I am, very truly, your obedient servant,
GEORGE S. BOUTWELL.
HAVRE DE GRACE, April 26, 1861.
HON. SIMON CAMERON:
Sir: I have obtained an order from General Wool to garrison the forts and arsenals, but it is of the utmost importance to obtain authority to purchase at least three steamers and equip them for coast defense. This can be done at a moderate cost and the merchants of Boston are anxious to secure so great a protection to commerce. They can be used effectively upon the Southern coast. I trust that you will transmit an order to Governor Andrew by the bearer of this, Mr. Augustus H. Bixby.
I am, your obedient servant,
GEORGE S. BOUTWELL.
[* This revolver gave me and my friend, Ebenezer F. Stone, then Adjutant-General of the State, more anxiety than all things else connected with the expedition. It never occurred to me to return the pistol. I discharged the barrels and laid the weapon away, only too glad to have it out of sight. Some years after the war, the Adjutant- General's department was investigated, and a shortage of arms was discovered. I received a letter asking me if I had a pistol belonging to the State. I returned the weapon which I neither wanted nor needed, and to that extent I relieved General Stone.]
XXVI THE MILITARY COMMISSION OF 1862 AND GENERAL FREMONT
In the month of May, or early in June 1862, I received a message from Mr. Stanton asking me to report in Washington, prepared to serve upon a commission at Cairo, Illinois. Upon arriving at Washington, I was informed that it would be the duty of the commission to examine claims that might be preferred against the Government, from the States of Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. These claims had arisen from the operations of General Fremont and they were of great variety. At the end the commission were of the opinion that he was an expensive commander. Charles A. Dana was chairman of the commission, and Judge Logan, of Springfield, Illinois, an old friend of President Lincoln, was my associate. The health of Judge Logan soon failed, and he was succeeded by Mr. Cullom, afterwards Governor of Illinois, and a member of the United States Senate.
Our life at Cairo was disagreeable to an extent that cannot be realized easily. In the months of June and July the weather was extremely hot. The army of General Grant had quartered in and around the town during the preceding winter. The larger portion of the town inside of the levee, had been covered with water to the depth of several feet. Much of the refuse of the army, including some dead animals, had been left upon the surface of the ground. Sickness was general among the inhabitants. Health was the exception. We had our quarters upon the levee, and before a long time had passed we organized a mess with General Strong, the officer in command at that point. For myself I drank only tea and water from Iowa ice. With this drink and a moderate diet, I preserved my health. It was our fate each evening to witness and endure a collision of the thunder showers, one coming down the Mississippi, and the other down the Ohio.
Late in the afternoon we had the benefit of a trip upon a Government boat up the Ohio as far as Mound City. Once of a Sunday we made a trip to Columbus, Kentucky, then in command of General Quimby, of New York. We there met General Dodge, afterward a member of Congress from Iowa and subsequently a successful railway operator.
At Columbus we had a collation on the boat, where speeches were made by officers and civilians, in support of the war and for emancipation. On our return to Cairo, we were met by the customary evening shower, an unwelcome attendant upon a steamboat excursion.