aps, careless in dress and
rather affected it. Great heavy boots, loose collar, and general
roughness of attire were then peculiar to the West and in our circle
considered manly. Anything that could be labeled foppish was looked
upon with contempt. I remember the first gentleman I ever saw in the
service of the railway company who wore kid gloves. He was the object
of derision among us who aspired to be manly men. I was a great deal
the better in all these respects after we moved to Homewood, owing to
the Addisons.

CHAPTER VIII

CIVIL WAR PERIOD

In 1861 the Civil War broke out and I was at once summoned to
Washington by Mr. Scott, who had been appointed Assistant Secretary of
War in charge of the Transportation Department. I was to act as his
assistant in charge of the military railroads and telegraphs of the
Government and to organize a force of railway men. It was one of the
most important departments of all at the beginning of the war.

The first regiments of Union troops passing through Baltimore had been
attacked, and the railway line cut between Baltimore and Annapolis
Junction, destroying communication with Washington. It was therefore
necessary for me, with my corps of assistants, to take train at
Philadelphia for Annapolis, a point from which a branch line extended
to the Junction, joining the main line to Washington. Our first duty
was to repair this branch and make it passable for heavy trains, a
work of some days. General Butler and several regiments of troops
arrived a few days after us, and we were able to transport his whole
brigade to Washington.

I took my place upon the first engine which started for the Capital,
and proceeded very cautiously. Some distance from Washington I noticed
that the telegraph wires had been pinned to the ground by wooden
stakes. I stopped the engine and ran forward to release them, but I
did not notice that the wires had been pulled to one side before
staking. When released, in their spring upwards, they struck me in the
face, knocked me over, and cut a gash in my cheek which bled
profusely. In this condition I entered the city of Washington with the
first troops, so that with the exception of one or two soldiers,
wounded a few days previously in passing through the streets of
Baltimore, I can justly claim that I "shed my blood for my country"
among the first of its defenders. I gloried in being useful to the
land that had done so much for me, and worked, I ca