Chapter LIX: Final Scene

After the successful charge Colonel Morrison sent an officer to report that General Stevens had fallen, and that the enemy had been driven back. General Reno, to whom the report was made, returned orders to bury General Stevens on the field, and to fall back. The Highlanders reverently and tenderly bore away the body of their beloved commander and placed it in an ambulance, from which one of their number, although wounded, willingly alighted to give room. The remains were taken to Washington to the house of his dear friend, John L. Hayes, and thence to Newport, R.I.

General Reno's apparently unfeeling order excited great indignation among the Highlanders.

At the very moment of his heroic death General Stevens was being considered by the President and his advisers as commander of the armies in Virginia. Mr. Hayes was assured of the fact by a member of the cabinet, and it was currently stated in the press. Certain it is that ignoble personal rivalries and jealousies could not have kept him down much longer.

He was appointed and confirmed a major-general, to rank from July 4, 1862.

He was only forty-four years, five months, and seven days of age when he fell.

The stern old Puritan Abolitionist, his aged father, died August 22, only ten days previous. He frequently declared that he should never see Isaac again, that he knew his spirit too well, that he would surely be killed in battle, and it was thought that brooding over this idea hastened his own death.

General Stevens was buried in the Island Cemetery in Newport. The obsequies were attended by Governor Sprague, of Rhode Island, and Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts, Professor Bache and officers of the Coast Survey, the mayor and council of Newport and other dignitaries, and a large military escort. The city of Newport erected beside his grave a massive granite obelisk, bearing the following simple and appropriate inscription, composed by his brother-in-law, the Rev. Charles T. Brooks:

IN MEMORY OF
MAJOR-GENERAL ISAAC INGALLS STEVENS,
BORN IN ANDOVER, MASS.,
MARCH 25, 1818,
WHO GAVE TO THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY
A QUICK AND COMPREHENSIVE MIND,
A WARM AND GENEROUS HEART,
A FIRM WILL AND A STRONG ARM,
AND WHO FELL WHILE RALLYING HIS COMMAND
WITH THE FLAG OF THE REPUBLIC IN HIS DYING GRASP,
AT THE BATTLE OF CHANTILLY, VA.,
SEPTEMBER 1, 1862.

THIS MONUMENT
IS ERECTED AS A TOKEN OF
ADMIRING GRATITUDE
BY THE
CITY OF NEWPORT.

When the Highlanders were mustered out of service, the flag under whose folds General Stevens fell was sent to his widow, with the following letter from the brave Colonel Morrison:--

NEW YORK, September 22, 1864.

Mrs. ISAAC I. STEVENS.

_Dear Madam_,--I have the honor to transmit to you the colors of the
79th Highlanders, the same that were in the hand of your late
lamented husband when he received his wound. Since I knew that you
wished to have them in your possession I have watched them with a
jealous eye through many stormy fields. Although but a rag, many a
brave man would have sacrificed his life rather than anything
dishonorable should happen them. From Chantilly to Blue Springs,
wherever they were unfurled, victory has perched upon them, and
when, torn and tattered, we exchanged them for a new set, I have
carried them about with me, and I assure you it gives me great
pleasure in sending them to you, so that you may preserve them as an
heirloom in your family. Serving immediately under General Stevens,
no one had a better opportunity of knowing him than myself. Well may
you feel proud of him! His nobleness of heart, his firm devotion to
his country, his untiring energy, his unflinching bravery, have
endeared him to all those who have served under him. His memory is
engraven on the hearts of every one of his Highlanders, and the few
of us that are left often speak of the many acts of kindness
bestowed on us by "Our General."

I am, madam, your obedient servant,

D. MORRISON,
_Late Colonel 79th Highlanders_.

The legislature of Rhode Island passed resolutions upon the death of General Stevens, and offered to provide a fit resting-place for his ashes. The city of Newport, the officers of the Coast Survey, and many other public bodies paid fitting tribute by resolutions. "When the intelligence of his death reached Washington Territory, the grief of all classes was sincere and profound. Nothing could any one recall that was base or dishonorable, but much that was lofty and manly in the dead hero. The legislature passed resolutions in his honor, and ordered crape to be worn."[22] For many years the successive governors and legislatures regularly paid tribute to his memory.

He fell--that glowing eye
In sudden night was quenched;
But still the flag he lifted high,
And onward bore to victory,
In his dead hand was clenched.

He sank--but o'er his head
The drooping ensign fell,
As if its folds it fondly spread
Above the forehead, pale and dead,
Of him who loved it well.

He sleeps--unlock that clasp!
The hero's work is done!
Another hand that staff shall grasp,
And, if need be, till life's last gasp,
Like him shall bear it on.

He rests--the true and brave!
And where his relics lie,
In holier beauty long shall wave,
Fit canopy for freeman's grave,
God's starry flag on high.

He lives--his deeds inspire
New strength for duty's strife:
Now myriads burn with nobler fire
Onward to press--to mount up higher
And win the eternal life.[23]

FOOTNOTES:

[22] H.H. Bancroft's _History of Washington_.

[23] Anonymous, from _Boston Commonwealth_.

GENERAL STEVENS'S DESCENDANTS.

1. HAZARD, born in Newport, R.I., June 9, 1842.

2. JULIA VIRGINIA, born in Newport, June 27, 1844, died in Bucksport, Me., December 7, 1845.

3. SUSAN, born in Bucksport, November 20, 1846; married Richard Isaac Eskridge, United States Army, in Portland, Oregon, October 27, 1870.

4. GERTRUDE MAUDE, born in Bucksport, April 29, 1850.

5. KATE, born in Washington, D.C., November 17, 1852; married Edward Wingard Bingham, in Boston, Mass., February 18, 1886.

GRANDCHILDREN, CHILDREN OF RICHARD ISAAC ESKRIDGE AND SUSAN STEVENS ESKRIDGE.

1. MAUD, born at Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, August 21, 1871; married Edward Pennington Pearson, United States Army, at Fort Reno, Oklahoma Territory, April 16, 1898.

2. RICHARD STEVENS, born at Yuma Depot, Arizona Territory, October 24, 1872.

3. HAZARD STEVENS, born at Yuma Depot, February 24, 1874; died at Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming Territory, October 12, 1874.

4. VIRGINIA, born at Fort D.A. Russell, March 2, 1875.

5. OLIVER STEVENS, born in Boston, Mass., October 12, 1876.

6. MARY PEYTON, born at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, March 28, 1878; married Charles McKinley Saltzman, United States Army, in Boston, May 9, 1899.