Page 535. "Albemarle" Cushing. Lieutenant Cushing was only twenty-one years of age at the time he sunk the Albemarle, one of the most brilliant and gallant exploits of the war. The deed was rendered extremely difficult by the fact that the Albemarle had been surrounded by a cordon of timber, and Cushing actually drove his launch at full speed over this in order to reach the Albemarle's side. He received the thanks of Congress and was made lieutenant-commander as a reward for his heroism.
Page 539. Pardon. John Wilkes Booth was a son of Junius Brutus Booth and was twenty-six years old at the time of the assassination. His success as an actor had never been notable. There is some dispute as to whether he was hit by the bullet which Boston Corbett fired at him, or whether he shot himself. At any rate, he was brought out of the barn in which he had been cornered with a bullet in the base of his brain, and with his body paralyzed. He died the following morning. Eight accomplices were arrested, tried by a military commission, and found guilty. Four, one a woman, were hanged, and the others, with one exception, sentenced to hard labor for life.
Page 542. Treason is not dead. The charge and specification on which the conspirators were arraigned declared that they were "incited and encouraged" to the crime by Jefferson Davis, and a reward of one hundred thousand dollars was offered for his arrest. There was at no time any trustworthy evidence implicating Davis.
Page 559. Pillow's ghastly stain. Fort Pillow, situated on the Mississippi River about forty miles above Memphis, was captured, April 12, 1864, by a large Confederate force under General N. B. Forrest. The garrison consisted of 295 white and 262 colored troops, of whom 221 were killed and 130 wounded. Most of the killed and wounded were negroes, many of whom were shot down after the fort had been captured. There is no evidence, however, that the massacre, if it can be called such, was premeditated, and General Forrest seems to have stopped it as promptly as he could.
Page 559. "Mr. Johnson's Policy of Reconstruction." The "policy" consisted of two papers, one a proclamation of amnesty granting a pardon for treason to all, with some exceptions, who should take an oath to support the Constitution and the Union and to obey all laws and proclamations which had been made with reference to the emancipation of the slaves; the second an executive order intrusting the state governments to the people who had taken this oath. That the plan did not succeed was due in no small part to the folly of the newly constituted legislatures in immediately proceeding to pass various restrictive laws aimed at the negro, the effect of which would be to deprive him, in large part, of his newly acquired freedom.
Page 560. Crippled and halting from his birth. Stevens had a club foot, and was compelled to use a cane in walking.
Page 563. The Blue and the Gray. The poem grew out of an item which appeared in the New York "Tribune," in 1867: "The women of Columbus, Mississippi, animated by nobler sentiments than many of their sisters, have shown themselves impartial in their offerings made to the memory of the dead. They strewed flowers alike on the graves of the Confederate and of the National soldiers." The poem, prefaced by this item, was first published in the "Atlantic Monthly" for September, 1867, and at once attracted wide attention.
Page 565. How Cyrus laid the Cable. Mr. Field had been working at this project since 1854. In 1858 he had succeeded in laying a cable across the ocean, and it was in operation from August 17 to September 4, when the signals became unintelligible and finally ceased altogether. The story of his perseverance and final success is an inspiring one.
Page 565. O lonely bay of Trinity. The American end of the cable was landed at Trinity Bay, Newfoundland.
Page 568. Small need to open the Washington main. Gould had persuaded President Grant that a rise in gold while the crops were moving would advantage the country, and early in September the treasury department was instructed to sell only gold sufficient to buy bonds for the sinking fund. Gould saw that the "Washington main" could not be kept closed indefinitely, however, and unloaded secretly, leaving his partner, "Jim" Fisk, to look out for himself. Fisk's broker, Speyers, continued to run up the price of gold, until his bid reached 163½, when the market broke, the price falling almost instantly to 133. Fisk saved himself by coolly repudiating his contracts.