ll her to rest
and begin slowly. When we got in we heard all. The two children were
delighted at the prospect of seeing Aunt Martha almost as much as seeing
the Colonel and his brave wife. Peter and I had to keep quiet about our
program with Joseph Dent, and therefore discussed other matters. During
the evening Peter concluded that he would not attempt returning to his
regiment until Col. Tom should arrive, so that he could arrange about
the command and take some word back to Col. Rice. (I said not one word
about Tom's commission as Brigadier, but continued the suggestion that
Col. Rice could not think of doing otherwise than turning over the
command to Col. Anderson.) Just then the post-boy came again with a
letter. I opened it and found it to be from my son Jackson, at St. Paul,
Minn., (where he resided and was engaged in railroad building,) stating
that he considered it his duty to enter the service of his country.
Being young and healthy, he said, no patriot in this crisis, blessed
with good health, could afford to remain out of the army; that the day
would come when the question would be asked of all such persons, 'Why
did you not go to the war and fight for your country?' Poor boy, if he
were living now he would ask himself the queston: 'Why did I go; for
what did I peril my life?' Yes! yes!

"Well, I kept this from my wife, Aunt Sarah, for the time. She was so
worried about our family that I thought best to wait for a day or so,
inasmuch as she did not see me get the letter. A couple of days passed
and Joseph Dent came to our house. After seeing and speaking to Jennie
about the farm and her interest generally, and telling Aunt Sarah about
Ham's scare and joking him somewhat, he spoke to Peter and myself, and
said that he wanted to see us alone.

"We all went out to the barn, and there he told us all that he had heard
and seen--that he had gone to Collins' Grove; that there was a large
political meeting there; that Dan Bowen spoke in the most excited manner
of the wrongs and outrages, as he termed them, of the vile abolition
adminstration; that the Union soldiers were mere hirelings; that he
hoped none of his party would join the Abolition army to assist in
robbing and murdering our brethren down South. (Dent had noted these
sayings in his memorandum; he was a man of fair education and a close
observer.) Bowen was vociferously applauded during his remarks. Thos. A.
Strider spoke also; but he was not so vehement a