Final Subjugation of the Confederate States (continued).--Slaves
declared free by Military Commanders in North Carolina.--Provisional
Governor.--Convention.--Military Commander.--Governor-elect turned
out.--His Protest.--Members of Congress admitted.--Proceedings in
South Carolina.--Arrest of Judge Aldrich.--Military Reversal of
Sentence of the Court.--Post Commanders.--Jurors.--Proceedings in
Georgia.--President's Plan.--Plan of Congress enforced.--Other
Events.--Proceedings in Florida.--Rival Conventions.--Plan of
Congress enforced.--Proceedings in Alabama.--Suspension of Bishop
Wilmer by the Military Commander.--Military Authority.--Action of
Congress.--Proceedings in Mississippi.--Constitutionality of the
Act of Congress before the Supreme Court.--Remarks of Chief-Justice
Chase.--Military Arrests.--Removals.--The Chief-Justice of the
State resigns.--The So-called Constitution rejected.--Ames
appointed Governor.--Proceedings in Louisiana.--Plan of Congress
enforced.--Other Measures.--Arkansas.--Texas.--Opinion of the
United States Attorney-General on Military Commanders.--Consequences
that followed the Measures of Congress.--Increase in State Debts.--
Increase in Frauds and Crimes.--Examples.--Investigating Committees
of Congress.--The Unalienable Rights of Man.--The Sovereignty of
the People and the Supremacy of Law gone.
In the preceding chapter the reader will find a narration of the
series of measures, adopted by the Government of the United States,
to complete the final subjugation of the State of Virginia. The same
series was applied, in the same order, to each of the Confederate
States. It is, therefore, unnecessary to repeat the narration of
these details in their application to the other States. But there
were some concurrent incidents and some flagrant outrages in each one
which should be stated, in order to afford a full and comprehensive
view of the universal denial of unalienable personal rights, the
destruction of civil institutions, the disregard of laws, and the
cruel and ignominious treatment, inflicted by the authority of the
Government of the United States upon individuals in every part of the
Southern country.
In North Carolina, immediately on the cessation of hostilities, the
Federal General issued an order, declaring that "all persons
heretofore held in the State as slaves are now free, and that it is
the duty of the army to maintain the freedom of such persons."
Another order was then issued, defining and regulating the relations
of the freedmen and whites. President Johnson issued his proclamation
on May 29th, appointing a provisional Governor, W. W. Holden, as in
the case of Virginia. On August 8th the Governor issued his
proclamation for an election of delegates to a State Constitutional
Convention on September 12th, and stated who would be permitted to
vote, and the manner of election. The election was held, and the
so-called Convention assembled on October 2, 1865. Its first act
declared the uninterrupted existence of the State in the Union, and
that the ordinance of secession was null and void. The next
prohibited slavery. The payment of the debt contracted during the
war, by any future Legislature, was forbidden. The repeal of the
secession ordinance and the prohibition of slavery were ratified by
the people. An election for State officers and members of Congress
was held in November, and those who had taken the amnesty oath were
the voters. The so-called Legislature-elect held a session and
ratified the amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting
slavery. On December 23d the Governor-elect (Worth) was inaugurated,
and the provisional Governor retired, acknowledging Worth to be the
legal and "loyal" Governor. Thus the State was subjugated on the plan
of President Johnson.
The affairs of the State were thus conducted until the military acts
of Congress went into operation, and on March 23, 1867, Major-General
Sickles issued his order assuming command. On April 11th he issued an
order for the relief of debtors, by prohibiting imprisonment for
debt, and ordering the stay of all proceedings for the collection of
debts for twelve months. Writs of execution issuing out of the United
States Circuit Court were not allowed to be served by the military
commander at Wilmington. The question was taken to the Attorney-General
at Washington, and General Sickles appeared in his own defense. It was
decided by the acting Attorney-General to be "simply a case of a high
misdemeanor, legally contemplated." General Sickles was removed, and
Major-General Canby succeeded. The State registration was completed
In October, and contained the names of 103,060 whites and 71,657 blacks.
The so-called election for a Convention was held in November, and the
Convention assembled on February 14, 1868. The Bill of Rights adopted
contained similar clauses to the one adopted by the Virginia Convention.
The Constitution was ratified, and State officers, members of the
Legislature, and representatives to Congress were elected on April
23d. The vote for the Constitution was 93,118; against it, 74,109.
The so-called Republicans had a majority of seventy on joint ballot
in the Legislature.
The State officers elected under the plan of President Johnson had
continued in the peaceful administration of their duties. Therefore,
on the day of the inauguration of the newly-elected Governor (Holden)
the existing Governor (Worth) made a spirited protest, saying:
"I do not recognize the validity of the late election, under which
you and those coöperating with you claim to be invested with the
civil government of the State. You have no evidence of your election,
save the certificate of a major-general of the United States Army. I
regard all of you as, in effect, appointees of the military power of
the United States, and not as deriving your powers from the consent
of those you claim to govern. Knowing, however, that you are backed
by military force here, which I could not resist if I would, I do not
deem it necessary to offer a futile opposition, but vacate the office
without the ceremony of actual eviction, offering no further
opposition than this, my protest. I would submit to actual expulsion
in order to bring before the Supreme Court of the United States the
question as to the constitutionality of the legislation under which
you claim to be the rightful Governor of the State, if the past
action of that tribunal furnished any hope of a speedy trial. I
surrender the office to you under what I deem military duress,
without stopping, as the occasion would well justify, to comment on
the singular coincidence that the present State government is
surrendered, as without legality, to him whose own official sanction,
but three years ago, declared it valid.
"I am, very respectfully,
"JONATHAN WORTH,
"_Governor of North Carolina._"
The so-called Legislature assembled on the appointed day, and the
fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States was at
once ratified, and on July 11, 1868, the President announced by
proclamation that "North Carolina had complied with the conditions
prescribed by Congress for her restoration to an equal place in the
Union of States."
In South Carolina, proceedings were commenced on June 20, 1865, when
President Johnson issued a proclamation similar to the one in the
case of Virginia, and appointed Benjamin F. Perry as provisional
Governor of the State. He continued all persons in office on taking
the amnesty oath, and all laws in force prior to the secession of the
State were maintained except those conflicting with the proclamation;
delegates to a so-called State Convention were elected on the first
Monday of September, and the Convention assembled on the 13th to
amend the State Constitution. The ordinance of secession was repealed
and slavery abolished. Blacks were made witnesses in all cases where
the rights or property of persons of that class were involved. An
election of State officers and a so-called Legislature were held. The
latter convened on October 25th. The thirteenth amendment to the
Constitution of the United States prohibiting slavery was ratified.
On November 29th the provisional Governor retired, and the so-called
Governor-elect (Orr) was inaugurated. The work of the Legislature was
very complete. The courts were open to all persons, with equal civil
rights, without distinction of color, and Major-General Sickles,
commander of the Military Department of North Carolina and South
Carolina, ordered all civil and criminal cases to be tried before
them in which the parties were civilians. Previous to this order, and
after the cessation of hostilities, provost-marshals and military
courts were detailed for duty all over the State. These officers knew
only the law martial, and generally very little of that; and took
jurisdiction of all cases both civil and criminal, occasioning great
annoyance, expense, and vexation, deciding as their prejudice,
caprice, or ignorance suggested. After the completion of the
so-called State government, however, the vacancies on the bench were
filled, and the courts opened throughout the State.
Still the people were made to feel that the military hand was over
all. A case occurred in the court in Charleston, before Judge A. P.
Aldrich, in which a white man was indicted for petty larceny, tried,
and found guilty. The punishment prescribed by the law of the State
for this offense was whipping. To this punishment the offender was
sentenced. On the next day an armed soldier came to the court-house
inquiring for the Judge, who was absent. To an inquiry of the sheriff
as to his business, he replied that he was ordered to require the
Judge to report at General Bennet's headquarters, who was the
military commander of the district. On the next day another soldier
in full uniform came to the lodgings of the Judge with a note from
the General requesting the former to report at headquarters.
The reply of the Judge was: "As I have no business with you, I
decline to report. If you have business with me, it will give me
great pleasure to receive you."
On the next day an adjutant appeared saying: "The General is very
much engaged, and asks you to come to his office. I will wait your
convenience."
"I see I am under arrest," replied the Judge. "I will go now."
The adjutant, in full uniform, escorted him through the most public
parts of the city to headquarters, and, entering the office,
announced him. The General was sitting, with his cap on, and writing.
After some time, having finished, he looked up and said, "Sit down,"
adding, "That was a curt note you sent to me yesterday."
"No, sir," answered the Judge, "I intended it to be respectful, but,
as I had no business with you, I did not see why I should be required
to come to your office."
"Do you dispute the authority of the United States Government?" asked
the General, tartly.
"No, sir; I am here in obedience to that authority, but I have always
supposed that, as a mere matter of courtesy, when one gentleman has
business with another, he calls on him. As a matter of etiquette, I
believe a Judge of the Superior Court of a State is equal in rank to
a brevet brigadier-general."
"We will not discuss the question of rank," replied the General, "but
General Sickles requests you to revoke your sentence of the other day
and impose some other penalty."
The Judge replied: "I do not impose the penalty; it is the law, and I
have no discretion."
He then explained the law, and said there was no relief except by a
pardon of the Governor, or by taking the prisoner out of the custody
of the sheriff. A few days after, the prisoner was taken from the
custody of the Sheriff and discharged. The proceeding was brought to
the knowledge of the so-called Governor, who applied to General
Sickles to suspend his order, but the latter declined; whereupon the
Judge, then at Columbia, to hold the court of the circuit, declared
that he would adjourn the court and not proceed on his circuit; that
he would not go through the farce of holding a court when judgments
and sentences could be arrested and prevented by military order. He
then adjourned the court, and passed an order refusing to hold courts
while the military order was in force. General Sickles also issued an
order reversing a judgment of the Supreme Court. The President about
the same time countermanded a like order of the General in North
Carolina, and the Judge resumed his duties.
Under the act of Congress of March 2, 1867, the State was divided
into ten military districts, and a post commander appointed for each.
All local officers, who were regularly elected by the people, were to
be appointed by these commanders. Military orders were issued from
time to time containing social regulations, etc. One on the subject
of criminal arrests and trials required all sheriffs, marshals, and
police officers to report to the Provost-Marshal-General of the
district, their names, residence, official station, salary, and the
authority by which they were appointed; also to investigate and
report all particulars of any crime committed, to the
Provost-Marshal-General, setting forth name, residence, and
description of the offender with the nature of the offense, and steps
taken to secure punishment. Sheriffs were directed to make a full
report of the condition of all jails and prisons within their
jurisdiction. All civil officers in charge of any jail, prison, or
workhouse, were required to make full monthly reports of each inmate
under their care. All sheriffs, constables, and police officers were
required "to obey and execute the lawful orders of the
Provost-Marshal-General, to the same effect as they are required by
law to obey and execute writs, warrants, or other process issued by
civil magistrates," and any resistance or refusal to execute the same
subjected the offender to trial by military commission.
Details of the plan to be followed in making the registration were
fully laid down, and the order then contained the following
instructions:
"Boards will take notice that, according to section 10 of the act of
July 19, 1867, they are not to be bound in their action by any
opinion of any civil officer of the United States.
"Boards are instructed that all the provisions of the several acts of
Congress cited are to be liberally construed, to the end that all the
intents thereof be fully and perfectly carried out.
"It is made the duty of the commanding General to remove from office
all persons who are disloyal to the Government of the United States,
or who use their official influence in any manner to hinder, delay,
prevent, or obstruct the due and perfect administration of the
reconstruction acts."
On September 5, 1867, Major-General Canby took command. General
Sickles, on announcing his retirement, said:
"The undersigned avails himself of the occasion to acknowledge the
fidelity and zeal with which the officers and troops under his
command have discharged their duties."
The question of the qualification of jurors now became important.
General Canby issued an order on September 13th, which required the
jurors to be drawn from the "qualified voters," which included the
newly emancipated slaves. The Judges met, and sent a respectful
request to the General to change the order to conform to the law of
the State. By the jury law, as it then stood, no person was qualified
to serve as a juror unless he was a free white man, twenty-one years
of age. The Judges were sworn to enforce this law and the
Constitution of the State. No notice was taken of the application. At
the next court in Edgefield, Judge Aldrich, charging the grand jury,
brought to their notice the order, the law and the Constitution, and
the oath of office, and then declared "he could not and would not
obey the order." On going to open the court a few days after, the
adjutant of the post delivered to him a military order suspending him
from office. He proceeded and opened the court, read the order and
stated the circumstances, and, laying aside his gown, directed the
sheriff "to let the court stand adjourned while justice is
stifled." [131] The major-general appointed another Judge to the
vacancy.
The registration of voters was completed in the middle of October,
and amounted to 46,346 whites and 78,982 blacks. The vote on a State
Convention was taken on November 19th and 20th, and resulted, for the
Convention, 130 whites and 68,876 blacks; against the Convention,
2,801 whites. The delegates were 34 whites and 63 blacks. The
Convention assembled on January 14, 1868. The Bill of Rights
contained provisions similar to that of Virginia, and the
Constitution was made to conform to the will of Congress. The
ratification of the Constitution, and the election of State officers
and a Legislature, took place on April 14, 15, and 16, 1868. The vote
for the Constitution was 70,758; against it, 27,288; not voting, but
registered, 35,551. The Legislature, with a majority of forty-eight
blacks, assembled on July 6th. The fourteenth constitutional
amendment was adopted, and the construction of the State by Congress
was completed practically on July 13, 1868.
In Georgia, on the cessation of hostilities, the Governor issued a
proclamation calling a session of the Legislature. But the commanding
General issued an order declaring the proclamation to be null and
void. Another military officer, in a letter to the Governor, stated
that he was instructed by the President to say to him, that "the
persons who incited the war and carried it on will not be allowed to
assemble at the call of their accomplice to act again as the
Legislature of the State, and again usurp the authority and
franchises. In calling the Legislature together again, without the
permission of the President, you have perpetrated a fresh crime; and,
if any person presumes to answer or acknowledge your call, he will be
immediately arrested." The military authorities of the United States
then took the control of affairs until the appointment of James
Johnson, on June 17th, by the President, as provisional Governor of
the State, by a proclamation similar to the one issued in the case of
Virginia. On July 13th he issued a proclamation prescribing the
regulations for a State Convention. Provost-marshals had been
stationed all over the State to regulate local affairs, and the laws
in force previous to 1861 were ordered to be enforced. Delegates were
elected on October 4th, and the so-called State Convention assembled
on October 25th. The ordinance of secession was repealed. The payment
of the war debt was prohibited. The emancipation of the slaves was
expressly recognized, and a so-called election for State officers,
members of the Legislature and of Congress, was appointed to be held
on November 15th. The Legislature assembled on December 4th, and
unanimously adopted the thirteenth amendment to the Federal
Constitution, prohibiting the existence of slavery. Charles J.
Jenkins, Governor-elect, was inaugurated, and on December 19, 1865,
the provisional Governor relinquished the conduct of the State
affairs to the constituted authorities. The Freedmen's Bureau Act and
the Civil Rights Act of Congress were enforced by the military
authorities.
The State Legislature again assembled on November 1, 1866. The
ratification of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the
United States was repassed to a joint committee of each House, which
reported a resolution to refuse to ratify the same. In the Senate it
was adopted unanimously, and in the House by a vote of 132 to 2. On
April 1, 1866, Major-General John Pope assumed command in the third
military district, containing Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. An
unsuccessful effort was made by the State at this time to bring the
question of the constitutionality of the "reconstruction" acts of
Congress before the Supreme Court. Governor Jenkins took part in the
application to the Supreme Court, and, while at Washington, issued an
address to the people of the State, urging them to take no action
under the laws. He was called upon to make an explanation on his
return by General Pope, as parts of the address were declared in
violation of the military order of the latter. But as the so-called
Governor had not seen the order, his offense was excused. A mayor and
aldermen for Augusta were appointed by General Pope; also the sheriff
and deputy for Bartow County, and other officers.
An order was issued that jurors should be selected from the list of
qualified voters. Judge Reese, of Ocmulgee District, wrote to General
Pope, declaring that, under his oath to sustain the laws, he could
not conform to the order. General Pope replied with an attempt to
show him that he owed allegiance, first of all, to the authority of
the United States, as represented by the military power in the State.
The argument was of no avail, and the Judge was prohibited from
holding court.
The registration of votes was completed early in September, The
number registered was 188,647, and the whites had a majority of about
2,000. The election of delegates to the State Convention took place
from October 29th to November 3d. Of the delegates, 133 were whites
and 33 blacks. The Convention assembled on December 13th, and soon
adjourned to January 8, 1868. Meantime, Major-General Meade had
relieved General Pope as military commander. The Convention, before
this adjournment, ordered the Comptroller to levy a tax to pay its
expenses, and directed the State Treasurer to advance forty thousand
dollars for its pay and mileage. The ordinance was sent to the
Treasurer, endorsed with instructions from General Pope to pay. The
Treasurer refused to advance the money, as he was prohibited by the
Constitution to do so, except on the warrant of the Governor. General
Meade requested the Governor to issue the warrant. He replied that
the Constitution forbade any money to be drawn from the Treasury
except on an appropriation, whereupon General Meade removed both
officers, and appointed others.
The provisions required by the acts of Congress were adopted in the
so-called new Constitution. At the same time, certain provisions were
inserted, which were intended to afford relief to the people. The
Convention, therefore, by resolution, requested General Meade to
require the courts to enforce them "until the State was restored to
its regular relations with the United States, and the State
organization was in full force." An order was, therefore, issued by
the General requiring the courts and officers of the State government
to enforce the provisions, in all respects, the same as if they had
regularly taken effect. One of the Judges, having refused to comply
with this order, was removed by General Meade.
The so-called election on the Constitution, and for State officers,
and Legislature, and members of Congress, was held on April 20th and
following days. The State Constitution was declared to be ratified;
Rufus W. Bullock, the so-called Republican candidate, was declared to
be elected Governor by a majority of seven thousand votes. The
Legislature assembled on July 4, 1868, with three Senators and
twenty-five Representatives who were negroes. The fourteenth
amendment to the Federal Constitution was adopted, and all the
conditions of Congress were fulfilled; and on July 28, 1868, she was
declared to be restored to the Union. Subsequently it appeared that
the State Convention had made no provision which could be construed
as expressly giving the black man a right to hold office, and all
these members were expelled from the Legislature. The matter was
taken up by Congress, and the State was not fully recognized as in
the Union until 1870.
The proceedings in Florida commenced with the usual proclamation of
President Johnson. It was issued on July 13, 1865, and appointed
William Marvin provisional Governor of the State. On August 3d he
issued a proclamation prescribing such rules and regulations as were
deemed necessary for the choice of members of a so-called State
Constitutional Convention, and appointed October 10th for the day of
election, and October 25th as the day on which the delegates should
meet. They "annulled" the secession ordinance, passed an ordinance
prohibiting slavery, with a preamble in these words: "_Whereas_,
slavery has been destroyed in this State by the Government of the
United States; therefore," etc. Another ordinance declared void the
liabilities contracted for the war. Freedmen were made competent
witnesses in any matter wherein a colored person was concerned. An
election of State officers, of the members of the Legislature, and of
Representatives in Congress, was ordered to be held on November 29th,
and the Legislature were required to meet on December 18th. Governor
David S. Walker was inaugurated on December 21st, and on January 18,
1866, the provisional Governor surrendered the conduct of the State
to the so-called constitutional authorities. At this session of the
Legislature, the Lower House unanimously refused to ratify the
fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The
military rule which has prevailed in local affairs was relaxed on
April 27, 1866, and all civilians under military arrest were turned
over to the civil authorities for trial.
On April 1, 1867, Major-General Pope assumed command under the act of
Congress of March 2d. On June 18th a superintendent of registration
was appointed, and the conditions for the registration of voters were
prescribed. The result of the registration was 11,148 whites and
15,434 blacks. The election of delegates to the so-called State
Constitutional Convention was held on November 14th, 15th and 16th,
and on January 20, 1868, the Convention assembled, and contained
seventeen blacks as members. A disgraceful quarrel arose in the
Convention, and twenty members absented themselves. The twenty-one
remaining claimed to be a quorum, and formed a Constitution, and
adjourned. The absentees then returned, and, with three or four from
the other side, organized and proceeded to form a Constitution. The
others appeared and claimed their seats. Great disorder prevailed,
but by the intervention of Major-General Meade, and by putting in the
chair his sub-commander, some degree of order was restored, and such
an arrangement effected that the second Constitution was completed.
All the requisite measures under it were adopted, and on June 29th,
the surrender of the so-called government of the State by the
military power of the United States to the civil authority was made.
The political quarrel continued long afterward.
In Alabama the proclamation of President Johnson was issued on June
21, 1865, by which Lewis C. Parsons was appointed provisional
Governor and the usual proceedings prescribed. On July 20th the
Governor issued a proclamation, which renewed the powers of the
persons holding the township offices in the State; called a State
Constitutional Convention to assemble on September 10th, and
reordained the civil and criminal laws, except those relating to
slaves, as they existed previous to 1861, and prescribed other
regulations. A peaceful election was held, and the delegates to the
so-called Convention assembled and took an oath to support the
Constitution of the United States and the Union thereof, and all
proclamations relative to the emancipation of slaves. Slavery was
prohibited, the war debt declared void, and the secession ordinance
repealed. An election for State officers, members of the Legislature,
and Representatives in Congress, was ordered on the first Monday of
November. The new Constitution was not submitted to a vote of the
people on account of the delay it would occasion. Robert M. Patton
was elected Governor, and the Legislature assembled on November 20th.
The amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibiting
the existence of slavery was ratified, and on December 18, 1865, the
provisional Governor surrendered the conduct of the affairs of the
State to the Governor-elect.
During the existence of the Confederate Government, the Protestant
Episcopal Church South was established, and the prayer for the
President of the United States and all in civil authority, in the
"Book of Common Prayer," was changed to one for the Confederate
authorities. Upon the restoration of the authority of the United
States, the prayer for the President was omitted altogether, by the
recommendation of Bishop Wilmer; whereupon Major-General Woods issued
an order by which the Bishop and all his clergy in the diocese of
Alabama "were suspended from their functions and forbidden to preach
or perform divine service." The order was subsequently set aside by
President Johnson.
At the session of the Legislature in November, 1866, the fourteenth
amendment to the United States Constitution was rejected by an
overwhelming majority.
On assuming command of the Third Military Division under the act of
Congress of March 2, 1867, Major-General Pope assigned Major-General
Swayne to the "administration of the military reconstruction bill" in
Alabama. On April 8th the order directing the proceedings in the
registration of voters was issued. Special instructions were issued,
as in all the other States, to boards of registers which declared
that clerks and reporters of the Supreme Court and inferior courts,
and clerks to ordinary county courts, treasurers, county surveyors,
receivers of tax-returns, tax-collectors, tax-receivers, sheriffs,
justices of the peace, coroners, mayors, recorders, aldermen,
councilmen of any incorporated city or town, who were ex-officers of
the Confederacy, and who, previous to the war, occupied these offices
and afterward participated in the war, were all disqualified and not
entitled to registration. Meantime the municipal officers were
removed in several places, and in the city of Mobile the police
administration was suspended and the maintenance of public order
assumed by the commander of the military force. Finally, the chief
officers and councilmen of the city were removed, and others
appointed by the district commander.
The registration was completed in August, and amounted to 72,748
whites and 88,243 blacks. The vote on the Convention and for
delegates was given on the first three days of October. A hundred
delegates were chosen, of whom ninety-six were "radicals"--seventeen
of them were blacks. On November 5th the so-called Convention
assembled and adopted all the amendments required by the act of
Congress. The election for the ratification of the Constitution, for
State officers, members of the Legislature, and Representatives in
Congress, was held on February 4, 1868. A majority of all the
registered vote was required to ratify the Constitution, which was
85,000. The vote cast was 75,000.
On June 20, 1868, Congress passed an act which declared that each of
the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Alabama, and Louisiana, should be admitted to representation when its
Legislature had ratified the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution
of the United States, and farther, "upon the fundamental condition
that the Constitution of neither of said States shall ever be so
amended or changed as to deprive any citizen, or class of citizens,
of the United States of the right to vote in said State, who are
entitled to vote by the Constitution thereof, herein recognized,
except as a punishment for crime," etc.
The so-called State Legislature assembled on July 13th, and Articles
XIII and XIV as amendments to the Constitution of the United States
were ratified. The conduct of the affairs of the State was now
transferred by General Meade to the new civil authorities.
Mississippi, immediately after the cessation of hostilities, was
occupied by a military force of the United States. Meantime the
Governor called an extra session of the Legislature, and made
provision for a Constitutional Convention; but these measures were
set aside by the proclamation of President Johnson, on June 13th,
appointing William L. Sharkey provisional Governor. The system of
measures embraced in the plan of the President for the restoration of
the Confederate States to the Union was immediately commenced and
completed in the election of Benjamin G. Humphreys for Governor, with
the other State officers, members of the Legislature, and
Representatives in Congress.
The fourteenth amendment of the Constitution was unanimously rejected
by the Legislature in January, 1867.
Under the act of Congress of March 2, 1867, Major-General Ord assumed
command of the Fourth Military Division, consisting of Mississippi
and Arkansas. Governor Humphreys sought immediately to bring the
question of the constitutionality of this act before the United
States Supreme Court. Arguments were heard upon it by the Court. The
motion was to enjoin and restrain President Johnson and Major-General
Ord from executing the act and supplements. It was denied, and
Chief-Justice Chase, on delivering the opinion, said:
"If the President refuses obedience, it is needless to observe that
the Court is without power to enforce its process. If, on the other
hand, the President complies with the order of the Court, and refuses
to execute the act of Congress, is it not clear that a collision may
occur between the executive and the legislative departments of the
Government? May not the House of Representatives impeach the
President for such refusal?"
Major-General Ord, immediately after assuming command, proceeded to
organize boards for the registration of voters and prescribe their
qualifications and disqualifications. The latter were so numerous as
to embrace, in all these States, every white who had voluntarily done
the most simple act to aid or favor any person engaged in the
Confederate service, or had incited, by words, others to render such
aid, while the entire class of blacks were not disqualified by such
acts, as it was assumed that they were done by compulsion. Thus the
aim and end of registration, after this manner, in a State, were to
throw the entire political power into the hands of the negroes.
Orders were now issued directing the military to coöperate with the
civil officers to break up the crime of horse-stealing, to secure to
labor its share of the crops, and to protect debtor and creditor from
sacrifices by forced sales; to suspend for a time certain sales under
execution; to prohibit interference with the legal tenant; to
ascertain if distillers had paid their taxes; to investigate
complaints made by citizens of persecution by civil authorities; to
notify State and municipal officers of the laws of Congress for the
organization of their governments on the basis of suffrage without
regard to color; to subordinates of the Freedmen's Bureau to
investigate all charges against landholders; to require supervisors,
inspectors, and boards of registration to obtain the names of
suitable persons, white or black, to act as clerks and judges of
elections; to close strictly all bar-rooms and saloons for the day
when political meetings were held; to remove the city marshal, three
justices of the peace, and four members of the City Council of
Vicksburg; to appoint other persons to fill the vacancies, who were
required to take the test oath of Congress; to forbid the assembling
of bodies of citizens under any pretense; to transfer the papers to a
military commission whenever a person who had been in the Federal
service was indicted and apprehended an unfair trial; to notify
overseers of the poor that any neglect to provide for colored paupers
would be regarded as a neglect of duty, etc.
The roistered names amounted to 46,636 whites and 60,167 blacks. The
military appointment for delegates to the Convention was such as to
give to thirty-two counties, having small colored majorities, seventy
of the representatives, and to twenty-nine counties, having small
white majorities, thirty representatives. On November 5th the
election was held, and the so-called Convention assembled on January
8, 1868. The ordinance of secession was declared null and void; the
existence of slavery prohibited; payment of the war debt forbidden;
universal suffrage established, excepting only criminals; an election
to ratify the Constitution and for the election of State officers, a
Legislature, and Representatives in Congress, was ordered to be held
on June 22d, and a large number of radical amendments adopted. At the
election the Constitution was rejected by a majority of 7,629. The
opposition candidate was also elected Governor.
On October 1, 1867, the Chief-Justice of the State, A. H. Handy, sent
his resignation to the Governor. He said:
"It is apparent that the character and dignity of the Court can not
be maintained, and that its powers must be held and exercised in
subordination to the behests of a military commander."
On December 28, 1867, Major-General Ord was succeeded by
Major-General McDowell. On June 15th the latter issued an order
removing Governor Humphreys and appointing Major-General A. Ames to
the vacancy. Governor Humphreys declined to vacate the office, saying
that the attempt to remove him was a "usurpation of the civil
government of Mississippi, unwarranted by and in violation of the
Constitution of the United States." A squadron of soldiers was sent
by the military commander of the post, which marched in and took
possession of the office. The house of the Governor was then demanded
for the new incumbent of the office. As Governor Humphreys refused to
vacate it, a file of soldiers came and ejected him.
After the rejection of the so-called new Constitution, its friends
applied to Congress, as the sovereign, to throw out the vote of
several counties and declare the Constitution to be adopted. This
action was recommended on the ground, as they said, that the election
had not been fairly conducted, and that violence and intimidation
had, in many parts of the State, prevented a full and just vote. The
Constitution was defeated, not, as thus alleged, by fraud and
intimidation, but distinctly for the reason that it was more
vindictive in its spirit than the people, white or black, would
tolerate, and more prescriptive in its provisions than the acts of
Congress required.
In March, 1869, the provisional Governor of the State, Major-General
A. Ames, was made the military commander of the Fourth Military
District. At the same time a joint resolution was passed by Congress,
which ordered that all persons holding office in Mississippi, who
could not take the test-oath prescribed in 1862, should be removed
from office. By the aid of this weapon it was expected that General
Ames would make the State organization so-called Republican.
Meanwhile Congress passed an act which authorized the President to
submit the Constitution of the State to another election by the
people, with a separate vote on its objectionable section.
Preparations for this election were commenced by the issue of an
order of the military commander prescribing stringent regulations
relative to the requisites of voters for registration. The election
was held on November 30 and December 1, 1869, and the Constitution
was ratified. The vote against disfranchising citizens for serving
under the Confederacy during the war was almost unanimous. The
so-called Legislature assembled on January 11, 1870. The fourteenth
and fifteenth amendments of the United States Constitution were
adopted, and on February 12th an act of Congress was passed by which
the State was permitted to be represented in that body.
At the beginning of 1865 Louisiana was under the State government
constructed by General Banks, as has been stated in previous pages.
It occupied New Orleans, and extended its control to the extremity of
the military lines. Within this limit it was treated practically as a
restored portion of the Union. The United States military draft was
enforced. Much disorder in civil affairs prevailed, and some serious
disturbances occurred up to the time when Congress undertook its plan
of restoration. There was, in fact, a military rule during all that
period. On March 19, 1867, Major-General Sheridan was assigned to the
command of the Fifth Military District, embracing Louisiana and
Texas, in accordance with the act of Congress of March 2d. By this
act the existing State government was "declared to be only
provisional, and subject to be abolished, modified, controlled, or
superseded." Major-General Sheridan began his proceedings with the
removal of certain obnoxious officials who were, in his opinion,
dangerous to the peace of the community. The registration of voters
was ordered to commence on May 1st. To an application to General
Grant, the commander-in-chief, for more definite instructions, by
Major-General Sheridan, the former replied on June 28th:
"Enforce your own construction of the military bill, until ordered to
do otherwise."
The Legislature having appropriated four million dollars for the
repairs of levees, and appointed a board to discharge the duties,
Governor Wells became dissatisfied with their action, and appointed
another board. Disputes arising between the two boards, Major-General
Sheridan removed both, and appointed a third, and enforced its
authority. In April, Major-General Sheridan, writing to General
Grant, said:
"I fear I shall be obliged to remove Governor Wells, of this State,
who is impeding me as much as he can."
General Grant replied:
"I would advise that no removals of Governors of States be made at
present. It is a question now under consideration whether the power
exists, under the law, to remove, except by special act of Congress,
or by trial under the sixth section of the act promulgated in Orders
33 (act of March 2d)."
On June 3d Major-General Sheridan issued an order, removing the
so-called Governor, saying that, "having made himself an impediment
to the faithful execution of the act of Congress of March 2d, by
directly and indirectly impeding the General in command in the
faithful execution of the law," etc., Benjamin F. Flanders was
appointed to fill the vacancy.
The registration ceased on July 31st, with the names of 44,732 whites
and 82,907 blacks. Extensive removals from office were now made--
among others, twenty-two members of the City Council of New Orleans,
also the city treasurer and city surveyor, a justice of peace,
sheriff, etc. On August 17th Major-General Sheridan was relieved, and
Major-General Hancock succeeded. "Impediments to reconstruction under
the laws of Congress" continued to be removed, and other persons
assigned to their places.
The election for delegates to the so-called Convention was held on
September 27th and 28th, and that body assembled on November 23d. The
measures required by the act of Congress were adopted, and an
election for its ratification and for State officers, and a
Legislature, was held on April 17th and 18th. The Constitution was
ratified, and the State officers and members of the Legislature were
elected. Meantime Major-General Hancock was relieved, and succeeded
by Major-General Buchanan.
After the election, the registrars of the State proposed to install
the newly elected officers under the provisions of an ordinance of
the Convention. But they were notified by Major-General Buchanan that
it could not be done without permission. To avoid any question as to
the persons who should hold the offices of so-called Governor and
Lieutenant-Governor after the meeting of the Legislature, the
district commander was directed by General Grant to remove the former
incumbents by military order and set up the individuals lately
elected as their successors. This was done on June 27th, and on the
29th the so-called Legislature assembled in pursuance of a notice
from the commanding General. The fourteenth amendment to the United
States Constitution was adopted; and, as by the act of Congress of
June 25th, Louisiana had been restored to representation in that
body, the commanding General on July 13, 1868, transferred the
administration of civil affairs to the State officers.
I will not pursue these odious details further. Suffice it to say
that Texas and Arkansas, having passed through the same military
process as their sister Confederate States, were admitted to
representation in Congress, the former in 1870 and the latter in 1868.
It will be seen that the power usurped by Congress was without a
limitation, and extended to all the political, civil, and social
relations. Many of the military commanders seem to have regarded
their authority as equally comprehensive. The Attorney-General of the
United States, in his official opinion on these acts of Congress,
addressed to the President on June 12, 1867, says:
"It appears that some of the military commanders have understood this
grant of power as all-comprehensive, conferring on them the power to
remove the executive and judicial officers of the State, and to
appoint other officers in their places; to suspend the legislative
power of the State; to take under their control, by officers
appointed by themselves, the collection and disbursement of the
revenues of the State; to prohibit the execution of the laws of the
State by the agency of its appointed officers and agents; to change
the existing laws in matters affecting purely civil and private
rights; to suspend or enjoin the execution of the judgments and
decrees of the established State courts; to interfere in the ordinary
administration of justice in the State courts, by prescribing new
qualifications for jurors; and to change, upon the ground of
expediency, the existing relations of the parties to contracts,
giving protection to one party by violating the rights of the other
party."
Many instances are then related by the Attorney-General to confirm
his statements. Some of these are worthy of the attention of the
reader, although they may have been mentioned on a preceding page. In
one district the so-called Governor of a State was deposed under a
threat of military force, and another person, called a Governor,
appointed by the military commander to fill the place--thus
presenting the strange spectacle of an official intrusted with chief
power to execute the laws of a State, whose authority was not
recognized by the laws he was called on to execute.
In the same district a Judge was, by military order, ejected from his
office, and a private citizen was appointed Judge in his place by
military authority, and exercised criminal jurisdiction "over all
crimes, misdemeanors, and offenses" committed within the territorial
jurisdiction of the court. This military appointee was certainly not
authorized, as a member of a military tribunal, to try any one for an
offense; and he had just as little authority, as a Judge of a
criminal court of the State, to try and punish any offender. This
person was sole judge in a criminal court whose jurisdiction extended
to the life of the accused. In capital cases he might well change
places with the criminal, for, if the latter had unlawfully taken
life, so too did the Judge.
In another district, a military order commanded the nominal Governor
of the State to forbid the assembling of the Legislature, and thus
suspended the proper legislative power of the State. In the same
district an order was issued "to relieve the Treasurer of the State
from the duties, bond, books, papers, etc.", appertaining to his
office, and to put an "assistant quartermaster of the United States
Volunteers" in place of the removed Treasurer. The duties of this
quartermaster-treasurer were thus summed up: He was to make to the
headquarters of the district "the same reports and returns required
from the Treasurer, and a monthly statement of the receipts and
expenditures; he will pay all warrants for salaries which may be or
become due, and legitimate expenditures for the support of the
Penitentiary, State Asylum, and the support of the provisional State
government; but no scrip or warrants for outstanding debts of other
kind than those specified, will be paid without special authority
from these Headquarters. He will deposit funds in the same manner as
though they were those of the United States." These instances will
suffice, although many more might be related.
Illegal, unjust, and vindictive as were these gross usurpations of
the Congress of the United States in their immediate results, the
consequences which followed were still more disastrous. When the late
Confederate States were restored to representation in Congress, a
large portion of their white citizens remained disfranchised, and the
political power of each was in the hands of the blacks and the
remnant of the whites. Nor was the military force withdrawn, but it
was placed in convenient localities, under the pretext of maintaining
order, but in reality to sustain the new rulers. It must be manifest
that the sovereignty of the people was now extinct, and those ruled
who had the bayonets on their side. With the disfranchised were the
intelligence, the virtue, and the political experience; with the
voters were the ignorance, the lawless passions, and soon a body of
political adventurers from the Northern States, greedy for power and
plunder. These quickly won for themselves the distinctive epithet of
"carpet-baggers". The governments under the control of such popular
sovereigns demonstrated the vindictiveness rather than wisdom of
Congress, and soon brought forth their natural fruits of anarchy,
fraud, and crime. One or two examples must suffice in which to
exhibit these results.
The debt of the ten Confederate States in 1874 was as follows:
Virginia, funded and unfunded . . . . . . . . $45,718,119.73
North Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,921,848.05
South Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,866,627.35
Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,620,809.27
Georgia . . . . . . . . $8,105,500 funded
8,000,000 fraudulent 16,105,500.00
Alabama $10,452,593.30
15,051,000.00 railroad endorsement 15,503,593.30
Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,558,629.24
Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,933,407.90
Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,012,421.00
Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,561,000.00
---------------
$148,801,955.80
It is not claimed that all this amount of indebtedness had been
accumulated since the close of the war. Some of the States had debts
previous to the war, but a large proportion of the amount had been
contracted by the spendthrift governments instituted by Congress, and
very little could be found to offset the expenditure.
Again, in Arkansas, on April 16th, Governor Brooks seized and
occupied the State-House with a body of armed men and two cannon. On
the same day, Governor Baxter proclaimed martial law, and marched
with a body of armed men from St. John's College to the Anthony
House, and established his headquarters there. Guards were placed
along the principal streets, and the State-House was completely
surrounded by a cordon of sentinels. Subsequently, he marched to
attack the State-House, but a body of troops belonging to the
Government of the United States appeared before it. Two so-called
Republican Governors of the State, with their troops, were about to
fight for the executive office.
In Louisiana, on January 4, 1875, a body of troops of the Government
of the United States, on the order of Governor W. P. Kellogg, marched
into the hall of the House of Representatives of the State
Legislature, while that body was in session, and forcibly seized and
took out five members as not entitled to seats. The General in
command (De Trobriand) then proceeded to eject the Clerk, and
arrested the proceedings of the House. When expostulated with by the
Speaker, he replied: "I am but a soldier. These are my orders." The
members then retired.
In Mississippi, on December 7, 1874, a serious conflict occurred in
Vicksburg between whites and blacks, which resulted in great loss of
life and caused a widely-spread alarm. It grew out of frauds
committed by public officers.
Again, during the exciting contest in Arkansas, the Congress of the
United States appointed a committee to investigate the affairs in
that State, and "whether said State had now a government republican
in form, the officers of which are duly elected, and, as now
organized, ought to be recognized by the Government of the United
States."
On December 24, 1874, the Congress of the United States appointed a
committee to proceed to New Orleans, and investigate the state of
affairs in Louisiana. This committee reported on January 14, 1875,
that "they could not agree upon any recommendation; but, upon the
situation in Louisiana, as it appeared before us, we are all agreed."
The same Congress, before its adjournment, appointed a committee to
proceed to Mississippi and make an investigation of the state of
affairs there. Thus committees were kept quite busy in traveling back
and forth to these States, and much of the time of Congress was
occupied in discussing their affairs, and in efforts to reconcile the
quarreling factions of so-called Republicans in them, to the great
detriment of the public interests.
Where now were the unalienable rights of man, and sovereignty of the
people, with their safeguards; a Constitution with limited powers,
the reserved rights of the States, and the supremacy of law equally
over both rulers and ruled? All were gone.
It will be seen that, through all these proceedings, the Government
of the United States controlled as the sovereign, and sovereignty of
the people was extinct. The measures adopted were those prescribed by
the Government of the United States; and, subordinate to these and
subject to the conditions of these, such others were permitted as the
necessities of the people required. Affairs were not in such disorder
when the Constitution of the United States was adopted. The uppermost
then had come to be the undermost now, and that which was nothing
then had grown to be over all now. Will it always be thus? Was the
inherent sovereignty of the people destroyed by shot and shell?
The intelligent reader must perceive that this invasion of the
natural and unalienable rights of man, the subjugation of the
sovereignty of the people, the monstrous usurpations of powers not
granted in the Constitution, the trampling under foot of the reserved
rights of the States, the disregard of the supremacy of law, and the
assumption of the sovereignty of the Government of the United States
as the corner-stone of our future political edifice, is a revolution
in our system of Government, deep-seated, reaching to the
foundations, and sending the poisonous waters of despotism throughout
all the branches fed from this fountain. The Confederate States
resisted it from the beginning. They drew their swords for the
sovereignty of the people, and they fought for the maintenance of
their State governments in all their reserved rights and powers, as
the only true and natural guardians of the unalienable rights of
their citizens, among which the most sacred is, that only the consent
of the governed can give vitality and existence to any civil or
political institution.
This overthrow of the rights of freemen and the establishment of such
new relations required a complete revolution in the principle of the
government of the United States, the subversion of the State
governments, the subjugation of the people, and the destruction of
the fraternal Union. The work has been done. Will it stand? Have the
eternal principles of the Declaration of Independence been hid from
our sight for ever? Or, will they again come forth, "redeemed,
disenthralled, regenerated," and rally the reunited people to shout
in thunder-tones for sovereignty of the people and the unalienable
rights of man?
It has been shown in previous pages that the State governments were
instituted to be the special guardians of these unalienable rights of
man; but henceforth they must be the sworn defenders of the
Government of the United States, not of the Constitution and laws
enacted in pursuance thereof, but of such interpolations and
perversions of them as, in cases of necessity, that Government should
find it convenient to make. Whenever it pleases, it can set them
aside; and, whenever it wills, it can destroy them. Unalienable
rights are unknown to this war-begotten theory of the Constitution.
The day has come in which mankind behold this Government founding its
highest claims to greatness and glory upon deeds done in utter
violation of those rights which belonged to its own citizens in every
State, North and South. The palladium of the freeman, the Bills of
Rights, the limitations of power, the written Constitutions, have all
lost their sacred authority, and not a man or a State dare,
single-handed, gainsay the will of the agency which, feeling power,
has forgotten right. It has put its hand on the ballot-box, and the
declaration is made that it is not safe to trust the people to vote,
except under the inspection of its authority, after the example set
by the Roman emperors. When the cause was lost, what cause was it?
Not that of the South only, but the cause of constitutional
government, of the supremacy of law, of the natural rights of man.
[Footnote 131: This incident in the conduct of the Judge recalls a like
exhibition of judicial purity and independence which occurred in the
colonial history of South Carolina, and which I present by extracts
from the charge of Judge William Henry Drayton, delivered November,
1774. Referring to the nature of the civil liberties of the Carolina
colonists, he said: "This is the distinguishing character: English
people can not be taxed, nay, they can not be bound by any law unless
by their consent, expressed by themselves or their representatives of
their own election. This colony was settled by English subjects; by a
people from England herself--a people who brought over with them,
who planted in this colony, and who transmitted to posterity the
invaluable rights of _Englishmen_--rights which no time, no
contract, no climate can diminish. . . . By all the ties which
mankind hold most dear and sacred; your reverence to your ancestors;
your love to your own interests; your tenderness to your posterity;
by the lawful obligations of your oath, I charge you to do your duty;
to maintain the laws, the rights, the Constitution of your country,
even at the hazard of your lives and fortunes.
"Some county judges style themselves the King's servants, a style
which sounds harshly in my ears, inasmuch as the being a servant
implies obedience to the orders of the master, and such judges might
possibly think that, in the present situation of American affairs, my
charge is inconsistent with my duty to the King. But for my part, in
my judicial character, I know no master but the law; I am a servant,
not to the King, but to the Constitution." . . . In the course of his
charge, he quotes a "learned judge" as saying: "Every new tribunal
erected for the decision of facts, without the intervention of a
jury, is a step toward aristocracy, the most oppressive of absolute
governments; and it is therefore a duty which every man owes to his
country, his friends, his posterity, and himself, to maintain to the
utmost of his power this valuable Constitution in all its rights, to
restore it to its ancient dignity, if at all impaired; to amend it
wherever it is defective, and, above all, to guard with the most
jealous circumspection against the introduction of new and arbitrary
methods of trial, which, under a variety of plausible pretenses, may
in time perceptibly undermine this best preservative of English
liberty."--("American Archives," Fourth Series, vol. i, pp. 959,
960.)]
CONCLUSION.
My first object in this work was to prove, by historical authority,
that each of the States, as sovereign parties to the compact of
Union, had the reserved power to secede from it whenever it should be
found not to answer the ends for which it was established. If this
has been done, it follows that the war was, on the part of the United
States Government, one of aggression and usurpation, and, on the part
of the South, was for the defense of an inherent, unalienable right.
My next purpose was to show, by the gallantry and devotion of the
Southern people, in their unequal struggle, how thorough was their
conviction of the justice of their cause; that, by their humanity to
the wounded and captives, they proved themselves the worthy
descendants of chivalric sires, and fit to be free; and that, in
every case, as when our army invaded Pennsylvania, by their respect
for private rights, their morality and observance of the laws of
civilized war, they are entitled to the confidence and regard of
mankind.
The want of space has compelled me to omit a notice of many noble
deeds, both of heroic men and women. The roll of honor, merely, would
fill more than the pages allotted to this work. To others, who can
say _cuncta quorum vidi_, I must leave the pleasant task of paying
the tribute due to their associate patriots.
In asserting the right of secession, it has not been my wish to
incite to its exercise: I recognize the fact that the war showed it
to be impracticable, but this did not prove it to be wrong; and, now
that it may not be again attempted, and that the Union may promote
the general welfare, it is needful that the truth, the whole truth,
should be known, so that crimination and recrimination may for ever
cease, and then, on the basis of fraternity and faithful regard for
the rights of the States, there may be written on the arch of the
Union, _Esto perpetua_.
Note.--The publishers are responsible for the orthography of these
volumes.
[Illustration: Map of Yorktown & Williamsburg, Virginia]
[Illustration: Map of Operations in Kentucky and Tennessee]
[Illustration: Map of Battle of Gettysburg]
INDEX TO VOL. II.
_Abandonment of the Peninsula_, recommended by General J. E.
Johnston, 86; a defensive position nearer to Richmond proposed, 86;
the question discussed in a conference of officers, 87; plan of
General Johnston, 87; concentration of all troops, 87; objections,
87; not adopted, 87; measures determined on, 87.
ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY, Secretary of State, correspondence with the
British Secretary of State relative to the deportation of slaves in
war, 8, 9; on the restoration of slaves captured in war, 163; says
private property, including slaves, can not be taken by the usages of
war, 170.
_Agents of the State of New York_ to take the vote of her soldiers at
the Presidential election, 492; seized with the votes and locked up
in prison by the orders of the Government of the United States, 492;
the description of the imprisonment, 493.
_Aggressions_, the authors of, having acquired power, were eager for
the spoils of victory, 160; the series of, about to be consummated,
182.
_Alabama_, the cruiser, her condition when leaving Liverpool, 250.
_Alarm at Washington_, created by the operations of Jackson in the
Shenandoah Valley, 105.
ALDRICH, Judge A. P., arrested, 741; removed by a military officer,
744.
ANDERSON, General G. B., in command at Sharpsburg, 336.
ANDERSON, General J. R., placed in observation before General
McDowell be fore Fredericksburg, 101.
ANDERSON, General R. H., in command at Sharpsburg, 336.
_Andersonville_, occasion for its selection for the confinement of
prisoners of war, 596; its location, 596; preparations, 596;
treatment, 597.
_Anomaly among Governments_, the Government of the United States, 453.
_Arkansas_, proceedings to institute a State Government inaugurated
by order of President Lincoln, 302; his order, 303; the State
Constitution amended by assumption, or by assuming it to be amended,
303; movements in the northern part of the State, 304; further
proceedings, 304; vote for Article XIII of the United States
Constitution, 304; fraud triumphant, 304.
_Arkansas, The ram_, fight at the mouth of the Yazoo, 242; enters the
Mississippi and runs through the enemy's fleet, 242; description of
the vessel, 243; destined for attack on Baton Rouge, 243; failure of
her engines, 244.
_Arms and munitions of war_ manufactured in the United States for
Turkey in her late war with Russia, 276.
_Army of Northern Virginia_, changes of position before Richmond,
101; re turns to the vicinity of Richmond after McClellan reached
Westover, 152.
_Army of Tennessee_ under General A. S. Johnston, its strength after
fall of Donelson, 39; moves to Murfreesboro, 39; its concentration,
39; joins Beauregard at Corinth, 39.
_Army of the United States_, new generals assigned to command, and
new departments created, 18; under General McClellan--its size when
reported to be crippled for want of reënforcements, 106; size of our
army, 106.
_Army of Virginia_, order of President Lincoln creating, 135; the
commander, and the forces, 135.
ASHBY, General TURNER, commands rear-guard, 112; attacked by
Fremont's cavalry, 112; killed, 112; remarks of General Jackson, 112.
_Assertion, An_, often made during the war, 451.
_Atlanta, The_, a cruiser's name changed to Tallahassee, 265;
commanded by Commander John Taylor Wood, 265; her cruise along the
New England coast, 265.
_Atlanta_ evacuated by General Hood, 563; surrendered by the Mayor to
General Sherman, with the promise that non-combatants and private
property should be respected, 563; Order of Sherman directing all
civilians, mole and female, living in Atlanta to leave the city
within five days from September 5th, 564; Vain appeals of the Mayor
and corporate authorities for a modification of the order, 561; reply
of Sherman, 564.
_Atrocities of the war_: letter of the President to General Lee, 315;
In the Shenandoah Valley, 531; retaliation of General Early, 531;
Butler's proceedings in New Orleans, 232; Pope's military orders in
Virginia, 313; Sherman's expulsion of the inhabitants of Atlanta,
564; march to Savannah, 570; Sherman's burning of Columbia, 627; the
order of President Lincoln to military commanders, 588; order of
General Pope, 588; letter of General Lee to General Halleck, 589;
efforts of General Hunter to inaugurate a servile war, 589:
proceedings of Brigadier-General Phelps, 589; do. of General Butler,
589; extracts from the official report of Major-General Butler to the
Committee on the Conduct of the War relative to the exchange of
prisoners, 603; extract from the message to the Confederate Congress,
in August, 1862, 707; do. in January, 1863, 707; varied stages of the
war, 708; atrocities of Major-General Hunter in the Shenandoah
Valley, 709; statement of Rev. John Bachman of the devastations of
the enemy in South Carolina, 710-715.
_Attrition, The policy of_, can hardly be regarded as generalship, or
be offered to military students as an example worthy of imitation,
526.
BACHMAN, Rev. Dr. JOHN, statement of the devastations of the enemy in
South Carolina, 710-715.
BANKS, Major-General N. P., exclamation of relief on his escape from
Jackson across the Potomac, 106; succeeds General Butler at New
Orleans, 289; expedition into the Red River country, 541; his force,
543; battles at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, 543, 544; obtains cotton
in the Red River country, 545.
BARKSDALE, Brigadier-General WILLIAM, commands the force placed at
Fredericksburg to resist the enemy's crossing, 353.
BARRON, Captain SAMUEL, commands at Hatteras Inlet, 77; is bombarded
by the enemy's fleet, and capitulates, 77.
BARRY, Colonel WILLIAM S., commander of the burial party at Corinth,
390; his reception by General Rosecrans, 390.
_Baton Rouge_, its importance, 243; occupied by the enemy, 243;
attacked, 244; failure of entire success by the breakdown of the ram
Arkansas, 244.
_Battalion of cadets_, their services at Richmond, 665.
BEAUREGARD, General P. G. T., takes command in West Tennessee, 51;
moves to Corinth, 51; states cause of delay of movements toward
Shiloh, 55; report of result of first day's battle of Shiloh, 60; his
force at Corinth, 73; his estimate of the enemy, 73; retreats to
Tupelo, 74; declines to let Bragg go to Mississippi, 74; his health.
74; certificates of his physicians, 74; transfers the command to
General Bragg and retires to Bladen Springs. 75; statement of the
case, 765 in command near Drury's Bluff, 511; interview with the
President, 511; position of the forces, 512; movements of the enemy,
513; the affair at Drury's bluff, 513; his proposal for a campaign,
514; assigned to the military division of the West, 566; retreats
toward North Carolina, 630; decides to march to the eastern part of
the State, 630; effect of this move, 630; modifies his proposed
movement, 631.
_Beaver Dam_, its naturally strong position near Mechanicsville, 134;
engagement near, 134.
_Belligerents_--in no instance from the opening to the close of the
war did the United States Government speak of us as belligerents,
278; why was it? 278; the signification of the word, combined with
existing circumstances, expressed something it was in no degree
willing to admit before the world, 278; its war was against the
people within the limits of the Confederate States, and were they a
mob or organized political communities? 279; then it was a war
against the States which the world could not justify, 279; opinion of
Justice Green, of the United States Supreme Court, 281; case of the
Santissima Trinidad, 281.
BENJAMIN, JUDAH P., Secretary, letter to General A. S. Johnston, 40;
report on the proceedings of Generals Floyd and Pillow requested, 40.
_Berwick Bay_, capture of the works of the enemy at, 419; the spoils
taken, 419.
_Big Black_ River railroad-bridge, topographical features of the
position, 409; results of the retreat of Pemberton from, 410.
BLAIR, FRANCIS P., visits Richmond, 612; conversation with the
President, 612; letter given to him, 615; answer of Mr. Lincoln, 615;
return of Mr. Blair, 616 his statements, 616; further movements, 617;
his visit, 618.
_Blockade The_, its effect upon English manufactures, 344;
intervention of the Governments of France and England to alleviate
the distress, 344; the passiveness of neutral Europe relative to,
373; other blockades compared, 373; facts shown relative to our
ports, 374; Great Britain assumes to make a change in the principles
announced at Paris, 375; dispatch of the British Minister, 375;
illustration of the importance of this change, 375; other matters
injurious to us, 376; letters of the British Government to United
States, 379, 380; marked encouragement given to persevere in the
blockade, 380; statement of the British Government as to the blockade
of the Southern ports, 381; further facts, 381.
BOWEN, General JOHN S., detached from Vicksburg to Grand Gulf, 397;
retreats toward Grand Gulf, 399; one of the best soldiers of the
Confederate service, 416.
_Bowling Green_, position of General A. S. Johnston's center turned,
36; the consequences, 36, 37; its evacuation, 37.
BRAGG, General BRAXTON, commands a division of Beauregard's forces in
West Tennessee, 51; sent from Pensacola, 54; account of Johnston's
efforts, 54; commands a corps at battle of Shiloh, 55; statement of
affairs at battle of Shiloh, 59; ordered to command the department
under General Lovell, 74; Beauregard declines to permit his departure
owing to ill health, 74; receives the command from Beauregard, 75;
report of subsequent proceedings, 75; advances from Tupelo and
occupies Chattanooga, 382; marches from Chattanooga and enters
Kentucky, 383; passes to the rear of General Buell in Middle
Tennessee, 383; thus relieves north Alabama and Middle Tennessee from
the presence of the enemy, 383; issues an address to the people of
Kentucky, 383; gives battle to the enemy at Perryville, 383; losses,
384; falls back before reënforcements to the enemy, 384; takes
position at Murfreesboro, 384; begins the conflict at Murfreesboro,
385; its result, 385; falls back to Tullahoma, 385; takes a position
south of Chattanooga, 429; his movements, 429; concentrates at
Chickamauga, 429; forms his line of battle, 430; the conflict,
431-433.
_Brazil_, Government of, demands the restoration of the cruiser
Florida, 262; letter of Mr. Seward, 262.
BRECKINRIDGE, Brigadier-General JOHN C, commands a corps at battle of
Shiloh, 55; commands the attack at Baton Rouge, 244; commands in
south-western Virginia, 527; his movements and skirmishes, 528;
ordered to Hanover Junction, 528; returns, 529.
BRENT, Major, attacks and captures the gunboat Indianola, 241.
BROWN, Commander, commands the ram Arkansas, 242.
BROWN, Major, report of the surrender of Fort Donelson, 34.
BUCHANAN, Captain FRANKLIN, commands the Virginia, 196; fight at
Hampton Roads, 197; commands the ironclad Tennessee in the conflict
in Mobile Bay, 206.
BUCKNER, General SIMON, commands a division at Fort Donelson, 29; in
command at Knoxville, 426.
BUELL, General D. C, assigned to command in Kentucky, 18; his
threatening position, 38; his force after fall of Donelson, 39; moves
his army to join Grant at Pittsburg Landing, 54; progress of his
advance, 54; statement of the condition of Grant's army after the
battle of Shiloh, 70; retreats from Nashville to Louisville, fearing
for the safety of the latter city, 383.
BULLOCK, Captain JAMES D., his integrity and efficiency as naval
agent at Liverpool, 248.
_Burglary_, the State government throws its shield over the citizen
for his protection against, 452.
BURNSIDE, General AMBROSE, commands expedition against the coast of
North Carolina, 79; succeeds McClellan in command of the army, 351;
attempts to throw bridges across the river be fore Fredericksburg,
352; finally crosses and lays his bridges, 353; attacks our army,
354; is repulsed, 355; withdraws, 356; losses, 356; the causes he
assigned for his failure, 356; subsequent inactivity of his army,
357; removed from command, 357.
BUTLER, General B. F., commands expedition against the coast of North
Carolina, 79; advances to New Orleans, 223; a reign of terror
follows, 232; lands at Bermuda Hundred, 507; makes a raid to Chester,
508; compelled to withdraw, 508; moves out again to Fort Walthal
Junction, 511; repulsed by troops of General Beauregard from
Charleston, 511; commissioner for the exchange of prisoners, 598.
_Captures on the high seas_, the position taken by Washington and
Jefferson in 1793, 270.
CAMPBELL, JOHN A., appointed to confer with Mr. Lincoln, 617.
_Cause, The_, that was lost. What cause was it? 763.
_Cedar Creek_, Early's battle with the enemy at, 538-540.
_Cedar Run_, its location, 317; the battle at, 317, 319; the forces,
317; losses, 319.
_Chambersburg, Pennsylvania_, retaliatory measures inflicted on, 531,
532.
_Chancellorsville_, forces of the enemy converge near, from the fords
of the Rapidan, 357; Anderson's rear-guard attacked by cavalry, 357;
Lee moves toward, 358; turns the enemy's right, 358; a position of
great natural strength assumed by the enemy, 358; his lines, 358,
359; effort to turn his right flank and gain his rear, 359; to be
done by Jackson with three divisions, 359; success of the movement,
359, 360; the attack in front, 360; Jackson wounded, 360; battle
renewed next day, 361; the enemy retreats toward the Rappahannock,
361; strengthens his position, 361; attack from Fredericksburg on
Lee's rear, 362, 363; battle near Salem Church, 363; attack renewed
on Hooker, 364; enemy recross the river, 364; losses, 364; strength,
365; a brief and forcible account of the battle, 365, 366.
_Change of plans_, necessary after the fall of Fort Donelson, 39.
"_Change of base_," by McClellan, explanation of, by the Comte de
Paris, 104.
_Charge_, against the Government of the United States, 454.
_Charleston Harbor_, the Confederate naval force in, 204; its
strength and efficiency, 204; exploit of the ironclads Palmetto State
and Chicora, 206; number of torpedoes in the harbor, 208; evacuated
by General Hardee, 629; occupied by the enemy's forces, 630;
condition of Fort Sumter, 630.
_Chattanooga_, Grant arrives after the battle of Chickamauga and
assumes command, 434; his description of the situation, 434; his
operations, 435; movements of General Hooker, 435; arrival of
Sherman, 435; attack made by the whole force of the enemy's center,
436; get possession of rifle-pits at the foot of Missionary Ridge,
and commence the ascent of the mountain, 436; our forces withdraw,
436; losses, 436; occupied by the enemy, 429.
_Chickahominy River_, its character and course, 122; rising from
heavy rains, 124; position of General Sumner, 124.
_Chickamauga_, Bragg concentrates at, 429; forms his line of battle,
430; commencement of the contest, 430; movements of the forces, 431;
Confederate troops engaged, 431; Bragg reorganizes his command, 432;
strength of the opposing forces, 432; Bragg's order of battle, 432;
movement of troops, 433; enemy yields along the whole line, 433;
withdraws at night, 433; his losses, 433.
CHILTON, Colonel R H., remarks on the talents of General Lee,
displayed in the preparation and command of his army, 129.
_Cincinnati_, alarm at the approach of General E. K. Smith, 382.
_Citizens_, Southern, confined in cells to await the punishment of
piracy, 2; peaceful, an indiscriminate warfare waged upon, 2.
_Citizen's life_, is it in danger? the State guarantees protection,
451; his personal liberty is guaranteed by the State, 451; his
property guaranteed from unlawful seizure and destruction by the
State, 452.
_Citizenship and the ballot_ is wholly within the control of each
State, 729; efforts of Congress to wrest it from each Confederate
State to confer on the negroes, 729.
_Civil government in Maryland_, overthrown by the military force of
the United States, 461.
_Clarence, The_, fitted out as a tender to the Florida, 261.
CLEBURNE, Major-General, killed at the battle of Franklin, 577.
_Coast defenses_, the system adopted, 78; topography of the coast,
78; description of the fortifications constructed, 79; several points
captured by the enemy, 79; state of affairs when General Lee assumed
command of the Department of the Carolinas and Florida, 80; his plans
for coast defenses, 80; the system he organized, 80; its success, 81.
COBB, General HOWELL, arranges a cartel for the exchange of prisoners
with General Wool, 587.
COLBURN, Colonel, captured at Spring Hill by Generals Van Dorn and
Forrest, 426.
_Cold Harbor_, fearful carnage of Grant's soldiers, 524; they
sullenly and silently decline to renew the assault, 524.
_Columbia, South Carolina_, approach of General Sherman's army, 627;
the Mayor surrenders the city, 627; infamous disregard of the
established rules of war, 627; the city burned, 627; attributed by
Sherman to an order of General Hampton to burn the cotton, 627;
denied by General Hampton, 627; his letter, 628; other atrocities of
Sherman's army, 629.
_Columbus, Kentucky_, threatened by the enemy, 18.
_Combinations of insurrectionists,_ the Southern people declared to
be, by the United States Government, 2.
_Conciliatory terms_ offered by the Governor of a State for the sake
of peace, rejected by the United States Government, 2.
_Confederate Government_, early efforts to buy ships, 245; the
lawfulness of its maritime acts demonstrated, 269; its acts relative
to cruisers sustained and justified by international law, 274; by the
interpretations of American jurists, 274; by antecedent acts of the
United States Government, 274; instances, 275, 276.
_Confederate States_ regarded by United States Government as in the
Union, 177; yet deprived of all the protections of the Constitution,
177; all their conduct pertaining to the war consisted in just
efforts to preserve to themselves and their posterity rights and
protections guaranteed in the Constitution, 178; their sagacity
vindicated by President Lincoln's emancipation proclamation, 190.