eed, that was probably part of his business on the occasion of
his recent visit. Colonel Alger was ordered to report immediately for
duty with his new command, and left, taking with him the hearty
congratulations and good wishes of all his comrades of the Sixth. But
their regret at losing him was profound. They did not know how to spare
him. It gave him more rank and a larger field of usefulness. Major
Thaddeus Foote assumed command of the detachment.

This reference to the Fifth reminds me of Noah H. Ferry and a night ride
in his company, about the time of Colonel Alger's promotion. I had been
over to Colonel Gray's camp with some message to him from Colonel Alger,
and meeting Major Ferry, who was field officer of the day, he said he
was to start that night and inspect the entire picket line of the
brigade, about fourteen or fifteen miles long and invited me to
accompany him. He would reach the Difficult outpost in the morning,
making an all night ride. I gladly accepted the invitation, both for the
ride and to see the country. Major Ferry then in his prime, was a
strong, vigorous, wholesome-looking man, with a ruddy complexion and
bright eye, a man of excellent habits and correct principles. He told me
that night what sacrifices he had made to go into the army. His business
had cleared that year, $70,000, and with the right sort of management
ought to go on prosperously. His leaving it had thrown the entire
burden, his work as well as their own, upon the shoulders of his
brothers. He had everything to make life desirable,--wealth, social
position, youth, health,--there was nothing to be desired, yet he felt
it to be his duty to give it all up to enter the service of his country.
He talked very freely of his affairs, and seemed to be weighing in the
balances his duty to himself and family. His patriotic feelings gained
the mastery, however, every time, and he talked earnestly of the
matter,--protesting that our duty to the government in its sore strait
ought to outweigh all other considerations. It was clear that a struggle
had been going on in his mind, and that he had resolutely determined to
go on and meet his fate, whatever it might be, and when he was killed a
few weeks afterwards at Gettysburg, I recalled the conversation of that
night and wondered if he had not a presentiment of his coming fate, for
he seemed so grave and preoccupied, and profoundly impressed with a
sense of the great sacrifice he was making. A s