Page "James A. Garfield" Paragraph 18

Garfield made the following comment in 1862 concerning slavery: "... if a man is black, be he friend or foe, he is thought best kept at a distance.

It is hardly possible God will let us succeed while such enormities are practiced.

" That summer his health suddenly deteriorated, including jaundice and significant weight loss.

( Biographer Peskin speculated this may have been infectious hepatitis.

) Garfield was forced to return home, where his wife nursed him back to health and their marriage was reinvigorated.

He returned to duty that autumn and served on the Court-martial of Fitz John Porter.

Garfield was then sent to Washington to receive further orders.

With great frustration, he repeatedly received tentative assignments, extended and later reversed, to stations in Florida, Virginia and South Carolina.

During this period of idleness in Washington waiting for an assignment, Garfield spent much of his time corresponding with old friends and family.

An unsubstantiated rumor of an affair caused a brief friction in the Garfield marriage of which Lucretia graciously overlooked.