I knew your grandfather intimately, as also Colonel Dement, and esteemed them both highly. * * * Trusting that the foregoing is a satisfactory reply to your inquiry, I am,
Yours very sincerely,
Geo. W. Jones.
And here is what Gen. A.C. Dodge of Iowa, Senator in Congress with Jefferson Davis, has written on the subject:
“In 1832 we became associated in the famous Black Hawk war, he (Lieutenant Davis) as lieutenant of infantry, and I as aid-de-camp to Gen. Henry Dodge, commanding the militia of Michigan Territory. I often accepted his invitation to partake of his hospitality, as well as that of Gen. (then Captain) William S. Harney and Col. Zachary Taylor, who often divided their rations with me, as we volunteers were frequently in want of suitable food.
“The regulars were much better provided for than we volunteers were at the time. They were not only furnished with better rations and more of them, but they had tents, while we had none; and I shall never forget the generous hospitality of Lieutenant Davis, Col. Zachary Taylor, Capt. W.S. Harney and others of my brave and generous comrades of those days.”[[297]]
There was no point in the material or political growth of that part of the then Michigan Territory (now Wisconsin), where Lieutenant Davis was stationed, that Generals Jones and Dodge were not identified with and thoroughly familiar. They were on the staff of General Dodge during the campaign, by reason of which and the exalted position of General Dodge they were upon terms of intimacy with the army officers of the war, beginning with Gen. Winfield Scott, who was chief in command after his arrival at Prairie du Chien.
In 1866, after the conclusion of the Civil War, and when the prominent men on both sides were in the minds of everyone, Rev. W.W. Harsha, then of Dixon, but later President of the Presbyterian Theological College at Omaha, Nebraska, was about to take a journey to New York City, at which point Gen. Robert Anderson was to be found, recovering from a very severe illness.
Commenting on the proposed trip to Mr. Dixon, the latter expressed a desire to have Mr. Harsha call upon the General, and, if remembered by him, to convey to him the very best wishes of Mr. Dixon for his speedy recovery, and, in view of the prominence of Lieutenant Anderson, Lieutenant Davis and others who served in the Black Hawk campaign, recall the incidents of that early day and inquire if General Anderson remembered them. Mr. Harsha, upon his arrival, true to his promise, made the call, and the following letter, written at the time, gives the substance of the interview:
Chicago, April 29th, 1866.