ute 20,000 men and about a
million of money to the war. The motion was received and passed with
the heartiest approval, and the young Senator was at once appointed to
serve in the new army.

He raised two regiments, of one of which he was made colonel. This was
work in which he had had no previous experience; yet he soon proved
himself a master of the business. Commander, officers, and privates
were all alike, raw recruits; but Garfield soon drilled both himself
and his men into shape.

As a skilled carpenter, he could handle a workman's tools. He made a
number of models and blocks, and with these he studied the art of war.
Then he taught his officers as he used to teach his classes; and so, by
sticking to his old principles of "thorough," he soon produced a
regiment second to none in the Northern army. Garfield's duty in the
first place was to help to keep the State of Kentucky out of the hands
of the Confederates. At Middle Creek on January 10th, and again on the
17th at Prestonburg, he defeated General Marshall. In his regiment he
had a number of his own Hiram boys, over whom he watched as an elder
brother. The affection of the young men for their friend and teacher
was unbounded, and with him to lead them there were few perils from
which they shrank.

Garfield had not taken up the trade of a soldier for pleasure or for
personal ambition, but out of a stern sense of duty. Brave and
resolute as he was, he was still more remarkable for the genuine
kindness and even tenderness of his nature. Before going into the war,
he was deeply concerned for his mother and for his wife and child. If
his life were taken, there was no provision for these dear ones. The
night, therefore, he volunteered, he took his mother's Bible and sat
down to read, determined to let the voice of God speak to him on this
momentous matter.

He had not long to wait. As he read and meditated, he could hear one
solemn voice speaking all the time in his heart, like the voice which
fell upon the ear of the Hebrew captain, bidding him go forward to
fight, as he said, for his country and for human right.

CHAPTER XVII.

WINNING HIS SPURS.

The Hiram Boys in Action--Terrible Odds--A Daring Deed--A Ride for
Life--Major-General Garfield.

The period of Garfield's active service in the army was a little over
two years; yet in that short time he rose from lieutenant-colonel to
major-general, and performed some deeds of valour that