Banished

Posted on May 25, 2013 by SUMPTER
Hon. Clement Laird Vallandigham [?] of Ohio (between 1855 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpbh-01194)

letting him”prate his seditious trash” – in rebeldom

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in May 1863:

The Hon. CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM reached Murfresboro [sic], Tenn., on the 24th inst., and was escorted to the rebel lines. – the rebel pickets at first refused to receive him, but finally the colonel commanding the pickets assented to his reception, when Mr. VALLANDIGHAM thus addressed the guards, at the same time asking the federal officers who had him in charge to pay attention to his words: “I am a citizen of Ohio, of the United States of America, sent within your lines against my will, and hope you will receive me as your prisoner.” – the rebel commander then promised that he would send Mr. Vallandigham to the rebel authorities at Shelbyville at his earliest convenience.

According to the 1872 biography (pages 297-300) by Clement Vallandigham’s brother James, Clement arrived in Murfreesboro in the evening of the 24th and had a mostly (after initial verbal hostilities) pleasant conversation with General Rosecrans. On the morning of the 25th he was escorted to the rebel pickets and made his declaration mentioned above. In the afternoon he was taken by ambulance to Shelbyville, where he was received by General Bragg.

The May 30, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly (at Son of the South) criticized the Lincoln administration’s handling of dissent as being a symptom of not trusting the Northern people:

… But the question is not whether Vallandigham be a traitor, or whether war involve a suspension of individual rights: it is—shall we better ourselves and help the country by locking this man up in a fortress, instead of letting him prate his seditious trash to every one who will listen? To that question the reply must be in the negative.

The mistake which has all along been made in this war by the Government and many of its agents has been not trusting the people sufficiently. Arresting seditious talkers implies a fear that the people have not sense or strength of mind enough to resist the appeals of sedition; just as the suppression or retention for a time of intelligence of a defeat implies a doubt whether the people have courage enough to bear bad news. Let us assure Mr. Lincoln, and all in authority under him, that the people of the United States have quite courage enough to bear any amount of misfortunes, and quite sense enough to withstand any amount of seditious nonsense, be it uttered ever so glibly. The only effect thus far produced by such talkers as Vallandigham has been to kill off the Copperhead sentiment in the Northwest, to reduce Fernando Wood’s party to a mere corporal’s guard, and to render the names of the Copperhead leaders a by-word and a reproach among honest men. Vallandigham was fast talking himself into the deepest political grave ever dug when Burnside resurrected him. ….

Brig. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, head-and-shoulders portrait, head three-quarters to the right, facing front, wearing military uniform (between 1861 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-35464)

resurrected Vallandigham

The June 13th issue of Harper’s maintained that Vallandigham represented a class of would-be martyr’s who tried to exploit their punishment for political gain. It wouldn’t work:

As to the smart talkers and writers who are aiming at the Capitol or the White House by way of Fort Lafayette, we fear their ambition will be disappointed. The price of provisions is advancing daily, and the Government is already at expense enough for the support of troops, without undertaking to fatten traitors likewise. It would be no small gain to many of these New York and New Jersey patriots, who declaim against the destruction of our liberties, to get their board gratis this summer. But Mr. Lincoln can not afford such luxuries. The peace orators had far better give up the idea of getting free board and lodging, with eventual contingencies in the shape of a martyr’s reputation, and betake themselves to some honest trade.

Sketch of the environs of Shelbyville, Wartrace & Normandy, Tennessee Compiled from the best information under the direction of Capt. N. Michler, Corps of Topographical Engrs. U.S.A., by John E. Weyss, Maj. Ky. Vols., Chief Asst. Drawn by C. S. Mergell. Photographed by M. Carpente

Vallandigham rode the ambulance to Bragg’s headquarters in Shelbyville

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Road Trip

Posted on May 24, 2013 by SUMPTER
Gen. Rush C. Hawkins (between 1860 and 1870; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpb-05085)

Rush Hawkins – ready to fight Copperheads

Guns Along the Mohawk?

150 years ago this week lots of two year volunteers were returning North after their term of service had expired. In this article veterans in New York City are wasting no time planning a trip to Utica for a mass meeting of the loyal. They were hoping to be allowed to carry their arms on the trek.

From The New-York Times May 24, 1863:

LOYAL UNION LEAGUE MASS MEETING AT UTICA.; The Officers and Volunteers of Eight NewYork Regiments to Leave on Tuesday for the Meeting.PATRIOTIC ADDRESSES OF COL. BENDIX, HON. MR.WHITE, COL. HAWKINS AND COL. M’GREGOR. The New-York Loyal League and the Utica Convention. …

Pursuant to arrangement which was unanimously agreed upon, a large and enthusiastic assemblage of officers, volunteers and civilians, was held last night at the State Arsenal, corner of Thirty-fifth-street and Seventh-avenue. The object of the meeting was to explain in detail the arrangements which had been made by the Committee of the Loyal Union League, which had given the brave officers and soldiers an invitation to accompany them to Utica, and to be present at the great demonstration, to be held there on the 27th inst. …

Mr. WHITE made a very appropriate and businesslike address, during which he took occasion to give a full and satisfactory explanation of all the arrangements which had been entered into, to give ample and sufficient accommodation to the volunteers on leaving this city and on their arrival in Utica. He stated also that a telegraph had been sent to Albany to the Adjutant General asking permission for the volunteers to carry their arms on that day, but whether or not, they would go without their arms.

Col. HAWKINS came forward and was received with cheers. He said they had not long returned from the field from fighting rebels, and now, as they were at home once more, it would be no harm to fight the Copperheads. [Applause.] This great meeting was got up by loyal men, who are strongly in favor of the Union and Constitution, and would do all in their power to put down this wicked rebellion. [Loud cheers.]

Hon. James Brooks (between 1855 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpbh-01779)

were James Brooks’ ears ringing?

SPEECH OF COL. M’GREGOR.

Col. MCGREGOR then presented himself, and was received with much applause. When it had subsided he spoke as follows: I am glad that we have met again here this evening according to arrangement; and as we have determined to go to Utica, we will be under the command of Col. HAWKINS, who is well qualified for that important duty. (Loud cheers.) It is quite evident now to all parties that there has been evinced by the military a warm and patriotic disposition to support the great movement at Utica, and in giving us an invitation to go there the Loyal League Committee is paying us a compliment. The military are not proceeding there to hold a mass meeting of their own, or to hold a political meeting, or anything of that kind. It was a meeting to support the Government; and in every movement which had this object in view, the loyal volunteers, when called upon, were ready to give their hearty cooperation. [Applause.] It was right, then, for them to go to Utica, and to Utica they would go. [Cries of “Go on, brave MCGREGOR.”] This they had now determined upon; and if there were any volunteer or man in this room who said to the contrary, let him do so now, [Loud cheers, and “No, no.”] The officers and volunteers who went there would be furnished with all the necessary supplies by the Committee of the Loyal League, and would be at no expense whatever. [Applause, and “That’s good.”] By these supplies he did not mean three or four days’ rations, for they would find the excursion a different thing from marching to the battle-field. [Cheers and laughter.] Since the proceedings of our last meeting appeared, and which appeared correctly in the NEW-YORK TIMES, I have also read in another paper, known as the New-York Express, a very different version, and a construction has been put on the few words which I then spoke which is anything but true. (A voice — “What about that lying journal?”) This same Express is worse than any rebel paper printed in Richmond, with the difference that it bears no comparison in the ability with which the Richmond Whig is conducted. It is very likely that this same Express has put me down as one of the “hogs;” but I do not know which of the BROOKS’ wrote the precious piece of composition I refer to — whether it was JAMES BROOKS or Booby BROOKS — [laughter, hisses and groans] — but the piece is so well written, and the composition so exceedingly elegant, that I cannot refrain from reading it to you. [Col. MCGREGOR then read the entire piece from the Express, commenting as he went along, which elicited roars of laughter, interspersed with repeated hisses and groans.] I am sure, continued he, that the men who are ready to put down this wicked rebellion, and who have already fought gallantly in the field of battle, are not the men to be influenced by Mr. WHITE, Col. BENDIX, or others, against their convictions, but they will go to Utica to show their patriotism, and their love and attachment to the Union. [Loud applause.] Nor will they be influenced either by JAMES or Booby BROOKS, the owners of this rebel journal, called the Express. [Reiterated cheers.] It is a pity to witness so rebellious a paper in the City of New-York. If our brave volunteers cannot go to Utica without the consent of the Express, then there is an end to a free press, freedom of action and free speech. I shall go myself, and if these Brookses have any doubt of the number of volunteers who shall go from New-York, we will pay their office a visit and let them review us in person. [Great applause.] …

4th Regiment NY Volunteer Infantry Flank Markers Civil War

just back from Chancellorsville

Having earlier in the month fought at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Captain John D. McGregor of the 4th New York Infantry Regiment wasn’t in any mood to put up with what he considered the disloyal comments of James Brooks and his New York Daily Express. As an example, it had recently been reported that Mr. Brooks stated, “In my judgment and belief it is not so much the intention of the Administration to subjugate the South as it is to subjugate the North!”

Rush Hawkins was mustered out on May 20, 1863.

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Stars and Stripes Over Vicksburg?

Posted on May 23, 2013 by SUMPTER
Map of the environs of Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi. 1863 LOC: g3984v cws00116 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3984v.cws00116)

to Vicksburg via Jackson

As usual Seven Score and Ten and Civil War Daily Gazette have been doing an excellent job keeping us up to date on General Grant’s attempt to capture Vicksburg, Mississippi for the Union cause. 150 years ago yesterday the Federal army failed to take Vicksburg by a direct attack on the rebel fortifications. You can read all about it at the two sites mentioned and also at The Civil War 150th Blog. News from Mississippi was making its way back to small towns in the North. Here are a couple clippings from a Seneca County, New York newspaper in May 1863:

Vicksburg.

For the past two weeks Gen. GRANT and his brave army have been doing some very severe fighting in the vicinity of Vicksburg. The advantage has seemingly been with our side, until the enemy under Pemberton fell back into the entrenchments at Vicksburg. The latest news from this point is not as favorable as we could wish. Gen. GRANT has made several attempts to storm the strong works of the enemy, but has been repulsed each time with great loss of life. The enemy claim that they can hold the place against all the forces Grant can bring against them. They also report that Gen. Johnson [sic] is in Grant’s rear with a large force, and that he will soon raise the siege of Vicksburg. This remains to be demonstrated, however. In the meantime Vicksburg is not yet ours.

John C. Pemberton (between 1860 and 1890; LOC: LC-USZ62-130838)

his troops and fortifications keeping Sherman out

The Defeat at Vicksburg.

Our army has met with a serious defeat in the attempt to dislodge the enemy at Vicksburg at Vicksburg. The Confederate Commander, PEMBERTON, telegraphs to Richmond under date of Friday that SHERMAN had “re-embarked and apparrently [sic] has relinquished his designs upon Vicksburg.” The Cairo despatches also indicate the repulse of our army with a loss of 4,000 to 5,000 men. – The Federal army is represented to be 50,000 strong. The enemy are strongly entrenched at Vicksburg, and there is no doubt but that the struggle was a desperate one, and the loss was very great on our side, we being the attacking party. the whole affair seems to have been badly managed.

Some of the details might have been wrong, but the main idea seems pretty clear – storming the strong fortifications wasn’t working.

The Union president got some news off the wire that gave him a bit of hope – if only for a day.

Portrait of Anson Stager, Telegraph Corps, officer of the Federal Army (Brevet Brig. Gen. from Mar. 13, 1865) (Between 1860 and 1865; LOC: vLC-DIG-cwpb-04970)

telegraphing Lincoln

From The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Six:

TELEGRAM TO ANSON STAGER.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., May 24, 1863.10.40

ANSON STAGER, Cleveland, O.:

Late last night Fuller telegraphed you, as you say, that “the Stars and Stripes float over Vicksburg and the victory is complete.” Did he know what he said, or did he say it without knowing it? Your despatch of this afternoon throws doubt upon it.

A. LINCOLN.

Anson Stager was born in Ontario County, New York, the major recruiting ground for the 33rd New York Infantry but at a young age began working with the telegraph in Pennsylvania. After the war began he devised a cipher for secure communication and in October 1861 he was appointed head of the U.S. Military Telegraph Corps.

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U.S.C.T.

Posted on May 22, 2013 by SUMPTER
1st U.S. colored infantry (between 1861 and 1865; LOC: LC-USZC2-6431)

“1st U.S. colored infantry”

150 years ago today a Bureau of Colored Troops was ordered by the federal War Department:

GENERAL ORDERS,
No. 143
WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE,
Washington, May 22, 1863.

I — A Bureau is established in the Adjutant General’s Office for the record of all matters relating to the organization of Colored Troops, An officer, will be assigned to the charge of the Bureau, with such number of clerks as may be designated by the Adjutant General. …

VI — Colored troops maybe accepted by companies, to be afterward consolidated in battalions and regiments by the Adjutant General. The regiments will be numbered seriatim, in the order in which they are raised, the numbers to be determined by the Adjutant General. They will be designated: “——Regiment of U. S. Colored Troops.” …

BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR:
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant General.

Charles William Foster, Jr. was the chief of the bureau. The U.S.C.T. designation replaced a bunch of state names.

Seven Score and Ten posted on the black soldiers’ concern that they be treated as prisoners of war by the South if captured (as opposed to being re-enslaved, for example).

Rather die freemen than live to be slaves - 3rd United States Colored Troops (between 1860 and 1870; LOC: LC-USZ62-23098)

3rd United States Colored Troops rather die free

Here’s some evidence that the Lincoln administration intended to treat the black troops as separate but equal in terms of pay and benefits and expected them to be treated the same as whites if captured.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch May 15, 1863:

How negro soldiers are to be treated.

The following letter, from Gov. Andrew, of Massachusetts, is in reply to questions addressed to him by Mr. Downing, concerning the position of colored troops in respect to pay, equipments, bounty, and protection, compared to that of white volunteers.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Department. Boston, March23, 1863.

Geo. T. Downing, Esq., N. Y.

Dear Sir

–In reply to your inquiries made as to the position of colored men who may be enlisted and mustered into the service of the United States, I would say that their position in respect to pay, equipments, bounty, or any aid and protection, when so mustered, will be precisely the same in every particular as that of any and all other volunteers.

I desire further to state to you, that when I was in Washington, on one occasion in an interview with Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War, he stated, in the most emphatic manner, that he would never consent that free colored men should be accepted into the service, to serve as soldiers in the South, until he should be assured that the Government of the United States was prepared to guarantee and defend, to the last dollar and the last man, to these men all the rights, privileges and immunities that are given by the laws of civilized warfare to other soldiers. Their present acceptance and muster in as soldiers, pledges the honor of the nation in the same degree and to the same rights with all other troops. They will be soldiers of the Union–nothing less and nothing different. I believe they will earn for themselves an honorable fame, vindicating their race and redeeming their future from the aspersions of the past.

I am yours, truly,

John A. Andrew

At the National Archives points out “By the end of the Civil War, roughly 179,000 black men (10 percent of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army, and another 19,000 served in the Navy.”

The National Park Service provides a good overview of The Bureau of Colored Troops

The 1st Regiment Infantry USCT was organized in May and June 1863; the 3rd Infantry in August 1863.

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Assassinated?

Posted on May 21, 2013 by SUMPTER

A military tribunal sentenced Clement Laird Vallandigham to prison at Fort Warren for the duration of the war at his trial in early May 1863 on charges of treasonous, anti-war speech. Apparently, the Lincoln administration was concerned about the political impact of keeping the Copperhead locked up in Boston harbor indefinitely. Eventually the administration decided to send him to the Confederates. Before the decision was well known there was a lot of speculation about where Vallandigham might be headed. Here a Northern Democrat paper feared he might be assassinated, or at least wrote it to fire up its readership.

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in May 1863:

The Nation Disgraced.

In the sentence of Hon. C.L. VALLANDIGHAM, free speech and personal liberty have been sacrificed, the people of the North insulted and the nation disgraced. Arrested without warrant of law, tried without indictment, for an offense unknown to the statute books of the nation; denied the constitutional right of trial by jury, and sentenced by the decree of a military despot to the walls of a dungeon; can it be a subject for marvel that the aisles of democratic freedom should ring with the indignant declamation of outraged civil liberty? Can it be considered extraordinary, that every hill-top of the nation should echo the cry of shame, and that every valley where civilization nestles, should bristle with hostile demonstrations against the aggressions of federal despotism.

The popular impression that fanaticism is wholly blinded by its own evil passions, never was more truthfully demonstrated than in the arrest of VALLANDIGHAM, the bold and dauntless champion of free speech and personal liberty.

To add insult to injury, Mr. VALLANDIGHAM has been secretly abducted from his place of confinement, in Cincinnati, and transferred none knows whither. Perhaps assassinated. Meanwhile his injured and innocent family are suffering all the anguish of suspense, and all the agony of separation incident to his unjust punishment and uncertain fate.

Some people thought Vallandigham might have been sentenced to the Dry Tortugas.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch May 18, 1863:

Mr. Vallandigham–Lincoln and the North.

The latest Northern news received here brings the rumor that Mr. Vallandigham has been sentenced by the drum-head court that tried him to two years imprisonment at hard labor on the Dry Tortugas, Florida. The Herald discredits the rumor on the ground that the rigid rule of secrecy prevailing in such courts as tried him would prevent its decision from gaining publicity until made public by the court itself. The same paper takes occasion to say that such a sentence would make certain Mr. V.’s election as Governor of Ohio in the fall.

In the meantime there are indications of some popular excitement on account of Mr. Vallandigham’s arbitrary arrest and trial — especially in New York, where a large meeting had been held on the subject. Mr. James Brooks, of the Express, made a very strong declaration in his speech to that meeting. He said, “In my judgment and belief it is not so much the intention of the Administration to subjugate the South as it is to subjugate the North!” Mr. Brooks is mistaken in this much. That it is the intention to subjugate the South, and the execution of that intention renders it necessary to subjugate the North! The very process demands the exercise of arbitrary power that is utterly inconsistent with freedom at the North. Both North and South must be free, or neither. It is impossible that the Southern States can be conquered and held as provinces by the Washington Government, while the Northern States retain their independent sovereignties under the Constitution. The Federal Administration is certainly not more humane in its purpose towards the South than the North. It merely ignores the State and personal rights of the North as a means to make more complete the crushing of all right, all justice in the South–the general subjugation, robbery, and ruin of the Southern people. But Mr. Brooks is bold in his language, and may have to follow Mr. Vallandigham to Tortugas, if Lincoln has the courage to send him there. …

According to A Life of Clement L. Vallandigham By James Laird Vallandigham, Mr. Vallandigham had been “secretly abducted” to a boat in the Ohio River:

All efforts for Mr. Vallandigham’s release having failed, on the 19th day of May, 1863, he was placed upon the gunboat Exchange, commanded by Captain John Sebastian, to be transferred to Louisville on his way South. … It was the 19th of May when Mr. V. was put in charge of Captain Sebastian, and at 11 o’clock on the 22d the steamer started down the river. He was informed of the change of his sentence (from imprisonment in Fort Warren to banishment to the South) upon the gunboat a day or two before.

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Not Abe’s Australia

Posted on May 20, 2013 by SUMPTER
Portrait of Maj. Gen. Edward R. S. Canby, officer of the Federal Army (Between 1860 and 1865 by Theodore Lilienthal; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpb-07417)

General Canby on the telegraph to Burnside

Northern Democrats were extremely indignant over the arrest, trial, and sentencing of Clement Vallandigham. As the Lincoln administration worked out what to do with the troublesome Copperhead, Southerners also became indignant. The Confederacy wasn’t about to become a dumping ground for the North’s problems. On the other hand, if Mr. Vallandigham chose to move to the Confederate states, he would be welcomed with southern hospitality.

From The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Six:

ORDERS SENDING C. L. VALLANDIGHAM BEYOND MILITARY LINES.
[Cipher.]

UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH, May 10 [19?], 1863. By telegraph from Washington, 9.40 PM, 1863

TO MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Commanding Department of Ohio.

SIR:—The President directs that without delay you send C. L. Vallandigham under secure guard to the Headquarters of General Rosecrans, to be put by him beyond our military lines; and in case of his return within our lines, he be arrested and kept in close custody for the term specified in his sentence.

By order of the President: E. R. S. CANBY, Assistant Adjutant-General.

WAR DEPARTMENT, May 20, 1863.

MAJOR-GENERAL A. B. BURNSIDE, Commanding Department of Ohio, Cincinnati, O.

Your despatch of three o’clock this afternoon to the Secretary of War has been received and shown to the President. He thinks the best disposition to be made of Vallandigham is to put him beyond the lines, as directed in the order transmitted to you last evening, and directs that you execute that order by sending him forward under secure guard without delay to General Rosecrans.

By order of the President: ED. R. S. CANBY, Brigadier-General

Perrine's new topographical war map of the southern states Taken from the latest government surveys and official reports. E. R. Jewett & Co., engravers, Buffalo, N. Y. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by C. O. Perrine. (LOC: g3861s cw0043600 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3861s.cw0043600)

not a Federal penal colony

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch May 20, 1863:

Mr. Vallandigham.

We agree with several of our contemporaries that if Lincoln has decided in reality to commute the sentence of Mr. Vallandigham to banishment to the Southern Confederacy, that he should not be permitted to remain here. The vulgar tyrant of Washington should not be allowed to take such a liberty — to establish a penal colony within our boundary. If, as the Enquirer suggests, Lincoln simply banishes him from Yankeedom and he selects the Southern Confederacy as a place of refuge, the rights of hospitality of course cannot be denied him, and he would be receive[d] with the consideration due to a very distinguished and consistent statesman, who has marked boldness and firmness in criticizing and reproving the usurpations and outrages of the Lincoln Government.

Edward Richard Sprigg Canby was sent back East after defeating a rebel army in New Mexico Territory.

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“magnificence of war” no more

Posted on May 18, 2013 by SUMPTER
maryes-heights (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21976/21976-h/21976-h.htm page 196)

Howe’s Division storms Marye’s Heights May 3, 1863

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in May 1863:

Coming Home.

It has been definitely determined that the 33d Regiment, and the old 19th, (now the 3d N.Y. artillery) will be mustered out of service on the 22d inst. Both Regiments will probably be home by the 1st of June, and they should receive a spontaneous and hearty welcome at the hands of their fellow citizens. They will come with ranks shattered and rent with the bronze of camp and bivouac – heroes of battle fields which will live in legend and story while the race lives. Their welcome should be full of heartiness and enthusiasm. Our village has many gallant representatives in these Regiments, whose names are foremost among their country’s defenders. In pathetic contrast will be their return to their going forth two years ago, when their ranks were full, and their uniforms bright ?, and their faces all aglow with some wild vision of the pomp and magnificence of war. Some of them have found soldiers graves, unmarked and unknown, some have wasted in hospitals and from thence wandered forth into the valley of the shadow. To their companions who return, the public owes a lasting debt of honor and gratitude.

As it turned out the 33rd left (page 322 and following) the front on Friday, May 15, 1863 and reached Elmira, New York on Sunday, the 17th. It stayed in Elmira for about a week.

The image comes from a book about the Sixth Corps at Project Gutenberg on page 196.

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Grand Theft Horse

Posted on May 17, 2013 by SUMPTER
Western border states Waters and son Eng. Hall, Edward S. Created/Published N.Y., New York H. H. Lloyd & Co. c1861. (LOC: g3700 cw0012700 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3700.cw0012700)

Western Border States, c.1861

I’m not sure how true the following letter is; from a Southern perspective, it’s not bad propaganda. Yankees are still thieves and their will for war might be faltering – “Officers are resigning every week.” The Yankees seem to be living high on the southern hog. The surgeon is well-fed and has time to make repeated trips to the photography studio to get just the right portrait for his family. The only shortage seems to be of postage stamps.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch May 15, 1863:

Yankee life in the South.

–Among some letters recently captured by our cavalry in Tennessee, is one from a Yankee Surgeon– Capt. J. N. Groves, of the 98th Illinois regiment. He is writing to “Dear Regina,” his wife. He says:

We have just returned from a grand thieving expedition; some may call it a scouting party but the most appropriate name is the former. We captured about a thousand horses, five hundred negroes, and two hundred prisoners. It was the first trip I had been on of the kind. We would go to the field where the negroes were plowing and make them unharness and get on the horses and strike out; enter the smoke houses and take all the house we could carry, and then burn the rest. The women would cry and beg, but to no purpose.–One of our men was shot, and Dr. Vertress and I amputated his leg, at a Mr. Anderson’s. We took all his horses but one. This belonged to a young lady, who gave me the mare, and told me she would sooner make me a present of her than to let the soldiers steal her. I have got her; she is the finest animated ever saw. –I could talk about incidents for a month that happened on this trip, but I will refrain. I have got a very fine silk dress for you and Nelly. I will send them as soon as possible.–The black one is for you and the green one for Nelly. Your dress pattern is worth thirty dollars; and also a fine scarf, red; you may do as you please with it. I do not know what the latter is for. Tom Cox, the man that took the coffee, stole the silks and gave them to me.–He run out of money going home and sold the coffee. I have got a shot gun for Walter; a nice carbine that will shoot a thousand yards for your father. If I get a chance I will send them home. Officers are resigning every week. I will send your dresses next week by Capt. Cox; he will express them from Olney. I am not caring whether I get home or not; I could only stay there a few weeks if I were to go, and it will not cost any more for you to come to see me than for me to go and see you. Get your clothing made and when you are ready to come let me know, I want you to travel some, and this will be a nice trip. Whenever you see Col. Winders [Wilder’s] mounted brigade mentioned look out for breakers; they run the rebels into the mountains and catch them. It is the brigade that the bloody 98th belongs to. I love to go on these wild trips, but it is not often that I get the privilege of going. I have not received any word from your mother for a long time. I have gone up to the gallery to have my picture taken twice, and did not get one to suit me. I will not send one until it suits me; you don’t want an ugly picture. You can’t guess what we had for dinner. Eggs, biscuit, butter, ham, potatoes, molasses, pies, peaches and blackberries, and other articles too tedious to mention. I wish you would send me some stamps, they are very scarce here. I hope you have got that money by this time.–Answer soon, your affectionate husband.

J.T. Wilder, Bv't.-Brig. General (photographed between 1861 and 1865, printed later; LOC: LC-USZ62-113167)

‘permission to raid’

For at least part of 1863 the 98th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment was indeed a unit in “Wilder’s Mounted Infantry.” John Thomas Wilder enlisted as a private in an Indiana regiment in 1861 and quickly moved up the ranks. In September 1862 Wilder surrendered the Union garrison at Munfordville, Kentucky to Simon Buckner’s Confederates. Two months later he was released:

When Wilder returned to his command at the end of 1862, it was clear that his stint in captivity had done little to diminish his audacity. In March of 1863, after his troops unanimously voted to adopt the Spencer repeating rifle, the colonel once again displayed his penchant for innovation—and his complete disregard for army red tape—by taking it upon himself to rearm his entire brigade with private funds loaned from Indiana bankers. At the same time, Wilder received permission to raid the Tennessee countryside for horses in order to reorganize his outfit as mounted infantry. Armed with state-of-the-art weapons and, now, mounted, Wilder’s four regiments became an integral instrument in the Army of the Cumberland’s 1863 campaigns, often on detached missions or in advance of the army.

Later in Wilder’s long life he “was commissioner of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.”

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Indignation Meetings

Posted on May 16, 2013 by SUMPTER
clement-vallandigham (Harper's Weekly, June 6, 1863)

His arrest inspired indignation

On May 5, 1863 Clement Vallandigham was arrested in Ohio for expressing disloyal opinions for the purpose of weakening the Union war effort. It is written that after his trial on May 6th and 7th Vallandigham “was sentenced to confinement in a military prison “during the continuance of the war” at Fort Warren.” Democrats throughout the North were riled up.

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in 1863:

The illegal arrest of VALLANDIGHAM has thoroughly aroused the Northern States. Public meetings are being held in almost every town and county in New York, and the action of the people indicates that they do not regard this as an individual affair, but as a question involving the dearest and most sacred rights of American freemen. The people of Seneca county should not be less patriotic and determined than their conservative friends elsewhere. Let them rally then to the Mass Meeting at Waterloo to-morrow.

I don’t know the date of the Waterloo rally, but 150 years ago today a protest meeting was held in the state capital in Albany. Soldiers tried to break up the meeting.

Albany, N.Y. ( New York : Smith Bros. & Co., [ca. 1853]; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-09252)

Albany on the Hudson, ca.1853

From The New-York Times May 17, 1863:

Vallandigham Indignation Meeting at Albany.; LETTER FROM GOV. SEYMOUR AN ATTEMPT MADE TO BREAK UP THE MEETING.

ALBANY, Saturday, May 16.

The meeting to protest against the arbitrary arrest and sentence of Hon. CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM, at the Capitol to-night, was largely attended. Strong speeches were made by Hon. AMASA J. PARKER, Hon. FRANCIS KEDNAN, JOHN MURPHY, Esq., of Buffalo, and others.

Resolutions were moved denouncing the arrest of Mr. VALLANDIGHAM as an unwarrantable assumption of military power. The resolutions were adopted.

Hon. Horatio Seymour (between 1855 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpbh-01843)

NY governor: law and justice have been violated

A letter was then read from Gov. SEYMOUR, characterizing the arrest of Mr. VALLANDIGHAM as “an act which has brought dishonor upon our country, which is full of danger to our persons and our homes, and which bears upon its front co[n]scious violation of law and justice.”

An attempt was made to disturb the meeting, but it failed, and the police succeeded in making several arrests of the guilty parties.

ANOTHER DISPATCH.

There was some disturbance at the Vallandigham indignation meeting to-night.

During the day a feeling of opposition to the object of the meeting among some of the returned soldiers was clearly manifest, and soon after the organization of the meeting this evening, evidences of dissatisfaction were shown among the soldiers present. The speakers were interrupted by their noisy demonstrations, and finally they made a rush for the stage.

Great excitement prevailed for a short time, and the proceedings were brought to a stand still.

The chairs on the stage were broken in pieces and thrown in the crowd, and for a few minutes it seemed as if the the soldiers would gain possession of the stage and drive the civilians off. The soldiers were in small force, however, and finally retired, when order was once more restored, and the proceeding resumed, although not without occasional interruptions.

Eventually quiet was fully restored, and the meeting carried on peacefully.

The image of Clement Vallandigham was published in the June 6, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly. We can all view it today thanks to Son of the South.

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Recess

Posted on May 15, 2013 by SUMPTER

This war sure has been hell, but 150 years ago today a Richmond editorial took a break from battle and advocated a kinder, gentler approach to educating young Confederate citizens.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch May 15, 1863:

Don’t snub the child.

–Many a child has been wilted into silence and frightened out of success simply by being snubbed. It is very easy to snub a child; equally easy to encourage the child and lead him to the accomplishment of something useful. Children have strong sympathies, warm and tender hearts.–They soon form attachments to those who are placed in authority over them, or else they regard them with a feeling very nearly allied to hatred. What child ever loved a cross, snappish teacher? What child ever hated a teacher or parent who showed a loving interest in the child’s success?

Very easy, indeed, is it to discourage the little student. He has spent an hour or two at home over a lesson which seems dull to him. Father, mother, and the big brothers not being well versed on the subject, give him no assistance. He goes to school, hoping that he will make a very good recitation. He is not quite up to the mark. “Dunce,” “booby, ” “blockhead,” says the unwise teacher. The poor little fellow’s heart sinks all the way to his ankles. What use is there of his trying? He is a booby. Why should he learn anything? Has not his teacher, who certainly knows him, told him he is a dunce? Is not his head made of mahogany? He despairs of ever succeeding; sits down in a fit of despondency, and makes a positive failure in his lesson for the next day. Had the teacher encouraged him a little, kindly pointed out to him his faults right, he might have come the next day with a marry heart, a cheerful face, and a learned lesson.

An old fashioned boys' school, 1905 (c.1905; LOC: LC-USZ62-37935)

who are you calling a dunce?

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