genius vs. scum

Posted on September 26, 2014 by SUMPTER
Mrs. Ridgley Brown ( Photograph shows Mrs. Ridgley (or Ridgely?) Brown, possibly the wife of Lieutenant Colonel Ridgely Brown of Co. K, 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment, and Co. A, 1st Maryland Cavalry Battalion, holding 11-star Confederate flag, between 1861 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-38065)

“the spirit of the people is high and defiant”

Some more Monday morning defiant optimism from the editors at the Richmond Daily Dispatch on September 26, 1864:

Monday morning…September 26, 1864.

That we are approaching a very critical period of our existence as a people in certain. Within one month from the pre[s]ent time we shall once more be subjected to one of those periodical trials to which we have now become accustomed, and which have been on often repeated that they have lost all their terrors. The enemy is about to make another onslaught, with the two-fold object of “crushing the rebellion” and re-electing Abraham Lincoln. The letter is much the more important of the two; the former is but secondary, and designed to aid in bringing about the latter. The opening of the drum is not very encouraging, we admit; yet it is quite as much so as it was last spring, when Jones had been defeated, and Hunter, victorious and without opposition, was making his way triumphantly to Lynchburg. It is not on the flanks of our army that this matter is to be decided. Whatever may happen there, is of second-rate importance. It is here, before Richmond and around Petersburg, that the decision of the question is to be made. For ourselves, we entertain no doubt whatever of the manner in which it will terminate. We place the utmost confidence in the genius of General Lee and the valor of his unrivalled army. We believe that they will be again victorious, as they were last summer in a crisis far more perilous than this. But they must have all the assistance that can be sent to them, and this we doubt not they will have. Let our friends, then, possess their minds in peace, and place their firm reliance on that Providence which has so often shielded them from calamity when it appeared on the point of overwhelming them. For what but the interposition of Providence could have protected our cause thus far against an enemy so far excelling us in numbers and in all the appliances of war?

We are glad to see, at this critical moment, that the spirit of the people is high and defiant. Let disaster come, they are prepared to bear it with fortitude. Let triumph come, they will receive it with moderation. Unlike the degenerate race beyond the Potomac and the Ohio, they neither run made with exultation at every drifting success, nor sink into abject fear whenever defeated. Success and defeat they bear with the same equanimity. Let them be defeated to-morrow; let Petersburg be taken and Richmond razed to the ground or consigned to the flames; still, they are as far from being subjugated as ever. They do not intend to submit, let their disasters be what they may.

But we have not the least fear that either of the catastrophes alluded to will take place. As we have already said, we confide in General Lee and his gallant army to bring us safely out, and we feel no apprehensions of the issue. If Grant failed last May, with an army much larger than that which he has now, and every way its superior, we cannot see any reason why he should succeed now, when the bulk of his army is composed of the very offscouring of mankind; the scum of all the nations; the refuse of the human race, substituted for the tens upon tens of thousands of disciplined veterans that have fallen since he took command. That the job he has undertaken is a most difficult one, he himself makes evident by his call for one hundred thousand fresh troops, after having already expended double that number in the vain attempt to complete it. In all modern history there is no record of any enterprise against a single position having cost so much.–Three hundred thousand tried their hands last summer. To these Grant now wishes to add one hundred thousand more. With four hundred thousand men in a central position, an enterprising monarch, who was likewise a good soldier, could over whelm any monarchy in continental Europe. Yet, with an army of that size, the Yankees have been thus far utterly unable to take this city, far less to conquer Virginia.

Jubal A. Early (between 1860 and 1880; LOC: LC-USZ61-504)

his reverses in the Valley “a serious inconvenience “

As for the reverses of General Early in the Valley, that they are a serious inconvenience to us, we will not deny. But we do deny that they are of such a character that they should discourage us or create a doubt as to ultimate success. Even though that army were captured or destroyed, and we feel no apprehension upon either score, it would not decide the question, as long as Lee was in the field and had a gallant army under his command. That army, at least, has no fear of the issue, so long as the life of their commander is preserved. There is no instance in modern times of greater devotion to a chief than that which the Army of Northern Virginia feel and profess to General Lee. They believe that while he is with them they cannot be beaten. They are proud of his high renown. They know that the laurels which encircle his brow were placed there by their hands; and they will shed the last drop of blood rather than suffer the impure hands of a mercenary leader of banditti — such as Grant, the tool of a tyrant as remorseless and as careless of human life as himself — to tear them from him. Now, this is the feeling which renders soldiers invincible — which made the troops of Hannibal believe that victory was chained to his standard and could not be divorced from it — which enabled Cæsar to say, on a critical occasion, when his army murmured and refused to go forward in a certain expedition, “If you will not go, I will take the Tenth Legion and go with them alone”–which induced Wellington to estimate Bonaparte’s presence on a field of battle as equal to fifty thousand men. No index of a great commander is so little liable to mistake as this capacity of inspiring men with confidence. As long as that army and that general exist, the enemy will not only never conquer the Confederacy, but will not even enter this city as a conqueror. Blood, it is true, must flow like water; but it is blood shed in the holiest of causes, every drop of which is sacred in the eyes of a whole people.

General Robert E. Lee (Currier & Ives, (between 1860 and 1870); LOC: LC-USZC2-2409)

genius

It is the general belief that this will be the last great trial of the enemy — that if this fail he will become tired of throwing army after army into this yawning gulf of ruin and death — that if he be beaten now he will not repeat the experiment.–Whether it be so or not, we think there is very little doubt that the present onslaught is dictated by the near approach of the election, and is, in effect, an electioneering effort. What the result of a defeat may be, we do not undertake to say; but that the attempt to take Richmond will be again defeated, we no more doubt than we doubt our own existence.

“Lee’s Adjutant”, Walter Taylor realized that even geniuses needed enough material to work with as he wrote in a September 25, 1864 letter to his girlfriend while he was still stationed at Violet Bank:

… I thought a good application of the text [of that day’s sermon] might be made to the times, and an excellent read to the croakers who imagine the Confederacy in a desperate strait and are ready to cry “enough” & take the oath. WE are stirring matters up over here & propose to put the whole Bureau of Conscription in the army as a beginning of a great reform – after which we might get some soldiers in the ranks. Whereas now every body procures a detail or exemption. We also propose to make the negroes serviceable & some advocate placing them in the ranks – making soldiers of them – but for this I am not yet quite ready. …

The Gen’l has sent for me. Goodbye.

W … [1]

  1. [1]Tower, R. Lockwood with John S. Belmont, eds.Lee’s Adjutant: The Wartime Letters of Colonel Walter Herron Taylor, 1862-1865. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995. Print. page 194.↩
Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Confederate States of America, Military Matters, Southern Society, The election of 1864 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Rebels of Lake Erie

Posted on September 25, 2014 by SUMPTER
Lake_Erie_Islands_Map (Map showing a majority of the Lake Erie islands that lie between Toledo and Cleveland.)

some islands of Lake Erie, including Johnson’s and Middle Bass

I am baffled by the title of this piece, but, according to Civil War Home, the activities described were part of the Confederate government’s 1864 attempt to foment a Northwest Conspiracy, a “secret operation to create hostile activities in the Northwest, specifically another secession movement against the Union government–thereby, hopefully, the Union would sue for peace to prevent a further breakup”

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch September 24, 1864:

Another Chesapeake affair.

Under this caption, the Gazette has the following dispatch:

New York,September 20.–Buffalo dispatches state that a number of Confederates from Canada captured two small steamers — the Parsons and Island Queen — near Bass island, on Lake Erie, yesterday afternoon, and have gone up or down the lake, probably for reinforcements, guns and ammunition.

The capturing party numbered about thirty men, armed with revolvers and bowie-knives. No other arms were noticed. The capture took place at Middle Bass island. Wood enough was taken to last two days.

The CIA sheds some light on the details of this operation, which was part of an attempt to free Confederate prisoners at Johnson’s Islandby first taking over the U.S.S. Michigan, which guarded Lake Erie:

On September 19, 1864, John Yates Beall, a veteran blockade runner, and about 20 men boarded the Philo Parsons, a small Detroit-Sandusky steamer, in Detroit as ordinary passengers. At Beall’s request, the captain made an unscheduled stop at Amherstburg on the Canadian side of the Detroit River, and several more of Beall’s men boarded, toting a large trunk filled with grappling hooks for seizing the Michigan.

As the Philo Parsons neared Johnson’s Island, Beall put a pistol to the helmsman’s head and took over the ship. The Confederate flag was hoisted, and the real passengers and most of the crew were put ashore on another island. Then Beall sailed the steamer to a point off Johnson’s Island and awaited a signal from the Michigan.

A genial Philadelphia banker–and a new friend of the captain of the Michigan–was supposed to signal Beall that all was clear for the attack. However, the supposed banker, who was really Captain Charles H. Cole of the Confederate Army, had been arrested by Union soldiers. Cole, Confederates later said, had been betrayed. Union records show that Cole, captured on a tip from a Confederate captive and held aboard the Michigan, “disclosed the whole plot” in time for the Union warship to prepare for battle. Seeing no signal and fearing that the Michigan had been alerted, Beall’s crew, murmuring mutiny, demanded that he abort the attack. He set course for Canada, landed everyone ashore, and then burned the Philo Parsons.

The Johnson’s Island link above provided some insight about the baffling Chesapeake title of the Dispatch piece. John Yates Beall “was qualified for the raid by his success in Chesapeake Bay as a Privateer.”

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sufferings north and south

Posted on September 24, 2014 by SUMPTER

A Richmond paper reported that sanitary conditions were better at Fort Delaware and the daily death rate was lower. Overall conditions were still not very good and winter would be tough with only one blanket per prisoner. Tobacco would be the best present to send a loved one confined on Pea Patch Island – it functioned like money.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch September 24, 1864:

Fort Delaware.

Prisoners who returned by the last flag-of-truce boat give the usual account of the sufferings of the Confederate soldiers confined at Fort Delaware, and of their intense anxiety for an immediate exchange. They have experienced enough of prison life at the North to make them regard another capture by the enemy as one of the greatest calamities of war. The whole number of prisoners there at present is seven thousand seven hundred and twenty-two, including about two thousand Virginians. These are assigned to divisions of several hundred each, in which there is not sufficient space for necessary exercise; and their sufferings, it may be well imagined, are intolerable. Their breakfast is one-fifth of a loaf of bread to each man; their dinner, the same amount of bread, with a small piece of meat and a plate of poor soup, with one potato once a week. They have no supper. They are allowed to write only to father, mother, brother, sister, wife or child, and then only ten lines. A married sister cannot be written to if she happens to bear a different name. They are not allowed to receive any packages except by flag trace, and even that method has been recently discontinued, packages sent from here on the 22d of August not having yet been received. Formerly they were allowed to receive presents from friends outside of the prison, but that has been stopped.–The discipline of the prison is very strict. The guard is composed of Ohio militia — the regulars, before performing that duty, having been sent to the field. The winter will bring a great addition to the sufferings of the prisoners, as only one blanket is allowed to a man, and some have not even that.–The houses are temporary board structures, neither lathed nor plastered, and a division has but one fire:

We are gratified to learn that the sanitary condition of Fort Delaware has much improved since last year, and the daily average of deaths considerably diminished.

Tobacco is much more desired by the prisoners than money, as it is a common article of traffic, and will purchase anything they need. We mention this as a hint to those persons who desire to send any gift to their friends there.

Captain Richard E. Frayser, of the Signa[l] Corps, and Captain Jones R. Christian, of company F, Third Virginia cavalry, are among the officers sent from Fort Delaware to Morris island to be placed under fire.

Among the prisoners returned by this flag of truce are Captain B. F. Smith, William F. White, Anron Burton, William C. Tempkins, and — Allen, of Richmond, and Dr. Howlett, of Chesterfield.

The members of the Third Richmond Howitzer company at present in Fort Delaware are well and provided for.

The clipping from The New-York Times of September 25, 1864 is the lead paragraph of a long report detailing the horrible conditions suffered by Union prisoners in the South.

NY Times 9-25-1864

Union prisoners were martyrs (NY Times 9-25-1864)

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Civil War prisons, Confederate States of America, Northern Society | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

resignation accepted

Posted on September 23, 2014 by SUMPTER

There is evidence that 150 years ago this week President Lincoln accepted the resignation of Postmaster General Montgomery Blair to placate the radical wing of his party.

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

TO POSTMASTER-GENERAL BLAIR.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 23, 1864.

HON. MONTGOMERY BLAIR.

MY DEAR SIR:—You have generously said to me, more than once, that whenever your resignation could be a relief to me, it was at my disposal. The time has come. You very well know that this proceeds from no dissatisfaction of mine with you personally or officially. Your uniform kindness has been unsurpassed by that of any other friend, and while it is true that the war does not so greatly add to the difficulties of your department as to those of some others, it is yet much to say, as I most truly can, that in the three years and a half during which you have administered the General Post-Office, I remember no single complaint against you in connection therewith.

Yours, as ever,

A. LINCOLN.

It is written in the first two links above that Mr Blair campaigned for the president’s re-election even after being dismissed.

Civil War envelope showing two soldiers in combat with message "Right nerves the arm of loyalty" (between 1861 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-34705)

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“war to the knife”

Posted on September 22, 2014 by SUMPTER

Back in July a disgruntled General Joe Hooker resigned from his command of a corps in General William T. Sherman’s army group. As the 1864 political campaign heated up, Republicans must have been happy to hear that General Hooker was still in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war.

From The New-York Times September 22, 1864:

Major-Gen. Hooker on the Situation.

To the Editor of the New-York Times:

I lately had the pleasure of a half-hour’s interview with that glorious old soldier and patriot, popularly known as “Fighting JOE,” at Waterhouse, N.Y. As copperheads and traitors have been trying to torture some recent utterances of his into a quasi-indorsement of their candidate’s platform, let me ask you to give place to one or two of the declarations made by him on that occasion. I said to him: “General HOOKER, what do you think of the declaration made at Chicago, that the war against the rebels has thus far been a failure?” His reply, as I recollect it, was in these exact words:

[Major-General Joseph Hooker, full-length portrait, seated on horse, facing left, wearing military uniform, two tents and large building in the background (between 1861 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-19394)

“war till the last ditch is reached”

“It’s pretty much what might have been expected from the sort of people assembled there, isn’t it?” His own opinion upon that point was pretty clearly expressed in another remark made by him to this effect: “That if the Union armies did not strike another blow, but simply held their present position, the rebellion must soon crumble into ruins. He did not hesitate to avow the opinion that the rebellion was already tottering to its fail, and he spoke, in terms of amazement, and certainly with no want of either directness or force, of the semi-traitorism which he found so abundant at the North. He is for war; war to the knife; war till the last ditch is reached, and the last traitor is struck down. He seemed to pant for active service again at the front; and, certainly, the whole country will join in the wish that his earnest patriotism and generalship may soon find a suitable field for their active and successful exertion.

While my pen is in hand let me express to you my admiration of the consummate ability as well as the manly dignity with which you are conducting the present political campaign, a campaign not less momentous or important in its issues than that which is now in progress in the field with such glorious success in the past, and still more glorious results soon, as we may confidently hope, to be realized in the future. W.

Joe Hooker might have been panting for active service – he finished the war in the Northern Department of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana.

The last paragraph praised the Times for the way it was conducting the election campaign. 150 years ago today the Richmond Daily Dispatch critiqued a speech Times’ publisher Henry J. Raymond gave at a Republican rally in Brooklyn. The Dispatch pointed out that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee that a majority of the people elect the U.S. president, just a majority in the Electoral College.

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“The battle raged all day”

Posted on September 20, 2014 by SUMPTER
NY Times 9-21-1864

NY Times 9-21-1864

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in September 1864:

Another Battle.

A desperate engagement took place at Opequan Creek [sic], in the Shenandoah Valley on Monday last, between the forces under Gen. Sheridan and those commanded by Gen. Early. The battle raged all day resulting in the repulse of the rebels with a loss, Gen. Sheridan reports, of 2,500 prisoners, five pieces of artillery, and nine battle flags. Our loss in killed and wounded is estimated at between two and three thousand. Two rebel Generals, Rhodes [sic] and Gordan, and one federal General, D.A. Russel [sic], were killed.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch September 22, 1864:

The War News.

A report was in circulation at an early hour yesterday morning that a fight occurred near Winchester, in the Valley of Virginia, on Monday last, which resulted disastrously to the Confederate arms. As usual, when any unfavorable news is afloat, the grossest exaggerations prevailed, until the following official dispatch from General Lee was given out by the authorities:

“headquarters army Northern Virginia.
“September20th.

“Hon. James A. Seddon:

“General Early reports that, on the morning of the 19th, the enemy advanced on Winchester, near which place he met his attack, which was resisted from early in the day till near night, when he was compelled to retire. After night he fell back to Newtown, and this morning to Fisher’s Hill.

“Our loss reported to be severe.

“Major-General Rodes and Brigadier-General Godwin were killed, nobly doing their duty.

“Three pieces of artilleries of King’s battalion, were lost.

“The trains and supplies were brought off safely.

“[Signed] R. R. [E.] Lee.”

Newtown, the point to which our forces fell back on Monday night, is about eight miles this side of Winchester, at the interaction of the Valley turn-pike and White Post reads [road?], Fisher’s hill is adjutant to Strasburg, some eight miles south of Newtown. We have no further particulars of the battle than furnished by the official dispatch, except that Major-General Fite Lee received a painful, though not dangerous, flesh wound in the thigh.

Sheridan, having been reinforced from Grant’s army, was cabled [enabled?] to bring overwhelming numbers against the Confederates, who resisted nearly an entire day before falling back; and the fact that our trains and supplies were brought off safely, shows that it was no rout.

As in all other engagements of magnitude, we have to mourn the loss of many brave officers and men, the most prominent among whom is Major-General Robert E. Rodes, who fell nobly-doing his duty. Major-General Rodes was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, was the son of David Rodes, and at the time of his death was about thirty-four years of age. He received a military education, and was for some time an assistant professor in the Virginia Military Institute. Subsequently, in the capacity of civil engineer, he was engaged in the construction of various railroads in the South, and located at Tuskegee, Alabama, where be married On the breaking out of the war, he came to Virginia as captain of an Alabama company, and, winning distinction by meritorious conduct in the field, rose rapidly from this rank to that of brigadier. In conformity with a dying request of General T. J Jackson, he was subsequently made a major-general, and appointed to the command of a division, a position which he has filed with honor to himself, and was justly esteemed as one of the most brave and gallant spirits of our army.

Brigadier-General Archibald C. Godwin was a native of Nansemond county, Virginia. He was in California at the time of the breaking out of the war, but left for Virginia immediately upon her secession and offered his services to his country.–He was assigned to the command of the military prison at Salisbury, North Carolina, and afterwards had charge of the prison in Richmond. Receiving the appointment of provost-marshal of this city, he discharged the arduous duties of the position with much credit, but resigned and returned to Salisbury and raised the fifty-seventh North Carolina regiment, of which he was appointed colonel. He led his command through many hard fought batties, and was finally wounded and taken prisoner. Soon after his exchange he was made a brigadier, and at once returned to the field, where he had been actively and arduously engaged up to the time of his death. His age was about thirty-six years. It is thought that his remains will be brought to Richmond for interment.

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time to swap horses

Posted on September 19, 2014 by SUMPTER

Compared to President Lincoln, “none if loyal, can be for the worse”, but General McClellan would make a fine president.

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in October 1864:

IMPORTANT LETTER FROM HON – REVERDY JOHNSON –

Letter from J. Hartwell Keyes to Diantha from Halls Hill, Virginia, on pictorial lettersheet ( 1862 June 2; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-34611)

Reverdy reviewed the reviewers

MCCLELLAN THE HOPE OF THE NATION.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19.

Washington was electrified last Monday, by the publication of the following letter from Senator Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, who was elected by his State Legislature opposed to the Democratic party, and who in the senate acted not unfrequently with the Republican portion of that body. Let him speak for himself, as the oldest Senator in Congress:

SARATOGA SPRINGS, Sept. 14.

GENTLEMEN: Your invitation to the meeting to be held in Washington on the 17th inst., to ratify the nomination of McClellan and Pendleton, is but just received.

It will be out of my power to be with you, my stay here for some days longer being unavoidable. Opposed as I was to the original election of Mr. Lincoln to the station he now occupies, from a conviction of his being unequal to his duties, the manner in which he has met them, has but confirmed me in that opinion. With more than two millions of soldiers placed in his hands, and an unlimited amount of treasure, his policy and his manner of using his power, instead of putting the rebellion down and bringing to our ranks the thousands of Union men who were then in each of the seceded States, and who, in some, are believed to out number the rebels, have but served the double purpose of uniting them against us and of dividing the public opinion of the loyal States. The effect of course is that notwithstanding the gallant deeds of our army and navy, and the manifest justice of our cause, the Union is even more effectually broken now than it was when his administration commenced.

img1_lincoln

“spavined and thin”

Whatever of honesty of purpose may belong to him, and I am willing to admit that he has had it, his vascillating, his policy, now conservative, now radical, his selection of military officers grossly incompetent, his treatment of those who were evidently competent, his yielding in this to what he has himself been often heard to say as an excuse, was “outside pressure,” his not only punished, but as far as the public know, unrebuked the vandal excesses of military officers of his special selection, shocking the sentiment of the world, and disgracing us in the view of all christendom by the burning of private dwellings, and depriving their often exclusively female occupants of home and means of livelihood – all demonstrate that he is grossly incompetent to govern the country in this crisis of its fate.

How can an honorable man believe that one who has so signally failed for almost four entire years, can be successful if another four years be granted him? No one in Congress certainly. Not twenty members believe him equal to the mighty task. He has been tried and found wanting. Let us have a change; none if loyal, can be for the worse. It is not that we wish to use his own classic figures to swap horses in the midst of a stream, but when we are on a journey and safety depends at making our destination at the earliest moment, we should cast aside a spavined and thin horse, and secure a sound and active one.

McClellan is the Man, by Henry Cromwell ( Sheet music cover illustrated with half-length portrait of George B. McClellan by Fabronius after a photograph by Black & Case., 1864; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-19922)

or at least one of the men

In General McClellan we are furnished – in the history of his life, in the purity of his character, his refinements, his attainments, civil and military, and, above all, in his perfect loyalty – every assurance that, under his executive guidance, the war, now so exhaustive of treasure and blood, will be soon brought to a triumphant termination and this Union, which, “at all hazards,” he will never agree to surrender, will be restored. With regards,

Your obedient servant,
REVERDY JOHNSON

__________________________________________________________

According to the Library of Congress the following political cartoon pictures Reverdy Johnson in the back row, helping to support the McClellan – Pendleton ticket and the Chicago platform:

How Columbia receives McLellan's Salutation from the Chicago Platform (LC-USZ62-40791)

Presidents Pierce and Buchanan, Clement Valandigham. Reverdy Johnson among those supporting the general AND peace

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Lincoln Administration, Northern Politics During War, The election of 1864 | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

supporting the people’s choice

Posted on September 18, 2014 by SUMPTER

A Republican-oriented newspaper reprinted a letter from a soldier at the front admonishing his son in New York City to avoid being a Copperhead. From The New-York Times September 18, 1864:

… To the Editor of the New- York Times

NEW-YORK, Thursday, Sept. 8, 1864.

The accompanying extracts are from a letter received from one of the soldiers of GRANT’s army, written to his son in this City. I send them to you because they came from an old Democrat and blunt old soldier:

Very respectfully, E.S.A.

PETERSBURGH, VA., Aug. 28, 1864.

MY DEAR SON: Your last welcome letter I received in due time. Glad to know that you are well. I am hearty and rugged, but wearied somewhat from our long march. * * * We are now before Petersburgh, and shall remain under fire for weeks, unless we take the place. There is not much infantry firing, but the pickets and artillery do not cease night or day. There is more danger in camp than in field.

* * * * * * * * * * You allude to a portion of my last letter as containing some objectionable phrases, and accuse me of that of which I am not guilty. I called no one in particular a Copperhead, nor did I threaten much. But I tell you now, as I told you then, that, had it not been for the rebel sympathizers, (Copperheads,) this war would have been ended months ago. In regard to the Administration, we are in duty bound to support it. ABRAHAM LINCOLN was the people’s choice. He was elected by the voice of the people, and has a right to their whole aid in his measures to suppress treason. Why not let politics alone, unite firmly and put down the rebellion, and attend to political affairs afterward?

JEFF. DAVIS recommends giving and taking “no quarter,” “war to the knife;” and says that is the only way in which to stop Northern volunteering. If the Copperheads (or Democrats, as they call themselves) will not assist in whipping the Rebels and to punish JEFF. DAVIS, the army will do it itself, and attend to them (the Copperheads) afterward.

You tell me that you are a Union man and a Jackson Democrat, Let me ask you what is democracy?

Is it composed of “Minute Men,” raised for purposes about which the Government knows nothing? Does it consist in secret societies, lawless mobs and riots? In short, is it formed of material to set at naught both civil and military law? I tell you, no. Neither JACKSON nor any other good Democrat ever advocated such principles; then why talk of resisting the draft and bidding defiance to officers?

The soldier's song--Unionism vs. Copperheadism (n the year 1864, by Smith & Swinney; LOC: C-USZ62-9637)

“A few mean, sneaking Copperheads have gone to the rebels.”

You ask, where are the men that have gone forth to fight for the Union? I will tell you. Many of them, as brave and true-nearted as God ever created, have given their lives for their country’s good. A few mean, sneaking Copperheads have gone to the rebels. Some, too cowardly to fight, have show off a finger or a thumb, or feigned sickness, in order to get into the hospital or upon the sick list.

We do not want peace upon any other terms than those extended by the President, viz.: an unconditional surrender and the abolition of Slavery. The better portion of the army will accept nothing short of this. JEFF. DAVIS says that he is “fighting for independence.” He is fighting for power and aggrandizement, and if the peace faction prevail North he will be the President yet.

I shall be happy to hear from you as often as possible, but I do not want to hear anything about “Little MAC and his hundred thousand.” If they will not fight under one officer they will be good for nothing to fight under another.

Affectionately, your father, B. …

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justices of the peace off to war?

Posted on September 17, 2014 by SUMPTER

9-23-2014: I apologize for putting up misleading information in the following post. Please read Scott Mingus’ comment below. Thank you,

Luke Martens

Long-time Virginia politician William “Extra Billy” Smith served in the Confederate army until just after Gettysburg. He was elected governor for a second time in 1863 and assumed his duties on New Year’s Day 1864. Mr. Smith wasn’t afraid to cross the border to pursue the best interests of his state. Using accounts in the Chicago Tribune as a source, Scott Mingus has written that “Extra Billy” actually attended the (Northern) Democratic Convention in Chicago in August 1864.[1] The governor sued for a peace candidate and was dead set against frontrunner General George McClellan. He claimed that if the Democrats nominated a peace man – “untainted by participation in the war” – Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida would rejoin the Union if the Democrat won the general election. The skeptical Tribune wondered what possible authority Mr. Smith for such an assertion.

A moot point since “Little Mac” was selected as Democratic nominee. The war was definitely continuing. 150 years ago this week Governor Smith issued a proclamation vowing to enforce a January law intended to round up deserters and threatening to revoke the exemptions he provided justices of the peace if they refused to enforce the desertion law.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch September 17, 1864:

Deserters and delinquents.

We call attention to the proclamation of the Governor concerning deserters and other delinquents owing military service to the Confederate Government. The law of the State makes it obligatory upon magistrates, sheriffs, sergeants and constables to take steps for the arrest of all such persons as may be found within their respective counties, cities and towns, and imposes penalties for a failure to do so. In addition to this, the Governor promises, in the event that the present apathy in this respect continues, to revoke the military exemptions of many justices of the peace and other county officers; and we feel assured he will keep his word. The Government now needs the services of every able-bodied man who can be spared from civil employment; and if all deserters and skulkers were placed in the ranks, our armies would be largely reinforced. The proclamation is timely, and we trust that those who are most interested will heed its warnings. A law more plain in its provisions was never passed by the General Assembly, and we can only account for the neglect of State officers to comply with it by supposing them ignorant of its existence. They can have no such excuse now.

More evidence of the manpower shortage from the same issue of the Dispatch:

Enrollment of Exempts.

–Under orders from the Bureau of Conscription, the enrolling officers of this city, with the aid of the advisory board, will commence this morning to register all white male citizens, not in the army or in the reserve forces, between the ages of sixteen and fifty years. It is very important that this duty should be performed forthwith, and hence every facility should be afforded, by those embraced within the order, to enable these officers to discharge the duty enjoined on them.

  1. [1]Mingus, Scott L., Sr. Confederate General William “Extra Billy” Smith – From Virginia’s Statehouse to Gettysburg Scapegoat. El Dorado Hills, California: Savas Beatie, 2012. Print. pages 304-5.↩
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Crosses’ purpose

Posted on September 16, 2014 by SUMPTER

fought for “the U.S. Army In the War of the Rebellion”

Cross family plot, Restvale Cemetery, Seneca Falls, NY 9-2-2012

Cross family plot

When I started wandering through Restvale Cemetery in Seneca Falls, New York looking for old grave stones decorated with new American flags, I was naturally drawn to a plot that indicated a whole bunch of men in the Cross family served in the Union army. According to the stones two of the family members died on the same day – September 16, 1864. That sounded like some potentially juicy history, but I didn’t learn any more details about the allegedly twinned deaths.

Walt Gable cleared up the mystery in his new book, Seneca County And The Civil War. As it turns out, none of the family members died on September 16th, but the Cross family was certainly dedicated to fighting for the Union cause.[1] William Henry Cross enlisted in the 50th New York Engineers in September 1861 when he was 53 years old. He injured himself jumping a ditch but survived the war. Five of his sons also served during the war. Amos N. Cross joined the 33rd New York Infantry in May 1861. He died of disease in September 1862.

Restvale Cemetery 9-2-2012

Asa and James did not die on same date

Two Cross brothers joined the 4th New York Artillery. George M. was injured twice and mustered out in July 1865 while at D.C.’s Harewood Hospital. Asa D. survived the war but “was admitted to the Utica/Rome Asylum and … his father reimbursed Seneca County $100 for Asa’s care there.”

Two other brothers enlisted in the 148th New York Infantry. Lemuel B. was shot in the thigh at Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864. He never fully recovered but survived the war. James G. died 150 years ago this week:

He was captured on June 15, 1864, near Petersburg, Virginia. He was sent to the infamous Andersonville prison camp in Georgia, where he died of scurvy on September 13, 1864. He is buried in the Andersonville National Cemetery. He also has a gravestone in Restvale Cemetery in Seneca Falls.

Andersonville Prison, Ga., August 17, 1864. Issuing rations, view from main gate (LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-34562)

Andersonville Prison, Ga., August 17, 1864. Issuing rations, view from main gate (Library of Congress)

After the war Seneca Falls’ GAR post was named to honor the Crosses.

This case provided more evidence that, while the rosters at the New York State Military Museum are a valuable resource, they are not totally accurate. I learned that you can’t believe everything you read in a cemetery. I’m pretty sure the uprooted tree in the background of the Restvale photos was knocked down by a microburst storm that tore through Seneca Falls in May 2012.

Grounds at Andersonville, Georgia, where are buried fourteen thousand Union soldiers, who died in Andersonville Prison (Harper's weekly, 1865 Oct., p. 633; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-05602)

Grounds at Andersonville, Georgia, where are buried fourteen thousand Union soldiers, who died in Andersonville Prison (Harper’s weekly, 1865 Oct., p. 633.)

  1. [1]Gable, Walter Seneca County And The Civil War. Charleston, S.C.: The History Press, 2014. Print. pages 67-70.↩
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