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Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== History of Cass County, Iowa Continental Historical Co., Springfield, Ill: 1884 476-481 CHAPTER XVIII THE WAR FOR THE UNION The institution of slavery was always a source of trouble between the free and slave-holding States. The latter were always troubled with the thought that the former would encroach upon their rights, and nothing could be done to shake this belief. Compromise measures from time to time were adopted to settle the vexed question of slavery, but the fears of the slaveholders were only allayed for a short time. Threats of secession, were often made by the slave- holding States, but as soon as measures of a conciliatory character were passed, no attempt was made to carry their threats into execu- tion. Finally came the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the adoption of a measure known as the Kansas-Nebraska bill. This bill opened certain territory to slavery which, under the former act, was forever to be free. About the time of the passage of this act, the Whig party was in a state of dissolution, and the great body of that party, together wiih certain Democrats who were opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska bill, united, thus forming a new party to which was given the name of Republican, having for its object the prevention of the further extension of slavery. The people of the South imagined they saw in this new party not only an organized effort to prevent the extension of slavery, but one that would eventually be used to destroy slavery in those States in which it already existed. In 1860 four Presidential tickets were in the field. ABRAHAM LINCOLN was the candidate of the Republicans, STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS of tlie National Democrat, JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE of the Pro-Slavery interests, and JOHN BELL of the Union. The Union party was composed principally of those who had previously affiliated with the American or Know-Nothing party. Early in the campaign there were threats of secession and disunion in case of the election of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, but the people were so accustomed to Southern bravado that little heed was given to the bluster. On the 20th of December, 1860, South Carolina, by a convention of delegates, declared "That the Union now existing between South Carolina and the other States of North America is dissolved, and that the State of South Carolina has resumed her position among the nations of the earth as a free, sovereign and independent State, with full power to levy war and conclude peace, contract alliances,estab- lish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do." On the 24th Gov. PICKENS issued a proclamation declaring that "South Carolina is, and has a right to be, a free and independent State, and as such has a right to levy war, conclude peace, and do all acts whatever that rightfully appertain to a free and independent State," On the 26th Major ANDERSON evacuated Fort Moultrie and occupied Fort Sumter. Two days previously he wrote President BUCHANAN'S secretary of war, JOHN B. FLOYD, as follows: "When I Inform you that my garrison consists of only sixty effective men, and that we are in very indifferent works, the walls of which are only fourteen feet high; and that we have within one hundred and sixty yards of our walls, sand hills which command our works and which afford admirable sites for batteries and the finest coverts for sharp-shooters; and that besides this there are numerous houses, some of them within pistol shot, and you will at once see that if attacked in force, headed by any one but a simple- tion (sic), there is scarcely a possibility of our being able to hold out long enough for our friends to come to our succor." His appeals for re-inforcements were seconded by General SCOTT, but unheeded by President BUCHANAN, and entirely ignored by JOHN B. FLOYD, secretary of war. On the 28th South Carolina troops occupied Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney, and hoisted the palmetto flag on the ramparts. On the 29th JOHN B. FLOYD resigned his place in BUCHANAN'S cabinet, charging that the president in refusing to remove Major ANDERSON from Charleston Harbor, designed to plunge the country into civil war, and added: "I cannot consent to be the agent of such a calamity." On the same day the South Carolina commissioners presented their official credentials at Washington, which, on the next day, were declined. On the second day of January, 1861, Georgia declared for seces- sion, and Georgia troops took possession of the United States Arsenal in Augusta, and Forts Pulaski and Jackson. Gov. ELLIS, of North Carolina, seized the forts at Beaufort and Wilmington and the arsenal at Fayetteville. On the evening of the 4th, the Alabama and Mississippi delegations in Congress telegraphed the conventions of tbeir respective States to secede, telling them there was no prospect of a satisfactory adjustment. On the 7th, the conventions of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee met in secession conclave. On the 8th, Secretary THOMPSON resigned his seat in the cabinet on the ground that, contrary to promises, troops had been sent to Major ANDERSON. On the 9th, the "Star of the West," carrying supplies and re-inforcements to Major ANDERSON, was fired into from Morris Island, and turned homeward, leaving Fort Sumter and its gallant little band to the mercy of the rebels. On the same day, the ordinance of secession passed the Misssissippi Convention. Florida adopted an ordinance of secession on the 10th, and Alabama on the 11th. The same day (the 11th) THOMPSON, Secretary of the Treasury, resigned, and the rebels seized the arsenal at Baton Rouge, and Forts Jackson and St. Philip, at the mouth of the Mississippi river, and Fort Pike at the Lake Pontchartrain entrance. Pessacola navy yard and Fort Barrancas were surrendered to rebel troops by Colonel ARMSTRONG on the 13th. Lieutenant SLEMMER, who had drawn his command from Fort McRae to Fort Pickens, defied ARMSTRONG'S orders, and announced his intention to "hold the fort" at all hazards. The Georgia Convention adopted an ordinance of secession on the 19th. On the 20th, Lieutenant SLEMMER was besieged by a thousand "allied troops" at Fort Pickens. Louisiana adopted an ordinance of secession on the 25th. On the 1st of February, the rebels seized the United States mint and custom house at New Orleans. The Peace convention assembly at Washington on the 4th, but adjourned without doing anything to quiet the disturbed elements. On the 9yh, a provisional constitution was adopted at Montgomery, Alabama, it being the Cons- titution of the United States "re-constructed" to suit their purpose. JEFFERSON DAVIS, of Mississippi, was chosen president, and ALEXANDER H. STEVENS, of Georgia, vice-president of the "Confederated States of North America." JEFFERSON DAVIS was inaugurated on the 18th, and on the 25th, it was learned that General TWIGGS, commanding the depart- ment of Texas, had basely betrayed his trust, and that he had surrendered all the military posts, munitions and arms to the author- ities of Texas. Mr. LINCOLN was inaugurated March 4, 1861, in front of the capi- tol, the inauguration ceremonies being witnessed by a vast concourse of people. Before taking the oath, Mr. LINCOLN pronounced in a clear, ringing voice, his inaugural address, to hear which there was an almost painful solicitude, to read which the whole American people and civilized world awaited with irrepressible anxiety. With that address, and the administration of the oath of office, the people were assured. All doubt, if any had previously existed, was removed. In the hands of Abraham LINCOLN, the people's President, and himself of the people, the government was safe. Traitors were still busy plotting and planning. Troops were mus- tering in all the seceded States. On Friday, April 12, the surrender of Fort Sumter, with its garrison of sixty effective men, was de- manded and bravely refused by the gallant Major ANDERSON. Fire was at once opened on the helpless garrison by the rebel forces, numbered by thousands. Resistance was useless, and at last the National colors were hauled down, and by traitor hands were trailed in the dust. On Sunday morning, the 14th, the news of the surrender was received in all the principal cities of the Union. That was all, but that was enough. A day later, when the news was confirmed and spread through the country, the patriotic people of the North were roused from their dreams of the future — from undertakings half completed — and made to realize that behind that mob there was a dark, deep, and well organ- ized purpose to destroy the government, rend the Union in twain, and out of its ruins erect a slave oligarchy, wherein no one would dare question their rights to hold in bondage the sons and daughters of men whose skins were black. Their dreams of the future — their plans for the establishment of an independent confederacy — were doomed from their inception to sad and bitter disappointment. Every- where north of Mason and Dixon's line, the voice of Providence was heard: "Draw forth your million blades as one; Complete the battle now begun; God fights with ye, and overhead Floats the dear banner of your dead. They, and the glories of the past, The future, dawning dim and vast. And all the holiest hopes of man. Are beaming triumphant in your van." Slow to resolve, be swift to do! Teuch ye the False, how fights the True! How buckled Perfidy shall feel, In her black heart the Patriot's steel; How sure the bolt that Justice wings; How weak the arm a traitor brings; How mighty they who steadfast stand, For Freedom's flag and Freedom's land," On Monday, April, 15th, President LINCOLN issued the following proclamation: "WHEREAS, The laws of the United States have for some time past, and are now, opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Misssissippi, Louisiana and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals; now therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitu- tion and the laws, have thought to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the number of 75,000, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. "The details for this subject will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War department. I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and to aid this effort to main- tain the honor, the integrity, and existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs al- ready long endured. I deem it proper to say that the first services assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, places and property which have been seized from the Union; and in every event the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the object aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country; and I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid, to disperse and re- tire peaceably to their respective abodes, within twenty days from this date. "Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. The Senators and Representatives are, therefore summoned to assemble at their respective chambers at 12 o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as in their wisdom the public safety and interest may seem to demand. "In witness thereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. "Done at the city of Washington, the fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-fifth. By the President, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State." The last word of this proclamation had scarcely been taken from the electric wire before the call was filled. Men and money were counted out by hundreds and thousands. The people who loved their whole country could not give enough. Patriotism thrilled and vibrated and pulsated through every heart. The farm, the workshop, the office, the pulpit, the bar, the bench, the college, the school house every calling offered its best men, their lives and fortunes, in defense of the government's honor and unity. Party lines were for a time ignored. Bitter words, spoken in moments of political heat, were for- gotten and forgiven, and, joining hands in a common cause, they repeated the oath of America's soldier statesman : "By the Great Eternal, the Union must and shall be preserved!" Seventy-five thousand men were not enough to subdue the rebellion. Nor were ten times that number. The war went on, and call followed call, until it seemed as if there were not men enough in all the free States to crush out the rebellion. But to every call for either men or money there was a willing and ready response. The gauntlet thrown down by traitors of the south was accepted; not, however, in the spirit which insolence meets insolence, but with a firm, determined spirit of patriotism and love of country. The duty of the president was plain under the constitution and laws, and, above and beyond all, the people, from whom all political power is derived, demanded the suppression of the rebellion, and stood ready to sustain the author- ity of their representative and executive officers to the utmost extremity. Cass county was behind no county in the State in the exhibition of sublime patriotism. The news did not reach the people of the county in time to be numbered in the first call of the president for 75,000 men, but in the second, and every succeeding call, it responded with its noblest and best men, some of whom went forth never to return. The record of the county, at home or in the field, is a noble one. By referring to the chapter containing the action of the board of super- visors, it will be seen what was done in an official way. In an unofficial way the people took hold of the work, aided enlistments, and furnished a large amount of sanitary supplies. In this connection is given a list of the citizens of Cass county, who in that trying hour of a nation's need, left wife, children and comfortable homes, and shouldering the musket, went to the front, in discharge of the patriot's duty. These are compiled from the adjutant-general's report, and other official and authentic sources. If there are any inaccuracies of spelling, or omissions the hist- orians hope that they will be pardoned as the rolls have been fol- lowed as nearly as possible and none has a higher appreciation of the "boys in blue," than the writers of these annals. ==========================================================================