Chesapeake Gen^l Hospital U.S.A.

near Fort Monroe, Va.

June 4, 1864.

 

Miss Asa Wheeler

           

My dear Madam—You know all particulars concerning the sickness & death of your lamented son from his most faithful friend Miss Fisher, who with Miss Preston, Mr. Hoover & others did every thing possible for his comfort during his last days. How delightful thus to see the fidelity of old friends, and the readiness to help, of new ones, to the noble defenders of our country. But all that can be done, is but slight return for their exposures & sufferings for our homes. Allow me to give a word of sympathy in your affliction & extend a heart of rejoicing in view of his triumphant death through his faith in his Savior. I have seen many die in my two years experience in this Hospital, but Lieut. Wheeler's Christian resignation mid his intense pains, was wonderful. Only God's constant refreshing & sustaining grace could give such sweet submission to His divine will. / He had learned life's last, greatest, lesson—to say Not my will. O Lord, but thine be done". Many say, they have no fears of death. But few can say it wisely. Many go into the eternal world defiantly. But the end of life is to so appropriate our experiences in harmony with God's provisions of redeeming mercy, that we can calmly, wisely, say—"I have no fears of death". So far as human experience can trust the deep manifestations of strong confidence in the mercy of Christ, all could but see that "peace, that passeth knowledge", supplanting all fear, in view of death, in the heart of your noble son. What intense pain he suffered without a murmur. How sweetly & humbly he prayed for his own acceptance of God for the sake of Christ, and then for the acceptance of dear ones at home. His trust & confidence were so strong and perfect, that brightness was upon his face during the most intense agony. Once, suffering thus, he smilingly looked up & said—"O Chaplain, this is pretty severe, but God's will be done". Remarking to him, that only divine grace could sustain him then—that / this terrible ordeal was the loving pressure of the hand of the wise & good Heavenly Father to lead his soul out deeper into his saving love displayed in Christ, he said—"O Yes, My trust is in the mercy of Christ. He has done all for me—I've done nothing, merited nothing. I am sustained by the free grace of my Savior, & rejoice in the hope of his glory". Praying with him seemed like enjoying the full fragrance of the Rose of Sharon. You could tell him nothing—He knew it all. Right on the verge of eternal blessedness, he realized what we only know. We could only rejoice with him. Could his old friends have stood around him, they would have learned the value of the consolations of Christ when a soul is brought face to face with its God. So resigned, so calm, so trusting, so wisely looking to Jesus, yet feeling death enveloping him from sight of all things earthly, though beautiful, as surely as we await through twilight the envelopment of the darkness. Such a life has just entered upon existence. This world could present no such field of usefulness as the endless life opens through Christ, to such / redeemed souls. My dear friend, weep not for him only with rejoicing. His wound was no accident. Mysterious are God's plans with his children. That wound may have been the grandest message in its results to turn his whole gaze upon the wounds of his Savior & to experience more richly, the blessings of saving faith. He died for his Country. A noble death. His life, a free-will offering upon his country's sacred altar. Your sacrifice seems great, but God ordereth all things wisely. Such trials bridge heaven & earth. Your affections can but grow sanctified as they more easily ascend in prayer. Treasures in heaven turn us from the vanity of earth. Yours was a glorious gift to our beloved country, a great comfort to his friends & an honor to his church, and a precious treasure in the home of eternal glory. May this affliction bring your mind into sweeter communion with the divine will, and give you that submission to God's providence so wonderfully displayed in the dying hours of your beloved son.

                                                                       

Most truly & faithfully

James Marshall

Chaplain U.S.A.

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