n, eager to
put his ideals into practice and bring them to the test of daily life.
With his mind full of plans for raising the condition of workingmen
while he made his own career, he entered the iron mills of the Ames
Company, at Chicopee. Here he remained as a workingman for six months,
and then received an important post in the Trenton Iron Works of New
Jersey. There his health broke down. Consumption threatened him, and all
his bright hopes and ambitions were overcast and checked. He was obliged
to leave his business and go to Europe, where he traveled for two years,
fighting the dread disease that was upon him. In 1858 he returned, and
took a position on a Western railroad. Although the work was new to
him, he manifested the same capacity that he had always shown, and more
especially his power over other men and his ability in organization. In
two years his health was reestablished, and in 1860 he took charge of
the Mount Savage Iron Works, at Cumberland, Maryland. He was there
when news came of the attack made by the mob upon the 6th Massachusetts
Regiment, in Baltimore. Two days later he had made his way to
Washington, one of the first comers from the North, and at once applied
for a commission in the regular army. While he was waiting, he employed
himself in looking after the Massachusetts troops, and also, it is
understood, as a scout for the Government, dangerous work which suited
his bold and adventurous nature.

In May he received his commission as captain in the United States
cavalry. Employed at first in recruiting and then in drill, he gave
himself up to the study of tactics and the science of war. The career
above all others to which he was suited had come to him. The field, at
last, lay open before him, where all his great qualities of mind and
heart, his high courage, his power of leadership and of organization, and
his intellectual powers could find full play. He moved rapidly forward,
just as he had already done in college and in business. His regiment,
in 1862, was under Stoneman in the Peninsula, and was engaged in many
actions, where Lowell's cool bravery made him constantly conspicuous.
At the close of the campaign he was brevetted major, for distinguished
services at Williamsburg and Slatersville.

In July, Lowell was detailed for duty as an aid to General McClellan.
At Malvern Hill and South Mountain his gallantry and efficiency were
strongly shown, but it was at Antietam that he distinguished