Newspaper articles, etc. of the Day

[thea_447]

(To show that I realize that not every single Southerner was in favor of secession, I offer this. It also shows the strength and love of state that these men possessed):

Mr. Clemens' remarks before the vote for the Ordinance of Secession, State of Alabama:

I give this vote, therefore, partly as an assurance that I intend in good faith to redeem the pledge which I have made again and again, in public or in private, in speeches, and through the press, that whenever the summons came to me to defend the soil of Alabama, whether it was at midnight, or at mid-day--whether I believe her right or wrong, it should be freely, promptly answered.

Sir, I never had a doubt as to the course it became me to take in such an emergency as this. I believe your Ordinance to be wrong--if I could defeat it, I would; but I know I cannot. It will pass, and when passed it becomes the act of the State of Alabama. As such, I will maintain and defend it against all and every enemy, as long as I have a hand to raise in its defence. As an earnest that I mean what I say, I am about to place myself in a position from which there can be no retreat.

I have other reasons, Mr. President, which I do not mention here, because to do so would in some measure counteract them. They are known to my friends, and there I shall leave them, until time and the course of events shall render their publication proper. For the present, it is enough to say that I am a son of Alabama; her destiny is mine; her people are mine; her enemies are mine. I see plainly enough, that clouds and storms are gathering above us; but when the thunder rolls and lightning flashes, I trust that I shall neither shrink nor cower--neither murmur nor complain. Acting upon the convictions of a life-time, calmly and deliberately I walk with you into revolution. Be its perils--be its privations--be its sufferings what they may, I share them with you, although as a member of this Convention I opposed your Ordinance. Side by side with yours, Mr. President, my name shall stand upon the original roll, and side by side with you I brave the consequences. I vote in the affirmative.

[thea_447]

Slave Narratives

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/index.html

[thea_447]

http://www.webroots.org/library/usamilit/tdotc001.html

WebRoots.org
Nonprofit Library for Genealogy & History-Related Research
A Free Resource Covering the United States and Some International Areas
Library - United States - Military Intro

Chapt I-II

III-IV

V-VII

VIII-X

XI-XII



This section begins:


The Day Of The Confederacy - Chapters I-II


Chapter I. The Secession Movement

The secession movement had three distinct stages. The first, beginning
with the news that Lincoln was elected, closed with the news, sent
broadcast over the South from Charleston, that Federal troops had taken
possession of Fort Sumter on the night of the 28th of December. During
this period the likelihood of secession was the topic of discussion in the
lower South. What to do in case the lower South seceded was the question
which perplexed the upper South. In this period no State north of South
Carolina contemplated taking the initiative. In the Southeastern and Gulf
States immediate action of some sort was expected. Whether it would be
secession or some other new course was not certain on the day of Lincoln's
election. Various States earlier in the year had provided for conventions
of their people in the event of a Republican victory. The first to
assemble was the convention of South Carolina, which organized at
Columbia, on December 17, 1860. Two weeks earlier Congress had met.
Northerners and Southerners had at once joined issue on their relation in
the Union. The House had appointed its committee of thirty-three to
consider the condition of the country. So unpromising indeed from the
Southern point of view had been the early discussions of this committee
that a conference of Southern members of Congress had sent out their
famous address To Our Constituents: "The argument is exhausted. All hope
of relief in the Union . . . is extinguished, and we trust the South will
not be deceived by appearances or the pretense of new guarantees. In our
judgment the Republicans are resolute in the purpose to grant nothing that
will or ought to satisfy the South. We are satisfied the honor, safety,
and independence of the Southern people require the organization of a
Southern Confederacy--a result to be obtained only by separate state
secession." Among the signers of this address were the two statesmen who
had in native talent no superiors at Washington--Judah P. Benjamin of
Louisiana and Jefferson Davis of Mississippi.

[hawglips]

Resolution passed by the Maryland legislature, 16 May 1861:

"Whereas the war against the Confederate States is unconstitutional and repugnant to Civilization, and will result in bloody and shameful overthrow of our institutions; and while recognizing the obligations of Maryland to the Union, we sympathize with the South in the struggle for their rights -- for the sake of humanity we are for peace and reconciliation, and solemnly protest against this war, and will take no part in it;

Resolved, that Maryland implores the President, in the name of God, to cease this unholy war, at least until Congress assembles; that Maryland desires and consents to the recognition of the independence of the Confederate States. The military occupation of Maryland is unconstitutional, and she protests against it, though the violent interference with the transit of federal troops is discountenanced, that the vindication of her rights be left to time and reason, and that a Convention, under existing circumstances, is inexpedient.”




(Message edited by hawglips on January 14, 2004)

[hawglips]

Maryland, My Maryland

I
The despot's heel is on thy shore,
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!

II
Hark to an exiled son's appeal,
Maryland!
My mother State! to thee I kneel,
Maryland!
For life and death, for woe and weal,
Thy peerless chivalry reveal,
And gird they beauteous limbs with steel,
Maryland! My Maryland!

III
Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
Maryland!
Thy beaming sword shall never rust,
Maryland!
Remember Carroll's sacred trust,
Remember Howard's warlike thrust,-
And all thy slumberers with the just,
Maryland! My Maryland!

IV
Come! 'tis the red dawn of the day,
Maryland!
Come with thy panoplied array,
Maryland!
With Ringgold's spirit for the fray,
With Watson's blood at Monterey,
With fearless Lowe and dashing May,
Maryland! My Maryland!

V
Come! for thy shield is bright and strong,
Maryland!
Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong,
Maryland!
Come to thine own anointed throng,
Stalking with Liberty along,
And chaunt thy dauntless slogan song,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VI
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain,
Maryland!
Virginia should not call in vain,
Maryland!
She meets her sisters on the plain-
"Sic semper!" 'tis the proud refrain
That baffles minions back again,
Maryland!
Arise in majesty again,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VII
I see the blush upon thy cheek,
Maryland!
For thou wast ever bravely meek,
Maryland!
But lo! there surges forth a shriek,
From hill to hill, from creek to creek-
Potomac calls to Chesapeake,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VIII
Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll,
Maryland!
Thou wilt not crook to his control,
Maryland!
Better the fire upon thee roll, Better the blade, the shot, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the soul,
Maryland! My Maryland!

IX
I hear the distant thunder-hum,
Maryland!
The Old Line's bugle, fife, and drum,
Maryland!
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb-
Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum!
She breathes! she burns! she'll come! she'll come!
Maryland! My Maryland!

[hawglips]

(General Robert E. Lee, Sep. 8, 1862)

TO THE PEOPLE OF MARYLAND:
It is right that you should know the purpose that has brought the Army under my command within the limits of your State, so far as that purpose concerns yourselves.

The People of the Confederate States have long watched, with the deepest sympathy, the wrongs and outrages that have been inflicted upon the Citizens of a Commonwealth, allied to the Stats of the South by the strongest social, political and commercial ties. They have seen with profound indignation their sister States deprived of every right, and reduced to the condition of a conquered province.

Under the pretense of supporting the constitution, but in violation of its most valuable provisions, your Citizens have been arrested and imprisoned upon no charge, and contrary to all forms of law; the faithful and manly protest against this outrage made by the venerable and illustrious Marylander to whom in better days no citizen appealed for right in vain, was treated with scorn and contempt; the government of your chief city has been usurped by armed strangers; your Legislature has been dissolved by the unlawful arrest of its members; freedom of the press and of speech has been suppressed; words have been declared offences by and arbitrary decree of the Federal Executive, and citizens ordered to be tried by a military commission for what they may dare to speak.

Believing that the people of Maryland possessed a spirit too lofty to submit to such a government, the people of the South have long wished to aid you in throwing off this foreign yoke to enable you again to enjoy the inalienable rights of freemen, and restore independence and sovereignty to your State. In obedience to this wish, our army has come among you, and is prepared to assist you with the power of its arms in regaining the rights of which you have been despoiled. This, Citizens of Maryland, is our inision, so far as you are concerned. No restraint upon our free will is intended, no intimidation, will be allowed. Within the limits of this army, at least, Marylanders shall once more enjoy their ancient freedom of thought and speech. We know no enemies among you, and will protect all of every opinion. It is for you to decide your destiny, freely and without constraint.

This army will respect your choice, whatever it may be; and while the Southern people will rejoice to welcome you to your natural position among them, they will only welcome you when you come of your own free will.”



(Message edited by hawglips on January 14, 2004)

[hawglips]

“When I looked out in the morning, I could not help being struck by an odd and not pleasant coincidence. On that same day forty-seven years before, my grandfather, Mr Francis Scott Key, then prisoner on a British ship, had witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry. When on the following morning the hostile fleet drew off, defeated, he wrote the song so long popular. . . . As I stood upon the very scene of that conflict, I could not but contrast my position with his, forty-seven years before. The flag which he had then so proudly hailed, I saw waving at the same place over the victims of as vulgar and brutal despotism as modern times have witnessed. “
(Baltimore Newspaper Editor Francis Key Howard; after his arrest for printing views contrary to that of the Administration)

[thea_447]

General in Chief Henry W. Halleck, in Washington, March 31, 1863, writing to General Grant:
"The character of the war has very much changed...There is now no possible hope of reconciliation with the rebels...
There can be no peace but that which is forced by the sword. We must conquer the rebels..."

General U.S.Grant, writing on April 11, 1863:
Rebellion has assumed that shape now that it can only terminate by the complete subjugation of the South...It is our duty to weaken the enemy, by destroying their means of subsistence, withdrawing their means of cultivating their fields, and in every other way possible."

"I propose to eat up all the surplus, and perhaps the entire crops in the country, take all serviceable stock, mules, horses...
These people are proud arrogant rebels...The hands of all Federal officers should fall justly but heavily upon them, so that they should respect us - not from love, for they never will do that, but from fear of our Government."

General Phillip Sheridan, in a communique to General Grant, October 11, 1864: "...guerilla parties...are becoming very formidable..I know of no way to exterminate them except to burn out the whole country."

Major General W.T. Sherman, writing to one of his subordinates from Vicksburg, January 31, 1864: "The Government of the United States has..any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war -to take their lives, their homes, their lands, their everything...war is simply power unrestrained by constitution...To the persistent secessionist, why, death is mercy, and the quicker he or she is disposed of the better..."

Jan. 21, 1865, Sherman sent this communique: "The people of the South...see...the sure and inevitable destruction of all their property...They see in the repetition of such raids the inevitable result of starvation and misery."

Concerning the attitude of the United States government towards all Southerners, both black and white, Sherman says:
"I have [your] telegram saying the President had read my letter and thought it should be published...[i]profess..to fight for but one single purpose, viz, to sustain a Government capable of cindicating its just and rightful authority, independent of <font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font>, cotton, money, or any earthly interest."

[thea_447]

Republican Vindicator,March 22, 1861

We again remind the Democracy of the county, that a meeting will be held on Monday next to appoint delegates to a Congressional Convention to assemble in Harrisonburg on the 25th of April. This day is fixed upon, because it will not interfere with the Courts of any county in the District that we know of. We trust there will be a full meeting, for we deem it of the highest importance that prompt and determined steps be taken to organize the party and prepare for the triumph of the Democracy in May next. The contest is emphatically to be between State Rights and Federalism, and the quicker we draw the lines, the better. It is a time when every man should take his position, and maintain a fixed stand in support of the principles of the Constitution and the government as understood and explained by their founders, or subscribe to a latitudinous idea that will in the end lead to a surrender of our rights and the subordination of our section to Black Republican and abolition aggression and outrage. The issue is before us, and we cannot escape from its consideration. We must either identify ourselves with the North or the South. The question of Union or Disunion is dead and buried. Dissolution has already taken place, and whether the people of Virginia can realize it or not, it is most certainly so. The only question is, where will Virginia go--with her sister States of the South on terms of perfect equality, where the Constitution, the laws and legislation, the feelings and affections, harmonize with her interests and institutions, or with the North, where every act discriminates against her, proscribes her as inferior, and where the sentiment of the people is hostile to her rights and the rights of her citizens? We beg the Democracy and all State Rights men, to remember these things, and come forward on Monday next to take a firm stand for the organization of the State Rights party in this District.

[hawglips]

"If this result follows – and follow civil war it must – the memory of ABRAHAM LINCOLN and his infatuated advisors will only be preserved with that of other destroyers to the scorned and execrated.... And if the historian who preserves the record of his fatal administration needs any motto descriptive of the president who destroyed the institutions which he swore to protect, it will probably be some such as this: Here is the record of one who feared more to have it said that he deserted his party than that he ruined the country, who had a greater solicitude for his consistency as a partisan than for his wisdom as a Statesman or his courage and virtue as a patriot, and who destroyed by his weakness the fairest experiment of man in self-government that the world ever witnessed." ~ The American Standard, New Jersey, April 12, 1861