In March following, the Official Board granted me leave of absence to engage for six weeks in the service of the Christian Commission.  I was assigned to service at City Point, and along the lines of Gen. Grant’s army, before Richmond and Petersburgh.  Leaving Milwaukee March 14th, and passing through Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia, I entered the James River at Fortress Monroe, and reached City Point on the 21st.  After calling at the headquarters of Gen. Grant, and preaching once in the Chapel at the headquarters of the Christian Commission, I went along the line of the army, first to the north of Point of Rocks, twenty miles, and then to the south, twenty miles, as far as Hatch’s Run, making forty miles in all.  In these excursions I preached in the several Chapels as opportunity offered, and rendered such assistance as I was able, in making the necessary preparations for the forward movement of the army, which was expected to occur in a few days.  But I soon found that the exposures along the front were too great for my system, in its enfeebled condition.  I contracted a severe cold, which rendered it necessary to leave the lines.  I returned to City Point, and was advised to leave at once for Washington, where I could obtain the desired medical treatment.  I took the steamboat the very afternoon the army was put in motion.  By the time Gen. Grant had taken Gen. Lee, I had taken Washington.

The physicians here believed that my lungs were seriously compromised, and advised me to go to the seashore.  I went immediately down to Brooklyn, and became the guest of my cousin, Col.  J.T.  Hildreth.  My family and friends at Milwaukee at once became alarmed, and Mrs. Miller came down.  But through skillful treatment, good nursing, and a kind Providence, the indications soon changed for the better, and at the end of two months I was able to return to my people.  On reaching the city the friends gave us a reception, and left us over two hundred dollars.  I was able to resume my labors soon after, and the balance of the year passed pleasantly.  I had now completed my full term of three years.  During this time I had received into the Church about two hundred members, and after allowing for removals and other changes, the net increase had been about half that number.

Though the people had been greatly taxed in building their new Church, it was found that the benevolent collections had considerably increased.  The Missionary, collection advanced during the first year from seventy-five dollars to two hundred and twenty.  The second year it was two hundred and sixty-two, and the third, three hundred and forty.

The Sunday School had now reached an aggregate of four hundred scholars, and the Library six hundred volumes.  Among the accessions of the term, there were several who gave considerable financial strength to the charge.

CHAPTER XXII.