At the request of Garfield, Jordan was sent for. In a short time he entered the tent of the Union commander.
This John Jordan was a remarkable man, and well known in all that region. He was of Scotch descent, and possessed some of the best traits of his Scotch ancestry. He was a born actor, a man of undoubted courage, fertile in expedients, and devoted to the Union cause.
Garfield was a judge of men, and he was impressed in the man's favor at first sight. He describes Jordan as a tall, gaunt, sallow man, about thirty years of age, with gray eyes, a fine falsetto voice, and a face of wonderful expressiveness. To the young colonel he was a new type of man, but withal a man whom he was convinced that he could trust.
"Why did you come into this war?" he asked, with some curiosity.
"To do my share, colonel, and I've made a bargain with the Lord. I gave Him my life to start with, and if He has a mind to take it, it's His. I've nothing to say agin it."
"You mean you have come into the war, not expecting to get out of it alive?"
"Yes, colonel."
"You know what I want you to do. Will you die rather than let this dispatch be taken?"
"I will."
Garfield looked into the man's face, and he read unmistakable sincerity.