At the beginning of the litigation, perceiving that his efficiency in directing the defense would be greatly increased by his admission to the bar, he unhesitatingly undertook the study of law, which he prosecuted in season and out of season, so that in a few months he was regularly admitted to l)ractice in the courts of this State. Availing himself of this ])rivilege, he took testimony covering thou- t sands of pages and made at the close an able argument, filling a large volume in itself, covering all that part of the case involving, especially, questions of civil engineering, with which he had been familiar from boyhood.

In the course of this litigation he called to his aid many distinguished lawyers, among whom may be named Messrs. Francis B. Cutting, Samuel J. Tilden, Charles F. Southmayd, John K. Porter and Lyman Tremain.

Mr. Ewen was a Democrat, and, with the exception of his vote for ^Ir. Lincoln, his political course was

with the Democratic party. He was associated with the late Mr. Havemeyer in the city government during the first term of the latter as mayor. In addition to the civic a()pointments and offices of trust held by him at varied tinu's, he also held high rank among the citizen soldiery of New York. Elected in 183G lieutenant-colonel of the Eighth Regiment of Light Infantry, he was soon afterward chosen colonel, and in 1847 was elected brigadier-general of the Fourth Brigade. This command included, at the outbreak of the Civil War, the famous Sixty-ninth and Seventyninth Regiments. The former, composed almost exclusively of men of Irish birth, upon the first call for volunteers, recruited within a week a number sufficient to fill nearly seven regiments. The Seventyninth was made uj) mainly of Scottish citizens, about three hundred of whom were reported to have been stone-masons.