Portsmouth, N. H., September 4, 1884.
General H. H. Lockwood.
Dear Sir: Your letter of the 22d ult., requesting information of the missing effects of your dear son, which had been committed to my care, is just received. . . . The effects in question, excepting the ring and coins, I turned over to Major Greely before leaving this city in August. The two latter articles I afterward found and gave to Mrs. Peck, who, with her husband, called on me at the Parker House, in Boston. The setting of the ring, I am sorry to say, was not found after his death, although diligent search was made. He had spoken of it but a few days before his death, and expressed great concern for its safety. It was supposed to be suspended from his neck in a small parcel, but search revealed nothing. The compass was among the effects I transferred to Lieutenant Greely, as were also two pencils, his pipe, spoon, knife, etc. With reference to the inner life of your son, do not feel any concern. Although not an open professor of any particular creed, he followed closely the golden rule during my acquaintance with him. When I reach Washington I shall be glad to call on you. In the mean time I shall willingly answer any question with regard to his life in the frigid zone that you may desire to ask. Place no reliance on any of the adverse newspaper reports that are occasionally seen reflecting on his conduct; they are not worthy of a moment’s thought. Hoping that the articles have reached you in safety ere this, I am, very sincerely yours,
D. L. Brainard.
Another and a very handsome letter sent to General Lockwood by an officer of the army, who had long known the son, was as follows:
“San Antonio, Fla., July 25, 1884.
“My dear General: The newspapers tardily convey to me the news of your son’s heroic death. I can not express to you how much both my wife and myself were affected by this intelligence. I knew your son from his entry into the Twenty-third Infantry in 1873 until I was promoted to the Twenty-second in 1879, and formed so high an estimate of his sterling soldierly character that it is inexpressibly sad to think of his career being cut short at so early an age. But, though early, he has nevertheless left his mark on the scientific record of the country—a record which can never perish while the frozen North continues to hold the secrets he has more nearly penetrated than any other explorer of those regions. This must be, my dear general, some consolation to you, though I well know that it can not wholly atone for the loss of your noble son. But, as time passes, this reflection may soften your paternal grief.
“A life-work need not extend to the allotted threescore years and ten. In the providence of God it often compasses a much smaller period of time; when it is accomplished, God calls the worker home.
“Who shall measure the work your son accomplished in the examples he gave of fidelity to duty, of heroic fortitude? How many fainting souls in the future, reading of his devotion, will be strengthened to go forward in the paths marked out for them! That your grief may be in time assuaged by these reflections is the prayer devoutly offered by your sincere friend.”
Many private letters of condolence and sympathy were written to the parents of the deceased, by personal friends and others, some of which serve to illustrate the character of the departed. One of these friends wrote as follows:
“The tender regard and sincere love I had for James prompts me to write to you and express my heart-felt sorrow in losing him. We were dear friends for years, and a more upright and honorable man never lived, and our regiment has lost a member who can never be replaced, and the memory of him who died far away from us can never be forgotten.”
In another letter a friend wrote as follows:
“Dr. B——, U. S. A., one of James’s most intimate and best friends, desires me to say that, of all the men he knew, James was to him far dearer than any other. As for myself, I shall always hold James dear to my heart, and hope some day, when all things pass away, to meet him in that happy land where our loved ones are gone.”
In another letter occurs the following:
“Lockwood was among the best young officers of the regiment. Very attentive to duty, and correct in habits, his promise of usefulness was unusually great. I hope that the knowledge of duty well performed, and under the most trying circumstances, may in some degree ameliorate your great grief.”
Another friend writes: