[338] time, show the interest he took from the very first in the reputation which the sons of Harvard should sustain in the war. He writes, October 10, 1861:—
There is a slight prospect of our being ordered to Missouri or Kentucky. I want to go anywhere, providing I can see active service; and if ever C. B. gets into a battle, rest assured that he will never disgrace the Class of 1856 or the old Cambridge High School.After the battle of Ball's Bluff, October 21, 1861, his company was engaged all night in removing the wounded from Harrison's Island. He writes:—
About four o'clock in the morning, Caspar Crowninshield, of boat-club renown, turned up in shirt and drawers, with a blanket over his shoulders, after a cold swim across the river. All unite in praising his gallant conduct on the field of battle, and old Harvard has good reason to be proud of the courage and ability shown by her representatives.Some of his vacations at school and college he had spent among the farmers of New Hampshire, where with his readiness to learn anything that was practical, he had become familiar with many of the duties of hard-working men. The following extract shows how he could turn this practical knowledge to account. He writes, December 19, 1861:—
Here I am, on the banks of the Potomac, still on picket duty. I have constructed a log-house, twelve feet by ten, with ridge-pole, &c., and it is large enough for my guard and myself. I have the best house on the tow-path of the canal. My practice in New Hampshire comes in play, for I always do my share. My house is bullet-proof, or very nearly so, with loopholes on three sides, and stands in a good position as regards the river; so if the Rebels should attempt to cross, even with my small force of four men I could give them a warm reception.In March, 1862, the regiment was transferred to the Peninsula, to participate in the campaign against Richmond. He shared in the labors before Yorktown and in the seven days fighting before Richmond; and throughout the whole campaign his letters show, in the gloomiest periods, no signs of
