Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Vol. VIII.: James A. Garfield | Page 3

Was engaged in all the operations in front
of Corinth, and in June, 1862, rebuilt the bridges on the Memphis and
Charleston Railroad, and exhibited noticeable engineering skill in
repairing the fortifications of Huntsville. Was granted leave of absence
July 30, 1862, on account of ill health, and returned to Hiram, Ohio,
where he lay ill for two months. Went to Washington on September 25,
1862, and was ordered on court-martial duty. November 25 was

assigned to the case of General Fitz John Porter. In February, 1863,
returned to duty under General Rosecrans, then in command of the
Army of the Cumberland. Rosecrans made him his chief of staff, with
responsibilities beyond those usually given to this office. In this field
Garfield's influence on the campaign in middle Tennessee was most
important. One familiar incident shows and justifies the great influence
he wielded in its counsels. Before the battle of Chickamauga, June 24,
1863, General Rosecrans asked the written opinion of seventeen of his
generals on the advisability of an immediate advance. All others
opposed, but Garfield advised it, and his arguments were so convincing
that Rosecrans determined to seek an engagement. General Garfield
wrote out all the orders of that fateful day, September 19, excepting one,
and that one was the blunder that lost the day. Garfield volunteered to
take the news of the defeat on the right to General George H. Thomas,
who held the left of the line. It was a bold ride, under constant fire, but
he reached Thomas and gave the information that saved the Army of
the Cumberland. For this action he was made a major-general
September 19, 1863--promoted for gallantry on a field that was lost.
Yielded to Mr. Lincoln's urgent request and on December 5, 1863,
resigned his commission and hastened to Washington to sit in Congress,
to which he had been chosen fifteen months before. Was offered a
division in the Army of the Cumberland by General Thomas, but
yielded to the representations of the President and Secretary Stanton
that he would be more useful in the House of Representatives. Was
placed on the Committee on Military Affairs, then the most important
in Congress. In the Thirty-ninth Congress (1865) was changed, at his
own request, from the Committee on Military Affairs to the Committee
on Ways and Means. In the Fortieth Congress (1867) was restored to
the Committee on Military Affairs and made its chairman. In the
Forty-first Congress the Committee on Banking and Currency was
created and he was made its chairman. Served also on the Select
Committee on the Census and on the Committee on Rules. Was
chairman of the Committee on Appropriations in the Forty-second and
Forty-third Congresses. In the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, and Forty-sixth
Congresses (the House being Democratic) was assigned to the
Committee on Ways and Means. In 1876, at President Grant's request,
went to New Orleans in company with Senators Sherman and

Matthews and other Republicans, to watch the counting of the
Louisiana vote. He made a special study of the West Feliciana Parish
case, and embodied his views in a brief but significant report. In
January, 1877, made two notable speeches in the House on the duty of
Congress in a Presidential election, and claimed that the Vice-President
had a constitutional right to count the electoral vote. Opposed the
Electoral Commission, yet when the commission was ordered was
chosen by acclamation to fill one of the two seats allotted to
Republican Representatives. Mr. Blaine left the House for the Senate in
1877, and this made Mr. Garfield the undisputed leader of his party in
the House. At this time and subsequently was its candidate for Speaker.
Was elected to the United States Senate January 13, 1880. Attended the
Republican convention which met at Chicago in June, 1880, where he
opposed the renomination of President Grant and supported Senator
Sherman. On the thirty-sixth ballot the delegates broke, their ranks, and,
rushing to General Garfield, he was unanimously nominated for
President on June 8, 1880. Was elected November 2, 1880, receiving
214 electoral votes to 144 that were cast for Winfield S. Hancock. Was
shot July 2, 1881, by an assassin in the Baltimore and Potomac
Railroad station, in Washington, and died from the effects of the wound
September 19 at Elberon, N.J. He was buried at Cleveland, Ohio.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Fellow-Citizens: We stand to-day upon an eminence which overlooks a
hundred years of national life--a century crowded with perils, but
crowned with the triumphs of liberty and law. Before continuing the
onward march let us pause on this height for a moment to strengthen
our faith and renew our hope by a glance at the pathway along which
our people have traveled.
It is now three days more than a hundred years since the adoption of the