Debt for our debts

Posted on January 16, 2013 by SUMPTER

Apparently the strongly pro-Democrat newspaper in Seneca County wasn’t exaggerating too much when it complained that troops and their families were suffering because the federal government was way behind in paying its soldiers.

From The New-York Times January 13, 1863:

NEWS FROM WASHINGTON,; THE FINANCES OF THE GOVERNMENT. A Bill for the Temporary Relief of the Treasury Passed in the Senate. The Proposed Consolidation of Regiments in the Field.The Bill for Raising 150,000 Negro Soldiers.Soldiers’ Arrears to be Paid atOnce. THE GOVERNMENT FINANCES. TEMPORARY RELIEF TO THE TREASURY. PAYING THE SOLDIERS. CONFISCATED LANDS FOR THE SOLDIERS. CONSOLIDATING THE REGIMENTS. THS PROPOSED ENLISTMENT OF NEGRO TROOPS. THE EMANCIPATION POLICY. THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. NEW RAILROAD TO NEW-YORK. SENATOR SAULSBURY. THE PAPER QUESTION. GEN. HUNTER. COMMISSIONERS OF EMIGRATION. THE M’DOWELL CASE. CONTRACTS FOR ENVELOPES. E. N. ORDNANCE DEPOT IN BALTIMORE. EMANICPATION IN MARYLAND. RETURNED.

OUR SPECIAL WASHINGTON DISPATCHES.

WASHINGTON, Monday, Jan. 12.

It is quite clear, from Secretary CHASE’S known views and known frimness, that he does not yield to the determination of the Committee of Ways and Means in regard to his me[a]sures, but will make an effort to secure their adoption by Congress in full or in a modified form.

The Senate to-day passed Secretary CHASE’s bill for temporary relief to the Treasury, in place of the joint resolution of the House, intended to provide for the prompt payment of troops in the field.

Hon. Frederick Augustus Conkling of N.Y. (between 1855 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpbh-01777)

pay “arrears due to soldiers in the field” before civilian employees of Government

The following resolution, adopted in the House to-day, on motion of Hon. FREDERICK A. CONKLING, indicates that there is in that body a returning consciousness of the immense wrong being perpetrated on the gallant soldiers of the Union:

Whereas, No creditor of the Government is more meritorious than the Union soldier; therefore,

Resolved, That no more money shall be paid to any civil officer or officers of the Government until all arrears due to soldiers in the field are paid.

The House to-day adopted the resolution introduced by Mr. ALDRICH, of Minnesota, instructing the Committee on Military Affairs to inquire in the expediency of bestowing on each soldier one hundred and sixty acres of confiscated land. …

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch January 14, 1863:

Hon. Wm. Pitt Fessenden of Maine (between 1855 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpbh-02087)

$2 million in new debt for military pay

The back pay of the Army and navy.

Senator Fessenden, from the Committee on Finance; reported on the 9th inst. a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow, on the credit of the Government, two hundred millions of dollars to pay arrearages due the army and navy. For one hundred millions he may issue coupons or registered bonds, hearing an interest not exceeding six per cent., payable at the pleasure of the Government any time after ten years.

For fifty millions of said sum he may issue United States notes without interest; for the remaining fifty millions he may issue Treasury notes payable two years after date, hearing four per cent, per annum; which notes shall be receivable for loans and all public dues, except customs. It also provides for the issuing of postal fractional notes, under the direction of the Secretary.

Frederick Augustus Conkling “Conkling organized the 84th New York Infantry in June 1861 and became its colonel. He initially served throughout the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.” He served as a Republican member of the House of Representatives for one term; he failed to win re-election in the 1862 midterms in which the Democrat party made some gains in New York State.

William Pitt Fessenden was strongly anti-slavery and helped develop the Republican party in Maine. He began serving in the U.S. Senate in 1854:

By the secession of the Southern senators the Republicans acquired control of the senate, and placed Fessenden at the head of the finance committee. During the Civil War, he was the most conspicuous senator in sustaining the national credit. He opposed the Legal Tender Act as unnecessary and unjust. As chairman of the finance committee, Fessenden prepared and carried through the senate all measures relating to revenue, taxation, and appropriations, and, as declared by Charles Sumner, was “in the financial field all that our best generals were in arms.”

Capitol, Washington, D.C., south-east view, July, 1863 (by Andrew J. Russell, 1863 July; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-07300)

might want to pay contractors, too

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“destitution, insult and wrong”

Posted on January 15, 2013 by SUMPTER
Study of infantry soldier on guard--William J. Jackson, Sergt. Maj. 12th N.Y. Vols.--Sketched at Stoneman's Switch, near Fredricksburg [sic], Va. Jan. 27th, 1863 (by Edwin Forbes, January 27, 1863; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-20516)

no mittens

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

Our Suffering Soldiers.

It is a fact that can no longer be denied, that suffering of the most aggravated character exists among the soldiers, from the neglect of Government. In all of the letters received from the army we have the same complaint. many of the Regiments have not been paid in seven months, and friends at home, or at least those who have the means, are compelled to send forward the funds to obtain those comforts which money alone can procure. The entire army appears to be in the most destitute circumstances, with but little hope of relief. The men are poorly clad, destitute of shoes and mittens, and without means to purchase whatever the Government neglects or refuses to furnish. And it is not the soldier alone that suffers. Many have families at home dependent on them for sustenance, but in consequence of the shameful dilatoriness of the Government, they can afford them no assistance whatever, and we have the humiliating spectacle of soldiers’ wives and children soliciting aid from their more fortunate neighbors. Is not this disgraceful to the Government, and the cause we are pretending to uphold? Nothing it seems can arouse the authorities at Washington to a sense of justice to the brave men who are imperilling their lives to uphold the Government.

The contractors who are plundering the Treasury find no difficulty in getting their pay, neither do the pimps and menials of power, who are dogging the footsteps of loyal Democrats with a view of their arrest and incarceration. The poor, unfortunate soldier is the sufferer. He can suffer destitution, insult and wrong at the hands of the Government, and if a need be, death, uncomplainingly.

The following image was published in the October 24, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly and is hosted at Son of the South.

SERVICE AND SHODDY—A PICTURE OF THE TIMES. (Harper's Weekly, October 24, 1863; http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863/october/contractor.htm)

SERVICE AND SHODDY—A PICTURE OF THE TIMES.

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“practically free by the mere force of circumstances”

Posted on January 14, 2013 by SUMPTER
James F Robinson

opposed to the Emancipation Proclamation

James Fisher Robinson, governor of the border State of kentucky, opposed President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The following editorial wonders how this could be. Kentucky has lots of troops in the Union military (in fact, “In January 1863, Governor Robinson proudly noted that a divided Kentucky at that time had provided over 44,000 men to aid the Union.” The The Times thinks it is because “no public man or public journal” has been courageous enough to speak out against slavery. Also, Kentucky might be more sensitive about the issue because it has more slaves than the border states Maryland and Missouri combined, although that would mean Kentucky slave-owners would benefit more by a proposed compensated emancipation scheme.

From The New-York Times January 13, 1863:

Kentucky and Emancipation.

What means this terrible eruption of wrath from the Kentucky Governor against the President’s Proclamation? What are we to make of the constant fulminations of the Kentucky senators and Representatives at Washington against the Executive policy? How happens it that of the three slaveholding Border States, Maryland, Missouri and Kentucky, the last alone should be kindled into rage? Missouri, five years ago, was as extreme in its devotion to Slavery as South Carolina itself, and even more furious. Its slave population, in the decade between 1850 and 1860, increased thirty-one and a half per cent., while that of Kentucky increased less than seven per cent. And yet we find Missouri promptly and cordially endorcing the emancipation propositions of the President, by a large majority of its popular vote. We see, too, the leading men of Maryland, and the ablest portion of its Press, taking the same bold stand; and there is no longer a question that the State will, not long hence, concur formally in the plan of compensated emancipation. If Gov. GAMBLE and Gov. BRADFORD can yield so pleasantly to the new necessities of the day, why should Gov. ROBINSON storm so fearfully? If the present Congressmen from Missouri and Maryland, opposed to emancipation as most of them personally are, can submit with such quiet grace to the new policy, why should the neighbors and followers of HENRY CLAY — the great Kentuckian, who always declared Slavery to be a great misfortune to Kentucky — why, we ask, should Mr. WICKLIFFE and his colleagues blaze with such indignation because the Government has at last opened a way by which their State may be cleared of Slavery? What peculiar principle or interest has Kentucky in the matter, that Missouri and Maryland have not?

We know that it is often said, and sometimes even upon the floor of Congress, that the peculiar conduct of Kentucky is owing to feeble loyalty. We do not believe it. Kentucky is every whit as loyal as either of the other two States. It has had more men in active military service for the Union than either of them — no less than forty-one regiments; and no National troops have fought with greater gallantry, as Shiloh and Donelson and Murfreesboro can well testify. The Kentucky Generals Anderson, Rousseau, Crittenden, Nelson, Boyle and others have done deeds for the old flag that will ever live in history. We have not a doubt that the Kentucky Representative who declared, last Friday, on the floor of the House that Kentucky was “as loyal and true as any State in the Union,” spoke the exact truth, if by the State he meant the majority of its people. They are unquestionably — as he said he was — “for this Government first, last and forever.” That thing was tested over and over again at the polls, and afterward by MORGAN’s appeals on his raids, and BRAGG’s proclamations during his great invasion, in a manner that has made fair doubt no longer possible. It will not do to attribute to disloyalty this peculiar hostility of Kentucky to the Emancipation policy.

Hon. L.W. Powell ([between 1855 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpbh-01380)

“constant fulminations”

The real reason probably may be found in two causes. First, Kentucky has more slaves than both the other States combined — her figure, by the last census, being 225,483, while that of Missouri was 114,931, that of Maryland 87,189. Having more property bound up in the system, it is natural that she should be more sensitive about it. But a more important cause for this difference of conduct on the part of Kentucky has been the fact that, while Missouri has had such public leaders as Senator HENDERSON and GRATZ BROWN, and Maryland such public journals as the Baltimore American and the Cambridge Intelligencer, to advocate the emancipation policy with ability and unflagging zeal, there has been in Kentucky no public man or public journal bold enough to start the discussion on the Anti-Slavery side. There is not a politician or a political organ in Kentucky that is not as timid as a hare on any question bearing against Slavery. The old habit of tabooing all discussion on the subject still prevails. A single high-souled, independent, earnest man of ability might easily break this up. The discussion once fairly opened, there can be no doubt it would lead to the same results as in the other two States.

If Kentucky has more slaves than they, she would obtain a proportionately larger share of compensation from the National Government. This compensation would, in fact, be just so much gained. The politicians of Kentucky seem to us to err in taking it for granted that the question still is whether Slavery shall be perpetuated in the State on its old basis, and in its old character. That thing, whether they accept the President’s plan or not, is impossible. Gen. ROSECRANS was perfectly right in declaring as he did, at the public banquet given in his honor at Louisville, last Summer, that if the war went on, Slavery must come to an end. Proclamation or no Proclamation, it is an institution that cannot stand the shock of civil war. All accounts agree that everywhere within our army lines effective slave labor is rapidly coming to an end. This is an inevitable result of the disordered condition of society. The slaves are becoming practically free by the mere force of circumstances. When this point is once reached, they never can be put back into their old condition with any profit to their masters. They will be so “demoralized,” as the expression is, that as slaves they will be forever worthless. Even apart from this inevitable operation of the war, how could Kentucky expect to retain Slavery when surrounded by Free States on every side but the South, as she would be when the system is at an end in Missouri and Western Virginia? It would cost her intolerable trouble.

The extinction of Slavery in Kentucky is simply a question of manner and time. Could the discussion once be fairly started among the people of the State, we are confident that the decision would be, as in Missouri and Maryland, that the compensating scheme of the President is the right manner, and now the appropriate time. But if the State chooses to shirk the subject, until her slaves become a profitless burden, without marketable value, she certainly should be allowed the privilege, without molestation. Of course if she resists until then, she will not expect help from the Government. That which has merely a nominal value can never be paid for in National money. Spurning the Government offer now, she must not complain when circumstances finally compel her to part from her cherished institution without a dollar from the Government treasury to lighten the sacrifice. There is a clear privilege on both sides; and there should be passion on neither.

The influence of the press and federal money.

Compensated emancipation only became law in the United States in the District of Columbia (April 16, 1862).

Wikipedia
attributes the following to Governor Robinson:

…he lamented what he perceived as poor treatment of the state as disloyal by the Federal government. He cited examples such as the declaration of martial law in the Commonwealth and the suspension of the right of habeas corpus for its citizens. He answered President Lincoln’s contention “that military necessity is not to be measured by Constitutional limits” by warning “If military necessity is not to be measured by Constitutional limits, we are no longer a free people.”

Lazarus Whitehead Powell served as U.S. senator from 1859-65:

Senator Powell favored Kentucky’s neutrality policy during the Civil War, but nationally, the conflict put him in a tenuous political situation. On one hand, he was a favored a strong national government and a strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. On the other hand, he was an opponent of coercion, and due to Kentucky’s proximity to the Southern states, maintained a more sympathetic view of the southern cause that legislators from more northern states. During his term as governor, Powell had been critical of Northern states that refused to abide by the Fugitive Slave Act.

In 1861, Senator Powell vigorously condemned President Lincoln’s decision to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. In 1862, he denounced the arrest of some citizens of Delaware—officially, the arrests were called “resolutions of inquiry”—as a violation of constitutional rights. These stances led to calls for his resignation by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1861, and some of his colleagues, led by Kentucky’s other senator, Garrett Davis, unsuccessfully attempted to have him expelled from the Senate. Before the end of the war, both the General Assembly and Davis admitted being wrong in their attempts to remove him.

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Constitutional Theorizing

Posted on January 12, 2013 by SUMPTER
Henry Ward Beecher (no date recorded on shelflist card; LOC: LC-USZC4-685)

Constitution is obsolete sheepskin

If States’ Rights are obsolete, why can’t we make New England one state?

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch January 14, 1863:

New England’s rights Considered — her Undue preponderance Objected to.

A New York paper, taking up a subject that is receiving general attention in the North–the propriety of leaving New England “out in the cold”–says:

The area of the New England States, leaving out Maine, is 33,272 square miles, that of New York is 47,000. All the northern and eastern portion of Maine is a wild, mountainous, and inhospitable region, incapable of settlement, so that the total arable surface of New England does not exceed the cultivable area of New York. Now, we wish to put the question, (we put it merely for illustration,) what objection is there to obliterating all the internal boundaries which distinguish the several New England States on the map, and consolidating them all into a single State? What right (bear in mind, we ask the question only to illustrate an argument) have three millions of population residing in New England to twelve Senators in Congress, when nearly four millions residing in New York are entitled to only two? This immense preponderance of political power, out of all reasonable proportion to its area and population, is held only by the tenure of the State rights which that section is madly attempting to undermine and overthrow. The stability of this disproportionate and enormous power rests wholly on the sacredness of the old State boundaries, which New England influence is attempting to shake and sweep away, and which it has already succeeded in destroying in Virginia. It is a favorite saw of the radicals that “revolutions never go backward;” and if this work of demolishing State rights and obliterating old State boundaries is to proceed, it is one of the likeliest things in the world that this fanatical and destructive device should return to plague the inventors. If they are going to roll up the Constitution as a piece of obsolete “sheepskin,” (this is Mr. Beecher’s tasteful and reverent epithet,) and return to first principles, why may not New York insist that New England shall take a dose of its own medicine? If the principle of human equality is to be rigorously carried out in the spirit of a doctrinaire, without regard to race or color, why not also without regard to the invisible mathematical lines which form State boundaries? Why, in short, is not a New Yorker as good as a Yankee? New England has one Senator in Congress to every 261,000 inhabitants, while New York has only one to 1,940,000, making the political value of a New Englander very nearly seven and a half times as great as that of a New Yorker.

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High and Dry in Jamaica

Posted on January 11, 2013 by SUMPTER
USS Hatteras (1861-1863) (right) 19th Century print, depicting the sinking of Hatteras by CSS Alabama, off Galveston, Texas, 11 January 1863. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph

Bait & Switch: Alabama sinking Hatteras

1863 has been quite a year so far for John Arnett, a ship’s mate in the Union navy from Seneca Falls, New York. On New Year’s Day his ship, the Westfield, was blown up to prevent capture by the Confederates during the Battle of Galveston. As he closed his January 6th letter he wrote, “I have to report on some vessel, but I do not know which one as yet.” Based on the following report that ship was apparently the USS Hatteras, which joined the squadron off Galveston on January 6, 1863. John was not on board the Hatteras very many days. On January 11, 1863 his ship was sunk by the CSS Alabama during the Action off Galveston Light.

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

MR. ARNETT has heard from his son JOHN, who was on board the Hatteras during her engagement with the Confederate steamer Alabama. The Hatteras was sunk by the Alabama, and her officers and men taken on board the latter, paroled and landed at Kingston, Jamaica.

Rear Admiral Raphael Semmes, CSN Photographed with the Confederate flag. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Raphael Semmes showing Confederate flag

The Alabama’s commander Raphael Semmes tells his story of the engagement in Memoirs of Service Afloat, During the War Between the States (page 541 and following). Semmes decided to sail from the Arcas Islands to the coast off Galveston to intercept the expedition of Union General Nathaniel Banks, the “hero of Boston Common”. When Semmes realized he had missed Banks, he decided to lure one of the Union ships away from the squadron and battle it one-on-one. About 20 miles later the fight commenced:

My men handled their pieces with great spirit and commendable coolness, and the action was sharp and exciting while it lasted; which, however, was not very long, for in just thirteen minutes after firing the first gun, the enemy hoisted a light, and fired an off-gun, as a signal that he had been beaten. We at once withheld our fire, and such a cheer went up from the brazen throats of my fellows, as must have astonished even a Texan, if he had heard it. We now steamed up quite close to the beaten steamer, and asked her captain, formally, if he had surrendered. He replied that he had. I then inquired if he was in want of assistance, to which he responded promptly that he was, that his ship was sinking rapidly, and that he needed all our boats.

My first thought was that John Arnett had a rocky start to 1863, but then I remembered we’tre talking about the American Civil War. As John wrote in his January 6th letter, “I lost part of my clothes when the old Westfield went, but I am thankful that I did not lose my head.”

View of Port Royal and Kingston Harbour in the Island of Jamaica (no date recorded on shelflist card; LOC: LC-USZ62-39540)

Port Royal and Kingston harbor

The Combat between the Alabama and the Hatteras, off Galveston, on the 11th of January, 1863 (KELLY, PIET & CO. PUBLISHERS LITH BY A. HOEN & CO. BALTO)

Another view of the Action, (Hatteras main focus

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Putting Mouth Where Money Is

Posted on January 10, 2013 by SUMPTER
CSS Alabama (1862-1864) "In Chase" Halftone print copied from Arthur Sinclair's "Two Years on the Alabama", 2nd Edition, 1896. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

chasing American (and British) commerce

According to Wikipedia

The three major tasks of the Confederate Navy during the whole of its existence were the protection of Southern harbors and coastlines from outside invasion, making the war costly for the United States by attacking U.S. merchant ships world-wide and breaking the Union Blockade by drawing off U.S. Navy ships in pursuit of the Confederate raiders.

150 years ago this week the Richmond Daily Dispatch observed that the CSS Alabama in particular must be having some success with the second of these goals because “The New York Chamber of Commerce is still much exercised on the subject of the Alabama.” and reported on a series of resolutions by the Chamber. There was a more complete report in The New-York Times on January 3, 1863:

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.; Important correspondence Resolutions Relative to Rebel Privateers Fitted Out in British Ports. … Maj. Gen. Butler. …

The following correspondence was read: …

Gideon Welles, 1802-1878 (between 1855 and 1865; LOC: LC-USZ62-72777)

we’re already trying to hunt down the Alabama

FROM SECRETARY WELLES.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Dec. 11, 1862.

SIR: I have received your letter of the 6th inst., inclosing a copy of a resolution passed at a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New-York, on the 4th inst., recommending and suggesting that one or more naval steamers be dispatched to cruise about the Equator, etc., for the protection of American commerce, and in reply would respectfully state the Department has already dispatched armed vessels in that direction.

I am respectfully, your obedient servant,

GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy.

A.C. RICHARDS, Secretary Chamber of Commerce, New-York.

LIVERPOOL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, LIVERPOOL, Dec. 6.

SIR: I am directed by the President of this Chamber to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th ultimo, (erroneously addressed to the Board of Trade in London,) transmitting a series of resolutions adopted by the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New-York, relative to the burning of the ship Brilliant by the steamer Alabama, and I am to inform you that it shall be laid before the Council of this Chamber at the earliest opportunity.

I remain, Sir, yours, &c.,

ROBERT TRONSON, Secretary.

J.A. STEVENS, Jr., Secretary Chamber of Commerce, New-York.

LONDON COUNCIL OF TRADE.

OFFICE OF COMMITTEE OF PRIVY COUNCIL FOR TRADE, WHITEHALL, Dec. 2, 1862.

SIR: I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for trade, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th ult., and I am to request that you will inform the Council that the resolutions passed by the Chamber on the subject of the burning of various ships by the Alabama have been received, and will be laid before her Majesty’s Government. I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

J. EMMERSON TENNENT. …

The ravages of the pirate Alabama were then informally discussed, pending which Mr. LOWE introduced the following preamble and resolutions:

"The Pirate 'Alabama,' Alias '290,' Certified to be correct by Captain Hagar of the 'Brilliant'" Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", November 1, 1862, depicting CSS Alabama burning a prize. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

burning the Brilliant

Whereas, On the 21st day of October last, a statement emanating from Capt. HAGAR, of the ship Briliant, recently burned at sea by the captain and crew of the steamer Alabama, was produced in this Chamber, and a series of resolutions was unanimously adopted, the object of which was to warn the merchants of Great Britain in a friendly spirit of the evil consequences likely to ensue from a repetition of such piratical acts from the fitting out in the port of Great Britain, of other vessels like the Alabama, destined to plunder and destroy our commerce on the high seas; and,

Whereas, This Chamber is led to believe that other vessels have sailed from the ports of Great Britain, or are about to sail, for the express purpose of destroying American ships in distant parts of the world; and in an answer of Earl RUSSELL to the Council of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce is found the following passage, to wit: “Sir, I am instructed by Earl RUSSELL, in reply to your letter of the 6th inst. respecting the destruction by the Confederate steamer Alabama of British property embarked in American vessels, and burned by that steamer. Earl RUSSELL desires me to state to you that British property on board a vessel belonging to one of the belligerents must be subject to all the risks and contingencies of war, so far as the capture of the vessel is concerned. The owner of any British property, not being contraband of war, on board of a Federal vessel captured and destroyed by a Confederate vessel of war, may claim in a Confederate Prize Court, compensation for destruction of such property.” And, whereas, action on the part of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, so far as is at present known, has been limited to a reference of the proceedings of this Chamber to their Council, and on the part of the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for trade to Her Majesty’s Government, as set forth in the two communications just read from Messrs. TRONSON and TENNENT, Secretaries of these bodies.

pirate-alabama-cartoon (Harper's Weekly, November 15, 1862)


THE PIRATE “ALABAMA.”
JOHN BULL ( furious.) “Hallo! there, SEMMES; that’s my Property. Fair play, you Rascal! If I’d suspected this, you’d never have got out of Liverpool!” (“Most of the property destroyed by the Pirate SEMMES on board the vessels he has seized was insured in England, and the loss will consequently fall on Englishmen.”—Daily Paper

And whereas, Since the month of October last, it has come to the knowledge of this Chamber, that the Laurette, T.B. WALES, and other ships have been captured and burned by the Alabama, and that in the first named, a considerable portion of the cargo was on British account, and certified to be such, and under the hands and seal of a British consul; and whereas, There is no evidence before this Chamber to show that in the absence of a recognized government of which to demand redress, the British government has issued orders to the naval commanders of her Britannic Majesty’s ships of war to hunt down and destroy the Alabama, as an offender against the property and honor of Great Britain as well as an offender against the rights and interest of humanity; and, whereas, it is alleged that the Alabama is continually supplied from Great Britain with coal and ammunition, by means of which she is enabled to continue her piratical courses against American commerce; the consequence being to raise the premium of insurance on American vessels and their cargoes, and to depress the rates of freight on American ships; and to transfer our carrying trade to vessels of other nations; this Chamber is led to the following conclusions:

1. That through the active instrumentality of the subjects of Great Britain, the so-called Confederate States are furnished with ships, men, arms and ammunition, with which to war upon the commerce of the United States.

"The Approach of the British Pirate 'Alabama'." Line engraving after a drawing by Homer, published in "Harper's Weekly", Volume VII, January-June 1863, page 268, depicting an anxious scene aboard a merchant ship as the Confederate cruiser Alabama comes up. This may represent the capture of the California mail steamer Ariel off Cuba on 7 December 1862, as there were many ladies among the prize ship's passengers. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Alabama on the horizon

2. That without such foreign aid the States in revolt against the Government of the United States would be powerless to effect any injury to our commerce on the high seas.

3. That this war upon American commerce, carried on by ships built and manned in Great Britain, is not rebuked by the British Press generally; is not discouraged by the public sentiment of a once friendly nation claiming to be governed by high and honorable principles, and is not effectively and thoroughly arrested by the strong will and stronger arm of the British Government.

4. That as a result of the foregoing facts and conclusions, the merchants of the United States are subjected in a certain degree to the evils that would attend a state of war with Great Britain, and are compelled to witness the carrying trade of their country transferred from their own vessels to — British bottoms, under all the sanctions and advantages of peace and neutrality to the latter — white the source of this great peril, threatening to drive American commerce from the ocean is of British origin.

Now, therefore, Resolved, That a Committee of ten be appointed to take into consideration the foregoing, and to report, at a special meeting to be called for the purpose, what action it becomes this Chamber to take in the premises.

Mr. LOWE urged the passage of the above in a brief and calm statement of the facts regarding the Alabama, and also read a letter from our Consul at Liverpool, Mr. DUDLEY, detailing the efforts made by him to induce the British Government to prevent the Alabama from sailing. Mr. DUDLEY states that four more privateers are now being built in Liverpool and one in Glasgow, and that their aim and purpose is well known to the English Government. …

Mr. MAURY stated that he had private advices from England that the Alabama was so constructed as to to be able to evade the fastest war steamer afloat, and that other privateers were building for the rebels that would even excel her. …

Yesterday we had an article about Nathaniel Banks, Ben Butler’s successor in New Orleans. Beast is spending time in New York and Washington these days:

The steam transport S.R. Spaulding, Capt. HOWES, arrived Thursday morning, from New-Orleans on the 24th ult., bringing as passengers Maj.-Gen. B.F. BUTLER, Mrs. BUTLER, and the General’s Staff. The entire party went to the St. Nicholas Hotel, where Gen. BUTLER quietly passed the day, receiving visitor from his intimate friends, but avoiding anything in way of a public reception by keeping the knowledge of his arrival secret. Yesterday morning Gen. BUTLER, accompanied by Col. SHAFFER, Chief Quartermaster, Capt. HAGGERTY, Judge Advocate, and Capt. PUFFER, Aide, took the early train for Washington. He will return to this City in a day or two.

The political cartoon of Raphael Semmes, the Alabama’s commander, taunting John Bull was published in the November 15, 1862 issue of Harper’s Weekly hosted at Son of the South

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Emancipation: the Rebels Did It

Posted on January 9, 2013 by SUMPTER
Major General N.P. Banks, full-length portrait, standing, facing left (1861; LOC: LC-USZ62-122438 )

Emancipation: rebellion’s “leaders will have accomplished what other men could not have done.”

150 years ago today a Richmond newspaper printed a document issued by Nathaniel Banks, commander of the Department of the Gulf, explaining the effect of President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on the people of Louisiana.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch January 9, 1863:

Gen. Banks’s emancipation proclamation in New Orleans.

General Banks gave New Orleans a Christmas sensation in the way of an emancipation proclamation, after the style of Abraham 1st. The following is the document:

Headq’s Department of the Gulf.

New Orleans, Dec. 24, 1862.

To the People of Louisiana:

In order to correct public misapprehension and misrepresentation, for the instruction of the troops of this department, and the information of all parties in interest, official publication is herewith made of the proclamation by the President of the United States relating to the subject of the emancipation. In the examination of this document it will be observed:

I. That it is the declaration of a purpose only — the full execution of which is contingent upon an official designation by the President, to be made on the 1st day of January next, of the States and parts of States, if any, which are to be affected by its provisions.
II. That the fact that any State is represented in good faith in the Congress of the United States is conclusive evidence, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, that such State, and the people thereof, are not in rebellion against the United States.
III. That the State of Louisiana has not yet been designated by the President as in rebellion, nor any part thereof, and that it has complied with all the conditions of the proclamation respecting representation.
IV. That pecuniary aid to States not in rebellion, which may hereafter provide for immediate or gradual emancipation; the colonization of persons of African descent elsewhere, and the compensation of all citizens who have remained loyal, “for all losses by acts of the United States, including slaves,” are among the chief recommendations of this important paper.

It is manifest that the changes suggested therein and which may hereafter be established, do not take effect within this State on the first of January proximo, nor at any precise period which can now be designated, and I call upon all persons, of whatever estate, condition, or degree, soldiers, citizens or slaves, to observe this material and important fact, and to govern themselves accordingly. All unusual public demonstrations, of whatever character, will be for the present suspended. Provost marshals, officers, and soldiers, are enjoined to prevent any disturbance of the public peace. The slaves are advised to remain upon their plantations until their privileges shall have been definitely established. They may rest assured that whatever benefit the Government intends will be secured to them; but no man can be allowed in the present condition of affairs to take the law into his own hands. If they seek the protection of the Government they should wait its pleasure. Officers invested with command will be vigilant in the discharge of their duties. …

The war is not waged by the Government for the overthrow of slavery. …

Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor: 12th & 13th of April, 1861 (Currier & Ives, [1861?]; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-19520)

“The first gun at Sumter proclaimed emancipation.”

The first gun at Sumter proclaimed emancipation. The continuance of the contest, there commenced, will consummate that end, and the history of the age will leave no other permanent trace of the rebellion. Its leaders will have accomplished what other men could not have done. The boldest Abolitionist is a cy[p]her when compared with the leaders of the rebellion. What mystery pervades the works of Providence! We submit to its decrees, but stand confounded at the awful manifestations of its wisdom and power! The great problem of the age, apparently environed with labyrinthine complications, is likely to be suddenly lifted out of human hands. We may control the incidents of the contest, but we cannot circumvent or defeat the end. It will be left us only to assuage the horrors of internecine conflict …

Contest, in public as in social life, strengthens and consolidates brotherly affection. [E]gland, France, Austria, Italy–every land fertile enough to make a history, has had its desolating civil wars. It is a baseless nationality that has not tested its strength against domestic enemies.–The success of local interests narrows the destiny of a people, and is, followed by accession, poverty, and degradation. A divided country and perpetual war make possession a delusion and life a calamity. The triumph of national interests widens the scope of human history, and is attended with peace, prosperity, and power. It is out of such contests that great nations are born. What hallowed memories float around us! New Orleans is enshrined as sacred as Bunker Hill! On the Arostook and the Oregon the names of Washington, Jackson, and Taylor are breathed with as deep a reverence as on the James or the Mississippi. Let us fulfill the condition of this last great trial, and become a nation — a grand nation — with sense enough to govern ourselves and strength enough to stand against the world united.

N. P. Banks,

Major General Commanding.

Battle of Shiloh April 6th 1862 (c1885 Dec. 31: LOC: LC-DIG-pga-00540 )

“Contest … strengthens and consolidates brotherly affection”

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Jackson & Lee

Posted on January 8, 2013 by SUMPTER
Augusta Stone Church built in 1749

Augusta Stone Church built in 1749

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch January 8, 1863:

Testimonial to Lieut. Gen. Jackson.

The citizens of the county of Augusta, in appreciation of the services of this distinguished chieftain, have presented him with an elegant horse and equipments. The following is his letter acknowledging his acceptance of the handsome testimonial.

Caroline County, Dec. 30, 1862.

To the Hon Alex. H. R. Stuart and others:

Gen. T.J. Jackson (Stonewall) (by John Lawrence Giles, between 1860 and 1900; LOC: LC-USZ62-93021)

Thanks, but I can do better

Gentlemen:

I have this day received the beautiful horse and equipments which have been presented to me by you on the part of citizens of Augusta county. I hasten to express my grateful appreciation of the honor you have thus conferred open me. This evidence of regard will continue to be appreciated, not only for its intrinsic worth, but as the kind testimonial of the patriotic people of Augusta.

In reply to the complimentary manner in which you speak of my services, permit me to say that they have fallen far short of my desires.

I trust that God, who had thus far protected your homes, may continue to do so, and soon bless our country with an honorable and lasting peace.

With sentiments of high regard, I am gentleman, your ob’t serv’t.

T. J. Jackson.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch January 7, 1863:

Address of Gen. Lee to the army.

The following is a copy of the address of Gen. Lee to his army after the victory at Fredericksburg:

Headq’rs Army of Northern Virginia, December 31, 1863,

General Orders, No. 132.

Fredericksburg (Robert E. Lee / by John Esten Cooke. New York : G.W. Dillingham Co., p. 176..1899; LOC: with his soldiers at Fredericksburg, Virginia. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-118167 )

appreciates his army’s “fortitude, valor, and devotion “

1. The General Commanding taken this occasion to express to the officers and soldiers of the army his high appreciation of the fortitude, valor, and devotion displayed by them, which, under the blessing of Almighty God, have added the victory of Fredericksburg to the long list of their triumphs.

An arduous march, performed with celerity under many disadvantages, exhibited the discipline and spirit of the troops, and their eagerness to confront the foe.

The immense army of the enemy completed its preparations for the attack without interruption and gave battle in its own time, and on ground of its own selection.

It was encountered by less than twenty thousand of this brave army, and its columns crushed and broken, hurled back at every point with such fearful slaughter that escape from entire destruction became the boast of those who had advanced in full confidence of victory.

That this great result was achieved with a loss small in point of numbers, only augments the admiration with which the Commanding General regards the prowess of the troops, and increases his gratitude to him who hath given us the victory.

The war is not yet ended. The enemy is still numerous and strong, and the country demands of the army a renewal of its heroic efforts in he behalf. Nobly has if responded to her call in the past, and she will never appeal in vain to its courage and patriotism.

The signal manifestations of Divine mercy that have distinguished the eventful and glorious campaign of the year just closing; give assurance of hope that under the guidance of the same Almighty band the coming year will be no less fruitful of events that will ensure the safety, peace, and happiness of our beloved country, and add now insure to the already imperishable name of the Army of Northern Virginia.

R. E. Lee, General.

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President Home

Posted on January 7, 2013 by SUMPTER

On December 10, 1862 Confederate President Jefferson Davis left Richmond for a tour of the western states, the western seats of war. He returned to Richmond on January 5, 1863:

He was weary and he looked it, and with cause, for in twenty-five days he had traveled better than twenty-five hundred miles and had made no less than twenty-five public addresses, including some that lasted more than an hour. However, his elation overmatched his weariness, and this too was with cause. He knew that he had done much to restore civilian morale by appearing before the disaffected people, and militarily the gains had been even greater. …

Davis himself had done as much as any man, and a good deal more than most, to bring about the result that not a single armed enemy soldier now stood within fifty air-line miles of any one of these three [Richmond, Vicksburg, Chattanooga] vital cities. [1] …

President Davis gave an impromptu State of the Confederacy speech when he was serenaded by some Richmond citizens. He paralleled Virginia in the Civil War with Virginia in the Revolution and could point out that the heroic general Robert Lee was the son of “Light Horse Harry”.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch January 7, 1862:

Jefferson Davis, three-quarter length portrait, facing right (between 1858 and 1860; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-23852)

mistaken for Abraham I?

The President Welcomed Keme [Home] — Serenade and speech.

–On Monday night, about 11 o’clock, some two or three hundred persons assembled at the President’s mansion, with Smith’s Band, for the purpose of paying their respects to the executive head of the Confederacy on his return from an extended tour. After the band had played two popular airs the President appeared at the door, and the crowd gave a cheer, when the gentleman who accompanied him said: “Fellow-citizens, allow me to introduce to you the President of the United States.” There was a momentary silence, when the presenter corrected himself by saying “the President of the Confederate States” This was more satisfactory, and Mr. Davis remarked that he was proud to acknowledge that title, but the other be would spurn. He then gracefully thanked his friends for this manifestation of their regard, and expressed his pleasure at meeting them again on his return to the capital of the Confederate States, in a Commonwealth which has been the size [scene] of the bloodiest battles of two revolutions in defence of the principles of liberty. Now, he believed, the incentive to fight was even stronger than when our forefathers threw off the yoke of tyranny; for they had an open and manly foe, while our enemies come as savages and murderers, despoiling the homes of the living and the graves of the dead. Any further association with Yankees was looked upon with loathing and horror, and even the companionship if hyenas could be more readily tolerated by the people of the South. He spoke of the recent victories of our armies, as having caused the brightest sunshine to fail upon our cause. One year ago many of us were despondent; but now mark the difference — The gallant Lee, who partakes largely of the noble characteristics of his father, “Light Horse Harry,” of the Revolution, has repeatedly driven back the invaders of your soil, and recently, when they gathered for their mightiest effort, at Fredericksburg, they were again hurled back, and suddenly stopped in their movement “on to Richmond”–Some of them did come to Richmond, and he hoped every battle would bring a few of those disarmed and discomfited heroes, prisoners, not conquerors, So, too, in the West; at Murfreesboro’ another brilliant achievement has just been performed, and at Vicksburg the enemy is thwarted in his gigantic project for opening the navigation of the Mississippi. This, he believed, would dampen the order [ardor] of the people of the Northwest, to whom the Mississippi was indispensable as an outlet of trade, and he predicted the most beneficial effects from it. The present, however, was no time to relax our efforts. The enemy must be everywhere met with unflinching courage and resolution and our victorious armies would in time conquer a peace. The resources of the South, developed during the war, had astonished the world, and he believed they would continue to increase, as long as we were engaged in hostilities. The President paid a high compliment to the women of Virginia, which was appreciated by the few who were in attendance. He spoke of their devotion to the sick and wounded soldiers, representing every State in the Confederacy, and from thousands of brave hearts the prayer now ascends. “God bless the women of Virginia” With such women at home, and such soldiers in the field, the eventual success of our cause is inevitable. He spoke of the pleasure it would give to mingle socially with the people of Richmond, but the dares [duties?] and anxieties of his position left little leisure for the indulgence of the finer feelings of nature. In days to come, however, when our independence shall have been achieved and the angel of peace spreads her bright wings over the land, it would be his delight to know more of a people to whom he was indebted for so many acts of kindness. At the close of his remarks, the President invoked the blessing of God upon our cause and people, and bade his audience “good night”

This is but a more sketch of the eloquent address, which was delivered with deep feeling and elicited present cheers. After the President retired the band performed a few more places [pieces] , and the through [throng?] separated, well pleased with the incidents of the occasion.

  1. [1]Shelby Foote, The Civil War: A Narrative, Volume II Fredericksburg to Meridian (New York: Vintage Books, 1986), 19-20.↩
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Little Fireside Chats

Posted on January 5, 2013 by SUMPTER
Near Falmouth, Jany. 1863 (by Alfred R. waud, 1863 January; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-21063)

What will the next plan be?

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper on January 3, 1863:

CONFIDENCE IN THE ARMY OF M’CLELLAN. –

Building a chimney (by Edwin Forbes, near Falmouth, 1863 Jan. 15; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-20525)

making camp warmer

S.P. Allen, Esq. editor of the Rochester Democrat, on a visit to the Army of the Potomac, at Fredericksburg, writes that paper an account of what he saw and heard. Mr A. has never been partial to McClellan, but he is forced to say:

“Sleeping being out of the question, I crept out quietly before daylight, and mingled with the soldiers around their little fires. It was very cold and they found it difficult to keep themselves warm. The war was the general theme. The late repulse was invariably followed by something about Burnside and McClellan, and the merits of this and that plan. There is no feeling against Burnside, but on the contrary one of kindness; but it is nevertheless true that those who have served under McClellan have great confidence in him.

All other things being equal, it is a great point to secure a leader in whom the soldiers have confidence. It is the duty of the Administration to thoroughly weigh all the legitimate considerations in the case, and decide the question without a thought to anything else but the cause of the country, and its speedy triumph. If the soldiers are right, and the Administration after a fair trial are satisfied that McClellan is our military leader, for one I say let him be restored to the command.”

But President Lincoln and his administration didn’t have confidence in General McClellan.

According to The story of the Thirty-third N.Y.S. vols.; or, two years campaigning in Virginia and Maryland (by David W. Judd (page 255)) the men in the Army of the Potomac had supposed that the Lincoln Administration ordered Burnside to attack at Fredericksburg, but then they learned that Burnside took full responsibility: “From that time forward, the army questioned his [Burnside’s] military capacity, but could not refrain from admiring his qualities as a man.”

Winter camp of the 16th Michigan (by Edwin Forbes, nrear falmouth, 1863 Jan. 10; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-20677)

16th Michigan camp near Falmouth, January 1863

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