[28] Mr. Chandler said that during the late war, while he was in Washington, he loaned our soldiers several thousands of dollars, in small sums of from $2 to $10 each, but that the whole amount was repaid to him with the exception of about $10, and he was satisfied that the poor men who owed him that small amount had given their lives for their country.—Hon. M. S. Brewer in the House of Representatives, Jan. 28, 1880.
[29] This tribute comes from a well-known officer of the Michigan volunteer regiments:
Detroit, February 3, 1880.
Could all the acts of kindness and aid rendered by Senator Chandler to the soldiers of Michigan, their families and friends, during the war, and especially to those who filled the ranks, be gathered together and written out, the volumes that contained them would be large and numerous. No soldier, however humble, ever applied to him, when in distress or trouble, that he did not receive a patient hearing and, if possible, speedy aid. No soldier's wife, father, mother, or other kin ever wrote him a letter that was not answered. To these facts there are thousands who can testify to-day, and many thousands more who could do so were they not in their graves.
In those dark days he was always sanguine of the final triumph of our armies, and he always assured the soldiers of his positive convictions that in the end they would be victorious. None except those who had experience can ever know what cheerful assurances and hopeful words from those high in authority did to nerve men for the work of severe campaigns.
The trials and fatigues of army life, and the uncertainty of the final results, were lessened vastly by the assuring words of brave, indomitable men like Zachariah Chandler. All honor to his memory, as also to the memory of his great associates in high places during those memorable days!
R. A. ALGER.
[30] This anecdote is related by a prominent Michigan officer: I accompanied Senator Chandler once to the War Department to secure the re-instatement of a paymaster who, it had been clearly ascertained, had been unjustly dismissed. The papers were in the possession of the proper bureau, and action had been promised, but was delayed. A great body of eager applicants were gathered about the Secretary's door, which was guarded by two sentries with crossed bayonets. He pushed rapidly through the mass of people to the entrance of the private office, where the sentinel said, "The Secretary is very busy, Mr. Senator." "I know he is," was Mr. Chandler's response, and laying a hand on each bayonet he pushed them up over our heads, opened the door, and we were in Mr. Stanton's presence. Once there, he commenced a vigorous denunciation of the tardiness of the Department, upbraided the Secretary because no action had yet been taken in the case according to promise, and astonished me by the earnestness of his criticisms. Mr. Stanton heard him pleasantly, said when he stopped, "Are you all through, Chandler?" and then gave the order we needed.