eral Palmer had just died.
I immediately called at the house. He had only just passed away,
and was still lying on his death-bed. I attended the funeral at
his old home in Carlinville, and I do not know that I was ever more
impressed by such a ceremony. He was buried with all the pomp
attending a military funeral.

CHAPTER XIV
GOVERNOR RICHARD J. OGLESBY

I knew the late Governor Oglesby intimately for very many years.
As a young man, he served as a lieutenant in the gallant Colonel
E. D. Baker's regiment in the Mexican War, was at the battle of
Cerro Gordo, and fought the way thence to the City of Mexico. He
remained with the army until he saw the Stars and Stripes waving
over the hall of the Montezumas. Returning to Illinois, he took
up again the practice of law; but with the gold fever of 1849 he
took the pioneers' trail to California, where, in a short time, he
was financially successful, then returned home, and later went on
an extended tour through the Holy Land, where he remained nearly
two years.

On his return home, in 1860, he was elected to the State Senate.
I recall the night the returns came in. He had a fisticuff encounter
with "Cerro Gordo" Williams, in which he came out victorious, having
knocked Williams into the gutter. By many of the onlookers this
was regarded as the first fight of the Rebellion.

With his military experience in the Mexican War, it was only natural
that he should be one of the first to enlist for service in the
Civil War. He resigned from the Senate, raised a regiment, was
appointed its Colonel, and participated in a number of important
engagements under General Grant, acquitting himself with great
honor at Donelson, and was subsequently appointed a Brigadier-
General. He was severely wounded at Corinth, and his active service
in the Civil War was over. Although he was elevated to the rank
of Major-General, he was assigned to duty at Washington, where he
remained until 1864, and saw no more service on the field of battle.

He enjoyed the distinction of being elected Governor of Illinois
three times, first in 1864, again in 1872, resigning the following
year, after having been elected to the United States Senate; and
after he had served one term in the Senate and retired to private
life, he was again elected Governor of Illinois in 1884.

Governor Oglesby was a remarkable man in many respects. Judged by
the standards of Lincoln and Grant, he was not a great man.