By order of
Brevet Major General R. Saxton,
Gen. Supt. Rec. & O. C. T., D. S.
Stuart M. Taylor, Asst. Adjt. Gen.
Major M. R. Delany, U. S. C. T.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE NATIONAL CALAMITY.
None in all the land can forget when the telegraph flashed the fearful news upon us. But if there was sorrow felt by one class more than another, we must look to the freedmen of the South, to whom the name of Lincoln and the government meant one and the same—all justice and goodness.
On the morning of the 18th of April (communications being so irregular then), the beauty of the morning and the surroundings seeming to charm the senses, happiness came upon many a hitherto scowling face, while a sense of returning forgiveness seemed to hover above the rebellious city, and the once unfrequented streets began to give evidence of returning life. The major and a friend were in King Street, when they were met by a captain, who, stepping from his buggy to the sidewalk, entered into a conversation: in the midst of it they were interrupted by a soldier, breathlessly running towards them, holding in his hand a paper, exclaiming, “My God! President Lincoln is assassinated!”
“No! no! it can’t be so!” replied the captain.