Diary of 1st Lieutenant Luman Harris Tenney: Monday, November 21, 1864

Out before daylight and moved at 6 A. M., 2nd and 3rd Divisions. A rainy, cold, disagreeable day. Camped just beyond Woodstock.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 135

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Luman Harris Tenney: Tuesday, November 22, 1864

Went on to Mt. Jackson and found the whole of Early's army posted two miles beyond. Quite lively skirmishing. 2nd Ohio in rear at the creek. Had charge of 3rd Battalion, broken as soon as rebs charged through town. Colors in front. Charged back several times. Infantry kept close on heels of the cavalry. Lyons, poor boy, is missing. Camped on old ground at Woodstock. A very cold night.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 135

Susan Hale to Lucretia P. Hale, Sunday, July 19, 1863

Waumbek, July 19 (That's Sunday), 1863.

Dear Creesh, — Muchly refreshed was I by your letter this morning, — especially at last to hear something about the Brookline draft. The papers are rigorously silent thereupon. Dan Dwight! Curious that family should be so heavily drawn upon. . . .

But let us leave these scenes, as I did yestermorn, and, my sister, fly with me down the road to Stillins's, through the woods and out on the New Gorham Road, take your right turn, about two miles, till you come on to the Cherry Mountain Road, and so home across the meadows and up the hill. About nine miles in all, and took all the morning, stopping to sketch and eat raspberries. For if you should wish a short description of the wood-road by Stillins's, I could give it to you in one word — viz.: Raspberries. They are just this minute ripe; the strawberries being just this minute gone, but the Rasps are even more tempting, being less breakback to cull, and such a flavour! The sun kept coming out, and it kept raining; the more it shone, the more it rained, — but by the time I came home it was hot and sultry, and sunny, and dried up my drabbled skirts for the second or third time on the excursion. Such a wood-road, narrow cart-path, grassy, and hung with raspberry bushes. Israel's River rushing and tumbling alongside, brawling over the stones, — the ground carpeted with Linnaea—(just done blossoming), — little Oxalis, Pyrola, and all matter of moss and greenness, everything dripping with recent showers, and so sweet-smelling. Then when you get out on the meadows, great yellow lilies nod their heads, quantities of Orchio, Rue, and Lysimachia, — a lovely broad meadow, with the river through it and its pretty bridge, belted with woods, and crowned by Cherry Mountain.

In the afternoon, my legs aching a little, I snoozed and dressed lazily, arranged my flowers in a big glass pitcher which dear Ma Plaisted provided me and Margy with, and carried 'em into the parlour, where they were, as usual, much admired by “our little circle.” After tea it was so beautiful on the piazza everybody congregated there for a long time; we wound up with Psalmody in the parlour. You will be surprised to learn that Mrs. Thompson and I are the Choir. She has a very sweet voice, and plays readily. We have no books, but between us have thought of all the old things you ever conceived of; and draw tears (?) from the eyes of the audience with “Oft in the stilly,” “Ave Sanctissima,” etc. Mr. Frothingham (middle-aged gent, here with wife, I don't know what sort) joined last night, and we had some very good Brattle Street, etc. — everybody being thunder-struck at last to find it was nearly eleven o'clock! . . . Love to all,

Yrs.,

SUSE.

SOURCE: Caroline P. Atkinson, Letters Of Susan Hale, p. 14-15

Official Reports of the Campaign in North Alabama and Middle Tennessee, November 14, 1864 — January 23, 1865: No. 102. Report of Col. Charles S. Parrish, One hundred and thirtieth Indiana Infantry, of operations December 15-16, 1864.

No. 102.

Report of Col. Charles S. Parrish, One hundred and thirtieth Indiana Infantry, of operations December 15-16, 1864.

HEADQUARTERS 130TH INDIANA INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS,    

Columbia, Tenn., December 22, 1864.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by my command during the operations of the 15th and 16th instant:

On the morning of the 15th I was ordered into line a few rods outside of the works surrounding Nashville, supported on the right by the Twenty-fifth Regiment Michigan Infantry, on the left by the Sixth Tennessee Infantry. After marching some four miles toward the Hardin pike and crossing the same, formed in line of battle and commenced moving down a steep hill toward the enemy's line; when near the foot of the hill the enemy were observed in the act of planting artillery on a hill directly in our front, which soon opened on the line of the First Brigade, when, without any definite orders for that purpose, the whole line commenced moving rapidly and with enthusiasm toward the rebel guns. Owing to the rapid and difficult marching during the morning the line was not kept very perfect, yet the crest of the hill was gained and the pieces — three in number — captured by the First Brigade and a small number of dismounted cavalry. During this affair the following enlisted men of my command were killed and wounded.*

I was then ordered forward to the next hill, and ordered to throw up works, which was done, and skirmishers thrown out At 10 p.m. was ordered to report with my command to Captain Milholland, and by him instructed to throw up another line of works fronting directly toward the south, supported on the left by the One hundred and twenty-ninth Regiment Indiana Infantry Volunteers Second Brigade, Second Division, and on the right by the One hundred and twenty-eighth Regiment Indiana Volunteers, [Third] Brigade, Third Division, Twenty-third Army Corps. I remained in this position within range of the enemy's guns until late in the afternoon of the 16th instant, when ordered to move; marched three miles in line of battle; crossed the Granny White pike, and camped on the farm of W. McCormack Lea, where we remained until the morning of the 17th of December.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

C. S. PARRISH,        

Colonel, Commanding 130th Indiana Volunteer Infantry.

 Capt. T. C. HONNELL.

_______________

* Nominal list (omitted) shows 1 man killed and 9 wounded.

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. 93), p. 372-3

Commissioners of the State of South Carolina to James Buchanan, January 1, 1861

Washington, D. C,

January 1st, 1861.

Sir: We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 30th December, in reply to a note addressed by us to you on the 28th of the same month, as Commissioners from South Carolina.

In reference to the declaration with which your reply commences, that “your position as President of the United States was clearly defined in the Message to Congress of the 3d instant,” that you possess “no power to change the relations heretofore existing” between South Carolina and the United States, “much less to acknowledge the independence of that State;” and that, consequently, you could meet us only as private gentlemen of the highest character, with an entire willingness to communicate to Congress any proposition we might have to make, we deem it only necessary to say, that the State of South Carolina having, in the exercise of that great right of self-government which underlies all our political organizations, declared herself sovereign and independent, we, as her representatives, felt no special solicitude as to the character in which you might recognize us. Satisfied that the State had simply exercised her unquestionable right, we were prepared, in order to reach substantial good, to waive the formal considerations which your constitutional scruples might have prevented you from extending. We came here, therefore, expecting to be received as you did receive us, and perfectly content with that entire willingness of which you assured us, to submit any proposition to Congress which we might have to make upon the subject of the independence of the State. That willingness was ample recognition of the condition of public affairs which rendered our presence necessary. In this position, however, it is our duty, both to the State which we represent and to ourselves, to correct several important misconceptions of our letter into which you have fallen.

You say, “It was my earnest desire that such a disposition might be made of the whole subject by Congress, who alone possesses the power to prevent the inauguration of a civil war between the parties in regard to the possession of the federal forts in the harbor of Charleston; and I, therefore, deeply regret that, in your opinion, ‘the events of the last twenty-four hours render this impossible.’” We expressed no such opinion, and the language which you quote as ours, is altered in its sense by the omission of a most important part of the sentence. What we did say was: “But the events of the last twenty-four hours render such an assurance impossible.” Place that “assurance” as contained in our letter, in the sentence, and we are prepared to repeat it.

Again, professing to quote our language, you say:— “Thus the authorities of South Carolina, without waiting or asking for any explanation, and, doubtless, believing, as you have expressed it, that the officer had acted not only without, but against my orders,” &c. We expressed no such opinion in reference to the belief of the people of South Carolina. The language which you have quoted, was applied solely and entirely to our assurance, obtained here, and based, as you well know, upon your own declaration — a declaration which, at that time, it was impossible for the authorities of South Carolina to have known. But, without following this letter into all its details, we propose only to meet the chief points of the argument.

Some weeks ago, the State of South Carolina declared her intention, in the existing condition of public affairs, to secede from the United States. She called a Convention of her people, to put her declaration in force. The Convention met, and passed the Ordinance of Secession. All this you anticipated, and your course of action was thoroughly considered. In your annual message, you declared you had no right, and would not attempt, to coerce a seceding State, but that you were bound by your constitutional oath, and would defend the property of the United States within the borders of South Carolina, if an attempt was made to take it by force. Seeing very early that this question of property was a difficult and delicate one, you manifested a desire to settle it without collision. You did not reinforce the garrisons in the harbor of Charleston. You removed a distinguished and veteran officer from the command of Fort Moultrie, because he attempted to increase his supply of ammunition. You refused to send additional troops to the same garrison when applied for by the officer appointed to succeed him. You accepted the resignation of the oldest and most eminent member of your Cabinet, rather than allow these garrisons to be strengthened. You compelled an officer stationed at Fort Sumter, to return immediately to the Arsenal, forty muskets which he had taken to arm his men. You expressed not to one, but to many, of the most distinguished of our public characters, whoso testimony will be placed upon the record, whenever it is necessary, your anxiety for a peaceful termination of this controversy, and your willingness not to disturb the military status of the forts, if Commissioners should be sent to the Government, whose communications you promised to submit to Congress. You received and acted on assurances from the highest official authorities of South Carolina, that no attempt would be made to disturb your possession of the forts and property of the United States, if you would not disturb their existing condition until Commissioners had been sent, and the attempt to negotiate had failed. You took from the members of the House of Representatives, a written memorandum that no such attempt should be made, “provided that no reinforcements shall be sent into those forts, and their relative military status shall remain as at present.” And, although you attach no force to the acceptance of such a paper, although you “considered it as nothing more in effect than the promise of highly honorable gentlemen,” as an obligation on one side without corresponding obligation on the other, it must be remembered (if we are rightly informed) that you were pledged, if you ever did send reinforcements, to return it to those from whom you had received it before you executed your resolution. You sent orders to your officers, commanding them strictly to follow a line of conduct in conformity with such an understanding.

Beside all this, you had received formal and official notice from the Governor of South Carolina, that we had been appointed Commissioners, and were on our way to Washington. You knew the implied condition under which we came; our arrival was notified to you, and an hour appointed for an interview. We arrived in Washington on Wednesday, at three o'clock, and you appointed an interview with us at one the next day. Early on that day, Thursday, the news was received here of the movement of Major Anderson. That news was communicated to you immediately, and you postponed our meeting until half-past two o'clock, on Friday, in order that you might consult your Cabinet. On Friday we saw you, and we called upon you then to redeem your pledge. You could not deny it. With the facts we have stated, and in the face of the crowning and conclusive fact, that your Secretary of War had resigned his seat in the Cabinet, upon the publicly avowed ground that the action of Major Anderson had violated the pledged faith of the Government, and that unless the pledge was instantly redeemed, he was dishonored; denial was impossible; you did not deny it. You do not deny it now, but you seek to escape from its obligation on two grounds: 1st, That we terminated all negotiation by demanding, as a preliminary, the withdrawal of the United States troops from the harbor of Charleston; and 2d, That the authorities of South Carolina, instead of asking explanation, and giving you the opportunity to vindicate yourself, took possession of other property of the United States. We will examine both.

In the first place, we deny positively, that we have ever, in any way, made any such demand. Our letter is in your possession; it will stand by this on the record. In it, we inform you of the objects of our mission. We say that it would have been our duty to have assured you of our readiness to commence negotiations with the most earnest and anxious desire to settle all questions between us amicably, and to our mutual advantage, but that events had rendered that assurance impossible. We stated the events, and we said that, until some satisfactory explanation of these events was given us, we could not proceed, and then, having made this request for explanation, we added, “and, in conclusion, we would urge upon you the immediate withdrawal of the troops from the harbor of Charleston. Under present circumstances they are a standing menace, which renders negotiation impossible,” &c. “Under present circumstances!” What circumstances? Why, clearly, the occupation of Fort Sumter, and the dismantling of Fort Moultrie by Major Anderson, in the face of your pledges, and without explanation or practical disavowal. And there is nothing in the letter, which would or could have prevented you from declining to withdraw the troops, and offering the restoration of the status to which you were pledged, if such had been your desire. It would have been wiser and better, in our opinion, to have withdrawn the troops, and this opinion we urged upon you, but we demanded nothing but such an explanation of the events of the last twenty-four hours as would restore our confidence in the spirit with which the negotiation should be conducted. In relation to this withdrawal of the troops from the harbor, we are compelled, however, to notice one passage of your letter. Referring to it, you say: “This I cannot do. This I will not do. Such an idea was never thought of by me in any possible contingency. No allusion to it had ever been made in any communication between myself and any human being.”

In reply to this statement, we are compelled to say, that your conversation with us left upon our minds the distinct impression that you did seriously contemplate the withdrawal of the troops from Charleston harbor. And, in support of this impression, we would add that we have the positive assurance of gentlemen of the highest possible public reputation, and the most unsullied integrity — men whose name and fame, secured by long service and patriotic achievement, place their testimony beyond cavil — that such suggestions had been made to, and urged upon you by them, and had formed the subject of more than one earnest discussion with you. And it was this knowledge that induced us to urge upon you a policy which had to recommend it, its own wisdom and the weight of such authority. As to the second point, that the authorities of South Carolina, instead of asking explanations, and giving you the opportunity to vindicate yourself, took possession of other property of the United States, we would observe, 1st. That, even if this were so, it does not avail you for defence, for the opportunity for decision was afforded you before these facts occurred. We arrived in Washington on Wednesday. The news from Major Anderson reached here early on Thursday, and was immediately communicated to you. All that day, men of the highest consideration — men who had striven successfully to lift you to your great office — who had been your tried and true friends through the troubles of your administration — sought you, and entreated you to act — to act at once. They told you that every hour complicated your position. They only asked you to give the assurance that, if the facts were so — that, if the commander had acted without, and against your orders, and in violation of your pledges, that you would restore the status you had pledged your honor to maintain.

You refused to decide. Your Secretary at War — your immediate and proper adviser in this whole matter — waited anxiously for your decision, until he felt that delay was becoming dishonor. More than twelve hours passed, and two Cabinet meetings had adjourned before you knew what the authorities of South Carolina had done, and your prompt decision at any moment of that time, would have avoided the subsequent complications. But if you had known the acts of the authorities of South Carolina, should that have prevented your keeping your faith? What was the condition of things? For the last sixty days, you have had in Charleston harbor, not force enough to hold the 2 forts against an equal enemy. Two of them were empty; one of those two, the most important in the harbor. It could have been taken at any time. You ought to know better than any man, that it would have been taken, but for the efforts of those who put their trust in your honor. Believing that they were threatened by Fort Sumter especially, the people were, with difficulty, restrained from securing, without blood, the possession of this important fortress. After many and reiterated assurances given on your behalf, which we cannot believe unauthorized, they determined to forbear, and in good faith sent on their Commissioners to negotiate with you. They meant you no harm; wished you no ill. They thought of you kindly, believed you true, and were willing, as far as was consistent with duty, to spare you unnecessary and hostile collision. Scarcely had their Commissioners left, than Major Anderson waged war. — No other words will describe his action. It was not a peaceful change from one fort to another; it was a hostile act in the highest sense — one only justified in the presence of a superior enemy, and in imminent peril. He abandoned his position, spiked his guns, burned his gun-carriages, made preparations for the destruction of his post, and withdrew under cover of the night to a safer position. This was war. No man could have believed (without your assurance) that any officer could have taken such a step, “not only without orders, but against orders.” What the State did, was in simple self-defence; for this act, with all its attending circumstances, was as much war as firing a volley; and war being thus begun, until those commencing it explained their action, and disavowed their intention, there was no room for delay; and, even at this moment, while we are writing, it is more than probable, from the tenor of your letter, that reinforcements are hurrying on to the conflict, so that when the first gun shall be fired, there will have been, on your part, one continuous consistent series of actions commencing in a demonstration essentially warlike, supported by regular reinforcement, and terminating in defeat or victory. And all this without the slightest provocation; for, among the many things which you have said, there is one thing you cannot say — you have waited anxiously for news from the seat of war, in hopes that delay would furnish some excuse for this precipitation. But this “tangible evidence of a design to proceed to a hostile act, on the part of the authorities of South Carolina,” (which is the only justification of Major Anderson,) you are forced to admit “has not yet been alleged.” But you have decided. You have resolved to hold by force what you have obtained through our misplaced confidence, and by refusing to disavow the action of Major Anderson, have converted his violation of orders into a legitimate act of your Executive authority. Be the issue what it may, of this we are assured, that, if Fort Moultrie has been recorded in history as a memorial of Carolina gallantry, Fort Sumter will live upon the succeeding page as an imperishable testimony of Carolina faith.

By your course, you have probably rendered civil war inevitable. Be it so. If you choose to force this issue upon us, the State of South Carolina will accept it, and, relying upon Him who is the God of justice as well as the God of hosts, will endeavor to perform the great duty which lies before her, hopefully, bravely and thoroughly.

Our mission being one for negotiation and peace, and your note leaving us without hope of a withdrawal of the troops from Fort Sumter, or of the restoration of the status quo existing at the time of our arrival, and intimating, as we think, your determination to reinforce the garrison in the harbor of Charleston, we respectfully inform you that we propose returning to Charleston on to-morrow afternoon.

We have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully,

Your obedient servants,

R. W. BARNWELL,

J. H. ADAMS,

JAMES L. ORR.

Commissioners.

To his Excellency, the President

of the United States.

[Endorsement.]

Executive Mansion,

3½ o'clock, Wednesday.

This paper, just presented to the President, is of such a character that he declines to receive it.

SOURCE: The Correspondence Between the Commissioners of the State of So. Ca. to the Government at Washington and the President of the United States, p. 12-20

Amos A. Lawrence Congressman Solomon G. Haven, between Spring & September 1856

A friend of mine, Dr. Charles Robinson, one of the noblest men I ever knew, is at this moment a prisoner, guarded by the troops of the Federal Government, though he has done nothing but what you or I would have been proud to do. He is not only a patriot, but he is a lover of the constitution and the laws. In order to save him from trouble, I have taken for him, from the commencement, the highest legal advice in Massachusetts, and he has followed it.

SOURCE: William Lawrence, Life of Amos A. Lawrence: With Extracts from His Diary and Correspondence, p. 110

Thomas Wentworth Higginson, November 22,1859

November 22, 1859

I send you two sweet letters from Mrs. Brown and her married daughter, Mrs. Thompson. Money seems to be flowing for them from all directions, and that is something, because, besides their severe bereavements, they greatly need money: though not so totally destitute as many seem to think. I have had some queer letters about them, one from a man in Winchendon offering to adopt one of the daughters and teach her telegraphy.

The whole thing is having a tremendous influence on public sentiment.

SOURCE: Mary Potter Thacher Higginson, Editor, Letters and Journals of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 1846-1906, p. 87-8

George L. Stearns to Samuel Gridley Howe, December 23, 1860

[December 23, 1860.]

Dear Friend:

Yours of 20th is at hand. I will see the persons you have named and be ready to report as soon as I have returned home. Stone, I have no doubt, will be an acquisition of great value, but we shall want an editor of equal ability. Some persons here say that we must have $10,000 pledged to secure success, and my present plan is to pay a manager and editor each a moderate salary and one-half the profits, the other half to go to the guaranty fund, or be used in extending the paper. To succeed we must play a bold game. Andrew appears as well as usual. We are having a right good time. You will see all the Washington gossip in the papers before this reaches you, and I shall only give the impression it has made on me, which is that if any Republican members vote for concession or compromise they are politically dead. If a majority of the party vote for it, the party is dead. I have to-day seen a number of leading men and all their talk was a resolution for the impeachment of the President.

We are told Lincoln says no friend of his will propose either dissolution or concession. Wilson says: “They meet us with long faces, and we laugh at them and tell them to go.” In the Senate Committee of Thirteen, all the Republicans voted against the compromises; which, as there would be no compromise without them, was understood to be fatal. When they came to the Fugitive Slave Law, Wade told them that, as they were going out of the Union, there was no need of voting on that, for it would then die of itself. If this goes on much further I think we may expect the immediate abolition of slavery, even if it requires an ocean of blood. If war with the Cotton States comes, I am sure of it.

Yours faithfully,

George L. Stearns.

SOURCE: Preston Stearns, The Life and Public Services of George Luther Stearns, p. 237-8

Samuel Gridley Howe to Horace Mann, January 23, 1851

Boston, Jan. 23rd, 1851.

My Dear Mann: — I am very unfortunate in my attempts to correspond with you. I wrote a long letter last night and left it at South Boston, and it is now too late to get it for the mail. It was perhaps of no consequence, but explained a little the awkward and unfortunate chain of untoward events which have defeated Sumner's election.

On the first ballot to-day Sumner lacked five of the record he gained; they are now on the third, and I shall know the result before long.

The excitement here is intense: the pressure upon the waverers enormous. There are at least a score of Whigs voting for Winthrop who in their souls long to see Sumner elected, only their souls are not their own.

Our friends are very much encouraged to-day about the result: I am not. There are Democrats, I fear, who have voted for Sumner because they thought to save their pledge and do no harm to their party, but who will start back at the last pinch. I was in hopes they would be rebuked by the thunder of popular indignation at home, last Saturday and Sunday, but it is not so. The truth is that though the sentiments of the Democratic masses point in the right direction when let alone, they will not be let alone by the leaders, nor by their own prejudices. They would plunge the country in war and go to the death, to rescue three hundred white Americans from Indian, Russian or Algerian bondage, — but as for three million black Americans, why “damn 'em! good enough for them!” They have no business to be speckled, as the man said when he agreed to spare all snakes but the speckled ones.

3 o'clock. Third ballot taken — Sumner still in the vocative. He seems to be the least interested man among us. Oh for five men like Downer, — to work outside: they could carry Sumner through.

Park Street and Beacon are sweating blood: grant they may sweat to death!

Ever yours in haste,

S. G. Howe.

SOURCE: Laura E. Richards, Editor, Letters and Journals of Samuel Gridley Howe, Volume 2, p. 334-5

From The Louisiana Democrat, November, 1859

Over fifty applicants for cadetships have been received and warrants issued for them. This, with other appointments, will insure an opening number of about seventy-five, and we feel confident that ere this session shall have closed the buildings will be filled. There were some misgivings, early in the fall, that the State Seminary would not be ready to commence operation on the first of January, but it is now settled, and everything is prepared that the institution will open on the day mentioned.

[The faculty] have been selected from over eighty applicants marked for distinguished merit and ability, and, as far as we are competent to judge from a short personal acquaintance, we honestly assure all parents, guardians, or others who may have charge of the education of youth, that if their sons or wards are placed in the State Seminary, if they are capable, they will be returned to them thorough scholars.

We would also, in this connection, disabuse the public, or at least a portion of it, of the idea that a school organized upon a military basis must needs make only soldiers. It is a false notion that because a youth is compelled to be methodical, to learn to obey, and at the same time, keep his self-respect, that all this is to be done at the sacrifice of time which should be devoted to study. A military school differs from other colleges, in a single, but very material particular, only: the time which is generally given up to the student to be used in any manner his natural proclivities may suggest is, in the State Seminary, economized in the shape of military duty, and though it may at first work a little harsh, yet after a time, with a proper thinking youth, it becomes a pleasure, and as it does not in any measure interfere with his scholastic duties, we do not see why any objection could or should be made against it-certainly it does not detract from the merits of any gentleman to be considered to have a savoir faire in the matter of handling arms.

The late events¹ which have, in some degree, agitated the public mind certainly indicate the necessity of each slave-holding state encouraging and supporting at least one military school within its own limits. We know that others of the Southern States have made it a matter of such consideration that these institutions are looked upon as a chief feature in their defensive material. Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and of late Missouri have all appropriated certain sums for the establishment of like institutions and in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee these schools have for a period of years been working with complete success.

If we admit the facts, and certainly we can consistently do so, where they are self-evident, that such establishments are necessary and that the terms of scholar and soldier are not incompatible, then the success of our State Seminary is no problem. . .

The plan upon which the State Seminary is to be worked is so methodical that it will be found to be the cheapest school in the country. We don't mean cheapest in an immediate dollar and cent signification, but cheapest because of the paramount advantages it offers. A youth's time is so regulated that dissolute and expensive habits cannot be contracted. Expensive dress, dogs, horses, billiards, etc., will certainly be myths with a cadet at the State Seminary, and parents will find that in the end they will have saved a considerable item in this particular. In most colleges, the modern languages, drawing, book-keeping, etc., are charged as extras . . . which when paid for as such at the termination of a four years' course, will be found to amount to quite one-third of the regular tuition. . . The particular location of the school, three miles from this place, is a matter of some moment. The cadets cannot be subjected to the malarious influences of the low lands of the river, as the buildings are situated on an elevated stretch of table land, surrounded by a healthy growth of pine forest, together with the best of water. There cannot be any possible chance of an epidemic reaching any of its inmates; though we may be visited, as any part of the state is more or less liable, by an epidemic disease, still we confidently believe that with anything like consistent precaution the State Seminary will always escape. . .

_______________

¹ The John Brown raid into Virginia. — Ed.

SOURCES: The article is abstracted in Walter L. Fleming’s, General W.T. Sherman as College President, p. 66-8

John Brown to Mary Ann Day Brown, November 16, 1859

Charlestown, Jefferson County, Va., Nov. 16, 1859.

My Dear Wife, — I write you in answer to a most kind letter of November 13 from dear Mrs. Spring. I owe her ten thousand thanks for her kindness to you particularly, and more especially than for what she has done and is doing in a more direct way for me personally. Although I feel grateful for every expression of kindness or sympathy towards me, yet nothing can so effectually minister to my comfort as acts of kindness done to relieve the wants or mitigate the sufferings of my poor distressed family. May God Almighty and their own consciences be their eternal rewarders! I am exceedingly rejoiced to have you make the acquaintance and be surrounded by such choice friends, as I have long known by reputation some of those to be with whom you are staying. I am most glad to have you meet with one of a family (or I would rather say of two families) most beloved and never to be forgotten by me. I mean dear gentle ——. Many and many a time have she, her father, mother, brother, sisters, uncle, and aunt, like angels of mercy, ministered to the wants of myself and of my poor sons, both in sickness and health. Only last year I lay sick for quite a number of weeks with them, and was cared for by all as though I had been a most affectionate brother or father. Tell her that I ask God to bless and reward them all forever. “I was a stranger, and they took me in.” It may possibly be that would like to copy this letter, and send it to her home. If so, by all means let her do so. I would write them if 1 had the power.

Now let me say a word about the effort to educate our daughters. I am no longer able to provide means to help towards that object, and it therefore becomes me not to dictate in the matter. I shall gratefully submit the direction of the whole thing to those whose generosity may lead them to undertake in their behalf, while I give anew a little expression of my own choice respecting it. You, my wife, perfectly well know that I have always expressed a decided preference for a very plain but perfectly practical education for both sons and daughters. I do not mean an education so very miserable as that you and I received in early life; nor as some of our children enjoyed. When I say plain but practical, I mean enough of the learning of the schools to enable them to transact the common business of life comfortably and respectably, together with that thorough training to good business habits which best prepares both men and women to be useful though poor, and to meet the stem realities of life with a good grace. You well know that I always claimed that the music of the broom, wash-tub, needle, spindle, loom, axe, scythe, hoe, flail, etc., should first be learned at all events, and that of the piano, etc., afterwards. I put them in that order as most conducive to health of body and mind; and for the obvious reason, that after a life of some experience and of much observation, I have found ten women as well as ten men who have made their mark in life right, whose early training was of that plain, practical kind, to one who had a more popular and fashionable early training. But enough of that.

Now, in regard to your coming here. If you feel sure that you can endure the trials and the shock which will be unavoidable (if you come), I should be most glad to see you once more; but when I think of your being insulted on the road, and perhaps while here, and of only seeing your wretchedness made complete, I shrink from it. Your composure and fortitude of mind may be quite equal to it all; but I am in dreadful doubt of it. If you do come, defer your journey till about the 27th or 28th of this month. The scenes which you will have to pass through on coming here will be anything but those you now pass, with tender, kind-hearted friends, and kind faces to meet you everywhere. Do consider the matter well before you make the plunge. I think I had better say no more on this most painful subject. My health improves a little; my mind is very tranquil, I may say joyous, and I continue to receive every kind attention that I have any possible need of. I wish you to send copies of all my letters to all our poor children. What I write to one must answer for all, till I have more strength. I get numerous kind letters from friends in almost all directions, to encourage me to “be of good cheer,” and I still have, as I trust, “the peace of God to rule in my heart.” May God, for Christ's sake, ever make his face to shine on you all!

Your affectionate husband,

John Brown.

SOURCES: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 591-3

John Atkinson, September 4, 1854

ST. CATHARINES, Sept. 4th.

DEAR SIR: — I now embrace this favorable opportunity of writing you a few lines to inform you that I am quite well and arrived here safe, and I hope that these few lines may find you and your family the same. I hope you will intercede for my clothes and as soon as they come please to send them to me, and if you have not time, get Dr. Lundy to look out for them, and when they come be very careful in sending them. I wish you would copy off this letter and give it to the Steward, and tell him to give it to Henry Lewy and tell him to give it to my wife. Brother sends his love to you and all the family and he is overjoyed at seeing me arrive safe, he can hardly contain himself; also he wants to see his wife very much, and says when she comes he hopes you will send her on as soon as possible. Jerry Williams’ love, together with all of us. I had a message for Mr. Lundy, but I forgot it when I was there. No more at present, but remain your ever grateful and sincere friend,

John Atkinson.

SOURCE: William Still, The Underground Railroad: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters &c., p. 300

Salmon P. Chase to Judge Milton Sutliff,* May 1, 1861

Private.

Treasury Department,         

May 1, 1861.

My Dear Judge: I thank you for your letter. The response of the States to the appeal of the Government is, indeed, most gratifying. Maryland, you will see, is rapidly returning to her loyalty. Kentucky and Missouri, I hope, will not be far behind her. You may be very sure there will be no negotiation with the Disunionists, though the return of the States which have been precipitated into disunion to their loyalty will be hailed, of course, with pleasure. The most energetic measures our means allow will be taken, and I think all impartial men will in the end be satisfied with the course of the Administration.

I thank you personally for your kind expressions towards me, and I hope you will never have occasion to withdraw your confidence.

My despatches to the Western Collectors, I see, have produced their intended effect, though they were not exactly what they ought to have been, in as much as no clearances are required on Western waters. Instructions will be forwarded immediately to all Collectors to prevent, by all proper means, shipments of arms, munitions, provisions and other commodities to States now in hostility to the Union.

_______________

* Lent by Mr. Homer E. Stewart, Warren, Ohio.

SOURCE: Diary and correspondence of Salmon P. Chase, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1902, Vol. 2, p. 295-6

Abraham Lincoln to Gustavus V. Fox, May 1, 1861

Washington, D. C.

May 1, 1861

Capt. G. V. Fox,

My dear Sir,

I sincerely regret that the failure of the late attempt to provision Fort Sumpter should be the source of any annoyance to you. The practicability of your plan was not, in fact, brought to a test. By reason of a gale, well known in advance to be possible, and not improbable, the tugs, an essential part of the plan, never reached the ground; while, by an accident, for which you were in no wise responsible, and possibly I to some extent was, you were deprived of a war vessel, with her men, which you deemed of great importance to the enterprize.

I most cheerfully and truly declare that the failure of the undertaking has not lowered you a particle, while the qualities you developed in the effort have greatly heightened you in my estimation. For a daring and dangerous enterprize, of a similar character you would to-day be the man, of all my acquaintances, whom I would select.

You and I both anticipated that the cause of the country would be advanced by making the attempt to provision Fort Sumpter, even if it should fail; and it is no small consolation now to feel that our anticipation is justified by the result.

Very truly your friend

A. LINCOLN

SOURCES: Robert Means Thompson & Richard Wainwright, Editors, Publications of the Naval Historical Society, Volume 9: Confidential Correspondence of Gustavus Vasa Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1865, Volume 1, p. 43-4; Samuel Wylie Crawford, The Genesis of the Civil War: The Story of Sumter, 1860-1861, p. 420; Roy P. Basler, Editor, Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 4, p. 350-1.

Diary of Gideon Welles: Monday, March 7, 1864

Called yesterday to see Admiral Dahlgren. While there the President and Secretary of War came in with a telegram from General Butler, announcing that his son, Colonel Dahlgren, was alive and well with a force of about one hundred at King and Queen. Of course we were all gratified. The President was much affected.

To-day I have, or rather Fox, who has special charge of the matter, had, word from Olcott, the employé of the War Department, stating he had found evidence of enormous frauds by Scofield, Savage, and Raymond, and wanted the whole of them arrested, or he had them arrested. Wished a guard detailed to seize Savage's store, etc. When Fox brought me the papers, I said to him that the whole subject had been committed to him, and I could not undertake, with my other duties, to enter upon the details of frauds by these contractors. Besides I doubted the rightfulness of seizing men and their papers and valuables on mere suspicion. Advised him to consult legal gentlemen at the War Department, Olcott being a detective assigned by the Secretary of War.

A long letter from Chase in relation to permits and trade regulations, explaining his position, and showing not only some sensitiveness but a little irritation. His letter is based on a reply to two communications made by me on the 18th ult. in regard to the Ann Hamilton and the Princeton. I think him wrong in his conclusions as regards these vessels, and also mistaken as to the course and position of others. In the matter of the embargo first, and subsequently in that of communication and traffic in the Rebel regions, he took ground with me, but failed me and slid in with the others when action became necessary. I disliked the scheme of trade regulations, but it was concluded to have them, on the permits of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments. Soon he deputed the subject of clearances to others, and Stanton deputed authority to grant permits to his officers, and abuse and demoralization followed.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 536-7

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Sardis Birchard, August 17, 1863

Camp White, August 17, 1863.

Dear Uncle: — . . . It looks as if we should be very quiet here for two or three weeks, after which it is probable we shall push up into the mountains again for a campaign of three or four weeks. . . .

Sincerely,

R. B. Hayes.

S. Birchard.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 428

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: August 19, 1863

Mrs. Comly returned with her husband a few days ago. I wish Lucy was here also. Foolish business to send away our wives as was done. A very queer man when he gets into a state of mind on any subject!

The hottest of weather for the past three weeks or so. Mother made a visit to Fremont with Laura and Colonel Mitchell.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 429

Thomas R. R. Cobb to Howell Cobb, June 23, 1847

Athens [ga.], June 23rd, [1847]

Dear Bro., I have today got the copy deed and send you a copy immediately. All are pretty well. No news from Taylor. News by the Caledonia just got here. For myself I want no mediation from England. She meddles too much in our affairs anyhow. I am opposed to this Government dismembering Mexico. Let us whip her decently and give her a good government, such as the people wish. If they afterwards wish to be annexed we can do it. I am for extending the area of freedom, but not by war. The odious doctrine upon which Britain acts of taking territory for the expenses of the war is anti-Democratic. Let the glory of our government be that not one citizen lives under its laws that is not there by choice. . . .

SOURCE: Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, Editor, The Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1911, Volume 2: The Correspondence of Robert Toombs, Alexander H. Stephens, and Howell Cobb, p. 88

In The Review Queue: Frederick Douglass, Prophet of Freedom

Frederick Douglass:

Prophet of Freedom

By David W. Blight

Release Date: October 16, 2018

The definitive, dramatic biography of the most important African-American of the nineteenth century: Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading abolitionists and writers of the era.

As a young man Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. He wrote three versions of his autobiography over the course of his lifetime and published his own newspaper. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and great intelligence he bore witness to the brutality of slavery.

Initially mentored by William Lloyd Garrison, Douglass spoke widely, often to large crowds, using his own story to condemn slavery. He broke with Garrison to become a political abolitionist, a Republican, and eventually a Lincoln supporter. By the Civil War and during Reconstruction, Douglass became the most famed and widely travelled orator in the nation. He denounced the premature end of Reconstruction and the emerging Jim Crow era. In his unique and eloquent voice, written and spoken, Douglass was a fierce critic of the United States as well as a radical patriot. He sometimes argued politically with younger African-Americans, but he never forsook either the Republican party or the cause of black civil and political rights.

In this remarkable biography, David Blight has drawn on new information held in a private collection that few other historian have consulted, as well as recently discovered issues of Douglass’s newspapers. Blight tells the fascinating story of Douglass’s two marriages and his complex extended family. Douglass was not only an astonishing man of words, but a thinker steeped in Biblical story and theology. There has not been a major biography of Douglass in a quarter century. David Blight’s Frederick Douglass affords this important American the distinguished biography he deserves.

About the Author

David W. Blight is Class of 1954 Professor of American History and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. He is the author or editor of a dozen books, including American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era; and Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory; and annotated editions of Douglass’s first two autobiographies. He has worked on Douglass much of his professional life, and been awarded the Bancroft Prize, the Abraham Lincoln Prize, and the Frederick Douglass Prize, among others.

ISBN 978-1416590316, Simon & Schuster, © 2018, Hardcover, 896 pages, Photographs, Illustrations, End Notes & Index. $37.50.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: October 5, 1863

It is now said that Meade's army has not retired, and that two corps of it have not been sent to Rosecrans. Well, we shall know more soon, for Lee is preparing for a movement. It may occur this week.

In the West it is said Gen. Johnston is working his way, with a few brigades, from Meridian towards Nashville.

Lieut.-Gen. E. Kirby Smith writes for authority to make appointments and promotions in the trans-Mississippi Army, as its “communications with Richmond are permanently interrupted.” The President indorses that he has no authority to delegate the power of appointing, as that is fixed by the constitution; but he will do anything in his power to facilitate the wishes of the general. The general writes that such delegation is a “military necessity.”

The Enquirer and the Dispatch have come out in opposition to the fixing of maximum prices for articles of necessity, by either the Legislature of the State or by Congress. It is charged against these papers, with what justice I know not, that the proprietors of both are realizing profits from speculation.

To-day I got a fine shin-bone (for soup) for $1. I obtained it at the government shop; in the market I was asked $5.50 for one. We had a good dinner, and something left over for tomorrow.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 62