Posted on 06/12/2003 5:58:28 AM PDT by Aurelius
Over the years I've heard many rail at the South for seceding from the 'glorious Union.' They claim that Jeff Davis and all Southerners were really nothing but traitors - and some of these people were born and raised in the South and should know better, but don't, thanks to their government school 'education.'
Frank Conner, in his excellent book The South Under Siege 1830-2000 deals in some detail with the question of Davis' alleged 'treason.' In referring to the Northern leaders he noted: "They believed the most logical means of justifying the North's war would be to have the federal government convict Davis of treason against the United States. Such a conviction must presuppose that the Confederate States could not have seceded from the Union; so convicting Davis would validate the war and make it morally legitimate."
Although this was the way the federal government planned to proceed, that prolific South-hater, Thaddeus Stevens, couldn't keep his mouth shut and he let the cat out of the bag. Stevens said: "The Southerners should be treated as a conquered alien enemy...This can be done without violence to the established principles only on the theory that the Southern states were severed from the Union and were an independent government de facto and an alien enemy to be dealt with according to the laws of war...No reform can be effected in the Southern States if they have never left the Union..." And, although he did not plainly say it, what Stevens really desired was that the Christian culture of the Old South be 'reformed' into something more compatible with his beliefs. No matter how you look at it, the feds tried to have it both ways - they claimed the South was in rebellion and had never been out of the Union, but then it had to do certain things to 'get back' into the Union it had never been out of. Strange, is it not, that the 'history' books never seem to pick up on this?
At any rate, the Northern government prepared to try President Davis for treason while it had him in prison. Mr. Conner has observed that: "The War Department presented its evidence for a treason trial against Davis to a famed jurist, Francis Lieber, for his analysis. Lieber pronounced 'Davis will not be found guilty and we shall stand there completely beaten'." According to Mr. Conner, U.S. Attorney General James Speed appointed a renowned attorney, John J. Clifford, as his chief prosecutor. Clifford, after studying the government's evidence against Davis, withdrew from the case. He said he had 'grave doubts' about it. Not to be undone, Speed then appointed Richard Henry Dana, a prominent maritime lawyer, to the case. Mr. Dana also withdrew. He said basically, that as long as the North had won a military victory over the South, they should just be satisfied with that. In other words - "you won the war, boys, so don't push your luck beyond that."
Mr. Conner tells us that: "In 1866 President Johnson appointed a new U.S. attorney general, Henry Stanburg. But Stanburg wouldn't touch the case either. Thus had spoken the North's best and brightest jurists re the legitimacy of the War of Northern Aggression - even though the Jefferson Davis case offered blinding fame to the prosecutor who could prove that the South had seceded unconstitutionally." None of these bright lights from the North would touch this case with a ten-foot pole. It's not that they were dumb, in fact the reverse is true. These men knew a dead horse when they saw it and were not about to climb aboard and attempt to ride it across the treacherous stream of illegal secession. They knew better. In fact, a Northerner from New York, Charles O'Connor, became the legal counsel for Jeff Davis - without charge. That, plus the celebrity jurists from the North that refused to touch the case, told the federal government that they really had no case against Davis or secession and that Davis was merely being held as a political prisoner.
Author Richard Street, writing in The Civil War back in the 1950s said exactly the same thing. Referring to Jeff Davis, Street wrote: "He was imprisoned after the war, was never brought to trial. The North didn't dare give him a trial, knowing that a trial would establish that secession was not unconstitutional, that there had been no 'rebellion' and that the South had got a raw deal." At one point the government intimated that it would be willing to offer Davis a pardon, should he ask for one. Davis refused that and he demanded that the government either give him a pardon or give him a trial, or admit that they had dealt unjustly with him. Mr. Street said: "He died 'unpardoned' by a government that was leery of giving him a public hearing." If Davis was as guilty as they claimed, why no trial???
Had the federal government had any possible chance to convict Davis and therefore declare secession unconstitutional they would have done so in a New York minute. The fact that they diddled around and finally released him without benefit of the trial he wanted proves that the North had no real case against secession. Over 600,000 boys, both North and South, were killed or maimed so the North could fight a war of conquest over something that the South did that was neither illegal or wrong. Yet they claim the moral high ground because the 'freed' the slaves, a farce at best.
This is untrue, you know it is untrue from the post I am about to repeat to you, and it is therefore morally obscene.
Black SLAVES were entered into service in Missouri, and you know it. You also know full well that they were not clamoring, "Massa, Massa, please take me to the recruiting office!"
Again you repeat the lie that the black men involuntarily and forcibly conscripted in South Carolina were behind Union lines because they had gone there and the general must have felt that they had come to him, and they should be in the Army. The order was racist and ordered the plantation overseers to provide the slaves right off the plantation. The Army chased them down like dogs and took them off at gunpoint if they resisted. You know all this, yet you repeat your obscene lie. Read the OFFICIAL UNION RECORD. Again.
[GOP] Thanks for the interesting citations, though they are misleadingly out of context. Rather than order to conscript black men into the U.S. Army, the 1863 one is permission to do so (don't be misled by the military-ese tone).
[GOP] The 1864 order is a bit different, but not what you imply. Remember, the order involved able-bodied black men who had fled to the U.S. Army....
[GOP] It was not therefore a case of forcing people to fight for a cause in which they did not believe.
Well, let us see FROM OFFICIAL UNION RECORDS the reports of how such INVITATIONS were delivered and how the blacks who had FLED TO THE U.S. ARMY were granted PERMISSION to join said army and fight for the cause in which THEY believed.
The OFFICIAL UNION REPORTS detailing how the RSVP's were delivered speak for themselves.
http://www.ehistory.com/uscw/library/or/123/0052.cfm
OFFICIAL RECORDS, Series 3, Vol 2, Part 1 (Union Letters, Orders, Reports) pp 52-60
Numbers 1.
PORT ROYAL, S. C., May 12, 1862. Honorable S. P. CHASE:
DEAR SIR: This has been a sad day on these islands. I do not question the purpose which has caused the disturbance, as in many respects it is praiseworthy; but practical injustice and inhumanity may often consist with a benevolent purpose.
Last evening (Sabbath) I received a messenger from General Stevens bringing an order from General Hunter requiring all able-bodied negroes between eighteen and forty-five to be sent early this morning to Beaufort, and from thence to go at once to Hilton Head, where they were to be armed. Having communicated the order to the superintendents, with a request for their aid, I sought at once General Stevens at Beaufort, whom I reached at 10 p. m., and in whose office I passed the night writing and copying. From General Stevens I learned that without previous consultation the imperative order had come from General Hunter by a boat leaving Beaufort at 6.30 a. m. and express his views. There were reasons why it was best for me not to go in person at the same time, and I arranged to go a few hours later. At once I wrote the inclosed letter to General Hunter, to be forwarded by the same steamer which carried General Stevens down. You will there find my views of the proceeding. Leaving Beaufort about 9 a. m., I reached there in an hour and a half. General Hunter received me civilly and said he had read my letter. To my question if he was aware that he was thwarting a plan of the Government which I had in charge, he said he could not help it if two plans of the Government conflicted.
To my question if he had considered the propriety of taking the foreman and plowman away, he replied that he had not until my letter came, and he was willing they should remain.
To my questions if I might so communicate to them, he said he preferred I should not, but he would make the assurance to me. Later, however, and after a visit from John M. Forbes, who you remember served with you in the peace congress, and now returns in the Atlantic, he sent for me and told me he had changed his mind on that point; that such assurance might be given to the negroes, and he had so telegraphed to General Stevens, adding that they were to be told that they were to receive free papers at Hilton Head, and then return if they desired. I suggested the expected coming of General Saxton, provided with new and ample instructions, after a conference between the Treasury and War Departments. He said that it wnto General Saxton's hands and he might do as he pleased. I told him I yielded full obedience and co-operation, but I trusted he understood how totally his order conflicted with my views. he was gracious, but evidently felt committed to something which must go through.
I sought General Benham and conferred with him. The result is that, as far as I can find, he (General Hunter) has not consulted with any of his brigadier-generals and the project was exclusively his own. He has never consulted me, or any of the superintendents, who come in direct contact with these people, as to the plan or their feelings or disposition to bear arms-something of course essential, in order to lay the basis for wise and steady action. A fortnight ago he sent me a letter by James Cashman, a colored man, saying the bearer was authorized to enlist 100 men on Ladies and Saint Helena and desired my co-operation, which I at once gave. Cashman was getting recruits, and had got perhaps twenty-five or fifty. I gave him a circular letter to the superintendents, requesting them to encourage all persons disposed to enlist, however important to the plantations. That original plan of General Hunter I agreed with, and I as much disagree with his last.
General Hunter has been evidently acting in this matter upon certain notions of his own which he has been revolving in his mind, rather than upon any observation of his own or the testimony of others as to the feelings and dispositions of these people, which was of course the first thing to be considered. As a general rule they are extremely averse to bearing arms in this contest. They have great fear of white men, natural enough in those who have never been allowed any rights against them, and dread danger and death. They are to be brought out of this unmanliness with great caution and tact, and the proceedings of to-day, managed as they have been with a singular forgetfulness of their disposition, will only increase their aversion to military service.
I now come to the scenes of to-day, which have been distressing enough to those who witnessed them. Some 500 men were hurried during the day from Ladies and Saint Helena to Beaufort, taken over in flats and then carried to Hilton Head in the MattaNumbers The negroes were sad enough, and those who had charge of them were sadder still. The superintendents assure me they never had such a day before; that they feel unmanned for their duties, and as if their work had been undone. They have industriously, as subordination required, aided the military in the disagreeably affair, disavowing the act. Sometimes whole plantations, learning what was going on, ran off to the woods for refuge. Others, with no means of escape, submitted passively to the inevitable decree.
To-morrow I shall address General Hunter with a more full description, and I will herewith send a copy of the letter, also inclosing the testimony of some superintendents, and to the letter and testimony I ask your attention. The mischief done can not easily be remedied. The return of these people will not remove it. The arming of these negroes by entirely voluntary enlistments is well, but this mode of violent seizure and transportation even to Hilton hear alone, spreading dismay and fright, is repugnant. It should not be done with white men, least of all with blacks, who do not yet understand us, for whose benefit the war is not professed to be carried on, and who are still without a Government solemnly and publicly pledged to their protection. I have been full in my report on this matter, as General Saxton, not yet arrived, may not have been provided with power and instructions to meet this difficulty. The substraction of so large a field force leaves but a few more than are necessary to cultivate the provision crop. What shall be done with the 5,000 acres of cotton planted, most of which is up and growing?
Yours, truly,
EDWARD L. PIERCE,
Special Agent Treasury Department.
---------------
Numbers 2. CIRCULAR. HDQRS. SECOND Brigadier, NORTHERN DISTRICT, DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, Beaufort, S. C., May 11, 1862.
In accordance with the orders of Major-General Hunter, commanding Department of the South, the several agents or oversees of plantations will send to Beaufort to-morrow morning every able-bodied negro between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, capable of bearing arms, under their charge. These negroes will be turned over to Mr. Broad, 'superintendent of contrabands."
By order of Brigadier-General Stevens:
HAZARD STEVENS,
Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General.
NOTE.-The agents will be required to send a descriptive list with each squad of negroes.
Numbers 3. HEADQUARTERS SECOND BRIGADE, NORTHERN DISTRICT, DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, Beaufort, S. C., May 11, 1862.
Mr. PIERCE:
SIR: I am directed by the general to inclose circular ordering the several oversees of the plantations of Ladies, Saint Helena, and Coosaw Islands to send to Beaufort to-morrow morning every able-bodied negro between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, capable of bearing arms, and to request that you have these circulars distributed among the several agents with instructions to pay the greatest attention to the enforcement of the order. Any assistance that you may require to distribute the circulars, or otherwise, will be cheerfully rendered.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
HAZARD STEVENS,
Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General.
P. S.-Inclose herewith twenty descriptive lists, blank.
Numbers 4. POPE'S PLANTATION, Saint Helena Island, May 11, 1862.
The special agent of the Treasury Department herewith communicates to the several superintendents the circular of Brigadier-General Stevens, commanding, in relation to the sending of able-bodied negroes to Beaufort; which circular, or order, is to be respected by them, and they are to give such aid as is in their power toward its execution.
EDWARD L. PIERCE,
Special Agent for Treasury Department.
Numbers 5. BEAUFORT, Sunday, May 11, 1862.
Major-General HUNTER,
Commanding Department of the South:
GENERAL: This evening I received from Brigadier-General Stevens, through his adjutant, while I was at my headquarters on Saint Helena Island, a circular, requesting me to aid in executing an order issued by your command for the collection of all negroes on the plantations between eighteen and forty-five, able to bear arms, who are to be sent forthwith to Hilton Head. I issued prompt instructions to the superintendents to aid in the execution of the order, which requires the negroes to be sent to Beaufort to-morrow morning; and they are furnishing descriptive rolls of the persons required.
While thus yielding ready obedience to military authority, which must of necessity be paramount to all civil interest in your command, I must respectfully beg leave, as the representative of another Department, to express my great regret for the order and my reasons for such regret.
The Treasury Department, in whose service I am, was early put in charge of the plantations. President Lincoln in an autograph note, which I have with me, of date February 15, 1862, desired the Secretary of the Treasury to give me such instructions in relation to the negroes here as seemed to him judicious. Under date of February 19 the Secretary gave me such instructions (a copy of which has been presented to yourself), the main purport of which is that he desired "to prevent the deterioration of the estates, secure their best possible cultivation under the circumstances, and promote the welfare of the labores."
In this letter of instructions he also approved a plan, presented by myself, for the cultivation of the plantations and the management of the negroes, in a report, a copy of which I have furnished to yourself. The War Department, under date of February 18, sanctioned the enterprise, in an order to General Sherman, which he made a part of General Orders, No . 17, dated March 8, announcing myself as "general superintendent and director of the negroes." To the end aforesaid the Treasury Department has already expended large amounts, viz, some $5,000 for implements and seeds; has transported a large quantity of cotton seed from New York; has purchased and sent here ninety mules and ten horses, at a cost in all of at least $15,000; has forwarded to me $10,000 to pay for labor, some $3,200 of which I have expended, and shall expend some $4,000 more as soon as proper pay-rolls have been made. Voluntary associations, with the sanction of the Government, have also paid salaries to the superintendents, who receive army rations; have forwarded large supplies of clothing worth, to say the least, $10,000, if not double that amount. They have also forwarded supplies of meat for locates where we are trying to get along without rations. Schools have also been opened for the non-working population, and in the evening for those who work.
With the week closing yesterday the planting of the crops has substantially closed. Some 6,000 or 8,000 acres, by a rough estimate, have been planted. The accurate statistics are being handed us, and I can give them in a few days. The corn, vegetables, and cotton are up and growing. The season of cultivating has come and without money expended by Government, as well as the labor, will be useless. All the hands, with few exceptions, now on the plantations are useful for the cultivation of the growing crops, and only a few could be taken from them without substantial injury. Under these circumstances it is proposed to take from the plantations all able-bodied men between eighteen and forty-five, leaving only women and children and old or sickly men to cultivate the crops. There is no exception even for the plowman or the foreman. Two-third of the available force of the plantations will be taken, to say nothing of the injurious influence upon the sensitive minds and feelings of those who remain, greatly diminishing the results of their labor. Thus the public funds devoted to a work which has the sanction of the War and Treasury Departments and the approval of the President will have been, in a very large proportion, wasted. But the order has other than financial and industrial results. The cultivation of the plantations was a social experiment which it was deemed important to make. It is a new and delicate one and entitled to a fair trial. The conscription of these laborers will at once arrest it and disorganize and defeat an enterprise now hopefully begun. As the persons are to be taken to Hilton Head, and without their consent, I assume (though I trust under a misapprehension) that they are to be organized for military purposes without their consent. I deplore the probable effects of this on their minds. They are ignorant, suspicious, and sensitive. They have not acquired such confidence in us; they have not so far recovered the manhood which two centuries of bondage have rooted out; they do not as yet so realize that they have a country to fight for, as to make this, in my judgment, a safe way of dealing with them. I have been struck, and so have others associated with me been struck, with their indisposition to become soldiers. This indisposition will pass away, but only time and a growing confidence in us will remove it. I fear also that an enforced enlistment will give color to their masters' assurance that we were going to take them to Cuba. For these and other reasons, which I have not time to give, I deplore the order enrolled and enlisted. Even if they are to return, they would be excited by the trip; the families left behind would come next. I have grave apprehensions as to what may occur to-morrow morning upon the execution of the order. While thus expressing my anxious regrets let me assure you that I have no hostility to the entirely voluntary enlistment of negroes. They should be instructed in due time, and as they grow to it, in every right and duty, even that to bear arms in the common defense, and accordingly I acceded readily to the request of yours for facilities to a colored person engaged in promoting such enlistments.
I ought, perhaps, to add that General Saxton is hourly expected by the McClellan, provided with new and full instructions from the War Department, to assume charge of all the negroes and the plantations, and it is perhaps desirable to await these before reducing the force on the plantations, unless a controlling military exigency necessitates the reduction.
It is with pain that I see the work with which the Treasury Department has charged me summarily defeated, and I cannot believe it to have been the intention of the Government, having expended so much upon it, thus to leave it. On the other hand, all communications received by me from Washington affirm continued confidence in it and the intention to promote it.
While therefore yielding obedience to the order issued, I have felt compelled to state in what manner it appears to me conflict with the policy of the Government and the duties with which I have been charged, and in conclusion I beg leave to suggest whether it be just to deal thus with these poor people against their will.
Your obedient servant,
EDWARD L. PIERCE,
Special Agent Treasury Department.
Numbers 6. POPE'S PLANTATION, Saint Helena Island, May 13, 1862.
Major-General HUNTER,
Commanding Department of the South:
GENERAL: It seems important to advise you of the scenes transpirating yesterday in the execution of your order for the collection and transportation of the able-bodied colored men form the islands to Hilton Head. The colored people became suspicious of the presence of the companies of soldiers detailed for the service, who were marching through the islands during the night. Some thought the rebels were coming and stood guard at the creeks. The next morning (yesterday) they went to the fields, some, however, seeking the woods. They were taken from fields without being allowed to go to their houses even to get a jacket, this, however, in some cases, being gone for by the wife. The inevitableness of the order made many resigned, but there was sadness in all. As those on this plantation were called in form the fields, the soldiers, under orders, and while on the steps of my headquarters, loaded their guns, so that the negroes might see what would take place in case they attempted to get away. This was done in the presence of the ladies here. Wives and children embraced the husband and father thus taken away, they knew not where, and whom, as they said, they should never see again. On some plantations the wailing and screaming were loud and the women threw themselves in despair on the ground. On some plantations the people took to the woods and were hunted up by the soldiers. The school at Eustis was a scene of confusion, the children crying, and it was found of no use to carry it on. The superintendents aided in the execution of the order with moral influence and physical assistance, some of them walking many miles in the night to guide the soldiers, but they all express great sorrow at what has been done and feel that the hold which they had been slowly and carefully getting on their people has been loosened. They told the negroes that General Hunter was their friend and meant well by them, and his orders must be obeyed, but they disavowed responsibility for the act. The soldiers, it is due to them to say, concerning the summary manner in which they were called upon to act, and the speed required of them, conducted themselves with as little harshness as could
Such was yesterday; and it was a sad day with these simple-hearted and family-loving people, and I doubt if the recruiting service in this country has ever been attended with such scenes before. I pray you for the kindest attentions (and I know you will give them) to those who have gone to Hilton Head, and for the immediate return of all who are not disposed to bear arms, in order that the suspense of those who have gone and of those who have remained may be relieved. I shall go to Hilton Head to- morrow (Wednesday) to visit them.
Your obedient servant,
EDWARD L. PIERCE,
Special Agent Treasury Department
Numbers 7. MRS. JENKINS' PLANTATION, Saint Helena Island, S. C.
E. L. PIERCE, Esq.:
DEAR SIR: The quiet of the last Sabbath morning was broken in upon by one whom I shall call in this connection an intruder, Mr. Phillips. I saw that he was laboring under some excitement, which excitement was communicated to me through the medium of a circular from General Stevens, which Mr. Phillips very privately submitted for my perusal and benefit, with also an order from yourself authorizing me to act in accordance with the spirit and letter of the military command. At half-past 1 a. m. of Monday a detachment of three soldiers, in command of a corporal, were admitted to my house and quartered, also breakfasted in the morning. After which preparation was made for the execution of the "order." As we left the house we saw where had been but a few moments before field hands, hard at work, nothing but horses and plows without drivers, and idle hoes. On inquiry we found that no one could tell the whereabouts of any of the "able-bodied men." The fact was they had 'smelt a very large rat,' and according to the expression of an old man on the place, had found it "very necessary to go to the wood to split rails." The soldiers went to the cabins and to the woods some quarter of a mile distant and brought in all but two of the men "capable of bearing arms." The two men had eluded the vigilance of the soldiers and could [not] be found. The people were not told the object for which they were taken until they were brought to me. I tried to explain to them why they were to be carried away, cheering and encouraging them by every means in my power. All seemed disheartened and sad, though none were stubborn or used harsh words. The soldiers used them very kindly and made no decided demonstration of authority. The scene at the house was stage and affecting. Women and children gathered round the men to say farewell. Fathers took the little children in their arms, while the women gave way to the wildest expressioned of grief. My foreman also carried his ax about with him for some time, but no threat or attempt to use them was made. I think the axes were those which the men had used in the woods for railspilitting, but when the time came to march these were laid aside, and a moaning and weeping such as touches the hearts of strong men burst forth, an evidence and sure witness that there is a fountain of love and humanity in the hearts of the poor negroes of South Carolina that can be opened and will overflow with the sentiments which charactize the heart of making that is impressed with the sentiments which characterize the heart of making that is impressed with the image of God. My attempts to comfort the hearts and quiet the apprehensions of the mourners were quite unsuccessful, and I left them to join the new recruits, they "refusing to be comforted." One woman told me she had lost all her children and friends, and now her husband was taken and she must die uncared for. Many expressions of a like nature were made to me, while all felt andaration. My protection was claimed, but I was to give 'such aid as was in my power' for the execution of the order. I reserved, by advisement of the corporal, the foreman on all my places. At the Doctor Croft plantation but two men were taken, the others with the foreman escaped to the woods, having gained information in regard to the movement from a woman who had seen the soldiers at Mrs. Jenkins' plantation. Some of the remaining hands protested that they would not work any longer on the plantations, but have concluded, since I have talked with them, to go on with their labors, and a few are willing to do more than before. This conscription, together with the manner of its execution, has created a suspicion that the Government has not the interest in the negroes that it has professed, and many of them sighed yesterday for the "old fetters" as being better than the new liberty. My own heart well-night failed me, and but for the desire to still sympathize with this, as they call themselves, 'short-minded' but peculiar people, I should desire to commit my charge to some person with a stronger mind and sterner heart than my own.
It gives me pleasure to state to-day that there is something less of the demonstration of grief than yesterday, though their hearts are still large with thoughts of the separation.
With much respect, I subscribe myself, your humble servant,
G. M. WELLS,
Superintendent of Plantations.
Numbers 8. DOCTOR POPE'S PLANTATION, Saint Helena, Tuesday, May 13-9 a. m.
DEAR MR. PIERCE: It was late Sunday evening when Mr. Philbrick came in bearing General Stevens' circular, and the accompanying note from yourself. This was the first notice we had of the movement. We could do nothing till the arrival of the squad which Mr. Philbrick said was to come that very night to execute the order. About midnight Captain Stevens rode up to our door and was quietly admitted. He said the squad was on the road and handed me the "descriptive list" to be filled out. "How and when shall it be done? I asked. "You know best about that and will act accordingly," was his reply. Clearly the military relied upon us to make the seizure, and as the event proved, the work was all ours. A few minutes later the squad of the men stole into our yard. I detailed four of them to go over to Wells', and led the remainder into the house to pass the rest of the night, taking the precaution to close the setters of the room, that they might not be seen in the morning. I then marched the squad of four over to Mrs. Jenkins' plantations returned and turned in for two or three hours's sleep till sunrise, at which hour I has agreed with the doctor to go over to the Indian Hill Plantation, before the negroes went out to their work, while he did the same at Doctor Pope's, that the alarm might not spread from one place to the other and the men take themselves to the woods. Reaching the negro quarters before 6 o'clock, I find the people quietly at work, the men and boys grinding corn for the morning meal, the women cooking in their cabins. The corporal and his squad are to follow in a few minutes. I gather the men quietly and tell them that General Stevens has sent for them to come immediately to Beaufort, and that we must all obey the general's orders. By this time the corporal comes up and bids them "fall in." They move reluctantly, they must have their jackets, their shoes, &c. The women reluctantly, they must have their jackets, their shoes, &c. The women are sent to fetch them, as I am afraid we en if ur sight. This causes some delay and give time for the whole population to collect, and we move off, the whole village, old men, women, and boys, in tears, following at our heels. The wives and mothers of the conscripts, giving way to their feelings, break into the loudest lamentations and rush upon the men, clinging to them with the agony of separation. Their very ignorance and long degradation fill them with the worst foreboding. They declare they will never see them again and are deaf to all the explanations I offer. Some of them, setting up such a shrieking as only this people could, throw themselves on the ground and abandon themselves to the wildest expressions of grief. One woman, whom I was obliged to turn back several times by the shoulders, declared she knew they were not going to Beaufort; something worse was to be done to them; she would see for herself. Hurrying back to Doctor Pope's, I took the sergeant and one soldier in our buggy over to Captain John Tripp's. Here the people were at work in the field. The men were called from their work and their names taken. While the line was forming between the cotton rows I went to another part of the field to speak a few words of cheer to old Lucy, for I saw her two boys were among the levy. She is a great favorite of mine and has learned with very little aid from me to read through her spectacles. She clung to her hoe for support, and weeping bitterly, like Rachel of old, refused to be comforted for her boys were not, and she was left alone with her old man. The men were not allowed to go home, the women and children bringing to them the few things that were needed for their forced march. The private was left to escort them, while the sergeant and I got in to drive to the next estate. I whipped up to avoid witnessing another scene of violent separation, but for a long distance we could hear the prolonged crying and wailing. When we came to Thomas J. Tripp's I found the old foreman, but the men, as he hinted, had fled to the woodsdvise them to come up and see me at Doctor Pope's, and in the afternoon, somewhat to my surprise, they appeared and took up their line of march without escort to Beaufort Ferry.
At Marion Chaplin's the same plan was pursued, the men being found in the fields, collected, impressed, and marched off. As I rode home I meditated a suitable form of resignation to be presented to yourself. In the afternoon I revisited Indian Hill and was made glad to find the people did not hate us with a perfect haltered. Their confidence in our power to protect them is certainly loosened. The old foreman there said it reminded him of what his master said we should do, referring to the old Cuba story. I found him afterward urging his people to have confidence in God, who could clear up the with their former condition to our disadvantage. This rude separation of husband and wife, children and parents, must needs remind them of what we have always stigmatized as the worst feature of slavery. Many other incidents are fresh in my mind and will always cling to me to remind me of the worst day's work I ever did, but, "ab uno disce omnes," there I have narrated are fair examples of all.
The plea of military necessity has been stretched to cover up many a mistake and some acts of criminal injustice, but never, in my judgement, did major-general fall into a sadder blunder and rarely has humanity been outraged by an act of more unfeeling barbarity.
Believe me, my dear sir, very truly, yours,
L. D. PHILLIPS.
On the contrary, the House had recessed on March 3, 1861. The Senate was in special session, mainly to confirm the new cabinet, but they too recessed on March 28. And President Lincoln's orders were intended to avoid war.
The first acts of war were by the Union forces. Presumably the first shots were by South Carolina forces at Sumter.
I can't imagine what that first act was. It was South Carolina that fired on merchant ships, starting with the Star of the West in January 1861 and including the Rhoda Shannon the week before Sumter. It was the southern states that seized federal property and federal facilities. It was the south that authorized an army of 100,000 men on March 8, an army about 8 times the size of the U.S. Army of the time. The U.S. Administrations, on the other hand, had made no hostile acts other than insisting on holding forts and facilities that belonged to it.
Dear Walt,
Thanks for your note. Let me see if I can help clear up some of the confusion.
As in many cases of the period, the opinion in ex parte Field has a lot of language setting out opposing arguments, which the judge later rejects. Here's the ultimate conclusion drawn by the Judge in Field:
"The principle established by these cases determines, I think, that the president has the power, in the present military exigencies of the country, to proclaim martial law, and, as a necessary consequence thereof, the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in the case of military arrests. It must be evident to all, that martial law and the privilege of that writ are wholly incompatible with each other."
I'm e-mailing you the full opinion, however, so you can judge for yourself.
In terms of the statutory authorization, the specific authorization for habeas suspension didn't pass until 1863 (see p. 159) But that authorization was retroactive in the sense that Congress gave immunity to the president and his subordinates for all previous arrests: The fourth section is as follows: 'That any order of the president, or under his authority, made at any time during the existence of the present rebellion, shall be a defense in all courts to any action or prosecution, civil or criminal, pending or to be commenced, for any such seizure, arrest, or imprisonment made, done, or committed, or acts omitted to be done, under and by virtue of such order, or under color of any law of congress, and such defense may be made by the special plea or under the general issue.' I'm also e-mailing you a Supreme Court opinion that deals with this statute.
More generally, the president's past military orders were ratified by Congress in the summer of 1861. The Prize Cases, for example, refer to the statute ratifying the blockade of the South (and thereby creating a state of war): "Since the capture [of the ships involved in the case], Congress has recognized the validity of these acts of the President. The Act Aug. 6, 1861, ch. 63, sec. 3, legalizes, among other things, the proclamations, acts and orders of the President respecting the navy. This includes the blockades, and the orders respecting captures." (The statute is quoted on p. 138 of the book.) The dissent in the Prize Cases also states that Congress had recognized a state of war with the South: "no civil war existed between this Government and the States in insurrection till recognized by the Act of Congress 13th of July, 1861" (my italics). As I say in the book, it is arguable that the language used by Congress in these laws had the effect of ratifying past military orders dealing with habeas, though Congress may not have intended this result. In any event, these various congressional actions make it clear that Congress approved of the war and authorized Lincoln to fight it."
[end]
President Lincoln has a very good record on fidelity to the laws and the Constitution, as Dr. Farber's book shows. Ya'll should read it.
Walt
President Lincoln's ideas changed over time.
Later he said:
"When you put a gun in his hands, it prophesies something more: it foretells that he is to have the full enjoyment of his liberty and his manhood..."
It just seems impossible that you could be striving for a fair interpretation of these events when you won't consider the whole record.
Others have:
"David Herbert Donald in Lincoln describes the scene on April 4, 1865, when President Lincoln went to visit the former Confederate capital, Richmond. Landing without fanfare from a barge on the James River, he was first noticed by some black workmen, undoubtedly freed slaves. Donald notes that: Their leader, a man about sixty, dropped his spade and rushed forward, exclaiming, "Bless the Lord, there is the great Messiah! . . . Glory, Hallelujah!"
He and others fell on their knees, trying to kiss the President’s feet. "Don’t kneel to me," Lincoln told them, embarrassed. "That is not right. You must kneel to God only, and thank him for the liberty you will hereafter enjoy." Quickly word of the President’s arrival spread, and he was soon surrounded by throngs of blacks, who shouted, "Bless the Lord, Father Abraham come."
http://www.whitehousehistory.org/02_learning/subs_9/activities_9/frame_act_903e.html
Walt
Jefferson Davis would have disagreed. He held that his government could coerce the states based on language indetical to that in the U.S. Constitution.
The 9th and 10th amendments are mooted by the supremacy clause. It is not only the Constitution, but the federal laws that are supreme. That includes the Militia Act of 1792 as amended in 1795. It is an absolute bar to unilateral state secession.
Walt
It shouldn't be forgotten that over 100,000 of the three year volunteers re-enlisted in the spring of 1864. It would have been very difficult to prosecute the war without them. They had come forward in the first rush of patriotism after the rebels started the war.
Bounties were also paid out in the south.
Fact is that over 1/3 of rebel troops were conscripted, only 7% of US troops were. The draft in the north promted men to volunteer. You see this same phonomenon in WWII, and even in Viet Nam.
One point that Dr. McPherson makes is that providing substitutes was a time honored tradition in the 19th century; it goes way back in history, no matter how odd it seems to us.
Walt
Paid substitutes was a valid policy both North and south, so for every cowardly Yankee there was an equally cowardly reb. Plus, as I pointed out earlier, men like Jefferson Davis could avail themselves of an exemption not offered Northern men. That is the clause that exempted men who owned 20 slaves or more. Since Davis owned about 115 he was more than safe.
Read my reply 1132 again. I said that there were about 2.5 white Union soldiers and about another 200,000 black Union soldiers. Stick to revising history and let my posts stand on their own.
"Battle Cry of Freedom" gives the figure as 7%.
"Of the 207,000 men who were drafted, 87,000 paid the commutation fee of $300, which exempted him from this draft but not necessarily the next one....87,000 paid the commutation fee, and 74,000 furnished substitutes, leaving only about 46,000 who actually went into the army."
- BCF, 601
Walt
"No power in executive hands can be too great, no discretion too absolute, at such moments as these...we need a dictator. Let lawyers talk when the world has time to hear them. Now, let the sword do its work. Usurpations of power by the chief, for the preservation of the people from robbers and murderers, will be reckoned as genius and patriotism by all sensible men in the world now and by every historian that will judge the deed hereafter."
-- Richmond Examiner, May 8, 1861.
Quoted from "The Coming Fury" p. 360 by Bruce Catton
Walt
Well, of course that is simply wrong.
The Constitution guarantees that each state shall have a republican government. If a state may withdraw, that would no longer apply. The states -must- remain in the Union to give this part of the Constitution effect.
Your statement is just false.
Walt
Bwahahaha. Good joke.
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