Gen. George Meade on Griffin

 The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, George Meade, edited by George Gordon Meade, vol. I (NY 1913)

p. 235: Cape Pierpont, VA Dec. 11, 1861: “I went into town last evening to the wedding of Captain Griffin with Miss Carroll.” “After tea and a stroll to Willard’s, we returned and beautified ourselves, and at 9 precisely repaired to the Carrolls’. Of course there was an immense jam; of course the bride and groom looked splendid, as did fourteen bridemaids and groomsmen, the latter all handsome young officers in full uniform. Mr., Mrs. and the Miss C’s were very civil to your humble servant. I saw McClellan and had the honor of making way for him to approach the bride. I saw Mrs. Lincoln, Lord Lyons, Governor Chase, Mr. Seward, and lots of other celebrities. All my old Washington friends greeted me with great cordiality, and any amount of rooms and plates at table were offered to me when I should come into town, and all the ladies referred to your visit and their regret that you were gone before they could get to see you. There was the usual amount of flirtation carried on by the old stagers, assisted by numerous younger fry. I had a very agreeable evening; they had a magnificent supper, and at midnight Kuhn and I returned to our quarters.”

p. 364 Falmouth Va, April 9, 1863
“Mrs. Carroll and Mrs. Griffin and the two Misses Carroll, together with two other young ladies, having come down to General Griffin’s, I was invited to meet them at dinner, which I did yesterday evening, and had a very pleasant time. So you see we are trying to smooth a little the horrors of war.”

VOL 2
p. 231. HQ AOP Oct. 3, 1864
“On the second day, whilst I was on horseback on the field, talking to Generals Griffin and Bartlett, surrounded by my staff and escort, a shell fell in our midst, grazing Humphreys’s horse, grazing and striking my left leg, just below the knee, passing between Griffin and Bartlett, and embedding itself in the ground in the centre of a group of officers, covering them all with earth, but without injuring a soul. A more wonderful escape I never saw. At first I thought my leg was gone, as I felt and heard the blow plainly, but it only rubbed the leather of my riding-boot, without even bruising the skin. The Colonel Lyman had the shell dug up, and is going to preserve it. How would you like to have me back minus a leg on crutches?”