USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 40
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The story of Old John Burns, his courage in the battle, his almost miraculous escape from death by wounds and the assas- sin's bullets, soon spread through the whole land, and he was hailed as the HERO OF GETTYSBURG. Not the Generals who had conducted the battle were regarded with greater interest, nor was there a stronger desire felt to behold them. He was brought upon the platform at great public gatherings in Philadelphia, and other large cities, and he was made to pass in triumph like the heroes of old. On one occasion in Philadelphia as he was being conducted through the crowd, an aged woman rushed forward, and grasping his coat, exclaimed: "Troth, mon, if I can't shake you by the hand I'll shake your old coat." None felt a greater interest in the veteran than Mr. Lincoln, and no sooner had he arrived in Gettysburg on the day of the consecration of the National Cemetery, than he inquired for Burns and expressed a desire to see him. Citizens immediately went to bring him. They found him at his home, and when told that Mr. Lincoln had sent for him, he was apparently incredulous as to the regularity of the call, and replied, " If anybody wants to see me let him come here." But he was finally convinced and was taken along. After a pleasant interview, in which the President showed him very marked attention, the whole company started for the church, where there was to be a public reception. As the procession was ready to move, Mr. Lincoln sought Mr. Burns and walked with him arm in arm through the streets. Burns visited Washing- ton, and was received by the President, the Secretary of War, and other officials of the Government with special honor; Congress and the Legislature of Pennsylvania voted him pen-
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sions, and the Senate of the latter made him one of its officers, a position which he held for several years. He was mentioned with admiration by the press of other countries, and poetry has woven for him an enduring chaplet.
1. As age came upon him, and the furrows deepened on his face, his body indeed gave token of yielding; but the spirit was still fresh. He delighted in the society of children, and danced gayly with them as he hummed the air which in the days long ago had guided the feet of the maiden whom he led in sportive measure. Nor could age temper his love of martial glory. He was never quite satisfied with the fight at Gettysburg, especially on that first day, when the Union forces were obliged to yield their position. He never mentioned the subject without expressing the wish that the rebels would come once more, believing that if the battle was to be fought over again he could do better. He manifested great reluctance to speak of his wounds, and only after repeated impor- tunities could he be induced to show his scars, which disclose how horrible must have been his mutilation. After the death of his wife, which occurred in 1868, he was very lonely, had no regular home, and was much cast about. While in Harrisburg, in the winter of 1870, he had a paralytic stroke, and was carried to his lodgings. An Irishman, a stranger, was employed to take care of him. During the night Burns got the impression- whether well or ill founded-that the Irishman was trying to rob him. He attempted to draw up his right hand, but that would not obey the impulse. The left, however, was still free, with which he hit the fellow such a powerful blow over the eyes as to send him sprawling upon the floor.
! With all his heroism, Burns was not without a spark of super- stition. It may have been a relic of family or national tradition, 'or a constitutional trace of morbid religious sentiment, with which he was thoroughly imbued. He believed in apparitions. He was on one occasion passing through the woods, where in the battle he had fought. It was summer, and the foliage was upon the forest as then. He was alone, no human being within call, when suddenly there appeared before him a Confederate soldier, dressed in gray, with slouched hat, gun and accoutrements,
A figure Armed at point, exactly, cap-à-pie.
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JOHN BURNS.
"He was," says Burns, "a man of immense proportions and the very image of the one whom I had seen there on the day of the battle, at the very spot, and in the exact attitude." "Did you speak to it ?" we asked. "No, sir, I did not. It beckoned me to come towards him, but I turned and left the ground as rapidly as I could, and have never been on that field since. I could face them alive and respond to their challenge, but when the dead men come back, I ain not in for that style of warfarc." " But, Mr. Burns, you do not really believe that it was a ghost, do you ?" Shaking his head as if still in awe of the apparition, and with solemn and mysterious mien, he exclaimed, "Ah, ha! You tell if you can."
Burns was a man of strict fidelity, one in whom unlimited trust could be placed, who looked with utter abhorrence upon corruption in political as in private life. He was full of the milk of human kindness, of tenderness and compassion, quickly moved to tears at the recital of suffering and distress. He was not only strictly devoted to his professions of temperance, and his pledges as a Good Templar, but was a devout Christian-an honest man. He died on the 4th of February, 1872, and was buried in Ever- green Cemetery, near the resting-place of the dead in that great battle in which he acted so heroic a part. Time may bring other men to stand in future emergencies; but none will come with a truer heart than that which beat in the bosom of John L. Burns, the HERO OF GETTYSBURG.
Our artist has admirably produced the rugged features of the old hero, and Bret Harte, in his characteristic way, has thus vividly portrayed him in song:
Have you heard the story that gossips tell Of Burns of Gettysburg ?- No? Ah, well ! Brief is the glory that hero earns, Briefer the story of poor John Burns : He was the fellow who won renown,-
The only man who didn't back down
When the rebels rode through his native town;
But held his own in the fight next day. . . .
I might tell how, but the day before, John Burns stood at his cottage door, Looking down the village street, Where in the shade of his peaceful vine,
He heard the low of his gathered kine, And felt their breath with incense sweet ;
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Or, I might say, when the sunset burned The old farm gable, he thought it turned The milk, that fell in a babbling flood Into the milk-pail, red as blood : Or how he fancied the hum of bees Were bullets buzzing among the trees. But all such fanciful thoughts as these
Were strange to a practical man like Burns, Who minded only his own concerns, Troubled no more by fancies fine Than one of his calm-eyed, long-tailed kine, ---
Quite old-fashioned and matter of fact, Slow to argue, but quick to act.
That was the reason, as some folks say, He fought so well on that terrible day. . . .
Just where the tide of battle turns, Erect and lonely stood Old John Burns .- How do you think the man was dressed ? He wore an ancient long buff vest,
Yellow as saffron,-but his best ;
And, buttoned over his manly breast Was a bright blue coat, with a rolling collar,
And large gilt buttons, -- size of a dollar,- With tails that country-folk called "swaller." He wore a broad-brimmed, bell-crowned hat, White as the locks on which it sat. Never had such a sight been seen
For forty years on the village green,
Since Old John Burns was a country beau,
And went to the " quilting " long ago. Close at his elbows all that day,
Veterans of the Peninsula,
Sunburnt and bearded, charged away ; And striplings downy of lip and chin, -- Clerks that the Home Guard mustered in, -- Glanced, as they passed, at the hat he wore, Then at the rifle his right hand bore; And hailed him from out their youthful lore With scraps of a slangy repertoire ; " How are you, White Hat ?" "Put her through !"
" Your head's level," and "Bully for you !" Called him "Daddy," begged he'd disclose The name of the tailor who made his clothes, And what was the value he set on those ; While Burns, unmindful of jeer and scoff, Stood there picking the rebels off, -- With his long brown rifle, and bell-crowned hat, And the swallow-tails they were laughing at.
'Twas but a moment, for that respect Which clothes all courage their voices checked ; And something the wildest could understand Spake in the old man's strong right hand;
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FRANCIS JORDAN.
And his corded throat, and lurking frown Of his eye-brows under his old bell-crown ; Until, as they gazed, there crept an awe Through the ranks in whispers, and some men saw, In the antique vestments and long white hair, The Past of the Nation in battle there ;
And some of the soldiers since declare That the gleam of his old white hat afar,
Like the crested plume of the brave Navarre, That day was their oriflamme of war.
So raged the battle. You know the rest ; How the rebels, beaten and backward pressed,
Broke at the final charge, and ran : At which John Burns -- a practical man-
Shouldered his rifle, unbent his brows,
And then went back to his bees and cows.
That is the story of Old John Burns ; This is the moral the reader learns: In fighting the battle, the question's whether You'll show a hat that's white, or a feather.
RANCIS JORDAN, son of John and Jane Jordan, was born on the 5th of February, 1820, in Bedford county. His father was of English and his mother of Irish parentage, both highly esteemed for their intelligence and Christian virtues. In his nineteenth year a maternal uncle-a wealthy Mississippi planter -took charge of his education and placed him in Augusta College, Kentucky, where he remained two years, and subse- quently in Franklin and Marshall College, Pennsylvania, where he finished his collegiate course. Returning to his native place, he commenced the study of law, teaching, meanwhile, to defray his expenses, and was admitted to practice. He had not been Jong at the bar before he was appointed, by the Attorney-General, District Attorney of Bedford county, and subsequently, when the office was made elective, was chosen to that position. At the outset his official conduct was able, his indictments being so accurately drawn that not one of them was quashed for infor- mality. In 1850, he entered into partnership with Alexander King, subsequently President Judge, which continued until the opening of the Rebellion.
In 1855 he commenced his public political career, having been elected to the State Senate for a term of three years. A leading question of that period was the sale of the public works,
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and he was the champion of the bill authorizing it. He was chairman of the committee charged with drawing a bill for the readjustment of legislative districts, under a new apportionment, and was successful in carrying through the act, which was sub- stantially just to both political parties. These measures were chiefly instrumental in wresting the control of the State from the party which for a long period had been dominant. In a body which contained some of the best legal talent of the Commonwealth he was made chairman of the Judiciary Com- mittee. At the close of his term he declined a reelection, and was not long after appointed one of a commission of three to revise the Civil Code, which duty was postponed on account of the opening of hostilities, and finally passed to other hands.
A pressing exigency called for a sudden concentration of troops upon the central border, and at Cumberland, Maryland, in the fall of 1861. A portion of the noted Reserve corps was sent, and at the request of the Governor, Mr. Jordan accompanied the column as Assistant Quartermaster. Unexpectedly called, and but indifferently organized, the duties of this officer were trouble- some and onerous. While thus employed, without solicitation or even knowledge he was appointed by the President a Pay- master in the army and was promptly confirmed. Recogniz- ing the right of the Government to his services, he promptly dissolved his law partnership, resigned his civil trusts, and entered upon his new duties. In the two and a half years succeeding, he served in Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missis- sippi and Louisiana, during the last four months of this period being chief paymaster in the Army of the Mississippi, and dis- bursing during his entire term over $4,000,000, under a bond of only $20,000, rendering a satisfactory account of all his trans- actions.
In the fall of 1863, being at home on a short leave of absence, he was tendered by Governor Curtin the position of military agent of the State at Washington. The duties required legal and military knowledge, capacity for, and willingness to work, and a character for integrity beyond the reach of suspicion. The earnestness with which the Governor urged the acceptance induced Colonel Jordan to resign the office of paymaster for that
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FRANCIS JORDAN.
purpose. In his annual messages of 1864-'65-'66, the Governor said : "A reference to the reports of Colonel Jordan of Washing- ton, and Colonel Chamberlain, agent for the Southwest, will show the magnitude and usefulness of this branch of the service." " The report of the State agent at Washington shows that under his management the claims of our soldiers are promptly examined and paid." "This agency has proved very useful in all respects, and especially to our volunteers and their families. There have passed through the agency during the past year 4690 claims, and $311,703 have been collected from the Government free of charge." The aggregate of the sums paid to soldiers or their families exceeded a half million dollars, and so great was the con- fidence reposed in the agent that no bond whatever was required. The Legislature, recognizing his service, passed an act conferring upon him the rank and pay of a Colonel of infantry.
In 1866, the Republican State Central Committee elected Colonel Jordan its chairman. The canvass was conducted with great ability and discretion, and resulted in the election of General Geary, who, having been thus brought into intimate relations with, and observing the eminent qualifications of Colonel Jordan, made him Secretary of the Commonwealth. This office he held throughout the two terms of Governor Geary's adminis- tration, a period of six years, discharging its duties with marked ability.
During the latter part of Colonel Jordan's second term the subject of a revision of the State Constitution was generally agitated and discussed in the columns of the press, and among leading citizens. The respect entertained for the character and legal acquirements of the Secretary induced a number of promi- nent citizens of Philadelphia, irrespective of party, to address him a letter asking his views. In response he wrote and pub- lished a paper, on the 18th of September, 1871, advocating a revision, and detailing his reasons. This was well received and had a strong influence in carrying the State in its favor. After the convention had been called, the Social Science Association of Philadelphia invited him to deliver an address upon the needed amendments. This he did on the 19th of February, 1872, and repeated his discourse in Pittsburg shortly after. The Secretary
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MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
ably advocated thirteen amendments, covering the most vital defects of the old instrument. It is sufficient to say of the sound- ness of view displayed, that the convention, composed of the best ability of the State, adopted twelve of the thirteen changes advocated. Both the letter and address were published and widely disseminated, operating powerfully upon the popular mind and paving the way for the ultimate adoption of the amended constitution. These papers served to establish the reputation of Colonel Jordan as a sound lawyer, and elicited strong commendation from intelligent men both within and with- out the Commonwealth. That noted jurist, Jeremiah S. Black, who was a member of the Convention, on one occasion said of it: "Mr. Jordan's speech and letter, which will be found in the Con- vention Manual, is the best, bravest, and most effective blow that legislative corruption has received at the hands of any man in this Commonwealth ; and I think has done more service to the cause of good government. His analysis of the Statute Book of Pennsylvania, and his exposure of its absurdities, are masterly in the best sense. His means of knowledge being undisputed and his veracity undoubted, what he says upon the subject may be taken as of the highest authority." Charles J. Faulkner of Martinsburg, who was then a member of the Constitutional Con- vention of West Virginia, wrote on the 28th of December, 1871 : "I had the honor of receiving to-day your interesting and able letter upon constitutional reform in your State. I have read it with great profit and instruction and consider your argument on the evils of special legislation overwhelming."
The subject of a successor to Governor Geary early engrossed public attention, and Colonel Jordan was prominently pre- sented. In one of the most influential counties of the State his name was submitted on the Crawford county system, whereby every voter indicates his preference on his ticket. Five candi- dates were presented and the result was a majority for Colonel Jordan over all others combined. In the nominating convention, however, his name was withdrawn before a vote was taken, in the hope of thereby harmonizing conflicting interests. The same convention selected a candidate for Judge of the Su- preme Court, and although he was not before the convention
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1003
GEORGE H. STUART.
for the office, such was the appreciation of his character, and desire to have his name upon the ticket, that on the last ballot his vote was the next to that of the successful candidate. In January, 1873, Colonel Jordan returned to private life, having adopted the city of Harrisburg as his residence, and in partner- ship with his brother-in-law, Lewis W. Hall, resumed the prac- tice of his profession. Few men in the Commonwealth are more esteemed for talent, professional attainment, moral virtues, administrative skill, and official integrity, and he may with pride be referred to as a guide for the young who aspire to a career of honor regulated by strict rectitude.
EORGE HAY STUART, Chairman of the United States Christian Commission, and one of its most active and efficient members, was born on the 2d of April, 1816, at Rosehall, County Down, Ireland. After receiving a good business education he came to this country in 1831, whither members of his family had preceded him, and settled in Philadelphia. He not long after became a member of the First Reformed Presbyterian Church, and in 1842 was ordained a ruling elder, which office he still holds. Few were more zealous or consistent, and none more liberal in advancing the interests of Christianity. For twenty- five years he was Superintendent of the Sabbath School of his church, Treasurer of the Theological School, and an earnest advocate and worker in various missionary societies. During the years of famine in Ireland, he aided powerfully in sending succor. He presided in the Presbyterian National Convention which sat in Philadelphia in 1867, in which the preliminary arrangements were made for uniting the broken and disjointed elements of that sect. From the first he was an active member of the Young Men's Christian Association, and was President of the conven- tions which met in 1861 and 1863. The Bible and Tract So- cieties, and the Sunday School Union, are all greatly indebted to him for personal efforts for their efficiency and material aid. In the year 1868, the General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church suspended him from his position as ruling elder and mem- ber in his church, for singing hymns and communing with Chris- tians of other evangelical denominations. The action was taken
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MARTIAL. DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
in his absence on account of severe illness. It was repudiated by the church of which he was a member, and the regulation which incited to the determination of the Synod has called forth severe denunciation.
Mr. Stuart early won a high reputation in mercantile circles by the vigorous and successful management of his business, no less than by his probity and honor. He was associated with four brothers, John, James, Joseph* and David, and in addition to their chief establishment in Philadelphia they had other houses in New York, Manchester, and Liverpool. Success in business pursuits has given him the means to be eminently useful in every humane and Christian enterprise which he could conveniently and consistently reach. The rallying of men to the National standard in the spring of 1861 could not fail to excite the interest of a man so endowed as Mr. Stuart, and the thunders of the First Bull Run battle had scarcely died away when he began to meditate measures for reaching the soldier in camp, on the battle-field, in the hospital, and at the lonely picket post. On the 28th of October, 1861, the Executive Committee of the Young Men's Christian Associations of which he was chairman issued a call for a general meeting of delegates in extra session to devise means for reaching the soldier with Christian and brotherly influence and care. The meeting was held in New York on the 14th of November, and resulted in the constitution of the United States Christian Commission, as follows : Rollin H. Neale and Charles Demond, Boston ; John D. Hill, Buffalo; John V. Far- well, Chicago; M. L. R. P. Thompson and H. Thane Miller, Cincinnati ; S. H. Tyng, Benjamin F. Manierre, and Edmund S. Janes, New York ; George H. Stuart and John P. Crozier, Phila- delphia; and Mitchell H. Miller, Washington. At the first meeting of this Commission Mr. Stuart was made Chairman, a position which he held to the close of its operations at the end of the war, and never was trust more faithfully performed or more signally successful. He was a moving spirit, and his great efficiency, sound judgment, and more than all his indomit- able energy were everywhere recognized.
When it became known that inhuman barbarities were prac-
* Died November 18th, 1874.
Yours in Christian bonds GEostStuart
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GEORGE II. STUART.
tised upon Union prisoners confined at Andersonville and other rebel prisons, Mr. Stuart made vigorous exertions to have men, to whose honor and integrity the rebel authorities could take no exception, appointed to go among the prisoners to distribute comforts and labor to ameliorate their condition, offering the like privilege to the rebels. The Government promptly adopted the proposition, and sent forward the agents with the requisite official certificates and means of access ; but it was rejected, and the agents turned back by the Richmond authorities.
In 1866 Mr. Stuart was in Europe, and at the anniversary meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society, held at Exeter Hall on the 2d of May, the Earl of Shaftesbury, President of the society, presiding, Mr. Stuart spoke, and in the course of his remarks gave a summary of the operations of the Christian Commission, and incidents illustrating its workings. " When the war commenced," he said, "we had an army of 16,000 men, scattered from Maine to California, but in the course of the war there were called into the field 2,000,000 of men-young men from schools and seminaries, young men unused to the hardships of the battle-field ; and the Christian people of the land felt that we ought not only to follow these young men with our prayers, but that we ought above all to furnish them with the bread of life, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. During the four years of the struggle there were distributed, among the army and navy alone, over 2,000,000 copies of God's Word, in whole or in part. The principal agency for that distribution was the United States Christian Commission, which distributed 1,466,748 copies, all of which were received gratuitously from the American Bible Soci- ety, with the exception of 15,000 copies forwarded to us from your own depository; and I am here to-day to return to you our grate- ful thanks for that contribution." Mr. Stuart here exhibited a £5 note of the Bank of England, sent by a poor woman living in Derbyshire, to President Lincoln, "with which to buy Bibles for the poor wounded soldiers of the North." "Fifty or a hundred guineas," said Mr. Stuart, " would not buy it (holding it up), for it has incited to many gifts, and brought 'much money' to our treasury ; and if you have any difficulty, my lord, with regard to your building fund, it might perhaps be well for you to borrow it."
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"The United States Christian Commission was simply the Church of Christ, in all her branches, in an organized form, going forth in time of war, as our blessed Master went through the streets of Jerusalem and along the shores of Galilee. Some might ask, Where did these men get their commission to go forth to the army, carrying bread for the body in one hand, and the Bread of Life in the other? I believe they got it from the example of our Saviour Himself. We sent forth the Bible and other books, by the hands of men of burning zeal, not mere perfunctory agents. There were ministers who came to us and offered themselves for the work; but we said: 'No; you have not , succeeded at home, and you are not likely to succeed in the army.' We wanted only men who were willing to put off the black coat and the white cravat, and would put on the army attire, and if need be, would undertake to make with their own hands gruel for the soldiers. I will tell you what happened on one occasion. A reverend Doctor of Divinity was engaged in making gruel for the soldiers, and was putting into the gruel something that would make it more palatable. Some of the soldiers were busily watching his movements, and one of them exclaimed : 'Go it, Doctor; put some more of that stuff in, and it will be the real Calvinistic gruel !' In another case, a man saw a reverend Doctor engaged in washing bloody shirts in a brook, and he called out to him : 'Doctor, what are you doing?' The Doctor replied : 'The shirts supplied to the army are exhausted and also those of our own Commission. The wounded are suffering from their stiffened and clotted shirts, and I thought I might under- take to wash a few of them in the brook. Do you think I am wrong ?' 'Wrong !' said the other, 'oh, no. I never saw you walking so closely in the footsteps of your Divine Master before.' These men have not only ministered to the bodily wants of the soldiers, but to their moral and chiefly to their spiritual neces- sities. They circulated upwards of 8,000,000 of copies of knapsack books, including such works as Newman Hall's 'Come to Jesus.' and Mr. Reid's ' Blood of Jesus.' The history of these books will never be written. They came back to the families of the soldiers in America, many of them stained with their former owners' blood. They have become heir-looms of those families, and they
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