y
Square hospital, located on Fourteenth street, opposite the then
unfinished Washington monument. Bliss went out as surgeon of the "Old
Third,"[5] had already made a place for himself as one of the leading
army surgeons, and his hospital was a model of good management. He was
at Bull Run with his regiment and it was said that he sent a telegram
from Washington to a relative in Michigan, saying: "A great battle
fought; 'Zene' (meaning his brother) 'Zene' and I are safe." The wags
were accustomed to figure out what extraordinary time he must have made
in order to reach Washington in time to send that telegram. But it was
the fashion to guy everybody who was in that battle, unless he was
either wounded or taken prisoner. Bliss, as most men are apt to do,
"went with the crowd." He remained in Washington after the war, making
much money and spending it freely, and achieved notoriety, if not fame,
through his connection with the case of President Garfield, after he was
shot by the assassin, Guiteau.

The camp on Meridian Hill was a pleasant one, and enlivened at times by
the presence of several ladies, among whom were Mrs. Gray, Mrs. Alger,
and Mrs. Sheldon, wives of the colonel, lieutenant colonel and
commissary, respectively. These ladies spent much time in camp, and when
the weather was pleasant lived in tents, which always were delightfully
homelike, and often crowded with visitors. 'Twas but a year or two since
Mrs. Alger's soldier-husband led her to the altar as a bride and they
were a handsome couple, not less popular than handsome. She was a
decided favorite in camp, winning the affections of all by her gracious
manners and kind heart, as she has done since, when presiding over her
hospitable home in Detroit or the mansion of the War Secretary in
Washington. Mrs. Sheldon, who was a niece of Dr. Willard Bliss, followed
her husband to the field and was a ministering angel to many a sick or
wounded soldier in hospital and in camp.

One day a man came to me and wanted to enlist. He said his home was in
the State of New York, but he liked the Michigan men and desired to join
them. He was a bright-looking, active young man and, as the numbers of
the troop had been somewhat reduced by sickness and death, he was
accepted and mustered in as a private. He remained with us until the
morning of the third day at Gettysburg, when, about daylight, he
gathered up a lot of canteens and went, ostensibly, to get them filled.
We never