Walt Whitman: An Interpretation in Narrative

His toast to the "Success to the Southern Arms" leads to a response from Whitman that prompts a violent arguement between the two men. Whitman ends his Pfaff's association during the Civil War after Arnold grabs his hair during this argument.

Whitman asks after him in a letter to Nat Bloom and Fred Gray dated March 19, 1863.

Gray corresponded with Whitman through letters.

Pfaff is the only person who still remains at Pfaff's when Whitman returns to the bar twenty years after his argument with Arnold.

Little is known of Bloom outside of his affiliation with the Fred Gray Association.

Pfaff's was Whitman's evening spot. Holloway suggests that Whitman would go there to observe others after visiting events such as ball games or prayer meetings. Whitman would sometimes visit Pfaff's with the young doctors at Bellevue. Holloway claims that "The Vault at Pfaff's" was written in a moment of melancholy at the bar. Whitman's routine continued after his visit to Boston to promote/publish Leaves of Grass.

Whitman's last meeting at Pfaff's involved a political/patriotic debate with Arnold that involved Arnold grabbing him by the hair. Whitman did not return to Pfaff's for twenty years.

Holloway mentions that the New York correspondents that Whitman knew from Pfaff's helped to ease his loneliness in Washington during the war.