In February and March, 1886, there was delivered at the Lowell
Institute, in Boston, a series of lectures upon the late civil war, by
the following gentlemen:--
Feb. 16. Introduction. Gen. Charles Devens of Boston.
Feb. 19. Pope's Campaign. Col. Jed. Hotchkiss of Staunton, Va.
Feb. 23. Antietam. Gen. George H. Gordon of Boston.
Feb. 26. Chancellorsville. Col. Theodore A. Dodge, U. S. Army.
March 2. Stonewall Jackson. Col. W. Allan of McDonough, Md.
March 5. Gettysburg. Gen. Francis A. Walker of Boston.
March 9. The Northern Volunteer. Col. T. L. Livermore of Boston.
March 12. The Southern Volunteer. Major H. Kyd Douglas of Hagerstown, Md.
March 16. Chattanooga. Gen. William F. Smith of Wilmington, Del.
March 19. The Wilderness. John C. Ropes, Esq., of Boston.
March 23. Franklin and Nashville. Col. Henry Stone of Boston.
March 26. The Last Campaign. Col. Fred. C. Newhall of Philadelphia.
These lecturers were well equipped for their task. Earnest study
of their respective subjects had been attested by numerous volumes
published by them relating to the war. The desire to have the truth told
was apparent in the presence of three Confederate officers among the
number; and the special feature of the course seemed to be, that not
only was the truth spoken in the most unvarnished manner, but that it
was listened to with marked approval by overflowing audiences.
Perhaps the most invidious subject fell to my lot. What I said was
merely a summary of the foregoing pages. But one point in my lecture
aroused the ire of some of Gen. Hooker's partisans, and was made the
subject of attacks so bitter that virulence degenerated into puerility.
The occasion of this rodomontade was a meeting of Third-Corps veterans,
and its outcome was a series of resolutions aimed at the person who had
dared to reflect on Gen. Hooker's capacity, and to refer to the question
of Gen. Hooker's habitual use of stimulants. The public mention of my
name was as sedulously avoided as a reference to his satanic majesty is
wont to be in the society of the superstitious; but the exuberance of
the attack must have afforded unbounded satisfaction to its authors, as
it very apparently did to the audience.
Following are the resolutions, which are of mild flavor compared to
their accompanying seasoning of speeches:--