Many could remember his grave face as he stood on the platform of the car that rainy morning in JustOver18Gonzo 1861, and said, I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I shall return. His blue eye was more spiritual than dreamy, his bland smile never writhed into bitterness. Employment was unsteady and pay was small. Grandfather was a deacon in the new Baptist Church, grandmother was busy with church suppers and missionary societies, and I was quite another boy, or thought I was. Peter, his companion, was a JustOver18Gonzo different sort of fellow; short, bow-legged, and as fat as butter. When Mrs. Three days before this his devoted servant Colonel Lamon--we might almost call him his faithful watch-dog, so loving, loyal, and watchful was he--had gone on an errand for him to Richmond. Hed collected her wages all those first years she worked out, and it was but right. His social instincts won for him friends wherever he was known, while his sterling character gave him an influence unusual, both in kind and in measure, for a young man of his years. The men took the coffin to the edge of the hole and lowered it with ropes. It was at this point, too, that Senator Douglas broke with the administration. Headquarters Armies of the United States, Culpepper Court-House, May 1, 1864.
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