Carson. ■] *^ [Dec. 5, 



ship and solcliersliip were so unobtrusive that the country was not aware 

 of what an able man it possessed in him." 



"General Humphreys," wrote a gallant soldier, afterwards occupying 

 an important civil position, "holds a place in my estimation as a soldier 

 whose skill, bravery, and modesty are second to none, and whose real ser- 

 vice was infinitely more valuable than that of many officers more talked 

 about in the newspapers." 



Another writes : " If Humphreys had enjoyed a more influential position 

 the Northern people would have enjoyed many more occasions to rejoice. 

 This must have been the case if the power of handling large bodies of 

 troops ; if rare science and its test — application ; if calmness and clearness 

 of judgment under fire ; if energy, undaunted courage and selfforgetful- 

 ness in view of results have any efiect upon military operations." 



Major Bundy styled him "a scientific soldier, a wise and safe counsel- 

 lor." 



A military critic as far back as in 1869, wrote : " As a fighting division 

 commander, as a proficient in the handling of a corps ; as a consummate 

 chief of staff of the Army of the Potomac ; as an intrepid gentleman ; as 

 a faithful soldiei*. and as a remarkable engineer, Gen. Humphreys had no 

 superior. His survey and reports upon the Mississippi will be as proud a 

 memorial of his engineering capacity as his military record, beginning 

 with the Florida war, in 1836, is a record which is without a stain, as rich 

 in historic deeds and services as the sacred shield of Lancelot." 



An ardent admirer and devoted friend pays the following tribute : "A 

 great and at the same time a good man, who attained the ripest age with 

 undiminished faculties ; a magnificent soldier who combined the calmest 

 intrepidity with executive ability in battle, a mind capable of working 

 with the nicest precision amid the wildest churme of conflict under excep- 

 tional circumstances of peril ; a scientist of views most comprehensive and 

 practical ; of knowledge vast and developed." 



These are the amaranths with which his companions in arms have 

 crowned his name. 



In private life. General Humphreys was courteous, kind, gentle and 

 affectionate. His love and enjoyment of home were sincere and unaftected. 

 He married, June 19, 1839, Rebecca, the youngest daughter of Henry Hol- 

 lingsworth, one of themostre spected citizens of Philadelphia, and had two 

 sons and two daughters, of whom the former and one daughter survive. 

 To him, wife, daughters, sisters, were not merely the objects of attection, 

 but the embodiment of that perfect womanliness at whose shrine he knelt 

 in reverence. His mind idealized all that it dwelt upon and both absorbed 

 and imparted radiance. He had a refined and cultivated taste for art and 

 literature and in some respects was fastidious to an extreme degree. 



His attachments to the home of his ancestors were strong and peculiar. 

 No rage for modern improvement or convenience could ever induce him 

 to change the structure or arrangement of the old and strange house he 

 had inherited, jumbled together with the additions of several generations. 

 Its lowly roof and straggling sheds embowered in vines were sacred. The 



