410 



HARRISON, BENJAMIN. 



the result of his labor, skill, and devotion. "With more 

 foresight than I have witnessed in any officer of his 

 experience, he seemed to act upon the principle that 

 success depended upon the thorough preparation in 

 discipline and esprit of his command for conflict, more 

 than on any influence that could be exerted on the field 

 itself, and when collision came his command vindi- 

 cated his wisdom as much as his valor. In all of the 

 achievements of the Twentieth Corps in that campaign 

 Col. Harrison bore a conspicuous part. At Resaca and 

 Peach Tree Creek the conduct of himself and com- 

 mand was especially distinguished. Col. Harrison is 

 an officer of superior abilities, and of great professional 

 and personal worth. It gives me great pleasure to 

 commend him favorably to the Honorable Secretary, 

 with the assurance that his preferment will be a just 

 recognition of his services and martial accomplish- 

 ments. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

 JOSEPH HOOKER, Major- General commanding. 



When Col. Harrison had been two years con- 

 tinuously in the field, the War Department de- 

 tailed him for special duty in Indiana. In 

 five weeks he had completed this duty, and, 

 hurrying back to Chattanooga, was given com- 

 mand of a brigade and transferred to Nashville. 

 After Sherman reached Savannah, Harrison was 

 ordered to join him, and was on his way when 

 he was stricken down with scarlet fever, and 

 lay dangerously ill for several weeks, and then 

 rejoined Sherman at Goldsboro, N. C., in com- 

 mand of a brigade, where he remained until 

 the end of the war. 



Before his return he had been offered a part- 

 nership in the law-firm in Indianapolis of Por- 

 ter & Fishback, which he immediately entered, 

 the name being Porter, Harrison, & Fishback. 

 A case of national interest was one in which 

 Gen. Harrison, by appointment of President 

 Grant, appeared against Thomas A. Ilendricks. 

 Gov. Hendricks appeared for Lambdin P. Mil- 

 ligan, who sued Gen. Hovey and others for 

 damages sustained while working in the paint- 

 room of the State prison, where he was placed 

 on a charge of conspiracy against the United 

 States Government. Harrison conducted the 

 defence. The arguments by which he proved 

 the fact of the conspiracy of the Sons of Lib- 

 erty, or Knights of the Golden Circle, can not 

 be given at length, but the closing paragraphs 

 of his speech will suffice to illustrate his man- 

 ner of treatment : 



The nation, as the individual, through its officers, 

 has the right to strike before it is struck. It is a 

 right given from God. if a man is threatening my 

 life, his hand lifted with the dagger to strike me to 

 the heart, I am not to wait until the blow is delivered. 

 The law acquits me if I strike him dead at my feet. 

 How much more shall these defendants stand acquit 

 before the courts and their fellow-men who, seeing 

 the deadliness of the peril, struck the treason before 

 it could strike the nation ? I think I have shown you 

 now, not merely that there was peril, but that, from 

 the information he had, Gen. Hovey was justified in 

 arresting Milligan and bringing him to trial before the 

 military commission. If the State had broken out in 

 rebellion and insurrection, and your own homes been 

 invaded by these ruthless men, your families out- 

 raged, insulted, and slain, could you have ever for- 

 given the recreant commander of the department, 

 who, apprised of the danger, failed to interpose his 

 military power? Senator Ilendricks will have a great 

 deal to say to you about the security which the Con- 



stitution guarantees to life, person, and property.- It 

 is indeed a grand birthright that our fathers have 

 given us ; but, gentlemen, it was a legacy handed 

 down to the loyal and the luw-abiding. The law cov- 

 ers with its broad and impenetrable shield the true- 

 hearted citizen, not the traitor and the law-breaker. 

 Yet the gentleman comes to make appeals from a Con- 

 stitution which his client would have destroyed, and 

 in behalf of a liberty which would have been exer- 

 cised for the destruction of our Government. He com- 

 plains of a restraint which was in the interests of pub- 

 lic peace. Listen to him, then, give your full accord 

 to all he may say of the right of the citizen to be se- 

 cure in person and property, but remember, those 

 guarantees are to the loyal and the law-abiding. 



If his Honor says to you that this question of the 

 existence of war in the S'tate is one for you, I ask you 

 to take the definition of war given by Mr. Hendricks, 

 and tell me on oath whether, in the summer of 1804. 

 there was not a conflict of organized forces in the State 

 of Indiana whether Gen. Hovey, with home forces 

 and the few veterans who were at home, was not ar- 

 rayed upon the one hand, and if upon the other 

 Bowles and Milligan and Horsey, with their secret 

 legions of armed traitors, were not organized into an 

 army within the State for the destruction of our Gov- 

 ernment. There was not more truly a state of war in 

 Charleston harbor before the gun was fired that 

 hurled the first shot against Sumter. than existed in 

 the State of Indiana at the time of wliich I have been 

 speaking. 



And what less shall be said of the gentlemen who 

 composed the commission that tried the plaintiff? 

 One of them, now the marshal of this district, maimed 

 for life, drags himself about disfigured by the loss of 

 a left arm. Yonder, on the bloody sides of Kenesaw, 

 he gave an arm, almost a life, for the country which 

 he, and these his comrades, loved so well. While he 

 lay upon the field bleeding, almost dying, here in 

 Grand Council in the State of Indiana Milligan and 

 his associates were plotting treason ; and now they 

 seek to rob him of the little savings from the office 

 which a grateful country and a President who honors 

 his valor have conferred upon him, in order to enrich 

 traitors. 



Gen. Harrison was elected United States 

 Senator from Indiana in 1880, and filled that 

 office for six years. His views on the political 

 issues of the time are to be found in various 

 speeches, some delivered from the platform 

 and some on the floor of the Senate. On the 

 subject of civil-service reform he said, in 1882 : 

 " I am an advocate of civil-service reform. 

 My brief experience at Washington has led me 

 to utter the wish, with an emphasis I do not 

 often use, that I might be forever relieved of 

 any connection with the distribution of public 

 patronage. I covet for myself the free and 

 unpurchased support of my fellow-citizens, 

 and long to be-able to give my time and ener- 

 gy solely to the public affairs that legitimately 

 relate to the honorable trust which you have 

 committed to me. It is easy for theorists to 

 make suggestions upon this subject which in 

 their opinion would cure all existing evils. I 

 assure you it is more difficult to frame a law 

 that shall be safe and practical in its applica- 

 tion." He vigorously opposed the "green- 

 back " theory and the demand for " fiat " 

 money, holding that the only safe and stable 

 currency was one based on gold and silver. 

 In 1886, discussing the tariff question, he said : 

 ' We need not have any fear that wages will 

 anywhere be too high. We have a common in- 



