Читать книгу A Summer in Maryland and Virginia; Or, Campaigning with the 149th Ohio Volunteer Infantry онлайн

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The enemy had seized the time when Grant had depleted the defensive forces of the Capitol, to endeavor to capture Washington. Early charged up to the very boundary of the city expecting to find the rich prize an easy prey, but the stubborn resistance of the Guard at Monocacy and their vigilance in the forts at Washington were more than a match for all the vaunted dash and daring of his veterans, and he was compelled to retire before the raw Militia of the Buckeye State. This was a source of deep humiliation to the dashing Rebel General which he never got over to the day of his death. Whether the hundred days man was on the alert in the entrenchments of the capital, battling at the front with the veteran forces of the Confederacy or skirmishing on the lines of supply with the wary foe in the rugged passes of the Alleghanies, they were each in his place doing their duty manfully toward the great and final victory which came a few months later.

Lincoln and Grant both said that the services of the hundred days men shortened the war, and, that the President appreciated their service was shown by his issuing a special card of thanks, a copy of which was sent to every man in this service. This was a special favor from the hand of our great war President, that no other troops received, and one of which we can well be proud. It was a tribute to bravery from the great, noble heart of the kindest soul that ever lived on earth.