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1872.]
THE EARLY STAGES OF THE REBELLION.
403
REMINISCENCES OF THE EARLY STAGES OF THE REBELLION.
N recurring to the horrors of the war
I and of the few months preceding it,
as experienced by us here at the capital,
it has often occurred to me that, if pos
sible, I suffered more from the dread
apprehension of the impending conflict,
and the shock upon shock at the seizure
of the forts, arsenals, custom-houses,
post-offices and other government prop
erty by the rebels in the last months
of President Buchanan’s administration,
than at any subsequent period during
the war. No sooner was the election of
Mr. Lincoln announced — and it was
known throughout the country on the
evening of election-day, the 6th of No
vember, i860 — than threatening signs
appeared in all parts of the South, and
the secessionists everywhere, urged on
by the Constitution newspaper of this
city—nominally under the editorship of
William M. Brown, an Englishman, but
really the mouthpiece and under the di
rection of the leaders of the rebellion—set
to work actively to effect a withdrawal
of all the slave States from the Union.
This newspaper having been regarded
as the organ of the administration, still
sustained this character to a greater or
less extent, particularly as it was the
continued recipient of the government
advertisements, which furnished its prin
cipal means of support; and this nat
urally gave rise to doubt as to the course
the administration intended to pursue in
the momentous crisis now at hand. But
Messrs. Cobb, Floyd and Thompson
were yet members of the Cabinet, the
Southern element was greatly in the
ascendant here generally, and the time
had not come for so decisive a step even
as to withdraw from that paper the gov
ernment patronage, notwithstanding I
know that soon after the election it be
came a source of regret and mortifica
tion to many here that such a sheet
should be allowed to draw its main sus
tenance from the government it was
seeking to destroy. When this patron
age, some weeks afterward, was finally
withheld by order of the President, the
paper immediately ceased to exist, but
so long as it was continued it not only
operated to the injury of the administra
tion, but did great harm also to the
Union cause North and South, for the
reason before mentioned, that the public
had come so generally to regard it as
the organ of the administration.
A most remarkable fact of this period
—a fact which, in making up a judg
ment upon President Buchanan’s admin
istration of affairs at this time, should
not be forgotten—was that few persons
comparatively, either in the North or
West, appeared to apprehend any seri
ous trouble, regarding the threats and
movements of the secessionists as only
a repetition—in an aggravated form, to
be sure—of what we had seen on former
occasions, and all for political effect.
Nor was this feeling confined to one
party : it pervaded all the free States.
Hence, while the disunionists were ev
erywhere active, and endeavoring to dis
seminate the idea that they were not only
in favor with the administration, but-with
the Democratic party at large, the great
body of the true friends of the adminis
tration stood aloof, never coming near
the President or offering counsel. How
well I recollect that all through the month
of November I thought almost everybody
in the free States was asleep ! Here we
were, a small number then of active
Union men, in the very hotbed of the
conspiracy, and surrounded by a host
of bold and determined disunionists bent
on “rule or ruin.” The great mass of
those here who at heart were true to the
Union were passive rather than other
wise, because they did not care to ex
pose themselves to the charge of “ Black
Republicanism,” which was then the
potent missile leveled by the secession
ists against every person who dared
openly to oppose them. Was it strange,
therefore, that any one, seeing and feel-
�4°4
THE EARLY STAGES OF THE REBELLION.
ing the real danger ahead, should have
reached out after help ? that with such
feelings one should cast around for pa
triotic statesmen to come to the rescue ?
Humble as I was, occupying then a sub
ordinate position in the Post-office De
partment, so impressed was I by the ap
palling aspect of affairs that I seemed
to be impelled by a power beyond my
self to “cry aloud and spare not and,
departing from my previous rule of ap
propriate modesty—to which it may be
thought I have not returned—I made
bold to address earnest appeals to dis
tinguished men, far and near, to exert
their influence toward averting the threat
ened outbreak. The following extract
of a letter from a Southern member of
Congress may be taken as a specimen
of the encouragement I received from
that quarter. It bears date November
5, i860, the day before the Presidential
election :
"To the latter part of your letter I re
ply frankly. On my entrance into Con
gress it was as a constitutional Union
loving man. From the days of my
childhood I have loved the Union—
during youth and manhood I still loved
it. . . .
“ If Lincoln be elected, as I have no
doubt he will be, and the South submit
to his inauguration, then are they in my
judgment cowards and traitors to their
own rights, unworthy of any other condi
tion than that that awaits them—inferiors,
provincialists and subjects. Lincoln will
never be the President of thirty-three
confederate States. Men like myself,
who for a lifetime have fought the ex
treme ultraisms of the South and the
mad fanaticism of the North, will not
permit Abe Lincoln’s banner, inscribed
with ‘higher law,’ ‘negro equality,’ ‘ir
repressible conflict ’ and ‘ final emanci
pation,’ to wave over us. We have and
do deserve a more glorious destiny. . . .
Three hundred thousand swords are
now ready to leap from their scabbards
in support of a Southern Confederacy.
Fort Moultrie will be in the hands of the
South on the morning of the fourth day
of March next. . . . Our women and
children are ready and eager for the
[Apr.
conflict, and would kick us out of our
houses if we basely and tamely yield
again.”
The above was evidently not intended,
nor was it regarded, as strictly a private
letter. All such information, when re
ceived, was promptly communicated to
those in authority. It was important,
of course, that the President himself
should not only be kept advised of the
actions of the disunionists, but that he
should discountenance their nefarious
proceedings, and that his hands should
be strengthened by support from pa
triotic citizens everywhere ; and to this
end it was the desire to have placed be
fore him, as far as possible, the opinions
and advice of citizens in whose judg
ment he might confide. Here is a letter
from Hon. Edward Everett, who, it will
be recollected, had just passed through
the canvass as candidate for Vice-Pres
ident on the Conservative ticket, with
the Hon. John Bell for President :
“ Boston, 27th November, i860.
“My dear Sir: I share the opinion
of your correspondent as to the very
critical state of public affairs, and I feel
it to be the duty of every good citizen,
by word and deed, to contribute his
mite, however small, to rescue the coun
try from impending peril —by far the
greatest that ever threatened it.
“The cause assigned by your corre
spondent as that which prevents Union
men from affording the President their
support and counsel in this crisis, will
not prevent my doing it, but ordinary
self-respect under the notorious circum
stances of the case requires that my
views should not be obtruded upon him
unasked. Whenever they are specially
invited by the President himself or any
one in his confidence, they will be cheer
fully and respectfully given.
“ I remain, my dear sir, wûth much
regard, very truly yours,
“Edward Everett.”
The following letter is from ex-President Pierce. Immediately on its re
ceipt I called on Mr. Secretary Thomp
son, who with his own pen prepared a
preface agreeably to General Pierce’s
�1872.]
THE EARLY STAGES OF THE REBELLION.
suggestion, and the letter to the Secre
tary appeared in the Constitution of the
next morning:
“ Andover, Mass., November 28, i860.
“ My dear Sir : I have received your
kind, earnest letter, and participate
strongly in your apprehensions. To my
vision the political horizon shuts down
close and darkly. It may be that light
is to break through somewhere, but I do
not discern the quarter whence it is to
come. I had occasion to write a friendly
letter to Secretary Thompson (Interior)
a day or two since, and expressed to him
briefly my convictions and fears and
hopes in relation to the present state of
public affairs. I did not expect that let
ter to be published, but the blackness is
gathering so fast that if anything can be
done to save our glorious Union it must
be done speedily, and, in my judgment,
at the North chiefly. If you call on the
Secretary, he will show you that letter,
and if he thinks the publication of it
would be useful, he can use it as he
pleases. The truth must appear that it
was written in the course of friendly cor
respondence, and not with a view to
publication. Among intelligent, reflect
ing men, alarm is evidently increasing
here daily. One decisive step in the
way of coercion will drive out all the
slave-labor States. Of that I entertain
no doubt. My suggestion about the
tone and temper of Congress, and the
importance of temperate words and ac
tions, might possibly have some degree
of good influence, and there is perhaps
more hope that the letter might be ser
viceable just at this juncture at the
North; but it was hastily written, and
my friend the Secretary must judge. If
you call on him, show him this note.
“In haste, your friend,
“Franklin Pierce.”
1
It was all to no purpose : the tide roll
ed on. Congress soon assembled, and
became the arena of the fiercest dec
lamation and conflict. Everything like
coercion on the part of the general gov
ernment was denounced and resisted.
Mr. Hindman of Arkansas said in the
House, “ I am willing to give gentlemen
405
a chance to try steel if they prefer it.”
This was in debate on the bill to amend
the acts of 1795 and 1807, so as to
authorize the President to accept the
services of volunteers, etc., called a
“ force bill.” “ This bill,” said the chair
man having it in charge, “only comes
up in the morning hour.” Mr. Cochrane
of New York replied, “ If you pass this
bill, it will be the mourning hour to this
republic.” “A most ill-timed, unwise
and iniquitous measure,” said Mr. Boetler—not an extreme man—from Virginia.
“ If there be any hope of a restoration
of peace,” said Mr. Babcock from the
same State, “it must be in the defeat of
these force bills.” And they were final
ly all defeated. Treason was openly
proclaimed in the Senate, if not in the
House: State after State “seceded,”
and the members and Senators thereof,
with mock solemnity, resigned their seats
and withdrew from the halls. The Sec
retary of the Treasury, Howell Cobb,
resigned on the 10th December, the Sec
retary of State, General Cass (though
for a directly opposite reason), on the
14th, and the Secretary of War, J. B.
Floyd, on the 29th of that month, fol
lowed by the Secretary of the Interior,
Jacob Thompson, on the 8th of January.
Alarm continued to increase, and on
the 26th of January, 1861, the following
resolution was referred to the select com
mittee of five appointed by the House of
Representatives on the 9th of that month,
Hon. W. A. Howard of Michigan being
its chairman : “ Resolved, That the se
lect committee of five be instructed to
inquire whether any secret organization
hostile to the government of the United
States exists in the District of Columbia;
and if so, whether any official or em
ploye of the city of Washington, or any
employes or officers of the Federal gov
ernment in the executive or judicial de
partments, are members thereof.”
The committee say that they entered
upon the investigation under a deep
sense of the importance and the intrinsic
difficulty of the inquiry. They took the
testimony of a good many persons, in
cluding that of General Scott, ex-Secretary Jacob Thompson, Colonel Berret,
�406
THE EARLY STAGES OF THE REBELLION.
mayor, Dr. Blake, Commissioner of Pub
lic Buildings, and Governor Hicks and
ex-Governor Lowe of Maryland. I had
occasion several years ago to prepare for
one of the public journals a synopsis of
the report and testimony. It is a curi
ous book, especially when viewed in the
light of subsequent events. The mayor
was the first witness called to the stand.
He said he had not “been able to ascer
tain the slightest ground for any appre
hension of any foray or raid upon the
city of Washington.” Lie knew about
an organization called the “National
Volunteers,” which he said was not “a
political organization ” — that it was
composed of citizens whom he knew to
be “not only respectable,” but a great
many of them “stakeholding citizens,
who would scorn to do anything that
would bring reproach upon the city.”
Nevertheless, if I am not mistaken, the
larger part of them, including their
“senior officer,” left Washington and
joined the rebellion.
The Commissioner of Public Buildings
also said he “could see no real ground
to apprehend danger,” but that he had
taken care to see that the Capitol was
not blown up—that examinations were
made every night, “by going through
it, up and down, all through the cellar
‘and every place,” and that in the day
time he had his men placed about all
the main doors, “ so that they might
know what came in and what went out.”
Ex-Governor Lowe, who afterward, I
think, left his State to assist in the rebel
lion, denied any knowledge of an or
ganization in the District of Columbia
“having for its object the taking or hold
ing any of the public property here, as
against the United States but he said,
“ I have not the slightest doubt that if
Maryland does secede, she will claim
her rights here, and I will advocate
them.” “So far as the possession of the
District is concerned?” a member in
quired. He answered, “Yes, sir—peace
ably, if possible—forcibly only as a last
resort; that is, provided Maryland shall
resume her State sovereignty.”
Mr. Jacob Thompson said, “Soon after
the presidential election it was a question
[Apr.
frequently discussed by individuals in
my presence, in which discussions I par
ticipated, as to the mode by which the
inauguration of Mr. Lincoln could be
defeated, or, in other words, how the
rights of the South could be maintained
in the Union. I heard some discussion
as to organizing a force by which his in
auguration could be prevented,” but he
believed this was now given up.
Dr. Cornelius Boyle, “senior officer”
of the “National Volunteers,” said he
knew there was no unlawful purpose
whatever entertained by that organiza
tion—that it was nothing more or less
than a military company, numbering
between two hundred and fifty and two
hundred and eighty names, and that it
was not a secret organization. He ad
mitted that he drafted and presented a
set of resolutions, the first of which de
clared that “we will stand by and de
fend the South, and that under no cir
cumstances will we assume a position of
hostility to her interestsand the fourth,
that “we will act, in the event of the
withdrawal of Maryland and Virginia
from the Union, in such manner as
shall best secure ourselves and those
States from the evils of a foreign and
hostile government within and near their
borders.”
Cypriani Fernandini and O. K. Hil
lard of Baltimore testified that there were
military organizations in that city, num
bering, the latter believed, not less than
six thousand, whose object was to pre
vent armed bodies of men from passing
through Maryland to the capital. Philip
P. Dawson of Baltimore stated that he
had it from good authority that it was
their object also to make an attack upon
the capital and prevent the inauguration
of Mr. Lincoln.
General Scott’s testimony tended to
show that there was great concern for
the capital in almost every part of the
country. Many letters were received by
him daily, warning him to put the city
in a state of defence. Some of these
professed to give the plans of the con
spirators, and pointed out means of de
tection. He said: “These letters, from
the broad surface whence they come,
�1872-1
THE EARLY STAGES OF THE REBELLION.
either prove or seem to indicate a con
spiracy for one of two purposes at least
—either for mischief or creating alarm.”
One writer, signing “ Union,” from South
Carolina, concluded his letter, “Would
give my name, but if found out would
have to swing."
Governor Hicks on the 3d of January
issued an address to the people of Mary
land, in which he said: “I have been
repeatedly warned by persons having
the opportunity to know, and who are
entitled to the highest confidence, that
the secession leaders in Washington
have resolved that the Border States,
and especially Maryland, shall be pre
cipitated into secession with the Cotton
States before the 4th of March. They
have resolved to seize the Federal cap
ital and public archives, so that they
may be in a position to be acknowledged
by foreign governments as the United
States ; and the assent of Maryland is
necessary, as the District of Columbia
would revert to her in case of a dissolu
tion of the Union. . . . The plan con
templates forcible opposition to Mr. Lin
coln’s inauguration, and consequently
civil war upon Maryland soil, and a
transfer of its horrors from the States
which are to provoke it.” Again, there
had been some interviews as well as cor
respondence between the commissioners
of some of the Southern States and him
self; and Governor Hicks said that
much of the opinion he had formed in
regard to a contemplated movement
such as he had apprehended had grown
out of these interviews and other cor
roborative circumstances. One of these
commissioners, Judge Handy from Mis
sissippi, had said, among other things,
that Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Hamlin would
never be installed in office. He had
also received letters from several gentle
men, and verbal statements from others
in whom he had the fullest confidence,
all going to convince him that he was
not mistaken in his apprehensions, al
though he now thought that the hostile
organization referred to had probably
been disbanded. On the 14th of Feb
ruary the committee made their report,
in which they said: “ If the purpose was
407.
at any time entertained of forming an
organization, secret or open, to seize the
District of Columbia, attack the capital
or prevent the inauguration of Mr. Lin
coln, it seems to have been rendered
contingent upon the secession of either
Maryland or Virginia, or both, and the
sanction of those States.” They also
declared it as their unanimous opinion
that the evidence produced before them
did not prove the existence of a secret
organization, here or elsewhere, hostile
to the government, having for its object,
upon its own responsibility, an attack
upon the capital or any of the public
property here, or an interruption of any
of the functions of the government. I
nevertheless believe that it was the de
termination of the conspirators, if pos
sible, to take possession of the capital—a determination depending, it is quite
probable, on the secession of Virginia
and Maryland, both of which States they
hoped to see unite their fortunes with the
“Southern Confederacy.” But Mary
land did not come up to time : the flying
artillery was brought here, and it was
then too late to attempt a coup d'état
for the possession of the capital and the
public archives. Inasmuch as Mr. Bu
chanan refers to this subject in one of
his letters, which, with the exception of
a few words, I propose to give entire, I
will introduce it in this place. It will be
observed that he did not apprehend any
serious danger to the city, although he
acted wisely in ordering the troops here :
“Wheatland, 21st April, 1861.
“ My dear Sir : ... I presume, from
your letter to the ----- , we shall not
agree as to the existence of any serious
danger to the inauguration of Mr. Lin
coln on the 4th of March, 1861. The
truth is, when I first heard the reports
circulated in the early part of the pre
vious session, I kept my eye upon the
subject and had my own means of in
formation. I had no apprehensions of
danger for some time before the report
of the committee, but the stake was so
vast I yielded to the members of the
Cabinet, and ordered the troops to
Washington. Virginia was at the time
�408
THE EARLY STAGES OF THE REBELLION.
as loyal a State as any in the Union,
and the Peace Convention which she
originated was still in session. But we
need not discuss this question. . . .
Whilst, with you, I should be very un
willing to fall into line under-----------as a leader of the Democratic party, yet
I know I shall never be condemned to
such an ordeal. I am as firm and as
true a Democrat of the Jefferson and
Jackson school as I have ever been in
my life. The principles of Democracy
grew out of the Constitution of the United
States, and must endure as long as that
sacred instrument. I firmly believe that
the Federal government can only be
successfully administered on these prin
ciples ; and although I may not live to
see it, yet I shall live and die in the hope
that the party, purified and refined by
severe experience, will yet be triumph
ant. Whilst these are my opinions, I
obtrude them on no person, but, like
yourself, have withdrawn from party
politics. . . .
“Very respectfully, your friend,
“James Buchanan.”
But to return to the winter of 1861.
The contest in both houses was contin
ued daily, but I do not propose to recite
further what occurred there, except in
reference to a resolution which called
forth a report from the committee on
military affairs of the House, of which
the Hon. Benjamin Stanton of Ohio was
chairman; and I notice this report be
cause of the reference to it in the follow
ing letter from Mr. Buchanan :
“ Wheatland, near Lancaster, 12th November, 1861.
“My dear Sir: You will confer a
great favor upon me if you can obtain
a half dozen copies of Mr. Stanton’s re
port from the committee on military
affairs, made on the 18th of February,
1861 (No. 85), relative to the arms al
leged to have been stolen and sent to
the South by Floyd. This report, with
the remarks of Mr. Stanton when pre
senting it, ought to have put this matter
at rest, and it did so, I believe, so far as
Congress was concerned. It has, how
ever, been recently repeated by Cameron
and Reverdy Johnson and others, and I
[Apr.
desire these copies to send to different
parts of the Union, so that the falsehood
may be refuted by the record. I am no
further interested in the matter than that
if the charge were true it might argue a
want of care on my part. . . .
“ I learn from those who read Forney’s
Press that Stanton [Edwin M.J is the
counsel and friend of McClellan, who is,
I trust and hope, ‘ the coming man.’ . . .
“ I have materials put together which
will constitute, unless I am greatly mis
taken, not merely a good defence, but a
triumphant vindication, of my adminis
tration. You must not be astonished
some day to find in print portraits drawn
by myself of all those who ever served
in my Cabinet. I think I know them
all perfectly, unless it may be Stanton.
“From your friend, very respectfully,
“James Buchanan.”
A letter of somewhat earlier date refers
to a controversy between Mr. Holt and
Mr. Thompson :
“Wheatland, 18th September, 1861.
“My dear Sir: . . . You recollect
the correspondence between Mr. Holt
and Mr. Thompson. The last letter of
Mr. Thompson to Mr. Holt was publish
ed in the. tri-weekly National Intelli
gencer of March 19, 1861, and was dated
at Oxford on March nth. I should be
much obliged to you if you could pro
cure me a copy of this reply. . . .
“ How Mr. Holt came to be so far mis
taken in his letter of May 3’st to Ken
tucky as to state that the revolutionary
leaders greeted me with all-hails to my
face, I do not know. The truth is, that
after the message of the 3d of Decem
ber they were alienated from me, and
after I had returned the insolent letter
of the first South Carolina commission
ers to them I was attacked by Jefferson
Davis and his followers on the floor of
the Senate, and all political and social
intercourse between us ceased. Had
the Senate confirmed my nomination of
the 2d of January of a collector for the
port of Charleston, the war would proba
bly have commenced in January instead
of May.
“ I am collecting materials for history,
�1872.]
THE EARLY STAGES OF THE REBELLION.
409
any dissent from the order on the part
of the President, but because of a letter
received that day from Major Anderson,
stating in effect that he regarded him
self as secure in his position, and yet
more because of intelligence which late
on Saturday evening reached the De
partment that a heavy battery had been
erected among the sand-hills at the en
trance of Charleston harbor, which would
probably destroy any unarmed vessel
(and such was the “ Star of the West ”)
which might attempt to make its way up
to Fort Sumter. This important infor
Some time in the latter part of February mation satisfied the government that
or beginning of March, 1861, Mr. Thomp there was no present necessity for send
son had made a speech in Mississippi, ing reinforcements, and that when sent
in which he said, “ As I was writing my they should go not in a vessel of com
resignation I sent a despatch to Judge merce, but of war.
Longstreet that the ‘Star of the West’
Mr. Thompson responded March 1 ith,
was coming with reinforcements. The indignantly denying, not that he sent the
troops were thus put on their guard, and despatch, but that he acted on official in
when the ‘ Star of the West ’ arrived she formation, or that he had divulged any
received a warm welcome from booming Cabinet secret. He said, “On the morn
cannon, and soon beat a retreat. I was ing of the Sth [of January] the Constitu
rejoiced that the vessel was not sunk, tion newspaper contained a telegraphic
but I was still more rejoiced that the despatch from New York that the ‘ Star
concealed trick, first conceived by Gen of the West’ had sailed from that port
eral Scott and adopted by Secretary Holt, with two hundred and fifty soldiers on
but countermanded by the President board, bound for Fort Sumter. This
when too late, proved a failure.”
was the very first intimation I had re
Mr. Holt, quoting the above, wrote ceived from any quarter that additional
under the date ofi March 5th a scathing troops had been ordered to be sent.
letter to the editors of the Intelligencer, This information to me was not ‘ official
saying, “We have here a distinct and it was a fact conveyed with electric speed
exultant avowal, on the part of the hon to every part of the confederacy, known
orable Secretary, that while yet a mem to be true by every well-informed man
ber of the Cabinet he disclosed to those in the city of Washington as soon as
in open rebellion against the United known by me.”
States, information which he held under
In his letter of resignation he had in
the seals of a confidence that from the timated that the “Star of the West” ex
beginning of our history as a nation had pedition had been fitted out without his
never been violated.”
knowledge, in violation of an express
He went on to show, by correspond understanding; but the President in his
ence between Mr. Thompson and the reply denied this, saying that on Mon
President, that the sending of the “Star day, 31st December, he had suspended
of the West” was done with the Presi orders which had been issued by the
dent’s sanction and after full consulta War and Navy Departments to send
tion in the Cabinet—that the “counter the “ Brooklyn ” with reinforcements to
mand ” spoken of was not more cordial Fort Sumter, at the same time promising
ly sanctioned by the President than it that these orders should not be renewed
was by General Scott and himself; and without being previously considered and
the order countermanding the sailing decided in Cabinet. He proceeds : “ I
of that vessel was given, not because of called a special Cabinet meeting on
and I cannot find a note from Mr. Slidell
to myself, and my answer, on the very
proper removal of Beauregard from
West Point. I think I must have given
them to Mr. Holt. He was much pleased
with my answer at the time. If they
are in his possession, I should be glad
if you would procure me copies. They
are very brief. The ladies of Mr. S.’s
family never after looked near the White
House.
“From your friend, very respectfully,
"James Buchanan.”
�4io
THE EARLY STAGES OF THE REBELLION.
Wednesday, 2d January, 1861, in which
the question of sending reinforcements
to Fort Sumter was amply discussed
both by yourself and others. The de
cided majority was against you. At this
moment the answer of the South Car
olina * commissioners’ to my communi
cation of 31st December was received
and read. It produced much indigna
tion among the members of the Cabinet.
After a further brief conversation I em
ployed the following language : ‘ It is
now all over, and reinforcements must
be sent.’ Judge Black said, at the mo
ment of my decision, that after this let
ter the Cabinet would be unanimous,
and I heard no dissenting voice. . . .
You are certainly mistaken in saying
that ‘ no conclusion was reached.’ In
this your recollection is entirely different
from that of your oldest colleagues in the
Cabinet. Indeed, my language was so
unmistakable that the Secretaries of
War and the Navy proceeded to act
upon it without any further intercourse
with myself than what you heard or
might have heard me say.”
Finally, in Mr. Holt’s rejoinder to Mr.
Thompson’s, under date of 25th March,
he spoke of the absurdity of his (Mr.
T.’s) resigning his commission simply
on an anonymous telegraphic report,
adding that “such undoubted proofs [of
the correctness of the report] could have
been had on the 8th of January at
Washington only from the President,
members of the Cabinet, or others hav
ing confidential relations with the gov
ernment. ... So far as the moral as
pects of the question are concerned, I
deem it wholly unimportant whether the
information was derived from official or
private sources. In either case it was
alike his (Mr. T.’s) duty, as a faithful
officer, to have withheld it from those
who sought it at his hands for purposes
of hostile action against the government
of the United States.”
It is but fair toward Mr. Thompson to
say that personally he and the President
parted on perfectly friendly terms, al
though in the matter of this controversy
it is equally true that Mr. Buchanan did
not sustain him.
[Apr.
Next, as to the bearing of the seces
sionists toward President Buchanan. In
his stirring and patriotic letter of 31st
May, 1861, to J. F. Speed, Esq., of Ken
tucky, Mr. Holt held the following lan
guage : “The atrocious acts enumerated”
[the seizure of forts, arsenals, etc., and
the surrender of an entire military de
partment by a general to the keeping of
whose honor it had been confided —
meaning General Twiggs in Texas, who
was summarily dismissed by the order
of President Buchanan “for treachery to
the flag of his country”] “were acts of
war, and might all have been treated as
such by the late administration ; but the
President patriotically cultivated peace
—how anxiously and how patiently the
country well knows. While, however,
the revolutionary leaders greeted him
with all-hails to his face, they did not
the less diligently continue to whet their
swords behind his back. Immense mili
tary preparations were made, so that
when the moment for striking at the gov
ernment of the United States arrived, the
revolutionary States leaped into the con
test clad in full armor.”
One thing is certain : if the leaders in
the rebellion did not greet the President
“with albhails to his face,” they beset
him, many of them, to the last. Un
doubtedly there was less of perfect free
dom of communication between them
after his annual message of the 3d of
December, but they followed him up, and
sought to control his action to the extent
of their power, until his term expired.
And now about the removal of Major
Beauregard from West Point. I wish I
had the notes which passed between Mr.
Slidell and the President on the subject,
to insert here ; but as it appeared that
Mr. Holt could not find them among his
papers, it is to be feared they are lost.
It is amusing to observe that while the
Secretary of War was arranging to ship
some of his "big guns” to the South,
Mr. Senator Slidell was equally diligent
in having one at least transferred to a
most important position at the North ;
and both came to grief much in the same
way—by running against “Old Buck.”
If I am not mistaken, Major Beauregard,
�1872.]
THE EARLY STAGES OF THE REBELLION.
whose rank did not entitle him to the
appointment, had hardly more than
reached West Point before the order for
his removal was made by Secretary
Holt, then recently placed at the head
of the War Department, and Senator
Slidell doubtless thought, when he wrote
the President—as he did, I have reason
to believe, in an imperious manner—
that the latter would disavow the act of
removal and reinstate Major Beauregard,
So that he could have the opportunity of
teaching the cadets at West Point not
only how to shoot, “but where to shoot.”
Instead, however, of disavowing it, he no
doubt gave the Senator to understand,
in no equivocal language, that he as
President was responsible for it, proba
bly without saying whether the Secretary
brought the matter to his attention be
fore the order was made or not. This
of course was a fatal offence.
The same spirit was also manifested
in reference to the postal service. Be
fore speaking of this, however, I will
refer to one other fact connected with
the administration of the War Depart
ment. A short time before the with
drawal of the Florida Senators, they
made a communication, either to the
President or Secretary of War, request
ing to be advised as to the particulars
and extent of the armament of the gov
ernment fortifications in that State ! It
is hardly necessary to say that Secretary
Holt declined to furnish this information.
The ordinance of secession was pass
ed in Florida on the nth of January,
and her Senators withdrew about the 21st
of that month ; on which day the Postmaster-General made an order abolish
ing the post-office at Pensacola. As
soon as this became known, Mr. Yulee,
late Senator from that State, but now a
citizen of “the Southern Confederacy,”
called at the Post-office Department and
requested to see or be served with a copy
of the order of discontinuance. His re
quest was politely refused. I do not re
member whether it was on this occasion
or previously that he jocosely intimated
to the officer thus unmindful of his wishes
that a rope might some day not far dis
tant be serviceable to him ; but I well
411
recollect that officer replied that he would
esteem it a great favor then to be ele
vated in some position sufficiently com
manding to enable him to proclaim to
the whole country his opinion of seces
sion and its wicked abettors.*
There was another instance of like
character which occurs to me. A route
agent, by the name of West, on one of
the railroads in Virginia, having been
removed, the Hon. Albert G. Jenkins,
member of Congress from that State,
who was afterward killed at the head of
guerrillas in Western Virginia, demand
ed in writing to know distinctly and
specifically the grounds of his removal.
In this case the Postmaster-General was
more accommodating, and under date
of 2?d February replied that “ Mr. West
was removed for leaving his route with
out permission from the Department,
and actively engaging in a movement
the avowed object of which is to induce
the withdrawal of Virginia from the
Union. In other words, he was dis
charged for undertaking to destroy the
government from whose treasury he was
drawing the means of daily subsistence,
and whose Constitution he had solemnly
sworn to support.”
The postal service generally through*This order may still possess interest as an item of
history, and it is now for the first time brought to light,
as follows :
“ Whereas, an armed body of men from the State
of Alabama, acting under authority of its governor
and upon the invitation of the governor of Florida,
have taken possession of the navy-yard and of parts
of the forts of the harbor of Pensacola in the State of
Florida, and still retain them in defiance of the rights
of the government of the United States ; and whereas,
the officers and troops constituting the garrison of
Fort Pickens in said harbor, and who are citizens of
the United States and in the service of its government,
are by said armed body of men prevented from com
municating with the shore and with the post-office of
Pensacola ; and whereas, the Department has reliable
information that attempts on the part of said garrison
to correspond with the government at Washington
have been defeated by the intervention of said armed
force and by their lawless power over said post-office,
whereby its freedom and integrity have been destroy
ed; and whereas, it is neither just nor proper that a
post-office or postal service should be supported by
the government of the United States from the use of
which its own citizens, and those in its employment
and obeying its commands, are excluded by the usur
pations of the said governors, or by any other cause
whatever :—It is ordered that said post-office at Pen
sacola, in the State of Florida, be and the same is
hereby abolished.”
�412
THE EARLY STAGES OF THE REBELLION.
out the South was continued under the
direction of the government of the United
States up to the 31st May, 1861, when it
was suspended by a general order of the
Department. Meantime, all through the
winter the leaders of the rebellion were
making use of the mails, and those of
them in Congress of their franking priv
ilege also, to “fire up the Southern heart ”
and force the States into passing ordi
nances of secession, seizing the govern
ment property, etc. One Senator, whose
letter fell into loyal hands some time
during the war, wrote to his State under
date of January 5, 1861 : “I think by
the 4th of March all the Southern States
will be out, except, perhaps, Kentucky
and Missouri, and they will soon have
to follow. ... A strong government of
eight States, promptly organized, with
Jeff. Davis for general-in-chief, will bring
them to a realizing sense of the gravity
of the crisis. ... I shall give the enemy
a shot next week, before retiring. I say
enemy. Yes, I am theirs, and they are
mine. I am willing to be their master,
but not their brother.”
This is a fair representation of the
spirit manifested by the leading seces
sionists congregated in Washington dur
ing the winter and spring of 1861 ; and
when, on the 15th of April, the President
issued his call for seventy-five thousand
men, his demand was met by the gov
ernors of several of the Southern States
in the same spirit of bravado and de
fiance.
I have vivid recollections of the doubt
and gloom which pervaded the city for
days preceding the arrival of the first
troops called for by the President. Such,
at least, was the feeling among all those
here who had resolved to stand by the
government. Reports were rife that
rebel soldiers were moving on the Vir
ginia side of the river—that arms had
been sent forward for them ; and as the
passenger-boats were plying every hour
between Alexandria and Washington,
there was great fear that this means of
[Apr.
communication might be seized upon to
place a hostile military force suddenly
in our midst. Late one night I found
myself at the telegraph-office with my
friend, Ginery Twichell, now a repre
sentative in Congress from Massachu
setts, and so alarming were the reports
in reference to the movements of troops
near us in Virginia (who, it afterward
appeared, were on their way to take
Harper’s Ferry) that we sent to General
Scott an urgent request to stop the run
ning of the Alexandria boats. It was, I
think, on the following night that, being
again at the telegraph-office, Mr. Twich
ell received a despatch that another
Massachusetts regiment had reached
Havre de Grace; and we immediately
proceeded to communicate this informa
tion to General Scott. It was midnight
or after when we arrived at his lodgings,
and we were told that he had retired for
the night. Our message, however, was
conveyed to him, and in a few minutes,
clothed in his dressing-gown, he received
us in his office. Calm and commanding,
“he looked every inch a soldier,” yet it
was evident that he felt the deepest con
cern in view of the then threatening as
pect of affairs. His greatest anxiety at
that moment was for troops to protect
Fortress Monroe and Harper’s Ferry ;
and having called upon Massachusetts
for these, he requested Mr. Twichell to
urge Governor Andrew to hasten for
ward two regiments for the purpose—
the one for the former place to be sent
by the fastest steamer possible direct to
Old Point Comfort. This request was
complied with, and the Massachusetts
regiments for Fortress Monroe happily
arrived there on the 20th of April, just
in time to save that important post. Six
hours later, and it is believed it would
have been captured. As General Scott
apprehended, Harper’s Ferry fell into
the hands of the insurgents before the
Union troops could reach that point.
Horatio King.
it
�
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Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
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Title
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Reminiscences of the early stages of the rebellion
Creator
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King, Horatio
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [Philadelphia]
Collation: 403-412 p. ; 24 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. From Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, April. 1872. Attribution: Virginia Clark's catalogue. Printed in double columns.
Publisher
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[J. B. Lippincott & Co.]
Date
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{1872]
Identifier
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G5308
Subject
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USA
American Civil War
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Reminiscences of the early stages of the rebellion), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
American Civil War
Conway Tracts