What Will Not Be Attempted Herein.
How the Southern People Viewed the Situation.
Virginia as Peace Maker.
The Peace Conference and Its Failure.
Geographical, Territorial Position.
Assembling of the Convention and Its Action.
Mr. Lincoln's Attitude and Call for Troops.
Adoption of the Ordinance of Secession.
Preparations for Defense.
It is not herein attempted to record the causes which led to the
withdrawal of the Southern States from the Federal Compact of Union
framed by the Deputies of twelve of the Thirteen Original States, in
the City of Philadelphia on the 17th day of September, 1787, afterwards
acceded to and ratified by the states acting by and through conventions
of the sovereign people of the states entering into and forming the
Compact. Neither will it be discussed whether Secession is a violation
of the Constitution, nor whether it is or is not prohibited to the
states and no power granted or delegated to the Federal agent to
prevent it. It seems no longer a practical question, hence no
good purpose could be subserved by a discussion thereof. Some of
the arguments, however, of the Southern people are reproduced to
show how they viewed the question at the period of which I am
writing,--especially what Virginia people said and thought on the
subject.
In his inaugural address, Mr. Lincoln had declared his purpose to
repossess the forts which had been seized by troops of the seceded
states, reading to the Virginia Commissioners on April 13th a paper
setting forth his views declaring his purpose to coerce the seceded
States. By the Southern people this declaration by Mr. Lincoln was
construed as a purpose to wage immediate war of subjugation against the
South; in fact, no other meaning could be given to what he said.
Many of the Southern states did not want to leave the Union, abhorred
war, and especially was this true of Virginia. She therefore hesitated
before taking the step which was to separate her from that Union she
had contributed so much to create. Virginia, therefore, made overtures
to the government at Washington for an amicable and peaceful solution
of the questions agitating the country, which, if not adjusted, would
soon plunge the nation into the dreadful war to which we were rapidly
drifting. Virginia took the lead in the matter of pacification, by a
resolution of her legislature passed early in the month of January,
1861, recommending each of the states to appoint commissioners to a
convention, the object of which should be "to adjust the present
unhappy controversies." This proposition met the approval of President
Buchanan. Most of the states, save those which had then seceded,
responded by appointing delegates. In pursuance of this call, the
convention met in Washington, February 4, 1861, choosing John Tyler of
Virginia, chairman of the convention. After some three weeks'
deliberation, this "Peace Congress" submitted a number of propositions,
amendments to the Constitution. These propositions, together with most,
if not all overtures, came to naught, were rejected by the congress and
the party then in control of affairs at Washington.
On December 20th the State of South Carolina had seceded from the
Union, affirming and claiming that she, with her sister Southern
states, could no longer live on equal terms and in peace in that Union
and under that Constitution which many of the Northern states did not
hesitate to violate whenever it suited their interests; and further
insisting that there had been a powerful party organized in the North,
upon principles of ambition and fanaticism, whose purpose was to divert
the Federal Government from the external, and turn its power upon the
internal interests and domestic institutions of the Southern states;
that they had thus in the Northern states a party whose avowed object
not only threatened the peace but the existence of nearly one-half of
the states of the Republic; that this same party in the North proposed
to inaugurate a president, at the head of the Army and Navy, with vast
powers, not to preside over the common interests and destinies of all
the states alike, but upon partisan issues of avowed hostility, with
relentless war to be waged upon the rights and peace of half the states
of the Union.
This is but a faint picture of what awaited the Southern states, as
they saw it, upon the coming into power of a sectional party, with Mr.
Lincoln as chief magistrate, whose inaugural address clearly
foreshadowed war.
After repeated demands made by South Carolina, and after several
ineffectual attempts by negotiation for the surrender of Fort Sumter,
and a Federal fleet had sailed and was then off the harbor of
Charleston, for the reinforcing and provisioning of the garrison, it is
claimed that treachery and duplicity of the Federal government had been
used to deceive the state authorities of South Carolina as to the
surrender of the fort.
It was therefore decided to reduce the fort; hence, on the 12th day of
April, 1861, the bombardment commenced, the news of which fired the
Northern heart, notwithstanding the well known principle that it is not
always he who strikes the first blow that is the aggressor, but he who
by his conduct or act forces that blow to be given. However, the shot
had been fired which aroused the whole country to the highest pitch of
excitement, with seemingly no way to allay it. The war was on.
Let us return to the Virginia convention which assembled in Richmond
February 13th. These were momentous days. This historic body, composed
of the ablest and best men from the Commonwealth of Virginia, carefully
considered the grave issues involved, the fearful consequences of civil
strife. Upon the best authority it is averred that two-thirds of the
men composing this convention were opposed to secession, and preferred
to remain in the Union.
A committee on Federal Relations was appointed, which, on the 10th day
of March, reported fourteen resolutions, as follows: protesting against
all interference with slavery; declaring secession to be a right;
defining the grounds on which Virginia would feel herself to be
justified in exercising that right, namely: the failure to obtain
guarantees; the adoption of a warlike policy by the government of the
United States, or to reinforce, or recapture the Southern forts. These
resolves clearly defined the attitude of Virginia at this critical
moment. After serious discussion pro and con, all but the last of these
resolves had passed the convention, when the news was received that the
bombardment of Fort Sumter had begun.
Virginia was still for peace and the Union, endeavoring by every means
within her power to avert the awful calamity of civil war. Her
territorial limits were extensive, reaching from the northeast point of
North Carolina northwestward nearly five hundred miles to a point
within about one hundred miles of Lake Erie, practically separating the
eastern from the western states of the Union; hence her geographical
position entitled her to and gave her great power and influence toward
a settlement of the impending trouble. It was then claimed,--which was
no doubt true,--that the Federal Administration was anxious to see her
shorn of her power, which in a measure was accomplished by her
dismemberment, by the formation of West Virginia out of her territory,
and this by the aid of the Federal power.
Virginia's son was foremost in fanning the flames of revolution,
leading to the overthrow of British tyranny and the establishment of
American independence. Her son had written the Declaration of
Independence. Her son had led the Continental armies during the
Revolution, and her son was active in the framing and ratification of
the Federal Constitution. Virginia had been among the first to suggest
and to assist in creating the compact of union.
To the Confederated states and in the spirit of patriotism and
confidence in the continuance of good will, she had given to the Union
her north-west territory, an empire within itself, out of which six or
more states have been formed. She had furnished seven presidents to the
Republic.
It was on the 15th day of April that Mr. Lincoln issued his call for
seventy-five thousand troops. Virginia's quota, 2400, were to
rendezvous at points in Virginia, thus placing armed soldiers in her
territory, though still in the Union, her convention a few days
previous having refused to secede by a vote of 89 to 45. This act of
Mr. Lincoln was construed by our people as an act of war, and without
authority, that power being vested in Congress alone.
Thus it will be seen that all the efforts made by Virginia to preserve
the Union and peace had been defeated, Mr. Lincoln having pronounced
secession unlawful and void. Virginia was a Southern state, in sympathy
with her sister states of the South, and could not be induced to make
war on them, nor on the Northern states of the Union. The conduct of
the Federal Administration had not only forced her out of the Union,
but to take sides in the impending crisis. It was not a Southern
Confederacy that Virginia sought or her people fought for, but to
uphold and maintain the integrity and sovereignty of the state, and
this necessarily meant separate government. I am sure at no time did
the people of Virginia think of becoming the aggressors upon the rights
of the other states of the Federal Union.
The issue was, therefore, squarely presented. Virginia must decide on
which side she would stand. "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve,"
was the alternative. There was no middle ground, no neutral position,
no evading the issue. Against her persistent attachment to the Union,
the strongest appeals and bitterest denunciations, Virginia remained
unmoved.
When her voice and her pleadings were no longer heard, the news of the
bombardment of Fort Sumter, and Mr. Lincoln's call for troops, reached
the convention, the supreme moment had come. The die was cast. There
could be no further hesitation. On April 17th the Ordinance of
Secession, amid anguish and tears, was adopted by a vote of 81 to 51.
The call for troops by the President brought an immediate change in the
current of public opinion in Virginia from the mountains to the sea.
The Ordinance of Secession was ratified by the people on the 23d day of
May by a majority of 96,750 out of a total vote of 161,018.
Virginians having now made their decision to defend themselves and
their state, hastened to arms with ardor and a determined spirit of
resistance.