The Knightly Soldier lain Trumbull SANTA CRUZ BY THE SAME AUTHOR. KADESH-BARNEA: Its Importance and Probable Site, with the Story of a Hunt for it ; including Studies of the Route of the Exodus, and of the Southern Boundary of the Holy Land, i vol., large 8vo. With maps and illustrations. $5.00. FRIENDSHIP THE MASTER PASSION; Or, The Nature and His- tory of Friendship, and its Place as a Force in the World, i vol. , large 8vo, in box. $3.00. YALE LECTURES ON THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL: The Sunday- school ; its Origin, Mission, Methods, and Auxiliaries. The Lyman Beecher Lectures before Yale Divinity School, for 1888. i vol., small 8vo. $1.50. A MODEL SUPERINTENDENT: A Sketch of the Life, Character, and Methods of Work, of Henry P. Haven, of the International Les- son Committee, i vol., izmo. With portrait. $1.00. TEACHING AND TEACHERS; Or, the Sunday-school Teacher's Teaching Work, and the Other Work of the Sunday-school Teacher, i vol., i2mo. $1.00. HINTS ON CHILD -TRAINING, i vol., small i 2 mo. $1.00. PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE: A series of brief essays. Six vol- umes. Square i6mo. Each volume complete in itself. $2.50 the set, 50 cents a volume. 1. Ourselves and Others. 5. Character-Shaping and 2. Aspirations and Influences. Character-Showing. 3. Seeing and Being. 6. Duty -Knowing and 4. Practical Paradoxes. Duty-Doing. THE BLOOD COVENANT : A Primitive Rite, and its Bearings on Scripture, i vol., 8vo. $2.00. (A new edition in preparation.) JOHN D. WATTLES, Philadelphia, Pa. THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER V -*" l^r THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER A BIOGRAPHY OF MAJOR HENRY WARD CAMP BY CHAPLAIN H. CLAY TRUMBULL NEW AND REVISED EDITION PHILADELPHIA JOHN D. WATTLES, PUBLISHER 1892 COPYRIGHT, 1865, BY NICHOLS & NOYES. COPYRIGHT, 1892, BY H. CLAY TRUMBULL. CI1 TO THE PARENTS TO WHOSE FAITH AND FAITHFULNESS HENRY WARD CAMP OWED THE QUALITIES OF A " KNIGHTLY SOLDIER " THIS TRIBUTE TO HIS MEMORY IS DEDICATED BY HIS FRIEND Vlll PREFACE. graphic power. His biographer was his intimate friend, and his close companion in camp, in field, and in prison. In these respects the book is unique among the personal stories of the war. So clearly was this recognized by the reading public generally, that its sixth edition appeared with the special endorsement of the governors of all the New England states, and of fifteen prominent college presidents, East and West. And the Rev. Dr. Bushnell then expressed his con- viction that the book would be even better known fifty years from then than at that time; because, as the war receded into the past, only its best representative books would survive the mass of less important war literature. It is in view of this record of its earlier success that the book is again given to the public, in response to repeated requests for its reappearance. One thing which was emphasized in its first Pref- ace may properly receive fresh mention here. The relations between the author and the subject of this volume were of peculiar and rarest intimacy. The union of the two, during the years chiefly considered in this record, approached complete oneness. To have left out all the references to Henry Camp's friend, of whom almost every page in his later writings made mention, would have been impossible without destroy- ing the fulness and coherence of the narrative, and distorting the picture of army life to the eyes of those familiar with the seldom equaled attachment of the friends to each other. Very much of this nature was PREFACE. IX stricken from the record, all, indeed, that could be with seeming propriety. It is hoped that what re- mains will be ascribed to the affectionate partiality of him who has fallen, and not to any want of good taste on the part of one who was loved by and who mourns him. PHILADELPHIA, Decoration Day, 1892. CHAPTER I. CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL-DAYS. Personal Character in the American Civil War. An Illus- trative Story. A Representative Student Soldier. Henry Camp's Parentage and Boyhood. Inherited Qualities. Sensitive Conscience. Child Sermons. Beginnings in Sunday-school. High -school Expe- riences. His Teacher's Estimate. A Year at Home. Enters Yale. Confesses Christ. Dr. Bushnell's Trib- ute. The Man-soul in the Child. Hero-life and Angel- life. A High Future still CHAPTER II. COLLEGE LIFE. College Athletics. Boating. University Races of 1859. Reflex Influence of a Hard Struggle. A Ring Won and Worn. Yale and Harvard Oarsmen in the Army. Chaplain Twich ell's Sketch of the Worcester Re- gatta. "A Perfect Man." Severe Training. Sol- dierly Ways. First Day's Race. Defeat. Comfort from "No. 3." Contagious Courage. Second Day's Race. Victory. Rejoicings. Sequel. Testimony of College Comrades. An Unbelieving Classmate Led to xi Xll CONTENTS. Christ. Christian Fidelity Recognized. Character- istics and Conduct. A Kingly Heart. A Blessed Memory 12 CHAPTER III. TEACHER, LAW STUDENT, SOLDIER. Teaching at East Hartford. Rising War-clouds. Voting Intelligently. Standing for Principle. Studying Law. Denying Self in not Enlisting. Joining the City Guard. Funeral of General Lyon. Commissioned in the Tenth Regiment. Farewell Speech at his Sunday- school. Joying in Prospect of Service. Joins his Com- mand at Annapolis. Open-air Prayer-meeting. Camp Varieties. A Christmas Gift. Foster's Brigade. The Burnside Expedition. Life on a Transport. Purity in all Things. Trials on the " Swash." A Pull for Life. A Fair Face and a Brave Heart 34 CHAPTER IV. ROANOKE AND NEW-BERNE. Advance up Pamlico Sound. Generals Worth Seeing. The Night before the Fight. Personal Feelings. Bat- tle of Roanoke Island. The First Wounded. On Special Duty. Crying a Cry Out. Victory and its Cost. Again on Transports. Kerosene Water. En- ergetic Cockroaches. Courage in Dark Days. Patri- otism and Chivalry. Sunset at Sea. Poetic Musing. Landing and Bivouacking. The Battle of New- Berne. Sensations under Fire. Another Victory. The City Entered. Guard Duty. Sympathy with En- listed Men. Picket-life. An Alarm. Bold Scouting. CONTENTS. xiii Contentment in Action. Love of Home. Volunteering for Special Service. Living to a Purpose. Compara- tive Casualties, East and West 47 CHAPTER V. CAMP LIFE AND CAMPAIGNING. Incidents among the Contrabands. Fugitives at the Picket- line. " Dey Sell Ebry One." Inside View of Slavery. Praying for Liberty. Fighting for Government. Religious Counsel to a Classmate. Life in Hospital. Rumors of a Move. New Brigade. Captain Vicars's Memoir. Longings for a Friend. Promotion. The Adjutant's First "Consolidated." A New Chaplain. The Two Friends. Forty-fourth Massachusetts. Tar- borough Scout. Evening Skirmish at Little Creek. Halt at Williamston. Song from the Jack Tars. Patri- otism Thawed Out. Foraging. Home Relics Protect- ed. A Southern Swamp. John Brown Chorus. Way- side Prayer. First Visit Home. Goldsborough Raid. A New Disappointment. Fredericksburg Failure . 74 CHAPTER VI. THE FIRST CHARLESTON EXPEDITION. New Expedition. Sail to Port Royal. Department of the South. Camp at St. Helena. Battalion Drill. Sun- day-school Work. Oriental Scenery. "The Twins." Wine and Cards. Seabrook Island. A Thrilling Advance. An Evening Skirmish. Camping in the Rain. Scouting. First Attack on Charleston. Chaf- ing at Inaction. Outpost Life. Mammoth Mosquitoes. Prayer-meeting in the Woods. Another Separation. XIV CONTENTS. Lack of Oxygen. Work for Christ. College Mates. Excursions. Beauties of the Seabrook Place. An Exciting Reconnoissance. Again under Fire. Dodg- ing Bullets. Artillery Duel. Enjoyable Excitement of Danger. Commander Rodgers. Court - martial Service . 102 CHAPTER VII. JAMES ISLAND AND FORT WAGNER. A New Campaign. Chowder-party. Orders for a Move. Prayer -meeting on Shipboard. Landing at James Island. Watching Distant Battle. An Evening Ad- vance. Bewilderment on Picket. More Mosquitoes. Thoughtful Tenderness. Second Battle of James Island. Attack on the Pawnee. Taking to the Woods. Captain Rockwell's Battery. Colonel Shaw's (Fifty- fourth Massachusetts) Regiment. To Morris Island. Grand Bombardment. Assault on Wagner. Night Battle Scene. General Gillmore. Stopping Strag- glers. A Wail of Agony. Defeat. The Morning after Battle. Flag of Truce. Unfair Capture. Prisoners. Fort Sumter. Charleston Jail 127 CHAPTER VIII. PRISON LIFE AND ESCAPE. Prison Sensations. The Friends Separated. Gloomy Fore- bodings. From Charleston to Columbia. Affectionate Letter. Reunion in Jail. Prison Occupations. " De Mates." Thought Ruled Out. The Chaplain Re- leased. Sabbath Evening Reflections. Columbia and Hartford. Longings for Liberty. Plan of Escape. CONTENTS. XV Outfit. Parched Corn. Lay-figures. Moments of Waiting. Captain Chamberlain. Ivanhoe in the Kitchen. Corporal "Bull Head." Captain Senn. Nervous Work. Out and Off. Joy in Freedom. Trestle -walking. Refreshing Sleep. Fear of Detec- tion. A Long Way Round. Rain and Darkness. Spectral Ox-team. Blind Guide-posts. A Wet Lodg- ing. The Lazy Farmer. Kindness to Animals. Fire on the Hillside. Freshet. A Lost Day. Terror to Small Boys. A December Bath. Cheerless Waken- ings. Sabbath of Hope. An Unwelcome Attendant. Discovered. Prisoners Once More. Child's Opinion of Yankees. Politics. Soldiers' Graves. A Well- laden Table well Cleared. Gathering Broom-straw. Soft Pillow. Tied to the Saddle. Slip 'twixt Cup and Lip. Chesterville Jail. Yankee Menagerie. A New Jailer. Attempted Conversion. Worth of a Good Mother. Whittling. Lost Brother. Pepper Wash after a Flogging. Genuine Rebels. Again in Colum- bia. Close Confinement. Satisfaction in Effort. Box from Home. Grateful Acknowledgments ... 149 CHAPTER IX. LIBBY PRISON, CAMP PAROLE, HOME. The Regiment in Florida. Fears lest it should Fight. No Rest in Prison. Exchange Rumors. Egg-gatherers of the Orkneys. New Escape Plans. Tunneling. Dis- covery. Removal to Richmond. Ride through Rebeldom. A Night at Petersburg. Three Hundred Dollars for a Hack. Life at the Libby. Baked Mice. Amateur Cooking. Opening Boxes. Dead-lights. " Boat Up ! " Reading the Exchange List. Hamp, or Camp. Sensations of Liberty. Stewart Nos. i and 2. XVI CONTENTS. Leaving the Libby. Sick Privates. The Old Flag. The Regiment Moves Northward. Meeting of the Friends. A Week at Annapolis. Privileges of Free- dom. The Tenth at the Front. Camp at Home. Unselfish Anxiety 197 CHAPTER X. CAMPAIGNING WITH THE ARMY OF THE JAMES. Paroled Prisoners Exchanged. A Hasty Leave. Work of the Regiment. The Friends Reunited. Ride to the Front. Evidences of Disaster. Search for a Corps. Glad Greetings in Battle. Covering a Retreat. Flying Artillery. Calculating an Aim. A Long Campaign. A Good Correspondent. Love of Home. From Pray- ing to Fighting. Picket Skirmish. A Night of Peril. Explosive Bullets. -^-Volleys Preferred to Sharpshoot- ing. Bermuda Hundred Works. Major Trumbull's Battery. Dread of Inaction. Sounds from Cold Har- bor. Picket-duty. Danger on the Vedette Line. Sociable Pickets. Night Evacuation. Listening for Life. Exciting Advance. Capture of Prisoners. Hewlett's Redoubt. Fired at by Friends. The White Flag. Another Retreat Covered. Letter-writing under Difficulties. Severe Shelling. Moment of Expecta- tion. Attack Repulsed. Rare Descriptive Powers . 210 CHAPTER XI. NORTH OF THE JAMES. Crossing the James. Establishing Pickets by Night. Co- lumbia Acquaintances. A Hot Breakfast. Hair- breadth Escapes. Torrid Days. Stormy Nights. Nar- CONTENTS. Xvii row Escape. Uniform Cheerfulness. Strawberry Plains. In Reserve. Dangers of the Rear. Exposed Picket-line. Anxious Night. Busy Morning. Second Corps Advance. A Check. The Straw-hat Hero. Successful Flanking. Indian Warfare. Capture of a Deserter. A Military Execution. Forward Move- ment. A Week's Hard Fighting. Lost in the Woods. Brandishing Watermelon. Falling Back. Attacked while Retiring. Staying a Panic. Casualties in the Tenth. Night March and Countermarch 239 CHAPTER XII. IN THE PETERSBURG TRENCHES. Colonel Plaisted again in Command. Move from Deep Bottom. Night-marching. At the Appomattox Pon- toon. A Rainy Bivouac. Petersburg in Sight. De- serted Negro-camp. Burrowing for Quarters. Danger- ous Dining-place. Mortar-shelling by Night. Deadly Fascination. Weeks of Peril. Sharpshooting in the Trenches. Courageous Coffee-bearer. A Narrow Es- cape. Ricochet Shot. Presence of Death. Incidents of Picketing. Wounded Vedette. Sociability of Ene- mies. More Sharpshooting. A Miss as Good as a Mile. Rejoicing over Atlanta. Shotted Salutes. Rail- road Target. Longings for Rest. Promotion. With- drawal from Trenches. Halt at the Rear 271 CHAPTER XIII. LIFE AND DEATH BEFORE RICHMOND. From Petersburg to Deep Bottom. Tedious March. Gloomy Day-dawn. Battle of New Market Heights. General Terry's Approach to Richmond. Days of Ac- XV111 CONTENTS. tivity and Privation. Laurel Hill Skirmish. Happy Prisoner. Frightened Women. Captured Unionist. The Treasured Flag. Expired Enlistments. Flag of Truce. Wayside Prayer-meeting. A Morning Attack. Signs of Retreat. General Kautz's Flank Turned. Crash of Battle. The Wounded Skirmisher. Flying Infantry. Flanked but not Frightened. Victory Won. Even Terms. Seen through the Clouds. New Movement. Out and in Again.- Last Night of Life. The Death - morning. Darbytown Road. Brilliant Scene. Battle Opening. Preparing for an Assault. Thanking God in Peril. " Good-by." Deadly Race. The Final Charge. " I do Believe." The Death-shot. Last Look at the Flag. Left on the Field. Flag of Truce. Recovery of Body.-; Generous Enemy . . . 286 CHAPTER XIV. MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. Sad Journey Homeward. Funeral Services. Official Testi- mony of Colonel John L. Otis. Tribute of General Joseph R. Hawley of Mr. E. G. H olden of Mr. Charles Dudley Warner of his Law Instructor of his Brigade Commander. A Noble Record. Its Glorious Close. Yale Commemorative Celebration. Dr. Bush- nell's Oration. "Young Lycidas." Enduring Record by Hartford Citizens. A Matchless Knight. Portrait in Yale's Alumni Hall 309 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Portrait of Major Henry W. Camp Frontispiece FULL -PAGE WOODCUTS. OPPOSITE PAGE Camp of Tenth Connecticut Regiment, at Annapolis. From pencil sketch by H. W. Camp 42 Richland Jail, Columbia, S. C., from the Yard. From pencil sketch by H. W. Camp 161 Officers' Quarters in Richland Jail. From pencil sketch by H. W. Camp 194 Earthworks across Darbytown Road near Richmond, Va. From pencil sketch by H . Clay Trumbull . . . 300 ILLUSTRATIVE HEAD AND TAIL PIECES. PAGE Badge of Ninth Army Corps 47 Double-Turret Monitor 102 Sea Face of Fort Wagner 1 27 Charleston Jail 149 Libby Prison 197 Badges of Tenth and Eighteenth Army Corps 210 Pontoon Bridge across the James River 239 In the Petersburg Trenches 271 Monument to Major Camp, in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hart- ford, Conn 323 xix CHAPTER I. CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL-DAYS. EVER was there a great conflict in which personal character exhibited itself more nobly in heroic daring and in tireless endurance, than in the American Civil War of 1 86 1 to 1865. The best men of the North and the South were in that conflict. Impelled by high principle they gave their whole selves to a life-and-death struggle in behalf of that which, as they saw it, was worth living and dying for. And for their living and dying their country and their race are the better. History makes prominent the personality and ser- vices of the great leaders in that struggle ; but history does not note the story of representative individuals out of the great host of those who never rose to high command, but who by their character and work made the great achievements of the greatest commanders a possibility. Yet it is only in the understanding of the personality and services of such men as these that the 2 THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. great conflict itself can be fully understood, or the forces which operated for its conclusion can be rightly estimated. The young soldier whose story is here told can fairly be taken as a representative of the best class of Christian men of education and refinement who kept step to the music of the Union, in following the flag of their country through the vicissitudes of the Civil War, until the need or the possibility of their march- ing and fighting was at an end. Although only a subaltern until within a few weeks of his death, and at no time having a higher position than that of a regimental field-officer, he had an experience in cam- paigning and battles that transcended the service of veterans in the principal European wars of this genera- tion. His personality, as well as his service, was of exceptional note. From childhood he impressed those who knew him for his moral beauty, his intellectual power, and his commanding personal presence, " as a splendid specimen of a physical, intellectual, and Chris- tian man;" and at his death his regimental com- mander affirmed that "the service never suffered a heavier loss in an officer of his grade," while the com- mander of his brigade said, " Our cause cannot boast a nobler martyr." Henry Ward Camp was born at Hartford, Connecti- cut, February 4, 1839. His father, the Rev. Henry B. Camp, was at that time a professor in the American INHERITED QUALITIES. 3 Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb; having been, in the earlier years of his ministry, pastor of the Congrega- tional Church at North Branford, Connecticut. His mother, Cornelia L. Baldwin, was a woman of ex- ceptional vigor of mind and tenderness of heart ; while his father was of a peculiarly retiring disposition, although not wanting in strength of personal char- acter. From his parents young Camp inherited those qualities of mind and heart that showed themselves in his rare combination of gentle and unbending firmness, and of shrinking modesty coupled with moral fearless- ness, of almost feminine sweetness of spirit, and mas- culine courage and determination. And to the wise training and the Christian faithfulness of his parents he was indebted for the full development of these inherited traits in their most delightful symmetry. Unusually gentle and retiring, even for a child, he shunned the boisterous companionship of city boys, and clung to his home, contented with its quiet occu- pations, and satisfied in its enjoyments. He learned to read almost unaided, and from four years of age he found his chief enjoyment in books. His love of read- ing was so great, that, after he had devoured all the children's books in the house, he resorted to those far beyond his years. He gained an excellent knowledge of history before taking it up as a study, and was always fond of books of travel. Too close devotion to reading, with too little outdoor exercise, began to affect his head seriously ; and he was so troubled by 4 THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. somnambulism that, during his eighth year, he was sent to Durham, Connecticut, to spend some time with his grandfather on a farm, where books were entirely .forbidden him. This rest to his brain, with the exer- cise and other advantages of country life, quite re- established his health ; and, after a few months, he returned reinvigorated to his home. An early observed peculiarity of young Camp's character was the exquisite sensitiveness of his con- science, amounting almost to a morbid dread of trans- gression. He shrank from every appearance of evil, and was oppressed by a fear of doing wrong. When he was five years old, a sister was born to him. As he first looked at the baby treasure with childish joy and wonderment, a shade of thought came over his face, and he went alone from his mother's room. On his return his mother asked him where he had been. " I've been, mama," he said, " to pray to God that I may never hurt the soul of dear little sister." And this incident is in keeping with his whole course in boyhood. At six years of age he exercised himself in writing a little book of sermons, taking a text, and making on it brief comments as striking and original as the em- ployment was unique for a boy of his years. In look- ing over the manuscript, his good mother observed frequent blanks where the name of God should appear. Inquiring the reason of these omissions, Henry in- formed her that he had feared he was not feeling just BEGINNINGS IN SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 5 right while he was writing, and, lest he should take the name of God in vain by using it then, he had left the blanks in its stead. The strictest letter of the Jewish law could scarcely exact more reverent use of the ineffable name of Jehovah than was demanded by the tender conscience of this pure-minded boy*. This fear of transgressing induced habits of self- examination and introspection which gave the boy no little discomfort. His rigid scrutiny of motive and purpose, with his discriminating review of each out- ward act, revealed to him such imperfections of thought or deed that he sometimes suffered keenly from his merciless self-reproaches. His earliest Sunday-school teacher was Mrs. Roswell Brown, the veteran principal of the infant class in the Sunday-school of the Center Church in Hartford, of which Dr. Joel Hawes was then pastor. In one of his little notes to her, young Camp said, with his characteristic sensitiveness, " I am some- times afraid I shall love you better than I do my mother. I don't think I do, but I am afraid I shall." " Mrs. Brown," he said, one Sunday morning, as he took his place by her side, " I am afraid I did wrong last Sunday. While you were talking to us all, I wrote my sister Cornelia's name with my finger on the seat. I didn't think it was wrong then ; but I've thought it was, since, and I've wanted to tell you of it." No misdeed of his during four years' stay in that infant- class was greater than the one thus candidly confessed. That teacher says of him, with warmth, " I had nearly 6 THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. four hundred and fifty children under my care in that room, but never but one Henry Camp." Yet, in spite of his quickly reminding and often - accusing conscience, young Camp was of cheerful tem- perament, and he richly enjoyed life. His refined and always* unselfish sensitiveness made him only more considerate of others, and he was the light of a happy home even while his chief enjoyment was found in the family circle. No laugh was more merry than his, and no one did more than he to provoke a merry and timely laugh. With the exception of a few weeks at the district school, he studied at home until he was ten years old. Then he entered the Hartford Public High School, which he attended for six years. It was there that he first mingled actively with his fellows. Although he did not seek to lead, he found himself ahead. His comrades looked up to him. In the recitation-room, the playground, and the gymnasium, he was a pattern. Loving outdoor sports and athletic exercises, he prac- ticed and strengthened his muscular powers until his form and figure were a type of his compacted and well-rounded intellectual development. "There was a charm about him even then, which attracted all who knew him," says Mr. S. M. Capron, one of his high-school teachers. " I never had a pupil who possessed a purer character, or more com- pletely won the respect, and even admiration, of his teachers. He despised everything mean, everything ENTERING COLLEGE. / vulgar; and his generosity and manliness in his inter- course with other boys made him a general favorite among them. He was remarkably truthful also, and this never from a fear of consequences, but with a spontaneity which showed that truth was at the founda- tion of his character. As a scholar he was very faith- ful, accurate, and prompt in his recitations ; especially copious and rich in his choice of words; of superior talent as a writer. No one stood above him in his class ; and he took some prizes, while in the school, for English composition and other exercises. But it was chiefly his uncommon nobleness of character which made him conspicuous then, as in later years." In the summer of 1855, Camp passed an examina- tion for admission to Yale as a Freshman. But as he was yet only sixteen, and had been so long in seldom intermitted study, his judicious parents strongly ad- vised his waiting another year before entering on his collegiate course. The disappointment to him was severe; yet he yielded gracefully, as always, to the judgment of his parents, and for a twelvemonth occu- pied himself in outdoor exercise, in attention to pencil- sketching, and in the study of French and German. He joined the Freshman Class of Yale in September, 1856. Then commenced his life away from the home he had so dearly loved, and in the possession of which he had been so favored. Then, first, he was obliged to forgo the privilege of speaking in all freedom of 8 THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. rhe experiences of each day to those whose sympathy and affection were not to be doubted. It was not long after he entered college, that he sought a new tie with his loved ones at home, in a public recognition of the tie that bound them all to a common Saviour, by making an open confession of his faith in that Saviour. It was during his spring vacation, in 1857, that he connected himself with the North Congregational Church, at Hartford, of which his parents were then members, under the pastorate of the eminent Dr. Horace Bushneil. That good pastor writes with enthusiasm of this young parishioner, as he knew him from childhood to the close of his life : " It was my privilege to know this young patriot and soldier from his childhood up. The freshly vigor- ous, wonderfully lustrous, unsoiled look he bore in his childhood, made it consciously a kind of pleasure to pass him, or catch the sight of his face in the street. I do not recall ever having had such an impression, or one so captivating for its moral beauty, from any other child. And it was just as great a satisfaction to see him grow as it was to see him. I used to watch the progress of his lengthening form as I passed him, saying inwardly still, 'Well, thank God, it is the beauti- ful childhood that is growing, and not he that is out- growing his childhood/ "The noble man-soul was evident enough in the child, and when it was bodied forth in his tall, mas- DR. BUSHNELLS TRIBUTE. 9 sive, especially manly person, it was scarcely more so. Indeed, the real man of the child was never bodied forth, and never could be, without a history of many years, such as we fondly hoped for him, but shall never behold. He died, in fact, with his high, bright future shut up in him, it will only come out among the angels of God; and, I doubt not, will make a really grand figure there. Seldom have they hailed the advent among them, I think, of a youth whose kinship, and peership and hero-life begun, they will more gladly acknowledge. Indeed, I have never been able to keep it out of my mind, since I first heard of his death, that there was some too great aptness in him for a place among these couriers and squadrons of glory. It seems to be a kind of extravagance to say this, but I know not how otherwise to describe real impressions. He was such a man as, going into a crowd of strangers, would not only attract general attention by his person, by his noble figure and the fine classic cut of his features, by the cool, clear beaming of his intelligence, by the visible repose of his justice, by a certain, almost superlative sweetness of modesty; but there was, above all, an impression of intense PURITY in his looks, that is almost never seen among men, and which everybody must and would distinctly feel. " But I am only describing here what others felt as truly as I, and could describe, if they would, much better than I ; though, perhaps, the acquaintance I IO THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. had with Henry's interiorly personal character and struggles in the matter of religion may have prepared me to note more distinctly than some others would the signs outwardly appearing. He came to me a great many times, from his early childhood onward, to lay open his troubles, and obtain spiritual direction. My conviction, from the very first, was, that I had nothing to do with him but to put him in courage, and enable him to say, 'I believe.' I never saw him when I did not think he was a Christian, and I do not believe that he ever saw himself early enough to properly think otherwise. Still, he did think other- wise much longer than I wished. The difficulty was to get him away from the tyranny of his conscience. It was so delicate and stedfast and strong, that his faith could not get foothold to stand. I feared many times that he was going to be preyed upon all his life long by a morbid conscience. Still there was a manly force visible, even in his childhood; and I contrived, in what ways I could, to get that kindled by a free inspiration. To get him under impulse, afterwards, for the war, was not half as difficult, all the less difficult that the point of my endeavor was already carried ; for, having now become the soldier of Christ, by a clear and conscious devotion, he had only to extend that soldiership for the kingdom of heaven's sake. "As far as he was concerned, the kingdom of heaven was not worsted when he fell ; but the loss to DISAPPOINTMENT AND HOPE. II his country and his comrades in arms was certainly great, greater than most of us will know. Besides, it is a great and sore disappointment to us all, that we are cut off abruptly from that noble and high future we had begun to hope for him. Let us believe that he can have as high a future where he is, and resign him gladly to it ! " CHAPTER II. COLLEGE LIFE. >IS outdoor life, with its active exercise, in his year of waiting to enter college, had prepared young Camp for an active inter- est in college athletics, and his fine phy- sique and bounding health made him a man of mark in that sphere. Boating was his special delight, and in his Junior year he was a member of the University crew that represented Yale at the Worcester regatta, in July, 1859. That regatta was an era in his life, and its influence was important in shaping his whole future course. In it he first realized the keen enjoyment of exciting endeavor, and attained the satisfaction of accomplish- ing something, through the straining of every nerve in a contest with his fellows, while stayed by the con- sciousness that he held the honor of those whom he loved in his keeping. He gave himself up to the struggle, both in preparation and performance, with his whole heart and soul, and seemed to secure thereby a relish and a fitness for such work as that to which he 12 YALE AND HARVARD BOATING MEN. 13 was subsequently called for his country. A ring made from the gold of the regatta prize, he wore to the last, refusing to part with it, even at an extravagant price, when most pinched for the comforts of life in a Southern prison; and it was finally drawn from his finger by an enemy, when he lay in death on the field of his last battle. The Yale and the Harvard crews in the Worcester races of '59 were: Yale. Harvard. H. S. Johnson (stroke), C. Crowninshield (stroke). Charles T. Stanton, Jr. W. H. Forbes. Henry W. Camp. E. G. Abbott. Joseph H. Twichell. H. S. Russell. Charles H. Owen. J. H. Wales. Frederick H. Cotton. J. H. Ellison (bow). Hezekiah Watkins (cockswain). It is a noteworthy fact, that every man of the Yale crew, and a majority of those from Harvard, were subsequently in the Union army. Of Johnson, Camp wrote, when he met him in North Carolina on the staff of General Ferry : " He is an aide, ranking as lieutenant, very nice little position, left the signal corps some time since to take it. Signaling, he didn't like at aH, no fighting, slim business, at it through the whole Peninsular cam- paign, and was heartily sick of it. At Fair Oaks, he volunteered on some general's staff, and went in lively time horse shot under him. That was more like it." Stanton, as captain in the Twenty-first Con- 14 THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. necticut Regiment, was wounded at Drewry's Bluff. He was subsequently commissioned lieutenant-colonel, but was mustered out in consequence of the severity of his wound. Owen, Camp's early playmate, school- fellow, and always attached friend, was in the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, and later on the staff of General Robert O. Tyler, receiving at Cold Harbor a wound, the effects of which he must carry to his grave. The stalwart arms of Stanton and Owen were often admired by enthusiastic boatmen in the days of col- lege racing. The right arm of Stanton and the left of Owen dropped powerless by their sides in the same good service for their country. For three years, Twichell filled with rare usefulness and acceptance the chaplaincy of the Second Regiment in General Daniel E. Sickles's Excelsior Brigade, of New York. Colton, as an army surgeon, had Owen under his skil- ful charge at the Douglass Hospital, in Washington. Watkins fought nobly as colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-third New York Regiment. Crowninshield and Forbes are, at the writing of this, colonel and lieutenant-colonel of the Second Massachusetts Cav- alry, the former command of the lamented General Lowell. Abbott fell at Cedar Mountain, while Rus- sell, going out a captain in the Second Massachusetts Infantry, returned the colonel of a colored cavalry regiment. A noble record of noble men ! The story of the Worcester regatta, and of Henry Camp's part in it, can best be told in the words of TWICHELL'S STORY OF THE REGATTA. 15 brave and hearty " Joe Twichell," who pulled an oar in the Yale boat, and who was, like Camp, a soldier of Christ and of country in the nation's life-struggle. " In looking back to Henry Camp, as I knew him in college, it is impossible not to recall his singular physical beauty. The memory of it harmonizes very pleasantly with the memory of his beautiful daily life. Each became the other so well, while they were joined, that, though now his body has gone to dust, I find, while musing on my friend, an unusual delight in con- tinuing to associate them. He furnishes a perfect example of the truth, ' Virtus pulchrior e pulchro corpore veniensj His handsome face, his manly bearing, and his glorious strength, made that rare gentleness and goodness which won our love the more illustrious. I well remember, while in college, riding out one day with a classmate of his, and passing him, as, erect and light of foot, he strode lustily up a long hill, and the enthusiasm with which my comrade pronounced this eulogy, 'There's Henry Camp, a perfect man, who never did anything to hurt his body or his soul ! ' That was before I knew him well ; for, as I have inti- mated, we were not in the same class : but what I heard and saw, made me so desirous of a better ac- quaintance, that when, in the summer of '59, our crew was made up for the college regatta, to take place at Worcester, and it fell out that he was assigned to duty in the boat, as No. 3, while I was No. 4, I was more than pleased. 1 6 THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. "The six weeks of training that followed, culminat- ing in the grand contest, witnessed by far the greater part of all our personal intercourse, for after that time our paths diverged. That was the last term of my senior year, and the end was not far off. We parted on Commencement Day ; and though I afterward heard from him, especially of the fame of his soldiership, and hoped to see him, we met again no more than once or twice. But, at the distance of five eventful years, the news of his death struck me with a sense of my be- reavement, so deep and painful, that, looking back to those six weeks, I could not realize that they were nearly all I had intimately shared with him. Nor am I alone in this : I know of others, whose private memories of Henry Camp, as limited as mine, stir in their hearts, at every thought of his grave, the true lament, ' Alas, my brother ! ' "During the training season of which I speak, the crew had, of course, very much in common. We ate at the same table, and took our exercise at the same hours ; so passing considerable part of every day together, besides the time we sat at our oars. Our hopes and fears were one, our ardor burned in one flame ; we used even to dream almost the same dreams. The coming regatta was our ever-present stimulus. To win, there was nothing higher in the world. It quickens the pulse even now to remember how splendid success then appeared. " Camp gave himself up to the work in hand with TRAINING FOR THE RACE. I/ that same enthusiasm of devotion that carried him to the forefront of battle on the day of his glorious death. He was always prompt, always making sport of dis- comforts, always taking upon himself more than his own share of the hard things. Severe training in mid- summer is something more than a pastime. It abounds in both tortures of the body, and exasperations of mind, as all boating men bear witness. Under them, not all of us, at all times, kept our patience; but Camp never lost his. Not a whit behind the best in spirit and in zeal, he maintained under all circumstances a serenity that seemed absolutely above the reach of disturbing causes. The long, early morning walk into the country, the merciless rigors of diet, the thirst but half slaked, the toil of the gymnasium, the weary miles down the Bay, under the cockswain's despotism, the return to childhood's bed-time, and other attendant afflictions, often outweighed the philosophy of all but No. 3. He remained tranquil, and diligently obeyed all the rules ; serving as a sort of balance-wheel among us, neutralizing our variableness, and making many a rough place smooth. He had a presence, almost the happiest I ever saw, and a temper that betrayed no shady side. He carried all his grace with him everywhere, and had a way of shedding it on every minute of an hour, no less on little matters than on great, that gave his company an abiding charm, and his influence a constant working power; and so he went on working with all his might for the college, 1 8 THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. doing us good daily, gaining that skill and muscle which afterward enabled him to pull so brave an oar through the stormy waves of Hatteras. " He had soldierly ways about him then. Discipline was his delight, and coolness never deserted him. We were upset one day, in deep water, under a bridge; and, at first, each struck out for land, till Camp, re- maining in mid-stream, called us back to look after the boat, which was too frail a structure to be left to chance floating. That Hatteras exploit, when we heard of it, did not seem at all strange. It was just like him to volunteer, and still more like him to be the last man to give up what was undertaken. "At last the day came, the day big with fate, dreaded, yet longed for. Noon of July 26 found us sitting in our good boat, 'Yale/ on the beautiful Lake Quinsigamond, near Worcester, ready, at the starting goal, for the signal to ' give way.' The waters of the lake glittered and dimpled under the summer sky, as if mocking our deep cares with levity. Each grasped his oar, and, though it was a vain attempt, tried to be calm. A mile and a half away up between the woody banks fluttered the white flag that marked the turning- goal. Beside us was the ' Harvard ' and her splendid crew, gentlemanly fellows, whom we had liked at sight. There was also in the line a boat from Brown University, with a son of Adoniram Judson at one of the oars. The grace of generosity presides most happily over those congresses of youth, and keeps out THE FIRST DAYS RACE. ig bitterness from their rivalries, or did, at least, in our day. Many thousands of spectators clustered on either shore, among whom were hundreds of college men, all eager and emulous, but with no stirring of bad blood. But the bustle of the crowd did not reach us as we sat watching the slow preliminaries of the judges and umpire. We only heard the music of the bands, which then seemed a call to battle, almost as much so as the terrible bugles that nearly all of us were destined yet to hear. At last the suspense was ended. The first signal gun sent its sharp echo to the neigh- boring hills, 'Ready to give way!' Every oar quivered in its place. A second gun, whose echoes we did not hear, ' Give way all ! ' and we were off. " In twenty minutes, the first day's race was over. All the college-boating world knows we were beaten in it, and that, at evening, Harvard bore into Worcester, with songs and shouting, the colors that pertained to victory. We shook hands all round, the two crews, and tried to appear to take it easy on both sides, though it was not, of course, exactly in the same mood that we returned to our quarters, and our friends to theirs. But Yale was used 'to it, and so was Har- vard. It was the old thing over again : the Fortune that prospers oars was too coy to be propitiated by us. Yet we had hoped for a change : undoubtedly we had expected it. Then was Henry Camp a refresh- ment to us. He had done his best, he was disap- pointed ; but he radiated a quiet resignation that was 2O ^ THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. contagious. It was a comfort to talk with No. 3 that night. "The next day there was to be another regatta given by the city of Worcester, open to all comers. The Harvard men had signified their willingness to try it again with us ; but we were not immediately of one mind, and did not jump at the offer. Worthy as our rivals were, it was not pleasant being beaten by them; nor was the desperate work of a three-mile race, at mid-day, in July, to be coveted for itself: yet it gave us and Alma Mater one more chance, and that was not lightly to be thrown away. Camp's counsel was unhesitating and spirited. He was for re-entering the lists from the first instant it was proposed; and so it came to pass, that we took heart of grace : and noon of the morrow found us again on the lake, grasping our oars and waiting the signal. "This time there was no boat against us but the 'Harvard.' An accident early in the first race had disabled the representative of Brown, and she was withdrawn, not to appear again. The same fair multi- tude, shining in bright summer attire, was gathered to witness the scene. Signs of the previous day's event were not wanting. On land and water, the Harvard head was high, as was not unmeet; but our fellows among the crowd observed a modest demeanor, and we in the boat were not disposed to vaunt ourselves. We hoped, however, to make at least a closer affair of it than the other was. THE SECOND DAY'S RACE. 21 " Once more we were off with a mighty clamor from the shore, each boat struggling for the lead. 'Yale' won it. None but a boating man knows the glorious excitement excitement without wildness that then leaped through our arms into the oars. Henry .Camp himself afterward said that his first battle did not sur- pass it. Everything went well with us, and we reached the mile-and-a-half goal four good lengths ahead; but the * Harvard ' made a splendid turn, and we darted away on the home stretch, almost bow and bow. The fortune of the day trembled in even balances : less than ten minutes would decide it. ' Pull ! ' cried our cockswain, as if for his life ; and we heard the Harvard stroke inspiring his fellows with brave words. Then came the hot, momentous work, the literal agony. Those twelve men will never forget it, though it is doubtful if any can or could recall it in detail, minute by minute, short as it was. There is an indistinctness about it in my memory at least; and the last half-mile is especially cloudy. It would not be easy to describe it. Most accounts of boat-races, like that in 'Tom Brown at Oxford,' are from the standpoint of a looker- on, rather than an actor. The real tragedy is in the boat. "The near neighborhood of the other contestant, not so much seen as felt ; the occasional sidewise gleam of red from the handkerchiefs the Harvard men wore about their heads ; the burning exhortations of the cockswain, gradually rising in pitch of intensity, 22 THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. and settling at last upon the formula, ' Pull, if you die ! ' the pain of continued utmost exertion ; the vari- ous mental phenomena, some of which were strange enough; and, as we neared the goal, the vociferous greetings of the first little groups of spectators, a vague sound in the ears, we scarcely thought what it was, except a sweet token of the end at hand ; then, a little farther on, the cry of the great multitude, neutral- ized as a distraction by the cockswain's deepening pas- sion ; the order to quicken the stroke, the final ' spurt ; ' all these remain indelible impressions of that frag- ment of an hour in 1859; but, like the impressions that survive a stormy dream, they are not orderly or clear. " I doubt if any one remembers the command to stop. For a minute or two, there was utter collapse. Each bowed upon his oar, with every sense suspended through exhaustion : but, thanks to the training, one after another revived, and sat upright, and blessed himself; for all knew, though rather confusedly, that we had done well in entering that race. To our looks of inquiry, the cockswain, whose thunder-bolts had suddenly dissolved in sunshine, made this sufficient reply, ' We've got 'em ! ' It had come at last ! Hurrah, hurrah for Yale ! We wanted the voice of ten thou- sand wherewith to vent our hearts, and the shore supplied it. We looked around: the 'Harvard 'was slowly making for the land. To us it was permitted by custom to go before the spectators, and receive their congratulations. As, with easy oar, we pulled THE JOY OF VICTORY. 23 our proud boat along either border of the lake, the applause that rose in a great wave to meet us was probably the sweetest taste of glory our lives will have t afforded. In our young eyes, nothing could be more magnificent than our victory; and it seemed like an old Olympic triumph. "When we landed, the Cambridge crew, though their philosophy was much more grievously taxed than was ours the day before, gave us honest hands and made us handsome speeches, to which we properly responded, or at least wished we could. Altogether, they took defeat in such a manly way, that we felt very anxious to refrain from all victorious airs in their presence, and to conduct ourselves with the utmost magnanimity. "The telegraph soon sent the news home to Alma Mater, and that night there was jubilee in New Haven; but all of us, save the cockswain, abode in Worcester till the next morning. Then the Harvard men went north, and the Yale men south, and fair Quinsigamond was vacant of college keels for another year. It was Commencement Day ; and, returning crowned, we were welcomed under the elms in a manner peculiar to col- legians : but from that hour our close alliance was broken. Two or three went down to put up the boat; but the six never sat together again. " It is pleasant now to see, that through those youth- ful rivalries, useful as they were in themselves, God was raising up strength for nobler work than we pro- 24 THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. posed or could imagine. As we stretched away at our practice down the Bay, we never thought of war, or battle, or the great service of liberty that would soon call for thews of hardy men. Looking back to those warm afternoons when we used to disembark for a respite, and sit upon the ruined wall of old Fort Hale, and wonder how it seemed in those early days when Yalensians were called out from college halls to fight in the field, I cannot realize that then and now are less than six years apart. "Strange things have happened since. The voice of the cockswain has been heard at the head of his regiment on many a bloody field. The stroke has followed the flag ever since the fall of Sumter, and came very near death on the Peninsula. The iron right arm of No. 2 is maimed for life by a shot through the elbow. No. 5 will likewise carry to his grave the weakness of a wound. But No. 3 fell, and lay dead. Can it be ? can it be ? This is strangest of all. Yet it is not, perhaps, altogether strange that a sacrifice so fair and so truly consecrated should prove acceptable to God, and be consumed. There is comfort for our grief. 'Our Knights are dust; Their good swords rust ; Their souls are with the saints, we trust.' " Yale College did much for Henry Camp, and he was never unmindful of the fact. He was graduated COLLEGE ESTIMATES. 25 with high honors in July, 1860, but he could never feel that his graduation severed his connection with his college home. He loved always to tell of, and to think over, his experiences there ; and he watched with hearty interest the subsequent career of his classmates. Most warmly he greeted any of these whom he en- countered in army service ; and, even while a prisoner within the enemy's lines, he acknowledged an existing bond between himself and each son of his Alma Mater seen there. Only a few months before his death he remarked that the only public sentiment to which he was ever keenly sensitive was that of college. His extreme modesty prevented his ever dreaming how highly he was esteemed, and how warmly he was be- loved, by his fellow-students. The valedictorian of his class writes of him : " I had profound respect and admiration for him as a classmate. He was frank, wise, clear and pure minded, changeless in friendship. We his classmates feel deeply the diminution of mental and moral power suffered in his loss. The sum total of the class is less by a vast amount. As a positive power, as a man, as a friend, we esteemed him highly. I almost envy you the task of delineating the character of one so pure, noble, and manly. It is a priceless remembrance, the friendship of such a man." Says another classmate : "A character so noble, a life so pure, a heart so warm with kind impulses, and a manner replete with 26 THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. the gentle courtesies of friendship, could not fail to win the love and esteem of us all." Yet another, who knew him well, adds : " I dare say he had faults ; but I never saw them. I know of nothing in his life I would correct." As showing the power of his Christian example during his college course, one who sat by his side in the chapel and at recitation gives this narration : "On entering college, I was wholly without hope and without God in the world. I was beyond the reach of any power except the power of Jesus. I do not know whether I believed the Bible or not I did not hesitate to ridicule such parts of it as my inclina- tions, urged on by such a state, prompted. I could sit in a prayer-meeting in the revival of '58, when nearly all my classmates were giving testimony of the power of God to send hope and peace to despairing souls, wholly unmoved. I could even smile at the emotions there expressed. Camp was my companion through college more than any other member of the class. He was by my side at recitation and in the chapel during the entire four years. I saw in him a character and a life I had never seen before. By his life I was forced to admit that his profession was per se no libel on the Master in whose service he was. " I do not recollect what part of our college life it was when he first spoke to me on the subject of my soul's salvation. It was not, however, till after his up- right and godly life had forced from me the most pro- PERSONAL INFLUENCE. 2/ found respect for him and the Saviour to whom he prayed. He said very little ; but he said enough to lead me to think over my past life, and to cast a glance at the future. I shall never forget the impression that first conversation had upon my mind. It was not so much what he said, as the way he said it. He be- lieved he was setting forth God's truth, and spoke as if he knew it was so. I believed that he knew it was true, though unable to explain how he became con- scious of it. This I pondered, and felt that he had evidences that had been withheld from me. He spoke with me only a few times on this wise, but every time with telling effect. I could not help thinking of it ; and after we were parted, and I had lost his com- panionship, I made his thoughts the companions of my lonely hours. I began to love him more than ever, and with love for him grew the love of the same Lord whom he loved and served. The conflict to me was a severe one; and how I longed to meet him, and converse with him ! "Passing through New Haven when first on his way to his regiment, he left on my table a line to this effect: ' DEAR B. : Sorry to have missed seeing you. Good-by, God bless you ! HENRY W. CAMP.' "I would have given a fortune to have seen him for an hour ! I had not at that time revealed my feelings 28 THE KNIGHTLY SOLDIER. to any one, and felt that he alone was fit to receive them. I wrote to him, and his letters supplied in part the loss I felt. Not a day since we parted, I venture to say, has he not been in my mind. I cannot but feel that he was the instrument chosen of God to un- veil the darkness that shut out the light from my soul. I fear that, had I never known him, I had never known the love of God, nor welcomed the glad enjoyment of a Christian experience." His classmate E. G. Holden thus sums up the col- lege estimate of Camp : "Those who were members of the class which graduated at Yale College, in the year 1860, can bear ample testimony to that earnest Christian manhood, that sincere and faithful performance of every duty, that quiet, simple, childlike assertion of purity of mind, that magnanimity and generosity, and that courtesy of manner, which made Henry Camp a hero at every period and every position of his life. "The influence which he exerted in the class by this moral force was most wonderful, and none the less so because he was totally unconscious of its existence. He wielded his scepter without displaying it, and (except that he knew on general principles that sin- cerity of purpose always asserts its prerogatives) with- out knowing that he held the scepter. He was not, at least until his Senior year, what is called a 'popular' man. While invariably and impulsively a gentleman, CHARACTER AND LIFE. 2Q and demonstratively kind in his demeanor toward every person he had to do with, his intimacies were few. Not only were his natural sensitiveness and retiring disposition an obstacle to a free general ac- quaintance, but his intensity of feeling was doubtless gratified by concentrating his friendship on a few chosen companions. And yet without exertion, and by the unpretending grandeur of his character, he won not only the respect, but the profound love, of his classmates, to an extent of which he had no idea. His conscientiousness was never intrusive. No one dreamed of his being a paragon, any more than they dreamed of his being inconsistent, not with his pro- fessions (for he never made any), but with his former invariable practice. 'To know him once and under any circumstances/ says an intimate friend, 'was to know him always; for he was always the same.' " He was not a pretentious scholar. His recitations were not characterized by a flashing repetition of the text, perhaps not always by a quick perception of the meaning, but invariably by a quiet self-possession that was evidently founded on a thorough, profound, and solid comprehension of what he had been studying, whether it had been acquired by an intuitive knowl- edge, or by close and energetic application. Although occupying a fine position on the list of honors, he might have stood much higher had he not deliberately chosen partially to devote himself to other things which he deemed equally useful. Books outside of 3