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Chapter 15

This webpage reproduces a chapter of
Admiral Franklin Buchanan

by
Charles Lee Lewis


published by
The Norman, Remington Company
Baltimore
1929

The text is in the public domain.

This page has been carefully proofread
and I believe it to be free of errors.
If you find a mistake though,
please let me know!

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Chapter 17
This site is not affiliated with the US Naval Academy.

 p246 

Chapter XVI

Sunset and Evening Star

Buchanan's recovery from the serious wound which he received in the Battle of Mobile Bay showed that he was possessed of a remarkable constitution and a strong will. "We then (on the day of the battle) thought", wrote Surgeon Conrad,​1 "that the admiral's leg would have to be amputated that evening or the next morning. In speaking to the admiral about his chances for recovery and the proposed amputation, he replied: 'I have nothing to do with it. It is your leg now; do your best'. It was this spirit of firmness and equanimity which not only saved Admiral Buchanan's life, but ultimately his leg also".

The same officer also gave this admirable account of Buchanan's appearance before the battle: "At 62 years he was a strikingly handsome old man; clean shaved, ruddy complexion, with a very healthy hue, for he was always remarkably temperate in all his habits; he had a high forehead, fringed with snow-white hair, thin close lips, steel-blue eyes; and projecting conspicuously was that remarkable feature which impressed every one and marked him as one of a thousand, his wonderful aquiline nose, high, thin, and perfect in all its outlines. When full of fight he had a peculiarity of drawing down the  p247 corners of his mouth until the thin line between his lips formed a perfect arch around his chin".​2

Buchanan was carried on board the Metacomet, commanded by Captain James E. Jouett, who showed great kindness in caring for the wounded Confederate admiral until the following day when the vessel arrived at Pensacola, having passed Fort Morgan without molestation as permission for its passage had been secured from General Page. To the hospital at this place Buchanan was conveyed, accompanied by Surgeon Conrad and the admiral's two aides, Lieutenants R. M. Carter and W. S. Forrest. Here he remained for about three months, at the end of which he was able to hobble around on crutches. From the hospital he wrote on August 10, 1864 as follows to Major General Dabney H. Maury, in command of the Confederate military forces at Mobile:

"Your kind note of sympathy of the 7th reached me on the 8th. It is gratifying to military and naval men to hear that their public acts are appreciated by their friends and countrymen. And, as my conscience assures me that I strove to do my duty, I must rest content under my present misfortune. My leg, I am happy to say, has been saved under the judicious treatment of Fleet Surgeon Palmer, U. S. Navy, and Fleet Surgeon Conrad, C. S. Navy, and is doing well. The kind treatment and attention paid me and those with me by the military and naval authorities here is all we could expect or desire. It would add much to our comfort if we could receive from Mobile our clothes; probably an arrangement could be made with Admiral Farragut to send them in one of the vessels of his fleet, as they are frequently sent here on duty. The inclosed letters to our friends name  p248 the articles which we wish. With kind regards to my friends, believe me, Very sincerely, Your friend, Franklin Buchanan".

A postscript adds that he was obliged to employ an amanuensis as he could not well get up to use a pen.

The last of November, Buchanan was taken North with his two faithful aides, on the U. S. S. Fort Morgan. This vessel stopped at Hampton Roads to leave dispatches and other mail, and then proceeded on to New York where Buchanan was imprisoned at Fort Lafayette. This was a source of satisfaction to some Northerners no doubt, as evidenced by the following to Secretary Welles:​3 "I hope you will have the traitor Buchanan brought to the North that he may be seen as an object of scorn and contempt." Though this imprisonment must have been humiliating to Buchanan's proud spirit, he was cheered and comforted here, as he had been at Pensacola, by the letters and gifts received from the members of his family. Further, at Fort Lafayette his wife and one of his daughters paid him a visit. Here also his brother McKean, who was on the Congress when that vessel was destroyed by the Virginia, visited him; this was doubtless a source of great satisfaction to each of the brothers whom Fate had placed on opposing sides at Hampton Roads.

Buchanan's state of mind during his long imprisonment is revealed in the following extracts from his letters.

"My general health when I came here," he declared, "was very good and I was fast regaining my strength and flesh, and my leg continued to improve; prison fare, however, and the want of exercise is reducing all to my former standard a few months back. I never  p249 despair, however, and trust in God to carry me through my present humiliating, degrading position".​4

To one of his daughters he wrote,

"I am rejoiced to find you so prompt in replying to my letters for it is a great comfort and happiness to me hearing from some of you so often. Dear Frank's letter was very acceptable as I had not heard from him for many months; I can see a great improvement in his style of writing since his last letter to me. Oh, my dear daughter, if I could only see you all, how happy it would make me. Your dear Ma's and Alice's visits were sad ones, but now they are over I feel much happier; we were all under great restraint and could not converse freely as we wished as the interview had to be in the presence of an officer; we both had much to say to each other which had to be omitted, but I can become reconciled to almost anything, my dear children, if you all continue to enjoy good health. Your likeness sent to me in your Pensacola letter is excellent: I have it in my pocket. Tell your dear Ma I received her letter after she returned to Baltimore and will answer it as soon as I receive the things in the box; it has arrived and I have had a Turkey from it only. A box from Aunt Winder has also arrived, and one from Uncle Mack, but as the permit from General W.––––– was for only one box from Baltimore, I have written to him at the suggestion of Colonel Burke to receive the others".​5

A letter written just two weeks later to his daughter Alice is in part as follows:

I was amused at sister's last letter written in a hurry because she thought I would soon leave here for Dixie. I really wish, my dear daughters, it was so, but notwithstanding all your dear  p250 Ma has told in W. (Washington), I have not heard a word on the subject of my exchange, nor am I to be removed from here until then. You thought, daughter Sallie, that as Drs. R. and G. had seen my leg I would be sent to a hospital; no report has been made by them recommending it, consequently I have made up my mind that I am to remain here during my captivity, and I shall be as happy and cheerful under the circumstances as possible. I have much to live for, and will do all in my power to retain my health and spirits; low spirits and despondency you all know I never gave way to, or encouraged. I look forward with perfect confidence and certainty that I will be again with you all and your dear Ma at a happy home somewhere, if not at our once happy one on the Eastern Shore".

The delay in exchanging Buchanan was due, in part at least, to the fact that the Confederates had no prisoner of equal rank to offer for his release, though Secretary Welles seems to have approved his exchange as early as November 17, 1864,​6 and to have urged it to Secretary Stanton on December 31 of the same year,​7 the Confederate government having refused to make further exchanges of naval prisoners unless Buchanan should be included among those returned to the South. But it was not until February 18, 1865 that the order was sent authorizing the conveying of Buchanan under patrol by way of Baltimore to City Point, Virginia for exchange. About March 4, the exchange was finally carried out, and Buchanan then made his way to Richmond.

From here Buchanan was sent once more to Mobile  p251 to assist in the final defense of that city. There he surrendered himself a second time when that place capitulated on May 14. Three days later he signed the following parole:

I, the undersigned, a prisoner of war and an admiral in the Confederate Navy, do hereby give my solemn parole of honor that I will not hereafter serve in the Navy of the Confederate States, or in any military capacity whatever, against the United States of America, or render aid to the enemies of the latter, until properly exchanged, in such manner as shall be mutually approved by the respective authorities".

In the indorsements on his parole, it is stated that Buchanan reported on board the flagship Malvern, and was sent to the military authorities at Fortress Monroe. From here, inasmuch as the war by that time was over, he was permitted to return at last to his home in Maryland, which he had not seen for nearly four years.

Buchanan's beautiful home, "The Rest", which was filled with interesting souvenirs and curios which he had brought back from his many cruises on the Seven Seas, had been destroyed by fire, possibly of an incendiary origin, during the war on April 4, 1863, the day before Easter, and nearly everything had thus been swept away. The family​8 had been given a temporary home at "Fairview", owned by a friend, Harry Oliver, Esquire, who was in Europe at the time. They lived here until about the close of the war, when upon the return of Mr. Oliver they removed to "Knightly", home of Mrs. E. S. Winder, sister to Mrs. Buchanan, until the new house at "The Rest" was finished. This apparently more modest wooden dwelling erected on the same site where the old  p252 brick house stood became as dear, in time, to the Buchanan family as their old home had been.

Accordingly, when Buchanan returned from four years of war, hospitals, and prison, he did not have a roof of his own to shelter his old white head and house his loved ones. Though he returned under these most depressing circumstances, an observer, it has been said, could not have told from his appearance and bearing that he was not a returning victor instead of the most dejected of the vanquished. Though old, lame, defeated, he faced the situation with iron resolution, and the determination to provide for those he loved, with the ardor and activity of youth. Lord Bacon, who had himself experienced trouble, wrote in one of his essays, "But to speak in a mean, the virtue of prosperity is temperance; the virtue of adversity is fortitude, which in morals is the more heroical virtue". Surely, Buchanan was a noteworthy example of one who possessed both of these virtues. Without reproaches and without whinings, with courage and hope, he set to work to rebuild his home and repair his shattered fortunes.

For about three years after his return from the war, he was busily engaged in making a home for his family and in cultivating his estate. During this time two more of his daughters were married; namely, Sallie Lloyd to Thomas F. Screven​9 of Savannah, Georgia on October 30, 1866 and Elizabeth Tayloe to Felix R. Sullivan on November 17, 1868. The outstanding social event of those years was the visit of Jefferson Davis. After two  p253 years in prison at Fortress Monroe, the former President of the Confederate States of America had but recently been released on bail, when in December, 1867 he came from Baltimore with Charles Howard, Esquire of that city to pay a visit of several days at "Wye House" with the latter's son-in‑law, Colonel Edward Lloyd. A great reception was given at "Wye House" in honor of Mr. Davis, which several hundred guests attended. Buchanan was singled out for marked distinction, and on December 18, Davis lunched with the Confederacy's most distinguished naval leader at "The Rest".​10

In 1868, Buchanan was afforded an opportunity of doing some constructive work for this native state similar to that in which Lee, Maury, and other Southern leaders were engaged, — the educational upbuilding of the South. Buchanan's experience as the first Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy had well fitted him for such work, and he was accordingly invited in September, 1868 to become President of the Maryland Agricultural College. He had long had a practical interest in agriculture, for as early as August 15, 1844 he had been elected a member of the Board of Trustees for the Maryland Agricultural Society for the Eastern Shore. Soon after Buchanan's appointment to this position, Horace Greely commented on it in the New York Tribune as follows: "He (Buchanan) has just been provided with a good office by the Maryland 'Conservatives'. We haven't heard of their giving any to a one‑legged Union soldier or sailor, but we hope they will all get along somehow. It is well that they don't depend for a living on the generosity or the loyalty of Maryland". To this  p254 the Mobile Tribune replied, "It so happens that the man who fought the most desperate battle against the greatest odds that are on record in the history of naval warfare is admirably qualified for the new sphere upon which he has entered; for during the intervals that he spent on shore during his long career in the Navy, Admiral Buchanan devoted himself to the cultivation of his farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and he kept everything about it in that 'ship shape' order which only the thorough seaman is capable of enforcing. . . . The true hero of the Battle of Mobile Bay was cultivating his farm with his own hands for the support of his family — 'literally working himself to death', as he says, 'and scarcely able with all his economy to supply the necessaries of life'. Democratic Maryland at last showed her appreciation of her old hero by appointing him to the Presidency of the State Agricultural College and she has the satisfaction of already reaping the reward of her good deed, in the great impetus given to the progress of the College. . . . After a career of fifty years in one profession he is forced, in his old age to adopt another; and he enters upon it in the same indomitable spirit with which he commanded the Merrimac. And his political principles are truth itself. 'Tell them (the Radicals), he writes, 'that I have two legs of my own, both flesh. Although both together would not make one good one, they are ready and able to carry me against the only revolutionists in the country, the Radicals, who are doing all in their power to destroy the government' ".​11 An interesting confirmation of the fact that Buchanan was still vigorous and active in body as well as in mind  p255 is the following statement from his nephew:​12 "I saw Uncle Frank in Baltimore May 4, 1869 and noticed particularly how spry and active he was; I saw no trace of lameness at all; I noticed particularly as newspaper accounts had said he lost a leg, and were contradictory to their statements".

The war, together with mismanagement and incompetency, had turned the Maryland Agricultural College into a dilapidated institution, with its farm grown up in weeds, its finances in confusion, and its credit and respectability a thing of the past. Buchanan soon had it reorganized, established a system of strict economy in its business transactions, applied some of its revenues for the paying off of its debts, through efficiency restored its respectability, raised its standards, attracted patrons by his personal character as well as by his eminence as a naval leader, and in a short time increased the number of the students from six to eighty. Ever since that year the institution has grown and prospered, becoming eventually the University of Maryland with its approximately three thousand students and five hundred instructors, at present.

Buchanan did all this for the College during only one year's administration of its affairs. The reasons for his resigning the presidency so soon are clearly set forth in the following letter:

"On my return from Baltimore, on the 6th instant, I found your letter of the 4th, asking for facts connected with my resigning the presidency of the Agricultural College. As a reply to your letter I forward to you a copy of my letter to the various parents of the students at the close of the last session. The by‑laws  p256 of the College make it the duty of the President to report to the Board of Trustees any 'Professor who in his judgment is unfit for the position he holds'. It was my misfortune to be obliged to report two of the professors for flagrant misconduct. One was dismissed, the other was retained through the political influence of his friends in the Board of Trustees, notwithstanding the charges were clearly proven against him. As the President of the College I was responsible, to a certain extent, for the correct moral deportment of the youths placed under my charge, and when I found that I was not to be sustained and supported by moral high-toned professors, I had no alternative but to resign and give the trustees an opportunity to appoint a president whose views are more in accordance with their own than mine could possibly be. I have no desire that this letter shall appear before the public, but I wish my friends to be satisfied that my course in resigning was the proper one".​13A

On account of this failure of support on the part of the board of trustees, Buchanan resigned and returned to his family at "The Rest". That the enforced separation from his loved ones even temporarily had not been to his taste is clearly evident in the following excerpt from one of his letters:​13B "Oh, how I wish I could be there this fine weather, but that cannot be; my once happy home is to be hereafter only a place to visit occasionally during the remainder of my short life".​14 This  p257 proved to be true indeed, for he soon found it necessary, after his return home, to leave again for the sake of more adequately supporting the needs of his family.

On January 21, 1870 he accepted a position as Secretary and State Manager of the Alabama Branch of the Life Association of America, and left home and family again for Mobile. Here he remained until summer of the following year when the infirmities of age and the desire to be with his family caused him to give up his position. That he had performed his duties with great success is shown from these words of commendation, taken from resolutions drawn up by the Board of Directors on June 12, 1871: "He has discharged all the offices of Secretary and State Manager with great zeal, the most marked fidelity, and with the utmost promptitude; that to the fullest extent, since his connection with this Department, he has sustained the very high character for honor, integrity, fidelity, promptitude, zeal, and candor which had been heralded by his great renown; that we have esteemed it an honor to be associated with him in an official and a social capacity; that his connection with us is severed with the most sincere regret on our part". As a further evidence of their esteem and regard they presented him "a massive and elegantly chased silver salver, containing two frosted silver goblets and one cup, the monogram of the Admiral being tastefully inserted on each, in the center of elegantly chased gilt wreaths". Buchanan was deeply moved by this thoughtful kindness, and at the time of its presentation, he thanked the Board of Directors in an appropriate and appreciative speech.

Although he was offered a similar position with a life insurance company in Baltimore, the Admiral did not  p258 see fit to accept it but returned to "The Rest", where he spent the few remaining years of his life. Here he enjoyed to the fullest extent the attachments of the family circle whose ties had, in the past, so often and for such long periods of time been broken. His home had now become, as of yore, a center of the freest and most cordial hospitality. With its beautiful situation right on the banks of the broad Miles River, with its stately old trees and lovely flower gardens and summer houses, "The Rest" was all that its name suggests to the old white-haired man who had at last come home this time to stay. To the young people of the family and to their friends from near and far it was a delightful retreat, romantic and enchanting, a place for the practice of the arts of love and youthful chivalry. Always hospitable, Buchanan entered freely with his wife into all the social enjoyments of the young people; and the grandchildren, some of whom were almost always at "The Rest", also found him ever ready to enter into their childish pleasures. Here came the old friends, comrades of Auld Lang Syne, and the relatives​15 from other beautiful and lordly estates nearby in this garden spot of Maryland. All were welcome, whether it was the time when the leaves were in leaf and the flowers in bloom, or the season of harvest and autumn with its colors of red and gold, or the time of year when snow covered the banks of the river and only the evergreens stood silhouetted in the wintry landscape. Together they talked of the hard times, the aftermath of the war, of youthful adventures long, long ago, of friends that were gone, and sometimes too of experiences in the late war, in which most had  p259 taken part, and that unhappy conflict seemed to fade insensibly into the distant past, or rather seem like some unhappy dream out of which they had recently awakened. Surrounded with admiring friends, the old Admiral took pleasure in recounting the particulars of his many voyages to distant countries and strange peoples, and of those naval actions in which he had participated with such credit to the name of Buchanan.

Buchanan took delight also, during these last years, in the cultivation of his farm, which comprised one hundred acres. On the place he had planted some five hundred different varieties of trees; immediately in front of the house were linden trees while down near the river were willows, and behind the house were locusts and fruit trees, particularly a peach orchard. Day after day he spent among his roses, in the hayfield, or in his orchard, drinking in the delights of the country, at peace with himself and all the world.

At last, it could be said of Buchanan, "Home is the sailor, home from the sea". The ship of his life after weathering storms and battles was finally anchored safely in this quiet harbor. A more peaceful and restful and beautifully picturesque place for spending the evening of life could hardly have been found. From the rough stormy Atlantic washing the shores of many distant lands, one passes into the comparatively smoother waters of the Chesapeake Bay, shut in by the friendly arms of Maryland and Virginia, and thence into the calm, winding, silvery reaches of the Miles River to the very lawn of "The Rest". Such had been Buchanan's life and career, as it narrowed down to its peaceful close; he had voyaged not only on the Atlantic but all the Seven Seas, then civil strife seized upon him  p260 with its restraining hands and forced him to fight in narrow seas and shallow waters, and finally old age led him to seek the repose of quiet waters.

Buchanan, in those last years, as has been said, was still interested in the affairs of the day, and his mind also dwelt upon the past and those stirring scenes of the more immediate past in which he had taken part. The following letter,​16 one of the very last he wrote, is evidence of that:

"A long serious indisposition has caused the delay and my not replying sooner to your letter of the 20th inst., which found me in bed with the usual attendant of Old Faggish, a bad cold. I am yet, I am sorry to say, too feeble to give you all you desire in relation to the Confederate fight in Hampton Roads. I have my official report, and articles from various Yankee and Confederate papers which may be, some of them, of interest. I have not seen the article you speak of in the New York Herald. I will try and get it; if I do, will not hesitate to correct inaccuracies. There is one fact which you may not be aware of, there has never been an official Yankee report of that fight published. Nor do I know, nor have I ever been able to get the number of guns ashore and afloat, the number of vessels, their commanders' names and number of guns, and the number of men opposed to me in the fight, nor do we know what vessels were lost, or those not sunk. I have been promised this information but it has not reached me. I consider this an important matter to the Confederate Navy, vanity with me. I hope my friends will not consider the inducement to procure these facts. You may  p261 have a friend in Washington who will procure the information. I have various important articles from Yankee and Confederate papers which may be valuable to the society; if you desire them, shall I address them to you?"

Unfortunately, the cold referred to in this letter developed into pneumonia, and less than two weeks after it had been written, on Monday night, May 11th, 1874 at half past eleven, Admiral Buchanan, surrounded by his family, his physicians, Doctors Earle and Bateman, and several sorrowing friends, "from that earthly rest passed quietly as the little child falling asleep upon its mother's breast, to that eternal rest, where no more shall envious tongue or civil strife or high ambition enter to ruffle the current of life".​17 His vigorous old constitution had at last met an enemy which it could not overcome, and the fearless spirit of the old seaman, as in battle when it found that the odds were overwhelming and it was foolish longer to resist, struck its flag in a final surrender.

Admiral Buchanan was buried on the following Thursday in the family cemetery at "Wye House", the ancestral home of his wife's family, the Lloyds, which was about four miles distant from "The Rest". The solemn and impressive burial service of the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which he and his family had always been members, so beautifully in harmony with the age and stately dignity of "Wye House", was read by the Right Reverend Bishop Lay and the Reverend E. F. Dashiel, Rector of St Michaels Parish, in the presence of a very large assembly of relatives and friends of the family. Through the lovely garden, with its extensive  p262 old box‑hedges, its magnificent old trees, and its spring flowers then just bursting into blossom, the funeral cortege wound its way past the orangery and through the brick arched entrance to the cemetery, where many generations of the Lloyds rest in peace. Here at the foot of two giant linden trees,​18 the coffin with its plain silver plate bearing the modest inscription: "Franklin Buchanan. Born Sept. 17th, 1800. Died May 11th, 1874" was interred. "And thus was hidden from earthly view the mortal remains of the brave hero, whose public acts have written a page in history, and whose social qualities and honorable life endeared him to all who knew him".​19 His grave is now marked with an unpretentious tombstone bearing the dates of his birth and death and the following inscriptions: "The memory of the just is blessed". "Faith's journey ends in refuge to the weary". "The strife is o'er, The battle done". At the foot of his grave lie two of the shells which he brought back to "The Rest" as souvenirs of the Mexican War.​a "In him died a man who never feared another, whose whole life was his answer to the call of duty, whose name is a proud heritage to his children, whose record gives honor to his native state, and whose memory will be an enthusiasm to heroes of the future".​20


The Author's Notes:

1 In Southern Historical Society Papers, XIX.79.

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2 Ibid., p81.

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3 From George W. Blunt, August 15, 1864.

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4 To his nephew, George B. Coale of Baltimore, December 19, 1864.

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5 To Elizabeth Tayloe Buchanan, January 8, 1865.

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6 Letter to Major General B. F. Butler, in Official War Records, Series II, Volume VII, p1133.

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7 Ibid., p1300.

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8 In addition to the children already mentioned there were two other daughters: namely, Rosa, born at "The Rest," August 23, 1850, and Mary Tilghman, born also at "The Rest," November 29, 1852.

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9 His brother, George P. Screven, had married Ellen Buchanan June 5, 1861; while the latter's twin sister, Nannie, had married Julius Ernest Meiere, April 3, 1861. The two youngest daughters were married very much later: Rosa to Charles Goldsborough, November 15, 1882, and Mary Tilghman to William Tilghman Owen on June 10, 1873.

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10 That night the Buchanan family went in sleighs to "Wye House," as it was snowy wintry weather. (Letter of Mrs. Sullivan of May 21, 1929.)

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11 All copied in the Easton Journal of November 19, 1868.

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12 Roberdeau Buchanan's Genealogy of the McKean Family, p178 (in a manuscript note by the author in Mrs. Felix Sullivan's copy of the book).

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13A 13B From a newspaper clipping found in the scrap-book formerly belonging to Buchanan's daughter Letitia. It further states that the dismissed professor was a reformed drunkard who took up his old habit again and caused students to join with him in drinking; and that the other, who was not dismissed, made a brutal assault on a student and displayed such an ungovernable temper as to unfit him for the position.

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14 To his daughters from the College, February 7, 1869.

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15 Directly across the river lived his brother-in‑law, Commodore Charles Lowndes, in his beautiful home, known as "The Anchorage."

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16 To George W. Munford, Secretary and Treasurer of the Southern Historical Society, April 29, 1874. Original letter in the Confederate Museum, Confederate Memorial Literary Society, Richmond, Va.

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17 Easton Journal of May 14, 1874.

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18 "I recall my father telling me, many years ago, that upon one occasion, when Admiral Buchanan was in the old graveyard at Wye House, he asked if he might be buried just where he now rests. I also recall, when I was a boy, being in the graveyard; a party of gentlemen, who had been dining at Wye House, were walking about the garden; when they went into the graveyard, I recall one of the gentlemen, Colonel Samuel Hambleton, walking to the grave of Admiral Buchanan and putting his foot on the grave, quoted the Latin quotation, 'Halt traveler, here lies a Hero!" (From a letter of May 15, 1929, from Charles Howard Lloyd, Esquire, of Wye House.)

Thayer's Note: Lloyd's memory, understandably, was probably at fault. Although Siste viator, hic iacet. . . (Halt traveler, here lies. . .) is commonly found on graves — of the early modern era, not of Roman times — I can find none following that by any word meaning "hero". Often what follows is the name of the deceased.
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19 Easton Journal of May 21, 1874.

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20 From a newspaper clipping (name and date of paper not known).

Thayer's Note: Armed with the twenty-first-century resources of the Internet, I find at least four newspapers printing the passage (The Baltimore Sun, March 9, 1898 • Richmond Dispatch, March 13, 1898 • The Intelligencer [Anderson, SC], March 23, 1898 • The Evening Index [Greenwood, SC], March 24, 1898); of which the most likely is of course the earliest, from Adm. Buchanan's home town of Baltimore.

Twenty-four years after Buchanan's death, the occasion was the celebration by the Franklin Buchanan Camp of Confederate Veterans of the 36th anniversary "of the famous engagement between the Confederate ironclad Merrimac and the United States warships Cumberland, Congress, Roanoke, Minnesota, St. Lawrence, and the Monitor": the passage is the closing line of an address at the Young Men's Christian Association Hall by Andrew Cross Trippe, a former Confederate general and a Baltimore native who was Commander of the Maryland Division of the United Confederate Veterans.


Thayer's Note:

a The shells can be seen in a recent photograph of his grave at Find-a‑Grave.


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Page updated: 27 Sep 21