human beings to successfully
contend with the elements and at the same time to live under the fire of
Meade's guns. It would therefore be difficult to describe our surprise
when we learned the next morning that Lee's troops had safely crossed
the Potomac and were again on the soil of Virginia.

Several days later Mr. Gouverneur and I were driving on the national
turnpike, commonly called the Hagerstown pike, when we encountered the
Union army. Our destination was the country seat of ex-Governor Philip
F. Thomas, two miles from Frederick and within the shadow of Catoctin
mountain, which we were contemplating as a future home. Our travel was
not impeded except by an occasional inquiry in regard to our political
sentiments, as the Northern army was prone to believe that every
sojourner in Maryland at this time was an adherent of the South. This
national turnpike, which has been and still is a well-traveled
thoroughfare, was constructed at a cost of several million dollars and
was generally regarded as an extravagance of John Adams' administration.
In speaking of this road, which begins at Georgetown, D.C., and crosses
the mountains into Kentucky, Henry Clay once remarked that no one need
go abroad for scenery after viewing "the Valley of the Shenandoah,
Harper's Ferry, and the still more beautiful Middletown valley."

We were so favorably impressed by the Thomas place that we decided to
purchase it and in a short time found ourselves permanent residents of
Frederick County, in Maryland. We changed the name from "Waverley" to
"_Po-ne-sang_," which was the name of a Chinese Mission and meant "a
small hill." After seeing the children and myself comfortably
established in our new home, Mr. Gouverneur felt that he was now free to
give his services to the country for which he had so valiantly fought
during the Mexican War. As he was still in exceedingly delicate health,
active service in the field with all the exposures of camp life was
entirely out of the question but, desirous of rendering such services as
he could, he wrote the following letter to Major General Henry W.
Halleck, Commander in Chief of our Army:--

On my return from China, where I held the office of Consul
of the U.S., in the early part of May last I had the honor,
through the Honorable Secretary of State, to offer my
services to the President of the United States in any
capacity in which my military or other experience might
e