Winfield Scott,
Department of Virginia."
"The mission of Mr. Merwin will be of great benefit to the troops, and I will furnish him with every facility to address the troops under my command. I hope the Gen'l commanding the army will give him such official position as Mr. Merwin may desire to carry out his object.
"August 8, 1861.
B. F. Butler, Maj-Gen. Com'd'g."
The testimonial to the warm appreciation of Mr. Merwin's usefulness in the army as a temperance worker is signed by Isaac N. Arnold, O. H. Browning, Charles Sumner, Alexander W. Randall, W. A. Buckingham, Richard Yates, James Harlan, Alexander Ramsey, A. B. Palmer, John F. Potter, J. L. Scripps, Lyman Trumbull, Henry Wilson, J. R. Doolittle, Austin Blair, Thomas Drummond, James W. Grimes, Samuel J. Kirkwood, Timothy O. Howe, David Wilmot, and more than one hundred others. They comprise those of governors, senators, congressmen, and postmasters.
In 1862, President Lincoln again wrote a special order to facilitate his work at the front, as follows, the original still being in Mr. Merwin's possession:
"Surgeon General will send Mr. Merwin wherever he may think the public service may require.
"July 24, 1862.
A. Lincoln."