"THE OHIO CAPTAIN,"

read Hugh.

"When the war for the Union broke out, I had just completed my studies
and entered the ministry. My intention had been to enter upon my new
duties in a little village not far from my home, but as the excitement
spread through the country, and the young men left their fields, their
workshops, and their homes, to join the army, I could not overcome my
desire to go with them. I could not sleep, through many exciting
weeks; in imagination I saw this one, and that one, friends that I
knew, cold in death, or lying wounded alone in the night. I seemed to
walk through crowded hospitals and to hear the 'ping' of the balls; I
felt that if ever there was a place where the gospel words were
needed, it was after the battle, when men were left with the awful
shadow of death hanging over them. My youth and inexperience would be
obstacles in the well-regulated quiet village, but in the army might
they not be overlooked, if accompanied by willing hands and heart? In
the great haste, in the great excitement, in the great agony, might
not the great tidings be delivered acceptably even by an inexperienced
messenger? Thus I thought, and soon after the battle of Bull Run, I
obtained an appointment as chaplain, joined the army, and remained
with it until the close of the war.

"Part of this time I was with an Ohio volunteer regiment; the colonel
belonged to the regular army, but all the other officers were
volunteers. I grew to know them all, and among them I found many noble
hearts, and, had I the time, I could relate many incidents of
generosity and true courage, part of that unwritten history of the war