Frustration, Part 3

The published eulogy for Ulric Dahlgren has been a mixed blessing. On one hand, it’s been a treasure trove of useful information, much of which has found its way into my manuscript. On the other hand, it’s been one of the most excruciatingly frustrating sources I have ever used.

My issue with Major Morrison has been well-documented here. Thanks to help from all of you, I was actually able to solve that particular riddle. Last night, another especially frustrating one re-surfaced.

Here’s the latest tantalizing and frustrating tidbit from the Reverend Sunderland’s eulogy, which refers to a two month period that Ulric spent with his father in Charleston, beginning mid-November 1863 and ending January 22, 1864, after the amputation of Ulric’s right leg due to his combat wound. After returning to Washington, he had about three weeks before reporting for what became the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid, in which he was killed:

“During ths time, he composed an article detailing the operations before Charleston in a style at once so calm, so clear, so comprehensive, as to silence all cavil and dispel the groundless complaints of the ignorant and impatient. This article, which has been printed since his death [on March 4, 1864], sounds to us now like a voice from the mouth of the grave. It was published over the signature of ‘Truth,’ which was ever more to him, by far something more, than simply a nom de plume; it was the substance of his character, and the animating spirit of his whole life, and never more conspicuously did it shine forth than in this last complete vindication of the siege of Charleston–a paper freighted in every line with a candor, a majesty, and self-evidencing power which only belongs to the truth itself–and which, being at the same time a work of filial affection, as well as a patriotic and public defense of the national prowess, might well stand for the crowning work of all his intellectual efforts–for the last-written testimony of his hand, which alas! he was so soon to seal by the offering up of life.”

How’s that for a tantalizing tidbit? Since I first read the eulogy a couple of years ago, I’ve been trying to locate this article. Obviously, I would love to be able to at least quote this article in the book, and even include it in full in an appendix. However, many months of searching have been fruitless. My researcher and I have reviewed every Washington, DC newspaper between January and April 1864, as well as all of the Philadelphia papers and the three major New York papers (Times, Tribune, and Herald), and we cannot find any evidence of this article anywhere.

This eulogy has truly been a mixed blessing. Although it’s provided some really good material that has never been used by anyone else, it has also been an astounding exercise in frustration. I’m open to any and all suggestions as to where else to look to try to find this article.