T.E. Story #16

Telegraph Message from Chicago Train Station:
If you decide to come to Washington City with me the task that you will have will match exactly what you are most skilled at doing  (stop)  It would be up to me to handle the political and social parts of the task (stop) Your task would be to accomplish what I cannot do, and go where I cannot go because I am too well known (stop)  

I explained to Hezzie,”I think that I met Big Bear once.  At that time he had a canoe and brought a man that had been shot into the camp.  He mumbled something about the injured man being an innocent bystander.  He (Big Bear) disappeared right away, and we never saw him again.  The injured man died ,never regaining consciousness, so that part is a mystery.  Glad that you had made friends with him.  He is definitely someone to have on your side! As to Captain Scott Lewis, he was in the same class at the academy as I was, and he and I worked in the mapping room in Mexico during the Mex. War.  However, he is not the same kind of person that I am in that he is more of a stickler for the rules than I.  He is well known in the engineers, and I was not surprised to find out that he had not been assigned to a Congressional Contract project.  He has been serving in Washington City as an aide de camp to General MacClellan in the Army Headquarters here. On another but related topic; it will have dawned on you that you will have to join the T.E. for the duration of the task or the coming war whichever occurs first and lasts the longest.  However, that does not seem to me to be a big deal since if there is a war, and I would bet on it, almost everyone will be in the military shortly anyway.  In this way, at least, we will be doing something important and not facing the enemy rifles on the battlefield.  We will also want to make arrangements to ship your horse, saddle, tack, other personal gear and guns by rail if you decide to come with me.