s. He was ten years old in 1863, a bright and lovable child,
with whom his father was associated in constant and affectionate
companionship. The boy was much with him in his walks and journeys about
Washington, and even in his visits to the army in the field. The father
would often gain a brief respite from his heavy cares by sharing in the
sports and frolics of the light-hearted boy, who was a general favorite
at the White House, where he was free to go and come at will. No matter
who was with the President, or how intently he might be absorbed, little
Tad was always welcome. "It was an impressive and affecting sight," says
Mr. Carpenter, an inmate of the White House for several months, "to see
the burdened President lost for the time being in the affectionate
parent, as he would take the little fellow in his arms upon the
withdrawal of visitors, and caress him with all the fondness of a mother
for the babe upon her bosom." Hon. W.D. Kelley, a member of Congress at
that time, says: "I think no father ever loved his children more fondly
than he. The President never seemed grander in my sight than when,
stealing upon him in the evening, I would find him with a book open
before him, with little Tad beside him. There were, of course, a great
many curious books sent to him, and it seemed to be one of the special
delights of his life to open those books at a time when his boy could
stand beside him, and they could talk as he turned over the pages, the
father thus giving to the son a portion of that care and attention of
which he was ordinarily deprived by the heavy duties pressing upon him."
Tad lived to be eighteen years old, dying in Chicago in 1871. It was
well said of him that he "gave to the sad and solemn White House the
only comic relief it knew."

When President Lincoln visited General Hooker's headquarters with the
Army of the Potomac, just before the battle of Chancellorsville, little
Tad went with him, and rode with his father and General Hooker through
the grand reviews that were held. "Over hill and dale," says a member of
the Presidential party, "dashed the brilliant cavalcade of the
General-in-Chief, surrounded by a company of officers in gay attire and
sparkling with gold lace, the party being escorted by the Philadelphia
Lancers, a showy troop of soldiers. In the midst, or at the head, rose
and fell, as the horses galloped afar, the form of Lincoln, conspicuous
by his height and his tall black hat. And ever o