Thursday, May 26, 2011

Sabbath May 26, 1861

Mr. Wakefield preached an excellent practical sermon from Job 34:33, "Shall it be according to thy mind".  During sermon a carriage filled with military men, and two officers on splendid horses passed the church.  When we got home from sabbath-school we found them all here.  They were Gen. Buttles, Col. Barnet, Col Sturges (sic), Quartermaster Brown, Quarter Master Kingsbury and Quarter Master Townshend.  They all, with Mr. Wakefield, staid to dinner.  They are very gentlemanly.  
Col. Barnet of the 1st Regiment of Light Artillery, now stationed at Camp Putnam, is a Cleveland hardware merchant, wealthy and a good man.  Lieut. Col. Sturgess is a banker.  Quarter Master Brown, now at Camp Putnam, resigned his seat in the Ohio Legislature to enter the service.  Kingsbury is connected with the 14" Regiment of Light Infantry now in Camp Putnam.  Gen. Buttles is a Columbus man, I believe.  He is here on a tour of reconnoissance and has the over sight of the quarter master's department of southern Ohio and will not long remain, as I suppose.  Quarter Master Townshend is a gentleman in his manners and belongs to the Light Artillery.  He gave us a family "pass" to visit Camp Putnam.
They report a battle at Sewall's Point yesterday.  United States troops took possession of it, having 84 killed and wounded.  Rebels had between three and four hundred killed and wounded, and a large number of prisoners taken.  There has also been a skirmish at Arlington Heights, result not reported.  These officers are thinking of moving their camp to Gravel Pit.  There are now about 1100 men in Camp Putnam.  About eight o'clock this evening a steamboat passed down with music, drum beating, men hurrahing.  There are probably volunteer troops aboard.  (It proved to be the Clarksburg company).  
This has been a strange sabbath.  For the first time in my life I have seen bona fide soldiers, who expect to fight and if God wills it to die on the field of battle.  It is sad to think how soon these gallant men may be laid low.  But God reigns, and in the sermon today we were taught submission to his high behests.


Editor's comments:
Julia frequently mentions attending Sunday meeting and sabbath school and she occasionaly comments on the sermon (or the delivery of the sermon).  As I am unfamiliar with this quote in the Bible, I searched for it on biblos.com, a site the compares different editions of the Bible.  Here are the comments about Job 34:33:
  
Should it be according to thy mind? - Margin, as in Hebrew "from with thee" - המעמך hamē‛imekā. There has been much diversity of opinion in regard to the meaning of this verse. It is exceedingly obscure in the original, and has the appearance of being a proverbial expression. The general sense seems to be, that God will not be regulated in his dealings by what may be the views of man, or by what man might be disposed to choose or refuse. He will act according to his own views of what is right and proper to be done. The phrase, "should it be according to thy mind," means that it is not to be expected that God will consult the views and feelings of man rather than his own.


I was curious about the officers who visited the Cutlers but was unable to track all of them.  What I did discover was that some of these men enlisted for a short period, e.g., three months, then reenlisted in other regiments from Ohio.  This reminded me that many thought the war would be of short duration and some of the first volunteers were concerned that the war might be over before they had the opportunity to see action.

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