Failed to complete organization.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1329
Failed to complete organization.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1329
Organized at St. Louis, Mo., August, 1861. Attached to Army of the West to January, 1862. 2nd Brigade, Army of Southwest Missouri, to March, 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Army of Southwest Missouri, to May, 1862. 3rd Division, Army of Southwest Missouri, to July, 1862. District of Eastern Arkansas, Dept. of Missouri, to November, 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, District of Eastern Arkansas to December, 1862. 1st Brigade, 11th Division, Right Wing 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, to December, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, Sherman's Yazoo Expedition, to January, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 15th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, to September, 1863. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 15th Army Corps, to December,1863. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 15th Army Corps, to December, 1864.
SERVICE.—Fremont's Campaign against Springfield, Mo., October-November, 1861. Duty at Rolla, Mo., till January, 1862. Curtis' Campaign against Price in Missouri and Arkansas January to March. Advance on Springfield February 2-14. Pursuit of Price into Arkansas February 14-29. Battles of Pea Ridge, Ark., March 6-8. March to Batesville, Ark., April 5-May 3. Searcy Landing May 19. March to Helena, Ark., May 25-July 14. Expedition from Helena to mouth of White River August 5-8. Moved to Ironton and Pilot Knob, Mo., September 1. To St. Genevieve November 12 and return to Helena November 23. Sherman's Yazoo Expedition December 22, 1862, to January 3, 1863. Chickasaw Bayou December 26-28. Chickasaw Bluff December 29. Expedition to Arkansas Post, Ark., January 3-10, 1863. Assault and capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, January 10-11. Moved to Young's Point, La., January 17-23, and duty there till March, and at Milliken's Bend till April. Expedition to Greenville. Black Bayou and Deer Creek April 2-14. Demonstration on Haines' and Drumgould's Bluffs April 29-May 2. Moved to Join army in rear of Vicksburg, Miss., via Richmond and Grand Gulf May 2-14. Mississippi Springs May 12-13. Jackson May 14. Siege of Vicksburg May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. Bolton's Depot July 16. Brier Creek, near Canton, July 17. Canton July 18. At Big Black till September 27. Moved to Memphis, Tenn.; thence march to Chattanooga, Tenn., September 27-November 21. Operations on Memphis & Charleston Railroad in Alabama October 20-29. Cherokee Station October 21 and 29. Cane Creek October 26. Tuscumbia October 26-27. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Battles of Lookout Mountain November 23-24. Mission Ridge November 25. Ringgold Gap, Taylor's Ridge, November 27. March to relief of Knoxville, Tenn., November 28-December 8. Garrison duty in Alabama till May, 1864. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1 to September 8. Demonstration on Resaca May 8-13. Battle of Resaca May 13-15. Advance on Dallas May 18-25. Battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Nickajack Creek July 2-5. Chattahoochie River July 6-17. Battle of Atlanta July 22. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Ezra Chapel, Hood's 2nd Sortie, July 28. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama October 1-21. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Non-Veterans mustered out September and October, 1864. Veterans and Recruits transferred to 15th Missouri Infantry December, 1864.
Regiment lost during service 6 Officers and 62 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 3 Officers and 148 Enlisted men by disease. Total 219.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1329-30
Organized at Laclede, Mo., July to November, 1861. Attached to District of St. Louis, Dept. of Missouri, to March, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 6th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to July, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 6th Division, District of Corinth, Miss., to November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 6th Division, District of Corinth, 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, November, 1862. 3rd Brigade, District of Corinth, 13th Army Corps, to December, 1862. 3rd Brigade, District of Corinth, 17th Army Corps, to January, 1863. 3rd Brigade, District of Corinth, 16th Army Corps, to March, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 16th Army Corps, to November, 1863. Fuller's Brigade, 2nd Division, 16th Army Corps, to January, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 16th Army Corps, to March, 1864. 1st Brigade, 4th Division, 16th Army Corps, to September, 1864. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 17th Army Corps, to July, 1865.
SERVICE.—Duty on Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad during summer and fall of 1861. At Weston, Mo., till December. Ordered from St. Louis to Cairo, Ill., December 22. At Bird's Point, Mo., till March, 1862. Ordered to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. At Corinth and Bolivar till December. Battle of Corinth October 3-4 (Cos. "A," "B," "C" and "E"). Pursuit to Ripley October 5-12 (Cos. "A," "B," "C" and "E"). On duty in District of Corinth guarding Railroad toward Bethel till June, 1863. Affairs at Camp Sheldon February 8 and 10, 1863. Operations in Northeast Mississippi June 13-22. Skirmishes at New Albany June 19. Mud Creek June 20. At Corinth till November. March to Pulaski, Tenn., November 2-12. Duty there and guard duty on Railroad till April, 1864. Veterans on furlough January and February, 1864. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1-September 8. Demonstrations on Resaca May 8-13. Sugar Valley May 9. Near Resaca May 13. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Advance on Dallas May 18-25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2, Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2-5. Ruff's Mills July 3-4. Chattahoochie River July 6-17. Battle of Atlanta July 22. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama September 29-November 3. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Monteith Swamp December 9. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Pocotaligo, S.C., January 14-16. Reconnoissance to Salkehatchie River January 25. Skirmishes Rivers' and Broxton's Bridges, Salkehatchie River, February 2. Rivers' Bridge, Salkehatchie River, February 3. Binnaker's Bridge, South Edisto River, February 9. North Edisto River February 12-13. Columbia February 15-17. Juniper Creek, near Cheraw, March 3. Fayetteville, N. C., March 11. Battle of Bentonville March 20-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 10-14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 20. Grand Review May 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June, and duty there till July. Mustered out July 18, 1865.
Regiment lost during service 6 Officers and 75 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 164 Enlisted men by disease. Total 245.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1330
Failed to complete organization.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1330
Failed to complete organization.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1330
Organized February 1, 1862, from 1st and 2nd Northeast Regiments Missouri Infantry. Attached to Dept. of Missouri to March, 1862. 1st Brigade, 6th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to July, 1862, 1st Brigade, 6th Division, District of Corinth, Miss., to November, 1862. 1st Brigade, 6th Division, Left Wing 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, to December, 1862. District of Columbus, Ky., 16th Army Corps, Dept. of the Tennessee, to May, 1863. 4th Brigade, District of Memphis, Tenn., 5th Division, 16th Army Corps, to January, 1864. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 16th Army Corps, to December, 1864. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Detachment Army of the Tennessee, Dept. of the Cumberland, to February, 1865. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 16th Army Corps (New), Military Division West Mississippi, to August, 1865. Dept. of Alabama to April, 1866.
SERVICE.—Ordered to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., March, 1862. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Occupation of Corinth and pursuit to Booneville May 31-June 12. Duty at Corinth till September. Battle of Iuka September 19. Battle of Corinth October 3-4. Pursuit to Ripley October 5-12. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign November, 1862, to January, 1863. On post and garrison duty at Columbus, Ky.; Union City, Tenn.; Clinton, Ky., and Memphis, Tenn., till January, 1864. Ordered to Vicksburg, Miss., January 26. Actions with guerrillas at Islands Nos. 70 and 71, Mississippi River, while en route, January 29, on steamer "William Wallace," Meridian Campaign February 3-March 2. Queen Hill February 4. Red River Campaign March 10-May 22. Fort DeRussy March 14. Occupation of Alexandria, La., March 16. Battle of Pleasant Hill April 9. About Cloutiersville April 22-24. At Alexandria April 26-May 13. Retreat to Morganza May 13-20. Mansura May 16. Yellow Bayou May 18. Moved to Vicksburg, Miss.. thence to Memphis, Tenn., May 22-June 10. Action at Old River Lake or Lake Chicot June 5-6. Smith's Expedition to Tupelo, Miss., July 5-21. Camargo's Cross Roads, near Harrisburg, July 13. Tupelo July 14-15. Old Town Creek July 15. Smith's Expedition to Oxford, Miss., August 1-30. Tallahatchie River August 7-9. Abbeville August 23. Moved to Duvall's Bluff, Ark., September 1-6. March through Arkansas and Missouri in pursuit of Price September 17-November 16. Lone Jack November 1. Moved to Nashville, Tenn., November 25 December 1. Battle of Nashville December 15-16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17-28. Moved to Clifton, Tenn., thence to Eastport, Miss., January 2-7, 1865, and duty there till February 9. Moved to Vicksburg, Miss., thence to New Orleans, La., February 9-21. Campaign against Mobile and its Defences March 17-April 12. Siege of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely March 26-April 8. Assault and capture of Fort Blakely April 9. Occupation of Mobile April 12. March to Montgomery April 13-25, and duty there till June. Moved to Mobile June 1. Duty at Mobile and other points in Alabama till April, 1866. Mustered out April 19, 1866.
Regiment lost during service 2 Officers and 68 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 5 Officers and 234 Enlisted men by disease. Total 309.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1330-1
Organized in Missouri at large August to December, 1861. Served unassigned, Dept. of Missouri, to March, 1862. Unassigned, Army of Mississippi, to July, 1862.
SERVICE.—Duty in District of Northeast Missouri to March, 1862. At Commerce and Bird's Point, Mo., March, 1862. Companies "A" and "B" transferred to 7th Missouri Cavalry February 20, 1862. Companies "C," "D" and "E" transferred to 10th Missouri Infantry, and Company "F" to 24th Missouri Infantry, April 21, 1862. Regiment mustered out July 22, 1862.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1331
Organized in Missouri at large September, 1861. Moved to Macon City, Mo., October 15, 1881, thence to Chillicothe, Mo.. November 1. Attached to Dept. of Missouri to March, 1862. St. Louis, Mo., Dept. of Missouri, to April, 1862. Unattached, 6th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to April, 1862. District of St. Louis, Mo., Dept. of Missouri, to June, 1863. District of Rolla, Dept. of Missouri, to December, 1863. Unattached, District of Nashville. Tenn., Dept. of the Cumberland, to January, 1864. 2nd Brigade, Rousseau's Division, 12th Army Corps, Dept. of the Cumberland, to April, 1864. Unassigned, 4th Division, 20th Army Corps, Dept. of the Cumberland, to July, 1864. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 14th Army Corps, to July, 1865.
SERVICE.—Duty at Chillicothe, Mo., November, 1861, to March, 1862, and St. Louis, Mo., till April. Moved to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., April 1-4. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6. Regiment captured April 6. Duty at St. Louis, Mo., till August, 1862; at Macon till November, 1862; at Hudson, Mo., till December, 1862, and in Central District of Missouri. Company "A" at Gasconade, Company "D" at Osage City, Company "I" at St. Auberts; rest at Prairie City, District of St. Louis, December, 1862. to July, 1863. Operations against Marmaduke April 14-May 2, 1863. Cape Girardeau April 26. Ordered to Rolla July 5, 1863. Duty in District of Rolla till December, 1863. (Co. "G" ordered to Cape Girardeau July 5, 1863.) Operations against Shelby October 7-22. Ordered to Nashville, Tenn., December, 1863. Duty at Nashville and McMinnville and guarding Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad till July, 1864. White County January 16, 1864. Joined 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 14th Army Corps, July 10, 1864. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign July 10 to September 8. Chattahoochie River July 10-17. Peach Tree Creek July 19-20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Operations in North Georgia and North Alabama against Forest and Hood September 29-November 3. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Near Milledgeville November 23. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Fayette, N. C., March 11. Battle of Bentonville March 19-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 10-14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 17. Grand Review May 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June, and duty there till July. Mustered out July 18, 1865.
Regiment lost during service 2 Officers and 57 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 4 Officers and 173 Enlisted men by disease. Total 236.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1331
Organized in Missouri at large October 24 to December 28, 1861. Attached to 1st Brigade, Army of Southwest Missouri, to February, 1862. Unassigned, Army of Southwest Missouri, to July, 1862. District of Eastern Arkansas, Dept. of Missouri, to October, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Southeast Missouri, Dept. of Missouri, to February, 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Southeast Missouri, to March, 1863. District of Southeast Missouri to June, 1863. District of Columbus, Ky., 6th Division, 16th Army Corps, Dept. of the Tennessee, to January, 1864. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 16th Army Corps, Dept. of the Tennessee, to March, 1864. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 16th Army Corps, Dept. of the Gulf, to June, and Dept. of the Tennessee to October, 1864.
SERVICE.—Join Curtis at Rolla, Mo., January, 1862. Curtis' Campaign in Missouri and Arkansas against Price, January to March, 1862. Advance on Springfield, Mo., February 2-11. Pursuit of Price into Arkansas February 14-29. Battles of Pea Ridge, Ark., March 6-8. March to Batesville April 5-May 13, thence march to Helena, Ark., May 25-July 14. Duty at Helena till October. Moved to Sulphur Springs, Mo., October 5-11. Pittman's Ferry, Ark., October 27 (3 Cos.). Moved to Pilot Knob, Mo., October 28-30. March to Patterson November 2-4, to Reeve's Station December 9-10. Return to Patterson December 18. Moved to Van Buren December 21-24, and toward Doniphan January 9-10, 1863. To Alton January 14-18, and to West Plains and Salem, Ark., January 28-February 2. To Pilot Knob and Ironton February 2-27. Moved to St. Genevieve and to Cape Girardeau March 8-12. Operations against Marmaduke April 17-May 2 (Co. "G"). Mill Creek Bridge April 24 (Detachment). Duty in Southeast Missouri till June. Richfield, Clay County, May 19 (Detachment). Ordered to New Madrid, Mo., June, and duty in District of Columbus, Ky., till January, 1864. New Madrid, Mo., August 7, 1863 (1 Co.). Expedition from Union City, Tenn., to Conyersville September 1-10 (Detachment). Conyersville September 10, Ordered to Vicksburg, Miss., January, 1864. Meridian Campaign February 3-March 5. Meridian February 14-15. Marion February 15-17. Canton February 28. Red River Campaign March 10-May 22. Fort De Russy March 14. Occupation of Alexandria March 16. Henderson's Hill March 21. Battle of Pleasant Hill April 9. Cloutiersville and Cane River Crossing April 22-24. At Alexandria April 27-May 13. Moore's Plantation May 5-7. Bayou Boeuf May 7. Bayou LaMourie May 12. Retreat to Morganza May 13-20. Mansura May 16. Yellow Bayou May 18-19. Moved to Vicksburg, Miss.; thence to Memphis, Tenn., May 22-June 10. Lake Chicot, Ark., June 6-7. Smith's Expedition to Tupelo, Miss., July 5-21. Pontotoc July 11. Camargo's Cross Roads, near Harrisburg, July 13. Tupelo July 14-15. Old Town Creek July 15. Smith's Expedition to Oxford, Miss., August 1-30. Tallahatchie River August 7-9. Abbeville and Oxford August 12. Moved to Duvall's Bluff, Ark.. September 1-6. Pursuit of Price through Arkansas and Missouri September 7 to October 6. Mineral Point, Mo., September 27. ordered to st. Louis, Mo., October 6. A detachment of Veterans and Recruits at Franklin, Mo., till November. Ordered to Paducah, Ky., November 7; thence moved to Nashville, Tenn., and Columbia, Tenn., November 22-26. Temporarily attacked to 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 23rd Army Corps. Columbia November 26-27. Battle of Franklin November 30. Battles of Nashville, Tenn., December 15-16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17-28. At Clifton, Tenn., and Eastport, Miss., till February, 1865. Regiment mustered out October, 1864, to February 1, 1865.
Company "E" served detached from May, 1862. Attached to 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of the Mississippi, May, 1862, to November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 7th Division, Left Wing 13th Army Corps, Dept. of the Tennessee, to December, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 7th Division, 16th Army Corps, to January, 1863, 2nd Brigade, 7th Division, 17th Army Corps, to September, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 17th Army Corps, to December, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 15th Army Corps, to October. 1864, participating in battles of Iuka, Miss., September 19, 1862. Corinth, Miss, October 3-4. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign November, 1862, to January, 1863. Expedition to Yazoo Pass and operations against Fort Pemberton and Greenwood March 13-April 5, 1863. At Milliken's Bend, La.. till April 25. Movement on Bruinsburg and turning Grand Gulf April 25-30. Battles of Port Gibson May 1, Raymond May 12, Jackson May 14. Champion's Hill May 16. Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., May 18-July 4. Surrender of Vicksburg July 4. Garrison duty at Vicksburg till September. Movement to Helena, Ark.; Memphis, Tenn., and march to Chattanooga, Tenn., September 12-November 22. Operations on Memphis & Charleston Railroad in Alabama October 20-29. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Tunnel Hill November 23-24. Mission Ridge November 25. At Bridgeport. Ala. till January, 1864. Duty along Memphis & Charleston Railroad till June, 1864. Moved to Kingston, Ga., June 15-20, thence to Resaca July 2, and duty there till October. Defence of Resaca October 12. Company captured.
Companies "F" and "K" detached and on duty in District of Southeast Missouri to July, 1863. Reserve Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Army of Southeast Missouri, to August, 1863. Unattached, Cavalry Division, Arkansas Expedition, to January, 1864. Unattached, 1st Division, 7th Army Corps, Army of Arkansas, to February, 1864. Participating in actions at Licking, Mo., May 4, 1862. Crow's Station, near Licking, May 26, 1862. Scout in Wayne, Stoddard and Dunklin Counties, Mo., August 20-27, 1862. Duty in District of Southeast Missouri till July, 1863. Steele's operations against Little Rock, Ark., July 1-september 10. Capture of Little Rock September 10 and duty there till February, 1864. Rejoined Regiment at Vicksburg, Miss., February, 1864.
Regiment lost during service 3 Officers and 40 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 220 Enlisted men by disease. Total 264.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1331-2
Organized as 13th Missouri Infantry June, 1861. DesIgnation charged to 25th Missouri September, 1861. Attached to Dept. of Missouri to March, 1862. 1st Brigade, 6th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to July, 1862, 1st Brigade, 6th Division, District of Corinth, Miss., to September, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd DiVision, District of Southeast Missouri, Dept. of Missouri, to March, 1863. District of Northwest Missouri to June, 1863. New Madrid, Mo., District of Columbus, Ky., 6th Division, 16th Army Corps, Dept. of the Tennessee, to February, 1864.
SERVICE.—Duty in Missouri till March, 1862. Ordered to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Duty at Corinth, Miss., building fortifications till September. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., thence to Pilot Knob and Patterson, Mo. Duty in Southeast Missouri till March, 1863. Moved to Iron Mountain, thence to St. Joseph, Mo., and operating against guerrillas in Northwest Missouri till June. Ordered to New Madrid, Mo., and garrison duty there and reconstructing fortifications till February, 1864. Consolidated with Bissell's Engineer Regiment of the West to form 1st Missouri Engineers February 17, 1864. (See 1st Engineers.)
Regiment lost during service 6 Officers and 51 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 3 Officers and 112 Enlisted men by disease. Total 172.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1332
Duty in Northwestern Missouri.
Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1332
First Brigade.
Col. ISAAC M. KIRBY.
21st Illinois, Capt. William H. Jamison.
38th Illinois, Capt. Andrew M. Pollard.
31st Indiana, Col. John T. Smith.
81st Indiana, Maj. Edward G. Mathey.
90th Ohio, Lient. Col. Samuel N. Yeoman.
101st Ohio, Lieut. Col. Bedan B. McDanald.
Second Brigade.
Brig. Gen. WALTER C. WHITAKER.
96th Illinois, Maj. George Hicks.
115th Illinois, Col. Jesse H. Moore.
35th Indiana, Lieut. Col. Augustus G. Tassin.
21st Kentucky, Lieut. Col. James C. Evans.
23d Kentucky, Lieut. Col. George W. Northup.
45th Ohio, Lieut. Col. John H. Humphrey.
51st Ohio, Lieut.
Col. Charles H. Wood.
Third Brigade.
Brig. Gen. WILLIAM GROSE.
75th Illinois, Col. John E. Bennett.
80th Illinois, Capt. James Cunningham.
84th Illinois, Lieut. Col. Charles H. Morton.
9th Indiana, Col. Isaac C. B. Suman.
30th Indiana, Capt. Henry W. Lawton.
36th Indiana (one company), Lieut. John P. Swisher.
84th Indiana, Maj. John C. Taylor.
77th Pennsylvania, Col. Thomas E. Rose.
First Brigade.
Col. EMERSON OPDYCKE.
36th Illinois, Maj. Levi P. Holden.
44th Illinois, Capt. Alonzo W. Clark.
73d Illinois, Capt. Wilson Burroughs.
74th Illinois [and] 88th Illinois, Lieut. Col. George W. Smith.
125th Ohio, Maj. Joseph Bruff.
24th Wisconsin, Capt. William Kennedy.
Second Brigade.
Col. JOHN Q. LANE.
100th Illinois, Lieut. Col. Charles M.Hammend.
40th Indiana, Lieut. Col. Henry Learning.
57th Indiana:
Lieut. Col. Willis Blanch.1
Maj. John S. McGraw.
28th Kentucky:
Maj. George W. Barth.
Lieut. Col. J. Rowan Boone.
26th Ohio, Capt. William Clark.
97th Ohio:
Lieut. Col. Milton Barnes.1
Capt. Clarkson C. Nichols.
Third Brigade.
Col. JOSEPH CONRAD.
42d Illinois, Lieut. Col. Edgar D. Swain.
51st Illinois, Capt. Albert M. Tilton.
79th Illinois,2 Col. Allen Buckner.
15th Missouri, Capt. George Ernst.
64th Ohio, Lieut. Col. Robert C. Brown.
65th Ohio, Maj. Orlow Smith.
First Brigade.
Col. ABEL D.
STREIGHT.
89th Illinois,
Lieut. Col. William D. Williams.
51st Indiana, Capt. William W. Scearce.
8th Kansas, Lieut. Col. John Conover.
15th Ohio:
Col. Frank Askew.1
Lieut. Col. John McClenahan.
49th Ohio:
Maj. Luther M. Strong.1
Capt. Daniel Hartsough.
Second Brigade.
Col. P. SIDNEY POST.1
Lieut. Col. ROBERT
L. KIMBERLY.
59th Illinois, Maj.
James M. Stookey.
41st Ohio:
Lieut. Col. Robert L. Kimberly.
Capt. Ezra Dunham.
71st Ohio:
Lieut. Col. James H. Hart.1
Capt. William H. McClure.
93d Ohio, Lieut. Col. Daniel Bowman.
124th Ohio, Lieut. Col. James Pickands.
Third Brigade.
Col. FREDERICK
KNEFLER.
79th Indiana, Lieut.
Col. George W. Parker.
86th Indiana, Col. George F. Dick.
13th Ohio (four companies), Maj. Joseph T. Snider.
19th Ohio, Lieut. Col. Henry G. Stratton.
ARTILLERY.
Maj. WILBUR F.
GOODSPEED.
First Brigade.
Brig. Gen. JOSEPH A. COOPER.
Second Brigade.
Col. ORLANDO H.
MOORE.
107th Illinois,
Capt. John W. Wood.
80th Indiana, Lieut. Col. Alfred D. Owen.
129th Indiana, Col. Charles A. Zollinger.
23d Michigan, Col. Oliver L. Spaulding.
111th Ohio, Lieut. Col. Isaac R. Sherwood.
118th Ohio, Maj. Edgar Sowers.
Third Brigade.
Col. JOHN MEHRINGER.
91st Indiana, Lieut.
Col. Charles H. Butterfield.
123d Indiana, Col. John C. McQuiston.
50th Ohio, Lieut. Col. Hamilton S. Gillespie.
183d Ohio, Col. George W. Hoge.
Artillery.
Indiana Light, 15th Battery, Capt. Alonzo D. Harvey.
Ohio Light, 19th
Battery, Capt. Frank Wilson.
First Brigade.
Col. CHARLES C.
DOOLITTLE.
12th Kentucky,
Lieut. Col. Laurence H. Rousseau.
16th Kentucky, Capt. Jacob Miller.
100th Ohio, Lieut. Col. Edwin L. Hayes.
104th Ohio, Col. Oscar W. Sterl.
8th Tennessee, Capt. James W. Berry.
Second Brigade.
Col. JOHN S.
CASEMENT.
65th Illinois,
Lieut. Col. W. Scott Stewart.
65th Indiana, Lieut. Col. John W. Hammond.
124th Indiana, Col. John M. Orr.
103d Ohio, Capt. Henry S. Pickands.
5th Tennessee, Lieut Col. Nathaniel Witt.
Third Brigade.
Col. ISRAEL N.
STILES.
112th Illinois, Maj.
Tristram T. Dow.
63d Indiana, Lieut. Col. Daniel Morris.
120th Indiana, Maj. John M. Barcus.
128th Indiana, Lieut. Col. Jasper Packard.
Artillery.
Indiana Light, 23d
Battery, Lieut. Aaron A. Wilber.
1st Ohio Light, Battery
D, Capt. Giles J. Cockerill.
First Brigade.
Col. WILLIAM L.
MCMILLEN.
114th Illinois,
Capt. John M. Johnson.
93d Indiana:
Col. DeWitt C. Thomas.1
Capt. Charles A. Hubbard.
10th Minnesota:
Lieut. Col. Samuel P. Jennison.1
Capt. Edwin C. Sanders.
72d Ohio, Lieut. Col. Charles G. Eaton.
95th Ohio, Lieut. Col. Jefferson Brumback.
Illinois Light Artillery, Cogswell's Battery, Lieut. S. Hamilton McClaury.
Second Brigade
Col. LUCIUS F.
HUBBARD.
Third Brigade.
Col. SYLVESTER G. HILL.3
Col. WILLIAM R. MARSHALL.
12th Iowa, Lieut. Col. John H. Stibbs.
35th Iowa:
Maj. William Dill.
Capt. Abraham N. Snyder.
7th Minnesota:
Col. William R. Marshall.
Lieut. Col. George Bradley.
33d Missouri, Lieut. Col. William H. Heath.
2d Missouri Light Artillery, Battery I, Capt. Stephen H. Julian.
First Brigade.
Col. DAVID MOORE.
119th Illinois, Col. Thomas J. Kinney.
122d Illinois, Lieut. Col. James F. Drish.
89th Indiana, Lieut. Col. Hervey Craven.
21st Missouri,4 Lieut. Col. Edwin Moore.
Indiana Light Artillery, 9th Battery, Lieut. Samuel G. Calfee.
Second Brigade.
Col. JAMES I.
GILBERT.
58th Illinois, Maj.
Robert W. Healy.
27th Iowa, Lieut. Col. Jed Lake.
32d Iowa, Lieut. Col. Gustavus A. Eberhart.
10th Kansas (four companies), Capt. William C. Jones.
Indiana Light Artillery, 3d Battery, Lieut. Thomas J. Ginn.
Third Brigade.
Col. EDWARD H.
WOLFE.
49th Illinois, Col. Phineas Pease.
117th Illinois, Lieut. Col. Jonathan Merriam.
52d Indiana, Lieut. Col. Zalmon S. Main.
178th New York, Capt. John B. Gandolfo.
2d Illinois Light Artillery, Battery G, Capt. John W. Lowell.11
1 Wounded.
2 Veteran detachment 27th Illinois attached.
3 Killed.
4 Detachment of the 24th Missouri attached.
5 Composed mainly of detachments belonging to the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Twentieth Army Corps, which had been unable to region their proper commands serving with General Sherman’s Army on the march through Georgia.
6 Attached to Third Brigade.
7 Composed of quartermaster’s employés.
8 The Second and Third Brigades of this division, under the division commander, Brig. Gen. E. M. McCook, were absent on an expedition into Western Kentucky.
9 Mortally Wounded.
10 Disabled.
11 Chief of Division Artillery.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 45, Part 1 (Serial No. 9 3), p. 90-6
The same routine of
Yesterday. Comps. arriving all the time.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
Officers and Squad
drill in the forenoon. In the afternoon no drill. Co. sworn into service at 12
M.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
Nothing of
importance occurred today. Meeting at 4 O'clock P. M. Comp rec'd their uniform
to day.
Boys all well
pleased Articles of war read at Rool [sic]
call
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
Roll call at 5 and ½
O'clock Officers at 7 A. M. Squad drill as usual. Lieut. L. F. Williams with a
grant of 5 days absence left for Pike Co. on business concerning the Co.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
Four men from
Coffeys Co. joined ours this evening.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
The 4 men that
joined our Comp yesterday evening were sworn in this morning
SOURCE: Transactions
of the Illinois State Historical Society
for the Year 1909, p. 223
Camp Butler, Sagamon
co Ills. Morning quite cool. Williams returned last night with 3 recruits. Co.
now consists of 82 men rank and file. Capt. Killpatrick's Comp. arrived from
Milton Pike County Ills. last evening. Capt Hunts Comp. from Barry arrived
today. A Comp. from Bellville St. Clair County also arrived to day, accompanied
by a brass band Brown County Cavalry Comp. Came this morning.
SOURCE: Transactions
of the Illinois State Historical Society
for the Year 1909, p. 223
Roll call as usual 5½
A. M. Meeting at 10 A. M. Rather dull in [camp]. drissling rain in the
afternoon An order to leave to-morrow. Quite a No. of men have the ague. It is
getting to be quite sickly here Hospital is pretty near full of sick. Thirteen
men from Smiths Comp. from Galena came this evening and joined our Comp. 1861
SOURCE: Transactions
of the Illinois State Historical Society
for the Year 1909, p. 223
Camp at Jacksonville
Morgan co. Ills. Roll call at 5 Breakfast at 5½ O'clock. Immediately after
breakfast the 13 men who joined last evening were examined and sworn into the
service.
Left Camp Butler
with 6 other Companies at ½ past 10 O'clock marched to Jim Town left on the
train at ½ past 11, arrived at Jacksonville at 3 P. M. marched from the depot to
our present encampment nearly 1½ miles very hot and dusty. Had rations enough
left of the amt. drawn of the commissary at Camp Butler for our supper Would
not issue rations to us this evening, for tomorrow through some mistake or
other Have a nice pleasant place for our Camp high dry and healthy.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
Had no breakfast
this morning except some we borrowed of Capt. Hitt. The Quarter Master is a d----d
mean man in the opinion of our Comp. he issued no rations to us yesterday
evening, nor came from town this morning until after 9 O'clock Capt Parke is
Officer of the day to day Furlough granted to F. T. Clark Joel Knipp and Robt.
Chapman running from this date till Saturday 31st August.
SOURCE: Transactions
of the Illinois State Historical Society
for the Year 1909, p. 223
Drill this morning
from 6 till 7 O'clock Orders to march tomorrow at 12 M. to Cairo. Some
disappointment among the men but generally resigned to go where they are
ordered. It was hoped that we would be ordered to Mo. but those hopes are now
blighted and we will now go to one of the most unhealthy spots in the U. S. to
stay we know not how long Well anything to save our Union Our beloved country
let it be what it will.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
Reveille early this
morning preparations for leaving Camp McClernand, Tents struck at a few minutes
after 10 A. M. Baggage packed & loaded by ½ past 11 A. M. Companies on
parade ¼ past 12 M. Marched into Jacksonville at 1 O'clock P. M. in court yard
till 4 O'clock P. M. Marched to the cars, nothing but open cars for the men,
Large crowd at the depot to witness our departure. Had some trouble while at
the depot with private Sullivan, he was drunk had to tie him for refusing to be
still, Left Springfield at 10 minutes past 5 P. M. amid the firing of cannon
and immense cheering of the citisens 1st Sergent Browning left behind to
recruit his health, to follow up as soon as that will permit. Arrived at
Decatur without anything of moment transpiring. At 1 O'clock on the morning of
the 30th issued some rations of hard crackers & cheese to the men Changed
cars; better accommodations from there, to Cairo, in passenger coaches but
nothing better to eat. Arrived at Cairo at 4 O'clock P. M. marched to quarters on
the open plain above the city.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
Camp Defiance Cairo
Ills. Roll call, Squad drill this morning. after breakfast men set to
work-cleaning up the groun[d.] Repeated firing of cannon in the artillery drill
at Birds Point-One man nearly killed by the discharge of a cannon Morning
report made out and handed in at Head Quarters 2 men in addition to last report—Aggregate
No. of men in Parkes comp now 98. both sworn into the service by the Col.
Rations of bread short this morning through the rascality or neglect of the
Quartermaster—great dissatisfaction throughout the camp on account of it. Col.
saw to the matter and bread here by half after 8 O'clock tonight.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
Left camp at Upton Hill
at eight A.M., and marched through Washington. Went into camp at five P.M.
Distance, fifteen miles.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History
of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters
and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 267
Started at six A.M.,
and marched to Clarksburg, passing through Rockville. Fifteen miles.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History
of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters
and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 267
Started at six A.M.,
and marched through Hyattstown to Frederick, Md. The railroads at Frederick are
destroyed by the rebels. Fifteen miles.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History
of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters
and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 267
Started at ten A.M.,
and marched to Middletown. Saw one hundred and eighty rebel prisoners on the
road. Went into camp at six P.M. Ten miles.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History
of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters
and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 267
Started at six A.M.,
and marched through Boonsborough and Petersborough to Antietam. Saw a squad of
rebel prisoners on the road. Ten miles.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History
of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters
and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 267
Battle of Antietam.
Fighting began at nine A.M. along the whole line, and ended in the afternoon,
with defeat to the rebel forces. The battery was hitched up all day, but was
not called upon.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History
of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters
and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 267
Started out in the
morning, and went into battery at Cotoctin Creek, and remained all day and
night.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History
of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters
and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 267
Started at eight
A.M., and marched through Sharpsburg, and went into camp on the outskirts of
the town, which was very much riddled with shot and shell. Saw a number of dead
rebels in the town.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History
of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters
and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 267
Went into battery on
the banks of the Potomac. In the mean time the first brigade of the first
division went across the river to reconnoitre, but were driven back by the
rebels with considerable loss. Our battery, as well as the First Rhode Island
and Battery D, shared in the fight. The One Hundred and Eighteenth Pennsylvania
Volunteers lost severely. When the rebels retreated across the Potomac, after
the battle of Antietam, they left a number of pieces of artillery behind them,
and also left in Sharpsburg a lot of their wounded. On picket at Sharpsburg,
with our guns in battery, from Sept. 20 till Oct. 30, with the rebels on the
other side of the Potomac. Gen. Porter's division was reviewed by Gen.
McClellan and President Lincoln on the 3d of October.
SOURCE: John Lord
Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History
of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters
and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 267
WASHINGTON, November
1, 1851.
DEAR COOMBS [sic],—I received your kind and friendly
letter, for which I thank you. My position in respect to the senatorial
election is just this, no more, no less: At the instance of some friends in
Kentucky, I consented to their presenting my name as a candidate if they
thought proper to do so upon the meeting of the legislature and upon a survey
of all the circumstances. I thought I might go thus far without presumption or
giving just cause of offense, and yet I confess that I felt some reluctance to
do even that, because it might cross or conflict with the hopes and wishes of
good friends and cause some dissatisfaction on their part. Yet, having yielded
my seat in the Senate to obey the wishes of the Whigs of Kentucky in becoming,
at their bidding, a candidate for the office of governor, it seemed to me that
I might naturally and reasonably indulge the desire of being restored to my
former position; yet I did not make myself a candidate,—I left that to the
discretion and the will of others. From what I hear, I suppose they have
presented me as a candidate. I therefore desire to be elected; it is the
situation most agreeable to me, and a re-election would be felt as a great
honor. Still, I want nothing that cannot be freely awarded to me; I am not to
be regarded as a disturber of the party. Disturbance already existed so far as
it could be produced by the conflicting pretensions or claims of many
candidates, each one of whom is, to say the least, as chargeable as I am with
causing any controversy. But enough of this. I desire, of course, not to be
beaten, and I thankfully accept your proffered services and friendship. I hope
that you will go to Frankfort and take such part in the contest as you deem
proper. I never felt less like controversy. Wounded as I have been, I naturally
turn away from the battle like a bleeding soldier. My friends must act for me.
SOURCE: Ann Mary
Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With
Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 19-20
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 1851.
DEAR ORLANDO,—Before
this can reach you, the senatorial question will have been disposed of, and, as
I anticipate, by a postponement. Some few letters, and particularly two
received from Morehead, lead me to that conclusion. Such a result is not the
most gratifying to me, but I can bear it calmly and patiently.
I shall feel some
curiosity and interest to know the course of some individuals in respect to
this election, and will thank you for the information. The course of Judge
Robertson and of Mr. Dixon does not much surprise me, though, as I am informed,
they have displayed a sort of personally hostile opposition to me, for which I
never gave either of them cause.
I understand that my
old friend Ben Hardin speaks kindly of me, but opposes my election. I confess
that in this I have been disappointed and mortified. He and I are
cotemporaries. We have been long associated, and have stood together as friends
through many years. The path which remains for us to travel is not very long,
and I regret that he has found it necessary to part from me on this occasion. I
do not mean to complain of him, but only to express my regret. My feelings and
my memory suggest to me much more on this subject; but I will only add that I
think if Hardin had considered it in all its points of view, his judgment, as
well as his friendly feelings, I doubt not, would have decided him to take
sides with me rather than with my opponents. There is not the least unkindness
towards him mingled with the regret I feel on this occasion, and, as the matter
will all be over before this reaches you, I am willing he should know. Indeed,
I wish you would inform him how I feel and what I have here written in regard
to him.
What part does our
Frankfort senator and representative take? Farewell.
P.S. To my good
friends, and better never were, give a hearty shake of the hand from me.
SOURCE: Ann Mary
Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With
Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 20-1
FRANKFORT, December 3, 1851.
MY DEAR SIR,—I
propose to say a few words to you about the senatorial election. You and your
family and friends are all greatly indebted to Mr. Thomas F. Marshall for his
devotion to your interests during this crisis; he has surpassed himself as an
orator in presenting your claims to the gratitude and love of the people of
Kentucky. I read to Mr. B. Hardin what you said of him, and the old gentleman's
eyes filled with tears; he exclaimed, with vehemence, "My God, sir, it is
all a mistake; I have been for him, am for him, mean to be for him." And
he has been making good his words. Mr. Abraham Caldwell, of the Senate, and
your old fellow-soldier, Cunningham, are the most reliable of your friends.
Captain Hawes is at our head, and is as gallant a leader as we could have. Neither
Bell, nor Helm, nor Brock, nor Davis have come near us. The true policy of your
friends is to refer the whole subject to the people. With the people, thank
God, you are safe. You will probably be approached by some one before long, and
may be induced to say, “Rather than embarrass my friends any longer, take my
name off the list." Let me beg of you to say no such thing. You are not
here; you do not know how things are worked. Dixon's election will be a
Democratic triumph; he and his friends are afraid to go back to the people. If
the election is postponed, you will be the means of bringing the Whig party
again into line, and with you as our standardbearer we will triumph in '53.
SOURCE: Ann Mary
Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With
Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 22
WASHINGTON, December
5, 1851.
MY DEAR SIR,—You and
other friends have been so remiss in writing to me that I have been, and am
still, to a great extent, ignorant of the proceedings and incidents of the late
attempts made in the Kentucky legislature to elect a senator to the Congress of
the United States. This, however, I do not complain of. I am, perhaps,
fortunate, in that it has saved me from some portion of those unpleasant
feelings which are unavoidable in such contests. I have learned enough,
however, to give me uneasiness and pain. The use which my friends have thought
proper to make of my name seems to have been a cause of disturbance and
controversy among the Whigs. I owe to them too many obligations for favors and
honors received in times past to be willing now to be an obstacle in their way
or to be a cause of dissension among them. If it will restore harmony and give
them satisfaction, I hope that those of them who have desired my election will
yield at once and withdraw my name from the contest. So far as I am concerned, I
will be a willing sacrifice to the reunion of the Whigs. Honorable and
desirable as it would be to me to be restored to a seat in the Senate, my
ambition is not so selfish as to make me seek it through discord and alienation
among my Whig friends. I prefer the good opinion of Kentucky to any office, and
I would not excite the ill will of any considerable number of Kentuckians by
any strife or contention for office with political friends. I do not see that
the mere presentation of my name as a candidate ought to have produced any
excitement against me, or among Whigs. I think I have not deserved this, and
that there are few who will not agree with me when the passions excited by the
contest are past. Still, we must look to the fact, and act upon it accordingly.
For my part, I can say that I want no office which is not freely and willingly
bestowed, and that I want no contest in which I am to conquer, or be conquered,
by my friends. I would rather yield to them than fight them. By the first
course, harmony might be restored among them for their own and the country's
good; in the latter, nothing but discord and division could be the result. I am
averse to be placed in any situation where I could, with any propriety, be
regarded as the cause of such evils. I do not mean by this that I would feel
bound or willing to yield to a competitor, however worthy, simply upon the
ground that he preferred the place for himself, or that his friends preferred
it for him. To ask such a submission would be illiberal, and to grant it would
be unmanly. Such differences among friends of the same party ought to be
settled in a generous and friendly spirit and leave no ill feeling behind. In
such settlements, my aim would be not to be outdone in liberality and
concession. I should dislike exceedingly to be engaged in any personal or
illiberal struggle, and sooner than an election, which ought to be made, should
be postponed, I would for the public interest and for harmony prefer to retire
from the contest. There might be some mortification attending such a course;
but this would be relieved by considering that it was done from motives
honorable, friendly, and patriotic. I have served Kentucky a long time; I have
served her faithfully, and, I hope, with no discredit to her; but I have no
wish to intrude myself upon her for reluctant favors. When my services cease to
be acceptable to her, to hold office under her would no longer be an object of
ambition for me.
SOURCE: Ann Mary
Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With
Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 22-4
WASHINGTON, December 8, 1851.
MY DEAR SIR,—I
received to-day your letter of the 3d inst. You know precisely how much and how
little I have had to do in the presentation of myself as a candidate for the
Senate of the United States. I think I may say that it has been the action of
my friends; and since the contest began, I have looked passively upon it. I had
left it to my friends,—friends deserving all my confidence,—and there I will,
as you advise, leave it. It would be ungrateful as well as unjust in me now to
thwart or cross them in the midway of a controversy, in which, for my sake,
they have involved themselves, and about which I really know so little. I know
that whatever they have done has been done in sincerity of friendship for me,
and I will abide by it to the last. As they pitch the battle so let it be
fought.
But in this contest
it is always to be remembered that you are contending against friends, who, by
accident or circumstances, have been made opponents for the present, and to
whom a liberal and generous treatment is due. You, who are upon the ground, well
know how to distinguish between such opponents and those who prove themselves
to be enemies. I wish that all of you who are supporting me will remember,
also, that you are not supporting an exacting friend, but one who would not be
outdone in liberality, generosity, or conciliation; one who would rather suffer
anything himself than see his generous friends involved in difficulties or
perils on his account. I hope that they will act accordingly in this matter.
But whatever they shall do or determine, that will I abide by, that will I
maintain as right, and go to all honorable extremity with them in defending and
making good.
I wrote to Mr. T. F.
Marshall before the receipt of your letter, and before I read his letter in the
Louisville Journal. I wrote upon the information of his course derived from the
newspapers.
Somehow or other I
cannot be a man of words on such occasions, but my whole heart is full almost
to bursting at acts of free and manly friendship and devotion. I love Tom
Marshall. Oh, if he will be but true to himself, how I would strive for his
advancement! How I would love to strive for it!
I was touched to the
heart, too, at what you tell me about my old friend (for such I may now call
him) Ben Hardin. I felt like breaking at the root when I heard that he was
against me, for in the days of our youth—of our growth—we were together, and
have passed thus far through life in more of amity and good will than falls to
the lot of most men occupying our position. Upon reading what you wrote me my
eyes were not dry. Time gives a sort of sacredness to the feelings that arise
from old associations and friendships. I wish I could live long enough, or had
the means of repaying, Orlando [Brown], all the debts Ï owe my friends. But
therein I am a bankrupt indeed.
Do give my grateful
regards to my friends Caldwell and Cunningham, and to all the friends that in
my absence have stood by me; my heart is full of thankfulness. And I really
hope and believe that many of those who have taken part against me have been
influenced to do so by circumstances that do not affect their good opinion and
kind feelings towards me. I bear no ill will to them.
SOURCE: Ann Mary
Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With
Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 24-5
DEAR SIR,—I have
written you a dispatch principally upon the subject of the Tehuantepec Treaty.
There is nothing in that letter which you may not make known to the Mexican
government, but in your conversation with the Secretary of Relations you may
give even stronger admonitions. You may say that if the treaty is not ratified,
or some new one agreed to which shall answer the same purpose, it is certain
that very serious consequences will result, and Mexico must be persuaded to act
promptly. Any considerable delay will be ruinous. The temper of the people, and
the disposition of Congress, are both assuming a very decided tone upon this
matter, especially since the proposition in the Mexican Senate to transfer this
right to England. We must rely on you, my dear sir, to exert all your influence
and energy to bring this business to a favorable and an immediate termination.
SOURCE: Ann Mary
Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With
Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 25
(Waiting at the
depot). Going as usual to the department this morning, I found orders had been
issued for our immediate removal to Richmond. Barely had I time to run home,
dash a few more articles into my trunk, say good-bye, and join the others here.
We girls are all together—Elise, Ernestine, Sadie, Bet, and myself. We have
been seated in the train for hours and hours. Oh! this long waiting; it is
weary work! A reign of terror prevails in the city, and the scene about me will
ever live in memory. Government employees are hastening to and fro, military
stores are being packed, troops in motion, aids-de-camp flying hither and
thither, and anxious fugitives crowding about the train, begging for
transportation. All kinds of rumors are afloat, every newcomer bringing a new
version. The latest is that Hardee has refused to evacuate Charleston, and will
not combine forces with Hampton in order to save the capital. I am strangely
laden; I feel weighted down. Six gold watches are secreted about my person, and
more miscellaneous articles of jewelry than would fill a small jewelry shop—pins,
rings, bracelets, etc. One of my trunks is packed with valuables and another
with provisions. Shelling has begun from the Lexington heights, and under such
conditions this waiting at the depot has a degree of nervousness mixed with
impatience. We catch, now and again, peculiar whizzing sounds—shells, they say.
Sherman has come; he is knocking at the gate. Oh, God! turn him back! Fight on
our side, and turn Sherman back!
Charlotte, N. C.—We
stopped in Winnsboro awhile, but at last came on here. That was a sad, sad
parting! Shall I ever look into their dear faces again—my father and mother,
and poor little Johnnie, wrested by the exigencies of war from his mother's
knee? People who have never been through a war don't know anything about war.
May I never pass through another. Why will men fight? Especially brothers? Why
cannot they adjust their differences and redress their wrongs without the
shedding of woman's tears and the spilling of each other's blood?
But I dare not
write, nor even think much on this strain. My old friend J. B. L. is along. He
is very kind. Think of his lifting our heavy trunks into the baggage car with
his own hands! Otherwise they would be sitting on the railroad platform in
Columbia yet. Say what you please, it is, after all, the men whom we women have
to depend on in this world. J. B. L's. friend, whom he asked permission to
present to us, is a graduate of the Medical College of New York, a young
Hippocrates of profoundly scientific attainments. Nor is that all—he is
possessed of all that ease of manner and well-bred poise for which the F. F.
V.'s are noted.
SOURCE: South
Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South
Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate
Girl's Diary,” p. 275-6
The people of
Charlotte received us with unbounded kindness, and are treating us with royal
hospitality. They met us in their carriages and, although utter strangers,
conducted us, as honored guests, to their beautiful homes. How is that for
Confederate Treasury girls? Bet has gone to General Young's, but the others of
us have fallen to the lot of Mr. Davidson, and a very enviable lot it is for
us, in a home so well ordered and abounding in plenty. I do not know how long
we shall be here. Mr. Duncan, who has charge of our division, says until
transportation can be secured. Tonight some troops were passing through the
city, and I could hear in the far, faint distance, a band playing
"Dixie" and "Old Folks at Home." It made me cry, the sound
was so sweet, so mournful, so heart-breaking. How fare my old folks at home?
Are there any old folks left at my home? Maybe not! Alas! we can hear nothing
definite!
SOURCE: South Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate Girl's Diary,” p. 276
The adulation we
receive in this city is enough to turn our heads completely. But for this
dreadful suspense I believe it would. The most appalling rumors reach us, but
nothing more. Dr. S saw one of Wheeler's cavalrymen, who left Columbia on
Friday morning, at which time Hampton had notified the Mayor that the Reserves
could no longer hold the city. The South Carolina depot was already
in ruins, and the Congaree bridge burned, while thousands of the inhabitants
were flying from the enemy. On Friday night, at Winnsboro, this same soldier
reports having seen a tremendous illumination in the sky, which all who saw
believed to be Columbia in flames. My God! How terrible, if true! What has been
the fate of my parents, and Johnnie! Despite this horrible uncertainty, we have
been to church, and are trying to keep calm and hopeful. But why was I ever
persuaded to leave my home and dear ones in this time of danger!
SOURCE: South
Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South
Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate
Girl's Diary,” p. 276
Greensboro, N. C. — We
positively hated to leave Charlotte, so many friends did we make there.
Howbeit, a Treasury signer, like a good soldier, must obey orders. At this place,
we are not half so pleasantly situated, being all crowded together in one small
room. But we are in no mood to cavil; our soldiers fare worse. We begin to
realize, as we never before have done, their hardships, and the thankfulness
which ought to fill the heart of each one whose head is roof-covered. Daily
blessings are not mere matters of course. We are too apt to think so until
times like these come our way. General John S. Preston has just been in to see
us. He is a grand looking man—not only that, he has the look of being somebody
in particular, which he is. He could tell us nothing on the subject nearest our
hearts—the fate of Columbia. But he fears the worst.
SOURCE: South
Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South
Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate
Girl's Diary,” p. 276-7
"On to
Richmond!" is the rallying cry of the period; but this end of the
Confederate Treasury can't go on without the means of transportation. The whole
South seems to be rallying there.
SOURCE: South
Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South
Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate
Girl's Diary,” p. 277
Mr. Duncan, the
doctor, and J. B. L. are indefatigable in their efforts to make us comfortable
and happy. We see them every day and, to be more explicit, almost every hour in
the day. We call ourselves "The Happy Family." If you ask me
wherefore, I can only say, probably because we have so much reason to be
unhappy, and yet are not—exactly.
SOURCE: South
Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South
Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate
Girl's Diary,” p. 277
Still in Greensboro,
and I do not see how we have managed to live through these homeless and anxious
days so agreeably to ourselves. It is the gentlemen who keep us cheered up and
allow us no chance to fret. There is no doubt, however, that Columbia is in
ashes. People who have never been through a war know nothing about what war is.
It is a crushing machine, whose mainspring is anxiety, whose turnscrew is
apprehension. Are my brothers all dead? Are my father and mother still living?
These questions put me to the rack when I allow myself to ask them.
SOURCE: South
Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South
Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate
Girl's Diary,” p. 277
SPEECH IN THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES, AUGUST 8, 1850, ON PRESIDENT FILLMORE'S MESSAGE CONCERNING
THE TEXAN BOUNDARY.
MR. BROWN said:—When
the President's message was read at the clerk's desk on Wednesday, it struck me
as the most extraordinary paper which had ever emanated from an American
President. I have since read it carefully, and my first impressions have been
strengthened and confirmed.
The document is
extraordinary for its bold assumptions; extraordinary for its suppression of
historical truth; extraordinary for its war-like tone; and still more
extraordinary for its supercilious defiance of southern sentiment.
The President
assumes that to be true which covers the whole ground in controversy, and to do
this he has been driven to the necessity of suppressing every material fact;
and having thus laid the basis of the message, he proceeds to tell us what are
the means at his disposal for maintaining his positions; and winds up with a
distinct threat, that if there is not implicit obedience to his will, these
means will be employed to insure the obedience which he exacts.
Kings and despots
have thus talked to their subjects and their slaves, but this is the first
instance when the servant of a free people, just tossed by accident into a
place of power, has turned upon his masters, and threatened them with fire and
sword if they dared to murmur against his imperial will.
The President sits
down to address his first important message to Congress, and, as if forgetful
of his position, and mistaking this for a military, instead of a civil
government, he tells us he is commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the
United States, and of the militia of the several states when called into actual
service. He next proceeds to inform us that all necessary legislation has been
had to enable him to call this vast military and naval power into action. No
further interposition of Congress is asked for or desired. His duties are
plain, and his means clear and ample, and we are told with emphasis, that he
intends to enforce obedience to his decrees.
A stranger, who knew
nothing of our institutions, might well have supposed, from the reading of the
message, that the President was a military despot; and to have seen him
striding into the House of Representatives with a drawn sword, pointing first
to the army, and then to the navy, and then to the militia, one, by a very
slight transition, might have supposed himself in the presence of Oliver
Cromwell, instead of Millard Fillmore. Why, sir, this redoubtable military
hero, who "never set a squadron in the field, nor does the division of a
battle know more than a spinster," talks as flippantly to Congress and the
people about commanding the army and navy and militia of the United States, as
if he were a conquering hero addressing his captives, instead of a civil
magistrate making his first obeisance to his superiors.
Am I to be told by
the friends of the President, that no threat was implied in his late insolent
and insulting message—that he did not mean to threaten or menace Texas or the
South, by the language employed in that paper? Then why inform us that he is
commander-in-chief of the naval and military power of the government? Why
buckle on his armor? Why present himself here panoplied, as if for war, if his
mission was one of peace? Was it necessary for the information of Congress, or
of the country, that the President should tell us that he is the constitutional
commander-in-chief of the army and navy? Why tell us with so much of precise
detail, what laws were in force amplifying his powers under the Constitution,
if he did not mean to intimidate us? Why, sir, did he inform us that his duty was
plain, and his authority clear and ample, if he did not mean to close the
argument, and rely upon the sword? The whole scope and purpose of the message
is clear and palpable. It was intended to drive Texas and the South into meek
submission to the executive will. Instead of entering into a calm and
statesman-like review of the matters in controversy, he leaps at one bound to
his conclusions—asserts at once that Texas has no rightful claim to the
territory in dispute. He plants his foot, brandishes his sword, and, in true
Furioso style, declares that
Well, sir, we shall
see how successful this display of military power on the part of the
illustrious "commander-in-chief of the army and navy" will be in
bringing the South to a humiliating surrender.
If there be any one
here or elsewhere, Mr. Chairman, who supposes that the President has acted
properly in this matter, let me speak to him calmly. Is there an instance on
record where a friendly power has gone with arms in his hands to treat with
another friendly power? Texas is not only a friendly power, but she is a state
of this Union, allied to us by every tie, political, social, and religious,
which can bind one people to another. Her chief magistrate has witnessed with
pain and sorrow, an attempt on the part of this government to wrest from his
state a portion of her territory. He thinks the President may not be cognisant
of these transactions. He knows it is being done without authority of law; and
what course does he take? He writes to the President a respectful note,
informing him, in substance, that an officer of the army, stationed in Santa
Fé, had interposed adversely to the authority of Texas, and was fomenting
discord, and exciting the inhabitants to rebellion. He made a respectful
inquiry, as to whether this officer was acting in obedience to the will or
wishes of the President. Now, sir, how was this inquiry answered? Did the
President make a respectful answer to a respectful inquiry? No, sir. He goes
off in a blaze of military fire; points to his military trappings—"Here is
my army, here is my navy, and there is the militia; my mind is made up; I do
approve of the conduct of my civil and military governor in Santa Fé; and if
you attempt to displace him, or question his authority, war, war, war to the knife,
will be the consequence.” Such, sir, is my reading of the President's message.
Was there ever such a beginning to a friendly negotiation? Suppose Great
Britian had sent a military force to take possession of our northeastern
territory or of Oregon, and the British officer in command had issued his
proclamation calling the inhabitants together to make and establish a
government adverse to the United States, and in total disregard of her claim;
suppose that, on seeing this, the President of the United States had addressed
a respectful inquiry to the British government, to know if this proceeding was
approved; and then, sir, suppose the British Minister had replied, "Her
majesty has so many ships of the line, so many war-steamers. Her military
resources are thus and so. She approves of the conduct of her officer in Oregon
or in Maine. Her duty is plain, and her means ample for maintaining the
authority she has assumed." What, let me ask you, men and patriots, would
have been thought of conduct like this? Would the American President have dared
to outrage the sentiment of his country by pocketing such an insult, and then
proceeding with the negotiation? If he had, is there one man in all this broad
land who would not, with his last gasp, have heaped curses and imprecations
upon his head? And shall this government force an insult upon Texas, a sister
of the confederacy, which she would not and dare not take from any power on
God's earth?
I know not what
course Texas may think it her duty to take in this emergency. But, sir, if she
strike for her honor—if she strike for her altars and her firesides if she
strike for liberty and law, I warn her oppressors that she will not strike
alone.
But, Mr. Chairman, I
have said that the President has virtually taken this question of the disputed
boundary between Texas and the United States out of the hands of Congress, and
has assumed, by an executive pronunciamiento, to settle the whole matter
adversely to Texas; and I will show that he means this, if he means anything.
As for anything
which appears in the message, Texas never had a shadow of claim to any part of
the country in dispute. The President is particular in stating that the country
was a part of New Mexico prior to the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and recites
at full length the fifth, eighth, and ninth articles of that treaty, to show
that the country belongs to the United States, and that he is bound to protect
it by military power. But he wholly omits to say anything of the grounds on
which Texas bases her claim; not one word of her revolutionary rights; nothing
of her treaties with Mexico; not a syllable about her boundary as defined in
her constitution of 1836; no reference to the negotiations which led to her
annexation; nothing of the opinions of his predecessors and their cabinets,
recognising the rights of Texas within the boundary as prescribed by her
constitution; and lastly, no mention of the crowning act of annexation—the
resolutions of March 1, 1845, by which the star of her existence was blotted
out and her political institutions buried in those of the United States.
If Mr. Fillmore had
thought it worth his while to look into these matters, he would have found his
duty not quite so plain, nor the obligation quite so imperative to use the
naval and military power of this government to crush Texas, if she dared to assert
her rightful claim to the country in dispute.
I commend the
history of this transaction to the President and his advisers before they
commence hanging the Texans for treason. Perhaps it may be found that Texas
acquired some rights by her revolution and by her treaty with Santa Anna. It
may turn out that she placed the evidence of her rights on record in the
enduring form of a written constitution. It may appear that these rights were
recognised by every department of this government in its negotiations and
debates on the. treaty of annexation. It will most certainly appear that these
rights were solemnly recognised by this government in the final consummation of
that treaty. By the resolutions of annexation, approved March 1, 1845, it was
provided, among other things, that all that part of Texas lying south of
thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, should be admitted into
the Union with or without slavery as the people might elect; and in all that
part lying north of the said parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes,
slavery should be prohibited. Now, sir, what does this language mean, and why
was it employed? Texas, as we all know, had defined her boundaries; she fixed
her western limits on the Rio Grande, from its mouth to its source, and she
extended her northern limits to the parallel of 42°. Hence, when she asked
admission into the Union, there was no dispute between her and the United
States as to where her boundaries were. She presented herself with fixed
boundaries, and we took her as she was. By a solemn compact, as binding in its
forms as a treaty between nations could make it, and as plain in its terms as
our language could express it, we accepted her, and shaped her policy through
all after time on the subject of slavery. Her territory north of 36° 30' was to
be free, and all south of that line was to be slave territory. Such was the
contract between Texas and the United States—the only contracting parties.
Texas presented herself bounded on the west by the Rio Grande and on the north
by the 42d parallel, and we took her as she presented herself. We had either to
do this or not take her at all. All the debates, all the negotiations, all that
was written or said on the subject pending the treaty of annexation, shows that
this was the understanding of both parties. True, there was an outstanding
dispute between Texas and Mexico about the separate or independent existence of
Texas. Mexico denied the nationality of Texas. The United States admitted it;
and treated with her as a sovereign. Mark you, Mexico did not dispute with
Texas about a boundary, but about her separate national independence. We
admitted Texas, by a treaty entered into between her and the United States,
into the Union of these states, and we undertook to defend, to protect and
maintain her against Mexico. We did this in good faith—we went to war with
Mexico. That war resulted in Mexico giving up all the territory that lay within
the limits of Texas, as defined by herself, and in her ceding other vast tracts
of country to the United States. Now, sir, what do we hear? Why, that certain
territory within her constitutional limits at the period of annexation, never
did belong to Texas; but that it was an integral part of Mexico. And though we
assumed to say how much of it should be free and how much slave territory, it
was in truth and in fact foreign territory. By what right did the American
Congress undertake to say that so much of Mexican territory as lay north of 36°
should be free, and all below that slave territory? Congress undertook no such
thing. We all thought then, as I think now, that the country belonged to Texas;
and we consulted with no one else—contracted with no one else in regard to it.
The President has
with great care traced out the line between the United States and Mexico, as
defined in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and has dwelt on the fifth, eighth,
and ninth articles of that treaty with great apparent unction, as sustaining
his position of hostility to Texas. Sir, what had Texas to do with that treaty?
What matters it with Texas as to what contract the United States may have made
with Mexico? Time was, when Texas was a sovereignty among the nations of the
earth; we so acknowledged her; we contracted with her in that capacity—what she
demands to-day is, that you fulfil the contract made with her. She is no party
to your contract with Mexico; she demands good faith in the execution of that
contract by which you obtained her sovereignty, and agreed to protect her
against Mexico; she protests against your protecting her against Mexico, and
dismembering her yourself.
When, Mr. Chairman,
the President was telling us what were his duties under our treaty with Mexico,
I pray you, was it not his duty to have told us what were his duties under the
treaty with Texas? And when he was dwelling with so much delight upon the three
articles of the treaty of Hidalgo, as the law which he was going to enforce
with fire and sword, was it not worth his while to have made some passing
notice of the treaty of 1845 with Texas? Or has it come to this, that a Free-Soil
President feels under no obligations to execute a contract with a slave state?
I suppose, with true Catholic instincts, he does not feel bound to keep faith
with heretics.
Santa Fé, the
country where Lieutenant-General Fillmore is going to halt his grand army, and
through which, I suppose, Commodore Fillmore may be expected to sail with his
naval fleet, lies not only south of the northern boundary of Texas-that is, 42°
north latitude—but it is in fact south of the compromise line of 36° 30' by
many miles. Not only has the President, in setting aside the legal boundary of
Texas, as defined in her constitution and recognised by this government in
various forms, outraged her rights, and covered at one sweep every inch of
ground in dispute between the United States and Texas, but he has gone further,
much further; he has established, or attempted to establish, a principle which
threatens the very existence of Texas as a separate state.
What says the
President? That he is bound, by the highest official obligations, to protect
the Mexican inhabitants of Santa Fé or New Mexico, as he is pleased to call it,
against the authority of Texas. He has announced, that if Texas attempts to
assert her authority in that country, and to punish those who commit overt acts
of treason against her, he will resist her with the whole naval and military
power of the government. Bear in mind, that this country is within her limits,
as defined by her constitution of 1836, and within the limits of the slave
portion of this territory, as defined by the resolutions of annexation. Now,
where does the President look for his authority thus to resist the authority of
Texas? Not, sir, to the treaty of annexation, but to the treaty with Mexico,
and to the eighth and ninth articles of that treaty. He finds here that
Mexicans residing in the territory ceded to the United States by Mexico, shall
be protected in their lives, liberty, property, and religion. Planting himself
on these stipulations, he announces his fixed determination to defend the
Mexican inhabitants against the authority of Texas. The treaty with Mexico is
the only law for his government in this regard. He wholly discards and treats
with contempt the treaty with Texas. He looks to but one boundary—that
established by the Mexican treaty. He looks to but acquisition, and that the
acquisition from Mexico. Now, sir, what is this boundary? and what this
acquisition? The boundary is the Rio Grande to the southern limit of New
Mexico, thence to the Gila river, and to the Pacific. The acquisition embraces
all the territory lying between Louisiana and Arkansas and the Indian territory,
on the one side, and this Mexican boundary on the other. We must recollect that
Mexico never recognised the independence of Texas; and when we treated with
her, we treated for California and New Mexico, and Texas from the Louisiana
line to the Rio Grande. The President does not respect the line of Texas, as
defined in her constitution and recognised by the resolution of annexation. He
kicks this line out of his way, and has announced his intention to be governed
alone by the treaty of Hidalgo. He says he will resist Texan authority below
the line of forty-two degrees; aye, he will resist it below thirty-six and a
half degrees. I know of no other line. The President admits in his message that
he does not know where the true boundary is. Then it becomes a matter of
interesting inquiry where his authority is going to stop. If the only boundary
known to any law as existing between the United States and Texas, is
disregarded, and the President is resolved to protect all Mexicans living on
territory ceded to the United States by Mexico, and it is true, as we have
seen, that Texas was as much а cession, so far as the treaty of Hidalgo is
concerned, as New Mexico and California; and if the President is going to
protect Mexicans against the authority of Texas in Santa Fé,—I should like to
know how much further down he is going to extend his protecting care. Will he
go down to Austin? Will he punish as far down as Houston? May Mexicans expect
the shield of his protecting care in Galveston? Is the authority of Texas everywhere
to fall before the triumphant march of this most valiant hero-this
commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States? It might
economize blood, sir, if this conquering chief would only deign to fix a
boundary—put up a sign-post at the point where he intends to stop hanging and
chopping off heads.
Mr. Chairman, I have
great respect for true and genuine heroism; but I confess myself rather restive
in the presence of the bastard progeny which this slavery agitation has brought
forth. When we were threatened with thirty-nine western regiments, I grew
impatient; when we were threatened with ten thousand Kentuckians, led on by the
great compromiser, I felt still more provoked; but when Millard Fillmore mounts
his Pegasus, and attempts to drive over us with the whole naval and military
power of the nation, I cannot think or speak with patience. When Jackson
threatened, there was dignity in the threat. When Taylor threatened, it was not
quite contemptible; but for Millard Fillmore, a mere come-by-chance—a poor
little kite, who has fallen by accident into the eagle's nest—when he attempts
to play the hero, and to threaten the South, one scarcely knows what limit to
fix to contempt and scorn. If these feelings have a deeper depth in the human
soul, let the upstart hero, not yet warm in the seat of accidental honor, know
and feel that he has reached that deeper depth in the heart of every true and
faithful son of the yet proud and independent South.
What, Mr. Chairman,
is the meaning of all this? Why does the President disregard the most solemn
obligations? Why, sir, does he manifest so much of impatience to wrest
successfully from Texas that which is so justly her own, and which she never
can surrender without dishonor? And why, sir, independent of all considerations
of justice and national faith, are we of the South bound to make common cause
with Texas? Because, sir, you and I, and every other southern man, know that
the question of slavery lies at the bottom of all these movements. That
question out of the way, and the President and his cabinet, and his friends on
this floor, would not care a single rush whether Santa Fé was in Texas or New
Mexico. That question out of the way, and we should have no disputing about
this country. The treaty obligations between the United States and Texas would
be faithfully maintained, and harmony would be restored in twenty-four hours.
Is it not melancholy, is it not alarming to every true patriot, to see that
this war upon a section, this eternal and never-ending assailment of the South,
has not only warped the judgment of the best and purest men of the North, but
has so far influenced the action of the President of the United States, that he
not only does not execute a treaty for the advantage of slavery, but, in dereliction
of the plainest dictates of duty, absolutely refuses to do so? Can any man look
at this state of things and not see the frightful end we are approaching? What
was the manifest duty of the President, and in this conjuncture of our affairs—admitting
that he thought, as I certainly do not, that there was reasonable grounds of
dispute as to the true boundary of Texas? Was it not,
sir, to have
occupied the country peaceably and quietly until the question was settled—taking
no advantage to himself, and giving none to the other party? I hear a voice
say, That is just what he did. Not so, sir. His predecessor, General Taylor,
found a military government there, and he allowed that military government to
foment disloyalty to Texas, and to take incipient steps for throwing off the
authority of Texas. The acting President goes further, and not only approves
this conduct, but gives us to understand that he means to maintain it by force
of arms. The President knows full well that if the rebels against Texas throw off
her authority and establish an anti-slavery constitution, a free-soil majority
here stand ready to admit her into the Union as a state. It is said that the
President never threatened to use military power until Texas had first
threatened. We all know, Mr. Chairman, on what state of facts the movements of
Texas have been based. We all know that Texas acquiesced in your sending a
military establishment to Santa Fe, under an assurance that it was not to be
used against her claim, or to her prejudice; and we all know that this same
military power in the hands of the President was used to subvert the authority
and trample under foot the rights of Texas. Thus it was, sir, when Texas saw
herself, by means like these, driven from her rightful possession, that she
first spoke of force. But even then, sir, she asked respectfully what was meant
by all these proceedings, and whether the President approved them; and we have
already seen in what spirit that civil inquiry was responded to. Texas would be
unfaithful to her past history if she feared to assert her rights, or faltered
in maintaining them against whatever odds.
In what attitude,
Mr. Chairman, does the northern Democracy present itself on the question of the
Texas boundary? It is within your recollection, that in the memorable political
contest of 1844, Texas was inscribed on all our banners; and from the loud
huzzas that went up continually, I thought it was inscribed on all our hearts.
Mr. Van Buren was discarded, and Mr. Clay crippled in the affections of his
friends on account of their mutual hostility to the project of annexation. Mr.
Polk was nominated and elected on the issue. The measure was consummated in
compliance with the people's mandate. War ensued, and the people turned out en
masse to prosecute it to a successful termination. The first blood was shed
between the Nueces and the Rio Grande; and the Democracy voted on their oaths
that it was American blood shed on American soil. You defended the President
through the whole of the war, always maintaining that the Texas we acquired,
was Texas according to the constitution of 1836; Texas as she presented
herself, and as she was accepted under the resolution of annexation. Now, where
are you? Will you vote to-day as you voted in 1844? Will you vote to-day as you
continued to vote through the whole of the Mexican war? And if not, why? I can
understand a northern Whig who votes against the claim of Texas. He belongs to
a party who was opposed to annexation; opposed to the war; opposed to the
acquisition of additional territory; opposed to everything that you and I were
for. But how you can oppose this claim, recognised as it has been in every
form, supported as it has been by you and me through all its various forms and
phases, I must confess myself at fault to understand.
There is one other
matter to which I must advert. It is become quite too common of late, for
certain political censors, in and out of Congress, to speak of southern men who
demand justice for the South, as ultras; and if we persist in our demands, and
can neither be bribed or brow-beaten into acquiescence with northern wrongs,
the next step is, to whistle us down the winds as disunionists and traitors. It
is not, sir, because I fear the effects of charges like these on the minds of
my constituents that I now speak. They have known me for many long years; I
have served them here and elsewhere; and if there is any earthly power to
persuade them that I am a disunionist or a traitor to my country, I would scorn
to receive office at their hands. I allude to charges like this, that I may
hold them up to public scorn and reprobation. The miserable reptiles who sting
the South while they nestle in her bosom, are the authors of these base
calumnies. Sooner or later they will be spurned as the veriest spaniels who
ever crouched at the footstool of power. I fancy, sir, that there is perfect
harmony of sentiment between my constituents and myself on the subjects which
now divide the North and the South. We are southerners and go for the
Constitution, and the Union subordinate to the Constitution. Give us the
Constitution as it was administered from the day of its formation to 1819, and
we are satisfied. Up to that time Congress never assumed to interfere with the
relation of master and servant. It extended over all, and gave to all equal
protection; give it to us to-day in the same spirit, and we are satisfied. Less
than this we will not accept. You ask us to love the Constitution, to revere the
Union, and to honor the glorious banner of the stars and stripes. Excuse me,
gentlemen; but I must say to you, in all candor, that the day has gone by when
I and my people can cherish a superstitious reverence for mere names. Give us a
Constitution strong enough to shield us all in the same degree, and we will
love it. Give us a Union capacious enough to receive us all as equals, and we
will revere it. Give us a banner that is broad enough to cover us as a nation
of brothers, and we will honor it. But if you offer us a broken constitution—one
that can only shield northern people and northern property—we will spurn it. If
you offer us a union so contracted that only half the states can stand up as
equals, we will reject it; and if you offer us a banner that covers your people
and your property, and leaves ours to the perils of piracy and plunder, we will
trample it under our feet. We came into this Union as equals, and we will
remain in it as equals. We demand equal laws and equal justice. We demand the protection
of the Constitution for ourselves, our lives, and our property. Wherever we may
be, we demand that the national flag, wherever it may wave, on the land or on
the seas, shall give shelter and security to our property and ourselves. These
are our demands: will you comply with them? You have the power to grant or
refuse them. Grant them, and our feelings of harmony and brotherhood will be
restored. These evidences of decay that we witness all around us will vanish,
and a strong, healthy, vigorous national prosperity will spring up. I shall not
predict the consequences of your refusal; they are so plain that “a wayfaring
man though a fool" cannot mistake them. They exhibit themselves in a
thousand different forms—in the divisions of our churches, in the estrangement
of family ties, in jealousies between the North and the South, in the gradual
but certain withdrawal of all confidence and fellowship between the people of
the two great sections. Where is the patriot heart that has not throbbed with
the deepest anxiety as from day to day the growth and progress of these things
has become more apparent? I will not dwell upon a theme so full of melancholy;
but allow me to add, in conclusion, I sincerely hope your conduct may not force
us in the end to say, We once were brothers, but you have become our enemies
and we are yours.
SOURCE: M. W.
Cluskey, Editor, Speeches, Messages, and Other Writings of the Hon.
Albert G. Brown, A Senator in Congress from the State of Mississippi, p.
200-8