Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Harvard Memorial Biographies

Pleasant Hill Camp, near Darnestown, September 6, 1861.

dear Howard,—Advice is cheap. When lost, it goes to the moon, according to the old superstition, and does no harm. Hear mine. General Fremont is on his way to Memphis. As sure as sunrise, he will go there. Go with him. Now is the opportunity for adventure, for success. Energy and aptitude are in demand. This autumn they will bear fruit. The wheel is entitled to every man's shoulder; offer yours. In other words, pack your trunk, take a few letters of introduction and authentication from the Governor and others, go to Fremont, tell him you wish to serve in his army . . . . You will do yourself credit, and be in the midst of some of the most brilliant achievements of the war. I have said my say after reflection, and from a near view of the field.

Yours affectionately,

Wilder Dwight. To Lieutenant Howard Dwight.

He returned home without delay, being induced to follow the advice of his brother by the fact that he had been a citizen of Tennessee for two years previous to the breaking out of the Rebellion; and where he had faced Secession he chose to fight it.

The second day after his return from Northfield he had furnished himself with the necessary letters, had taken leave of his chosen friends and companions of the Twenty-fourth Regiment, from whom it was hard to separate himself, and was on his way to the Department of the West. On October 4, 1861, he was appointed by General Fremont a Second Lieutenant in Company C, Fourth Regiment Missouri Cavalry, Fremont Hussars.

On the 21st of March following he was commissioned by the Governor of Missouri as First Lieutenant, to rank from the 4th of October, 1861. At the battle of Pea Ridge he held a responsible position, concerning which he wrote soon after as follows:—

On the morning of the 6th of March, when the battle may be said to have opened, I found myself in command of our camp, all my senior officers having been sent with detachments on expeditions before the enemy's advance was known, not to rejoin us until the