Messages and Papers of
JAMES A. GARFIELD

March 4, 1881, to September 19, 1881

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD was born in Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November 19, 1831. His father, Abram Garfield, was a native of New York, but of Massachusetts ancestry; descended from Edward Garfield, an English Puritan, who in 1630 was one of the founders of Watertown. His mother, Eliza Ballou, was born in New Hampshire, of a Huguenot family that fled from France to New England after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Garfield, therefore, was from lineage well represented in the struggles for civil and religious liberty, both in the Old and in the New World. His father moved to Ohio in 1830 and settled in what was then known as the "Wilderness," now as the "Western Reserve," which was occupied by Connecticut people. He died at the age of 33, leaving a widow and four small children, of whom James was the youngest. Mrs. Garfield brought up her family unaided, and impressed upon them a high standard of moral and intellectual worth. James attended school in a log hut at the age of 3 years, learned to read, and began that habit of omnivorous reading which ended only with his life. At 10 years of age was accustomed to manual labor, helping out his mother’s meager income by work at home or on the farms of the neighbors. Attended the district school in the winter months, made good progress, and was conspicuous for his assiduity. At the age of 14 had a fair knowledge of arithmetic and grammar, and was particularly apt in the facts of American history. His imagination was especially kindled by tales of the sea, and he so far yielded to his love of adventure that in 1848 he went to Cleveland and proposed to ship as a sailor on board a lake schooner. Seeing that this life was not the romance he had conceived, he turned promptly from the lake; but loath to return home without adventure and without money, he drove some months for a boat on the Ohio Canal, when he was promoted from the towpath to the boat. Attended the Geauga Seminary at Chester, Ohio, during the winter of 1849-50. In the vacations learned and practiced the trade of a carpenter, helped at harvest, taught--did anything and everything to earn money to pay for his schooling. After the first term he asked and needed no aid from home; he had reached the point where he could support himself. Was converted under the instructions of a Christian preacher,was baptized and received into that denomination. As soon as he finished his studies in Chester entered (1851) the Hiram Eclectic Institute (now Hiram College), at Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, the principal educational institution of his church. He was not very quick of acquisition, but his perseverance was indomitable and he soon had an excellent knowledge of Latin and a fair acquaintance with algebra, natural philosophy, and botany. His superiority was easily recognized in the prayer meetings and debating societies of the college, where he was assiduous and conspicuous. Living here was inexpensive, and he readily made his expenses by teaching in the English departments, and also gave instruction in the ancient languages. Entered Williams College in the autumn of 1854, and graduated with the highest honors in the class of 1856. Returned to Ohio and resumed his place as a teacher of Latin and Greek at Hiram Institute, and the next year, being then only 26 years of age, was made its president. The regulations and practices of his church, known as the Christian Church, or Church of the Disciples, permitted him to preach, and he used the permission. He also pursued the study of law, entering his name in 1858 as a student in a law office in Cleveland, but studying in Hiram. Cast his first vote in 1856 for John C. Fremont, the first Republican candidate for the Presidency. Married Lucretia Rudolph November 11, 1858. In 1859 was chosen to represent the counties of Summit and Portage in the Ohio senate. In August, 1861, Governor William Dennison commissioned him lieutenant-colonel in the Forty-second Regiment Ohio Volunteers. Was promoted to the command of this regiment. In December, 1861, reported to General Buell in Louisville, Ky. Was given a brigade and assigned the difficult task of driving the Confederate general Humphrey Marshall from eastern Kentucky. General Garfield triumphed over the Confederate forces at the battle of Middle Creek, January 10, 1862, and in recognition of his services was made a brigadier-general by President Lincoln. During the campaign of the Big Sandy, while Garfield was engaged in breaking up-some scattered Confederate encampments, his supplies gave out and he was threatened with starvation. Going himself to the Ohio River, he seized a steamer, loaded it with provisions, and on the refusal of any pilot to undertake the perilous voyage, because of a freshet that had swelled the river, he stood at the helm for forty-eight hours and piloted the craft through the dangerous channel. In order to surprise Marshall, then intrenched in Cumberland Gap, Garfield marched his soldiers 100 miles in four days through a blinding snowstorm. Returning to Louisville, he found that General Buell was away; overtook him at Columbia, Tenn., and was assigned to the command of the Twentieth Brigade. Reached Shiloh in time to take part in the second day’s fight. Was engaged in all the operations in front of Corinth, and in June, 1862, rebuilt the bridges on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and exhibited noticeable engineering skill in repairing the fortifications ofHuntsville. Was granted leave of absence July 30, 1862, on account of ill health, and returned to Hiram, Ohio, where he lay ill for two months. Went to Washington on September 25, 1862, and was ordered on court-martial duty. November 25 was assigned to the case of General Fitz John Porter. In February, 1863, returned to duty under General Rosecrans, then in command of the Army of the Cumberland. Rosecrans made him his chief of staff, with responsibilities beyond those usually given to this office. In this field Garfield’s influence on the campaign in middle Tennessee was most important. One familiar incident shows and justifies the great influence he wielded in its counsels. Before the battle of Chickamauga, June 24, 1863, General Rosecrans asked the written opinion of seventeen of his generals on the advisability of an immediate advance. All others opposed, but Garfield advised it, and his arguments were so convincing that Rosecrans determined to seek an engagement. General Garfield wrote out all the orders of that fateful day, September 19, excepting one, and that one was the blunder that lost the day. Garfield volunteered to take the news of the defeat on the right to General George H. Thomas, who held the left of the line. It was a bold ride, under constant fire, but he reached Thomas and gave the information that saved the Army of the Cumberland. For this action he was made a major-general September 19, 1863--promoted for gallantry on a field that was lost. Yielded to Mr. Lincoln’s urgent request and on December 5, 1863, resigned his commission and hastened to Washington to sit in Congress, to which he had been chosen fifteen months before. Was offered a division in the Army of the Cumberland by General Thomas, but yielded to the representations of the President and Secretary Stanton that he would be more useful in the House of Representatives. Was placed on the Committee on Military Affairs, then the most important in Congress. In the Thirty-ninth Congress (1865) was changed, at his own request, from the Committee on Military Affairs to the Committee on Ways and Means. In the Fortieth Congress (1867) was restored to the Committee on Military Affairs and made its chairman. In the Forty-first Congress the Committee on Banking and Currency was created and he was made its chairman. Served also on the Select Committee on the Census and on the Committee on Rules. Was chairman of the Committee on Appropriations in the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses. In the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, and Forty-sixth Congresses (the House being Democratic) was assigned to the Committee on Ways and Means. In 1876, at President Grant’s request, went to New Orleans in company with Senators Sherman and Matthews and other Republicans, to watch the counting of the Louisiana vote. He made a special study of the West Feliciana Parish case, and embodied his views in a brief but significant report. In January, 1877, made two notable speeches in the House on the duty of Congress in a Presidential election, and claimed that the Vice-President had a constitutional rightto count the electoral vote. Opposed the Electoral Commission, yet when the commission was ordered was chosen by acclamation to fill one of the two seats allotted to Republican Representatives. Mr. Blaine left the House for the Senate in 1877, and this made Mr. Garfield the undisputed leader of his party in the House. At this time and subsequently was its candidate for Speaker. Was elected to the United States Senate January 13, 1880. Attended the Republican convention which met at Chicago in June, 1880, where he opposed the renomination of President Grant and supported Senator Sherman. On the thirty-sixth ballot the delegates broke their ranks, and, rushing to General Garfield, he was unanimously nominated for President on June 8, 1880. Was elected November 2, 1880, receiving 214 electoral votes to 144 that were cast for Winfield S. Hancock. Was shot July 2, 1881, by an assassin in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station, in Washington, and died from the effects of the wound September 19 at Elberon, N.J. He was buried at Cleveland, Ohio.