Executive Chamber,
Harrisburg. April 30,
1861.
Gentlemen: —
THE PRESENT UNPARALLELED EXIGENCY in the affairs of our
country, has induced me to call you together at his time. With an actual and
armed rebellion in some of the States of the Union, momentous questions have
been thrust upon us which call for your deliberation, and that you should
devise means by legislation for the maintenance of the authority of the General
Government, the honor and dignity of our State, the protection of our citizens,
and the early establishment of peace and order throughout the land.
On the day of my induction into the Executive office, I took
occasion to utter the following sentiments:
“No one who knows the history of
Pennsylvania, and understands the opinions and feelings of her people, can
justly Charge us with hostility to our brethren of other States. We regard them
as friends and fellow-countrymen, in whose welfare we feel a kindred interest;
and we recognize, in their broadest extent, all our constitutional obligations
to them. These we are ready and willing to observe, generously and fraternally
in their letter and spirit, with unswerving fidelity.
“Ours is a National Government. It has
within the sphere of its action all the attributes of sovereignty, and among
these are the right and duty of self preservation. It is based upon a compact
to which all the people of the United States are parties. It is the result of
mutual concessions, which were made for the purpose of securing reciprocal
benefits. It acts directly on the people, and they owe it a personal
allegiance. No part of the people, no State nor combination of States, can
voluntarily secede from the Union, nor absolve themselves from their
obligations to it. To permit a Slate to withdraw at pleasure from the Union,
without the consent of the rest, is to confess that our Government is a
failure. Pennsylvania can never acquiesce in such a conspiracy, nor assent to a
doctrine which involves the destruction of the Government. If the Government is
to exist, all the requirements of the Constitution must be obeyed; and it must
have power adequate to the enforcement of the supreme law of the land in every
State. It is the first duty of the national authorities to stay the progress of
anarchy and enforce the laws, and Pennsylvania, with a united People, will give
them an honest, faithful and active support. The people mean to preserve the
integrity of the national Union, at every hazzard.”
It could scarcely have been anticipated at that time, that
we should so soon be called upon for the practical application of these truths
in connection with their support and defence by the strong arm of military
power.
The unexampled promptness and enthusiasm with which
Pennsylvania and the other loyal States have responded to the call of the
President, and the entire unanimity with which our people demand that the
integrity of the Government shall be preserved, illustrate the duty of the
Several State and National Governments with a distinctness that cannot be
disregarded. The slaughter of Northern troops in the city of Baltimore, for the
pretended offence of marching, at the call of the Federal Government,
peaceably, over soil admittedly in the Union, and with the ultimate object of
defending our common Capital against an armed and rebellious invasion, together
with the obstruction of our Pennsylvania troops when dispatched on the same
patriotic mission, imposes new duties and responsibilities upon our State
administration. At last advices the General Government had military possession
of the route to Washington through Annapolis; but the transit of troops had
been greatly endangered and delayed, and the safety of Washington itself imminently
threatened. This cannot be submitted to. Whether Maryland may profess to be
loyal to the Union or otherwise, there can be permitted no hostile soil, no
obstructed thoroughfare, between the States that undoubtedly are loyal and
their National seat of government. There is reason to hope that the route
through Baltimore may be no longer closed against the peaceable passage of our
people armed and in the service of the Federal Government. But we must be fully
assured of this, and have the uninterrupted enjoyment of a passage to the
Capital by any and every route essential to the purposes of the Government.
This must be attained, peaceably if possible, but by force of arms if not
accorded.
The time is past for temporizing or forbearing with this
rebellion; the most causeless in history. The North has not invaded, nor has
she sought to invade a single guarantied right of the South. On the contrary,
all political parties, and all administrations, have fully recognized the
binding force of every provision of the great compact between the States, and
regardless of our views of State policy, our people have respected them. To
predicate a rebellion, therefore, upon any alleged wrong, inflicted or sought
to be inflicted upon the South, is to offer falsehood as an apology for
treason. So will the civilized world and history judge this mad effort to
overthrow the most beneficent structure of human government ever devised by
man.
The leaders of the rebellion in the Cotton States, which has
resulted in the establishment of a provisional organization, assuming to
discharge all the functions of governmental power, have mistaken the
forbearance of the General Government; they have accepted a fraternal
indulgence as an evidence of weakness, and have insanely looked to a united
South, and a divided North to give success to the wild ambition that has led to
the seizure of our national arsenal and arms, the investment and bombardment of
our forts, the plundering of our mints, has invited piracy upon our commerce,
and now aims at the possession of the National Capital. The insurrection must
now be met by force of arms; and to re-establish the Government upon an
enduring basis, by asserting its entire supremacy, to re-possess the forts and
other Government property so unlawfully seized and held; to ensure personal
freedom and safety to the people and commerce of the Union in every section,
the people of the loyal States demand, as with one voice, and will contend for,
as with one heart; and a quarter of a million of Pennsylvania's sons will
answer the call to arms, if need be, to wrest us from a reign of anarchy and
plunder, and secure for themselves and their children, for ages to come, the
perpetuity of this Government and its beneficent institutions.
Entertaining these views, and anticipating that more troops
would be required than the number originally called for, I continued to receive
companies until we had raised twenty-three regiments in Pennsylvania, all of
which have been mustered into the service of the United States. In this
anticipation I was not mistaken. On Saturday last an additional requisition was
made upon me for twenty-five regiments of infantry and one regiment of cavalry;
and there have been already more companies tendered than will make up the
entire complement.
Before the regiments could be clothed, three of them were
ordered by the National Government to proceed from this point to Philadelphia.
I cannot too highly commend the patriotism and devotion of the men who, at a
moment's warning, and without any preparation, obeyed the order. Three of the
regiments, under similar circumstances, by direction of, and accompanied by
officers of the United States army, were transported to Cockeysville, near
Baltimore, at which point they remained for two days, and until by directions
of the General Government they were ordered back and went into camp at York,
where there are now five regiments. Three regiments mustered into service are
now encamped at Chambersburg, under orders from the General Government; and five
regiments are now in camp at this place, and seven have been organized and
mustered into service at Philadelphia.
The regiments at this place are still supplied by the
Commissary Department of the State. Their quarters are as comfortable as could
be expected, their supply of provisions abundant, and, under the instruction of
competent officers, they are rapidly improving in military knowledge and skill.
I have made arrangements to clothe all our regiments with the utmost dispatch
consistent with a proper economy, and am most happy to say that before the
close of the present week all our people now under arms will be abundantly
supplied with good and appropriate uniforms, blankets and other clothing.
Four hundred and sixty of our volunteers, the first to reach
Washington from any of the States, are now at that city; these are now provided
for by the General Government; but I design to send them clothing at the
earliest possible opportunity. I am glad to be able to state that these men, in
their progress to the National Capital, received no bodily injury, although
they were subjected to insult in the city of Baltimore, such as should not have
been offered to any law-abiding citizen, much less to loyal men, who, at the
call of the President, had promptly left their own State in the performance of
the highest duty, and in the service of their country.
A large body of unarmed men, who were not at the time
organized as a portion of the militia of this Commonwealth, under the command
of officers without commissions, attempted under the call of the National
Government, as I understand, to reach Washington, and were assaulted by armed
men in the city of Baltimore, many of their number were seriously wounded, and
four were killed. The larger part of this body returned directly to Philadelphia;
but many of them were forcibly detained in Baltimore; some of them were thrust
into prison, and others have not yet reached their homes.
I have the honor to say that the officers and men behaved
with the utmost gallantry. This body is now organized into a regiment, and the
officers are commissioned; they have been accepted into the service, and will
go to Washington by any route indicated by the Federal Government.
I have established a camp at Pittsburg, at which the troops
from Western Pennsylvania will be mustered into service, and organized and
disciplined by skillful and experienced officers.
I communicate to you with great satisfaction, the fact that
the banks of the Commonwealth have voluntarily tendered any amount of money
that may be necessary for the common defence and general welfare of the State
and the nation in this emergency; and the temporary loan of five hundred
thousand dollars authorized by the act of the General Assembly of the 17th
April, 1861, was promptly taken at par. The money is not yet exhausted; as it
has been impossible to have the accounts properly audited and settled with the
accounting and paying officers of the Government as required by law, an account
of this expenditure can not now be furnished. The Auditor General and State
Treasurer have established a system of settlement and payment, of which I
entirely approve, that provides amply for the protection of the State, and to
which all parties having claims will be obliged to conform.
A much larger sum will be required than has been
distinctively appropriated; but I could not receive nor make engagements for
money without authority of law, and I have called you together, not only to
provide for a complete re-organization of the militia of the State, but also
that you may give me authority to pledge the faith of the Commonwealth to
borrow such sums of money as you may, in your discretion, deem necessary for
these extraordinary requirements.
It is impossible to predict the lengths to which “the
madness that rules the hour” in the rebellious States shall lead us, or when
the calamities which threaten our hitherto happy country shall terminate. We
know that many of our people have already left the State in the service of the
General Government, and that many more must follow. We have a long line of
border on States seriously disaffected, which should be protected. To furnish ready
support to those who have gone out, and to protect our borders, we should have
a well regulated military force.
I, therefore recommend the immediate organization,
disciplining and arming of at least fifteen regiments of cavalry and infantry,
exclusive of those called into the service of the United States; as we have
already ample warning of the necessity of being prepared for any sudden
exigency that may arise, I cannot too much impress this upon you.
I cannot refrain from alluding to the generous manner in
which the people of all parts of the State have, from their private means,
provided for the families of those of our citizens who are now under arms. In
many parts of the Commonwealth, grand juries, and courts and municipal
corporations have recommended the appropriations of moneys from their public
funds, for the same commendable purpose. I would recommend the passage of an
act legalizing and authorizing such appropriations and expenditures.
It may be expected that, in the present derangement of trade
and commerce, and the withdrawal of so much industry from its ordinary and
productive channels, the selling value of property generally will be
depreciated, and a large portion of our citizens deprived of the ordinary means
of meeting engagements. Although much forbearance may be expected from a
generous and magnanimous people, yet I feel it my duty to recommend the passage
of a judicious law to prevent the sacrifice of property by forced sales in the
collection of debts.
You meet together at this special session, surrounded by
circumstances involving the most solemn responsibilities; the recollections of
the glories of the past, the reflections of the gloomy present, and the
uncertainty of the future, all alike call upon you to discharge your duty in a
spirit of patriotic courage, comprehensive wisdom and firm resolution. Never in
the history of our peace-loving Commonwealth have the hearts of our people been
so stirred in their depths as at the present moment. And, I feel, that I need
hardly say to you, that in the performance of your duties on this occasion, and
in providing the ways and means for the maintenance of our country's glory and
our integrity as a nation, you should be inspired by feelings of self-sacrifice,
kindred to those which animate the brave men who have devoted their lives to
the perils of the battle-field, in defence of our nation's flag.
Gentlemen, I place the honor of the State in your hands. And
I pray that the Almighty God who protected our fathers in their efforts to
establish this our great constitutional liberty — who has controlled the growth
of civilization and Christianity in our midst, may not now forsake us; that He
may watch over your counsels, and may, in His providence, lead those who have
left path of duty, and are acting in open rebellion to the Government, back
again to perfect loyalty, and restore peace, harmony and fraternity to our
distracted country.
A. G. CURT1N.
SOURCE: George Edward Reed, Editor, Pennsylvania
Archives, Fourth Series, Papers of the Governors, Volume 8, p. 371-9
