naming
them, had contributed their labor, but they were in debt something
over $200, and, with a significant glance at our little party, he
thought this was a good time to take up a collection. No sooner
was this said than Cameron, whispering to me, said: "Let's pay
it; I'll give twenty dollars," and when the hat came around, instead
of the usual dimes and quarters in ragged currency, it received
greenbacks of good denominations. In the meantime the old preacher,
highly elated, called upon the audience to sing "John Brown's Body."
A feeble, piping voice from an old negro woman started the singing
and the rest of the negroes, with loud melodious voices, joined
in, and, before it was through, the rest of us joined in. The hat,
when returned to the preacher, was found to contain more than fifty
dollars in excess of the amount necessary to pay off the debt.
Then, with many thanks to us by the preacher, the audience was
requested to remain standing until their visitors left.

Our visit at Savannah was very interesting. We there found many
leading citizens of the town who were social and kind, treating us
in a friendly way by rides around the city.

In the latter part of March, I was invited by General Sherman, then
on a visit to Grant near Petersburg, Virginia, to go with him to
Goldsboro, North Carolina, where his army was then encamped.
Secretary Stanton was my next door neighbor, and our families were
intimately associated. I invited his eldest son, Edwin, then a
young man studying law, to accompany me, an invitation which he
gladly accepted. We joined General Sherman at Fortress Monroe and
accompanied him on the steamer "Bat" to Newbern and thence by rail
to Goldsboro. There was a sense of danger in traveling by rail
through a country mostly unoccupied, but we reached the army at
Goldsboro safely. There I had my first view of a great army in
marching garb. Most of the troops had received their new uniforms
and equipments, but outlying regiments were constantly coming in,
ragged, with tattered hats, shoes and boots of every description,
almost black from exposure and the smoke of the pine woods, and as
hardy a looking set of men as one could conceive of. They had
picked up all kinds of paraphernalia, "stove pipe" hats being the
favorite, and had all sorts of wagons gathered in their march.
Their appearance was rapidly changed by new uniforms. After a
brief visit I returned to Washington, and thence to my ho