capital control labor, while the laboring classes were to be subservient to the capitalists, and a sort of serfdom forced upon them. The wealthy class were to live in luxury and indolence upon the unrequited toil of their slaves. These facts, the leaders of the wicked rebellion, which they were to inaugurate, were careful to conceal from their followers. This was so well done, that the people of the South thought that these imaginary wrongs of the Government, which had been pictured to them by their masters, was the true reason of their attempt at separation from the Union. It is hoped that the masses will soon see the difference between serving a privileged class of aristocrats, and being members of a free Republic.

CHAPTER II.

The President's call for troops. — Organization of the Seventh. — Its departure for Camp Dennison. — Its reorganization and departure for the field.

On Monday, April 15, the President issued a call for 75,000 volunteers for three months' service. The States responded immediately to this call in double the number required. Never in the history of the world was such a response witnessed to the call of any country. Men left their implements of husbandry in the fields and rushed to the recruiting stations. The executives of the States were pressed with applications to raise companies and batteries under the call of the President.

Under this call thirteen regiments of infantry were assigned to Ohio. In fifteen days 71,000 troops were offered to Governor Dennison to fill the quota of the State. Camps were now established at different points in the State, and troops ordered to rendezvous. Camp Taylor, at Cleveland, Ohio, was organized on the 22d day of April, and by the 27th contained several thousand troops. Of these, the city of Cleveland had three companies of infantry; Trumbull County, one; Mahoning County, one company of infantry and a section of artillery; Portage County, two; Lake County, one; Lorain County, one; Huron County, one; while the city of Toledo was represented by an entire regiment. The latter part of April these detached companies were formed into a regiment, constituting the Seventh Ohio. It contained the right material for a fighting regiment. The majority of its members were of a floating class, fond of adventure, while many were of the best class. The regiment, as a whole, combined rare military talent. Many of its officers and privates were skilled in tactics; and those who were not, immediately set themselves about acquiring the necessary information, rather by practice than study; for, with some exceptions, it was not a scholarly regiment. The members took too much the character of adventurers, to indulge in close study or profound thinking. But for practical purposes, I doubt whether the regiment had a superior in the State. It readily acquired discipline while on duty; but while off duty, its members were not over-nice in their conduct, seldom indulging in sports that were absolutely wrong, but, at the same time, gratifying that propensity for fun which characterized them through their entire career. It contained no drones; there was no companionship in it for such.

On a beautiful Sabbath in early May, as the morning, with its freshness, was dispelling the damps and shadows of the night from city and country, a regiment was seen passing down the streets of the city of Cleveland. The sweet strains of music and the heavy tramp of the soldiers alone broke the silence. There was nothing but this martial bearing, which marked the carriage of the members of the regiment, to distinguish them from the multitude which was hastening in the same direction; for there were no arms and no uniforms. Each member was dressed in his citizen's garb, and there was no attempt at military evolutions. It was a simple march of determined men to the defence of their country. Solemnity and a becoming absence of unnecessary enthusiasm marked the occasion with sublimity and grandeur. The faces of those brave men were saddened with the thought of the perils which lay before them, and the endearments that were behind. They were marching to perform a sacred trust, confided to them by their countrymen. "This was the first march of the gallant Seventh." Arriving at the depot of the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad, it took a train of cars for Camp Dennison, where it arrived in the afternoon of the next day. Here they were totally unprepared to receive it, no barracks having been erected, although one hundred men had been sent there for that purpose several days previous. The ground was perfectly saturated with water from a three days' rain, and the camp in what had been a cornfield. But notwithstanding these difficulties, by sunset the regiment had constructed barracks, and were comparatively comfortable. In a few days the companies began to drill in earnest, and their advancement was correspondingly rapid.

On the 11th day of May the regiment was ordered to elect, by ballot, three field-officers. The candidates for colonel were, E. B. Tyler, of Ravenna; a former brigadier of militia, and James A. Garfield. The former was elected. Garfield afterwards became colonel of the Forty-second regiment, and, in command of a brigade, defeated Humphrey Marshall in Kentucky, for which he was given a star. Captain W. R. Creighton was elected lieutenant-colonel, and J. S. Casement, of Painesville, major.

On the 13th day of May, the President having issued a call for 42,032 volunteers for three years, a meeting was held in the Seventh Regiment, when all but one of the officers were in favor of organizing under this call. The subject being brought before the regiment on the following day, about three-fourths of the command enlisted for the three years' service. Recruiting officers were sent home, and by the middle of June the regiment was full. It was mustered into the three years' service on the 19th and 20th of June.

The companies were officered as follows: Company A, O. J. Crane, captain; A. C. Burgess, first-lieutenant; D. A. Kimball, second-lieutenant. Company B, James T. Sterling, captain; Joseph B. Molyneaux, first-lieutenant; H. Z. Eaton, second-lieutenant. Company C, Giles W. Shurtliff, captain; Judson N. Cross, first-lieutenant; E. Hudson Baker, second-lieutenant. Company D, John N. Dyer, captain; Charles A. Weed, first-lieutenant; A. J. Williams, second-lieutenant. Company E, John W. Sprague, captain; Arthur T. Wilcox, first-lieutenant; Ralph Lockwood, second-lieutenant. Company F, D. B. Clayton, captain; John B. Rouse, first-lieutenant; A. C. Day, second-lieutenant. Company G, F. A. Seymour, captain; W. H. Robinson, first-lieutenant; E. S. Quay, second-lieutenant. Company H, Joel F. Asper, captain; Geo. L. Wood, first-lieutenant; Halbert B. Case, second-lieutenant. Company I, W. R. Sterling, captain; Samuel McClelland, first-lieutenant; E. F. Fitch, second-lieutenant. Company K, John F. Schutte, captain; Oscar W. Sterl, first-lieutenant; C. A. Nitchelm, second-lieutenant. H. K. Cushing was appointed surgeon, and F. Salter assistant surgeon. John Morris was appointed quartermaster, Louis G. De Forest, adjutant, and Rev. F. T. Brown, chaplain.

Camp Dennison was well calculated for a camp of instruction. It is separated into two parts by the track of the Little Miami Railroad, while the river of the same name flows along its border. It is situated between sloping hills of some magnitude, in a slightly undulating valley. In summer it is beautiful; in winter, gloomy.

Soon after being mustered into service, the regiment was reviewed by George B. McClellan, then major-general of Ohio militia, commanding the Department of the Ohio. Immediately after, we were ordered to join his forces in the field.

Accordingly, on the afternoon of the 26th of June, the regiment took the cars for Columbus, Ohio, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Creighton, Colonel Tyler having gone in advance. Arriving in Columbus late at night, it was transferred to the Central Ohio