and schoolmate, Captain Hazen, then in the regular army; but when the governor sent to the war department for his transfer, General Scott refused to release him. So the forty-second Ohio regiment, recruited by Garfield, and embracing a large number of Hiram students, went into camp at Columbus without a colonel. It was in these circumstances and after repeated requests from officers and members of the regiment, that Garfield consented to take the command.

We have not space for details. Garfield proved himself as victorious in war as he had been successful in peace. In less than one month after he went into action with his regiment, under the orders of General Buell, he fought the battle of Middle Creek, January 10, 1862, driving the rebel general Marshall, whose forces largely outnumbered his, out of his entrenchments, compelling him to retreat into Virginia. Other victories followed, in what was called the “Sandy Valley campaign,” eliciting from the commanding general a congratulatory order, in which he spoke of the expedition as “calling into action the highest qualities of a soldier—fortitude, perseverance, courage.” For his bravery and military skill in this campaign the authorities at Washington made Garfield a brigadier-general, dating his commission back to January 10, 1862, the day of the battle of Middle Creek. As Garfield was the youngest member of the Ohio Senate, so now he became the youngest brigadier-general in the army.

Subsequently he was made major-general “for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Chickamauga.” The antecedents of that famous battle, under General Rosecrans, show that the victory was due more to the sagacity, plans, and courage of General Garfield than to any other officer. Within about one year and a half, he rose from a lieutenant-colonelcy to a major-general.

In the summer of 1862 leading republicans of the nineteenth Ohio congressional district nominated Garfield to represent them in Congress. They regarded him as the man above all others in the district qualified to succeed Joshua R. Giddings, of whom they were justly proud. Giddings was superseded four years before by John Hutchins, with whom the republicans were not satisfied. The movement for Garfield was undertaken without his knowledge. He was at the head of his command in Kentucky. The knowledge of his great abilities, and his military fame, led to his nomination. At first he thought he must decline the honour, and fight out the battles of his country. He was very popular in the army, both with officers and soldiers—his pay, too, was double that of a congressman, and he was poor, and needed the greater salary—and there was no doubt that the highest honours awaited him should he continue on the field until the end of the war. The reader can readily see that to accept the nomination in these circumstances was an act of great self-denial. But President Lincoln signified his desire for Garfield to enter Congress, as a member of military experience and skill was much needed there. The wishes of Lincoln settled the doubts of Garfield, and he accepted the nomination, was triumphantly elected, and took his seat in the national house of representatives in December, 1863, after two years and three months of service in the army.

During this time the trustees of Hiram Institute had not abandoned the idea of his return to the institution. While a member of the Ohio Senate he continued his connection with the school, when the senate was not in session. One interesting item of his thoroughness in teaching belongs to this part of his career. He was teaching a class how to write letters, and having taught them how to address different classes of friends and relatives, how to superscribe letters, etc., illustrating the same on the blackboard, he requested each one to write a letter to him at Columbus. In due time the letters were written and forwarded. Subsequently they were returned to the authors, corrected.

During his first two years in Congress his name appeared on the catalogue of Hiram Institute as “Advisory Principal and Lecturer.” He has been a member of the board of trustees ever since. For seventeen years he served his district as national representative. We have not space for any of the brilliant record of those seventeen years. We can only say, that he became the acknowledged leader of the national house of representatives; the pride of his native state, Ohio, and an honour to the Republic.