BIOGRAPHICAL 23 



eral Steele addressed the following communication to 

 General Sheridan : 



The undersigned deeply regrets losing from his staff so gal- 

 lant and meritorious an officer, and from his military family, so 

 amiable and accomplished a gentleman as Major Lacey. He en- 

 tered the service at the age when most young men have not left 

 school, and by his energy and good sense soon became distin- 

 guished as a staff officer. 



He served for four years and until the end of the war 

 with conspicuous gallantry, and participated, among oth- 

 ers, in the following engagements : Battle of Helena, the 

 Yazoo Pass expedition, the campaigns against Little Rock 

 and Camden, the battles of Terrfenoir Creek, Elkin's 

 Fort, Prairie d'Anne, Poison Springs, Jenkin's Ferry; 

 and finally, in the last engagement of the war, the storm- 

 ing of Fort Blakley, opposite Mobile, on April 9, 1865, 

 the day of Lee 's surrender. 



Upon his return to Oskaloosa he reopened his law 

 books, was admitted to the bar, and entered upon the 

 practice at Oskaloosa in 1866. 



I turn now to briefly advert to his political career. He 

 was a strong, but always conservative Republican. In 

 1869 he was elected on that ticket to the lower house of 

 the legislature, and became an influential leader in that 

 body. He also served a term or two as city solicitor of 

 the city of Oskaloosa. In 1888 he was elected to Con- 

 gress from his district. This was the commencement 

 of his long congressional career. He continued to be 

 reelected until he had served for a period of sixteen years 

 in the 51st, 53d, 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th, 59th con- 

 gresses. But few, if any, members of that body accom- 

 plished more for his state and the country at large, than 

 did he. I shall not undertake to detail his services in 

 that behalf. They will be found in the congressional 

 record of that period, and in the different measures which 



