[256] copying. He says he longed to publish the poem, but would not do so without the consent of the author, which, from the author's modesty, he knew he could never get. He showed me the copy he had made immediately after reading the original.I do not know of the whereabouts of Mr. Shaw at present, or I would put you on his track. I suppose him to be in this State or Texas. Should you consider this letter of any value in establishing your father's claims to the authorship of the poem under consideratian, you are at liberty to use it in any manner you may see fit. Let me congratulate you, Mr. Oliver, on being the son of the genius who created All quiet along the Potomac. I sincerely hope that you may succeed in establishing your father's claims to one of the most powerful lyrics of the late war. Trusting that my mite to the good cause will do all the good it is intended to do,
I am truly, yours,
Letters of John D. Ashton.
My Dear Sir — Numerous engagements, of both a private and professional character, and a desire to overlook some old papers of mine, among which I thought it possible I might find a copy of All quiet along the Potomac to-night, presented me, after earnest and repeated solicitations, by your father in his own handwriting, are my reasons for not having addressed you this letter long before now.I knew Thaddeus Oliver well, perhaps more intimately than any member of the Second Georgia regiment, outside his own company. We first met in the convention, of which we both were members, that convened in Milledgeville, in 1860, to send delegates to the the National Democratic convention, then soon to assemble in Charleston.
On the 9th of April, 1861, the “Burke sharpshooters,” in which I was a private, was ordered to Tybee island. About the same time the “Buena Vista guards,” of which your lamented father was a member, with other companies, was sent to a point below Savannah, for the purpose of organizing the Second Georgia regiment, afterwards so ably commanded by that noble patriot and brave, heroic soldier, Paul J. Semmes.
At the organization, Captain Butt, of your father's company, than whom a more high-toned, generous gentleman or gallant officer was not in the Army of Northern Virginia, defeated Captain Holmes, of mine, for the majority; and believing that unfair means had been employed to produce the result, in which I was entirely mistaken, I wrote and published a bitter article, which I afterwards often had cause to regret, in which I animadverted,
