Civil War History - Secession and PoliticsWas it Slavery, or was it States Rights? Perhaps it was the election of Lincoln? What were the real reasons for Southern Secession and what were the political issues in this time of war? Find your answers here in the Secession and Politics Disussion.
The next day, December 4th, the New York Times publishes another article, in which it says:
Mr. Weed has stated his opinion of the crisis thus:
1. There is imminent danger of a dissolution of the Union.
2. The danger originated in the ambition and cupidity of men who desire a southern despotism, and in the fanatic zeal of the northern Abolitionists, who seek the emancipation of slaves regardless of consequences.
3. The danger can only be averted by such moderation and forbearance as will draw out, strengthen and combine the Union sentiment of the whole country.
Each of these statements will command general assent. The only question likely to arise relates to the practical measures by which the" moderation and forbearance" can be displayed.
And while the South Carolina Convention was in session, and before any State had seceded, and when it was doubted by many whether such action would be taken, Mr. Greeley said:
If it (the Declaration of Independence) justifies the secession from the British Empire of three million colonists in 1776, we do not see why it would not justify the secession of five millions of southerns from the Federal Union in 1861. If we are mistaken on this point, why does not some one attempt to show wherein and why? For our own part, while we deny the right of slave-holders to hold slaves against the will of the latter, we cannot see how twenty millions of people can rightfully hold ten, or even five, in a detested union with them by military force.
In the same issue of Mr. Greeley's paper we read the following:
If seven or eight contiguous States shall present themselves authentically at Washington, saying: "We hate the Federal Union; we have withdrawn from it; we will give you the choice between acquiescing in our secession and arranging amicably all incidental questions on the one hand, and attempting to subdue us on the other," we could not stand up for coercion, for subjugation, for we do not think it would be just. We hold the right of self-government even when invoked in behalf of those who deny it to others. So much for the question of principle.
This conservative view of the question which Mr. Greeley gave to the world with such emphasis, and in which he expressed his opinion of the principle involved, was reiterated for days, weeks and months, with the characteristic persistence of that able leader.
Mr. Greeley also said:
Any attempt to compel them by force to remain would be contrary to the principles enunciated in the immortal Declaration of Independence, contrary to the fundamental ideas on which human liberty is based.
These articles continued to appear in the northern press for months after the election of Mr. Lincoln, and until after most of the Southern States had seceded. They continued until after the people of the South had adopted a constitution, and organized their new Confederate Government; after they had raised and equipped an army, appointed ambassadors to foreign courts, and convened a congress; after they had taken possession of three fourths of the arsenals and forts within their territory, enrolled her as one of the nations of the earth.
After all this, Mr. Greeley's paper continued to indorse the action of all southern people as fully as it was possible for language to enable it to do so. Mr. Greeley said:
We have repeatedly said, and we once more insist, that the great principle embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of American Independence, that governments derive their just powers from consent of the governed, is sound and just; and that if the slave States, the cotton States, or the gulf States only choose to form an independent nation, they have a clear, moral right to do so. Whenever it shall be clear that the great body of southern people have become conclusively alienated from the Union, and anxious to escape from it, we will do our best to forward their views.
Mr. Greeley was earnestly and ably supported in his views by the most prominent men and able editors of Republican papers all over the North.
I cite the following from the Commercial which was certainly the leading Republican paper of Ohio. After Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated, the Commercial said:
We are not in favor of blockading the southern coast. We are not in favor of retaking by force the property of the United States now in possession of the seceders. We would recognize the existence of a government formed of all the slave-holding States, and attempt to cultivate amicable relations with it.
In addition to all this, the commander of the Federal army, General Winfield Scott, was very emphatic in endorsing the views of the New York Tribune and other papers, to the effect that secession was the proper course for the southern people to pursue, and his oft-repeated expression, "Wayward sisters, part in peace," seemed to meet the full approval of the great body of the people of the North. In obedience to all this advice, the Southern States did secede, and almost immediately the vast Federal armies were raised, battles were fought, money expended, and this, let me tell my friend from New York, was the cause of the vast appropriations regarding which he asked an explanation.
These appropriations were made to carry on the most stupendous war recorded in modern history. From April 15, 1861, to the close of the war, there were called into the service of the United States 2,865,028 soldiers. Besides this we have had evidence placed before Congress of numerous organizations called into service by the Governors or other officials of border States, which would probably number 500,000 men.
That these men were brave is proved by the terrible casualties of the battles which they fought.
The struggle from May 5 to May 12, 1864; at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, which should really be called one battle, was a good index of the sanguinary character of the conflict.
The losses of Grant's army in that conflict, as reported in Scribner's statistical record, was 9,774 killed, 41,150 wounded, and 13,254 missing.
It gives an idea of the magnitude of this conflict to recall that General Grant's loss in killed and wounded in this battle was greater than the loss in killed and wounded in all the battles of all the wars in this country prior to 1861.
The loss in all the battles of the seven years of the Revolution was 2,200 killed, and 6,500 wounded.
The loss in the army of 1812 was 1,877 killed and 3,737 wounded.
The loss in the war with Mexico was 1,049 killed and 7,929 wounded; in all, only 19,227 men.
Now, if we add all the losses of the Indian wars, including the French and Indian war, the entire loss would be less than half the killed and wounded in this great battle.
As another evidence of the gallantry of the officers and soldiers, I will mention that during that war forty-six generals of the United States army and seventy-six generals of the Confederate army were killed at the head of their commands in battle.
I have given an explanation of this matter to the best of my ability, and from the standpoint of one whose feelings were and are in entire sympathy with the southern people, but who since the close of that war has been as devoted to the Union of the States and the prosperity, welfare, and glory of our country as the most distinguished soldier who fought in the Federal army from 1861 to 1865.
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From the Daily Lincoln Log:
Friday, January 11, 1861.
Browse Month
Springfield, IL. In confidential letter to Cong. James T. Hale (Pa.), Lincoln writes: "What is our present condition? We have just carried an election on principles fairly stated to the people. Now we are told in advance, the government shall be broken up, unless we surrender to those we have beaten, before we take the offices. . . . if we surrender, it is the end of us, and of the government. They will repeat the experiment upon us ad libitum." Abraham Lincoln to James T. Hale, 11 January 1861, CW, 4:172.
Acknowledges receipt from Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott, general in chief of the army, of correspondence and notes "concerning various military movements, suggested by yourself." Abraham Lincoln to Winfield Scott, 11 January 1861, CW, 4:172-73.
Tuesday, January 15, 1861[?].
Browse Month
Springfield, IL. ["When Mrs. Lincoln was on her way home from New York, attended by her son Robert, she found herself at Buffalo, without a pass over the State Line Railroad; no provisions had been made for that part of her trip from New York City to Springfield. After Mrs. Lincoln had taken her seat at Buffalo Bob entered the office of R. N. Brown, esq., the superintendent of the State Line Railroad, and said: `My name is Bob Lincoln; I'm a son of Old Abe—the old woman is in the cars raising h-ll about her passes—I wish you would go and attend to her.' Mr. Brown allowed Mrs. Lincoln and Bob to ride over his railroad free of charge." Baltimore Sun, 22 February 1861.]
Wednesday, January 16, 1861.
Browse Month
Springfield, IL. New York delegation consisting of George Opdyke, New York merchant, Hiram Barney, New York attorney, and Judge John T. Hogeboom consults with Lincoln on cabinet appointments for Sen. Cameron (Pa.) and Sen.-elect Chase (Ohio). They tell Lincoln "a thousand truths which he ought to know." DLC—EBW, Ray to Washburne, 16 January 1861.
Lincoln adjusts his account of purchases for 1860 with brother-in-law, Ninian W. Edwards, and his store, Smith, Edwards & Co., against a loan of approximately $2,587 and interest at 10 per cent, which Lincoln made to them in 1852. H. E. Pratt, 75-6.
Thursday, January 17, 1861.
Browse Month
Springfield, IL. Lincoln announces selection of Judge Edward Bates of Missouri and Sen. Seward (N.Y.) for cabinet. No further selections will be made until he arrives in Washington. Washington Star, 17 January 1861.
[A Republican who has just returned from Maryland reports that 10,000 men have been secretly organized in Maryland and Virginia to prevent inauguration of Lincoln. Washington Star, 17 January 1861.]
Friday, January 18, 1861.
Browse Month
Springfield, IL. "A strong California delegation, headed by D. Crittenden, of San Francisco, is laying close siege to the President-elect." N.Y. Herald, 19 January 1861.
Monday, January 21, 1861.
Browse Month
Springfield, IL. Representative William Kellogg (Ill.) still in Springfield, seeking to ascertain how far Lincoln will go by way of compromise on slavery question. Remarks Concerning Concessions to Secession, c. 19-21 January 1861, CW, 4:175-76.
In addition, two delegations are in town—one from New York on behalf of Sen. Cameron (Pa.), the other from Indiana to push claims of former Cong. Caleb B. Smith (Ind.). N.Y. Herald, 22 January 1861.
Lincoln writes Cameron to visit him again, then apparently neglects to mail letter. Abraham Lincoln to Simon Cameron, 21 January 1861, CW, 4:177.
M. Romero again calls on Lincoln, this time to take leave. Abraham Lincoln to Matias Romero, 21 January 1861, CW, 4:177-78.
["Mr. L has undertaken his Cabinet without consulting me. For the present I shall be content to leave the responsibility on his own broad shoulders." William H. Seward to Weed, 21 January 1861, NRR—Thurlow Weed Papers, (cited as TW)].
Wednesday, January 23, 1861.
Browse Month
Springfield, IL. John G. Nicolay, private secretary to President-elect, writes Gen. Edwin C. Wilson on Lincoln's instructions, expressing satisfaction at assurance that militia of Pennsylvania is ready to come to support of Union "in the event of trouble or danger." DLC—John G. Nicolay Papers, Nicolay to Wilson, 23 January 1861 [cited as JGN].
Francis P. Blair, Jr., Congressman-elect (Mo.), visits Springfield to press claim of his brother Montgomery to cabinet appointment. Blair says: "The day of compromise is gone, and the day of fighting come." Harry J. Carman and Reinhard H. Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage, 38 N.Y. Herald, 24 January 1861.
Dr. Gilt of Virginia calls on Lincoln on behalf of Cassius M. Clay, Kentucky abolitionist, and Judge John C. Underwood, Virginia unionist, relative to cabinet posts. DLC—Gist-Blair Papers, Blair to Blair, 24 January 1861 [cited as GB].
Lincoln deposits $165.10 in Springfield Marine Bank. H. E. Pratt, 164.
Waits in vain at station for arrival of Mrs. Lincoln and their eldest son Robert on night train from east. Henry Villard, Lincoln on the Eve of '61, 54-5.
Friday, January 25, 1861.
Browse Month
Springfield, IL. "It is evident," writes the "Herald" correspondent, "that influences are now at work here to commit Mr. Lincoln on the border State propositions; but he as yet manifests no signs of yielding." N.Y. Herald, 26 January 1861.
Lincoln is delighted by return of Mrs. Lincoln and Robert from East; he has been expecting them for three days. Villard, Lincoln, 54-5.
Deposits $136 in Springfield Marine Bank. H. E. Pratt, 164.
Monday, January 28, 1861.
Browse Month
Springfield, IL. "The first draft of the Inaugural Message is now being made by the President-elect, . . . It will not be finished until after consultation with the Republican leaders in Washington. . . . No further invitations will be issued to prominent politicians to visit the President-elect, and none are desired here. The Cabinet will be completed in Washington." N.Y. Tribune, 29 January 1861.
Lincoln invites his cousin, John Hanks, to "go along" on visit to Coles County, Ill., January 30, 1861. Abraham Lincoln to John Hanks, 28 January 1861, CW, 4:181.
Committee representing citizens of Indianapolis calls upon Lincoln to present transcript of resolutions inviting him to visit city en route to Washington. The same day Lincoln writes committee accepting invitation and setting February 12, 1861 as date. Abraham Lincoln to James Sulgrove, Eric Locke, William Wallace, and John F. Wood, 28 January 1861, CW, 4:181-82.
Withdraws $40.90 from Springfield Marine Bank. H. E. Pratt, 175.
Tuesday, January 29, 1861.
Browse Month
Springfield, IL. Editorial that seems to be authoritative appears in Springfield "Illinois State Journal": "Mr. Lincoln is not committed to the Border State Compromise, nor to any other. He stands immovably on the Chicago Platform, and he will neither acquiesce in, nor counsel his friends to acquiesce in, any compromise that surrenders one iota of it." Despite Lincoln's desire for privacy there is "a perfect inundation of Chicago politicians." N.Y. Tribune, 30 January 1861.
Lincoln withdraws $25.40 from Springfield Marine Bank. H. E. Pratt, 175.
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The question is frequently asked: "What has become of the great Union party of Virginia?" In answer to this question, we say that the Union party still exists, in full force, with many valuable accessions from the ranks of those who spurned us as submissionists, tories and enemies to our Southern country.
We claim no union with that party that would break down one section to build up another; or with that Administration that would reject all honorable proposals to settle a difficulty between two sections of a Republic, and be willing to sacrifice a noble and happy country to a silly, sectional platform, erected by a few political demagogues and fanatical hypocrites, who, by unparalleled intrigue and ignoble wire-working, succeeded in elevating a miserable miscreant to the Presidency, who, after calling around him the vilest of the vile, ignores the sovereignty of States and denies the right of revolution for un-redressed wrongs.
But we claim to be a Union party under the powers that be; and we have patriotism enough to uphold and sustain that Government of which we claim to be a part, and in which we claim an equal interest with any and every other section, so long as she is worthy to hold an honorable station among the powers of the earth.--But when by intrigue, corruption and usurpation, she becomes polluted and unfit to hold a place among the civilized nations; when we find our rights invaded, our institutions in danger, our peace destroyed, and we can find no means of redress, we then claim the right of revolution; we step aside from the polluted fabric, and seek freedom, independence and peace elsewhere.
Our friends of the cotton States, whose interests are intimately connected with our own, on account of sectional wrongs and political grievances, fanatical meddling and unparalleled abuse, being thrust upon them and us for many years, and persevered in with a zeal and apparent hatred that was continually on the increase, was fit to sever the ties that bound them to the Federal Government, and seek freedom and independence within their own limits.
They invited us to join our interest with theirs in a struggle for freedom. We thought their action premature; we considered them rash; we thought proper to demand redress of our grievances at the hands of the Federal Government we used all means that wisdom could devise, or patriotic eloquence portray, to gain a listening ear and a favorable response, and while these efforts were pending we were called anything else but honest men.
While one last effort was being made by the friends of peace the response came. It was heard at Sumter! It was reiterated in the proclamation of Abraham Lincoln! It was seen in the preparations made by the Federal Government to coerce the Southern States! And that response severed the last link that bound the Union party of Virginia to the United States Government.
And now we are a Union party in the Southern Confederacy, and ever will be so long as our patriotism is appreciated, our rights respected, and the Southern Republic worthy the name she now assumes.
Where is the great Union party of Virginia? The quick response to the call to arms will answer. The appropriations of the County Courts will answer. The readiness of the people every where to give their means and best energies for the defence of the State will answer. Where are they? When the conflict comes--and come it must--the crack of the rifle and the booming cannon will answer, Here! Here!
The craven-hearted wretch who now with-holds his means and shrinks from the responsibility of sustaining Virginia in her present relations, may be worthy the name of submissionist, tory, or an enemy to our Southern country, but he is not worthy a place or a name in the great Union party of Virginia.
MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, March 19, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
A Patriotic Lady.
One of our best known gentlewomen—born, we believe, near or within this city—in sending a portion of money to this office, accompanied it with the following note. She has come of a brave race of true Southerners, and it is not strange, therefore, that her heart and life, if need be, are in this work. Such words ought to inspire our people:
"Think nothing of the delay, but remember that if times are hard with our men, how much harder for widows. Our only comfort in making so many sacrifices is that we had rather die than yield to Lincoln's government. Every foot of this land is dear to me, and I say contend for every inch of its precious soil; sacred to the memory of grandparents, parents and husband, for they all rest quietly under the sod of Alabama where I hope to rest with my children by my side. May God keep the unhallowed feet of the enemy from ever touching this sacred spot. I have not a doubt of our final success and victory—but, oh! we may wade through a sea of blood; but then we will have the comfort to know that we bought our children's liberty at a price, not with money, but blood. Truly, Lincoln acts upon the principle, annihilate or subjugate!—May the Ruler of the Universe touch his Pharoachic heart ere he turns him and his army into this sea of blood."—Mobile Advertiser.
MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, March 19, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
"The Nightingale Brigade."
We are gratified to learn that Rev. Mr. Miller, of Natchez, has succeeded in recruiting a considerable corps of nurses among well-known ladies of Mobile, who will hold themselves in readiness to join him at Jackson, when the occurrence, or imminence, of a battle shall make it probable that their melancholy services will be in requisition. Proceeding to the rendezvous at Jackson, Mr. Miller will meet them there and conduct them whither their presence may be required. Mr. Miller leaves for home at once to get his corps of nurses there in readiness for "marching orders," and conducting them to Jackson will meet those from Mobile as above whenever he advises them to come up. More nurses from Mobile will be received, we are told.
These ladies are all volunteers, giving their services without compensation, and in the history of this war for the Right, no record will stand more glorious than that which chronicles the heroism and devotion of the "Nightingale Brigade" of the South. Gentle, and tenderly nurtured, as they are, they abandon the ease and ties of home to mingle in the horrors of the dreadest aspect of war, and move amid the appalling scenes of the hospital as angels of mercy to the suffering.—Mobile Register.
MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, March 19, 1862, p. 4, c. 3
At the late term of the Confederate States District Court, held at Tyler, Texas, a decree was entered for the sequestration of 40,000 acres of land, valued at $150,000. In Western Texas the sequestered property amounts to $30,000,000.
MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, March 19, 1862, p. 4, c. 5
Support for the Families of Indigent Soldiers.—We learn that a number of prominent citizens have united in an effort to procure the maintenance of all families of indigent soldiers from this county. Their plan seems to us as practical as it is comprehensive. They propose to raise by subscription whatever may be at the command of the donor, whether that be money, provisions, or clothing. By this means they expect to reach a large class of persons who cannot give money, but who can furnish meat, meal, corn, molasses, vegetables and wearing apparel, which will be the same as money to the needy families of absent soldiers. We understand that these gentlemen will carry their subscription from their city to the country neighbors, and articles contributed in the various localities will be scrupulously distributed so as to supply the wants of those for whom they are specially intended. We hope this movement may be vigorously prosecuted, as it is evident that great good can be accomplished by a systematized effort to provide sustenance for the families of the men who have given up their homes for the defense of the country. There need no longer be any excuse for any man not doing his duty. Those who do not have it in their power to give money, can give other necessaries no less valuable to the cause.
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As long as the Union was a temple of freedom, at whose shrine all the devotees of Liberty might worship--as long as it was a beacon light guiding the tempest lost on the sea of despotism to a haven of peace--as long as it attracted the gaze and admiration of the friends of liberty throughout the world, and excited the hopes of the down trodden victims of tyranny, wherever found bending beneath the galling yoke--as long as it promised to hand down to posterity the rich inheritance bequeathed us by our patriotic ancesters [sic], we were the devoted friend of its preservation and perpetuation; but when it was changed from a temple of freedom to a prison for the friends of liberty--when its vast powers were used to rivet the chains of despotism upon the limbs of freemen--when it was perverted to the destruction of every principle of free government--when the Goddess of Liberty was dethroned and the gorgon of tyranny was installed in its stead, we rejoiced that the people, in the majesty of their strength, arose with the might of Sampson, and razed it to the ground. They were not such blind devotees as to worship the temple when the Genius of Liberty had been driven from it--they did not mistake the temple for the indwelling Goddess. The Southrons were people who knew their rights and dared to maintain them without reference to the perils which surrounded or the vast expenditure of treasure attending it. They were resolved to be free, and [when] they could not be so by remaining in association with the people of the North, they resolved to dissolve all the bonds binding them to that section of the country. Lincoln drew the sword, seemingly ignorant of the fact that it is an instrument which may cleave assunder [sic], but has no healing virtues, and with it severed the bonds which bound us to the North. We would not now consent at any time, or under any circumstances, to be again brought into Governmental association with the people of the North. We are opposed to reconstruction on any terms whatever. The silver chord has been severed, the golden bowl has been broken, the Union lies in ruins and we hope it will never, never, NEVER be reconstructed. The following extract from the address of Robert E. Scott, of Fauquier, announcing himself a candidate for Congress, expresses our views much better than we could in language of our own:
"Let no one entertain a thought of re-constructing the old Union. The time for re-construction has past. The people of the North have interposed between us and them a wall of fire and a river of blood, so that henceforth we must live as separate States both independent and free to follow its own system of government and civilization, or one subject to the other. We can never live together again as members of one family, associated under a common government. In the name of the Union the Northern people have trampled upon its most sacred rights; in the name of the Constitution they have broken its strongest covenants; in the name of free speech and a free press they have destroyed both; in the name of liberty they have established a galling despotism, and impelled by a blind zeal, inspired by hatred to us, they rejoice madly in the chains that fetter their own liberties. Such an example of a civilized people, born to the inheritance of freedom, thus wickedly surrendering their birthright, is without a parallel in the history of the world from the remotest origin of man. People thus willing to become slaves themselves are fit instruments to make slaves of others, and to this end the war is prosecuted. We will meet it bravely and fight it successfully. Eight millions of Confederated freemen can never be conquered. Great Bethel, Manassas and Springfield will prove to be but typifications of the victories hereafter to be won in the battles wherein Southern Independence is to be defended.
Of the issues that formerly defined political parties among us, I shall say nothing. The occasions that gave rise to them have passed, and let these divisions pass with them. When all are engaged in a common cause, when every man's dearest interest is at hazard, when each individual is struggling for his personal liberty, when our armies are filled by men from every State and politicians of every opinion, when the energy of all, the strength of all, and the union of all are demanded for the common safety, I hold him to be the worst enemy of the country who would recur to past political diversities, and in this hour of trial stimulate afresh those domestic dissensions out of which already so much injury has been wrought, and by which alone our cause can now suffer shame."
Mr. Editor:--The North and the South are two different populations, presenting at present a mutual antagonism. The great problem for statesmen, is not to give them unity, but concord. The Union cannot be saved. It may possibly be reconstructed. A reconstruction must henceforth be the aim of the patriot. One drop of blood will blot out that hope forever.-- How may bloodshed be prevented? The first condition is Southern unanimity. Discord among us is folly, madness, wickedness. The general policy of the South will depend upon that of Virginia, and the influence of Virginia will depend upon the consolidation of her sentiments. Division in Virginia on so vital a question would be fatal to herself, to the South, to the entire country. We must lay aside all party prejudices, all preconceived opinions, forget what we have said of one another, in the heat of party strife, and with one mind and heart resolve to preserve the integrity of the Commonwealth and the peace of the nation.
What should Virginia do? That question a Convention must determine. If coercion is abandoned by the agpressive party of the North, we may consult self respect by declining to follow South Carolina, and even adhere to the present confederacy, in the hope of seeing the Constitution remodeled, with permanent guarantees, on a basis equal and acceptable to all the States. These guarantees must be given. Now is the time for a final settlement of the slavery question. The time for legislation or geographical compromise has passed. The North must agree, by a permanent compact, to recognize property in slaves, and to protect it whenever our common soil extends within the limits of the Constitution. She must abandon the claim she has asserted, to exclude Southern property from the common soil, simply because Northern sentiment disapproves of that property. She must agree to act just as she would if that sentiment did not prevail. Allowing Northern men to emigrate to the common territories without forfeiting their possessions, she must consent that Southern men shall do the same. She must execute her solemn engagements for the rendition of fugitive slaves, and give us security for the future that the anti-slavery agitation should not interfere with the rights of the Southern people. If she will thus engage, it may be the glory of Virginia, by timely mediation, to procure a reconstruction of the Union, and a restoration of every star to its place in the grand galaxy of States.
If, on the other hand, a drop of Southern blood should be shed by a Northern Administration in the effort to force back seceding States into the Union, then be it called secession, or revolution, let her people, as one man determine to make common cause with the oppressed. No man should call himself a Virginian who would distract the councils of the State on such an occasion. No false pride should cause us to hesitate, because our advice has been rejected and our delicate interests disregarded by a sister State. The flattering suggestions of those who should seek to embarrass our course by such appeals should not be heeded, or heeded only as the voice of treason.
In such a crisis, a great gulf would divide us from the North. Common interests and a common necessity would bind us to the South. To hesitate on the plea of wounded pride, would be the extreme of folly. One campaign together in arms would obliterate every impression of our differences. Reproach and ridicule would be forgotten amid the anguish of our common distress, or the exultation of a common triumph.--Hush, then, every distracting suggestion. Away with every thought of dividing this glorious Commonwealth directly through the heart!
It has been suggested that Virginia may be divided, to accommodate the varied interests of her people. The author of such a suggestion ought to be rebuked by an indignant people. If dissolution were to be followed by disintegration and anarchy, the alternative would be worse than tyranny itself. There is no hope for the fallen temple, if its ruins be reduced to powder. Their integrity must be preserved, if ever they are to take their place in a noble structure.
No! No! Virginia will not go to pieces at the word of a traitor. She will maintain her integrity, her liberty, and glory, and power, we trust, the guiding star through this night of storm.
When our common dangers are over, it will be time enough to discuss the geographical boundaries of new confederacies; time enough to talk of union with Ohio rather than with Georgia; time enough to plan a campaign against Florida for the purpose of wresting from her Pensacola; time enough to set up Norfolk as a rival to New York and Charleston. My soul! Shall sensible men engage in these petty discussions, when the horrors of a barbaric invasion are already gathered on our northern border, and the warning thunder reverberates from State to State, calling us to measures of immediate defence! Is this statesmanship! Is this patriotism!
In sixty days, according to all human foresight, every Southern man will be compelled by circumstances to take a decided stand for or against the South. The middle ground will then be untenable. We must abandon it then forever. It would be more graceful, more becoming, more manly to abandon it now. We do not advocate extreme opinions, but prompt and decided action--the Union of the South for the sake of the Union!
The prompt decision of our Legislature ought to be sustained by a harmonious public sentiment. Let Whigs and Democrats, gathered around the altar of our country, forgive and forget all past differences, and pledge themselves to deathless fidelity in defence of our common soil. A solid front presented now will make bloodshed improbable, and our ruin impossible. Discord among the Southern States will inevitably plunge us into a gulf from which millions will never rise again. May Heaven interpose!
SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, January 10, 1863, p. 1, c. 2
The Outrages in Fredericksburg.—A letter in the Tribune, dated Fredericksburg, December 12th, says:
The old mansion of Douglas Gordon—perhaps the wealthiest citizen in the vicinity—is now used as the headquarters of Gen. Howard, but before he occupied it every room had been torn with shot, and then all the elegant furniture and works of art broken and smashed by the soldiers, who burst into the house after having driven the rebel sharpshooters from behind it. When I entered it early this morning, before its occupation by Gen. Howard, I found the soldiers of his five divisions divesting themselves with rich dresses found in the wardrobes; some had on bonnets of the fashion of last year, and were surveying themselves before mirrors, which, an hour or two afterwards, were pitched out of the window and smashed to pieces upon the pavement; others had elegant scarfs bound around their heads in the forms of turbans and shawls around their waists.
We destroyed by fire nearly two whole squares of buildings, chiefly used for business purposes, together with the fine residences of O. McDowell, Dr. Smith, J. H. Kelly, A. S. Cott, William Slaughter, and many other smaller dwellings. Every store, I think, without any exception, was pillaged, of every valuable article. A fine drug store, which would not have looked badly on Broadway, was literally one mass of broken glass and jars.
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"[T]he people--the great substratum which underlies this government--will have nothing to do with any proposition for dissolution. From the Ontario to the Gulf, the people are for the Union, the Constitution, and the equality of the States."
The Chicago Convention brought its labors to a close on the 18th inst., by the nomination of Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, as their candidate for the Presidency, and Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, as the candidate for Vice President. The first ballot stood: Seward 178, Lincoln 102, Bates 51, Cameron 50, McLean 12, Wade S. Dayton 14. There being no choice, a second ballot was had, as follows: Steward 184 1/2; Lincoln 181 1/2 - scattering 38. Whole number of votes 404; necessary to a choice 203. The third ballot was then had, and a general stampede of all the forces opposed to Seward took place in favor of Lincoln. It resulted, Lincoln 228; Seward 181. Lincoln was therefore declared the nominee. The result is said to have been brought about by the Pennsylvania friends of Cameron. Seward's friends were much disappointed, and received the result with ill-concealed disgust. Those opposed to Seward manifested the wildest enthusiasm at the announcement, and Chicago, a few moments afterwards, was the scene of one continued outburst of gladness and delight. Cannons were fired, bonfires lighted up and every demonstration of excessive joy given.
Hannibal Hamlin, now U. S. Senator from Maine, was then nominated for Vice President, on the second ballot, his principal competitor being Cassius M. Clay, of Ky.
Mr. Lincoln is a Kentuckian by birth. He formerly acted with the old Whig party, but upon its dissolution, became identified with the Black Republicans. In 1858 he was chosen by that party as the opponent of Judge Douglas for the Senate. After one of the most exciting and embittered contests ever waged in this country, the friends of Mr. Douglas succeeded in securing the election of a majority of the Legislature, and he was chosen U. S. Senator.
Mr. Hamlin up to 1854 acted with the Democratic party, but left that organization on the Kansas-Nebraska question--he opposing the repeal of the Missouri Compromise line. Since that time he has been fully associated with the Black Republican party.
Taking this ticket in all its bearings we conceive it to be not only plausible, but very formidable. Mr. Lincoln is a man of remarkable personal popularity, and could not have been defeated in 1858 in Illinois by any other man than Judge Douglas. His popularity extends throughout all the Northwestern States, and unless the Baltimore Convention nominates Judge Douglas, the sixty-six electoral votes of the Northwest will doubtless be cast for Mr. Lincoln. As the condition of parties now stands, there is no hope for the Democracy, save in the nomination of Judge Douglas. This we conceive to be an evident fact. There is no use in trying to conceal it. People may talk about one man saving the party, and hoot at the ideas as much as they please, but to our mind there is no man now living who can save the Democratic party at this time from defeat by the Black Republicans, but Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. The plainer this matter is understood the better. We either have to nominate Douglas at Baltimore, or Abraham Lincoln will be the next President of the United States.
Having steadfastly adhered to the doctrine that civil war, or danger of constant collision between the Border, Free and Slave States, could only be averted by a peaceful settlement in the Union of our present troubles, and that it was really the interest of the Border Slave States to maintain their present relations with the Free States on our border, and with the whole Union if possible, we have deduced therefrom a difference between our condition and that of the Gulf States. Nothing that has occurred, therefore, has served to change or even shake the conviction, that we have interests in the Union that are paramount--interests that the Cotton States have not; and that therefore we should not rashly imperil them through any fancied identity of interest with the States that have left us for weal or for woe, to work out our own destiny as best we may. We have maintained that it is neither our interest to go with them, nor really essential to our interest that we should. We are glad, therefore, to find so respectable a journal in one of the seceded States, as the Milledgeville (Geo.) Recorder, supporting the views we have advocated. In the issue of that journal of the 12th inst., we find the case thus strongly stated, as follows: "If the line of the Southern Confederacy touched that of the Free States, there being to law or treaty for the rendition of fugitives from labor between foreign Powers, the mischief would be such, practically, that a collision of arms would be unavoidable, unless the Slave States receded altogether from the claims on which they insisted while in the Union, of having their property returned to them under the plain behest of the Constitution and the acts of Congress to carry it into effect. In the simple matter of convenience and expediency, therefore, we believe that the Border States will be of more advantage in their present position to the Southern Confederacy, a wall of defence against Northern aggression, than if they were to become members of it, with all their frontier exposed to fanatical hatred and pillage. We should then have to try an experiment which otherwise we might be under the necessity of making with the Free States, and which no amount of wisdom or valor may contemplate with indifference. If slaves from the Border States are stolen or enticed away by the abolitionists, the game would become vastly interesting in the absence of any stipulations recognizing slaves as property, which we have reason to believe could never be obtained. Outrage would follow outrage in rapid succession, and on a scale of such magnitude that war would be the only mode of redress."
Ought not this candid avowal, from a source entitled to credit, induce the people of the Border Slave States to make every effort compatible with their honor (and we would not have them do more) to avert the catastrophe, before they rush into the vortex of secession? This word, with us, has a deeper signification than it can have in the Gulf States. We trust our people will do nothing rashly.
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