tables of
the West; and the God-speed of his own state--swelled into a hearty
chorus by the voice of the country--followed him on his knightly
errand!

Meantime, Lincoln's famous Proclamation of Emancipation had been
promulgated. It made little difference to the people of the South; for
it was at that time looked upon as a vaunt as idle as if he had
declared the throne of England vacant. Secure in their belief in their
right doing, and in the trusty arms and deadly rifles that defended it,
the southern masses never dreamed the day would come when that
proclamation would be more than the paper upon which it was engrossed.
Still, in the general gloom upon them, it was taken as but another
augury of the bitter spirit animating their enemies; and of the extent
to which it would drive them in this war for the Union and flag.

And so the close of '62 fell dark and dismal upon the distracted
country; enlivened only by the sole gleam in Virginia--the repulse of
Burnside from Fredericksburg. But even the joy for this triumph was
dashed by the precious blood spilled to purchase it; another vent for
that steady drain of men, material and endurance--already almost past
bearing.

But there was no weak yielding in Government, or in people. Men looked
at each other through the gloom, and even as they asked--"Brother, what
of the night?"--struck hands in a clasp that meant renewed faith in the
cause and renewed determination to prove its right.

Early in the New Year, news reached Richmond of Magruder's amphibious
victory, the recapture of Galveston; which town had fallen a prey to
the enemy's naval power early in October. On the last night of
'62--while the wearied troops of Bragg were sleeping on the bloody
field of Murfreesboro--General Magruder, with a mixed command of three
regiments of raw infantry, some nineteen pieces of field artillery, and
a boarding fleet of four unarmed boats, came down silently to
Galveston. The Federal fleet--consisting of the Harriet Lane, the
Clifton, the Westfield and the Ossawa--were lying just off the town;
covering it with their broadsides and supported by a force of infantry.

Coming suddenly upon them, like shadows through the darkness,
Magruder's land force opened a hot fire with field artillery--and aided
by the daring boarding of the Lane by Colonel Leon Smith's co-operating
water party--captured the former steamer, burned one other, and drove
the remaining ones, with their tenders, to se