surprise of his ghost if it could wander back and discover that this lot, long the site of J. P. Morgan's offices, selling for $37 per square foot in 1832, is now assessed at approximately $300 per square foot!

The old fellow was sometimes outraged at the prices obtained for land in that remote rural spot, Bloomingdale, now including the area from 99th street to 125th street. This was the place where the farmers came to trade with the city grocers and to have their wagons repaired and their horses shod, and Hone could not imagine a prosperous future for such a district. Hence, on August 3, 1835, he wrote:

"The prices of property in and about this city and Brooklyn keep up astonishingly; even unimproved lots are higher than ever. Several great sales have been made during my absence, but I think the greatest is the property of the late Mrs. Ann Rogers, which goes principally, I believe, to her grandchildren, the children of her daughter, Mrs. Howard. It consists of her proportion of the Rose Hill estate left by her first husband, Nicholas Cruger, and the country seat at Bloomingdale, about six miles from the city, on the banks of the Hudson river. The amount of the sales of these two pieces of property was $638,310. Fifteen years ago they would not have brought $40,000."

And when one discovers that less than fifty years earlier in 1786 John Jones John Jones bought 109 acres beginning at what is now 101st street, for approximately $11,150, one can see reason for Hone's consternation over the value of Gotham's soil.

In November, 1832, the New York and Harlem railroad opened a street-car linethe first in the world-up Fourth avenue from Prince street to Harlem; but the horses had the bad habit of balking at the hills and allowing the cars with their screaming passengers to roll back down the inclines. Hence, in 1837, the horse-car service was changed to steam-drawn service; but the

peace-loving inhabitants of Fourth avenue, and even the dignified aristocrats of Broadway, cried out bitterly against the snorting and the smoking of the engines.

Apparently Philip Hone began to have his doubts about lower Broadway as a quiet residential section. In the wildest dream he might have had he could not have foreseen that on the site of his very home the loftiest office building in the world — the Woolworth building would some day stand. March 8, 1836 he wrote:

"I have sold my house, in which I live, No. 255 Broadway, to Elijah Boardman for $60,000, to be converted into shops below, and the upper part to form part of the American hotel, kept by Edward Milford, in which I imagine Mr. Boardman to be interested. I bought this property on the 8th of March, 1821, after my return from Europe. I gave Jonathan Smith $25,000 for it. I made a large profit; but the rage for speculation is at present so high that it will prove an excellent purchase. The house belonging to the Phoenix insurance company, two or three doors above Warren street, was sold at auction for $40,000. The building is worth little or nothing, and the lot only 25 feet by 106 feet; mine is 37 feet by 120 feet.''

UNITED STATES INDUSTRIES

A public speaker recently pointed out that while the United States has only six per cent. of the population of the world and only seven per cent. of the land, it produces: Sixty per cent of the world's supply of copper. Forty per cent. of the world's supply of lead. Fifty per cent. of the world's supply of zinc. Sixty per cent. of the world's supply of aluminum. Sixty-six per cent. of the world's supply of oil. Seventy-five per cent. of the world's supply of corn. Sixty per cent of the world's supply of cotton. Forty per cent. of the world's supply of silver. Fifty-two per cent. of the world's supply of coal. Forty per cent. of the world's supply of iron and steel. Twenty per cent. of the world's supply of gold. Eighty-five per cent. of the world's supply of auto

CHAPTER III

GOING INTO ACTIVE SERVICE

On October 22d, 1861, Colonel Nelson Taylor, who had been on a reconnaissance with a detachment of the brigade, reported that the enemy had formidable batteries opposite Budd's Ferry and lower down the river, and that evidences pointed to the concentration of a large force on the lower Potomac; but whether for the purpose of crossing the river into Maryland, or for the purpose of strengthening their position against an attack of the union forces, could not be learned. In view of the information obtained, the general commanding the army determined to send a force down the river as far as Liverpool Point, Charles county, Maryland, sufficiently strong to offer stubborn resistance if the enemy should attempt to cross. Hooker's division was selected for this important duty, and orders came for the Excelsior brigade to prepare for the march. As some of the sick of the brigade were too ill to move, temporary quarters had to be provided for them. The acting quartermaster of the brigade, Lieutenant Bancker, selected Jenkins' tavern as being the most suitable for the purpose, and as the property was for sale or rental, he thought there would be little difficulty in securing it at a reasonable rate. Reliable property owners in the vicinity appraised its value at $2,500; but when Jenkins was approached with a view of renting it for government purposes, he fixed the price at $2,500 per annum. The presumption and audacity of the man almost took Bancker's breath away. Without any

further parley the property was sequestered and the sick moved into it. It was subsequently used as a hospital by New Jersey and Pennsylvania troops, and Jenkins was glad eventually to accept the appraised rental of $50 per month.

The brigade started off October 26th on easy marches, and on November 7th bivouacked in the vicinity of Liverpool Point. Regimental camps were laid out some distance from the river, the intervening woods serving as a screen and concealing the encampment from the enemy. It was here that the brigade was destined to pass the winter months and keep watch over the enemy on the opposite shore.

Hooker's division was soon strengthened by the addition of the third brigade, which consisted of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth New Jersey regiments, under the command of Brigadier-general Frank E. Patterson. The three brigades were formed in regular encampment along the Potomac, extending from Mattawoma Creek down to Liverpool Point, a distance of nearly twenty miles. The duty performed by the Excelsior brigade was arduous and important. Picket duty from upper Liverpool Point around Marlow Creek to the lower extremity of Sandy Point, on the bleak shores of the Potomac, during the winter of 1861-62, was a severe test of the endurance of the soldiers of the Excelsior Brigade. Vigilant and ever faithful, they performed the duty with intelligence and zeal. Reports were sent in each day from the commanding officer of the pickets, and in this way General Sickles was kept constantly advised of affairs on the river front.

The concentration of the Excelsior brigade on the lower Potomac, kept the confederates in a constant state of anxiety. In order to learn our movements they would send spies over during the night, and as many of the inhabitants in the vicinity of the camps were disloyal, the spies would go back with a budget of news which was made up from what our boys had told the natives who visited the camps of the terrible things we were going to do.

General Sickles determined to break up communication with the opposite shore. In addition to the strong line of pickets along the river front, scouting parties, cavalry and infantry, were sent out and numerous arrests made. Captain Wilkinson, of the fifth Excelsior, captured a number of boats, and manning them with members from his company, kept them employed on the Potomac shore and neighboring creeks, and thus there was a constant surveillance over the movements of the southern sympathizers.

General Sickles' activity and zeal seemed to worry Jefferson Davis, for we find him writing that ***** Sickles is said to be yet on the Lower Potomac. When your means will enable you to reach him, I hope he may be crushed."

We find the hope of crushing Sickles soon changed into a fear that Sickles might cross the Potomac and crush him!

Hooker's division had been magnified into a formidable host by the highly excitable imagination of the Confederate General Whiting, commanding the forces in and around Dumfries, for in a communication to General Johnston, dated November 16th, he says:

"The enemy are preparing to cross. They will cross near the town of Occoquan, and I think land at the same time at Deep Hole, where they can put across a large force. I think you can depend upon the grand attack being on our right, and we shall catch it here. You must look out for me. There is no time to be lost. The enemy are only waiting for their flotilla organization. Sickles will land in force at Deep Hole. The roads converge at Kankey's farm on the Neabsco, where I expect Wigfall to meet and hold them in check while I fall on their flank."

Several reconnoitering parties had been sent across the river by General Sickles, soon after we went into camp at Liverpool Point, and the confederates were led to believe that these expeditions would be followed by an attack in force. Colonel Charles K. Graham, with four hundred of the fifth regiment, crossed early in November, on the gunboats "Island Belle" and "Dana,” and landing at Mathias' Point, drove in his pickets, destroyed supplies and spread consternation among the enemy. A party from the fourth regiment also crossed and made a careful examination of the Occoquan river and vicinity.

In addition to the reconnoitering parties, routine of drill, picket duty and regular camp details, there were roads and wharves to build, and storehouses to erect, the heavy rains and storms rendering it necessary, owing to the peculiar soil, to build corduroy roads. The wear of the roads by heavy wagon trains, kept a detail constantly at work repairing them, and almost always when General Hooker wanted a storehouse or dock built he would call on the Excelsior brigade.

Lieutenant E. L. Price, of the fifth Excelsior, was an expert in building wharves, and under this able officer a very substantial and commodious wharf in the form of an L was built at Liverpool Point, and in water sufficiently deep to allow steamboats to land. Supplies were landed there and brought to the various camps of the brigade in army wagons over the roads that had been constructed by the various details from the brigade.

On October 28, 1861, Governor Morgan addressed a communication to General Sickles, enclosing five blank muster-rolls, which he desired filled up, giving the name, rank, etc., of each man in the respective regiments of the brigade, after which they were to be returned to the Adjutant-general at Albany, with the view of enrolling them among the regiments sent from the State of New York.

Governor Morgan seemed to have forgotten at this time how many obstacles he had thrown in the way of the enlistment of the noble body of men comprising the Excelsior brigade, and that he had at one time refused to accept the men who had left their peaceful homes and business pursuits in response to the call of their country. He was now glad to request their enrollment in the State quota.

For some reason Governor Morgan's communication did not reach General Sickles until late in November. In his reply General Sickles reminded the Governor of the refusal of the State to support the brigade and concluded:

In truth, your Excellency, it must be said that my command is indebted to the State of New York for nothing but the motto on her escutcheon, which we have inscribed on our banners. In adopting it, we mean to signify how earnestly we shall strive to attain excellence in the profession of arms; and we shall endeavor to acquit ourselves of whatever obligation may be implied in our appropriation of the name of “Excelsior," by doing good service in a cause for which New York has shown her unalterable devotion, and for which she has made and will make unnumbered sacrifices.

Having no New York State volunteers in my command, I must respectfully decline to furnish the information requested by your Excellency referring to the strength, the organization and the equipment of the several regiments composing this brigade.

The difficulty, however, was subsequently settled, and the regiments of the brigade became New York State troops and received the numerical designation of Seventieth, Seventy-first, Seventy-second, Seventy-third and Seventy-fourth New York State Vol

unteers.

While in camp on the Lower Potomac, owing to hardships and exposure incidental to soldier life, many of the members of the brigade suffered from malaria, which often ran into typhoid fever, and through this means many a poor fellow gave up his life and was buried on the peaceful hills of Maryland, far from his kindred and with only his

sympathizing comrades to stand by his grave as the earth covered him. These burials, though accompanied with military honors, had a depressing effect. Men expect to die on the battle field, and they brave death with heroic fortitude; but there seemed so little honor in a death of this kind, that one always pitied the poor fellows. They died for their country as much as the soldier who was stricken on the field, and their memory ought not to be the less dear.

The brigade, however, compared favorably with other brigades in the Army of the Potomac in its list of sick. In fact, few brigades in the army had so small a percentage of sick. On February 6, 1862, the strength of the brigade and percentage of sick stood as follows:

As the winter wore away and spring approached, more attention was paid to battalion drill, bayonet exercise and loading and firing. Sometimes the men would grumble a little on battalion drill about carrying their knapsacks; but the good judgment of the regimental commanders saw a little farther ahead than they did, and in the days of marches and battles that came crowding upon them soon after, "the knapsack drill," as the boys called it, served in good stead, for they could march any number of miles with their knapsacks on their backs and never think of parting with them. The day, however, came when the men learned to do without the comforts that could be crowded into a knapsack, and they were discarded altogether.