Addresses and Speeches on Various Occasions (Volume 3) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1878 Excerpt: ... APPENDIX. I. HON. JOHN J. CRITTENDEN AT WEST POINT. A LETTER TO HIS DAUGHTER.' Boston, Dec. 26, 1870. My Dear Mrs. Coleman, --I have not forgotten my promise to give you some account of what happened at West Point, when I had the good fortune to meet your excellent father there, during one of the early years of our late civil war. I had enjoyed his friendship, and not a little of his confidence, as you well know, while I was in Congress with him many years before; and I had always admired the generous and noble qualities of his mind and heart. But the occasion to which I refer was one which left the deepest impression on my memory, and I am, perhaps, the only one left to tell the story. It was on the 8th day of August, 1862. I had stopped at West Point on my way from Niagara, to pay a little visit to General Scott; and while I was with him, at Cozzens's Hotel, Mr. Crittenden came in. He told me at once that he had come there for a special purpose, in which he was deeply interested; and that he wished me to accompany him to the camp of the Cadets, and be a witness to whatever might occur. Not long afterwards we went to the camp together, and, after a brief preliminary interview with the commanding officer (Colonel Bowman, if I remember rightly), Mr. Crittenden explained to him and to myself his precise view in coming. He said that the cadets from many of the Southern States had exhibited a disposition to leave the Academy with the purpose of taking sides with their own States in the contest which was then in progress. Some of them, as I understood, had gone already; and he was in great concern lest the Kentucky cadets should be induced to follow their example. He thought that his personal influence might possibly do something to arrest such a design, should i...