I am proud to clasp his hand, to thank him 
 for all he has given to me of inspiration and to 
 wish him many happy returns of this day. 
 
 ADDRESS BY JOHN H. HILL 
 
 Friends, I am very happy indeed to drop into 
 this meeting today and have a w r ord with these 
 others in congratulation to Colonel Sobieski and 
 to you and I who have benefited by the influence 
 of his life. I represent probably, today, the crowd 
 that do not recall the kind of weather on the day 
 the Colonel landed in this country, but who are, 
 nevertheless, very glad that he did land and who 
 have knowledge of his having "landed" many 
 times since. 
 
 It was twenty years ago that I met Colonel 
 Sobieski back in my home town, a county seat 
 in Central Illinois. I was then a high school boy,
 
 212 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 a member of the Good Templar lodge in that town. 
 The Colonel came to give us a lecture and help 
 us in our work. It has been a pleasure to have 
 met and heard him frequently since that time, 
 to have shared the inspiration of his life and work 
 and to have counted him as a friend. Of the 
 characteristics of Colonel Sobieski that I should 
 like to mention today, I have only time to mention 
 one. In the line of the temperance reform where 
 we have best known him, he has always been 
 faithful. Now I couldn't say anything more of 
 anyone than that the one had been faithful to 
 duty. How much we need for people to be faith- 
 ful and constant and true, that you may know 
 the next year and the year after you will find 
 them the same. What if we could have gathered 
 together all those who at some time have been 
 interested in our great reform. 
 
 Some of our brilliant leaders of the reform 
 have suddenly found a supposed "twenty-four 
 hour solution of the problem" or have discovered 
 some question of such momentous public im- 
 portance, that they have left the temperance 
 movement on some tangent, and the reform has 
 lost the influence of what their efforts might 
 have accomplished. But Colonel Sobieski has 
 never dropped out he has never "let down," 
 and w r hile others have chosen to follow the light 
 of some meteor or comet, he has always set his
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 213 
 
 course by the light of the old North Star, and 
 friends, I can say nothing better than this 
 he has always been faithful and loyal and 
 true. 
 
 Do you know, as I have been thinking of 
 his life and I have heard these expressions that 
 have been given from this platform today, I 
 am more than ever convinced that life is really 
 worth living that is if it is that kind of a life. 
 We cannot sit down and figure out the far reach- 
 ing influence of an actively good life, and Colonel 
 Sobieski will never know the good he has done 
 until he stands before "the King in His Beauty." 
 I congratulate Colonel Sobieski today that he 
 has run his race of life so well. I congratulate 
 all of us who have known him and loved him. 
 may we all catch the spirit of this occasion and 
 renew our mutual pledge of loyalty, consecration 
 and effort and help to bring in "His Kingdom on 
 the Earth." 
 
 REMARKS MADE BY MRS. MATILDA B. CARSE 
 IN INTRODUCING COL. JOHN SOBIESKI 
 
 Dear Friends: I am indeed glad, happy and 
 proud to welcome to this platform one who ar- 
 rived on our shores fifty years ago today. Colonel 
 Sobieski. 
 
 We are glad, Colonel, to welcome you to this 
 Hall so much beloved by Frances Willard and
 
 214 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 named after her. She was your loyal friend. 
 
 As I turn back memory's pages to those days 
 in my early womanhood when I first became a 
 worker in the temperance reform and for the first 
 time met you, your face rises before me, handsome 
 benign and sweet much the same as today- 
 only it is more enriched with that soul beauty 
 which comes in life's afternoon when our days 
 have been spent as yours have been, for the good 
 of mankind. 
 
 Colonel Sobieski has proved himself a kingly 
 soldier, brave and magnanimous, fighting only 
 in defense of righteousness and in behalf of the 
 weak and oppressed. He is a worthy descendant 
 of a noble sire, John III, King of Poland. For 
 five years Colonel Sobieski bravely fought to 
 defend the stars and stripes and then when he 
 heard the cry of distress from the young republic 
 of Mexico, he hastened to its defense without the 
 hope of any emolument. He had a noble mother, 
 and I hope he will tell you today about that 
 mother and how her brave, unselfish life and 
 dying request influenced his character and made 
 him the man he is. 
 
 What a blessing it is to any mother to have 
 such a son! He has not secured what most men 
 consider the greatest thing in the world, money, 
 and he will not be counted among the great multi- 
 millionaires of his time, but he has secured far
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 215 
 
 higher honors, he has saved souls from going to 
 destruction, and has won, as we have heard here 
 today, more than 100,000 men and women to 
 join the Good Templars, besides a great host out- 
 side of these he has won to temperance. He has 
 returned many to righteousness and he will shine 
 as a star forever and ever. 
 
 I am sure that your are anxious to hear from 
 this man that we have gathered here to honor 
 and I will not detain you longer, only to say that 
 the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, from 
 Miss Willarcl to the humblest member have honored 
 and loved Colonel Sobieski for his heroic life, 
 not only on the battle field in defense of right, 
 but on the platform in the defense of the home 
 against the saloon. We are glad to see him here 
 today among us, so fresh and young looking, and 
 I welcome . him heartily to this platform as a 
 Patriot, a soldier and statesman, but above all, 
 as a lover of his kind. 
 
 RESPONSE BY COLONEL JOHN SOBIESKI 
 
 Friends, of course I am glad to be here today, 
 and I hardly know what I can say after listening 
 to all these words of praise by my friends. I 
 am awful glad I am not dead. At one of our 
 Chautauqua Assemblies a couple of years ago a 
 distinguished lecturer of the South lectured on 
 ;< Taffy and Epitaphy" and said we should say
 
 216 I,ife of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 the nice things of our friends before their death 
 instead of an epitaph after they are dead. 
 
 These pleasant words that have come this 
 afternoon from my friends have made a profound 
 impression upon me. They have spoken words 
 which I shall cherish the remaining days of my 
 life. To be loved and esteemed by those whom 
 I have all these days stood shoulder to shoulder 
 in this great battle for our deepest and truest 
 interests, is certainly all the compensation I 
 could ask. 
 
 Fifty years ago today I landed in New York 
 and little did I think at that time that in fifty 
 years from then I would be in a meeting like 
 this. Fifty years ago I landed in America about 
 eleven o'clock in the morning. I was between 
 twelve and thirteen years old, large for my age, 
 I had black curly hair, large brown eyes, chubby 
 dimpled cheeks. 1^ landed upon the shores of 
 America with my eyes wide open. The ship was 
 covered with flags and bands playing but I was 
 never conceited and I knew it wasn't for me. 
 Perhaps many of you know something of. my 
 early history, of my father who commanded the 
 uprising for liberty of Poland, and as stated here 
 today, I left my native land a boy five years of 
 age. As I have been requested to give the reason 
 that led me to become a temperance man and the 
 circumstances, I will do so. I had not seen my
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 217 
 
 mother for six months until the day of her death. 
 I had only seen my father once that I can remem- 
 ber and that was in a dark, awful dungeon where 
 he had been for twelve months. So my mother 
 had been my constant companion and when I 
 went to that room so still and silent, and as I 
 laid down at her side with her face so white- 
 she was only twenty-nine years of age but her 
 hair was as white as snow. Her husband and 
 father and two brothers had been executed at 
 the same time and a sister exiled to Siberia. I 
 remember as I lay down beside her she said to me, 
 "I am going away to join your father in another 
 land and I shall leave you all alone in the world. 
 Promise me that you will ever cherish the cause 
 for which your father died, that you will fight 
 for any land, any nationality or any race that is 
 struggling for liberty, and further promise me 
 that you will never take the name of Him in vain 
 whom I shall pray may have your guidance." I 
 promised her that I never would take intoxi- 
 cating liquors and that I would never post the 
 gaming table. I didn't know what these things 
 meant, but I did afterwards. With a kiss that 
 she sealed upon my lips I was taken away, and 
 in a single hour she had joined my father. Though 
 more than fifty years have passed since then, 
 though I have done other things that I would 
 undo if I could, yet believing as I do in the pres-
 
 2i8 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 ence of my spirit mother, I can say that those 
 promises I made to her have never in the least 
 degree been violated. That pledge which she 
 took from me has proved the boon of my life- 
 Though she left me in a land of strangers, a boy 
 homeless and penniless, yet with that pledge an 
 promise it was of more value to me than though 
 she had left me a million dollars without that 
 pledge. A few years after found me in America, 
 twelve years of age and shortly after I entered 
 the army as a soldier and musician. How many 
 times I was asked to drink, but those last words 
 of my mother, "never as long as you cherish the 
 memory of your mother must you drink intoxi- 
 cating liquors" amid all these temptations, that 
 memory made me as strong as a man to overcome 
 the temptation. 
 
 As my friend, Mrs. Carse spoke about my 
 mother, I wish to speak of one instance alone 
 when we were taken in the presence of the Grand 
 Duke Constantine the day before my father's 
 execution. He was the brother of the Emperor 
 and the great uncle of the present Emperor of 
 Russia. He informed my mother that he was 
 authorized by the Emperor to make her this 
 proposition, that if she w r ould consent to have 
 her boy taken from her that day and conveyed 
 to a school under the management of the Greek 
 church, and be educated in the faith of that church,
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 219 
 
 in other words, educated to be a Russian instead 
 of a Pole, if she would consent to this, then she 
 could return to her estate and enjoy it until her 
 son arrived at his majority, but if she refused, then 
 the same day that her husband would be executed 
 that she should be banished from Poland upon 
 the penalty of death if she or any of her descend- 
 ants thereafter ever returned to any territory 
 over which Russia ruled. The answer of my 
 mother was that of a spirited patriotic Polish 
 woman when she said: "Sir, you can take from 
 us our estate, you can take from us all that we 
 possess and I may be compelled homeless and 
 penniless in a land of strangers to beg bread from 
 door to door, but I will teach my son he is a Pole 
 and to hate w 7 ith an undying hatred that nation 
 and sovereign that murdered his father, deso- 
 lated his native country and sent him into ban- 
 ishment." 
 
 Coming to America as I did, I entered the army 
 which I served for ten years, going to Mexico 
 and serving in that republic and then to the 
 United States. 
 
 Shortly after I found myself in a temperance 
 meeting. Just as soon as I got in that meeting 
 I knew I had struck my crowd. When they first 
 talked about the prohibition of the liquor traffic. 
 I was warmly opposed to it. I thought it was 
 in some way curtailing liberty. I could not
 
 22O Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 reconcile myself to that. Now you know the 
 Methodists can always tell the time and place 
 where they were converted, so can I and it was 
 my old friend Dr. Satterlee who was the means 
 of my conversion. I went to his church one night 
 to lecture and took special pains to tell that I 
 was not a Prohibitionist. I remember that when 
 I sat down that the minister arose and said that 
 he should certainly have to protest against that 
 part of the speaker's address where he spoke about 
 the prohibition of the liquor traffic. He said, 
 "I believe it to be just as wrong to license the 
 traffic as the drink habit itself." When we were 
 going out he reached out his hand and said that 
 he hoped God would open my eyes and that I 
 would see the error of my ways. I thanked him 
 and told him if I was wrong I wanted to be put 
 right. The next morning as I was going out of 
 town, (they had the saloons all on one street 
 leading down to the depot ) a big son of Germany 
 as soon as he saw me, stepped out from in front 
 of a saloon and extended his hand and I put my 
 hand in that great soft one, and said "I heard 
 how you downed that preacher last night. That 
 preacher does us more trouble than all the preach- 
 ers in our town. Mine friend, won't you come 
 in and have a glass of beer mit me?" I dropped 
 that hand very suddenly and I wrote back to 
 my friend Satterlee that he needn't pray for me 
 any more. I had got there.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 221 
 
 It has been a matter of precious memory to 
 me the splendid men and women whom I have 
 met in this reform, nearly all of them gone now. 
 I remember when I entered the field that Judge 
 James Black, of Pennsylvania, Samuel D. Has- 
 tings, of Wisconsin, Wm. Ross, of Illinois, and 
 that chivalrous, handsome man, John B. Finch, 
 who died altogether too young, were the leaders 
 of the host. They are all gone. Later I re- 
 member the splendid women that arose after the 
 crusade. There was one that I remember hav- 
 ing met thirty years ago. She is present in this 
 hall today, known to us all, a woman of great 
 energy, push and enterprise whose brain conceived 
 this magnificent building where this meeting is 
 being held today. I have watched w r ith the deep- 
 est of interest and sympathy her noble struggle 
 to see it cleared from debt and become what is 
 her fond hope, that it should be the rallying place 
 of the temperance host of our country. I be- 
 lieve she will succeed, I do not believe she can 
 possibly fail, that God will give her the victory. 
 
 I remember well Frances Willard whom I 
 met for the first time here in this city, as she was 
 Secretary of the National Prohibition Convention. 
 That began our acquaintance and it has kept on 
 all these years. Sometimes we think the life 
 of the reformer is hard. I know I have felt so 
 sometimes myself. We feel that we do not have
 
 222 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 the sympathy and support that we should have 
 from those that ought to sympathize with us, 
 at times when it seemed the whole church and 
 the whole world was either opposed or indifferent. 
 But I shall never forget the morning that the 
 remains of Frances Willard were received in this 
 city. I had the sad honor of being one of her pall- 
 bearers. When I went down to the Twelfth- 
 Street Depot to meet her remains with the other 
 gentlemen who had been selected with me as 
 pallbearers, it was a bleak, cold, bitter day, 
 the thermometer way below zero, yet I found 
 2000 people there waiting with sorrowful faces 
 to receive the noble dead. When we conveyed 
 her to Willard Hall where she was to lie in state, 
 thousands had already gathered before the Hall 
 waiting for the door to be open, and when the 
 hour came _then the doors were opened and the 
 procession began, tramp, tramp, tramp for six 
 hours until 40,000 people had passed and, when 
 the door closed at four o'clock the crowd in front 
 of the Hall had not been perceptibly diminished. 
 Though this great woman had never held an 
 office, though she died comparatively speaking, 
 in poverty, yet the love and affection that 
 was shown to her taught me that dow r n in the 
 hearts of the people there was always an appre- 
 ciation for our work and devotion. A few weeks 
 ago I was in Statuary Hall at our National Cap- 
 itol. As I walked about it and saw the statues
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 223 
 
 which had been placed there by the different 
 states, Massachusetts had placed there the statue 
 of John Hancock and Samuel Adams; Pennsyl- 
 vania, Benjamin Franklin and Robert- Morris; 
 Ohio, James A. Garfield and Governor Wm. Allen; 
 Indiana, her two great Governors, Morton and 
 Hendricks, and when Illinois came to select one 
 of her statues to be placed in that Hall, and 
 certainly no state was richer in mighty charac- 
 ters than Illinois, there was her Lincoln, her 
 Douglas, her Trumbull, her Logan and yet by 
 a unanimous vote of both branches of the legis- 
 lature they declared Frances Willard was their 
 choice as their most gifted citizen and that her 
 statue should have a place in that pantheon of 
 the nation. All honor to this grand old com- 
 monwealth for her tribute to this noblest and 
 mightiest and yet most gentle of all of her citi- 
 zens. But I must close my address. I appeal 
 to you young gentlemen present to rally to the 
 standard of temperance and help by your 'in- 
 fluence and power in the mighty work of rescuing 
 the land. As one of America's greatest sons said 
 to a young man who came to him and asked him 
 how he could best serve his time and generation, 
 he said: "Find a worthy but unpopular cause 
 and identify yourself with it and you will become 
 like unto God. Here is your opportunity young 
 gentlemen. Don't miss it. loin with us, for 
 
 *t 
 
 ultimately we shall win the victory."
 
 224 Life of Colonel John Sobieski 
 
 LETTER FROM HON. WM. E. MASON. 
 
 Chicago, Feb. 16, 1905. 
 Mr. George M. Bassett, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee on Arrangements. 
 
 I am greatly disappointed and more than sorry that I cannot 
 be present to tender my congratulations to Col. John Sobieski 
 on the event of his 50th anniversary as an American. 
 
 I have known him for years, but within the last years have 
 become more intimately" acquainted with him and from what I 
 know of him there is no living man whom I would more delight 
 to honor than I would John Sobieski. 
 
 Born in the very bitterest storm of life, his father and mother 
 before him felt the cruel oppression of those who wished to govern 
 others without the consent of the others. His father was executed 
 and his mother with her young boy driven to banishment worse 
 than execution, robbed and murdered by the cruel conduct of the 
 Russian Government. A stowaway he became in order to become 
 an American citizen, and having learned when he was ten or twelve 
 years of age from an old Polish Soldier how to blow a bugle, he 
 became a soldier of our republic. For ten years, entirely through 
 the civil war, he served our country and our flag. After that 
 he joined the Army of the .Republic in Mexico. He went hungry 
 and almost naked and fought for the right of self-government there. 
 
 I particularly want to praise him for this not only that he 
 has fought for liberty; that he has observed mankind's unkind- 
 ness to mankind, but through it all he comes out in the afternoon 
 of his life smiling and sunny without an unkind feeling towards 
 any one of God's creatures. 
 
 "Once when he was wounded dangerously, the surgeon told 
 him to make his peace with God. He said in soldier language 
 '.'I have never fussed any with God" and he never has. I said 
 he had reached the afternoon of his life. May it be a long and 
 pleasant afternoon; may the twilight be along time coming. For 
 a man like him there will be no night because he is without fear. 
 He has the faith that makes people unafraid. He will not be 
 afraid to meet his Master face to face, but again I say, may the 
 twilight of his life be a long time coming, that the young men and 
 women of America may have the benefit of his fight for what is 
 right and the presence of his life an example. 
 
 I am, with very great respect, Your friend, 
 
 WM. E. MASON.
 
 Col. Frank J. Sibley.

 
 of Colonel John Sobieski. 225 
 
 LETTER FROM REV. J. G. EVANS, DD. LL., D. 
 
 Kankakee, 111., Feb. 20, 1905. 
 
 Dear Bro. Bassett: Forty years ago, in Dwight, Illinois, 
 I formed the acquaintance of Col. John Sobieski. Since then 
 \ve have met often, and the passing years have increased my ap- 
 preciation of that stalwart defender of the prohibition faith. In 
 all these forty years I have never known him to falter, or to give 
 an uncertain sound. He has never had any sympathy with any 
 kind of compromise with wrong nor shown any disposition to be 
 silent because majorities were against the right. He is worthy 
 of all honor. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 J, G. EVANS. 
 
 LETTER FROM MAE GUTHRIE TONGIER. 
 Rev. George M. Bassett, 
 Chicago, 111. 
 
 Dear Friend : I wisfr exceedingly I might be with you at the 
 celebration of Col. Sobieski's 50th anniversary in America, and 
 that I might say something worthy the day and the man. But 
 the thought is too large to be borne by the tip of a pen, and so I 
 shall not attempt. But it was a happy addition to our popula- 
 tion, and to our country and to the cause of humanity when he 
 cast his lot among us, and American citizenship has been immeas- 
 ureably enriched. 
 
 I congratulate Col. Sobieski upon the battles he has won 
 and also upon the battles he has lost, those splendid bloodless 
 conflicts in behalf of humanity, battles which, though lost today, 
 will be won tomorrow. I congratulate him too upon his posses- 
 sions the acquirement of over a half century of years. 
 
 Emerson said he owned the landscape, but Col. Sobieski owns 
 the landscape with quite a patch of sky thrown in, where a few 
 larger stars are always shining. And then his folks, and when 1 
 say his folks I mean those whose hearts beat in unison with his, 
 they are everywhere. There is not a town of any size between 
 the two oceans that does not hold some of his friends. They are 
 always there waiting to welcome him with outstretched hand, or 
 bid Godspeed at parting. 
 
 MRS. MAE GUTHRIE TONGIER, 
 
 Los Angeles, Calif.
 
 226 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 LETTER FROM ALONZO E. WILSON. 
 
 Chicago, Feb. 27, 1905. 
 Rev. Geo. M. Bassett, 
 
 Dear Sir: It was with deep regret that I found myself unable 
 to attend the Willard Hall meeting. I have always regarded 
 Col. Sobieski as one of our most distinguished men and believe 
 that he has accomplished much for prohibition in America. It 
 was providential that he came here and the prohibitionists of 
 this country cannot show him too much honor for what he has 
 done in educating the people against the licensed liquor traffic. 
 I trust he may be spared for some years yet that he may see the 
 consummation of his labors on behalf of this great cause. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 ALONZO E. WILSON 
 
 FROM URIAH COPP. 
 
 Loda, 111., Feb. 21, l'.i(i:>. 
 Rev. Geo. M. Bassett, 
 Chicago, 111., 
 
 Dear Sir: Your kind invitation to my family and myself 
 to be present at the reception to be given Col. John Sobieski by 
 his friends in Willard Hall Wednesday, Feb. 22, has been duly 
 received. 
 
 I reply that it would give us very great pleasure to be present 
 on that occasion, for Col. John Sobieski is one of our most respected 
 friends. We have been intimately acquainted with him for many 
 years, and ever have found him to be true and honorable. 
 
 He is the descendant of one of the noblest races, and is the 
 embodiment of all their best traits. He has spent his life battling 
 for liberty and for the uplifting of humanity. He is and has al- 
 ways been the most bitter foe of all tyrants and oppressors and 
 the truest friend of the oppressed. 
 
 We heartily appreciate these noble qualities and feel that 
 the congratulations of his friends could not be more worthily and 
 justly bestowed. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 URIAH COPP.
 
 Life of Colonel John Sobieski. 227 
 
 LETTER FROM HON. DAN. R. SHEEN, 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
 
 Springfield, 111., Feb. 20, 1905. 
 Rev. G. M. Bassett, 
 Chicago, 111. 
 
 My Dear Sir: I am exceedingly sorry that my duties here 
 in the legislature will prevent my attending the fiftieth anniver- 
 sary of the landing of Col. Sobieski in this country. I should 
 like so much to join my voice with many of his other friends in 
 doing honors to Col. Sobieski upon that occasion. It has been 
 my good pleasure to have known him for many years, and have 
 ever known him as a whole-souled, genial champion of human 
 rights and a foe of human wrongs. God grant that he may see 
 a return of many anniversaries. Mrs. Sheen joins me in con- 
 gratulations. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 DAN. R. SHEEN. 
 
 LETTER FROM JAMES M. CAMPBELL 
 
 Lombard, 111., Feb. 22, 1905. 
 Rev. George M. Bassett, 
 
 Chairman of Sobieski Reception Committee. 
 
 Dear Sir: I want to have my unspoken testimony added 
 to what may be said in a more formal way at the celebration of 
 the fiftieth anniversary of the landing in the United States of our 
 friend Colonel Sobieski. I have known him during thirty of these 
 fifty years. ' Occasionally I have lost sight of him for a time, 
 but he has a way of coming again into view. He is one of those 
 kind of people whom having once met, one does not wish to forget. 
 Very few men that I have known have a greater genius for friend- 
 ship. He grapples his friends to him with hooks of steel, and 
 it speaks volumes for the breadth of his sympathies to know 
 from what a great variety of classes his friends have been gathered. 
 
 The thing which has always impressed me most in the Col- 
 onel is his innate modesty. He is never obtrusive, and has a 
 place in his big heart for other people's interests, and especially 
 for their troubles. That is why we all like him, and forgetting 
 his royal birth speak of him as John Sobieski. He is one of the 
 kind of people to whom titles add nothing. He does not need them.
 
 228 I,ife of Colonel John Sobieski. 
 
 No man was ever more democratic, and I believe that were the 
 crown of Poland (which is his by rights ) offered to him on a golden 
 salver; he would decline it with thanks; and would vote that 
 Poland should become a Republic which God grant she one 
 day may. 
 
 It was to me a matter of wonder when first I met the Col- 
 onel, that a man possessing such a gift of leadership, and the 
 endowments which make for success in public life, should have 
 chosen for his career that of a temperance reformer. When I 
 knew him better I began to understand the reason. Within that 
 sphere he found a place to carry on the fight for humanity to which 
 he had pledged himself to his dying mother. And right nobly 
 has he carried out his purpose. With an ancient Roman he has 
 taken for his motto, "Whatever concerns humanity concerns 
 me," and through his touch of brotherly helpfulness many strug- 
 gling souls have been helped to a better life. 
 
 For our old friend and comrade-in-arms in the best of all 
 causes let me wish that he may die with his armor on. And may 
 his last days be the best. I am glad of the opportunity of telling 
 him how we have loved him and respected him for his sterling 
 worth and for his works sake. This is better than to have waited 
 until he was dead, and strewn flowers upon his grave. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 JAMES M. CAMPBELL. 
 
 LETTER FROM JASPER L. DOUTHIT 
 
 Lithia, Shelby County, 111., Feb. 21, 1905. 
 Col. John Sobieski, 
 
 Willard Hall, Chicago, 111. 
 
 My Dear Noble Friend: I send most fraternal greetings 
 and congratulations of myself and family to you on the fiftieth 
 anniversary of your landing in America. With a great multitude 
 who know you and love you, I thank the good God for your long 
 and eminent service in temperance and other needed reforms. 
 Verily, I believe you have conferred more benefit upon all man- 
 kind in these fifty years of patriotic and philanthropic labors than 
 you could have done as king of Poland. God bless you forever 
 and ever. Sincerely yours always, 
 
 JASPER L. DOUTHIT. 
 Secretary of International Chautauqua Alliance.
 
 Recent Events in my Family 229 
 
 RECENT EVENTS IN MY FAMILY 
 
 In the early part of the spring of 1901 I made 
 up my mind to reside in California. I arrived 
 in Los Angeles on the 30th of March where I have 
 since lived. While I have continued to lecture 
 in all parts of the country, and more especially 
 in the east, still my home is in California and 
 probably will so remain the rest of my life. 
 
 On June 18, 1902, my daughter Mary was 
 wedded to Louie S. Gilhousen, the son of W. H. 
 Gilhousen, an esteemed friend of mine. The 
 marriage was in every respect a congenial one. 
 Mr. Gilhousen is a bright, promising young busi- 
 ness man, a teller in the First National Bank of 
 Los Angeles, esteemed and honored by all who 
 know him. Their marriage has been an exceed- 
 ingly happy one. 
 
 On October 26, 1906, there was born to them 
 a son. He was named John Sobieski. He is a 
 sturdy, bright, healthy boy the pride of both 
 parents and grandparents.
 
 230 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 This is Colonel Sobieski's most famous lecture, in which is told the whole story 
 of his people's- struggle for freedom. 
 
 A nation, like an individual, as soon as it ceases 
 to play an important part in the affairs of men, is 
 forgotten. Take the men who laid the foundation 
 of the American Republic, how few of the names 
 of the founders have survived the century: Wash- 
 ington, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and Hamilton, 
 and that is about all. Other men struggled, 
 sacrificed, and died, and yet how strangely their 
 names would sound to the average person of this 
 generation; and 'tis so with a nation. 
 
 A little over a hundred years ago my native 
 country was one of the most powerful in Europe. 
 In population we exceeded all except France and 
 Russia. In territory we exceeded them all except 
 Russia. In art, science, education, we were well 
 up to the most of them. In the achievement of 
 arms I think we eclipsed them all ; and yet a little 
 more than a century has passed since she was so 
 foully assassinated: and how little is the world's 
 knowledge of that once great country. 
 
 Not only was Poland great in the extent of her 
 territory and in her achievement of arms, but
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 231 
 
 was great also in the renown of her sons, and her 
 colleges, her universities. The University of War- 
 saw is one of the oldest universities of Europe, 
 and from her halls there have gone out to bless 
 the world and to enlighten it, some of the world's 
 noblest men. 
 
 You can hardly think of any department of 
 literature or art and science but what can be 
 found in them the graduates of Warsaw University. 
 And the University of Cracow is not less cele- 
 brated. There went from her halls of learning 
 one of her sons who alone would have made that 
 institution of learning, immortal. That man was 
 Nicholas Copernicus. He was the discoverer of 
 the true system of the universe. As one writer 
 has truly said of him, "Poland gave birth to a 
 man who arrested the course of the sun, and bid 
 the earth move." And, as another poet has said 
 in describing his achievements: 
 
 ' 'Twas his to point to worlds above the skies, 
 And show creation's wonders to our eyes. 
 The seed of knowledge and of truth to sow, 
 Science extend and prejudice overthrow. 
 Objects like these inspired his native mind, 
 Through life pursued and but with life resigned. 
 These are the wreathes that shall adorn his brow, 
 Far brighter than laurel's purest glow. 
 These are the wreathes that nourish undecayed 
 While heroes share the ruin they have made."
 
 232 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 In this address I shall only discourse upon her 
 history from the time of the republic, 1572. The 
 circumstances that caused the origin of the repub- 
 lic were these. 
 
 The Jagellon dynasty, which had ruled in that 
 country for a hundred years, had become extinct. 
 Now it became necessary either to found a new 
 
 / 
 
 dynasty, or to found a new form of government; 
 and the Polish people and when I say the Polish 
 people, I mean the nobility had got a glimmer, as 
 it were, of popular government, but failed to com- 
 prehend the whole idea. They could not under- 
 stand how the rule of the majority could be less 
 odious to the ruled minority, than the single 
 despot. So they organized the new government 
 upon the unit system. It provided first that the 
 first officer of the republic should be styled a king, 
 yet they denied him all kingly authority. He did 
 not possess one-tenth of the power that the Presi- 
 dent of the American Republic exercises under 
 her constitution. He was not much more than the 
 chief marshal of the republic. Then he had to be 
 chosen by a unanimous vote of the constituency, in 
 which every nobleman in the republic had a voice 
 and a vote. A single vote given adversely was 
 just as effective to defeat as though every vote 
 in the republic had been cast against him. The 
 law-making power was vested in two Houses, 
 called the Diet, and every proposed enactment had
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 233 
 
 to be passed by a unanimous vote; and what was 
 still more absurd, was what was known as veto 
 libertum, by which at any time during the proceed- 
 ings any single member by quitting the body could 
 bring the entire proceedings to a standstill. 
 
 Another great defect of our government was 
 our serfdom. More than two-thirds of the people 
 were serfs. The only difference between our serfs, 
 and the slaves of this country of a generation ago, 
 was that our slaves could be sold from the auction- 
 block, while our serfs could not be sold. They 
 were a part of the realty itself. Your slaves 
 belonged to a different race; ours were our own 
 race our own people our own countrymen. 
 And when I look back over the last hundred years 
 of sadness and sorrow that hundred years of 
 sorrow and sadness that is unspeakable, and 
 when I ask, "Why all of this?" the answer comes 
 back, "It is but the recompense for our own sins 
 against our own countrymen." 
 
 Now, having spoken of some of the defects of 
 our constitution, I will speak of some of its virtues. 
 It has been supposed by the world that religious 
 liberty is of quite recent origin. Yet Poland put 
 in her constitution three hundred years ago these 
 words: 'The right to worship God as one sees 
 fit and proper, shall never be questioned." Under 
 that provision Jew and Gentile, Catholic and 
 Protestant, Mohammedan and infidel, were at
 
 234 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 perfect liberty to worship God as they saw fit and 
 proper. 
 
 Another article of our constitution was just as 
 extraordinary, considering the age in which it was 
 promulgated. Up to a hundred years ago, nation 
 made war upon nation, often simply to plunder 
 each other "for revenue only;" yet Poland put 
 in her constitution three hundred years ago these 
 words: "The arms of the republic shall never be 
 engaged, except for these purposes: in defense of 
 the republic, and in defense of the Christian 
 religion." And in the two hundred years that the 
 republic existed, this provision was never violated. 
 
 Now, having spoken of her peculiar institu- 
 tions, I will proceed to speak of her military 
 grandeur. It had ever been the dream of every 
 successor of the great Mohammed, that the time 
 would come when the Crescent would triumph 
 everywhere, and that the religion of the great 
 Prophet would be universal. This had led to 
 seven hundred years of almost constant contest 
 between the followers of Jesus, so called, on one 
 side, and the followers of Mohammed on the other 
 side; and Poland, occupying the position that she 
 did, ofter became the battle-ground between these 
 two contending faiths. Poland stood like a wall 
 of fire protecting the Christian world from the 
 swords of Mohammedan fanatics, who again and 
 again sought to overwhelm the Christian world.
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 235 
 
 I shall in this discourse speak only of the last 
 great struggle that the powers of Mohammed 
 made to conquer Christendom. This was in 1683. 
 Hitherto, in their battle against Christendom, they 
 had ever found a united Christian world banded 
 against them. But now all of this was changed. 
 The Christian world had become hopelessly divided 
 into two hostile parties, hating each other, if pos- 
 sible, with more bitterness than their ancient 
 foe: the followers of Martin Luther on one hand, 
 and the Pope of Rome on the other. 
 
 "Now," said Mohammed the Fourth, "Allah 
 once more smiles upon us; and in my own day we 
 are to sweep the hated Cross from existence, and 
 the Crescent shall wave at Rome- shall wave the 
 world over." 
 
 So in the spring of 1683, with an army vari- 
 ously estimated from five to eight hundred thou- 
 sand, I will compromise it, and call it six hun- 
 dred thousand, under the leadership of one of 
 Mohammed's greatest favorites, they marched 
 out westward to what they believed would be 
 their final campaign of conquest. Such was the 
 terror they invoked, that they practically reached 
 the walls of Vienna unopposed. When they 
 reached Hungary they were reinforced by fifty 
 thousand brave Hungarian troops. Hungary, 
 long oppressed by Austria, had been promised 
 her religious and political liberty if she would aid
 
 236 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 the Mohammedan army. The Mohammedan army 
 arrived at the walls of Vienna about the first of 
 July. All Europe was in consternation and alarm. 
 
 It was at this time that a deputation of forty 
 German and Austrian noblemen came down to 
 the court of our king, John the Third, who is 
 known in history as John Sobieski, the greatest 
 warrior of his day, and with the exception of 
 Napoleon and Frederick the Great, the greatest 
 warrior of modern times. This delegation came 
 into his presence, bowing before him. and kissing 
 his garments, and addressed him. They spoke 
 of the battles he had fought and the victories he 
 had won when he had been outnumbered ten to 
 one. They said they believed that God had 
 raised him up to succor Europe. They spoke of 
 how at that very moment an army of six hundred 
 thousand Turks was battering down the walls of 
 Vienna. They closed by using these words: "Oh, 
 your Majesty! come to our rescue, and Europe 
 will owe a debt of gratitude to Poland that will 
 never be forgotten." 
 
 How strangely sound those words in review of 
 the events a hundred years afterward. Sobieski 
 at once ordered the assembling of his army. The 
 Polish army w r as never a large one, as the serfs 
 were not permitted to serve in it; only the gentil- 
 ity and the nobility. But while the army was 
 small, it was composed of the very best material ;
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 237 
 
 hence its great reputation. When he reached the 
 frontier, Sobieski was reinforced by thirty thou- 
 sand Germans under the Duke of Lorraine. With. 
 this united army, now numbering seventy thou- 
 sand, they marched toward the Danube. They 
 expected that when they reached the Danube, 
 they would find the bridge that spanned the river 
 either destroyed or their passage disputed. But, 
 to their joy, they found neither to be the case. 
 
 That is a characteristic of the Turk. I re- 
 member at the time of the Turko-Russian War 
 in 1877, I used to predict the certain triumph of 
 the Turks. With so much confidence I used to 
 say: "The Russian army will never cross the 
 Danube." But when I saw them crossing it 
 practically unopposed, but steering toward the 
 Balkans, I said: "NcAV I understand them; in- 
 stead of attacking them at the Danube, they will 
 attack them in the Balkans." So, with a palpi- 
 tating heart I watched each day the march of the 
 Russian army into the Balkans. I said: "In 
 those narrow defiles all the wrongs of my native 
 country will be wiped out in blood." But judge 
 my surprise, if you can, -you certainly cannot 
 my chagrin, when I saw them entering those 
 defiles, passing through unopposed ; and not until 
 they reached the plain beyond, where man stood 
 for man, did they attack them at all. 
 
 I have never prayed for the Turks since. I
 
 238 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 thought if a people would not avail themselves of 
 strategy better than that, I would not insult the 
 Almighty by asking him to help. And, upon this 
 occasion, had they only destroyed the bridge, or 
 had they with a small force -opposed Sobieski's 
 passage of the Danube, they could have delayed 
 him for a sufficient length of time to have pre- 
 vented the saving of Vienna; and had they done 
 so, how different the history of the world would 
 read today. 
 
 On the night of the llth of September, So- 
 bieski's army had arrived on the top of Kalem- 
 burg Heights. The city of Vienna is situated in 
 the valley of the Danube, that historic river sep- 
 arating into two branches, and reuniting again 
 below the city. Forty-eight hours before the 
 arrival of Sobieski's army, Count Stahremberg, 
 the commander of the city, for the king and court 
 had long since deserted the city, announced to 
 his people that unless help came within forty-eight 
 hours he would be compelled to open negotiations 
 for the surrender of the city. ' In this action he 
 was certainly justified by the situation. The 
 walls of the city were crumbling, and starvation 
 and epidemic prevailed within the city. The 
 conquest of a Christian city by a Mohammedan 
 army two hundred years ago meant that all of the 
 strong men would be taken away to serve as 
 slaves, and all the beautiful women would be taken
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 239 
 
 away to grace the harems of the Mohammedan 
 conquerors. 
 
 The archbishop issued a proclamation asking 
 the people to come up to the Cathedral of St. 
 Stephen and devote the day to prayer. Said he 
 in his proclamation: "Since all earthly kings 
 have failed us, now let us ask the King of kings 
 and the Prince of princes to interpose in our be- 
 half." And all day long the people gathered 
 round their great cathedral, inside, outside, every- 
 where, asking God's interposition in their behalf; 
 and when night came the priests remained at the 
 altars, still invoking the favor of Almighty God. 
 
 Every morning for more than three weeks a 
 man had been sent to the top of the tower of 
 St. Stephen to see if there was any appearance of 
 the army of the rescuers. But the morning after 
 the day of prayer, the fateful morning of the 12th 
 of September, was the last morning. Now just by 
 the wave of the hand the fate of the people would 
 be sealed. So warriors left their places at the 
 bridge, and women left their homes, to gather 
 about vSt. vStephen to watch the signal from the 
 top of the tower. 
 
 The man started out upon his journey up the 
 tower. He must have seemed to the people of 
 that beleaguered city like a messenger going into 
 the presence of the Almighty. Arriving at the 
 top of the tower, before raising his eyes to look
 
 240 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 in the direction of Kalemburg, he dropped his 
 head for a moment in silent prayer. Now, raising, 
 his eyes and looking in the direction of Mt. Kal- 
 emburg, how his heart must have leaped with 
 joy, for lo and behold! its crest was all covered 
 with the army of Sobieski, With his glass he 
 could easily discern the barred banner of Poland; 
 and he waved back the glad tidings: "The city is 
 saved; the King of Poland has come/' Upon 
 that announcement the thousands who had gath- 
 ered around the cathedral rent the sky with their 
 shouts of joy. The glad warriors returned to the 
 bridge to continue their resistance, while mothers 
 and daughters returned to their homes, giving 
 thanks to God for his deliverance from their 
 terrible foe. 
 
 But while this feeling of exultation was going 
 on in the city, quite different w r as the feeling on 
 Kalemburg Heights. When the morning dawned 
 and the Christian army looked down beneath 
 them, what a sight greeted them! 
 
 Vienna at that time was a city of about two 
 hundred and fifty thousand population, nestling 
 there in the beautiful valley of the Danube. 
 Stretching out before them as far as the eye could 
 see, and farther, was this magnificent valley of the 
 Danube. In the distance loomed up grand old 
 St. Stephen. Btit, alas! the city was surrounded, 
 and the valley filled with six hundred thousand
 
 Mrs. Charlton Edholm Sibley.
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 241 
 
 warriors. These men were semi-barbarians: Tur- 
 key, Persia, Arabia, and the remotest part of 
 Asia had contributed to this army. Breeches in 
 the wall, they could see, had already been made. 
 Cheers and shouts of the beleaguered host could 
 be distinctly heard. It was indeed a sight most 
 appalling to all except the stoutest heart. 
 
 Shortly after daylight the Duke of Lorraine 
 came to the camp of our king and begged him to 
 retreat, declaring the Mohammedan army would 
 devour our army, that it would be madness to 
 attack them, and it would be courting destruction. 
 
 The answer of our king was: "I shall attack 
 them this day. I know their army is a mighty 
 one and their leader is supposed to be a man of 
 great ability; but a leader who permitted us un- 
 opposed to cross the Danube right under his nose, 
 a soldier who has been here for two months and 
 has never intrenched himself, and who has dis- 
 posed of his army about the city in such utter 
 disregard, has neither sense, prudence, nor science. 
 It shows that his reputation is greater than his 
 merits. I shall attack them this day, and before 
 the sun goes down that army will be fleeing be- 
 fore my face." 
 
 The duke returned to his camp, only to return 
 an hour afterward with the announcement that 
 his men had mutinied, declaring that they would 
 not be marched out to a useless slaughter, and
 
 242 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 begged of our king to come down and address his 
 soldiers. 
 
 It is said by the historians that our king was 
 the handsomest man of his day; and judging by 
 the pictures I have seen of him, as well as descrip- 
 tions I have read, I think this might have been 
 the case. Something over six feet tall, with a 
 high forehead, an abundance of black curly hair, 
 and large, flashing black eyes, he was indeed a 
 man of imposing appearance. His education was 
 complete. He could speak fluently every lan- 
 guage of Europe. 
 
 He immediately went down to the camp of the 
 Germans and addressed them. He said : "Soldiers 
 of Germany, we are to fight a battle to-day, not 
 for despoliation or plunder, but a battle for the 
 Cross. While we contend with an army appar- 
 ently so overwhelming in numbers, yet encamped 
 around, about, and above us are the invisible 
 hosts of Heaven, who will bring confusion to the 
 foe and victory to our arms. This day, by the 
 blessing of Almighty God and the Christian's 
 Christ and Redeemer, we are to crush yonder 
 exultant foe, and write such a page in the world's 
 history that will cause mankind to glorify the 
 Cross in all ages to come." And pointing to the 
 city, he exclaimed: "While the garrison of yon- 
 der city is bravely defending it, the mothers and 
 daughters are engaged in prayer in our behalf."
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 243 
 
 When he closed his oration the sturdy sons of 
 Germany shouted: "Let the King of Poland 
 lead us: we'll follow him to victory or to death." 
 
 Returning to his camp, he began preparation 
 for action. Mass was said, and then it was cus- 
 tomary in those days to have a battle-cry to 
 shout on going forth to battle; so our pious king 
 gave to his men, these words of the psalmist: 
 "Not unto us, but unto Thee be the glory." 
 
 At eleven o'clock they began to descend into 
 the valley. At one o'clock they had reached the 
 valley, where they met a part of the Mohammedan 
 army, w r hich had been sent to oppose their prog- 
 ress; and after a short engagement defeated them, 
 and sent them scampering back upon their main 
 lines. 
 
 At four o'clock the line of battle for a general 
 engagement was formed. Our king placed the 
 German troops on the right, giving them the post 
 of honor ; in the centre he placed his own infantry ; 
 upon the left and flanking, his magnificent cav- 
 alry. This cavalry was a most brilliant body of 
 men : every man of them was a knight, commanded 
 by the king in person, the most knightly man of 
 that age or any other age. Thus, ladies and 
 gentlemen, you have the picture. 
 
 September 12th, 1683, at four o'clock in the 
 afternoon, these two great systems of religion, 
 the followers of Jesus on one hand, and the fol-
 
 244 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 powers of Mohammed on the other, after seven 
 hundred years of almost constant conflict, con- 
 fronted each other upon the field of battle for the 
 last time as foes. Doubtless what assisted the 
 Christian army that day was a peculiar incident. 
 The Mohammedans did not understand the science 
 of astronomy, and had ever regarded an eclipse 
 to be the wrath of Heaven. Just as the Christian 
 army moved forward to attack, a total eclipse of 
 the sun set in. The presence of our king had been 
 denied by the Mohammedan commander to his 
 men, for the name of Poland's king was a terror 
 to Mohammedans everywhere. But now when 
 lie came blazing out at the head of his magnifi- 
 cent staff and cavalry, his presence could no 
 longer be denied. And the word went through 
 the Mohammedan ranks: "By Allah, the king 
 is with them." 
 
 "Aye," said the Kham of the Crimea, "see 
 the awful black spot is approaching the sun." 
 
 Just at that moment the seventy thousand 
 Christian soldiers moved forward to attack. All 
 were shouting: "Not unto us, not unto us, but 
 unto Thee be the glory." And they fell upon 
 that army, eight times their number, with the 
 power of an avalanche; and in two hours time 
 they crushed it completely, scattering it like 
 chaff before the wind. The Mohammedans, in 
 their dismay, as they fled left behind them their
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 245 
 
 camp, their equipage, their gold, their precious 
 stones, their carriages, their chariots, their horses 
 and elephants everything that they had brought 
 with them to make their entrance into Rome 
 brilliant and imposing; never stopping until the 
 borders of Hungary were reached. 
 
 The next morning the Christian army entered 
 the city through the very gaps in the wall through 
 which the Mohammedans would have marched 
 that same morning, had it not been for the arrival 
 of Sobieski's army. They marched to the Cath- 
 edral of St. Stephen, where they all bowed in 
 prayer. Then our king entered the church and 
 led in chanting the song of victory, the Te Deum. 
 The archbishop proceeded to the outer porch of 
 the cathedral, where he preached to two hundred 
 thousand people there gathered, taking for his 
 text these words: "There was a man sent from 
 God, whose name was John." 
 
 A hundred years passes away, when an army 
 marches out from this same city with their faces 
 turned toward Poland. Do they go for the pur- 
 pose of paying back this debt? No: they go for 
 the purpose of joining with the armies of Russia 
 and Prussia to wipe from the map of the world 
 the nation that had saved them. No wonder 
 that Voltaire said in speaking of it, that "God 
 only permitted the damning deed, that he might 
 show to the world what kings w r ere made out of."
 
 246 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 We now pass on through a hundred years, 
 and we come to the event that led to the over- 
 throw of the republic. The absurd constitution 
 largely contributed; a weak, drunken, dissipating 
 king was another contributing cause; and, worst 
 of all, Frederick the Great was the king of Prussia. 
 
 I hardly know how to speak of this monarch. 
 When I think of his genius, I feel I could almost 
 fall down and worship him. Greater than Napo- 
 leon, greater than Hannibal, in my opinion, was 
 this marvelous man. We see him when he came 
 to the kingship of Prussia, then a little, insigni- 
 ficant power, and yet, when in the Seven Years' 
 War two-thirds of Europe, numbering a hundred 
 and twenty millions of people, banded against 
 him, he fought them for seven years, and beat 
 them in the end. 
 
 Yet, when I turn from his genius and contem- 
 plate his character, I shrink from him as I would 
 from a leper. If in all the seventy years of his 
 life he ever did a good deed, if he ever had a good 
 thought, I have failed to find record of it. 
 
 About the first act of his so-called glorious 
 reign was to rob Austria of one of her finest prov- 
 inces. This had led to seven years of war. Now, 
 old and about to die, he wished to conciliate 
 Austria before passing off the stage of action. 
 So he sent a deputation to Vienna, proposing the 
 partition of Poland; guaranteeing to Austria a
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 247 
 
 valuable province, much more valuable than the 
 one he had wrested from her. After some hesi- 
 tation it was acceded to. Then the question arose, 
 how will Russia regard it? So they sent a depu- 
 tation down to St. Petersburg. 
 
 Catherine the Second was the empress of 
 Russia. All I have said in regard to Frederick 
 the Great, I can apply to this wonderful woman. 
 In ability she has never had her equal upon the 
 Russian throne ; and in my opinion but few among 
 the world's great sovereigns have equaled this 
 remarkable woman. But in character she was 
 just as depraved as Frederick the Great. Why 
 God in his loving mercy permitted two such 
 sovereigns to reign at the same time, I cannot 
 understand. 
 
 When the proposition was made to her, she 
 said she would consent to it on this condition: 
 that she was to have a territory as large as both 
 of theirs put together. This was consented to, 
 and they joined their armies together and entered 
 Poland and robbed her of more than one third of 
 her territory, while our miserable king never 
 raised his arms to defend his country. 
 
 About this time the American Revolution 
 occurred, and there came to these shores two sons 
 of Poland. One, the young and gifted Pnlaski, 
 whose services were so eminent, whose death sc 
 sad, and yet glorious, while leading the soldiers
 
 248 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 of the Colonies at Savannah ; where since a grate- 
 ful nation has erected upon the spot which drank 
 up his rich blood, a monument that will exist as 
 long as your hills remain, to testify the apprecia- 
 tion and love of a free people for one who died 
 for their liberty. 
 
 But of the other I love to speak the most. 
 Of all the sons of Poland, he was the most il- 
 lustrious. I have not language fit to describe 
 him. The only thing I can do is what we always 
 do in describing those who are especially endowed 
 with patriotism, virtue, and honor; and when we 
 wish to put the capstone on, we say this, and this 
 is enough : ' ' He was our Washington . " Of course 
 I refer to Kosciusko. Coming to this country, 
 joining the army of Washington, becoming his 
 chief of staff, for six years he associated with 
 that great character; became so imbued with his 
 spirit that when he returned to Poland he entered 
 upon the work of reform in his own country. He 
 entered the Assembly, he moved a revision in the 
 constitution by striking out all those absurd 
 features I have mentioned; and what I think was 
 better than every thing else, he provided that when 
 the sun should rise on the first day of January, 
 that the shackles should fall from every serf, and 
 from that moment every son of Poland should 
 stand free before the law. 
 
 This was accepted by the Polish people, but
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 249 
 
 it came just at the period of the French Revolu- 
 tion ; and the sorrounding nations declared that 
 they could see germs of republicanism that en- 
 dangered their own integrity. So again they di- 
 vided Poland, still our king not resisting. Now 
 the time had come for Kosciusko to act; so he 
 issued his proclamation, calling upon Poland's 
 sons to rally to the standard of the country and 
 drive the foul invaders from her soil. Now began 
 the grandest and .the most terrific struggle for 
 freedom the world has ever seen. There could 
 be but one ending of this unequal combat, and 
 it came at last. In that awful night of death, 
 where thirty thousand women and children were 
 massacred by the German troops, amid the shout- 
 ing of murderous soldiers and the shrieking of 
 dying women and children, the Republic of Po- 
 land, after two hundred years of existence, passed 
 forever from the view of man. 
 
 About this time Napoleon was forging to the 
 front, and the sons of Poland looked to him as 
 one who would lead them out to victory. So 
 they gathered around his standard, more than 
 one hundred thousand, under the chivalrous and 
 knightly Poniatowski, and in all the campaigns 
 of Napoleon, in Italy, in Germany, even in Russia, 
 they followed him. When the men whom Napo- 
 leon had taken from the ranks and had made mar- 
 shals, dukes, princes, and kings, had deserted
 
 250 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 him, these sons of Poland remained true and 
 loyal until the last hour of Waterloo.. 
 
 When the Congress assembled at Vienna in 
 1815, England lost her fine opportunity. Eng- 
 land was the mistress of the world in 1815. It 
 had been England's pluck, England's courage, 
 that had conquered the great Napoleon and 
 chained him as a prisoner to that lone rock in the 
 sea. The Congress assembled at Vienna for the 
 avowed purpose of readjusting the map of Europe. 
 Now, if England had only been wise, and said 
 through her representative in that assembly: 
 "We have met here for the purpose of readjusting 
 the map of Europe. Let us do it in such a way 
 that mankind can never doubt our honesty: let 
 us begin by restoring Poland." If she had done 
 so, how different would be her position to-day, 
 trembling as she is before the power of Russia, 
 knowing that sooner or later she must measure 
 swords with her, with the result so doubtful. Ah! 
 if England had only been wise then, she, and not 
 Russia, would be mistress of the East. But ap- 
 parently desiring to apologize to the world, they 
 took about one-third of what originally consti- 
 tuted Poland, erected that into what they were 
 pleased to call the Kingdom of Poland, and de- 
 clared that she should have a constitution of her 
 own and a diet of her own, that the emperor of 
 Russia should be the king of Poland, and that
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 251 
 
 he should go to Warsaw and should there take 
 the oath of fidelity to the constitution. These 
 were splendid guarantees, but were never re- 
 spected or complied with. 
 
 Fifteen years pass and we come to the up- 
 rising of 1830. A hundred young men, students 
 of the university, had entered into a covenant 
 that they would dedicate their lives to the regener- 
 ation of Poland. Coming into their quarters one 
 night, they learned that the next morning they 
 would all be seized and hurried to Siberia. Then 
 these young men resolved that they would give 
 their lives as costly as possible. They immed- 
 iately came out of their quarters and proceeded 
 to the barracks, where three thousand Polish 
 troops were quartered. Arriving there, they 
 shouted: "Down with the standard of Russia, 
 and up with the standard of Poland." 
 
 The troops fraternized with them. They then 
 marched up into the city, shouting: "Women 
 to homes, and men to arms;" and within six 
 hours from the time that those young men first 
 raised their shout of defiance, a battle had been 
 fought, a brilliant victory had been won, and the 
 viceroy and Russians had been expelled from 
 Warsaw. 
 
 When the sun rose the next morning and 
 looked down upon that city, what a sight greeted 
 it! Only twelve hours before it had gone down
 
 252 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 upon a people apparently sleeping in the embrace 
 of death. Now it was greeted by a hundred 
 thousand men and women, marching through the 
 streets singing, their patriotic songs, and waving 
 their national flag. It was not a nation born in a 
 day, but a nation resurrected in a night. 
 
 But the patriots made a mistake right at the 
 beginning, by listening to the counsel of the con- 
 servatives. The conservatives advised them not 
 to strike then, or rather, not to follow up the suc- 
 cesses already won, until they first appealed to the 
 sovereigns of Europe and reminded them of their 
 guarantees at Vienna; and to appeal to their 
 knightly honor to do justice to Poland; just as 
 though any sovereigns ever had any knightly 
 honor. There has never been a case of it since 
 the days of Nimrod, clean down to that last poor 
 remnant of royalty that is floating around some- 
 where, the ex-Queen of the Hawaiian Islands. 
 But of course an appeal to wait is always a taking 
 one, and the appeal was an eloquent one. It 
 spoke of the past glories of Poland; it reminded 
 them of the seven hundred years that Poland had 
 stood as a protector of Europe against the powers 
 of Mohammed; reminded them of Vienna, when 
 all Europe was in dismay; how Poland's king and 
 Poland's armies had saved Europe from Moham- 
 medan conquest; reminded them of the damning 
 deed by which jit had originally been stricken
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 253 
 
 from the map of the world; reminded them of 
 their guarantees but fifteen years before; and 
 now appealed to them that they would deal 
 justly with Poland. But alas! alas! or rather 
 in the language of Campbell, the poet: 
 
 "France was under the Bourbon thrall; 
 And the rest of Europe had no soul at all." 
 
 So Poland learned that alone she must fight 
 her own battles. 
 
 In this lecture I will only describe the great 
 battle of that uprising, the battle of Warsaw. It 
 was fought on February 25th, 1831. The Russian 
 army numbered one hundred and forty-five thous- 
 and infantry, sixty-seven thousand cavalry, and 
 three hundred pieces of artillery ; while the Polish 
 army numbered but forty-five thousand all told, 
 not one-half of them properly armed, and with 
 but twelve pieces of artillery. Yet, in a battle 
 of twelve hours they utterly defeated the mighty 
 host of Russia, showing how mighty are men who 
 fight for liberty, as against those who fight for 
 despotism. 
 
 In the morning, just before the battle opened, 
 the commander found that they were short of 
 ammunition, and the men were instructed to 
 make all of their powder and lead tell. A regi- 
 ment of students twelve hundred, students of 
 the University of Warsaw commanded by my 
 uncle, himself a student, answering for his men,
 
 254 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 said: "Others can have our ammunition." They 
 discarded their pieces and drew spears instead, 
 and in that battle of twelve hours they constant- 
 ly charged and charged and charged. And when 
 night came, out of twelve hundred that the morn- 
 ing sun had found so warm, brave, and grand, 
 but twenty remained alive. The others had 
 gone down with their faces to the foe, dying so 
 nobly, that Poland might be free. A grander 
 exhibition of devotion the world has never seen, 
 not even excepting the ancient Spartans. 
 
 The battle opened at five o'clock in the morn- 
 ing by the Russian right of sixty thousand at- 
 tacking the Polish left of ten thousand. At ten 
 o'clock the Russian commander, seeing he was 
 getting the worst of it, ordered the attack along 
 the whole line; and from ten o'clock until four 
 o'clock those sons of the North struggled for the 
 mastery. Just as the sun was sinking in the west 
 the Russian troops had been driven from the 
 field and compelled to take shelter in the forest 
 beyond. Wishing to draw them out where they 
 could get a better opportunity to attack them 
 again, the Polish commander feigned a retreat. 
 The feint was a success. 
 
 The Russian commander, drawing out his 
 watch said: "After this day of blood and of 
 horror, I will take supper to-night in the palace 
 of Villanow."
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 255 
 
 He now ordered his troops to advance again, 
 and when they reached the open field they were 
 again unexpectedly attacked, and the attack was 
 so fierce that the Russian troops became panic - 
 sticken, and fled from the field. But that night 
 when the remnant of the Polish army re-entered 
 the city, out of forty-five thousand that the army 
 had been composed of in the morning, less than 
 eight thousand remained. 
 
 But after a few more battles, in which the 
 Polish patriots showed unparalleled bravery and 
 devotion to their country, the inevitable came, 
 and again Poland found herself at the mercy of 
 the nineteenth century. Nicholas the First of 
 Russia now began acts of oppression that the 
 world shuddered at as it contemplated them. 
 When the slaves in the reign of Nero arose in re- 
 bellion after their suppression, he executed three 
 thousand of them, and that shocked the whole 
 heathen world. But Nicholas the First of Russia 
 executed more than twelve thousand. There was 
 hardly a day of that awful month of November, 
 and hardly a town in that unfortunate country, 
 but men whose only crime had been that they 
 had tried to make their country free, could be 
 seen marching forth to die upon the scaffold. 
 
 We pass on now for fifteen years, and come to 
 the uprising of 1846. It was intended as a part of 
 the great uprising which took place two years
 
 256 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 afterward throughout all of Europe; but the spies 
 of Russia precipitated the contest: so it was not 
 a great uprising, but it was a brave one. In the 
 last battle of that contest, my father, wounded, 
 was taken prisoner, and conveyed to the prison 
 near Warsaw, where he was afterward executed. 
 
 We will now pass on until 1863. Again Po- 
 land's sons made a strike for liberty. An ad- 
 dress was issued to the entire civilized world, 
 asking for their sympathy and support. But of 
 all the powers of Europe, Napoleon the Third of 
 France alone showed any disposition of sympathy, 
 and the result was in as preceding struggles, an 
 exhibition of wonderful heroism and sacrifice,- 
 but the ending was the same. Poland, bleeding 
 and crushed, lay again at the feet of Russia. A 
 decree was now issued, which wiped the very 
 name of Poland from the map of Europe ; even the 
 viceroyship was abolished, and Poland was com- 
 pletely absorbed as a part of the great empire of 
 Russia. 
 
 I am often asked, "What is the condition of 
 Poland to-day?" 
 
 I answer, most deplorable. 
 
 As an illustration of this, I will give an inci- 
 dent which occured a few years ago at the house 
 of one of the nobles in Warsaw. There was a 
 party one evening at this house. A young lady 
 of sixteen went up to the piano and dashed off a
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 257 
 
 prohibited national air. As soon as the attention 
 of the company was called to it, she was stopped 
 and chided, as they knew, however small the 
 party, the Russian spy would not be far away. 
 
 The next morning before she had risen from 
 her bed, a detachment of soldiers entered, bat- 
 tering down the door of her room. She was 
 ordered to arise and dress herself and follow them ; 
 and was compelled to dress herself in the presence 
 of the brutal soldiers, and barely time for that. 
 She was conveyed to a Russian magistrate, and 
 this crime I have given was computed against 
 her. She confessed the fault and pleaded for 
 mercy, and her plea was supplemented by that 
 of her mother. The old Russian magistrate said, 
 in consideration of her extreme youth, and as 
 this was her first offense, he would deal leniently 
 with her; but warned her against a repetition. 
 He ordered her to be taken to the guard-house 
 and kept there till high noon, and then to be 
 taken to the market place, and there be stripped 
 to the waist and receive upon her bare back the 
 lash of the knout thirty times, from the effects 
 of which she died some days afterward; and for 
 this act the magistrate was complimented by 
 the emperor, and promoted. 
 
 And the question is often asked: "But are 
 chere not hopes for the future, as Russia advances 
 in Christian civilization?"
 
 258 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 
 
 There can be no improvement until there first 
 comes such a gigantic upheaval, that the upheaval 
 in France during the days of the Revolution will 
 be mildness in comparison. 
 
 How wonderfully interesting is the struggle 
 of mankind for liberty, beginning way back there 
 when Jesus said to his disciples: "Ye are men 
 and brethren." That's the first we get anywhere 
 of the enunciation of that great principle of the 
 Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. 
 Of all the words spoken by the great Nazarene, 
 none have proved mightier than that utterance. 
 From that moment to this there has never been 
 a moment when the idea of liberty has ever qtu'tted 
 the heart or the brain of man. Down through 
 the dark ages this idea of liberty constantly flashes 
 out like sparks of electricity in the awful gloom of 
 those days, until we see the yeomen of England, 
 led on by their barons, wringing from King John 
 the Great Charter; again in the establishemnt of 
 the Polish Republic we see this principle largely 
 recognized; the next in the English Revolution, 
 when the grand old Cromwell brought the head 
 of the tyrant Charles to the block, and taught 
 the world a lesson that it has never forgotten 
 that tyrants should never -rule with impunity. 
 
 From this time the idea of liberty now grew 
 grandly apace. Next it blazed out in beauty and 
 glory on the borders of the American forests, when
 
 The Rise and Fall of the Polish Republic 259 
 
 the great Jefferson, writing with the pen of in- 
 spiration, wrote: "We hold this truth to be 
 self-evident: that all men are created equal." 
 This principle, vindicated in the success of the 
 American Revolution, vindicated in the establish- 
 ment of this republic upon that idea, then leaped 
 across the water to the old world. Then began 
 the struggle of a century for liberty. Battles have 
 been fought, victories have been won, reverses 
 have been suffered, but still this idea of liberty 
 goes on ; and it will go on until that great utterance 
 of the Master is fully realized, and believed in by 
 men. Then men will understand that there is 
 no such thing as race or nationality; that we all 
 belong to one great family, having the same origin 
 and bound for the same destiny. When that 
 blessed day shall come, then crowns and thrones 
 will be a thing of the past; wars will cease from 
 off the face of the earth ; then will come the blessed 
 day of peace, liberty, and fraternity.
 
 260 King John Sobieski, 1683 
 
 X 
 
 I 
 
 KING JOHN SOBIESKI, .1083. 
 
 UY DAISY HUBUARD CAKLOCK 
 
 Splendid is the tent of Kara, 
 
 Silken, broidered thick with gold ; 
 Set with Orient gems whose luster 
 
 Gleams from every wind-swung fold. 
 Vast and mighty is the army 
 
 Camped before Vienna's gates; 
 Crescent-shaped, the horde of Mongols, 
 
 Sure of triumph, calmly waits. 
 Leopold has fled before them. 
 
 Scarce escaping with his life; 
 Court and nobles quickly follow, 
 
 Fearful of the coming strife. 
 Far around the royal city, 
 
 Smoke ascends from Hungary's plain ; 
 Where were town and peasant cottage, 
 
 Blackened ruins now remain. 
 Who will hasten to deliver 
 
 From the proud invader's might? 
 Surely God will hear his people, 
 
 Turn their darkness into light! 
 Lo, from Poland comes the rescue, 
 
 Sobieski leads the van; 
 Warrior-king and Europe's savior, 
 
 Patriot-prince and noble man! 
 ''Not Vienna, but Christ's kingdom 
 
 Do we fight this day to save," 
 This the watch-word Sobieski 
 
 To his valiant legions gave. 
 "Not for earthly monarchs strike we, 
 
 But for Christ, the King of kings." 
 "Sobieski," shout the soldiers, 
 
 And the air with tumult rings. 
 Dreaded name, that to the f oemen, 
 
 Terror brings and dire dismay; 
 For in many a well-fought battle
 
 Colonel John Sobieski, 1892 261 
 
 Has he held their hosts at bay. 
 Forward dashes Sobieski! 
 
 "Allah!" cries the Turkish chief, 
 "Surely now their king is with them;" 
 
 Sharp the conflict is and brief. 
 Six pashas are slain 'ere evening, 
 
 Kara and his khans have fled 
 From the field where lie the thousands 
 
 Of his conquered army dead. 
 On the roll of earth's great heroes, 
 
 Who have won undying fame, 
 Graven in light shines "Sobieski," 
 
 Brave and true, a glorious name. 
 
 II 
 COLONEL JOHN SOBIESKI, 1892. 
 
 Where Missouri's stream is flowing 
 
 O'er the prairies of the West, 
 Where the Mississippi's borders 
 
 With the flowers of Spring are drest, 
 Sobieski 's name is chosen 
 
 On our banners to be borne. 
 Let us rally round our standard, 
 
 Praying for the coming morn, 
 When with victory on our pennons, 
 
 Men have heeded the command, 
 "Strike for God and free His people, 
 
 Save your homes and native land." 
 Not alone in ancient story 
 
 Are the world's great lessons taught; 
 Not alone on fields of carnage 
 
 Are the grandest victories wrought; 
 If we count "earth's" chosen heroes, 
 
 Those whose lives have been sublime, 
 Men whose principles make impress 
 
 On the record of -their time, 
 "They are men, who, seeing Duty, 
 
 Tread its path nor backward turn, 
 "Buy the truth" and sell it never, '
 
 262 Colonel John Sobieski, 1892 
 
 Teach what they through trial learn. 
 In this age of great achievement, 
 
 Men are needed who will stand 
 'Gainst the hosts of sin and ruin 
 
 Threatening to destroy the land. 
 When a Cathaginian army 
 
 Marched victorious on to Rome 
 And the baffled Romans gathered 
 
 To defend their seven-hilled home, 
 Faith in Rome was so triumphant, 
 
 That the soil outside the wall, 
 Trampled then by feet of foemen 
 
 Waiting for the city's fall, 
 Sold at auction in the Forum, 
 
 Brought its price in Tuscan gold; 
 And this tale of faith undaunted 
 
 Through the centuries has been told. 
 Let us doubt not Truth will triumph, 
 
 They must win who side with right, 
 "No surrender" be our watchword, 
 
 God is King, and Truth is might. 
 "Not our own, but His the glory," 
 
 As of old, cried Poland's king, 
 Sobieski still is leading, 
 
 And the Lord will victory bring
 
 
 ip am 
 
 q 'uoij 
 
 Executed Maximilian 
 Of Mexico
 
 A VETERAN PASSES 
 
 ON WEDNESDAY, January 10, 1923, there was 
 laid to rest at Los Angeles, California, in 
 beautiful Forest Lawn Cemetery, all that 
 was mortal of her who was known as the wife of 
 Colonel John Sobieski. The sympathy of unnum- 
 bered thousands of people who know and love him 
 will go out to him in this hour of affliction and 
 sorrow. By his side in this bereavement is his 
 daughter, Mary, who for two years was nurse to 
 her mother while the latter was confined to a bed 
 of pain. 
 
 Mrs. Sobieski shared the interests of her illus- 
 trious husband in prohibition and all kinds of re- 
 form. During twenty-two years of residence in 
 Los Angeles, she established a name for herself 
 in the fight for civic righteousness and betterment. 
 
 Her funeral was largely attended, the writer 
 noting the presence of several whose names are 
 known throughout the land for the work which 
 they have done and for the fight they have made for 
 better things. 
 
 Colonel Sobieski's friends are entitled to know 
 that he is manfully enduring the shock. While 
 declining years have measurably enfeebled him, 
 his mind has all its old-time clearness and he faces 
 the future resolutely and calmly. Many who read 
 these words will wish to communicate with him. 
 His address is 2807 Brighton avenue, Los Angeles, 
 California. His many friends may be assured that 
 he will not lack appreciation for any words of 
 cheer or comfort which may be sent to him. 
 
 Death has broken a union of more than forty 
 years. He, who has charmed multitudes with his 
 eloquence and who has been unswerving in his 
 loyalty and devotion to his high ideals, sits in a 
 lonely home in southern California awaiting the 
 summons for his long journey. 
 
 An old warrior has been hard hit.
 
 IN7 
 
 TWO 
 
 from which it was borrowed 
 
 QL UCT181 
 
 C'DYRL JUL'OStJO
 
 A 000104591 3