LIFE IN WASHINGTON
In October, 1850, Major Stevens moved his wife and little ones to
Washington, and took quarters at Mrs. Kelley's on Eighteenth Street,
opposite Lafayette Square, in a large, spacious brick house, known as
the club-house. Here also lived General Talcott, of the ordnance,
Colonel Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Senator McWillie, of Mississippi, and
Representative Burt, of South Carolina, with their families, and
Commodore Matthew C. Perry, soon to become famous for opening Japan to
the commerce and intercourse of the world. The latter took a great fancy
to the little Sue, a sprightly, graceful child, and used to keep a store
of candy in his room for her especial benefit. They were all cultivated
and agreeable people, who lived together harmoniously and pleasantly,
and with social calls, receptions, and parties the winter passed off
rapidly. They enjoyed, too, the pleasant intimacy and cordial sympathy
of their Portsmouth friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, and Mr. and Mrs. Coues,
who were now living in Washington.
During this winter Major Stevens took up the fourteen years' bill, a
measure to promote lieutenants of engineers, topographical engineers,
and ordnance to the rank of captain after fourteen years' service, with
the same energy and thoroughness that characterized his efforts to
procure for officers on duty according to brevet rank the full pay of
such rank. He first induced the officers of these corps in Washington to
agree upon the proposed bill, and to unite in actively supporting it,
no small task, for there was much jealousy between them, and different
schemes for benefiting one or another corps. How he enlisted the
coöperation of officers at other stations will be seen from the
following letter to Lieutenant M.C. Meiggs, afterwards major-general and
quartermaster-general of the army:--
DEAR MEIGGS,--The inclosed memorial, asking that lieutenants of
engineers, topographical engineers, and ordnance be promoted to the
rank of captain after fourteen years' service, was introduced into
the Senate yesterday and referred to the Military Committee.
We are all of us determined to do our best to get this measure
through. We are all acting with great unanimity. The idea is not to
touch the question of the increase of either corps, or the
equalization of the third corps. It is simply a measure of relief
for the old lieutenants, and we ask for it for the reasons stated in
the memorial.
We must urge the measure especially on the ground that there is no
characteristic duty for the particular grades, but that with the
proposed promotion not only will all our captains, but many of the
lieutenants, have the same duties essentially as field officers.
The chiefs of our three corps have been consulted and approve our
course. The Secretary of War is also favorable and advises us to
this action. General Shields will strongly support it.
Every man must help in this business, if he approves of it. The
committee desires each officer to correspond without delay with such
members of Congress as he personally knows, and lay before them at
length the grounds why this measure of relief should become a law.
Let me hear from you soon, and let us all put our shoulders to the
wheel. If each officer can carry conviction to the understanding of
one member of Congress, the measure will prevail.
His friend, General Shields, then senator from Illinois, presented the
memorial and advocated the bill in the Senate with hearty goodwill. The
young major of engineers lost no suitable opportunity of impressing
other members with the justice of the measure, and his earnest and
forcible language, straightforward sincerity, and rising reputation for
character and ability made him always listened to with attention and
respect. He enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing the bill become a law in
1853, and of receiving the well-earned thanks and plaudits of his
brother officers.
The subject of the reorganization of the army, which ever since the
Mexican war held first place in his thoughts and correspondence, now
engrossed his attention more than ever. His enlarged views, patriotic
spirit, and generous nature abhorred the personal and corps jealousies
too rife among army officers. He was emphatically an army man, not a
corps man, seeking the best for the whole army and the country, and not
the advancement of his corps or himself. Accordingly he corresponded on
this subject with officers of every branch of the service, and
especially with those who had served on the frontier; for he rightly
foresaw that the most important duties devolving upon the army would be
the exploration of the vast regions acquired by the Mexican war, and the
protection of the settlers thereon. By this correspondence he sought to
draw out and gather the views of the ablest and most experienced
officers, in order to unite them upon, and to formulate, a sound scheme
of army reorganization, and to impress it upon the country and Congress.
He wrote very many letters setting forth his own views, and urging other
officers to treat upon one or another branch of the subject, or to
pursue some line of inquiry, and called upon them freely to look up
authorities and collect information. Thus he induced Major H.J. Hunt to
prepare valuable papers upon artillery and army reorganization in
general. He begs Captain Kendrick to prepare a memoir on the New Mexico
military problem; Lieutenant-Colonel W.J. Hardee, on the defense of the
frontier; Captain G.W. Smith, on "General Camp of Discipline, where all
the army come together to learn the military art;" Captain George B.
McClellan, on engineer troops; Captain G.W. Cullum, subject of military
instruction; and others. Most of these officers responded readily and
favorably to his appeals. In the following letters his ideas are clearly
stated:--
MY DEAR HUNT,--We must move quietly as well as firmly in this matter
[army reorganization]. We must make up our minds to encounter a
violent opposition. The bureaucracy of Washington will probably be
against us. We should first endeavor to get their aid, at least
their neutrality in whole or in part. If they combine against
reform, we must resolve to accomplish reform in spite of them. But
time is necessary. A right direction to public opinion is necessary.
Many men in Congress, the able men, must understand the question and
be ready to act. We must first, then, enlighten public opinion, and
enlighten members of Congress. We must bide our time, and, when it
comes, act.
Let it first, then, be stirred quietly in the army. Let a great many
officers in all good time, all discreet and sensible men, be
interested, and let them write for the papers....
We must work to get public men informed. I would not have the
movement partake in the slightest degree of a party character. But
we must act on the known fact that the Democratic party is the only
party that can govern the country. The Whig party is totally
incompetent. We must throw our strength chiefly on Democrats.
Douglas would be a tower of strength in the Senate. Would it not be
a good idea to address a series of letters to him, and request
_him_, if he approves of their general spirit, to publish them in
the "Washington Union"? This he could do without pledging himself to
the particular views of the letters. In the House is Fuller, of
Maine, a new member but a rising man, a particular friend of mine.
There is Bissel, of Illinois. There is Rusk, of Texas. General
Bayly, Stanton, of Tennessee, and others I might mention, are
strong, reliable men. The Southern _disunion_ men will look coldly
on all attempts to improve the army. Mr. Burt will be lukewarm. I am
somewhat fearful of Jefferson Davis. But they are both strong, good
men, and we should act on the presumption that sectional views will
not sway them from their duty.
Yours, etc.,
I.I. STEVENS.
He urged the elevating of the _personnel_ of the army by--
"enlisting none but intelligent, respectable men, a fair
representation of our people, attracted by increase of pay, and by
opportunity of promotion to the grade of commissioned officer; that
by care in selecting men, by schools, by libraries, and by camps of
instruction, we can actually make of the common soldier a pretty
good military man, so that going into civil life he may do good
service in the militia, and in time of war be an important element
in rapidly organizing armies. In this way the influence of West
Point can be felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, in
peace as well as on the breaking out of a war. It should be a
settled principle to officer the infantry and mounted regiments in
part from the rank and file. I know of no measure which is so
calculated to elevate the service, and impart to it a greater
efficiency. Young men of character would enter it, and our own
citizens would fill up the ranks.
"Commanding officers on the frontiers should have entire discretion
in matters of clothing, subsistence, and transportation. Officers of
the administrative departments would in this case make their usual
returns and reports to their chiefs in Washington. But the
directions from Washington should be to the commander, and should be
of the most general character; else there will be divided,
discordant government, there will be a want of unity of purpose,
there will be feebleness and delays in action. It may be said that
this involves great judgment, energy, and foresight on the part of
the commanding officer. Undoubtedly, and none but officers of high
qualities should be placed in command. This is one of the most
important duties in the direction of affairs at Washington. Send the
most competent man to take command. Throw the responsibility upon
him. _Build him up_, or _break him down_. In the latter case,
promptly supply his place by another officer."
He also suggested planting military colonies:--
"Farmers and artisans to be enlisted, heads of families as well as
young men, all intelligent, sober, moral men, at advanced rates of
pay, and with their families be located at important points in the
Indian country, the whole to be organized in a military manner;
heads of families as the stationary infantry force, and the young
men as the dragoon force, always in the saddle, and making up in
mobility for paucity of numbers.
"I know well some of the prominent members of the Military
Committee. My opinion is sometimes asked, and I wish to communicate
sound, practical views. Here I am, and in my intercourse with
members of Congress I intend to be, an _army_ man and not a _corps_
man. Let me tell you that truthful, intelligent officers have weight
with Congress. The prominent members will give heed to their
suggestions, and will be apt to adopt their views. There is a strong
feeling in Congress that things are not managed rightly. Officers
here must not only show what things are managed well; they must also
show wherein things are _mis_managed, and they must suggest the
remedy. It is time for officers having a common purpose to act
together, and do something for their profession. I am at all events
determined to do my duty. If we will act in concert, compare views
in a fraternal and generous spirit, merging the _arm_ in the _army_,
and taking views as large as our country, and occupying the whole
ground of the public defense, and thus come to conclusions, we shall
be right, and Congress will act accordingly, I care not what
opposition be made in interested quarters."
In a letter to Captain G.W. Smith, he declares--
"that the experience of our corps is too confined in time of peace,
and that a portion ought to serve with troops in the West. This has
always been my opinion, and the first year I entered the army I
corresponded with Halleck in relation to it, and was in favor of a
strong effort being made by our officers to get a change in our
duties.... Were I not tied up on the Coast Survey as I am, I would
make a great effort to get ordered to New Mexico or Texas. There is
a field for such of us as will go there with a determination to
carve one out, if it is not, in consequence of the stupidity of
superiors, offered us."
Major Stevens followed up this subject with great diligence, expending a
vast amount of thought and work upon it for three years, and until the
engrossing duties of the exploration of the Northern route to the
Pacific in 1853, and of the governorship of Washington Territory, the
making of Indian treaties, and the conduct of the Indian war in the
Pacific Northwest occupied his whole time and energies. Some of his
ideas bore fruit, and have since been adopted, notably the raising of
the standard of the rank and file by increasing the pay of the private
soldier, improving his opportunities, and allowing him to compete for a
commission. And the thoroughgoing and comprehensive plan he suggested of
deciding upon the best system of national defense by the study and
conferring together of the ablest military men, the appeal to patriotic
and intelligent citizens, and the enlightening of public opinion, is as
wise and practical now as then, and as necessary. For the dear-bought
experience of our four great wars is entirely unheeded, indeed almost
unknown to the mass of the people; and the army to-day, in organization
as in numbers, in its influence upon the military ideas and aptitudes of
the nation in peace as in its capacity for expansion in time of war, is
inadequate to our needs as a great nation.
Upon this subject the following characteristic letter of McClellan is of
interest:--
Friday.
MY DEAR STEVENS,--The inclosed are the result of a search through
the libraries of the War and Eng'r Dep'ts. I hardly feel satisfied
that they are precisely what you need.
If they do not suit you, inform me of it, and I will gladly renew
the research.
I had another conversation with the general this morning about the
sappers. It's of no use whatever,--his mind is made up to detail
fifty men on the Coast Survey. He says the duty I propose for them
in Texas is not legitimate and belongs not to them. Amen! I have
said my say. I've done what I could. Some one of more influence than
I possess must convince him,--my words are idle breath and of no
avail.
Truly your friend,
GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN.
It should be remembered that he was undertaking this great task of
reorganizing the army, expending so much thought, labor, and time upon
it, in addition to the incessant labors of the Coast Survey and the
cares of the fortifications in Maine. It was his lofty and patriotic
ideals, his noble ambition to do his duty by his profession and his
country, that spurred him on, and his untiring energy and power of
concentration that enabled him to throw off work so rapidly and
effectively. His great ambition was to accomplish results, and he was
careless and indifferent as to claiming credit for himself, or pushing
himself in any way.
Notwithstanding all these engrossing labors, he responded as promptly
and generously as ever to the personal calls of his friends and others.
He writes and interviews the War Department and Generals Scott and
Totten in behalf of another brevet for Captain G.W. Smith, aids
McClellan in regard to the engineer company, obtains information for
H.L. Smith, has the accounts of Sergeant Lathrop, of the engineer
company, passed, and is ever ready to lend a helping hand to any
deserving man or cause.
Early in 1851 Major Stevens moved to Mrs. Janney's, an excellent and
well-known boarding-house on Eighth Street, next the Avenue. Here lived
several members of Congress and government officials, and also the
Turkish ambassador, a grave, quiet man in a dark red fez, with whom
Major Stevens occasionally played checkers in the evening. At this
establishment breakfast was served at eight, dinner at four, with a
lunch at noon, and at nine in the evening tea and thin sandwiches were
handed around in the parlor.
In June Major Stevens carried his family to Newport for the summer,
where leaving them, he visited Bucksport to look after the works at Fort
Knox, which still remained under his charge. He hastened back to
Washington before the month was out. Passing through New York, he again
sat to Professor Fowler for his "phrenological character," but this time
was not accused of being a poet. Whether informed by the bumps or other
means, the phrenologist seems to have drawn his characteristics pretty
accurately, with some glaring exceptions.
Desirous of keeping house, Major Stevens now leased a roomy brick house,
one in a block of two, on the west side of Third Street, and only a
block north of the Avenue. This house had a large garden fronting on the
street, and in the rear of it was a stable opening on an alley behind.
Having obtained a position on the Coast Survey for his cousin, George
Watson Stevens, a son of uncle William, a young man of nineteen, Major
Stevens invited the youth to become a member of his family.
WASHINGTON, July 27, 1851.
MY DEAR, GOOD WIFE,--I have read your last letter over three times, and
it has done me a world of good. I love to have you write so from your
heart. You know that in marriage, in my wife and children, are centred
all my hopes of earthly happiness. I am conscious it occupies too large
a space in my youthful longings. It seems to me, with a devoted, loving,
and lovely wife and lovely children, I might shut out the cares of life,
and give myself up to happiness and joy. But we have duties to perform,
trials to encounter, victories to achieve. Life is a warfare. We must
contend with evil. We must accomplish good. I feel that I have done
something, but that I have just begun; that I am entering upon the great
field of useful exertion. I feel that the past has simply given me the
experience and the knowledge to wisely conquer the present, and thus
achieve a future. I feel there is something heroic and noble in this
view of life. I feel that the greatest support, next to the
consciousness of well-doing, is the sympathy and support of you, my dear
companion and friend, and the confiding, tender helplessness of our dear
babes.
I like George in the house very much, and, so far as I am concerned, I
should like to have him a member of our family. I think, moreover, it
would be to his advantage. Charging him simply the actual outlay to us,
it will diminish his expenditures. Moreover, I shall be absent on
inspections more or less, and you will thus have some one to call on.
He is studious, attentive to his duties, is impressing every one
favorably with whom he is brought in contact, and is advancing steadily
and quite rapidly. I feel highly pleased with his progress. With economy
his pay will, the first year, pay his expenses.
I fear, if I am off in August, it will embarrass me very seriously in
the fall. Our reports are still coming in, and now is the time to put
things in a successful train. I do not wish, by inaction or delay now,
to make trouble hereafter. My health is remarkably good. I have never
had a better appetite, or more ability to work, than I have now. I am
surprised at my vigor. I don't care how hot the weather is. The
perspiration will drop from my face and hands, and I will feel neither
languor nor fatigue. The other men in the office complain and have to
slacken in their exertions, whilst I seem to have, with every hot day,
fresh strength and force.
Give my love to the bairns. I want very much to see them.
Yours affectionately,
ISAAC.
WASHINGTON, July 28, 1851.
MY DEAREST WIFE,--I was very glad to learn that you were so well,
and that the visit to Tom's was so pleasant. The farm is the place
for children. On their account I wish I could pass four months every
summer in that way. Hazard should go to school seven or eight
months. I am delighted with his doings,--learning to swim, and do
all kinds of work. Maude, too, learning to walk,--yes, actually
walking, little darling. She must have forgotten me, but she will
soon recollect me on seeing me again. And Sue learning to ride on
horseback! Why, verily, Margaret, you have a hopeful family, one of
which you may well be proud. Whether I go on to Tom's farm this
summer is doubtful. I am glad they are doing so well. Daniel is a
first-rate business man, and, as he likes farming, why not make it
his business? I believe he could in a few years clear from debt a
large farm, going upon it without a cent in his pocket. This is my
opinion, and in a pecuniary point of view it is much better than a
salaried place,--far better.
You may be assured my health is remarkably firm and good. I never
knew it better. This warm weather does not affect me in the least. I
bear labor better than any man in the office. Not a man in the
office can do as much as I can.
Well, as to the book. It is said to sell pretty well. Most of the
copies have been disposed of. Very good notices have appeared both
in the "Intelligencer" and "Republic." The notice of the
"Intelligencer" I sent you. The notice in the "Republic" was short,
but very good. Some of my friends think it will excite a
controversy. Others think it will be found a very hard thing to
reply to. The fact is, whilst I have endeavored to clearly discern
errors, I have sought to look charitably on all that was done. This
seemed to me the only true wisdom. Some of my friends think I have
carried this spirit too far, and that I have not censured enough.
The general criticism is that I am too favorable towards Ripley. I
think I have simply done him justice.
WASHINGTON, August 8, 1851.
MY DEAREST WIFE,--My health is remarkably good, my duties
multifarious, and I must not spend time in recreation which my
health does not require. I have not had such health for years, and
have enjoyed this summer.
We are getting on famously with our housekeeping. The woman is a
neat, respectable, honest person, who tries to do her duty, a very
respectable washer and ironer as well as cook. I think you will be
pleased with her. I shall send a boy whom we have had for a month
away in the morning. One of the messengers comes to the house every
evening to attend to the garden. So we are getting along. To-day we
put six chickens into our coop, and to-morrow eight hens will be
admitted. You will find us getting on swimmingly when you come on in
October.
Friday morning. I have just received two very gratifying letters,
one from General Shields, which I send you. Don't show it to any
one, for he is very extravagant in praise of my book, and his
suggestions are made in a corresponding spirit. But I value what he
says very much, because he writes from his heart and in the spirit
of friendship. I feel, too, there are many points of sympathy
between him and me, and I value his friendship and words of
encouragement.
The other letter is from Major Pitman. His article on my book in the
"Providence Journal" of August 6 is altogether the best that has
appeared. He has presented his own views with clearness and force on
certain points of difference. This is what I want. I don't want
eulogies, but discriminating notices. I want to see my errors
exposed, otherwise I shall not learn to correct them.
Taylor & Maury have sold out all the copies of my book, and in
consequence I loaned them half a dozen that I still had on hand.
They think they will sell a great many more.
I am pushed exceedingly, and can write no more to-day. Love to the
children.
Affectionately.
In the latter part of September Major Stevens made a hasty visit North,
spent a few days at Andover and Newport, and brought his family back to
Washington. His wife's youngest sister, Miss Nancy Hazard, accompanied
them and spent the winter with them. He still retained charge of the
works at Bucksport, although the second year of duty on the Coast Survey
was near its close, and writes full and explicit instructions to Mr.
A.W. Tinkham, C.E., concerning it. At a later date he obtained a good
position for Mr. Tinkham on the Coast Survey, and also secured a
situation in the same service for Mr. John E. Lee, whom he had employed
in Bucksport as clerk.
The family this winter was increased by George W. Stevens and Miss Nancy
L. Hazard. There was the colored cook, and Bridget Sullivan, the
children's nurse, and Sampson Ingraham, a most faithful, capable, and
respectable colored man and a free man. Sampson had one cross to bear
which sorely tried his devotion to the family, and that was milking the
cow and taking care of it, which Major Stevens compelled him daily to
do; for Sampson, never having done any farm work, regarded this as
derogatory, and was much distressed and mortified thereby. But finally
Major Stevens, perceiving his trouble, relieved him from this duty. In
the next house, on the south side, lived the family of Captain Simon F.
Blount, of the navy. Nearly across the street Senator William Gwin, of
California, and family occupied a roomy mansion, where they dispensed a
generous hospitality. After breakfast, at eight, Major Stevens usually
walked down to the Coast Survey Office, and walked back in time for
dinner at four in the afternoon. In the evening there was tea at eight
o'clock.
Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, visited Washington this winter,
and attracted the greatest attention and admiration. He was a man of
noble presence, a finished orator, speaking English with great purity
and ease. The Democratic Jackson Club gave a banquet on January 8 in
honor of Kossuth, which was attended by Webster and many of the first
men of the country. Major Stevens was called upon to respond to the
toast of "The Army and Navy," and spoke as follows:--
GENTLEMEN,--In the name of the army I return my thanks for the honor
of this toast. I speak in behalf of the American army,--that army
which presents its breast to the enemy, which pours out its blood,
which lays down its life. A weighty significance already attaches
to these words, "the American army." For, first, it achieved the
independence of these States against the most powerful nation of
modern times; second, it waged against the same power the second war
of independence to maintain the freedom of the seas, the war the
culminating glories of which we this evening celebrate; and, third,
when a contiguous republic interfered with the domestic concerns of
one of our States, the vindication of the law of nations, thus
trampled under foot, was placed in its hands, and the stars and
stripes soon waved over the ancient seats of the Montezumas. The
American army will never forget what is due to its past renown and
its future glory. We feel that, citizens alike with you, we are the
army of a free people. We know, too, that our country possesses
elements of military strength scarcely appreciated by the
inattentive observer of events,--elements that have been nurtured by
the wonderful growth, the trials and vicissitudes, of our young
nation struggling into manhood. No other people so combines command
and obedience, is so subordinate to law, yet is so much a law unto
itself. No other people of ancient or modern times possesses such
elements of military power. It is the profound conviction of my
heart that in a just cause we could meet the world with a million
armed men, each man a tried and true soldier, surpassing even the
iron men of Cromwell, those men who feared God but not man; those
men stern in fight yet merciful in victory; those men who achieved
the great triumph of English independence, and transmitted to us its
glorious recollections.
The members of both services, which you have honored to-night, see
that the American people are marching forward to mighty destinies,
and that upon them heavy responsibilities will rest. We mean to do
our whole duty. We mean at all times to be in harness and at our
posts. We know not when the time may come,--probably in our
lifetime, and perhaps to-morrow. We feel no despondency, but are
filled with joy and hope. When our beloved nation, "a power on
earth," shall determine to measure its strength with other powers in
the maintenance of right, and in vindication of violated law and
outraged humanity, the army and navy will carry their country's flag
in triumph over all seas and through all lands.
Congress was disposed then as now to starve the coast defenses,
appropriating scarcely enough to maintain the works already built. Major
Stevens, deeply interested in the proper fortification of the coast,
both from his professional knowledge and experience and his enlarged and
patriotic views, with his accustomed zeal and energy undertook the task
of inculcating upon the country and Congress sound ideas in regard to
this important subject, and of obtaining the appropriations necessary to
keep up and complete existing works. In this, as in everything he
undertook, was evinced his prominent characteristic of going to the
bottom of a subject, of basing his action upon broad principles; and so,
instead of being satisfied with simply securing the needed
appropriations for the time being, he treats of the whole system of
fortifications required for national defense, both present and future.
He had repeated conferences with General Shields on this subject, who in
March, as chairman of the Military Committee, brought into the Senate a
favorable report and bill. In support of this, and advocating a proper
system of coast defenses, Major Stevens wrote a number of articles,
which were published in the "National Intelligencer" of Washington, the
"Boston Post," Portland "Eastern Argus," "Bangor Democrat," and papers
in New York, Richmond, New Orleans, and other places. He caused these
articles, with Shields's report, to be sent to many officers and
influential men in different parts of the country, urging them to
advocate the matter on patriotic grounds. These articles were much
commended, especially by his brother officers of the engineers.
He also at this time published in the "Boston Post" an article on the
lighthouse system.
In April, 1852, Major Stevens was appointed a member of the Lighthouse
Board, which was considered no slight honor, and which added much to his
responsibilities and his duties. His colleagues on the board were all
men of talent and reputation, the association with whom was congenial
and gratifying. In May he visited Wilmington on this duty.
The Bucksport house had remained on his hands all this time, a source of
more care than income; but in April a purchaser was found in Mr. Knox
for $1350, evidently quite a sacrifice.
He took his two elder children, Hazard and Sue, to Newport for the
summer; but his wife and Maude, the youngest child, remained in
Washington.
General Franklin Pierce, having been nominated for the presidency by the
Democratic party, was outrageously assailed by the unscrupulous press
and partisans of the other side on account of his services in Mexico,
and even his personal courage was impugned. Major Stevens, having met
Pierce in Mexico, and having been favorably impressed by him, was
indignant at these slanders, and felt called upon to aid in refuting
them. Accordingly he published six letters in the "Boston Post" and two
in the "Republic," a Washington paper, warmly, but in a temperate and
courteous style, vindicating the unjustly assailed public man. He takes
pains in these articles to eulogize the military talents of General
Scott, the rival candidate nominated by the Whig party, quotes his
favorable mention of Pierce in his reports of operations in Mexico, and
shows that the rival candidates entertained warm feelings of esteem for
each other, thus ingeniously making Scott a witness to refute his own
reckless partisans. He concludes the last article as follows:--
"You well know, Mr. Editor, my exalted appreciation of the conduct
and services of General Scott in Mexico. It has been a pleasing
reflection that the standard-bearers of the two great parties were
warm personal friends, each possessing in an eminent degree the
respect and confidence of the other. The friends of General Pierce
have never claimed that he was a great military man. They concede
with pride and gratification that General Scott is, and that he is a
judge of military qualities. They simply claim that General Pierce
in his service in Mexico did his whole duty as a son of the
Republic, that he was eminently patriotic, disinterested, and
gallant, and that it has added a laurel to his beautiful civic
wreath: as a citizen he has been ready to make sacrifices for his
country; as a soldier and commander, he has shown gallantry before
the enemy, and was eminently the friend and father of his command."
Colonel Charles G. Greene, editor of the "Post," writes that General
Pierce was much pleased with, and highly commended, these letters.
Major Stevens always took great interest in public affairs. He was
emphatically a national man. He held the Union as the noblest work of
our Revolutionary patriots, and as indispensable to liberty and national
greatness. An ardent Democrat from boyhood, he regarded the Democratic
party as preëminently the national party, the party of progress. He
fully justified the Mexican war, the great Democratic measure, and
believed with full faith in the future growth and destiny of the Great
Republic. The slavery question, destined in a few brief years to wreck
that party and so nearly destroy the nation, was still in abeyance, and
it was almost universally believed that the compromise of 1850 had
averted all danger from that quarter.
Not content with vindicating Pierce in the papers, Major Stevens now
concluded to support him on the stump. He wrote Gayton P. Osgood, and
other friends in Massachusetts, as to the advisability of this step, but
received rather discouraging replies, one correspondent even taking him
to task for speaking so highly of General Scott in his articles, and
recommending him to become a thoroughgoing partisan if he took the
stump. But as usual he held to his own opinion, and in August addressed
a large public meeting in Hillsborough, N.H., in support of the
Democratic principles and candidate, and later, in October, spoke in
Andover, Newport, and Portsmouth. His brother officer and friend,
Colonel James L. Mason, also addressed the meeting in Newport, and Hon.
Charles Levi Woodbury spoke with him in Portsmouth. In his speeches
Major Stevens took pains to do full justice to General Scott as a
military man, without disparaging him as a statesman or otherwise. His
arguments were drawn from the ideas and objects of the two parties,--a
contest of principles, not men.
It appears that the course of the young army officer in stumping for
Pierce, and as in Mason's case even stirring up other officers to do
likewise, excited no little commotion in the War Department, for it was
a Whig administration. On his return, the Secretary of War, Charles M.
Conrad, undertook to take him to task for it, and wrote Major Stevens a
severe letter, demanding an explanation of his conduct. This was soon
bruited about Washington, and many of his friends and brother officers
came anxiously to advise with him about it. They felt that he was in an
embarrassing position, and one from which he could hardly hope to
extricate himself with credit, and they were not a little troubled as to
the outcome.
At length Major Stevens prepared his answer to the Secretary, and,
before sending it, read it to a group of his anxious brother officers.
In a direct, forcible, but courteous style, he reminded the Secretary
that, in becoming an officer of the army, he had not forfeited his
rights as a citizen, nor become relieved from his duties as such; that,
while he had never failed in the respect due his superior officers, he
had the right of an American citizen to advocate such public measures as
he deemed best for the country, and to vote for the public servants best
fitted to carry them out; and he concluded in a somewhat sarcastic but
perfectly respectful way by calling the Secretary's attention to the
fact that General Scott himself was a candidate for the presidency, and
was setting the example of that participation in politics which the
Secretary so severely reprobated, and suggested that his animadversions
would have greater weight with the service, and be more worthy the
dignity of the War Department, if launched against the senior
major-general of the army instead of a simple lieutenant and brevet
major; that they were more applicable to the former than the latter, and
might well be deemed an attempt to scourge General Scott over his back.
As Major Stevens read aloud this letter, the faces of his friends
cleared up; soon they began to applaud it, and as he finished they
crowded around him with cheers and laughter and exclamations,--"That's
good! that covers the ground!" "You are right, Stevens. You are
perfectly right." "He can't answer it," etc. Sure enough, the Secretary
did not answer it, and attempted no further action.
In fact, Major Stevens had now become quite a leader among the able
young officers. They were constantly calling at his house, and
discussing with him the measures he was pushing forward for the
improvement of the army, fortifications, etc. He was always ready to
assist any of them, too, and it was known that his aid was frequently
effective. He obtained a detail on the Coast Survey for his friend,
Captain J.C. Foster, and secured for several others lighthouse
inspectorships. He also had a number of the engineer company detailed on
the Coast Survey, although his friends Cullum, G.W. Smith, and McClellan
strenuously opposed it.
Writes a young man on the survey, whose pay Major Stevens had tried to
increase but without success:--
"Having been informed to-day that you did not succeed in your
efforts to make my compensation $1500 per annum from October 1,
1851, and consequently was obliged to pay out of your own pocket $50
to make your word good, I believe it unbecoming a gentleman to
remain a moment longer in possession of said money. The inclosed
check will indemnify you for your loss sustained for my sake, and
joyfully I return my heartfelt thanks for the efforts you have made
in my behalf."
Writes Cullum from West Point:--
"Your feeling and commendatory remarks on the death of private Logan
were read to the company [engineer], and will doubtless produce an
excellent impression."
In truth, these personal demands grew to be a grievous burden upon his
time and energies, yet he never refused his aid to any claim of
friendship or desert. Among others a lady, who had long prosecuted a
claim before Congress in vain, was introduced by his corps chief,
General Totten, to Major Stevens, as the only man who could win her
cause. Although the latter felt that this was a task altogether outside
of his sphere of duty, and one which should not have been thrust upon
him, he cheerfully undertook it, and succeeded in having it allowed by
Congress.
The friendship between Major Stevens and Professor Bache grew stronger
the longer they were associated together. They appreciated and admired
each other. Both were gifted with uncommon powers of mind, uprightness
and purity of character, and disinterestedness. Bache was more the
philosopher, the student; Stevens, the man of action. Major Stevens also
saw much of Professors Henry and Baird, of the Smithsonian. He took
pains to meet the able men in Congress, and other men of talent and
reputation who visited Washington. Occasionally of an evening he would
take his little boy by the hand, and make the rounds of Willard's and
other hotels, meeting and chatting with old army and other friends and
acquaintances.
With but little intermission, Major Stevens was an indefatigable worker,
and never so well content as when driving his work at high pressure; and
his sound judgment guided his energy so well that he would throw off an
enormous load with astonishing rapidity. He had the faculty of getting a
great deal of work out of his subordinates. But, not realizing that
others lacked equal ability and power of labor, he was at times too
exacting and severe. He was also inclined to overrate both the good
qualities and the ability of others, and too often had cause to regret
having done so from the ingratitude of many whom he befriended.
The two elder children, Hazard and Sue, returned to Washington in
October, and Miss Mary W. Hazard, Mrs. Stevens's sister, also came on
and spent the winter with them.
The youngest daughter, Kate, was born in the Third Street house on
November 17, 1852.
In September Major Stevens with Professor Bache was appointed on a
commission for the improvement of the James, Appomattox, and Cape Fear
rivers, and in November visited Richmond and Wilmington on this duty.
But all these additional duties and pursuits made no impairment of his
vigorous hold upon, and improvement of, the Coast Survey. The character
and standing of the office was steadily rising, and able young officers
were glad to accept details in it under Major Stevens. Lieutenant John
G. Foster became his principal assistant. Professor H.E. Hilgard, who
afterwards rose to be chief of the Coast Survey, had charge of the
computing; Lieutenant Richard C. Rush, and afterwards Lieutenant A. A.
Gibson, of drawing; and Lieutenant E.B. Hunt, of engraving. The field
work, as fast as it came in, was given to the public in preliminary
sketches, or charts, which served as a great incentive both to parties
in the field, who saw at once the fruits of their labors, and to the
office force in affording a better opportunity to train the younger
members, and prepare them for the finished charts; and for the first
time the annual report was illustrated by these sketches, giving all the
field work done to date. He greatly facilitated the sale and
distribution of Coast Survey maps, declaring that "they should be
carried to every man's door having an interest in commerce, navigation,
geography, or science." He took every means to encourage and reward the
deserving, and opened the office to young men to learn the art of
engraving, for there was a scarcity of skillful engravers, most of whom
were foreigners. He reports:--
"The system of teaching the art of engraving to youths of promise is
succeeding admirably. By combining lessons in drawing, instructions
at night schools, with engraving, the best spirit is excited, and
the greatest excellence attained. There are now six lads in the
office, whose terms vary from two to nineteen months.
"During the past year there has been a visible improvement of the
office in all its branches, and it is my pleasure and duty to bear
unqualified testimony to the zeal and efficiency of the several
assistants in charge of the departments, and of the numerous
employees under them. Each man has shown an honest purpose to do his
duty, and I have been much oftener obliged to moderate exertion than
to rebuke indifference and neglect."
And Professor Bache in his reports declared:--
"The office under the charge of Major Stevens has improved in the
system and order of every one of its divisions; and the zeal and
ability of the assistant in charge has been reflected in the spirit
of the officers under him, and in the general diligence of the
employees. The office is characterized by a very marked spirit of
industry, of working to results, and of progress. Every
encouragement, as it should be, is afforded to those who endeavor to
advance in their several occupations.
"The office work has, by great diligence on the part of the persons
employed, and by the excellent administrative arrangements of Major
Stevens, been kept close to the field work. In no former year have
so many preliminary sketches been promptly issued, and so much
information of various kinds been published, or furnished to the
officers of government or to individuals."